General Huang Kecheng, because of his high degree of myopia, he has to wear glasses at all times. General Huang Kecheng, who wears glasses, naturally gives people a literati temperament, but he is also a general who dares to rush and fight on the battlefield. In every battle, he always charges to the front, which frightened Peng Dehuai and had to persuade him:
"Old Huang! In the next battle, you are not allowed to wield a machete anymore. Wearing such a pair of big glasses, you will look like an official at first glance, and you will be easily shot."
General Huang Kecheng, who wears glasses, is short-sighted, but he is very far-sighted at the strategic level. Although he looks gentle and gentle on the outside, he is a person with a "very bad temper". If he finds that anyone's order is wrong or inappropriate, he will directly slap the table and "disobey".
On January 24, 1946, Huang Kecheng, who was stationed in Tongliao , suddenly received a telegram from the Northeast Bureau: "Soviet Red Army officers are bringing Kuomintang officers to take over Tongliao. Let Huang Kecheng Lead the troops to evacuate Tongliao and move to other areas. "
At that time, the armistice agreement between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had just been signed less than half a month ago. The content of this telegram sent by the Northeast Bureau actually represented the central government and was a military order implemented based on the content of the armistice agreement.
It stands to reason that Huang Kecheng only needs to follow the order, but after Huang Kecheng read the telegram word for word, he became angry. According to the recollection of Chief of Staff Shen Qixian, Huang Kecheng's face was very ugly at the time. While handing him the telegram, he said angrily: "This is really unreasonable. Where else can we retreat to Inner Mongolia to eat sand? Send a message to the central government now. You go get the paper and I will take note of it."
Obviously, Huang Kecheng was "disobedient" again. In Huang Kecheng's view, the order sent by the Northeast Bureau this time was a wrong order. Tongliao must not be surrendered and must be firmly controlled by the Third Division of the New Fourth Army. He must directly send a report to the central government to oppose this order!
Why is Huang Kecheng so excited and insisting on holding on to Tongliao even if he is disobedient? What is so special about Tongliao that Huang Kecheng attaches so much importance to it and insists on challenging the Northeast Bureau and the Central Committee? This has to start with the foresight of General Huang Kecheng.
proposes to march into the Northeast
On August 9, 1945, 128 divisions of the Soviet Red Army suddenly launched a fierce attack on the Japanese Kwantung Army. Because the Japanese Kwantung Army at that time was already at the end of its strength and did not have the ability to stop the Soviet Red Army, it quickly lost in the face of the Soviet Red Army's impact.
Just a few days later, Japan suddenly announced its surrender. This situation was obviously not expected by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party at the time. As a result, the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army scattered in various base areas, as well as the Kuomintang army huddled in the southwest, were not ready to take over the Northeast at the first time.
Under this historical background, an extremely special situation emerged. As Japan announced its surrender, the Soviet Red Army temporarily "taken over" Northeast China.
Huang Kecheng was leading his troops back to northern Jiangsu. It was while passing through the Central China Bureau station that he learned about the Soviet Red Army's "takeover" of Northeast China. Huang Kecheng immediately realized that the Kuomintang army was far away in the southwest at the moment, and it was an excellent opportunity to march into the northeast and establish a base, but it was fleeting. So he asked Rao Shushi to send troops to the Central Power Generation Center and suggested that he immediately march into the Northeast.
Rao Shushi, then secretary of the Central China Bureau, firmly rejected Huang Kecheng's request. The reason was that Rao Shushi believed that Huang Kecheng's request was unreasonable and that whether to send troops to Northeast China should not be decided by the Central China Bureau.
After Huang Kecheng was rejected, he became anxious and decided to directly skip the level and send a telegram to the central government in his own name. According to Huang Kecheng's memoirs, Huang Kecheng mentioned in a telegram to the central government that troops should be sent to the northeast immediately, and more troops should be sent. Huang Kecheng also made a far-sighted prediction: "Without a connected grand strategic base, there will be no great victory."
After Huang Kecheng's suggestion was sent to the central government, it was immediately recognized by the central government, because his ideas coincided with the central government.Chairman Mao also attached great importance to the Northeast, and even said this:
"If we lose all existing base areas, as long as we have the Northeast, then the Chinese revolution will have a solid foundation."
Because of Chairman Mao's support, Huang Kecheng's suggestion received the greatest affirmation, and Huang Kecheng was ordered to lead the third division of the New Fourth Army to advance toward the Northeast.
Marching from northern Jiangsu to the northeast was not a simple strategic shift. Many factors had to be taken into consideration during the process. The most important thing was that the Kuomintang army at that time had also quickly moved to the northeast with the help of the Americans. They took trains and planes, but we had to march on our feet. It was an arduous task for to enter the Northeast before the Kuomintang army.
Before Huang Kecheng left, the Central China Bureau sent an instruction to Huang Kecheng to hand over the weapons they had to the local government. The reason was that there were many weapons in the Northeast. After they arrived in the Northeast, they could obtain more sophisticated weapons. At that time, this instruction was not only issued to Huang Kecheng's department, but also many other troops marching into the Northeast.
After Japan surrendered , it did leave a large amount of supplies and weapons and equipment in the Northeast, which was enough to meet the needs of the troops marching into the Northeast. For troops in other regions, weapons and equipment are still scarce supplies. This is why the decision was made to let the troops marching into the Northeast leave all their weapons locally.
However, Huang Kecheng believes that such an order at least has "hidden dangers." Although there are a lot of supplies and weapons in the Northeast, what should we do if it is now controlled by others and our army has no weapons?
Moreover, the journey to the Northeast this time is long, and it is inevitable that they will encounter enemies on the way. Whether the team without weapons can successfully reach the Northeast is unknown , let alone entering the Northeast to fight for supplies and weapons and equipment.
Huang Kecheng also considered that he led his troops to set off in September. According to the time, when the third division of the New Fourth Army arrived in the Northeast, it was the cold winter season. The soldiers of the Third Division have been fighting in northern Jiangsu and may not be accustomed to the winter in Northeast China. If they want to survive the winter smoothly, thick cotton clothes are an essential material and must be solved first.
Therefore, after receiving the instructions from the Central China Bureau, Huang Kecheng did not follow the instructions. On the premise that the troops must be fully armed, also made a request to help the troops solve the problem of cotton-padded clothes.
At the time, many people may have thought that Huang Kecheng's "requirements" were a bit excessive, but later facts proved that Huang Kecheng's two requirements were simply too critical. There are indeed a lot of materials and weapons resources in the Northeast, but the Soviet Red Army, which controlled the Japanese military warehouses at the time, had to consider international public opinion and the attitude of the Kuomintang, and once prohibited our army from using the materials in the warehouses.
The emergence of this situation caused some unarmed troops to enter the Northeast empty-handed and lose their combat effectiveness. In addition, there is no base area in the Northeast, and our army has no mass base. We can't even raise cotton-padded clothes for the winter, so we can only wear single clothes for the winter, and the situation is worrying.
Huang Kecheng's troops did not encounter such difficulties. Due to Huang Kecheng's foresight, the troops he led were well prepared and always maintained a high degree of combat capability. Although the march was bumpy, they were still able to overcome many difficulties and successfully entered the Northeast.
Huang Kecheng led the third division of the New Fourth Army, which lasted more than two months. Starting from northern Jiangsu, crossed five provinces and entered the Northeast, which gave our army an opportunity to seize the opportunity in the Northeast.
When Huang Kecheng led his troops to the Northeast, the situation in the Northeast was very complicated. As the Kuomintang army's actions to compete for the Northeast accelerated, the central government repeatedly issued instructions based on the situation at that time, requiring the annihilation of the Kuomintang army. The real situation that Huang Kecheng felt was that it was not suitable for a decisive battle with the Kuomintang army at that time, and the establishment of a base should be the first priority.
In the early days of entering the Northeast, our army had an advantage in the speed of entering the Northeast. It took the lead in entering Shenyang, Jinzhou and other cities. Materials and weapons and equipment were greatly replenished, which made many soldiers feel unprecedented arrogance.
The fundamental reason for this sentiment is that before, when our army was short of supplies and its weapons and equipment were far inferior to the Kuomintang army, it was able to defeat the Kuomintang army many times. Now that it has been greatly supplemented, will naturally despise the Kuomintang army. This is also human nature.
But in fact, the military strength of our army at that time was not enough to compete head-on with the Kuomintang army. When the elite troops of the Kuomintang army gradually entered the Northeast, the fact that our army lost several battles with the enemy is enough to prove it.
At that time, when many people considered response strategies, they were all based on how to defend the big cities. General Huang Kecheng had already taken the lead in proposing to actively abandon the big cities and move the army to remote rural areas. The establishment of base areas was still the first priority. Such a proposal is still highly consistent with the suggestions he made to the central government when he was still in northern Jiangsu.
Huang Kecheng's suggestion is very pertinent and correct, because the Kuomintang army has occupied all the transportation hubs around major cities. If it refuses to let go of the major cities, it will inevitably form an unfavorable situation of being trapped in an isolated city, and it will eventually be difficult to escape defeat. On the contrary, it is more effective to actively evacuate big cities and establish its own large and connected base areas.
Therefore, after Huang Kecheng's suggestion was reported to the central government, it received great attention from the central government. After some discussions, it was decided to change the original policy of "monopolizing the Northeast" to a strategy of "getting out of the way and occupying both sides" that was more in line with the actual situation. But at the same time, the Northeast Bureau, Lin Biao, Huang Kecheng, etc. still had to delay the Kuomintang army from entering the Northeast and look for opportunities to eliminate the enemy.
After Huang Kecheng's suggestion was affirmed again, there was basically no problem with the strategic direction at this time, but if we want to implement it, we still need to face many difficulties.
Since Huang Kecheng led a large force of more than 30,000 people to enter the customs, they have been sleeping and sleeping in the open air along the way. Although they prepared cotton-padded clothes in advance, the troops braved the wind and snow to cross mountains and ridges, which still made the soldiers miserable. Even a strong man like Huang Kecheng suffered a recurrence of his back injury during the march, causing to have to sit on a stretcher during the march.
Huang Kecheng's troops were in trouble at this time. The troops had been marching for days and were already showing fatigue. At the same time, there was a shortage of funds, which caused problems with the supply of the troops.
In addition, due to the poverty of the people along the march, it was difficult to exchange usable military supplies from the people even if they had money. Most of the advance personnel who went out to collect food could only return without success, which was still a relatively good situation. Because banditry was rampant in Northeast China at that time, it was not uncommon for some advance personnel to be attacked by bandits on their way out.
repeatedly proposed to establish a base area
The troops were exhausted, lacking supplies, and injuries and illnesses were increasing. Huang Kecheng had to worry about it. He quickly sent a telegram about the current situation of the troops and sent it to the Northeast Bureau for instructions on the next plan, but he never received a reply. On November 22, Huang Kecheng called the Central Military Commission directly and once again made suggestions to the Central Military Commission, "Please clarify where to establish a base as soon as possible."
Where the troops settled and established a base was very important to Huang Kecheng's department, which was in a difficult environment at that time. Once the location for establishing a base area is clear, Huang Kecheng can clarify the next step and get out of the predicament he is in. While Huang Kecheng was waiting for a reply from the Military Commission, the Northeast Bureau forwarded a telegram from Lin Biao, requesting Huang Kecheng to send the main force of the Third Division to the vicinity of Jiajiatun.
After hearing the news, Huang Kecheng immediately called Hong Xuezhi, then deputy division commander, to the stretcher and ordered him to lead the contingent to rush to Jiajiatun. After meeting with Lin Biao, he stated in person the difficulties currently encountered by the third division and asked him for instructions on how to solve them. After Hong Xuezhi accepted the order, he fulfilled his mission and completed the task quickly. After hearing Hong Xuezhi's report, General Lin ordered Huang Kecheng to lead his troops to rest and recuperate in the Jijiatun area.
Before setting off to the Northeast, the news I had been hearing was, "There are a lot of weapons and supplies in the Northeast, and you can get them easily from all over the Northeast."
But the actual situation is that the government armed forces in various parts of the Northeast have disappeared, bandits are rampant, and the weapons and supplies have long been robbed by the bandits.In order to avoid banditry, people all over the country closed their doors, making the work of collecting food very difficult. Fortunately, Huang Kecheng's troops had weapons in hand. Although they were old, they were finally capable of combat.
Huang Kecheng sent a telegram to Chairman Mao who was far away in Yan'an. In the telegram, he reported the current situation of the troops and highlighted the suggestion of "establishing base areas and preparing for long-term struggle" . At the same time, Huang Kecheng went to see Lin Biao in person.
When Huang Kecheng saw Lin Biao, Lin Biao was sitting on a stool looking at a map. When he saw Huang Kecheng coming, he entertained Huang Kecheng to eat his favorite fried soybeans and listened to Huang Kecheng's report. It was at this time that Huang Kecheng proposed that it was not advisable to "use tired soldiers as new horses". Instead, we should first establish the rear and then strengthen it before fighting the enemy.
Judging from Huang Kecheng's long-standing attitude and his suggestions to the Central Military Commission and the Northeast Bureau, while proposing a rapid march to the Northeast, he always insisted on a point of view, that is, not to rush to fight the enemy, but to carry out grassroots work in a solid manner, quickly establish base areas, and consolidate our army's reserve force. This was a strategy he decided before entering the Northeast.
After hearing Huang Kecheng's suggestion, Lin Biao immediately agreed. Soon the central government also sent a telegram indicating the next action plan, which coincided with Huang Kecheng's suggestion.
Under the instructions of the central government, Huang Kecheng immediately began to search for a suitable base. Huang Kecheng's initial idea was to find a central county located in a remote area of as the basis for the development base of the Third Division. After careful screening, Huang Kecheng selected Tongliao City.
Tongliao City is located on the coast of Liaohe River. Although it is only a county town, it has very developed transportation and is a transportation hub. The reason why Tongliao has become such a major transportation town has nothing to do with the Japanese invaders' intention to build Tongliao into a supply base.
It was precisely because that the Japanese invaders had worked hard to operate in Tongliao City, which created the convenient transportation conditions of Tongliao with trains on three sides. This was the preparation made by the Japanese invaders before they invaded the hinterland of Mongolia.
Although Tongliao has such developed transportation lines, it is also far away from the core cities in Northeast China and is in a remote area, which is beyond the reach of the Kuomintang army and can only do nothing. After all, the Kuomintang army had learned how capable the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were in mobile warfare. It was natural that they did not dare to send troops to Tongliao easily and chose to concentrate on consolidating control of the big cities.
However, Tongliao City not only has convenient transportation, but also has a large amount of grain and grass stored in the city. Calculated based on the more than 30,000 troops led by Huang Kecheng, it is enough to feed them for more than a year. At the same time, there are also a large number of factories in the city, including quilt factories, leather clothing factories, and shoe factories, , all of which can produce military supplies.
In other words, whichever army occupies Tongliao is equivalent to having "no worries about food and clothing" in the short term. It can advance and attack, retreat and defend, and seize the opportunity. After Huang Kecheng led his troops to occupy Tongliao, they received supplies in Tongliao and immediately got rid of the previous difficult situation. In addition, there are a large number of people living in the rural areas around Tongliao. In the neighboring Inner Mongolia area, there are abundant cattle and sheep that can improve the food supply.
Huang Kecheng took a fancy to these advantages of Tongliao and decided to establish a Western Manchu base based on Tongliao. Tongliao has been quietly built into a logistics support base that can provide supply, transportation, recruitment, medical and other support for combat troops.
Since Tongliao has an important geographical location and is regarded by Huang Kecheng as the foundation of the Western Manchurian base, why did the Northeast Bureau instruct Huang Kecheng to withdraw from Tongliao and hand it over to the Kuomintang officers? In fact, the reason is very simple. The Kuomintang army is just beyond the reach of Tongliao, but it does not mean that it does not covet Tongliao, so plans to use other than military means to obtain Tongliao.
advocated sticking to Tongliao
Chiang Kai-shek Although at that time they were fully prepared for civil war and had begun deployment and implementation, "The Armistice Agreement between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party" was signed on the surface. A loophole was exploited and part of the treaty was exploited to obtain the convenience of "receiving all northeastern land from the Soviet army." The Kuomintang army took advantage of this and asked our army to hand over Tongliao to them.
But Huang Kecheng did not recognize this. When he led his troops to Tongliao, the Soviet army had already withdrawn from Tongliao for several months and was occupied by bandits and other armed forces. It was that Huang Kecheng led his troops to fight to the death and wrested it from the bandit armed forces.
Tongliao City was not taken over by him from the Soviet army, so there was no reason to hand it over to the Kuomintang army. The "Armistice Agreement between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party" did not stipulate that cities controlled by the New Fourth Army should be handed over to the Kuomintang army.
Huang Kecheng's troops still have more than 3,000 wounded people being treated in the city, and their weapons, ammunition and equipment are also in the city. Once Huang Kecheng's troops leave Tongliao City, it may be difficult to gain a foothold. By then, if the Kuomintang army attacks, the consequences will be disastrous.
Based on this situation, Huang Kecheng insisted on defending Tongliao and expressed his determination to coexist with Tongliao. Huang Kecheng said that even if the Soviet army comes, he will lead his troops to fight in Tongliao! Huang Kecheng sent telegrams to the central government on consecutive days, explaining the reasons why he could not withdraw from Tongliao and his determination not to withdraw from Tongliao.
Due to Huang Kecheng's firm attitude, the Northeast Bureau had to re-discuss the issue of whether to withdraw from Tongliao. Obviously, judging from the situation at the time, withdrawing troops from Tongliao was considered from the perspective of the situation in the entire Northeast, while sticking to Tongliao would provide strong support in future battles with the Kuomintang army. This is an issue that needs to be weighed.
During the discussion, the leadership of the Northeast Bureau almost showed one-sided collective opposition, and they all suggested that Huang Kecheng withdraw from Tongliao.
Firstly, the problems encountered by Western Manchuria are only part of the problems in the Northeast, and the Northeast as a whole should be considered; secondly, at that time, Du Yuming's Ministry had a very strong combat effectiveness. If Huang Kecheng's troops really sent troops to Tongliao, would Huang Kecheng's Ministry be able to win? Once defeated, it will inevitably face the unfavorable situation of losing points in both political and military aspects.
At this critical moment, one person stood up and firmly stated : "I support Huang Kecheng's proposition!" This person was none other than Mr. Lin. He believes that the prerequisite for taking political initiative is to preserve combat effectiveness intact. If the troops starve to death or are wiped out, what is the point of political initiative?
Moreover, the troops can still survive if they leave a big city like Shenyang, but if Huang Kecheng's troops leave Tongliao at this time, it may be difficult to support them. In the end, the Northeast Bureau could not decide and asked the central government for instructions.
The central government is naturally aware of the situation in Tongliao and understands Huang Kecheng's proposition better, but it cannot ignore the overall strategy of Northeast China. In order to take into account the overall interests of Sino-Soviet relations and peace, it was decided to adopt a more prudent approach. In the reply message from the Central Committee to Huang Kecheng and the Northeast Bureau, clear instructions were given.
First of all, the central government affirmed the importance of controlling Tongliao to our army; secondly, if the Kuomintang came to receive only a few people, there was no need to forcefully drive them out, and they should cooperate with the reception; finally, if the Kuomintang came to attack with a large army, Huang Kecheng's troops were allowed to destroy the stubborn enemy under the condition of self-defense.
After receiving the reply from the Central Committee, the Northeast Bureau conveyed the spirit of the instructions to the Soviet army. After the people in charge of the Soviet army learned the news, they firstly felt that they were wrong. After all, Huang Kecheng's troops did not take over Tongliao from them, but fought it from the bandits with their own real swords and guns. Secondly, they also realized that the matter was troublesome, so they decided not to go to Tongliao to participate in the handover work.
Since the Soviet troops are not coming to Tongliao, the Kuomintang troops naturally have no reason to come. Even if they bite the bullet, the Kuomintang officers themselves know what the final result will be, and the matter has been shelved. As for Du Yuming's troops, they were actually paper tigers with strong foreign power and internal cadres, and had no intention of attacking Tongliao.
Huang Kecheng's persistence, the Northeast Bureau's understanding, and the central government's wise decision-making allowed Tongliao City to be in the hands of our army , laying the foundation for future victory in the Northeast War.
