Chapter 13 Chapter 12 Containment and Fighting Aids, Cooperating with Huaye to Encircle and Annihilate Huang Baitao

The land of the Central Plains in mid-October has entered the early autumn season.Most of the crops have been harvested, and there are gusts of cool wind blowing in the open fields.The trees around Zhengzhou have mottled yellow leaves, and the autumn cicadas are whining among the yellow leaves. At this time, the four columns of the Central Plains Field Army were marching towards Zhengzhou under the strong autumn wind. When the Jiang family dynasty was approaching the end, it seemed that the day had come to dusk, and the year had come to autumn. Another great victory was achieved in the second year of the Chinese People's War of Liberation.In terms of military affairs, 94 brigades of the enemy's regular army and more than 1.52 million irregular troops were wiped out; 155,000 square kilometers of land was liberated, with 164 cities and a population of 37 million. The liberated area has expanded to 2.35 million square kilometers and 579 cities Seat, with a population of 168 million; the People's Liberation Army has grown to 2.8 million, including 1.49 million regular troops.The ratio of forces between the enemy and ourselves has been reduced from 3.4:1 at the beginning of the war to 1.3:1.After two years of war training, the political quality and combat effectiveness of the entire army, especially the ability to attack fortifications, have been greatly improved. It has developed to the point where it can concentrate its forces to fight big battles, concentrate powerful enemies, and seize large cities.The reactionary rule of the Kuomintang is already on the verge of crumbling and disintegrating.

U.S. Ambassador to China Leighton Stuart had to admit in his report to U.S. Secretary of State Marshall: "The deterioration of the situation has progressed to the point of near collapse." Chiang Kai-shek also lamented: "The national army is restrained everywhere, and it will fail." In order to win national victory, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a Politburo meeting in September 1948.Based on the results of the past two years of combat and the overall situation between the enemy and ourselves, the meeting proposed to build a 5 million People's Liberation Army, which would wipe out about 500 enemy brigades (divisions) in about five years (calculated from July 1946), and fundamentally overthrow the The general task of the Kuomintang's reactionary rule, and decided that in the third year of the war, the People's Liberation Army will still all fight in the north of the Yangtze River and in North China and Northeast China.

In accordance with the tasks and guidelines stipulated by the Political Bureau meeting of the CPC Central Committee, the Central Military Commission determined to wipe out about 115 brigades (divisions) of the enemy's regular army in the third year of the war, continued to expand the revolutionary war and penetrated into the Kuomintang ruled areas, and instructed all battlefields across the country to launch an autumn offensive .The Central Plains Field Army is required to cooperate with the East China Field Army to fight, annihilate the enemies of the Central Plains, and liberate the entire Central Plains, and then cooperate with other field armies to continue to lead the war to the rear of the Kuomintang ruled area.

Thus, starting from September 1948, the People's Liberation Army successively launched an unprecedented autumn offensive on the battlefields of Northeast China, East China, Central Plains, North China, and Northwest China.During this period, Bai Chongxi marched north and south with Sun Yuanliang's corps in Zhengzhou and Zhang Zhen's group in the southern section of the Ping-Han line, looking for our main force to fight, and attempted to destroy our rear in western Henan.In order to combat this enemy's attempt and cooperate with the East China Field Army in the Jinan operation, the Central Plains Military Region and the Central Plains Field Army launched an attack on the Zhang Zhen Group in the Wan (Nanyang) and Que (Mountain) areas on September 16, and wiped out more than 1,000 enemies. .Then Bai Chongxi attacked Wandong with about 200,000 soldiers from Zhang Gan (3rd Corps) and Huang Wei (12th Corps).The Central Plains Field Army then adopted the strategy of dividing the troops from the north to the south, dragging the enemy away, and looking for opportunities to wipe out the enemy. It used the second column and the main forces of the Jianghan and Tongbai military regions to pull Zhang Gan's corps into the Dahong Mountains, and the sixth column and the 12th Brigade of the Southern Shaanxi Military Region suppressed the enemy. The Huangwei Corps was in the Tongbai mountain area, preventing the two enemies from moving eastward, and effectively supporting the East China Field Army's attack on Jilin.Use the first, third, fourth, and ninth columns to advance northward to the Yuxian, Xiangcheng, and Yexian areas, waiting to wipe out the enemy.

On September 24, the East China Field Army captured Jinan. On September 25, the Central Military Commission decided that the East China Field Army should hold the Battle of Huaihai, and proposed that the first step of the operation should be to annihilate Huang Baitao's corps that was about to be transferred from Xuzhou to the Xin'an Town area, and then wipe out Liangzhun, Haizhou, and Lianyungang. Its more than a dozen brigades have opened up the connection between Shandong and northern Jiangsu, so as to facilitate the next step in the battle on the Xuzhou and Pukou lines. On October 11, the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao Zedong issued the "Operation Policy on the Huaihai Campaign", which clearly stipulated: "The focus of the first phase of this campaign is to concentrate forces to annihilate Huang Baitao's corps, complete a breakthrough in the middle, and occupy Xin'an Town, Canal Station, Caobaji, Zaozhuang, Lincheng, Hanzhuang, Pixian, Taierzhuang, Linyi and other places."

In the second stage, "attack and annihilate the enemies in Haizhou, Xinpu, Lianyungang, and Guanyun, and occupy the cities." In the third stage, prepare to fight in the direction of Huaiyin and Huai'an. Mao Zedong pointed out in the telegram: It is expected that the enemy Sun Yuanliang Corps will advance eastward after the start of the battle. For this reason, the Central Plains Field Army should immediately deploy to attack the Zhengzhou and Xuzhou lines to contain Sun Yuanliang Corps. Zhongyue Songshan, towering high in the clear autumn sky, is still so peaceful.But at the foot of Songshan Mountain, preparations for the war are being carried out nervously.

The Central Military Commission's telegram to launch the Huaihai Campaign has arrived. In the past few days, Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng, and Chen Yi have been holding meetings to discuss the deployment of the battle. The main force of the Central Plains Field Army lost weight in the Dabie Mountains, but it faced an unprecedented challenge. After careful discussion, Liu Deng and Chen Yi decided to capture Zhengzhou first to attract Sun Yuanliang's corps to return to aid, or to attract part of Qiu Qingquan's corps to go west to cooperate with the East China Field Army. Regarding the specific deployment of the Zhengzhou Campaign, it was determined that Chen Geng and Chen Xilian would command the first, third, fourth, and ninth columns of the Central Plains Field Army and the armed forces of the Western Henan Military Region and the Henan, Anhui, and Soviet Military Regions, with the cooperation of the Fourteenth Column of the North China Military Region. , launched the operation in late October, and instructed Chen Geng and Chen Xilian to formulate a detailed combat plan. On October 13, Yang Yong, Chen Xilian, Chen Geng, and Qin Jiwei, the commanders of the first, third, fourth, and ninth columns, formulated the battle plan for the Zhengzhou campaign. Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yi were very satisfied with it.

On the 18th, Liu Chendeng issued the basic order for Zhengzhou operations.The specific deployment is: use the first and second columns as the Eastern Corps to conduct assaults from the south to the northeast of Zhengzhou City; use the fourth and ninth columns as the Western Corps to conduct assaults from the southwest to the north of Zhengzhou; The 3 basic regiments of the 1st and 5th military divisions in the district were located in the east and west of Kaifeng, sabotaged the Longhai Railway, contained and blocked Liu Ruming's troops who might be aided by Kaifeng from the west, and intercepted the enemy who might flee east in Zhengzhou; The North Detachment was composed of the 4th Army Sub-District Base Regiment of the Western Henan Military Region and the 77th Regiment of the Ninth Column. Launch an offensive and coordinate operations between Xinxiang on the north bank of the Yellow River and the Yellow River Iron Bridge.

At this time, due to the liberation of Jinan, Xuzhou was in a tight spot. Sun Yuanliang's troops stationed in Zhengzhou had been transferred eastward, and the 12th Sui District Command stationed in Xinxiang led a part of the 40th Army to take over its defense.At that time, the enemy in Zhengzhou consisted of the 146th Division (less than the 317th Regiment), the 228th Division (under jurisdiction of 3 regiments, originally the temporary 26th Brigade, which was reorganized into the 99th Army), the 115th Regiment of the 39th Division, and Si There are more than 10,000 security groups in Shui, Xingyang, Xinzheng, and Zhengxian, stationed between Zhengzhou and the Yellow River Iron Bridge.

Zhengzhou has become a lonely cross.Commander Liu Bocheng said humorously: "Chiang Kai-shek believes in God; one day he will be crucified." On the night of October 21, the Battle of Zhengzhou was launched.The first column and the ninth column were ordered to complete the encirclement of the enemy in Zhengzhou first, and then the ninth column broke through in the northwest corner of the city. The 40th Army is Liu Deng's old opponent. In the Battle of Ping-Han in 1945, it was wiped out by Liu Deng.Li Zhenqing (also known as Li Tietou), the commander of the 106th Division of this army, was released after being captured, and then rebuilt it, renamed the Reorganized 40th Division, and stationed in Anyang City.Liu Deng advanced into the Dabie Mountains, it was transferred to the Gaoshanpu area, and was wiped out by me again.Unexpectedly, it was rebuilt again, the designation of the army was restored, and it became an appeasement force stationed in Zhengzhou.

At 3 o'clock in the morning on October 22, the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade led by Yang Junsheng, the brigade commander of the 1st column on my right wing, captured Jibo City, 3 kilometers northeast of Zhengzhou, and the 5th Army Division of the Yuwansu Military Region occupied In Zhongmou County between Kaifeng and Zhengzhou, the main forces of the 26th and 27th Brigades of the Nine Columns entered the predetermined positions respectively.The enemy in Zhengzhou found that they were surrounded by our main force and did not dare to stick to it. At 6 o'clock on the 22nd, they abandoned the city and fled north. By 17:00 on the 22nd, all the fleeing enemies in Zhengzhou were wiped out, and the first stage of the Zhengzhou Campaign ended in victory.Then, on the night of October 24, the Central Plains Field Army and the North China Military Region cooperated closely and attacked the forts at the north and south bridgeheads of the Iron Bridge on the Yellow River at the same time. "The gains and losses of Zhengzhou often determine the success or failure of the battle in the Central Plains." After the victory in the Battle of Zhengzhou, the defenders in Kaifeng fled without a fight.The three famous cities on Longhai Road, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng, were all liberated, which had a great impact. Outside the city of Kaifeng, Henan, there are several iron streams moving silently.Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yi took a medium-sized jeep and led several columns of the Central Plains Field Army from west to east to fight in the direction of Xuzhou. After the Battle of Zhengzhou, according to the deployment of the Central Military Commission, the East China Field Army began the first phase of the Huaihai Campaign, that is, concentrated 7 columns to serve as Huang Baitao's corps to split and encircle Xin'an Town and the Ahu area; Pressing against Xuzhou, blocking the enemy who may be aided by Xuzhou from the east; On October 26, Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yi led the first, third, fourth, and ninth columns of the Central Plains Field Army to set off from Zhengzhou, march eastward along Longhai Road, and rush to the front line of Huaihai. When the troops passed through Kaifeng and entered the southeast area of ​​Shangqiu, news came that the Liaoshen Campaign had ended successfully and the Northeast was completely liberated.Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping came to Bianliang, the ancient capital, and climbed to the top of the city. Looking to the east, over Tongshan, Lianghuai and Haizhou, there are no longer dark clouds rising one after another, nor the wind that frequently urges the mountains to rain, but dense clouds that stretch for thousands of miles and are gathering. When the wind blows, the downpour will fall.The wind, the sea and the rain are pressing! Looking back, the magnificent Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng Prefecture, the ruined gray city walls, and the moat full of sewage are all hidden in the afterglow of the setting sun. The sky was getting dark, but a magnificent picture was unfolding in the hearts of the soldiers.They knew that an unprecedented decisive battle would take place on the ancient battlefield.In order to meet this great war, at this moment, from the land of the Central Plains to the Huaibei Plain, dozens of armies are marching bravely towards one goal, and hundreds of thousands of horses are galloping day and night. In the west of Henan, Commander Liu Bocheng is leading the two Nakano columns of Wang Jinshan and Chen Zaidao, the 20th Brigade, and the troops of the Henan, Anhui and Soviet Military Regions. nose to the west. Acting Commander Su Yu and Deputy Political Commissar Tan Zhenlin are leading Huaye's Wei Guoqing, Wang Jian'an, Teng Haiqing, Sun Jixian, Ye Fei, Tao Yong, Wang Bicheng, Song Shilun, Cheng Jun, Zhang Renchu, Nie Fengzhi, Hu Bingyun, Xie Zhenhua, Zhou Zhijian, Zeng Sheng, etc. More than a dozen columns spread out across a 600-kilometer-wide land from southwest Shandong to the east coast, advancing southward in a mighty way, preparing to encircle Huang Baitao's corps and start the first phase of the Huaihai Campaign. The four columns of Yang Yong, Chen Xilian, Chen Geng, and Qin Jiwei in the middle field are chasing the corps of Qiu Qingquan and Sun Yuanliang who are retreating eastward, and marching eastward. Chen Yi's strong body leaned on the back of the car seat, looking at the rushing iron stream outside the window, he was full of emotions, squinted his eyes, and softly recited a poem: "Good poetry!" Deng Xiaoping smiled. "Commander Chen, you should be a poet. Ancient words, new poems, and folk customs are fused into one furnace, and you have a unique style." Chen Yi said humbly: "I am so grateful for the award. General poets have existed since ancient times. Yue Fei's "Manjianghong" is magnificent, and Cao Cao's "Haoli Xing" vividly describes the suffering of the people in the turbulent years at the end of the Han Dynasty." Deng Xiaoping said: "I don't understand poetry, but I prefer Cao Cao's "Duan Ge Xing", 'The mountains are never too high, and the sea is never too deep'. I am thirsty for talents. It is a pity that the Chinese emperors only love poetry and songs, not science. .” Chen Yi felt the same way: "Yes, this is an important reason why our ancient nation lags behind the forest of the world. Science belongs to the people. Once our people are the masters of our own country, our ancient country with a splendid culture of 5,000 years will be in danger. It will prosper!" Deng Xiaoping said with enthusiasm: "This day will not be too far away. From the time when we took the oath under the banner of the Paris Commune to the decisive battle now, the Chinese revolution has gone through a difficult journey. China's founding battle." Chen Yi became more and more emotional: "'Thirty fame and dust', we are already in our forties, 'eight thousand miles of roads and moons', every step has to be exchanged with blood." Deng Xiaoping was silent for a while, looking at the vast night outside the car window and said thoughtfully: "Yes, I said at the mobilization meeting that we will not hesitate to break the boat. In order to completely win the war of liberation, the Central Plains Field Army made the greatest sacrifice. worth it." Two like-minded comrades-in-arms talked about the past and the present, and the jeep drove through the moonlit night with laughter.Suddenly, a few soldiers flashed in front of the headlights and waved to stop the car.The driver slammed the brakes on the car, stretched out his head, and fired at the soldiers blocking the car: "What are you doing? Don't you look at whose car it is?" Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping got out of the car together, and asked kindly, "Which unit do you work for? Is there something wrong?" It turned out that when the soldiers saw the lights on, they thought it was a big truck. Only then did they see that it was a medium jeep with two chiefs sitting on it.After stopping for a while, a squad leader was a little more courageous, stepped forward to salute, and said: "Commander, excuse me, we only saw the lights on, but we didn't know it was the commander's car. Our company commander was injured when he opened the seal, but he insisted. We had to march with us, and fainted a few times on the way, and some of our company commanders who took care of us fell behind, afraid that we would not be able to catch up with the team, so... I didn't expect to delay the chief..." Chen Yi's eyes swept over the soldier's shoulder, and saw a wounded man lying on his shoulder.Quickly said: "Comrade, it's okay, please get the wounded into the car." The wounded company commander woke up, jumped off the soldiers, and shouted: "Who told you to carry me, hurry up! Go forward! Don't you know? The attacking team is not allowed to stop and carry the wounded, let Sun Yuanliang run away That's the crime!" Deng Xiaoping looked at the company commander appreciatively, interrupted him, and patted him on the shoulder: "Comrade, you must pay attention to your attitude when speaking to new comrades!" The company commander heard the person speaking with a Sichuan accent, and immediately recognized the political commissar Deng Xiaoping standing in front of him. He hurriedly stood at attention and saluted: "Political Commissar Deng, Gao Yuwa, commander of the 6th company of the 3rd Column, 7th Regiment, reports to you!" "Political Commissar Deng!" Several soldiers stood dumbfounded, stood at attention, and saluted: "Chief, we made a mistake!" Deng Xiaoping greeted the soldiers with a smile: "Do you know me?" Gao Yuwa said: "Commander, I am Gao Yuwa! You forgot that you and Commander Liu saved me in the Dabie Mountains last year." Chen Yi jokingly said, "Ah, you two are old acquaintances." "Gao Yuwa..." Deng Xiaoping couldn't recall for a while. Gao Yuwa quickly explained: "Chief, last summer in the Dabie Mountains, I was also injured and dropped out of the team. The health worker helped me to a mountain pass, and I ran into you and Commander Liu. At that time, you asked the staff to pour water for me. Hey, Commander Liu also left me a few packs of Bafengdan from you. At first, I didn’t know it was you and Commander Liu, and I asked the health worker to find out the number of your unit, and wanted to go back and report to our regiment leader. I am writing you a commendation letter! Later I found out the truth, but I was so anxious, the medicine in the mountains is so precious, how could I take the chief’s medicine? I keep the remaining two packs, what do you expect? I'll give it back to you, I didn't expect today..." Gao Yuwa took out two packs of eight pills from her pocket and held them with tears in her eyes. Listening to Gao Yuwa's narration, Deng Xiaoping pondered. He thought of the hard life in the Dabie Mountains. Chen Yi said affectionately: "You have suffered enough in the Dabie Mountains, comrade, you should keep these eight pills as a commemoration, so that future generations will remember your difficult days in the Dabie Mountains." Deng Xiaoping introduced Chen Yi to the soldiers: "Let's get to know him, this is Commander Chen Yi!" "Commander Chen!" The soldiers shouted in surprise. Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yi and the soldiers shook hands and said goodbye one by one.Chen Yi took Gao Yuwa's hand and asked him to get in the car and ride for a while, but Gao Yuwa didn't want to delay the chief any more, so she led the soldiers to rush ahead of the car and chased the team like the wind. The meeting with the soldiers brought Deng Xiaoping pleasure, but with the sound of the wheels rolling, his mind returned to the war in front of him.After receiving the combat order on the Huaihai Campaign issued by Mao Zedong and the Central Military Commission, Nakano seemed to light a fire, and the long-awaited decisive battle finally came.Everyone knows that this decisive battle is related to the fate of China.As the secretary of the Central Plains Bureau, Deng Xiaoping naturally knew the weight of this decisive battle and the heavy responsibility on his shoulders.After the mobilization meeting was held, the Zhongye soldiers were divided into two groups. One was led by Liu Bocheng to the west of Henan, and the other was led by him and Chen Yi to advance eastward to contain Qiu Qingquan and Sun Yuanliang's corps.In the past few days, the progress of the battle has been rapid, and Zhengzhou and Kaifeng have been liberated one after another.However, there was no exchange of fire with the enemy's main force.Qiu Qingquan and Sun Yuanliang have already withdrawn from these two cities. Obviously, the enemy army is also shrinking their forces in an attempt to gather in Xuzhou.Right now, for the middle and wild columns, can they catch up with the enemy's main corps as soon as possible and hit them hard, creating a situation where soldiers are forcing Xuzhou, attacking west and east, and attracting the attention of the Liu Zhi Group in Xuzhou? Coming up on the western front, thereby concealing Huaye's plan to encircle and annihilate Huang Baitao, and ensuring that Huaye completes the first battle plan to annihilate Huang Baitao in the first battle, this is Deng Xiaoping's main concern now. As the sky was getting brighter, the staff came to report: "Political Commissar Deng, Commander Chen Yi, our vanguard has joined forces with Liu Ruming's 181st Division!" The first shot of the Huaihai Campaign finally fired! Deng Xiaoping waved his hand: "Tell the vanguard that the 181st Division must be completely wiped out. Tell all columns that anyone who comes into contact with the enemy must be beaten hard at all costs! The more lively the fight here, the better!" Chen Yi took out the map from his purse, looked at it carefully, and said, "Liu Ruming's 181st Division is in Shangqiu, not far from Xuzhou. Ask, where is Comrade Huaye Suyu?" Deng Xiaoping added: "According to the battle situation on the western front, the enemy is shrinking its forces, so I told Comrade Su Yu to deal with Huang Baitao's corps with peace of mind." "Yes!" The staff officer replied loudly. Deng Xiaoping said to the driver: "Go to Shangqiu!" When Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping led the first, third, fourth, and ninth columns of the Central Plains Field Army to advance eastward, Liu Bocheng and Li Da commanded the second and sixth columns and troops from the Jianghan Military Region and Tongbai Military Region on the western front. Pull the two corps of Huang Wei and Zhang Zhen into these two big mountains, and fight hide-and-seek with Bai Chongxi's troops, grab the enemy's tail, and look for opportunities to annihilate the weak enemy. On October 22, Liu Bocheng and Li Dafei telegraphed to the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China: So in these two mountainous areas, the "military game" of hide and seek began. As a result, the second column led by Chen Zaidao and Wang Weigang and the main force of the Jianghan Military Region led by Zhang Caiqian and Liu Jianxun captured Yingcheng and Anlu, wiped out more than 4,000 people including the enemy's 28th Army headquarters, and sucked the enemy Zhang Zhen's corps into the Dahong mountain area; The main forces of the Hubei-Henan and Tongbai Military Regions combined with the masses broke through the southern section of Pinghan Road and threatened Wuhan; the Sixth Column led by Wang Jinshan and Du Yide, and the 12th Brigade of the Southern Shaanxi Military Region led by Liu Jinxuan and Wang Feng besieged Xueji in the south of Nanyang The 20th Army held back the Huangwei Corps in the Tongbai Mountains. Liu Bocheng's strategy of mobilizing the tiger into the mountains really worked.Bai Chongxi saw that the Central Plains People's Liberation Army's offensive suddenly strengthened, and mistakenly thought that Liu Bocheng had violated the taboo of dividing troops, which gave him an opportunity to encircle and suppress with heavy troops.Therefore, Zhang Zhen and Huang Wei were strictly ordered to pursue them to the end.Zhang Zhen and Huang Wei did not dare to neglect. One went south to Dahong Mountain, and the other went west to Funiu Mountain. Huang Wei led the 12th Corps with all American equipment to show off in the west of Henan, but they missed the opportunity along the way, and finally had to return to Queshan and Zhumadian to rest. Regarding this interception and aid operation, Qin Geming, the chief of the KMT’s Central China “suppression of the general” operation, wrote after he was liberated: "The more than 200,000 mobile units under the command of Bai Chongxi, including the Huangwei Corps and Zhang Zhen Corps, are being played hide-and-seek by Commander Liu Bocheng in western Henan and northern Hubei. Bai Chongxi concentrated his main forces in Zhumadian and other areas in an attempt to Invading the liberated area in western Henan, a part of Liu Deng's army went south to attack Yingshan, threatening Pinghan Road, the main artery behind Bai Chongxi. Bai attempted to lay siege to the main force of Liu Deng's army in Xinye and Deng County, but it was in vain." Mao Zedong spoke highly of Liu Bocheng's containment operations in the southwest of the Central Plains.On October 22, he specially sent a telegram to the Central Plains Bureau, pointing out: "The current excellent situation is that the two corps of Bai Chongxi's Huang (Wei) and Zhang (Zhen) were attracted by my second, sixth, and tenth columns to the Tongbai mountain area. For quite a long time, it is impossible to turn back and enter the Yellow River Flooding Area, threatening our army’s actions in the east, which is beneficial to me. The two corps launched the Xuzhou and Bengbu battles when there were a large number of aid to the east, captured Suxian and Bengbu at random, resolutely, thoroughly, cleanly and comprehensively destroyed the Jinpu Road, cut off the enemy's traffic, and trapped Liu Zhi's entire army in an isolated position."