Chapter 9 Chapter Eight Bloody Taiyuan

The American reporter said: Anyone will be amazed by the countless bunkers in Taiyuan!Yan Xishan uttered wild words: Taiyuan can resist the attack of 1.5 million communist troops.In accordance with the plan, Xu Xiangqian launched the Taiyuan Campaign ahead of schedule.The four main points outside Dongshan, the People's Liberation Army blows up a blockhouse and blasts it 8 times.Slowly attacking Taiyuan, Mao Zedong planned to keep Pingjin to defend the enemy.Mao Zedong ordered the general, and Peng Dehuai went to the front line of Taiyuan to command the battle.The dawn of Taiyuan's victory shines toward the Northwest.

In the early spring of 1949, when the curtain of the three major battles slowly fell, the strategic situation on the battlefield of liberation had undergone fundamental changes.The Chinese Communists and their armed forces, the People's Liberation Army, have completely crushed their old rival, the Kuomintang, in North China.The main force of the Kuomintang was almost wiped out. The rapid development of the war situation is beyond everyone's expectations.Before the three major battles, Mao Zedong optimistically estimated that the Kuomintang could be fundamentally defeated in three to five years.But the situation at this time makes people see that it will take another one to two years to completely solve the Chinese problem.

In the early spring of 1949, the footsteps of marching were inspiring.On the battlefields of liberation all over the country, the heroic People's Liberation Army swept away the remnants of the enemy with a devastating force.But on the northwest battlefield, the situation of the war is still unclear. After the three major battles, on the northwest battlefield, the remaining military forces of the Kuomintang mainly include: the "Xi'an Sui Department" with Hu Zongnan as the director has 13 armies with about 180,000 people; the "Northwest Military and Political Chief" with Zhang Zhizhong as the director "Communication Office" controls more than 170,000 people; in addition, Yan Xishan's 100,000 troops are still guarding Taiyuan City, which is difficult to conquer for a while.And Taiyuan is located on our strategic side, always restraining our army from crossing the south of the Yangtze River.

The People's Liberation Army that confronted the Kuomintang army on the Northwest battlefield mainly consisted of about 150,000 people from Peng Dehuai's field army; more than 90,000 people from the Xuqian 18th Corps of the North China Field Army.Compared with the strength of the two sides, our army has no advantage. At this time, Taiyuan became the focus of attention of both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.If the Taiyuan issue is resolved as soon as possible, our army will be able to strategically eliminate the threat from the side and back, and release the shackles of the North China Field Army, a strategic mobile force, or cooperate with the main force of our army to cross the Yangtze River south, or send troops west to the northwest.This is a battle that concerns the overall situation of the war.

Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, was called Jinyang in ancient times. It is located in the northern part of the Jinzhong Basin, on the east bank of the Fen River, surrounded by high mountains on the east, north and west sides, forming a natural barrier. A city that is easy to defend and not easy to attack. Taiyuan has always been a strategic location that military strategists must contend for. As early as 1948, Yan Xishan had turned Taiyuan into a blockhouse city, a veritable blockhouse city.Standing on the top of Dongshan Mountain and looking down, every hill and every important place around the city is covered by countless tomb-like bunkers.In order to maintain his reactionary rule, Yan Xishan used Taiyuan's topography to build permanent city defenses long before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, in the name of retaining technical personnel, he recruited more than 3,000 Japanese prisoners of war as "military advisers" to strengthen and repair the city defense fortifications.With Taiyuan as the center, he built more than 5,000 blockhouses in the area of ​​forty or fifty miles around, including "Good Burger", "Plum Blossom Fort", "Herringbone Fort", "Tiger Fort", and "Viden Fort". , "Slaughter Fort", with many names, ranging from one floor to five floors, there are brick blockhouses, stone blockhouses, and steel blockhouses, and there are pin-shaped, inverted pin-shaped, round, square, rhombus, half-moon, etc. Most of the blockhouses Food, water, eating and sleeping equipment are all stored.

After seeing these bunkers, an American reporter said in surprise: "Anyone who arrives in Taiyuan will be surprised by the countless bunkers: high, low, square, triangular, and even hidden underground, forming incredible firepower. network." Yan Xishan himself said: The "fortress city" he armed can withstand the attack of 1.5 million communist troops.Yan Xishan was really proud of his city defense work.Whenever someone mentions the city defense works in Taiyuan, Yan Xishan's face will immediately reveal a complacent expression. Even in the most depressed time, as long as he thinks of the city defense works he has been operating for many years, his gloomy eyes will immediately radiate. Shine a light.

Ever since our army began to shift into a strategic counter-offensive, Yan Xishan has taken the preservation of the nest as his strategic guiding ideology.He often said to his subordinates: Grab grain, keep grain in hand, consolidate Jinzhong, protect Taiyuan to the death, wait for the outbreak of World War III, and the US military lands in China, then they can take the opportunity to counterattack and make a comeback. Rejuvenation". In order to show his determination to stick to Taiyuan, Yan Xishan pointed to several vials containing poison on the table at a press conference and said to Chinese and foreign reporters: "I am determined to stick to Taiyuan and live and die with the city. If Taiyuan falls, we will Will die with these vials."

In stark contrast to Yan Xishan's oath to heaven, Xu Xiangqian was silently preparing to attack Taiyuan. As early as after the victory in the Battle of Jinzhong, Xu Xiangqian had shifted his attention to Taiyuan.In the past two years or so, under the command of Xu Xiangqian, our North China First Corps has successively won victories in the Yuncheng, Linfen, and Jinzhong battles, wiped out a large number of enemies, and liberated most of Shanxi's Taiyuan and Datong areas.Due to the long-term continuous combat, our army was exhausted and the troops were very tired.Need to rest and replenish.Under such circumstances, in order to make full preparations and ensure the victory of the Taiyuan Battle, on July 21, 1948, Xu Xiangqian reported to the Military Commission and the North China Bureau on the situation of the enemy and us, as well as the operational principles for capturing Taiyuan:

"...The main force of Yan bandits, in addition to the approximately 55,000 people I annihilated this time (referring to the Battle of Jinzhong), its strength includes the 49th Division, 45th Division, 69th Division, 40th Division, all of the Eighth Corps, and 30 Part or all of the Eighth Division (in the process of being transported by air), the troops directly under Yan Bandit and the 12 security regiments have at least 60,000 people. "In addition, there were about 10,000 civilian guards brought from other counties to Taiyuan, and the organizers in Taiyuan are unknown. The first part of the 38th Army that was airlifted from Xi'an to Taiyuan and the 39th Division that went south from Xinxian County are not included. After the implementation of the Jiayan bandit soldier-farmer combination, each division has a new corps, so the replenishment is timely, and the number of soldiers in each division is sufficient.

"Now the biggest problem with each of our verticals is that there are not enough soldiers. The 65th, 66th, 68th, 70th, and 72nd regiments of the eighth verticals have only about 800 fighters, and each regiment has only a few hundred riflemen; There are 3 companies in the 15th Column and 12th Regiment, and each company has only 6 riflemen. There are only 2 regiments with more than 1,000 soldiers in the entire corps. Cadre casualties are very heavy. There are only 3 cadres left, and only 1 cadre at the battalion level; the cadres of the 68th Regiment are injured; the 69th Regiment has only 4 people left; it is necessary to supplement and rest before continuing to fight...

"The operational principles for the capture of Taiyuan are drawn up as follows: earnestly complete the encirclement and siege of Taiyuan City, control the north and south airports and some outlying strongholds, eliminate its vital forces, disintegrate and shake the enemy, create favorable conditions for the siege, open up the siege road, and complete the siege preparations , and then attack it in one fell swoop." The Military Commission agreed to the above-mentioned operational policy and plan, and ordered the Corps to form the Front Enemy Committee, Secretary Xu Xiangqian, and Deputy Secretary Zhou Shidi to unify the command of the North China First Corps, the Seventh Column of Northwest Shanxi, the troops of the Jinzhong Military Region, and the First North China Artillery Brigade. After Xu Xiangqian received the order, he immediately ordered his troops to quickly complete the strategic encirclement of Taiyuan, and then rested and replenished on the spot. After a period of rest and replenishment, the Corps has three columns, the eighth column has more than 22,300 people, the thirteenth column has more than 22,900 people, and the fifteenth column has more than 17,000 people. In addition, the Corps, the Northwest Seventh Column and the North China Artillery 1 Brigade, etc., Taiyuan There are more than 80,000 troops on the front line, and weapons and equipment have also been supplemented and improved. While our side was resting and replenishing, Yan Xishan was not idle.In order to defend Taiyuan to the death, he ordered his subordinates to frantically arrest the strong men in Taiyuan City, and assembled several divisions and two columns successively.Chiang Kai-shek airlifted Hu Zongnan's reorganized 30th Division from Xi'an, together with the security forces, the total strength of Taiyuan's defenders reached more than 120,000.At the same time, city defense fortifications are constantly increasing and strengthening.Yan Xishan yelled frantically: "Our fortifications must be strengthened as the earth rotates! Every time the earth rotates, our fortifications must be strengthened by one day! Build every main position into a permanent fortification that can withstand 10,000 rounds of shells." Yan Xishan is determined to defend Taiyuan, and a bloody battle is inevitable. According to this situation, in accordance with the instructions of the Military Commission, Commander Xu Xiangqian conducted a comprehensive analysis and research on various aspects of the situation, and determined on September 28, 1948: "The guidelines for the campaign: besieged, disintegrated, attacked, gradually weakened, and then attacked in one fell swoop. Down to Taiyuan. The campaign is scheduled to begin on October 18. … "The offensive steps: the first step is to break through the enemy's first defensive position, control the north and south airports with firepower, and cut off the enemy's foreign aid. ... The second step is to capture the necessary strongholds in the southeast and northeast. The third step is to attack the city." And emphatically stated that the "main spirit of the combat policy is to fight continuously until the city wall is captured." Xu Xiangqian was also determined to fight to the end. "Taiyuan can withstand the attack of 1.5 million communist troops." Yan Xishan said arrogantly. "I only have 80,000 troops." Xu Xiangqian said calmly but confidently. There are many soldiers, the fortifications are strong, and they are defending in the corner.There are few soldiers, but there is still a fortification to be made.How did the battle between the two sides develop?At that time, many people were sweating for Xu Xiangqian. On September 17, 1948, in order to break the enemy's air aid to Taiyuan, our thirteenth column seized Wusu Airport in the southern suburbs of Taiyuan by means of a surprise attack, thus shattering Hu Zongnan's plan to reorganize the 30th Division to airlift Taiyuan. After our army controlled Wusu Airport and cut off the enemy's foreign aid, Yan Jun, who was trapped in the isolated city of Taiyuan, was in a worse situation. On September 24, Huaye captured Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, which shocked Chiang Kai-shek. Yan Xishan's officers and soldiers were even more panicked. Many officers and soldiers said: "Jinan cannot be defended, and Taiyuan is even more hopeless!" Yan Xishan felt that the situation was critical, so he tried his best to fight to the death, so on October 1, he sent 9 divisions from Taiyuan City to attack southward.He attempted to attack suddenly by concentrating his forces to undermine our army's battle preparations, consume the strength of our siege troops, and delay time; On October 3, the enemy invaded Xiaodian Town, Nanpan Village, and Gongjiabao in the south of Taiyuan City all the way; invaded Di Village, Wangming in the North and South, and Xiwenzhuang area all the way; gathered in the north of Xiaodian and Hongsi area all the way. Yan Xishan wanted to strike first, but this move was just right for our army, which is good at fighting mobile warfare. Based on this situation, Commander Xu Xiangqian and Deputy Commander Zhou Shidi decided: Strike while the iron is hot, and use the plan, and immediately decided that our army will launch the Taiyuan Campaign in advance on October 5. On the night of October 4th, our 13th Zong, with the cooperation of our brother troops, suddenly surrounded two regiments of the 45th Division and 1 regiment of the 72nd Division with more than 3,000 people. The 16th regiment detoured to the enemy's rear, cutting off the enemy's retreat.The 111th Regiment, the 109th Regiment, and the 115th Regiment approached the enemy frontier positions of Nanheiyao and Nanliao before dawn on the 5th. The enemy's forty-fifth division is one of the main forces of Yan's army. It has not been severely hit by our army, and now it is suddenly surrounded by us, panicking.On the morning of the same day, the enemy tried to break out of the encirclement under the cover of aircraft and artillery, but the continuous counterattacks were all repelled by me.When the enemy saw that they could not break through, they turned to resist and wait for help. In order to prevent the enemy from escaping, our army gradually tightened the encirclement. At 5:30 pm on the 5th, the 115th Regiment and the 109th Regiment first launched an attack on Nanpan Village. On the front of the 115th Regiment attacking one row at a time, there was an open field about 30 meters away. The enemy was hiding in the courtyard opposite, and the firepower controlled the area from three aspects.At the beginning of the assault, the first platoon was shot sideways by enemy fire, several soldiers fell one after another, and the platoon leader was also killed.The first assault failed. Seeing this situation, Yang Qingsheng, the squad leader of the second row and fifth squad who had been standing firmly on the ground, immediately led the whole class to rush up for the second time.Holding the gun in his right hand, he rushed towards the courtyard occupied by the enemy at an astonishing speed. The bullets fired by the enemy roared like a gust of wind, and several soldiers fell down again. Yang Qingsheng, who was at the front, was also grazed by the enemy's bullets on his shoulder. He continued to charge towards the enemy without any hesitation, and rushed all the way into the courtyard.The enemy was stunned by this sudden action, and before they could recover, a row of grenades had blossomed among them.The defending enemy left the dead and wounded and fled in a hurry.But at this time, the follow-up troops were suppressed by the enemy's side firepower, and after a while, a battalion of the enemy's troops counterattacked the courtyard occupied by Yang Qingsheng.Yang Qingsheng ran out of bullets and grenades, so he had to retreat and reorganize the third attack. The battle was fierce.The enemy's firepower was too fierce, and several soldiers fell down one after another as soon as they rushed into the open ground. The third assault was again suppressed by the enemy's firepower. Yang Qingsheng looked around and saw that there were not many comrades left.In this assault, one of the remaining three comrades in the first row died, and now he had no time to think about more things, so he quickly reorganized the remaining personnel.Combine the remaining fighters from Class 9 and Class 5 into two groups, blasting and assault, and prepare for the fourth assault.At this moment, the second company came up, and they quickly cooperated with the second company to carry out the fourth assault, rushing to the side of the front yard. Yang Qingsheng quickly set up the ladder and was the first to go up to the house.As soon as he rushed to the roof, he threw a grenade. Two enemies who were shooting on the roof were killed, and the other two were scared away.After the roof was occupied, he used the enemy's corpse as a cover, threw a row of grenades into the courtyard, and shouted loudly: "Give up your guns and don't kill!" The shouts echoed in the courtyard through the sound of guns and guns.Following his yelling, the enemies in the courtyard stopped shooting. After a while, more than 10 enemies obediently came out of the courtyard, knelt on the ground and handed in their guns to him.The soldiers rushed forward and handed over the enemy's guns.Yang Qingsheng shouted to the two courtyards in front again, and three more enemies surrendered their guns. In this way, Yang Qingsheng captured 4 enemy courtyards in a row, captured 23 enemy people, captured 3 light and heavy machine guns, 2 small artillery pieces, and 10 rifles.At this time, after fierce fighting, the commandos from all walks of life also defeated the stubborn enemy, and quickly developed to the northwest of the village, directly attacking the enemy's division headquarters.Yang Qingsheng survived the catastrophe, even defeated the enemy's stronghold, and made great contributions to the liberation of Taiyuan. The 109th regiment, which attacked from the side, also fought extremely tenaciously.During the battle, Wang Zhen, the leader of the No. 9 Squad of the Second Company, led the whole squad to the front. They climbed up to a tall one-story house and found two mountain cannons brightly placed in the gate of the enemy division headquarters on the opposite side. His eyes suddenly narrowed for joy. He opened a gap, and quickly led two soldiers to the gate of the enemy division. At this moment, the enemy fired a row of bullets from the window.Two soldiers were wounded and fell to the ground.He stopped for a while, holding the explosive package in one hand and two grenades in the other, and rushed towards the entrance of the enemy division by himself.Suddenly an enemy rushed at him with a bayonet in his hand.With sharp eyes and quick hands, he immediately threw a grenade at the enemy.Then, he quickly blasted open the gate of the enemy division headquarters with explosives.Seeing that he was about to climb up to Shanpao, suddenly, two grenades exploded beside him.He was injured in many places, and the severe pain almost caused him to go into shock. The enemy in the window was still shooting, and the comrades behind were suppressed by the enemy's fire and could not move forward.Seeing this scene, Wang Zhen endured the severe pain and threw a grenade with all her strength. "Boom!" The enemy machine guns stopped firing.The comrades behind rushed up, and the health worker saw that Wang Zhen was seriously injured, and planned to carry him off the line of fire, but Wang Zhen refused to agree.The hygienist had no choice but to bandage him on the spot.As soon as the wound was bandaged, he grabbed the grenade untied by the health worker, and quickly ran to the position again. In the war years, revolutionary heroism is not just empty talk.Perhaps it is because of this that there are fighting heroes like Yang Qingsheng and Wang Zhen, and our army has won all-conquering and invincible victories. While the 115th Regiment and 109th Regiment encircled and wiped out the enemy in Nanpan Village, our 116th Regiment and 111th Regiment also attacked a regiment of the 72nd Division defending the enemy in Nanheiyao Village, and quickly divided and surrounded the enemy. .Fighting until 7:00 am on the 6th, most of the enemy was captured, and a total of more than 1,700 people below the enemy regiment leader were captured. At midnight on the 5th, after a fierce battle in the Eighth Vertical, all the surrounded enemies were wiped out, and more than 4,000 people including Li Zifa, commander of the 44th Division, and Zheng Jizhou, commander of the 145th Division, were captured alive. Yan Xishan made a wrong calculation again. Yan Xishan originally wanted to take the initiative to attack and disturb my battle preparations, but he never thought that stealing chickens would not result in losses.After failing to take the initiative to attack, Yan Xishan saw how powerful Xu Xiangqian was, and decided to stick to it.For this reason, he divided Taiyuan City into 6 defense areas and made a desperate struggle.He placed the main force in the east to deal with our army's attack; in the west of the Fen River, only 3 divisions were left to defend. The terrain of Dongshan is dangerous, and Yan Xishan built many blockhouses here as a barrier for Taiyuan City. The gate of Dongshan is called Shizui, and there are four "fortresses" at the mountain pass: Niutuo Village, Xiaoyaotou, Naoma and Shantou.These four points are located on the west side of the main peak of Dongshan Mountain, 2 to 15 kilometers away from the city wall, 200 meters lower than the main peak of Dongshan Mountain, and 300 meters higher than the urban area of ​​Taiyuan. The 8-kilometer defense line extends south to the top of the mountain.This line of defense barriers the east side of the city and is Yan Jun's main support point on the outskirts of Taiyuan.It consists of 3 to 15 small hills and villages to form a group position, and dozens of reinforced concrete bunkers to form a defensive fortress, supplemented by field fortifications, deer villages, barbed wire, steep slopes, and secret passages. Can support each other. Yan Xishan boasted: "The defense line of Dongshan, which is dangerously situated, is a village within a village, and a fort within a fort, which is enough to reach 100,000 elite soldiers." Commander Xu Xiangqian said: "From the perspective of Taiyuan's natural geographical environment and the enemy's defense points, we must first break through the defenses of the mountains east of Taiyuan, and resolutely occupy and control the four major points of Niutuo Village, Xiaoyaotou, Naoma, and Shantou." Both sides put their bets on Dongshan. In history, both Li Zicheng and the Japanese in the Anti-Japanese War had suffered a lot for being the first to capture the main peak of Dongshan Mountain. After careful analysis, Xu Xiangqian decided: ignore the main peak of Dongshan Mountain, use the main force to insert, and directly seize the four main points.It takes extraordinary intelligence and courage to make such a decision. According to the order of Commander Xu Xiangqian, each column launched a sudden attack on the four main points on October 26. village. The most intense and intense battle in the Taiyuan Campaign began. An old man who participated in the battle for Dongshan recalled: The two sides fought so fiercely in that battle!Miserable!The enemy is really desperate, but we are even more desperate... Niutuo village is the northernmost one of the four main points, and it consists of three closely connected hills.After years of construction, there are many forts and fortifications on the hills. Counting from the east hills, there are No. 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10 on the No. 10 position centered on the No. 10 block (pao) . To the southeast of Block No. 10 is Block No. 4. This blockhouse was rebuilt by the enemy with an ancient temple, also known as "Temple Block". This is the core position on Niutuo Village.To the east of the position, there are forward positions with bunkers No. 5, 6 and 7 as the backbone.These three large positions are horns of each other, and the firepower of rifles and machine guns can be directly connected. Except for a large saddle between each other, the deep ditch and cliffs are isolated from each other, and each forms an independent defensive position.The enemy built many light and dark small bunkers around each big bunker.In front of the small bunker, there is a cliff about 10 meters high.Going forward, there are more than ten floors of chopping slopes like steps, on which there are two-meter-wide barbed wire fences, and countless landmines are buried near the barbed wire fences. When it comes to terrain and fortifications, Yan Xishan has really thought about it well. After accepting the mission, the Seventh Column decided to use the third brigade to carry out the attack first, the twelfth brigade and the second security brigade to cover the flanks, and the seventh brigade to be the second echelon. On the evening of October 17, the troops set off for Niutuo Village along the hidden ravine.The commanders and fighters of the third brigade who were responsible for the attack mission all marched lightly, each carrying only weapons, ammunition, and dry food.The artillerymen removed the horses that pulled the cannons, and carried the barrels, carriages, and shells on their own, so that "the artillerymen can also charge". The troops inserted between Yulinping and Zhuangzikou, and continued westward along the ravine.Arrived at the mountain ridge opposite Niutuo village at 12 midnight.After a short preparation, at 1:30, the 21st regiment launched a fierce attack on the enemy in two directions.The commando quickly leaned the ladder against the cliff and climbed nimbly up.Because the cliff is too high, there is still more than one person who can't climb it.The witty soldiers pushed the comrades in front one by one with their shoulders.When our commanders and fighters rushed to the enemy bunkers, some of the enemies were still sleeping and were killed before they could get out of bed.The little soldier of the People's Liberation Army shouted anxiously: "Hand in your gun and don't kill me, bare buttocks." After the First Battalion captured Blockhouses No. 5, 6, and 7, the Second Company took the initiative to attack Blockhouse No. 10.After the eighth class rushed a certain distance, it was blocked by a barbed wire fence, and the whole class was very anxious.I saw Zhu Hai, the squad leader, bypassing the barbed wire fence and climbing up from the south with a bayonet to dig holes in his feet.As soon as he approached the bunker, he captured the enemy's observation post.He was monitoring the prisoners while dropping bombs, when suddenly he heard the enemy commander shout: "Fire the machine gun! Quickly fire the machine gun!" Zhu Hai heard it: "Ah, the machine gun is not set up yet! The movement is too slow, what the hell!" fool!" After he finished cursing, he shouted alone: ​​"Come on! Go!" He shouted and threw grenades at the enemy. With the explosion smoke, he rushed into the enemy group.Zhu Hai snatched one of the enemy's machine guns, "Da Da..." and fired at the enemy.The comrades behind rushed up, and Block No. 10 was captured by me just like that. It was only later that I learned that what the lonely hero Zhu Hai defeated by himself was the third enemy machine gun regiment that had just been reinforced. After the No. 10 bunker was captured by me, our army immediately attacked No. 4 bunker, the core position of Niutuo Village.As the sky gradually dawned, our army's attack was not smooth, and several assaults were suppressed by enemy artillery fire and machine gun fire.According to the instructions of the superior, the third brigade stopped the attack, turned to the defense on the captured position, and took the opportunity to capture the enemy's main position after dark. The red sun rises from the east.The soldiers stepped up to build fortifications.Everyone understood that Yan Xishan's point of boasting to himself many times was captured so easily, and he would not let it go.There are no fortifications on this bare hill, and it cannot be defended under the bombardment of enemy artillery and aircraft. At around 9:00, the enemy fired at me, and after a burst of heavy bombardment, about two companies of the enemy counterattacked at me.The enemy had to cross a big ditch to approach our position. When the enemy climbed to the edge of the ditch, the soldiers would use machine guns to sweep them.The trench dug carefully by Yan Jun has now become their own cemetery.In this way, the third battalion repelled the enemy's onslaught 4 times in a row on the first day.However, under the fierce bombardment of enemy artillery fire, our side suffered heavy casualties. As soon as it got dark, Yan Jun did not dare to attack, so he had to fire artillery to embolden himself. At the same time, he relied on artillery fire to keep firing in an attempt to prevent our army from attacking No. 4 blockhouse.After dawn, a large number of enemies attacked our army's positions under the cover of planes and artillery. In this way, the monotonous tug of war lasted for 3 days. On the fourth day, just after dawn, the enemy's plane came. Four enemy planes unscrupulously strafed and bombed our army's positions in turn.As soon as the plane left, the enemy's south and north artillery groups and the artillery base in the city fired together.The artillery fire continued for more than 3 hours.Under the cover of artillery fire, Hu Zong's 30th Division with South American equipment and the remnants of the 10th Corps with Japanese as the backbone rushed up. The battle has reached a critical moment.At this time, a battalion, regardless of cadres and soldiers, picked up guns from the empty soil, pulled out the grenade box, threw the grenade, and rushed up like a tiger, fighting the enemy with bayonets.The hundred or so enemies who rushed up were quickly wiped out. The enemy's attacks were defeated one after another, and our casualties became heavier and heavier.Seeing the collapse of Hu Zongnan's 30th Division and the collapse of the 10th Corps composed of Japanese devils, Yan Xishan inhumanely dropped poison gas bombs on my position.Suddenly, poisonous gas rose into the sky on the battlefield.At that time, our army was poorly equipped and did not have special anti-virus equipment. Many soldiers did not even know how to protect themselves.Many soldiers were poisoned and fell into the shell craters, convulsing all over, but even so, the soldiers still held the grenades tightly in their hands.On this day, the enemy counterattacked 7 times in a row. The fortifications of our position were destroyed. The main position was covered with scorched earth and bullet marks everywhere.However, the position is still in our hands. In the fierce battle on the same day, the third brigade suffered heavy casualties, and some companies had only a few people left.After dark, the superior ordered the third brigade to withdraw its position, rest and replenish, and prepare for another battle. The battle for Niutuo village is still going on day and night, judging from the intensity of the battle.Both sides gave up. Our third brigade, twelfth brigade and second security brigade have successively boarded Niutuo Village.Under the cover of artillery fire, the 20th Regiment and the 21st Regiment attacked Block No. 4 in two directions.The commando captain planted a red flag on his back.Leading the soldiers, like a tiger, quickly broke through the enemy's forward positions.The 2nd Battalion of the 20th Regiment went around behind the enemy bunker and attacked the enemy under the cover of heavy machine guns, but the enemy bunker was too thick and the firepower was too strong, so it couldn't be defeated by charging alone. "Organize the blasting team and blow it up resolutely!" Zhong Shengshan, the head of the 20th Regiment, ordered loudly. The blasting team was quickly formed, with Zhang Yushan, the most famous blasting expert in the group, as the team leader.I saw him take off his cotton-padded clothes, lead the team members who picked and picked, each carrying 50 catties of explosives, and took advantage of the enemy's shooting intervals to climb towards the enemy's fort.The enemy spotted them and fired machine gun fire at them.Two team members died one after another, and the remaining comrades continued to climb towards the enemy fort.Zhang Yushan was the first to climb up to the enemy bunker, got up halfway, unloaded the explosive package from his back, and placed it gently at the foot of the bunker wall.He wanted to dig a hole with his hands to bury the explosives, but the enemy bunker was surrounded by concrete. For the first time, 100 catties of explosives were used, but the bunker did not explode. Without saying a word, Zhang Yushan rushed forward with three team members.He put the explosives carried by three people together, lit the fuse and rolled over to one side.After a loud noise, the bunker has not exploded. In this way, they blew up 6 times in a row, but the bunker still remained unexploded.Yan Xishan's blockhouse is so strong, which is rare on other battlefields. For the seventh time, Zhang Yushan used 500 catties of explosives, and the bunker was only blown open into a nest four to five feet wide and three to four feet deep, which was still not fully blown up!At this time, Zhang Yushan's eyes were burning with anger, and he shouted loudly: "Zha, let me see how thick Yan Xishan's bastard is?" For the eighth time, Zhang Yushan and the 18th Regiment's bombing team used 750 catties of explosives and buried a detonator in the explosives under the cover of artillery fire.Zhang Yushan lit the fuse, put his head in his hands, turned over and rolled down. After a loud noise that shook the sky, Zhang Yushan, who fell and was shaken, didn't know anything. With the sound of the explosion, the commandos shouted and rushed up the hill, into the temple block, and into the enemy's "underground bunker".After fierce repeated battles, Niutuo village was conquered. After the war in Niutuo Village, the victorious officers and soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army stood on the village facing the rising sun and looked up: the high Dongshan Mountain and the silver-white Fen River are all in sight; looking down to the west, Taiyuan City is vividly visible. While our army was fighting fiercely with the defending enemy at Niutuo Village, the Fifteenth Column also launched an unprecedented fierce competition with Yan Jun in Naomao. Naoma is located in the east of Taiyuan City, and it is the closest one to Taiyuan among the four main points.From the main position of Naoma, looking around, there are many bunkers.The bunker is surrounded by five layers of cliffs, each layer is 4 to 6 meters high.There are low blockhouses, dark blockhouses, mines, deer villages and barbed wire fences on the top, bottom and sides of the cliff.The only passable is a ridge that cuts the two sides of the mountain ridge into layers of cliffs, but the enemy has organized a strict fire blockade.On the back of the mountain, from both sides of the main position to Naoma Village, the enemy took advantage of the danger surrounded by mountain beams to build 6 blockhouses, each of which was 500 to 1,000 meters apart.There is a deep ditch at the west end of Naoma Village.On the west side of the ditch are Pao Blocks and Blocks 8 and 9.Defending the enemy is the enemy's elite, including Yan Xishan's main force, the first and third regiments of the eighth corps, the sixth security regiment, the first part of the forty division, and Chiang Kai-shek's 30th division, twenty-seventh brigade and eighty-first regiment.Yan Xishan said that the main point of Naoma is "a copper wall and an iron wall". On the night of October 26, my fifteenth column attacked Naoma.The 128th Regiment was tasked with capturing the main position of Naomao.Under the cover of artillery fire, the first battalion and the second battalion attacked the main position of Naomao from two directions.After the blasting team blew up the bunker at the breakthrough intersection, the commando, wearing helmets and carrying explosives, quickly inserted into the enemy's position along the route that had been repeatedly reconnaissance.As soon as they reached the enemy's forward position, they threw out a row of grenades and used the smoke to quickly approach the cliff.boom!A layer of cliffs blasted into a slope.Shouting, the commandos rushed up the ramp.In this way, after 3 hours of fierce fighting, the second battalion completely occupied the left-wing position, but the battle in the main position was still fierce. The first battalion attacked the fifth layer of cliffs, and the traffic trench came to an end. The enemy used the upper layer of cliffs to form a fire resistance line with flying mines and grenades.A row of grenades, a row of machine rifle bullets, enemy and enemy fire shuttle back and forth, clods of shrapnel flying everywhere.This is the 7th attack and still failed to break through.The third battalion of the second echelon and the second battalion of the 129th regiment also came up. The three battalions joined forces, but several breakthroughs failed! The enemy's fortifications were too strong, and the firepower was extremely fierce. The troops were blocked under the cliff, the target was exposed, and the casualties were heavy. It was almost dawn, and the commanding heights of the main position had not yet been seized.The army's ammunition was almost used up, and some soldiers simply stoned the enemy, saving the remaining grenades, and did not use them until the end. Column commander Liu Zhong and Li Chengchun, head of the 127th Regiment, were in the frontline command post, feeling extremely anxious. It would be dangerous for troops to remain exposed after daylight.After exchanging opinions with Lin Bin, the commander of the 43rd brigade, Liu Zhong decided to use the 128th regiment as a reserve team for the last assault before dawn.My intensive artillery fire and various automatic firearms sent the prelude to the last attack before dawn on the enemy positions.Zhang Shixing, the commander of the third battalion, Yan Juyao, the commander of the ninth company, and Guo Xiaoer, the instructor, led a commando team composed of 18 people and swooped towards the right wing of the main position.There is another layer of cliffs ahead. "Who will complete the task?" the deputy company commander asked. "Me!" Veteran Yang Fengming replied. "If I die, I hope... I will be recognized as a Communist Party member." Then, Wang Huangmao and Zhang Fuxiang said at the same time: "I will go too." Under the cover of machine guns, the three of them rushed forward with 50 catties of explosives. boom!The last layer of cliffs blasted into the slope.They and the commandos quickly climbed up the slope, bypassed the Plum Blossom Blockhouse and boarded the main position. The Naomao position that Yan Xishan boasted as the "bronze wall and iron wall" was captured. Taiyuan Frontline Command.After Commander Xu Qianqian heard the news, he personally called the 15th Column: "You have already penetrated into the enemy's heart. According to the experience of Niutuo Village and Dongshantou, the enemy will definitely go crazy at all costs." The counterattack, you immediately arrange and get ready." Due to the heavy casualties of the 128th Regiment in the attack, the column decided that the 127th Regiment would take over to guard the main position of Naomao.The subsequent battle situation did not go as Xu Xiangqian expected. On the 28th, a regiment of the 40th Division of the enemy and more than 2,000 people from the remnant of the Eighth Corps launched four crazy counterattacks against our position under the cover of powerful artillery fire. The 27th regiment repelled. On the second day, the fighting was even more ferocious.A machine gunner at the time recalled: "The first day of fighting was normal, but on the second day, the battle was terrible. That day I broke three machine guns by myself. The barrels were hit. It turned red, and at first everyone urinated on it, but then the piss disappeared, and the gun barrel turned red and bent. In that battle, most of us died. I was fatally injured, only slightly injured." The old man was right. The enemies who came up the next day were the eighth corps and all the forty divisions of the Yan army, plus the part of the thirty-first division of Hu Zongnan's ace army. Almost all of the ace troops in Yan Xishan's hands appeared in Naomao.This is doomed that the battle for the nao horse will be an unprecedented and cruel bloody battle. At dawn, the enemy began to shoot.How many shells could be separated at the beginning, but soon became indistinguishable. The shells falling like a storm turned the main position into a sea of ​​flames, and the fortifications and communication trenches were quickly flattened.Soldiers on the ground were constantly killed by artillery fire. Under the cover of artillery fire, the enemy kept rushing to our position, but was beaten down by our defenders.In this way, the position changed hands many times, and the two sides launched a tug-of-war fierce competition.There was a mess of corpses on the battlefield, and the entire mountain was stained red with blood. The sun was already westward, the third battalion suffered more and more casualties, and the ammunition was almost exhausted.The Seventh Company used to have more than 100 people, but now there are only 6 platoon leaders, soldiers, and buglemen. Another burst of dense shells poured on the position.The battalion command post was bombed and collapsed.The enemy rushed up for the 11th time, breaking through half the positions of the Seventh Company and half of the Eighth Company from three sides.The situation is very urgent again, and the position is about to be lost. "Comrades! The time has come to serve the people!" Battalion Commander Liu Shangwu shouted loudly.When the soldiers heard this slogan, their spirits were immediately lifted. The old man Hu Rui, who participated in this battle, said: "The slogan was really powerful at that time. People's thoughts were relatively simple, which is incomparable with the present! When the soldiers heard the battalion commander shouting so Where did the momentum come from, even the wounded rushed forward regardless of everything." 是啊，正像一位老将军说的那样，纯朴勇敢的士兵，是我们战胜强敌的重要因素。 刘尚武营长和八连赵仁文连长都端着刺刀，率领一个战斗小组从左侧冲了出去。另一组也冲了出去，杨迎春教导员率领一个组阻击冲到营指挥所的200多名敌人。一时间，手榴弹爆炸声、刺刀格击声、喊杀和叫骂声响成一片。 “那一声冲杀可真叫蛮呀，我当时整个豁出去了，脑子里什么也没想，冲到敌群中，靠着我在家时练过一点武功，见敌人就刺、就砸。也不知道过了多久，也不知道其他同志怎样了。整个人就像疯了一样。围着我的几个敌人突然丢开我向山下跑，我就往山下追，要不是后面有人喊住，回来！我当真会到山下去的。后来才知道，当时我们的人越来越少，逐渐支持不住了，这时一营增援上来了，把敌人给吓跑了。” 几十年过去了，胡锐老人回忆起淖马争夺战，仍然思维清晰。激战、血战，往往给人留下难以磨灭的印象。 就这样，一二七团三天内打退了敌人19次反扑，淖马阵地牢牢地掌握在我军手中。 激战至11月11日，我十三纵队全部推毁并攻占了敌山头要点。至此，阎锡山多次吹嘘的太原城东四大要点已全部被我攻占，太原城完全暴露在我军攻击之下。 我军拿下东山“四大要塞”之后，在反复的争夺战中，打痛了敌人，打怕了敌人。我军乘胜前进，准备攻城。 1948年12月，正当部队准备攻城时，突然接到中央军委电示：暂停攻城。中央军委决定缓取太原，就是要使太原战役服从全国军事战略部署，缓取太原，稳住平、津敌人，不让它因太原解放而渡海南逃。 徐向前、周士第、罗瑞卿、胡耀邦等前线领导人接到指示后，立即命令攻城部队停止攻城，并决定向守城敌军开展政治攻势。 一场罕见的战斗开始了。 我军一二七团阵地对面几十米处，是阎军四十九师二团一部的阵地。一天晚上天黑后，一营三连战士便开始宣传，拿起纸糊的话筒，对准前方敌人阵地喊开了：“阎军弟兄们，不要再顽抗了。快放下武器投降吧，我们优待俘虏。” 对方没人答话，宣传战士接着喊：“你们知道你们在给谁打仗吗？不要再给阎锡山卖命了，东山你们都没守住，现在的阵地就更守不住了。快放下武器过来吧。” “不是我们没守住，是我们不愿守。”宣传战士不停地喊话，对方终于沉不住气了。 “不是你们不想守，是我们把你们打败了。”宣传战士一听对方回话了，马上接着说。 “叭、叭！”突然从敌阵地上打过来一梭子子弹。 开始几天就这样，双方像小孩斗嘴似地，喊不过了就打，打完了继续喊。 星移斗转，日历已经翻到了1949年元月，春节马上就要到了。 在我军阵地上，战士们开始忙碌着迎接1949年的新春佳节。他们把交通壕口都搭上了五彩牌楼，红对联，花标语，门板报，新年刊，战壕画，以及各连互送的贺年卡、挑战书等等，把一个敌我对阵，刀兵相见的阵地，打扮得披红挂绿，气象一新。 一二七团三连六班的战士们，想出了一个新花样。他们面向前边60米远的敌人阵地，布置了一个吸引人的场面：妆扮成五颜六色的战壕前沿上，挂起一盏华丽的灯笼，灯旁竖起一根竹棍，顶上插着两个白白胖胖的蒸馍。白馍下贴着一张绿色标语：“欢迎阎军官兵过来！” 这一切和对面死气沉沉，灰不溜溜的敌军阵地，形成了强烈的对比，好似一幅极富讽刺意味的漫画。 这一切布置好后，灯彩下，六班副班长张海玉又开始喊话了。 “老乡，你看这是什么？”他一开始就用老乡一词来套近乎。 这次敌人的哨兵是个娃娃兵，他似乎早已注意到了这边的一切。 “看见了，灯笼、馍馍。”一个尖细的童声立即答道。 “几个馍馍？” “两个。你后边那些红红绿绿的是什么？” “这是我们在迎接新年呀！兄弟，过来吃馍馍吧！” “不！”听来这个小哨兵嘴皮还硬。 这时正好营部通信员巩武成走过来，他听见对面小哨兵是榆次口音，就接上说：“小鬼，过来吧，我们这边过大年尽吃好的。” “我们这边也吃好的。”小哨兵执拗地说。 张海玉大笑着说：“别骗人了，你们那边早就缺粮了。”小哨兵不服气地说：“我们有飞机天天给运大米洋面。” 巩武成说：“哪骗自己了。你们的降落伞许多都飘到我们这边来了，里面全是红大米，小葱儿。” 小哨兵顿时哑口无言了。可他忽然改口道：“你是哪个村的？” “咱们是老乡，我是榆次郭村的。”两个人隔着阵地聊了起来。 “你怎么当兵来的？” “被阎锡山编常备兵抓出来的。” “原来你在哪一部分？” “亲训师团担架排。” “老乡，你是怎么过去的？”小哨兵突然觉着有点不对劲。 “去年在介休被解放过来的。老乡，你也快过来吧，这边对咱们比那边好多了。” 这次小哨兵还没来得及答话，一个老兵突然说道：“你们声音低些！我们怕你们的地雷。” 张海玉一听有门，马上答道：“别怕，那是拉雷，不拉绳子不会响的。” “我们空着手过去你们可不要开枪。”刚才说话的老兵压低声音说。 “我们不开枪，你们最好把枪也带过来。” 接着，张海玉把过来的路线仔细地说了一遍。 “你们不要走，等着我们，我回去叫上几个老乡，都带上武器一起过去。” 就这样，在两个月的时间里，这个连共解放敌官兵210多人。有时，阎军连、排长和手下一合计，带着全连全排成建制地过来了。攻心战取得了巨大的胜利。这一胜利，一方面充分体现了我瓦解敌军强大政治工作的威力，另一方面也充分地表明了人心的向背。更使人感到不可思议的是，有的士兵刚来到我军阵地，连敌人的军装还未来得及脱掉，战斗就打响了，他们在老战士们言传身教的鼓舞下，马上就拿起武器，投入战斗，勇敢无比，不少人当了战斗英雄。为谁打仗，看来决定着两军的士气。 太原城虽然还在阎军手上，但阎军的士气和北中国的局势，注定了太原的解放只是早晚的事了。 1949年3月中旬，中共七届二中全会闭幕之后，毛泽东把西线和西北问题摆在了案头。早晨的阳光洒在了西柏坡，驱散了夜晚的寒意。西柏坡村口的小路上，毛泽东、周恩来、朱德、彭德怀等人在散步。 道路两旁的树木抽出了新芽，北方的春天已经到来。毛泽东点上一支烟，使劲抽了几口，凝望着远方的山峦，说：“现在，我们还有两个包袱没有甩掉。” 朱德问：“包袱，主席是指？” 毛泽东笑着弹弹烟灰：“一个绥远，一个太原，不能再背下去了。前一个可以往后放放，后一个嘛，必须尽快甩掉，解除我们的后顾之忧。” 周恩来将目光望向彭德怀：“彭老总，我看你要帮主席解除后顾之忧，大家好轻装前进嘛！” 朱德说：“太原的问题该尽快解决了。” 彭德怀笑了笑，未置可否。 周恩来抬高嗓门：“太原战役进入最后攻城阶段，胜利在即，向前同志却病倒了，他的身体状况太糟糕。” 毛泽东扔掉手中的烟头，果断地说：“德怀同志！中央想让你直接去太原前线，接替向前同志实施后期作战指挥！” 彭德怀愣了愣，这消息有些突然。沉思几分钟后，他点点头答应了。但他提了个条件：“向前同志仍是战役总指挥，我协助他。” 毛泽东笑着说：“德怀同志不争功，向前同志不居功，我看这个条件可以答应。不过特殊情况还要由你当机立断！” 毛泽东又说：“太原战役结束后，周士第第十八兵团，杨得志第十九兵团，归第一野战军指挥，投入西北作战。” 彭德怀是个急性子，当即决定奔赴太原前线。第二天，他便与自己的爱将王震一起上路了。 彭德怀是于4月初乘坐美式军用吉普车赶到太原前线的。一到太原前线，彭德怀马上去探望病中的徐向前。两位老战友很长时间未见面了，此次相见，分外高兴。 彭德怀说：“去年你打完临汾战役，我就向中央请求让你去西北，当时没得到批准。现在中央已经决定，等拿下太原，把十八、十九兵团调给一野参加解放大西北，以后，咱们一起消灭胡宗南和马匪军！” 徐向前说：“很希望能在彭总领导下工作，也很想去大西北，只是身体不行，恐怕去不了哇！” 3月下旬，杨得志第十九兵团。杨成武第二十兵团以及四野炮一师已经过长途跋涉，开赴太原前线，配合十八兵团加强军事围攻。 太原城外的解放军总兵力骤然间增至20万人，且都是华北、西北的野战主力部队，实力已大大超过守军。 阎锡山看情形不妙，就借口见蒋介石，把随身的医生、厨子、理发匠、洋狗装上飞机，逃到南京去了。困在太原城内的王靖国、孙楚、戴炳南等不识时务，仍然企图顽抗。我方多次要求和平解决太原的愿望，均遭他们拒绝。 文的不行只能动武的了。1949年4月2日，解放军发起总攻，肃清了外围，兵临太原城垣。 4月25日5点30分，三颗红色信号弹，像流星一样划破了夜空。突然，1300门大炮齐鸣，千万条火箭飞向城垣。 天亮了，炮弹掀起的浓烟像浓雾一样弥漫了阵地，离城50米，连城墙都看不清楚。在我炮兵破城射击中，敌碉堡一批批往下垮。敌人的大炮早成了哑巴，就是一枪一弹也打不出来，我方战士们完全不用隐蔽，他们直起身子看着弹着点，谈笑议论。 原计划从5点到9点，炮轰4个钟头，可是战士们耐不住性子。7点钟，北面和南面的我军已开始登城了。东面的部队一看也着急了起来，突破口还没有爆破好，突击手们便爬了上去。 第一名登上太原城的是突击手刘永昌，他爬到城墙上面，却找不到抓手的地方，他正犹豫，见上边埋着一个敌人的尸体，两只脚露在外面，他顺手抓住，一纵身跃了上去。上去后他配合后续部队，占领了突破口。这时，强大的解放军兵团，从南、北、东12个突破口中像怒潮决堤般地冲进城去。 攻入城内的先头部队，神速勇猛。敌人集中火力，百般抵抗。战土们巧妙地从房上屋内打开通道，越过敌人火力，继续前进。敌人准备巷战用的坦克还没有发动，驾驶员还没有完全钻进驾驶室，就被解放军战士俘获了。 1949年4月24日，太原城如期攻下。 此役，华北我军共歼敌13.8万。阎锡山在山西长达38年的封建统治宣告结束。 太原城堆满瓦砾、尸体的大街上，彭德怀和华北野战军方面的周士第、杨得志、李志民等人正在巡视。 彭德怀对周士第和杨得志说：“太原城打下了，但你们第十八兵团、十九兵团不能放松，要做好西渡黄河，千里急行军的一切准备！” 李志民沉思片刻后，说：“彭总，刚打下太原，部队要不要休整一段时间？” 彭德怀浓眉拧到一块，声音低沉地说：“我原打算让部队休整一个月。可是，西北胡、马匪十分猖狂，正在南北呼应，攻城夺地。因此，必须提前行动，越快越好！” 大家都说：“彭总，什么时候行动，你下命令吧！” 彭德怀大声说：“好！部队如果不怕疲劳，连续作战，我们争取在一年左右，消灭胡、马匪军，全部解放大西北！” 在彭德怀铿锵有力的话语里，苍凉而又肥沃的大西北，被胡宗南、马步芳、马鸿逵等军阀蹂躏了多年的大西北，迎来了它最初的曙光！