In February 1947, the Kuomintang's 450,000-strong army launched an attack on the Shandong Liberated Areas. Su Yu immediately changed his deployment plan and vowed to completely encircle and annihilate the 74th Division.

In February 1947, the Kuomintang's 450,000-strong army launched an attack on the Shandong Liberated Areas. Su Yu immediately changed the deployment of the combat plan and vowed to completely encircle and annihilate the 74th Division.

In order to cut off the 74th Division's only retreat, Su Yu ordered the entire 6th Column of the East China Field Army to go northward to complete the final encirclement mission of the 74th Division.

The 6th Column Commander Wang Bicheng who had been lurking behind enemy lines for many days was overjoyed after receiving Su Yu's telegram. Wang Bicheng, known as the "cold-faced" laughed loudly and said: "The troops are about to fight the 74th Division. Everyone, cheer up!"

All officers and soldiers of the 6th Column, including Wang Bicheng, are waiting to fight Zhang Lingfu's 74th Division again. This time, what kind of results will Wang Bicheng and the 6th Column achieve if they get their wish?

1. The army suppressed the border and lured the enemy deep into the territory

In early March 1947, the Liberation War had lasted for more than eight months. Although the Kuomintang troops occupied hundreds of cities in the liberated areas, they lost more than 700,000 people.

Because the battle line was stretched too long, the Kuomintang army was out of strength, and its initiative on the battlefield began to gradually lose, and it was forced to give up its all-out attack on the liberated areas. Soon after, the Kuomintang assembled 24 divisions with a total of 450,000 troops to prepare to attack the Shandong Liberated Area. Three of the Kuomintang's "five main forces" came to the battlefield in Shandong.

Chiang Kai-shek attempted to occupy the Shandong Liberated Area first, and then North China and Northeast China. In order to achieve this goal, two-thirds of the Kuomintang troops were deployed on the Shandong battlefield. At the same time, they were organized into three mobile corps based on the "three main forces".

The Kuomintang 74th Division and 5 reorganized divisions are the first legion, the New Fifth Army and the 33 reorganized divisions are the second legion, and the new 11th Division and 5 reorganized divisions are the third legion.

In addition, 7 reorganized divisions and 17 brigades are deployed in Jinan, Xuzhou and southwestern Shandong to provide support for the three-way army.

At the same time, the Kuomintang army's combat policy also made changes. After a large number of troops were surrounded and annihilated by our army, the Kuomintang began to learn lessons and no longer dispersed its forces, but concentrated its forces to fight steadily.

The high-density Kuomintang troops advanced hand in hand and were deployed in echelons. They formed a flank encirclement and a sudden attack on our army, making it impossible for our army to separate them and defeat them one by one.

After the Laiwu Battle, according to the instructions of the Party Central Committee, the East China Field Army the entire army entered a state of rest and reorganization, and used the rest period to launch internal operations to annihilate the enemy.

In response to this self-defense war, the East China Field Army stepped up pre-war production mobilization, linked land reform work with production, and completed the arduous task of supporting the front line.

Although the East China Field Army has entered a state of pre-war rest, Chen Yi's work is still very intense. He travels to the liberated areas every day, inspects the frontline troops, and writes reports at the same time.

During the rest period of the troops, Chen Yi arranged for the political commissar to mobilize the enthusiasm of the soldiers and civilians in the liberated areas. In just one month, the ideological awareness and military literacy of the East China Field Army were significantly improved.

Faced with the pressure of the Kuomintang army, the Party Central Committee analyzed the situation on the Shandong battlefield and instructed Huaye's front committee: "Under the premise of action permitting, try our best to annihilate a large number of enemy effective forces. When friendly forces can cooperate, there is no need to consider the enemy. How far away!"

In order to implement the instructions of the Party Central Committee, in the next two months, the East China Field Army launched several exploratory attacks against the enemies who invaded the Mengyin and Xintai areas.

However, the enemy who changed their tactics was not fooled and continued to advance in a group manner. Chen Yi reluctantly called the enemy's tactics: "The old sow will be killed by the crumbs!"

Whether on the eastern or western front, the East China Field Army could only expand its results a little, and the strategy of luring the enemy deep and annihilating them was simply impossible to achieve.

html In early May, the Central Military Commission called twice and told the Huaye Front Committee not to be impatient, but to wait for the enemy to enter the vast area south of the Jiaoji Line, and then use cameras to lure the enemy deeper and carry out a battle of annihilation.

The head of the East China Field Army has always believed: "The 1st and 7th Columns heading south should stop their operations, and the main force should continue to retreat to the Laiwu and Mengyin areas. At the same time, the 6th Column behind the enemy lines in Shandong should also be concealed. Come, cooperate with the main force at the right time to fight!"

Faced with the PLA's show of weakness, the Kuomintang began to take the bait. Both Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng believed that the PLA's "offensive was exhausted" and began to show signs of retreat.

Under the instruction of Chiang Kai-shek, Xuzhou's "Suppression Chief" Gu Zhutong ordered the Kuomintang troops to follow the "suppression" in an attempt to complete their efforts in one battle and completely eliminate the People's Liberation Army on the Shandong battlefield.

The commander of the First Army Corps, Tang Enbo, began to become complacent. Before he could coordinate with the friendly forces, he urgently ordered the 74th Division and 2 reorganized divisions to march towards the Tanbu area.

Not only that, Tang Enbo also ordered the 48th Division and the Seventh Army to advance to the Yishui area, while the 65th Division advanced to the Mengyin area and waited for an opportunity to launch an attack.

2. Adjust deployment, divide and encircle

html In the middle of the night on May 10, the People's Liberation Army discovered the whereabouts of the Kuomintang's Seventh Army and the 48th Division. The East China Field Army decided to carry out encirclement and annihilation operations against the enemy in the Yishui area.

Just as the East China People's Liberation Army was moving towards the Yishui area, the Huaye headquarters received news that the Kuomintang's 74th Division would launch an attack on the Tanbu area in two days. The Huaye Command carefully analyzed the battlefield situation and immediately adjusted its strategic deployment. The 74th Division, which was preparing to attack Tanbu, immediately became the target of the People's Liberation Army's key attack. The rash advance of the 074th Division gave the People's Liberation Army the opportunity to encircle and annihilate them. Coupled with the 6th Column ambushing Lunan, the Huaye Command decided to gather 5 times the strength to eliminate the elite 74th Division.

However, this decision still caused controversy within the Huaye Command. Many people still had concerns about whether the 74th Division could be successfully surrounded and annihilated. After all, the enemy's troops were too dense.

Just when the Huaye Command was hesitant, Boss Peng sent a telegram informing the East China Field Army to learn from the Eighth Route Army's experience in fighting on the battlefield in northern Shaanxi.

In the telegram, Mr. Peng assessed the situation and said: "The enemy's reinforcement capability is not strong. If there is a gap of tens of miles between the two enemy armies, some troops can be ordered to build fortifications to block the attack. Even if the enemy wants to reinforce, it is impossible to complete the rescue mission!"

Mr. Peng's call undoubtedly strengthened the determination of Chen Yi and Su Yu. In addition, the Kuomintang's Seventh Army is a cunning Guangxi clique force, and it is not easy to form an encirclement and annihilation trend. For this reason, Chen Yi and Su Yu resolutely changed their strategic deployment, gave up encircling and annihilating the Seventh Army, and instead directed their troops directly at the 74th Division. Before the 74th Division was ready to launch an attack, the units of the East China Field Army returned to the area between Tanbu and Mengyin.

To annihilate the 74th Division, we must not only separate it, but also prevent enemy reinforcements. One can imagine the difficulty and arduousness of this encirclement and annihilation battle.

Chen Yi vividly said: "We are taking the head of a general out of a million-strong army, and 'cutting out' this 'general' from the Kuomintang army!"

The East China Field Army decided to use a column The Eighth Column and the Eighth Column cut into the junction between the 74th Division and the neighboring army, "gouging" the 74th Division out of the Kuomintang army. The Fourth Column and the Ninth Column blocked the 74th Division head-on. When the 74th Division retreated, the Fourth Column and the Ninth Column quickly followed up and completed the encirclement of the 74th Division.

The Tenth Column and the Third Column were responsible for containing the other two "five main" troops of the Kuomintang to prevent reinforcements from these two troops. The Seventh Column was responsible for containing the 48th Division, and the Second Column was responsible for providing support.

In order to accurately understand the battlefield situation, Su Yu moved the headquarters to the headquarters closest to the front line and lived in a thatched cottage of the common people.

html On May 13, the Battle of Menglianggu officially started. Su Yu and Chen Yi went to the front line of Tanbu to take command. The two braved the risk of being bombed by artillery fire and persisted for three days and nights without rest.

Su Yu said to Ye Fei, the commander of the first column who was performing the interleaving mission: "Your troops must intersect quickly and capture the high ground to the west of Caozhuang before dark. Your goal is to occupy Huangdouding Mountain!"

By the next morning, the first and eighth columns had basically interleaved and occupied the nearby highlands, cutting off the connection between the 74th Division, the 25th Division and the 83rd Division.

html On the night of 013, the People's Liberation Army's fourth and ninth columns launched an attack from the front. After a night of fierce fighting, the People's Liberation Army repelled the 74th Division and prepared to advance towards Menglianggu.

html After all the important strongholds around the 074th Division were controlled by the People's Liberation Army, the commander of the 74th Division Zhang Lingfu was still executing the battle plan to attack Tanbu.

It wasn't until Zhang Lingfu learned that the People's Liberation Army was surrounding the 74th Division from both sides that he suddenly realized it and immediately ordered the 74th Division to shrink to Menglianggu and Duozhuang in the rear, trying to stand firm and wait for reinforcements.

Zhang Lingfu tried to launch a counterattack on the right column and then moved closer to the 65th Division. Unexpectedly, the connection between the 74th Division and the 65th Division had been severed, and Zhang Lingfu ordered the troops to continue to retreat.

The People's Liberation Army found that the 74th Division showed signs of retreat, and all participating troops immediately retracted the encirclement. Zhang Lingfu prepared to lead the troops to retreat to Duozhuang, and then jump out of the PLA's encirclement.

However, just as the 74th Division retreated, a "stealth force" of the People's Liberation Army joined the battlefield, launched a fierce attack on the 74th Division, and quickly occupied Duozhuang, shattering the possibility of the 74th Division retreating.

During this period, the People's Liberation Army units quickly occupied the traffic arteries as planned. While blocking enemy reinforcements, they also contained the Kuomintang troops rushing to reinforce the 74th Division.

Seeing that the 74th Division was unable to break through, the First and Eighth Columns took advantage of the situation to seal the encirclement of the 74th Division, completely surrounding the 74th Division in the Menglianggu area. The Fourth and Ninth Columns, which were attacking from the front, also made great progress, approaching the 74th Division step by step.

3. Invisible troops, divine soldiers

This "invisible force" is the Sixth Column that has never appeared on the battlefield. From the beginning of the Menglianggu Battle, Su Yu instructed the "Sixth Column" operating behind enemy lines to wait for opportunities.

Wang Bicheng, the commander of the Sixth Column, had fought against the 74th Division twice, and was defeated by the 74th Division in the Battle of Lianshui. Wang Bicheng has always been brooding about it. All the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Column took a breath and vowed to fight the 74th Division again to avenge the past.

After Su Yu adjusted the combat plan, Wang Bicheng also received the order immediately. He, who usually does not like to talk or laugh, excitedly announced the news to everyone in the headquarters. From this, there was the scene at the beginning of the article.

At first, everyone in the headquarters thought that Wang Bicheng was crazy for wanting to attack the 74th Division. However, after confirming the order sent by Su Yu, everyone could not help but be overjoyed.

Su Yu ordered Wang Bicheng to lead the 6th column to seize Duozhuang within two days and cut off the retreat of Zhang Lingfu's 74th Division. Wang Bicheng divided his troops into three and attacked the 74th Division and its two flanks.

On the road, the soldiers of the 6th Column rushed on their way at all costs. When they encountered an enemy plane, they never evaded it and shot straight into the sky, scaring the Kuomintang planes from firing at low altitudes.

Before capturing Duozhuang, Wang Bicheng said to the commander of the Third Route Division: "Can you avenge the 74th Division? In today's battle, if you can't take Duozhuang, you will come to see me!" Later, when many military experts analyzed the Battle of Menglianggu, they believed that it was Zhang Lingfu who underestimated the enemy and led to the annihilation of the 74th Division. However, how could Zhang Lingfu, who had experienced hundreds of battles, make such a low-level mistake?

Until Zhang Lingfu decided to retreat to Menglianggu, the 74th Division was only a few kilometers away from the 83rd Division and the 25th Division on the left and right wings, and the 74th Division always maintained contact with Duozhuang.

If Wang Bicheng hadn't led the 6th Column to suddenly appear behind the 74th Division, blocking the 74th Division's retreat like a divine soldier descending from the sky, the 74th Division might have jumped out of the PLA encirclement.

After the Battle of Menglianggu, Chairman Mao was also shocked by the appearance of the 6th Column. When talking with leaders of the Party Central Committee, Chairman Mao jokingly said: "It was unexpected that the 74th Division could be completely wiped out by two people. One is Chiang Kai-shek, the other is me, Su Yu’s move is really brilliant!”

Just as Chairman Mao said, when the 74th Division was surrounded, although Chiang Kai-shek and Gu Zhutong were surprised, they never thought that the 74th Division would be completely wiped out.

After all, the 74th Division was Chiang Kai-shek's " Royal Forest Army ", and the terrain in the Menglianggu area was complex. Chiang Kai-shek thought it was just the right time for a decisive battle with the East China Field Army.

The arrogant Zhang Lingfu sought support from Chiang Kai-shek and dreamed of creating a "central flower" in the Menglianggu area to cooperate with the reinforcements of the Kuomintang troops to eliminate the People's Liberation Army in one fell swoop.

Faced with Zhang Lingfu's request, Chiang Kai-shek immediately ordered 10 divisions to go south to reinforce Zhang Lingfu, and decided to have a decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army in the Yimeng Mountain area.

html On May 15th, the war situation entered the most critical period. The main force of the Kuomintang and the main force of the People's Liberation Army exchanged fire. Both sides attacked and attacked. If the 74th Division could not be quickly annihilated, the People's Liberation Army would be in a passive situation. For this reason, Chen Yi called on the entire army: "All J-74 Division, capture Zhang Lingfu alive! "

At around 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the general offensive officially started. People's Liberation Army soldiers poured out of their positions like a tide and started hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Many positions were lost and regained.

At the same time, various columns of the People's Liberation Army used echelon blocking methods to bite the reinforcing Kuomintang troops and prevent the enemy from getting closer to Meng Lianggu. Zhang Lingfu's idea of ​​" center blooming " came to nothing, and he had to try to break out and escape.

Zhang Lingfu first tried to break through to the southeast, but was repelled by the Eighth Column's offensive. Then Zhang Lingfu prepared to break out to the west, but was repelled by the First Column.

html In the morning of May 16, Su Yu ordered each column to launch a general attack on Meng Lianggu, and instructed the howitzer regiment to violently bombard Meng Lianggu's 74th Division regardless of consumption.

For a time, the 74th Division suffered heavy casualties, with corpses scattered all over the mountains and fields. Without foreign aid, it fell into a shortage of food and grass, and the battle entered a fierce stage.

At this moment, Wang Bicheng released the "little tiger" in his sleeve again, and the 6th Column's special agent group immediately joined the battle. After seizing several highlands, the special agent group approached Zhang Lingfu's headquarters in the cave.

Seeing that the People's Liberation Army had arrived on the mountain, Zhang Lingfu knew that he had no way to save himself, so he sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek saying "Kill yourself to become a benevolent person", and then committed suicide in the cave.

html On May 16, Wang Bicheng climbed to the top of the mountain and said with emotion: "The great revenge has been avenged. I can have a good sleep today!"

The head of the East China Field Army has always believed: "The 1st and 7th Columns heading south should stop their operations, and the main force should continue to retreat to the Laiwu and Mengyin areas. At the same time, the 6th Column behind the enemy lines in Shandong should also be concealed. Come, cooperate with the main force at the right time to fight!"

Faced with the PLA's show of weakness, the Kuomintang began to take the bait. Both Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng believed that the PLA's "offensive was exhausted" and began to show signs of retreat.

Under the instruction of Chiang Kai-shek, Xuzhou's "Suppression Chief" Gu Zhutong ordered the Kuomintang troops to follow the "suppression" in an attempt to complete their efforts in one battle and completely eliminate the People's Liberation Army on the Shandong battlefield.

The commander of the First Army Corps, Tang Enbo, began to become complacent. Before he could coordinate with the friendly forces, he urgently ordered the 74th Division and 2 reorganized divisions to march towards the Tanbu area.

Not only that, Tang Enbo also ordered the 48th Division and the Seventh Army to advance to the Yishui area, while the 65th Division advanced to the Mengyin area and waited for an opportunity to launch an attack.

2. Adjust deployment, divide and encircle

html In the middle of the night on May 10, the People's Liberation Army discovered the whereabouts of the Kuomintang's Seventh Army and the 48th Division. The East China Field Army decided to carry out encirclement and annihilation operations against the enemy in the Yishui area.

Just as the East China People's Liberation Army was moving towards the Yishui area, the Huaye headquarters received news that the Kuomintang's 74th Division would launch an attack on the Tanbu area in two days. The Huaye Command carefully analyzed the battlefield situation and immediately adjusted its strategic deployment. The 74th Division, which was preparing to attack Tanbu, immediately became the target of the People's Liberation Army's key attack. The rash advance of the 074th Division gave the People's Liberation Army the opportunity to encircle and annihilate them. Coupled with the 6th Column ambushing Lunan, the Huaye Command decided to gather 5 times the strength to eliminate the elite 74th Division.

However, this decision still caused controversy within the Huaye Command. Many people still had concerns about whether the 74th Division could be successfully surrounded and annihilated. After all, the enemy's troops were too dense.

Just when the Huaye Command was hesitant, Boss Peng sent a telegram informing the East China Field Army to learn from the Eighth Route Army's experience in fighting on the battlefield in northern Shaanxi.

In the telegram, Mr. Peng assessed the situation and said: "The enemy's reinforcement capability is not strong. If there is a gap of tens of miles between the two enemy armies, some troops can be ordered to build fortifications to block the attack. Even if the enemy wants to reinforce, it is impossible to complete the rescue mission!"

Mr. Peng's call undoubtedly strengthened the determination of Chen Yi and Su Yu. In addition, the Kuomintang's Seventh Army is a cunning Guangxi clique force, and it is not easy to form an encirclement and annihilation trend. For this reason, Chen Yi and Su Yu resolutely changed their strategic deployment, gave up encircling and annihilating the Seventh Army, and instead directed their troops directly at the 74th Division. Before the 74th Division was ready to launch an attack, the units of the East China Field Army returned to the area between Tanbu and Mengyin.

To annihilate the 74th Division, we must not only separate it, but also prevent enemy reinforcements. One can imagine the difficulty and arduousness of this encirclement and annihilation battle.

Chen Yi vividly said: "We are taking the head of a general out of a million-strong army, and 'cutting out' this 'general' from the Kuomintang army!"

The East China Field Army decided to use a column The Eighth Column and the Eighth Column cut into the junction between the 74th Division and the neighboring army, "gouging" the 74th Division out of the Kuomintang army. The Fourth Column and the Ninth Column blocked the 74th Division head-on. When the 74th Division retreated, the Fourth Column and the Ninth Column quickly followed up and completed the encirclement of the 74th Division.

The Tenth Column and the Third Column were responsible for containing the other two "five main" troops of the Kuomintang to prevent reinforcements from these two troops. The Seventh Column was responsible for containing the 48th Division, and the Second Column was responsible for providing support.

In order to accurately understand the battlefield situation, Su Yu moved the headquarters to the headquarters closest to the front line and lived in a thatched cottage of the common people.

html On May 13, the Battle of Menglianggu officially started. Su Yu and Chen Yi went to the front line of Tanbu to take command. The two braved the risk of being bombed by artillery fire and persisted for three days and nights without rest.

Su Yu said to Ye Fei, the commander of the first column who was performing the interleaving mission: "Your troops must intersect quickly and capture the high ground to the west of Caozhuang before dark. Your goal is to occupy Huangdouding Mountain!"

By the next morning, the first and eighth columns had basically interleaved and occupied the nearby highlands, cutting off the connection between the 74th Division, the 25th Division and the 83rd Division.

html On the night of 013, the People's Liberation Army's fourth and ninth columns launched an attack from the front. After a night of fierce fighting, the People's Liberation Army repelled the 74th Division and prepared to advance towards Menglianggu.

html After all the important strongholds around the 074th Division were controlled by the People's Liberation Army, the commander of the 74th Division Zhang Lingfu was still executing the battle plan to attack Tanbu.

It wasn't until Zhang Lingfu learned that the People's Liberation Army was surrounding the 74th Division from both sides that he suddenly realized it and immediately ordered the 74th Division to shrink to Menglianggu and Duozhuang in the rear, trying to stand firm and wait for reinforcements.

Zhang Lingfu tried to launch a counterattack on the right column and then moved closer to the 65th Division. Unexpectedly, the connection between the 74th Division and the 65th Division had been severed, and Zhang Lingfu ordered the troops to continue to retreat.

The People's Liberation Army found that the 74th Division showed signs of retreat, and all participating troops immediately retracted the encirclement. Zhang Lingfu prepared to lead the troops to retreat to Duozhuang, and then jump out of the PLA's encirclement.

However, just as the 74th Division retreated, a "stealth force" of the People's Liberation Army joined the battlefield, launched a fierce attack on the 74th Division, and quickly occupied Duozhuang, shattering the possibility of the 74th Division retreating.

During this period, the People's Liberation Army units quickly occupied the traffic arteries as planned. While blocking enemy reinforcements, they also contained the Kuomintang troops rushing to reinforce the 74th Division.

Seeing that the 74th Division was unable to break through, the First and Eighth Columns took advantage of the situation to seal the encirclement of the 74th Division, completely surrounding the 74th Division in the Menglianggu area. The Fourth and Ninth Columns, which were attacking from the front, also made great progress, approaching the 74th Division step by step.

3. Invisible troops, divine soldiers

This "invisible force" is the Sixth Column that has never appeared on the battlefield. From the beginning of the Menglianggu Battle, Su Yu instructed the "Sixth Column" operating behind enemy lines to wait for opportunities.

Wang Bicheng, the commander of the Sixth Column, had fought against the 74th Division twice, and was defeated by the 74th Division in the Battle of Lianshui. Wang Bicheng has always been brooding about it. All the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Column took a breath and vowed to fight the 74th Division again to avenge the past.

After Su Yu adjusted the combat plan, Wang Bicheng also received the order immediately. He, who usually does not like to talk or laugh, excitedly announced the news to everyone in the headquarters. From this, there was the scene at the beginning of the article.

At first, everyone in the headquarters thought that Wang Bicheng was crazy for wanting to attack the 74th Division. However, after confirming the order sent by Su Yu, everyone could not help but be overjoyed.

Su Yu ordered Wang Bicheng to lead the 6th column to seize Duozhuang within two days and cut off the retreat of Zhang Lingfu's 74th Division. Wang Bicheng divided his troops into three and attacked the 74th Division and its two flanks.

On the road, the soldiers of the 6th Column rushed on their way at all costs. When they encountered an enemy plane, they never evaded it and shot straight into the sky, scaring the Kuomintang planes from firing at low altitudes.

Before capturing Duozhuang, Wang Bicheng said to the commander of the Third Route Division: "Can you avenge the 74th Division? In today's battle, if you can't take Duozhuang, you will come to see me!" Later, when many military experts analyzed the Battle of Menglianggu, they believed that it was Zhang Lingfu who underestimated the enemy and led to the annihilation of the 74th Division. However, how could Zhang Lingfu, who had experienced hundreds of battles, make such a low-level mistake?

Until Zhang Lingfu decided to retreat to Menglianggu, the 74th Division was only a few kilometers away from the 83rd Division and the 25th Division on the left and right wings, and the 74th Division always maintained contact with Duozhuang.

If Wang Bicheng hadn't led the 6th Column to suddenly appear behind the 74th Division, blocking the 74th Division's retreat like a divine soldier descending from the sky, the 74th Division might have jumped out of the PLA encirclement.

After the Battle of Menglianggu, Chairman Mao was also shocked by the appearance of the 6th Column. When talking with leaders of the Party Central Committee, Chairman Mao jokingly said: "It was unexpected that the 74th Division could be completely wiped out by two people. One is Chiang Kai-shek, the other is me, Su Yu’s move is really brilliant!”

Just as Chairman Mao said, when the 74th Division was surrounded, although Chiang Kai-shek and Gu Zhutong were surprised, they never thought that the 74th Division would be completely wiped out.

After all, the 74th Division was Chiang Kai-shek's " Royal Forest Army ", and the terrain in the Menglianggu area was complex. Chiang Kai-shek thought it was just the right time for a decisive battle with the East China Field Army.

The arrogant Zhang Lingfu sought support from Chiang Kai-shek and dreamed of creating a "central flower" in the Menglianggu area to cooperate with the reinforcements of the Kuomintang troops to eliminate the People's Liberation Army in one fell swoop.

Faced with Zhang Lingfu's request, Chiang Kai-shek immediately ordered 10 divisions to go south to reinforce Zhang Lingfu, and decided to have a decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army in the Yimeng Mountain area.

html On May 15th, the war situation entered the most critical period. The main force of the Kuomintang and the main force of the People's Liberation Army exchanged fire. Both sides attacked and attacked. If the 74th Division could not be quickly annihilated, the People's Liberation Army would be in a passive situation. For this reason, Chen Yi called on the entire army: "All J-74 Division, capture Zhang Lingfu alive! "

At around 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the general offensive officially started. People's Liberation Army soldiers poured out of their positions like a tide and started hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Many positions were lost and regained.

At the same time, various columns of the People's Liberation Army used echelon blocking methods to bite the reinforcing Kuomintang troops and prevent the enemy from getting closer to Meng Lianggu. Zhang Lingfu's idea of ​​" center blooming " came to nothing, and he had to try to break out and escape.

Zhang Lingfu first tried to break through to the southeast, but was repelled by the Eighth Column's offensive. Then Zhang Lingfu prepared to break out to the west, but was repelled by the First Column.

html In the morning of May 16, Su Yu ordered each column to launch a general attack on Meng Lianggu, and instructed the howitzer regiment to violently bombard Meng Lianggu's 74th Division regardless of consumption.

For a time, the 74th Division suffered heavy casualties, with corpses scattered all over the mountains and fields. Without foreign aid, it fell into a shortage of food and grass, and the battle entered a fierce stage.

At this moment, Wang Bicheng released the "little tiger" in his sleeve again, and the 6th Column's special agent group immediately joined the battle. After seizing several highlands, the special agent group approached Zhang Lingfu's headquarters in the cave.

Seeing that the People's Liberation Army had arrived on the mountain, Zhang Lingfu knew that he had no way to save himself, so he sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek saying "Kill yourself to become a benevolent person", and then committed suicide in the cave.

html On May 16, Wang Bicheng climbed to the top of the mountain and said with emotion: "The great revenge has been avenged. I can have a good sleep today!"