Chapter 7 Chapter 7

The Huaihai battlefield is still billowing with smoke and artillery fire.When Huang Baitao's corps was about to be destroyed, Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, and Deng Xiaoping turned their sights and targets to Huang Wei's corps according to the development of the battle situation. Huang Baitao was defeated at Nianzhuangwei, and the East China Field Army turned around and went straight to Xuzhou, threatening Xuzhou and the entire Jianghuai region. Li Yannian and Liu Ruming's corps were in a precarious situation.Xuzhou became an isolated city in an instant.It made Chiang Kai-shek terrified.

In order to get rid of the isolation of the Xuzhou defenders and keep the corps of Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi, and Sun Yuanliang from being annihilated, Chiang Kai-shek had to call Liu Zhi, Du Yuming and others to the official residence on Huangpu Road in Nanjing for a meeting to discuss the next battle plan. In order to save Huang Baitao, Chiang Kai-shek transferred the Huangwei Corps from Bai Chongxi. The Huangwei Corps rushed to rescue Huang Baitao starry night, but was trapped in Shuangduiji, Su County, Northern Anhui.Chiang Kai-shek personally sent the Huangwei Corps into the pocket of the People's Liberation Army.How similar is the scene of history.Who will rescue the Huang Wei Corps in the next step?Chiang Kai-shek, who had always been superstitious, couldn't help but draw a shadow in his heart.However, the situation was critical, and Chiang Kai-shek was really anxious to see that he was about to suffer another disaster on the Xubeng battlefield.

When Du Yuming hurried into the conference room of the Presidential Palace, Gu Zhutong, Liu Fei, Wang Shuming, Guo Rugui and other military and government officials had already arrived and were discussing a lot. Du Yuming's appearance attracted everyone's attention. "Guangting, you are here!" Gu Zhutong pulled Du Yuming into the small living room, and said to Du Yuming, "The situation is very dangerous now, we have to reconsider, what suggestion do you have?" Du Yuming couldn't hold back his anger any longer, and asked loudly: "It was decided to add a few more troops, why didn't a single one come in? Who is responsible for this difficult situation?"

Gu Zhutong said with embarrassment: "You don't understand! You can't move around everywhere!" "Since we knew we couldn't mobilize our troops for a decisive battle, we shouldn't have decided to fight at the beginning! Now that Huang Wei's corps is under siege, who will rescue him? The only way to save Huang Wei at present is to concentrate all the troops that can be concentrated, and fight the 'communist army' decisively. Otherwise, Huang Wei is finished, Xuzhou will not be protected, and Nanjing will not be able to defend." Gu Zhutong said dejectedly: "The old man also has difficulties. He has tried everything he can, but he still can't mobilize a single army. Now he has decided to abandon Xuzhou and fight again when he comes out. Can you see if he can withdraw completely?"

Under the heavy blow of the People's Liberation Army, Du Yuming Group was forced to abandon Xuzhou and flee towards Yongcheng.This is the People's Liberation Army chasing the Kuomintang government troops through downtown Xuzhou Du Yuming thought for a while before saying: "Since there is no troop strength to adjust, it is impossible to win if we continue to fight. It is not a big problem to withdraw from Xuzhou. It is even less sure to give up Xuzhou and fight again when we come out. The only way is to let Huang Wei restrain the Communist Party." Army', I withdrew Xuzhou troops, passed Yongcheng to Mengcheng, Guoyang, and Fuyang areas, relying on the Huaihe River, and then attacked the 'communist army' to break Huangwei's siege."

Gu Zhutong understands that in this way, the Huangwei Corps is likely to be ruined, but being able to rescue the Xuzhou Group is also a good strategy to abandon the pawns and save the car. At the beginning of the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek lost his temper with his senior generals. Later, he barely suppressed the anger before starting the discussion.Finally, the Kuomintang High Command made a plan to withdraw from Xuzhou and retreat to the south of the Huaihe River. In order to be able to withdraw the main force from Xuzhou, Chiang Kai-shek decided that the corps near Xuzhou should immediately shrink their battle lines and work together to open up the Xubang line.The Huangwei Corps continued to attack Su County from the west of Anhui, and the three routes would attack Su County.But things did not develop as he had imagined, and the Huangwei Corps got into our army's pocket first in a daze.

At this time, our army is waiting for a fighter.The three corps of Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi, and Sun Yuanliang were gathered together near Xuzhou, and it was not easy to defeat them individually.The East China Field Army was already quite tired after annihilating Huang Baitao's corps, and it was difficult to be sure to win the next battle without going into battle immediately after resting.After the great battle, the East China Field Army "seemed to have a slightly blunted blade."The Central Military Commission instructed the Central Plains Field Army to contain the Huangwei Corps so that the East China Field Army could temporarily rest and wait for opportunities.

On November 22, at Zhouyinxu, the headquarters of the General Front Committee, the Central Plains Field Army Command held a meeting of leading cadres of each column to study the deployment of the Huangwei Corps. Find the right time to attack. On the 23rd, the Central Military Commission pointed out in a telegram congratulating the victory of the first phase of the campaign: "For us, the most beneficial thing is to annihilate the enemies in front of us one by one in the current situation. We should strive for this." The central idea is to attack the south first. Huang Wei Corps.

That night, Liu, Chen, and Deng called the Central Military Commission to ask for instructions: "Now is a very good time to wipe out the Huangwei Corps." , we will do so.” At 15:00 on November 24, the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao sent a telegram to the General Front Committee: (1) Totally agree to fight the Huangwei Corps first. (2) Wangsu, Chen, Zhang follow the deployment of Liu, Chen, and Deng, and send necessary troops to fight against the Huangwei Corps. (3) When the situation is urgent, Liu, Chen, and Deng will handle everything on the fly, and do not ask for instructions.

The Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao are good at adopting the suggestions of front-line commanders, revising the plan in time to adapt to the changed situation, and once again reaffirming the right to "ad hoc disposal" given to Liu, Chen, and Deng of the General Front Committee. Mao Zedong in Xibaipo was very optimistic. He understood the principle of "the general is out, and the emperor's fate is not accepted", and there was no need to ask for instructions on everything. Huang Wei, 42 years old at the time, was born in Guixi, Jiangxi Province. He was a graduate of the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy. He served as the commander of the 18th Army in 1938, and was later transferred to the principal of the new military academy in Wuhan. He can be regarded as a veteran Kuomintang general. It is well-known in the Kuomintang army.But he is withdrawn and too academic, and he doesn't get along well with other Kuomintang generals.Prior to this, he was preparing to build a "new military academy" modeled on the system of the United States Military Academy at West Point. When the 12th Corps was formed in 1948, Chen Cheng recommended Huang Wei as the commander of the Corps.When Chiang Kai-shek asked him to be the commander of the 12th Corps, he felt that he had been out of the army for a long time. He had shied away from Chiang Kai-shek face to face, but Chiang Kai-shek insisted on not allowing him, and even until he expressed his displeasure, Huang Wei was ordered to hastily form the 12th Corps. corps.

The Huangwei Corps was ordered to be aided by Queshan Mountain, marched towards Su County, was blocked south of the Huaihe River, and was dragged by our army in Tongbai Mountain for nearly 20 days. It was quite exhausted, but its strength should not be underestimated. The 12th Corps led by Huang Wei is Chiang Kai-shek's elite troops, under the jurisdiction of the 10th, 14th, 18th, and 85th Corps (including the 4th Rapid Column), with a total of more than 120,000 people.Among them, the 18th Army was cultivated by Chen Cheng with all the American equipment, and the officers are all graduates of military schools. It is one of the "five main forces" of the Kuomintang Army and can be called the "trump card" of the Kuomintang Army.Due to the situation, Chiang Kai-shek and Bai Chongxi threw this trump card on the battlefield in an attempt to reverse the crisis.But what they didn't expect was that Huang Wei's corps, with 120,000 people, not only did not provide any reinforcements to the enemy of Xuzhou, but repeated the mistakes of Huang Baitao's corps and became a piece of fat in the pocket of the PLA. In contrast, our Central Plains Field Army had only seven columns and two brigades.Since the troops moved to the Dabie Mountains, they have not been able to be replenished in time.For example, the first batch of four columns and Yezhi to go south to the Dabie Mountains had a total of 1.15 million people, and more than 30,000 people were reduced after three months.There are also some combat-capable vertical, brigade, and regiment cadres who have been adjusted to work in newly opened military regions and localities.When the Battle of Huaihai started, in terms of military strength, except for the 1st and 4th columns, which each had 9 regiments, the remaining 4 columns had only 6 regiments, and the 9th column had only 5 regiments.On average, each column has only 150,000 to 160,000 people, of which the 2nd and 11th columns have no more than 120,000 to 130,000 people.The total number of troops that can participate in the battle is about 120,000, which is equivalent to that of the Huang Weibing People's Liberation Army troops passing through the Qinggongmen Regiment.Let's talk about weapons. When they leaped thousands of miles into the Dabie Mountains, in order to pack lightly, they even reluctantly blew up some heavy artillery.During the struggle in the Dabie Mountains, some weapons had to be buried due to a large number of troops being reduced.Before the war, apart from a limited number of dozens of field artillery, mountain artillery, infantry artillery and more than 200 mortars, the basic combat weapons were light and heavy machine guns, rifles and grenades, and the ammunition was insufficient.Therefore, weapons and equipment are at an obvious disadvantage.Deng Xiaoping later said with emotion: "After coming out of the Dabie Mountains, the Second Field was weakened. The weapons of the Second Field were already poor, and the heavy weapons that were finally seized from the enemy were lost when they crossed the yellow flood zone. Two The field force was small, and it was divided into two groups, one for Liu and Deng, and one for Chen Geng. The four main columns were all weakened, and there were three columns with only two brigades each. However, we have always maintained a strong fighting spirit." Under such circumstances, it was indeed very difficult for our Central Plains Field Army to wipe out Chiang Kai-shek's "ace" army.However, in order to realize the Central Military Commission's intention of annihilating the main force of the enemy north of the Huaihe River, in accordance with the instructions of the General Front Committee, the Central Plains Field Army resolutely decided to fight a decisive battle with the Huangwei Corps with the cooperation of the East China Field Army at all costs.Deng Xiaoping said categorically: "As long as the main force of the enemy forces on the southern front is wiped out, the Central Plains Field Army will be wiped out, and the People's Liberation Army from all walks of life in the country can still win the country. This price is worth it." Deng Xiaoping's famous words, until many years later, It makes every veteran of the Central Plains Field Army feel infinitely honored. As soon as Huang Wei's 12th Corps was formed, Chiang Kai-shek transferred him to Queshan to attack the Central Plains Field Army.Xuzhou was in a hurry, and Chiang Kai-shek asked him to go east immediately.When Huang Wei was ordered to be in danger, he really had unspeakable difficulties. On November 8, the Huangwei Corps, with 120,000 troops, marched from Queshandong to assist Xuzhou.When he first set off, Huang Wei was sitting in the convertible jeep, full of pride that "Heaven sent a great responsibility to the people". He did not believe that the People's Liberation Army would have three heads and six arms to stop his modernized corps. In order to ensure that the East China Field Army wiped out the Huang Baitao Corps on the eastern front and the main force of the Central Plains Field Army fought on the Xubang Line, the heads of Liu, Chen, and Deng decided to use part of their troops to block the delayed eastward aid of the Huang Wei Corps. As soon as the vanguard of the Huangwei Corps arrived at Fuyang Ferry, they were caught off guard by our 1st and 20th Brigade and the troops of the Henan, Anhui and Soviet Military Regions.Under the tenacious resistance of our army, we had to cross the river in a detour from the lower reaches, but it has been delayed for two days.Huang Wei arrived later and was furious.As Huang Baitao's corps was at stake, Chiang Kai-shek urged Huang Wei to advance faster.However, Huang Wei had unspeakable difficulties. Roads and bridges were constantly damaged along the way, and militia guerrillas continued to attack. Sometimes he could not advance 10 kilometers a day. It was not until the evening of the 18th that he reached Mengcheng on the south bank of the Guohe River.Chiang Kai-shek issued another order to urge Huang Wei to advance to Su County. At this time, our army received orders from the heads of Liu, Chen, and Deng, and the main force of the 1st vertical (1st and 2nd brigades) entered the Mengcheng and Banqiaoji areas to organize defenses and block the Huangwei Corps.On the night of the 16th, the troops rushed to the Mengcheng, Banqiaoji, and Tangji areas, relying on the Wohe River and Feihe River to organize defenses and cover the assembly and deployment of the main force. On November 16, Commander Yang Yong of the Column and Deputy Commander Yin Xianbing led the cadres of the brigade and regiment to the Mengcheng area with the 2nd Brigade and the 8th Regiment to reconnaissance the terrain. Knowing that the water regime and terrain of the Guohe River are natural barriers to blocking the enemy, they decided to rely on Organize the defense of the position, focus on the north bank of the Wo River, resolutely prevent the enemy from attacking the north bank of the Wo River, use points to control the surface, and master a certain amount of maneuvering force, and prepare to counterattack and destroy the attacking enemy in a timely manner.At the same time, the reconnaissance and security of the flanks were strengthened to prevent the enemy from turning around. After the 20th brigade was rebuilt, it entered the Chendazhuang area and became the reserve team of the column.The column headquarters is located in Tangji.After each brigade enters the designated position, it must make pre-war preparations as soon as possible. In the afternoon of the second day, the enemy's vanguard entered the area west of Mengcheng.In order to prevent the enemy from detouring to the left wing of the 2nd Brigade, the column headquarters immediately ordered the 1st Brigade and 2nd Regiment (attached to the reconnaissance company) to enter Ding Dazhuang and Ding Laozhuang on the east of Mengcheng and on the north bank of the Wohe River, and organize defense with Baoji as the focus. At 19:00, the 2nd regiment arrived at the designated location. At dusk, after a part of the 11th Division of the 18th Army of the enemy arrived in Mengcheng, with the support of heavy artillery fire, they crossed the Wohe River from the northwest of Mengcheng and launched 4 consecutive attacks on Houjiazhuang, all of which were repelled by me one by one.At the same time, the enemy's 118th Division turned around to our right flank. Two battalions of the 353rd Regiment and 1 battalion of the 354th Regiment crossed the Wohe River and attacked Huang's and Chen's families.Because our main force failed to arrive, the positions of the Huang family and the Chen family all fell to the enemy.Our reconnaissance company launched a counterattack against the enemy, but it failed because the enemy was outnumbered. Since then, our blocking troops have been carrying out counterattacks and entered the villages occupied by the enemy, but they were counterattacked by the enemy's superior forces, and the troops suffered heavy casualties.After repeated struggles, they lost their positions several times and had to be forced to evacuate. Considering that it is not easy to attack during the day, around 2:00 in the morning, Jin Shilin, head of the 4th Regiment, and Zheng Lu, the political commissar, led their troops to attack the enemy-occupied village from the northeast of the village by means of a surprise attack at night. , or due to insufficient troops, the attack did not work.In the battle, Jin Shilin, the head of the regiment, died gloriously.In the absence of command, the troops fought on their own, fighting fiercely with the enemy.At this moment, after entering the village, the combat staff officer of the regiment headquarters took the initiative to command the troops to capture the northern half of the village, block the main crossings in the village, and capture more than 400 enemies.At this time, the fighting was extremely fierce, and the prisoners could not be evacuated, and they were all locked in a compound.The enemy struggled to counterattack and burned the house (thatched cottage) I occupied with a flamethrower, and even the enemy officers and soldiers captured by our army were burned to death inside: a certain unit of the People's Liberation Army of our attack department held a memorial meeting for the martyrs who died in the battle The team suffered more and more casualties, and they still used all available places such as courtyard walls and room corners to fight the enemy.Later, when all the cadres died, the health worker Guo Min stepped forward and said: "The cadres are all injured. We must continue to fight and destroy the attacking enemies. Everyone follow my command!" He took the lead and rushed towards the enemy.This situation often occurs on the Huaihai battlefield. When a cadre is sacrificed, it is the soldiers who command the soldiers to continue fighting. After fierce fighting until dawn, Zheng Lu, political commissar of the regiment, led reinforcements into the village and continued to command the battle.At this time, the enemy also reinforced the village.I had a lot of casualties, and it was difficult to communicate with the outside of the village. Several times I sent messengers to die on the way.The enemy continued to use flamethrowers, set fire to the houses I occupied, and launched continuous attacks on me again and again. On the afternoon of the 19th, only a courtyard in the east of the village was still under the control of our army. At this time, the contact with the brigade headquarters was connected. Political commissar Zheng Lu organized the transport of the wounded. He was seriously injured and died while leading the troops to retreat. After two days and nights of fierce fighting, the enemies who attacked the Huang family suffered heavy casualties.After the enemy paid a high price and broke through our army's position, what they got was a bare village. After a part of the enemy's 14th Army sneaked across the river near Licaofang in the east of Mengcheng, it attacked us in depth by virtue of its strength and artillery superiority.Our blocking forces immediately occupied favorable terrain and launched a counterattack.At this time, the 1st brigade guarded the Wuji and Banqiao areas; the 2nd brigade guarded the Tangji area, and the rest were transferred to defense in depth. On this day, to our army's surprise, the enemy did not move forward, only some small reconnaissance battles, and the enemy wandered cautiously for a day. Huang Wei broke through the Huang family's position, and launched an attack on Banqiaoji from the battlefield east of Mengcheng. Commander Yang Yong of 1 Zong, Chief of Staff Pan Yan and Brigade Commander Yang of the 1st Brigade went to the bank of the Fei River together. After looking at the terrain along the north bank of the river and around Banqiaoji, everyone felt that Banqiaoji on the south bank of the Feihe River was a must for the enemy to pass through. In any case, we must stop the enemy in the south of Feihe and Banqiaoji.With the Fei River as a natural barrier, Banqiaoji is the natural support for our core fortifications to build defensive positions, and speeding up the construction of positions is a top priority. When the large force was blocked, Huang Wei was furious. He used planes, artillery and tanks to bombard Banqiaoji with land and air firepower, vowing to kill a bloody road.The 1st Battalion, 1st Vertical, 7th Regiment, and 1st Battalion of the Central Plains Field Army were ordered to stand firm and face strong enemies without fear. The enemy's 85th Division from Mengcheng began to attack Banqiaoji. Under the cover of artillery fire, its 253rd regiment attacked the 1st Battalion of Banqiaoji in two ways.The commanders and fighters of our 1st Battalion rose up to fight and repelled the enemy. Only in front of the 1st company's position, the enemy killed and injured more than 200 people. The next day, the enemy's Banqiao camp was bombarded violently again, and two battalions from behind attacked the 1st Battalion along both sides of the road. Most of the fortifications of the 1st company's position were destroyed by enemy artillery fire. The commander of the 1st company and the battle hero Sang Jinqiu resolutely stayed behind the line of fire when he was seriously injured on the head.The enemy was hit hard again, and more than a hundred corpses were abandoned and fled.Later this company was named "Sang Jinqiu Company". In the direction of Wuji, the enemy, with a force of about one regiment, went in two ways to the southeast of the bridge Dongwangzhuang of the 2nd regiment and 1st company and the southeast of the Wuji position of the 7th company. .Subsequently, the enemy repeatedly attacked the 2nd Regiment's position on the south bank of the Feihe River, but failed. Under Chiang Kai-shek's strict order, Huang Wei was eager to advance and changed his tactics many times, allowing him to attack frontally or infiltrate in a roundabout way, but he did not break through the frontal defense line of the 1st vertical.When Huang Wei later learned that there was only one column of troops defending the north bank of the Wohe River, he was furious and immediately ordered his elite 18th Army to cross the Wohe River and attack with all his strength.But at midnight, the 118th Division of the enemy's 18th Army, which had already crossed the Wohe River, was driven back to the beach on the other side of the river.In desperation, Yang Botao, the commander of the enemy's 18th Army, hastily mobilized special forces carrying flamethrowers to brutally spray the densely populated areas of our army's positions. Many soldiers were on fire and the position was easy for the enemy. Although the 18th Army of the Huangwei Corps had forcibly crossed the Wohe River, it paid a high price.In this blocking battle, facing an elite enemy several times larger than mine, we blocked the enemy in two positions for three days and three nights, causing considerable losses to the Huangwei Corps and delaying the enemy's northern aid. Huang Wei was blocked in Mengcheng for three days and three nights. He could only move forward five or six kilometers a day, and finally reached the Feihe line today.Huang Wei was anxious and angry. He had to pay a lot of money every time to pass the Shahe and Guohe rivers. Now he had to cross the river again. Could it be that the 100,000 troops were actually blocked by this small river?In a rage, Huang Wei mobilized all the planes, artillery and tanks to attack the opposite bank, determined to cross the Fei River. Although the fierce battle against the enemy was fought well, the casualties of the troops were also increasing.The blood of the soldiers of the Central Plains Field Army stained the land of Huaibei under their feet. There is still a fierce battle ahead. At this time, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping called some column heads for an emergency meeting.The meeting was presided over by Deng Xiaoping, who had a thin face but a calm and firm tone.At this meeting, they jointly drew up an encirclement circle for Huang Wei, waiting for him to drill into it.Everyone spoke one after another. The commander of the 4th vertical, Chen Geng, took the lead in expressing that the 4th vertical is determined to break the boat this time, and will take on more difficult tasks at all sacrifices. Chen Geng has always been so bold in his behavior and speech, but he is not reckless.Afterwards, he personally took some commanders to the south bank of the Hui River to inspect the terrain.Chen Geng pointed out to his troops that as long as they can hold on to this place for three days, the brother troops can arrive and form a siege against the enemy from all sides. Following the annihilation of Huang Baitao's corps by our East China Field Army, the three corps of Du Yuming's group assembled in Xuzhou, and the two corps of Li Yannian and Liu Ruming, the enemies of Xuzhou, marched northward from Bengbu to reinforce Xuzhou's enemies.The Huangwei Corps entered the area south of Nanpingji on the 23rd, and was intercepted by a column of friends and neighbors. It has become isolated.The Central Military Commission and the General Front Committee decided that the Central Plains Field Army, with the coordination of the East China Field Army, would quickly encircle and annihilate the Huangwei Corps. Chiefs Liu, Chen, and Deng decided to lure the enemy's "elite" 18th Army to cross the Wei River north and enter our pocket position.Use the Weihe River to isolate the enemy, and use two columns to contain the enemy. The 1st column and the neighboring column will attack the center from the east and west sides respectively, and divide and annihilate the enemy in the Shuangduiji and Lugouji areas south of the Huihe River. North and South join forces. But after all, this is a preliminary idea, and it will take time to implement it, especially since the columns are still far away from the scheduled location, and the reinforcements of the East China Field Army are also on the way.Liu Bocheng looked at Yang Yong and Chen Geng, the 1st and 4th verticals, and said to them, I hope you can withstand the pressure of Huang Wei's cannon. You have fought very well in the previous battles. Now you not only need to continue to stop Huang Wei , You also need to retreat while fighting, delay Huang Wei, make him walk slowly, buy time for the main force to enter the ambush site, and introduce Huang Wei into the encirclement. Artillery units of the People's Liberation Army are ready to face the Kuomintang troops You can't make him stop, you can't let him run, you have to let him go into the pocket by himself.This is what Liu, Chen, and Deng asked for. Liu Bocheng ordered Chen Geng to command the 4th and 9th Columns of the Central Plains Field Army and the Independent Brigade of Henan, Anhui and Su to continue to block the Huangwei Corps from the front. The Corps lured to the north of the Weihe River and used the Weihe River to cut off the enemy.At this time, Yang Yong commanded the 1st Zong, Chen Zaidao commanded the 2nd Zong, Chen Xilian commanded the 3rd Zong, Wang Jinshan commanded the 6th Zong, and the three brigades of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region immediately flanked the troops from the east and west, cooperated with the frontal attack troops, and drove the Huangwei Corps Surrounded. At the same time, the General Front Committee ordered the 7th column and the special artillery unit commanded by the commander of the 7th column of the East China Field Army, Cheng Jun, to go south quickly, accept the command of the Central Plains Field Army, join the battle against the Huangwei Corps, and mobilize the rest of the columns to stop the enemy from attacking at any time. Reinforced troops. According to the original plan, Yang Yong and Chen Geng no longer love to fight, and voluntarily gave up Feihe, fighting and retreating.Huang Wei thought that there was an opportunity to take advantage of, and excitedly commanded his thousands of troops, crossed the Fei River without thinking, and marched forward.Huang Wei never imagined that this time, he was "like a broken bamboo" and walked into the net of heaven and earth. On November 24, under the pressure of the battlefield situation, Chiang Kai-shek hastily summoned Liu Zhi and Du Yuming to Nanjing for a military meeting, and made a plan for Xuzhou to attack Fuliji with the main force, and the 6th and 12th Corps to attack Su County. In order to attack from the north and the south, it was decided to open up the traffic on the Jinpu line. At this time, Huang Wei was leading his 12th Corps to attack Nanpingji. The Nanpingji that Huang Wei wanted to fight for was a piece of flat land, which was convenient for large corps to fight. Chen Geng was responsible for leading the 4th and 9th columns to take the lead and defend Nanpingji.Chen Geng took the initiative to win this task.At the cadre meeting of the Central Plains Field Army Column, Chen Geng asked the head of the Central Plains Field Army to fight and said: "Let me go back to the army. Huang Wei is my old classmate. When I was in the military academy, Huang Wei was not my opponent when fighting, and he would not be my opponent on the battlefield." My opponent!" "Chen Geng's suggestion is very good, and the 4th Zong will stick to Nanpingji. The time is tentatively set for three days." Liu Bocheng said happily. After breaking through the Feihe River, with the 10th Army on the left, the 14th Army on the right, and the 18th Army in the middle, under the cover of tanks and artillery, Huang Wei rushed towards Nanpingji aggressively in a huge formation. A regiment of 4 Zong was ordered to stop the enemy in Luoji and Zhaoji. After a day of fierce fighting, it withdrew to Nanpingji. On the second day, the enemy's 18th Army, with three regiments, under the cover of 3 planes and more than 20 tanks, launched a frontal multi-channel attack on our Nanpingji position, taking turns to charge continuously.I concentrated my artillery fire to fight back with all my strength, repelling all the enemy's attacks. The enemy's frontal attack was frustrated, and attempts to open gaps from the west and east sides failed. The fighting in Nanpingji was extremely fierce, and many houses in the town were destroyed.After a day of fierce fighting, the enemy paid a heavy price.At this time, in order to use the Weihe River to split the enemy, the General Front Committee decided to abandon Nanpingji, set up a pocket position on the north bank of the Huihe River with the 4th Column and the 9th Column, and lure the enemy's 18th Army to cross the Weihe River, so that the brother columns could move from east to west. Attack on both sides, gathering and annihilating the three enemy armies on the south bank. The 4th Column of the Central Plains Field Army withdrew from Nanpingji on November 23 and moved to the north of the Huihe River in accordance with the pre-deployment of the General Front Committee to "lure the enemy forward first, then attack and encircle". A pocket position was set up in Zhukou, Wujiahu, Banbudian, and Dongpingji.The Central Plains Field Army voluntarily abandoned the action of Nanpingji, which caused a great illusion to the enemy.Huang Wei thought that the 18th Army's assault was a success. The battle at Nanpingji was difficult to distinguish between true and false. Huang Wei attacked frantically, while our army tried its best to block it.Liu Bocheng saw the right time, and after ordering the 4th and 9th verticals to resist for a while, they immediately gave up their positions and lured Huang Wei, who was dazzled by the false victory, to cross the Wei River.Huang Wei didn't know what to do, so he urged the army to rush across the Weihe River. The 18th Army opened the way ahead, and the rest of Gong's army quickly followed. On the 24th, just after dawn, the main force of the enemy's 10th Army, part of the 18th Army, and part of the 14th Army crossed the Wei River, and separately attacked Zhukou, Wujiahu, and Xujiaqiao, which were defended by our 10th Brigade.After repeated struggles, my position stood still.The enemy and ourselves form a confrontation.At this time the enemy found that the situation was unfavorable, but it was too late.It was dusk now.The heads of Liu, Chen, and Deng immediately ordered an attack across the board to encircle the enemy with all their strength.All of a sudden, there were shouts of killing from the east, west, and north. After the main force of the enemy's 18th Army crossed the river, they swaggered forward boldly.Later, Wang Yuanzhi, the deputy commander of the 18th Army, felt that something was wrong, so he reported to Huang Wei worriedly: "The Communist Army has always acted on various battlefields, but now it is Liu Chenlianbi. Will they fall into their trick to lure the army?" Not far after crossing the river, he found that there were blocking positions of the Central Plains Field Army in front and on the left and right sides, and hurriedly suggested to Huang Wei: "While the communist army's offensive has just closed and its foothold is not stable, , using the 18th Army as the tip of the spear, pierce the bottom of the pocket, adopt the group roll-in tactic, and quickly get out of the tiger's mouth." Huang Wei originally planned to enter Zhansu County after forcibly crossing the Wei River.After listening to Wang Yuanzhi's report, Huang Wei also began to realize that the combat situation was extremely unfavorable to him, especially when hundreds of thousands of people were in the narrow area between the Guohe, Beifei and Huihe rivers. The river has become an obstacle to action.The entire corps marched for more than 100 kilometers, and the rear supply line had already been cut off. If this continues, it is bound to fall into a dilemma.At the same time, he also estimated that our army might be heavily deployed in the Weihe area, so he decided to stop crossing the river, withdraw to the south bank of the Weihe River, move towards Guzhen on Jinpu Road, move closer to Li Yannian and Liu Ruming's corps, and then north to assist Xuzhou.But he did not adopt Wang Yuanzhi's suggestion.When the General Front Committee learned of this situation, it decided to take advantage of the enemy's transfer, attack across the board, and immediately encircled the enemy. It was too late for Huang Wei to understand.Huang Wei hurriedly summoned Yang Botao, commander of the 18th Army, and Wu Shaozhou, deputy commander of the Corps and commander of the 85th Army, to discuss countermeasures.At this time, Wu Shaozhou was transferred to the front not long ago, and he was not familiar with the situation on the battlefield, so he didn't say anything.Yang Botao suggested that the attack on Su County should not be continued, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable, and he advocated moving to Guzhen.He said that Nanpingji is only less than 10 kilometers away from Guzhen. If you arrive at Guzhen and get close to the railway line, you can guarantee supplies, and you can also join forces with Li Yannian's corps to open up the Jinpu line.At this time, Wu Shaozhou, who had been silent all this time, also expressed his agreement with this proposition. Huang Wei pondered for a while, and finally made up his mind. In the early morning of November 25, an officer of the enemy's 85th Army and several entourages were ordered by Wu Shaozhou, the deputy commander and commander of the Corps, to go to the 110th Division by car to deliver orders.But only halfway through, he became a prisoner of our army and seized the confidential documents transferred by the enemy to Guzhen.It turned out that the enemy tried to take advantage of my unstable foothold and break out to the southeast.