Chapter 9 Chapter 8: Opening the bow left and right, Lunan wiped out two enemy divisions

On December 20, 1946, the "Ministry of National Defense" building in Nanjing. In a large conference room covered with a scarlet carpet, Chiang Kai-shek is personally presiding over a military meeting. Chief of Staff Chen Cheng stood next to a huge map, and while drawing on the map with a pointer, he stated in detail the Kuomintang army's combat plan in the southern Shandong area. After listening to Chen Cheng's statement, Minister of National Defense Bai Chongxi added: "The 74th Division recently sent troops to the Shuyang area, and it would be better to fight against the communist army there."

Chiang Kai-shek's face was always gloomy. The annihilation of the reorganized 69th Division in the Battle of Subei made him feel very heavy, but he still cheered up and said slowly: "Judging from the recent developments of the Communist Army, Chen Yi and Su Yu have the intention of going to southern Shandong to make a profit. Therefore, Ma Liwu, the commander of the 26th Division, Zhou Yuying, the commander of the 51st Division, and Feng Feng, the commander of the Third Appeasement District (or the East 33rd Army), must be reorganized. Prepare for law and order, and when the communist army arrives in southern Shandong, it will be completely wiped out: we will never allow a similar situation in Subei to happen again!"

Chen Cheng immediately said: "Chairman, don't worry, I will fly to Xuzhou tomorrow to inform Xue Yue of the chairman's will and combat plan, and ask him to deploy as soon as possible to win this battle and make up for his mistakes." The next day, a military plane landed at Xuzhou Airport. Chen Cheng walked down the gangway of the plane with a gloomy expression.Xue Yue, director of the Xuzhou Appeasement Office, led officials to greet him with smiles on their faces.Chen Cheng reluctantly coped, and then got into a car.The car left the airport slowly, followed by several cars.

The car stopped in front of the office building of the Xuzhou Appeasement Administration.Chen Cheng followed Xue Yue straight to the conference hall.As soon as everyone sat down, Chen Cheng immediately asked: "Director Xue, what are your plans?" Xue Yue said calmly: "At present, the Eastern Front Corps composed of the 74th Division and others has continuously occupied Yancheng and Lianshui. The Chinese Communist Army has lost its base and can only retreat to the south of Shandong. Shandong has an extremely important position in the war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. .Although northern Shaanxi is where the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is located, the land is barren and the people are poor, and it is difficult to last. Although the Northeast Communist Army is powerful, it is located in a remote area and has little impact on the situation in the pass.”

Chen Cheng listened with interest, and said: "Indeed, there is only the Shandong theater, which is the heart of China. The Shandong peninsula is deep into the sea, and Yimeng, Laoshan and other mountain ranges lie in between, and the terrain is intricate. In addition, Yantai, Longkou and Luda are only separated by a river, and foreign aid is easy to obtain. Therefore, Shandong has become the best base of the Communist Army and may also be the longest. The gains and losses of Shandong also play a decisive role in the domestic war situation. .” Xue Yue echoed and said: "After the fall of northern Jiangsu, Chen Yi must stick to Shandong. And we will use the strategy of 'attacking what must be defended' to fight a decisive battle with the communist army."

Finally, Chen Cheng announced the Xuzhou Sui Department's combat plan in the southern Shandong area. On December 31, Xue Yue issued a combat order, and the determined strategic goal was: "In order to continue to defeat the main force of the Communist bandit Chen Yi in the area south of Longdong, and then advance to the south of Shandong to suppress its remnants, we should continue to attack Dongxin'an Town, Shuyang , West Xin'an Town (now Xinyi County), Tancheng, Ma (Ma) Head Town and various points, entered and exited the area north of Longdong, and then marched towards the south of Shandong."

It is stipulated that the tasks of each corps are: "The 26th Division of the Yilin Corps (Ma Liwu, the commander of the reorganized 26th Division) with the First Fast Column, the 51st Division, and the 20th Division are all located in the southwest of Linyi and Linzao on the original line of defense. The communist army in the area north of the branch line actively mopped up, and indeed covered the safety of the left side of the Longdong Corps. The 77th Division marched from the vicinity of the Great Wall to Ma (Market) Town and the bandits in the capital city; the main force defended the Great Wall, and Sweep the loose bandits on both sides of the Yi River."

At the same time, order the Longdong Corps (under the jurisdiction of the reorganized 64th, 59th, and 70th Divisions) to attack Tancheng and Xutang Station after capturing Xin'an Town; Xin'an Town, Gaoliu, and Yinping attack on the front line; order the Huaishu Corps (under the jurisdiction of the reorganized 74th Division and the 171st Division) to attack Shuyang; One is defending the Funing area, and the main force is attacking the front line of Nanxin'an Town and Baitabu.Attempt to annihilate the main force of the People's Liberation Army in East China in northern Jiangsu, or rush to the north of Longhai Road, and then concentrate all efforts to fight the People's Liberation Army in southern Shandong.

On the eve of the end of the Battle of Subei, the Central Military Commission instructed Chen Yi and Su Yu on December 18: "The second step of operations seems to be to concentrate the main force to annihilate the enemy in southern Shandong, and to take back Zaoyi platform by camera, so that southern Shandong can be consolidated." , and then develop southward without any worries, and gradually recover all the lost ground in northern and central Jiangsu." After receiving the telegram from the Central Military Commission, Chen Yi and Su Yu held a combat meeting to study the direction and target of the next attack on the enemy.

In the conference room, everyone spoke enthusiastically and debated fiercely.Some believed that the enemy's reorganization of the 74th Division was too arrogant, and they should be surrounded and wiped out in the Shuyang area first; some advocated to surround and wipe out the Guangxi clique;In the end, two options were formed. The first is to concentrate forces to attack Huaibei, mobilize the Kuomintang troops attacking northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong to help them back, and wipe them out during the campaign.However, it must be fully estimated that if the Kuomintang army is not mobilized, it will fall into a passive position on the Huaibei battlefield.

The second is to use nearby forces to wipe out the reorganized 74th Division and other departments that invaded Shuyang from the north of Lianshui.However, after the department entered the front line of Liutang River, it turned to defense, and it was difficult to wipe out. Therefore, Chen Yi and Su Yu decided to move their main force northward and implement the instructions of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China to annihilate the Kuomintang army in southern Shandong first.The Central Military Commission approved Chen and Su's battle plan on December 25, and telegraphed Chen Yi and Su Yu: "The Battle of Southern Shandong is related to the overall situation. Even if the victory of this battle is lost, there is still a way to recover. You must concentrate on the first and second 6. The 8th, 4th, 9th, and 10th divisions, the 1st Column, the Police Brigade and other departments, and the necessary time for deployment and preparation, in order to fight a bigger battle of annihilation than Subei. The first battle seems to be fought on 26 The three brigades of the division are suitable, because the division is the main force in southern Shandong, and the division is wiped out, and the overall situation will improve. If Feng's troops are attacked first, the problem in southern Shandong may not be solved for a while." At that time, the situation of the Lunan Kuomintang Army was as follows: the reorganized 26th Division and the First Rapid Column were distributed on both sides of the Fenglin Highway from Fushan Pass to the east of Yixian County in the west and to Bianzhuang (now Cangshan County) in the east. "Long Snake Formation", with a length of 25 kilometers from the beginning to the end.In addition to the small part controlling the main points along the mountain in the north of the road, the main force of the 169th Brigade is located in the Bianzhuang and Anjiazhuang areas; the main force of the 44th Brigade is located in the Fushankou and Taizitang areas, and the division is located in Majiazhuang.The first fast column is located in the Xiangcheng and Zuozigou areas.The main force of the reorganized 51st Division is located in Zaozhuang and Qicun, and one part occupies Guoliji and Shuiguo.The reorganized 33rd Army (under jurisdiction of the reorganized 59th and 77th divisions) is located in Taierzhuang, Pi County and the areas to the north. The heads of the Shandong and Central China Field Armies comprehensively analyzed the deployment of the Kuomintang army, and believed that although the reorganized 26th Division has strong combat effectiveness, it has a large gap with its neighbors on the left and right, and is relatively prominent and isolated. The left wing reorganized the 51st Division and the right wing reorganized the 33rd Army None of them are direct descendants of the central government, and each map preserves its strength, and will not actively support the reorganized 26th Division.According to the instructions of the Central Military Commission and the situation of the enemy in front of him, the head of the field army decided to go against the convention of attacking the weak enemy first, and first wiped out the strong enemy of the reorganized 26th Division. At the combat meeting, Chen Yi said: "Our troops participating in the war are approaching the Lunan Yi, Zao, and Taiwan areas, and it is imminent to engage the enemy. There are two reorganized divisions and three armies of the enemy in that area. Among them, the 26th division is Chiang Kai-shek. Direct descendant, division commander Ma Liwu is a graduate of the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy. He was once Chiang Kai-shek's deputy chief of guards. He is quite valuable. He is a man who is fond of eating, drinking, and obsessed with women. He has little knowledge in military command. We are in Subei, Annihilating one of the enemy's reorganized divisions in one fell swoop, and trying to annihilate two of his divisions this time, made Chiang Kai-shek even more sad, and carried out the situation proposed by the Military Commission to "enable southern Shandong to be consolidated, and then develop southward without worry." On the 30th, Chen Yi reported to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China: It was decided to start fighting the 26th Division on January 2, and then fight against the Feng Zhian Department. The two field armies of Shandong and Central China concentrated the strength of 27 regiments in the Battle of Southern Shandong. Their deployment: the 8th Division, the 9th Division of the Central Lu Military Region, the 10th Division of the Southern Military Region, the Binhai Garrison Brigade and the 4th Division of the Central Lu Military Region 1 regiment with a total of 12 regiments formed the right column, with the main force attacking and annihilating the 44th brigade, and cutting off the enemy's retreat to Yi and Zao; using one part to capture Shilongshan and Xiangcheng, split the 44th brigade and the 169th brigade connect.After completing the task, cooperate with the left column to attack and annihilate the division headquarters of the reorganized 26th Division and the first fast column.The left column was composed of 15 regiments from the first column and the first division. The first column wiped out the 169th brigade. The first division first wedged into the line of Lanling and Xiaozhong village, cutting off the connection between the reorganized 33rd Army and the reorganized 26th Division. , and then cooperated with friends and neighbors to attack and reorganize the 26th Division and the First Fast Column.Beginning on December 23, all the participating troops began to move covertly into the combat area in separate routes.By January 1, 1947, it reached the starting position of the attack.The whole campaign is divided into two stages. The Central Military Commission and Mao Zedong called a few hours before the start of the battle, encouraging the participating troops to take the Subei Battle as an example, and strive to fight a large-scale annihilation battle, that is, completely annihilate 3 to 4 enemy brigades in each battle.This telegram encouraged the troops participating in the war. On the night of January 2, 1947, Chen Yi and Su Yu gathered 27 main regiments of the Central China and Shandong Field Army and officially launched the Lunan Campaign. This is a typical surprise attack.Because the military and civilians in the Liberated Area strictly blocked the news, the Kuomintang, whether it was the Xuzhou Sui Department or the troops stationed in southern Shandong, was unaware of such a major combat operation by the Communist Army in advance. On New Year's Day, Ma Liwu, the commander of the 26th Division, had already left his command position. He was drinking and having fun with several colleagues at the headquarters of the Majiazhuang Division. I found it, and said drunkenly: "Hey...Brother Cao, Brother Zheng, I have something important tonight, and I will leave the command of the troops to you two." After speaking, he stumbled into the American jeep and rushed to Yi In the county town, I went to fool around with the young and beautiful Peking opera female actress who became popular in the local area. As soon as the battle started, the whole division became a headless bird, with no one in command. The first stage of the battle was to fight the entire 26th Division and the first fast column located on the line from Simazhai to Bianzhuang, east of Yixian County. The reorganized 26th Division is the main force of the Kuomintang Army in southern Shandong, and its combat effectiveness is very strong.The first fast column is also known as the "Essence of the National Army" and is a rare mechanized unit in the Kuomintang army. In the middle of the Anti-Japanese War in 1942, Chiang Kai-shek called on "educated youths to join the army" and formed the first tank unit of the Kuomintang in Kunming.The officers and soldiers of a battalion were sent to New Delhi, India, where US military consultants set up a tank training team for regular training, and then equipped with American tanks, and set up the 1st Tank Battalion to participate in the Burma Road Operation.In the past three years, they fought bravely against the Japanese army and never lost a battle. They were praised and respected by the US military advisers.After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek used the captured Japanese light tanks to form two regiments, merged with the 1st Tank Battalion to form the first fast column, and appointed his second son Jiang Weiguo to command.Jiang Weiguo had a special status and did not go to the front line in person. He was in Xuzhou at this time.The fast column accompanying the 26th Division is composed of the 5th Artillery Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the 1st Tank Regiment, the Search Battalion, the Engineer Battalion, and the Automobile Regiment.The 1st Tank Battalion has 36 American-style medium and light tanks. The soldiers' uniforms, boots, and utensils are all American-style equipment. In terms of technology, combat effectiveness, and speed, they are all top-notch in the Kuomintang army.Therefore, the officers and soldiers of the fast column all carried a sense of arrogance, and did not take the rustic communist army seriously. The Central China and Shandong Field Army launched a sudden attack according to the original deployment.That night, the units of the left column captured the security positions of Pingshan, Shichenggu, Qingshan, Fenghuangshan, and Shangyan on the north side of the division's garrison, wiped out more than 4 battalions of the defenders, and went straight to the division's main position and command center.At the same time, they occupied the key points of Fushankou and Simazhai on the Yi (county) Lin (Yi) Highway, cutting off the road for the reorganized 26th Division to retreat westward and the Yi and Zao Kuomintang troops to aid eastward. The main force of the first column of the left column surrounded Bianzhuang on the evening of January 2, and the 1st Division penetrated westward from Lufang. The connection between the Reorganized 26th Division and the Reorganized 33rd Army.So far, the PLA has completed the campaign division and partial tactical encirclement of the reorganized 26th Division. Starting on January 3, the People's Liberation Army made every effort to compress the encirclement, attacking and annihilating the defenders point by point. After Ma Liwu learned that there was a fight ahead, he immediately contacted the Majiazhuang division headquarters by phone.The phone had been cut off, so he had to use the telephone to contact Deputy Teacher Cao. On the morning of the 3rd, Ma Liwu led two companies into a truck and was about to return to the front line. On the road, he met a reconnaissance unit and said that the battle ahead was fierce and it was extremely unsafe to travel.Ma Liwu had no choice but to return to Yi County to report to Xue Yue, requesting that the 26th Division and the fast column be withdrawn to Yi County. After Xue Yue's permission, Ma Liwu ordered the remnants of the 26th Division to retreat westward under the cover of a fast column. Ma Liwu's original retreat plan, in case the battle was unfavorable, he let the tanks patrol around the troops and cover the retreat of the troops along the road by truck.He called this tactic "meat and mud warfare". The flesh and blood of the communist army can never withstand steel tanks, and coupled with the cover of aircraft in the sky, the retreat can be successful. Unexpectedly, on January 4th, the sky was cloudy and low, with heavy rain and snow, the Kuomintang Air Force could not cover it, and the movement of tanks on the muddy road was also greatly restricted.The First Express and the remnants of the reorganized 26th Division began to break through to Yi County in the morning. Our army intercepted the route of action of the Kuomintang army's retreat from the captured telephones, and Su Yu ordered the troops to attack quickly to encircle the enemy.Seeing that the weather was too bad, the staff came to ask Su Yu if there was any change in his battle plan.Su Yu said: "No change! This is God helping us. Rain and snow make the road difficult, and heavy equipment will be trapped there, making it even more difficult for the enemy to escape." At this time, Tao Yong's 1st Division had joined forces with the troops of the 10th Lunan Division of the right column in the north, occupied Simazhai, and blocked the way for the enemy to flee to Yi County.In the north, the 8th and 9th Divisions of the Mountains and Fields, and the Binhai Garrison Brigade assaulted Majiazhuang, Taizitang, and Chenjiaqiao respectively. In the south, the main force of the 1st Huaye Division assaulted Zuozigou. It is surrounded by a narrow area from Zuozigou to Leowzhi Lake. Leaky Lake is a depression four to five kilometers wide from north to south, with intersecting ditches, and it is a plain when it is dry. When it rains and snows, the land is muddy and soft like a sponge, turning into a swamp.The Kuomintang army broke through to the west in a panic. Tanks, trucks, and heavy artillery were crowded together, and everyone wanted to run away first.They couldn't wait to line up and drive along the road, but drove tanks and trucks into the fields on both sides of the road, and drove in three or four parallel lines.The trucks and tanks in the front quickly bogged down in the mud, and the ones behind were blocked, honking their horns.The infantry was crowded between trucks and tanks, and the Kuomintang army was completely in chaos.All the troops of our army rushed into the enemy's line like tigers on the mountain, shouting.Divide the encirclement and annihilation of the 26th division and the fast column.Cao Yuheng, the deputy commander of the enemy's 26th Division, and the chief of staff led 7 tanks to the front and escaped the siege by chance. Our army has been on the road that the fast column must pass, bombing bridges, breaking roads, digging deep ditches, transforming the terrain, and delaying its actions; concentrating the only anti-aircraft guns and using armor-piercing shells to bombard the marching tanks, destroying the first few tanks first, and blocking them. Passage; set up traps in front of the blocking position, pile up firewood, and set fire to the tanks when they approach; at the same time, use gasoline bottles, cluster grenades, etc. to blow up the tracks and fuel tanks of enemy tanks.Li Jiaoqing, the platoon leader of the 8th Regiment of the 1st Division, climbed two enemy tanks in a row and stuffed grenades from the top cover, scaring the driver of the other tank to surrender with a white flag, creating an example of single-handed capture of three enemy tanks . Seeing that there was no escape and no resistance, some wise Kuomintang officers ordered the troops to stop resisting and lay down their weapons.Among them are Ding Zifu, the deputy brigade commander of the 26th division, and Wang Jingxing, the head of the regiment.Chen Weijin, head of the 239th regiment of the fast column, ordered to blow the rallying call and led the whole regiment to put down their weapons.These actions were approved by officers and soldiers, thus avoiding worthless sacrifices. After 4 hours of fighting, by 15:00, all of the 44th and 169th brigades of the 26th Division of the Kuomintang Army, the first fast column tank battalion, the engineer battalion, the 5th artillery regiment, the transport regiment and the 80th brigade and two infantry regiments totaled more than 30,000. People were wiped out by our army, and 24 tanks, dozens of American heavy artillery, and more than 200 trucks were seized.The first phase of the Lunan Campaign ended successfully. Chen Yi, the commander and political commissar of the Shandong Field Army who commanded this campaign, wrote an impromptu poem: "The Rapid Troops are flying like flying, and the return of India and Burma comes from advocacy. The muddy south of Lunan is impossible, and the tanks are piles of scrap metal. The Rapid Troops are now dead. 26 What did Master Ru do? Xue Yue in Xuzhou hid his face and wept, and the Jiang bandits in Nanjing should weep." After our army launched an attack on the Reorganized 26th Division, its right-wing Reorganized 77th Division saw that the situation was not good, and even ordered the vanguard to retreat from the Bailanling and Xiaozhong Village lines to the Hongshan area.When the reorganized 26th division and the first fast column were facing the critical moment of being wiped out, the Xuzhou Sui Department strictly ordered the reorganized 77th division to quickly reinforce.In order to preserve his strength, the commander of the division only sent a small force to the west of Lanling to bluff. At the same time, he falsely reported that he was hit head-on by the main force of the People's Liberation Army, and quickly retreated to the west of Taiyi Highway.The reorganized 51st Division stationed in Yi County and Zaozhuang area, under the supervision of the Sui Department, also sent a small force to the east for reinforcements. Once blocked, they retreated quickly.This fully exposed the contradiction between the direct line of the Kuomintang army and the miscellaneous brands. Ma Liwu watched the main force of his 26th Division and the fast column being wiped out by our army in the county seat of Yixian County.Cao Yuheng, the deputy commander of the division who escaped by chance, fled back to Yi County with a small number of defeated soldiers.The city was in chaos. Ma Liwu took care of the remnants, and asked Xue Yue in Xuzhou for instructions: "The 26th Division has lost its combat effectiveness, please retreat to the rear to rest and replenish." After Xue Yue received Ma Liwu's telegram, he was in a dilemma. He knew: If he agreed to Ma Liwu's retreat and let the communist army cut off the Jinpu line again, Chiang Kai-shek would never forgive him, and the consequences would be disastrous; if he did not agree to Ma Liwu's retreat, the 26th Division could withstand the communist army Is it a powerful offensive? After much consideration, Xue Yue still ordered Ma Liwu to reorganize his troops and stick to Yi County.At the same time, Zhou Yuying of the 51st Division was ordered to stick to Zaozhuang, and the 97th Army was ordered to stick to Lincheng, forming three isolated strongholds. Ma Liwu had no choice but to sort out the remnants, strengthen fortifications, and deploy peripheral defenses.At the military meeting, he cried bitterly and declared that he would avenge the dead officers and soldiers, and asked his subordinates to fight to the last person.Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, no one was confident.Because only one regiment attached to the 51st Division in Yixian County was complete at that time, plus the remaining personnel of the 26th Division, there were a total of more than 7,000 people, and there were 7 tanks and more than 30 artillery pieces. It can be said that the overall situation has been settled. up. After the Shandong and Central China Field Army annihilated the main force of the reorganized 26th Division and the first fast column, they planned to go southward and annihilate the reorganized 33rd Army.However, because the enemy has shrunk its troops, it is inconvenient to mow down and annihilate, relying on the original fortifications on the south bank of the canal to transfer to defense.Therefore, it was decided to concentrate its forces to attack and wipe out the Kuomintang troops stationed in Yi and Zaozhuang. The Yi County garrison consists of the first part of the 114th Brigade of the Reorganized 51st Division, one regiment of the Reorganized 52nd Division, together with the remnants of the Reorganized 26th Division and the security team of about 7,000 people, under the unified command of Ma Liwu, the commander of the Reorganized 26th Division; The main force of the 51st Division is stationed in Zaozhuang and Qicun. The Shandong and Central China field armies are determined to capture Yi County with the 8th, 9th and 4th divisions and a regiment of the 4th division, and the Binhai garrison brigade, and capture Zaozhuang and Qicun with the 1st division; Located in the southwest and west of Yi County, block the Kuomintang army that may be reinforced by Taierzhuang and Lincheng. On the night of January 9th, our army first swept the outer strongholds of Yi County.After a night of fighting, positions such as Tanshan and Shaojialou were conquered successively, some of the defending enemies were wiped out, and the rest fled into Yi County. At dusk on the 10th, following an order, dozens of heavy artillery, mountain artillery, and mortars of our army bombarded the city.After an hour of artillery preparation, more than 1,500 artillery shells were fired into the city. The dense and heavy explosions shook the sky, and the artillery fire of the Kuomintang army in the city was completely suppressed. After preparing for the artillery fire, the assault troops quickly blasted open the city gate and broke into the city.After a day and night of fierce fighting, the People's Liberation Army wiped out the defenders at dawn on the 11th, and captured and reorganized the Lieutenant General Ma Liwu of the 26th Division. There are a large number of blockhouses built in the Zaozhuang mining area, and there are many solid buildings and coal mine tunnels in the city, forming a strong defense system closely connected with the outer and core positions. The Kuomintang Air Force also dispatched 458 sorties of P-51 fighter jets and 33 sorties of B-25 bombers to support the ground forces, which further increased the difficulty of the PLA's offensive. The 1st Division launched a strong attack on the evening of the 10th, but was stubbornly resisted by the defenders. The progress was slow and the casualties were heavy.Chen Yi and Su Yu considered that Zaozhuang was an important stronghold in southern Shandong. Failure to do so would increase the difficulty of future operations and affect the morale of the troops.Therefore, the main force of the first column was used to attack Qicun; at the same time, in order to strengthen the attack force, a part of the 8th Division and two regiments of the first column, which were good at attacking fortified areas, were sent to attack Zaozhuang with all their strength in cooperation with the 1st Division.After full preparation, the siege troops launched a general attack on Zaozhuang on the afternoon of the 19th with strong artillery support.The troops opened five breakthroughs with continuous blasting, entered the urban area, and competed with the defenders house by house and fort by fort.The battle ended at noon on the 20th, when the headquarters of the reorganized 51st Division and its two regiments were finally wiped out, and Lieutenant General Zhou Yuying was captured. In the Battle of Southern Shandong, the Shandong and Central China Field Army wiped out 2 reorganized divisions, 4 brigades, 1 fast column (including 1 infantry brigade) and 1 regiment of the Kuomintang Army, with a total of more than 53,000 people and only 8,000 casualties Yu people.A large number of weapons and equipment were seized, including 24 tanks, more than 470 cars, and 217 guns of various types (including 48 105mm howitzers).These heavy equipment provided the material basis for the formation of special forces of the People's Liberation Army.Due to the seizure of more than 1,000 light and heavy machine guns, many field troops expanded the battalion machine gun platoon into a machine gun company after the war. In the battles of Subei and Lunan, the PLA wiped out 8 entire brigades of the Kuomintang army, about 80,000 people, accounting for 12% of its total offensive strength in East China and 17% of its front-line troops, thus weakening the offensive power of the Kuomintang army .The Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China spoke highly of the significance of the Lunan Campaign. On January 14, 1947, it pointed out in a telegram to the heads of the Shandong and Central China Field Army: "The victory of Lunan opened the situation. I have seized the initiative and the enemy has fallen into a passive position." Su Yu, commander of the Central China Field Army, believes: "The battles of Subei and Lunan are two key battles (in East China) for our army to transform from frontier operations in the liberated areas to in-depth operations. If these two battles are fought well, this transformation will turn around." He also believes that these two battles also have special significance for the construction of the PLA: they have played a major role in solving the ideological problems of the Central China troops withdrawing from northern Jiangsu to Shandong, and in comprehensively training and improving the combat effectiveness of the troops.In particular, it laid the foundation for the centralization and unification of the two field armies of Shandong and Central China in terms of combat guiding ideology, command relationship, and organizational establishment. When the Kuomintang Army reviewed the lessons learned from the Lunan Campaign, it said: In terms of strategy, "the corps of our army are too separated. None of them took active actions to contain the bandit army, so that the bandit could completely concentrate its forces to defeat our 26th Division. After that, our Ouzhen Corps continued to go slowly... After arriving at Xin'an Town with a journey of eight kilometers every day, it resumed After stopping for two days, the bandits were able to defeat our 51st Division again." In terms of tactics, "Our army in southern Shandong is too prominent, the first-line troops are guarding the point line, and the front is too wide, so that they are surrounded and defeated by everyone." Since the fall of the two Huaihe Rivers and the focus of operations on the East China battlefield has gradually shifted from the frontier of the Liberated Areas to the depths, the Shandong and Central China field armies have begun to consider the issue of centralization and unification in terms of organization and action.After the Subei and Lunan campaigns, most of the Jiangsu-Anhui liberated areas have been occupied by the Kuomintang army, and the main battlefield in East China has been transferred to Shandong.With the development of the battle situation, the main forces of the Shandong and Central China field armies have successively assembled in the area around Linyi.At the same time, after the battles of Subei and Lunan, the two major field armies, from leaders at all levels to soldiers, have deeply realized from practice the importance and urgency of implementing centralized and unified command for large-scale annihilation wars.Therefore, after reporting to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission for approval, the two major field armies decided to take advantage of the gap between operations in late January to carry out unified reorganization, and to organize the main divisions and brigades of the Luzhong, Jiaodong, and Bohai Navy areas into the field army to strengthen The strength of the field army. The two field armies decided to reorganize at this time, and because the troops have undergone continuous and arduous battles, some organic units have suffered heavy casualties, and some field troops have huge organizations and insufficient combat units.In the planning of larger-scale mobile warfare and annihilation warfare, it is required to further establish a reasonable organization, streamline the organization, and enrich the combat company to meet the needs of the war.For example, the first column of the Shandong Field Army has 22,000 people in the entire column, and the two-level organs and directly subordinate teams of the column and brigade account for more than 7,000 people.This top-heavy situation is obviously not conducive to the execution of mobile combat missions. In order to make the functions of the party and government leading organs better adapt to the development of the war situation, the reorganization of the East China region adopted the method of simultaneous implementation of the party, government and army: abolishing the Central China Branch of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (retaining a capable leadership team to lead guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines) , merged into the East China Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, revoked the Jiangsu-Anhui Border Region Government, revoked the designations of the New Fourth Army and the Shandong Military Region, the Central China Military Region, the Shandong Field Army, and the Central China Field Army, and unified the East China Military Region and the East China Field Army. The leading members of the East China Military Region are: Commander Chen Yi, Political Commissar Rao Shushi, Deputy Commander Zhang Yunyi, Deputy Political Commissar Li Yu, Chief of Staff Chen Shiju, Director of the Political Department Shu Tong, Deputy Chiefs of Staff Yuan Zhongxian and Zhou Junming, Deputy Director of the Political Department Tang Liang , Zhang Kai. The leading members of the East China Field Army are: Commander and political commissar Chen Yi (and served as former party secretary), deputy commander Su Yu, deputy political commissar Tan Zhenlin, chief of staff Chen Shiju, director of the political department Tang Liang, deputy chiefs of staff Liu Xiansheng, Zhang Yuanshou, political department Deputy Director Zhong Qiguang. The East China Field Army is unified into 9 infantry columns, adopting the "three-three" system, that is, each column governs 3 divisions, and each division governs 3 regiments. Individual columns that cannot be organized as organizational units for the time being will be formed gradually in the future.The formation of each column is as follows: The former First Column of the Shandong Field Army was renamed the First Column of the East China Field Army: Ye Fei, the commander and political commissar, under the jurisdiction of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions and an independent division reorganized from the 13th Brigade of the Central China Field Army. The second column of the former Shandong Field Army and the main force of the ninth column of the former Central China Field Army were combined into the second column of the East China Field Army: Wei Guoqing, commander and political commissar, under the jurisdiction of the 4th, 5th, and 6th divisions. The 8th Division of the former Shandong Field Army and the main divisions (brigades) of the Shandong and Binhai Districts were organized into the 3rd Column of the East China Field Army: Commander He Yixiang, political commissar Ding Qiusheng, governing the 7th, 8th, and 9th Divisions. The original 1st Division of the Central China Field Army was renamed as the 4th Column of the East China Field Army: Commander Tao Yong, Political Commissar Wang Jicheng, under the jurisdiction of the 10th, 11th, and 12th Divisions. The original 6th Division of the Central China Field Army was renamed the 6th Column of the East China Field Army: Commander Wang Bicheng, political commissar Jiang Weiqing, under the jurisdiction of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Divisions. One brigade of the 7th Division of the former Shandong Field Army and the 5th Brigade of the former Huainan Military Region were combined into the 7th Column of the East China Field Army: Commander Cheng Jun, Political Commissar Zhao Qimin, under the jurisdiction of the 19th and 20th Divisions.The 21st Division was formed in March 1947 by troops drawn from various military districts. The main division (brigade) of the Luzhong Military Region was organized into the eighth column of the East China Field Army: Commander Wang Jian'an, political commissar Xiang Ming, under the jurisdiction of the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th divisions. The main division (brigade) of the Jiaodong Military Region was organized into the ninth column of the East China Field Army: Commander Xu Shiyou, Political Commissar Lin Hao, under the jurisdiction of the 25th, 26th, and 27th Divisions. The main divisions of the Bohai Navy Region were organized into the Tenth Column of the East China Field Army: Commander Song Shilun, Political Commissar Jing Xiaocun, under the jurisdiction of the 28th and 29th Divisions. Special Forces Column: Commander Chen Ruiting, political commissar Zhang Fan, under the jurisdiction of the Howitzer Regiment, Field Artillery Regiment, Cavalry Regiment, Engineer Regiment, Chariot Battalion and Automobile Brigade. In addition, the seventh column of the former Central China Field Army was reorganized into the eleventh column of the East China Field Army, and the tenth column of the original Central China Field Army was reorganized into the twelfth column of the East China Field Army. After reorganization and replenishment, the strength of the East China Liberation Army has been greatly enhanced.The total strength of the field army reached more than 275,000 (excluding the eleventh and twelfth columns), which was more than twice the total strength of the Shandong and Central China field armies when the war broke out.The equipment of the troops has also been greatly enhanced.For example, after the fourth column was reorganized, it was equipped with 13 heavy artillery pieces and 963 light and heavy machine guns, which were 5 times and 72% more than the initial period of the war. While reorganizing the field army, corresponding adjustments and strengthening were also made to the armed forces of the military region. The East China Military Region has 6 secondary military regions under its jurisdiction, namely the Jiaodong Military Region, the Bohai Navy Region, the Central Shandong Military Region, the Southern Shandong Military Region, the Central Jiangsu Military Region, the North Jiangsu Military Region, and the Dongjiang Column directly under the East China Military Region (later renamed the Guangdong-Guangdong Column).There are about 300,000 armed forces in the military region.