However, due to the special circumstances in 1946, he once encountered the crisis of being "replaced".
At that time, the Kuomintang established the Xuzhou Appeasement Office, headed by Xue Yue, a famous anti-Japanese general who had commanded several Changsha battles and Wanjialing victories, and concentrated the forces of 20 reorganized divisions to jointly attack Shandong and northern Jiangsu.
With the enemy outnumbered, our army made several mistakes in command. First, the main attack on Si County failed, and then it misjudged the direction of Xue Yue's main attack, resulting in the rapid fall of Huaiyin , the capital of the Central China base area. .
In the autumn of 1946, Xue Yue mobilized three reorganized divisions to attack Linyi. Because our army failed to concentrate its forces, we fought three more wasteful battles in southern Shandong .
In November 1946, there was intelligence that Xue Yue was preparing to mobilize 8 reorganized divisions to attack the northern and southern Jiangsu base areas in 4 groups. The situation suddenly became tense.
The central government decided to put Xu Xiangqian in charge of commanding Lunan, and Chen Yi was appointed political commissar. The implication was that he would most likely be put in charge of Shandong Field Army operations in the future.
Xu suffered from forward pleurisy and was unable to go to the front line to fight. With the military situation raging, the central government had to temporarily transfer Central China Field Army commander Su Yu to fight in southern Shandong.
Su Yu said that there were three battles in the War of Liberation that made him most nervous. The first one was the Battle of Subei.. The biggest problem with
is that the troops are not familiar with it. Those who directly participated in the Subei Campaign were all mountain troops. The mountains and fields are composed of the Ye Fei Column of the New Fourth Army and the First Department of the Shandong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army.
Among them, Ye Fei's column was Su Yu's subordinate during the Anti-Japanese War, but after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, they went to Shandong, and more than a year had passed.
Secondly, the same is true for the troops, and the same is true for the command organization. Su Yu was like airborne to the mountain headquarters.
In addition, there are new battlefields and new opponents. In the past, he faced Li Mo'an , and now he has to deal with Xue Yue and Wu Qiwei. These must be mastered in the shortest possible time. It is impossible for him not to be nervous.
However, when he walked into the war room and faced various familiar maps, he immediately turned back into the old sailor who had always been calm and composed in strong winds and waves.
The enemy who invaded Muyang had two troops. One was the 11th Division reorganized by Hu Lian. Like the 74th Division, it was ranked among the "five main forces" of the Kuomintang, so it was naturally not weak.
The weak one is the left wing: reorganize the 69th Division. The 69th Division has average combat effectiveness, and its division commander is Dai Zhiqi. Dai Zhiqi had three and a half brigades under his jurisdiction.
Of these three and a half brigades, only one and a half are original organic units, and the other two are transferred units. Anyone who has commanded a war knows that such a mixed configuration will bring a lot of inconvenience to the command.
Dai Zhiqi actually relied on and Hu Lian. If the two divisions were completely mixed together, it would still be very difficult to fight. Fortunately, there was a "handsome" above the second general, and it was this "handsome" that made the difference. A stupid move.
"Handsome" is Wu Qiwei, deputy director of the Xuzhou Appeasement Office. Wu Qiwei's judgment and insight into the battlefield situation are obviously inferior to Li Mo'an.
He didn't know that Muyang also had heavy troops stationed in Shanye. He thought that the main forces of Shanye and Huaye were in southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu, leaving Muyang empty of troops. Therefore, he not only made great strides forward, but also divided the troops under his control into left and right wings. .
Although the 11th Division was an ace unit, it had just been transferred from the battlefield in the Central Plains and was unfamiliar with the terrain and people's conditions in Huaibei , so it was very cautious when advancing, and gradually fell behind Dai Zhiqi.
And the further they advance, the larger the gap becomes, eventually forming a fan-shaped radiation, creating conditions for Li Yu to separate their formation.
On the morning of December 15, 1946, Su Yu pressed the map in one hand and held the microphone in the other in the command post, completing the entire forward deployment.
Chen Yi, who was commanding with him, turned around and said to his men: "This time we have deployed a pocket formation, and the 69th Division has been completely surrounded by our army."
Since the battles of Si County and Lianghuai, the mountains and plains have not fought a decent victory. Chen Yi once said in front of his subordinates in the "three meetings" depressingly:
The battle must be won. I held a "celebration meeting"; I failed to hold a "struggle meeting"; I killed myself and held a "memorial meeting"!
Finally had a chance to win a battle. Chen Yi's long-term depression was swept away and he recovered again. He used to have an optimistic and cheerful personality, laughing loudly as he spoke, and pointed to the pocket on his military uniform with his right hand:
"This battle is to catch a turtle in a jar, and we are absolutely sure to eliminate it within a week." "
The officers and soldiers were also looking forward to it. They said: "Our troops are about to take some tonic (referring to the war of annihilation), but they are afraid of taking laxatives (referring to the war of attrition). "
What Su Yu will bring to the mountains and fields is a big patch of healing.
At dusk, following Su Yu's order, Ye Fei's column thrust into the enemy's rear with great speed, and once reached the vicinity of Hu Lian's division headquarters. The connection between Hu Lian and Dai Zhiqi was cut off.
Hu Lian and Dai Zhiqi were caught off guard and were beaten dizzy.
At dawn, the frontline operator heard the voice from the enemy's high-level officials on the phone.
Someone shouted urgently: "You should use all your strength to recapture Fengshan. "
Another person heard it and shouted urgently: "Hurry up and shoot Fengshan." "
Among all the voices, there is a place name that is frequently mentioned: Fengshan.
This is the commanding heights on the battlefield, which has been occupied and controlled by the mountains and fields. If Dai Zhiqi cannot take it, he will lose the opportunity to retreat to Suqian Road.
Under the command of Dai Zhiqi, the 69th Division launched a fierce attack on Fengshan. The entire mountain was submerged in fireworks, but in the end they failed to open the life-saving channel, so a new conversation came from the intercom
. Wu Qiwei called Hu Lian to "come closer to Mr. Dai (Dai Zhiqi)", but Hu Lian's reply was to exclaim: "Mr. Dai is unimaginable. "
Wu Qiwei
Hu Lian knew very well that the 69th Division was in a state of destruction. If he didn't get closer, he would be dead.
On December 16, 1946, Shanye completed the division and encirclement of the 69th Division, and It was divided into several sections, and the siege was carried out section by section starting from the 17th. On December 190, the headquarters of the Sixty-ninth Division was breached, and the end of Dai Zhiqi and his troops was reached.
Dai Zhiqi's department Huangpu . As a second-generation student, he was very loyal to the Chiang family and his son, and chose to shoot himself at the last moment. This was the first senior Kuomintang official to implement Chiang Kai-shek "If you don't succeed, you will be benevolent" on the East China battlefield during the Liberation War. General.
The 69th Division was finished, but the 11th Division was still fine. No matter how Wu Qiwei called for it, Hu Lian followed his own tactics and retreated to a favorable terrain, hiding inside to survive. After coming out, Su Yu was unable to successfully perform a "cutting operation" on him, and finally had to withdraw his troops.
After the Battle of Subei, the key issue of "where to fight and whom to fight" was fierce as ever within the senior management of the company. The debate.
A senior staff officer who witnessed this scene described that the intensity was even worse than the red-faced and quarrelsome discussions among general staff members.
Su Yu and Hua Zhongye wanted to fight between the two. When fighting in Huaihe or northern Jiangsu, the mountain and wild parties tend to return to southern Shandong. At this time, the situation in southern Shandong is indeed very tense:
The enemies in southern Shandong are advancing all the way, and are only 30 kilometers away from Linyi, the capital of the Shandong Liberated Area. , if the maneuver speed of the enemy's fast column is followed, it can be reached in one or two hours.
It still has to be decided by the Yan'an headquarters. The verdict is that the two armies go north to Lunan and organize Lunan campaign to command the Lunan campaign. He is no longer as nervous as commanding the Battle of Subei, but he is more cautious.
This is the first time that Huaye and Shanye have merged into a battle. The fraternal troops participating in the battle are not familiar with each other. Of course, everyone will be happy if the battle is successful.
It is still necessary to win without losing, and it cannot be a small victory, but a big victory, but the difficulty of a big victory in Lunan is much higher than that in Subei.
Judging from the original combat plan formulated by the Nanjing Ministry of National Defense, Li Mo'an was mainly responsible for capturing Suzhong and reaching the Yancheng front line. He would have succeeded.
So even though Li Mo'an lost a lot of troops in the Battle of Central Jiangsu , Chiang Kai-shek was basically positive about his performance and did not blame him.
Xue Yue is different. In addition to the Huaihe River, it is also his job to occupy Shandong. Therefore, he attaches great importance to Lunan all the way and deploys a lot of troops.
was placed from Zaozhuang to near Xuzhou . The strongest unit among the enemy forces in the South.
"Strike the weak enemy first" is one of Su Yu's basic military principles, but for the enemy in southern Shandong, if you attack the weak enemy first, it will basically not solve the problem, and it will be difficult to alleviate the tension on the Shandong battlefield.
Su Yu decided to use troops instead and attack the powerful enemy first.
is both a strange and dangerous trick, and of course it cannot be used frequently. The last time Su Yu was "abnormal" in a big battle was when Huangqiao decisively fought . He attacked the Independent Sixth Brigade first and finally won a complete victory.
After 6 years, he will do it again in Lunan, first annihilating Ma Liwu.
Surprise and danger only refer to the method of making moves. If the commander is not sure at all, it is not a surprise move, but a blind horse.
Su Yu was sure that with the combined efforts of Huaye and Shanye, he could concentrate 27 regiments as mobile forces, while Ma Liwu's headquarters only had 6 regiments, and Shanye's strength was four and a half times that of the enemy.
has another advantage: Ma Liwu is very "arrogant".
Ma Liwu's reorganized 26th Division and the First Rapid Column were both artillery units. The most intimidating of them was the rapid column composed of tank troops and other arms.
Ma Liwu
The Rapid Column was formed during the Anti-Japanese War. It fought on the battlefield in Myanmar for three years. It is said that even Americans think highly of it, so it is known as the "Essence of the National Army" and the "Diamond Diamond".
Ma Liwu relied on his well-equipped equipment and the "diamond" in his hand, and did not take the New Fourth Army seriously at all. As a result, he rushed forward blindly and committed the military taboo of going deep alone.
In late December 1946, Su Yu ordered the troops distributed in the Huaihe River to march day and night, and drove into Lunan as quickly as possible without even being allowed to rest on New Year's Day.
Tao Yong's First Division was spotted by a reconnaissance plane when it was crossing Longhai Road. Tao Yong asked Su Yu for instructions and asked if he still had to travel day and night. Su Yu replied: "Why not? This is called taking advantage of the situation."
The New Fourth Army has always marched day and night, but now it suddenly changed from normal and marched in broad daylight. After receiving this information, Xue Yue immediately formed an illusion and concluded that Su Yu was "defeated in Shandong and was unbearable." Fight again”.
Xue Yue's generals were even more paralyzed than Xue Yue. Ma Liwu was completely unaware of Su Yu's combat intentions. The New Fourth Army troops were immobile. He thought it would take a few days before there would be a battle. This was very good.
Su Yu can't survive New Year's Day, and Ma Liwu wants to spend New Year's Day in the rear. Before leaving the front line, he patted his chest and boasted: "In three days, I can bet that the national army will be able to enter Linyi City. If they can't enter, they will chop off my surnamed Ma's head!"
was handing over the frontline command task. After taking command, Ma Liwu returned to the rear headquarters in Yixian County, where he attended the New Year's Day party and watched the Peking Opera "Feng Bo Pavilion".
was watching it happily when he received a call and there was a "turmoil" ahead.
On the evening of January 2, 1947, Su Yu launched a surprise attack on the 26th Division in two groups two hours earlier than originally planned, and completed the battle encirclement that night.
Ma Liwu wanted to return to the front to take command, but at this time the road was blocked and he could not pass.
On January 3, the New Fourth Army invaded the headquarters of the 26th Division. Ma Liwu's prophecy came true, but the first thing to be chopped off was not his head named Ma, but the command center of the 26th Division.
Most of the 26th Division, which lost its command, was destroyed, and the remnants and fast columns retreated to a small area.
The New Fourth Army is no longer unfamiliar with fighting artillery units. What is unfamiliar is fighting special forces such as rapid columns.
The rapid column actually only had a few dozen tanks , but judging from the situation at the time, it was already very impressive, because most of the New Fourth Army officers and soldiers had never even seen a tank, let alone fighting tanks.
In the previous battles, Shanye suffered losses from it at least three times.
One of Su Yu's important preparations before the war was to study how to turn "turtle shells" (tanks) into scrap iron piles. The
troops thought of many tactics, and dug anti-tank trenches in advance for defense. If that didn't work, they planned to wrap the track with straw, or when they saw the tank approaching, pile the straw and set it on fire to block its advance.
In terms of offense, in addition to using a small amount of anti-tank anti-tank guns and rocket launchers , we also plan to organize special shooters to shoot at tank lookout holes and use cluster grenades to blow up tank tracks. When
is actually fighting, these moves are more or less useful, but they do not cure the root cause, so we can only surround the fast column first.
After the 26th Division was basically annihilated, the morale of the frontline troops was strong, and they were filled with the spirit of completely destroying the enemy. Under such circumstances, it was extremely advantageous to launch a general offensive.
However, Su Yu did not issue a general offensive order for a long time. A large part of the reason was that he was afraid of the tanks and howitzers of the fast column.
On January 4, 1947, it suddenly rained and snowed, and snowflakes were flying all over the sky. This was rare weather since the beginning of winter.
After the rain and snow, the road became muddy. Su Yu was overjoyed when he saw it: "This is God helping us. The road is difficult to travel due to rain and snow. The enemy's heavy equipment will inevitably get stuck in it, making it difficult for the fast column to escape." "
"Man harms others, but nature harms people." The fast column chose to break out of the encirclement and run westward at this time. Su Yu issued an order: attack across the board and annihilate the enemy on the way to the breakout.
The fast column was supposed to take the road, but the road had been dug up by the New Fourth Army. The road was full of potholes and burning straw, which greatly affected the driver's vision.
Absolutely no, no, the dizzy column rushed down the road, trying to find another feasible road.
The road was found, but it was a road of destruction because they strayed into the leaky lake.
It is generally difficult to find the place name Leezhi Lake on provincial maps. It is called a lake, but it is not actually a lake, but a swampy depression that easily accumulates water.
The ground of Leaky Lake is usually as soft as a sponge. Once soaked by rain and snow, it becomes even more muddy, like a pot of machine paste. Tanks and trucks are all stuck in it and unable to extricate themselves, completely losing their ability to attack.
html From 0 to 3 p.m., except for 7 tanks that broke through and fled to Yixian, the 26th Division and the 1st Rapid Column were completely destroyed. Ma Liwu lamented: "This is one of the most painful battles in external and internal combat since leading the army. ."The leaky lake after the war was filled with tanks, cars, and howitzers as far as the eye could see.
The New Fourth Army captured 17 relatively good tanks, in addition, 1 regiment of American howitzers, and 2 regiments of mechanized infantry with baggage vehicles. All these equipment fell into the hands of Chen Yi and Su Yu, and became the basis for the later formation of a special column. family property.
Chen Yi personally inspected the battlefield. The more he watched, the happier he became. He laughed and composed an impromptu poem "Tanks are all piles of scrap iron." He also jumped onto a tank, sat down on the top of the tall turret, and kicked Stepping on the cannon body, we took photos with our colleagues. And he composed a poem on the spot:
The fast column is flying, and India and Myanmar are coming back to promote it. Southern Shandong is too muddy and the tanks are all piles of scrap metal.
Su Yu had already been here before him, but he neither took photos nor celebrated. He mainly led the staff to inspect the scene and sum up experience.
The Lunan Campaign had only just begun, and he needed to outline the direction of the second phase of operations.
After destroying the strong ones, the weak ones will be defeated next. Su Yu was originally planning to find Feng Zhi'an's 33rd Army, but Feng Zhi'an originally belonged to the Northwest Army and had a strong desire to preserve his own strength. Seeing Ma Liwu's defeat, he immediately They retreated to the south of the canal.
Feng Zhi'an
The hammer has been raised. Since it can't hit Feng Zhi'an, he heads towards Yixian and Zaozhuang.
At dawn on January 9, 1947, Su Yu led a light command post to the front lines of Yixian and Zaozhuang to command operations.
That night, the Eighth Division launched a general attack on Yixian County. The Eighth Division temporarily organized the four captured howitzers into an artillery company to participate in the battle. The gunners, gunners, computer soldiers, and drivers were all "liberation fighters." The shooting targets were determined by cadres who knew artillery.
This was the first time that the East China New Fourth Army used howitzers to cooperate with an siege. The howitzer salvos successfully suppressed the artillery positions in the city, causing a considerable blow to Ma Liwu's command post and garrison area.
Under the cover of the sudden artillery attack, the Eighth Division carried out continuous blasting.
There are many industrial and mining enterprises in the Lunan area. The Eighth Division was formed from the former Shandong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army. Many officers and soldiers were miners in Lunan and were good at blasting technology. The south gate of Yixian County was quickly blown open, and the siege troops broke into the city. .
There were still 7 tanks in Yi County that had slipped through the leaky lake. Due to insufficient firepower in the city, Ma Liwu drove all 7 tanks to the top of the city, hoping to use tank guns to help him defend the city, but it was self-defeating. When the street fighting began and he wanted to launch a counterattack, not a single tank could be driven off, and he was easily captured by the Eighth Division.
Some people laughed at Ma Liwu afterwards, saying that he didn't even have the common sense to command mechanized troops. How could tanks be used like that? In fact, Ma Liwu also had troubles that he couldn't tell.
In the early morning of January 11, 1947, the Eighth Division captured Yixian County, and Ma Liwu was also imprisoned.
While besieging Yixian, Su Yu sent Tao Yong's First Division to attack Zaozhuang. The reorganized 51st Division defending Zaozhuang was originally Northeastern Army . Its combat effectiveness was average, but the fortifications they relied on were very strong.
Zaozhuang is an industrial and mining town. Defense fortifications began to be built during the Japanese and puppet period. The city wall alone is more than ten feet thick. On this basis, the 51st Division built many group bunkers, forming a core position that is closely connected with the peripheral positions. defense system.
The first division is the main force of Huaye. It is good at field battles and mobile warfare, but it lacks experience in attacking fortresses and does not know how to blast. When sieging the city, it still used the same method of fierce attack and rush in the field battle. The result was that it repeatedly encountered failures. Both sieges failed. Reported failure.
Zaozhuang cannot be taken here. Over there, Hu Lian and other troops have entered the front line of Taierzhuang and Hanzhuang. Zhang Lingfu is also advancing north of Xuzhou. The situation in southern Shandong has become delicate again.
The generals under Su Yu's command have distinctive personalities. For example, Wang Bicheng is relatively introverted, usually stern, unsociable, and prone to sulking. In the eyes of some people, he even seems a bit withdrawn.
Tao Yong is different. Even on the battlefield of life and death, he still loves to tell jokes and joke around.
is such a bold, cheerful, humorous and optimistic person, who suddenly became taciturn and worried.
On January 14, 1947, Su Yu ordered to stop the attack and redraft countermeasures. In addition to increasing the number of troops, he also transferred the troops from the Eighth Division who were good at blasting and attacking to the First Division for Tao Yong's deployment.
Tao Yong selected the blasting personnel who were considered the most reliable and formed an advance team to attack the city.
The advance team used the "hole siege method" similar to the Taiping Army to dig a tunnel directly under the Zaozhuang city wall, and then through continuous blasting, finally opened the gap and entered the urban area of Zaozhuang.
On January 20, 1947, the street fighting ended, the 51st Division was completely annihilated, and more than 3,700 officers and soldiers under the division commander Zhou Yuying were captured.
At this point, the 18-day Lunan Campaign ended. On the East China battlefield, the Lunan Campaign set a new record, that is, 2 reorganized divisions and 1 rapid column of the Kuomintang army were annihilated at once.
For Chen Yi, Su Yu and the East China team, spring in Southern Shandong has arrived.
On January 23, 1947, after four months of twists and turns, Huaye and Shanye were officially organized into East China Field Army . Chen Yi was the commander and political commissar, and Su Yu was the deputy commander, with 11 infantry columns under their jurisdiction. 1 special forces column.
Since the anti-Japanese war in southern Jiangsu, Chen Yi and Su Yu have been good partners. Now they are teamed up again, and with the successive victories, the two have increasingly reached a perfect state in both their personal relationship and their work cooperation.
After conquering Zaozhuang, the First Division seized an American jeep that Zhou Yuying was riding. Tao Yong gave it to Su Yu for use, and Su Yu gave it to Chen Yi.
After the two armies were combined, the former Central China Army still called Su Yu "Commander Su" according to the old custom. Su Yu immediately corrected him:
"I am the deputy commander now, why am I still called Commander Su? There is only one commander in Huaye, and there is no commander." The two commanders should call me deputy commander."
Later, the people in the Huaye Staff Office were smart and gave the leader of Huaye a code, such as Chen Yi was 501, Su Yu was 502, and Tan Zhenlin was 503.
Su Yu thought this method was good: "It's very good, easy to speak, confidential, and easy to write. Just call me 502 from now on."
In terms of military command, Chen Yi mainly decides on major policies, while Su Yu is responsible for the specific battle command. .
As soon as the battle started, Chen Yi often left the command room, and said: "It is necessary for me to leave here, so that Commander Su will not report everything to me and delay the time."
Once Su Yu encountered any faults or difficulties in command, he only needed to follow up As soon as Chen Yi said that, Chen Yi picked up the phone: "Commander Su's opinion is my opinion, you must implement it resolutely."
Later, Mao Zedong told Rao Shushi in Yan'an: "Chen Su cannot be separated. If Chen Su unites, he will win, if he divides, he will lose. He told Rao Shushi
Huaye, jointly commanded by Chen and Su, is getting stronger and stronger, and the battle is getting bigger and bigger.
On the other hand, the battles of Subei and Lunan also cost Xue Yue his troops. Chen Cheng's attention was completely attracted.
Chen Cheng, known as the "Little Chairman", was the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of National Defense during the Anti-Japanese War alone. He commanded the Songhu Battle, Wuhan Battle, and Western Hubei. In terms of ability and experience in large-scale battles such as battle , he is not inferior to Xue Yue.
And his position and experience give him a strategic vision and vision that Xue Yue does not have.
Chen Chengduo. When I visited the front line for the first time, I gradually discovered that the intersection of the Jinpu and Longhai lines, which is the Shandong Liberated Area, has become the focus of the war. This is of course because the location is too important.
The Jinpu and Longhai lines are joint sea and land areas. , the two major arteries that run through China's north, south, east and west. As long as anyone controls these two arteries, they can advance and retreat freely, attack and defend. Even if there are "minor diseases" in other places, it will not affect the overall situation.
The Yan'an headquarters is familiar with this. Yu Xin has also invested a lot of troops in this area. In addition to Chen Yi and Su Yu's East China Field Army, there are also Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping's Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Field Army. The troop allocation has accounted for more than half of the total number of the People's Liberation Army.
Chen Cheng naturally does not. At his suggestion, Chiang Kai-shek personally presided over the formulation of the "Lunan Battle" plan and proposed to "clarify the situation in Lunan within 15 days."
In view of Xue Yue's defeat in two battles and his "low reputation", Chiang Kai-shek sent Chen Chengfei. He went to Xuzhou to supervise the war and took command in place of Xue Yue. As soon as he arrived in Xuzhou, Chen Cheng said: "The success or failure of the party and the country depends entirely on the battle of Lunan. It can only succeed, not fail. "
Chen Cheng organized two assault groups in the north and south with Linyi as the axis. The southern line was commanded by him personally, with Ouzhen Group as the main assault group, attacking northward from Longhai Road.
The northern line was commanded by Wang Yaowu, with The Li Xianzhou group was an auxiliary group, attacking southward from the Jiaoji line.
The two assault groups moved north and south to attack the main force of Huaye gathered in Linyi.
In addition, Chen Cheng also transferred the Wang Jingjiu group to southwest Shandong to isolate it. Huaye had connections with the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Field Army and took the opportunity to join the battles in southern Shandong and central Shandong.
The Kuomintang troops participating in the "Southern Shandong Battle" had a total of 74 reorganized divisions and brigades, of which 40 were reorganized in the northern and southern front groups alone. Divisions and brigades.
The concentration of troops was unprecedented since the beginning of the War of Liberation, and Shandong became the main battlefield in the country.
On January 31, 1947, Ouzhen Group took the lead in heading north.
Su Yu had already obtained relevant information before the "Battle of Lunan" began. He concentrated the strength of 50 regiments in advance and formulated a preliminary plan to attack the Ou Zhen Group first.
Ou Zhen's army is divided into three groups. Judging from the strength, its right side is weaker and its flanks are exposed. According to the principle of attacking the weak enemy first, the enemy on the right side is of course the first choice target.
However, the enemy troops on the right were moving very slowly and never came up. They considered attacking on the left, but they were just as slow and unable to attack. It's not that
can't get up fast, it's intentional. The two failures reminded Chen Cheng to re-formulate targeted tactics and play styles.
In the Battle of Lunan, he was defeated by a lone advance, unable to defeat the four-handed army with two fists. For this reason, Chen Cheng changed the advancement formation to "attack steadily and advance head on."
Ou Zhen Group's Three Roads You are optimistic about me, I am optimistic about you, marching forward shoulder to shoulder, walking an average of only 6 kilometers every day, almost like a tortoise crawling.
html On February 3, Su Yu changed his tactics again. He sent a main column to block the enemy in the middle from the front. At the same time, he notified the rest of Huaye's troops to relax the blockade appropriately and induce the enemy on both wings to advance boldly so that they could look for opportunities to annihilate their prominent road. .
However, the left and right sides not only refused to rush forward, but immediately moved closer to the middle, hugging each other tightly, just like hedgehogs , so that you can't find a gap even if you want to bite.
Su Yu also discovered that even if he did not engage in the "tortoise" and "hedgehog" tactics, it would not be easy to fight any of the three routes, and this was related to Chen Cheng's lessons learned from the Subei Battle.
In the Battle of Subei, the defeat was due to the separation between the strong and the weak. As a result, the weak were eaten. The method adopted by Chen Cheng is to "put hard walnuts into rotten grapes". Every step of the Ou Zhen Group will insert an elite main force as the backbone.
For example, there is Zhang Lingfu in the middle and Hu Lian on the left. The right wing is considered the weakest, but it also has Huang Baitao who is very capable and good at leading troops.
Chen Cheng was very proud of this and said: "Even if it is all tofu dregs, it can still swell the old sow to death." Because of Chen Cheng's statement, Chen Yi humorously called it "the tofu dregs will swell the old sow to death." tactics".
On February 4, 1947, taking advantage of Huaye's full strength to deal with Ou Zhen, the Li Xianzhou Group went south from Jiaoji Road and occupied Laiwu, threatening Huaye's rear.
Chen Yi and Su Yu were eager to defeat the enemy from the north, so they devised a plan to kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, they would carry out a crusade against Hao Pengju, who had revolted after the uprising; on the other hand, they would mobilize Ou Zhen's reinforcements to create a fighting opportunity.
What Chen and Su didn't expect was that Ou Zhen was not fooled, and even regardless of Hao Pengju's life and death, they still moved forward to Linyi. Huaye's plan to annihilate the enemy outside Linyi failed again.
While riding a tiger, Huaye's technical reconnaissance department similar to the "Fourth Squadron" found out the exact location where the Li Xianzhou Group arrived by deciphering enemy telegrams.
Chen Yi was the first to get this information and was overjoyed after reading it. It was already late at night and everyone was asleep, but Chen Yi still asked Su Yu to be invited for discussion.
According to the intelligence, Chen Yi came up with a new idea of "sacrificing the south and taking the north": Since he can accurately detect Li Xianzhou's whereabouts, instead of waiting too long on the southern front, he might as well abandon the southern front, transfer his troops to the north, and get Li Xianzhou first. Knock it off.
Su Yu was also very excited after hearing this, and immediately agreed. It suddenly became clear to him that he was going to use suspicion tactics against Chen Cheng.
The first step is to assume the "decisive battle shape". He first built a third-line position in Linyi and its south. After the main force moved north, he specifically left 18 regiments, including two columns, in the Linyi area.
These 18 regiments "played" the entire Huaye army to block and suppress the Ouzhen Group, creating the illusion that the main force of Huaye was still in Linyi.
Chen Cheng's "fighting steadily and moving forward together" was certainly sound, but by this time it had become a flaw because it provided time for Su Yu to move his troops north. The day before the main force of
went north, Su Yu once again received an important piece of information.
Even if the telegram is not cracked, Huaye can still grasp Li Xianzhou's movements through other special channels. The reason is that there are more hidden insiders lurking at the top of the Li Xianzhou Group.
According to this latest information, Li Xianzhou Group is marching towards Mengyin . The formation is also a long snake formation like Xue Yue. From the map, it looks like a line hanging down from the Jiaoji Line. A bunch of grapes is an excellent target to defeat individually.
Li Xianzhou
On February 10, 1947, under the order of Su Yu, seven columns originally distributed on the north and south lines moved covertly towards the Laiwu area where the Li Xianzhou Group was located.
Before all the main forces could be assembled, someone still needed to take action. Chen and Su summoned Feng Zhenwu, commander of the Second Division of the Central Shandong Military Region. The task given by
to Feng Zhenwu is to block the Li Xianzhou Group for at least 5 to 7 days so that it cannot quickly occupy Mengyin.
Feng Zhenwu only has 3 regiments in total. Most of them are newly built, and their weapons and equipment are also very poor. Of course, their combat effectiveness will not be that strong.
After hearing the tasks assigned to him, Feng Zhenwu stayed there, unable to say a word.
Both Chen and Su saw that Feng Zhenwu was troubled. Chen Yi smiled and said to him: "Back then, Zhuge Liang was planning an empty city with only two veterans and a piano boy around him. He also confused who had a heavy army. Sima Yi. You have three regiments of troops, why can't you deal with the enemy? "
The empty city plan is a stage performance after all, and Kong Ming only stayed for half a day. It will take 5 to 7 days instead of half a day." "Sima Yi" can you tell?
Chen Yi usually likes to joke, but Su Yu can't, but he also said to Feng Zhenwu: "It won't be a problem to stop it for 5 to 7 days."
How can you see that? Su Yu provided Feng Zhenwu with evidence. The intelligence from
special channels showed that the forward of Li Xianzhou's "One-word Long Snake Formation" was the 46th Army of the Guangxi Army. Su Yu said: "The enemy's unit has conflicts with its superiors, is not active in attacking Mengyin, and is in a dilemma."
Su Yu would not tell Feng Zhenwu all the secrets. In fact, the 46th Army is not just a matter of "conflicts with superiors".
Its commander, Han Liancheng, had already established secret contacts with the CCP and was brewing an uprising. He was therefore known as the "invisible general" of the CCP. The latest information obtained by Chen and Su was provided by Han Liancheng's personnel. .
Han Liancheng is one of his own, but he can't do whatever he wants in the 46th Army, otherwise he would have rebelled long ago. At the same time, he also has to give his superiors a suitable reason, so Feng Zhenwu got it from Su Yu Developed a set of empty city tactics.
Feng Zhenwu followed the plan. Although there were only 3 regiments, he designated the 3 main columns. At each campsite, he would specially build more straw bunks and build more cooking stoves, without dismantling any of them when moving.
These became sufficient reasons for Han Liancheng to delay progress. As a result, a whole week passed, and the 46th Army was still 30 miles north of Mengyin.
The southern line Ouzhen Group is still advancing slowly.
On February 15, 1947, Ou Zhen occupied Linyi, and what followed was a lot of bragging. Finally, the battle report before the case of Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng was: "Annihilate 16 Communist brigades outside Linyi."
Linyi fell, of course because Huaye's main force was no longer nearby, but Su Yu took this opportunity to show Wang Yaowu a "failure", giving him the illusion that Huaye's main force was exhausted from consecutive battles and could not afford to fight again.
I can no longer fight. Come and copy my back.
This was Su Yu's hint to Wang Yaowu, but what he didn't expect was that Wang Yaowu not only didn't move forward, but also shrank back.
Who is Wang Yaowu? It can be said that he is smarter than a monkey if he sticks to his hair. This man who defeated Xun Huaizhou and Su Yu more than ten years ago, and in the following ten years, single-handedly created the 74th Army, the top trump card of the Kuomintang, can't be easily deceived.
Wang Yaowu discovered a detail behind the capture of Linyi and the "encirclement and annihilation of 16 Communist brigades" that most people did not pay attention to - according to the battle report, the Ouzhen Group did not go through a fierce battle before occupying Linyi.
Linyi is the capital of the Shandong Liberated Area. If the main force of Huaye is still in Linyi, Linyi will not be abandoned. The two sides will inevitably fight. How can the battle not be fierce?
The most likely possibility is that Su Yu has changed the direction of the battle and may come north to surround Li Xianzhou.
Wang Yaowu reviewed the recent aerial reconnaissance information and found signs of frequent movements in Huaye. He made a prompt decision and ordered Li Xianzhou to retreat across the board. At the same time, he telegraphed Chen Cheng, requesting "permission for mobile operations."
To put it bluntly, the suspicious tactics are just deception and trickery.
Before Su Yu gave up Linyi, he really had to give Chen Cheng and Wang Yaowu an explanation as to where Huaye's main force had gone since then.
Su Yu asked local troops to advance to Yanzhou, built a pontoon bridge on the canal, and raised ferries on the Yellow River, making it appear that Huaye was about to march westward to join Liu, Deng, Jin, Hebei, Shandong and Yu field armies.
This is the third step of the suspicious plan after the "Decisive Battle" and "Failure" - the "Western Advance".
"The shape of the westward advance" is very reasonable and Chen Cheng doesn't see any falsehood.
In addition, he and Wang Yaowu have different positions and responsibilities. Wang Yaowu only needs to coordinate Li Xianzhou, so he is very concerned about the safety of Li Xianzhou Group. Chen Cheng also needs to coordinate the north and south and be responsible for the results of the "Battle of Lunan".
The ultimate goal of the "Battle of Lunan" is to advance from the north to the south and trap Huaye. Now that his side has captured Linyi, Wang Yaowu is still retreating. How to trap him?
Chen Cheng strictly ordered Wang Yaowu to return to the original place and not to retreat without permission. Wang Yaowu had no choice but to order Li Xianzhou to return.
Li Xianzhou's advancement and retreat was completely outside Huaye's action plan. Many people were worried that the plan would fail, and some column commanders directly suggested attacking in advance, so that even if they could not completely annihilate them, they could still cut off their "tails."
Su Yu believes that Wang Yaowu's repeated actions just show that the other party has not really grasped Huaye's intentions, but is just unsure and is more cautious.
What he wants to catch is a big fish, and what he is fishing for is a long line. The fishing rod must not move even once before all the main forces arrive at the predetermined assembly position.
When Li Xianzhou returned again, all Huaye troops had basically arrived and were quickly advancing towards the east and west sides of Laiwu.
On February 19, 1947, the siege was complete. At the same time, Wang Yaowu fully understood the true movements and intentions of Huaye's main force, so he urgently ordered the Li Xianzhou Group to shrink back, and an army in the rearguard position broke away from the encirclement.
Su Yu later admitted that he did not expect Wang Yaowu to be so bold and decisive. He gave the order as soon as he gave it, without asking Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng for instructions, and let the rearguard troops retreat hundreds of miles day and night.
If he had known this earlier, he would have inserted himself near Jinan so that no one in the Li Xianzhou Group could escape.
The rear guard slipped through the net, and Li Xianzhou's headquarters and two armies were not caught immediately, and they all retreated to Laiwu City.
On February 20, 1947, Su Yu officially launched the Laiwu Campaign. By the 21st, Huaye's troops had all deployed, forming an absolute advantage in the comparison of forces in the Laiwu area, and basically completed the encirclement of Laiwu City.
Wang Yaowu originally wanted Li Xianzhou to hold on, but later he saw that Li Xianzhou was actually in an isolated and helpless situation and was in great danger, so he felt that it was better to simply take the risk and break out to the north. This would not only help Li Xianzhou get out of trouble, but also strengthen Jinan's defense.
In order to gain Chiang Kai-shek's approval, Wang Yaowu sent his deputy chief of staff to Nanjing with his handwritten letter to report to Chiang Kai-shek face to face.
In view of the "unfavorable situation of retreating in front of the enemy", Chiang Kai-shek did not agree with Li Xianzhou abandoning the city and retreating, fearing that he would be attacked by the People's Liberation Army outside the city. However, seeing that Wang Yaowu's words were well-founded, he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Wang Yaowu's risk was really not worth it. With Han Liancheng by Li Xianzhou's side, of course, this information fell into Su Yu's hands unsurprisingly.
Su Yu immediately adopted the strategy of "encircling three and missing one", making way for the opening to the north and pre-arranged it into a pocket formation.
After receiving Wang Yaowu's telegram, Li Xianzhou summoned his officials and subordinates to study together.Li Xianzhou has a very aggressive and competitive character. He advocates standing firm rather than retreating. He believes that being surrounded by the People's Liberation Army, retreating is very disadvantageous. If he does not withdraw, as long as Linyi's Ou Zhen Group follows them, it will have the effect of a pincer attack from inside and outside.
Except for Li Xianzhou, everyone else clamored to withdraw. The reason was that two armies were crowded in a city. There were many people in the city, and the army was panicked.
After hearing this, Li Xianzhou finally swayed and agreed to withdraw. However, everyone had different opinions on when to withdraw.
Li Xianzhou proposed that it should be done sooner rather than later. Han Liancheng expressed his sole objection, saying that his troops were too late and needed a day to prepare.
The final retreat time was determined by Han Liancheng. In just one day, Su Yu completely solidified the pocket formation.
On the morning of February 23, 1947, Li Xianzhou retreated north to break through, but was trapped by Su Yu. Laiwu City was also seized by the People's Liberation Army. Li Xianzhou's troops were caught in a dilemma, with men, horses and vehicles huddled together.
At this critical moment, Han Liancheng quietly left his command post with the assistance of the underground party, causing the 46th Army to fall into chaos first. Huaye's assault columns took advantage of the situation to launch a fierce attack.
Li Xianzhou has fifty thousand people, but Huaye has more, more than four times as many as Li Xianzhou. The area surrounded by Li Xianzhou was only three or four kilometers from east to west and only one or two kilometers from north to south. As the encirclement shrank smaller and smaller, it was difficult for him to deploy his troops and his combat effectiveness could not be used.
On the contrary, Huaye's firepower can exert its maximum power - as long as you remember to send it into the crowd, one shell can kill many people, and even one bullet can kill three or four people.
On the afternoon of February 23, two armies under Li Xianzhou were annihilated, and 17 generals below Li Xianzhou were captured, setting an unprecedented record on the East China battlefield since the War of Liberation.
In the Battle of Laiwu, Huaye also captured a large amount of equipment, mainly various mountain artillery and field artillery. Later, each column in Huaye established an artillery regiment, and most of its artillery was obtained in this battle.
The Battle of Lunan sent Su Yu a special forces column, and the Battle of Laiwu sent many artillery regiments. Chiang Kai-shek's title of "Captain of the Transportation Brigade" has since been well-deserved.
Chen Yi wrote a poem about this: Zibo and Laiwu fought in bloody battles, and our army hunted Tai Shandong again. Hundreds of thousands of people captured a group of tigers, and seventy-two people achieved great feats. The snow in Lu Zhongji is bright and the flag is flying, and the flood waves in the Bohai Sea are singing in the strong wind. The stubborn chieftain was so embarrassed that he kowtowed to plead guilty to the culprit.
During the Battle of Laiwu, Wang Yaowu had many hesitations and repeated changes, and the enemy situation was constantly changing, which greatly tested the will, determination and adaptability of the specific commander.
When a reporter from Xinhua News Agency mentioned the three battles of Subei, Lunan and Laiwu in an interview, Chen Yi was full of praise for Su Yu, saying that "the more he performs, the more amazing he becomes, and the more he fights, the better he becomes." Later, he humorously said to his family: "If it weren't for Su Yu, Xu Xiangqian would have replaced me."
"
Since the battles of Si County and Lianghuai, the mountains and plains have not fought a decent victory. Chen Yi once said in front of his subordinates in the "three meetings" depressingly:
The battle must be won. I held a "celebration meeting"; I failed to hold a "struggle meeting"; I killed myself and held a "memorial meeting"!
Finally had a chance to win a battle. Chen Yi's long-term depression was swept away and he recovered again. He used to have an optimistic and cheerful personality, laughing loudly as he spoke, and pointed to the pocket on his military uniform with his right hand:
"This battle is to catch a turtle in a jar, and we are absolutely sure to eliminate it within a week." "
The officers and soldiers were also looking forward to it. They said: "Our troops are about to take some tonic (referring to the war of annihilation), but they are afraid of taking laxatives (referring to the war of attrition). "
What Su Yu will bring to the mountains and fields is a big patch of healing.
At dusk, following Su Yu's order, Ye Fei's column thrust into the enemy's rear with great speed, and once reached the vicinity of Hu Lian's division headquarters. The connection between Hu Lian and Dai Zhiqi was cut off.
Hu Lian and Dai Zhiqi were caught off guard and were beaten dizzy.
At dawn, the frontline operator heard the voice from the enemy's high-level officials on the phone.
Someone shouted urgently: "You should use all your strength to recapture Fengshan. "
Another person heard it and shouted urgently: "Hurry up and shoot Fengshan." "
Among all the voices, there is a place name that is frequently mentioned: Fengshan.
This is the commanding heights on the battlefield, which has been occupied and controlled by the mountains and fields. If Dai Zhiqi cannot take it, he will lose the opportunity to retreat to Suqian Road.
Under the command of Dai Zhiqi, the 69th Division launched a fierce attack on Fengshan. The entire mountain was submerged in fireworks, but in the end they failed to open the life-saving channel, so a new conversation came from the intercom
. Wu Qiwei called Hu Lian to "come closer to Mr. Dai (Dai Zhiqi)", but Hu Lian's reply was to exclaim: "Mr. Dai is unimaginable. "
Wu Qiwei
Hu Lian knew very well that the 69th Division was in a state of destruction. If he didn't get closer, he would be dead.
On December 16, 1946, Shanye completed the division and encirclement of the 69th Division, and It was divided into several sections, and the siege was carried out section by section starting from the 17th. On December 190, the headquarters of the Sixty-ninth Division was breached, and the end of Dai Zhiqi and his troops was reached.
Dai Zhiqi's department Huangpu . As a second-generation student, he was very loyal to the Chiang family and his son, and chose to shoot himself at the last moment. This was the first senior Kuomintang official to implement Chiang Kai-shek "If you don't succeed, you will be benevolent" on the East China battlefield during the Liberation War. General.
The 69th Division was finished, but the 11th Division was still fine. No matter how Wu Qiwei called for it, Hu Lian followed his own tactics and retreated to a favorable terrain, hiding inside to survive. After coming out, Su Yu was unable to successfully perform a "cutting operation" on him, and finally had to withdraw his troops.
After the Battle of Subei, the key issue of "where to fight and whom to fight" was fierce as ever within the senior management of the company. The debate.
A senior staff officer who witnessed this scene described that the intensity was even worse than the red-faced and quarrelsome discussions among general staff members.
Su Yu and Hua Zhongye wanted to fight between the two. When fighting in Huaihe or northern Jiangsu, the mountain and wild parties tend to return to southern Shandong. At this time, the situation in southern Shandong is indeed very tense:
The enemies in southern Shandong are advancing all the way, and are only 30 kilometers away from Linyi, the capital of the Shandong Liberated Area. , if the maneuver speed of the enemy's fast column is followed, it can be reached in one or two hours.
It still has to be decided by the Yan'an headquarters. The verdict is that the two armies go north to Lunan and organize Lunan campaign to command the Lunan campaign. He is no longer as nervous as commanding the Battle of Subei, but he is more cautious.
This is the first time that Huaye and Shanye have merged into a battle. The fraternal troops participating in the battle are not familiar with each other. Of course, everyone will be happy if the battle is successful.
It is still necessary to win without losing, and it cannot be a small victory, but a big victory, but the difficulty of a big victory in Lunan is much higher than that in Subei.
Judging from the original combat plan formulated by the Nanjing Ministry of National Defense, Li Mo'an was mainly responsible for capturing Suzhong and reaching the Yancheng front line. He would have succeeded.
So even though Li Mo'an lost a lot of troops in the Battle of Central Jiangsu , Chiang Kai-shek was basically positive about his performance and did not blame him.
Xue Yue is different. In addition to the Huaihe River, it is also his job to occupy Shandong. Therefore, he attaches great importance to Lunan all the way and deploys a lot of troops.
was placed from Zaozhuang to near Xuzhou . The strongest unit among the enemy forces in the South.
"Strike the weak enemy first" is one of Su Yu's basic military principles, but for the enemy in southern Shandong, if you attack the weak enemy first, it will basically not solve the problem, and it will be difficult to alleviate the tension on the Shandong battlefield.
Su Yu decided to use troops instead and attack the powerful enemy first.
is both a strange and dangerous trick, and of course it cannot be used frequently. The last time Su Yu was "abnormal" in a big battle was when Huangqiao decisively fought . He attacked the Independent Sixth Brigade first and finally won a complete victory.
After 6 years, he will do it again in Lunan, first annihilating Ma Liwu.
Surprise and danger only refer to the method of making moves. If the commander is not sure at all, it is not a surprise move, but a blind horse.
Su Yu was sure that with the combined efforts of Huaye and Shanye, he could concentrate 27 regiments as mobile forces, while Ma Liwu's headquarters only had 6 regiments, and Shanye's strength was four and a half times that of the enemy.
has another advantage: Ma Liwu is very "arrogant".
Ma Liwu's reorganized 26th Division and the First Rapid Column were both artillery units. The most intimidating of them was the rapid column composed of tank troops and other arms.
Ma Liwu
The Rapid Column was formed during the Anti-Japanese War. It fought on the battlefield in Myanmar for three years. It is said that even Americans think highly of it, so it is known as the "Essence of the National Army" and the "Diamond Diamond".
Ma Liwu relied on his well-equipped equipment and the "diamond" in his hand, and did not take the New Fourth Army seriously at all. As a result, he rushed forward blindly and committed the military taboo of going deep alone.
In late December 1946, Su Yu ordered the troops distributed in the Huaihe River to march day and night, and drove into Lunan as quickly as possible without even being allowed to rest on New Year's Day.
Tao Yong's First Division was spotted by a reconnaissance plane when it was crossing Longhai Road. Tao Yong asked Su Yu for instructions and asked if he still had to travel day and night. Su Yu replied: "Why not? This is called taking advantage of the situation."
The New Fourth Army has always marched day and night, but now it suddenly changed from normal and marched in broad daylight. After receiving this information, Xue Yue immediately formed an illusion and concluded that Su Yu was "defeated in Shandong and was unbearable." Fight again”.
Xue Yue's generals were even more paralyzed than Xue Yue. Ma Liwu was completely unaware of Su Yu's combat intentions. The New Fourth Army troops were immobile. He thought it would take a few days before there would be a battle. This was very good.
Su Yu can't survive New Year's Day, and Ma Liwu wants to spend New Year's Day in the rear. Before leaving the front line, he patted his chest and boasted: "In three days, I can bet that the national army will be able to enter Linyi City. If they can't enter, they will chop off my surnamed Ma's head!"
was handing over the frontline command task. After taking command, Ma Liwu returned to the rear headquarters in Yixian County, where he attended the New Year's Day party and watched the Peking Opera "Feng Bo Pavilion".
was watching it happily when he received a call and there was a "turmoil" ahead.
On the evening of January 2, 1947, Su Yu launched a surprise attack on the 26th Division in two groups two hours earlier than originally planned, and completed the battle encirclement that night.
Ma Liwu wanted to return to the front to take command, but at this time the road was blocked and he could not pass.
On January 3, the New Fourth Army invaded the headquarters of the 26th Division. Ma Liwu's prophecy came true, but the first thing to be chopped off was not his head named Ma, but the command center of the 26th Division.
Most of the 26th Division, which lost its command, was destroyed, and the remnants and fast columns retreated to a small area.
The New Fourth Army is no longer unfamiliar with fighting artillery units. What is unfamiliar is fighting special forces such as rapid columns.
The rapid column actually only had a few dozen tanks , but judging from the situation at the time, it was already very impressive, because most of the New Fourth Army officers and soldiers had never even seen a tank, let alone fighting tanks.
In the previous battles, Shanye suffered losses from it at least three times.
One of Su Yu's important preparations before the war was to study how to turn "turtle shells" (tanks) into scrap iron piles. The
troops thought of many tactics, and dug anti-tank trenches in advance for defense. If that didn't work, they planned to wrap the track with straw, or when they saw the tank approaching, pile the straw and set it on fire to block its advance.
In terms of offense, in addition to using a small amount of anti-tank anti-tank guns and rocket launchers , we also plan to organize special shooters to shoot at tank lookout holes and use cluster grenades to blow up tank tracks. When
is actually fighting, these moves are more or less useful, but they do not cure the root cause, so we can only surround the fast column first.
After the 26th Division was basically annihilated, the morale of the frontline troops was strong, and they were filled with the spirit of completely destroying the enemy. Under such circumstances, it was extremely advantageous to launch a general offensive.
However, Su Yu did not issue a general offensive order for a long time. A large part of the reason was that he was afraid of the tanks and howitzers of the fast column.
On January 4, 1947, it suddenly rained and snowed, and snowflakes were flying all over the sky. This was rare weather since the beginning of winter.
After the rain and snow, the road became muddy. Su Yu was overjoyed when he saw it: "This is God helping us. The road is difficult to travel due to rain and snow. The enemy's heavy equipment will inevitably get stuck in it, making it difficult for the fast column to escape." "
"Man harms others, but nature harms people." The fast column chose to break out of the encirclement and run westward at this time. Su Yu issued an order: attack across the board and annihilate the enemy on the way to the breakout.
The fast column was supposed to take the road, but the road had been dug up by the New Fourth Army. The road was full of potholes and burning straw, which greatly affected the driver's vision.
Absolutely no, no, the dizzy column rushed down the road, trying to find another feasible road.
The road was found, but it was a road of destruction because they strayed into the leaky lake.
It is generally difficult to find the place name Leezhi Lake on provincial maps. It is called a lake, but it is not actually a lake, but a swampy depression that easily accumulates water.
The ground of Leaky Lake is usually as soft as a sponge. Once soaked by rain and snow, it becomes even more muddy, like a pot of machine paste. Tanks and trucks are all stuck in it and unable to extricate themselves, completely losing their ability to attack.
html From 0 to 3 p.m., except for 7 tanks that broke through and fled to Yixian, the 26th Division and the 1st Rapid Column were completely destroyed. Ma Liwu lamented: "This is one of the most painful battles in external and internal combat since leading the army. ."The leaky lake after the war was filled with tanks, cars, and howitzers as far as the eye could see.
The New Fourth Army captured 17 relatively good tanks, in addition, 1 regiment of American howitzers, and 2 regiments of mechanized infantry with baggage vehicles. All these equipment fell into the hands of Chen Yi and Su Yu, and became the basis for the later formation of a special column. family property.
Chen Yi personally inspected the battlefield. The more he watched, the happier he became. He laughed and composed an impromptu poem "Tanks are all piles of scrap iron." He also jumped onto a tank, sat down on the top of the tall turret, and kicked Stepping on the cannon body, we took photos with our colleagues. And he composed a poem on the spot:
The fast column is flying, and India and Myanmar are coming back to promote it. Southern Shandong is too muddy and the tanks are all piles of scrap metal.
Su Yu had already been here before him, but he neither took photos nor celebrated. He mainly led the staff to inspect the scene and sum up experience.
The Lunan Campaign had only just begun, and he needed to outline the direction of the second phase of operations.
After destroying the strong ones, the weak ones will be defeated next. Su Yu was originally planning to find Feng Zhi'an's 33rd Army, but Feng Zhi'an originally belonged to the Northwest Army and had a strong desire to preserve his own strength. Seeing Ma Liwu's defeat, he immediately They retreated to the south of the canal.
Feng Zhi'an
The hammer has been raised. Since it can't hit Feng Zhi'an, he heads towards Yixian and Zaozhuang.
At dawn on January 9, 1947, Su Yu led a light command post to the front lines of Yixian and Zaozhuang to command operations.
That night, the Eighth Division launched a general attack on Yixian County. The Eighth Division temporarily organized the four captured howitzers into an artillery company to participate in the battle. The gunners, gunners, computer soldiers, and drivers were all "liberation fighters." The shooting targets were determined by cadres who knew artillery.
This was the first time that the East China New Fourth Army used howitzers to cooperate with an siege. The howitzer salvos successfully suppressed the artillery positions in the city, causing a considerable blow to Ma Liwu's command post and garrison area.
Under the cover of the sudden artillery attack, the Eighth Division carried out continuous blasting.
There are many industrial and mining enterprises in the Lunan area. The Eighth Division was formed from the former Shandong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army. Many officers and soldiers were miners in Lunan and were good at blasting technology. The south gate of Yixian County was quickly blown open, and the siege troops broke into the city. .
There were still 7 tanks in Yi County that had slipped through the leaky lake. Due to insufficient firepower in the city, Ma Liwu drove all 7 tanks to the top of the city, hoping to use tank guns to help him defend the city, but it was self-defeating. When the street fighting began and he wanted to launch a counterattack, not a single tank could be driven off, and he was easily captured by the Eighth Division.
Some people laughed at Ma Liwu afterwards, saying that he didn't even have the common sense to command mechanized troops. How could tanks be used like that? In fact, Ma Liwu also had troubles that he couldn't tell.
In the early morning of January 11, 1947, the Eighth Division captured Yixian County, and Ma Liwu was also imprisoned.
While besieging Yixian, Su Yu sent Tao Yong's First Division to attack Zaozhuang. The reorganized 51st Division defending Zaozhuang was originally Northeastern Army . Its combat effectiveness was average, but the fortifications they relied on were very strong.
Zaozhuang is an industrial and mining town. Defense fortifications began to be built during the Japanese and puppet period. The city wall alone is more than ten feet thick. On this basis, the 51st Division built many group bunkers, forming a core position that is closely connected with the peripheral positions. defense system.
The first division is the main force of Huaye. It is good at field battles and mobile warfare, but it lacks experience in attacking fortresses and does not know how to blast. When sieging the city, it still used the same method of fierce attack and rush in the field battle. The result was that it repeatedly encountered failures. Both sieges failed. Reported failure.
Zaozhuang cannot be taken here. Over there, Hu Lian and other troops have entered the front line of Taierzhuang and Hanzhuang. Zhang Lingfu is also advancing north of Xuzhou. The situation in southern Shandong has become delicate again.
The generals under Su Yu's command have distinctive personalities. For example, Wang Bicheng is relatively introverted, usually stern, unsociable, and prone to sulking. In the eyes of some people, he even seems a bit withdrawn.
Tao Yong is different. Even on the battlefield of life and death, he still loves to tell jokes and joke around.
is such a bold, cheerful, humorous and optimistic person, who suddenly became taciturn and worried.
On January 14, 1947, Su Yu ordered to stop the attack and redraft countermeasures. In addition to increasing the number of troops, he also transferred the troops from the Eighth Division who were good at blasting and attacking to the First Division for Tao Yong's deployment.
Tao Yong selected the blasting personnel who were considered the most reliable and formed an advance team to attack the city.
The advance team used the "hole siege method" similar to the Taiping Army to dig a tunnel directly under the Zaozhuang city wall, and then through continuous blasting, finally opened the gap and entered the urban area of Zaozhuang.
On January 20, 1947, the street fighting ended, the 51st Division was completely annihilated, and more than 3,700 officers and soldiers under the division commander Zhou Yuying were captured.
At this point, the 18-day Lunan Campaign ended. On the East China battlefield, the Lunan Campaign set a new record, that is, 2 reorganized divisions and 1 rapid column of the Kuomintang army were annihilated at once.
For Chen Yi, Su Yu and the East China team, spring in Southern Shandong has arrived.
On January 23, 1947, after four months of twists and turns, Huaye and Shanye were officially organized into East China Field Army . Chen Yi was the commander and political commissar, and Su Yu was the deputy commander, with 11 infantry columns under their jurisdiction. 1 special forces column.
Since the anti-Japanese war in southern Jiangsu, Chen Yi and Su Yu have been good partners. Now they are teamed up again, and with the successive victories, the two have increasingly reached a perfect state in both their personal relationship and their work cooperation.
After conquering Zaozhuang, the First Division seized an American jeep that Zhou Yuying was riding. Tao Yong gave it to Su Yu for use, and Su Yu gave it to Chen Yi.
After the two armies were combined, the former Central China Army still called Su Yu "Commander Su" according to the old custom. Su Yu immediately corrected him:
"I am the deputy commander now, why am I still called Commander Su? There is only one commander in Huaye, and there is no commander." The two commanders should call me deputy commander."
Later, the people in the Huaye Staff Office were smart and gave the leader of Huaye a code, such as Chen Yi was 501, Su Yu was 502, and Tan Zhenlin was 503.
Su Yu thought this method was good: "It's very good, easy to speak, confidential, and easy to write. Just call me 502 from now on."
In terms of military command, Chen Yi mainly decides on major policies, while Su Yu is responsible for the specific battle command. .
As soon as the battle started, Chen Yi often left the command room, and said: "It is necessary for me to leave here, so that Commander Su will not report everything to me and delay the time."
Once Su Yu encountered any faults or difficulties in command, he only needed to follow up As soon as Chen Yi said that, Chen Yi picked up the phone: "Commander Su's opinion is my opinion, you must implement it resolutely."
Later, Mao Zedong told Rao Shushi in Yan'an: "Chen Su cannot be separated. If Chen Su unites, he will win, if he divides, he will lose. He told Rao Shushi
Huaye, jointly commanded by Chen and Su, is getting stronger and stronger, and the battle is getting bigger and bigger.
On the other hand, the battles of Subei and Lunan also cost Xue Yue his troops. Chen Cheng's attention was completely attracted.
Chen Cheng, known as the "Little Chairman", was the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of National Defense during the Anti-Japanese War alone. He commanded the Songhu Battle, Wuhan Battle, and Western Hubei. In terms of ability and experience in large-scale battles such as battle , he is not inferior to Xue Yue.
And his position and experience give him a strategic vision and vision that Xue Yue does not have.
Chen Chengduo. When I visited the front line for the first time, I gradually discovered that the intersection of the Jinpu and Longhai lines, which is the Shandong Liberated Area, has become the focus of the war. This is of course because the location is too important.
The Jinpu and Longhai lines are joint sea and land areas. , the two major arteries that run through China's north, south, east and west. As long as anyone controls these two arteries, they can advance and retreat freely, attack and defend. Even if there are "minor diseases" in other places, it will not affect the overall situation.
The Yan'an headquarters is familiar with this. Yu Xin has also invested a lot of troops in this area. In addition to Chen Yi and Su Yu's East China Field Army, there are also Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping's Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Field Army. The troop allocation has accounted for more than half of the total number of the People's Liberation Army.
Chen Cheng naturally does not. At his suggestion, Chiang Kai-shek personally presided over the formulation of the "Lunan Battle" plan and proposed to "clarify the situation in Lunan within 15 days."
In view of Xue Yue's defeat in two battles and his "low reputation", Chiang Kai-shek sent Chen Chengfei. He went to Xuzhou to supervise the war and took command in place of Xue Yue. As soon as he arrived in Xuzhou, Chen Cheng said: "The success or failure of the party and the country depends entirely on the battle of Lunan. It can only succeed, not fail. "
Chen Cheng organized two assault groups in the north and south with Linyi as the axis. The southern line was commanded by him personally, with Ouzhen Group as the main assault group, attacking northward from Longhai Road.
The northern line was commanded by Wang Yaowu, with The Li Xianzhou group was an auxiliary group, attacking southward from the Jiaoji line.
The two assault groups moved north and south to attack the main force of Huaye gathered in Linyi.
In addition, Chen Cheng also transferred the Wang Jingjiu group to southwest Shandong to isolate it. Huaye had connections with the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Field Army and took the opportunity to join the battles in southern Shandong and central Shandong.
The Kuomintang troops participating in the "Southern Shandong Battle" had a total of 74 reorganized divisions and brigades, of which 40 were reorganized in the northern and southern front groups alone. Divisions and brigades.
The concentration of troops was unprecedented since the beginning of the War of Liberation, and Shandong became the main battlefield in the country.
On January 31, 1947, Ouzhen Group took the lead in heading north.
Su Yu had already obtained relevant information before the "Battle of Lunan" began. He concentrated the strength of 50 regiments in advance and formulated a preliminary plan to attack the Ou Zhen Group first.
Ou Zhen's army is divided into three groups. Judging from the strength, its right side is weaker and its flanks are exposed. According to the principle of attacking the weak enemy first, the enemy on the right side is of course the first choice target.
However, the enemy troops on the right were moving very slowly and never came up. They considered attacking on the left, but they were just as slow and unable to attack. It's not that
can't get up fast, it's intentional. The two failures reminded Chen Cheng to re-formulate targeted tactics and play styles.
In the Battle of Lunan, he was defeated by a lone advance, unable to defeat the four-handed army with two fists. For this reason, Chen Cheng changed the advancement formation to "attack steadily and advance head on."
Ou Zhen Group's Three Roads You are optimistic about me, I am optimistic about you, marching forward shoulder to shoulder, walking an average of only 6 kilometers every day, almost like a tortoise crawling.
html On February 3, Su Yu changed his tactics again. He sent a main column to block the enemy in the middle from the front. At the same time, he notified the rest of Huaye's troops to relax the blockade appropriately and induce the enemy on both wings to advance boldly so that they could look for opportunities to annihilate their prominent road. .
However, the left and right sides not only refused to rush forward, but immediately moved closer to the middle, hugging each other tightly, just like hedgehogs , so that you can't find a gap even if you want to bite.
Su Yu also discovered that even if he did not engage in the "tortoise" and "hedgehog" tactics, it would not be easy to fight any of the three routes, and this was related to Chen Cheng's lessons learned from the Subei Battle.
In the Battle of Subei, the defeat was due to the separation between the strong and the weak. As a result, the weak were eaten. The method adopted by Chen Cheng is to "put hard walnuts into rotten grapes". Every step of the Ou Zhen Group will insert an elite main force as the backbone.
For example, there is Zhang Lingfu in the middle and Hu Lian on the left. The right wing is considered the weakest, but it also has Huang Baitao who is very capable and good at leading troops.
Chen Cheng was very proud of this and said: "Even if it is all tofu dregs, it can still swell the old sow to death." Because of Chen Cheng's statement, Chen Yi humorously called it "the tofu dregs will swell the old sow to death." tactics".
On February 4, 1947, taking advantage of Huaye's full strength to deal with Ou Zhen, the Li Xianzhou Group went south from Jiaoji Road and occupied Laiwu, threatening Huaye's rear.
Chen Yi and Su Yu were eager to defeat the enemy from the north, so they devised a plan to kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, they would carry out a crusade against Hao Pengju, who had revolted after the uprising; on the other hand, they would mobilize Ou Zhen's reinforcements to create a fighting opportunity.
What Chen and Su didn't expect was that Ou Zhen was not fooled, and even regardless of Hao Pengju's life and death, they still moved forward to Linyi. Huaye's plan to annihilate the enemy outside Linyi failed again.
While riding a tiger, Huaye's technical reconnaissance department similar to the "Fourth Squadron" found out the exact location where the Li Xianzhou Group arrived by deciphering enemy telegrams.
Chen Yi was the first to get this information and was overjoyed after reading it. It was already late at night and everyone was asleep, but Chen Yi still asked Su Yu to be invited for discussion.
According to the intelligence, Chen Yi came up with a new idea of "sacrificing the south and taking the north": Since he can accurately detect Li Xianzhou's whereabouts, instead of waiting too long on the southern front, he might as well abandon the southern front, transfer his troops to the north, and get Li Xianzhou first. Knock it off.
Su Yu was also very excited after hearing this, and immediately agreed. It suddenly became clear to him that he was going to use suspicion tactics against Chen Cheng.
The first step is to assume the "decisive battle shape". He first built a third-line position in Linyi and its south. After the main force moved north, he specifically left 18 regiments, including two columns, in the Linyi area.
These 18 regiments "played" the entire Huaye army to block and suppress the Ouzhen Group, creating the illusion that the main force of Huaye was still in Linyi.
Chen Cheng's "fighting steadily and moving forward together" was certainly sound, but by this time it had become a flaw because it provided time for Su Yu to move his troops north. The day before the main force of
went north, Su Yu once again received an important piece of information.
Even if the telegram is not cracked, Huaye can still grasp Li Xianzhou's movements through other special channels. The reason is that there are more hidden insiders lurking at the top of the Li Xianzhou Group.
According to this latest information, Li Xianzhou Group is marching towards Mengyin . The formation is also a long snake formation like Xue Yue. From the map, it looks like a line hanging down from the Jiaoji Line. A bunch of grapes is an excellent target to defeat individually.
Li Xianzhou
On February 10, 1947, under the order of Su Yu, seven columns originally distributed on the north and south lines moved covertly towards the Laiwu area where the Li Xianzhou Group was located.
Before all the main forces could be assembled, someone still needed to take action. Chen and Su summoned Feng Zhenwu, commander of the Second Division of the Central Shandong Military Region. The task given by
to Feng Zhenwu is to block the Li Xianzhou Group for at least 5 to 7 days so that it cannot quickly occupy Mengyin.
Feng Zhenwu only has 3 regiments in total. Most of them are newly built, and their weapons and equipment are also very poor. Of course, their combat effectiveness will not be that strong.
After hearing the tasks assigned to him, Feng Zhenwu stayed there, unable to say a word.
Both Chen and Su saw that Feng Zhenwu was troubled. Chen Yi smiled and said to him: "Back then, Zhuge Liang was planning an empty city with only two veterans and a piano boy around him. He also confused who had a heavy army. Sima Yi. You have three regiments of troops, why can't you deal with the enemy? "
The empty city plan is a stage performance after all, and Kong Ming only stayed for half a day. It will take 5 to 7 days instead of half a day." "Sima Yi" can you tell?
Chen Yi usually likes to joke, but Su Yu can't, but he also said to Feng Zhenwu: "It won't be a problem to stop it for 5 to 7 days."
How can you see that? Su Yu provided Feng Zhenwu with evidence. The intelligence from
special channels showed that the forward of Li Xianzhou's "One-word Long Snake Formation" was the 46th Army of the Guangxi Army. Su Yu said: "The enemy's unit has conflicts with its superiors, is not active in attacking Mengyin, and is in a dilemma."
Su Yu would not tell Feng Zhenwu all the secrets. In fact, the 46th Army is not just a matter of "conflicts with superiors".
Its commander, Han Liancheng, had already established secret contacts with the CCP and was brewing an uprising. He was therefore known as the "invisible general" of the CCP. The latest information obtained by Chen and Su was provided by Han Liancheng's personnel. .
Han Liancheng is one of his own, but he can't do whatever he wants in the 46th Army, otherwise he would have rebelled long ago. At the same time, he also has to give his superiors a suitable reason, so Feng Zhenwu got it from Su Yu Developed a set of empty city tactics.
Feng Zhenwu followed the plan. Although there were only 3 regiments, he designated the 3 main columns. At each campsite, he would specially build more straw bunks and build more cooking stoves, without dismantling any of them when moving.
These became sufficient reasons for Han Liancheng to delay progress. As a result, a whole week passed, and the 46th Army was still 30 miles north of Mengyin.
The southern line Ouzhen Group is still advancing slowly.
On February 15, 1947, Ou Zhen occupied Linyi, and what followed was a lot of bragging. Finally, the battle report before the case of Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng was: "Annihilate 16 Communist brigades outside Linyi."
Linyi fell, of course because Huaye's main force was no longer nearby, but Su Yu took this opportunity to show Wang Yaowu a "failure", giving him the illusion that Huaye's main force was exhausted from consecutive battles and could not afford to fight again.
I can no longer fight. Come and copy my back.
This was Su Yu's hint to Wang Yaowu, but what he didn't expect was that Wang Yaowu not only didn't move forward, but also shrank back.
Who is Wang Yaowu? It can be said that he is smarter than a monkey if he sticks to his hair. This man who defeated Xun Huaizhou and Su Yu more than ten years ago, and in the following ten years, single-handedly created the 74th Army, the top trump card of the Kuomintang, can't be easily deceived.
Wang Yaowu discovered a detail behind the capture of Linyi and the "encirclement and annihilation of 16 Communist brigades" that most people did not pay attention to - according to the battle report, the Ouzhen Group did not go through a fierce battle before occupying Linyi.
Linyi is the capital of the Shandong Liberated Area. If the main force of Huaye is still in Linyi, Linyi will not be abandoned. The two sides will inevitably fight. How can the battle not be fierce?
The most likely possibility is that Su Yu has changed the direction of the battle and may come north to surround Li Xianzhou.
Wang Yaowu reviewed the recent aerial reconnaissance information and found signs of frequent movements in Huaye. He made a prompt decision and ordered Li Xianzhou to retreat across the board. At the same time, he telegraphed Chen Cheng, requesting "permission for mobile operations."
To put it bluntly, the suspicious tactics are just deception and trickery.
Before Su Yu gave up Linyi, he really had to give Chen Cheng and Wang Yaowu an explanation as to where Huaye's main force had gone since then.
Su Yu asked local troops to advance to Yanzhou, built a pontoon bridge on the canal, and raised ferries on the Yellow River, making it appear that Huaye was about to march westward to join Liu, Deng, Jin, Hebei, Shandong and Yu field armies.
This is the third step of the suspicious plan after the "Decisive Battle" and "Failure" - the "Western Advance".
"The shape of the westward advance" is very reasonable and Chen Cheng doesn't see any falsehood.
In addition, he and Wang Yaowu have different positions and responsibilities. Wang Yaowu only needs to coordinate Li Xianzhou, so he is very concerned about the safety of Li Xianzhou Group. Chen Cheng also needs to coordinate the north and south and be responsible for the results of the "Battle of Lunan".
The ultimate goal of the "Battle of Lunan" is to advance from the north to the south and trap Huaye. Now that his side has captured Linyi, Wang Yaowu is still retreating. How to trap him?
Chen Cheng strictly ordered Wang Yaowu to return to the original place and not to retreat without permission. Wang Yaowu had no choice but to order Li Xianzhou to return.
Li Xianzhou's advancement and retreat was completely outside Huaye's action plan. Many people were worried that the plan would fail, and some column commanders directly suggested attacking in advance, so that even if they could not completely annihilate them, they could still cut off their "tails."
Su Yu believes that Wang Yaowu's repeated actions just show that the other party has not really grasped Huaye's intentions, but is just unsure and is more cautious.
What he wants to catch is a big fish, and what he is fishing for is a long line. The fishing rod must not move even once before all the main forces arrive at the predetermined assembly position.
When Li Xianzhou returned again, all Huaye troops had basically arrived and were quickly advancing towards the east and west sides of Laiwu.
On February 19, 1947, the siege was complete. At the same time, Wang Yaowu fully understood the true movements and intentions of Huaye's main force, so he urgently ordered the Li Xianzhou Group to shrink back, and an army in the rearguard position broke away from the encirclement.
Su Yu later admitted that he did not expect Wang Yaowu to be so bold and decisive. He gave the order as soon as he gave it, without asking Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng for instructions, and let the rearguard troops retreat hundreds of miles day and night.
If he had known this earlier, he would have inserted himself near Jinan so that no one in the Li Xianzhou Group could escape.
The rear guard slipped through the net, and Li Xianzhou's headquarters and two armies were not caught immediately, and they all retreated to Laiwu City.
On February 20, 1947, Su Yu officially launched the Laiwu Campaign. By the 21st, Huaye's troops had all deployed, forming an absolute advantage in the comparison of forces in the Laiwu area, and basically completed the encirclement of Laiwu City.
Wang Yaowu originally wanted Li Xianzhou to hold on, but later he saw that Li Xianzhou was actually in an isolated and helpless situation and was in great danger, so he felt that it was better to simply take the risk and break out to the north. This would not only help Li Xianzhou get out of trouble, but also strengthen Jinan's defense.
In order to gain Chiang Kai-shek's approval, Wang Yaowu sent his deputy chief of staff to Nanjing with his handwritten letter to report to Chiang Kai-shek face to face.
In view of the "unfavorable situation of retreating in front of the enemy", Chiang Kai-shek did not agree with Li Xianzhou abandoning the city and retreating, fearing that he would be attacked by the People's Liberation Army outside the city. However, seeing that Wang Yaowu's words were well-founded, he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Wang Yaowu's risk was really not worth it. With Han Liancheng by Li Xianzhou's side, of course, this information fell into Su Yu's hands unsurprisingly.
Su Yu immediately adopted the strategy of "encircling three and missing one", making way for the opening to the north and pre-arranged it into a pocket formation.
After receiving Wang Yaowu's telegram, Li Xianzhou summoned his officials and subordinates to study together.Li Xianzhou has a very aggressive and competitive character. He advocates standing firm rather than retreating. He believes that being surrounded by the People's Liberation Army, retreating is very disadvantageous. If he does not withdraw, as long as Linyi's Ou Zhen Group follows them, it will have the effect of a pincer attack from inside and outside.
Except for Li Xianzhou, everyone else clamored to withdraw. The reason was that two armies were crowded in a city. There were many people in the city, and the army was panicked.
After hearing this, Li Xianzhou finally swayed and agreed to withdraw. However, everyone had different opinions on when to withdraw.
Li Xianzhou proposed that it should be done sooner rather than later. Han Liancheng expressed his sole objection, saying that his troops were too late and needed a day to prepare.
The final retreat time was determined by Han Liancheng. In just one day, Su Yu completely solidified the pocket formation.
On the morning of February 23, 1947, Li Xianzhou retreated north to break through, but was trapped by Su Yu. Laiwu City was also seized by the People's Liberation Army. Li Xianzhou's troops were caught in a dilemma, with men, horses and vehicles huddled together.
At this critical moment, Han Liancheng quietly left his command post with the assistance of the underground party, causing the 46th Army to fall into chaos first. Huaye's assault columns took advantage of the situation to launch a fierce attack.
Li Xianzhou has fifty thousand people, but Huaye has more, more than four times as many as Li Xianzhou. The area surrounded by Li Xianzhou was only three or four kilometers from east to west and only one or two kilometers from north to south. As the encirclement shrank smaller and smaller, it was difficult for him to deploy his troops and his combat effectiveness could not be used.
On the contrary, Huaye's firepower can exert its maximum power - as long as you remember to send it into the crowd, one shell can kill many people, and even one bullet can kill three or four people.
On the afternoon of February 23, two armies under Li Xianzhou were annihilated, and 17 generals below Li Xianzhou were captured, setting an unprecedented record on the East China battlefield since the War of Liberation.
In the Battle of Laiwu, Huaye also captured a large amount of equipment, mainly various mountain artillery and field artillery. Later, each column in Huaye established an artillery regiment, and most of its artillery was obtained in this battle.
The Battle of Lunan sent Su Yu a special forces column, and the Battle of Laiwu sent many artillery regiments. Chiang Kai-shek's title of "Captain of the Transportation Brigade" has since been well-deserved.
Chen Yi wrote a poem about this: Zibo and Laiwu fought in bloody battles, and our army hunted Tai Shandong again. Hundreds of thousands of people captured a group of tigers, and seventy-two people achieved great feats. The snow in Lu Zhongji is bright and the flag is flying, and the flood waves in the Bohai Sea are singing in the strong wind. The stubborn chieftain was so embarrassed that he kowtowed to plead guilty to the culprit.
During the Battle of Laiwu, Wang Yaowu had many hesitations and repeated changes, and the enemy situation was constantly changing, which greatly tested the will, determination and adaptability of the specific commander.
When a reporter from Xinhua News Agency mentioned the three battles of Subei, Lunan and Laiwu in an interview, Chen Yi was full of praise for Su Yu, saying that "the more he performs, the more amazing he becomes, and the more he fights, the better he becomes." Later, he humorously said to his family: "If it weren't for Su Yu, Xu Xiangqian would have replaced me."
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