Chapter 108 Let Deng Hua regret his decision for the rest of his life

How to fight the counterattack on the Eastern Front is an important topic before the generals of the volunteer army. Unlike the Western Front, the United Nations Army's offensive on the Eastern Front was very cautious, careful, and well coordinated. On January 28, the US 10th Army on the Eastern Front launched an attack from the east of Lizhou to Wonju and Wulingli. The assault direction was Hengcheng and Dipingli; , Xiangyang.The 125th Division of our 42nd Army and the 5th Army Corps of the People's Army blocked each other, covering the main force of the volunteer army. On the 31st, the 125th Division surrounded the headquarters of the 23rd Regiment of the US 2nd Division and a reinforced battalion at Jiutun Station. The enemy was stopped by us in the toppingli, Fenshuiyuan, Shangcangfengli, Fudongli, Wuxiangli, Shushali, and Guangchuan frontline areas.

At this time, two places, Hengcheng and Topingli, protruded. Whether to attack Hengcheng first or Toppingli first has become a key issue before the Volunteer Army Command. At this time, Peng Dehuai, who has always been known for his courage, showed a rare hesitation in commanding operations for decades. The two main generals of the Volunteer Army Headquarters-Deng Hua and Deputy Commander Han Xianchu also had disagreements and disputes. This dispute is known as the "Second Deng-Han Controversy". Deng Hua and Han Xianchu are two tiger generals, both famous generals in the wild.

Deng Hua, formerly known as Deng Duohua, was born in Chen County, Hunan Province.Three generations of scholarly ancestors, fond of ancient Chinese since childhood, read a lot of books, especially love. According to reports, General Deng Hua has extensive knowledge and outstanding talents.As early as the period of the Red Army, Mao Zedong saw off the generals of the First Red Army when they crossed the Yellow River to the east. He recited a poem casually: "Walk far beyond Qilian, and come from Jin to travel." General Deng Hua thought for a moment, and said to him: "The chairman is changing the first two lines of Li Bai's "Farewell at Crossing Jingmen" to see us off."

Then recite the whole poem: Crossing far outside the gate of Jingmen, I came to travel from the state of Chu. The mountains follow the plains, and the river flows into the wilderness. Flying sky mirror under the moon, clouds grow and build sea towers. I still pity the water in my hometown, and I will see you off in a boat for thousands of miles. Fang Rongxiang, a famous Peking Opera master, was incorporated into the Beijing Opera Team of the 88th Division of the 71st Army of the Kuomintang.After the Dongye army liberated Siping, one day, a troika suddenly came to pick him up for a banquet, and the banquet was hosted by General Deng Hua.Later, Qizong established a Peking Opera Troupe with Fang Rongxiang as the main actor.General Long Shujin once said: "General Deng Hua is tall and slender, with a fair face, and a military officer with good looks. However, the army is extremely strict, and the training is like thunder. The rain is pouring, and everyone is afraid of him."

General Deng Hua was an upright man. At the Lushan Conference in 1959, he withstood the pressure and defended his old leader Peng Dehuai. As a result, he was implicated and was relegated to Sichuan in 1960.Before leaving Beijing, the generals dyed all their outfits in black: black hat, black clothes, black pants, and black shoes to show their dissatisfaction. The first Deng-Han dispute occurred when the four field forces attacked Hainan Island. That time Lin Biao adopted Deng Hua's safe plan. This time, how should Peng Dehuai make a decision? Deng Hua tends to attack Hengcheng first.His point of view is: The US 23rd Regiment guarding Toping-ri is relatively concentrated in strength, has strong combat effectiveness, and has built fortifications, so it is not easy to be quickly divided and wiped out.If the battle cannot be resolved within one or two days and nights, the United Nations troops near Icheon and Wonju will come to help, and the battle will become a sticky war.For the Volunteer Army, which has neither ground equipment advantages nor air supremacy, the situation is extremely passive.

The advantage of attacking Hengcheng first is that although the United Nations army in Hengcheng has a large number of troops, the 8th and 5th Divisions of the Korean Army north of Hengcheng are scattered and their combat effectiveness is not strong, which is conducive to the rapid annihilation of the volunteers. Deputy Commander Han Xianchu suggested to attack Topingli first.His reason was: "What you Deng Hua said makes sense. But from a strategic point of view, Topping Li is a thorn threatening the rear of the Western Front. It is closer to the Western Front and belongs to a pivotal position. Once occupied, it can be The rapid westward movement threatens the western front of the United Nations Army and shakes it across the board. Although the attack on Hengcheng can achieve greater results, its impact on the entire battle situation is much smaller."

First of all, when you hit Toppingli, you focus on hitting accurately, while when you hit Hengcheng, you focus on hitting hard.Hesitating again and again, Peng Dehuai finally adopted Deng Hua's opinion, and the volunteers moved the counterattack target eastward to Hengcheng, and first eliminated the 5th and 8th Divisions of the Korean Army, which were weaker in combat effectiveness. At this time, Li Qiwei saw that the volunteers were so passive, and was happy for the success of his strategy.What he never expected was that with such a weak defense in the west, Peng Dehuai would concentrate the main force of the stretched volunteer army on the east front and hit him with a backhand.Of course, he didn't expect that the Volunteers would leave Topping on the Eastern Front and attack Hengcheng first.

The Hengcheng battle was fought beautifully, but the United Nations army was beaten badly.Li Qiwei and other American generals believed that the fiasco in Hengcheng was due to the Chinese deception strategy.This decision of the Volunteer Army had an important impact on the outcome of the fourth battle, and also had an important impact on the subsequent battle situation and even the combat psychology of both sides. This battle also made the reflective General Deng Hua regret it in the later years. He believed that General Han Xianchu's judgment was correct.Because although Toppingli is small and difficult to fight, it hits the seven inches and hits the vitals; while Hengcheng wipes out the enemy, although it is easy, but it hits the buttocks, not the fatal position.

He also regarded this judgment as one of the major military decision-making mistakes in his life.