Chapter 6 Chapter 06

On November 8, our Huaye 9th Column completed preparations to attack Huang Baitao's Corps.Commanders at all levels are waiting for orders in the command post.Until noon, there was no telegram from Noji.The column command post kept receiving inquiries from various divisions. Although Nie Fengzhi asked the subordinates not to worry, he was also in a state of turmoil.According to the notification from the superior and the 9th vertical reconnaissance, the 44th enemy army originally stationed in Haizhou has indeed withdrawn from Haizhou and is heading towards Xin'an Town. The stations of the Longhai Railway have been heavily guarded and the military transportation has been busy for the past few days. The situation is abnormal.Nie Fengzhi was thinking, what tricks are the enemy up to?Should we shrink our troops to strengthen the frontal defense, or retreat to Xuzhou?After the first stage of the planned battle to eliminate the Yellow Army, the next step is to attack Haizhou or the two Huaihe Rivers. Now that the enemy in Haizhou has fled, it seems that the possibility of fighting eastward is unlikely. If they want to fight, they will develop westward.

A rush of horseshoes approaching from far away broke the brief silence of the command post and interrupted Commander Nie's train of thought.The cavalry correspondent hurried into the command post. It was the commander of the reconnaissance battalion, Mu Sirong, who sent a report: the enemy's 44th Army had passed Xin'an Town, the 25th Army had withdrawn from Ahu, and the 64th Army had withdrawn from Gaoliu, all heading west.Three of my scouts disguised as Kuomintang army officers and soldiers mixed into the enemy's internal reconnaissance. Because they took the blank letter of introduction from the enemy army seized in Jinan, a division commander of the enemy's 64th Army saw the flaw and was killed in the east of Xin'an Town.Xin'an Town is in chaos, and the 63rd Army also shows signs of fleeing...

It seems that the enemy has noticed my attack attempt and fled westward.If the enemy is not caught in time, the first step of the battle plan is in danger of being aborted!It is impossible for Huaye and the Military Commission to not understand such a big change, or else, why didn't they issue the order to launch the attack on time!what to do?Nie Fengzhi reported the situation to Hua Ye, and ordered the reconnaissance battalion to go west as soon as possible to find out the enemy's whereabouts.The 25th and 26th divisions, which had already been launched, sent small teams to move forward and keep in touch with the enemy in Xin'an Town.The 27th division of the reserve team was ordered to set off on standby, ready to cross the Shu River and pursue westward.

As soon as the column greeted the troops, Hua Ye's pursuit order arrived.The superiors fully grasp the changes in the enemy's situation.Most of the enemy Huang Corps has withdrawn through the canal, and the Corps headquarters has been transferred from Xin'an Town to Nianzhuang.Hua Ye reiterated the instructions of the Military Commission that the first step of the campaign must be carried out to annihilate Huang Baitao's corps, and he ordered the columns that were originally responsible for the attack mission to immediately pursue westward according to the divided routes, so as not to let the enemy escape.

The column immediately gave the order to pursue.Since the 1st line division has been basically deployed, it will take time to gather, and the 27th division is ready for action, that is, the division is the vanguard, and it will follow the sequence of the 27th division, the 26th division, the vertical division, and the 25th division to the South Vietnam Longhai Railway, and turn to the South Vietnam Longhai Railway. Cross the Shu River to the west, and pursue westward fiercely. When my leading troops entered Xin'an Town, the masses reported: "Old Guang (referring to the 63rd Army) has been gone for less than two hours." Upon hearing this news, the troops pursued even faster, and finally chased after dark on the east bank of the Yi River. Annihilated the enemy's 63rd Army guard guard unit.After finding out that there were 2 enemy regiments in Yantou Town, our 27th Division immediately crossed the Yi River in different ways and surrounded Yantou Town in a roundabout way.

During the Battle of Huaihai, there was a story of a "bridge of ten men", which happened in the battle of Yantou Town.The 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 79th Regiment of our 27th Division ordered the 3rd squadron of the company to quickly erect a pontoon bridge in order to cross the Yi River as soon as possible and encircle and wipe out the enemies in Yantou Town. Team 3 temporarily found some wooden planks and two ladders, tied them together and laid them across the river. Because the bridge piles were not stable, it was easy for people to overturn and fall into the water when passing by.At this moment, the enemy's firepower blocked the ferry. In order not to delay the time, under the leadership of the deputy platoon leader Fan Xuefu and the squad leader Ma Xuanyun, the whole squad jumped into the icy cold river together, and the 10 people were divided into 5 pairs. He carried the pontoon bridge to ensure the smooth passage of the whole battalion and completed the combat mission.This advanced deed was widely publicized among the troops, encouraging the troops to unite and work together to overcome difficulties and complete combat tasks.Its political significance greatly exceeds the military value of this action.

The battle in Yantou Town started at midnight and continued until dawn on the 9th. More than 2,000 people including the 454th Regiment and 456th Regiment of the 152nd Division of the 63rd Army and a unit directly under the military headquarters were wiped out. The enemy commander Chen Zhang fled to Yaowan in embarrassment . While my 27th Division surrounded Yantou Town, my 25th and 26th Divisions passed through Yihe.Nie Fengzhi immediately ordered the 26th Division to leave a regiment to assist the 27th Division to encircle and wipe out the enemy in Yantou Town. The main force continued to pursue Yaowan, and surrounded the main force of the enemy's 63rd Army in Yaowan at dawn on the 9th.While deploying the attack, the column reported to the wild division.

At this time, the 1st vertical pursuit force had arrived. According to the instructions of the superior, the 1st vertical was responsible for solving the enemy in Yaowan, and the 9th vertical was required to cross the canal quickly and continue to pursue the ancient town and Nianzhuangwei. 9 Zong immediately changed the 25th division to the vanguard, raised ships, searched for crossing points, and rushed to cross the canal. The 26th Division, Zongzhi, and the 27th Division followed up.In the army, under the condition that there is no equipment for crossing the river, it is a difficult problem to overcome the water barrier.Because no boats could be found along the river, the troops turned south and arrived at Zaohe Town. It was not until dawn on the 10th that the 25th Division crossed the canal with a small number of wooden boats and toilet equipment. It was not until the morning of the 11th that the entire column, including artillery and logistics vehicles, crossed the river. complete.

In order to catch the enemy, the time lost in crossing the river must be regained!After the troops crossed the river, they pursued them day and night, regardless of the enemy planes, and traveled 65 kilometers in one day. On the afternoon of the 11th, they rushed to Gaoqiao, south of Nianzhuangwei, and completed the encirclement of Huang Baitao's corps together with the neighboring column.A portable command post led by Commander Nie Fengzhi moved forward with the vanguard division and was set up in the ancient city on the afternoon of the 11th to urge the follow-up troops to speed up and enter the designated area to prepare for the attack.

Under the relentless pursuit of our Huaye columns, Huang Baitao's corps suffered heavy losses.The 63rd Army was wiped out in Yaowan and Yantou towns before crossing the canal. In the westward breakout of the 100th Army, its 44th division has been wiped out, leaving only the army headquarters and the 63rd division.The deployment of the enemy after turning to defense is: the Corps headquarters is in Nianzhuangxu, the 64th Army is to the east, the 25th Army is to the north of Nianzhuangxu, and the 100th Army is to the west.The enemy's 44th Army, which is in contact with our 9th vertical in the south, has 2 divisions under its jurisdiction, the 162nd Division to the east of Nianzhuang Railway Station, and the 150th Division to the west; The front line is on the east-west line on the north bank of the ancient canal; its main defense points are in Xujingya, Xinzhuang, and the areas near the front and rear Banqiao; the military command post is at Nianzhuang Station.The enemy was originally a local army, and was ordered to return to Huang Baitao's command on the way to escape from Haizhou to the west. Compared with the 25th Army and the 64th Army, its combat effectiveness was weaker.

Huaye directly participated in the siege of the Yellow Army with 5 columns. There are 8 verticals on the right of 9 verticals, responsible for attacking from east to west; 6 verticals on the left, 13 verticals to the north, responsible for attacking from west to east; 4 verticals on the north, attacking from north to south. The 9th vertical is responsible for carrying out the main assault from the south along the direction of Zhaodun, Railway Station, and Nianzhuangwei.The column is determined: attack side by side with the 25th Division on the left and the 26th Division on the right.First, with swift and brave actions, break through the enemy's defense in one fell swoop, capture Xujingya, Xinzhuang, front and rear Banqiao and other key points, control the railway embankment, and continue to clear Caozhuang, Lizhuang and other key points on the south side of Nianzhuangwei.After that, the deployment was adjusted, and the enemy regiment headquarters in Nianzhuangwei was assaulted, requiring all troops to complete preparations before 18:00 on the 12th.In order to buy time, the enemy's foothold was not stable, and the battle preparations were quite hasty.Especially after the 26th Division was launched, the cadres had no time to look at the terrain, and the troops went into battle before their physical strength recovered. At 20:30 on November 12, under the unified command of Huaye, our 9th vertical cooperated with the 4th, 6th, 8th, and 13th verticals to launch an attack on the Yellow Corps.Our 9th vertical cadres and soldiers carried forward the fighting style of fighting and rushing, and quickly broke through the defense of the enemy's 44th army. The 26th Division surrounded and attacked Xujingya, and wiped out most of the 454th Regiment of the 162nd Division. Before dawn on the 13th, they captured Xinzhuang on the east side of Nianzhuang Station, wiped out part of the enemy, and controlled a section of the railway base.After our 25th Division broke through the defense of the enemy's 150th Division, we continued to attack forward and rear Banqiao. Not long after the enemy changed shifts, our army took the opportunity to disrupt the enemy, wiped out part of the enemy, and captured the front and rear Banqiao.With the support of fierce artillery fire, the enemy stubbornly resisted relying on the railway embankment and station platform positions. At 10 o'clock on the 13th, our 25th Division captured the station and completely controlled the railway embankment.In order to directly observe the situation on the battlefield and facilitate the command of the next operation, Nie Fengzhi led the column forward and moved the command post to the east side of the railway station. On the 14th, Nie Fengzhi went to the Yesi to participate in the combat meeting.Acting Commander Su Yu introduced the recent battle situation, analyzed possible changes in the enemy's situation, and pointed out that whether the Huang Corps can be completely wiped out depends on whether it can stop the eastern aid of the two Corps Qiu Qingquan and Li Mi.At the meeting, it was announced that Tan Zhenlin and Wang Jian'an would be under the unified command of the campaign to encircle and wipe out the Yellow Army.It was decided to adopt the tactics of attacking weak enemies first, then attacking strong ones, attacking their leaders, and disrupting their deployment, and annihilated the 44th and 100th armies first.The main force of Huaye was responsible for intercepting and restraining the enemy Qiu and Li Corps, and our 9th vertical was changed to the Shandong Corps. On the night of the 14th, when Nie Fengzhi returned to the command post, our 25th Division had captured Lizhuang on the southwest side of Weizi, and wiped out one reinforced battalion of the 40th Division of the 25th Army.However, my 26th Division hit a nail in the attack on Caozhuang.Caozhuang is close to the south gate of Nianzhuangwei, and our army's attack on Caozhuang is like pulling a tooth out of a tiger's mouth.The enemy concentrated firepower to block our army's approach route, relying on house corners and bunkers to resist desperately, and can get direct support from the enemy's troops and firepower in Weizi.Our army's attacks were repeatedly frustrated, with heavy casualties, and the fight was quite difficult.Fighting until 1:30 am on the 15th, the enemy's "front tooth" was finally knocked out.So far, all the strongholds on the south periphery of Nianzhuangwei have been wiped out by our army. In order to prepare for the attack on Nianzhuang, the 9th Column adjusted its attack deployment.Due to the shrinking front of the attack, the column was changed to three echelon configurations.The task of attacking Nianzhuangwei was undertaken by the 25th Division, and the 73rd Regiment of the division took over the defense of Caozhuang and prepared to take the main attack. The 74th regiment is still occupying the starting position of the attack in Lizhuang and its east, serving as an assist, and the 75th regiment is the division reserve team. Nianzhuangwei is a large plain village with an area of ​​less than 1 square kilometer.Weizi is surrounded by water on all sides as an outer moat, and there are two earth enclosures built inside. The Ninth Army of the former enemy Li Mi's Department has built many fortifications.After Huang Baitao decided to stand by and wait for help, he strengthened the fortifications. Most of the trees were cut down, most of the houses were demolished and the fortifications were repaired. Even the trucks given by the Americans became special materials for the fortifications, and the personnel basically went underground. .It is impossible for our army to take down such a fortress without adequate preparations.In order to reduce the casualties in the movement to contact the enemy, the troops stepped up the approach to the enemy to dig trenches, requiring that the traffic trenches be dug to the edge of the enemy's outer trenches. At 17:00 on November 17th, under the unified command of the superior, our 9th longitudinal enemy launched a general offensive.Our attacking troops made four consecutive assaults, but none of them worked, and the troops suffered heavy casualties.Youlin 8's assault in the southeast direction of the polder was also unsuccessful.With the consent of the superiors, the attack was stopped and preparations continued.The 4th vertical attacked Dayazhuang to the north of Nianzhuang Wei, and the 6th vertical attacked the front and back yellow beaches in the west of the Wei, all of which were successful. In order to find out the reason for the failure of the 9th vertical attack, Nie Fengzhi personally went to the 25th Division to find out the situation with Master Xiao Jinghai and some regiment cadres. The main lesson was that the preparations were not thorough enough.The enemy’s bright and dark firepower points, especially the situation of the ditches for protecting the polders, were not clearly understood. Our army’s forward-extended traffic trenches were still more than a hundred meters away from the ditches. The comrades of the 73rd regiment also introduced a situation: in the early morning of the 18th, a soldier named Li Fangxin once touched the ditch through the water, and returned with a handful of hay from the opposite bank, proving that the ditch can be waded in vain.The 3 people who went to reconnaissance together, 2 sacrificed, Xiao Li fell in the ditch for more than an hour, his body was frozen and numb, and he crawled back after the enemy relaxed his vigilance. The basis also shows that it is not easy to figure out a situation.He began to question the masses, saying that the water was as deep as a person; he also asked the prisoners, who also said that the water was so deep that it was impossible to pass.In fact, they have never been in the water, and they don't know the real situation. The situation was clarified, the problem was identified, and 9 Zong prescribes the right medicine and takes measures: one is to continue the close operation and extend the traffic trench to the edge of the trench outside the enemy's ditches; Prepare pontoon bridges and ladders, and the follow-up troops can pass through the bridge, but wait until the obstacles and the firepower points of the bunker are cleared; the third is to do a good job in infantry coordination, requiring artillery fire to effectively suppress the enemy. The gunpowder smoke, rushed to the enclosure, and threw grenades to blow up the enemy, so that the enemy had no time to fight back. A day passed, and another night fell.Throughout the Xudong blockade, in some village positions, our army and the enemy engaged in repeated tug-of-war.Give up temporarily during the day, and drive the enemy out at night.At night, there will be the sound of artillery, gunshots, and shouts of killing for a while, and then fall into unbearable silence for a while. Qiu Qingquan saw that attacking from the front would not work, so he personally commanded the 74th Army, the main force, to attack our Tushan Town position, and fought fiercely near Zhanglou, Chenzhuang, and the three columns of our East China Field Army marching north, and soon fell into a heavy siege. Qiu Qingquan commanded the 74th Army to break out of the siege, and moved the reserve team, tanks, and artillery up to keep the 74th Army from being wiped out. Huang Baitao called urgently.Under the pressure of the Nanjing High Command, Du Yuming had to issue a death order to Qiu Qingquan and Li Mi's corps, and must join forces with Huang Baitao's corps within two days. After occupying our army's cordon position, the Eastern Aid Army launched an attack across the board with the support of powerful artillery fire, aircraft, and tanks.In the evening, the Kuomintang army counted the progress of the day, and found that the progress of Jiang's military affairs troops was 3 or 4 kilometers less, and 6 or 7 kilometers more. Out of Huang Baitao's corps.Du Yuming felt very optimistic. After reporting to Liu Zhi, Liu Zhi was also very happy. In order to boost morale, Liu Zhi personally went to Yuanshan to conduct inspections. On the night of the 15th, the Ministry of National Defense of the Kuomintang found that most of the PLA's luggage was moving northward based on the air force's reconnaissance. From this, it judged that the PLA had signs of retreat, and repeatedly urged the "General Suppression" to issue pursuit orders, but Liu Zhi believed that the PLA was besieging Huang Baitao's corps. If you are determined to win, there is no reason to spit out the fat in your mouth.While asking the air force to reinforce Nianzhuangwei, he still urged Qiu Qingquan and Li Mi's corps to attack fiercely, adopting "fireball tactics" to attack, and once again came to the front line in person. In order to lure the enemy eastward, the head of the East China Field Army decided to withdraw slightly to the east with the 10th, 7th, and 11th verticals, and the flanking corps also retreated slightly. On the 17th, the various units of the East China Field Army, which blocked the enemy on the Xudong front line, took the initiative to withdraw to the Daxujia front line, on the premise that they had basically completed the blocking of the Qiu and Li corps' east aid, and ensured that my troops surrounding Nianzhuangxu had enough time to destroy Huang Baitao's corps. Interspersed and divided in each department to form a new encirclement.After the 10th column withdrew from the original blocking battlefield, Qiu Qingquan's corps and Li Mi's corps immediately advanced eastward. On the 18th, the Kuomintang Air Force detected that the People's Liberation Army had retreated in separate ways.At this time, the Qiu and Li corps were only more than 10 kilometers away from Nianzhuangwei. They immediately succeeded in "suppressing the general" in Xuzhou. , Li Bingtuan chased forward. On the one hand, he won the victory in Nanjing, on the other hand, he asked the Political Work Office to notify the city to set off firecrackers to celebrate, and put up slogans such as "Xuzhou Great Victory" and "Celebrate the Victory of Xuzhou Defense War". Hype.In order to publicize his "war results", Liu Zhi also telegraphed the victories in all provinces and held a press conference.For a while, slogans were posted all over the street, and the city of Xuzhou was full of noise celebrating "Great Victory" and "Victory".He also said triumphantly that this time he was worthy of the "Chinese". Chiang Kai-shek also believed it was true, and sent Zhang Daofan, head of the Central Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang, to lead a condolence delegation to the front line of Xuzhou.Chiang Kai-shek felt a little relieved, and immediately ordered the troops to pursue along the canal line. At noon that day, the Kuomintang's 2nd Corps and 13th Corps entered the north-south line of Daxu's house and encountered stubborn resistance. Only then did they know that the PLA had not retreated. The 7th Corps was still under siege. At the press conference, a reporter asked: "Where did General Huang Baitao go after such a great victory?" Du Yuming calmly replied: "General Huang Baitao went home to rest." The so-called "great victory" is a self-deceiving military situation. At this moment, the outskirts of Nianzhuangwei were disappearing one by one. The diorama was exposed, and Liu Zhi was scolded by Chiang Kai-shek. On the morning of the 20th, Chiang Kai-shek assigned Guo Rugui and Wang Shuming, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Air Force, to Xuzhou to discuss with Liu Zhi and Du Yuming the tactics of breaking through the Daxu family's position. The supporting infantry assaulted in depth in multiple echelons and rolled to the sides.If there is a progress of 5 kilometers in one day, you can continue to break through in the future, and if you can't achieve it, surround it to the right. After Guo Rugui and Wang Shuming arrived in Xuzhou, they immediately met with Liu Zhi and Du Yuming, but Liu Zhi said something else.Liu Zhi told Guo Rugui that he had several opinions: (1) Invite the President to personally command; (2) Express reinforcements from the two armies; (3) The President is asked to make up his mind to move eastward with all his strength, and ignore the safety of Xuzhou. Guo Rugui pondered and remained silent. He was wondering whether Liu Zhi wanted to shirk his responsibility by saying nice things on purpose, or he wanted to take this opportunity to let Du Yuming go to the front line. It was more important for him to leave Xuzhou and go to Bengbu himself to save his life. Looking at Nianzhuangwei from a height, the surrounding fields are boundless, and they are all open areas.The so-called "Great Victory", Huang Baitao knew best, he was surrounded here tightly, like a beast trapped for a long time, Huang Baitao didn't want to sit and wait for death, but he was helpless. Even though Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi's corps and Huang Baitao's corps were less than 20 kilometers apart, they couldn't meet up. The troops who went to rescue and Huang Baitao's corps who were standing still waiting for help could only hear the sound of artillery, but no one could save the other.The 5th Corps, which Du Yuming called the "trump card" among the "trump cards", had nothing to do.Huang Baitao didn't expect them to come to save him, he was distracted between fighting and staying, and couldn't come up with a good idea. Huang Baitao had no choice but to call a meeting of the commanders of the various armies to discuss countermeasures and make a choice between staying or leaving.As a result, most of the army commanders advocated breaking out, but at this time he received an order from the Ministry of National Defense, asking him to repel the encirclement of the "communist army" before retreating.Huang Baitao fell into deep thought. Now that all the armies are broken, it is not unknown that the 44th Army is poor in combat effectiveness. Only the 64th Army can still fight, but it is not a long-term solution.After much deliberation, he still had no choice but to stick to it and wait for help.He had no choice but to comfort everyone by saying that Qiu Qingquan and Li Mi's corps will come to reinforce us in a few days, Du Yuming also supports us, and we will soon be out of trouble.In fact, in order to maintain the overall situation, he had to adopt self-deception. Huang Baitao is not mediocre, since the battle situation is like this, in order to prevent our army from attacking, he has organized his troops to prepare for the battle.To the west of the canal, the area of ​​more than 10 kilometers from the north to the south of Longhai Road was originally the defense area of ​​Li Mi's 13th Corps.Every village is built with a soil fence 2 or 3 meters above the ground. Outside the soil fence, a trench more than 10 meters deep and 10 to 15 meters wide is dug, and there are many bunkers and dark forts, forming a relatively complete defensive position.The traffic trenches and trenches in the village are connected, and the villages are connected.Huang Baitao then placed his 25th, 44th, 64th, and 100th armies in the east, west, south, and north surrounding villages centered on Nianzhuangwei for defense.The surrounding area of ​​the village is open land, which is why it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Since the 11th, for three consecutive days, due to the lack of preparations for attacking critical equipment and the artillery fire could not keep up, the progress of our army's attack was slow and the casualties were heavy. Seeing this situation, Huang Baitao's confidence was greatly boosted for a while. He couldn't restrain his excitement in the telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, and said: "It is not so easy for the Communist Army to eat me." Under such circumstances, our East China Field Army immediately held an emergency combat meeting and readjusted the deployment.According to the battlefield situation, the East China Field Army instructed each column to adopt night approaching operations, approaching in a concealed manner, concentrating its forces, competing point by point, and attacking one by one. After our army changed its style of play, the outer positions of Nianzhuangwei were in danger for a while.Huang Baitao had no choice but to ask Nanjing for help, and Gu Zhutong was also extremely nervous, so he quickly dispatched the air force to carry out the bombing.From then on, whenever the ground position of Nianzhuangxu encountered an emergency, the air force immediately organized bombing.It is by this method that the progress of our army's offensive has been slowed down. As long as the battlefield situation improves slightly.The Nanjing Kuomintang Commander-in-Chief and Liu Zhi of Xuzhou's "Suppression General" made a big fuss, and began to publicize the "Nianzhuangwei Great Victory", saying that the "communist army"'s "human sea tactics" were of no avail. Blood flowed like a river, and now the "communist army" has retreated across the board. For this reason, He Yingqin of the Nanjing Ministry of National Defense immediately sent a plane to deliver the medal to Huang Baitao, and Gu Zhutong personally flew to the sky above Nianzhuangwei to talk to Huang Baitao and airdropped a commendation order to him.The Kuomintang carried out propaganda on Huang Baitao overwhelmingly in the "Central Daily" and "Sweeping Daily".On the one hand, there was a snowflake of congratulatory messages and telephone calls, and on the other hand, there were telegrams from various troops requesting for replenishment of food, fodder and ammunition. Dangerous situations appeared in many positions.Under our army's continuous attacks, Huang Baitao was tired of coping and became increasingly haggard. On the evening of November 14th, the head of our East China Field Army called the main leaders of the 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 13th columns and the special column to hold an emergency combat meeting to study the enemy's situation and decide to unify the six columns. Under the unified command of Tan Zhenlin, the political commissar of the Shandong Corps, and Wang Jian'an, the deputy commander, with 9 columns in the south, 6 columns in the southwest, 13 columns in the northwest, 4 columns in the north, and 8 columns in the east, they launched an attack on Huang Baitao's corps from four sides.At the same time, the East China Field Army mobilized the most powerful special column and placed them on four sides to effectively cooperate with the attacking troops to launch an offensive. After the columns were fully prepared for the attack, they began to attack Huang Baitao's corps on the night of the 15th.After three days of fierce fighting, led by the 9th Column, it stepped up its attacks on the enemy's 100th Army and 44th Army from the west and south, and wiped out most of these two armies. 8 In addition to monitoring the enemy in the east of Nianzhuangwei with a part of the troops, the main force defended the enemy from the northwest of the burning house, the southwest of the compound, and the Nianzhuangwei.The column organized artillery groups to suppress and destroy the enemy's bunker fortifications.In the fierce military offensive, a powerful political offensive was launched at the same time.Shocking shouts and earth-shattering gunfire merged together, making the enemy terrified. Faced with the hopeless situation of rescue, Huang Baitao gathered all his generals to start the pre-war agitation. These generals looked like gamblers who lost their eyes. On the evening of November 19, our army launched a general attack on the Huang Baitao regiment headquarters, the 25th Army headquarters and its directly affiliated combat troops at Nianzhuangwei. According to the plan, the 8th and 9th columns will be the main attack from the southeast and due south; the 4th column will attack from the north; the 6th column will attack from the west with the cooperation of 6 special column tanks. Nianzhuangwei, a village with less than 200 households located on the Huaihai Plain, is famous both at home and abroad because of the Huaihai decisive battle.After Huang Baitao's painstaking management, it has two ditches and walls, and there are nearly 100 meters of open land and several courtyards between the inner and outer houses.The trenches range in width from more than ten meters to more than twenty meters, and the water depth is more than one meter.In addition to the permanent defense system outside the enclosure, the enemy also used a network of bunkers to form a tight fire net between the two enclosures. After the general offensive began, the 8th Column used a company of the 67th Regiment of the Pioneer Regiment of the 23rd Division as a commando, and fought side by side with the "Jinan 1st Regiment" of the 9th Column, directly into the heart of Huang Baitao's corps.The two main attacking groups informed each other of the situation, united and coordinated, and cooperated closely.The two command posts set up telephones. If the telephone lines were interrupted by enemy artillery fire, staff officers would be sent to contact each other. Before the infantry charged, 8 Zong gave an order to concentrate 57 cannons, divide them into 4 artillery groups, and bombard the enemy's position fiercely.Suddenly, the sound of cannons shook the sky, and countless fire dragons pierced the night sky and flew towards Nianzhuangxu. They fired more than 4,600 shells in just 3 quarters of an hour. The artillery, known as the "God of War", was besieging Nianzhuangxu. The central government showed its prowess, a large number of the enemy's vital forces were killed and the fortifications were destroyed, and the infantry troops rushed forward bravely along this opened path. In the early winter of the Huaihai Plain, the sky is freezing, the north wind is bitter, and the trench water at night is icy cold.In order to buy time for a breakthrough, the comrades of the commando jumped into the waist-deep trench and waded forward. Some comrades simply took off their cotton clothes and waded through the water barefooted.The trench walls and walls are steep and difficult to climb, and the soldiers climbed up and fell down again and again.The enemy, stunned by my artillery fire, just woke up from a nightmare, and the machine guns and grenades came all at once.While fighting back and suppressing the enemy's firepower, the soldiers piled up "Arhats" and climbed up, shouting slogans and encouraging each other, "Crossing the ditch and climbing the wall is victory!" In just half an hour, the first wall of Nianzhuang Wei The breakthrough was torn open by the 9th company, and the red signal flare flew over the gap.My follow-up troops followed up. The enemy defenders used artillery fire, infantry crossfire, and flamethrowers to form a new wall of fire with the surviving fortifications to hinder our army's advance. Many comrades were burned on the ground by the flames, but as soon as the flames went out, they rushed up again.After some fighting, a battalion of the defending enemy was wiped out on a position full of bunkers and trenches.After the assault company and follow-up troops occupied several courtyards and gained a firm foothold, they immediately supported the "Jinan 1st Regiment" and pressed against the defending enemy there.At this time, the two main attacking fists joined together to repel the crazy counterattack of the enemy "Youth Commando" and attack forward.In order to get close to the shooting and hit the blind spot, Chen Hong, the chief of staff of the column, and the commanders and fighters of the 67th regiment researched the use of cannons to throw explosives, which caused great damage to the enemy.According to the captured soldiers: this kind of "cannonball" will fly to the top of the wall and explode, and there is no way to hide.The head of the East China Field Army praised the bombardment of explosives as a great invention. After the 8th Column and the "Jinan 1st Regiment" met outside the south gate of the second wall, they jointly studied the coordination of troops and firearms. The "Jinan 1st Regiment" broke through the south gate first, and the two troops rushed in together. When the follow-up troops rushed to the stone bridge at the south gate, the stone bridge was bombed and collapsed by enemy artillery fire.At this critical moment, Chen Hong, the chief of staff commanding at the scene, saw some obstacles in the trench, and immediately ordered the 7th Company of the 67th Regiment, which was in charge of building the bridge, to use these things to reinforce the bridge so that the follow-up troops could continuously rush through.When the troops were approaching the headquarters of Huang Baitao's regiment, they fought house-by-house and point-by-point with the dying enemy, sometimes hand-to-hand combat.Fighting continued until 5:50 in the morning on the 20th, and the troops attacking the enemy's Corps Headquarters and the 25th Army Headquarters joined forces.When Dong Yuxiang, the head of the secret service, entered Huang Baitao's residence, he found a pistol and a bottle of sleeping pills abandoned on the blanket where Huang Baitao was sleeping.So far, except for Huang Baitao who led more than a thousand people to flee to the compound upper village where the 64th Army headquarters was guarded, the enemy was completely wiped out. The 9th Zong, which was the main attack side by side with the 8th Zong, carried out the main attack in the south along the direction of Shaodun, Railway Station, and Nianzhuangwei, and attacked side by side with the 25th and 26th Divisions. On November 15th, in order to prepare for the attack on Nianzhuangwei, the column readjusted its attack deployment due to the shrinking front of the attack, attacked Nianzhuangwei with ingenious divisions, and transferred the 26th Division to the second line for a short rest. On November 19, after breaking through the enemy's frontier, the 9th Vertical developed very slowly.At this moment, the 25th Division asked Nie Fengzhi, the commander of the 9th Column, for instructions. There was a small unit in the 8th Column that asked to join the battle from the breakthrough of the 73rd Regiment of the 25th Division. together.As the team went in, the attack speed was accelerated. After 4 hours of fierce fighting, they broke through the enemy's two enclosures in a row, and the enemy immediately lost their position. "Huang Baitao is going to run away!" The exciting news came out immediately.It turned out that Huang Baitao's Corps Headquarters and the 64th Army's Army Headquarters talked in Cantonese on the radio, saying that number one (referring to Huang) was going to the compound and asked to send someone to escort him.It happened that the old Guang of 9 Zong, an army reporter named Kong Guangping, overheard the news.When Nie Fengzhi heard the words, he immediately ordered the artillery to conduct blocking fire, but unfortunately they missed. After the 9th vertical assault force settled the enemy's artillery position, it developed in depth and entered Huang Baitao's Corps Headquarters. Huang Baitao's Corps headquarters was set up in a winery, which had already been bombed beyond recognition by our army's fierce artillery fire. The shells directly hit the roof. Afterwards, someone curiously counted it and found that there were 7 skylights on it.Huang Baitao was lucky enough not to be killed by the bombing, and he and the commander of the 25th Army led the remnants to the villages of Dayuanshang, Xiaoyuanshang and Youjiahu to continue their tenacious struggle. He left behind a new American jeep and a pair of ivory mahjong The card and a copper hot pot became the trophies of our army.Huang Baitao ran too hastily, with only a few entourages with him, all the staff in the Corps headquarters became prisoners, and he didn't even have time to destroy the two boxes of confidential passwords.The column headquarters immediately sent someone to send the code to the field army headquarters, which later played a significant role in the deciphering work in the second and third stages of the decisive battle. At this time, Nianzhuangwei has been conquered. Huang Baitao has already reached the end of his life. During this battle, Xinhua News Agency published a commentary drafted by Mao Zedong on "Major Changes in the Situation of the Chinese Army".Mao Zedong was full of confidence and pointed out that in another year or so, the Kuomintang reactionary government might be fundamentally overthrown. The fact turned out to be as he expected. The small Nianzhuang Wei has been submerged in the flames of war.Huang Baitao knew clearly that he was at the end of his road, and this was probably his destination.Huang Baitao, who has always been conceited, never had such an idea.He has been on the battlefield for many years, and it is precisely because of his outstanding military exploits and loyalty that he has been highly valued by Chiang Kai-shek. He never imagined that he would fall to such a point today. The sound of gunfire in the polder sounded like a reply to him. Several columns of our army fight together, it is a game without competition, and no one is willing to lag behind.However, when breaking through the enemy's frontier, it developed very slowly.The polders are full of stubbornly resisting enemies, gunshots everywhere, bunkers, and the enemies are constantly counterattacking like mad dogs.The soldiers who attacked by wading on foot were soaked in cotton-padded clothes, which were heavy and cold on their bodies, and their faces turned blue from the cold. On November 19, almost all the artillery fire was concentrated on this one place.Before the collapse of Nianzhuangxu, our East China Field Army carried out a 30-minute artillery attack. Huang Baitao was trembling, and the whole Nianzhuangxu was trembling.At the same time, Huang Baitao almost without thinking ordered his artillery to fire all the shells.Huang Baitao's face turned livid. After about 4 hours of fierce fighting, at 40 am on the 20th, the 5th Company of the 73rd Regiment of the 9th Vertical (under the command of the 1st Battalion) broke through the second enclosure.The first and second enclosures are only a hundred meters apart.Once the second enclosure was broken through, the enemy's core position was hit by our army as if it were in a torrent. Huang Baitao spent the last few days of his life in deep anxiety. The People's Liberation Army's charge horn sounded, and Huang Baitao also heard the loud and clear voice.Huang Baitao was protected by Liu Zhenxiang, commander of the 64th Army, Yang Tingyan, deputy commander of the 25th Army, and others, and he staggered out of the encirclement. There are people everywhere, and there are shouts and killings everywhere. On the 22nd, the enemy's 7th Corps was completely wiped out.Huang Baitao and Yang Tingyan broke through from Xiaofei Village in the northeast of Nianzhuangwei to the west, and they were under a haystack, seeing that there was no way out.Huang Baitao pulled out the pistol from his waist, pointed it at himself and pulled the trigger. "I'm old and sick. I can't walk as a prisoner, and I'm embarrassed. My death may wake up those who are drunk and dreaming. You are still young and you can do something. Party-state do something." These are the words Huang Baitao left for those around him at the last moment of his life. Huang Baitao once said to Yang Tingyan that he had "three puzzles": (1) Why am I so stupid to wait for the 44th Army in Xin'an Town for two days; (2) I have been waiting in Xin'an Town for two days, why didn't I know about the construction of a military bridge over the canal; (3) Since Li Mi's corps is going to attack eastward to help me in the future, why didn't they cover my westward retreat at Cao Baji? Even at the last moment of his life, he was still stubborn.But neither he nor Chiang Kai-shek could grasp the development of the war situation.This is a historical necessity. After Huang Baitao's death, Yang Tingyan saw a soldier from the People's Liberation Army approaching, and pretended that the deceased was his elder brother, and there were only two brothers. And took the opportunity to hand over Huang Baitao's pistol to the PLA soldier, asking for assistance in his burial.After the burial, he noted the location and marked it down.After he fled back to Nanjing, he reported the situation to Gu Zhutong.Gu Zhutong sent someone to transport Huang Baitao's body back to Nanjing according to the mentioned location. Huang Baitao's annihilation was equivalent to cutting off a powerful arm of Chiang Kai-shek's main force in the Xu Bang battle. November 23.East China Field Army Command. Su Yu was sitting on a chair, looking sideways at the map on the wall in a daze. Zhang Zhen, the deputy chief of staff, walked gently, suppressing the excitement from the bottom of his heart, and said in a low voice as much as possible: "Commander Su, Tan Zhenlin, and Wang Jian'an called to report that the Nianzhuang battle has successfully ended!" "Huh?" Su Yu put down his hands, straightened his body, and looked at Zhang Zhen silently. "The Nianzhuang battle is over!" Zhang Zhen couldn't restrain his excitement anymore, let go of his voice and said loudly, "Huang Baitao's army has been wiped out!" "Oh!" Su Yu responded flatly, then suddenly his head tilted, his body went limp, and he almost fell down with the chair. Zhang Zhen hurriedly stepped forward to support him, calling repeatedly: "Commander Su, Commander Su..." Su Yu relaxed and fell asleep peacefully. Many years later, when Su Yu talked about the matter to his wife, Chu Qian, he said: "At that time, I was too nervous. From the Central Military Commission, including the Chairman, down to us, at first they underestimated the combat effectiveness of Huang Baitao's corps. Nails, but I dare not complain to the chairman, so I have to go all out to fight. The chairman calls every day to ask about the situation of the battle, and I am very anxious. The troops are fighting very hard..." It wasn't until it was time to light the lamp that Su Yu let out a long breath and woke up slowly.For more than half a month, he had never slept so calmly.After waking up, he felt refreshed and refreshed. He sat up and stretched his waist and asked, "What time is it?" Zhang Zhen who was waiting by his bed told him that it was already night. An artillery observation station of a certain People's Liberation Army "started to work" for nine days and nights of continuous observation of targets. "You haven't eaten all day." “真的？”粟裕突然觉得是有点饿了，“有鸡吗？”他问张震。 这天晚上，华东野战军司令部灯火通明。粟裕和谭震林、陈士榘、唐士亮等人一起总结歼黄作战经验，大家的心情既高兴又沉重，因为这几个主要作战纵队，如4纵、7纵、8纵、9纵、10纵、11纵、13纵伤亡都平均在2000人以上，有的竟达5000多人。 “这一条经验非常重要，是我们用生命和鲜血换来的。”粟裕用一根指头在桌子上比画着说：“在江淮平原作战，由运动战转入攻坚战的时候，不可急于求成，而应加强对壕作业，隐蔽接近敌人，将壕沟挖到敌人眼前再发起攻击，逐点争夺，逐个歼灭。” 谭震林笑着说：“这就叫吃一堑长一智！” 会议结束后，粟裕将棉衣一裹，走了出来。这是一个繁星满天的夜晚。 在这天夜里，粟裕发现远处似乎有点点火光在摇摇晃晃地移动着。粟裕凝神谛听，一片吱吱呀呀的声音，像车轮滚动。他再向四周望去，若明若暗地到处都有火光移动，又隐隐地传来吆喝牲口的声音。他心头猛地一热，多好的人民！ 历时半个月的淮海战役第一阶段作战中，我9纵共歼敌黄百韬兵团部及44军、25军、63军、64军各一部，共2.41万余人，缴获各种火炮200余门和其它战利品，我9纵也付出了7000余人的伤亡代价。