Chapter 2 Chapter 01 Yan Xishan Strengthens Fortifications, The PLA Joins Taiyuan

After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the public enemy of the people, Chiang Kai-shek, with the support of US imperialism, showed his teeth and claws, mobilized his troops and mobilized his troops, and "down the mountain to pick peaches" came. On June 26, 1946, relying on an army of one million with American equipment, he launched a full-scale attack on the Liberated Areas in the Central Plains starting from the siege of the Liberated Areas in the Central Plains, in an attempt to extinguish the flames of revolution in a short period of time. How can the wheel of history be reversed.Under the wise leadership of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao, in less than three years, the national situation has undergone tremendous changes. Our army has shifted from a partial counter-offensive to a full-scale offensive.After the three major battles of Liaoshen, Huaihai, and Pingjin, the Jiang family's dominance of the world has become half of the country in turmoil.In the land of North China, there is only an isolated city of Taiyuan left.The end of Yan Xishan's rule of Shanxi is coming.

Yan Xishan is a very vicious and sinister warlord.Relying on Shanxi's geographical situation, he vigorously implemented feudal and fascist rule, and formed his own system in politics, economy, and military affairs, and became the local emperor who dominated Shanxi for 38 years. In Shanxi, relying on the mountains to control the water, according to the height and risk, the advance can be attacked according to the danger, and the retreat can be defended according to the barriers.There used to be a saying in history that if you occupy Shanxi, you can "bow the back of the world and hold back its mouth".It is surrounded by Taihang Mountain in the east, surrounded by natural dangers of the Yellow River in the west and south, protected by Mount Heng in the north, and supported by Zhongtiao Mountain in the south.The interior is divided into several hilly terrains according to the direction of mountains and rivers.One mountain and one river, mountains and rivers alternate with each other, forming several plains in Datong, Xinding, Taiyuan, Shangdang, and southern Shanxi.The Tongpu Railway connects the north and the south, and the Zhengtai Railway connects with Jizhong.Relying on such a terrain, the east guarded Niangziguan, which blocked the entry and exit throat of Shanxi and Hebei; Quan, the southeast guard of Changzhi Shangdang, tied around his waist the key to the channel of the Central Plains.At that time, Comrade Chen Yi once described it like this: "Shanxi is in the arms, Hebei is on the left shoulder. Shandong has a panoramic view, and Henan shows the end of the nose. The Great Wall and the desert are the back hall, supporting and supporting Shaanxi and Gansu." Neishan" is a natural danger that can be relied on.

Just after the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Yan Xishan recruited more than 3,000 Japanese prisoners of war in the name of retaining technical personnel.On August 30, 1945, together with the puppet army, it was formally reorganized into five provincial defense troops to carry out the counter-revolutionary war against the Communist Party and the people. On January 10, 1946, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party signed an armistice agreement, stipulating that the two sides would cease fighting from January 13.The "Military Mediation Executive Department" was established in Beijing with representatives from the Kuomintang, the Communist Party, and the U.S. government.In order to seek peace, Vice Chairman Zhou Enlai, the representative of the Communist Party, led Ye Jianying, Chief of Staff of the Eighth Route Army, and Liu Bocheng, Commander of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region, to Shanxi to discuss with Yan Xishan.The ambitious Yan Xishan played double-faced tactics, supported mediation on the surface, but secretly colluded with US representative Marshall and Kuomintang representative Zhang Zhizhong to sabotage the mediation and strongly advocated that the United States, Japan, and Chiang Kai-shek join forces to suppress the Communist Party.

In order to strengthen the fortification, keep Shanxi, and then develop to the whole country, Yan Xishan set up a special bunker construction bureau. Under the guidance of Japanese technicians, with Taiyuan as the center, the bunkers were overhauled throughout the province. At that time, Taiyuan had a population of 300,000 and had more than 80 factories including steel factories, arsenals, and machinery factories, which could manufacture mountain artillery and various conventional weapons.As far back as the Second Civil Revolutionary War, there were fortifications.During the Japanese invasion of China, additional revisions were made.After Yan Xishan's painstaking management, Taiyuan's fortifications extended from the inside of the city to dozens of miles outside the city.A large number of fortifications have been built within the so-called "hundred-mile defense line" starting from Zhoujiashan and Guankou in the north, Wusu and Xiaodian in the south, Shiqianfeng in the west, and Hanshan in the east.And Yangjiayu, Naoma, Niutuo Village, Guanjiayu, Mazhuang, Nanpingtou, Yangjiabao, Renmazhuang, Xiaomazhuang, Dajingyu, Xiaobingyu, Baijiazhuang, Ximing, Shangxialan Village Relying on support points such as Xincheng, Xiangyang, Zhaodaoyu, Dongping, and Crouching Tiger Mountain, the favorable terrain on the city wall and suburbs formed three ring defenses.

In order to strengthen Taiyuan's defense, Yan Xishan also absorbed the experience of Chinese and foreign city fortifications, and set up strong and ingenious fortresses everywhere.The lower one-story fort is called Fudibao, and there are two-story and three-story forts.There are half-class blockhouses, class blockhouses, row blockhouses, and artillery blockhouses.It is all masonry, brick sandwich cement and reinforced concrete structure.According to the terrain conditions, each blockhouse has round, square, rectangular and hexagonal ones.The ones on the top of the hill are called Shoushan Pills, the ones around the hillside are called Hushan Pills, and the ones in the ravines are called Shashang Pills and Fudi Pills.The shape of the firepower point is half-moon or rectangular.Some can shoot around, and some shoot exclusively to the sides.Some do not shoot at the front, and specialize in fighting backwards, which is called "Wu Nai He Block".In order to prevent foreign bullets from entering the bunker, the nozzle of the bunker was changed into a spherical nozzle - a movable ball was hidden in the nozzle, and there were perforations for rifles and machine guns on the ball to shoot outwards.When stopping shooting, rotate the ball to the outside of the real part, that is, it will be blocked.Fearing that the soldiers would escape, they put food and water in the bunker, blocked the mouth, and let them guard.

In order to form a fire net and increase the density of firepower, Yan Xishan equipped the bunkers in a variety of ways: there are pin-shaped, reverse-pin-shaped, rhombus-shaped and plum-blossom-shaped.Moreover, around each blockhouse, there are three firepower points in the building, and three dark passages protrude from below, supporting each other, forming the shape of horns.Fortifications were also built on the city wall of Taiyuan.Generally, the city walls constitute the upper, middle and lower fortifications.In order to strengthen the hardness, the middle and lower floors are all covered with cement reinforcement.On the four corners of the city wall, strong fortifications for the joint use of rifles and artillery were built.The gaps on both sides of the new south gate were blocked, and two other gates were opened. A four-story shooting fortification capable of holding a battalion was built on the gate.In order to strengthen the defense in the northeast direction of the city, artillery blockhouses were also built in the northeast corner of the city.Many different types of fortifications were built in the moats outside the city and the main streets in the city, especially the areas near the city gates and towers.Outside the east gate of Taiyuan, there are more than ten miles of underground tunnels covering the whole city.Naoma, Niutuo, and Jianziwan all have tunnels connecting each other.In Xicheng, Beiyu and other places, nine secret passages were built, leading to the outside of the city and connecting with the main towers.In this way, Taiyuan has formed a comprehensive, deep and hierarchical group defense system.

Even so, Yan Xishan was still not satisfied. He said: "Every day the earth rotates, the fortifications must be strengthened by one day. Our fortifications must be continuously strengthened as the earth rotates. We must build every position so that it can withstand 10,000 soldiers. Permanent fortifications for artillery bombardment!" The Americans were surprised when they saw the fortifications in Taiyuan.Chiang Kai-shek also praised it as an "anti-communist model fortress" and called on all Kuomintang military generals to learn from Yan Xishan.Yan Xishan also believed that with such fortifications, nearly a thousand cannons, Japanese technology, American support, and tens of thousands of soldiers, he could completely maintain his rule.

However, under the heavy blow of our People's Liberation Army, Yan Xishan, who had always insisted on a reactionary stance, lost his troops, lost his city and land, and his life became more and more difficult. As early as September 1945, just after the surrender of the Japanese invaders, Yan Xishan concentrated his 19th Army, 23rd Army, and 13 Divisions of the 83rd Army with about 38,000 troops and invaded our Shangdang area.Yan Xishan vainly planned to insert a knife to divide our two liberated areas, Taihang and Taiyue, and then force our main force to the mountainous area to be wiped out.The Central Committee of our party and Chairman Mao saw through the enemy's conspiracy, and Liu Bocheng and Comrade Deng Xiaoping organized the Shangdang Defense War.Under the wise, decisive, witty, and flexible command of Comrades Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, our People's Liberation Army launched a counterattack in October, annihilating more than 35,000 enemies, and captured the enemy's deputy commander-in-chief Hu Sanyu and the commander of the 19th Army of Yan Bandit Changzhi Shi Zebo and other generals 27 people smashed the enemy's attack, broke Chiang Kai-shek and Yan Xishan's ambition to quickly occupy the whole of North China, and also disrupted the Kuomintang's civil war schedule.

In 1946, after the outbreak of a full-scale civil war, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei and Jinsui armies launched the Northern Shanxi Campaign in July, liberating seven counties and vast villages in northern Shanxi, connecting Jinsui and the western areas of Jinchaji and cutting off the Traffic between Taiyuan and Datong. In August and September, I launched the Datong Campaign, wiped out all the peripheral points of Datong, dealt a heavy blow to the enemy, and made Datong an isolated stronghold in northern Shanxi. In April and May 1947, our People's Liberation Army conquered more than 20 counties in the Battle of South Shanxi, annihilated more than 17,000 enemies, cut Tongpu South Road in half, and cut off the land connection between Yan Xishan and Chiang Kai-shek. Closed the door of Shanxi.At the same time, the People's Liberation Army took control of the Zhengtai Railway and cut off Shanxi from the enemy in Hebei.I launched the Yuncheng Campaign again, wiped out more than 13,000 enemies, wiped out the three special agencies and 16 county governments where Yan Xishan went into exile, and destroyed the old nest of reactionary forces in southern Shanxi.From March 1948, after 72 days of fierce fighting, the People's Liberation Army liberated Linfen, an isolated city in southern Shanxi, and wiped out more than 25,000 enemies. In June and July, Commander Xu Xiangqian commanded our People's Liberation Army, and carried out a large-scale mobile warfare in the vast area of ​​central Shanxi, annihilating more than 100,000 enemies.Liberated 14 counties including Yuci and vast villages in central Shanxi.As a result, only Taiyuan and its suburbs and Datong are left in the territory ruled by Yan Xishan.

After the Battle of Jinzhong, most of Yan Xishan's main forces were wiped out by our army.There are only 6 divisions left in Taiyuan, including the 60th, 68th, and 69th divisions, the temporary 45th division, the 49th division, and the temporary 8th corps.Moreover, the morale is depressed and the soldiers have no fighting spirit.In order to keep this reactionary stronghold, Chiang Kai-shek airlifted the headquarters of the 30th Army, its 27th Division and a regiment of the 30th Division from Xi'an, a total of more than 11,000 people, to reinforce Taiyuan.Yan Xishan frantically grabbed soldiers everywhere again.From teenagers to seniors in their 50s and 60s, they were all arrested.In one month, more than 8,000 people were arrested.The military headquarters of the 61st Army was restored, and the four military headquarters of the 19th, 33rd, 34th, and 43rd Army and the 70th, 71st, 72nd, and 73rd Divisions, the 39th, 40th, 44th, and 46th Divisions and the temporary divisions were rebuilt. The 9th and 10th Corps.In addition, the engineering division, the pursuit artillery division, and the machine gun corps were newly formed, with a total of 13 infantry divisions.Equivalent to 3 division corps and 3 special forces divisions, together with various service units, the strength is more than 68,700 people.In the Battle of Jinzhong, after the officers and soldiers captured by our People's Liberation Army were released back, Yan Xishan organized them into the "Revenge Struggle Regiment".In addition, there are a large number of security regiments, civil guards, etc.After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, there were more than 3,000 Japanese officers and soldiers under Lieutenant General Imamura and Major General Iwata, who were incorporated by Yan Xishan and regarded as honored guests, and the total strength of the enemy army in Taiyuan reached more than 86,700.

In order to defend Taiyuan, Yan Xishan formed 4 defense zones in the east, west, south and north on the periphery, defending with 11 divisions and 21 security regiments.There is a central defensive area in the city, which is defended by the Secret Service Regiment, Gendarmerie Regiment, and Armored Regiment; seven divisions are used as the reserve team.In addition, there are special police headquarters headed by Liang Huazhi, "iron army backbone", "law enforcement team" and other secret service organizations, brutally suppressing the people and strengthening their internal control. In addition, Yan Xishan also organized a rather large "wartime mobilization work group" to go door-to-door to catch people and grab food.The "Shanxi General Warfare Action Committee" was also established to make a big effort to "fight the city".And personally stipulated the battle city action plan of "consolidating Taiyuan and fighting to restore the whole province".More than 59,600 women in 8 districts inside and outside the city were organized into Class A and Class B participating teams according to age.More than 14,000 boys and girls aged 7 to 12 in the city were organized into the "Children's Support Team". More than 6,000 old men aged 48 to 60 were organized into the "elderly support team".In addition to arresting 6,000 strong men and forming them into the Civil Guard, all the strong men and students were also incorporated into the A-level and B-level participating teams.All the students from some medical schools were sent to the rear hospitals, and more than 200 students from Taiyuan Normal School, National Normal School, Taiyuan Middle School, and Industrial School were sent to the Artillery Observation Brigade to participate in actual work. In the so-called "Taiyuan Great Defense War", Yan Xishan put forward the slogan "Sacrifice your life to save your life, destroy your family to protect your family", confuse the people, deceive the people, and ask the people to sacrifice their lives for him.He ordered the city's merchants to donate materials and money.From 1948.10 to 1949.2 alone, four large-scale "labor forces" were carried out.The property collected from merchants and people was about 1.2 billion French currency at that time, and there were 30,000 bags of flour.It was called "Consolation to the People's Guards" (all the members of the Civil Guards were merchants who were not out of production, and neither food nor clothing were given), but in fact all the money scraped was put into Yan Xishan's pockets.According to statistics, Yan Xishan plundered people's wealth, carried out economic plunder, and sold off their bureaucratic capital, totaling more than 115,000 taels of gold, all of which were shipped abroad before he escaped. Because the Civil Guard is composed of young and strong citizens between the ages of 18 and 47, and only military cadres above the detachment level are recruited by the officer corps, there are people in almost every household.Yan Xishan once described this formation as "the arrangement of stars all over the sky", and boasted: "Once something happens, close the door, go to the room together, guard the courtyard, guard the street, and become a net." No matter how rampant Yan Xishan is, it can't save him from his doomed fate.In accordance with the instructions of Chairman Mao and the Central Military Commission, our People's Liberation Army concentrated 3 corps, 3 artillery divisions and local troops from the Jinzhong Military Region, and tightly surrounded the city wall of Taiyuan with a force several times that of the enemy. After the 18th Corps of the North China Field Army surrounded Taiyuan and defended the enemy, according to the intention of the Military Commission, it determined the combat guidelines of "combining attack, siege, and disintegration, gradually weakening the enemy, and then capturing Taiyuan in one fell swoop".Decision: The first step is to break through the enemy's first line of defense on the southeast and northeast sides of Taiyuan, control the south and north airports with firepower, and cut off the enemy's foreign aid.The second step is to seize the main outlying strongholds such as Shantou, Naoma, Shuangta Temple, and Crouching Tiger Mountain.The third step is to seize the city wall and destroy the defending enemy. Just as our army was actively preparing to besiege Taiyuan, news of the liberation of Jinan reached Taiyuan.Yan Xishan felt that the situation was more and more critical. In order to destroy our army's preparations for the battle, delay the PLA's siege time, and replace defense with offense, he decided to go out to grab food and catch people. On October 1, 1948, Yan Xishan, with 7 divisions, divided into three groups along the east of Fenhe River and west of Tongpu Road, and attacked southward, all the way to Xiaodian, Qiucun, and Hongsi areas.According to this new situation, Commander Xu Qianqian decided to launch the Taiyuan Campaign ahead of schedule. On the night of October 4, the People's Liberation Army launched an attack on the enemy in the Xiaodian area.After a day and night of fighting, the 44th and 45th divisions were temporarily organized for complete annihilation, and the two division commanders were captured.In addition, a regiment of the 72nd Division and two battalions of the provisional 49th Division were annihilated, and the rest of the enemy fled into the city in a panic.Our army immediately launched an attack on the enemy's fort area.By the 16th, our 15th Column and the Third Independent Brigade of the Jinzhong Military Region captured Wusu and Wusu Airport, pulled out more than 60 bunkers, and wiped out a regiment of the 73rd Division.Our 13th Column occupied Beiying Station, destroyed more than 20 enemy bunkers, and wiped out the 18th Security Regiment.At the same time, part of our 15th Column occupied Shizuizi, Jielingshi, and Jiawa's first-line positions, opening up the enemy's northeast fortress line of defense.The 7th Column captured Fenggeliang and Lijiashan, wiped out all the other two battalions of the "Tiger Regiment" of the 68th Division, and controlled Beifei Airport with artillery fire.In this way, the PLA broke through the enemy's so-called "Hundred Li Line of Defense" from the south and north.Opened the Dongshan Portal, occupied the South Airport, took control of the North Airport, and wiped out two entire divisions, four entire regiments and four entire battalions of the enemy. Yan Xishan failed to steal the chicken and lost a handful of rice. Taking advantage of the enemy's main force being attracted to the south, our army was determined to divert our troops and seize the key point of Dongshan without losing the opportunity. Dongshan, the terrain is high and dangerous, and there are many solid bunkers, about 3,000.Yan Xishan once boasted that the fortifications in this area "are worth 100,000 elite soldiers". On the night of October 16, the People's Liberation Army carried out a north-south pincer attack on the main points of Dongshan, conquering Dayaotou to the west of Mengjiajing, Madigou and Jiehuawan in the southwest, and penetrated into the core area of ​​the enemy's northeast region.Then, after fierce fighting, until the 19th, a regiment of the enemy's temporary 39th division, a regiment of the "Xue Shame Fighting Regiment", a battalion of the 8th Corps, and a part of the 25th Security Regiment were wiped out. "regiment" (equivalent to a division) surrendered. On October 26, the People's Liberation Army began to attack the four main points of Dongshan.Our fifteenth column, which attacked Naoma, bravely captured the enemy's main position and wiped out nearly a thousand enemies.After half a month of fierce fighting, the enemy repelled countless counterattacks, wiped out more than 3,000 enemies, and firmly occupied Naoma.Our 7th Column, which was attacking Niutuo Village, captured the point after more than half a month of fierce competition, and severely damaged the 68th Division and the 10th Corps defending the enemy.Our 8th and 13th columns also occupied Xiaoyaotou and Shantou respectively.From November 15th, the battle for the four main points, which lasted 19 days and nights, ended in victory with more than 20,000 enemies wiped out.At the same time, our Jinzhong Military Region Independent First Brigade captured Huangzhai, Qinglong Town, Qizishan, Zhoujiashan and other points north of Taiyuan.The Independent Third Brigade captured Xu Tan in the south of Taiyuan.The People's Liberation Army's encirclement of Taiyuan has shrunk even smaller. After the Liaoshen Campaign ended, our army on the front line of Taiyuan stepped up preparations for attacking Taiyuan.At this time, because the Battle of Pingjin was about to begin, Chairman Mao considered that if Taiyuan was captured too early, Fu Zuoyi might feel isolated, so he gave up Ping, Tianjin, and Zhang (Zhangjiakou) points, and fled west or south to increase our annihilation of the enemy. difficulty.Therefore, it was decided to slow down the attack on Taiyuan, and instructed our troops on the front line in Taiyuan to fight for a few more weeks, capture some outlying strongholds, and indeed control the airport, that is, stop the attack and turn it into a political offensive.The troops stuck to their positions and rested on the spot. Our army on the front line in Taiyuan, following the instructions of Chairman Mao and the Central Military Commission, launched an attack from the beginning of December, successively captured Zhaojiashan, Gaojiagou, Qiugou and other points west of the Fenhe River, and blocked Honggou Airport.To the north, captured Su Village, Guankou, Shanglan Village and other points.To the east, Songshupo was captured again.In this way, the enemy was compressed in a narrow strip centered on Taiyuan City. While training, the People's Liberation Army launched active political offensives against the enemy in various ways.Within 3 months, more than 30,000 enemies were won and disintegrated. In March 1949, the 19th Corps and the 20th Corps of our North China Field Army, a certain unit of the Northeast Artillery, and a unit of the Northwest Field Army, in order to attack Taiyuan, joined forces with the Taiyuan frontline troops such as the North China Eighteenth Corps and the Jinzhong Army. up. Among them, there are heroic troops who have fought from Yuncheng and Linfen in Shanxi to Jinzhong and Taiyuan, and have gone through many arduous campaigns and campaigns; The victorious army who liberated Xinbaoan and Zhangjiakou in the Central Plains and encircled Beiping; there were brave soldiers who fought hard in the Suimeng area in the northwest; North China and Northeast China Artillery armed with captured American equipment; Jinzhong local troops who persisted in armed struggle under extremely difficult circumstances; and North China, North China, Northwest migrant workers. On this day, the villages tens of miles around Taiyuan City were full of jubilant scenes.People beat gongs, drums, set off firecrackers, and shouted slogans: "Liberate Taiyuan City and make contributions to the people!" "Resolutely break into Taiyuan Pass and capture the war criminal Yan Xishan alive!" "Brothers unite with each other and liberate Taiyuan City in one fell swoop! Brothers are like brothers and sisters, fighting side by side must help each other!" "It's even more glorious for heroes and role models to make meritorious deeds!" The welcoming folks also shouted: "Welcome to the People's Liberation Army sent by Chairman Mao!" "Welcome the People's Liberation Army to attack Taiyuan!" An old entertainer sang his own allegro: "All the heroes in the People's Liberation Army specialize in attacking old Hades bastards. If you are far away, use shells, and if you are close, use grenades. If you are not far away, use bullets to ensure that you can smash the hell!" There are boiling crowds everywhere, and there is a sea of ​​joy everywhere. Looking forward to the stars and the moon, the people of Shanxi who were deeply exploited and oppressed by Yan Xishan are looking forward to this day! You know, how hard it is for this day to come!It has gone through an arduous struggle and exchanged the lives and blood of countless revolutionary ancestors!But at the same time, it is an inevitability of history, an inevitability of the revolutionary war against the counter-revolutionary war. The Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao led the people of the whole country to defeat the Japanese invaders after eight years of resistance.The Kuomintang reactionaries, in disregard of the peace wishes of the people across the country, launched an unprecedented counter-revolutionary civil war in July 1946 with the support of U.S. imperialism and its 4,300,000 troops equipped with American equipment.At that time, our army had only 1,200,000 people, equipped with millet and rifles.However, under the wise leadership of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao, in the first year of the war, our People's Liberation Army wiped out 1,120,000 enemy troops, crushing the enemy's all-out and key attacks. In July 1947, our Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan and East China Field Army advanced into enemy-occupied areas and fought between the Jianghuai River and the Han Dynasty, which opened the prelude to our army's strategic offensive and realized the first historical turning point in the War of Liberation. In the second year of the war, that is, from July 1947 to June 1948, our People's Liberation Army expanded to 2,800,000 people, adopted the policy of combining external and internal operations, wiped out more than 1,520,000 enemies, and smashed the enemy's overall defense and defense successively. Partition defense, forcing the enemy to switch to key defense.Since July 1948, in just four months, our People's Liberation Army has wiped out 1,000,000 enemies, which has fundamentally changed the balance of power between the enemy and ourselves.The enemy's total strength has dropped to 2,900,000, while our army has risen to more than 3 million.The situation of the war took a second historic turning point. From September 1948 to January 1949, under the wise command of the Party Central Committee, Chairman Mao, the Central Military Commission, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu, the People's Liberation Army carried out the Liaoshen, Pingjin, In the three major battles of Huaihai, more than 1,540,000 enemies were wiped out, and the elite troops that the Kuomintang reactionaries relied on to launch the counter-revolutionary civil war were completely lost, and the Chiang Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. At the same time, the situation in our North China Theater is developing rapidly and well, just like all battlefields across the country.At the beginning of the war, the enemy had 380,000 troops and controlled almost all large and medium-sized cities and railway lines.In the case of an extremely disparate military force between the enemy and ourselves, Commander Nie Rongzhen of the military region organized the military and civilians in the entire region to resolutely implement Chairman Mao's operational guidelines, and successively carried out the Datong Battle, the Zhangjiakou Battle and the Yi Laiman Battle, breaking the enemy's large-scale attack on our hinterland. attempt.Afterwards, the Battle of Zhengtai, the Battle of Qingcang and the Battle of Baobei were carried out consecutively, annihilating more than 197,000 enemies and recovering 39 counties, putting the enemy in a passive position.In the second year of the war, I first won the Qingfengdian.Then, Shijiazhuang, a strategic point, was liberated.Later, in the Ping-Han line breakout battle, the enemy's 35th Army was severely damaged.At the same time, Yuncheng, an important town in southern Shanxi, was liberated. At the beginning of 1948, after a new type of reorganization, the People's Liberation Army regained Chanan in one fell swoop, conquered Linfen, and fought successively in eastern Hebei, Rexi, Baobei, and northern Henan to annihilate the enemy, and achieved annihilation of 100,000 enemies in the Battle of Jinzhong. brilliant victory.Later, the Chasui Campaign was launched, which effectively cooperated with the Liaoshen Campaign.By the end of the Battle of Pingjin, in North China, except for the four isolated points of Taiyuan, Datong, Xinxiang, and Anyang, all were liberated. However, the enemy was not reconciled to their failure and began to play "peace talks" conspiracy. On January 1, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek issued a so-called "peace negotiation" statement. On January 21, he announced his "retirement" again, went to his hometown Fenghua, and asked Li Zongren to wear a "peaceful" mask to act as the president.In fact, they gathered more than 700,000 remaining army, navy and air forces to deploy defenses along the Yangtze River in an attempt to take advantage of the natural dangers of the Yangtze River to organize a new line of defense and wait for an opportunity to make a comeback. Under such circumstances, a sharp question was posed in front of the Chinese people: should the revolution be carried through to the end, or should it be abandoned halfway?Chairman Mao made it clear to the whole party that the revolution must be carried through to the end, all reactionary forces should be resolutely and completely wiped out, and the "three big mountains" that are pressing down on the Chinese people must be fundamentally overthrown, and the revolution must never be abandoned halfway.At the same time, they did not give up on resolving issues through peaceful negotiations.Chairman Mao issued a statement on the current situation, put forward eight conditions for peaceful negotiations with the Kuomintang, and sent representatives to negotiate with the Kuomintang representatives in Peiping.During this period, Chairman Mao personally wrote "Comments on War Criminals Seeking Peace" and "Why do the divided reactionaries still shout "comprehensive peace" in vain? "," Where is the Nanjing Government Going? " and other commentary articles have profoundly exposed the hypocrisy of the Kuomintang's empty shouts of "comprehensive peace", and educate the people not to be fooled by the pitiful appearance of the enemy's disguise, to maintain a high degree of vigilance, and to actively prepare for the liberation of the whole of China. The reactionary Kuomintang government refused to sign the domestic peace agreement, which aroused the anger of the people across the country.Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu issued an order to march across the country.The Second Field Army led by Comrades Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, and the Third Field Army led by Comrades Chen Yi, Su Yu, Tan Zhenlin, etc., with the ardent expectations and strong support of the people of the whole country, all ships sailed across the Yangtze River and directly attacked the Kuomintang for 22 years. The counter-revolutionary center of China - Nanjing.At the same time, my North China Field Army decided to launch the Taiyuan Campaign in accordance with the orders of Chairman Mao, Commander-in-Chief Zhu and the Central Military Commission to completely liberate all of North China. After receiving the order, all the troops immediately marched to Taiyuan, Yan Xishan's old nest. The 19th Corps passed through Shijiazhuang and gathered in the south of Taiyuan. The 20th Corps passed through Datong and moved closer to the north of Taiyuan. The 18th Corps, the 7th Army of the Northwest Field Army, and the people in the suburbs of Taiyuan heard that the 19th and 20th Corps were coming, and they started preparations for their welcome.They built the house, pasted the windows, cleaned it inside and out, and waited eagerly for the arrival of the brothers' troops. The leading battalion of a certain unit of the 20th Corps marched towards Taiyuan along the Xintai Highway.When we arrived at Sanhedian Village, just as the troops rested, Li Guoqing, the instructor, said to everyone: "To the south is Dayu Town. It's the first time I meet Big Brother, everyone is getting neat and tidy!" While drinking water, everyone was busy dusting off their bodies and packing their luggage.Some even wiped the ashes on their faces with towels. At this time, a bay red horse ran from the direction of Dayu Town.Immediately riding a man, with a small red flag stuck on the muzzle of the gun, and a big red flower tied to the flagpole, he rushed towards Sanhedian.Instructor Li went up to meet him immediately.It turned out that the person who came was the liaison officer sent by the Eighteenth Corps to welcome them.He came here from Yuci, 200 miles away. Under the guidance of the liaison officer, the troops moved on. After walking for more than 3 miles, a large wooden board was erected at a fork.There are road signs painted in red and green colors on it, and it also says "Big Brother Corps, go here!" The commanders and fighters felt warm in their hearts when they saw it. When approaching Dayu Town, a tall and large gatehouse built with pine and cypress branches and various colored papers came into view.On both sides of the colorful gate, there is a couplet written: "Bow three times to the Big Brother Corps, and work together to attack Taiyuan City.""Welcome to the Big Brother Corps" is written on the horizontal eyebrow.On the gate tower, there are two red flags, fluttering loudly. Before the troops reached the gate tower, they heard ten gun salutes.Then, the firecrackers of "Splitting Baba" and the military music horn of "Didi Dada" sounded together.After entering the colorful building, the welcome ranks of troops and masses lined up on both sides of the road, and it was impossible to see the end.Enthusiastic cheers resounded through the sky. The commanders and fighters of the 20th Corps saw this scene, and the fatigue of the march along the way had long since disappeared.Many of the sick and wounded didn't need anyone to help them, and they ran forward with the team on crutches. Walking into the second colored gatehouse, the world has changed again.There are no bands or octaves here, and there are tea, rice soup, groundnuts, red dates, walnuts, and persimmons on both sides.Every ten steps away, there is a bulletin board, some of which are pictures of several groups of troops meeting each other, shaking hands and talking cordially; head of a dog with two grenades exploding on their heads. The soldiers were very encouraged as they walked and watched.Before they finished watching the whole thing, the propaganda team of the 18th Corps ran up with gifts, stuffed things into their arms, and sang an allegro: "Big brother, everyone is here. You have worked hard all the way. Smoking a cigarette relieves you!" fatigue!" The villagers also rushed up with baskets: "My peanuts are big and round. Comrades eat them and beat Taiyuan." They stuffed them into their pockets one by one. A young man of fifteen or sixteen came running with two bowls of boiled water: "They are peanuts and jujubes, and I brought boiled water to comfort them. I boiled the boiled water myself, and the elder brothers made great contributions after drinking it!" A loudspeaker hanging on a tree by the side of the road played a burst of happy songs: welcome welcome welcome again We are so happy today. Welcome to our Big Brother, Together they captured Taiyuan City. One drum and one trumpet, The three brother corps joined forces. People laugh, horses shout, The front line in Taiyuan is so lively. Wang Guoxian, the head of the row walking in front, said to Instructor Li: "This is a meeting of brothers and sisters! The three old brothers from North China are all together." Instructor Li said: "In Beiping, I joined hands with the big brother in the Northeast and liberated Peiping. This time I will fight against Taiyuan, and I will fight side by side with the 18th Corps and the big brother in the Northwest. I promise to fight well!" Amidst the warm welcome, the troops walked through the third gate with colored plaques, and a group of children in black trousers and white shirts rushed towards them.Each of them held two big red flowers in their hands, and they danced and sang: This big red flower, Heroes wear it. This is the welcome flower, This is the unity flower, This is the forward flower, This is the victory flower... The chiefs and heroes put on big red flowers and smiled back at the children.At this time, dozens of "Scattered Small Flowers" bloomed into the sky, colorful, reflecting the faces of the chiefs and heroes into a flower. Along the welcome ranks, the troops walked for more than five miles to complete the welcome stations one after another amidst the warm applause of the brother troops.When the troops arrived at the campsite and were about to rest after blowing out the lights, everyone was still singing the song on the loudspeaker in their hearts: Brotherhoods meet, Capture Taiyuan with certainty. Brotherly Corps heart to heart, Lay down Taiyuan and move forward!