seized the strategic location - Fengtai
On December 11, 1948, the Fifth Column of our Northeast Field Army set out from Sanhe County, Hebei, walked 220 miles in two days and one night, and fought several battles, seizing Changping and Shahe, the barrier stronghold in the north of the city of Beiping . At noon on the 13th, three regiments of my pioneer division had advanced to the area north of the Old Summer Palace and east of Hongshankou.
At this time, I was following the 371st Regiment of the vanguard division, and the troops encountered enemy blocking in the Hongshankou area. Our army quickly completed the preparation for the strong attack. When an attack was about to occur, a cavalry communicator rushed over. He handed me a telegram clip and said breathlessly: "Deputy Commander, the special telegram from Nosense!"
opened the telegram clip, and the order from the Northeast Field Army Command immediately appeared in front of me: "Avoid famous places and historical sites, open the path from the west of Wanshoushan , and seize Fengtai..." I immediately ordered the attack to stop and asked the leaders of each regiment to go to the division command post to receive tasks, and then hurried to the division headquarters with the staff.
On the way back to the command post, enemy planes were still dropping bombs and strafing, and blocking artillery fire was also very fierce, and rows of black smoke columns emerged from the field. In the village, there were scattered enemy soldiers fleeing in the wind. These people threw away their guns, took off their military caps, and rushed to hide at the people's homes. Some of them knelt on the side of the road and surrendered to our soldiers. The soldiers didn't care about them. They pointed at the back while walking and said, "Don't run around, go to the prisoner's shelter behind." From time to time, exciting encouragement sounds came from time to time: "Practice harder and go to the Beizhuo camp" scene naturally reminded me of the two military idioms "Smart is the most important thing to do," and "I'm not surprised by the enemy." When Liaoshen Battle just ended, Fu Zuoyi estimated that our army in Northeast China would have to rest for at least two months before entering the pass. Therefore, he wandered at the three-way intersection where he retreated south, fled west and defended Pingjin, and was temporarily unsure of his mind. At that time, some of us also believed that the Liaoshen Campaign had been fought for more than 50 days and the entire Northeast had been liberated, so we should have a good rest.
At this moment, Chairman Mao instructed us to be brave to move forward and win. Chairman Mao took advantage of the enemy's illusion that we had to rest before entering the pass, and ordered us to march into the pass quickly and secretly regardless of all fatigue. So, under the cover of the people of Northeast China celebrating the great victory of Liaoshen, we braved the wind and snow, climbed mountains and crossed ridges, and hid in the day and walked at night to advance into the pass. Fu Zuoyi had no idea about this move. Therefore, until our army suddenly appeared, cut off his escape route, and reached the northwest suburbs of Beiping, they had not yet found out our intentions and numbers. The command post of the
Division is located at the foot of a mountain in the northwest of Wanshou Mountain. Commanders of each regiment arrived one after another, and the small house seemed very crowded. We unfolded the military map, and everyone's eyes were all focused on the small black dots of the word "Fengtai". Fengtai is a must-fight for military strategists in ancient and modern times, the hub of the two major railways, Pingjin and Pinghan, and one of the largest military warehouses for the enemy defending in Peking. If we seize Fengtai, we can cut off the contact between the enemy defending Pingjin, block the enemy's way to escape south by the Beiping, and jointly complete the battle encirclement of Peking with the brothers advancing south in the eastern suburbs. In this way, the roads for the enemy who defended the Beiping to flee south and west were cut off, and the supply was cut off. It was impossible to resist stubbornly. There was only one way to survive, which was to put down your weapons.
Fengtai has the 10th Army of Wang Fenggang, and I only have one division, and the subsequent troops have not arrived yet. To capture Fengtai, you must go through the depth of the enemy. How can we complete this important task? We studied Noji's orders word by word and analyzed the current enemy situation. Everyone believes that although the enemy still has the advantage in the local area, it is already a frightened bird. We should, in the spirit of courage to move forward and victory in the instructions of Chairman Mao, abandon all conventional tactics and win by surprise.
We have studied the route of entry again. To the west of Wanshou Mountain, winding north from Beigongmen , is a highland with undulating hills. There were enemies on the high ground on the dangerous ground. The 372nd and 3700 regiments of our vanguard division had both held a tentative attack this afternoon, and were confronting the enemy at this time.Some people advocated bypassing the enemy's fortification position from the north and advancing from under the foot of Xishan ; some people disagree, thinking that walking like this is a bow, which is more than going straight to Fengtai from Hongshankou, and taking more day and night, which is not in line with the spirit of the order. I asked Guo Baoheng, the political commissar of the 372nd Regiment, "Are you sure of making a breakthrough from Hongshankou?" He immediately said readily: "It will take less than two hours to open Hongshankou." He analyzed the current situation: On the Hongshan Pass, according to the prisoner's confession, the supreme commander was a battalion commander. This afternoon, we had a reconnaissance attack and rushed to the enemy's bunker. We still found that the enemy had heavy firearms, which proved that the captive's words were reliable. If I organize artillery fire well, based on my past Northeast combat experience, I will be sure to attack the enemy suddenly and quickly capture this position.
Guo Baoheng's words made everyone more confident in adopting the tactic of heart-wrenching. Everyone agreed that the word "grab" is really a big deal. Grab it quickly. Before the enemy has understood our intentions, we will immediately break through Hongshankou. Under the cover of night, we will take advantage of the enemy's chaos to carry out infiltration attacks and take straight to Fengtai. If we encounter obstacles from the enemy, we will resolutely defeat it. We reported the action plan to the column command, and made preparations separately.
After a while, the column political commissar arrived. He once again studied the entire plan carefully with us, and then said firmly: "Old Wu, let's start!"
days have completely darkened, and the division command post sent a signal of attack.
In the blink of an eye, the high blocks on both sides of the Hongshan Pass became red. Under the cover of my fierce artillery fire, the 6th Company of the 372nd Regiment captured the Hongshan Pass, which was guarded by an enemy battalion in 20 minutes and captured the enemy battalion commander alive. The troops immediately turned into several routes, romance across Hongshan Pass like a surging sea, rolling south between Qinglong Bridge and Yuquan Mountain.
Along the way, we saw enemies shouting and neighing, and we were frequently mobilized. The captives captured by each regiment confessed that they were ordered to concentrate in the suburbs of Beiping and the troops were moving. At this time, I was thinking a lot:
Could it be that the enemy has found out the intentions of our army, is adjusting the deployment, and is preparing to fight with me? Could it be that the enemy is preparing to seize the road and flee south? Could it be that Fu Zuoyi guessed that we wanted to seize Fengtai? No matter which aspect of the idea is, we are required to occupy Fengtai as quickly as possible. The situation is very obvious, the enemy is in chaos. Thinking of this, I immediately told the staff around me and quickly informed the regiment commander that if the front starts, the back team will turn into the front team and move forward quickly towards Fengtai! In order to speed up the marching speed. heavy weapon and large convoys that are slow to follow up, and all teams and personnel who have lost contact must consciously arrive at Fengtai, and automatically accept command and perform tasks when they meet superiors.
The moon is in the sky, and we are walking on a flat road, and we are walking as fast as flying. While walking, I suddenly found a unit on the right side parallel to us. A big cart caught up from behind like a meteor. It was strange that if you didn't ask the big cart to come up, why did you run up and chasing the team? I asked someone to ask, it turned out to be from the Second Enemy Brigade; the troops on the right were not owned, but from the 15th Enemy Security Regiment! I immediately told the soldiers in front of me and asked everyone to wait for orders and act together.
The soldiers bit their ears with their mouths and passed them down quickly. With a command, the soldier turned around and rushed towards the enemy, and hugged the building, grabbed the gun. The enemy was still dreaming and shouted in a straight voice, "Brothers, don't get me wrong, we are the 15th Security Regiment!" The soldiers replied, "I can't misunderstand, I'll catch the 15th Security Regiment! At 99a, the noise alarmed the woman sitting in the car. She saw her majestic come out of the car and scolded, "Do you Qiu Ba want to rebel? I'm the brigade commander's wife..." Before she finished speaking, the leader of the third platoon of the seventh company rushed up and cursed, "What's so great about you, the brigade commander. "Zhongshou dragged her down. In a few minutes, more than $00 people in a group were all given up.
The prisoners are gathered together, how to place them? When I thought about occupying Fengtai, the enemy must counterattack. I felt that the troops were weak and not enough, so how could I draw more people to deal with the prisoners? What's more, I'm walking forward, and I don't know how many prisoners I'll catch! When I was studying this problem with you, a communicator came to report that their battalion commander asked: There is an airport to the west, and there are still planes parked on the field. Can I fight? These situations remind me: I must prevent the troops from being attracted by the prisoners, planes and weapons in front of me. I will tell you immediately: Now it is like fishing in the river. Taking over Fengtai is like building a sluice gate in the river. Big fish, small fish, crabs, and prawns can't escape! Therefore, if you are conducive to occupying Fengtai, you should do it resolutely, otherwise you should give up and do not lose the big picture because of the small. And specific regulations: if you encounter an enemy along the way, you can bypass it. If you can't bypass it, you can use the means of cutting the mess with a quick knife and advance vigorously. All the prisoners caught were separated by guns and taken care of on the spot.
Don’t call airports, stations, etc., these places will be ours soon. In order to ensure that after occupying Fengtai, I could repel the enemy's counterattack, I ordered several subsequent divisions and artillery units to come quickly.
At 1 o'clock in the middle of the night, the forefront troops arrived at the
Tiancun Station leading to Shijingshan in Peking. As they were passing through the railway, a military train was on its lights and rushed towards them. The soldiers immediately hid on the spot. As soon as the train entered the station, they stopped after a few breaths of breath, and the soldiers rushed forward, and the black muzzle said to the enemy: "We're at the station, get off!" The enemy was confused and became a prisoner. After disarming, we separated the guns and locked them into the station house as usual, and then penetrated them directly into Fengtai.
The weather suddenly changed, and dark clouds were covered with dark clouds. Except for the Beiping City in the east, there were a few ghostly fire-like lights in front of you, the eyes were pitch black. With the careful guidance of our fellow villagers, we still move forward quickly. Xing Jiasheng, the commander of the Forward Battalion, and Wei Tongdong, the commander of the 7th Company, led a sharp knife squad to the front. They had just passed an intersection on the outskirts of the city and saw two large trucks coming towards them. The soldiers used machine guns to sweep them. One hit the telephone pole and the other climbed into the ditch on the side of the road, and both people and cars were destroyed. At this time, the entire vanguard battalion arrived and was about to continue moving forward. The rumbling sound of motors came from the southwest. In an instant, a monster flashing with dazzling lights rushed straight towards him.
The soldiers beat him hard, but it continued to move forward. The fourth squad leader of the 7th Company, Sun Baoyi, first of all, saw that it was an armored vehicle . He rushed up and stuffed the grenade and blasting barrel under the car. A red light flashed, and the armored vehicle jumped violently with the loud noise, which was exactly in line with the broken trucks, blocking the street entrance tightly. At this moment, a long list of armored vehicles and tanks appeared behind, and the rumbling sound made the ground tremble. They came to the intersection, and they could not advance or retreat, and they were so anxious that they were spinning. The soldiers took this opportunity to surround him. Some pierced the tires of the armored vehicles with their guns, some stuffed grenades and blasting tubes into the tank's belly, and some climbed onto the vehicle to order the enemy to surrender, which scared the enemy and crawled out one by one.
Our army continued to advance, and as soon as the sky was dawn, they occupied Yuegezhuang in the north of Fengtai. At around 9 o'clock, I vaguely saw Fengtai hidden in the sea of fog from the top of a large kiln in Yuegezhuang. At this time, dense gunfire sounds came from the high ground of the big well in Fengtai, blocking the way our army was advancing. Just when it was difficult for me to accurately judge the enemy's strength and attempts, the soldiers sent a prisoner. This guy is a battalion commander of the 10th Army. He thought his own people had made a misunderstanding, so he came to get in touch and fell into the trap. From his mouth we learned that only one brigade of the 10th Army was stationed in the north and town of Fengtai, and the main forces were all in the west and south. Although they were approaching, they did not notice our actions.
These situations made me think about it and feel more wise as Chairman Mao’s command. I thought to myself, we should not give the enemy a chance to wake up, and we should snatch Fengtai to the end. At this moment, I immediately adjusted the deployment with the comrades of the 124th Division, and urgently dispatched the 372nd Regiment, who was having a meal, and cooperated with the 370th Regiment to attack Fengtai from the north.At the same time, he ordered the staff around him to find out which troops he had arrived, and asked them to be fully prepared and ready to fight at any time.
At 3 pm, under the cover of artillery fire, the 370th Regiment first occupied the enemy's veterinary hospital, and the 372nd Regiment then occupied the railway station. Seize Fengtai, the important place of the battle.
We clearly know that if you seize Fengtai, this is just the beginning of the battle, and the enemy will definitely fight for it desperately. Therefore, while ordering the troops to immediately renovate fortifications and lay out positions, I personally observed the terrain. It turns out that Fengtai is much bigger than we expected. At this moment, except for the three regiments of the 124th Division that arrived in Fengtai, there were only one regiment of the 126th Division and the 155th Division. This means that we must use the few existing troops to defend Fengtai and block the fierce attack of a large number of enemies. Just at this moment, the leader of Noji sent an emergency telegram, praising us for catching Fengtai one day and one night earlier than they expected, and instructed us to be fully prepared. As long as we can fight for one day, the main force will arrive. We immediately conveyed the head's instructions to the following. The soldiers were in an extremely high mood when they heard that the chief had come to praise us. Regardless of the fatigue of continuous marching and combat, everyone actively repaired fortifications and moved seized weapons and ammunition from the warehouse to equip themselves. They said: "Since we can seize Fengtai, we can defend it. If we are not afraid of death, come and watch it!"
returned to the command post from the position. The responsible person of the 124th Division advised me to go for a rest, but I was very excited. After we occupied this place of Fengtai, Peiping lost an important barrier. Our army not only cut off the enemy's way to escape east through the railway line, but also could gradually advance to Beiping based on Fengtai, directly forcing Beiping to Guang'anmen and You'anmen in Beiping, becoming the biggest threat to the enemy's stubborn resistance against the city wall. According to the headquarters' notice, Fu Zuoyi's main force has been closely surrounded by our army in North China and Zhangjiakou , which has made it difficult for Fu Zuoyi to decide whether to fight to the death of Western aid or abandon his old capital and flee east. Now we unexpectedly inserted a knife into his heart, which made the enemy's entire battle situation in North China full of holes. For the enemy, it smelled like " storm is coming and wind is coming. ". Under such circumstances, it is imperative that the enemy will fight with me to fight for Fengtai. Thinking of this, we checked the combat preparations of each regiment again.
As expected, at 3 o'clock the next morning, a large number of enemy counterattack troops led by an armored train began to attack our position. In an instant, gunshots rang everywhere inside and outside Fengtai Town. The enemy armored train rushed to the gate of our 372nd Regiment command post, and the three battalions guarding the railway station were cut into three sections. After being divided by the enemy, the soldiers of the 372nd Regiment each held their positions and repeatedly rushed with the enemy. We took advantage of the night to wedge the reserve team from the enemy's side and back, and repelled the enemy's attack. It was dawn and the enemy organized a second fierce attack. The entire division and the whole regiment rushed towards our position under the cover of armored vehicles. My position in Tongbuwa was first hit by the enemy of two companies. The first company that stood here repeatedly rushed 4 times, and in the end, more than 20 people remained on the position. The battle became more and more intense. During the third fierce attack, six divisions were concentrated, hundreds of howitzers and were killed and killed. They rushed into our positions with superior forces from various areas, and the battle extended to the vicinity of the command post. Staff and guards were formed into combat teams to fight the enemy. At this most urgent moment, Ou Zhifu, the commander of the vanguard of our 11th Column, heard the fierce guns and cannons in Fengtai, and immediately brought a regiment beside him to fight. The brothers in North China also took the initiative to find the 372nd Regiment and cooperated with them to defend the railway station. From then on, our army's follow-up troops continued to increase. During the battle, the fellow villagers in Fengtai braved the artillery fire to rescue the wounded, boiled water and cook for us. From 3 o'clock in the evening to 3 o'clock in the afternoon, our army finally defended Fengtai.
As soon as the sound of gunfire went silent, we suddenly received a telegram from the Occupy Department to our column. Military Commission praised us for the opportunity to seize Fengtai and fight well. Instructed us to hold our positions, smash the enemy's counterattack and breakthrough, and push our camera forward along the Fengtai railway line to Peiping. We immediately passed this exciting news to various units.The care and instructions of the Military Commission and Chairman Mao have added infinite strength and confidence to all commanders and fighters. The calls for "resolutely repel the enemy and present a gift to the Party Central Committee" and "fight this battle well and welcome the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao's entry into Peiping" were heard all over the positions. The comrades of the 372nd Regiment first seized the favorable opportunity of the enemy retreating and fought east along the railway. Outside Fengtai Town, there are warm holes for growing vegetables everywhere. They leaped over the vegetable garden and continued to move forward based on these natural fortifications. New additions came to Artillery Regiment and to bombard the enemy on the spot.
Wherever the troops attack, railway workers are busy dismantling the railway tracks and preventing enemy armored vehicles from coming to show off their crimes again. In this way, we fought to a few miles from You'anmen in the southwest corner of Beiping.
At the same time, our Northeast Field Army and North China troops have quickly completed the encirclement of Peiping from all directions. I climbed to the top of the kiln at the command center and looked at Beiping, which was shrouded in darkness. I suddenly thought: The leaders of the North China "Suppression Headquarters" may be regretting the mistakes in their judgment, and regretting that they should not forget the two military creeds of "soldiers are the most important to speed" and "unexpected enemy". But it was too late. Now the entire North China enemy has been divided and surrounded by us. We are powerless to fight and have no way to escape. The only way in front of us is to put down our weapons or wipe out the entire army. Our troops seized 106 tanks in this battle, setting a rare record.
