Chapter 15 Chapter 14 Attacking the fortress and making a quick decision, the two armies join hands with Ke Luoyang

On the night of December 23, 1947, Chiang Kai-shek's official residence in Nanjing. Chiang Kai-shek looked at the map on the wall blankly with a gloomy face, silent. Since the beginning of the civil war, Chiang Kai-shek wished to kill the Communist Party overnight.Now, with the passage of time, the Kuomintang has repeatedly failed in many battles and lost hundreds of thousands of troops, which made him extremely angry.Because of this, his desire to wipe out the communist army became stronger and stronger. Right now, the three armies of Liu Deng, Chen Su, and Chen Xie are facing each other on the land of the Central Plains, and they are each other's horns.

"What is Mao Zedong going to do?" Chiang Kai-shek stood in front of the map for a long time, thinking for a long time. The next day, Chiang Kai-shek flew to Hankou to attend the meeting and presided over the "Review Conference on Bandit Suppression in the Dabie Mountains" held by the High Command. Almost all the high-ranking officials and dignitaries of the Kuomintang attended the meeting. Due to the several failures in the Central Plains battlefield not long ago, they all had a shadow over their hearts, which made the atmosphere of the meeting quite dull. Chiang Kai-shek discussed several times with the senior military officers of Wuhan Xingyuan, Jiujiang Command, and the 5th Appeasement District who were present at the meeting, and finally determined the strategy of combining key zone defense with advance and suppression.Based on this strategic consideration, the Kuomintang Army Command adjusted the strategic layout of the Central Plains, namely:

The Central China (Central Plains) theater is divided into 4th (Kaifeng), 5th (Xinyang), 6th (Shangqiu), 8th (Hefei), 13th (Nanyang), 14th (Fuyang, moved to Xinxiang), and 15th (Xiangyang), the 21st (Yichang) and other 8 appeasement areas, each appeasement area governs 3 to 5 brigades, responsible for the defense of each strategic point. The main forces of the Army Headquarters Xuzhou Command Commander Gu Zhutong, the Minister of National Defense and the Director of the Jiujiang Command of the Ministry of National Defense Bai Chongxi, and the director of Wuhan Xingyuan Cheng Qian belonged to the main forces, forming the Qiu Qingquan Corps, Hu Lian Corps, Sun Yuanliang Corps, Zhang Zhen Corps, The Zhang Gan Corps was divided into the Dabie Mountains, Jianghan, and Tongbai areas, and the Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu areas between Jinpu, Longhai, and Pinghan, and operated mobile operations.

In addition, the Peichanghui Corps (Fifth Corps) under the command of Hu Zongnan, the headquarters of the "bandit suppression" in Xi'an, was placed in the Tong (Guan) and Luo (Yang) section of Longhai Road in the Henan-Shaanxi-Hubei area. In this way, the total strength of the regular troops of the Kuomintang Army in the Central China theater is 37 reorganized divisions, together with the irregular army, a total of 86 brigades and 660,000 people.The gist of its operations is: to maintain the Jinpu Road, relying on the Ping-Han and Longhai Railways, concentrate its forces to divide the People's Liberation Army in the Central Plains, prevent Liu Deng from establishing a base in the Dabie Mountains, secure Nanjing and Wuhan, and strengthen the Yangtze River Defense Line and Daba Mountain Defense Line , To prevent the armies from all walks of life from crossing the Yangtze River in the south and going out of the Han River in the west.

In order to force the Kuomintang to change its strategic deployment in the Central Plains, it is necessary to mobilize and disperse the superior forces of the Kuomintang in the Central Plains, so as to facilitate the coordination among the three armies of the Central Plains, concentrate their forces at the right time, and seek opportunities to wipe out the enemy in batches. In view of the above considerations, the Central Military Commission decided to organize the Southeast Field Army with Chen Yi as the commander and political commissar, to implement the second strategic leap forward after the Liu Deng Field Army leaped thousands of miles into the Dabie Mountains.Su Yu served as the deputy commander and deputy political commissar of the Southeast Field Army, and also served as the commander and political commissar of the 1st Corps of the Southeast Field Army. Ye Fei served as the deputy commander and deputy political commissar of the 1st Corps. Jin Ming served as the second deputy political commissar. The chief of staff, Zhong Qiguang, served as the director of the Political Department. He led the first, fourth, and sixth columns to cross the south of the Yangtze River after a full rest, and carried out extensive mobile combat missions in several southern provinces. Border area, in order to attract 20 to 30 brigades out of more than 80 brigades of the Central Plains Kuomintang Army to return to defend the south of the Yangtze River.It is also planned to form the 2nd Corps of the Southeast Field Army with the 3rd, 8th, and 10th columns of the East China Field Army at the beginning of the following year, and cross the south of the Yangtze River.

In accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission, Su Yu led the first, fourth, and sixth columns of the East China Field Army to the north of the Yellow River for training from late February to early March 1948, preparing for the implementation of the strategic task of crossing the south of the Yangtze River. In addition to leaving a part of the Liu Deng Field Army to persist in the struggle in the Dabie Mountains, the headquarters led the main force to move northward between the Huaihe River and the Shahe River for rest at the end of February. The 10th Column of the East China Field Army and the 11th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army went south across Longhai Road. After completing the task of escorting and replenishing the recruits of the Liu Deng Field Army, they temporarily stayed between Shahe and Longhai and Jinpu Road for mobile operations.

The third and eighth columns of the Chen Tang Corps and the Chen Xie Group rested on both sides of Pinghan Road. At this time, the situation on the northwest battlefield underwent a major change that disturbed Jiang. In late February 1948, Peng Dehuai commanded the Northwest Field Army to start the spring offensive, and the main force shifted to outside operations, launching a powerful attack on the south of Hu Zong in the Yichuan and Luochuan areas. After Hu Zongnan received an emergency call that the 24th Brigade of the 76th Division defending Yichuan was surrounded, he urgently ordered Liu Kan to lead the 27th, 90th Division and 158th Regiment of the Reorganized 29th Army to go for reinforcements.

After the Northwest Field Army learned of the movement to aid the enemy, it concentrated its main force on the north-south favorable terrain east of Wazi Street and set up an ambush for standby.When Liu Kan's troops entered the ambush circle, the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth columns of the Northwest Field Army under the unified command of Peng Dehuai suddenly launched an attack, separated the troops that entered the ambush circle, and concentrated their forces to attack them one by one. annihilate.After two days of fierce fighting, the enemy's 1 reorganized army headquarters, 2 reorganized division headquarters, 4 reorganized brigades and 8 regiments were all wiped out, and Yichuan was captured by the momentum, and then 1 enemy reorganized brigade and 2 regiments were wiped out.The battle of Yichuan successfully used the tactic of "siege the city and fight for aid", killing more than 29,000 enemies and seizing a large amount of military supplies.

Chiang Kai-shek held Hu Zongnan's telegram in his hand, and every word in the telegram deeply hurt his heart: "Yichuan was defeated, the elite of the 29th Army was exhausted, Commander Liu Kan and other senior commanders of the national army died in the line of duty, Guanzhong is in danger. " The 29th Army was Hu Zongnan's important mobile force in the Northwest region. After the Army was eaten by the Communist Army, it would have a great impact on the situation in the Northwest battlefield, and the National Army in the Northwest battlefield would fall into a passive position.In this way, the door for the Northwest Communist Army to enter Weibei from the south and Longdong from the west has been opened.

Chiang Kai-shek was shocked and terrified.He couldn't stay in his palace anymore, hurried to the Ministry of National Defense, and immediately summoned the personnel of the Kuomintang Army Command to give a lecture. After accusing the senior commanders of the national army under him, Chiang Kai-shek sighed: "The death of the Yichuan division is not only the biggest setback for the national army to suppress bandits, but also a meaningless sacrifice. Good generals were killed in battle and the entire army was wiped out , Mourning and mourning, how embarrassing it is!" Almost everyone present was infected by his emotions, and they were all saddened by the defeat of the national army in the northwest and the martyrdom of senior generals such as Liu Kan.

Chiang Kai-shek scolded his favorite protégé Hu Zongnan in front of all his subordinates, and immediately decided to remove Hu Zongnan from his post and keep him.In this way, the northwest war was temporarily commanded by Pei Changhui, the deputy director of Xi'an Sui Department, in collaboration with the dismissed Hu Zongnan.At the same time, in order to appease the other senior Kuomintang generals and the families of the deceased, Chiang Kai-shek also ordered Liu Kan and Yan Ming, commander of the reorganized 90th Division, to be posthumously appointed generals of the Kuomintang army. Due to changes in the situation in the Northwest battlefield, it also affected the stability of the Kuomintang defense system in the Central Plains.In order to save the crisis, the Xi'an Sui Department reported to Chiang Kai-shek for approval and urgently transferred the reorganized 1st, 30th, and 36th Divisions of the Peichanghui Corps located between Tongguan and Luoyang to the west.In order to consolidate the northwest, Chiang Kai-shek also ordered that the reorganized 65th division in the Xuzhou area and the reorganized 38th division in the Kaifeng area be airlifted to Xi'an to strengthen defense in Guanzhong.In addition, in order to prevent the traffic between Zheng and Luo from being cut off, Sun Yuanliang's corps, which guarded Pinghan Road, was transferred to Zhengzhou.This created conditions for the People's Liberation Army to capture Luoyang and Linfen. At this time, on the 400-kilometer section between Zhengzhou and Tongguan, the enemy only had one division of the regular army stationed in Luoyang. After analyzing the current situation, Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi believe that they can concentrate their forces and have enough time to take down Luoyang, which is regarded by the enemy as the "Golden City Tangchi" before the enemy rescues Luoyang.For this reason, on March 6, Chen Xie reported the plan and deployment of the attack on Luoyang to the Central Military Commission. On March 7, the Central Military Commission replied, deciding to use the fourth and ninth columns of the Chen Xie Corps, the third and eighth columns of the East China Field Army, and the local armed forces. Under unified command, capture Luoyang and wipe out Sun Yuanliang's reinforcements. After receiving the call, Chen Tang and Chen Xie, the four chiefs, convened a military meeting with the leaders of the four columns in Xiangcheng, where the command post of the Chen Xie Corps was stationed, to study and deploy the Luoyang campaign in detail. The meeting room was set up in a cafeteria of the former Kuomintang Xiangcheng security regiment. On the wall hung a map that had just been confiscated from the enemy, on which several big red arrows had been outlined.Chen Shiju and Chen Geng stood in front of the map, gesticulated, and studied the problem. Chen Shiju first conveyed the telegram from the Central Military Commission, and then said: "Commander Chen Geng, please explain the purpose and principles of the attack on Luoyang." "Okay, let me talk first, and then ask Chief of Staff Chen to issue combat orders." Chen Geng said bluntly: "The great victory in Yichuan, which shocked the northwest, dealt a heavy blow to Chiang Kai-shek. The four mobile corps of the enemy in the Central Plains battlefield were very panicked. It’s like a bird trapped in a cage. The Pei Changhui corps has rushed to aid Xi’an due to the defeat in Yichuan, and is currently unable to go east to Luoyang. Sun Yuanliang’s corps, who went south from Zhengzhou, noticed that my main force was gathering, and was afraid that I would attack Zhengzhou directly, like a tortoise Hu Lian's corps was in Luohe, seven days away from Luoyang. Qiu Qingquan's corps, far away in the Heze area in southwest Shandong, showed signs of returning to the eastern section of Longhai. At present, Luoyang, the enemy's strategic point, has completely Being isolated, with no reinforcements in the west, fear of trouble in the east, and a long distance to the south, this is a good opportunity for our army to attack Luoyang." Chen Shiju interjected: "Don't miss this opportunity, the time will never come again!" Chen Geng continued: "Yes! Luoyang's current defenders are only the 206th Division of the Youth Army and some security regiments, with less than 20,000 people. We concentrate 4 columns and take Luoyang directly with absolute advantage. It is completely possible to quickly resolve the battle. Attack Luoyang, It is of great significance to the establishment of the western Henan base area and the fundamental change of the Central Plains war situation. Taking Luoyang, the new area of ​​Henan, Shaanxi and Hubei will be connected with the old area on the north bank of the Yellow River, and we will have a far-reaching rear. Undoubtedly, it has high strategic significance for accumulating experience in attacking big cities." After Chen Geng finished speaking, Chen Shiju walked to the map with a bamboo stick, and slammed on the word Luoyang a few times: "We attack Luoyang, we must not underestimate the enemy in terms of tactics, and in terms of combat methods, adopt both With the principle of focus and broad front, realize the siege on all sides, use the absolutely superior force and firepower to focus on the main assault direction, ensure continuous assault, division, and encirclement, and achieve the goal of completely annihilating the enemy.” Chen Geng interjected: "The more thoroughly we annihilate the enemy, the more we can pose a threat to the four corps of the enemy in the Central Plains." Finally, Chen Shiju announced the task: "The specific tasks of this campaign are divided as follows: Chen Xie's Fourth and Ninth Columns divided by a force to cooperate with the local armed forces of the Taiyue Fifth Army Division, control Xin'an and Yiyang, sweep and annihilate Xin'an and Mianchi In addition to the stubborn local armed forces, the main force completed the encirclement of Luoyang Xigong and the airport, as well as Xiguan and Nanguan enemies before 24:00 on the 9th. the enemy so that they cannot retreat into the city." "The third column of Huaye completed the encirclement of the enemies of Luoyang Station, Beiguan, and Dongguan before 24:00 on the 9th, and strived to solve the enemies of Luoyang North Station and Dongguan first, so that the main force could attack the city." "The eighth column divided by The first part seized and controlled the positions on both sides between Heishiguan and Yanshi, and the main force advanced to the area between Huiguo Town, Didong, Fudian Town, and Weishi Town on the evening of the 8th as a reserve team, responsible for blocking the possible attack by Zhengzhou. Take the enemy of Luoyang to the west." Chen Geng then added: "The 22nd Brigade stayed in the Ye County, Wuyang, and Xiangcheng areas, using Shahe as the baseline, to monitor and contain the actions of the enemy's 18th Army. If the enemy came to the west, it must fight steadily and delay the enemy." Luoyang is a strategic point in the Central Plains. It is located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, in the west of Henan Province, with Mang Mountain in the north and Luoshui in the south. The place of contention.Luoyang is also a famous historical city, one of the five ancient capitals in China, known as the capital of nine dynasties.The Kuomintang reactionaries once designated this place as the "accompanying capital", which has a very important position in politics, culture, transportation and other aspects. After the War of Liberation began, Chiang Kai-shek took Luoyang as an important town to guard the Central Plains, thinking that as long as Luoyang was guarded in the west of Henan, the Longhai Road would be unblocked and there would be a foothold.For this reason, under the guidance of the US military advisory group, Luoyang's fortifications have been built into a semi-permanent solid city defense, which was called "Jincheng Tangchi" by Chiang Kai-shek. The characteristic of its defense system is: there is a main position on the protruding part of the city wall, which is connected with solid houses or hills, mounds, and ravines to form fortifications.Luoyang Middle School in the city has built a core position.Each of the fortifications in this position takes the mother fort as the core, and several sub-forts extend out, intersecting bunkers and light and dark forts, and connecting with traffic trenches or underground passages. A dense firepower point formed, forming horns for each other.Take care of each other, you can shoot cross-shooting, or look around independently.Each fortification and main sub-fort is equipped with heavy equipment such as artillery and heavy machine guns, and the blocked passages are monitored in sections.There are outer positions built around the core positions, and multiple layers of obstacles such as outer trenches, barbed wire fences, deer villages, and minefields have been built. The Kuomintang army's Luoyang city defense is not weak, but with the transfer of the enemy's mobile corps in the peripheral areas of Luoyang, Luoyang's defenders have fallen into a situation of isolation. In the county area, the Kuomintang army was extremely panicked. Within a few days, Chiang Kai-shek received two urgent telegrams one after another. One was issued by Sun Zhen of the Zhengzhou Command of the Kuomintang Army, saying: "A close inspection revealed that the two armies of the Communist bandits, Chen Xie and Chen Tang, have marched northward, planning to cut off Zhengzhou, the intersection of the Pinghan and Longhai roads. I believe that the bandits may attack Zhengzhou. If so, they can arrive near Zhengzhou within three to five days." The other was sent by Qiu Xingxiang, the commander of the 206th Division of the Youth Army stationed in Luoyang. The telegram reads: "The two armies of the Communist Army, Chen Xie and Chen Tang, are advancing rapidly northward and have assembled in Xiangcheng and Yuxian. The meaning of Luoyang. I will report my feelings for the bandits at any time." At the same time, he received two contradictory telegrams, and Chiang Kai-shek fell into deep thought. He believed that the People's Liberation Army's northward march was certain, but he couldn't make up his mind whether the People's Liberation Army should attack Zhengzhou or Luoyang.He stood in front of the map and pondered for a long time, and finally pressed the treasure in Luoyang.Although he always believed that Luoyang City was strong, Chiang Kai-shek felt that he was not sure about the attack of the four columns of the People's Liberation Army, so he ordered Qiu Xingxiang to go to Nanjing to discuss matters. Qiu Xingxiang graduated from the fifth batch of Whampoa Military Academy. He once served as Chen Cheng's entourage and adjutant. He did a lot in the Northeast battlefield and was favored by Chiang Kai-shek. At the end of November 1947, when Chen Tang led his troops to defeat the enemy all the way and approached Luoyang, Chiang Kai-shek was very dissatisfied with Xiao Jin, the former commander of the 206th Division who had suffered consecutive defeats. When Chiang Kai-shek saw Qiu Xingxiang, he asked with concern: "Luoyang is the key link between the Central Plains and the Northwest. We must plan to stick to it for a long time. How sure are you about sticking to Luoyang?" Qiu Xingxiang boasted: "Don't worry about the seat. Unless the sky falls and the earth collapses, Luoyang will be safe." Chiang Kai-shek admired the courage of this former master, and encouraged him: "Luoyang's terrain is very good, easy to defend and difficult to attack... Luoyang's Mang Mountain, Longmen, and Xigong are all very important. We must strengthen fortifications and study defense." In the end, Chiang Kai-shek said desolately: "The success or failure of the military is related to the safety of the party and the country. If we do not defeat the Communist Party, we will die without a place to die. You were single-handedly selected by the country. You should go to the country in times of difficulty. I hope you will live up to your expectations. In order to facilitate your unified command of the Luoyang garrison, I now appoint you as the 'Luoyang Garrison Commander'." Qiu Xingxiang gratefully accepted his master's appointment as an official, and resolutely replied: "The instructions of the commissioner are unforgettable to the students. I, Qiu Xingxiang, will be a benevolent person if I fail, and I will never disappoint the cultivation of the commissioner!" Immediately, he took the instruction from the master He rushed back to Luoyang to guard. As soon as Qiu Xingxiang heard that the People's Liberation Army was approaching Luoyang, he stepped up his defense against Luoyang and its surrounding areas.He learned the lessons of the defeat of the Kuomintang army in Siping in the northeast and Yuncheng in Shanxi. Taking advantage of the mountains and hills around Luoyang City, the city's high trenches and deep trenches, the hard soil, and the topographical characteristics of being easy to defend and difficult to attack, he used permanent low-lying and concealed fortifications as his base. The main force, combined with multiple crossfire and reverse firepower, constitutes a tight circular defense system. Although Qiu Xingxiang's 206th Division currently has only 5 entire regiments, plus 4 artillery companies, 3 support battalions and 1 automobile battalion, its personnel are nearly 20,000, and they are trained by Jiang Jingguo, the "Prince" of the Jiang Dynasty. His thinking is stubborn, his weapons and equipment are all American style, and his strength is strong. At this time, Gu Zhutong, the commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang army in Xuzhou, learned from relevant reconnaissance reports that the People's Liberation Army in the Central Plains was gathering near Luoyang, and there were signs of attacking Luoyang.In order to prevent problems before they happen, he immediately ordered the reorganized 47th Army and the reorganized 18th Army located in the Xuchang and Luohe areas of the Pinghan Railway to be under the command of Sun Zhen, director of the Zhengzhou Headquarters of the Army General Headquarters, and to gather for reinforcements in Luoyang.Subsequently, the main force of the 47th Army moved north to Zhengzhou, and transported two coaches to the line of Sishui and Heishiguan.The entire 18th Army assembled in Xuchang. Just as Qiu Xingxiang was busy improving Luoyang's defense, Sun Zhen sent him a telegram. On the one hand, he notified, "About four columns of the main force of the Western Henan Communist Army marched northward from the Xiangyu area for several days, intending to attack Luoyang. Hu's two corps have marched towards Luoyang." On the other hand, the division was required to "stick to the established position in Luoyang, and cooperate with the peripheral corps to gather and wipe out the invading enemy."Soon, Zhang Shixi, deputy director of the Zhengzhou Command, called Qiu Xingxiang several times to ask about Luoyang's preparations for war, and solemnly stated that Chairman Jiang asked him to "stay in Luoyang for at least one month." Qiu Xingxiang was very disgusted with the gesticulation from above, so he answered the Zhengzhou headquarters angrily and said: "Keep a day counting!" After receiving the order to attack Luoyang, the columns of Chen Xie and Chen Tang quickly approached Luoyang. Commander Wang Jian'an led his Huaye Eight Columns without stopping, and went straight to Yanshi and Heishiguan, preparing to block the reinforcements east of Luoyang. Heishiguan is located in the south of the Yellow River and north of the Songshan mountainous area, choking the traffic throat of the Zhengzhou and Luoyang sections of the Longhai Railway.The terrain here is dangerous, with the Black Rock Mountain barrier in front and the iron bridge across the Luo River below, it is a veritable strategic location.Both offensive and defensive sides must compete.It is easy to defend after occupying and retreat, and easy to advance when attacking.Eight verticals block the enemy's reinforcements. The first thing is to seize and control Heishi Pass and blow up the iron bridge. The task of winning the pass and blowing up the bridge was handed over to the 65th Regiment of the 22nd Division of the Eighth Column. After 4 consecutive days of long-distance raids, the 65th regiment entered Zhitian Town, south of Heishi Pass, on March 7, which is not far from Heishi Pass. Sun Zhen and Sun Yuanliang, commander of the 47th Army of the Kuomintang Army, attached great importance to guarding and controlling Heishi Pass.Usually, for the safety of Zhengzhou, there is always a force to guard Heishi Mountain and Heishi Pass.After Sun Zhen received the order of Chiang Kai-shek to unify the command of the reinforcements, he paid more attention to Heishiguan.He realized that in order to stop the reinforcements, the People's Liberation Army must snatch Heishi Pass; if Heishi Pass is not kept, the Kuomintang army's way to aid Luo will be blocked.After discussing with Sun Yuanliang, he ordered Heishi Pass to guard the enemy to strengthen their guard, and at the same time ordered to send an additional support force to rush to Heishi Pass. The defenders at Heishiguan received the order and learned that the vanguard of the Communist Army had arrived in Zhitian Town. They immediately became tense and sent additional sentry posts, ready to fight at any time. In the evening of the same day, the 65th Regiment launched an attack on Heishi Pass, but failed to capture it.The next day, the 379th Regiment of the 127th Brigade to aid the enemy arrived at Heishi Pass.That night, the 65th Regiment launched an attack again, but still failed to capture Heishi Pass. The task of the 23rd Division of the Eighth Column was to capture Yanshi and build fortifications based on favorable terrain to prevent the enemy from reinforcing Luoyang westward in the area north of the Luohe River and west of Heishiguan. To capture Yanshi, one must first cross the Luo River.This section of the Luo River is deep and fast, and it is impossible to cross without a boat or a bridge. On the night of March 8, the 23rd Division forcibly crossed the Luohe River and occupied Yanshi. Considering that the 23rd Division had already crossed the Luohe River, Wang Jianan made a decisive decision: the eighth column immediately stopped the attack on Heishiguan, and set up an array across the Luohe River to the west of Heishiguan and Zhitian Town to block the enemy aided by Zhengzhou. And sent reconnaissance and alert to Dengfeng to grasp the situation of Hu Lian's corps coming to help. The Ninth Column also attacked and occupied Xin'an on the evening of the 7th, and the Taiyue 5th Army Sub-division troops conquered Mianchi on the 9th, controlling the positions that blocked the enemy who might be aided by Tongguan East. On March 9, the third and fourth columns secretly crossed the Yi River and Luo River to attack Luoyang. In the evening, the 23rd Regiment of the Third Column, led by Shi Yihuan, captured Luoyang Dongguan in one fell swoop by means of long-distance raids. Then, the 9th Division of the third column also broke into Beiguan and occupied the East and West Stations, gaining support for the siege. At dusk on March 9, under the leadership of Commander Sun Jixian, the third column of the East China Field Army surrounded and annihilated key enemies such as Dongguan, Beiguan, East and West Stations, Jiulongtai, and the American Hospital, and seized the support for the siege. At this time, the fourth column of the Chen Xie Corps attacked from the west and south of the city, cleared the enemies of Xigong and Xiguan in the enemy's garrison field with sudden actions, cut off the connection between the enemy's inside and outside the city, and captured Zhougong Temple and Xigong, the gates of Luoyang. power plant. So far, the enemies outside Luoyang have been wiped out. During the peripheral operations, the main force of the enemy's Sun Yuanliang Corps, aided by Zhengzhou from the west, reached the front line of Heishiguan on the 9th, and marched to Dengfeng with the 125th Brigade of the 47th Division through Mi County, trying to join the Hu Lian Corps and go west side by side. aid.However, because Hu Lian's corps had not yet arrived, Sun Yuanliang's corps did not dare to rush forward, and only a part of the troops made tentative attacks on the eighth column every day. According to the delay in peripheral battles and reinforcements, Chen Geng immediately decided to encircle and control the remnant enemy strongholds in the periphery with a small number of troops, continue to monitor the reinforcements, and concentrate the main force to start besieging the enemies in the city. In order to grasp the specific situation of the enemy's fortification in Luoyang City, Chen Geng and other campaign commanders instructed the headquarters to conduct further detailed reconnaissance in Luoyang City, while stepping up interrogation of the captured Jiang army officers and soldiers.The situation in all aspects was quickly summarized in front of Chen Geng and other campaign commanders. In view of the enemy's fortification construction and fortifications, Chen Geng and other campaign commanders decided after research to adopt a tactic of making breakthroughs at multiple points, choosing a smooth direction, and attacking continuously.The siege deployment of each column is as follows: In the third column, the 23rd regiment mainly attacked the east gate, the 24th regiment was the second echelon; the 20th regiment mainly attacked the north gate, and the 25th regiment was the second echelon; the 22nd regiment attacked from the northeast gate, and the 21st regiment was the second echelon; The regiment is the column reserve.In the fourth column, the 29th regiment mainly attacked the west gate; the 31st and 32nd regiments mainly attacked the south gate; the 28th and 30th regiments attacked from the south gate and the west gate respectively, and the other troops served as the second echelon and reserve team respectively. The order was quickly communicated to the attacking forces.The east gate is the key point of the enemy's fortification. The 8th Division of the 3rd Column is responsible for the main combat tasks, and the artillery battalion of the division is assigned to the 23rd Regiment. In this way, the 23rd regiment plus the regiment's artillery company had 32 artillery pieces of various types, and they formed two firepower teams.At the same time, the third column also used 3 field guns and the artillery unit of the 24th regiment to provide fire support before the assault in this direction. On the evening of March 11, when the Kuomintang army Sun Yuanliang and Hu Lian's corps were lingering in the vicinity of Luoyang, hesitating whether to enter Luoyang, the artillery fire of the People's Liberation Army's siege had begun to sound in Luoyang. With the sound of cannons, the warriors went down the mountain like tigers, roaring and heading straight for the enemy's position. After the start of the battle, Sun Jixian, the commander of the three verticals, sat in front of a map in a dilapidated private house, holding a telephone in his hand, and asked about the progress of the various troops. "Hello, Division 8, I'm Sun Jixian." The voice of Master Wang came from the phone: "The troops are advancing with difficulty. The barriers from the bridgehead to the gate of the urn have been removed, and the troops are now developing towards the urn." Sun Jixian said excitedly: "Good! Good! We must work hard!" Then Teacher Wang sent another report: "It's raining heavily and muddy, the road is slippery and difficult to walk, and it is very difficult to move forward." Sun Jixian said firmly: "Remove difficulties, reduce casualties, and push forward with all our strength!" Just as he was talking, Master Wang shouted excitedly on the phone: "Commander, the 2nd Company of the 23rd Regiment broke through the Urn City!" "Okay! Take advantage of the victory and attack!" Suddenly, Master Wang's tone became heavy again: "The enemy concentrated artillery fire and bombarded my breakthrough violently. The follow-up troops could not move forward, and the phone call of the assault battalion was interrupted." Sun Jixian ordered: "At all costs, expand the breakthrough and let the follow-up troops enter the city!" Some progress was made in the siege battle, but the west gate, south gate, northeast gate, and north gate still hadn't broken through. The enemy immediately concentrated all artillery fire and reserves to deal with the intruding troops. The 23rd regiment was in danger of being shot out, and Sun Jixian was too late. Think more, and say to Mr. Wang: "The 24th Regiment, 22nd Regiment, and 21st Regiment, all transferred here, enter the city through the breakthrough of the east gate, and start street fighting immediately after entering the city!" The 8th Division immediately adjusted its deployment and transferred other teams to the east gate to join the battle. The east gate of Luoyang City was opened. Chen Shiju, Tang Liang, Chen Geng and others listened to the shouts of killing that pierced the enemy's guts in the headquarters, and anxiously waited for the report on the progress of the troops' attack. At this time, I heard Sun Jixian's report saying: "Zhang Mingying, the 23rd Regiment of the 8th Division, has broken through the east gate and occupied the tower!" Unexpectedly, the east gate, which is the enemy's key fortification, was broken through in a very short time. Chen Shiju, Tang Liang I am very happy. The attack direction of the 4th Vertical and 10th Brigade is the west gate, which is the strong point of the enemy's defense.To get in, you have to pass a long bridge.Before the general offensive was launched, the 1st Battalion of the 29th Regiment of the 10th Brigade tried to sneak across the bridge twice, but failed. On the 12th, Zhou Xihan decided to change the sneak attack into a strong attack, and ordered the 28th regiment to carry out the main assault, while the 29th and 30th regiments assisted on both sides. Qiu Xingxiang personally commanded the street fighting, but it was difficult to stop the offensive of the People's Liberation Army.The defeated Kuomintang army continued to retreat into the houses and core fortifications, and even Luoyang Commissioner Liu Huandong fled into the core position of Luoyang Middle School.Although there are still several peripheral strongholds in Xigong, Jiulongtai, and Luze Guild Hall to support, the urban area has basically been broken through. The block is still in Qiu Xingxiang's hands. Feeling that the situation was critical, Qiu Xingxiang kept asking for help from the KMT headquarters, and at the same time kept cheering up his surviving subordinates. He made a wish that he would offer them a reward of tens of millions of yuan and give half of it first, asking them to persist until the reinforcements arrived to relieve the siege. Send the other half. However, the army was defeated like a mountain. In the face of the powerful offensive of the People's Liberation Army, the will of Jiang's officers and soldiers to resist has basically collapsed.These included some members of the officer corps who had always been stubborn in their thinking and Liu Bolong, the inspection team leader sent by Chiang Kai-shek to Luoyang to supervise the battle.Especially this Inspector Liu, he took his entourage and fled back to Nanjing quietly before Luoyang was trapped.Some middle and colonel officers who served as instructors of the 206th Division also secretly left Luoyang City due to the chaos.Only the helpless Qiu Xingxiang led the remnants in the final struggle alone. But the rescue that Qiu Xingxiang was looking forward to so hard is as illusory as a castle in the air.Chiang Kai-shek only sent him a blank letter with a few words of encouragement to persevere, and Sun Yuanliang, Hu Lian's Corps, and the Second Rapid Column, who had been assigned reinforcements, delayed for various reasons and refused to extend a helping hand to him. Fighting until 14:00 pm on the 12th, the attacking force of the fourth column also broke through the west gate.Commander Zhou Xihan immediately picked up the microphone and reported to Chen Geng: "We have broken into the city and are engaged in street fighting with the enemy." Chen Geng said excitedly: "Inform the troops to push forward tenaciously, occupy favorable terrain, and not love to fight. How much will the follow-up troops follow?" "The follow-up troops are following up, and the 28th regiment is basically finished." "Okay! Order the 29th and 30th regiments to follow up at the same time." "Yes, the 29th and 30th regiments are charging towards the gap." Chen Geng added the order: "After the troops enter, they must encircle the enemies in important strongholds, destroy the stubborn enemies, and capture the scattered enemies. They must be quickly resolved and wiped out one by one." During the war until 15 pm on the 12th, all the city gates and nearby fortifications in Luoyang were broken through by the attacking troops of the third and fourth columns, and the armies from all walks of life joined forces in the city. At this time, only the position of Luoyang Middle School in the northwest corner of the city was controlled by the enemy. Qiu Xingxiang led the remnants of the enemy to hide in this core area with a square of 100 meters and four or five buildings arranged from north to south for the final resistance. On the 13th, various troops continued to attack the remnants of the enemy, and annihilated the Kuomintang troops that had retreated from all directions in the urban area and did not enter the core position, annihilating the area south of the enemy's core position.During the battle, Zhao Yunfei, commander of the enemy's 1st brigade, was captured.Sheng Jueyue, commander of the enemy's 2nd brigade, disguised himself and hid in a residential house. After clearing away the other remnants of the enemy in the city, the various attacking forces converged to besiege the core position of the enemy in Luoyang Middle School.However, due to the enemy's stubborn resistance relying on solid fortifications, the two attacks organized by the attacking troops failed. On the one hand, Qiu Xingxiang organized the remnants to stand firm and resist in fear, and on the other hand, he kept calling Chiang Kai-shek to send all the peripheral regiments to rush to help, and asked for additional air force to assist in the battle. Chiang Kai-shek didn't want to lose Luoyang easily, so he immediately urged the Zhengzhou headquarters supervisor Hu and Sun Bingtuan to rush to Luoyang.Hu Lian and Sun Yuanliang reluctantly led their troops to the vicinity of Heishi Pass because they were afraid that Chiang Kai-shek would be held accountable. The eighth column, with its favorable terrain, gave the enemy a powerful resistance so that it could not easily approach Luoyang.The ninth column was originally in the Xin'an and Mianchi areas to block the east aid of the Pei Changhui Corps.Because the enemy was coming, the ninth column moved to the north bank of the Luohe River to cooperate with the eighth column to stop the enemy. At 16:30 on the 14th, the siege troops launched a general attack on the enemy's core position.Under the strong and rapid firepower preparations, the buildings in the enemy's core position burned, the walls collapsed, and the fortifications were destroyed. At 7:20, two green flares rose into the sky, and the impact began! The 8th Division of the Third Column of the East China Field Army launched a general attack on Qiu Xingxiang's last lair from the east, the 9th Division from the north, and the 10th Brigade of the Fourth Column of the Chen Xie Corps from the south. In order to destroy the enemy's strong fortifications and obstacles, almost all the artillery was concentrated on the enemy's positions for 40 minutes before the attack.Under the shelling of the People's Liberation Army, thick smoke billowed from the enemy's positions and flames shot into the sky, and the walls and gun towers of some houses collapsed. Qiu Xingxiang originally only judged that the People's Liberation Army would use explosives to carry out the competition for positions and fortifications one by one, but he did not expect that the other party would carry out such fierce artillery fire. During the rapid artillery attack of the People's Liberation Army, many fortifications in the core position were destroyed, and five buildings also caught fire.Among them, the two high-rise buildings on the south side collapsed soon after, leaving the enemy general reserve team guarding the buildings without shelter, running around and causing heavy casualties.The head of the enemy's 4th regiment was killed in artillery fire, and Qiu Xingxiang was also scratched by shrapnel.He and his chief of staff Liu Hongyuan still ordered his subordinates to persist in resistance. While the artillery fire was still going on, Wang Jiwen, the commander of the 8th Division of the 3rd Column, who was responsible for the main attack mission, visited the front command post in person to organize a battle to break through the enemy's core position. As soon as the artillery fire ceased, three red flares flew into the air.Wang Jiyu, commander of the 2nd company of the 24th regiment, took the lead and led the 2nd company to rush up the small bridge. At this time, the enemy's hidden firepower that had been silenced by the artillery fire suddenly revived and fired desperately from the bottom of the ditch.A bullet hit Company Commander Wang in the head, and he suddenly felt unconscious for a while. When he came to his senses, the whole company had rushed into the enemy's core position, but the casualties were too great and the progress was slow.Enduring the pain, Wang Jiyu stood up abruptly, wrapped up his injured head, and stepped into the breach recklessly. At this time, the "death squad" bought by the enemy with a lot of money just happened to counterattack.At this critical moment, Master Wang Jiwen came to the breach to command in person, and the assault troops were encouraged, and even the wounded soldiers struggled up and went into battle.After a burst of fighting, the enemy's "death squad" was beaten back into a cave. Company Commander Wang led the soldiers with injuries to the entrance of the enemy's cave, and blocked the entrance with firepower, forcing the enemy to come out and surrender. At this time, the attacking troops of the fourth column also rushed into the enemy's core position from the southwest.The enemy lost their fighting spirit, and one by one raised their hands, they got out of the caves and the collapsed bunkers and surrendered. Seeing that the general situation was over, Qiu Xingxiang sent power to Chiang Kai-shek in desperation, saying: "God doesn't bless me, people don't help me, time doesn't help me, it's not my fault. I, Qiu Xingxiang, will live and die with Luoyang as instructed." After Chiang Kai-shek saw the telegram, he urgently ordered Yu Jishi to take a plane to pick up Qiu Xingxiang out of the city, and said sadly: "Luoyang can be lost, but 'Qiu Tiger' cannot be lost!" Yu Jishi knew that the Luoyang airport had been bombed, and the plane could not take off and land, but he forced himself to fly a few laps over Luoyang, saying goodbye to Qiu Xingxiang: "Mr. Qiu, the president sent me to pick you up with a plane, but it couldn't land. It's really not for brother's inhumanity!" When Qiu Xingxiang heard the call, he said in a tearful voice, "Please tell the president that I, Qiu Xingxiang, have followed my words and deeds, and vowed to live and die with Luoyang. It is a pity that I can no longer be loyal to the party, state and leader." Qiu Xingxiang bandaged his injured head hastily, hurriedly changed into a soldier's uniform, and threw the Chinese official dagger on the newly replaced lieutenant general's uniform, saying to himself: "Chairman, please forgive me, the students have no choice but to do so." After speaking, he fled from the headquarters in chaos, and prepared to break out with a few followers.Mr. Qiu, who was short in stature but wearing a fat soldier's uniform, ran into a soldier of the People's Liberation Army rushing over without running far, and obediently became a prisoner. After Qiu Xingxiang was captured, he was already disheartened. He just waited for the PLA to settle his old accounts. He never thought that Chen Geng would specially meet him when he was patrolling the battlefield, and educate him to "study the principles of revolution hard, correctly understand past actions, and change the past.对人民的态度，以获得人民的谅解”。 历时7昼夜的洛阳战役终以国民党军第206师被全歼而胜利结束了。在作战中，共歼敌1个师部，2个旅部，5个整团另4个营和4个炮兵连，以及保安团队等，共2万余人。 洛阳战役胜利后，陈士榘、唐亮、陈赓分别打电报给毛泽东、刘邓、陈粟等领导，报告这一胜利消息。 毛泽东在给他们的复电中指出：“你们克洛阳，为刘邓大军转出大别山创造了条件，取得了城市作战和两个野战军共同作战的经验，为执行纪律，起到了示范作用，特向你们嘉贺！” 洛阳战役胜利后，解放军为保持主动，主动放弃了该城，国民党军又重新占领。 4月5日，陈谢集团再次攻占洛阳。 4月8日，陈赓主持召开前委会，任命第四纵队政治部主任刘有光为中共洛阳市委书记，杨少桥为市长，同时组成军管会，按照中央关于新区的城市政策，接管洛阳。 从此，洛阳就掌握在解放军的手里了。