Search for the footprint of my father, station 6
History tracking of the Battle of Pinghan-Commemorating the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Pinghan
Text. Yangchuan and
Handan is a historical and cultural city with the reputation of the "City of Idioms". People's familiar idioms such as "Hu Clothing, Riding, Shooting", "Ambing Wei to Save Zhao", " Fighting in the Water " come from Handan. It is related to the war. If you don't talk about the distance, just talk about the nearest ones.
is November 2, 2022. It is the 77th anniversary of the victory of the Battle of Pinghan (also known as the Battle of Handan ). We deeply miss the great older generation of revolutionaries, countless heroic pioneers, and soldiers who participated in the Battle of Pinghan.
I have always had the desire to find the battlefield of the Pinghan Battle. On this day, I set out from Handan City and came to Hisan New District , Linzhang County and other places to find the soldiers of my father's mountain artillery company in October 1945 in the 8th Brigade of the 3rd Column of the Shanxi Hebei-Shandan-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei-Hebei Although the war has dissipated, that period of history is still fresh in memory.
1. Come to the former site of the Handan Uprising Command in Matou Town
On the morning of September 26, 2022, the autumn was clear and the sun was shining. Li Xinxian County, Wang Zhenhai and I drove from the main urban area of Handan City to the Matou Town Government Office of Jinan New District to explain our purpose, Li Haixiao, head of the Propaganda Department of the Party and Government Office of Jinan New District, Han Min, propaganda committee member of Matou Town, and Hu Dongliang, cultural webmaster of Matou Town, received us and led us to No. 146, Zhongda Street, Matou Town, the former site of the Handan Uprising Command, This building maintains its original style, facing north and south, with a flat-top commercial building facing the street. It was modeled after the architectural style of Tianjin at that time and is now a cultural relics protection unit in Hebei Province.
The former site of the Handan Uprising Command
Martou Town Culture Station Manager Hu Dongliang introduced: The Pinghan Battle, also known as the Handan Battle, was a period of the Liberation War. The main force of the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan Field Army carried out a self-defense counterattack against the Kuomintang army in the area south of Handan, Pinghan Railway. Chairman Mao Zedong once pointed out: "This battle must be fought well. If it is not fought well, we have to go to the mountains again, and the Chinese revolution will be postponed for 20 years."
Wang Zhenhai, Yang Chuanhe and Li Xinxian County are in front of the former site of the Handan Uprising Command
Website Manager Hu Dongliang continued to introduce: "Gao Shuxun, the 11th War Zone of the Kuomintang Deputy Commander and Commander of the New 8th Army, from Yanshan County, Hebei Province, was originally a subordinate of Feng Yuxiang, the Northwest Army. In October 1945, the deputy commander and commander of the 11th War Zone of the Kuomintang and commander of the 40th Army, Ma Fawu, led the 30th Army, the 40th Army and Gao Shuxun's New 8th Army, forcing more than 40,000 people to cross the Zhang River from Xinxiang along the Pinghan Railway Line, attempting to seize Handan, the capital of our Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan Liberated Area, and marched into Shijiazhuang to join the Kuomintang Hu Zong's southern part converged. On October 24, the New 8th Army occupied Matou Town, and Gao Shuxun's New 8th Army Command was set up in this flat-top second-floor commercial building. On October 24, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping led more than 60,000 people and more than 100,000 militias from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd columns of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, and surrounded the enemy's 30th Army, 40th Army and the New 8th Army with the tactic of clamping and pocketing. Commander Liu and Deng were not in a hurry to attack immediately, but adopted the method of "cats, mice, and mice, and then eat them". On October 28, The enemy launched a general attack and attacked fiercely to prevent the enemy from moving northward to Handan. Since Gao Shuxun wrote a letter to Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai in August, expressing his patriotic sentiment of advocating peace and opposing the civil war . Chief Liu and Deng took both military and political measures. While carrying out military strikes, he also actively carried out political struggles. He sieges Gao Shuxun without fighting, fighting without pain, and only made feint attacks, sent Wang Dingnan to contact him, and promoted his peaceful uprising. This is the key to the victory of the Battle of Pinghan." When we came here to look back, there seemed to be a rumbling sound of gunfire in our ears.
On October 28, our army launched a general attack, the 106th Division of the 40th Army of the Fifth Ministry of Horse and Law was annihilated, and Gao Shuxun sent troops to reinforce, and Gao Shuxun sent a regiment to be annihilated. At this time, Gao Shuxun's troops had no food, and it was impossible to continue to fight north to Handan or return to Xinxiang, and there was no hope of reinforcements.At that time, the New 8th Army had cut off the connection between the 40th Army and the 30th Army of the Kuomintang. Under such circumstances, Chief Liu Deng sent Wang Dingnan and Li Da, chief of staff of the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan Field Army, to arrive in Matou Town on October 28 in person to interview at Gao Shuxun's New 8th Army Command to resolve the concerns that Gao Shuxun and other officers' families were transferred to the liberated area to reunite them in Xuzhou , which made him finally make up his mind to revolt. Gao Shuxun decided to lead the New 8th Army and the Hebei Civil Army to a total of more than 12,000 people. He revolted in Matou Town on October 30, and issued a telegram to the whole country to withdraw from the civil war, advocate peace, and stand on the side of the people. On October 31, Liu Bocheng and Bo Yibo went to Matou Town to express condolences.
After Gao Shuxun withdrew from the battlefield, the battle situation immediately changed. Our army changed from blocking to chasing, and the victory of the Battle of Panghan ended on November 2.
Gao Shuxun led his troops to revolt at a critical moment in the Battle of Pinghan, which made an indelible contribution, creating favorable conditions for our army to quickly win the battle, and setting a precedent for the uprising of the Kuomintang large troops during the War of Liberation. He was the head of the ten most influential Kuomintang uprising generals and had a huge political impact across the country.
On November 2, 1945, Chairman Mao Zedong and Commander-in-Chief Zhu De sent a congratulatory telegram, which was drafted by Chairman Mao himself: "General Shuxun, my brother Xunjian: I heard that my brother led his troops to revolt, oppose civil war, advocate peace, and no one is supported by blood and ethics. Special telegrams will be celebrated, that is, Rongsui."
Chairman Mao Zedong personally proposed to adapt his troops into the Democratic Founding Army and appoint Gao Shuxun as the commander-in-chief. After the founding of New China, Gao Shuxun served as vice chairman, vice governor, and member of the National Defense Committee.
Mao Zedong pointed out: " Horse Head is very close to Handan. Handan is a historical city, so it can be called the Handan Uprising."
Chairman Mao said: "The launch of the Gao Shuxun movement has enabled a large number of Kuomintang troops to follow Gao Shuxun's example at critical moments of war, stand on the side of the people, oppose civil war and advocate peace."
On October 30, 1983, Hebei Province solemnly commemorated the 38th anniversary of the Handan Uprising, and Deng Xiaoping wrote several big words "Handan Uprising Monument".
Yang Chuanhe
When the interview ended, I couldn't help but look back at the former site of the Handan Uprising Command again. I saw him as if he was a vicissitudes of life, watching the prosperous streets of Matou Town wisely and peacefully, as if reminding the people: Today's happy life is hard-won and needs to be cherished.
2. Come to the Pinghan Battle Battle in Xiyucao Village
Under the guidance of Li Haixiao, head of the Propaganda Department of the Party and Government Office of the Jinan New District, we came to the battlefield of the 8th Brigade of the 3rd Column where my father was located in the Pinghan Battle: Xiyucao Village, Gaoyu Town, Jinan New District, and the village party branch secretary Yang Junfeng received us. I explained my purpose to him. He organized three elderly people in the village who witnessed the situation of Xiyucao Village in the 1945 Pinghan Battle: 99-year-old Zhu Zhi, 86-year-old Yang Piren, and 83-year-old Yang Bingduo. After I greeted the old people, I introduced that our group of three came from Handan. In October 1945, my father was a descendant of the Eighth Route Army soldiers who participated in the Pinghan Battle of Xiyucao Village. I want to know the situation of the battle in Xiyucao Village that year.
Yang Bingduo, Zhu Zhi, Yang Piren, Yang Chuanhe and Yang Junfeng
I was sitting opposite the three old men. The 99-year-old Zhu Zhi's eyes were already very cloudy and had dense old spots on his face; 86-year-old Yang Piren was kind and friendly, and he said slowly: "October 30, 1945, the national The party army seized our Xiyucao Village. Since the deputy commander-in-chief of the 11th War Zone of the Kuomintang and commander of the 40th Army, Ma Fawu, was located in Qianqianzhang Village, a village in the adjacent village, our village became a key village to defend, with more than 2,000 people from the 67th Division of the 30th Army of the Kuomintang, the 199th Regiment and the 200th Regiment. The 199th Regiment was once the guard regiment of Chiang Kai-shek; the 200th Regiment was the former headquarters of the Northwest Army, with many heavy weapons and many good weapons, good at defense and well-trained.At that time, Xiyucao Village had a population of about 1,300 people, with an area of 2.5 square kilometers. There were more than one meter high walls around the village and four gates, east, southwest, west and north. The walls were solid. There were dozens of brick houses in the northeast corner of the village, which was the commanding heights of the whole village. After the Kuomintang army arrived, they first drove the villagers to the temple in the village and locked them up and refused to let them out. The enemy cut down trees in the whole village, set up deer forts outside the village, set up obstacles at streets and roads, build bunkers at important street entrances, open houses, roofs with bunkers, and perforations on the walls of up to three floors. The entire village forms an extremely tight firepower network. They went to various families to grab food, chickens, sheep, pigs, vegetables and other foods and money. I heard that our army was from Shanxi by Liu and Deng's army. The 8th Brigade Commander Ma Zhongquan of the 3rd Column, followed closely behind the enemy to surround the village. That night, the People's Liberation Army began to attack. The People's Liberation Army was not too slow and lie to attack the enemy's machine gun cannons, lie to the enemy's bullets and artillery shells. The enemy set up machine guns on the walls and roofs and kept firing at the Eighth Route Army outside the city. The Eighth Route Army harassed all night, preventing the enemy from resting at night, and consuming the enemy's bullets and energy. The village militia cooperated with the People's Liberation Army to dig a hole in the city wall, and the Eighth Route Army entered the village to grab the enemy's machine guns, and attacked the enemy at night. The Eighth Route Army destroyed the roads outside the village, put the trees down and blocked the road, and prevented the enemy from breaking through.
Yang Chuan and held a discussion with Yang Bingduo, Zhu Zhi, Yang Piren and Yang Junfeng
Yang Bingduo said: "As more than 2,000 enemies came to our small village, the population surged, the next day, the food was eaten up, and the six shallow wells in the village were also drunk. The next day, the enemy broke through during the day, and an aircraft was supported in the air, but was beaten back by the Eighth Route Army. The enemy's bullets were almost exhausted, and the enemy reinforcements were hopeless, so they were ready to break through again. But the breakthrough was not successful even after two times."
Old Yang Piren continued: "Living in my house, he is the leader of the Kuomintang army. He took a opera box (radio) and a phonograph to listen to opera at home. When he heard that Gao Shuxun's uprising, he felt hopeless about breaking through and drinking at home. When he heard that the Eighth Route Army had arrived, he went to the city wall to relax. Because he was in a bad mood, he shot a soldier. The wind was heard and the weather was in panic all day long. According to the three old men, the village was full of corpses and had to walk on the streets, so there was no time to sort them out."
htmlOn the 231st, Chief Liu Deng adopted the tiger-headed tactic. When Chief Liu Deng learned that Xiyucao Village was the neighboring village where the headquarters of the headquarters of the Ma Fa5 of Qianqianzhang Village was located, and it was the key to annihilation of Ma Fa5. It was necessary to take down the command center of the enemy. Chief Liu Deng ordered: Target the City God Temple of Qianqianzhang Village, Linzhang County, the headquarters of the Ma Fa5 of Qianqianzhang Village, and the 1st Column fought from the east. The 2nd Column fought from the north and the 3rd Column fought from the west, proposing the loud slogan of "destroying the Fifth Chiefs of the Mafa and making meritorious service for the people."
html On the evening of the 231st, the 22nd Regiment of the 8th Brigade attacked from the west of the village. The battalion commander of the 1st Battalion led two assault companies of the 1st Company and the 3rd Company, occupying the dunes and highlands in the west of the village with rapid actions and driving the enemy into the village. Part one of my 24th Regiment, who was supporting in the south of the village, also quickly broke through the forefront, and the two regiments expanded rapidly. The result of the battle, attacked the village. After all, the enemy's 67th Division was a main division, and it quickly adjusted. With its superior equipment and fortifications in the village, it fought fiercely and launched fierce counterattacks again and again. The west and south of the village, the two sides fought unprecedentedly fiercely, and the enemy defended tenaciously.
On the position in the west of the village, Deputy Battalion Commander Wu of our army led the way. He used a light machine gun to shoot violently at the enemy. He was injured on many sides of his body, but he still did not go down the line of fire, and he fought until the last drop was drained. Blood. The soldiers were crying in their eyes, shouting the slogan "Avenge Deputy Battalion Commander Wu", and used machine guns and grenades to kill the enemy and counterattack many times.
at dawn, and came amid the thrilling machine gun sound. After nearly a night of fierce battle, the 22nd and 24th Regiments occupied the highlands in the west of the village and some houses in the south of the village respectively. Brigade Commander Ma Zhongquan ordered the suspension of the attack, counting the prisoners and supplying weapons and ammunition, and hurry up and prepare to continue fighting at night.
On the evening of November 1, Brigade Commander Ma Zhongquan ordered: The 22nd Regiment and the Lushan Cannon Company, also the company where his father was, to hold his position at all costs and order the 23rd Regiment of the Reserve Team to join the battle. The 22nd Regiment fought extremely fiercely from the west of the village, the 23rd Regiment and the 24th Regiment respectively from the north and south of the village, and launched hand-to-hand combat with the enemy many times. After more than 10 hours of fierce battle, a large number of enemies were killed and the guns and cannons in the entire Xiyucao Village were shaking the sky and trapped in a sea of fire.
That night, the two sides fought in a state of confrontation and the battle was very fierce.
Before dawn, Brigade Commander Ma Zhongquan considered: the battle was in a stalemate. At that time, the enemy was equipped with cannons and machine guns, and most of the soldiers were well-trained. Our army has poor equipment and few bullets, and most of the soldiers are new recruits, and strong attacks will cause major casualties. At this time, Chief Liu and Deng proposed to adopt the tactic of "surrounding three gulfs and one", open the southeast gate, leave life in vain, lure the enemy into the wild to set up an ambush, and eliminate the enemy in the wild.
Old man Yang Piren continued: "At noon on the 2nd, after the attack order was initiated, the regiments rushed bravely with the support of artillery and machine gun fire. At 17:00, the 22nd Regiment attacked the center of the village and blew up the command post of the enemy's 67th Division; the 23rd Regiment and the 24th Regiment entered the village from the north and south of the village respectively, and fought with the enemy house by house. Under the fierce offensive of the three regiments, the defending enemy gradually became ineffective, and had to flee from the southeast direction and escape some enemies, but they were completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army without running far away.
Looking back at that time, the 8th Brigade Mountain Cannon Company of the 3rd Column where my father was, he marched more than 400 miles from Changzhi to Xiyucao Village, Ci County (because of administrative division adjustments, it is now the Hebei New District). The troops passed by Qingzhang River . There was no bridge on the river, so they had to wade through the river. At that time, the river water was waist-deep, and the river water in mid-October was cold and biting. Everyone took off their clothes and crossed the river without hesitation. The mountain cannon was more than 1,000 kilograms, and it was dismantled into four large pieces, two gun wheels, one gun barrel, and one gun body. Each piece is more than 200 kilograms, carried by horses or carried by people across the river. After crossing the river, the mountain cannons must be reassembled, so that the horses can continue to march quickly. The artillery soldiers also have to carry artillery shells and heavy weapons across the river, which adds considerable difficulty to the march.
The 8th Travel Army of the 3rd Column where Yang Xiaoting is located crosses the Qingzhang River in Shexian
After arriving in Xiyucao Village, Cixian, he quickly entered the position. We must choose the artillery position immediately, install and calibrate the cannons, and be ready to fire at any time. My father used the Type 41 75mm mountain cannon for assembly, observation, calibration, etc. The first time he used the Type 41 75mm mountain cannon to participate in assembly, observation, calibration, etc. As a gunner, he had a very deep memory of the first fire to shoot the enemy position. At that time, there were very few shells, and every shot had to be carefully prepared.
On the afternoon of November 1, 1945, the mountain cannon of my father's mountain cannon squad entered the artillery position, and after debugging, he was ready to fire at any time. At 6 pm, the commander ordered: "Fire!" "Test-fire three shells, and after calibration, three more shells were fired. Observer report: Two shots hit the enemy's position, and two shots fell near the enemy's position. The enemy discovered our artillery position and shot at our artillery position. The mountain artillery squad where my father was located immediately moved to establish a new artillery position, debug calibration on the new artillery position, and attacked the enemy's position.
fought for four days and three nights. Through fierce battle, more than 800 enemies were killed and wounded, more than 1,500 officers and soldiers under the command of the enemy's 67th Division were captured, and 8 guns of various types were seized and heavy machine gun 70 more than tings, etc.
3. Come to the main battlefield of Pinghan Battle of Zhangliji Village
Under the leadership of Li Haixiao, head of the Propaganda Department of the Party and Government Office of Jinan New District, and Yang Haifeng, secretary of the Party Branch of Xiyucao Village, we came to Zhangliji Village (formerly known as Qianqianzhang Village) in Zhangliji Township, Linzhang County. Although Xiyucao Village and Zhangliji Village are not in the same county, the two villages are adjacent and about 5 miles apart.
Chapter 2 Wang Yuezhi, Party Branch Secretary of Liji Village, and Zhang Zixin, Director of the "Pinghan Battle Victory Memorial Hall", received us. After I explained my purpose, Director Zhang Zixin introduced: "After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, in October 1945, Ma Fawu, deputy commander-in-chief of the 11th War Zone and commander of the 40th Army of the Kuomintang, led more than 40,000 new 8th Army of the 30th Army, 40th Army and Gao Shuxun, to attempt to capture Handan City, the capital of the liberated area, open up the Pinghan railway line, seize the liberated area, and seize our army's anti-Japanese war. The fruits of victory. Our army took tit-for-tat, refused to give in and wiped out the invading enemy. However, since Liu and Deng's main force were still in Shangdang area of Shanxi Province (now Changzhi City), 400 miles away, and the main force was in charge of the Shangdang Battle , and the main force could not arrive immediately. At that time, local armed forces delayed the enemy, and Ma Fawu advanced step by step, forcing the Zhang River to cross the Zhang River, occupying Ci County and Linzhang is close to Handan. At that time, Ma Fawu's chief headquarters was located in the Chenghuang Temple in Qianqianzhang Village."
Zhang Zixin introduced the Battle of Pinghan to Yang Chuanhe and Wang Yuezhi
Director Zhang Zixin continued: "On October 24, the main force of Liu and Deng's army arrived at the designated position and surrounded the fifth unit of Mafa. On the 28th, Liu and Deng's army launched a general attack, annihilated the 106th Division of the main force of the enemy's 40th Army, and annihilated a regiment reinforced by Gao Shuxun. The 30th Army of the Kuomintang also suffered a major blow. Mafa5 felt overwhelmed, and the spirit of the army was shaken, and there was no hope of capturing Handan, waiting for rescue. When he heard about Gao Shuxun's uprising on the battlefield, The enemy troops were sharply reduced, and there was a serious gap in deployment. He felt panic and isolated. His psychological defense line was completely broken.
The sunset from November 1st, and the five troops of Ma Fawu were suddenly defeated and fled one after another. Seeing that the defeat was irreversible, Ma Fawu also fled south while in chaos. Our army set up a net of heaven and earth. On November 2, our 1st Column captured Ma Fawu, deputy commander of the 11th War Zone and commander of the 40th Army, Liu Shirong, and others. Except for a few escapes, all the enemies of the 30th and 40th Army of the Kuomintang were annihilated, and the battle of Pinghan was successfully concluded. ".
Ping Han Battle, in addition to the uprising of more than 12,000 people from the New 8th Army and the Hebei Civilian Army, a total of more than 30,000 enemies were killed, including: more than 20,000 people below Ma Fa5 were captured. This battle played an important role in delaying the Kuomintang army's advance northward along the Pinghan Line and covering the various Eighth Route Army units' march to the northeast.
When summarizing the Battle of Pinghan, Chief Liu Deng said: In terms of participating forces, the Battle of Pinghan concentrated more than 60,000 main forces of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd columns of the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan Field Army, and the rear command center organized more than 300,000 militias and masses to directly participate in logistics, forming our army's absolute advantage in combat power and laying the foundation for victory in the battle. Soldiers and civilians are the foundation of victory . In addition, Gao Shuxun still opposed the civil war and led the uprising of the New 8th Army, which further led to the rapid end of the battle and the complete victory.
The village we visited, they heard that the descendants of the Eighth Route Army who liberated their village came to interview, and they rushed to answer questions enthusiastically, and naturally revealed from their eyes, their words, and their emotions: they all respect our army's tenacious style and fearless spirit of not being willing to die if they don't win a battle!
Xiyucao Village is just an ordinary village. It is not close to market towns and transportation lines. Its population has grown from about 1,300 people in 1945 to more than 7,000 people now, one elderly person over a hundred years old, and more elderly people over 80 in the village. Although the three elderly people we interviewed are in their 80s, their speeches are clear, organized, and their answers are smooth. The quality of life and life expectancy of the elderly have significantly improved, and they all live a happy life with sufficient food and clothing.
My father has passed away for more than 30 years. If I were alive, I would like to come here, revisit the past, recall the past, and have endless common topics to talk about.
October 8, 2022
Yang Chuanhe, male, born in 1961, from Shexian County, Hebei Province, graduated from the Department of Physics of Hebei Normal University, formerly served as deputy director of the Development and Reform Commission of Handan City and director of the Key Project Office of Handan City. Written by "Father's Military Career".
Source of pictures and texts Original author Fo Liu Qingzhang Cross-strait
