Chapter 10 Chapter 9: The Southern Expedition and the Northern War, Laiwu Lured and Annihilated the Li Xianzhou Group

January 1947, Nanjing, the Presidential Palace Building. Chiang Kai-shek paced back and forth in the office with his hands behind his back.His brows were furrowed and his face was gloomy. Since the start of the nationwide civil war, it has suffered repeated disastrous defeats on the East China battlefield, especially after November last year, when the 69th Reorganized Division was annihilated in Subei, and its commander Dai Zhiqi committed suicide in fear of crime; The mechanized fast column was annihilated in Yixian County and Lanling Town, Shandong, and its division commander Ma Liwu was captured alive; the reorganized 51st Division was annihilated in Zaozhuang, and its division commander Zhou Yuying was captured alive.

Due to the two defeats in Subei and Lunan, Xue Yue's four-way offensive plan fell into a quagmire and had to be readjusted.Chiang Kai-shek was not reconciled to the failure beside the couch. "Under this situation, it is necessary to fight several victories to revive the national army. Xue Yue's command is ineffective and his reputation is low. It seems that Chen Cheng must be sent to fight in person!" Chiang Kai-shek said to himself.He walked to the desk, picked up the phone and wanted to call Chen Cheng. "Cixiu, the current situation in East China is not good, and Xue Yue's command is not effective. It seems that you must go to Xuzhou to command the national army in person. Help Xue Yue regroup and formulate a new offensive plan. We must wipe out the Communist Army in East China!"

"Yes! Never disappoint the chairman's expectations!" On January 17, Chen Chengfei arrived in Pengcheng.At this time, the second phase of the Lunan Campaign had not yet ended.The arrival of Chen Cheng did not bring any good signs to Xue Yue.Three days later, Chen and Su's army conquered Zaozhuang, wiped out the entire 51st Division, and gave Chen Cheng a disarm. The communist army didn't give face, and Chen Cheng, who had the "general demeanor", didn't care, but the morale of the Kuomintang officers and soldiers was generally low, which made him feel very headache.

In order to cheer up his subordinates, Chen Cheng was not only in Xuzhou, but also went to Hanzhuang, Jiawang and other places to convene officers and soldiers from various ministries to give lectures.However, the effect is not significant.Among middle and lower-ranking officers and soldiers, more and more people are fleeing, getting sick, asking for leave or even resigning.Even high-ranking military officers still have lingering fears, their faces turn pale when they talk about it, and they have no confidence in victory at all. Helpless, Chen Cheng had no choice but to run back to Nanjing, and invited Chiang Kai-shek to Xuzhou, where he would personally encourage the officers and soldiers.

On February 2, Chiang Kai-shek flew to Xuzhou, the mood of the troops stabilized a little, and a new offensive plan was formulated under his direct supervision. This plan was called the "Battle of Southern Shandong", and it was an attempt to force the East China Field Army to fight a decisive battle near Linyi, and use the military victory to influence the upcoming foreign ministers' meeting of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom.Its deployment is: Ou Zhen, commander of the reorganized 19th Army, commanded 8 reorganized divisions and 20 brigades to form the main assault group, and invaded Linyi in three routes from Taierzhuang to Chengtou: the right route was 6 brigades commanded by Huang Baitao, and the middle route was The 7 brigades commanded by Li Tianxia, ​​the 7 brigades commanded by Hu Lian on the left; the 12th, 46th, and 73rd armies and 9 divisions commanded by Li Xianzhou, the deputy commander of the 2nd Suizhou District, as the auxiliary assault group, led by Jiaoji Going southward, they went straight to the rear bases of Laiwu, Xintai, and Mengyin in the Shandong Liberated Area, forming a situation of pinching from north to south.

They not only concentrated all the mobile forces that could be concentrated on the East China battlefield, but also dispatched a large number of planes to bombard Linyi and other places indiscriminately.Four reorganized divisions of the Wang Jingjiu Group were also deployed from northern Henan and southern Hebei to gather in the southwestern region of Shandong to prevent the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Field Army from aiding the east or the East China Field Army from withdrawing westward. Chen Cheng strictly ordered all the ministries under his command: "The success or failure of the party and the country depends entirely on the battle in southern Shandong. Only success is allowed, and failure is not allowed."

Chen Cheng's words quickly reached Chen Yi's ears.A few days later, Chen Yi, known as the "Confucian General", answered Chen Cheng's challenge at the cadre meeting held by Huaye Yizong.With a strong Sichuan accent, he said humorously to everyone: "Chen Cheng publicly announced in Xuzhou that he will come to Jinan to fight a decisive battle with me, Chen Yi. Since he thinks highly of me so much, it's hard to refuse his kindness! 'Erchen decisive battle'! You see, should we fight this decisive battle?" Before Chen Yi finished speaking, applause and laughter immediately erupted in the venue.

In this way, the "Er Chen Decisive Battle" spread like wildfire and spread throughout the Huaye ministries, becoming synonymous with the upcoming war and an important topic of discussion among the commanders and fighters of the Huaye ministries. Although the words are easy to say, it is not an easy task for both sides to win in the confrontation of hundreds of thousands of troops. Chen Yi knew very well that this time, Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng had indeed placed a big bet.In the overall balance of power, the Kuomintang still holds a great advantage.It is precisely because of this that Chen Cheng dared to boast about Haikou and brag about it.He, Chen Yi, must deal with it seriously, and he must not be negligent in the slightest, otherwise, the conspiracy of Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng may really succeed.

Chen Yi and Su Yu's original plan was to quickly concentrate the main force of Huaye in the Linyi area for standby, and prepare to face the enemy in the south of Linyi to defend Linyi.The specific method of attack is to lure the enemy to go deep, first to lure one of the attacking enemies to stand out and rush forward, and then to concentrate superior forces to encircle and wipe them out. In order to realize this plan, the East China Field Army used various methods to lure the enemy, waiting for a favorable opportunity to appear. Unexpectedly, after waiting for several days in a row, the enemy on the southern front refused to be fooled.They learned the lessons of the failure of Subei and Lunan battles and became more cunning and cautious.The soldiers and horses of the three groups all adopted the tactics of "concentrating their forces, fighting steadily, advancing in unison, and avoiding the stand-out of a single army".No matter how tempting the communist army was, they were always careful, step by step, slowly crawling like tortoises, advancing an average of only five or six kilometers a day.They also resorted to the so-called "hard walnuts with rotten grapes" tactic.The "Rotten Grapes" are miscellaneous units with weak combat effectiveness, and they always stay together with the direct line troops with stronger combat effectiveness called "Hard Walnuts", taking care of each other and closely guarding each other.This method of the enemy on the southern front really worked, making it difficult for Huaye to divide it and capture favorable opportunities.

But the enemy of the northern line and the southern criminals are different.Perhaps it was because Li Xianzhou and others had not experienced the hardships of the communist army and were more courageous, so they advanced faster.According to reconnaissance, as of February 4, the leading troops of the three northern armies led by Li Xianzhou had entered the front lines of Laiwu and Xintai, posing a major threat to Huaye's rear. Under such circumstances, Chen Yi and Su Yu had no choice but to Rethink the battle plan.At this time, it happened that Yan'an also sent a telegram.Mao Zedong instructed: "The deeper the enemy goes, the better, and the later I fight, the better; as long as you don't seek quick results, and are prepared to abandon Linyi when necessary, then I will surely win this time."

Chen Yi deeply felt the wisdom of Mao Zedong's strategic thinking of exchanging space for time and concentrating forces to wipe out the enemy's vital forces.Because the enemy forced me to fight a decisive battle in the Linyi area, I was prepared to abandon Linyi if necessary, and the room for maneuver in the battle was much greater. Chen Yi quickly put forward an important idea: since the enemy on the southern front is densely populated and it is difficult to find fighters, while the enemy on the northern front is alone and threatening our rear, why don't we change the original combat policy and ignore the heavy army group on the southern front, and instead use The main force went north, with an absolute superior force, to wipe out the enemy on the northern front.He asked Su Yu to think deeply about this. Su Yu felt that the commander's idea was very clever.He made a further comparison and analysis. First of all, he compared the different situations of the enemies on the southern and northern routes. He believed that the enemy on the southern route had more than 60 regiments, and I only had more than 60 regiments. The enemy cannot be divided and encircled; while the enemy forces on the northern front are small, their combat effectiveness is relatively weak, and there are many internal factional conflicts. If I hide the main force and go north, I can form an absolute advantage over them and wipe them out with confidence.Since the enemy believes that we must stick to Linyi, our army will suddenly go north, and it will definitely be taken by surprise.In this way, we can put the enemy's powerful corps on the southern line to the point of no use, avoid unfavorable decisive battles, and wipe out a large group of enemies on the northern line, smashing the enemy's north-south flanking intention and removing the threat from our rear. If the enemy on the northern front finds that my main force is going northward, they may retreat and make me miss the air, but even so, I can still take advantage of the momentum to attack Jiaoji Road, open up the three districts of Luzhong, Jiaodong, and Bohai, and then rest and regroup the troops, wait for work, and calmly meet the south. The enemy advancing northward.Moreover, our army can also adopt various feigning measures to confuse the enemy. As long as we can win a few days, the enemy on the northern front will not escape the fate of being wiped out. Su Yu also considered a variety of unfavorable situations and handling methods, including those from the enemy and our side, as well as logistics support, and stated them to Chen Yi one by one.Chen Yi said "right" every time he finished a question.After he had finished speaking, he happily said several "opponents" in succession.Then I discussed with Tan Zhenlin and other members of the former committee, and got full support. At noon on February 5th, Chen Yi issued three operational plans that were submitted to the Central Military Commission for review: First, use the second column to attack Hao Pengju's troops in Baitabu and Fangshan Street, and lure the enemy from the right to aid from the east or wait for the enemy from the center and left Boldly advance northward, and then follow the opportunity to annihilate them along the way; secondly, if the enemy is still densely divided, use one to monitor the enemy, and gather the main force north of Linyi to rest and wait; thirdly, if the enemy still does not advance northward, transfer troops to the north , Seeking to annihilate the Li Xianzhou Group. On February 6, the battle against Hao was launched.With quick and brave actions, Er Zong ran for dozens of miles overnight, and wiped out Hao Pengju's rebels neatly.But contrary to our expectations, the Kuomintang army did not come to reinforce, but took more cautious actions, strengthened the defense and cooperation of various ministries, and continued to advance step by step for the camp. Mao Zedong saw this, and telegraphed Chen Sutan on February 9: "It is very good to deal with Hao Pengju's troops. But as far as the overall strategic policy is concerned, if your policy is to deal with the south, it seems that you have fought a little earlier, which may affect the enemy's troops. You need to be more cautious. After you fight Hao Pengju, you should stand still (with great patience), let the enemy's troops go northward, and then annihilate them one by one. If your policy is to deal with the north first, then fighting Hao Pengju will not hinder you. You must There is a choice between two approaches." Chen Yi and Su Yu made up their minds to concentrate their forces to fight the enemy on the northern front first.They telegraphed to the Central Military Commission on February 11: "We are determined to concentrate Ye (Fei), Wang (Bicheng), Tao (Yong), Cheng (Jun)'s columns and Wang Jian'an, Xu Shiyou, Song Shilun and other departments, a total of 53 regiments, It is planned to concentrate all efforts on solving the 73rd Army and one division of the 12th Army of the North and South Divisions, and then transfer troops to solve the 46th Division occupying Xintai, and attack the Jiaoji line, so as to completely solve the problem on the northern line.” Regarding the enemy forces on the southern line, it is planned to "In order to slightly hinder the enemy's move to occupy Linyi, Chen Shiju decided to lead the command post to stay near Linyi, and command Wei (Guoqing) Zong and Sanzong (8th Division of South China and 6 regiments of Lu Brigade) to be near Linyi. Participate in the annihilation of the 46th Division that occupied Xintai." With an order from the headquarters, the four main columns of the East China Field Army began to secretly move northward, and the three columns of Luzhong, Bohai, and Jiaodong also assembled in the direction of Laiwu, preparing to fight on the northern front.The second and third columns, under the command of Chief of Staff Chen Shiju, pretended to be the entire East China Field Army and carried out a wide frontal defense south of Linyi.In order to confuse the enemy, our army openly dug fortifications along the Yihe River and the road from Linyi to Bianzhuang, showing the appearance of a decisive battle. The local armed forces in southern Shandong pretended to be the main force, housed houses everywhere, collected food and grass, built bridges on canals, and sent one to attack Yanzhou.These signs made the Kuomintang intelligence department mistakenly believe that our army is going to defend Linyi to the death, and if it can't hold it, it will move westward, thus making a wrong judgment. Since the ministries in Huaye adopted the measure of strictly keeping secrets, traveling at night and staying at dawn, the Kuomintang, whether it was the Supreme Command in Nanjing or Chen Cheng and Xue Yue in Xuzhou, were kept in the dark. After the East China Field Army moved north from Linyi, Chen Cheng fabricated the record and lied that he had defeated the East China Field Army in an attempt to boost morale.He also sent a telegram to Wang Yaowu, the commander of the 2nd Sui District, saying: "Our army fought against the enemy in northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong, and wiped out a large number of enemies. The enemy's army is distracted and lacks food and ammunition. It is no longer able to fight our main force. Chen Yi They have led their main force to abandon Linyi and fled northward, and they have attempted to avoid the war by crossing the Yellow River; it is necessary to strengthen the defense of the Yellow River, and prevent them from crossing the north of the Yellow River, so that they can be wiped out in the area south of the Yellow River." After Chen Cheng reported this fabricated record to Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek thought that the East China Field Army had no strength to fight against the main force of the Kuomintang, and dreamed of taking the opportunity to attract the troops commanded by East China Field Army Chen Yi to Xintai and Laiwu areas and destroy them.He and Chen Cheng drew up a new combat deployment, and Chen Cheng ordered Wang Yaowu to execute it.The general idea of ​​the telegram is as follows: "After the bandit army failed in Linyi and other places, it was no longer able to fight with the main force of our army, and there was an attempt to cross the Yellow River to avoid the battle. The commander sent an army to Laiwu and another army to Xintai to lure When the enemy comes to attack, don't let him continue to flee northward. After our defenders have attracted the enemy, we will quickly reinforce them with our troops and attack them internally and externally to annihilate them." However, Wang Yaowu discovered from aerial reconnaissance that a large number of PLA troops were moving northward, and he doubted the "good news" of occupying Linyi.He thought Chen Cheng exaggerated his achievements.Because from the spring of 1946 to February 1947, the Kuomintang army did not wipe out a whole division or a whole column of the People's Liberation Army in northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong.According to the captured personnel who fled back from the reorganized 26th Division, although the People's Liberation Army suffered heavy casualties, there were many new recruits and weapons, and their morale was strong. Their lower-level cadres and soldiers were unwilling to retreat northward.It is obviously wrong to think that the People's Liberation Army is no longer capable of fighting our main force. Wang Yaowu was very worried that the main force of the communist army might change the direction of the battle, and turned around and went north to attack his Li Xianzhou group.Therefore, while reporting to Xuzhou and Nanjing, he urgently ordered Li Xianzhou Group to back down across the board. At the same time, the Ouzhen Group on the southern front also suddenly discovered that the main force of the Communist Army was not near Linyi, and only a small number of troops of the Communist Army fought against them for a few days.Therefore, they also reported to Xuzhou and Nanjing: "The whereabouts of the main force of the Communist army is unknown." Wang Yaowu ordered Li Xianzhou to retreat, which made the Huaye headquarters nervous for a while.At this time, Huaye's northward verticals have arrived in Laiwu area one after another.Seeing that the enemy was about to run, everyone was very anxious, and they all asked the headquarters to order to launch an attack in advance.The reason is that even if you can't catch all the enemies, you can still eat their tails.This is better than letting the enemy run away. However, after careful research and analysis, Chen Yi and Su Yu did not agree to this proposal.They believe that the enemy did not understand the real situation, but only heard a little wind, and did not fundamentally change the deployment.Therefore, all ministries in Huaye should keep calm and quickly assemble to the designated location according to the original plan, and should not startle the snake by making mistakes, be greedy for small things and lose big things. The situation turned out as expected by Chen and Su.After Chen Cheng received the reports from the north and the south, he made a completely wrong judgment.Not only did he resolutely oppose Wang Yaowu's policy of shrinking back, but he also telegraphed Wang Yaowu to immediately strengthen his forces, stationed in Xintai and Laiwu, and lured Chen Yi to attack, so as not to make him continue to flee northward.Chen Cheng also sued Wang Yaowu to Chiang Kai-shek, accusing him of being cowardly and afraid of death. On February 13, Chiang Kai-shek urged Wang Yaowu to send troops to Laiwu and Xintai with a personal letter.The general idea of ​​the letter is: "A lesson from Zuomin's brother: The bandit army has suffered heavy losses and low morale after fighting in the northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong areas for many years. It is now unable to fight our main force. An attempt to avoid war. In order to attract the enemy and not allow the north crossing of the Yellow River to have a chance to breathe, but to wipe out the enemy on the south bank of the Yellow River in order to inspire people and benefit our army's future operations. Don't miss this good opportunity. Please follow the instructions Send troops to Xintai and Laiwu. Xintai and Laiwu each have an army, and the enemy is powerless to attack, and the enemy Tathagata will attack, which is exactly what we want." Wang Yaowu, who was disturbed by Chen Cheng and Chiang Kai-shek, was not completely convinced, but he dared not refuse to carry out the order.At the same time, he saw that after Li Xianzhou withdrew, the communist army did not act abnormally.He immediately summoned Deputy Commander Li Xianzhou, Deputy Chief of Staff Luo Xingli, Director of the Second Division Tao Fuye, Director of the Third Division Qian Boying, Director of the Fourth Division Wu Liji and others to study how to implement the instructions of Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng, and made a speech. Made the following decisions and ordered the ministries to implement them. 1. First send Huo Shouyi, commander of the 12th Army, who is active between Boshan, Mingshui, and Laiwu, to lead the 111th and 112th divisions of the army into Laiwu City; the newly organized 26th division is stationed in Tusikou Town, north of Laiwu, to maintain traffic. After arriving at the designated location, quickly build fortifications, try to collect enemy information, and report at any time. 2. Order Han Liancheng, commander of the Reorganized 46th Division stationed in Lan Village, the east end of Jiaoji Road, to lead the division to gather in Boshan by train, and then march towards Xintai County after the concentration. 3. Send Deputy Commander Li Xianzhou to lead a part of the staff and communication personnel to form the front command post to command the 12th Army and reorganize the 46th Division; Li Xianzhou first went to Boshan on the 14th to urge the troops to advance. After the troops entered Laiwu, the command post was stationed Laiwu Command. 4. Send Wu Liji, director of the fourth division, to command a security regiment and Zhangqiu self-defense regiment to assist the engineering troops of the 12th Army in repairing the road from Mingshui via Tusikou Town to Laiwu to facilitate combat transportation. On February 14, Li Xianzhou took the personnel from the front command post to the Boshan headquarters, commanding the 12th and 73rd armies and the reorganized 46th division to attack south.These three armies have not been reorganized, and their strength is equivalent to the reorganized divisions of the Kuomintang Army on the southern front.In terms of combat effectiveness and equipment, except for Han Jun's 73rd Army, which is Wang Yaowu's basic army, which is slightly stronger, the other two armies are average.Han Jun and Li Xianzhou are both first-year Whampoa students, but they haven't worked together since graduation. Huo Shouyi, commander of the 12th Army, and Han Liancheng, commander of the reorganized 46th Division, did not know each other at all.Li Xianzhou said: "In the Kuomintang army, it has become a habit to talk about historical relationships and personal feelings first." He can't command these unfamiliar troops, and he can only listen to Wang Yaowu's remote control. According to the predetermined plan, the 12th Army should be at the forefront.Wang Yaowu ordered Huo Shouyi, the commander of the 12th Army, to occupy Laiwu County to cover the concentration of troops going south, and to report the reconnaissance situation at any time.But Huo Shouyi was old and cunning, and he refused to take risks with his troops. On February 15, the 12th Army arrived at Xiaoyiji, south of Tusikou Town and north of Laiwu City, and did not dare to move forward. At this time, Laiwu was already an empty city, and even the common people were hidden.After Huo Shouyi's reconnaissance was confirmed, he sent people to occupy Laiwu and report to Wang Yaowu. Li Xianzhou was very dissatisfied with Huo Shouyi's slow action and sued Wang Yaowu.Wang Yaowu also believed that Huo Shouyi was ineffective. On the 16th, he ordered the 73rd Army stationed in Boshan to switch with the 12th Army, leaving the new 36th Division of the 12th Army at the silk-spinning mouth.The new 36th Division was just formed by Wang Yaowu and assigned to the 12th Army, not Huo Shouyi's basic unit, so Huo didn't have any objections, and quickly withdrew to Boshan. Han Jun, commander of the 73rd Army, went south with Li Xianzhou's headquarters.This time, Han Liancheng's 46th Army was leading the way. They set off from Boshan on the 16th and arrived at Yanzhuang on the same day.The villages I saw along the way were solid walls and clear fields, with few people inhabited, and no troops of the People's Liberation Army were found.So the 46th Army advanced to Xintai, set up camp in the county town, and built fortifications. The 73rd Army followed the route of the 46th Army and arrived at Yanzhuang on the 18th. The 50,000 to 60,000 Kuomintang troops moved slowly on the narrow roads among the hills. Their daily supplies required 200 tons, which required hundreds of trucks to transport them. The 12th Army was responsible for the support behind, and the team was very long. On February 19th, Chiang Kai-shek declared in his speech "Review of the Bandit Suppression Campaign and Future Improvements of Our Army" at the "Officer Training Corps" in Nanjing: "The bandit army in the pass can be divided into five divisions... Among the troops, according to my observations, Chen Yi’s is the most tenacious, the most well-trained, the most cunning, and the most difficult to eliminate. But since the national army recovered and conquered Linyi from the north, Chen Yi has lost his old nest, and it will never happen again. effect." The stupidity of Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, Wang Yaowu and others undoubtedly helped Chen Yi and Su Yu a lot, enabling the main force of Huaye to calmly complete the encirclement of the two armies of the Li Xianzhou Group. It wasn't until then that Wang Yaowu and Li Xianzhou found out Huaye's real move.Wang Yaowu judged that the Communist Army had an attempt to concentrate its forces to wipe out the 73rd Army first and then the 46th Army, so he took emergency measures and ordered the 46th Army that had already reached Yanzhuang to quickly withdraw to Laiwu and join forces with the 73rd Army to hold on.At the same time, the 77th Division of the 73rd Army was ordered to go south via Boshan to return to the establishment.This can prevent the troops from being scattered and being defeated individually. Han Liancheng, the commander of the 46th Army, commanded the troops to retreat to Laiwu that night, and Li Xianzhou deployed defensive tasks to the two Korean commanders. After Su Yu learned of the change in the enemy's situation, he immediately adjusted his deployment and ordered the first column to attack the headquarters of Lixianzhou in Laiwu and the 73rd Army, the fourth column to attack the 46th Army in Yanzhuang, the sixth column to attack the new 36th Division in Kouzhen, the main force of the eighth column and a part of the ninth column in Bo Hezhuang in the south of the mountain set up an ambush to destroy the 77th Division, and the Ten Columns captured Jinyang Pass, cutting off the retreat of the Kuomintang army.The battle is scheduled to start at 15:00 on the 20th. At dawn on the 20th, the Eighth and Ninth Columns respectively entered the Hezhuang area to hide, while the 77th Division also went south from Boshan at the same time and arrived at Hezhuang at noon.According to this situation, our army must launch a battle in advance, otherwise the enemy will go out of our encirclement and approach Kouzhen. At 13:00, our army launched an attack two hours earlier and approached the enemy. The 25th Division of the Nine Columns rushed ahead and wiped out two enemy companies.Due to the long attack distance and the inconvenient movement in the mountains, the enemy could not be divided and wiped out on the road.The enemy army quickly shrank to the two villages of Hezhuang and Fudong, and assembled and held firm. At dusk, the 25th Division of the Eighth and Ninth Columns seized the commanding heights around Hezhuang and Fudo, and launched an attack on the enemy.Jiuzong used continuous blasting to break into the village and started street fighting with the enemy.Li Xianzhou received an emergency from the 77th Division and ordered Han Jun to send a regiment from Tusikou Town to reinforce. Han Jun thought it was inconvenient to move at night, and believed that the 77th Division could persist until dawn.However, under the onslaught of our army, by dawn on the 21st, most of the 77th Division was annihilated by our army.The division commander Tian Junjian led the remnants to break out in the direction of Boshan, and was surrounded by the 26th Division of the Nine Columns and the 5th Luzhong Security Regiment at Qingshiguan, and Tian was shot dead. The Battle of Hezhuang wiped out the 77th Division, which made a good start for the victory of the Laiwu Battle. On the evening of the 20th, Ye Fei ordered the 1st and 3rd Divisions of Yizong to attack the outlying positions of the Kuomintang Army in the west and north of Laiwu respectively. At this time, the Eighth and Ninth Columns of Huaye ambushed in the area south of Boshan and wiped out an enemy division that was going south to reinforce Laiwu. The Tenth Column and the Independent Division captured Jinyang Pass and cut off the enemy's retreat. , The seventh column rushed to the designated area, and the second column also went north from the front line of Linyi day and night.The battle to attack Laiwu City was undertaken by Yizong independently. That night, the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division of the Yizong stormed Xiaocao Village in the west of Laiwu City.After 5 blasts and 3 assaults, some positions were occupied. The 193rd Division of the enemy's 73rd Army resisted tenaciously and fought repeatedly overnight. The battle was very fierce.In Li Xianzhou's words: "The two sides killed seven in and eight out." Han Jun ordered the 73rd Army to concentrate artillery fire on our army in the west of the city, and sent troops out of the city for reinforcements on the morning of the 21st. Sure enough, the enemy fought desperately for the positions of the three divisions of the first column, especially the Xiaowa and 400 highlands in the north of Laiwu City occupied by the first division, which were the main openings for the enemy to break through. The fighting was very fierce. Hand-to-hand combat was launched on the low-lying position, and the fighting was extremely heroic and tenacious, so that the enemy failed to succeed, and our position remained firm. During the three consecutive days and nights of fierce fighting, the first column tightly surrounded the enemy in Laiwu, gaining time for the brother columns to adjust their deployment and finally wipe out the Li Xianzhou Group together. Deputy Commander Su Yu later made the following evaluation of the first column when he made a report on the "Preliminary Summary of the Laiwu Campaign": "In terms of multi-column cooperation, the first column played a decisive role in the entire battle and should be counted as the first contributor. .” When the first column attacked Laiwu and contained the Li Xianzhou Group, Wang Bicheng commanded the sixth column to attack Tusikou Town, and the battle was going on fiercely. Kou Town is located at the intersection of Mingshui, Boshan and Laiwu highways, and its area is larger than Laiwu City.The rear base of the Li Xianzhou Group is located here, storing hundreds of tons of ammunition and hundreds of thousands of catties of grain.Taking Kouzhen cut off the Li Xianzhou Group's retreat and reinforcements from Jinan. The newly organized 36th Division of the 12th Army of the enemy stationed near Kou Town was originally a puppet army and served as a defense mission for a long time.After being reorganized by the Kuomintang, the equipment was updated, food and ammunition were sufficient, and a group of extremely reactionary returning home groups were absorbed, which were relatively stubborn and cunning. Wang Bicheng decided to use the two regiments of the 16th Division and the 18th Division to resolutely capture Kouzhen by combining sneak attacks and strong attacks.Take the 17th Division and command the 4th Police Regiment to insert into the north of Kou Town, the main force is to guard against the enemies at Qingshiqiao, and one part cooperates with the 16th and 18th Divisions to attack and wipe out the enemies in Kou Town. On February 20, after night fell, the 16th Division, which was in charge of the main attack, secretly entered the attack starting position southwest of Kou Town. At about 20 o'clock, the north wind was bitter and cold, and the surrounding fields were pitch black.Under the leadership of the guide, the 48th Regiment Assault Company set out from Tianjiazhuang and moved secretly along a ditch about 2 meters deep to Kou Town. When I was approaching the outside, I was noticed by the enemy sentry. It was too late to say it, and it was too late. Before the enemy shouted the password, he was killed by the soldiers who rushed up and fell to the ground. In less than 10 minutes, the assault company controlled the breach tens of meters long. The defending enemy was dazed by the sudden attack, at a loss, and retreated one after another. After 40 minutes, all of my 48th regiment broke in and took advantage of the victory to expand the results.The defending enemy desperately resisted, and counterattacked me with about one company of troops supported by intensive artillery fire.The 48th Regiment first attacked the enemy with fierce artillery fire, and then the infantry attacked bravely, annihilating one company of the enemy, capturing more than ten people, and consolidating the established position. , the main force broke into the polder wall from the southwest, and opened up the connection with the 48th regiment. The 18th Division did not start attacking until 23:00 due to the delay of the follow-up troops, and the attack was blocked that night and failed. At dawn, the enemy artillery and planes launched crazy fire attacks and bombing strafing on our army, trying to destroy our attacking troops on the position. Wang Bicheng believed that there were too many troops in the position, and they were vulnerable to enemy fire, so he ordered the 16th Division to suspend the attack, leave a part of the troops to control the occupied positions, withdraw the main force, rectify the combat organization, and prepare for another battle. In order to find out the enemy's situation, Wang Bicheng led several staff officers to Kou Town to study the terrain and the enemy's situation with the commanders of the troops, and made specific combat deployments. The enemy's main position is a stone wall surrounding Kou Town, about 3 meters high and several kilometers long, and has fortifications.Outside the wall is an outer moat with a depth of 2 meters and a width of about 3 meters with a bunker. There is also a deer village outside the outer moat.There are many houses with stone walls and tile roofs in the town, and barricades and bunkers are built in all streets and alleys.The command post of the enemy division is located in the Higher Normal School (i.e. Guandi Temple) in the core position in the northeast corner of the town.There are dense bunker groups here, connected by tunnels.This proves that the enemy is prepared to stand firm here. After clarifying the enemy's situation, Wang Bicheng and several leading comrades of the column made analysis and research together.Everyone believes that to deal with this kind of enemy with multiple layers of solid fortifications, it is necessary to use troops in turns, boldly implement interspersed divisions in street battles, use flexible tactics, organize continuous assaults, and not give the enemy a moment to breathe. annihilate.Therefore, it was determined to concentrate the forces of the six regiments of the 16th and 18th divisions to wipe out the enemies in Kouzhen that night. At 16:00 on February 21, the 53rd Regiment of the 18th Division entered from the breakthrough of the 16th Division at the South Gate, attacked along the Nanye Block to the East Gate, and welcomed the 52nd Regiment. At that time, Xiaodongmen was captured. At this time, the three regiments of the 16th Division attacked side by side from west to east.Relying on the established positions, the enemy desperately resisted.Our attacking troops competed with the enemy house by house and street by street. When I occupied the roof, the enemy shot at the roof from inside the house; Our troops have shelter. Braving the raging fire, our commanders fought bravely, successively captured all the blocks from Xiaodongmen to the west of the North Gate, controlled two-thirds of all the blocks in Kou Town, and compressed the enemy to the northeast corner. During the day on the 21st, the enemy troops stationed at Qingshiqiao dispatched to reinforce Kouzhen, attracting our troops to disperse their forces.While blocking the attack, the 17th Division of the Sixth Column resolutely counterattacked and fought fiercely for a day, forcing the enemy to retreat to Qingshiqiao. The enemy's 46th Division retreated into Laiwu City.The East China Field Army Command immediately formed the first, second, and seventh columns and the fourth and eighth columns into two assault corps, the east and the west. One part of the Sixth Column was located south of the silk-spinning mouth and resolutely blocked the attack, while the east and west assault corps jointly attacked and broke through the enemy in the area between Laiwu and the silk-spinning mouth. Li Xianzhou led two armies to gather in the small city of Laiwu. The city was full of soldiers, and the morale of the army was in turmoil. Wang Yaowu believed that it was extremely unfavorable to stick to Laiwu. Instead of being annihilated in Laiwu, the troops defending Laiwu had better retreat to Mingshui and the south of Mingshui through Tusikou Town. The east could support the Zibo mining area, the west could defend Jinan, and the Tusikou could be relieved. The siege of the town. After Wang Yaowu made up his mind to withdraw to the north, he ordered Li Xianzhou to carefully study the deployment of withdrawing from Mingshui to the north via Tusikou Town and the deployment to the south. At the same time, Luo Xingli, the deputy chief of staff of Sui District, took Wang Yaowu's letter to Nanjing to report the situation and retreat to Chiang Kai-shek. decision. After reading the letter from Wang Yaowu, Chiang Kai-shek pondered for a while, and said to Luo Xingli: "It is not good for the enemy to retreat in front. Since the retreat to the north has been ordered, special attention should be paid to the safety of the rear and both sides." After Chiang Kai-shek finished speaking, he hurriedly wrote a letter to Wang Yaowu with anxiety.The gist of the letter is: "The inside information brought by Deputy Chief of Staff Luo has been read. If the enemy's retreat in front is not carefully deployed and grasped accurately, it will suffer setbacks. Careful deployment should be made, and strong troops should be sent to cover the rear and side tails. The newly formed 26th Division in Tusikou Town must stick to its original position as a support for the troops withdrawing from the north. I will strictly order Wang Shuming to command the air force to concentrate on bombing and strafing, and try our best to cover the transfer of troops. I also pray that God bless the safety and victory of the troops withdrawing from the north. " On the evening of the 21st, Li Xianzhou received a telegram from Wang Yaowu: all the troops in Laiwu were about to withdraw to Mingshui and the areas south of it to gather for orders. Li Xianzhou immediately summoned Han Jun, Commander of the 73rd Army, Han Liancheng, Commander of the Reorganized 46th Division, Major General Wang Weilin, Senior Staff Officer of the Front Command Post, and Tao Fuye, Major General of the Second Department of the Second Appeasement Area Command to discuss whether to comply with the current situation. Order to retreat, if you are determined to retreat, how to do so; if you are determined not to retreat, how to re-adjust deployment, how to replenish food and ammunition. Li Xianzhou advocated not to retreat at that time, thinking that under the heavy siege of the People's Liberation Army, it would be very disadvantageous to break through and retreat.If the People's Liberation Army near Linyi comes north, and the Kuomintang troops near Linyi must follow and come north, we can still receive the effect of internal and external pincer attack. However, the rest of the personnel advocated retreating immediately according to the order, especially Wang Weilin, who strongly advocated retreating immediately, saying that this was a matter of responsibility.Everyone agrees with his proposition, besides, the supply of ammunition and food is not easy. Li Xianzhou had no choice but to say: "Since everyone advocates retreating according to the order, I have no objection. Then we should study when and how to retreat. I think that if you are determined to retreat, it should be done sooner rather than later. Action should be started immediately." However, Han Jun advocated starting on the morning of the 22nd, while Han Liancheng firmly advocated starting on the morning of the 23rd, requiring one day of preparation time. Everyone agreed with Han Liancheng's opinion, and studied the deployment of the retreat and decided as follows: According to the current positions of the troops, they were divided into two routes: the 73rd Army was on the left, the reorganized 46th Division was on the right, and the front command post followed the reorganization. 46th Division in action.The main force of the 73rd Army advanced along the avenues of Tongmingshui in Zhoujiadian and Tusikou Town, and sent powerful troops as the left guard to advance along the left highland of the advancing road, paying special attention to searching and guarding on the left side when advancing; A regiment in the northern highlands of Laiwu City served as the guard of the team. After the main force passed through Tusikou Town, it followed up along the route of the main force of the army.The main force of the reorganized 46th Division arrived at Tusikou Town via Xiaoyiji on another road on the right side of the 73rd Army, followed up after the 73rd Army, and gathered in the area north of Tusikou Town south of the Jiaoji Railway.And send a powerful unit (at least one regiment) as the right guard to advance along the high ground on the right side of the division's main road, and pay special attention to search and alert on the right side.When the front command post arrived at Mingshui Station, take the train back to the headquarters of Jinan No. 2 Appeasement Area. When the Kuomintang troops withdrawing from Laiwu to the north reached the middle area of ​​Laiwu and Tusikou Town at 8:00 am on the 23rd, the East China Field Army attacked the 73rd Army and the reorganized 46th Division violently from the mountains on the left and right sides. Chiang Kai-shek kept calling to inquire about the situation of the battle, and strictly ordered Wang Shuming, deputy commander-in-chief of the Air Force, to direct the Air Force to concentrate its forces on the attacking People's Liberation Army to violently bomb and shoot, and to do everything possible to cover the retreat of the troops withdrawing from the north to the designated location.So Wang Shuming mobilized dozens of fighter jets and bombers, and personally drove the plane over the battlefield to direct the air force to bomb and shoot in turn. The anti-aircraft machine guns of the East China Field Army also continued to shoot at the planes, and the ground was even more fiercely fought, with heavy artillery fire and extremely fierce fighting. Huaye first defeated the covering troops on both sides sent by the 73rd Army and the Reorganized 46th Division, captured the mountains on both sides, and then continued to attack the 73rd Army and the Reorganized 46th Division condescendingly.Although Huaye was constantly bombed and strafed by planes, in order to capture the fighter planes, he had no fear, and the offensive became more and more fierce. Because of the urgency of the battle situation, Wang Yaowu asked Wang Shuming to add more planes to help the battle, and bombed the PLA without stopping for a while, and said to him: "Only in this way can some of the troops withdrawing from the north be rescued, otherwise they will all be wiped out." Wang Shuming replied: "I commanded the planes to bomb without interruption, but the enemy is not afraid of death and cannot stop them from advancing. What can I do?" 战至11时许，73军及整编46师被迫后退，缩成一团，混乱不堪。与中共早有秘密联系的韩练成在华东军区联络部门人员安排下，离开指挥位置，进一步增加了敌军内部混乱。 这时国民党的官兵处处听到解放军发出的“优待俘虏、缴枪不杀”的喊话，军心已散，至午后2时许全部被歼。 防守吐丝口镇的新36师师长曹振锋，见解放军正在集中力量围歼由莱芜向北撤退的主力部队，放松了对新36师的攻击，以为这是他逃命的好机会，就放弃支援北撤部队的责任，于23日下午1时许率领该师残余，放弃吐丝口镇向淄博逃窜，后又逃回济南。 莱芜战役计歼灭国民党军1个军、1个整编师、1个新编师，共约6万多人。将级军官除整编46师师长韩练成、新编36师师长曹振锋两人逃脱外，其余的不是被击毙，就是被活捉。副司令官李仙洲受伤后被活捉，在前方指挥所工作的第2绥靖区司令部第二处的处长陶富业、73军军长韩浚、副军长李琰、15师师长杨明被活捉。193师师长肖重光、15师副师长徐亚雄受伤后被活捉。77师师长田君健自毙。整编46师副师长陈炯，副师长兼整编旅长海竞强、整编旅旅长甘成城、整编旅代旅长巢威均被活捉。 国民党军在莱芜战役中被歼灭了6万多人，这一惨败震动了南京，吓慌了蒋介石。 2月23日下午2时许，王叔铭将自驾的飞机降落到济南机场后，立即用电话向蒋介石报告说：“我驾机在莱芜、吐丝口镇一带上空侦察，亲见地面上已无战斗，看样子我军已被全歼了。” “啊？你看清楚了吗？”蒋介石带着惊慌的口气问王叔铭。 “我对地面上业已详细侦察，确未见地面上有战斗。”王叔铭回答。 “你再派飞机去看看还有什么情形。”蒋介石还是不相信。 蒋介石怕解放军在莱芜将李仙洲所指挥的部队消灭后，会乘胜进攻济南，而济南兵力单薄，如一旦被解放军攻占，将使他的战略部署更陷于不利的处境。因此，他就决定派军务局局长俞济时和参谋次长刘斐飞赴济南，以“振作”防守济南的军心，并亲自指示济南的防务部署。 23日莱芜战役结束后，王耀武因济南兵力单薄，正在忙着调动部队部署济南的防务，忽然接到济南飞机场空军基地司令部的电话说，今日午后南京有重要的人来机场同他谈话，来人不进市区，请他到机场来等候。 王耀武感到有点纳闷，问什么人来，但对方不肯说明。王耀武以为可能是南京国防部派高级人员来指导济南的防务部署，到了机场空军基地司令部才知道是蒋介石亲来济南。 等了一会，蒋介石所乘的专机在济南飞机场降落后，蒋介石站在飞机门口向前看了看，就下了飞机。 蒋介石往日见到王耀武，都是带点笑容，这回可不同了。蒋介石板着面孔，一言不发，一面走着，一面盯了他几眼，就坐汽车到空军基地司令部去了。 蒋介石一走进给他预备好的房间，尚未坐定，就急着向王耀武问情况。王耀武回答道： “敌人将我在莱芜的部队歼灭后，正在清扫战场。如敌军只留一部分清扫战场，而以主力经西营（济南东约40公里）向济南前进，比12军由周村、淄博一带来济南还近50公里；但西营尚未发现敌人的正规部队，济南西、北两面的40公里内没有敌人的大部队活动。”在莱芜的部队被歼灭后，为了集中兵力加强济南的防务，已令12军及绥区特务旅放弃周村、张店、淄博等地。特务旅（3个团）已乘火车开回济南，12军（缺新编36师）正沿胶济路以北经龙山镇向济南急进中。 “济南现在只有绥区直属部队和96军陈金城部。这些部队的战斗力都不强。济南周围既设阵地约有20公里长，本来计划是用3个军以上的兵力来守的，以济南的现有部队来说，实感单薄应缩短阵地，重点配备。” 听完王耀武的报告，蒋介石说：“济南是战略要地，必须固守，东、南两面地形复杂，易于接近，防御重点应放在东、南方面，并确保千佛山。为了使阵地与兵力相适合，须缩短阵地，重点部署。应催12军迅速集中济南。对于民众组训必须加强，以增作战力量。” 刘斐接着说：“当初派兵进驻莱芜，我是不赞成的。部队既已进莱芜并被包围，就不应该撤退；现已失败，只有当作经验教训。”他又说：“马上来攻济南的可能性不大，但为济南的安全，妥为配备也是必要的。阵地缩小，重点放在东南面，在重点的地方必须纵深配备。” 23日晚，蒋介石把王耀武叫到另一间屋里，暴跳如雷，瞪着眼睛狠狠骂了他一顿。He said: “你们只是在莱芜这个战役里就损失了两个军零一个师，损失了这样多的轻重武器，增加了敌人力量，这仗以后就更不好打了。这样的失败真是耻辱。莱芜既已被围，你为什么又要撤退？遭到这样大的损失，你是不能辞其咎的，这次你选派的将领也不适当，李仙洲的指挥能力差，你不知道吗？撤退时他连后卫也不派，这是什么部署？你为什么派他去指挥？如派个能力好的去指挥，还不致失败。李仙洲已被敌人捉去，你们要知道，高级人员被捉去，早晚会被共产党杀掉的。济南无论在军事、政治、地理上都是很重要的，如出意外，你要负责。” 当天夜里，蒋介石在济南飞机场空军基地司令部一间房子里，提心吊胆地过了一宿。他老是怕济南发生事故，使他遭到不测。他一再叮嘱俞济时注意情况和飞机场的警戒。 于是俞济时派人守着蒋介石的专机，加强了机场里的警戒，夜里又两次向王耀武问情况，表现出非常恐慌紧张的样子。 第二天上午7时许，王耀武带着第2绥靖区副司令官兼青岛警备司令丁治磐到蒋介石那里去。蒋介石满脸青灰色，好像一夜没睡好的样子。他先问王耀武： “12军到了什么地方？” “12军的主力还没有到龙山。” 蒋介石又板着脸发了一顿脾气，喋喋不休地骂李仙洲无用，在莱芜葬送了这么多部队，太不像话，又说他今天上午回南京。 上午9时，蒋介石在空军基地司令部召集国民党驻济南的党、政、军及省参议会的负责人员200多人训话，进行“打气”。他嘴硬心怯、言不由衷地说了一套自欺欺人的谎话以后，就于上午10时许垂头丧气地飞回南京去了。