Chapter 6 Chapter 06

The idea of ​​hitting Shijiazhuang did not start with Geng Biao.The Central Military Commission had this idea after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War and gave instructions to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.After eight years of bloody war, China's Anti-Japanese War finally won, and the long dark night began to have the dawn of peace.But the Chinese Communists, who have been tested by blood and fire for a long time, know that peace will not come to the land of China so easily, and there are still more difficult and arduous wars dormant ahead. On August 10, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De issued the No. 1 marching order, requiring any anti-Japanese armed forces in the liberated areas to send ultimatums to the enemy troops and their commanding agencies on the traffic arteries of nearby cities and towns in accordance with the provisions of the "Potsdam Declaration". It handed over all its armed forces to the troops near me within a certain period of time.Those who refuse to disarm and surrender shall be resolutely eliminated.The next day, Commander-in-Chief Zhu issued the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh marching orders one after another, ordering the troops of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region and the Jireliao Military Region to march northeast; The troops marched towards Suiyuan... The order required the armed forces in the liberated areas to attack all enemy-occupied towns and traffic arteries, forcing the Japanese and puppet troops to surrender.

On the same day, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made a decision on our party's tasks after Japan's surrender. The main points are: at the current stage, we should concentrate our main forces to force the enemy and puppets to surrender to us, vigorously expand the liberated areas, and occupy all possible and must-occupied cities, large and small. and traffic arteries.For this purpose, all localities should quickly concentrate most of our troops, get rid of the scattered guerrilla state, form super-local regular corps, and concentrate their actions in order to deal with the enemy and puppets.In the future stage, the Kuomintang army may attack us on a large scale, and our party should prepare to mobilize troops to deal with civil war.The decision specifically pointed out that necessary mental preparations should be made for the danger of Chiang Kai-shek launching a civil war, but at the current stage the main attention should be focused on dealing with the enemy and puppets, and winning the greatest victory bravely, resolutely, and thoroughly.At the same time, the central government also clearly stipulated the lines of communication that our army must strive to occupy and the cities along the lines, namely: Tongpu Road to the north of Taiyuan (included); Pingsui Road to the east of Guisui (included); Hai Road; Pinghan Road to the north of Zhengzhou; Beining Road, Zhengtai Road, Daoqing Road, Baijin Road, Deshi Road... As for the west end of Pingsui Road and Tongpu Road to the south of Taiyuan, Longhai Road to the west of Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou The Ping-Han Road in the south and the important cities in the south of the Yangtze River did not plan to occupy them at all, but focused on the vast countryside and actively prepared to deal with Chiang Kai-shek's attack.

The big counter-offensive kicked off vigorously. The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region issued an ultimatum to the commander of the Japanese North China Dispatch Army ordering him to surrender to our army within 48 hours.At the same time, the main forces of the secondary military regions were ordered to march towards large and medium-sized cities such as Beiping, Tianjin, and Zhangjiakou.The main force of the Hebei-Chahar Military Region cooperated with the Jinsui troops to attack Taiyuan, and the troops of the subordinate military divisions cooperated with the troops of the Jizhong Military Region to attack Baoding and Shijiazhuang...On the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, there was a plan to seize Shijiazhuang.After the Soviet Red Army launched a large-scale attack on the Kwantung Army in the northeast in accordance with the "Yalta Agreement", three regiments led by Wang Ping approached Shijiazhuang in the mud of the rainy season according to the order of Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, and pulled out many strongholds outside Shijiazhuang. And issued an ultimatum to Shijiazhuang city.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, major cities such as Shijiazhuang, Tianjin, and Beiping were also ready to accept them.The 23rd Regiment, which later participated in the Shijiazhuang Battle, was preparing to take over Tianjin.Xu Xin, who was the head of the Sixth Division of Jizhong in the southeast of Shijiazhuang, recalled that when Japan surrendered, they were fighting according to the order of commander Yang Chengwu. When they were resting, they set up the radio and heard that Japan had surrendered.Immediately Xu Xin asked the military region, right?The military said yes.Xu Xin asked what should we do?The military region called to stop the fighting and returned to the sixth division to stand by.

At this time, the Jizhong Military Region received an order from Commander-in-Chief Zhu De to accept the surrender in Tianjin.The Hebei-Chahar Military Region accepted Peiping.The sixth division occupied Tianjin South Railway Station, but the Japanese army refused to hand it over.After the Japanese army refused to surrender, our army launched a full-scale attack on the Japanese and puppet troops as planned. On August 15, troops from the Jizhong Military Region captured Yangcun and Yangliuqing on the outskirts of Tianjin, and at one point captured Tianjin West Railway Station and Jinghai County, cutting off the connection between Beiping and Tianjin.The troops attacking Shijiazhuang also captured the outer strongholds on the outskirts of the city.The Hebei-Chahar troops captured Tongxian Airport, entered Nanyuan and Fengtai border areas, and approached the city of Peiping.

Since the Japanese government has announced unconditional surrender, why does it refuse to surrender?He figured it out later.Most of Chiang Kai-shek's troops were in the far southwest. If the Japanese army laid down their weapons, most of China would be occupied by our army.Therefore, the U.S. government adopted the method of using the Japanese army to stop our army, ordering the Japanese army to stick to their posts, maintain order, and wait for the arrival of Chiang Kai-shek's army.Under the common interests of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek issued an order on August 11, ordering the Kuomintang army to "actively advance and not relax" to the cities and traffic arteries surrounded by me; The Kuomintang army was surrendered; at the same time, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were required to "garrison in place and stand by".He Yingqin, the commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang army, called Okamura Ningci, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese invasion army, asking the Japanese army to "make an effective defense" before the Kuomintang army surrendered. If the city it guards is occupied by the Eighth Route Army, it should be responsible, and the occupied cities should be taken by the Japanese army. The generals recovered and returned to the Kuomintang receiving troops.

In response to this situation, the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission issued an instruction on August 22 that the Soviet Union was restricted by the Sino-Soviet Treaty, and it was impossible for the Red Army to enter the customs to assist us.Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of his legal status to be surrendered, and big cities and major transportation routes must be handed over to him.Under such circumstances, except for a few places that can still be occupied, it is generally necessary to use considerable troops to threaten the main roads of the big cities, so that the enemy and puppet forces will concentrate on the main roads of the big cities, and use the necessary troops to focus on capturing small and medium-sized cities and vast villages, expanding and consolidating the liberated areas, and mobilizing Mass struggle, pay attention to the formation and training of the army, and prepare to deal with the new situation.

Since Chiang Kai-shek monopolized the surrender, it was impossible for the Eighth Route Army to occupy Pingjin and other big cities. Under such circumstances, the Party Central Committee changed its military strategy in a timely manner. Road, destroy all the railways, increase the difficulty of the Kuomintang army and I compete for the fruits of victory.Gather the necessary troops, try to capture small and medium-sized cities and occupy as many villages as possible, and expand and consolidate the liberated areas.Build up your strength. At this time, the Kuomintang army is advancing towards Tongpu Road, Pinghan Road, and Pingsui Road under the support of the enemy and the puppets. Under such circumstances, it is impossible to continue attacking Pingjin and other big cities. Follow the instructions of the superiors to receive small and medium-sized cities.The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region has adjusted its deployment. Except for the troops advancing to Liaoning and Rehe, which are still marching towards Chengde and Shenyang as originally planned, other troops have given up targeting Beiping, Tianjin, Tangshan, Baoding, Shijiazhuang and other large and medium-sized troops from August 24. The city's offensive returned to the hinterland and the fringes of the liberated areas.Therefore, after Shijiazhuang was besieged for a few days, the People's Liberation Army took the initiative to withdraw from the siege.

At this time, more than 1,300 people from the Second Independent Brigade of the Japanese Army and more than 800 puppet troops were still stationed in Shijiazhuang City, and they refused to surrender.In order to delay time, they sent representatives out of the city twice to discuss the matter of surrender, insisting that according to the regulations, they should disarm the Kuomintang army and not the Eighth Route Army.We don't care if you fight the puppet army or other places, but you can't move around in our defense area, otherwise we won't be able to explain it.The Japanese representative also said, in my opinion, don't worry, China will belong to you in the future.After we surrender, civil war will inevitably break out in China. The Kuomintang cannot do it. The military officers all want to make a fortune and find a way out. They are greedy for life and fear death and have no intention of fighting.You will be victorious.It really made him right.

Under Chiang Kai-shek's order to seize North China, Luo Lirong, the commander of the Third Army, hurriedly led the Third Army from Dingxi, Gansu to Heyang, Shaanxi. The Thirty-Fourth Army was commanded by Li Wen.Because the task he accepted was unclear, Luo Lirong went to Xi'an to ask his old superior Hu Zongnan for instructions, saying that the Third Army suffered a disastrous defeat at Zhongtiao Mountain during the Anti-Japanese War, and its vitality has not recovered. Although it has been supplemented many times, none of the personnel and equipment meet the establishment, especially the weapons are too poor.He asked Hu Zongnan to give supplements, saying otherwise how would we fight?Hu Zongnan said that weapons and equipment need to be transported from Chongqing, and there is no permission from the other party. There will not be any major wars at present. You have Haikou in North China, and some of them are American-style equipment. There is no problem in supplementing everything.The main thing now is to buy time, and the sooner you act, the better.Luo Lirong also proposed whether the Seventh Division stationed in Shang County, Shaanxi Province and the Twelfth Division serving as Lanzhou guards should be reunited.Hu Zongnan said that you cross the river first, the 12th Division will stay in Lanzhou temporarily, and the 7th Division will return to the establishment.After you arrive in Yuncheng, Shanxi, another army will be assigned to you.

Hu Zongnan said that the current situation is very good, and he will do a lot in North China.Regarding the issue of troop supplies, in Shanxi, Commander Yan of the Second War Zone will supply you. We have already made contact, and there will be no difficulties.In this way, Luo Lirong came to the Shijiazhuang area in a panic at the end of October.After that, the Kuomintang army seized Shijiazhuang, and also designated Beiping, Tianjin, Baoding, Shanhaiguan and other cities as the eleventh war zone. Before Chiang Kai-shek launched an all-out attack on the Liberated Areas, the Central Military Commission put forward a strategic plan for the troops of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei and Jinsui Military Regions to seize the "three roads and four cities", requiring the two military regions and part of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region troops to spend about half a year. , seize the northern section of Pinghan Road, Zhengtai Road, and Tongpu Road, and seize the four cities of Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, and Datong by camera, so that the liberated areas of Shanxi-Sui, Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, and Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Hebei will be integrated into one. Attacking large and medium-sized cities has always been the wish of Yan'an and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.For Jinchaji, the first battle in the Liberation War was Hunyuan, which was commanded by Chen Fangren, the commander of the Ninth Brigade.Hunyuan City is very strong, the enemy knows that once the city is opened they will die, so they are very determined to defend the city.Chen Fangren was also very determined to attack the city. He gave death orders to each regiment, and if he couldn't beat them, he would ask the regiment leader.At that time, the firepower was weak, so the regiment leader concentrated all the light machine guns of a regiment on one opening.Open one side of the net, three regiments, one regiment to attack the other side, and organize commandos to attack with ladders.The troops suffered heavy casualties, but finally the city was captured.Later, Zhang Zhaoyuan, the deputy chief of the Operations Section of the Ninth Brigade, said that this brigade was the first to capture the cities that were attacked at that time. On June 16, 1946, Nie Rongzhen and Liu Lantao reported to Yan'an a plan about cooperating with the Taihang Liberated Area to capture Shijiazhuang. More than 2,500 people participated in 3 small groups and 1 large group.The division of tasks: 1. Jizhong will use three large regiments and local armed forces to attack Changshou and Zhaixidian separately, and then attack Xinle to gain control of this section of the railway, and blow up Tanghe, Menglianghe, Shahe, Cihe, etc. The iron bridge prevents the enemy from aiding the south along the Ping-Han line. Use a small regiment and local armed forces to pin down the enemies in the Luancheng and Liangcun areas, and sweep out the strongholds in the area.2. In addition to holding back the Zhengding enemy, the Hebei and Jin Dynasties used all their strength to attack Shijiazhuang from north to south, and won the task of destroying the west of the deer, which was undertaken by the Taihang Liberated Area.Please Liu Dengbo consider the above plan.At the end of this plan, there is a special statement that this plan is a predetermined plan, and there is no action at present, please be careful not to expose the attempt. Twelve days later, on June 28, 1946, the Central Military Commission called, instructing that the basic task of Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei was still to defend and capture the Three Routes and Four Cities. It would take six months or longer to prepare, but this task must be completed.He also said that Liu Deng had other tasks and could not cooperate with you to attack Shimen with the main force. It was a quiet moonlit night with no fighting. Looking at the watery moonlight flowing in from the window, Geng Biao, the deputy chief of staff who was in charge of military operations after returning from the military dispatch headquarters in Beiping, tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. After the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region moved from western Hebei to She’er Village in Anguo County, it received a telegram of criticism from Mao Zedong on behalf of the Central Military Commission: “Your recent battle between Bao (Ding) and Yi (county) is a It is carried out in a passive situation, so it is impossible to fight a good battle." From now on, we should learn and adopt "stride forward and retreat, regardless of the gains and losses of a city or a place, and completely take the initiative to fight, first fight the weak enemy, then fight the strong enemy, mobilize the enemy, each break" policy. Yeah, the criticism is right, it hits the nail on the head.Since the beginning of the Liberation War last year, our Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region has wiped out more than 80,000 enemy troops. Compared with the results of the War of Resistance Against Japan, this is a remarkable victory.However, compared with the strategic areas of its brothers, the results of the battle in Jinchaji were too small and too small. The enemy troops annihilated were not as many as others, and there were no victories that had a greater impact on both the enemy and us.News of victory was frequently reported on various battlefields across the country, with major victories one after another. However, after the Jinchaji retreated from Zhangjiakou, it has not been able to regain its glory, and has not organized the entire army to destroy the enemy.In a series of battles in the northern section of Pinghan Road, the enemy took the initiative to attack. Even the Battle of Baonan was also the base area where the enemy invaded, and our army was forced to take counterattacks.As the deputy chief of staff in charge of operations, Geng Biao deeply felt that he had not done a good job. Why have they been fighting passive battles since they withdrew from Zhangjiakou? Geng Biao thought over and over. Jinchaji has too few troops. In the first half of 1946, in cooperation with the peace negotiations, a large number of cadres and combat backbones below the battalion were demobilized, reducing the field army from 26 brigades to 9 brigades.Although 30,000 to 40,000 new recruits were recruited after the Yi Lai battle, they were still far from restoring their original strength.In a word, hurt your vitality.Since the number of troops is small, it is even more necessary to concentrate superior forces to fight the battle of annihilation, but it has not been fully achieved.And because of the shortage of troops, and out of the desire to defend the base area, they always wanted to win a few big victories on the edge of the Yilai Mountains, so they did not make great strides to advance and retreat, and kept dealing with the enemy in the narrow area of ​​the northern section of Pinghan Road.That is to say, the combat thinking still remained on the familiar guerrilla warfare of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and did not change to mobile warfare in due course. At the beginning of the War of Liberation, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region has gone through a twists and turns.Nie Rongzhen, commander of Jinchaji, recalled that in terms of military operations, we have taken several positive steps.First of all, according to the instructions of the central government, in order to show our peace sincerity and strive to limit the conflict to a local area, Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei temporarily avoided direct conflict with the Kuomintang army in the fight for large cities, and quickly turned to small and medium-sized towns, liberating a large number of counties.From August to October 1945, our army liberated more than 60 small and medium-sized towns and annihilated more than 30,000 Japanese and puppet troops in more than two months.It should be said that at this time, the situation in Jinchaji is good.At that time, Zhangjiakou, a relatively large city, had already been liberated by us.This is second to none in the liberated areas of the country.However, we had to withdraw from Zhangjiakou again. There are many reasons for this. The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area is located in the heart of North China, and the enemy is bound to seize it.The situation at that time was that the enemy had occupied the central city and the main traffic arteries, and their troops had an absolute advantage.After the armistice agreement between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China was signed in Jinchaji in January 1946, in order to show our peace sincerity, reduce the burden on the people, and help the consolidation and persistence of the liberated areas, we cut down 1/3 of the army according to the central government's instruction of streamlining the army and streamlining administration. Troops, and while streamlining the troops, streamline the organization, organize a number of regional teams into county detachments, and continue to localize the pan-main force.The consequences of this approach were exposed when the War of Liberation broke out. The field army temporarily formed by local armed forces had a large number of recruits and relatively weak military and political quality. Those who were demobilized at that time were all well-tested veterans with very rich combat experience.They cried and didn't want to leave. They had no choice but to leave. In July 1947, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region resumed the field army system.The picture shows members of the Standing Committee of the Field Army Front Committee: Commander Yang Dezhi (middle), Political Commissar Luo Ruiqing (second from the right), Second Political Commissar Yang Chengwu (second from the left), Chief of Staff Geng Biao (first from the right), Director of the Political Department Pan Zili (first from the left) Originally, the strength of the troops on the battlefield in North China was not as good as that of the enemy. Coupled with the large number of demobilization, the troops had no choice but to lose their vitality.Not long after Geng Biao returned to Zhangjiakou from the Beiping Army Transfer Headquarters, the enemy in Peiping was ready to attack from east and west with 300,000 troops, while the Jinchaji troops were less than 60,000. 100,000 people.Geng Biao remembers that when the Anti-Japanese War was won, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region had more than 200,000 troops, not counting local troops. Although they were transferred to the two northeast columns, the difference should not be so much.The main reason is that hundreds of thousands of people were demobilized at once. However, this is not what Jinchaji has decided on its own. Nie Rongzhen said that we should not blame anyone on this issue.Under the specific historical conditions at that time, it was absolutely necessary for our party to put forward the slogan of "peace, democracy, and unity," which was conducive to our political initiative.As for military operations, the major strategic regions, including Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei, have never stopped their resolute self-defense struggle for a moment. Throughout the War of Resistance Against Japan, Jinchaji has always been dominated by guerrilla warfare, basically no mobile warfare or positional warfare has been fought, and it is far from being able to fight against large corps in terms of ideology, organization, material, and cadre command ability. adapt.If, at the crucial moment when the War of Resistance Against Japan turned into a counter-offensive, we had seized the good opportunity at the right time, taken decisive measures to strengthen the building of the main force, and created conditions for the counter-offensive and later the War of Liberation, perhaps we would not have been passive in the early stages of the War of Liberation, but would have been more proactive. up. The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region replied to the Central Military Commission, reviewing the subjective and objective reasons for the unsatisfactory fighting in the previous period, and at the same time reported the plan to use two columns to advance northward to force Pingjin, and then turn to Qing (county) and Cang (county).Geng Biao believes that this strategic decision of "go out and take the initiative" is correct, and the next step is to see if our staff can turn this strategic decision into specific operational plans and campaign plans.Thinking of this, Geng Biao couldn't lie down anymore, got up in his clothes, lit candles, and spread out the military map on the wooden table. Geng Biao set his sights on Peiping for a long time.Not long ago, Geng Biao was there as a representative of the Communist Party of the Military Adjustment Department.For North China, Beiping was the largest city ruled by the Kuomintang and the headquarters of the North China Kuomintang Army.Pushing into Pingjin undoubtedly threatened the heart of the enemy army in North China, so it was a wonderful move.However, there are heavy troops stationed in Beiping and Tianjin. With the current strength of our army, it is still impossible to encircle and wipe out a large number of enemies in this area, let alone attack the city and seize the pass.Therefore, while advancing northward to Pingjin, we had better be able to choose a suitable military target from another direction.Where should I choose?Geng Biao looked over the map again and again, and finally landed on Shijiazhuang in the south of Beiping. Shijiazhuang is located in the west of the North China Plain, at the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain. It is the intersection of the three railways of Pinghan, Zhengtai and Shide. It is the throat of east-west and north-south traffic in North China.Therefore, as soon as the Anti-Japanese War was won, Chiang Kai-shek rushed to seize Shijiazhuang, using it as a hub connecting Baoding Sui Department in the north and Taiyuan Sui Department in the west, and used it as a base for attacking the liberated areas such as Central Hebei, Southern Hebei, Shanxi and Taihang.If we take Shijiazhuang as our military target, we can not only create good fighter planes to encircle and wipe out a large number of enemies, but also occupy this strategically important place, cut off the enemy's strategic connection between the north and the south and the east and the west, and remove the nail that has been stuck in the middle of our liberated areas.Thus hitting the enemy hard and greatly boosting our morale. Schematic diagram of Zhengtai campaign Geng Biao became happier as he thought about it, stood up and said, "Yes, Shijiazhuang is the next target, I have to report this opinion to Commander Nie immediately." Just as he was about to go out, he accidentally looked at his watch, no, now It's late at night, so I can't wake Boss Nie up.Besides, Commander Nie is far-sighted, and the attack on Shijiazhuang must be in his consideration. If I report, I should not just talk about the importance of attacking Shijiazhuang, but the feasibility, and it is best to be able to propose a combat plan. Thinking of this, Geng Biao sat down at the table again, and continued to look at the military map that he had already memorized by heart. In the second year of the Chinese People's Liberation War, the war situation has undergone major changes. The war is no longer just in the liberated areas, but in the Kuomintang ruled areas.At this time, Chiang Kai-shek's all-out offensive had been crushed, and the People's Liberation Army began a massive counter-offensive.Our army on the southern front has attacked the Yangtze River Basin, and our army on the northern front has also attacked the Zhongchang and Beining routes.The war situation in Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei was also very good. After the Baonan and Zhengtai battles in the spring of 1947, Shijiazhuang was cut off from Taiyuan and Baoding, and became an isolated land island surrounded by liberated areas.The Battle of Baonan cut off the north-south connection between the enemy Shijiazhuang and Baoding;This made Shijiazhuang fall into a situation where its forces were both weak and isolated, and the conditions for seizing Shijiazhuang were ripe. The battle plan to capture Shijiazhuang was once again on the agenda. At a military meeting in October 1946, when analyzing the situation between the enemy and ourselves and Shijiazhuang's strategic position, President Nie said that Shijiazhuang is the fortress of North China, the gateway to North China, and we cannot keep the enemy for long. Once the conditions are ripe, we must resolutely seize it.Nie Rongzhen said that liberating Shijiazhuang is our current main campaign goal. From now on, our military struggle and civil affairs work will all revolve around capturing Shijiazhuang. This is called using steel on the blade.Now that there is a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and ourselves, and Shijiazhuang has strong fortifications, we should not fight lightly, but we must create conditions, as long as we have wiped out a few regiments of the Third Army, we can fight.At the end of this year, Nie Rongzhen once again clearly proposed to create conditions to capture Shijiazhuang on camera. In May 1947, when the Central Working Committee came to Jinchaji, Nie Rongzhen reported to Zhu De the idea and preparations for the liberation of Shijiazhuang.Zhu De agreed in principle.After that, Zhu De followed Nie Rongzhen to inspect the troops on the front line of Anguo, investigate and study the specific deployment of the liberation of Shijiazhuang, and consult the troops. On August 19, 1947, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army Command formally proposed in its proposal to attack Hebei in the Qing Dynasty, asking the military region to prepare a large amount of explosives in order to resolutely take down Shijiazhuang in the future. On September 15, the battle in Hebei Province of the Qing Dynasty was in a stalemate. Nie Rongzhen, Xiao Ke and others proposed a combat plan for attacking the Pingbao section. Yang Luo Yang Geng reported to the Military Commission Zhu Liu: Our army in the Northeast will launch an attack at the end of this month. The Jireliao troops will first attack the Jinzhou and Shanhaiguan sections of Beining Road around the 20th. I am determined to implement a strong cooperation with the main force. Shimen; three times out of Daqing Hebei; four times to attack Baoding and Lugou bridge sections.Our preliminary consideration is that the fourth option is better.Because of attacking Chanan, in addition to the current difficulties in roads, food, transportation, etc., my main force will fight against Fu Wan alone. The main force cooperates with the Northeast stubborn army to fight.It is not yet the right time to capture Shimen, and after the Jireliao and Northeast attacks start, the enemy can stick to Shimen and assist the Northeast.Due to river obstacles in the North of the Qing Dynasty, the main force was inconvenient to maneuver.It is more appropriate to implement the fourth plan, which can completely interrupt the traffic in the Pingbao section, effectively capture the Ninety-fourth Army and the Li Wen Group, and may reap the results of annihilating the enemy.And in the development of the campaign, when the main force of the Sixteenth Army was mobilized, the main force of Jizhong extended to the north of the Qing Dynasty, regained the lost ground, wiped out the stubbornness of the scattered defense in the area, and extended to the Pingjin section to fight.The implementation of this plan seems to be more effective for the cooperation of our army in the Northeast, and I hope to consider it and put forward opinions. On October 3, Yang Dezhi, Yang Chengwu, and Geng Biao submitted a report on the battle plan for the Pingbao section. They believed that it would be more beneficial to attack the North to protect the North. The main force can be completely concentrated, which can create conditions for aid, has a future for development, and can advance and retreat freely.It is also beneficial to contain the enemy and cooperate with the Northeast. At this time, the battle of Shijiazhuang was less than two months away.But the conditions for attacking Shijiazhuang were not yet ripe at this time, and people did not expect that Shijiazhuang would be liberated soon. This is due to a series of victorious battles before the Battle of Shijiazhuang.It was the victories in the battles of Zhengtai, Qingcang, Baobei, and especially Qingfengdian that made the victory of the Shijiazhuang battle and promoted the victory of the Chinese revolution. At the beginning of the Battle of Qingfengdian, Nie Rongzhen issued a combat order to annihilate Luo Lirong. At the same time, the order took advantage of the victory to seize Shijiazhuang as a plan to annihilate the enemy in Qingfengdian.Half an hour after the Battle of Qingfengdian ended, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region proposed a plan to seize Shimen with only three regular regiments and a puppet army in Shimen. At this time, the smoke of the Qingfeng store has not yet cleared. For a long period of time before the war, in addition to conducting uninterrupted reconnaissance of the enemy's situation and terrain in Shijiazhuang, our army also carried out multiple strikes against the enemy in the surrounding areas of Shijiazhuang, occupying the vast villages and county towns outside Shijiazhuang, Make Shijiazhuang an isolated island on land.Afterwards, the Qingfengdian victory weakened Shijiazhuang's defensive power.Then strike while the iron is hot, fight continuously, and start the Battle of Shijiazhuang unexpectedly.Originally, after the Battle of Qingfengdian, the enemy also expected that Shijiazhuang was in danger, but they did not expect the end to come so quickly.Our army seized the opportunity when the enemy's army was unstable, poor in planning, and weak in strength, and boldly and resolutely launched an attack, which caught the enemy by surprise and was wiped out. Of course Shijiazhuang was not comparable to a big city like Pingjin, but it was an important town in North China after all. In addition to the Kuomintang Third Army and security forces stationed in the city, there were also local enemy troops in the far and near suburbs.Once it starts, the well-connected railway network can immediately bring reinforcements over.Needless to say, the enemies on Baoding and Zhengtai Lines will come to support, and the enemy troops on Pingjin Road in the east may also go west along Shide Road.It seems that this bone in Shijiazhuang is not easy to chew.Geng Biao thought, I must devise a foolproof battle plan. Geng Biao was thinking about Chairman Mao's instructions on fighting active battles, striding forward and retreating to carry out mobile warfare, "fight the weak enemy first, then fight the strong enemy, mobilize the enemy, and defeat them one by one", "concentrate superior forces, and annihilate the enemy one by one", thinking about the battle. Program.At this time, he suddenly remembered that Shijiazhuang was just a big crab?The scene of catching crabs with my friends at home when I was young comes before my eyes.The companion stood barefoot on the beach and caught the crab with one hand, but the crab caught his finger, screaming in pain.Geng Biao learned the lesson, first carefully pressed the crab's back with his left hand, and then used his right hand to break off the crab's two pinching claws, so that he would not be afraid of pinching his hands.At this time, he was very proud and let go of his left hand. Unexpectedly, the crab took eight long legs and quickly fled into the water.When the crabs were caught again, the little friends learned to be good. First, they broke off the two big claws and eight long legs, and then threw them on the beach. No matter how powerful the crabs were, they couldn't escape.Attacking Shijiazhuang should also be like catching a crab. First remove all its big claws and long legs, making it an isolated city, and we can attack it with all our strength. According to the principle of attacking weak enemies first and then strong enemies, Geng Biao believes that the enemies on Zhengtai Road should be attacked first.Because most of the enemies on Zhengtai Road are security teams with poor combat effectiveness, all the troops are lined up along the railway line, without depth, so it is easy to fight.Around Zhengding and on both sides of Zhengtai Road are old liberated areas, where the conditions of the masses are good and they are powerful for our army.After annihilating the defenders on Zhengtai Road, they then attacked the enemies on Jinpu Road and Baoding.In this way, not only the periphery of Shijiazhuang was cleared, and its connection with Taiyuan, Beiping, and Tianjin was cut off, but also the big claws and long legs of this big crab disappeared.And we joined Taihang and Shandong's liberated areas, expanded our base areas, and strengthened our forces to besiege Shijiazhuang. With this in mind, Geng Biao started his homework on the map, marking each arrow with a red and green pen.When I heard the rooster crowing outside the window, the Sutu had already been marked, and it was only a matter of words.Geng Biao blew out the candles that had been lit all night, went outside, punched him once, stretched his tired body, and continued writing.The guard said, Chief, why didn't you have breakfast?Only then did Geng Biao realize that it was already past 9 o'clock, so he said that let's eat together at noon.After marking all the arrows on the map, marking them, and making some modifications, it was already 1:30 in the afternoon when all the work was completed.At this time, Geng Biao felt hungry, thought it was bad, and forgot to eat lunch again.Just as I was thinking of finding some leftovers in the kitchen, I saw food on the table.Fortunately, he was young at that time and was not afraid of cold rice, so Geng Biao wolfed down everything.After taking a nap, I started to write the second combat plan.To fight a battle, which battle to fight first, which battle to fight later, how many troops to use in each battle, which troops to participate in the battle, when to launch an attack, etc., have to be deliberated repeatedly before the final decision can be made, so more battles need to be formulated Plans for the head to choose. Until late at night on the third day, when Geng Biao was writing the third battle plan, Nie Rongzhen came in wearing a coat.Geng Biao quickly stood up and said, Commander, it's so late, you haven't slept yet? Didn't you sleep too?Nie Rongzhen said, I saw the lights on in your room, come and have a look.What are you doing in the house all these days? Geng Biao said, I am considering the next battle plan. Well, that's one of the parts of this Central Bureau meeting, and I'm thinking about it.So, talk about your thoughts. Geng Biao articulated his thoughts over the past few days. Nie Rongzhen nodded with a smile and said, your opinions are very good, this is a big strategic move.Our combat steps should focus on the entire battle situation and make overall plans.At present, the Pingjinbao area is where the enemy's main force is concentrated, so we will not attack in this direction for the time being, and the enemy's strength is relatively weak on Zhengtai Road in the west and Jinpu Road in the east.In particular, Zhengtai Road belongs to the enemy's two command systems. The eastern section of the railway in Hebei belongs to Sun Lianzhong's Baoding Suiguan, and the western section of the railway in Shanxi belongs to Yan Xishan's Taiyuan Suiguan.We first attack the peripheral enemies, attack small cities, and then attack Shijiazhuang. This idea is in line with Chairman Mao's operational principles, and we may win a larger victory.Liberating Shijiazhuang after these few battles will cut off the enemy's north-south connection, thereby isolating Pingjin and creating conditions for our army to attack Pingjin and liberate the entire North China. Hearing what Nie Rongzhen said, Geng Biao couldn't help admiring in his heart that the commander considered the problem from the overall situation, and his thinking was far-reaching. Nie Rongzhen looked at the battle plan carefully and asked when it would be done? Geng Biao said that the third plan can be finished tomorrow. I am going to hand over the plan to the Operations Department first, let the staff discuss it first, put forward opinions, make revisions and supplements, and then report it for your review. Well, Nie Rongzhen said, a meeting of cadres above the brigade commander will be held at that time, and everyone will discuss and study to see which plan is better. On March 23, the Jinchaji Military Region held a meeting.At the meeting of cadres above the brigade commanders and above, Nie Rongzhen first talked about the situation of the national liberation war and the situation of Jinchaji, conveyed the spirit of the meeting of the Central Bureau of Jinchaji, and then said that although we fought bravely in the previous period, we won the victory , but generally speaking, it was a passive war where we fought against the enemy on the side of the railway, instead of fighting a war of annihilation and wiping out the enemy in large numbers.Now, according to the instructions of the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao, we are advancing and retreating in great strides. We must fight a few proactive battles and turnaround battles.Nie Rongzhen talked about the next step of the battle, and then asked Geng Biao to come up with the battle plan and tell everyone.Geng Biao hung up the wall charts of the three combat plans and introduced them one by one.He also dictated the fourth combat plan.Because this fourth combat plan is still a secret case, it is too late to mark it on the map.The participants had a heated discussion on several combat plans, and everyone was more in favor of the second plan and made supplements to it.This plan was revised and reported to the Central Military Commission, and subsequent operations were basically carried out in accordance with the second plan.