Bloody Battle at Yangshan Collection
Commander Liu and Deng launched the Southwest Shandong Campaign on the evening of June 30, 1947, in accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission. The 1st, 2nd, and 6th columns, which served as the first echelon, broke through the enemy's defense line in one fell swoop with sudden and brave movements on a wide front 300 miles from Zhang Qiuzhen to Linyingji. Our third column was the general reserve team, and we followed up later. On July 3, we marched to the Zhencheng area to gather our troops to cross the Yellow River, and stared at the left flank and rear of the enemy's 100,000-strong army in the East China battlefield. Chiang Kai-shek was greatly shocked. In order to block this gap, he urgently ordered the main force of the 55th Division of the Liu Ruming group to retreat to Dancheng, while the 68th Division and the 18th Brigade of the 55th Division defended Heze and moved from Henan. Anhui, Su, and Northern Henan mobilized the 58th Division, 32nd Division, 66th Division and Jiaxiang's 70th Division to form a heavily-armed group under the command of Wang Jingjiu in an attempt to ambush my flank and force me Fight against the odds.
According to the instructions of the Military Commission "The more our troops annihilate the enemy on the inside, the easier it will be to develop on the outside" and determined to take advantage of the enemy Wang Jingjiu Group's movement and dispersion of troops to divide and annihilate them. The specific deployment is:
insert the 1st column into the southeastern area of juye, cut off the enemy's 70th Division, 32nd Division, and 66th Division, separate and annihilate the 32nd Division; the 6th Column moves eastward via Zhang Fengji , one part cut off the connection between the enemy's 32nd Division and the 66th Division, and the main force cooperated with the 1st column to annihilate the 32nd Division; the 2nd column first annihilated 1 regiment of the enemy's 66th Division of Xie Jiaji, and then cooperated with our 3rd column to annihilate Yang The main force of the enemy's "division" in the mountains. In addition, the 1st and 2nd brigades of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region were sent to the area north of the Wanfu River to block the enemy from Jinxiang who might be aiding from the north.
After receiving the mission, we , starting at noon on July 12, running southward at a speed of 15 miles per hour, arriving at the northeast and southeast areas of Yangshanji at about 1 o'clock on the 13th.
Yangshanji is located 30 miles northwest of Jinxiang, with more than a thousand residents. Hu. To the north of the town is a solitary mountain, about 5 miles long from east to west and about 30 meters high. There are three peaks protruding from the mountain, which are shaped like sheep, hence the name "Sheep Mountain". The local people call the east peak "Sheep Head" and the middle peak. It is called the "sheep's body" and the west peak is the "sheep's tail". The sheep's body is the highest and can command the entire Yangshan Mountain and the Yangshan Group. The 66th Division guarding the enemy is a direct descendant of Chiang Kai-shek. It is well-equipped and has a deep reactionary education. , was one of Chiang Kai-shek's main forces in the civil war. After the enemy entered Yangshan, they repaired the fortifications day and night, built bunkers and communication trenches along the mountainside, and held on to resist. On the night of July 13, I started the attack. The Northeast and 9th Brigade attacked Yangshanji from the southwest, and the 7th Brigade was in reserve. During the movement to engage the enemy, the troops were unable to move due to waist-deep water. When they entered the water barrier area, they were suddenly encountered by the enemy in the village. Sheephead suppressed fire from three sides. On the night of the 14th, the first force attack was carried out. The 1st and 6th columns annihilated the enemy's 32nd Division and 70th Division in the Sixth Battalion area, and the 2nd Column annihilated the enemy at Xiejiaji. The enemy was extremely panicked. At noon on the 16th, he made a tentative breakout with one regiment to the south. One part of it was wiped out by our 9th Brigade. The remaining enemy retreated to Yangshan.
html On the 15th, the 2nd Column participated in the battle against Yangshan. We attacked the enemy from the west. We immediately adjusted our deployment and coordinated with them three times on the 17th, 19th, and 20th. However, due to the unclear understanding of the terrain and enemy situation, some cadres were impatient and the organization work was rough. Although there were breakthroughs in several attacks, they failed to stand and retreated to their original positions before dawn.It was midsummer, the weather was hot and it rained continuously for days, and all the traffic ditches turned into rivers. The troops were fighting in the chest-deep trenches. The enemy fought hard. Due to being soaked in the water for a long time, the skin turned white and swollen, and some wounds turned into pus. The trenches were filled with enemy corpses, and even the water in the trenches turned reddish brown. At first, the rice pots were placed on the door panels and floated on the water. Later, they were simply transported by small boats. Due to the hot weather, the enemy corpses had no time to bury them, and they rotted and smelled. The commanders and fighters in the forward positions had to stuff their nostrils with cotton or cloth strips to eat. .
During the fierce battle at Yangshan, the 58th and 199th Divisions of Jinxiang's enemy reinforcements advanced to the south bank of the Wanfu River, but were blocked by the independent brigade of the military region. They did not advance for seven days. On the 19th, Chiang Kai-shek flew to Kaifeng to supervise the battle. Troops and generals were dispatched from Xi'an, Luoyang, Hankou and other places to rush to the aid of southwestern Shandong; on the one hand, Wang Jingjiu was strictly ordered to lead the 58th Division and 199th Brigade to quickly relieve the siege of Yangshan at all costs. Leaders Liu and Deng were determined to use only one force to continue besieging the enemy at Yangshan, and concentrate the main force to first annihilate the enemy reinforcements during the movement, and then attack Yangshan. At 6 o'clock on the 22nd, the enemy's 199th Brigade crossed the Wanfu River under the cover of aircraft, tanks, and artillery fire. It rained heavily and the roads were muddy, making it difficult for enemy tanks and artillery to move, and the enemy's 5% vanguard regiment was isolated. Our 9th Brigade seized this favorable opportunity and organized the main force of the 25th Regiment to move from both sides of the enemy, while the 26th and 27th Regiments detoured. Behind enemy lines, wipe out most of the enemy. The main force of our 7th Brigade launched a multi-channel attack to separate and surround the main force of the enemy's 199th Brigade. Our 2nd Column and the Independent Brigade of the Military Region attacked from the west. After a fierce battle all night, the enemy's 199th Brigade was completely wiped out. Our column captured more than 2,000 people under the enemy's brigade commander Wang Shiqiao. On the 23rd and 24th, the enemy's 58th Division made several reinforcements, but they were all blocked by our column, and the enemy retreated to Jinxiang.
html On the 23rd, Chairman Mao instructed our field: Regarding the enemy at Yangshan, "if we judge that we are sure to attack and annihilate them quickly, attack and annihilate them. Otherwise, immediately concentrate the entire army to rest for about 10 days. In addition to clearing out the passing enemies and militia groups, Not to attack Longhai, not to the east of the New Yellow River, and not to level the Han Road, we are determined not to leave the rear, and go straight out of the Dabie Mountains in half a month's journey." Commander Liu and Deng carefully analyzed the enemy's situation and believed that reinforcements from all sources were still being mobilized, the enemy in Jinxiang was unable to provide further reinforcements, and the enemy in Yangshanji had been weakened. It was completely certain that we would concentrate all our main forces to quickly annihilate the enemy. The deployment was immediately readjusted, and the field division's howitzer battalion and 1st column artillery regiment were mobilized to strengthen firepower. html On the 24th, I led the cadres of each brigade and regiment, as well as the cadres of the battalion and company of the 7th brigade, which was responsible for the main attack. We walked waist-high in muddy water along the transportation trench to the forward position to observe the terrain in detail, understand the enemy's situation, and analyze several rose attacks on the spot. Reason for frustration.After careful research, I believe that the main reason for the failure of several attacks was that they did not focus on seizing the commanding heights. As a result, several attacks were suppressed by enemy fire and forced to withdraw. Therefore, capturing the commanding heights is the key to the entire battle.
The reason was found, and I decided to change my style of play and readjust the attack deployment: concentrate the superior forces of 6 brigades (3 brigades from our column, 1 brigade from the 2nd column, 1 brigade from the 6th column, and 1 independent brigade), and divide them Encircle and annihilate the enemy at Yangshan. The 7th Brigade (attached to the Mountain Artillery Regiment of the 1st Column) and the 16th Brigade of the 6th Column were the main attacking forces. They first captured the Yangshan Group, and then attacked the Yangshan Group from east to west respectively. The 24th Regiment of the 8th Brigade coordinated with the 20th Regiment to attack. In Yangtou, the main force was deployed east and south of Yangshanji to capture the enemy who broke through; the 9th Brigade blocked the enemy from the north and attacked the villages in Jiangzhuang and Houliuzhuang.
I reported to Chief of Staff Li Da on the phone for more than an hour based on the situation of the terrain and the idea of readjusting the deployment. Chief of Staff Li Da reported to Commander Liu and Deng and called me back and said: I agree with your deployment.
All participating troops are actively preparing according to new combat deployments.
27 At 18:00, I launched a general attack on the enemy in Yangshanji. The artillery preparations lasted for 40 minutes. The 3rd Battalion of the 19th Regiment of the 7th Brigade, which was responsible for the main attack, led by battalion commander Nan Fenglan, broke through the enemy's position with swift and violent movements and attacked the main peak of Sheep Body. At the same time, the 46th Regiment of the 16th Brigade also attacked the main peak from Sheeptail. The two armies supported each other and coordinated closely to push the enemy halfway up the mountain on the south side.
The enemy took advantage of our lack of time to consolidate our position and counterattacked me many times in an attempt to recapture the main peak, but was repelled by our two brigades of warriors.
While I was occupying the main peak of Yangshen, the 8th and 9th brigades of our column attacked the village from the east and south of Yangshanji and went straight to the enemy's command center. After repeated fierce battles, the enemy's core position was destroyed and the enemy scrambled to escape. By 12:00 on the 28th, all the fleeing enemies were wiped out, and the battle ended successfully.
In the battle of Yangshanji, our column killed and wounded more than 4,000 enemy people, captured more than 7,000 enemy people, and captured 49 howitzers and more than 30 cars. Our column suffered 3,041 casualties and 506 casualties. Among them, Nan Fenglan, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 19th Regiment, Yuan Delan, the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 20th Regiment, Wu Xishan, the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 22nd Regiment, Ding Gang, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 23rd Regiment, Li Xingrang, the reconnaissance unit commander of the 7th Brigade, and the column Comrade Shi Yulun, the hero who killed the enemy, died gloriously.
After the war, Commander Liu composed a poem to commemorate the Yangshanji battle.:
The victory of the battle at Langshan and the recovery of Yangshan.
Among the thunder and smoke of artillery fire,
millions of soldiers and civilians clapped their hands,
watching their children seize the city gate with joy.
