Chapter 80 From Yan'an to Xibaipo

In 1947, the changes in the situation on the battlefield between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were remarkable: At the beginning of the year, the Communist Party "withdrew" from Zhangjiakou and Yan'an. It seemed that the Communist Party could not support the situation of resistance. Little did they know that the People's Liberation Army was burdening the Kuomintang, while it was looking for opportunities to annihilate the opponent's vital forces.It is a pity that the opponent Chiang Kai-shek failed to understand the chess game, but instead took pride in occupying the capital of the Communist Party.The result of Chiang Kai-shek's blind man riding a blind horse is: the overall attack failed, and the key attack also failed.

In July 1947, Mao Zedong gave an order in Xiaohe Village, and the People's Liberation Army turned to counterattack. The three armies of Liu Deng, Chen Su, and Chen Xie attacked the outer line and led the war to the Kuomintang-controlled area. Chiang Kai-shek completely lost his initiative and could only be passively beaten. . By the end of the year, another 470,000 Kuomintang troops in defense had been annihilated.Mao Zedong pointed out sharply: "This is a turning point in history. This is the turning point when Chiang Kai-shek's 20-year counter-revolutionary rule went from development to elimination. This is the turning point from the development to elimination of imperialist rule in China for more than a hundred years.

"Once this event takes place, it will inevitably lead to national victory." This shows that Mao Zedong's strategy of "replacing the whole of China with one Yan'an" has achieved initial results. The Northwest battlefield is also implementing a plan to recover Yan'an. On August 5, 1947, Peng Dehuai ordered the Northwest Field Army to attack Yulin to cooperate with Liu Deng and Chen Xie's army. On August 17, the Zhongsong Department was annihilated in Shajiadian, and the northwest battlefield was turned into an offensive. In order to completely eliminate Hu Zongnan's threat to the central government, on October 27, Peng Dehuai attacked Yulin twice, successfully transferred the enemy northward, and tightly bit Hu Zongnan, thus covering the strategic deployment of our main force in the Central Plains.

By the beginning of 1948, the Northwest Field Army had grown to more than 750,000 people, recovered a large area of ​​lost ground, and mastered the strategic initiative.Although there are still more than 230,000 people in the Northwest Kuomintang Army, they have been exhausted by the People's Liberation Army and their combat effectiveness has been greatly weakened. Just after the Spring Festival, the Northwest Field Army Command decided to start the Yichuan Campaign, which opened the prelude to the strategic counteroffensive on the Northwest battlefield in 1948. Yichuan borders Luochuan in the west, the Yellow River in the east, and Yan'an in the north, forming a triangle on the Xianyu Highway, which is a strategically important place.

Hu Zongnan used a brigade of troops to guard here, and the commander-in-chief was Zhang Hanchu.The People's Liberation Army decided to adopt the method of "surrounding the points and fighting for aid", and quickly surrounded Yichuan with the third column on February 24, and secretly assembled the main force in the area around Wazi Street on both sides of the road from Yichuan to Luochuan.Zhang Hanchu, commander of the 24th Brigade of the Defenders, hurriedly asked Hu Zongnan for help. Hu Zongnan urgently ordered Liu Kan to command the Reorganized 27th Division and the Reorganized 90th Division, with a total of more than 20,000 people, from Huangling and Luochuan to the east.In order to preserve his strength and avoid contact with the People's Liberation Army, Liu Kan deliberately acted slowly.Hu Zongnan was very angry, and ordered Liu Kan by telegram: "Go forward immediately, don't stay!" Liu Kan had no choice but to follow the order. On February 27, when Liu Bu arrived in the Renjiawan area of ​​Wazi Street, he was surrounded by nine brigades of the People's Liberation Army ambushing here, and became a turtle in an urn.

At dawn on March 1, Peng Dehuai ordered the People's Liberation Army to launch a powerful offensive against the Kuomintang army.Under the fierce attack of the People's Liberation Army, the Kuomintang suffered heavy casualties.Liu Kan continued to convey the order of "If you don't succeed, you will be benevolent" to senior officers above the regiment one after another. At the same time, he also conveyed Hu Zongnan's telegram instructing the fighters: "I have ordered the Lu Chongyi Corps to rush to the rescue at night. I hope my brothers will encourage the soldiers and coolies to support them. Jian Xunyou!"

"If the enemy does not surrender, we will resolutely destroy him!" Facing the stubborn defenders, Peng Dehuai issued an order to the entire army for a general attack. In an instant, countless shells flew towards the Kuomintang army's position with a whistling sound.Liu Kan is a "trapped beast that is still fighting", desperately organizing a counterattack.The battle reached a fever pitch.Liu Kan understood that it was already too late to escape at this time, and he could only speed up his death, and he couldn't wait to die.Therefore, he gave his subordinates an order that they must hold the line of defense and wait for reinforcements.On this day, Hu Zongnan also sent more than 10 planes to assist in the battle, strafing the PLA positions at low altitude to cover Liu Kan's breakout.After Peng Dehuai saw this situation, he immediately ordered: "The second longitudinal direction is westward, and the third longitudinal direction is expanding southward, so as to block all the enemy's retreat routes and form a real net of heaven and earth, leaving Liu Kan with nowhere to escape. The troops must further strengthen their offensive, resolutely and thoroughly , Cleanly, and completely annihilate the enemy!"

In Yan'an, after two days and nights of fierce fighting, all the Kuomintang troops were wiped out, including the two division headquarters of the 27th Division and the 90th Division, 4 brigades and a local army, with a total of 20,000 people.Liu Kan, commander of the army, and Yan Ming, commander of the 90th Division, were shot dead by the PLA. On March 3, the People's Liberation Army captured Yichuan and wiped out more than 5,000 people from the 24th Brigade of the defenders.The People's Liberation Army won a major victory on the Northwest battlefield. The battle of Yichuan wiped out most of Hu Zongnan's mobile forces, and the enemy's defense system in the northwest battlefield collapsed, changing the situation in the northwest region and opening the door for our army to march to Weibei and Guanzhong.

Defending the enemy in Yan'an has become a turtle in an urn, and it can be said that regaining the red is just around the corner. Taking advantage of the victory, Peng Dehuai marched towards the south of the Huanglong Division, conquered 10 cities in a row, cut off the Xianyu Highway, and completed the strategic encirclement of the isolated cities of Luochuan and Yan'an. On April 17, our powerful corps advanced into the vast area between Jingwei and Wei, and even defeated 7 cities. On April 21, Yan'an, which had become a frightened bird, defended the enemy, abandoned the city and fled south.The next day, our army regained the revolutionary holy land of Yan'an in one fell swoop.

Yan'an, which was occupied by the Kuomintang army for one year, one month and three days, returned to the hands of the People's Liberation Army. Mao Zedong's prophecy has been proved. On April 25, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a congratulatory message to Peng Dehuai, He Long, Lin Boqu, Xi Zhongxun and all officers and fighters of the Northwest People's Liberation Army, celebrating the great victory of retaking Yan'an, and expressing condolences to the Northwest People's Liberation Army, the people of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and the people of Yan'an.

At the end of March 1948, when the Northwest Field Army had entered the counter-offensive and was sure of victory, in order to better command the national operations, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Ren Bishi led the central government to decide to leave Yan'an, cross the Yellow River east, and set foot on the road to Xibaipo, the new headquarters of the Chinese revolution. On the way.And on May 17, in Xibaipo, he met Liu Shaoqi, the head of the Central Working Committee who arrived here earlier. At the ferry of the Yellow River, Mao Zedong boarded the wooden boat and said with emotion: "The Yellow River is really dangerous! If it weren't for the Yellow River, we wouldn't be able to live in Yan'an for so long. If the Japanese army came over, we might go somewhere to fight guerrillas." In the past, the Yellow River was not well utilized. In the future, the Yellow River should be used for irrigation, power generation, and shipping, so that the Yellow River can benefit the people." His words revealed his infinite nostalgia for Yan'an, the holy land of revolution, and it also showed that he was thinking more and more about the future of new China in his heart. Yes, after the war turned into a counter-offensive, Mao Zedong had already boldly shouted the slogan "Down with Chiang Kai-shek and liberate the whole of China". ?