Chapter 6 Chapter 5 mobilizes the enemy, frequent successes in the Soviet-China campaign

On the morning of June 22, 1946, the morning glow reflected the clear sky red. The bright sun left golden halos on the water surface of the Yanhe River.Mao Zedong stood on the shore, lost in thought. Since the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek has never given up his attempt to destroy the Communist army.Now the situation in the Northeast is getting more and more tense.After the Battle of Siping, the Kuomintang troops occupied Changchun.Chiang Kai-shek thought he was sure of destroying the Communist army, and triumphantly flew to Shenyang to supervise the battle.The attitude of the United States is also becoming more and more obviously biased towards the Kuomintang.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was unwilling to completely break with the Kuomintang. When Zhou En came back to Yan'an to report in early June, the Central Committee also decided to "do everything possible to strive for peace, even for a short period of time."However, Chiang Kai-shek was aggressive, and on June 17 he put forward an ultimatum-style truce condition: requiring the CCP to withdraw from the two provinces of Rehe and Chahar, Yantai and Weihai in Shandong, Harbin, Anton, and Tonghua in the northeast, and after June 7 in Shandong. Liberated cities and towns. On the 25th, they even asked the CCP to withdraw from the cities and towns liberated along the Jiaoji Railway, in northern Jiangsu, and in Shanxi and Hebei after June 7.Marshall also pressured the CCP delegation to accept Chiang Kai-shek's conditions. Zhou Enlai was extremely indignant about this and said that he could not consider it at all.When negotiating with Zhou Enlai, the representative of the Kuomintang proposed that the United States should exercise the final decision-making power. Zhou Enlai was furious and solemnly declared: Chinese Communists are patriots and cannot accept the method of losing national rights.

The situation has become very clear. Chiang Kai-shek is determined to fight an all-out civil war, and there is no way out for concessions.Mao Zedong finally made up his mind to use the war of self-defense to deal with Chiang Kai-shek's all-out civil war, and conceived a strategic plan for fighting on the southern front. On the same day, Mao Zedong telegraphed Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yi and other comrades, asking them to consider: If the Kuomintang army aggressively attacks us, the main force of our army in Shandong and Taihang districts will attack from outside lines and fight south.The main force of Liu and Deng took the eastern part of Henan as the main combat direction and occupied Kaifeng; Chen Yi's main force took Xuzhou as the main combat direction and occupied Xuzhou, striving to annihilate part of the active forces of the Kuomintang army in the field.Central China mainly deals with the enemy forces in the north of the Yangtze River and cooperates with the southern front.Mao Zedong's intention was to lead the war to the Kuomintang-ruled areas, protect the old liberated areas from damage, open up new liberated areas, and ensure the safety of Li Xiannian's troops in the Central Plains.Regarding the central Soviet region, Mao Zedong considered that it was close to Nanjing, and it must be the place where the Kuomintang would focus on attacking.

On June 25, Mao Zedong sent a telegram to the Central China Sub-bureau: "Under the attack of Jiang's superior forces, the central Soviet area may be temporarily lost. You should make preparations in advance, so as not to rush and suffer big losses." Prepared for the worst. In order to implement this strategic plan, Mao Zedong drafted a telegram for the Central China Branch of the CPC Central Committee on June 26 and informed Chen Yi and Shu Tong, ordering the Central China Field Army to go west to fight on the Jinpu line.The telegram said: "Your district should use a division in the Soviet Union to attract and contain the enemy on the Tongyang line. Su Tan led the main force (no less than 15 regiments) in the third district (the area east of Jinpu Road and west of the Canal), and With the cooperation of Chen Shu, they occupied the railway line between Pukou and Pukou in one fell swoop, completely destroyed the railway, annihilated the enemies in the area, restored the lost ground in the third and fourth districts, and prepared to fight a big battle to annihilate the enemies advancing northward from Pukou.” They were asked to meet on July 10. Complete all attack preparations before the day.

Chen Yi then sent a telegram to order the main force of the Central China Field Army to march westward to Huainan to carry out the combat mission of the Bangpu section of Jinpu Road. Training in between". One day in early July, Jiangsu Hai'an, Central China Field Army Command War Room. Su Yu stood beside a huge map and examined it carefully. After receiving the telegram from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on June 26, Su Yu immediately set off from Hai'an to Huai'an, where the Central China Sub-bureau is located, to analyze the situation and discuss countermeasures with comrades such as Deng Zihui, Zhang Dingcheng, and Tan Zhenlin.Everyone believed that if the main force of central China was transferred to Huainan, the central Soviet base area might be in danger of falling.If the Soviet Union cannot keep it, the battle in Huainan will also be at a disadvantage.

After careful study, the leaders of the Central China Branch Bureau jointly called the Central Committee and the New Fourth Army headquarters on June 29: At present, the main force of Central China should not be transferred to Huainan to fight.It is suggested that Wang Bicheng, the main force in central China, and Tao Yong's column remain in the Soviet Union to deal with the enemy in front of them, improve the situation in the Soviet Union, and contain the enemy.After the main forces in Shandong and Taihang completed the first phase of the mission, the main force in Central China will then move westward to the Jinpu line to cooperate with the second phase of operations.

After Mao Zedong received this telegram, he replied to the Huazhong Sub-bureau on the 30th: "The mobilization of troops is suspended. After discussing with Commander Chen, we can decide to notify you." In the next few days, Mao Zedong learned from information transferred from various sources that the Kuomintang army might launch simultaneous attacks in Jiaoji, Xuzhou, northern Henan, eastern Henan, and northern Jiangsu. On July 4, in the name of the Central Military Commission, he instructed Liu, Deng, Chen, and the Huazhong Bureau: "It is more beneficial politically to win a few battles on the inside and then switch to the outside."

According to Mao Zedong's decision, Su Yu stepped up preparations for the Soviet-China Campaign.He has been closely watching the movement of the Kuomintang army.According to the mobilization and assembly of the Jiangbei Kuomintang army and relevant intelligence, he was sure that war would break out immediately.In a situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak, Su Yu decides to take the initiative to strike first.Before the Kuomintang troops were ready to attack, they caught him off guard.What he pondered over and over again was where the first battle was fought. In order to deal with the war, Su Yu was prepared. After the "Hundred Days of Troop Training" in May, the morale of the troops was significantly improved.In order to clench his "fists", he restored the original designations of the two old troops of the Central China Field Army-Tao Yong's Eight Columns and Wang Bicheng's Six Columns.Tao Yong's division is the 1st division, Su Yu is concurrently the division commander, and Tao Yong is the deputy division commander; Wang Bicheng's division is the 6th division, Tan Zhenlin is concurrently the division commander, and Wang Bicheng is the deputy division commander.At that time, the two main divisions of the Central China Field Army and 19 regiments with more than 30,000 people were stationed in Rugao and Hai'an.

Which way to fight the enemy first is more appropriate?Su Yu considered: the enemy in Taizhou is the closest to our army, and the threat is greater; but Taizhou County is a medium-sized city, surrounded by dense water networks, and the movement of large corps is inconvenient, so it is not an ideal battlefield.The Taixing and Xuanjiabao areas are places where the enemy has encroached on the liberated areas and occupied them, and each has a regiment guarding them.Although some fortifications have been temporarily repaired, they are far less solid than Taizhou and Nantong.After destroying the isolated and scattered enemy forces in Taixing and Xuanjiapu, our army will be able to fight continuously and open up the situation.

Su Yu is very familiar with his old army.Tao Yong's department was more flexible, so they used them in Xuanjiapu.Xuanjiabao is relatively close to the enemy's stronghold Taizhou, and the possibility of the enemy's reinforcements is high. The battle must be resolved before the enemy's reinforcements arrive.Wang Bicheng's troops have a strong blocking ability, and they are used in the direction of Taixing. Although the possibility of enemy reinforcements is less, it will take a lot of effort to attack this county.As long as Tao Yong can quickly resolve the battle and free up his hands, even if the enemy comes to help, we are not afraid, and we can fight a second time.

Thinking of this, Su Yu decided to hold a combat meeting immediately. On July 10, the Central China Field Army Operation Conference was held in Hai'an.The heads of divisions and columns were present at the meeting.The meeting was chaired by Su Yu.He first conveyed a series of instructions such as the strategic plan of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the southern front and a few victorious battles on the inner front. He analyzed the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the central Soviet front, proposed a combat plan, and clarified the guiding ideology of the campaign and the requirements for the troops.He said: "In front of us, there are a series of questions: dare to fight? How to fight? What changes are required in the campaign guidance? These, we must follow Chairman Mao's instructions, gradually gain experience in actual combat, and practically solve them. Now The enemy came from three directions. They put on airs and wanted to fight with us. We will not accompany him, but only attack him all the way. The question is whether to attack the two wings or the middle. The two wings are Nantong and Taizhou. Their fortifications are strong, which is not good for our army .Although the enemy in the middle has occupied Taixing and Xuanjiabao for more than half a year, the conditions of our masses are good, which is beneficial to our army." Having said that, he raised his voice and emphasized: "This is the first battle, and we must fight well." Everyone had a heated discussion on the combat plan.First of all, we analyzed the conditions of the enemy and ourselves, and calculated a detailed account: Suzhong was an old base area established during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the people of Suzhong were tested by arduous struggles; the land reform was carried out not long ago, which further mobilized the enthusiasm of the broad masses of farmers to support the war; Most of the troops participating in the war were people's soldiers who had grown up in central Jiangsu and were familiar with the people's conditions and terrain.These are conditions that are extremely beneficial to our military and are our political advantages.Our army is at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and equipment, which is a disadvantage.However, as long as we make full use of our strengths and circumvent weaknesses, give full play to our advantages, and concentrate our forces, we will be sure to defeat the enemy by annihilating the enemy one by one. After discussion, the specific deployment was further clarified: In addition to using the 3 regiments of the seventh column to monitor the enemy on the east road, and the 3 regiments of the tenth column to contain the enemy in the Shaobo direction, concentrate the forces of the 1st division and 12 regiments of the 6th division. Annihilate the two regiments of the enemy in the middle. At the end of the meeting, Su Yu said: "The enemy's 120,000 horses attacked more than 30,000 of us, four against one. If we do this, we will return him six against one!" As soon as the meeting was over, at 24:00 on July 10, the Central China Field Army Command issued the "Operation Order on Attacking the Enemies of Taixing and Xuanjiapu". On July 12, Tao Yong led the l division to march towards Xuanjiapu in a hurry. Xuanjiapu is a town in the north of Taixing, surrounded by water on three sides, and a small river runs through the town.There are earth marshes and artillery towers around the town, where the 56th Regiment of the 83rd Division reorganized by the Kuomintang is stationed.The reorganized 83rd Division was originally the 100th Army, which belonged to Chiang Kai-shek's direct line, participated in the Burmese Expeditionary Army, and had semi-American equipment and strong combat effectiveness.The division commander Li Tianxia was quite arrogant and did not take the New Fourth Army seriously.When our army arrived, the enemy was still rushing to repair the fortifications. On July 13, the Kuomintang's first appeasement zone combat meeting was held in Changzhou.The meeting was presided over by Li Moan, the newly appointed commander. At the battle meeting, Li Mo'an took out the battle plan agreed with Chen Cheng, and invited the commanders of the divisions present to express their opinions.The commanders of the divisions believed that this plan was generally feasible, with only one objection, that is, they believed that the strength of the Chinese Communist Army was underestimated, and that it might be disadvantageous to use an integrated brigade alone, but they did not think it was absolutely impossible. Li Mo'an had just arrived, and asked about the situation of each division in detail.Li Tianxia got impatient and said, "Go on, why are you procrastinating? I don't have any problems. If you continue to procrastinate, there may be problems." Huang Baitao, commander of the reorganized 25th Division, was a little more sober and said: "In terms of the combat power of the two armies, there is no problem in destroying the enemy in northern Jiangsu. The problem is that northern Jiangsu is deeply reddened. The enemy is well-informed and moves freely, while our army is blind." The sense of combat often gives the enemy a chance to concentrate their forces to hit us, so we have to be careful." Li Mo'an decided to launch an attack on July 15 according to the scheduled plan.However, before the enemy launched an attack, the Xuantai Operation of the Central China Field Army started. On the evening of the 13th, the 2nd Regiment, the vanguard of the 1st Division, arrived at Xujiabao, not far from Xuanjiabao, and discovered the enemy's situation.At that time, it was thought that the enemy's troops were not strong, so the head of the division ordered the 3rd regiment to deal with the enemy of Xujiabao, and the main force still went to surround Xuanjiapu. The 3 regiments started fighting that night.Because there was no time for pre-war preparations, after the 3rd regiment launched an attack, it encountered a river ditch obstacle and was blocked by light and heavy machine gun fire from the Kuomintang army, causing casualties. The 3rd regiment found that the enemy army was more than they expected, so they re-adjusted their deployment, chose an appropriate breakthrough, and launched an attack in two directions in the early morning of the next day.Under the suppression of our army's intensive firepower, the enemy finally couldn't stand it anymore. They broke through the encirclement and were chased and surrounded by soldiers from the 3 regiments. Most of the enemy troops in a battalion were captured. On the 14th, Tao Yong commanded 4 regiments of the 1st Division to besiege Xuanjiapu.In the battle to clear the periphery, the enemy quickly shrank and retreated into the town of Xuanjiapu. The 8th regiment first launched an attack on the enemy. Unexpectedly, the moonlight was bright and the visibility was very good. The enemy concentrated their firepower and violently blocked the front. The first attack failed. Tao Yong rode to the regiment headquarters of the 8th regiment, and saw that the regiment cadres were preparing to attack again.Tao Yong felt that there must be heavy casualties in such a reckless fight, so he decisively stopped the 8th regiment's actions and observed the position himself. Su Yu instructed Tao Yong to invest a 6:1 superior force to destroy the enemy, while the 8th Regiment invested 1:1, so it became a war of attrition.Tao Yong redeployed his troops, mobilized the 7th and 9th regiments, and besieged Xuanjiabao on three sides. The next night, the 8th Regiment started to attack again. The enemy still concentrated their firepower to block the attack route of the 8th Regiment as yesterday. When the 8th Regiment attracted enemy firepower, the 7th Regiment suddenly launched an attack from the northwest and quickly broke through the enemy's defense line.The enemy hurriedly mobilized troops to resist, and the 8th regiment broke through the front again, and street fighting began.The enemy army was defeated by our army on both sides. At dawn, they rushed out of the town and broke through to the northwest. They were blocked by the 1st and 3rd regiments who rushed to join the battle. The 6th Division led by Wang Bicheng was responsible for the task of tackling Taixing. Taixing is an ancient county town with complete city walls and a wide moat.The 57th Regiment of the 38th Division of the Kuomintang Army and an artillery company were stationed in the city.Wang Bicheng's troops were expanded on the basis of the "Old 6th Regiment" known for fighting tough battles in the New Fourth Army, and the morale of the cadres and soldiers was strong. On the evening of the 13th, the 6th Division began to clear the perimeter and soon approached the city wall.The enemy relied on the city walls to resist, and shells and machine gun bullets were violently sprayed down from the top of the city. Wang Bicheng suspended the attack, reorganized his forces, chose a breakthrough, and attacked the city again from three directions at dusk on the 14th.Our army concentrated several mountain cannons and blasted the city wall fiercely. Under the cover of firepower, the commando of the 48th regiment quickly ascended the city and broke through the enemy's defense.The second echelon rushed into the city and seized the east gate. The 52nd regiment failed to attack twice, and the head of the regiment adjusted the deployment in time, organized a commando to set up a ladder to attack the city, and finally broke into the west gate in the middle of the night. The 53rd Regiment also attacked the North Gate, and Wang Bicheng ordered the 47th Regiment to fight and wipe out the enemy in street fighting. By the morning of the 15th, the Kuomintang defenders were basically wiped out, and only the head of the enemy army led more than a hundred people to resist in the Qingyun Temple in the corner of the city.Our army lacks experience in attacking fortified positions and has not used the method of blasting, so it is difficult to capture for a while.This battle wiped out two regiments of the 19th Brigade of the enemy's reorganized 83rd Division, a mountain artillery battalion belonging to the brigade, and a battalion of the 63rd Brigade, totaling more than 3,000 people. More than 10 mountain artillery pieces and more than 200 light and heavy machine guns were seized.achieve the pre-war expectations. Because it was the first battle, the Central Military Commission was extremely concerned about this battle.As soon as the battle was over, Mao Zedong sent a telegram to ask how the battle was going.I asked if it was the reorganized 83rd Division?How much was the division wiped out?How much is left? ... After Su Yu found out the results of the battle, he reported to Mao Zedong one by one.Mao Zedong was very happy after seeing the battle report, and immediately telegraphed Su Yu: "After the Taixing battle is over, organize the troops immediately and prepare to fight four or five more big battles." Chiang Kai-shek was very annoyed when the news reached Nanjing that Jiang's army failed in the Xuantai battle. He scolded Li Mo'an for being incompetent and sent Li an order: "Order the reorganized 65th Division to cross the Yangtze River to the north at high speed, and join the Jingjiang 99th Brigade to reinforce Taixing, and then enter the Yellow Bridge to hold back the main force of the communist army. Order the 49th Division to advance day and night to capture Rugao City. Then, the 49th Division from Rugao City, The 65th Division is from Huangqiao, and the 83rd Division is from Taizhou, attacking the Communist Army on three sides. Completely wipe out Su Yuzhi's 1st and 6th Divisions." On July 15, Li Mo'an immediately adjusted his combat deployment in accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's order. He ordered the reorganized 65th Division located in the south of the Yangtze River to cross north quickly, and together with the 99th Brigade in Jingjiang, reinforced Taixing and attacked Huangqiao; he also ordered the reorganized 49th Division to fight day and night Advance, take the opportunity to capture Huangqiao, cut off the eastward route of the Central China Field Army; order the reorganized 83rd Division to advance eastward from Taizhou, in an attempt to attack the main force of the Central China Field Army between Rugao and Huangqiao in three ways. According to the enemy's new combat deployment, the Central China Field Army has two combat directions to choose from: One is the reorganized 65th Division and 99th Brigade who came to reinforce Xuan and Tai.The advantage of this plan is that the troops will not be too tired and have more time to use the nearby troops.The disadvantage is that these enemies are here for reinforcements, and their vigilance is not high. They are likely to retreat as soon as they fight, and it is not easy to encircle them; Big threat. The second plan is to quickly transfer troops, use the main force to make long-distance maneuvers, and attack the 49th Division that invaded Rugao.The disadvantage of this case is that it requires a forced march of more than 50 kilometers, but the advantages are obvious, mainly because this action is bound to surprise the enemy.At this time, the enemy thought that our main force was in the west, and the reorganized 49th Division would boldly advance towards Rugao.Of course, to do this, our army must be able to fight, march, and fight continuously, which is our specialty. Su Yu considered again and again, determined to adopt the second plan, and selected the enemy's reorganized 49th Division as the target of destruction. On the evening of July 15th, Su Yu ordered all of the 1st Division and most of the 6th Division to move to the east, and used a motorboat to rush a regiment of the 7th Column back to Rugao in advance, and cooperated with the 1st Army Division to guard the city.Give the enemy the illusion that our main force is indeed still in the west, and lure the enemy to boldly attack Rugao. On the morning of the 16th, the enemy's reorganized 49th Division was divided into two groups, the left and the right, to commit northern crimes. On the 17th, his right road reached Guitou Street and Tianduli east of Rugao; his left road reached Songjia Bridge and Yanghua Bridge south of Rugao, and he planned to attack Rugao the next day.Jiang's army never expected that the main force of our eastward movement had arrived at the boundary between Huangqiao and Rugao, and the Jiali area, and was about to thrust a knife into its side and block the enemy who invaded Huangqiao. On the evening of the 18th, before Jiang's army could make a move, our army first attacked from behind.The sudden and violent blow made Jiang Jun dizzy, at a loss, and in a mess. After the battle started, Su Yu brought a few staff officers to the front line to guide the main attacking troops to fight. The main force of the 6th Division and the 7th Column, which were responsible for annihilating the enemy forces on the left, wiped out most of the 79th Brigade of the reorganized 49th Division after two days and two nights of attack. The troops fought tenaciously, and the troops failed to attack repeatedly.In the middle of the night, the commander of the 6th Division was anxious about the unsatisfactory battle, and Su Yu came quietly. "Songjiaqiao's enemy is a regiment?" Su Yu asked. "A reinforced regiment." Du Ping, chief of staff of the 6th Division, replied. "If you can't beat him, don't beat him," Su Yu said. "How can that be done? It can be shot down!" Deputy Commander Wang Bicheng said hastily. "We plan to organize another offensive before dawn." Deputy Political Commissar Jiang Weiqing said. "I just came back from the forward position, and I studied with the responsible cadres of the two regiments, and they unanimously expressed their confidence in annihilating this enemy." Du Ping said very confidently. "I'm afraid my eyes are red!" Su Yu waved his hand lightly and said, "Notify the battlefield to stop the attack." "No more fights?" Du Ping asked puzzled. "If there is a war to be fought, there will be a new task soon. If the east is not bright, the west will be bright!" Su Yu said, walking around the room, "Let's take a political offensive. Write a letter, use me In the name of the Songjiaqiao Nationalist Army, the commander of the Kuomintang army was asked to lay down his arms. The letter told him that one of their divisions had been completely wiped out by our army in Guitou Street, and most of their division had also been wiped out. The division commander Wang Tiehan had already become the The prisoners, I hope they will not have illusions in their hearts, but make a decisive decision and immediately lay down their weapons. After laying down their weapons, we will effectively guarantee the safety of the lives and property of all their officers and soldiers." After 4 days and 4 nights of fierce fighting, the Central China Field Army annihilated one and a half brigades of the 49th Division of the Kuomintang reorganization, the 65th Division of the reorganization, and one part of the 99th Brigade, a total of more than 10,000 people. Wang Tiehan, commander of the Reorganized 49th Division, was captured and fled in disguise.The Central China Field Army achieved the planned goal of the second operation and voluntarily withdrew from Rugao County. On the day the Rugao battle ended successfully, the Central Military Commission and Mao Zedong sent another telegram: "Congratulations on your great victory." The two battles of Xuantai and Rugao shocked Chiang Kai-shek and his chief of staff Chen Cheng.Chen Cheng hurried to Nantong to hold a joint meeting of the party, government and army, and ordered the second echelon of six brigades with more than 100,000 people to march northward along the river and concentrate their forces to attack Hai'an. Hai'an is bordered by the Yellow Sea in the east, connected with Yang (state) and Tai (state) in the west, reaches the Yangtze River in the south, and connects with Yan (city) and Fu (Ning) in the north. , Hai'an to Huangmei Highway, Chuanchang River, and Yunliang River) meet here, which has always been an important throat for military strategists and a "north-south springboard".At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Shicheng competed for the Jianghai Plain, and Chang Yuchun built a city in Hai'an, cutting off Zhang Shicheng's reinforcements and grain transportation channels, so that the isolated city of Taizhou that Zhang Shicheng was defending was destroyed.Tang Shunzhi, the governor of Fengyang in the Ming Dynasty, built a city in Hai'an to defend against the Japanese pirates (Japanese pirate group), and broke the conspiracy of the Japanese pirates to spy on Huaiyang from the west and invade the Central Plains. Sleep in peace." Chiang Kai-shek and his generals also took the capture of Hai'an as an important goal of the first step in their attack on northern Jiangsu. They attempted to form a blockade extending from Yangtai in the west to Hai'an in the east, so as to consolidate the occupied areas in central and southern Jiangsu and open up the road between central and southern Jiangsu. The gateway to Huaibei.Then, to realize its second-step combat plan, it will attack the Huaihe River and Huaihe River with Xuzhou's southward troops, and realize its strategic goal of "solving northern Jiangsu".They believe that Haian's strategic position is important, and the Central China Field Army is bound to compete.Therefore, relying on its superior force, it adopted a strategy of splitting and attacking in an attempt to capture Hai'an in one fell swoop and annihilate the main force of the Central China Field Army.In order to prevent being broken individually, a pincer-shaped offensive was adopted. The front was less than 15 kilometers and the depth was more than 5 kilometers. The brigades moved closer. A powerful enemy came head-on, and Su Yu responded calmly.Whether or not to stick to Hai'an is the central issue in his repeated thinking. Stick to Hai'an, fight the enemy decisively in Hai'an, and hit the enemy's poisonous plan.Because the enemy has a strong second echelon, our army will inevitably pay a huge price for a decisive battle with it.If you win, the enemy can continue to mobilize troops and maintain their offensive posture; if you lose, the main force of our army will be defeated. What if you don't keep it?Jiang Jun will be able to complete the blockade from Taizhou to Hai'an, greatly restricting our army's actions.Since our army had won two victories in a row, the troops were in high spirits for the battle. Some officers and soldiers thought that the enemy was nothing to fear, and left without fighting it. I am sorry to the masses, and the previous victories were in vain. what to do?After much deliberation, Su Yu proposed a preliminary combat plan: the 1st and 6th Divisions gathered in the northeast of Hai'an to rest and wait for standby, and the Seventh Column fought a mobile defensive battle outside Hai'an. As soon as this plan was put forward, many comrades couldn't figure it out, thinking that it was a pity to withdraw from Hai'an.They said: "Didn't the Party Central Committee ask us not to give up the important land easily? After winning two battles, we still have to give up Hai'an. Wouldn't the first two battles be in vain?" Some comrades said: "The enemy is nothing special. Our army has already After winning two battles, why didn't you dare to fight the enemy in Hai'an?" Su Yu felt that the victory or defeat of a war depends on the growth and decline of vital forces rather than the gains and losses of a city or a place. This important idea has not been grasped by most cadres.We must pay attention to their opinions, do in-depth and meticulous ideological work, and turn the leadership's intentions into the conscious actions of the majority of cadres. Su Yu also thought that voluntarily withdrawing from Hai'an is a major decision related to the overall situation of Central China, and a cautious attitude must be adopted.Although he is confident that his decision is correct, he dare not make a decision alone.At that time, other leading comrades of the Central China Branch and the Central China Military Region were in Huai'an.Su Yu decided to rush to Huai'an immediately and ask for instructions from the Central China Branch and the Central China Military Region. The 150-kilometer journey from Hai’an to Huai’an has to go through Dongtai and cross the water network area. Su Yu started riding a motorcycle, then took a rickshaw (rickshaw), and then rode a bicycle and a boat. All the means of transportation available at that time After using it, I arrived in Huai'an one day and one night. Zhang Dingcheng, Deng Zihui, Su Yu, Tan Zhenlin, Zeng Shan and other comrades participated in the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Central China Branch. The meeting seriously discussed the operational plan proposed by Su Yu to voluntarily withdraw from Hai'an and wipe out the enemy in motion, and decided to implement mobile defense in Hai'an, and then voluntarily withdraw to create new fighters.The meeting held that, in addition to carrying out necessary ideological work, the doubts of comrades should be resolved mainly by the practice of winning battles. The Central China Branch reported the decision of the meeting to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the East China Bureau, and the New Fourth Army, and it was soon approved for implementation. The telegram to Zhang Dingcheng, Deng Zihui, and Su Yu drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission pointed out: "Until the main force of our army has not been fully supplemented, rested and recovered from fatigue, and the enemy has not entered the terrain conditions that are beneficial to us, it is better to lose some places than to hold a war. Reluctant and uncertain battles. This time Awabe wiped out 20,000 enemies, and fought very well. In the future, we should not be too hasty in our battles. The principle is always to win battles. The enemy attacks us with an army of 100,000. It is impossible for us to lose some places No. You should be mentally and organizationally prepared to deal with harsh conditions." On the morning of August 2nd, the second day after the Central China Branch Standing Committee meeting, Su Yu returned to the front line of Hai'an, adjusted the deployment of troops, and concentrated the main 1st and 6th divisions in the northeastern area of ​​Hai'an to rest and wait for annihilating the enemy.The seventh column fought a mobile defensive battle outside Hai'an. The defense of the Haian Movement was fought from July 30 to August 3.During the 4-day battle, the seventh column only used more than 3,000 troops, but bravely resisted the onslaught of more than 50,000 enemies.Killed and wounded more than 3,000 enemy troops, with only more than 200 casualties, creating a record of 15:1 enemy casualties. On August 3, the task of defending the Hai'an movement was completed, and the Central China Field Army voluntarily withdrew from Hai'an.The Kuomintang army was overjoyed, and various ministries reported their victories one after another, claiming that the number of Central China Field Army annihilated reached 20,000 to 30,000.The 1st Appeasement Zone Headquarters misjudged: "The Communist Army in Northern Jiangsu has suffered a crushing defeat, and the main 1st and 6th Divisions went to sea and fled north." In fact, more than 30,000 people from the Central China Field Army Command and the main forces of the 1st and 6th Divisions have been resting steadily in the northeast of Hai'an for two weeks. Some troops are stationed only seven or eight kilometers away from Hai'an City. .However, since this is an old base area, the local government, the militia, and the masses strictly blocked the news, investigated the enemy's spies, and spied on them, making the enemy blind and deaf, and had no idea of ​​our army's movements. The Kuomintang army thought that their first combat goal had been achieved, so they decided to adjust their deployment according to the predetermined combat plan, divide their troops to occupy the land, and set up a blockade line of long snake formations on the 150-kilometer section from the sea in the east to Yangzhou in the west, in an attempt to Clear the occupied area south of the blockade line, and then implement the second-step combat plan, and attack the Huaihe River and Huaihe River with Xuzhou's southward troops. On August 6, Jiang's reorganized 65th Division and 105th Brigade marched eastward from Hai'an, occupied the West Field and Dingjiasuo, and prepared to continue to commit crimes eastward. After Su Yu learned of this situation, he said excitedly: "This is a good opportunity, don't miss it!" On the morning of August 7, he sent a telegram to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central China Branch, reporting that "the good opportunity to wipe out the enemy has arrived."At the same time, it is suggested that the 5th Brigade in Huainan be transferred eastward to join the battle in the Soviet Union, so as to concentrate its forces on the main combat direction. On August 8, Mao Zedong drafted a reply message for the Central Military Commission, expressing that "the opportunity to wipe out the enemy has come, and it is very comforting." Requirements, concentrate the maximum force on the main direction." According to the instructions of the Central Military Commission, Tan Zhenlin, political commissar of the Central China Field Army, led the 5th Brigade and the Special Task Force of the Central China Military Region to Hai'an to participate in the battle. The Kuomintang army continued to invade, occupying Fort Li on the 7th and Jiaoxie on the 8th. On the 9th, its reorganized 65th Division went to Taizhou and Huangqiao via Hai'an to take over the defense of the reorganized 25th Division. On the 10th, the new 7th Brigade went to take over the defense of the 105th Brigade at Fort Li. The frequent mobilization of the Kuomintang troops created a great opportunity for the Central China Field Army to wipe out the enemy in motion. Su Yu made a decisive decision and decided to concentrate his forces, first of all to find and wipe out the enemies of Fort Li in the movement.He made the following deployments: Use the 1st Division to attack and wipe out the main force of the 105th Brigade in Fort Lee and Jiaoxie; The southeast of Benjiaxiang and the north and south areas of Xichang worked together to annihilate the enemy's new 7th brigade who might be assisted by Hai'an, and blocked the enemy who might be assisted by Rugao. Li Fort is located at the eastern end of Jiang's "Long Snake Formation", with a regiment of troops solitary.At this time, Tian Congyun, deputy brigade commander of Jiang Jun's new 7th Brigade, led a regiment to take over the defense of the 314th Regiment of the 105th Brigade. attack.Jiang's army was caught off guard, and the situation was in chaos. The two regiments were completely wiped out overnight.Then, a regiment led by Huang Boguang, commander of the New 7th Brigade of the Jiang Army, also fell into the "pocket" preset by the Central China Field Army's aid troops, and was wiped out again. The Battle of Libao lasted 20 hours. The Central China Field Army wiped out one and a half brigades of more than 9,000 people, and captured major general Jin Ya'an, major general brigade commander, and major general deputy brigade commander Tian Congyun.Our army has won another major victory.So far, Su Yu has commanded the Soviet Central Army to win four battles and four victories. On August 13, the Central Military Commission sent a telegram to Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin and informed Chen Yi and Song Shilun, instructing: "The scattered enemies in central Jiangsu will help us to defeat each of them. I hope to arrange several more battles. That is to say, like the traffic corps, all who can be wiped out will be wiped out. That. If you can completely smash the attack of the Jiang army in the central Soviet Union, it will have a great impact on the overall situation." At this time, the Kuomintang army in central Jiangsu had not much mobile force, and it was difficult to continue a full-scale attack. It had to adjust its deployment: the east focused on guarding the main highway from Nantong via Rugao to Hai'an, and the west attacked Shaobo and Gaoyou along the canal from Yangzhou to the north. Frontally strengthen the "clearance" and defense of the occupied area south of the Hai'an-Taizhou line.Nantong and Rugao's front-line forces are relatively weak, and they are their exposed flanks. Su Yu imagined that if he avoided the front, attacked its flanks, and opened a gap between Nantong and Rugao, it would seriously threaten the enemy's rear base, disrupt the enemy's deployment, and create a good opportunity to annihilate the enemy. At that time, Su Yu conceived two combat plans, one plan was to attack Hai'an and Rugao from the front, and the other plan was to avoid the front, attack its flanks or rear, attract the enemy to help, and seek to annihilate the enemy during the movement. On August 19th, the Central China Field Army Command learned that Chiang Kai-shek would hold a military meeting in Lushan on August 25th.Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin decided to go south to fight immediately.They said in a telegram to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chen Yi, Zhang Dingcheng, and Deng Zihui: "In order to fight for the Lushan Conference on the 25th, I will deal a heavy blow to the stubborn enemy. I will go south with the 1st, 6th Division and 5th Brigade to capture Baipu, Dingyan, Nantong and Haimen, so that when the main force of the recalcitrant enemy comes to the south, we can wipe out one or two brigades." The Central Military Commission and Chen Yi replied on August 20, agreeing to the action plan for the main force of the Central China Field Army to go south.The Central Military Commission then issued a power statement pointing out that after capturing the lines of Dingyan, Baipu, Nantong, and Haimen, the enemies of Hai'an and Rugao may also stick to their positions and dare not go south. "In this case, please consider whether the second step can capture Motou Town, Zhanghuanggang, and Jiali City, and take the opportunity to capture Huangqiao, mobilize or repel the enemy of Hai Ru."It is emphasized that "it is of great significance to wipe out the enemy troops in these towns behind the enemy, even if each battalion and company are wiped out." Su Yu believes that the Central Military Commission's instructions came in a timely manner and are very correct.Immediately decided to open the gap from Dingyan and Linzi, use the Huangqiao as the attack direction, insert into the enemy's side and attack. Behind this enemy is a blockade of more than a hundred miles from east to west and tens of miles from north to south built by the Kuomintang army in the occupied area.It faces the Yangtze River natural moat in the south, and the east, north, and west sides are blockades formed by many strongholds.The Yellow Bridge is located in the center of the blockade. Using more than 30,000 main forces to insert into the enemy's blockade to fight is a surprise move and a dangerous move.Su Yu said: "This action is like Sun Xingzhe's method of beating the Bull Demon King. It is dangerous to drill into the enemy's belly to fight." He dared to take this risky move because he had the support of the broad masses of the people. In the middle of the night on August 21, the battle between Dingyan and Linzi started.This was another surprise attack, and it went very fast. Dingyan and Linzi are two market towns on the (South)-Ru (Gao) Highway. They are located in the middle of the blockade in the east of the Kuomintang-occupied area. There are about 3 brigades of the traffic police corps and 1 battalion of the 26th Brigade stationed there. More than 700 people. The Traffic Police Corps is known as the "Pocket Ace Army" of the Kuomintang. It was adapted from the "Loyalty and National Salvation Army" and the Shanghai Tax Police Corps during the Anti-Japanese War. The spy leader Dai Li cooperated in training and had American equipment, each with a long and short gun.This army was extremely reactionary politically, and cooperated with the landlord armed "Home Returning Corps" to brutally suppress revolutionary cadres and the masses.In order to capture local cadres and militiamen, they actually stored several rooms of shackles and handcuffs engraved with the words U.S.A in Dingyan. The Central China Field Army suddenly launched an attack, and the Kuomintang troops hurriedly responded.After a night of fierce fighting, most of the Jiang Jun Traffic Police Corps in Dingyan was surrounded and wiped out by our army, and Linzi's defenders were completely wiped out.Under the siege of our army, most of the enemies of Dongchen fled to Rugao, and Dongchen was also captured by us. In the battle between Ding and Lin, five brigades of the traffic police corps and one battalion of the 26th Brigade were wiped out, with a total of more than 3,000 people, and many were captured.This is the fifth victory in the Soviet Central Campaign. At this time, Li Mo'an judged that the Central China Field Army was about to attack Rugao City, and urgently ordered the Huangqiao defenders to reinforce Rugao, and at the same time ordered Huang Baitao to lead the reorganized 25th Division to attack Shao Bo.At this time, the Kuomintang troops on the northern front had already occupied Suining, Huaibei, and were preparing to invade Lianghuai, the capital of Central China.Li Mo'an believes that the main force of the Central China Field Army is concentrated in the southeast of Rugao, and if they want to reinforce Shao Bo and bypass his blockade from the north, it will take a lot of time.Using this period of time, he can capture Shao Bo, advance northward along the canal, and cooperate with the Jiang army on the northern line to advance to Lianghuai.Things echo, kill two birds with one stone. Su Yu's countermeasure was unexpected and outperformed the enemy: attack Huang (bridge) and save Shao (Bo) to fight for aid, killing three birds with one stone.他以第七纵队在姜堰、海安之间发动钳制性进攻，自己亲率第1师、第6师、第5旅、特务团于8月23日夜间向敌人封锁圈的中心挺进。 这个地区，南是长江，东、北、西三面都有敌人许多据点连成的封锁线。封锁圈东西百余里，南北仅数十里，我军竟用3万作战部队插进去，若被蒋军知晓，整个行动将会流产。 然而，这一带又是老区，人民群众都心向解放军，严密地封锁了消息，蒋军得不到情报，等觉察时再行动已经迟了。 8月24日，我军截获黄桥守敌第4旅沿如黄公路增援如皋的情报，粟裕即令部队在行进中严密注意敌情，准备在如黄路与敌第99旅打一场预期遭遇战。 25日，敌第4旅进至黄桥东北，与我第6师遭遇，当即被第6师包围，展开激战。 这时，李默庵才发觉华中野战军主力已西进，急令已南下到如皋的第187旅，加上第79旅一个团和第4旅的一个营，急速向西南增援第4旅。该集群又被我第1师在加力、谢家甸地域截住，将其包围。因为敌人实有的兵力远比我原先侦察的要多，经一夜激战，未能解决战斗。 这样，战局就变得复杂了。西面运河线上邵伯、乔墅一线战斗十分激烈，乔墅阵地已被敌军突破。我主力若在如黄路拖延时日，邵伯一旦失守，战局将起剧变。 在紧要关头，粟裕当机立断，立即调整部署，堵住敌人后路，同时隔断东西两路敌军联系，采取在战场上转用兵力的办法，造成兵力对比上的绝对优势，各个歼灭分界、加力之敌。 粟裕打电话给陶勇，命令第1师第1旅西调，配合第6师歼击分界之敌第99旅，并要第1旅旅长张震东当面接受任务。 张震东到达华中野战军司令部时，看到粟裕正在盯着地图沉思，就轻轻地走过去。 粟裕指着地图说：“老张，敌人已经被我们包围在加力、分界两地，如果两地同时打，我们兵力不足，不能迅速解决战斗。你们那边敌人是三个多团，如皋还有两个团。你们和5旅是9个团，9∶5。如果如皋的两个团出援，打起来要延长时间，形成僵局。不如干脆把1旅加到6师那边，来一个雷公打豆腐，先集中兵力歼灭分界的99旅，然后再转用兵力歼灭加力的敌人。你们旅立即奔赴分界，协同6师歼灭99旅。” “是，坚决完成任务！”张震东向粟裕敬礼，飞身上马赶回部队。 8月26日，第6师和第1师第1旅、特务团以5∶1的绝对优势兵力，向分界之敌发起进攻，只用两个小时就解决战斗，全歼蒋军第99旅两个团3，000多人，活捉少将旅长朱志席、少将副旅长刘光国。然后向东转移兵力，把第6师、第1旅、特务团调到加力，形成15个团对3个团的绝对优势，将加力突围之敌一举歼灭。数百名国民党军在向如皋逃窜途中，恰好被第5旅截住去路。第5旅着黄色军服，与苏中部队的灰蓝色军服不同，而与蒋军的黄绿色近似。蒋军误认为援兵到来，顿时欢呼跳跃，在兴高采烈中当了俘虏。 驻守黄桥的蒋军第160旅5个连此时已孤立无援。粟裕命令第5旅乘胜扩大战果，夺取黄桥。第5旅一夜急行军到达指定位置，将黄桥团团包围，军事压力、政治攻势并举。敌人突围无望，于8月31日全部缴械投降。黄桥再次回到人民手中。 这一仗打得干净利落，歼灭蒋军两个半旅1.7万余人，创造了解放战争以来一次作战歼敌数字的新纪录。 在如黄战役激烈进行的同时，粟裕还同时指挥发起了邵伯之战。 邵伯位于扬州以北，形势险要，是通往两淮的门户。为了集中主力歼灭敌人的有生力量，迅速解决如黄战斗，留守邵伯的我军只剩下第十纵队和地方武装的两个团。 从8月23日到26日，坚守邵伯的部队，经过4天4夜的保卫战，终以胜利而结束。敌军在飞机、大炮的配合下，向我守军发起轮番的猛烈攻击，但我十纵队和第2分区的部队，依靠工事和水面，英勇抗击敌人，我主阵地始终屹立未动。当敌第99旅在如黄路上被歼时，消息传来，敌全线震惊，原来叫嚷“不出3天攻下邵伯”的敌第25师师长黄百韬，不得不把部队撤回扬州。 苏中战役，七战七胜，震荡全国。党中央毛泽东给予了高度评价，说苏中战役“每战集中优势兵力打敌一部（例如8月26日集中10个团打敌2个团，8月27日集中15个团打敌3个团），故战无不胜，士气甚高；缴获甚多，故装备优良；凭借解放区作战，故补充便利；加上指挥正确，既灵活，又勇敢，故能取得伟大胜利。这一经验是很好的经验，希望各区仿照办理，并望转知所属一体注意。” 苏中战役之后，延安总部发言人称这次胜利，加上中原突围、定陶战役，“这三个胜利，对于解放区的南方战线起了扭转局面的重要作用。蒋军必败，我军必胜的局面是定下来了”。