Chapter 2 Chapter 2

In the autumn of 1948, the Kuomintang army retreated successively in Northeast China and North China.Jinan and Yanzhou fell one after another, and the hearts of the Kuomintang floated.At that time, He Yingqin, Minister of National Defense of the Kuomintang, had just come to power not long ago, and he was also anxious.It is true that he was ordered in a time of crisis.But he had to face this harsh reality directly, and had to devote more energy to deal with the increasingly fierce offensive of the People's Liberation Army.When Chiang Kai-shek learned that Jinan was lost, he became furious and smashed the radio to pieces.

On the eve of the Huaihai Campaign, the Kuomintang's military superiority was completely lost.The regime is on the verge of collapse.In late October, Chiang Kai-shek personally commanded the Liaoshen campaign in Beiping, and he has not made a decision on the national strategy for a long time. As the saying goes, there are three fires for a new official to take office. Defense Minister He Yingqin saw that the situation was not good. In order to be able to explain to Chiang Kai-shek, he had to use all his skills to keep half of the Chiang family's dynasty. On October 22, He Yingqin summoned Liu Fei, Xiao Yisu, Guo Rugui, Gu Zhutong and others to study the plan for the Central Plains operation.He and Gu believed that the failure of the Liaoshen Campaign was a foregone conclusion. From the perspective of the national situation, the "Suppression General" in North China should be induced to carry out a protracted war with the main force in the Jintang area, so as to contain the Northeast Field Army and prevent the People's Liberation Army from increasing its troops south of the Yellow River. Change the unfavorable situation in the Central Plains.

At this time, the Kuomintang army in the Central Plains was controlled by Liu Zhi, the "General Suppressor" in Xuzhou, and Bai Chongxi, the "General Suppressor" in Central China, and the cooperation between the two was poor.Liu Zhi is a well-known "Fortune General". Although he is not good at commanding battles, he has been promoted repeatedly.In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Liu Zhi, who was then the commander-in-chief of the Second Army in the First Theater, led his troops to flee thousands of miles away, losing his troops and losing ground, because he was Chiang Kai-shek's "loyal and reliable" confidant and beloved general. , The prosperity of the official career has long caused strong dissatisfaction among many other Kuomintang generals.In June 1948, when Chiang Kai-shek abolished his "Commander-in-Chief Xuzhou Headquarters", there was an internal discussion that Bai Chongxi would command all the armies. Later, because Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, Gu Zhutong and others were worried about Bai Chongxi, they set up another Xuzhou "Suppress the general", appoint "pig general" Liu Zhi as the commander-in-chief, to divide the military power.

At that time, there were many discussions within the Nanjing government, saying that Xuzhou was the gate of Nanjing, and a "tiger general" should be sent to guard it.If you don't send a tiger, you should also send a dog to guard the gate. Now that you send a pig, it will be impossible to guard the gate.Guo Rugui, then director of the Third Operations Office of the National Defense Ministry of the Kuomintang, heard this joke and told Gu Zhutong about it.Gu Zhutong didn't smile. He straightened his face and said to Guo Rugui: "We have considered two candidates for Xuzhou's suppression chief, namely Liu Jingfu (Liu Zhi) and Jiang Mingsan (Jiang Dingwen). In comparison, Liu Jingfu is better at handling public affairs." This is how Liu Zhi became the commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's "suppressing general".

On June 14, Liu Zhi led the chief of staff, Li Shuzheng, to fly from Nanjing to Xuzhou, and officially took the post of "Xuzhou Bandit Suppression Commander-in-Chief".Before leaving, Liu Zhi made a request to set up a "front-line headquarters" under the "Suppression General". Zhongwangzhe, in the name of deputy commander-in-chief, concurrently serves as the director of the "Frontline Command". This idea has been brewing in Liu Zhi's mind for a long time. From the very beginning, he proposed to put the "front-line headquarters" in Xuzhou.Because Liu Zhi was a figure directly leading to Chiang Kai-shek, Defense Minister He Yingqin had no choice but to agree to the proposal, and took Song Xilian and Du Yuming as the basic candidates to sign for Chiang Kai-shek to rule.Chiang Kai-shek finally chose Du Yuming, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northeast "Suppression General", mainly because he wanted to use Du's strength to assist Liu Zhi's shortcomings.

From then on, Liu Zhi let Du Yuming arrange everything.Relying on the strong strength of his 11 armies, Du Yuming advocated taking advantage of the gap between the People's Liberation Army's new acquisition of Jinan, pretending to attack Jining, recovering Jinan, and implementing the "Attack Plan for the Communist Army in Shandong". Chiang Kai-shek and He Yingqin unanimously agreed on this plan. Just as the main force of the Kuomintang army in Xuzhou was advancing northward, the Northeast battlefield was in a hurry, and Chiang Kai-shek transferred Du Yuming to Jinzhou in a hurry.Liu Zhi suddenly felt at a loss, and shouted anxiously: "Guangting is gone, what to do, who can make the decision when going north." Two days later, Deputy Chief of Staff Wen Qiang and others asked Liu Zhi for instructions: the frontline military is resolutely following the original plan Execution, or change.Liu Zhi replied: "Guang Ting is gone, who can command the front-line troops, I have ordered the troops to stop standby, and the original plan was postponed." Back in Xuzhou, I am planning to recommend Song Yinguo (Song Xilian) to replace Guangting, otherwise, the responsibility of guarding Xuzhou is too heavy for me personally.” Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liu Zhi ordered the troops to stop standby and recommended Song Xilian instead. He took over as the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's "Suppression General".Subsequently, the feigned attack on Jining, the recovery of Jinan, and the implementation of the "Attack Plan for the Communist Army in Shandong" were aborted.

Liu Zhi's four corps, Huang Baitao, Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi, and Sun Yuanliang, had a total strength of more than 400,000 troops, forming a long snake formation from west to east, from Shangqiu, Henan to Lianyungang.For combat, this is the easiest formation to volley and be broken by one by one.Liu Zhi, as the commander-in-chief of the whole army, did not change this situation in time. Liu Zhi's chubby body and round face don't look offensive, on the contrary, he is somewhat likable. Besides, he is not domineering, as if he can't always be serious.He doesn't bother to ask specific and tedious details. Everyone knows that Liu Zhi is not very capable, he is very easy-going, and is a well-known lucky general. Whether he wins or loses a battle, his subordinates follow him and have officials.

Now, He Yingqin felt that it was inappropriate, and he once again raised the idea of ​​Bai Chongxi's unified command.Originally, He was a general of Chiang Kai-shek's direct line, but Chiang Kai-shek was suspicious of He Yingqin and trusted Chen Cheng. Therefore, He wooed Bai Chongxi.And based on the information that our Central Plains Field Army moved to Yu County, it is judged that the Central Plains Field Army is about to attack Zhengzhou, and it may also cooperate with the East China Field Army to attack the area under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou's "Suppressing General". Concentrate troops on the outskirts of Xuzhou.Central China's "Suppressing General" used the 2nd, 10th, 15th, and 18th armies under the jurisdiction of the 12th Corps to enter and leave Zhoujiakou, and responded to Xuzhou's "Suppressing General" or Central China's "Suppressing General" according to the situation.

The battle plan was drawn up that day, and Guo Rugui was ordered to be sent to Peiping on the 23rd to ask Chiang Kai-shek for instructions.Before leaving, Gu Zhutong asked again and again: "To report to the President, Bai Jiansheng (that is, Bai Chongxi) is only temporarily unified in command. After the battle is over, the Central China's "Suppressing General" and Xuzhou's "Suppressing General" will still be in charge of divisions." Guo Rugui arrived On the day of Beiping, Chiang Kai-shek made a decision: (1) Xuzhou should adopt offensive defense, and cities such as Zhengzhou and Kaifeng can be abandoned.Liu Ruming's Department in the Fourth Appeasement Zone should stick to Shangqiu, and Li Zhenqing's Department of the 44th Army can retreat from Zhengzhou to the north bank of the Yellow River, preparing for guerrilla warfare in the future;

(2) Central China and Xuzhou are under the unified command of Bai Chongxi; (3) The 2nd Army and the 15th Army can be included in the sequence of the 12th Corps, and the "Suppression General" in Central China can abandon Nanyang if necessary, so that the 12th Corps can enter and leave Zhoujiakou; (4) Song Xilian can be appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's "suppression general". Following Zhu Tong's instructions, Guo Rugui carefully explained to Chiang Kai-shek that Bai Chongxi's unified command was only a temporary measure.Chiang Kai-shek said: "Don't ask him to command temporarily, just ask him to command in a unified way." In order to perfunctory Bai Chongxi, Chiang Kai-shek deliberately made a gesture of reassurance for Bai Chongxi.

On October 24, He Yingqin called Bai Chongxi to inform him of Chiang Kai-shek's decision to let him unify the command, and issued combat instructions to him in the name of Chiang Kai-shek. On October 29, at the war meeting of the Ministry of National Defense, He Yingqin put forward the idea of ​​"guarding the river must guard the Huaihe".However, the participants held different opinions on how to keep the Huaihe River, and two opinions were formed: The first opinion is that except for one or two armies defending Xuzhou, all the cities on the Longhai Line should be completely abandoned by the Xuzhou "Suppression General", and all troops should be concentrated on both sides of the Jinpu Railway between Xuzhou and Bengbu for offensive and defensive purposes. , no matter whether the "communist army" went south from Pinghan Road, Jinpu Road or via the road, they all concentrated their efforts on finding the decisive battle of the "communist army". The second opinion advocates retreating to the south bank of the Huaihe River and defending against danger. The East China Field Army marched towards Xuzhou via Southwest Shandong Choose the good and follow it.Faced with these two outcomes, Chiang Kai-shek thought about it. If he retreated to the Huaihe River, it would be inconvenient to maneuver to the Pinghan Road or to the north in the future. The situation of the "National Army" is disadvantageous.He thinks it is better to adopt the first opinion and abandon Haizhou (Li Yannian, the commander of the ninth appeasement zone of Haizhou defending the enemy, is still kept in the dark at this time), and Shangqiu can be abandoned if necessary.On the same day, he clearly informed Liu Zhi, the commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's "suppression general", by telegram. It is a big taboo for generals to be indecisive, but Chiang Kai-shek no longer cares about so much.Whenever there is an emergency, he will work on it first, and put the less important ones later.Du Yuming, the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's "Suppression General", once offered to attack Southwest Shandong to fight a decisive battle with our East China Field Army, which was very popular with Chiang Kai-shek.In order to stabilize the situation in the Northeast, Chiang Kai-shek urgently transferred Du Yuming to the Northeast, leaving aside all the things on the Xuzhou battlefield. At the beginning of the Liaoshen Campaign, our East China Field Army was resting in the Puyang area. Chiang Kai-shek was very pleased and relieved when he got the news.So he ordered all the troops in Xuzhou to stick to the spot and wait and see the development of the situation. In this way, he would abandon Xuzhou for a while and retreat to Huaihe; After the Central Plains Field Army liberated Zhengzhou and Kaifeng, it formed a situation of attacking Xuzhou from east to west with the East China Field Army.It was only then that Chiang Kai-shek realized that our Central Plains Field Army had the intention to march eastward to Xu Bang and cooperate with the East China Field Army to fight.The strength of the East China Field Army and the Central Plains Field Army's offensive was completely beyond his expectation.Before that, he was planning to retreat the main force in Jiangbei to Jiangnan, but he was afraid that the army's morale would be shaken after the retreat, so he had been hesitating in his heart.Now he has determined that the primary goal of the People's Liberation Army is to eat Huang Baitao's corps.Chiang Kai-shek deeply felt that the Xuhuai battlefield was critical, so he hurriedly ordered Huang Baitao's corps to move west quickly; Qiu Qingquan, Sun Yuanliang's corps, and the newly formed Li Yannian and Liu Ruming corps assembled in Xuzhou; That is to say, the Huangwei Corps was ordered to quickly return to Queshan and Zhumadian from the Tanghe area in western Henan, and then march eastward with light clothes. It was restricted to rush to Fuyang and Taihe areas on November 10 to reinforce the Xuzhou battlefield. Chiang Kai-shek attempted to shrink the corps around Xuzhou closer to Xuzhou, and then retreat from Xuzhou to the Huaihe River, concentrate his forces in the Xuzhou-Bengbu area, and fight the "Xu-Huai Battle" with the People's Liberation Army.Chiang Kai-shek telegraphed the badge and photo collar of Huang Baitao (Huang Botao), the commander of the Seventh Corps of the Kuomintang Army who was about to be killed by the People's Liberation Army on the front line of Xuzhou: "The battle of Xuhuai is really the key to the success or failure of our revolution and the survival of the country. Strictly supervise the subordinates, earnestly teach, and work with one heart and one mind. Unite and fight hard, expect to win, and complete the important mission is the most important thing." Between the lines, Chiang Kai-shek reveals a little hidden worry. After the liberation of Zhengzhou, an important city in the Central Plains, the Central Military Commission ordered Chen and Deng to take Zhengzhou and rest for a few days before moving eastward immediately.Two days later, he instructed the main force of the Central Plains Field Army to assemble in the Mengcheng area, then take Bengbu directly, and prepare to cross Huainan to occupy the People's Liberation Army Subei Corps to pass through the Tang River and advance southeast of Xuzhou to the Bengpu section of the railway.Chen and Deng conducted repeated studies based on the situation of the enemy and ourselves. In the afternoon, they urgently sent a message to the Military Commission, suggesting that the assembly point should be changed to the middle area of ​​Yongcheng, Bozhou, and Guoyang. Central replied in agreement. On October 24, before marching eastward, Deng Xiaoping presided over a meeting of cadres above the regiment who participated in the combat troops in Zhengzhou and Kaifeng in the Zhengzhou Suishu Auditorium, and made a brief mobilization.Deng Xiaoping said: "We will soon go eastward. The task is to fight the Xuzhou Battle with the East China Field Army to encircle and wipe out the Kuomintang. This is the eighth company of a certain unit that has held its position for nine hours and successfully completed the blocking mission. The main force of the army is north of the Yangtze River. Comrades must make sufficient ideological and material preparations to resolutely and thoroughly wipe out the enemies in the Xuzhou area. The enemy cannot be allowed to retreat to the south of the Yangtze River. Every cadre must have a clear understanding of this, because the enemy's retreat to the south of the Yangtze River will bring great difficulties to our crossing operations." Deng Xiaoping originally liked to make long stories short, and this speech is more It is decisive and resolute.The venue was silent, and everyone was listening quietly, clenching their fists unconsciously. On the last day of October, after knowing that the Central Plains Field Army was not leaving Huainan, Su Yu, acting commander of the East China Field Army, suggested to the central government: The Huaihai Campaign is about to start, and the scale of the battle is very large. Commander Chen Yi and Political Commissar Deng Xiaoping, who have already arrived at the front line, should be unified in command as well. Therefore, the Central Military Commission immediately made a decision that Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping would be under the unified command of this campaign. Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping replied: "We are in charge of commanding this battle, but because the communication tools are too weak, we ask the Military Commission to direct more direction to Su and Tan." From the above few humility, it can be seen that the three parties of the general and commander trust each other and work together.This is in stark contrast to the enemy. It goes without saying which one is better and which one is worse, but the first signs of who is winning and who is losing have already been seen. At this time, the East China Field Army was deploying to split and encircle and wipe out Huang Baitao's corps, pretending to attack Xuzhou. At the same time, the development of the entire battle situation is very beneficial to our army. When the Huaihai Campaign was about to start, the victory of the Liaoshen Campaign came.Mao Zedong was in high spirits, and happily wrote a telegram on behalf of the Party Central Committee to congratulate the liberation of the entire Northeast.For a time, public opinion at home and abroad was overwhelming, and everyone in the Kuomintang presidential palace was eclipsed. On November 5, the main force of the Central Plains Field Army entered the southeast area of ​​Shangqiu and found that the enemy's fourth appeasement area troops were staying in Shangqiu and Mamuji areas. Chiefs Chen and Deng immediately decided to launch operations in the Bian (Kaifeng) and Xu (zhou) sections to wipe out these troops. Some of the enemies attracted the aid of the Qiu Corps from the west to cooperate with the East China Field Army. On November 7, the attack was launched, and the enemy retreated eastward. With the cooperation of the brother column, the 1st column chased to the Zhanggongdian area.The enemy's 181st Division retreated to the Zhanggongdian and Zhangge areas, and built defensive positions east, south, and northeast of Zhanggongdian and Zhanggongdian to cover the eastward withdrawal of the main force in the Fourth Appeasement Area. When the People's Liberation Army encircled and wiped out Huang Botao's Corps, the East China Field Army deployed three columns between Yuanshan and Daxu's house, stubbornly blocking the Kuomintang government troops aided by Xuzhou.This is the 1st Battalion of the 87th Regiment of a certain unit of the People's Liberation Army, which is responsible for the blocking mission, is building fortifications 1 vertical all troops to act immediately.At 4 o'clock in the morning, the 8th regiment captured Xuzhuang, and the enemy was still in a dream.During this period, there was an incident that was like a joke. The enemy asked the local people to send a letter to Pan Yan, the chief of staff of the 1st Column, which wrote: "A lesson from friends and neighbors in the station: the continuous shooting in the south is caused by the bandit army. , or if there is a misunderstanding with our department, I hope to report to the division headquarters." Pan Yan laughed loudly after reading it, and the enemy took the initiative to send the military information to the door.Don't miss this opportunity!In the afternoon, the 1st Vertical sent two brigades to quickly approach Zhanggongdian, Zhanggezhuang, and Xiaozhangzhuang from the east and west. The 3rd Vertical and 8th Division of the East China Field Army crossed Longhai Road, and at the same time formed a division and encirclement of the enemy. On November 8, the 1st vertical attack on the enemy began.Under the continuous attack, the firepower point of the enemy division headquarters was wiped out. The enemy screamed and screamed amidst the gunfire and gunpowder smoke, and they were in a mess. The courtyard wall of the enemy division headquarters was blasted. After entering the fortification, they shouted: "You don't want to shoot anymore." The soldiers of our army shouted: "The People's Liberation Army treats the prisoners preferentially, and they will not kill them if they hand in their guns." Following the shouts, groups of enemies slowly came out with their hands raised.More than 800 people, including Mi Wen, deputy commander of the enemy's fourth appeasement area and commander of the 181st division, Dong Rugui, chief of staff of the major general division, and major general Zhang Shuwen, were captured. Zhanggezhuang defending the enemy also submitted a letter of surrender to our army represented by the enemy regiment leader Hu Shuquan. Before and after the start of the battle, our army's combat operations around Xuzhou once made Liu Zhi, the commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang's Xuzhou "suppression general", mistakenly believe that our army was going to attack Xuzhou. He panicked and desperately concentrated his troops on Xuzhou.When it was discovered that the Huang Baitao Corps was besieged, Chiang Kai-shek immediately ordered Liu Zhi, the commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's "Suppression Commander-in-Chief", to do his best to help break the siege of the Huang Corps. The troops attacked Xu Dong in an attempt to rescue Huang Bingtuan.At this time, whether or not the enemy from Xuzhou can be stopped, becomes the key to the complete annihilation of Huang Baitao's corps.The head of the East China Field Army immediately adjusted the deployment and ordered Song Shilun, the commander of the 10th Column, and Liu Peishan, the political commissar, to command the 10th, 7th, and 11th Columns to block the enemy's aid in the areas on both sides of the Longhai Line east of Xuzhou. The curtain of the Huaihai Campaign finally opened slowly.The Battle of Huaihai transformed the Central Plains Field Army and the East China Field Army from the original cooperative operations to direct coordinated operations under unified deployment. They were armed with 23 columns (7 columns of the Central Plains Field Army and 16 columns of the East China Field Army) and a large number of places. For the center of the southern Kuomintang army to conduct a strategic decisive battle. After our Central Plains Field Army started with crisp gunshots in the vast area of ​​the Central Plains, the East China Field Army immediately moved south. On October 11, Mao Zedong emphasized in his telegram "On the Operation Policy of the Huaihai Campaign": "It is necessary to use more than half of the troops to contain, block and wipe out one part of the enemy to deal with the Qiu and Li corps, so as to achieve the goal of annihilating the three divisions of the Huang corps. This deployment is roughly the same as the deployment in September to attack aid and aid. Otherwise, The goal of annihilating the Yellow Army cannot be achieved." The huge determination and deployment of "more than half of the troops" to fight for aid was completely beyond the expectations of the Kuomintang authorities.It played an important role in the victory of the first battle of the Huaihai Campaign. The resourceful and decisive Mao Zedong consulted repeatedly with the Central Military Commission and the commanders of the East China and Central Plains field armies over a month before the official launch of the Huaihai Campaign, and adjusted the deployment in a timely manner according to the changing situation. In the comparison of choices, the correct strategic decision was made.As a result, this magnificent decisive battle can be carried out in an orderly and orderly manner. Although the basic policy has been set, Mao Zedong is still very cautious, which is almost completely different from his usual informal character. On October 27, on the eve of the decisive battle, he was still not completely relieved by this, and called the East China and Central Plains Field Army again and told him: "In addition to the current situation, you must also estimate certain changes in the situation when you study and deploy. It is necessary to imagine several situations in which the enemy may change, including a more serious situation, and to be prepared to have countermeasures in this situation.” The next day, the East China Field Army reported to the Central Military Commission and the Central Plains Field Army the battle plan to encircle and wipe out Huang Baitao's corps. On October 30, Mao Zedong replied: "The plan and deployment are very good, please implement it accordingly," and suggested: "All places should act together, so that the enemies everywhere will be attacked at the same time, and at the same time think that they are in a dangerous situation and cannot take care of each other." Chen and Deng's side " Please also act at the same time." The layout was set, Mao Zedong let out a sigh of relief, and turned his eyes to the distant and vast battlefield. Foreseeing that the scale of the Huaihai Campaign would become larger and larger, Mao Zedong immediately considered the issue of the East China Field Army and the Central Plains Field Army fighting side by side, and telegrams were sent to the front line from his hands. Since November 1948, the Liaoshen Campaign in Northeast China has ended victoriously, and the balance of power between the enemy and ourselves has undergone fundamental changes.Mao Zedong felt that after the original plan to wipe out Huang Baitao's Corps in the Xin'an Town area, the deployment of the main force of the East China Field Army to Huai'an and Huaiyin could no longer adapt to the development of the war situation.On the second day after the Battle of Huaihai, that is, on November 7, he called the leaders of the two major field armies in East China and Central Plains, and proposed that the first battle would take about 10 days, and strive to wipe out 22 and 23 divisions of Huang Baitao and others. If this task can be accomplished, the whole situation will change, and you, Chen and Deng may press on the Xu-Beng Line. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek may withdraw troops from Xuzhou and its vicinity to the south of Bengbu; if the enemy does not withdraw, we can fight a second battle to wipe out Huang Wei and Sun Yuanliang and completely isolate the enemies of Xuzhou.In deliberation, Mao Zedong conceived in advance the scale of the battle to be expanded. On November 9, after Mao Zedong received Su Yu's and Zhang Zhen's suggestions on "retaining the enemy in Xuzhou and its surroundings, and then weakening and annihilating them respectively", he immediately drafted a telegram on the same day and gave a clear reply: "We should try our best to annihilate the enemy's main force near Xuzhou. , don’t let them go south.” After the general policy of "separating Xu Bang and annihilating Liu Zhi's main force" was determined, the Huaihai Campaign gradually developed into a vast area centered on Xuzhou, starting from Haizhou in the east, ending in Shangqiu in the west, starting from Lincheng in the north, and reaching Huaihe River in the south. Armageddon. So far, whether it is the Kuomintang army or the Communist army, they are hurriedly dispatching troops to their positions and goals. If there is a panoramic picture, it can show that our army is galloping and arranging troops on this vast battlefield. formation. On November 1, 1948, Mao Zedong still personally drafted a telegram for the Central Military Commission and issued orders directly to the Central Plains Field Army and the East China Field Army.Although he was thinking, but with confidence between his brows, he wrote with a pen: "Bai Chongxi considered that the Xuzhou and Longhai battles were imminent, and ordered Huang Wei to concentrate in Taihe and Fuyang. After the Huaye battle was launched, it is estimated that from From November 8th to November 18th, the fighting situation was the most tense. You must ensure that Qiu Qingquan's corps cannot come to the east within 10 days. In addition to dealing with the two corps of Qiu Qingquan and Sun Yuanliang, you also have to deal with 4 armies of Huangwei's corps. We think that the 6th vertical must chase after Huang Wei, and the 10th vertical should cooperate with the 2nd vertical tail to chase Huang Wei near Nanyang. What do you think? Hope to reply." At this time, the Huangwei Corps was advancing. On October 30, Bai Chongxi arrived in Nanjing from Hankou.At 5 p.m. that day, the Ministry of National Defense of the Nanjing government held a meeting to discuss the Central Plains operations.Bai Chongxi fully agreed to transfer Huang Wei's 12th Corps to Fuyang, Taihe, and Shangcai areas, and offered to use the 3rd Corps (which governs the 7th and 48th Armies, both of which are Guangxi troops) to enter and leave Fuyang and Taihe with the 12th Corps. and nearby.However, when the meeting was held again at 10:00 am on the 31st, he suddenly changed his mind and resolutely refused to unify the two "suppression generals" in Xuzhou and Central China. It is only agreed that the 14th Army and the 85th Army should be included in the 12th Corps.This became the 12th Corps commanding the 10th, 14th, 18th, and 85th armies to move in and out of Zhoujiakou. Bai Chongxi changed the original agreement of unified command overnight, which puzzled many people.According to the speculation of people in the Ministry of National Defense of the Nanjing government at that time, it was possible that Bai Chongxi was afraid that Chiang Kai-shek would make a trap, and was planning to appoint him after the defeat of the battle.From the later developments, people knew that this was related to the United States supporting Li Zongren and forcing Chiang Kai-shek to go to the field. He deliberately wanted to demolish Chiang Kai-shek and give him a good look.On the other hand, the reason why Chiang Kai-shek asked Bai Chongxi to be the commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's "suppression general" also had his own little calculations. He wanted to let Bai Chongxi's heavy troops rush to help Xuzhou, and defend his Nanjing and Shanghai with Guangxi troops.Shrewd, Bai Chongxi, known as "Little Zhuge", could not be fooled by him. Bai Chongxi originally planned to let Huang Wei's corps go to assist Xuzhou, but when he returned to Wuhan, he first ordered Huang Wei to return to the division of Queshan, and later let him participate in the Nanyang battle, which made Chiang Kai-shek very angry and wanted to curse people at every turn. There was nothing he could do about Bai Chongxi, so he simply ordered Huang Wei to act according to the plan and still went to assist Xuzhou. In order to hold back the Huangwei Corps, Liu Bocheng, Deng Zihui, and Li Da led our 2nd, 6th, and local troops to fight hard in the Tongbai Mountains.On November 1, Chiang Kai-shek felt that Xuzhou was in a tight spot, so he hurriedly dispatched the Huangwei Corps to assemble in the Queshan area, preparing to go east through Fuyang and Mengcheng. After Huang Wei accepted the order to advance eastward, he immediately ordered all the troops to gather in the Queshan and Zhumadian areas to prepare for the eastward advance to Fuyang and Taihe. On November 5, the Huangwei Corps assembled in Queshan and Zhumadian.It departs from Queshan and Zhumadian in two routes and drives towards Fuyang. The next day, Huang Wei's corps set off on the road in a panic. They rushed all the way without even preparing food, grass and ammunition. In order to hurry up, Huang Wei divided the armies into left and right columns, led a part of them himself, and set off from Queshan.Huang Wei's route is to cross the Honghe River and Yinghe River to reach the Mengcheng area. Sitting in an open-top jeep, Huang Wei felt a sense of pride that "Heaven sent a great responsibility to everyone".In addition, he did not believe that the "communist army" would have three heads and six arms, which would be able to stop his modernized corps. Along the way, the trucks dragged the huge pontoon bridge and built the bridge amidst the rumbling sound. The marching team could not see the side at a glance, and the crowd mixed with cars, tanks and cannons. The scene was spectacular.Huang Weishu was very proud, as if he was the only one who turned the world around. According to Huang Wei's transfer to the east and Wang Lingyun's thirteenth appeasement zone moving south, the Central Plains Field Army had already made arrangements, and Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, and Li Da jointly reported to the Central Military Commission. Member of the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign.From left: Su Yu, Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, Tan Zhenlin.Deng Xiaoping as Secretary of the General Front Committee In order to continue to contain the eastward transfer of the Huangwei Corps, Liu Bocheng ordered Wang Jinshan to lead the 6th column to follow up to prevent the Huangwei Corps from advancing eastward smoothly. At the same time, he ordered the 2nd column to cooperate with the 6th column to resolutely hold the Huangwei Corps. Liu Bocheng instructed the 2nd and 6th Columns: "All effective measures must be taken to intercept and block the Huangwei Corps advancing eastward, and delay their movement time so as to assist the main force to achieve victory in the battle. The 2nd Column should arrive at the top before the evening of the 6th. Between Cai and Runan, it is also necessary to pay attention to blocking the enemy's right side and attacking the waist at the right time, and using the direction of the rivers to block the enemy." At the same time, Liu Bocheng asked the local armed forces of the Yuwansu Military Region and the 20th Brigade of the 1st Column to destroy roads and bridges along the way and prepare for blocking.This is already a repertoire that our army is good at. In the war room, Liu Bocheng, Chief of Staff Li Da and others were still studying the enemy's situation. Li Da said to Liu Bocheng: "Master, you are very capable of dealing with Chiang Kai-shek's 'Long Snake Formation'. Now that Lao Jiang has placed a 'cross', how do you plan to deal with it?" I'm using the teacher's old title. Liu Bocheng pointed to the situation of the enemy and the enemy on the wall map and said: "Look carefully, what Chiang Kai-shek put up this time is still his "long snake formation" that remains unchanged to respond to all changes, but the shape has changed slightly. Twisting the waist of the snake. I saw that we don’t need to think of any new methods, just use our old methods, pinching the enemy’s forehead, pulling the enemy’s tail, and breaking his waist.” After finishing speaking, Liu Bocheng picked up a pointer, gestured on the map and said: "The intention of the Military Commission is to annihilate Huang Baitao first. Wouldn’t this be like ‘grabbing the enemy’s tail’? As for the snake’s waist, it is the Xubang line, and the vital part of the waist is here.” Liu Bocheng tapped the small circle marked Su County on the map with his pointer, and continued: “ We should suggest that the Military Commission, Boss Chen, and Political Commissar Deng take advantage of Su County and cut off Chiang Kai-shek's 'snake waist'." Li Da and the others nodded in agreement.After soliciting everyone's opinions, Liu Bocheng immediately drafted the telegram. After making the deployment, Liu Bocheng immediately got up and went to the front line of Huaihai.Bigger battles and exciting scenes will be staged in the foreground. The battle of Xuzhou was about to break out. Because Bai Chongxi refused to unify the command, Du Yuming was still commanding the retreat in Huludao.And Liu Zhi was very confused and difficult to take on the important task, unable to command the upcoming battle of Xu Bang. Chiang Kai-shek, who returned to Nanjing from Peking on October 30, had no choice but to go to Xuzhou in person on November 4.Later, because of something, it was temporarily changed to Gu Zhutong to adjust the deployment of Xuzhou on his behalf. On November 4th, Xuzhou Airport. Liu Zhi had been waiting here early. Gu Zhutong, chief of staff of the Kuomintang, got off the plane accompanied by Guo Rugui, director of the third department of the Ministry of National Defense. Liu Zhi went up to greet him and accompanied Gu Zhutong to review the troops before Drive straight to the "Suppression General" headquarters.Looking at the relatively neat troops, Gu Zhutong couldn't say anything for a while except that he enjoyed the treatment that only the president can get.Gu Zhutong immediately called Qiu Qingquan, Huang Baitao, Li Mi, Sun Yuanliang and other corps commanders and all the army commanders who might leave the defense to Xuzhou to hold a combat meeting to study the combat deployment of Xuzhou. Guo Rugui is reading out the combat plan formulated by the Ministry of National Defense.Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gu Zhutong paid attention to the reactions of everyone present. The first thing Gu Zhutong noticed was his Huangpu classmate, Qiu Qingquan, the commander of the 2nd Corps. Today, his posture is quite honest.Gu Zhutong knew his classmate very well. This gentleman was promoted step by step from a second lieutenant platoon leader to a lieutenant general corps commander, and he had always been favored by Chiang Kai-shek.Now he can be regarded as the direct descendant of the central army's descendants and the elite of the elite, so he is very arrogant and generally does not buy other people's accounts.In addition, his injured upper lip had been stitched several times, leaving a deep groove, and his mouth was crooked when he spoke, making his face even more arrogant.In the Kuomintang army, he was known as "Crazy Qiu". Qiu Qingquan was born in a scholarly family, so he often regards himself as a Confucian general, but he is very superstitious.At present, he is stationed in Henan, and he always feels that the place name Shangqiu is incompatible with his surname, and it is a homophony of "Shangqiu".For this reason, he asked the Ministry of National Defense several times to change defenses, but because there was no reason, the Ministry of National Defense never approved it.At this time, Guo Rugui was announcing that "The Second Corps is assembled around Yongcheng and Dangshan", and Qiu Qingquan immediately showed joy. Soon, Guo Rugui finished reading out the combat deployment, and Gu Zhutong asked everyone present to express their opinions indifferently. Huang Baitao, the commander of the 7th Corps, stood up first, saying that he found a strong PLA force in the area north of Tancheng, and that he might attack his Corps.Not long ago, Huang Baitao put forward his opinion to Liu Zhi: "First, the main force of Chen Yi's army (referring to the southern part of Shandong) will join up with the three columns in northern Jiangsu to attack our army, while Liu Bocheng's army will contain it from the southwest. The reinforcements that support us, if our troops are defeated, will destroy our corps in order. This intention is very obvious. Second, our troops are distributed along the Longhai line, with a vast front. If you are omnipotent, you will be omnipotent. Only Napoleon’s regimental concentration method can be used to unite the various regiments around Xuzhou, and then seize the opportunity to defeat Chen and Liu’s armies before they join forces.” Huang Baitao was in a very anxious mood, but he did not get a reply for a long time after submitting his opinion. Chiang Kai-shek's personal letter to Huang Botao On the battlefield of the civil war, Huang Baitao was one of the few generals in the Kuomintang army who could fight. He was Gu Zhutong's confidant and favorite general. He was once the commander of Gu Zhutong's 25th Army.In order to cultivate his own power, Gu Zhutong specially recommended Huang Baitao as the commander of the 7th Corps, which is one of the main corps of the Kuomintang.During the Battle of Eastern Henan, the main force of the Kuomintang Army was surrounded by our East China Field Army. Chiang Kai-shek ordered Huang Baitao to lead the 25th Army to go for reinforcements. Unexpectedly, they also fell into the siege and fought to the death for 8 days and nights before they were able to break out of the siege.For this reason, Chiang Kai-shek personally awarded him a Blue Sky and White Sun Medal, in recognition of the "excellent honor" he established.Seeing that Chiang Kai-shek gave Huang Baitao such a high honor to Huang Baitao, who was born in a motley army, Chiang's confidant Qiu Qingquan was very unconvinced.Qiu Qingquan believed that although Huang Baitao stood out from the encirclement, he did not rescue the besieged troops.Since then, the two have been at odds. Before the Battle of Xubeng, in order to prevent the People's Liberation Army in northern Jiangsu from going north and the People's Liberation Army in southern Shandong from going south, and cut off the traffic between Xuzhou and Haizhou, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Huang Baitao's 7th Corps to gather near Xin'an Town, east of Xuzhou. Taking advantage of the opportunity of this meeting, Huang Baitao once again proposed: take Xuzhou as the center, gather all the corps to prepare for war in all directions, carry out deep trenches and high fortifications, and the so-called "turtle tactics" where the corps are connected with each other.He also confessed for himself: "It's not that I'm afraid of death, but that it will last forever. It doesn't matter whether Haizhou defends or not." "No!" Qiu Qingquan yelled abruptly, with his mouth crooked, glanced at Huang Baitao disdainfully and said, "Boss, I have captured the scouts from the third column of the Communist Army. "The East-West Field Army's 3rd, 8th, 10th, 11th Columns and Guangdong-Guangzhou Columns are in the west of Luxi, and their vanguard troops have arrived in Cao County and Chengwu." Li Mi also stood up: "Boss! Our department also detected that the main force of the communist army is approaching me." "Everyone, the communist army really covets Xuzhou!" Liu Zhi rushed to speak not to be outdone: "Xuzhou is the location of the 'Suppression General'. Xuzhou is not guaranteed, and the dragons have no leader. You must have heavy troops in the city to defend it. Don't be careless. !" Among the participants, only two people have been sitting silently.One is Feng Zhian, the commander of the Third Appeasement Zone. It is said that only his troops are really at the forefront, but he knows that he is a miscellaneous army and has always been used as cannon fodder.The other was Sun Yuanliang, commander of the 16th Corps, who was born in Huangpu, but he was unwilling to participate in this kind of hurtful debate. “共军”主力到底何在？他们的作战意图在哪里？大家各执一词，莫衷一是，讨论没有任何效果，只得草草散会。 会议结果认为，无论华东野战军主力何在，徐州“剿总”各兵团在陇海路上一线排列，态势总是不利，必须进行调整。于是根据10月29日何应钦提出的“守江必守淮”的方针，决定放弃次要城市，集中兵力于徐州、蚌埠间津浦铁路两侧地区，作攻势防御，以巩固长江而保卫京沪，并决定了必要时可将徐州“剿总”移蚌埠指挥，徐州以一两个军坚固守备。 当晚顾祝同返回南京，在第二天又补发了正式命令： (一)徐州守备部队应切实加强工事坚固守备； (二)第7兵团应确保运河西岸与第一绥靖区、第三绥靖区密切联系，并在运河以西地区“清剿”； (三)第2兵团以永城、砀山为中心集结，并在附近“清剿”； (四)第13兵团应集结于灵壁、泗县地区机动并在附近“清剿”； (五)第16兵团即以蒙城为中心，进行“清剿”，掩护津浦铁路之安全； (六)第四绥靖区移驻临淮关，以原第八绥靖区为该绥靖区的辖区，原第八绥靖区着即撤销； (七)淮阴守备应由第4军担任…… (八)东海方面应机动作战。 顾祝同发出上述命令后，又认为在东海第九绥靖区及第44军由海上撤退有许多困难，就又下令各部兼程经新安镇向徐州撤退。第44军到达新安镇后，受第7兵团司令黄百韬指挥，一同退过运河。第九绥靖区人员到徐州待命。 顾祝同以为用少数兵力固守徐州，可以使解放军不能有效利用陇海铁路东西调动军队，且主力控制于徐州、蚌埠之间，如果解放军向徐州进攻，无论沿平汉铁路或者经苏北地区南下时，他均可集中五个兵团寻求决战，在解放军未能击破其主力以前，便可保住淮北，从而也就守住了长江。 经过这一番部署，顾祝同心里很是得意，觉得总算对老头子有个交代了。 根据这个作战部署，体现在陇海路东段，自然是海州撤守，黄百韬兵团由东段撤回徐州。海州决定撤守以后，刘峙又下命令，让原先兼程驰援海州的100军立即折回新安镇，归入黄百韬第7兵团的序列。 第九绥靖区司令官李延年接到第100军不能东调的电报后，向正驻在海州的国民党总统府少将参军、战地视察官李以匡发牢骚说：“举棋不定，亡国之征！” 海州，处在陇海路东段，是山东、江苏边界的门户，战略位置十分重要。同时，它还是一个产盐基地，素有“盐都”之称。因为能通海运，所以在军事上、经济上的地位都很重要。蒋介石已经在这个地方经营多年。 李延年的第九绥靖区在海州接到撤退的命令，立即着手准备逃跑的事宜。没想到此时海州城里已是满城风雨。原来，刘峙开有几处盐店，他怕本钱蚀掉，就暗地派亲信、机要科长周某去报信。刘峙在通知李延年之前就已经把撤退的消息告诉了海州盐行的老板，消息传开，海州城人心浮动，官员们竞相逃命，局面不可收拾。撤守海州的决定，在南京政府国防部10月29日开的作战会议上就已经作出来了，一直到11月5日前，李延年都被蒙在鼓里，他还不如一个盐行老板知道得早：李延年异常气愤地说：“刘经扶看钱财比我们的事还大，真是岂有此理！这样泄露军事机密，不败何待！” 在这种情况下，李延年深感还是早点走的好。他5日夜间接到的通知，第二天就决定要撤退，他也是怕再不早走，刘峙又突然改变主意。 11月6日，李延年开始撤退时，又接到刘峙的电报，到达新安镇后，归黄百韬的第7兵团的序列。 此时，我华东野战军经过近一个月的休整，已是兵强马壮，并开始向鲁南集结。 淮海战场在相隔千里之外运筹帷幄，在以毛泽东为首的中央军委统帅下，陈毅、邓小平指挥部，粟裕、谭震林、张震指挥部，刘伯承、邓子恢、李达指挥部三大指挥部形成了一个有机整体。中原野战军、华东野战军密切配合，从东、西、南、北四个方向，完成了对徐州守敌刘峙集团的战略包围。 此时，蒋介石根据我华东野战军、中原野战军将发起的攻势行动，已经判明解放军的首要目标是吃掉黄百韬兵团，便急忙命令黄百韬兵团迅速西进，邱清泉兵团、孙元良兵团及新组建的李延年兵团、刘汝明兵团向徐州集结，华中“剿总”集团的黄维兵团尽早投入徐州战场，将徐州周围的各兵团向徐州靠拢，然后再由徐州向淮河一线撤退，集中兵力于徐州至蚌埠地区，与解放军进行“徐蚌会战”。 1948年11月4日，华东野战军下达了淮海战役攻击命令。计划定于本月8日晚统一发起战斗。各部除了在自己受领任务的开进地段上，于7日黄昏前完成架桥准备外，统于6日黄昏开进。 11月5日，华东野战军主力进抵临沂、滕县一线集结待命。 11月6日，华东野战军司令部进驻临近的马头镇。当天下午，粟裕向华东野战军各纵下令：攻击！ 华东野战军战斗打响后，陈毅、邓小平指挥中原野战军主力，配合华东野战军围歼徐州以东的黄百韬兵团，对陇海路的汴徐段守敌刘汝明兵团55军发起攻击，并解放了砀山，控制了郑州至黄口段铁路300多公里。 当天晚上，在徐州以东，博秋涛率我鲁中南纵队等部包围了郯城，歼灭了守敌第九绥靖区王洪九所部5000多人。 7日下午，王洪九光头赤脚、满腿泥巴，一副狼狈相，只带着少数人逃到了黄百韬的兵团部。 淮海战场上枪声骤起。