General Xu Shiyou is an excellent commander of our army, nicknamed "Monk Xu". He has a straightforward personality and a tough style. He has fought countless tough battles in his life.
Hu Lian was a famous general of the Kuomintang. He was nicknamed "Fox General" because he was as cunning as a fox. He won the trust of Chiang Kai-shek and was entrusted with the important task of serving as the commander of the 11th reorganized division of the "Ace Army".
In the battle of Baimaguan, the two met on a narrow road. Xu Shiyou commanded 10,000 troops to "hard-fight" Hu Lian's 30,000 elite troops, but he was stunned to make no progress and returned in vain.
Let us review the wonderful tough battle commanded by General Xu Shiyou!
General Xu Shiyou
In March 1947, the War of Liberation entered a white-hot stage. Chiang Kai-shek, who wanted to restore the decline, was determined to launch a key attack on the Shandong Liberated Areas. For this purpose, 24 reorganization divisions were specially mobilized, with a total of 450,000 troops, including many of Chiang Kai-shek's elite forces. The 11th Division led by Hu Lian is the trump card among trump cards.
How "powerful" is Hu Lian's 11th Division? Here is a brief introduction to you.
The 11th Reorganized Division of the Kuomintang originated from the 18th Army of the National Revolutionary Army (one of the "five main forces" of the Kuomintang). It has 3 brigades, each with three regiments, and each regiment with three battalions. It is fully organized and organized , with a total strength of nearly 40,000, which is nothing compared to an army. The entire division is equipped with fine art equipment. It is a fully mechanized division with a full range of artillery and other heavy weapons. It can call in fighter jets for support when necessary, and its combat effectiveness is extremely strong.
Kuomintang's famous general Hu Lian
In order to crush the enemy's conspiracy, Chen and Su prepared to encircle the point for reinforcements and sent out one, three, and ten columns to attack Tai'an from the side, forming an effective containment of the enemy.
But there is a practical problem that has to be solved, that is, Hu Lian and his 11th Division are currently stationed in the area of Pingyi County. Once our army attacks Tai'an, Hu Lian will immediately increase his troops to support us, forming a flanking attack on our army, with disastrous consequences.
For this reason, Chen and Su ordered Xu Shiyou to stop Hu Lian at Baima Pass. Because Baima Pass is the only way for Hu Lian to pass through for reinforcements.
On the afternoon of April 18, The East China Field Army headquarters issued a brief combat order to Xu Shiyou:
At this time, Xu Shiyou's Ninth Column was a hundred miles away from Baima Pass, and Hu Lian's 11th Division was only more than 20 miles away from Baima Pass. inside.
Without further delay, after receiving the order, the three main leaders of the Nine Columns, Xu Shiyou (Commander), Lin Hao (Political Commissar), and Nie Fengzhi (Chief of Staff), discussed and made a determination to fight:
Based on Liu Yong’s 26th Division As the first echelon, strengthen the 74th Regiment of the 25th Division as the division's reserve team and quickly march to Baima Pass, making sure to occupy Baima Pass before the enemy.
After receiving the order, division commander Liu Yong gathered his team and set off, doing battle mobilization during the march.
And the other party also deeply realizes the extreme importance of the position of Baima Pass. It can be said that one man is in charge of the pass and no one can open it. Early the next morning, Hu Lian sent Yang Botao's 11th Brigade to take the lead and asked them to seize Baima Pass before 12 noon to cover the passage of the main force.
Why do Xu Shiyou and Hu Lian pay so much attention to Baima Pass? This has a lot to do with the topography of Baimaguan.
Baimaguan is located on a ridge in Mengshan Mountain, Shandong. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with Heishan Mountain and Tiantai Mountain to the southwest, towering Yuntou Mountain to the west, and towering Jiunu Mountain to the southeast. There is a main road in the middle, which is the only way to the hinterland of Yimeng and Mengyin .
Yang Botao never dreamed that when he led the 11th Brigade, fully equipped with mechanized equipment, to Baima Pass, the officers and soldiers of our 26th Division had been waiting here for a long time.
The first to arrive at Baima Pass was the Fourth Company of the 77th Regiment of the 26th Division of our army. It was the sharp knife company of the entire division. The company commander was called Wei Laiguo.
Wang Kun, the leader of the Seventy-seventh Regiment, decided that Wei Laiguo's Fourth Company would guard Baima Pass first. This was also his trust and high hopes for the Fourth Company.
After Wei Laiguo received the order, he did not hesitate, quickly assessed the situation, and made troop deployment:
The first platoon guarded Yuntoushan, and the third platoon was lurking in Montenegro as a reserve team. He and deputy company commander Wang Guotian led the second platoon to guard. Tiantai Mountain.
After everything was ready, all the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Company waited for the enemy to come to their door.
I have to say that Yang Botao is also a tough guy. After learning that Baima Pass was occupied by our army, we immediately organized troops to attack in an attempt to recapture Baima Pass and the surrounding mountains.
Yang Botao first asked the 11th Brigade Artillery Battalion to launch a saturation attack on Baima Pass, and thousands of artillery shells fell instantly. In an instant, flames shot into the sky and gravel flew everywhere.
After the firepower was covered, the Kuomintang officers and soldiers plucked up the courage and cautiously marched towards Baima Pass. However, they did not know that Wei Laiguo and his second platoon of soldiers were already lurking here, and the artillery fire did not hit them.
The company commander in the lead of the enemy army saw no movement on the mountain and shouted: "There are no "communist troops" on the mountain. Let's all charge together! "
After hearing this, the enemy soldiers who relaxed their vigilance rushed towards the mountain in a hurry. As a result, when we were about 40 meters away from the top of the mountain, we were suddenly attacked by fierce artillery fire. All of a sudden, the heavy machine gun, , and grenades opened fire at the same time. The enemy fell in pieces, and the enemy's company commander was also shot in the head by Wei Laiguo. .
The enemy's first attack failed !
However, the enemy did not give up. At noon, they organized another battalion and climbed up the ravine to Montenegro. They attempted to sneak attack Montenegro and cooperate with the main attacking troops to outflank them from both sides.
How could the enemy's trivial skills escape the sharp eyes of Wei Laiguo. The four squadrons on the flanks of the mountain were immediately organized to block the attack. The warriors of the fourth squad fired their bows from left to right and killed dozens of enemies in the blink of an eye.
The enemy saw that the sneak attack failed, so he changed it to a violent attack. Concentrate the whole battalion's firepower to violently attack the fourth squad. At this time, the platoon holding on to Yuntoushan provided fire support, and formed a flanking attack with the counterattack firepower of the fourth squad. The enemy was beaten to the point where they panicked and fled down the mountain in a hurry.
Later, the enemy organized a hundred-man suicide squad and prepared to charge forward to fight with our army with bayonets. However, in the middle of the charge, Wei Laiguo and the warriors killed more than twenty people. Seeing that something was wrong, the "Suicide Squad" abandoned their helmets and fled.
At this point, Yang Botao's 11th Brigade was repulsed by Wei Laiguo in three attacks. The White Horse Pass was impregnable and not an inch of ground was lost..
Seeing that there was no progress in the battle, Hu Lian was extremely anxious. He knew that if he could not take Baima Pass, the large forces would not be able to pass through, and there would be little hope for Chiang Kai-shek's strategic attempt to attack Shandong.
So the next day, Hu Lian came to Baima Pass in person to supervise the battle. The division commander came in person, and the frontline officers and soldiers were greatly encouraged. Yang Botao organized another larger attack.
Not only that, Hu Lian personally took action and applied for 6 aircraft from Shangfeng. It can be said that he spent a lot of money.
Before the attack, several planes bombed the front line of Baima Pass wildly. The heavy firepower of the entire division attacked Baima Pass at no cost. For a time, Baima Pass was filled with smoke and flames the size of bullets.
Perhaps the aircraft and artillery gave the enemy great confidence, and hundreds of enemy troops rushed like crazy towards Tiantai Mountain where Wei Laiguo was stationed.
Wei Laiguo stayed calm in the face of danger and took the lead. He led the second row of soldiers to repel waves of enemy attacks, and finally defended their position.
However, the second row also suffered heavy casualties, and what was even worse was the serious lack of ammunition. The enemy seemed to have discovered this problem and did not give Wei Laiguo a chance to breathe, and then launched a more violent attack.
Deputy Company Commander Wang Guotian saw that his comrades in the front row led by Company Commander Wei Laiguo were unable to support themselves, and shouted at the top of his lungs: " Brothers, throw rocks at them !" In an instant, boulders rolled down, and the enemy was smashed beyond recognition. , can only run away.
Just like that, a large-scale attack personally supervised by Hu Lian failed again!
On the other side, Xu Shiyou was also paying close attention to the battle ahead in real time, spoke highly of Wei Laiguo and the Fourth Company, and gave Liu Yong a death order: Hu Lian's 11th Division must be smoothed and bald!
In the following week, the frustrated Hu Lian launched dozens of large-scale attacks, using all available aircraft and artillery, but still failed to capture Baima Pass.
Liu Yong's 26th Division with 10,000 troops and Hu Lian's 30,000-horse well-equipped 11th Division fought fiercely, and the battle turned into a tug-of-war.
Especially the Fourth Company of the 77th Regiment, they were like nails, nailed to the Baimaguan position and did not let the enemy take away an inch of land.
In the end, under the command of General Xu Shiyou, the Baimaguan Blockade won a great victory, annihilating more than 2,000 enemies, and successfully completed the blockade task assigned by Huaye headquarters.
Especially the fourth company, they held their position and killed more than 500 enemies. Among them, company commander Wei Laiguo alone killed 92 enemies. The fourth company was awarded the honorary title of "Baimaguan Combat Model Company", and Wei Laiguo was awarded the honorary title of "East China Shooting Hero!
