Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Whistling Breeze Store

Fighting North China for the Northeast is Mao Zedong's best move.The military aircraft was remote, and Chiang Kai-shek Beiping supervised the battle and sent the third army of his lineage to the funeral.Flying Soldiers at Qingfengdian, "Eryang" once again showed its mighty power over Dingqiao in Shanghai.Xushui, Baobei, Qingfengdian, our army's three-point decisive battle in North China produced miraculous results.Several prisoners and generals were all fellow villagers and students of Nie Rongzhen.Before the smoke of Qingfengdian was exhausted, Nie Rongzhen called the central government: I plan to take advantage of the victory to seize Shimen.

In the autumn of 1947, the land of China, where wars continued, was full of gunpowder and smoke, but the balance of war had undergone some subtle changes.The smug smile that had been on Chiang Kai-shek's face for a year began to fade away quietly. After a year of fighting, our People's Liberation Army has withstood the all-out attack of the Kuomintang army, and has launched a limited offensive against the Kuomintang army in some places.On the Northeast battlefield, Lin Biao commanded the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army to launch a summer offensive.The heyday of Du Xingming and the hundreds of thousands of Jiang Jun in Northeast China is over.

When Lin Biao commanded our army in the Northeast to launch a summer offensive, Chiang Kai-shek once transferred troops from North China to reinforce the Northeast in order to ease the situation in the Northeast.Under such circumstances, Mao Zedong clearly demanded that the Jinchaji Field Army must restrain the enemy forces in the Pass and support the Northeast. How can we hold Fu Zuoyi back?Although this move is Chiang Kai-shek's approach of "digging flesh to repair sores", if he is allowed to transfer the troops in the North Parallel to the Northeast without hesitation, it will increase the pressure on the Northeast battlefield and be detrimental to the overall situation of the war.

In fact, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army was not easy, and they fought one after another in a disadvantaged situation. A month ago, in order to cooperate with Liu and Deng's army's external attack, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army launched the Great Qing Hebei Campaign in early September. Since the Daqing Hebei area was closer to Tianjin, the Kuomintang troops were quickly reinforced, and the battle did not work. After the field army wiped out more than 5,000 enemies, they turned back to Henan.Despite this, Nie Rongzhen is still determined to implement the central strategic decision.

On September 14, the Northeast Democratic Coalition launched a large-scale autumn offensive in Changchun, Jilin, Siping, and the area from Jinxi to Yixian on the Beining line. The strength of the Jinchaji battlefield was greatly reduced.In order to seize the opportunity to annihilate the enemy and cooperate with the autumn offensive of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army is determined to besiege Xushui first, and wait for the opportunity to annihilate Zhuoxian or Baoding to aid the enemy. At 4:30 p.m. on October 13, 1947, the frontline headquarters of Dongma Village, Rongcheng, Hebei.

Yang Dezhi, the commander of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army, put down the phone, turned around and nodded to Yang Chengwu, the political commissar, and Geng Biao, the chief of staff, and said excitedly, "The Second Column has started attacking Xushui." The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army, which was only established in May, was full of morale and eager to kill the enemy, eager to concentrate its forces to wipe out a large number of the enemy's vital forces.Fundamentally break Chiang Kai-shek's control of the (Tianjin) (Tianjin) Baoding (Tianjin) triangle zone in Beiping.After careful research, they finally operated on the Pingbao line, which was stretched out by Jiang Jun in the Pingjinbao area.Beginning on October 11, the whole army has destroyed the railway as planned, attacked strongholds, and cleared the periphery of Xushui.At this time, the second column of the field army was attacking Xushui under the command of commander Chen Zhengxiang. The main forces of the third and fourth columns were secretly assembled in the north and east of Xushui respectively, preparing to annihilate the enemy who came to help.

The fierce battle in Xushui City is in full swing.The lights in the Yesi command post stayed on all night. Yang Dezhi leaned over the map, and the pencil in his hand slowly moved between Xushui and Shijiazhuang.This brave general who was born as a miner in Anyuan went to Jinggangshan at the age of 18 and became the commander of the Red Army at the age of 22. It was he who led the avant-garde regiment on the Long March to break through the natural danger of Wujiang River and cross the Dadu River in Anshunchang.Under Pingxingguan, he was the one who frightened the Japanese aggressors. His many years of military career has trained him to be resourceful and courageous, and he even has a bit of a legend.

At dawn, Chief of Staff Geng Biao walked in excitedly: "Old Yang, the Second Zong has already conquered the north and south passes of Xushui, approaching the city wall!" "Okay! I just want to hurt it, otherwise Lao Jiang won't come out." Yang Dezhi said. "Old Geng, is there any movement in the direction of the northern line and Baoding?" Yang Chengwu on the side asked, obviously, he was very concerned about this. Xushui City is still fighting fiercely, with gunpowder smoke filling the sky and the sound of guns shaking the sky. Hundreds of kilometers away from Xushui City, Eryang's long-awaited reinforcement finally appeared.This is the 5th and 43rd Divisions of the 94th Army, the 5th Independent Division, and the 3rd Chariot Regiment from the northern front. The 94th Division and the 109th Division arrived near Rongcheng and Yangcun via Baigou.

"Good guy, five divisions and a chariot regiment came all at once, what a piece of fat!" Yang Chengwu laughed. Geng Biao thought for a moment, and said, "Both directions are coming, and they are still going hand in hand. You have to choose one direction to fight first, and eat one bite at a time." As chief of staff, Geng Biao considered more carefully and thoughtfully. "Yes, I think we should attack the Ninety-Fourth Army on the west side first, so that we can develop on the west side." Yang Dezhi waved his hand excitedly. At 17:00 on the 14th, the order of the wild division was conveyed. The second vertical, the fourth and the fifth brigade continued to besiege Xushui, luring the enemy to go deep, and a force entered the blocking position; group.

On the night of the 15th, the aid enemy approached our blocking position.With an order, the three verticals and the four verticals quickly attacked and killed the enemy's ninety-fourth army.However, the enemy's 10 or so regiments twisted together, and it was difficult for our army to make a move for a while, failing to separate the enemy's 94th army, and fighting a chaotic battle.After a night of fierce fighting, the enemy withdrew across the board. The enemy seems to have grasped the rules, attacking day and night.After two days of fierce fighting, the enemy and our armies formed a confrontation in the Gucheng, Xushui, and Rongcheng areas.

Aid obviously did not go well.The three golden partners Yang Dezhi, Yang Chengwu, and Geng Biao began to study in front of the map again.After a long time, Commander Yang Dezhi stood up and said decisively: "The situation of confrontation must be broken. I should focus on the action according to the second planned plan. The troops east of Pinghan Road will move towards Suicheng and Yaocun areas to lure The enemy advances westward, and after the enemy disperses, look for opportunities to annihilate the enemy during the movement. Cheng Wu, Lao Geng, what do you think?" "Yes. Will the Second Zong not withdraw from the siege of Xushui, continue to seize the city, confuse the enemy, and cover the entire army?" Yang Chengwu spoke. Geng Biao pondered for a while, nodded and said: "Yes! It's better not to withdraw from the Second Column. Let's go first, and the field driver will follow the big troops. The radio station will not go away for the time being, and we will keep in touch with Commander Nie of the military region." "That's it, let the troops know." On the afternoon of the 17th, Yang Dezhi, Yang Chengwu, and Geng Biao set off on horseback with only a few combat staff officers and guards.A group of people walked straight west along Pinghan Road.In the North China Plain in late autumn and October, most of the crops have been harvested, and when you look up, you can see the vast expanse, and the mighty team is marching westward. Unknowingly, dusk fell, and the troops had already traveled more than 10 miles. Suddenly, a sudden sound of horseshoes broke the silence of the marching team.In a blink of an eye, a fast horse ran up to Commander Yang: "Chief, please wait a moment, there is an important report!" It turned out to be the correspondent of Ye Si. He dismounted and handed a telegram to Geng Biao. The telegram was the enemy report from Mr. Nie that Ye Si had just received.The telegram said: "In Shijiazhuang, Luo Lirong, the commander of the enemy's third army, led the headquarters of the third army, the seventh division, and the sixty-sixth regiment of the sixteenth army have left Shijiazhuang. On the 16th, they will cross the Hutuo River and advance to the Xinle area on the 17th. , can arrive in Ding County on the 18th, and is expected to arrive at Fangshun Bridge on the 19th." It was a little surprising that the enemy had abandoned Shijiazhuang and suddenly came to help. The three of them looked at each other with surprise in their eyes. It turned out that when our army was confronting the enemy in the Xushui area, Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Peiping.After our army entered the strategic counter-offensive, Chiang Kai-shek deeply felt that the troops were not enough to allocate, and the repeated failures in the North China battlefield made him quite a headache, so Chiang Kai-shek held a combat meeting in Jurentang, Zhongnanhai, to study the situation in North China.More than 40 senior military officers including Li Zongren, director of the Northern Pingyuan of the Kuomintang, Sun Lianzhong, commander of the 11th theater, and Fu Zuoyi, commander of the 12th theater, attended the meeting. When Luo Lirong, the commander of the Third Army, made a speech and reported the difficulties in supplying food and fodder for the troops, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly stood up, waved his arms and reprimanded loudly: "Wherever the Communist Party goes, it can stand there and have food to eat. You Luo Lirong Army commander, leading the main force of the national army with tens of thousands of horses, and stationed in a place like Shijiazhuang, where the time and place are favorable, and they can’t even get food, and everything is settled by the government, how shameless! How incompetent!" Luo Lirong scolded bloody head. . Facing the reprimand from the "principal", Luo Lirong, a graduate of the second phase of Whampoa and a general in the direct line who has been highly valued, did not dare to show his air, his head almost dropped to his chest.On the contrary, Li Zongren quickly smoothed the field, asking all the troops to follow the president's instructions and make preparations for autumn operations in a planned and prepared manner. The topic turned to the mobile force, Chiang Kai-shek said: "The current strategic policy to deal with the Communist army must be divided into two types of corps, the defensive and the mobile. Because of mobility, in the future, as long as the garrison can support the battle for more than three days and attract the communist army to the city or nearby areas, the mobile corps can wipe them out in one fell swoop." "Now the North China communist army has been attracted by me to the Xushui area. Insufficient, this is a great opportunity for a decisive battle with Nie Rongzhen's troops." Chiang Kai-shek was quite proud, and then said: "Luo Lirong led a division of the Third Army and the Sixty-sixth Regiment to the north to join the new Second Army stationed in Baoding. Army, a decisive battle with the communist army, this is a good turning point for the war in North China and Northeast China." The senior Kuomintang generals who participated in the meeting were greatly relieved when they saw that the general did not point to their heads, and they all praised Chiang Kai-shek's brilliance in military command with one voice.Amidst the false praises, Luo Lirong felt uneasy. He knew that although the distance from Shijiazhuang to Baoding was not far, Zhengding, Xinle, Dingxian, and Wangdu had all been liberated by our army. Possible, unpredictable future!But the "principal" has already made a high-level statement, how dare the "students" defy it? In this way, Luo Lirong went north alone.However, he still has a little bit of insight.Originally scheduled to depart on the 13th, he delayed until the 15th. The battle in Xushuicheng is still going on. Beside the open and dusty road, Yang Dezhi, Yang Chengwu, and Geng Biao squatted down on the spot, spread out the battle map on the ground, pressed the four corners with stones, and began to study it carefully. "Luo Lirong is here for us," Yang Dezhi said, "Catch Luo Lirong as soon as possible, destroy him, and annihilate him! This enemy is sent to our door, and the opportunity to fight is really rare!" Yang Chengwu and Geng Biao fully agreed with the commander's proposal and said almost at the same time: "Fight! Fight resolutely!" The determination has been made, and the first problem we face is the choice of battlefield.Where to defeat Luo Lirong? The three fell into deep thought again.Fighting in Baobei is what the enemy wants, absolutely not. The battle must be fought south of Baoding, but it must not be too close to Baoding.The enemy not only has two divisions of the New Second Army in Baoding, but also has more troops north of Baoding. Chief of Staff Geng Biao crouched on the map, pondered for a long time, then decisively stretched out his pen, drew a big circle around the Qingfengdian area, and said, "I think we will fight here!" The leader of the Red Fourth Regiment, his extraordinary memory and clear mind during the war, was praised by the world just like his bravery.Today he chose an ideal cemetery for Luo Lirong's third army. To the north of Qingfengdian are Wangdu and Baoding, and to the south are Dingxian and Xinle. It is an ideal battlefield for our army, but Luo Lirong's third army is only more than 90 miles away from Qingfengdian area, and the main force of our army is far away from Qingfengdian. The nearest area is 150 miles, and the farthest is more than 250 miles, and it is continuing to move westward.If the battlefield moves north, our army can shorten the itinerary, and Luo Lirong's itinerary will be increased, but that is too close to Baoding. What about moving south?Our army's journey will be farther, and it will not work.Therefore, whether we can fight this battle well depends on whether our army can rush to the front of Luo Lirong and reach Qingfengdian as quickly as possible. In an instant, everything suddenly focused on time! "Soldiers are so fast! Cheng Wu, I think we will fly over the Huding Bridge again, and walk 240 miles a day! We must catch the third army!" Yang Dezhi raised his head and said firmly. "Yes, we want to use our two legs to compare with the Kuomintang! I don't think the Third Army dares to march at night. He goes deep into our liberated area alone. It's not bad if he can walk 10 miles an hour. The third army will not be able to reach Qingfengdian until tomorrow evening at the earliest. In this way, we can gain one night's time." Once the determination is made, nothing can be shaken.Geng Biao squatted in the autumn wind and drafted an order: the whole army, except the troops under the command of the second column that attacked Xu Shui, should immediately turn around and head south after receiving the order, with the destination being the Qingfengdian area south of Fangshun Bridge. The sun was setting and the hour hand was pointing to 17:30 on the 17th. It took less than half an hour from receiving the telegram of the change in the enemy's situation to issuing the order to go south to Qingfengdian! The three generals put away the map, brushed off the dirt sticking to it, turned back on their horses, and turned the horse's head with excited expressions on their faces.Yes, confronting the enemy in the area north of Xushui for several days made me a little uncomfortable, but now it is like a gust of gentle wind blowing through my heart, blowing away all the pent-up depression. The vast Jizhong Plain, autumn rain and early fog.The air is moist and fresh.Looking around, a major artery running north-south——Pinghan Road stretches into the distance through the wilderness.Just on both sides of the northern section of the railway, at the same time, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army deployed 6 brigades to advance southward.There are 4 brigades in the east of the road, including the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth brigades of the four columns and the four brigades of the second column, two brigades in the west of the road, the nine brigades of the third column, and the sixth brigade of the second column. The stringed arrows, along the route specified by Noji, rushed towards the same target - the Qingfengdian area! At midnight, Yang Chengwu, Yang Dezhi, and Geng Biao arrived at the location of the new command post on flying horses. They and the horses under their crotches were already dripping with sweat. Geng Biao was busy making phone calls with various troops and setting up a command post.Commander Yang Dezhi had nothing to do for a while, so he organized people to cook.Political commissar Yang Chengwu was walking his horse while thinking about drafting an emergency mobilization order for combat.Yes, under such circumstances, there must be a mobilization order. This battle is of great importance and must be fought well.Annihilating such a large enemy army in one fell swoop will be a great shock to the enemy, and a great encouragement to our army. As soon as the field army is established, it will fight a large-scale annihilation battle, and finally seize the opportunity.That's right, it was a 240-mile overnight flight to capture the Huding Bridge, and today it is a 240-mile rush to overtake the Fangshun Bridge!The same tune but the same result, wonderful! That night, with the beeping sound of the telegraph, the mobilization order was conveyed to the troops: "In order to win a big battle, we must concentrate all our troops and firepower, fight, rush, and advance fiercely, carry forward the traditional style of our army, fight hard, Fight hard, fight desperately, without any hesitation, crush the enemy, encircle the enemy, and annihilate the enemy! You must disregard any fatigue, resolutely execute orders, not afraid of night marches, rush marches, no matter whether you have no food or water, regardless of day and night fighting, and no fear of difficulties , don’t complain, don’t neglect, walk even if you can’t move, chase after crawling and rolling, and resolutely never let the enemy go. Annihilation. Call for great victories and contests for the people!  …” The mobilization order sounds like a horn, which excites everyone's heart, and the long march marches forward and gallops across the boundless wilderness.Everyone understands that there is now a double competition, a race against the enemy to see who can finish the machine, and a race against the brothers to see who can catch the enemy first. The cruelty of war is also reflected in this competition that almost exceeds the limit of the human body.The troops have been fighting continuously for seven days and nights, and have been engaged in an all-night rapid march. Everyone's eyes are bloodshot, and they are dozing off while walking.Some suddenly stopped their feet while walking, fell asleep standing there, and waited for the people behind to push them before they woke up and quickly followed the team. "To annihilate the Third Army, first rely on a rapid march, and capture Luo Lirong alive, with both feet first." The unique mobilization order became the only belief in the hearts of cadres and soldiers. In order to buy time, the troops tried their best to pack as lightly as possible, leaving only the weapons in their hands. In order to buy time, it is recommended to walk if you can, and run if you can.The troops rushed away like the rapids of a river. At this time, Luo Lirong led his army headquarters, the Seventh Division and the Sixty-sixth Regiment with a total of more than 14,000 people, and had just passed Ding County with more than 200 carts.It turned out that as soon as they crossed the Hutuo River, they were blocked and harassed by our local armed forces and militia.The road was destroyed, and what greeted them was the clearing of empty houses and the explosion of landmines, followed by constant cold shots. On the 17th, Luo Lirong discovered that our 8th Brigade was following behind.In order to avoid being attacked, he ordered the troops to move closer together, squeezing more than 10,000 people into a group, and moved more slowly. It took more than three days to pass through Ding County, and the distance traveled was less than 200 miles. On the morning of the 19th, Luo Lirong, who arrived at the bank of the Tang River, hesitated.Pass or not?It's not necessarily the case when you want to come back in the past.But, how to make a difference?Thinking of Chiang Kai-shek's angry eyes, Luo Lirong couldn't help but tremble.Alas, leave it to fate.From the moment he set off, he felt an ominous feeling in his heart, and now, this feeling has intensified a bit. In the afternoon, the troops crossed the Tang River and approached Qingfengdian, so they planned to camp in Wangdu City.At this moment, a plane flew from the north, circled at low altitude, dropped a communication bag, and wrote: "Please pay attention to the commander of the Third Army going north. Most of the communist army is going south, not far from you, and it will be ready for battle." Luo Lirong was shocked when he received the report: "No, it's really troublesome!" After a while, another plane flew over from north to south, and dropped a communication bag. It is very close to you, please make emergency preparations for the third army." At this time, Luo Lirong clearly knew that his third army had become the prey of the opponent.But what else could he do at this moment?He could only blame God for being unkind, so he quickly ordered the troops to stop near Qingfengdian, build fortifications, and prepare for battle, and reported to Sun Lianzhong and Li Wen, commander of the 34th Army, asking for food and ammunition to be delivered quickly.Soon, Sun Lianzhong sent a plane to drop a lot of ammunition, biscuits and other things on the third army. Our army is still advancing rapidly, moving the battlefield further south.One more step south, our army will be more active. Before dark on the 19th, my sixth, ninth, tenth and eleventh brigades entered the vicinity of Beizhihe, Dongxi Wafang, Beiying and Qingfengdian respectively.The 4th Brigade and the 35th Regiment entered the southwestern area.The Twelfth Brigade entered the Shiyi area and took control of the Tanghe Ferry.The Independence Eighth Brigade and three militia regiments that followed the enemy also set up defenses on the south bank of the Tang River. If there was still a chance for Luo Lirong to retreat before crossing the Tang River on the morning of the 19th, it was absolutely impossible at this moment.The enemy's third army has been surrounded by groups, and it is difficult to fly. At dawn on the 20th, the Qingfengdian area, which had been silent all night, boiled.At dusk, our army launched an attack. Luo's confidence was obviously low, and he withdrew on his own once he attacked, and shrank to seven or eight villages, including Nanheying, Gaojiazuo, Hufang, Dongtongfang and Xitongfang, Dongnanhe and Xinanhe. Luo Lirong led the army and the seventh division The division headquarters and the two regiments joined forces in the southwest. Why did Luo Lirong shrink?It turned out that facing our army's siege, Luo Lirong already felt that the threat was at hand.But after thinking about it, our army had traveled a long distance and was very tired. Besides, it was impossible for the communist army to destroy his third army and block the reinforcements from the north.As long as you stick to the principal's instructions, once the reinforcements arrive, you will form a double attack on the merged army. Not only can you turn danger into safety, but you can also turn defeat into victory. Lao Jiang will definitely reward and encourage him. Therefore, he ordered the troops to step up the construction of fortifications, and at the same time sent power to Beiping and Baoding to ask for help. Soon, Li Wen replied: "I will transfer troops to the south." Then Sun Lianzhong replied: "The headquarters has reached Xushui, and it is up to Ma Ri to destroy the enemy in front of us and advance to Fangshun Bridge." Luo Lirong connected the two electricity, as if he had taken a reassurance, he replied to Sun and Li: "Based on the current situation, it is a good opportunity to wipe out the bandits, and the troops going south should be lightly armed and march southward, hoping to wipe out the bandits in the area south of Wangdu. should." While Luo Lirong was still having a sweet dream, Yang Dezhi's narrowed eyes were already fixed on the Southwest Hebei Division in the command post of the Jinchaji Field Division on the bank of the Tang River, and he circled heavily with a pencil: "The breakthrough is here! " Combat is brutal.On the quiet North China Plain, countless pairs of eyes are fixed on Qingfengdian.By the evening of the 22nd, our army tightened the encirclement. At the same time, after 12 hours of fierce fighting, the sixth brigade repelled the enemy's 9 counterattacks, opened and consolidated a breakthrough about 200 meters long in the northeast of Xinanhe village. While the fierce battle at Qingfengdian in Baonan was in full swing, the battle in Baobei also turned into a fierce battle. After the main force of our army went south, only the second and fifth brigades, the third and seventh brigades, the eighth brigade and the independent seventh brigade of the Jizhong Military Region remained in Baobei, a total of 12 regiments.But the face-to-face enemy is 5 American equipment divisions twisted together, a total of 19 regiments.The commanders of the second column Chen Zhengxiang and the political commissar Li Zhimin, the commander of the third column Zheng Weishan and the political commissar Hu Yaobang stayed here to take charge of the rescue command.They knew in their hearts that blocking on the northern front and annihilating the enemy on the southern front were two battlefields in the same battle.If the main force of the enemy's 19 regiments breaks through our army's blockade and goes southward, not only will the enemy's third army be relieved immediately, but it will definitely form a pincer attack on our southward troops.Only by resolutely blocking a large number of aid to the enemy in the Baobei battlefield can we ensure that the enemy's third army can be wiped out. On the 18th, my 4 brigades still besieged Xushui in the posture of a decisive battle.In the North China Plain, the north-south battlefield surrounding Baoding seems to be a fate-determining decisive battle.Sun Lianzhong was bewildered. When Sun Lianzhong was unable to determine our army's intentions, Li Wen seemed to react faster.From aerial reconnaissance, it was found that the main force of our army was going south at night, and he expected that our army's interception of the third army was the goal.Li Wen woke up from his dream and was in a hurry, trying to cross Xushui to rescue the third army. On the 19th and 20th, our army relied on one position after another to resist the enemy's fierce attack calmly. Shells rained down on our positions, planes bombarded them indiscriminately, and tanks attacked them in turn. An attack was forced to be beaten back by our army.This is not so much an offensive and defensive battle as it is a contest of will. On the 21st, the rescue reached the most critical moment. Sun and Li attacked me with 10 regiments, and Sun Lianzhong even flew to the sky to supervise the battle.On the road to the south guarded by our 8th Brigade, about 3 enemy regiments, under the cover of artillery fire and light and heavy machine guns, carried out a group charge like raging waves, one wave after another rushed towards my position Come.Behind the enemy's forward positions, hundreds of large trucks were lined up along the road, full of enemy reinforcements.It seemed that Li Wen was really serious. He would rather reimburse these regiments than open the gap in this road so that hundreds of cars full of enemy troops could fly southward. More than an hour is enough to travel from Baoding to Qingfengdian, so that the siege of the third army can be solved immediately.But it was this more than an hour's journey, but the enemy had exhausted all their efforts and could not get it.The enemy was repulsed again and again, and in front of my steel-like position, the corpses of the enemy were covered. Until the 22nd, the enemy army was still blocked on the front line of Baoding, but the third army they wanted to rescue had reached the last moment of flickering. At 3:40 on the 22nd, following Yang Dezhi's order, a colored signal flare was raised over the Yesi headquarters.All of a sudden, the cannons were fired, and looking at the Southwest Hebei from the command post, I saw the flash of the shell explosion, just like the lightning in the thunderstorm in the middle of the night in the mountains, drawing irregular bright rings suddenly, the houses were looming, and the sound of the explosion was shocking. Flat field.In less than half a minute, the thick smoke completely swallowed the entire Southwest Heights, and only the scorching clouds could be seen spreading and rising. The final offensive has begun.Breathing the tangy gunpowder smoke, the main force of my sixth brigade went from north to south, the fourth brigade and the thirty-fifth regiment of the twelfth brigade went from south to north, the tenth and first brigades went from east and northeast to southwest, and the ninth brigade From west to east, tens of thousands of troops broke into the village from all directions. Luo Lirong knew very well at this moment that this was the last moment to decide his fate.He waited for reinforcements for several days but saw no soldiers, only telegrams of encouragement.It seems that relying on others is unreliable, so he has to stick to it. He gathered infantry, engineers, artillery, signal troops, as well as large and small vehicles, ammunition vehicles, and military supply vehicles around the Ma family compound.All this was of no avail, and by 11:30 on the 22nd, the battle was all over. The main force of the Third Army, which was personally commanded by Chiang Kai-shek and covered by multiple batches of aircraft, was completely wiped out by me in the Qingfengdian area.Including: the headquarters of the Third Army, the Seventh Division, and the entire 66th Regiment of the Sixteenth Army. As soon as the gunfire at Qingfengdian stopped, the two armies on the entire battlefield seemed to understand something.Everything was irreversible, and the enemy on the northern front withdrew hastily. A large number of captives were detained in several villages, crowding large and small courtyards, but there was no sign of Luo Lirong, the commander of the third army. It turned out that when Luo Lirong saw that the defeat had been decided, he put on a set of worn-out military uniforms and took more than 300 remnants with him in an attempt to break out of the encirclement to the south, but was annihilated by our Eighth Brigade; One brigade wiped out part of it. In the long line of prisoners, there was a man who looked like a cook with a bandage on his head and blood on his face, and he didn't lift his head.At this time, Xu Decao, the commander of the Eighth Independent Brigade, just happened to come. When Xu Decao was negotiating the truce between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the first half of 1946, he served as our representative in the Shijiazhuang Executive Team of the Military Mediation Executive Department, and dealt with Luo Lirong.Xu Decao recognized this "cooker" at a glance. "Isn't this Commander Luo?" "Ah, Representative Xu! An old acquaintance." Luo Lirong nodded embarrassingly. Together with the lieutenant general, Yang Guangyu, the deputy commander, and Li Yongzhang, the commander of the Seventh Division, were captured together with the lieutenant general. The smoke cleared.Luo Ruiqing and Xiao Ke, the first political commissars of the Field Army, accompanied Commander Nie Rongzhen to the frontline headquarters of the Qingfengdian campaign in Beizhu Village.This is a beautiful turnaround battle fought by our army in Jinchaji in North China.After expressing cordial condolences to the soldiers of the Field Army, Commander Nie also met successively with Luo Lirong, commander of the enemy's third army, Yang Guangyu, deputy commander of the army, Wu Tiezheng, deputy chief of staff, Li Yongzhang, commander of the seventh division, and Ke Minsheng, commander of the 19th regiment. .It is very interesting that Luo Lirong and his subordinates are all vying to establish a relationship with Nie Rongzhen, commander of the Jinchaji Military Region, as teachers, students, and fellow villagers. Luo Lirong and Yang Guangyu are both students of Whampoa Phase II. When they saw Nie Rongzhen, they said "Teacher Nie".Yang Guangyu was even more explicit, and said: "Mr. Nie, I am from Qu County, Sichuan. Teacher Nie is from Jiangjin, right?!" Wu Tiezheng is a graduate of the third batch of Whampoa, and he has also listened to the class taught by Nie Rongzhen. When he saw Nie Rongzhen, he was extremely ashamed and looked ashamed.It turned out that Wu Tiezheng was a member of the Communist Party when he was in Huangpu. After the "Zhongshan Ship Incident", he defected to the enemy and rebelled. When Ke Minsheng saw Nie Rongzhen, he said repeatedly: "Commander Nie, I am also from Jiangjin, and I am your real fellow! Commander Nie..." Nie Rongzhen gave a "hmm" and said to them: "Chiang Kai-shek forced us to fight this war. It is meaningless for you to sacrifice your life for Chiang Kai-shek. The battle of Qingfengdian is over, and the war of liberation is not over yet. Are you willing to fight?" If you stay, we will provide opportunities to learn; if you want to go home, we can let you go back. However, whether you stay or go home, you should recognize the sins of the past and start a new life.” When Ke Minsheng heard this, he quickly said, "Commander Nie, I want to go back to Shijiazhuang, my family is still in Shijiazhuang!" Nie Rongzhen glanced at him, nodded, and agreed to his request.After Ke Minsheng returned to Shijiazhuang, he did a lot of work to disintegrate the enemy army.When our army liberated Shijiazhuang, Ke Minsheng became a prisoner again. Luo Lirong told Nie Rongzhen, Yang Chengwu and others about the deployment of the Kuomintang army in Shijiazhuang. The information he provided was of great value to our army in liberating Shijiazhuang.A few years later, Luo Lirong was pardoned and served as a member of the Sixth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.Yang Chengwu once visited him specially. In the Battle of Qingfengdian, our army wiped out 17,000 enemies, "creating a new record in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Annihilation War", and was congratulated and commended by the Central Committee of the Northern Shaanxi Party.Commander-in-Chief Zhu De also specially wrote a poem "He Jinchaji Military Region Annihilated Chiang's Third Army", praising: "Please look at the late autumn moon on the frontier, shining brightly on the victory flowers in the border area." Qingfengdian fought a beautiful battle, which weakened the troops defending the enemy in Shijiazhuang and isolated Shijiazhuang.What annoyed Chiang Kai-shek the most was that Shijiazhuang's fortifications, troop deployment, and firepower configuration plans fell into Nie Rongzhen's hands. The Battle of Qingfengdian became a turning point on the North China battlefield.On the day the Battle of Qingfengdian ended, Nie Rongzhen sent a message to the Central Military Commission, proposing: "There are only three regular regiments and a motley army in Shimen, and I plan to take advantage of the victory to capture Shimen"; In order to weaken the defense force of Shimen". Nie Rongzhen also reported to the Military Commission that he would "take advantage of the gap between the general meeting to go to the front line and discuss the next action plan with the chief of the field army." After Mao Zedong received the telegram from Nie Rongzhen, he personally drafted the telegram and said: "The victory of the Qingfengdian Annihilation War is of great significance for the further change of the fighting style in your area. At present, if the northern enemy moves south, we will annihilate part of it, and if the northern enemy stops, our army will respond to it." Rest at the site for about ten days, reorganize the troops, recover from fatigue, scout Shimen (that is, Shijiazhuang), and complete all preparations for attacking Shimen. Then, not only concentrate the main brigades, but also concentrate several local brigades to attack Shimen and send reinforcements Posture, practice hitting the stone gate..." Commander-in-Chief Zhu De was also very concerned about the attack on Shijiazhuang. He and Liu Shaoqi were leading the work of the Central Working Committee in Xibaipo. On October 23, Zhu De sent two consecutive telegrams.One was to suggest that the Central Military Commission approve the Jinchaji Field Army's combat plan to attack Shijiazhuang, and the other telegram was sent to the Jinchaji Field Army.The telegram stated, "Please prepare various supplements in advance. After the approval of the Military Commission, use all your strength to carry out this campaign."The telegram also informed that "Zhu intends to go to Yesi immediately." In the Battle of Qingfengdian, our army in Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei not only fought a beautiful turnaround, but also created a new situation in the North China battlefield, and also made a good start for the liberation of Shijiazhuang. With the sound of guns and cannons from Qingfengdian, the stone gate opened quietly.