Chapter 26 Section Thirteen

In the "battle of wheat snatching", Luo Xichou, the deputy commander of the 50th division alone, robbed property worth more than 100 taels of gold; indifferent In December 1947, when the New 1st Army arrived in Shenyang from Changchun, the two major tasks they faced were food storage and military training. Shenyang is the location of the "General Suppression" in the Northeast. The New 1st Army, New 3rd Army, New 6th Army, 71st Army, 53rd Army and the 207th Division of the Youth Army under the control of Wei Lihuang are all concentrated here. Food has always been a big problem, and it is unrealistic to rely entirely on air transportation.Therefore, in accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's instructions, Wei Lihuang ordered various ministries to work hard to expand the scope of occupation, and continued to rush to buy fodder and fodder.

In June 1948, it was already the ripening season of wheat yellow and grain. The Northeast "Suppression General" launched a "War for Snatching Wheat", which ordered the New 1st Army to expand to the areas rich in wheat in the south of central Liaoning and rob grain. Separately set up grain grabbing working groups, set up checkpoints to intercept, break up villages and enter households, and forcefully buy food rations for the common people.Only the 4th column of the People's Liberation Army was active in the vast central and southern Liaoning areas, and the strength was insufficient, so the cavalry units of the New 1st Army searched around, and the forward arrived near Niuzhuang.In this grain grabbing operation, the New 1st Army harvested more than 1.7 million catties of wheat and sorghum, while many officers took the opportunity to rob civilians and fill their pockets. Luo Xichou, the deputy commander of the 50th Division alone, snatched property worth more than 100 taels. gold.

At this time, in addition to the original 50th Division and the new 30th Division, the New 1st Army added a provisional 53rd Division and a cavalry regiment.Most of these supplementary teams were made up of miscellaneous weapons, with poor personnel quality and no formal combat training. Therefore, the army commander Pan Yukun started training immediately after he took office.He first opened an officer training class to train platoon leaders and division commanders, and then drove away the peasants in the Zhongsifangtai area, and forcibly occupied the land to open up several infantry and artillery training grounds to improve the actual combat level of the soldiers.In order to level the land, he forced the peasants to serve all day long. Not only did these laborers not pay wages, but even the dry food and drinking water were brought by the peasants. The local people cursed privately: "Looking forward to the central government. Welcome the central government, and the central government will suffer even more! "In spite of this, Pan Yukun still pretended to be deaf and dumb, and devoted himself to preparing the army for war. He dreamed that one day, the New 1st Army would return to the military strength of Sun Liren's period. "The New First Army cannot be defeated by me!" He often said to his subordinates.

But time has changed, the morale of the army is weak, and the military strength can be strengthened?During the siege in Shenyang, Tang Daofu, the head of his political work department, specially recruited and deceived a group of female "political work team members" from Shenyang to do "ideological and political work" for the soldiers in order to boost morale and break the dullness. If it is prostitution, the chief officials often open their eyes and close their eyes, and ignore them. On September 12, 1948, the Northeast Field Army, with 11 columns and 4 independent divisions, followed the deployment of the Central Military Commission, went south to the Beining line, and joined forces to besiege Jinzhou, the throat town connecting the Northeast and North China. The Liaoshen Campaign was fully launched.

On the issue of aiding brocade, Chiang Kai-shek and Wei Lihuang were at loggerheads At that time, in Jinzhou, Fan Hanjie, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northeast "Suppression General" of the Kuomintang and the director of the Jinzhou Command Post, had only 8 divisions (4 of which were local troops in Yunnan), and their strength was obviously weak. Therefore, after discovering the strategic intentions of the Northeast Field Army, On the one hand, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized two divisions of the 39th Army, the 62nd Army, and the Independent 95th Division from North China and Shandong, and together with the 54th Army and the temporary 62nd Division, a total of 11 divisions formed the Eastward Army, led by Que Hanqian, from Jinxi to the Jinzhou marched; on the one hand, Wei Lihuang was ordered to withdraw troops from the troops defending Shenyang to form a westward corps headed by Liao Yaoxiang to rescue Jinzhou, with a view to realizing east-west advance and jointly annihilating the Northeast Field Army.

At the beginning of Jinzhou's siege, Wei Lihuang dispatched Shenyang's 49th Army to airlift Jinzhou, but due to the shelling of the Northeast Field Army, the transport stopped after less than one division.Now Chiang Kai-shek wants him to draw out the elite guarding Shenyang to aid Jin, which is very different from his strategic intention.Wei insisted that the westward marching corps carried a large number of heavy weapons and did not move quickly, while Lin Biao was an expert in sports. Once the corps moved, it would be intercepted by Lin Biao and wiped out in sections. Dalinghe, out of the ditch gang, Shenyang's main force can join forces with it.

Seeing that Wei Lihuang disagreed with his combat policy, Chiang Kai-shek sent Wei Lihuang to Nanjing to give him face-to-face instructions.Wei did not resist in person. After returning, he discussed with Liao Yaoxiang, the commander of the Ninth Corps, the general guarding Shenyang. He believed that Liao led his troops to the west.So it is still perfunctory and procrastinating.Chiang Kai-shek was very annoyed, and sent Chief of Staff Gu Zhutong to Shenyang to supervise the execution of his order. Wei still had the same attitude and refused to obey the order.In this regard, Chiang Kai-shek was very anxious, and he simply came to Shenyang on October 2, and after yelling at him, he forced Shenyang to organize the Westward Corps.

The Westward Corps includes: the 50th Division of the New 1st Army, the 30th Division of the New Formation, the 6th Army, the 3rd Army, the 49th Army, the 71st Army, and the Xu Wanshou Brigade of the 207th Division, with about 150,000 people. On October 8, Liao Yaoxiang, who had spent nearly a month as a "foreign worker" by Chiang Kai-shek, finally crossed the Liaohe River and set off for Xinmin.In western Liaoning in autumn, the sun is yellow, the dust is yellow, the cars, artillery vehicles, and armored vehicles are yellow, and the cavalry and infantry are yellow. On the trembling land, a muddy yellow turbid current rushes westward. go.The New 1st Army is the vanguard of the entire corps, and the 50th Division is the vanguard of the New 1st Army. The division commander Yang Wenwen and the commander of the cavalry regiment Shang Qiyue hated the Communist Party's land reform. In the village, many Communist Party members and village cadres were shot dead.

On the 11th, the New 1st Army entered Zhangwutai Gate.At this time, Jinxi's Dongjin Corps was stubbornly blocked by the Northeast Field Army in the Tashan area.Chiang Kai-shek first replaced Que Hanqian with Hou Jingru to command the battle, then replaced Hou Jingru with Chen Tie to continue the attack, and sent planes to cooperate with warships near Huludao. He was beaten to the point where his bones became mountains and his blood flowed like rivers!But their wheels have never been able to run over Tashan!Chiang Kai-shek was so angry that he pointed at the noses of Chen Tie and others and scolded: "You are nothing. You are given so many troops, and equipped with the navy and air force to fight together. It took a few days and you can't even take down a single Tashan. You are not worthy of being a student of Whampoa!" And believers of the Prime Minister!"

Chiang Kai-shek's anger has never been seen by his attendants who have followed him for many years. Seeing that the Eastern and Western Corps were blocked, Liao Yaoxiang, who captured Zhangwu, was even more reluctant to move forward actively. He negotiated with Wei Lihuang and decided to stop his troops east of the Xinkai River to watch the battle. Luo Zekai, director of the Third Department of the National Defense Department of the Kuomintang, accompanied the army to supervise Liao Yaoxiang's actions. Luo Zekai immediately told Chiang Kai-shek about the situation. March to Xinlitun.

On October 15, the New 1st Army and other ministries successively occupied Xinlitun and took control of the outskirts of Montenegro.So far, Liao Yaoxiang believed that his troops "had no good way out except to go straight forward and rush to the Jinzhou area to join forces with the Jinzhou and Huludao armies." He even planned a route from Xinlitun, Fuxin to Jinzhou, but at this time A shocking news came, and he sat in the car blankly, unable to recover for a long time: Jinzhou has fallen!On the day he won Xinlitun! He imagined that Jinzhou would fall, but he never imagined that it would be at this time, when he lost his position! After calming down, he began to think about the retreat of his westward corps. Pan Yukun can't pass the level of Montenegro After many considerations, Liao Yaoxiang decided to retreat to Dawa and Yingkou via Heishan and east and south of Dahushan. This is the retreat route he had imagined before.But after talking with Wei Lihuang, Wei asked Liao Yaoxiang to lead his troops back to Shen, while Chiang Kai-shek ordered Liao Yaoxiang to go west and recover Jinzhou. Liao Yaoxiang didn't know where to go for a while!In the meantime, the telegram was delayed for 5 days back and forth!It was not until the evening of the 20th that Chiang Kai-shek called to agree to Liao Yaoxiang's plan. Montenegro is the only corridor to enter and exit Dawa, Yingkou, or retreat to Shenyang or continue westward. Liao Yaoxiang knows best in his heart that if he wins Montenegro, he may live, but if he loses Montenegro, he will die!Montenegro has become the key to the success or failure of the entire Westward Corps! On the evening of the 21st, the Montenegro attack began.Liao Yaoxiang initially thought that the Montenegrin People's Liberation Army had not many defenders and that the attack would be easy to succeed. However, at the end of the night, the 71st Army, which was in charge of the main attack, was stubbornly resisted by the Montenegro defenders, and the attack did not make much progress. The next day, in order to strengthen the attack force, Liao Yaoxiang asked Pan Yukun to command the New 1st Army and the 71st Army to attack Montenegro together. At 6 o'clock in the morning on the 22nd, before the sun came out, the heavy artillery of the New 1st Army launched a fierce bombardment on Jianshanzi in the north of Heishan and the Hujia shack in the east. The 2nd and 1st columns of the Northeast Field Army guarded this position Division 3.After the bombardment, the 50th Division of the New 1st Army and the 87th and 91st Divisions of the 71st Army rushed towards the defenders' positions like locusts. When they rushed to the opponent's position 300 meters away, bullets rained down on their faces. On top of the attackers, a row of people fell, another row rushed forward, one group disappeared, and another group rushed forward. Stepping forward on the corpse. "Brothers, success and benevolence are here in one fell swoop, go!" Yang Wen, the commander of the 50th Division, shouted, waving a pistol, and kept shouting. But fighting fiercely, the New 1st Army and the 71st Army just couldn't pass the 300-meter hurdle! The 207th Division is a youth army trained by recruiting high school graduates. Most of the soldiers carry carbines or Thomson light machine guns.The combat effectiveness is not under the New 1st Army. On the 23rd, the 3rd Brigade of this unit rushed to the front of the 84th Regiment of the 28th Division of the 10th Vertical as soon as it came up.When the two strong men meet, the brave wins. The 3rd brigade relied on the large number of people. Two or three people fought around the 84th regiment. The soldiers of the 84th regiment held bayonets and stabbed at the place where they were crowded. Splashing, the land of Jianshanzi was completely covered in blood! The 84th regiment was outnumbered, and only 31 soldiers left the position alive! The commander of the 3rd Brigade saw that a big gap had been torn open in the Communist Army's position, and he seemed to be overjoyed. When he was about to announce the good news, the members of the 85th Regiment of the 10th Column immediately countercharged, and the results of the battle were quickly taken away by the Communist Army. go back. After two days of fierce attack, nothing was found, and according to intelligence, the communist army after conquering Jinzhou is encircling western Liaoning! The situation is extremely critical! On the 25th, Liao Yaoxiang ordered Pan Yukun to capture Montenegro at all costs! The attack on this day was the most intense since the Westward Corps fought.Pan Yukun put all his troops, including 24 planes and more than 200 cannons, into an arc-shaped position about 25 kilometers from Heishan to Dahushan. The mountain was flattened and the ground was bombed. People are still standing upright! Pan Yukun is in despair, Liao Yaoxiang is in despair! The chaos in western Liaoning became a "pot of porridge". Lin Biao said calmly: "What are you afraid of when there is chaos? Let's give him a way to control the chaos. The column should not go to the division, and the division should not go to the regiment. Everyone should go to Liao Yaoxiang." , Wherever the gunshots are dense, hit them!" That night, the New 1st Army and the 71st Army withdrew from Montenegro and moved to Yingkou in the dark, but it was too late. It is a narrow area of ​​about 120 square kilometers east of Dahu Mountain, south of Wuliang Temple, north of Tai'an and Weijiapengzi, and west of Lijiashanpeng Station. Still in the afternoon of this day, the Kuomintang air force discovered in the air that there was a marching column about 5 li long south of Zhangwu, and immediately told this important information to Liao Yaoxiang's chief of staff, Yang Kun. Forgot to report this news to Liao Yaoxiang.As a result, on the night of the 25th, this column (the 6th Column of the Northeast Field Army) rushed into the encirclement and disrupted the Liao Yaoxiang Corps. To make matters worse, taking advantage of this chaos, the 3rd Column of the Northeast Field Army broke into a village in the Hu family shack at dawn and sent the Liao Yaoxiang Corps forward to the command post, the New 1st Army, the New 3rd Army, and the New 6th Army. The headquarters was smashed to pieces with a stick!The communication of Liao Yaoxiang's troops was completely interrupted. The troops lost their heads and were at a loss as to what to do. They were suddenly paralyzed and disintegrated! In this way, gunpowder and smoke filled the land in western Liaoning, and fierce battles were everywhere.The villages and towns in western Liaoning are mostly named after "shacks". Whoever was the first to set up a shack here and settled down here was called a shack.Today, this large pile of "shacks" has become a large cemetery for the Liao Yaoxiang Corps! There is a small river about 1 km east of the Hu’s shack. During the scuffle, the infiltration troops of the People’s Liberation Army surrounded the Hu’s shack along this small river and cut off the communication between the Hu’s shack and the New 1st Army. Other troops either attacked east or northeast, oppressing the Westward Corps from the left wing to the south, or advanced southwest, oppressing the Westward Corps from the right wing, and the Westward Corps fell into the pincer attack of the People's Liberation Army. Liao Yaoxiang, who had lost his command post, finally found the headquarters of the new 30th Division. Soon, Xiang Fengwu, commander of the 71st Army who could not control the troops, He also arrived, and Liao urged him to go back and take control of the troops, rectify them on the spot, and prepare to resist. The troops are still under the command of Pan Yukun. After the People's Liberation Army made a limited attack, it temporarily besieged and did not attack some villages in the east of Hu's shack. The entire New 1st Army was divided into scattered villages in a circle about four to five kilometers around.The encirclement circle of the People's Liberation Army is like an endless iron chain. Although the New 1st Army continues to launch counterattacks from inside and outside the encirclement circle, it is still unable to break this strong iron chain. Here the fighting is fiercest. At this time, Liao Yaoxiang was still fighting trapped beasts. He ordered the New 30th Division to draw out a battalion to rescue the shattered corps command post and the personnel of the New Army headquarters.As a result, counterattacks inside the circle and attacks outside the circle became more frequent, and the People's Liberation Army's encirclement of the New 1st Army became narrower and narrower.At this time, the New 1st Army was really powerless to advance and had no way to retreat, unable to take advantage of its own firepower, and fell into the predicament of being passively beaten. At around 4 pm on the 26th, the battle advanced to the side of the 50th Division of the New 1st Army.Soon, the People's Liberation Army launched an annihilating siege to the Westward Corps from all directions. Its mobile artillery fire rushed forward and the area of ​​the Sun's shack like a carpet of fire. The New 1st Army was busy parrying and suffered heavy casualties. Witnessing this situation, Liao Yaoxiang summoned Pan Yukun and others for an emergency consultation, determined to do his best to break out from the area between the Sun's shack and the Hu's shack.Pan Yukun believed that in this predicament of being besieged on all sides, the troops should strengthen their resistance on the spot and should not act rashly. At this time, Zheng Tingji, the commander of the 49th Army guarding the area of ​​Chen's shack, reported that the situation on his side was very stable. The road from Lao Dafang to Shenyang was also under the control of his troops. The new 22nd Division The division also arrived there.Liao Yaoxiang was immediately transferred to the headquarters of the 49th Army. At around 5 pm on the 26th, Pan Yukun received a call in plain language from Liao Yaoxiang: "Commander Pan, please immediately command the New 1st Army, the 71st Army, the 169th Division, the Xu Brigade of the 207th Division, and the heavy artillery units directly under the Corps. At daybreak, retreat to Shenyang along the area south of the Dahushan-Xinmin Railway. Cross the Liao River in the area between the south of Xinmin and Laodafang; all vehicles and heavy artillery that cannot be taken away can be destroyed." Pan Yukun was stunned when he heard this: "How can Commander Liao speak in plain language! Isn't this reporting his actions to the Communist Army?" Indeed, all of this was accurately transmitted to the "East Field" headquarters through radio waves. Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Liu Yalou were all very happy to hear it.Lin Biao was a man who could not express his emotions or anger.Although he lay on the chair and closed his eyes to rest his mind, he heard every word on the phone.After listening, he said contemptuously: "It doesn't matter if you leave Yingkou or go back to Shenyang. What did they do five days ago?" Liu Yalou happily stepped forward and said, "Boss Lin, do you want to study it?" Lin Biao waved his hand and said, "What are you studying? Liao Yaoxiang made it clear where the troops are, block them first, and then encircle and wipe them out!" Since then, the People's Liberation Army's siege has been climaxed wave after wave, and the encirclement has become smaller and smaller. Jiang Jun realized that he was in danger of being wiped out at any time, so he jumped the wall in a hurry and ran desperately. The New 1st Army and the 3rd Brigade of the 207th Division concentrated their artillery fire, and with battalions and regiments, they rushed to the positions of the 13th Division of the 5th Vertical of the "East Field" in turn. Those who win the highway will be rewarded, and those who win the highway will be promoted!" Jiang's army attacked the front lines of Huang's Shack, Tea Shed Nunnery, and Maomao Mountain most fiercely, and shells fell like hail on the positions of the People's Liberation Army.Intensive artillery fire knocked down the fortifications, and the PLA soldiers continued to fight in the collapsed trenches, bomb craters, and pools of blood. Machine guns, submachine guns, grenades, bayonets, and even stones and blocks became their weapons.One charge was beaten down, and the next charge came up quickly.From morning to noon, and from noon to evening, the two sides fought repeatedly, fighting back and forth, but the PLA's position remained motionless. On the evening of October 26th, it was dark and the New 1st Army was in its place, ready to implement the plan to withdraw to Shenyang.After nightfall, they adopted a confuse strategy of shooting at the People's Liberation Army every hour at regular intervals, covering the positions and retreating quickly, and laying mines on the main retreat route to hinder the pursuit of the People's Liberation Army.The retreating officers and soldiers put socks on their shoes to avoid making noise.The 50th Division, which is in the Sun's shack, has also carried out several counterattack operations to distract the attention of the People's Liberation Army. But how can the tricks of the New 1st Army fool the battle-tested "East Field" soldiers?On all roads of the retreat of the New 1st Army, the People's Liberation Army With the support of intensive artillery fire, they continued to charge forward, and the sound of guns and shouts disturbed the night sky before dawn like popping beans in a stuffy pot.It is ridiculous that when an infantry battalion of the New 30th Division scrambled for their lives along a small river, they trampled, squeezed, trampled to death, and drowned countless people.By daybreak, the People's Liberation Army had penetrated all the way to the northwest corner of the former Sun's shack. The division headquarters of the 50th Division, the team directly under the division, and the 150th regiment were divided into three sections, and the main force of the New 1st Army suffered a fatal blow.Some officers and soldiers of the New 1st Army gathered in the village, although they desperately resisted with the help of wall fortifications and houses, they were useless. The fate of other units of the Westward Expedition Corps was similar, and the entire battlefield in western Liaoning was beaten into a "pot of porridge". The staff officer reported to Lin Biao: "The enemy's organizational system is in chaos, and our organizational system is also in chaos. The ministries cannot command." Lin Biao said nonchalantly: "What are you afraid of if there is chaos? Let's make chaos for him. The column should not go to the division, and the division should not go to the regiment. Everyone should go to Liao Yaoxiang. Wherever the gunfire is dense, go there." hit!" When the remnants of the New 1st Army were still concentrated in an area less than 6 square kilometers around the front and rear Sun's shacks, Army Commander Pan Yukun still dreamed of breaking out from the south.He called back the rearguard cavalry troops who were preparing to flee outside the encirclement, and threw them to the north, trying to make a final struggle. But the artillery fire of the People's Liberation Army was too fierce, and all assaults and counterattacks were blocked and shattered. Seeing that the general situation was over, Pan Yukun took advantage of the chaos and took advantage of the darkness to climb out of the encirclement and escape to Xinmin by train with Zheng Jingan, a major general of the Northeast "Suppression General" who was familiar with the local terrain and routes. Shenyang. Wen Xiaoshan, deputy commander and commander of the new 30th Division, was not so lucky.After the New 1st Army was dispersed, Wen Xiaoshan, Tan Daoshan, the deputy commander of the New 30th Division, and Tang Shan, the chief of staff, huddled in a depression and were discovered by the logistics cooking team of the 15th Division of the "East Field" 5th Division.The cooking squad leader saw that the three men were all wearing soldier uniforms, but their thin skin and tender flesh did not look like soldiers, so he held a shoulder pole and asked the older man, "What do you do?" Wen Xiaoshan replied tremblingly, "I...I...I cook." "Cooking? I don't think so! Hold out your hand!" Wen Xiaoshan had no choice but to stretch out his hands without a single gap. The cooking squad leader raised his shoulder pole and shouted angrily, "Honestly, what do you do?" Wen Xiaoshan hurriedly waved his hands to stop him: "Don't fight, don't fight! You take me to meet your highest officer before we talk." The cooking team escorted Wen Xiaoshan and others back to the division command post, and met Che Xuezao, the division's deputy political commissar and director of the political department, and Che asked who Wen was.Wen replied: "I can't say it yet, I want to see the commander of your column." Che didn't ask any more questions, and sent someone to find Commander Wan Yi.When Wen saw Wan Yi, he immediately explained his identity and asked for protection. Wan Yi said to him: "I can guarantee your safety. However, I want to ask you: How do you feel at this moment?" "What else is there to talk about?" Wen Xiaoshan said dejectedly, "We are like Xiang Yu who was defeated in the Chu-Han war. We have the natural danger of the Wujiang River in front, and there are heavy soldiers chasing after us. We have reached the end of the mountain!" Wan Yi said solemnly: "You are wrong! You are not Xiang Yu, and we are not Liu Bang. As long as an army embarks on the road of anti-people and anti-society, it will never escape the shameful end of failure!" In the fierce battle until noon on the 27th, Liao Yaoxiang's corps was routed, and Jiang Jun, who was fleeing all over the ground, rushed around.The People's Liberation Army immediately launched a powerful political offensive, shouting: "Brothers in the Jiang Army! The Liao Yaoxiang Corps is finished. Anyone who resists will die. Surrender quickly and come to our side." Jiang Jun officers and soldiers Hearing the shouts, they put down their weapons in batches and surrendered one after another. The "Eastern Wilderness" army agencies were not far behind, except for those on duty, guards, and those with urgent tasks, they all came out to capture prisoners.Correspondents, cooks, breeders, and even the female members of the propaganda team and the health team all became heroes of the captives. Large groups of prisoners followed them obediently, and there was a climax of captives on the battlefield for a while.Jiang Jun only needs to see Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army may have heard the shouts of the People's Liberation Army, ranging from small groups of three or five to as many as one or two hundred, and they automatically surrendered to the People's Liberation Army.The officers and soldiers of Jiang's army knew very well that in this situation, only by surrendering honestly can they survive and have a way out. As of the 28th, more than 100,000 people from the 5 armies, 12 divisions and special forces of the Liao Yaoxiang Corps were all wiped out by the PLA. On the 30th, Wei Lihuang, Pan Yukun, Long Tianwu and others fled Shenyang by plane. On the 31st, under the leadership of the division commander Xu Gengyang, the temporary 53rd Division of the New 1st Army, the "Noble Name in the Trump Card", declared an uprising. At this point, the 1st Army was completely wiped out. After dark reading of swords and swords, the roar of guns and guns was quelled. Sixty years later, this period of grand and fierce history will be revealed. The rise and fall of the New First Army has given people much reverie and inspiration!Thinking about how heroic and brave this army born in a foreign country was on the battlefield against the Japanese invaders at the beginning, but how clumsy and passive they were as the vanguard of the civil war later, until they were dying and the whole army was wiped out!The people are still the same people, the weapons are still the same weapons, so why are there two completely different manifestations and destinies of the same army?To sum it up in one sentence, we can only say that the nature of war is the ultimate factor that determines the outcome of a war!