Chapter 14 Chapter 13 Attacking from the inside, the Eastern Front Corps made every effort to protect Jiaodong

On August 18, 1947, Chiang Kai-shek flew to the beautiful coastal city of Qingdao. At the meeting of officers above the division, Chiang Kai-shek announced: "In order to quickly end the Shandong war, I decided to organize the Jiaodong Corps and appoint Fan Hanjie, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Army, as the commander-in-chief of the Corps. We will take advantage of the westward movement of most of the East China Communist Army's main force, Occupy Jiaodong as soon as possible, blockade the Bohai Sea port, cut off the rear support of the Communist Army in East China, and cut off the sea routes of the Communist Army in northeast and North China."

When Fan Hanjie delivered his inaugural speech in front of Chiang Kai-shek, he stated: "With the wise leadership of the Chairman, we will be able to wipe out Xu Shiyou's troops left by the Communist Army in the interior of Shandong within one month." It makes sense for Chiang Kai-shek to reuse Fan Hanjie.Because this person was concurrently the commander of the Qingdao 1st Corps at the time, and he was familiar with the situation in Shandong.Another reason is that this person was once Chiang Kai-shek's favorite student. He didn't win any battles, but he was infinitely loyal to Chiang Kai-shek.

Fan Hanjie is a native of Dapu County, Guangdong Province. He graduated from the first phase of the Army Class of the Whampoa Military Academy. He has successively served as the chief of staff, brigade commander, deputy division commander, senior staff member of the 19th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, chief of staff of the 2nd Division, and deputy army officer of the 1st Army. Senior post.Later, he served as the commander of the 27th Army and the commander of the 38th Army, and his official luck was very good.After the outbreak of the Civil War, he became Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army.All of this is inseparable from Chiang Kai-shek's favor. Of course, this time he came to Shandong, he will definitely do his best to work for his mentor Chiang Kai-shek.

While Chen Yi and Su Yu led the main force of Huaye to march towards the border areas of Henan, Anhui and the Soviet Union, the second column, seventh column, ninth column, thirteenth column, independent division of the first column and the 10th column of the fourth column stayed inside Shandong. Divisions, etc., formed the Eastern Front Corps of the East China Field Army, also known as the Inside Corps.Xu Shiyou was the commander, Tan Zhenlin was the political commissar, Li Yingxi was the chief of staff, and Xie Youfa was the director of the Political Department. In the midsummer of 1947, Xu Shiyou led the ninth column to march towards Jiaodong.Tan Zhenlin led the cadres of the newly formed Corps to set off from Linqu to Jiaodong.The next day they came to Shaheji, Ye County, where the East China Bureau was located, and attended the meeting of the East China Bureau.At the end of the meeting, Tan Zhenlin walked to Jiaodong with the second column and the seventh column.

A few days later, Xu Shiyou led his troops into the Jiaodong area and joined Zhou Zhijian's thirteenth column. Jiaodong is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and its hinterland is mountainous and shaped like an ox horn. The enemy occupies the traffic arteries, and our army has little room for maneuver.In particular, Fan Hanjie adopted the tactic of pushing from west to east. The three directions in the southeast, north, and south were the sea. Li Yingxi suggested: "The battles of Nanma and Linqu have just ended, and many troops have not had time to replenish their casualties, but there will be another battle soon. What should we do? Should we first send one or two columns to act as a blocker, cover the rest of the large troops, replenish troops and Grain and ammunition, wait until you regain your vitality, and then fight against Fan Hanjie."

Xu Shiyou nodded approvingly and said: "Yes, in the first battle, we must avoid the enemy's sharp edge, one is to make it easier for us to 'replenish blood' and enrich our troops; the other is to observe Fan Hanjie's tactics and combat effectiveness, and find out their weaknesses so as to combat his arrogance. " Xu Shiyou decided that Zhou Zhijian's thirteenth column would act as a blocker, covering the large troops for situational education, rectifying the organization, and replenishing troops. Xu Shiyou informed Tan Zhenlin of the initial battle plan. Tan Zhenlin agreed with this plan very much, and established a "South Front Command" in the second column to command the second and seventh columns and support the thirteenth column in Zhucheng.

At 10 am on September 6, Huang Baitao led the 25th Division to attack Pingdu. Suddenly, there was a landmine explosion, which made the earthquake tremble, and the explosions in Ligezhuang, Shagezhuang, Hejialou and other villages joined together. The 25th Division all entered the minefields laid by the 13th Column.The landmines exploded for three or four hours in a row, and the 25th Division abandoned a large number of corpses. Taking advantage of the panic of the enemy, the 39th Division of the Thirteenth Column launched a pursuit. Huang Baitao spared no effort to resist, but he had no power to recover, so he had to abandon the wounded soldiers and lead his troops to flee in a panic.

When Fan Hanjie received the news, he immediately made a judgment that Xu Shiyou's main force was in the east of Pingdu. He quickly adjusted his deployment and ordered the 54th Division to assist the 25th Division in attacking Pingdu. The 9th Division joined forces from Weixian to Pingdu. Followed by the 25th Division and the 54th Division as a reserve team. After receiving this report, Xu Shiyou decided to avoid the enemy's edge and ordered the 39th Division of the 13th Column to withdraw from Pingdu in a planned way. At the same time, in response to the thirteenth column's blockade, Tan Zhenlin seized the opportunity at the right time and ordered the local troops occupying Zhucheng to withdraw outside the city. The enemy's 64th Division entered Zhucheng without firing a single shot. , They didn't even send sentries to guard the city.

That night, Tan Zhenlin ordered the seventh column to attack the city, occupied the city at dawn, and wiped out the 156th brigade of the 64th division. Zhucheng lost a brigade, Fan Hanjie was furious, and ordered the 121st Brigade of the 64th Division to quickly reinforce.Tan Zhenlin analyzed the overall situation and believed that Zhucheng should not be guarded for a long time, so he ordered the seventh column to quietly withdraw from Zhucheng on September 11. How to fight next?Xu Shiyou approached Tan Zhenlin for research, and he said: "The task we face is still very arduous. The enemy is pressing every step of the way. We implemented the instructions of our superiors and voluntarily abandoned some areas. The current situation is not good. We have to fight. If we don't fight, there is no way out."

Tan Zhenlin looked at the battle map with his hands behind his back for a while, then turned around and said, "Yes, we are in a very bad situation. If we want to fight, we have to make a show of it. We have gathered the organs of the East China Bureau and all the troops in Jiaodong, as well as many wounded, The family members, how to fight it out and fight for the initiative on the battlefield is the key, and you can't do it recklessly, you have to take all aspects of the situation into consideration." Xu Shiyou paced back and forth, stopped suddenly, and said, "I have an idea. Now that our troops are getting denser and denser, it is difficult to organize them. The best way is to jump out and fight."

"What kind of jumping method?" "Leave the thirteenth column in the Daze Mountains, and work with the local armed forces to drag the enemy inside. All the main force of the Corps will go behind the enemy's buttocks, move the enemy away, create fighters, and then defeat them one by one." "This is a good decision. Let's jump out, encircle and wipe out Fan Hanjie's main force, and disrupt the enemy's plan, so we can do it!" On the evening of September 22, the main force inside the Eastern Front Corps began to move, and the main direction of the outburst was the junction of the 8th and 9th Divisions, which were relatively weak in the enemy's defense force. They walked in the valley for a whole week. On the night of the 29th, the second and seventh columns led by Tan Zhenlin came all the way from Weixian and Gaomi, annihilating nearly 2,000 enemies.At dawn the next day, the Ninth Column led by Xu Shiyou joined forces in the Zhuyang area west of Gaomi. The main force of the Eastern Front Corps finally jumped out. Wang Yaowu scolded Fan Hanjie for being incompetent on the phone.Fan Hanjie quickly explained: "Unexpectedly, my 9th Division and 64th Division held on tightly to Xu Shiyou, but he still jumped out." Wang Yaowu ordered: "You must concentrate your forces on the inner line of Jiaodong to attack and completely destroy the Communist Army's rear base!" "Commander Wang, don't worry, I've figured out Xu Shiyou's hands, and this time he won't be able to escape my grasp." "Don't be too paralyzed, this person can't be underestimated, don't you suffer a lot?" Wang Yaowu said impatiently: "You can't transfer the main force to deal with Xu Shiyou. Your main task is the inside of Jiaodong." "clear!" In a small village in Gaomi, Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin are studying the situation in Jiaodong.Xu Shiyou said: "In short, the situation is not optimistic. Although we have jumped out from under the enemy's nose, the troops staying inside are under great pressure. Perhaps Fan Hanjie's first target in the next step will be our inside troops!" Tan Zhenlin said: "We must calmly analyze the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, and seize opportunities. I think Fan Hanjie has a great appetite now. He wants to eat my internal troops as well as my external troops. According to just received According to the information received, the enemy's 64th Division is chasing us and has now reached the area west of Jiaohe." "If this is the case, our fighter plane is here. As long as we concentrate our forces, we will definitely be able to eat his division." Xu Shiyou pointed to the map and said excitedly: "The west of Jiaohe is hilly terrain, which is suitable for ambushes. We Try to lead the fat of the 64th Division to the Yinma River area in Changyi. Gather the 64th Division in the Yinma River area with the second column and the ninth column, and mobilize the Fan Hanjie Corps to return to help, so as to reduce the enemy's attack on our rear area. Destruction; in addition, the 7th Column, Independent Division, and 10th Division blocked the 9th Division in the Tingkou and Zhuyang areas; the 27th and 28th Divisions of the 13th Column attacked Ye County as a response." Tan Zhenlin said: "Okay! I caught Fan Hanjie by surprise." On October 2, the main force of the enemy's 64th Division was in Fanjiaji and Liuhe in Jiaohe, and the vanguard had just arrived in the Yinmahe area.The second and ninth columns in charge of setting up an ambush thought that the main force of the 64th Division was coming, so they blew the charge horn and swooped towards the enemy, annihilating a small number of vanguard troops. The main force walking behind the vanguard heard the charge horn After the sound of guns and guns, they quickly retreated in fright, seized the favorable terrain in Fanjiaji and Sanhushan, and used the terrain and fortifications to hold on tenaciously. The second and ninth columns chased after them and charged towards Fanjiaji and Sanhushan.The enemy's 64th Division is equipped with excellent weapons and equipment. Each company has 8 mortars and several machine guns. The soldiers are all American carbines. Big losses, heavy casualties, groups of wounded were carried down from the mountainside. Xu Shiyou saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart.He lost his temper and shouted loudly: "Who ordered the charging horn to be played? Playing the piano indiscriminately, it's just nonsense!" Tan Zhenlin knew that Xu Shiyou's fiery temper was coming up, so he calmly persuaded: "Criticism is useless now. The most urgent thing is to calmly analyze the enemy's situation, take new measures, minimize casualties, break the deadlock, make the best use of the situation, and win the victory." After hearing Tan Zhenlin's words, Xu Shiyou's anger gradually subsided. He was silent for a moment, and asked Jin Ye, the Chief of Staff next to him, "Where is the headquarters of the 64th Division?" Jin Ye pointed to the front and said, "It's on the Sanhu Mountain in front. Sanhu Mountain can overlook Fanjiaji. To take Fanjiaji, you must first take down Sanhu Mountain." Xu Shiyou asked again: "How many troops does the enemy have on Mount Sanhu?" "According to the report of the Second Column Headquarters, Sanhushan only has the strength of one regiment of the enemy." Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin studied at the case and decided to concentrate their forces to capture Sanhu Mountain first, and then take Fanjiaji. Sanhu Mountain is not big, with a radius of only two or three square kilometers. The mountain is gentle, and there are some small miscellaneous trees and wild peach trees growing on the mountain.The 475th Regiment of the 64th Division of the enemy guarded here, and built a simple mother-child fortification.Every five meters, a machine gun is mounted.The enemy thought that they had a favorable terrain, and it would be difficult for the PLA to attack the mountain without artillery cover. After studying the battle plan, Xu Shiyou immediately picked up the microphone and gave the battle order to Nie Fengzhi. At dusk that day, Nie Fengzhi commanded the 25th Division of the Ninth Column to launch a fierce attack on Sanhu Mountain.As soon as he gave an order, swarms of shells poured on Sanhe Mountain. In an instant, the soil and rocks of Sanhe Mountain were thrown into the air, and the broken trees also flew into the sky.Then, the blasting team took advantage of the cover of the night and swooped towards the top of the mountain. All the fortifications on Sanhu Mountain were bombed and collapsed. Nie Fengzhi led the two regiments of the 25th Division to the front. The bravery of the soldiers made the enemies on the mountain panic and became a swarm of bees. At dawn, Xu Shiyou received an order from the Ninth Column The victory of the occupation of Mount Sanhe. At this time, Fan Hanjie didn't know that he had lost the Sanhushan highland, so he still ordered the air force to drop ammunition and food cans to Sanhushan. Xu Shiyou held up his binoculars to observe. At first he thought the enemy was bombing Mount Sanhu.But he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw boxes of items falling on Mount Sanhu.He grinned and said repeatedly: "Okay, okay, if you throw it down again, our soldiers won't be able to carry it. Isn't that a burden?" After capturing Sanhu Mountain, Xu Shiyou ordered the ninth column and the second column to attack Fanjiaji.Huang Guoliang, the commander of the 64th Division of the enemy from Sanhu Mountain to Fanjiaji, was so anxious that he frequently called for help from Fan Hanjie. Only then did Fan Hanjie come to his senses. He realized that the isolated and helpless 64th Division was in danger of destroying the whole division, so he hurriedly ordered the 9th Division to attack in a detour from Tingkou, and the 211th Brigade of the 45th Division was assisted by Weixian East. Xu Shiyou received the information that Fan Hanjie's troops were reinforcing Sanhu Mountain, and said to Tan Zhenlin and Li Yingxi: "It was expected that Fan Hanjie would come to take revenge. The enemy changed and we changed. One regiment of the 27th Division of the Ninth Column will monitor Fanjiaji, and all the rest of the troops will gather to fight and wipe out the enemy who comes to help during the movement." Tan Zhenlin and Li Yingxi studied it and agreed with Xu Shiyou's opinion. In the evening of the same day, the 211th and 212th brigades of the 45th Division of the West Road Aid from Weixian County arrived first.Wei Guoqing commanded the second column to surround the 211th brigade in Shanyangzhuang. After a day and night of fierce fighting, more than 8,000 people in this brigade were wiped out.The second column fought a big victory, creating an example of a single column of the Eastern Front Corps annihilating a brigade. The rest of the 212 brigade retreated to the original place. The 156th Brigade of the 9th Division of the South Road Aid from Gaomi had just entered Zhangjiazhuang and Mutun when they were surrounded by the seventh column in several villages. Most of the 156 brigade was wiped out, and the rest fled for their lives. The two brigades of the 9th Division to aid the enemy on the East Road came from Pingdu, and were blocked by a part of the Seventh Column and the Ninth Column on Hongshi Mountain. Hongshi Mountain is located 8 kilometers east of Fanjiaji, with a height of 60 meters.The terrain at the foot of the mountain is flat and the villages are dense, which is convenient for the Eastern Front Corps to build fortifications.The battle started at dawn on October 6 and continued until 10 o'clock on the 9th. The two brigades of the enemy's 9th Division felt unable to support them, leaving 1,500 corpses behind and fled in embarrassment. When the Jiaohe Battle was fought on the main battlefield, Zhou Zhijian commanded the 13th Column in Daze Mountain, and also frequently launched attacks on the enemy's 8th Division's supply transfer point where it was stationed.The enemies at the supply transfer point are mostly logistical soldiers with little combat effectiveness.But their weapons are top-notch, all American-style equipment, but unfortunately they have too much iron and little gas. When the guns are fired, they kneel down in fright and hold up the guns waiting to be confiscated.The thirteenth column took advantage of the victory to conquer Ye County and wiped out more than 3,000 enemies. On October 10, the Battle of Jiaohe launched by Xu Shiyou ended successfully.Chen Yi and Su Yu jointly sent a congratulatory message, saying: "This battle not only provides a guarantee for sticking to Jiaodong, but also Shandong has turned into a full-scale counterattack." In the autumn of 1947, Chiang Kai-shek suffered consecutive defeats in various battlefields across the country. At the beginning of November, Chiang Kai-shek secretly ordered the 9th Division of the Jiaodong Battlefield to gather in Jiaoxian and Gaomi, and to Weixian and Fangzi to airlift reinforcements to Xuzhou; the 25th Division assembled in Yantai, ready to be transported to Shanghai by sea. Dabie Mountains. The Central Military Commission instructed: The Eastern Front Corps should use the method of annihilating part of the enemy as much as possible to stop the two divisions for a period of time so as to cooperate with other battlefields. Xu Shiyou looked at the telegram carefully, turned to Tan Zhenlin and said, "We must follow the instructions of the Central Military Commission." Tan Zhenlin said calmly: "We hold back the enemy's 9th Division to support other battlefields. But the enemy wants to leave, this bone is not easy to chew!" "But that's it. The 9th Division is our old opponent. I have fought against him many times. Don't look at them all with American equipment, and their combat capabilities are also very average." "We have to concentrate on dealing with the 9th Division." "Yes, I am going to deploy all three columns, the second, seventh, and ninth, and wait to encircle and annihilate the enemy." "They're going to be airlifted." "We can only move westward by air. If the 9th Division moves to Weihe, we will attack frequently and hold it firmly. We cannot let them transport a soldier away. If they want to turn around and run around, we must chase and fight fiercely. All in all, our next step The goal of the battle is to hold back the enemy's 9th Division, holding them back is victory, and annihilating them is an even greater victory. In short, we must delay their western aid time." After entering late autumn, the land of Jiaodong has appeared a desolate scene, the mountains are bare, and the fields are also bare.Starting from November 4th, the second, seventh, and ninth columns have successively moved towards designated locations. On November 6, when the team marched to Zhangling, there was a burst of intense gunfire in the distance, and the marching team stopped. At this time, the reconnaissance staff came galloping on horseback, stopped in front of Xu Shiyou, and reported: "The enemy's 9th Division set out from Gaomi and encountered our 9th Column at Zhuyang and Laoshaogou." After hearing this, Xu Shiyou quickly walked to the confidential section, and said to the confidential section chief: "Immediately send a telegram to the Second Vertical and the Ninth Vertical, ordering them to quickly control the favorable terrain, surround the Ninth Division, and fight hard!" After giving the order, Xu Shiyou opened the map and said to Tan Zhenlin: "The enemy's 8th Division guards Yantai, Penglai, Huangxian, Longkou and other places; the 54th Division's two brigades guard Laiyang and Pingdu; the 45th Division is in Shanyangzhuang; The 64th Division is resting in the Southwest South Village of Jiaoxian County. Which route will the enemy come to support?" Tan Zhenlin pointed to the map and said: "The enemy's 8th and 45th Divisions are far away from the 9th Division. It is impossible for Fan Hanjie to call these two divisions to reinforce the 9th Division. Only the 54th and 64th Divisions are the closest to the 9th Division. We must be alert to the movements of these two divisions." Xu Shiyou looked at the map and nodded in agreement, "Yes! The 54th Division and the 64th Division are here to make a rescue. We need to change our tactics and strive for a complete victory." "Report!" The Chief of the Confidential Section ran over and sent a telegram.Xu Shiyou glanced at the telegram, handed it to Tan Zhenlin and said, "Great! Wei Guoqing said in the telegram that the 64th Division was aided by the 9th Division from Gaomi and Jiaoxian County, and they have already acted." While reading the telegram, Tan Zhenlin said, "Okay, since the 64th Division is out of the nest, we will prepare sufficient troops to deal with the 64th Division." On November 7, the Seventh and Ninth Columns of the Eastern Front Corps surrounded the 9th Division as scheduled and blocked all roads leading to Weixian Airport. The 64th Division is a mechanized unit. The cars and tanks drove very fast. On November 11, they rushed to Zhuyang, Zhangling, and Laoshaogou and joined the 9th Division. After the 9th Division was severely beaten by our army, they couldn't get out of the encirclement after several charges. They felt that it was hopeless to go west to Weixian Airport, so they gave up the idea of ​​air transport and tried to adopt the "alternate cover" tactic with the help of reinforcements. , east to Gaomi. Although the 9th Division and the 64th Division highlighted the encirclement, the task of holding down the 9th Division was completed.The next task is how to fight the enemy reinforcements. At this time, the reinforcements did not know that the 9th Division and the 64th Division had gone east, and some were still marching halfway.Xu Shiyou felt that this was a good time to launch an attack, so he decisively ordered the various verticals to change from blocking to chasing and annihilating the enemy in front of them. After each vertical received the order, they acted quickly.Wei Guoqing commanded the second column and a regiment of the 64th Division guarding Gaomi County. After sufficient preparations for the siege, the general attack order was issued late at night on November 26. At dawn on the 27th, the second column planted the red flag on Gaomi. County walls.More than 2,300 defending enemies were wiped out. The thirteenth column under the command of Zhou Zhijian surrounded the reorganized 54th Division in Haiyang, which was reinforced by the 9th Division in Laiyang.Fan Hanjie ordered the 198th Brigade to aid the East in order to relieve the siege of the 54th Division reorganized by Haiyang. As soon as the 198th Brigade left the city, Xu Shiyou ordered the seventh and ninth columns to monitor the 198th Brigade. As long as the 198th Brigade came to a place where our army set up an ambush, it would concentrate its superior forces and deal a devastating blow. On November 24, the 198th Brigade entered the line of Shangxiaxianyou and Xianziwan, and was surrounded by the seventh and ninth columns. At this time, Fan Hanjie was sitting by the telephone in the headquarters, smoking one cigarette after another.How was the battle fought?One of his divisions was surrounded, and he quickly sent troops to rescue, and the rescue troops were soon surrounded; he sent troops to relieve the siege, and the reinforcements were surrounded again.He is really in a mess. Most of the 6 divisions in his hands have been besieged by the People's Liberation Army. When he was at a loss, the Chief of Operations suggested to him that the only way was to send the nearest troops to rescue the 198th Brigade. Fan Hanjie thought this was a good idea, so he ordered the 76th and 57th brigades to save the 198th brigade first.After the rescue was successful, the two brigades jointly rescued and reorganized the 54th Division. The 76th Brigade and the 57th Brigade were frightened by the Eastern Front Corps. After receiving the order, they did not act immediately. Instead, they looked left and right. , I took it in instead. Fan Hanjie saw that they were still not moving, and urged them repeatedly. Under the order of Daodao military, they had no choice but to move out in resentment, but the speed was extremely slow. They walked more than 10 kilometers a day, and did not reach Lingshan on the third day. A division of the seventh column sent by Xu Shiyou Surrounded by two divisions of the Ninth Column, they could not escape or die. The Eastern Front Corps went from blocking to chasing, and from chasing to besieging, beating Fan Hanjie's Corps to nowhere, and their battle plans always went bankrupt. The task of delaying the airlift of the 9th Division was finally completed. The battle lasted for nearly a month and wiped out more than 20,000 enemies. As a result, Fan Hanjie was seriously injured in Jiaodong, and he no longer dared to speak out. He saw the commander of the 9th Division and said: "We lost more than 20,000 people and rescued one of your divisions. This is unprecedented in the history of our army's warfare. That Xu Shiyou can't be underestimated!" The division commander had a flower wound on his arm. He said, "My division's aid to the west has been delayed, and the Central Plains is full of wars. Wouldn't it make me wait to be scolded by others?" "We have to obey the Chairman!" "You have to be careful. Don't look at the Communist army carrying earthen guns on their shoulders. They fight together on the battlefield, and they all look like Zhang Fei. No one is afraid of death! Our national army is not as good as them. If Xu Shiyou doesn't leave, Jiaodong will die." That's enough for your dude to drink a pot..." Fan Hanjie nodded and said: "Since the battle in Jiaodong, our army has been retreating steadily. The reason is not that Xu Shiyou's people are all superhuman, and the magic soldiers descend from the sky, but that our various departments do not cooperate well!" At this time, Xu Shiyou had made up his mind to besiege the enemies of Laiyang. Laiyang City, located in the center of Jiaodong Peninsula, is adjacent to Wulong Mountain in the east and Yantai-Qingdao Highway in the west. It has developed transportation and is the heart of the enemies of Jiaodong. Fan Hanjie's grain and ammunition warehouses are also here. Xu Shiyou said to Tan Zhenlin: "I have thought about it carefully, and the next goal is to attack here." He pointed to Laiyang on the map, and analyzed, "There are three meanings in defeating Laiyang. First, it can break the enemy Qingdao to Longmen and Yantai. The land transportation of strongholds such as Weihai and Weihai made Fan Hanjie lose the support to control the interior of Jiaodong; second, it can eliminate the confidant of the liberated area, force the enemy to abandon Jiaodong, and facilitate the development of the Jiaodong liberated area; " Tan Zhenlin nodded in agreement and said, "Your analysis is right. It is imperative to capture Laiyang, and our next goal must be it." After Xu Shiyou made up his mind to capture Laiyang, he asked the headquarters to seize the time to scout the enemy's situation and formulate a careful combat plan. The enemies stationed in Laiyang were the 106th Regiment of the 36th Brigade of the 54th Division and the 1st Battalion of the 108th Regiment, plus more than 5,000 local bandit forces.The defense of the enemy is commanded by Hu Yiyu, head of the 106th regiment.Laiyang City is surrounded by large and small blockhouses and bunkers. Deer villages, outer moats, barbed wire and other obstacles are set up around the blockhouses and bunkers. The four city gates and city walls have defensive facilities. Xu Shiyou arranged the main force on the outskirts of Laiyang City, and asked the militia and guerrillas to wear regular army uniforms, carry guns, and parade outside the city.Laiyang is surrounded by a radius of 10 to 20 kilometers, and all troops are stationed, training and attacking the city all day long.Torches are lit from time to time at night.Shouting the slogan "Tape down Laiyang City, capture Hu Yiyu alive".The noise made the enemies in the city fearful day and night, thinking that the thousands of troops of the People's Liberation Army were about to attack the city, and everyone was nervous and exhausted, but the enemy dared not come out after hiding in the city. The momentum was built, but Xu Shiyou's troops did not actually make a move. More than ten days passed, and the defenders of the city began to relax their vigilance. Xu Shiyou made careful arrangements in advance: the seventh column was the main attack task; the second column was located in the Shuigou area, and blocked the enemy reinforcements along both sides of the Yanqing Highway; The Tuanwang area, as a reserve team, is ready to fight at any time. The siege has begun!Hu Yiyu hurriedly asked the intelligence officer: "Do you know which Communist troops attacked the city?" "According to reconnaissance, Xu Shiyou's Nine Columns, Seven Columns, Thirteen Columns, and Two Columns attacked the city." Hu Yiyu thought, with so many troops attacking the city, he didn't know how to flee or defend, so he hurriedly reported to Fan Hanjie: "Report to the commander! Xu Shiyou mobilized 4 columns to besiege Laiyang. Our army has limited strength. I am afraid it will be difficult to protect Laiyang. Please give instructions on whether to defend or withdraw." Fan Hanjie yelled angrily: "Are you crazy? You must guard. Even if there are only one soldier left, you must stick to it!" The seventh column fought very smoothly at the beginning, and successfully occupied the four passes overnight. On December 7, the peripheral enemies were wiped out. On December 9, the troops entered the city and started street fighting with the enemy.Hu Yiyu was in chaos and could not stop the advance of the People's Liberation Army.At night, he took the remnants of the army and hid in the core stronghold - the Temple of the City God, and continued to resist stubbornly. Chenghuang Temple is located on the high ground in the northeast of Laiyang City. It is an ancient building with a history of 1,000 years. Standing there, you can observe the whole picture of Laiyang City.To the east of the temple is a large lake with a radius of 170 square meters, to the south is the street, to the north is the city wall, and to the west is a flat open land.On the day Hu Yiyu led his troops into Laiyang City, he discovered that the Town God's Temple is a natural fortification that is easy to defend and difficult to attack in terms of military terrain. He set up the headquarters here and built a circle of bunkers around it. so that the ministries can reinforce each other. Cheng Jun, the commander of the seventh column, took the cadres above the regiment of the 20th and 21st divisions of the main attacking force to the front line to inspect the terrain.Because the terrain on three sides is not suitable for attacking, only the open land on the west can be used as an offensive route, but the open land is unobstructed, so attacking during the day is obviously not suitable, as long as the PLA appears, the enemy will be spotted.Therefore, Cheng Jun asked Xu Shiyou for approval, and decided to set the attack time at night. On the evening of December 9th, the 20th and 21st divisions launched a fierce attack at the same time. The blasting team first used cluster grenades to blast open the way. However, due to the strong fortifications and many bunkers, the attack failed all night. Although he failed to enter the Chenghuang Temple, a shell hit Hu Yiyu's right foot. He was quite surprised and called Fan Hanjie for help frequently.Fan Hanjie was worried about the lack of troops in Jiaodong, so he had to ask Chiang Kai-shek for help.Chiang Kai-shek replied: Laiyang is the center of Jiaodong, and its gains and losses are related to the whole country and the country of the Republic of China. We must stick to it to the end. When Fan Hanjie received the call back, he jumped up anxiously. He didn't want a rescuer, but he asked for a magic spell.He complained angrily, "Old Jiang is in a daze. I don't know the importance of Laiyang. I asked him for help, but he didn't mention the key question. What do you mean?" After Fan Hanjie complained, he had to calm down and think of countermeasures.He frowned and thought for a while, and decided to organize 8 brigades to reinforce Laiyang.He also telegraphed to Hu Yiyu: Your regiment has achieved a lot of results. Hearing that the commander of Hu was injured, he was not surprised. He continued to fight calmly and commanded bravely. At this time, the Central Military Commission sent a telegram: If you are not sure, you should give up the final encirclement and annihilation of the enemy as soon as possible, in order to grasp the mobile force and attack the enemy who comes to help. After Tan Zhenlin read the telegram and stopped talking, Xu Shiyou suddenly stood up, walked around the room, clenched his fists on the table and slammed it hard, staring into blood-red eyes and said: "We can't retreat!" "Qi Zong's situation is very bad!" Tan Zhenlin said, smoking a cigarette, "Although there are not many enemies in Laiyang, this tough battle will affect the whole body. Fan Hanjie dispatched several divisions to deal with us on the periphery. How about asking Qi Zong to step back?" "Don't! When did I, Xu Shiyou, ever lose a battle?" "Then how do you say to fight?" "The enemies in Laiyang City are already shrinking their heads. How can we let them be at ease? Let's concentrate on attacking the city first, and then turn around to attack foreign reinforcements." "That's the only way, but can Qi Zong be able to complete the siege?" "Let them fight. I'm going to pull up the 37th Division of the 13th Column. This division is very familiar with this place. When I was stationed in Laiyang City in the Jiaodong Military Region, they were responsible for the defense of the city." "I totally agree." At noon on the 12th, the sound of gunfire in the city basically stopped. Commander Gao Rui of the 37th Division came to the Corps headquarters in a small village outside the city, looked at Xu Shiyou and said, "What instructions does the commander have for me?" "You are still that impatient, come on, sit down first." Xu Shiyou patted Gao Rui on the shoulder and said, "Now I want to give you a glorious and arduous task. I want you to attack the Temple of the City God, can you complete this task?" "Yes!" Gao Rui replied loudly, and after giving a powerful military salute, he turned and left. Gurry commanded the 37th Division to fight all night, but the Temple of the City God was still in the hands of the enemy. On the morning of the 13th, Zhou Zhijian, the commander of the 13th column, went to the scene to command in person. After Zhou Zhijian received the order, he held up the binoculars to observe carefully all afternoon, and wrote down the observations one by one in his notebook. In the end, he finally found a breakthrough. That night, Zhou Zhijian first commanded the artillery, and bombarded with cannons for two hours, causing a sea of ​​flames and smoke to fill the Chenghuang Temple. Then, the commando, armed with bayonets and braving the rain of bullets, stepped on the flames and charged into the Temple of the City God.The battle was very arduous. Group after group of commandos continued to charge. A group of people fell down, and another group of people rushed up. When it was almost dawn, the gunfire gradually faded. The 37th Division fought all night and finally rushed into the Chenghuang Temple.