Chapter 3 Chapter Two

The life-and-death enemy of the First Field Army, Hu Zongnan, was beaten into a panic by Peng Dehuai's troops, and his troops were lost, but he was still making the last stubborn resistance.Qing and Ning's "Ma's Army" were arrogant and threatened to fight to the death with the First Field Army. When the First Field Army was established, the total strength of the enemy in the northwest region was about 400,000.Among them: Hu Zong, director of the Xi'an Appeasement Office, has about 170,000 troops in 13 southern armies, and its main forces are concentrated in central Shaanxi and the Weihe River Basin; A total of eight armies with about 140,000 troops defended the three provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia; about 70,000 people were stationed in the three reorganized divisions of Tao Zhiyue, commander-in-chief of the Xinjiang garrison; Ten thousand people were stationed in Yulin, Shaanxi.

Hu Zongnan was once a trump card of Chiang Kai-shek.He holds several records among Whampoa students: the first to step into the ranks of generals; the first to be an army commander; the first to be a theater commander; the first to be promoted to general. Hu Zongnan was born on April 4, 1896 in an old house in Zhujiatang Building, Chenjiapu, Zhenhai, Zhejiang. He followed his father who was a businessman to live in Xiaofeng County, and occupied Xiaofeng, Huzhou. Hu Zongnan studied in a private school in his early years, focusing on "Four Books" and "Five Classics". At the age of 13, he entered Xiaofeng County Higher Primary School to study. At the age of 17, he was admitted to Huzhou Public Wuxing Middle School.After graduation, he returned to Xiaofeng County Senior Primary School and served as a teacher of Chinese, history and geography.During this period, he visited Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Zhenjiang, Nanjing and other places, and he was very impressed. He really wanted to venture outside, but he never had the opportunity and it was difficult to make up his mind.Before long, he fell in love with a girl named Aying, but when he raised this matter with his father, he did not expect to be strongly opposed by his father.His father forced him to marry a vulgar woman from the tobacco and alcohol city in the countryside of Kangkou.On the wedding night, he accidentally discovered that the woman was no longer a virgin. He felt fooled and deceived, and fell into depression ever since. In the spring of 1924, he ran away from home and went to Guangzhou to apply for the Whampoa Military Academy with the help of Zhang Xuchu, the president of Shanghai Maozhu Bank.

Since Hu Zongnan had read a lot of books, his grades were good.But in the retest, he was eliminated because he was less than 1.6 meters tall.For this reason, he was very sad and wept alone at the school gate.It happened that this scene was discovered by Liao Zhongkai, the party representative of the Whampoa Military Academy.Liao Zhongkai stepped forward and asked, "Young man, what's the matter with you?" Hu Zongnan saw that this man had a lot of style, and maybe it was a turning point in his life, so he told the whole story about applying for the military academy, with pleas and expectations in his words.Seeing that he was eager to join the army, Liao Zhongkai took out a pen and wrote a note: The national revolution urgently needs a large number of talents.As long as you have good grades and good health, you should not be admitted if you are short.

Liao Zhongkai hastily said to Hu Zongnan, "Take this note to the examiner!" It was this note that made Hu Zongnan a lucky student in the first batch of Whampoa Military Academy. In early summer, Hu Zongnan, Xu Xiangqian, Chen Geng, Zuo Quan, He Zhonghan, Du Yuming, Li Xianzhou, Zheng Dongguo, Yu Jishi, and Fan Hanjie set foot on Huangpu Island, which is surrounded by water and has pleasant scenery, and started his military career. Outside the gate of the Whampoa Military Academy, near the pier, a very beautiful colorful gate was erected, with a couplet written on it: Get promoted and get rich, please go elsewhere

The banner is: The revolutionaries come When the Whampoa Military Academy officially opened, Sun Yat-sen and his wife, accompanied by the principal Chiang Kai-shek, came to Whampoa Island on a Soviet-made warship and cordially received the first batch of students of the Whampoa Military Academy. More than a month after school started, Chiang Kai-shek talked to Hu in the principal's office.When Hu Zongnan heard this, he was very nervous.When he walked into the principal's office, his heart beat so hard that he saluted very stiffly, and his fingers couldn't touch the brim of his hat.Knowing that Hu was very nervous, Chiang Kai-shek couldn't help laughing, so he said, "Hu Zongnan, why are you nervous? My principal is not a wolf, so I can't eat you! Young man, sit down quickly."

Hu Zongnan's nerves relaxed a bit, but at this moment he was already profusely sweating. Seeing this, Chiang Kai-shek quickly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Hu Zongnan.Hu Zongnan took the handkerchief and said repeatedly: "Thank you! Thank you!" and wiped his sweat. "Where are you from?" Jiang asked casually. "From Xiaofeng, Huzhou, Zhejiang." "Xiaofeng? So, you are from the same hometown as the principal, but, judging from your accent, it seems that we are from Ningbo?!" "Yes, yes, the principal's hearing is really good. I spent my childhood in Ningbo Town, and I went to Xiaofeng with my father when I was seven years old."

"I'm from Fenghua, Zhejiang. It's only a few hours' journey from Zhenhai to Fenghua, and we are considered true fellow villagers. As the saying goes: 'Rely on your parents at home, and rely on your friends when you go out'. From now on, if you have anything to do, just come to me." "Zongnan is honored to have met you, and you will be nurtured by the principal in the future." Since then, Hu Zongnan has become a frequent visitor to Principal Jiang's house. In the autumn of 1926, the instructor of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army fought against Sun Chuanfang's troops in Nanchang, Jiangxi. After more than ten days of fierce fighting, the instructor was defeated, and the division commander Wang Bailing was dismissed.However, Hu Zongnan, the commander of the second regiment of the division, played relatively well in this battle.He led the troops to attack the cattle station on the outskirts of Nanchang from the front.Niu Xing is the gate of Nanchang, and Sun Chuanfang sent army commander Li Yanchun to lead more than 20,000 people to guard it.There are strong bunkers, trenches and various fortifications around the station.Outside the station is a field, flat and unobstructed.It was the first time that Hu Zongnan commanded the troops to attack hard. First, battalions went up one by one, and then the whole regiment charged collectively. They attacked for a day and a night, with heavy casualties, but they were still not conquered.

Liu Zhi, the new division commander, said to Hu Zongnan very seriously: "You really can't attack?" "Yes. But I'm not convinced, they just have a favorable position..." "War depends on the timing, location, and harmony of people. They take advantage of the location, so can't you take advantage of the timing?..." "You mean to use fire attack?" Hu Zongnan suddenly understood what the officer meant. Afterwards, Hu Zongnan used a battalion of troops to transport firewood, gasoline, etc., and piled them in the southwest direction of Niuxing Station. A large amount of pepper and raw water were removed from the firewood doused with gasoline.The defenders couldn't bear the stimulation of the smoke and peppers, so they jumped out of the fortifications and ran around.Hu Zongnan took the opportunity to direct the heavy machine guns to fire, and then commanded the troops to capture the station.One regiment defeated an elite division of Sun Chuanfang and captured the enemy commander Li Yanchun and more than 8,000 officers and soldiers under him.Hu Zongnan was highly appreciated by Chiang Kai-shek for commanding this battle.

After the capture of Nanchang, the instructor was changed to the first division, which was under the order of the East Route Army. In March 1927, the East Route Army conquered Shanghai. In May, in recognition of Hu Zongnan's achievements, Chiang Kai-shek promoted him to the rank of deputy commander of the first division major general, becoming the first among the students of the Whampoa Department to enter the ranks of generals. In November, Hu Zongnan officially served as the commander of the first division lieutenant general. In June 1932, Chiang Kai-shek personally mobilized an army of 400,000 to attack the Red Fourth Front Army in the Dabie Mountains.Hu Zongnan led the first division through Tongcheng and Shucheng to conquer Lu'an and Huoshan counties.At this time, Zhang Guotao ordered the Fourth Red Army to go south to Macheng and "attack Wuhan" despite the objections of Xu Xiangqian and other commanders.Taking advantage of the dispersion of the Red Army's forces, Hu Zongnan intercepted and surrounded the Red Army's Tenth and Red Army's Twelfth Divisions in the area east of Hekou Town with the cooperation of Li Sisu's Fourteenth Division. The Red Army suffered heavy casualties.Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied with this battle, and praised the first division for "capable of attacking a battle."

In the face of a strong enemy, the Fourth Red Army had no choice but to break out to the northwest.Hu Zongnan's troops and other troops were desperate, trying to annihilate the Red Fourth Front Army on the way north.However, under the leadership of Xu Xiangqian and others, the Red Fourth Front Army tore through the breakthrough and highlighted the encirclement. In 1935, the Red Army of Chinese Workers and Peasants embarked on a long march of thousands of miles in order to go north to resist Japan.The 49th Division of Hu Zongnan, Wang Yaowu, Zhong Song and Wu Chengren marched towards the Songpan area in an attempt to intercept and annihilate the Red Army.

As a result, Li Riji, who was guarding Maoergai, was completely wiped out, and more than half of Wu Chengren's division was wiped out.At that time, Hu Zongnan led a regiment of troops to occupy Songpan. Hearing that Zhou Enlai ordered Zhang Guotao to lead troops to surround Songpan and capture Hu Zongnan alive, his face turned pale with fright, and he sighed: "It seems that I will be a prisoner of the Red Army. But May Zhou Enlai spare my life for the sake of Huangpu alumni." But Zhang Guotao broke with the Party Central Committee, and although he surrounded Songpan with troops, he never attacked.Three days later, the siege was abandoned, allowing Hu Zongnan to escape by chance. After the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, Hu Zongnan was promoted to the commander of the First Army.Soon, he was ordered to lead his troops to the vicinity of Yuwang and Hui'an Fort, to attack the base areas of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, hoping to take advantage of the Red Army's unstable foothold in northern Shaanxi to annihilate the Red Army or drive the Red Army to the Yellow River.Peng Dehuai led the Red Army to meet Hu Zongnan. After the 78th Division of Hu's Division entered the mountain castle, it was surrounded by the Red Army. Most of the brigade was wiped out and the whole division was defeated.The second brigade of the first division stationed in Sweetwater Castle was also hit hard. One regiment leader was killed and the other was seriously injured.In order to save face, Hu Zongnan dismissed division commander Ding Delong and brigade commander Liao Ang respectively, and promoted Li Wen, deputy commander of the first division, to commander of the 78th division, and the whole army rested around Hui'an Fort. During the entire Anti-Japanese War, Hu Zongnan really became Chiang Kai-shek's "protégé student".Chiang called him "Annei" and attacked the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and he went to fight the Communist troops; Jiang told him to resist the Japanese, and he led the troops to fight against the Japanese.However, Hu Zongnan is so obedient, and he also has his own wishful thinking.Because he knows very well that it is not enough to just have his own army, he must also have his own territory, so that he can stand firm and stand firm. He had to rely on his special relationship with Chiang Kai-shek to achieve his goals. At the beginning of 1942, Hu Zongnan was promoted to the deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Theater and was stationed in Xi'an.The commander-in-chief of the Eighth War Zone is Zhu Shaoliang, who is actually a vacant post and is stationed in Lanzhou.Li Yannian's 34th Army, Tao Zhiyue's 37th Army, Fan Hanjie's 38th Army, and Li Tiejun's 29th Army, claiming 340,000 troops, were all under the command of Hu Zongnan.No wonder people exclaimed: "The War of Resistance fattened Hu Zongnan." In July 1945, Hu Zongnan was promoted to the commander-in-chief of the first war zone.After Japan surrendered, Hu Zongnan was ordered by Chiang Kai-shek. In addition to personally accepting the surrender of the Japanese army in Zhengzhou, he also ordered Li Wen to lead the 34th Army to march to Shijiazhuang, Beiping and Tianjin in Hebei Province through Shanxi, in an attempt to seize the North China territory. .Later, due to Yan Xishan's troubles and the development of the situation, the Luo Lirong Department of the Third Army occupied Shijiazhuang, Li Wenkai was stationed in Beiping, and Tianjin could not intervene. At this time, Hu Zongnan had become a veritable "Northwest King".He has three group armies and a garrison headquarters in Gansu, with a total of more than 400,000 troops, and his influence spreads all over the northwestern provinces.In order to carry out anti-communist and anti-people tasks, he was loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, and at the same time, in order to consolidate his sphere of influence, he established a bloody spy system and organization to deal with his "various enemies": he set up two public prisons : Xi'an Youth Labor Camp (also known as Xi'an Concentration Camp) and Northwest Special Detention Center, the former is used to detain a large number of dissident patriots, patriotic students and young people who defected to Yan'an, and the latter specializes in detaining and killing Communist Party members, revolutionary comrades and patriots Famous people, is a brutal fascist prison.He also has an internal prison, called the Minister's Service Team, which detains middle and senior generals and important figures who have political problems. He presided over the opening of four schools, namely the "Whampoa" in Xi'an - the seventh branch of the Central Military Academy, the wartime cadre training group in Xi'an, the Northwest cadre training group in Lanzhou, and the guerrilla cadre training school in Cuihuashan. He established his own gang organization - Iron Blood Group, whose main members are Li Wen, Luo Lie, Yuan Pu, Zhao Longwen, Sheng Wen and so on.Its task is to inspect the thoughts, words and deeds of military officers in peacetime, and to perform supervision tasks in wartime, so that the officers and soldiers under them actively oppose the Communist Party and serve the interests of the four major families of the Kuomintang. He sits in Xi'an, but has sent a large number of special envoys and ambassadors to serve him. Chiang Kai-shek trusted this "little fellow countryman" very much, and at the same time, in order to use him to work for himself, he also acquiesced in his sphere of influence.In the later period of the Anti-Japanese War, Hu Zongnan's territory stretched from Henan in the east to Xinjiang in the west. Except for the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region controlled by the Communist Party, it was the territory of this "Northwest King".Because of his forced military service, excessive taxation, full implementation of military control and joint protection and joint sitting system, and bloody suppression of people's resistance, the people of Northwest China complained. As for Hu Zongnan, Peng Dehuai had contacted him in early 1939.At that time, Peng Dehuai passed by Xi'an after going to Chongqing for talks with Chiang Kai-shek, and met Hu Zongnan in order to solve the anti-communist friction problem of the Kuomintang.At that time, Hu Zongnan was in his early 30s, and he was proud of himself.Peng Dehuai returned to the front, someone asked him what was his impression of Hu Zongnan? Peng Dehuai replied: This man has great ambitions and few talents. Later facts confirmed Peng Dehuai's evaluation.Hu Zongnan vowed to attack Yan'an, wipe out the Northwest People's Liberation Army, and complete the "reconnaissance of chaos". However, he fought against the Northwest People's Liberation Army for several years, and was led by the nose by Peng Dehuai. When the First Field Army was established, Hu Zongnan was already in a state of panic all day long. While he continued to assume the stance of managing the Northwest battlefield, he was secretly preparing to escape.For him, this ending was absolutely unexpected. The Majiajun was a warlord separatist force in Northwest China. During the Liberation War, it became an accomplice of Chiang Kai-shek's attack on the liberated areas, so it was a strong opponent for the First Field Army.Speaking of the rise of Ma Jiajun, we must start with Ma Zhanao. Ma Zhanao lived in Hejiazhuang, Manigou, Hezhou.His ancestors chanted scriptures and preached, and his family was poor. Ma Zhanao began to chant scriptures and preached locally, and then went to Xi'an University Lane Mosque to study and gained a lot of knowledge.At that time, the Qing government was extremely corrupt, and the people lived in dire straits.At the same time, the flames of war of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement have been burning from the southwest to the northwest.Xi'an, where Ma Zhanao studied, was also greatly affected. The Hui people in Shaanxi had been cruelly exploited and oppressed by the rulers, and they secretly planned an uprising at this time. After Ma Zhanao "dressed" (graduated), he returned to his hometown and worked as an imam for the beginning of school in the Honzhuang Temple.He often told the parishioners what he heard and saw in Xi'an, and gradually made the local parishioners have the awareness of resisting tyranny. Although Ma Zhanao's family was poor, he had a rich uncle.He was very dissatisfied with his uncle's loan sharking in the countryside, and often persuaded his uncle to give up his debt.His uncle was greedy for money, so he would not listen to his nephew.Ma Zhan'ao taught the poor people who borrowed money to resist and not repay the debt.He also made a big splash, preaching everywhere that he would act for Hullah (Allah) and kill his uncle.His uncle knew that he was unpopular, and was afraid that his nephew would really kill him, so he had to rely on Ma Zhanao.In this way, Ma Zhanao won the trust of the majority of the Christians. When Ma Zhanao's power was expanding, a group of Hui people in Dongxiang, Hezhou, which was tens of miles away, revolted against the rule of the Qing court.They attacked Hezhou City for two consecutive days, but failed to capture Hezhou City, which was guarded by the Qing army.Hearing the faint shouts of killing from Dongxiang, the Xixiang people couldn't hold back. Some young people were secretly sharpening their knives and guns, wanting to conquer Hezhou City together with the Dongxiang Hui people. Hezhou is located in the southwest corner of Gansu, with the Yellow River in the north, the Tao River in the southeast, and the mountains in the southwest. There are 24 secret gates built in the Ming Dynasty, which lead directly to the Tibetan area in southern Gansu and Xunhua in Qinghai.The government rulers of all dynasties attached great importance to such a dangerous area. Since the Han Dynasty, all the kings of the Central Plains must establish a state and county in Hezhou, and regard Hezhou as an important town in the west, and send elite soldiers to guard it. Ma Zhanao, the grand imam in Xixiang, led the Hui people from the four townships to capture Hezhou City and raised the banner of anti-Qing.But later he led his troops to surrender to the Qing army, and in turn suppressed the Hui people's rebel army, and the Ma family army prospered from this. Ma Zhanao, Ma Haiyan, and Ma Qianling, the three leaders with the surname Ma who first started the incident in Hezhou, naturally became the first generation of Ma's army. The second generation of Ma Jiajun refers to Ma Zhanao's son Ma Anliang, Ma Haiyan's sons Ma Qi and Ma Lin, and Ma Qianling's sons Ma Fulu and Ma Fuxiang.They took over their father's duties and formed a party to occupy the city. They are the leaders of warlords full of crimes.At the beginning of the Republic of China, Ma Qi served as the commander-in-chief of Xi'an Town, known as Ning Haijun, and dominated Qinghai.After Ma Qi's death, his younger brother Ma Lin took over first, and then Ma Bufang replaced him.Ma Fuxiang occupied Ningxia as king, and later his son Ma Hongkui became king of Ningxia.Ma Bufang and Ma Hongkui can be regarded as the third generation of the Ma family army. They are the most brutal and the most serious. Among the third generation of Ma Jiajun, Ma Bufang is the most capable and outstanding one.He was born in 1903. He went to Xining with his father Ma Qi at the age of 9. He used to be a "manla" (primary school student studying scriptures) in the Dongguan Mosque, and his scriptures were called "Husai Ni".Later, seeing his elder brother Ma Buqing serving as the commander of the Ning Navy’s cavalry team (battalion commander), shouting in front of him and embracing him in front of him, his momentum was prominent, which was in stark contrast to his hard life in the mosque. military post.Ma Qi placed a deputy leader in the first battalion of the Ninghai Patrol Army to assist his brother Ma Buqing in his work. Ma Bufang entered the barracks like a fish in water.He participated in some major military operations in the barracks, and also participated in bloody massacres. During the long-term campaign and fighting, he learned to lead troops to fight, and he also learned how to suppress the rebellious people.Before and after the Central Plains War, he and his father worked secretly to strengthen their own strength, and actively collected intelligence from both Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, and Yan Xishan, waiting for opportunities to respond.In the early days of the battle, it was hard to predict who would win and who would lose, and the northwest was still under the control of the National Army. Ma Qi and his son still expressed their support for Feng and defeated Chiang, and sent Ma Bufang to lead a brigade of cavalry to march into Shaanxi with Feng's army.However, secretly sent someone to contact Chiang Kai-shek. In September 1930, Feng and Yan failed to oppose Jiang, and Ma Qi and his son immediately supported Jiang and opposed Feng.Chiang Kai-shek considered that the northwest was beyond his reach and he was unable to take care of it for a while, so he decided to use the "green horses" and recognized their dominance in Qinghai. Not long after Ma Qi's death, Ma Bufang ousted his uncle Ma Lin and became the supreme local emperor of Qinghai Province himself.He has vicious methods, extravagant life, and extreme brutality.He has repeatedly suppressed Tibetan tribes bloodily, burned, killed and raped, and committed all kinds of crimes. Ma Hongkui was born in 1892, and his childhood name was Sanyuan.When he was a child, Ma Hongkui didn't like to study. His father Ma Fuxiang, who was the envoy of Zhenning in Xining, once tied a wooden pier with a rope to Ma Hongkui's feet to force him to study, but the young master still had the ability to go out for a stroll. In 1909, Ma Hongkui went to Lanzhou to be admitted to the Army Primary School, and was very interested in military training gymnastics and military subjects. In 1912, he served as the battalion commander under his father, and was promoted to the commander of the Ningxia New Army. In March 1925, after Feng Yuxiang officially took office as the Northwest Frontier Defense Supervisor, he began to focus on managing the area west of Zhangjiakou.Father Ma Fuxiang Forced by Feng Jun's influence, Zizi had no choice but to obey Feng.Ma Fuxiang handed over all of Suiyuan to Li Mingzhong, a general of the Feng Army, and he himself took charge of the Northwest Frontier Defense Council, which had no real power, while his troops were handed over to Ma Hongkui to lead.In order to comfort Ma and his son, Feng appointed Ma Hongkui as the commander of the Seventh Division of the Army. In 1927, Ma Hongkui served as commander of the Fourth Army of the First Front Army of the Second Army of the National Revolutionary Army under Feng Yuxiang. After Jiang, Yan, and Feng's war in the Central Plains ended, Ma Hongkui and his son competed with Feng's Yang Hucheng for the northwest territory. In order to reward Ma Hongkui and prevent Yang Hucheng from developing in the Northwest, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to make Ma Hongkui the chairman of Gansu Province.When Chiang Kai-shek asked Ma Fuxiang for his opinion, Ma Fuxiang believed that his son had a violent temper and was afraid that he would not do well as a local official. Instead, he recommended his nephew Ma Hongbin as the chairman of Gansu Province and Ma Hongkui as the chairman of Ningxia Province.Later, Ma Hongkui wanted to become the chairman of Henan Province in order to stay in the Central Plains for a long time, but he failed. After he took over the post of chairman of Ningxia Province, he regarded Ningxia Province as his personal private property and monopolized the power of the party, government and military.In order to maintain his rule, he has been raising an army of hundreds of thousands. Ma's army ran rampant in Qinghai and Ningxia, doing many evils and cruel methods, repeatedly suppressing border residents bloody, and committed unforgivable crimes against the Red Army's West Route Army.They attacked the West Route Army of the Red Army, killed more than ten thousand Red Army soldiers, and raped the Red Army female soldiers... At that time, when the Red Army arrived in Sichuan and Kangxi on the Long March, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Ma Bufang to "block the Red Army without delay" in Qinghai and southern Gansu with a 100,000 urgent telegram.On the one hand, Ma Bufang reckoned that the Red Army would mainly pass through the northeast of Xikang, and then go north through Aba, and would not go deep into Qinghai.On the other hand, in order to prevent the Red Army from entering Qinghai and to pretend to be positive toward Chiang, he ordered the Chief of Staff of the New Second Army Ma De and others to arrange three lines of defense between Qinghai and Gansu to intercept the Red Army. From west to east, it stretches for thousands of miles.In order to win Chiang Kai-shek's favor, Ma Bufang announced that he would go to the Suhuka pass on the first line of defense to inspect and set up a front-line headquarters. , can be comforted." In fact, he lived in Guide Nanhai Temple two or three hundred miles away from Xining, avoiding interference, and was quietly considering how to expand his power.He ordered the counties to seize and distribute funds on a large scale, carry out military training, and played the banner of "militarization of the military, and the militarization of the people" to scare himself.In order to prevent Chiang Kai-shek from sending troops into Qing Dynasty in the name of intercepting the Red Army, he telegraphed to Chiang: "There are still enough troops in this province to dispatch, please don't worry about it." In July 1936, when the Second and Fourth Front Armies of the Red Army departed from Ganzi, in order to cover the main force advancing, thousands of troops marched into the Banma and Jiuzhi areas in the Guoluo area of ​​Qinghai, and defeated the Ma Bufang's Lapingfu regiment, Malu, and The "civilian regiment" of the local leader and herdsmen withdrew from Guoluo in August after completing their tasks, and rushed to Min County, Gannan to join the main force. Ma Bufang hastily convened a military meeting in Gandu, and ordered Ma Biao, Ma Pu and other brigades to intercept the Red Army in Lintao and Minxian County, Gansu.This time, during the exchange of fire with the Red Army, La Pingfu and Ma Lu followed Ma Bufang's order and massacred more than a thousand wounded and sick Red Army soldiers in Qinghai and Sichuan border areas, and brutally killed the captured Red Army soldiers.Later, in the battles in Lintan and other places in Fusunan, Ma Bufang's troops were defeated in a row and returned to Tongren in Qinghai.Just as Ma Bufang was terrified, the Red Army turned to the northeast, giving Ma Bufang a short respite. In October, the 5th, 9th, and 30th armies of the Red Fourth Front crossed the Yellow River westward in Jingyuan County, northeast of Lanzhou, formed the West Route Army, and marched into the Hexi Corridor.The West Route Army of the Red Army has a total of 25,000 people in three armies.Chen Changhao was the political commissar, Xu Xiangqian was the commander-in-chief, and Li Te was the chief of staff.The commander of the Fifth Army is Dong Zhentang, political commissar Huang Chao, and director of the Political Department Yang Keming; the commander of the Ninth Army Sun Yuqing, political commissar Chen Songhai, and director of the Political Department Zeng Risan; the commander of the 30th Army Cheng Shicai, political commissar Li Xiannian, and director of the Political Department Li Tianhuan.In order to use Ma Bufang to destroy the westward Red Army, Chiang Kai-shek appointed him as the commander of the second northwest defense zone and the commander of the fifth column. In order to block the Red Army, Ma's army successively invested 115,000 troops, more than 6 horses, and planes sent by Chiang Kai-shek to assist in the battle. As soon as the West Route Army crossed the Yellow River, they went into battle.The West Route Army occupied Beiwan and Shanzita that night, defeated Ma Buqing's troops, and then fought fiercely with Ma Lu's Brigade of the Fifth Cavalry Division in Songjiachuan.In the fierce battles in Yitiao Mountain, Zhenlubao, Tumen and other places, Ma Bufang's main force was severely wiped out, and his chief of staff, Major General Ma Yanxiang of the Fifth Cavalry Division, was killed. In order to intercept the Red Army's westward advance, Ma Bufang urged Ma Buqing by telegram to dispatch the Qimingshan Brigade and Malu Brigade to intercept the Red Army, and transferred Ma Biao and other brigades to block the attack at Ganchaiwa.The Red Army fought fiercely with Ma Biao and other brigades in Yuchaiwa for a day, inflicting heavy casualties on Ma Bufang and Ma Buqing's troops. Ma Jinzhong, battalion commander of the Hainan Garrison Brigade, and more than 30 company and platoon leaders were killed by the Red Army. After the Red Army won the victory, it continued to advance westward, and Ma Bufang made a new deployment in Xining, with Ma Yuanhai as the frontline commander, and the following three cavalry and one infantry, respectively commanded by Ma Biao, Ma Pu, Ma Lu and Han Qigong.Ma Yuanhai directly commanded six brigades and some militia groups.Although the Red Army continued to gain victories in the battles in Yongchang County and its surrounding fortresses, it failed to completely smash the all-out offensive of Ma Yuanhai. In order to gain the initiative, the Red Army withdrew from Yongchang County. While Ma Yuanhai occupied Yongchang City, he also sent Ma Biao and Ma Pu to attack Shandan.After several days of fierce fighting, the Red Army abandoned the city again and continued to advance. In January 1937, the West Route Army of the Red Army fought fiercely in the Yongchang area for a month. Although it dealt a heavy blow to the Ma family army, it was also caught in a bitter battle and it was difficult to get out of the predicament.In order to preserve the vitality, it was transferred to Gaotai and Linze counties. On January 4, more than 2,000 members of the Fifth Red Army, led by the army commander Dong Zhentang, invaded Gaotai County.But a few days later, two cavalry brigades, one infantry brigade and some militia regiments of the Ma's Army rushed to Gaotai County with a force eight to ten times that of the Red Army. Ma's army launched countless attacks on the Gaotai Red Army, but was repelled by the Red Army. In the middle of the night on January 19th, when the Red Army was fighting desperately with the enemies besieged from all directions, a few bad elements of the militia incorporated by our Red Army opened the west gate and let Ma Jiajun into the city.So Ma's army invaded the city and started street fighting with the Red Army.Dong Zhentang, who commanded the battle at the head of the city, fired at the enemy with two box guns.When a large number of enemies came to him, he jumped down from the wall and shot the last bullet in his gun to his temple, a heroic sacrifice. After Ma's army entered Gaotai County, they burned, killed, looted, and raped for seven days.In the Liu family hall alone in the vegetable market, more than 20 innocent people were hacked to death.The new county magistrate Wang Zhengang personally led people to search door to door and found more than 200 wounded and sick of the Red Army.Ma Jiajun killed the wounded Red Army soldiers who were injured and unable to walk on the spot, and escorted the rest away.In Gaotai, Ma Jiajun killed more than 2,400 Red Army officers and soldiers and the masses. The West Route Army of the Red Army fought for several months, and more than half of the remaining 30th Army, the main force, suffered casualties. The commander of the 88th Division, Xiong Houfa, had his arm broken.The Ninth Army was almost gone, and political commissar Chen Haisong was killed.Zheng Yizhai, director of the General Supply Department of the West Route Army, encountered the enemy when he was taking in female soldiers and the wounded. He was hacked to death by Ma Jiajun with a saber because his pistol bullets were exhausted. The remnants of the West Route Army of the Red Army that withdrew from Linze and Gaotai were later transferred to the Nijiayingzi area.At this time, the Red Army had only more than 10,000 men and horses, and they were all exhausted, with few ammunition.Ma Yuanhai, the commander-in-chief of the Ma family army, gathered five cavalry brigades, three infantry regiments, and several militia groups in Menyuan and Xunhua to continuously attack the Red Army. At this time, the Red Army learned that the Xi'an Incident had been resolved peacefully, and that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had begun to jointly fight against Japan, so they contacted Ma Jiajun for a truce.But Ma Yuanhai was not willing to stop. He saw that the Red Army suffered heavy casualties due to day and night fighting, and thought that the Red Army could be wiped out soon.Therefore, not only did he not cease fighting with the Red Army, but he launched attacks on the Red Army positions again and again. After many attacks, Ma's army suffered heavy casualties. Xunhua militia brigade commander Han Zhongliang, regimental commander Ma Zhongliang, and battalion commanders Ma Xueliang and Ma Chaoxuan were shot dead by the Red Army one after another.In the Battle of Hexi, a large number of ordinary people who had no fighting ability were forced into the militia, sent to the battlefield to charge, killed one group, and another group went up. In this kind of human sea battle, the casualties of the militia were particularly heavy. When the Red Army moved to the Sandaoliugou area, it fell into the siege of Ma's army.At this time, the Red Army was divided into two teams, the left and the right, and decided to break out to Xinjiang.Ma's army was desperate, and the Red Army fought and left. In the First Battle of Nanshan, Suzhou, Sun Yuqing, commander of the Red Ninth Army of the right detachment, was captured by Ma Zhongyi's department.The remaining troops joined the left detachment, transferred to Anxi, and then entered Xinjiang. The number of remnants of the West Route Army who arrived in Xinjiang was counted, and there were only 903 people! The failure of the West Route Army of the Red Army was exchanged for the carnival celebration of the Ma Jiajun.When Ma Yuanhai led his troops back to Xining triumphantly, Ma Bufang held a banquet in Mojiaquan Bay in Xining, and forced the nearby people to greet him from Xiaoqiao to Ximen.In order to exaggerate the "great results" of Ma's army's attack on the Red Army's West Route Army, Ma Bufang sent letters to various places to show off his achievements, and held a three-day celebration meeting. In order to encourage these anti-communist elements, Chiang Kai-shek awarded medals to more than a dozen generals of the Ma family army, including Ma Biao and Ma Yuanhai, according to Ma Bufang's report. Even Ma Bufang's son Ma Jiyuan, who was still studying, also received a "National Flower Medal". However, the captured officers and soldiers of the Red Army were tortured and humiliated.Among the prisoners of the Red Army, some were killed by the brutal Ma's army.In February 1937, Ma Bufang carried out a massacre in Xining.More than 720 Red Army soldiers were killed.Ma Bufang's cruelty to the Red Army soldiers was unbearable. When the Red Army soldiers were killed, they only had very thin clothes on their bodies, most of them were barefoot, and some were swollen and pus-filled from the cold, but many Red Army soldiers still held their chests high and held their heads high without fear when they walked onto the slaughterhouse.Most of the soldiers killed in the southern suburbs were hacked with one or two knives, then kicked into a pit and buried alive.Among them was a warrior, still alive, struggling to crawl out of the pit in the middle of the night, and crawled to the house of a nearby family surnamed Ma.However, the executioner followed the blood trail all the way, dragged the Red Army soldier out of the hut, dragged him to the edge of the pit, and killed him. The captured Red Army personnel were generally not so openly massacred by the Ma family army.They took these Red Army prisoners of war as trophies and triumphantly escorted them from Hexi to Xining.On the way, the captured Red Army suffered a lot.Many of them died of disease or starvation during the journey. Among the captured personnel of the Red Army, the worst were those female soldiers.They were originally members of the General Political Art Troupe of the West Route Army of the Red Fourth Front Army.Originally, they thought they were going to give a condolence performance to the Ninth Red Army, but when they got there, the Ninth Red Army had already moved, but unfortunately they met Ma Jiajun.The members of the art troupe refused to be arrested without a fight, and guarded a large manor house, resisting bravely, but these frail women were no match for Ma's army. Not only did they suffer heavy casualties, but some survivors were also captured. Ma's army forced the captured female soldiers to form a dance troupe, and soon added some prisoners who could perform dramas to form a new theater troupe.In this new troupe, there are some undisclosed female cadres of the Red Army, including Chen Changhao's wife Zhang Qinqiu. Ma Bufang asked people from the new troupe to perform and dance for him.These female fighters deftly make revolutionary propaganda on stage.Because they used to perform revolutionary programs in the Red Army, such as "Peasant Dance", "Navy Dance", "Children's Dance", etc., when they were performed on the stage, it was revolutionary propaganda. "Red Flag Fluttering" was changed to "National Flag Fluttering" or something like that, but when he sang on stage, it was "Red Flag Fluttering" again, but Ma Bufang couldn't hear it in the audience, and laughed.Once, Ma Bufang invited his military and political officials and local gentry to watch a play.Have the actresses of the new troupe do a few dances before the play begins.Ma Bufang was sitting in front.When actress Dang Wenxiu was dancing the military dance, she suddenly dropped her pair of shoes onto the coffee table where the big shots ate and drank.This made the leader of the Ma family army very angry.Ma Bufang cursed, "Where did your eyes go?" But Dang Wenxiu retorted logically: "The shoes are so big, the soles are so heavy, there are no laces, and the dance music is so fast, they fall out when you dance. What can I do?" It was Dang Wenxiu, who had a lively personality and a clear love and hate, who was taken by Ma Bufang because of his youth and beauty. Ma Bufang asked her to dance for him alone.Dang Wenxiu was deeply afraid of being humiliated and refused to go with excuses, so she hid quietly.Ma Bufang was so angry that he sent guards to search. Unfortunately, Dang Wenxiu was found, beaten and then shot to death.Ma Yingfu, Ma Bufang's entourage and adjutant who was not as good as a beast, raped her before killing her.Sun Guiying, who was better looking, refused to be Ma Buqing's concubine and was buried alive by the side of the mountain road because another Majiajun officer asked her to marry him. The female prisoners of the Red Army hated the villains like Ma Bufang more and more deeply, and several impetuous ones repeatedly proposed to try to get rid of Ma Bufang.Zhang Qinqiu advised them not to act recklessly. She said: "It's not difficult to kill Ma Bufang. A grenade is enough during the performance, but if one of them dies, we will all die. It's not worthwhile. We have to go back to the revolutionary ranks alive." Later, due to betrayal by traitors, Ma Bufang learned that Gou Xiuying in the new troupe was the famous Zhang Qinqiu, so she and two other female Red Army cadres were escorted to Nanjing and imprisoned in the Nanjing Introspection Institute.Later they were rescued by Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying, the party representatives of the CCP Nanjing Office. The officers and soldiers of the First Field Army hated the Ma's army deeply, and they would never forget the crimes committed by the Ma's army against the Red Army and the People's Liberation Army. Before the establishment of the First Field Army, the Northwest People's Liberation Army under the command of Peng Dehuai fought against the Ma Jiajun. That was after Peng Dehuai commanded the three battles of Qinghuabian, Yangmahe, and Panlong in 1947, he was thinking about what action to take next. At that time, after the Hu Zongnan Group occupied Yan'an, when our Northwest Field Corps was fighting against Hu Zongnan, Ma Bufang and Ma Hongkui, the deputy directors of the Northwest Xingyuan, took advantage of the gap to occupy our Longdong area from April 8 to May 12. Towns such as Qingyang, Heshui, Quzi, Huanxian, Yuele, and Jiangtai attempted to cooperate with Hu Zong's southern flank to attack our army in the northwest in the Ansai and Zhidan areas. “二马”集团在占领区进行野蛮的“清剿”，他们烧杀淫掳，甚至把抓住的解放军官兵、民兵割头破肚，残暴异常。 那几天，彭总的大部分时间，是在考虑出兵陇东问题。在真武洞开罢祝捷大会后，彭总、习仲勋和周副主席、陆定一曾接连开会，制定下一步作战方案。彭总起草的《出击陇东作战命令》，就是这几次会议确定的方针。命令说：胡宗南集团主力集团集聚一团，我军各个歼灭胡军的战机不易寻找，决定集中全军主力西出陇东，歼击青宁“二马”有生力量，收复庆阳、合水，然后相机南下关中或北上三边，以调动胡宗南集团之主力，寻找战机继续歼灭敌人。 作战命令传达后，各部队加紧进行出击陇东的各种准备，深入进行思想动员，研究“二马”军的特点，组织针对性的军事训练，调查陇东地形，勘察进军路线。 1947年5月21日，彭德怀率领野战兵团各纵、旅从安塞地区西进。部队开进时，以第二纵队和教导旅为左路，以新四旅和野战军直属队为中路，以第一纵队为右路，分别从安塞、真武洞、龙安镇，向陇东挺进。 左路军第二纵队和教导旅在5月28日进至合水以东20公里处，作为前卫部队的教导旅突然与青马新编骑兵第八旅的警戒部队遭遇，双方展开激战，结果教导旅的一个侦察员被俘。 第二纵队司令员王震知道这一消息后，考虑到万一敌人知道我主力合围合水的企图，可能弃城逃跑，这样不仅左路军歼敌的计划落空，而且会给右路军和中路军造成压力，于是决定提前向合水城发起攻击。 按照王震的部署，由郭鹏和王恩茂指挥三五九旅和独四旅十二团包围并攻击合水城，由罗元发指挥教导旅负责抗击可能由庆阳、西华池来援的青马一零零旅。 但是，由于战斗准备不足，敌情侦察不细，攻击失利，造成很大伤亡。 我十二团和八团占领青马一些外围据点后反复多次向城内攻击，均未成功。5月29日清晨，青马新编骑兵第八旅旅长马步銮率旅直属部队和该旅的一个团，果然由庆阳向合水增援，他们骑着马，身背崭新的自动枪，手挥锋利的战刀，高喊着伊斯兰圣战的口号杀来。 王震见敌人来势汹汹，命令独四旅插入敌后，断其退路，给敌以突然袭击。马步銮心惊胆颤，其部下慌作一团，有的退阵逃生，有的还做垂死挣扎。 在短短的四个小时里，马步銮旅被大部击溃，一些残兵败将逃回庆阳。 担任打援任务的我教导旅、独四旅打退了马步銮部后，没有预料到青马多路增援的戒备，事先没有切断青马援军的必经路口，也没有派出部队构筑抗击阵地。当他们全力以赴对付南路青马时，另一支青马援军突然出现在攻城部队侧后。 担任攻城的三五九旅，在郭鹏旅长的指挥下，急忙从七团和九团各抽一个连占领高地，予以阻击，但无法阻止这些气势汹汹的骠骑兵。郭鹏接着又把七团的预备队三营调上去，但三营还未到指定位置，便遭骠骑兵冲击，伤亡很大。 正在此时，合水城守军打开北门，迎接援军进城。 郭鹏旅长听说青马入城，心中十分着急，刚走出指挥所准备下山组织反击，一颗子弹击中了仙的手臂，他当场晕了过去…… 郭鹏被抬下指挥所后，王震司令员得到了青马驻宁县一零零旅分两路向合水驰援的情报，急令城内部队杀出重围，撤出合水。 这一仗，攻城解放军伤亡惨重，而马步芳在西宁大肆宣传所谓合水大捷。 合水一战，使马家父子趾高气扬，不可一世，以为凭自己的实力完全可以与解放军抗衡。 我右路军进展比较顺利，一举攻克了蒋台，全歼守敌八十一师六十旅之一七九团，活捉了敌上校团长马奠邦。 马奠邦是马鸿宾的乘龙快婿，是马家军中一个有代表性的人物。为了做马鸿宾的工作，彭总打算放马奠邦一“马”，并与廖汉生一起去看这位“阶下囚”。 马奠邦见有人进来，头也不抬，毕竟自己已成了共产党的俘虏，无奈一切皆由他人处置。 “你就是马奠邦团长？”彭德怀问道。 马奠邦抬起眼皮看一看眼前的军人，听见廖汉生在旁边介绍：“这就是我们的彭总司令。” 马奠邦抬起头来，想看一看这位让胡宗南出尽洋相的共军指挥官，但已不敢正视彭德怀，毕竟彭德怀这个名字太不一般了。 “我们准备放你回去。”彭德怀背着双手说。 “彭总，这——”站在一旁的廖汉生一下子惊呆了。因为，在路上，他没有听彭总说要放马奠邦回去。而且他知道，第二纵队在合水受到很大损失，三五九旅郭鹏旅长中弹负伤，教导旅关盛志政委中弹负伤，罗小伟团长因接受假投降中弹负伤，因而对马奠邦恨得咬牙切齿。他没想到彭总会做出这样的决定。 正当他在犹豫、思考时，听到彭总对他说：“给他一匹马，放他回去。” “彭总……”廖汉生没有把话说完，他想彭总是会理解的。毕竟放他回去，部队怕难通过。 “他们不是宣传说，我们捉住他们后，要活剥人皮吗？放他回去，不就不攻自破吗？”彭总说。 马奠邦一开始听彭德怀要放他回去，他根本不信，后来觉得彭德怀不是在开玩笑，实在感到有些意外。他心情很激动，慢慢地站了起来，不知道说什么好。 “你放心去吧。不过，我劝你不要与人民为敌，国民党败局已定，全国解放为期不远了，识时务者才为俊杰。希望我们以后在战场上不要再见面，”彭总伸出手，边和马奠邦握手边说。 马奠邦和彭德怀握手后，向彭德怀躬了一恭，然后用右手抚胸，按照伊斯兰礼节致谢。 6月，西北野战兵团主力部队向环县开进。到6月13日，我军完全包围了环县城，宁夏马鸿逵部整编第八十一师，龟缩在这座孤城里。 彭总随野司到达环县城南十五里的王庙嘴后，马上和部队的指挥员到县城周围，查看地形，现场研究攻城的部署和打法。彭总在掌握敌人设防情况和该城地形条件后，对大家说：“攻打环县城，关键是要拿下东西山头阵地。控制了这两个阵地，就可以居高临下，控制整个城内的敌人。环县城虽然坚固，但城很小，我们可以充分发挥迫击炮的威力。” 6月15日，野战兵团向环县城发起总攻。经过一昼夜激战，我三五八旅在独四旅的配合下，胜利地占领了敌人防守的核心阵地王家原，新四旅攻占了玉皇山。敌人失去主阵地后，纷纷向城内收缩，曾经横行陇东的宁马八十一师全线败退。 16日午后一时，残敌见势不妙，扔下大量重型武器，从城东突围，狼狈向北逃窜。得知这一情况，彭总急忙抓起电话，命令二纵队王震司令员派兵立即追击，不得让敌人逃走！ 工震放下电话，亲率三五九旅和独四旅快速追击敌人。宁马匪军本已心慌意乱，见我军勇迫不舍，早就吓得魂不附体，一味逃命。一路上，有的敌人终因坚持不住，累得口吐白沫，面色如土，乖乖地被擒。我二纵队指战员越追越勇，长驱100多里，将敌人全部追垮。 王震见大功告成，在洪德城给彭总发回电报：敌八十一师除部分骑兵和乘马的少数军官逃跑外，大部被我军俘获。 彭总接到电报，脸上露出了满意的笑容，饶有兴致地对身边人员说：“去年夏天，三五九旅从中原胜利突围返回陕北，就享有'飞毛腿'的盛名。这次追击敌人，二纵队发扬了这个传统，靠两条腿追垮了敌人的骑兵，真是名副其实啊！” 我军出击陇东半个多月，打得马步芳的八十二师，马鸿逵的八十一师和蒋军骑兵二旅土崩瓦解。6月下旬，彭总命令部队由环县挥师北上，向三边（定边、安边、靖边）挺进。 当我军向三边进军时，敌人已在准备撤退。为不失战机，我军当即以第一纵队及新编第四旅攻定边，教导旅进至定边西南，准备截击定边逃敌；以第二纵队攻安边及砖井堡。 6月30日午，当我主力接近定边城郊时，敌整编第十八师骑兵第十旅二十团不战而逃，我步兵追赶不及，第二纵队占砖井堡。 7月2日，第二纵队独四旅攻占安边城，敌全部被歼。7 月7 日，我军除以第二纵队控制安边、定边外，主力西进，攻占盐池城，歼敌骑兵二十团一个连。至此，三边战役结束，三边分区全境收复，马鸿逵部退宁夏。 三边战役虽因马鸿逵保存实力不战而逃，我未能全歼敌人，但我军的胜利行动为三边人民奠定了必胜的信心，为继续坚持斗争奠定了基础。这次作战，我军对敌军的保存实力战法及三边地形有所了解，因无稳定后方作战，无力保障所需军用物资，且犄兵极小，地区辽阔，人烟稀少，群众工作较差，影响了部队的机动敏捷性，未达到歼敌有生力量的预期目的。 从5月21日我军自安塞西进陇东时起，至7月7日三边战役结束时止共47天，西北我军在陇东与三边南北370余公里、东西180余公里的广大地区内，进行了陇东、三边战役，共歼灭马步芳、马鸿逵所部2400余人，收复了环县、定边、安边等地，打击了青海、宁夏二马集团，更加孤立了胡宗南。 西北野战军1947年11月进攻榆林时，又与宁夏马家军进行了一次较量。 当我西北野战军围攻榆林时，绥远傅作义奉蒋命石令，派暂编十七师由扎萨旗南进援榆；宁夏马鸿逵亦按照蒋介石的命令，以整编十八师、骑兵第十旅和宁夏保安团等组成的“宁夏援榆兵团”，由其子马敦静亲自指挥，从定边出发东进。 彭总对敌人增援情况做了一番分析后，镇定地说：“命令部队加速坑道工程，但更要保证工程质量，做到装药位置准确。” 11月8日上午，魁星楼附近两条分别长60公尺和120公尺的坑道挖成了。彭总随即下达了当晚爆破攻城的命令，并一直守候在电话机旁，等待着前沿阵地消息。 敌守军听到我军坑道作业的情况时，大为不安，因为他们清楚，只要城墙被轰开一处，解放军则会象洪水一般地涌进城来。敌守城指挥官左世充一面向有关方面连发急电，催促援军赶快到来，一面采取各种防御措施，竭力破坏我军的坑道作业。他还向市民征用大量的布袋和瓷瓮，以备装沙堵塞坑道和听音侦察之用。这位指挥官平素迷信济公佛会保佑自己，且常说：“事到着急处，就有出奇处”。他期盼在此紧急关头会有奇迹出现。 敌军加紧进行反坑道作战，虽付出了极大努力，但毫无效果。此时，城内已是风声鹤唳，草木皆兵，仿佛城破即在眼前。 一天，敌高凌云团特务排的一个士兵，突然神经失常，在住的窑洞（距南城不远）里打起枪来，并大喊：“八路军挖开地洞了！”该排排长听到之后，不问青红皂白，端起机枪就向洞内猛扫。这些枪声和讹传，顿时惊动了全城。敌指挥官查知此事是由士兵神经过于紧张所致，怒不可遏，将二人以“玩忽职守”罪名，就地“正法”。 11月8日夜，月色朦胧，敌军为了给飞机作标志，在城内燃烧起炭火笼，满城星星点点。 晚11时，突然有十多发炮弹落在魁星楼和南城楼上，接着，震天动地般地“轰隆”两声，南城墙东段被炸毁，飞尘蔽天，城上守兵多被震晕。 敌指挥官从睡梦中惊醒，急忙命令部队以密集火力向被炸开的缺口射击，同时调集防守部队用预先准备好的沙袋堵补缺口，阻止我军突入。 两声巨响过后，彭总急忙抓起电话，向前线部队指挥员询问道：“爆炸位置准不准？炸开多大的口子？突击部队上去了没有？是那个部队上去的？上去了多少人？” 彭总仔细听着电话里的声音，双眉越皱越紧，脸色越来越阴沉。最后，他说了声：“你们要亲自到前面去，赶快把情况搞清楚！” 他猛地放下电话，然后背操两手，不停地在窑洞里走来走去……“叮呤呤……”电话铃响了。 彭总接到一纵队的报告说：独一旅的坑道爆破成功，在城墙上炸开了一道20公尺宽的口子。但因突击部队没有及时查清爆破效果，贻误了战机。等他们发觉城墙确实炸开，准备组织冲击时，爆破口已被敌人强大火力封锁了。 接着，新四旅又在电话上报告，他们在坑道内放置的炸药在爆炸时偏离了城墙三、四公尺，虽然没有炸开城墙缺口，但却震昏了守城的敌军，如果突击部队乘机立即登城，仍然可以得手。可是，突击部队距离爆破点过远，失掉了战机。 彭总压住了火，在电话里并没有批评他们，只是痛心地说：“攻城的炸药，是晋察冀军区和晋绥军区，从一、二千里之外，人背马驮辛辛苦苦运来的，我们辜负了友邻部队的支援。要很好地组织大家学习和总结这次经验教训。” 这句话，对于攻城部队来说，比受到一顿批评还要难受。 正当我军准备继续挖掘坑道再行爆破的时候，绥远傅作义的援兵和宁夏马鸿逵的援兵，已经接近榆林。 彭总立即决定除以少数部队监视榆林外，集中主力，首先消灭宁马援军。 11月11日，宁夏马鸿逵部共3.5万人抵达五道河子、孟家湾一带。马鸿逵刚接到蒋介石援榆的电令后，曾踌躇犹豫，既怕援榆损兵折将，减弱自己的力量，又怕违抗蒋介石命令，要受责处。马鸿逵再三思考，想了一个“两全”的办法，即只派整编第十八师暂编第九旅并配属一个骑兵团去敷衍一下，而主力不动。 命令下达后，暂编第九旅旅长卢忠良却向马鸿逵建议说：“解放军善于围城打援，去的部队少了，会被吃掉；要去就得多去些，否则，不但不能完成解围的任务，对整个宁夏的影响也不好。” 马鸿逵再次考虑后，采纳了这个建议，决定出动宁夏主力部队杀奔榆林。 他还指派次子马敦静（整编第十八师师长）担任指挥官，率领的援榆部队有：暂编第九旅旅长卢忠良部三个团（附保安第二团），整编步兵第一六八旅旅长马光宗三个团（附保安第五团），整编骑兵第十旅旅长马敦厚（马鸿逵之长子）部三个团；宁夏保安部队一纵队马全良部两个团，另外还有一些炮兵、骑兵、工兵部队。除此之外，还征集骆驼约1000多只，分属各部队，随军前进，负责运输。 马鸿逵此次决定出动主力部队解围榆林，并派出他两个儿子，还有一个目的是，企图借此机会显示一下宁夏部队的力量，并让他的儿子出头露面，以提高他们在部队中的威信，好向蒋介石邀功请赏，巩固自己土皇帝的地位。 马鸿逵的援军出发后，开始时的行进速度缓慢，每天只走五六十华里。 蒋介石闻知，派飞机给马敦静空投手谕，敦促加速进军。马军在巴兔湾附近休息后，加快了行军速度。 中途，马军与我军的一队侦察骑兵发生遭遇战斗。马敦静从我军一名牺 牲的干部身上得到一份报告。上面说：“马匪到达巴兔湾一带的只是骑兵一部，已停止前进，似再不敢东犯”。 马敦静判断我军尚未发现援军的情况，便命令部队加速向榆林方面前进，于11月13日，抵达了榆林西北120华里的元大滩。 马军在元大滩东20华里的野茅滩与我军一部接火。激战约五个小时后，马敦静得知我军主力赶来，下令先头部队仍撤回元大滩，并连夜构筑工事，组织防御。与此同时，马军还派出两个骑兵团在两翼搜索情报，寻找有利时机，尔后全力反扑。 马军在元大滩以该地的村落为核心，四周依托沙梁，构筑了环形防御阵地。在环形阵地上配置了八个步兵团（卢忠良四个团、马光宗四个团），核心阵地上配置了马全良部两个团，骑兵配置在两翼，担任掩护。 11月14日下午5时，我军从三面包围了马军。 晚7时，我军主力部队向马军阵地发动进攻。双方先使用轻重火力射击，继之用刺刀和铁锹、洋镐撕杀。 双方正打得难分难解时，敌核心阵地内突然枪声乱发，一片混乱。马敦静以为解放军直捣核心，阵地已被突破，吓得魂飞魄散。事后查明，原来是敌第一六八旅第五零二团的营长李寿春的战马脱缰，饲养兵追马，阵地守军连问口令不答，即开枪射击，于是导致敌军内部一场混战。 敌军激战一夜，终于抵挡不住我军攻势，于15日9时西撤。我第三纵队乘胜追击，击溃敌一个团。 马军西逃，我军主力准备重返榆林继续攻城，可得到情报说，马匪并未逃远，只是绕道沙漠，窜到了榆林城北的庙嘴子、三道河子，与邓宝珊带领的暂编十七师会合。 根据新的情况，彭总决定主力南撤，到响水堡、党家岔、鱼河堡地区休整待机