There is no doubt that the third marshal of the Republic Lin Biao and the first general Su Yu are the two generals born in our army with the highest military talents, greatest achievements and most fruitful results in their military careers. The two men's military achievements are the most shining among thousands of founding fathers with outstanding achievements.
We have every reason to believe that without the outstanding performance of Lin Biao and Su Yu, the War of Liberation would probably have been postponed for many years before victory could be achieved.
is these two famous generals of our army who are extremely dazzling even in the long river of history. Due to different growth experience, military career, and combat environment, the command styles of the two are completely opposite. Although both of them are famous for their "eternal victory generals", the process of victory is completely different.
Su Yu is probably one of the founding fathers with very bad luck. This peer who participated in the Nanchang Uprising with Lin Biao. The reason why he started was similar, but he was not named Marshal when he was awarded the title in 1955 was not because of his military achievements, but because of his qualifications.
The reason why Su Yu's qualifications are worse is that they have nothing to do with ability, but with luck. During the Red Army era, Su Yu's performance was actually extremely excellent. In just a few years, he was promoted from company commander to chief of staff of the Red Seventh Corps of the Red Army in the First Front Army.
However, because he is used to leading the way in combat and has poor luck, Su Yu was seriously injured many times in combat, among which, there were as many serious injuries that had to leave the army. It can be said that frequent injuries and disengagement from the army are important reasons why Su Yu failed to become the commander of the Red Army.
Moreover, because he was appointed as the chief of staff of the Red Seventh Army, Su Yu failed to participate in the Long March of , but instead left the Central Soviet Area first and began to go north to fight against Japan.
However, due to the large number of enemies and the small number of command errors, the Red Army's anti-Japanese advance team led by Su Yu, Xun Huaizhou and others failed under the enemy's heavy troops.
Although in extreme danger, Su Yu still led some troops to break through the encirclement. However, Su Yu lost contact with the central government, had to switch to various parts of the south, and experienced the arduous southern guerrilla war in the history of the Red Army.
Moreover, the place where Su Yu insisted on fighting was the most difficult even among the 14 guerrilla areas in the 8 provinces of the Red Army. Because, the place where he fought was the old nest of Chiang Kai-shek and the core of ruling - Zhejiang. After the outbreak of the full-scale war of resistance, Su Yu, who was reorganized into a unit of the New Fourth Army, led his troops to fight and was still far away from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas of the Party Central Committee.
From the period of the Liberation War, Su Yu, who led the Central China Field Army and the East China Field Army, was the most of the time, and the area where he was located was still Chiang Kai-shek's heart. Most of the situation he faced was that there were many enemies and few people.
It can be said that throughout Su Yu's military revolutionary career for more than 20 years, most of the time, he fought in the heart of the enemy with absolute advantage. In order to persevere and to continue to grow and grow, every battle carried out by Su Yu led his troops was like dancing on the tip of a knife, and there was no way to make any mistakes.
will inevitably be surrounded by heavy troops of the enemy due to a slight mistake and will face the end of annihilation of the entire army. Therefore, long-term fighting in the hearts of the enemy far away from the center also made Su Yu develop the habit of dancing on the tip of the knife.
launched a battle. No one else dared to make up his mind without 70 to 80% of them, and Su Yu dared to start the battle decisively if he had five points. Of course, being bold is nothing, always winning is the most difficult, and Su Yu has done this.
During the War of Liberation, the Menglianggu Battle , described by Chen Yi , as "the head of the general among millions of troops", is the most typical manifestation of Su Yu's combat style.
At that time, facing the reorganized 74th Division of the , the leader of the five major aces of the Kuomintang, , although the East China Field Army led by Su Yu had a certain advantage in force, around the reorganized 74th Division, there was a larger heavy army group of the enemy.
However, even in this situation, Su Yu still pulled his teeth and annihilated the reorganized 74th Division in one fell swoop. This not only greatly affected the morale of the enemy, but also greatly improved the situation of the enemy and us on the battlefield in Shandong. This also laid a solid foundation for the soon-initiated Jinan Battle , which was built.
, and Marshal Lin Biao was completely opposite to Su Yu's situation. Since going to Jinggangshan, Lin Biao has always held key positions in the largest military group of our army. Because of his relatively strong capital, Marshal Lin Biao almost did not fight a battle without confidence to the extreme.
Before every battle, Lin Biao always thinks about it day and night, thinks about almost all aspects thoroughly, and then starts the battle after he has absolute certainty. Therefore, Marshal Lin Biao had almost never commanded a failed battle. Once the battle was launched, the enemy would be like a bug entangled by a spider web. No matter how hard he struggled, he would not be able to escape the net.
Lin Biao
The difference in the command characteristics of Lin Biao and Su Yu is most reflected in the Jinan Battle and Liaoshen Battle , facing the enemy's response to the increase in troops.
War is the last and most cruel means for mankind to resolve contradictions. It is directly related to the life and death of a city, a place, and even a country and a nation. Therefore, every battle is extremely cruel and changeable at the same time.
As the head coach of the first army, considering the variables that may occur at any time on the scene is also a problem that they must face. When a battle is about to begin, the sudden increase in the enemy's troops is undoubtedly the most troublesome thing.
because this means that all your previous preparations will be overturned. Unexpected enemy reinforcements are likely to become dominoes that will knock down the battlefield. So, before the war, how did Su Yu and Lin Biao do it?
When the time entered August 1948, the total strength of the People's Liberation Army in the Northeast had exceeded 1 million. In Northeast China, the most developed industrial and agricultural area at that time, the People's Army had a huge advantage in the Kuomintang.
It was in this situation that according to the combat policies formulated by the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao, Lin Biao, commander of the Northeast Field Army, and Luo Ronghuan, political commissar, formulated an autumn offensive plan aimed at annihilation of the Kuomintang army in the Northeast. And this plan is the famous Liaoshen Battle. Before the launch of the
campaign, the Northeast Field Army had quickly divided and surrounded the Northeast Kuomintang army at a speed of lightning speed, including Jinzhou , Shenyang, and Changchun, making it difficult for the enemy to take care of each other.
So, where should the first shot be fired in the Liaoshen Campaign? Chairman Mao and the Central Military Commission decided to take the lead in the Jinzhou battle, which directly formed a closed door and beat dogs, making it impossible for the enemy to retreat into the pass. This laid a good foundation for the complete annihilation of the Kuomintang army in the Northeast.
Of course, before the war began, the Northeast Field Army was not without any hidden worries. The Fu Zuoyi Group, which was entrenched in the Pingjin area and had an army of 600,000, was Lin Biao's biggest heart disease.
Because the Pingjin area is almost a short distance from Jinzhou, and Fu Zuoyi is one of the most capable generals in the Kuomintang. In addition, the Kuomintang has naval advantages. Once Fu Zuoyi is determined to support the Jinzhou battlefield, he can easily transport the troops of the North China Suppression Corporation to Huludao by sea transportation.
Lin Biao
At the same time, Jinzhou area is located at the southernmost end of in the northeastern region of , far away from old liberated areas such as North Manchuria . It is very difficult for both logistics supplies and people's support.
So, Lin Biao has always been very hesitant to launch the Jinzhou Battle immediately. Just when Lin Biao was struggling, on the afternoon of October 2, Lin Biao suddenly received a very critical intelligence: the four divisions transported by the Kuomintang by sea had arrived in Huludao. The most worrying situation happened.
Lin Biao, who has never considered victory before hesitated, became even more hesitant. He considered that the battle to Jinzhou south had the disadvantages of difficulty in replenishing grain and oil and too long transportation lines, and the enemy suddenly increased troops. Once the war was unfavorable, the People's Liberation Army failed to conquer Jinzhou as scheduled, and the enemies of Jinzhou and Shenyang attacked each other at the same time, the situation of our army would inevitably be very dangerous.
So, Lin Biao began to prefer the safest solution - to fight Changchun first. Of course, Lin Biao did not make up his mind at this time, so in the emergency telegram sent to the Central Military Commission at 10 pm on October 22, in addition to analyzing the changes in the situation caused by the sudden increase in the enemy's troops, Lin Biao also listed two action plans, please consider and instruct.
The two plans are: First, quickly conquer Jinzhou, the advantage is that in addition to completing the established strategic goals, it can also save the delay in the round trip of the troops. The second plan is to fight Changchun first, because Changchun had been besieged by the People's Liberation Army for several months at this time, and there were more than 18,000 deserters contained in the People's Liberation Army alone. Changchun, which has only more than 80,000 defenders, not only has a small number, but also has a low morale. It is very certain to conquer Changchun.
Of course, although we are struggling with two plans, since attacking Changjinzhou is an established order that the Central Military Commission has long approved, Lin Biao could not change the combat target without authorization before the central government changed the order. Therefore, the troops are still setting off to Jinzhou as planned.
After sending two plans to the central government, the opinions of political commissar Luo Ronghuan, chief of staff Liu Yalou and others were collected. After repeated consideration, Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan and Liu Yalou all believed that they should insist on attacking Jinzhou.
So, when the first telegram was sent out before the central government had received the reply, Lin Biao sent another telegram to the central government, which read:
We intend to still attack Jinzhou. As long as our army is fully prepared and then launches a general attack, there is still a possibility of annihilation of the Jin enemy, and at least one or most of the enemy can be annihilated. If you go back to attack Changchun, it will take too much time. Even if you don’t attack Changchun, the enemy will automatically break through. I can recover Changchun and annihilate one of the enemies.
After receiving the first telegram, Chairman Mao was very angry when he saw Lin Biao turning back to attack Changchun. He even sent a special telegram to criticize this idea and wrote two consecutive telegrams to insist on attacking Jinzhou.
Just 5 hours after Lin Biao sent the second telegram, Chairman Mao received Lin Biao's second telegram determined to attack Jinzhou, and he finally felt relieved. The Liaoning Battle was also as planned. Although the enemy suddenly increased its troops, the People's Liberation Army still successfully conquered Jinzhou, which also laid a solid foundation for the final victory of the Liaoshen Battle.
Just one month before the outbreak of the Liaoshen Campaign, in August 1948, Su Yu, who had just won the battle of Menglianggu, led the East China Field Army to siege Jinan, the capital of Shandong.
According to the instructions of the Military Commission, Su Yu decided to divide the East China Field Army into two groups, namely the attacking group that attacked Jinan and the attacking group that attacked enemy reinforcements. The attacking group is commanded by Xu Shiyou, Tan Zhenlin, and Wang Jian'an. The total force is about 140,000. The attacking and aid group is personally commanded by Su Yu, with a total force of about 180,000.
. The enemy who sticks to Jinan is the famous Kuomintang general Wang Yaowu with a force of 100,000. Moreover, it was similar to the situation Lin Biao faced when he attacked Jinzhou. Just hundreds of kilometers south of Jinan, there was also a Kuomintang heavy army group - the Xuzhou "Suppression Headquarters" led by Liu Zhi and .
September 9, after everything was ready, the Breaking Group launched an attack on Jinan as planned. However, on the third day of the battle to conquer Jinan, on September 11, Su Yu suddenly received information:
A brigade of the 83rd Division of the Kuomintang was airlifted to Jinan, and the Kuomintang's troops in Jinan increased. Immediately afterwards, information from various hidden fronts seemed to confirm this.
At that time, Wang Yao's military headquarters stationed in Jinan City was the Central Army with 8 brigades, as well as some local security teams and military police, with a total strength of about 10 people.
If a brigade of the 83rd Division of the Kuomintang is indeed airlifted to Jinan, it also means that the strength of the Kuomintang troops stationed in Jinan has been greatly enhanced. What's worse, it means that the Kuomintang can easily increase its troops in Jinan. In this way, the original battle to conquer Jinan is likely to have variables.
So, facing this information, Su Yu thought about it for a few years and sent such a telegram to the Military Commission, East China Bureau , and Central Plains Bureau . In the telegram, he made three plans for choice:
The first plan is to still launch the battle to conquer Jinan as originally planned. The combat plan changed slightly: "Most of the two corpses of the concentrated attack group attacked the airport, quickly captured and consolidated them, and tried to develop in depth."
The second plan is: to temporarily suspend the attack on Jinan, "the attacking group continues to make full preparations for the attack, while the attacking group launches an attack on Xuzhou ", thereby attracting the enemy's attention and attracting the enemy's attention to Xuzhou before launching a real attack on the enemy Jinan.
The third plan is still to launch an attack on Jinan as planned. As for the enemy's reinforcements, the attacking group will approach Xuzhou in two ways, thereby mobilizing the enemy forces to rescue Jinan to return to Xuzhou, laying the foundation for conquering Jinan.
Su Yu's three plans are two of them to continue to insist on launching an attack on Jinan as planned. Obviously, Su Yu actually tends to launch an offensive plan as planned.
. Regarding Su Yu’s three plans, Chairman Mao believed that the attack and economic slowdown should be carried out according to the original plan. After receiving a telegram from Chairman Mao to support the continued attack, in the early morning of September 13, Su Yu called the Central Military Commission, East China Bureau, and Central Plains Bureau:
We have decided that regardless of whether one brigade of the 83rd Division has been airlifted, Jinan will still start the attack on Jinan on the evening of the 16th as originally planned.
As Su Yu expected, the Jinan Battle was successfully launched and a brilliant victory was achieved. Not only was Jinan City successfully conquered, but even the famous Kuomintang general Wang Yaowu was captured alive.
As for the enemy's plan to airlift the 83rd Division to support Jinan, according to the post-war understanding, the Kuomintang did have such a plan, and even Chiang Kai-shek had ordered the 83rd Division to assist Jinan. However, because the 83rd Division left Xuzhou under the order of the "Suppression General" of Xuzhou and could not be airlifted, in the end, some of the rebuilt 74th Division's troops were airlifted to Jinan.
However, the 74th Division only transported more than 2,000 people, and all had to withdraw because the People's Liberation Army's heavy artillery attacked the airport. In the end, the Kuomintang had only 7 companies of air transport to Jinan, and these 7 companies were completely annihilated with the breaking of Jinan City.
Before the war, facing the sudden increase in troops from the enemy, Marshal Lin Biao was more cautious and even had the idea of changing the combat plan. Su Yu moved forward and was more inclined to continue to maintain the original plan. Although there is no right or wrong in the matter itself, it can also be seen that the two people are completely different in their style when commanding the battle.
