Chapter 10 Section 10 Capture the Huaihe River

After capturing the two Huaihe Rivers, Li Yannian said: "With 10 74 divisions, the whole of China can be unified!" Su Yu's seven battles and seven victories, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the transfer of the reorganized 74th Division to the front line in East China After the outbreak of the full-scale civil war in June 1946, the East China Liberated Area was where the Kuomintang and the Communist Party fought with all their might. The East China Liberated Area is bordered by the river and the sea, with Beijing and Shanghai in the south, Pingjin in the north, and the Jinpu and Longhai railways in between. It has always been a battleground for military strategists.More importantly, the New Fourth Army in central China and the Eighth Route Army in Shandong formed a powerful heavy-armed group here, directly threatening the Kuomintang's ruling center - the Beijing-Shanghai area, and thus was regarded by Chiang Kai-shek as a serious threat.Accordingly, starting from July 1946, the Kuomintang set up the Xuzhou Appeasement Office to be responsible for commanding the war in East China. Eight (resident in Bengbu) four appeasement areas, a total of 5 armies and 9 reorganized divisions, about 450,000 people marched to the East China Liberated Area in a mighty manner.

The CCP deployed troops in East China in two fronts, north and south. The south line was the Central China Field Army commanded by Su Yu, stationed in Yancheng and Lianshui in northern Jiangsu; the north line was the Shandong Field Army commanded by Chen Yi, stationed in the south of the valley east of Yi County. .The two armies are far apart and can only cooperate strategically. The first shot on the East China battlefield was fired from northern Jiangsu. Since the mid-to-late period of the Anti-Japanese War, northern Jiangsu has been the focus of the CCP’s operations. By the time of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, except for a few isolated cities such as Nantong, Yangzhou, and Taizhou, the rest of northern Jiangsu were liberated areas of the Communist Party. Under the noses of the Communist troops.

How can you allow others to snore on the side of the couch?Chiang Kai-shek flew to Xuzhou and said to Xue Yue: "Boling, show your courage to fight the Japanese in Wanjialing, and smash the Communist bandits in one go!" Xue Yue was nicknamed "Tiger Cub" by Chiang Kai-shek, and he had repeatedly defeated the Japanese army on the anti-Japanese battlefield.However, this moment, that moment, Xue Yue is really unwilling to let him fight the civil war now.Therefore, facing Chiang Kai-shek's encouragement, he just said lightly: "This battle is difficult to fight!"

I don't know whether Chiang Kai-shek didn't understand Xue Yue's words, or he just talked to himself and ignored Xue Yue's point at all. Anyway, what he was talking about was all about Jiang's hope of victory: "No matter in which respect, we have absolute control. Advantages. The military equipment, combat technology and experience are not as good as ours, especially the air force, tanks and rear transportation vehicles, which are completely unique to our national army. We are also 10 times richer in all military supplies than the Communist bandits. Important transportation bases and thoroughfare cities are also completely in our hands. Tell me, why is this battle difficult to fight? During the War of Resistance, we were not as good as the Japanese, and you always won battles. Now the Communist Party is not as good as us, and you will definitely fight even more. A wonderful battle is coming. In my opinion, as long as we work together, within half a year, we will completely wipe out the Communist Party!"

It is inconvenient for Xue Yue to argue.After sending Chiang Kai-shek away, he called for a combat staff officer and dictated combat orders. It was Li Mo'an's Department of Li Yannian's No. 1 Appeasement Zone that attacked northern Jiangsu. More than ten thousand people. Su Yu is known as the ever-victorious general of the Communist Party.The soldier who was born in Huitong, Hunan, participated in the struggle to establish the Jinggangshan base area and the central base area together with Mao Zedong and Zhu De, and quickly grew into a senior commander in the "Qingshan University" of the Red Army.He is thoughtful and far-reaching, he is resolute and courageous in dealing with things, he is good at making strange plans, using strange soldiers, and making extraordinary achievements.

In October 1940, by surprise, he led his troops to encircle and wipe out the main force of Han Deqin, the "friction expert", chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Government and deputy commander-in-chief of the Lusu Theater, the 6th Independent Brigade, and the brigade commander Weng Da committed suicide. In March 1944, he adopted the method of "surrounding points to fight for aid" and launched the Cheqiao Battle, killing more than 460 Japanese soldiers, capturing 24 people, and annihilating more than 500 puppet troops.This battle became a wonderful battle example in which the New Fourth Army wiped out the most enemies in the late Anti-Japanese War.After the war, Mao Zedong praised: "This man who grew up from a soldier can command four or five million troops in the future."

This time, in the face of the strong pressure from Li Mo'an's troops, Su Yu was still the calm and confident general demeanor. He encouraged his subordinates and said: "The disadvantage in military strength can be turned into an advantage on the battlefield. Take the initiative to attack, attack the unprepared, and wipe out the enemy." In the movement, out of intrigue, we will definitely be able to break the enemy's attack." As a result, the Central China Field Army won the battle of Taixing and Xuanjiapu.Then, in the battles of Rugao, Hai'an, Linzi, Dingyan, Huangqiao, and Qiaoshu, they attacked Li Mo'an's troops from head to toe and suffered heavy casualties, with a total loss of more than 50,000 people.

In this way, the Communist army in northern Jiangsu was not only not wiped out, but instead had the tendency to drink horses from the Yangtze River and whip them to Beijing.At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was escaping the summer heat in Lushan Mountain. After learning the news that the Communist Party had won seven battles in central Jiangsu, he grabbed the teacup in front of him and smashed it on the floor of the villa with a "bang". "Incompetent! American goods can't beat the earth, it's simply incompetent!" He ordered the Military Commission to reorganize the 74th Division, and ordered the reorganization of the 74th Division to be transferred to the front line in East China.

One day later, at Xiaguan Station in Nanjing, the reorganized 74th Division rejuvenated and boarded the train bound for northern Jiangsu on August 18, 1946. Zhang Lingfu patted his chest and said to Chiang Kai-shek: "Principal, the 74th Division can not only drive the Communist Party out of northern Jiangsu to Shandong, but also drive them to the sea to drink seawater!" At that time, the CCP had two headquarters in East China, the Central China Field Army and the Shandong Field Army. The commander and political commissar of the Mountain Field was Chen Yi, and the commander of the Huaye Field was Su Yu. Surviving independently, the cooperation was not very tacit. Therefore, in the early days of the battlefield, the Reorganized 74th Division relied on the remaining courage of the Anti-Japanese War and the advantages of weapons. After the Reorganized 74th Division arrived in northern Jiangsu, it immediately showed an offensive that was different from other Kuomintang troops.

As far as equipment is concerned, we may wish to compare the 74th Division with the main force of the Central China Field Army-Tao Yong's 1st Division and Wang Bicheng's 6th Division: The reorganized 74th Division is equipped with 12 105mm howitzers and 36 75mm mountain guns , 108 105mm mortars, 108 81mm mortars, 108 37mm anti-aircraft guns, 486 60mm mortars, 255 flamethrowers, 324 M1 "Bazooka" rocket launchers, 324 7.62mm Browning M1917 water-cooled heavy machine guns, 1,080 7.62mm 1918A2 light machine guns, 2,400 9mm American M1 Thomson submachine guns and Canadian Steling carbines, 4,800 7.62mm M1903A1 Springfield rifles, 9mm Browning for officers Ning M1911A1 pistol.Wireless telegraph telephones are equipped to the company, with a total of about 300 motor vehicles and 1,000 mules and horses.

The 1st and 6th Divisions of the Central China Field Army combined only had 13,991 guns (including 92 submachine guns), 46 artillery pieces (including 12 mountain guns), and no tanks. obvious. Although this is not a decisive force on the battlefield, it is by no means a factor that can be ignored. On August 21, according to the deployment of the Xuzhou Appeasement Administration, the reorganized 69th Division and the reorganized 74th Division went from west to east, and the 7th Army came from south to north, attacking Suining and Suqian.Two days later, the reorganized 74th Division occupied Suining County. On August 29, Suqian was captured again. At sunset, Zhang Lingfu led a group of generals to the Bell and Drum Tower of Suqian City Wall full of pride.Looking at the dying sunset, he waved his hand: "The Communist Party is like the sun, the sun is setting, and it is at its end! The principal said that within half a year, there will be no shadow of the Communist Army north of the Yangtze River. In my opinion , this time has to move forward, 3 months is enough!" After saying that, he looked up to the sky and laughed, and everyone also laughed in agreement. After occupying Suqian, the Xuzhou Appeasement Administration took Huaiyin and Huai'an as their next targets of attack. Huaiyin and Huai'an are respectively the political and economic centers of the CCP's northern Jiangsu base, and their strategic significance goes without saying. The Xuzhou Appeasement Administration's strategic intentions were very clear. They captured the two Huaihe Rivers, ended the war in northern Jiangsu, pressed the CCP troops to the north of Longhai Road, and then fought a decisive battle in Shandong.They ordered the Reorganized 28th Division to arrive at Yanghe as the reserve force of the whole army; the 7th Army advanced from Yanghe to Siyang to support the actions of the Reorganized 74th Division; Army combat. Facing the critical situation of the overwhelming army, the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army had serious differences on the issue of strategic deployment. Chen Yi was the commander of the Shandong Military Region and the Shandong Field Army. He emphasized the importance of Huaibei and Shandong, and demanded that the main force of the Central China Field Army go north as soon as possible, move troops to Shuyang, and fight westward. I believe that once the troops are transferred to the north, not only will "the troop dragging around will only increase fatigue", but more importantly, the two Huaihe Rivers will be empty, and if the two Huaihe Rivers are lost, the connection between central Jiangsu and Shandong will be greatly threatened, and I will fall into a passive position situation, so he suggested that the Shandong Field Army retreat Siyang is used as a barrier between the two Huaihe Rivers.Many years later, Wang De, the combat staff officer of the Shandong Field Army, recalled: "In order to find a plan that everyone can accept, hundreds of telegrams were sent back and forth. There are so many that it is almost impossible to count.” In the end, the opinions of "Shan Ye" and "Hua Ye" still did not reach an agreement. At this time, "Shan Ye" had retreated to the east of Siyang to rest, while "Hua Ye" was training near Dongtai, preparing to attack Hai'an.With the two sides having very different opinions, Chen Yi decided to act alone, and transferred the main force to the north, from north to west, seeking to annihilate the reorganized 74th Division dispatched from Suqian. According to Chen Yi's prediction, the reorganized 74th Division with mechanized equipment should advance from Suqian to the east, go south along the east plain of the canal, and then capture the two Huaihe Rivers. Surround this old enemy with strength, catch him unprepared, and win with greater certainty. As soon as they heard that they were going to fight the reorganized 74th Division, the commanders and fighters of "Shanye" swept away the haze in their hearts for the past few days, and their emotions suddenly rose.The loss of Suining and the shame of Suqian are defeats that many soldiers have never encountered since they joined the New Fourth Army. The arrogance and arrogance of the reorganized 74th Division made many soldiers realize: when you meet your opponent, the brave wins!Now is the time to take the initiative to meet the enemy and take revenge! Everyone was gearing up, and after two days and two nights of rapid marching, the large force arrived in the Liren and Longji areas. Zhang Lingfu was even more eager to win. He didn't want to spend time entangled with the Communist Party's small armed forces, but wanted to "go straight to Huanglong" and win the two Huaihe Rivers!It is undoubtedly a better choice to go south along the west bank of the canal, because on this line, the 7th Army has already occupied the Yanghe River, and now the 7th Army is opening the way in front, and it is of course very cost-effective to reorganize the 74th Division to follow up.Therefore, unlike Zhang Lingfu's usual tactics of taking risks and taking the lead, this time the reorganized 74th Division temporarily acted like a tortoise. There was a major deviation between Chen Yi's judgment and the actual situation. On September 12, the Seventh Army stormed Siyang.The reorganized 74th Division crossed Siyang and directly attacked Huaiyin.At that time, the main force of "Huaye" was far away in the Shiyan and Sizao areas, and the task of guarding the two Huaihe Rivers naturally fell on the Huaiyin Guerrilla Corps and the guerrilla brigades in various counties and districts.There are about 6,000 people in these local troops, and most of the weapons they hold are made by the arsenal of the base area. However, their determination and fighting spirit to defend their homeland and defend the base area made it difficult for the reorganized 74th Division to succeed. On September 17, the 51st Brigade was ambushed in Likou, with nearly a hundred casualties. The 57th Brigade was also hit hard when it attacked Huaiyin.Wu Yunduo, known as China's Paul Kochakin, was currently serving as the director of the Huainan Arsenal. Under his leadership, the Huainan Arsenal produced extremely powerful grenades.This is a new type of weapon that uses the body of a rifle and installs a grenade cartridge to launch a grenade-like power from a long distance. On September 18, when the 57th Brigade launched an attack on Huaiyin City, the Huaiyin Guerrilla Corps waited for work and repelled their attacks with rifle grenades many times. The brigade headquarters of the 57th Brigade was set up behind a hill. A grenade hit the roof of the headquarters. Two combat staff officers were killed on the spot, and the brigade commander Chen Xuanyun was also slightly injured. The reorganized 74th Division, which had been battle-tested, was beaten all over by the Communist Party's local troops and stagnated, which made Zhang Lingfu furious. On September 19, with the support of the Air Force, the reorganized 74th Division dispatched tanks to bombard Huaiyin. However, after the guerrilla troops retreated to the city, they still fought with them house by house and did not withdraw from the city until the next morning. Two days later, Huai'an also refused to defend. Having captured the capital of the northern Jiangsu base area, Zhang Lingfu, who had been gloomy for the past few days, finally broke into a smile and showed his insolent expression again. True color. He boasted to the newspapers: "Chen Yi and Su Yu have received a fatal blow, and the suppression of northern Jiangsu and the sweeping of Shandong are just around the corner!" He patted his chest to Chiang Kai-shek and said: "Principal, if there is the 74th Division, there is the Kuomintang. The 74th Division can not only drive the Communist Party out of northern Jiangsu and into Shandong, but also drive them to the sea to drink seawater!" As the supreme commander who attacked the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River, Li Yannian was also overjoyed after the reorganized 74th Division captured Huaiyin and Huai'an. He told the Kuomintang's Central News Agency: "With 10 74th Divisions, the whole of China can be unified!" And the telegrams of congratulations are more like shining medals on Zhang Lingfu's desk, immersing him in the cloud of victory all day long. Chen Yi wrote a review letter of more than 1,600 words After the fall of Lianghuai, the Central China Field Army had to abandon Central Jiangsu and turn to the northern Jiangsu base near Shandong.Su Yu's tribe moved northward in the bitter wind and rain, and many people poured their grievances on Chen Yi. As early as when Suqian was defeated, rumors that "Chen Yi does not know how to fight" were rumored in the Shandong field army; The chairman's instruction to concentrate forces to fight a war of annihilation." In September, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China even proposed to send Xu Xiangqian to Shandong to take charge of the southern Shandong campaign. Some people thought this was an expression of "some dissatisfaction with Chen Yi's failure to fight well in Huaibei". But Chen Yi has the bearing of a commander after all. When the momentum of the reorganized 74th Division was like a rainbow, the "mountains and fields" were in the north, the troops were seriously damaged, deserted, and complaints were everywhere, he keenly discovered that in the depths of the demoralization of the troops, it was not Stage fright, but not convinced by defeat.For this reason, he resolutely took responsibility for the failure, and on October 4, he wrote a review letter of more than 1,600 words to the leading cadres of the 8th Division of the Shandong Field Army who suffered the most. The letter wrote: "Due to the war in March, the Shandong Field Army has not won consecutive victories in Huaibei, neither completed the task of intercepting Jinpu, nor wiped out the enemy inside, and lost five cities; the troops retreated a lot, moved a lot, and were exhausted. ; It pales in comparison with other fraternal corps such as Liu, Deng, Su, Chen (Geng), etc., and thus grows disappointed. ... The failure to fight well in the past three months is not because the troops are not good, not because the divisions and brigades are not good, or because the Field Army Staff Office is not good The main reason is that I, the commander-in-chief, made two mistakes: one is to attack the strong first, that is, Si County should not be attacked; The 8th Division and the 9th Division will not lose too much, that is, the damage will also have a price; if you stick to Huaiyin, the reorganized 74th Division may be wiped out by me, Jiang Jun will not brag. I should bear everything as the commander-in-chief and admit this mistake to the commanders and fighters ..." After Chen Yi's letter was conveyed by the troops, it played a positive role in reversing the disappointment and complaints of the troops and boosting morale. However, the morale of the troops still needs to be supported by victories.It has become the strong desire of the soldiers and civilians in East China to deal a head-on blow to Jiang's army, especially the arrogant and arrogant reorganized 74th Division.