Persistence in the struggle behind enemy lines in Central China
The blocking battle on the Tongyu Highway continued for more than two months. After the mission was completed, we led our troops to move to the Longwang Temple area, a small town on the southeast coast of Yancheng , to rest for a few days before heading south. The weather at the seaside was extremely cold. Except for the guard posts, the soldiers were still wearing single clothes and shivering from the cold. They had to get as much grass as possible to keep themselves warm, but it could not solve any problem. At night, everyone stacked several military blankets together and squeezed a few people under the blankets, like sardines . People were pressed close to each other to add a little warmth, but they still couldn't withstand the strong winds on the beach. The common people are very poor at home, with very little cotton and food, and they have too much time to take care of themselves. How can they add to the burden? The supply problem could not be solved and the troops had to move south quickly.
However, at this juncture, some comrades in the column proposed not to go south for the time being and to wait and see the situation. I advocate boldly going south. Only going south can solve the problem. An argument broke out during the meeting. We argued back and forth but could not reach a conclusion. I discussed with Chen Pixian and Ji Pengfei whether I should take a few staff officers to the south for reconnaissance. If the situation is good, you can follow immediately with your troops. Chen and Ji both agreed with this approach, but were worried about my safety going south.
On New Year's Eve, we heard Commander-in-Chief Zhu's "New Year's Message" on the radio. Commander-in-Chief Zhu proposed the ten major tasks of 1947 to the entire party and army. The second task is to go deep behind enemy lines and carry out extensive guerrilla warfare . He proposed: "Efforts should be made to universally develop guerrilla warfare in all occupied areas, which is of great significance for the main battle and the recovery of lost territory."
also pointed out: "The credit for persisting in guerrilla warfare is as great as the credit for annihilating a large number of enemies head-on. Their hard struggle deserves the respect of the people across the country." This helped us strengthen our determination to continue going south.
I was thinking mainly about supplies and soldiers. If you leave the masses, you will starve to death. After going south and returning to the old base in central Jiangsu, the people are familiar, and a series of problems such as raising supplies, replenishing soldiers, and placement of the wounded can be solved. Some comrades believe that the situation in the south is unclear, that the situation in class struggle is different from that of national struggle, and that orthodoxy among some middle- and upper-class people is still relatively strong, so it would be very dangerous to rush over. I think this opinion is correct. But there are not many households in Longwang Temple, so staying here for a long time is not an option. If only a small number of troops are sent south to reconnoiter the situation, they cannot solve strategic decision-making problems. It would be better for me to go there in person.
At this time, we happened to receive telegrams from Chen Yi and Su Yu, which ordered the "Seven Columns" to quickly penetrate into the hinterland of Central Jiangsu , open up battlefields behind enemy lines, and continue to hold back the enemy to cooperate with frontal battlefield operations in Shandong and the Central Plains.
For this reason, I immediately went south to investigate the situation. As soon as it dawned, I led a company south along the seaside embankment. This area is desolate along the way, and few people are seen. We arrived at Yuhua Town at noon. There is no enemy stronghold in the town, but there is an enemy battalion stationed at Da Zhongji, about twenty miles to the west of the town.
I went to Yuhua Town. Since I often came here during the Anti-Japanese War, many people knew me. They were surprised to see me and wondered why the commander in charge of the army only brought eighty or ninety people to this remote place. Some said that probably all his soldiers were wiped out by the Kuomintang, and some said no. There were different opinions. I thought to myself: This is a salt-reclamation area that used to be dominated by capitalists. During the Anti-Japanese War, although the capitalists left, the masses were still greatly affected by it. Once the Kuomintang came, the psychology of the masses changed greatly, and there was great fear. The landlord class The middle and upper class elements used to stay close to us, but now they have wavered, and many have turned against us. The basic masses are still good, but most of the young and middle-aged people are hiding, fearing that the Kuomintang will arrest the young people, and food supplies are also blocked.
As soon as I arrived in Yuhua Town, the Kuomintang's lackeys quickly spread rumors that the enemies of the Central Committee were coming. I ignored that and had a hearty meal in the town. After dinner, I calmly headed to Manan.
On the way, I said to my comrades: "You all have to endure more hardships. We must rush to Daqiao Town to camp tonight."
Daqiao Town is still ninety miles away. As we headed south, there were enemy strongholds in Dazhongji, Shenzao, Xiaohai and other places, but we avoided them all.
It was already midnight when we arrived at Daqiao Town, and the people had already fallen asleep. The soldiers called out. I stayed at the common people's house and said, "Commander Guan has brought his team back." The people were surprised and happy to see me. They quickly boiled water for us to wash our feet and cooked food for us. The staff sent out a guard post and repeatedly warned the common people to keep it secret, because Daqiao Town was only more than 30 miles away from Shenzao, and enemy troops were stationed there. A battalion, they often go to the countryside to "clean up".
After we left Yuhua Town, the enemies of DICJ and Xiaohai pursued us for more than ten miles after hearing the news. It is estimated that Shen Zao's enemies will also come out to search tomorrow.
We slept peacefully for a few hours that night. Get up early the next morning and ask local comrades to find the comrade in charge of a division to report the situation.
Before the comrades from the district have arrived, I first asked the people about the situation. They told me: “Since the army went north, the returning regiments and landlords have been coming every day to force rent and arrest people. Just call back. "
The people I sent out found the team that had withdrawn from the Ninth Division. Not long after, Wang Zhiping, the commander of the Ninth Division, arrived.
I asked him: "Which of our comrades are there in this area?"
Wang Zhiping told me: "Zhong Min is nearby and is with me. He went to have a meeting today and will be back soon. There is also Liang Lingguang nearby. Xujiatun and the others from Division 1 also came over. I sent people to find them all. "
I asked Wang Zhiping about the situation in the Ninth Division.
He said that after the main force went north, Li Mo'an's Yisui District cultivated a group of stubborn returnees, established a political power, and continued to "clean up". We were attacked by the enemy in Tangjiayuan and suffered considerable losses. The situation in the First Division was worse than our Ninth Division. Oh no, the Taixing Independent Regiment suffered heavy losses. Comrade Ye Zhiqing, the Taixing County Party Committee Secretary and the leader of the Independent Regiment, died. Now, except for a few townships in Ruxi, it is said that only one Zhouya District in Taizhou is still under control, and the class struggle is very sharp. Most of the big landlords who fled have returned. The counter-offensive and class retaliation were so fierce! The big landowners said to the peasants: "You want to divide my land and fight me! I will beat your tendons, peel your skin, and take your lives! I will also cut off your descendants! Let you know how powerful I am!" They complained that the high-ranking officials of the Kuomintang only thought about how to get houses, gold, and women for themselves...but they always fought against the Communist Party. They are on the verge of collapse and are unreliable. They think that in order to protect their family property, they have to form their own armed forces - the Returning Corps! The Returning Corps is very rampant and they are local snakes. They arrest our cadres, militiamen and poor peasants and farm laborers everywhere, including their families. After they are captured, they are hung, beaten, put on tiger stools , fed with pepper water, and tortured until they are no longer worthy of their appearance, they are shot and killed. Burying people alive, and even cutting people in half with a guillotine! It was so cruel! We had to turn to secret activities.
Zhong Min, Liang Lingguang, Xu Jiatun, Xie Kedong, etc. heard that I led the troops to Daqiao Town, and they all came one after another. We studied the enemy's situation together: Xiaohai, Shenzao, and Dazhongji in the coastal area of Dongtai all have enemy regular troops stationed, some in a battalion, and some in a company, all sent from Dongtai . Their regiment headquarters led a battalion to be stationed in Dongtai City. Although there are local stubborn activities in the vast rural areas, there will be no problem when our army comes back. I talked about the situation and Chen and Su's orders. They were all very happy when they heard that the "Seven Columns" were going to fight back.
I immediately sent a telegram to the column and the district party committee. Chen Pixian, Ji Pengfei, Hu Bingyun and others led the troops and quickly went south.
We studied and decided to attack Shen Zao.
Shenzao stationed a battalion of enemy regular troops, more than 400 people, and stored a lot of military rations and other supplies.
Although our army is hungry and cold, we are still confident of capturing Shenzao.
Our deployment: Brigadier Duan Huanjing led two regiments of the First Brigade to besiege Shenzao, and sent two regiments to block Dongtai to aid the enemy. After attacking all night, we could not capture it.
After I went to the front line for inspection, I saw that the enemy's fortifications were strong. After being surrounded, they fought desperately.Duan Huanjing and I studied: "Should we let go of the west, attack the other three sides, force the enemy to flee, and have the troops in ambush in the west, if the enemy flees to the west, immediately encircle and annihilate them!" Duan Huanjing is a veteran cadre of the Red Army who has been tempered by war. He heard this opinion and thought it was very good. At the same time, people were sent to send leaflets to Shenzao, saying, "If they do not surrender, they will be destroyed resolutely." When the enemy defenders in Shenzao saw the leaflets and heard that the main force of the New Fourth Army had returned, they were very panicked. Duan Zai ordered his troops to attack fiercely from the east, south and north, and feign an attack from the west. The enemy believed that the firepower of the west was weaker, so they fled through the west gate in panic. I have ambushed two regiments in the west. As soon as the enemy came out, I ambushed the troops and annihilated them all, leaving no one behind.
After Shenzao was recovered, the enemy was greatly shocked. The enemies in Xiaohai, sancang and other places fled at night. Our army has regained a large base area of hundreds of miles from east to west and south, and the army organizations have room for maneuver.
After we recaptured Shenzao, Xiaohai, and Sancang, our food and ammunition were partially replenished. A large number of people were organized overnight to make cotton-padded clothes. Within a few days, more than 4,000 soldiers were all wearing new clothes.
A big stone fell on my heart. The soldiers cheered and the crowd cheered.
Among the better prisoners, after complaining and educating, most of them replenished the company. At the same time, a group of militiamen were mobilized to join the main force. The firearms brought back from the north were distributed to the recruits, and the force expanded to more than 5,000 people.
In early February, we worked with local armed forces to study the issue of destroying the Fort Lee stronghold. Fort Li is located at the junction of the southeast of Dongtai County and Hai'an. This is a small strategic location. After the enemy occupied Fort Lee, they built a blockade from Hai'an in the west to Xiaoyangkou in the east, cutting off the connection between the 1st, 2nd and 9th divisions of Central China, so as to further "clean up" the divisions and eliminate thousands of our local armed forces and party and government departments. Therefore, it is very important whether our army can attack Fort Lee or not.
We analyzed the enemy's troop deployment and intentions in this area. The enemy has a mobile brigade in Hai'an responsible for "mopping up" tasks. Nantong and Yangzhou also have one regiment of mobile troops each, and they are limited to performing "clearance and suppression" tasks in their vicinity. Other counties and towns are all garrison troops and returning regiments and will not affect our offensive. If the Hai'an brigade is eaten up one by one, the enemy will have no mobile troops available. In the future, we will recover enemy-occupied towns and cities one by one, which will greatly support our army's mission of annihilating enemies in Shandong and the Central Plains. At the same time, from the perspective of the central Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu regions, this is also a key move to restore our base area. That's what we decided.
Before the attack on Fort Lee, we held a meeting with several responsible comrades in the first division and explained that the main purpose of attacking Fort Lee this time was not only to cooperate with the main force in Shandong in the battle, but also to cover the return of your division's special agents and persist in the struggle on the spot. I told them: "The main task of your divisional regiment after returning is to fight against the returning regiments and local tyrants and evil gentry. You must be resolute and never relent. If you encounter the enemy's main force to 'mopping up' or 'cleaning up', you should circle with them and do not fight with them." . We will eat up their main force in a planned and orderly manner. After you eliminate the returning regiments, you immediately help the local party and government to recover, organize short gun teams as much as possible, and try to penetrate into the enemy's strongholds to eliminate the bully landlords and spies. Just as we did in the past when we fought against the 'Qingxiang' movement and attacked the 'Qingxiang' personnel, we must create an atmosphere of terror for the enemy so that they will not dare to come back for restoration. Comrade Xu Jiatun, who originally persisted in the struggle in the first division, has been transferred to another job. Comrades Zhong Min and Xie Kedong will also be able to return after a while. When we attack Fort Lee, your Division One troops and leading comrades can return from near Chai Wan at starry night. We sent troops to monitor the enemy in Hai'an. "
On our way south, we received the battle report of the great victory in Lunan. From January 2 to January 4, 1947, within three days, the main forces of the Central China Field Army and Shandong Field Army will reorganize the 28th Division and the entire 44th Brigade, most of the 164th Brigade and a rapid column starting from Feng County in Lunan. A total of more than 53,000 people were wiped out, and many enemy generals such as Ma Liwu and Zhou Yuying were captured. Twenty-four tanks, eighty-seven howitzers and more than 470 cars were seized, which greatly improved the equipment of our army.We announced the news to the commanders and soldiers of the entire column, and the entire army was greatly excited. Many people jumped up and down, shouting "Long live the Communist Party!" "Down with Chiang Kai-shek !" The mood was extremely high.
At this time, we received another telegram about the composition of the East China Military Region and East China Field Army : The New Fourth Army, Shandong Military Region, Central China Military Region were ordered by the Central Military Commission to cancel their designations and combine to form the East China Military Region. It has jurisdiction over six military regions: Bohai, Jiaodong, Shandong, Shandong, South Shandong, North Jiangsu, and Central Jiangsu. Chen Yi served as commander and Rao Shushi served as political commissar; the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army merged to form the East China Field Army. Chen Yi served as commander and political commissar, with jurisdiction over the first to twelfth columns (five columns were missing). The eleventh and twelfth columns stayed in central Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu to serve as central Jiangsu military region and northern Jiangsu military region respectively. The total strength is 270,000. The original "Seven Columns" became the "Eleven Columns", and the original "Ten Columns" became the "Twelve Columns". The two columns numbered about 15,000 men, not included in the 270,000 men. From the day we received the telegram, the designation of our "Seventh Column" was revoked and changed to the "Eleventh Column" of the East China Field Army. I am still the commander, Chen Pixian is the political commissar, Ji Pengfei is the deputy political commissar, and Hu Bingyun is the deputy commander.
After the battles of Subei and Lunan , Chiang Kai-shek suffered serious setbacks in all battlefields and his troops were greatly reduced. He decided to change the all-out offensive to a focused offensive, with Shandong and Yan'an as the key targets of his attack, and other theaters maintained the status quo for the time being. In the Shandong area, Chen Cheng personally rushed to Xuzhou to supervise the battle, preparing for another decisive battle with our army in southern Shandong. In the first half of February, our army carried out a blocking battle south of Linyi, Tianjin, and annihilated two divisions of Hao Pengju's army. Hao himself was also captured by our army. Then, the enemy concentrated a force of 310,000 people and decided to advance in two directions, north and south, in an attempt to engage in a decisive battle with the main force of our East China Field Army near Linyi or in the Yimeng Mountains . Its main attacking force on the southern front was led by the commander of the reorganized 19th Army Composed of eight divisions under the command of Ou Zhen, they attacked Linyi; three armies on the northern front, commanded by Li Xianzhou, , deputy commander of the Second Appeasement District, moved south from Zichuan, Boshan and other places to the Laiwu and Xintai areas, attacking the main force of our East China Field Army from the north and south.
Huaye Headquarters studied countermeasures in response to the enemy's deployment and believed that the enemy's deployment, with the north and south lines separated by hundreds of kilometers, was very large, making it easier for our army to concentrate its forces to defeat them one by one. Therefore, the East China Field Army decided to launch the Laiwu Campaign and concentrate its forces on one battlefield. Therefore, they took the initiative to abandon Linyi and deployed several columns near Linyi to block the enemies on the southern line with a wide front. They also used local armed forces from the Lunan Military Region to advance into Chongzhou and set up many pontoon bridges on the canal to confuse the enemy. At the same time, some troops quickly gathered from the shelter to both sides of Xintai and Laiwu to annihilate the Li Xianzhou Group on the northern line heading south from Jinan.
The enemy judged that our army would attack Yanzhou, and the enemy on the southern front was ordered to reinforce westward. Unfortunately, our 11th and 12th columns were scattered on the battlefields of central and northern Jiangsu. If we could focus on advancing from Lianghuai and Yanfu to Xinyi and implement feint attacks behind the enemy lines, it would make the enemy hesitate and fall into a passive situation. However, due to limitations of subjective and objective conditions, the 11th and 12th columns could not be concentrated, and the command had not yet been unified at that time, so they could only conduct attacks on the spot.
In order to cooperate with the main force in Shandong, our "Eleventh Column" attacked Fort Lee as planned. At the end of mid-February, our army adopted a long-distance attack method, moving the troops from the sheltered area of the Sancang River to the Fort Lee area, using one regiment and one machine gun battery to attack Fort Lee, striving to solve the problem in one night; the other two regiments were used to deal with the enemy who sent reinforcements from Hai'an.
In the attack on Fort Lee, our army overwhelmed the enemy with an absolute advantage of four to one. The battle was fought well. After the troops arrived at their destination, they immediately surrounded Fort Lee. The attack began at ten o'clock in the evening, and the battle was resolved before dawn, and an enemy battalion was completely wiped out. The next day, the enemies of Hai'an sent out a regiment for reinforcements. After arriving at the West Field, they heard that Fort Lee had been lost and immediately retreated to Hai'an. The comrades in charge of the first division and the local armed forces took this opportunity to return to their original places and persisted in the struggle.
The Battle of Laiwu started on February 20th and ended on the 23rd. After fierce fighting, a total of seven enemy divisions (brigades) and more than 56,000 people were wiped out (the enemy's annihilation in Central Jiangsu and Northern Jiangsu was not included). Li Xianzhou, the commander of the enemy's Second Pacification District, was captured alive. Thirteen cities were recovered, making the Bohai, Jiaodong and Central Shandong military regions connected.
After we recovered Fort Lee, we then recovered more than a dozen enemy strongholds such as Jiaoxiao and Xichang. The enemy was in panic. Rumors spread that the main force of the Communist army, more than 15,000 people, had returned, and they quickly reduced their troops.
In late February, the main force in Central Jiangsu was replenished and reached more than 6,000 people. The combat effectiveness was further improved, and the mood of the troops improved greatly.
At this time, the enemy's mobile brigade in Hai'an only had about two regiments left. It was very difficult to deal with our army, which was already stretched thin. They contracted some small strongholds, guarded the communication lines, and asked for help from their superiors.
Fort Lee is so important that the enemy has to send troops to garrison it. When it was detected that our army had left Fort Lee, the enemy hurriedly sent another reinforced battalion in an attempt to hold on. The enemy is just so stupid. The first time a battalion was eaten, but the second time we sent a battalion plus a machine gun battery, totaling more than 500 people, thinking that as long as the fortifications were built well, we could hold it. Based on this situation, we decided to eat it again when the time was right.
We studied the deployment of the two dozen Fort Lees and believed that the enemy had strengthened their forces a little and had made mental preparations, and the fortifications were stronger than before. Our army's attack this time must be more difficult than the first, and we must be mentally prepared. Therefore, it was decided to use four battalions to besiege Fort Lee, and use two more regiments to block the enemy who might come to Hai'an for reinforcements. At the same time, Wang Zhiping, Liang Lingguang and others were notified to be ready. When our main force attacked Fort Lee for the second time, they led the ninth division troops to quickly return to the Nantong area. Their mission was still to avoid the enemy's main force, focus on attacking the returning regiments, regain lost ground, restore party and government organizations, and persist in guerrilla warfare.
In mid-March, our army was still moving southward from the shelter of Yicang River. It suddenly surrounded Fort Lee without anyone noticing, and used violent artillery fire to destroy all the fortifications around Fort Lee. The defenders were stunned. Our army captured Fort Lee in one fell swoop, and all the defenders were captured except those who were killed. Our army regained Fort Lee again, and the troops of the Ninth Division took this opportunity to return to the Nantong area.
At this time, the Ninth District requested the main force to go to the Nantong area to fight some battles and assist the local area in restoring work. Our research believes that this move will not only help the ninth division troops to regain lost ground and persist in the struggle on the spot, but also play a role in expanding the prestige of our army and confusing the enemy. Therefore, they agreed to the request of the Ninth Division and divided their troops into the Nantong area in late March. On the 27th, they captured Sanyu Town, , and on the 29th, they captured Yuxi Town, . After the troops went south, they won consecutive battles, continued to expand, and their morale was very strong. The mood of the masses also became high, and they took the initiative to pay public grain to help the government collect taxes, and the lost base areas were gradually restored.
