On May 15, 1946, the Kuomintang army assembled 10 elite divisions to siege Siping, the important city stationed by the Democratic Alliance Army in the Northeast, thus launching the first decisive battle between the Kuomintang and the Communist armies in the Northeast.

1. Lin Biao's darkest moment

1946 On May 15, 1946, the Kuomintang army assembled 10 elite divisions to siege the important city of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army, Siping , thus launching the first decisive battle between the Kuomintang and the Communist armies in the Northeast.

But in this decisive battle against Mai Mang, the former victory general Lin Biao suffered an unexpectedly heavy defeat. According to the "Military Information of the Liberation War in the Three Years of Northeast China", in the Siping Defense Battle , our army suffered losses of more than 8,000 people. And these more than 8,000 people are the backbone of our army, the elite soldiers among the elite soldiers, and the veterans among the veterans.

For an army, veterans with combat experience are the most valuable assets. No matter how much loss is, as long as there are veterans, they can quickly restore their combat effectiveness by "leading the old with the new". If the veteran loses too much, it is equivalent to the spine of a unit being broken, and it is extremely difficult to restore combat effectiveness.

In the Siping battle, Huang Kecheng's 7th Brigade of the Third Division was an old army of Jinggangshan . After Siping retreated, there were only more than 3,000 people left, and basically lost combat effectiveness; Wan Yi's 3rd Division originally had 13,000 people, and only four or five thousand people left after Siping Battle, , and lost combat effectiveness; Liang Xingchu's troops in the First Division, there were more than 5,000 people left... Most of the soldiers who died in the Siping Battle were surviving combat backbones, and there were even the old Red Army who fought from Jinggangshan to the present. In the words of the old people, "It's all old bones!" Such losses are heartbreaking and irreparable.

As a result, the Kuomintang's victory in the Northeast has reached its peak. Under the command of Du Yuming and , the enemy launched a crazy pursuit of our army. A regiment of the National Army dares to chase our army and fight with one division; a car and cannon from the New Sixth Army dares to chase our army without any scruples. How arrogant and arrogant this is! After entering the Northeast, the wait-and-see elements who were incorporated by our army also began to change their minds and turned against each other. When entering the Northeast, in order to expand the number of troops, our army caused some bandits, puppet troops and bad elements to get involved in our army. They were both ends of the rat, "in Cao's camp, and in Han." Now that the "central" has arrived, these bad guys immediately turned the gun head and fired at our army, making our retreat more difficult.

Compared with Du Yuming's complacent ambition, Lin Biao, who was once known as the "Eagle of the Red Army", faces a trough that he had never seen in his life. Since entering the Northeast, our army has been defeating more and winning less. With its excellent equipment, the Kuomintang army fought from Shanhaiguan to the south bank of Songhua River . Only in the battle of Xiushui River, our army won a complete victory. After the Siping battle, Lin Biao continued to retreat north of the Songhua River. The soldiers also began to complain, ridiculing Lin Biao as a "retreat general" and "escape general". Even some old subordinates who were very familiar and respected him were doubtful: "Has Lin Biao not fought a war for many years and could not fight?"

Since the War of Resistance Against Japan, Lin Biao has been recovering from the Soviet Union after being injured by a Kuomintang soldier, and did not return to China until 1942. It has been several years since I took over the command whip. Has Lin Biao's once superb command art degenerated?

The situation Lin Biao faced at that time was extremely serious.

First of all, the morale of the troops was depressed, and the phenomenon of desertion became extremely serious. During the retreat, even the driver of Lin Biao and others fled.

Secondly, the troops have become difficult to contact. And why is this? It turned out that Lin Biao's combat section chief Wang Jifang had rebelled. In order to marry a landlord's daughter, this traitor betrayed his soul. With the confidentiality in mind, he joined the Kuomintang with a codebook in his hand. As a result, our army's telegrams were clearly marked for the Kuomintang, and our army's every move was under the surveillance of the Kuomintang. This is also the fundamental reason why the Kuomintang army dared to go deeper alone and pursue our army.

After Wang Jifang's rebellion was exposed, the telegram was no longer usable. For a time, Lin Biao knew nothing about the movements of each branch. It was said that the soldiers could not find the generals, and the generals could not find the soldiers.To this end, Su Jing, director of the Operations Department, had to use the telephone number along the railway to contact various troops. Although it is inefficient, there is no way to do this.

Under such a dilemma, even though Lin Biao was as calm as he was, he couldn't hold back and rarely got angry. During the retreat of Siping, Lin Biao had something to do to find Li Zuopeng of the Staff Office. At this time, Li Zuopeng was sitting on the kang with He Jingzhi and others drinking.

Lin Biao looked at it, grabbed the edge of the table with both hands, and lifted the table, and the food and wine were smashed all over the floor. Some old people also said that Lin Biao grabbed the luggage on the kang and smashed it at Li Zuopeng and others. Lin Biao's feelings were vented to this extent, which was rare in his long military career.

Lin Biao was in a mess because he knew very well that if the Kuomintang army crossed the north of the Songhua River, our army would not be able to hold back anyway. Nowadays, only Qiqihar and Harbin are left in the big cities controlled by our army. If Du Yuming attacked, he would definitely not be able to defend himself.

Huang Kecheng once called the central government:

"The situation in the Northeast is very chaotic, and it is difficult to organize the enemy to capture Qiha. If you withdraw from Qiha and you can achieve a peaceful truce, you will resolutely withdraw and seek a truce to sort out the internal situation in order to get back on the rise. The time is urgent, please consider it."

At this time, Lin Biao had already made plans to break the whole into pieces and fight guerrillas in the white mountains and black waters. The Northeast Bureau has loaded the east and west vehicles, and the Kuomintang will immediately give up Harbin as soon as it crosses the river. Mao Zedong also sent a call to the Northeast Bureau on June 3, unifying Harbin and adopting the policy of mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare .

2. Mao Zedong's telegram made Lin Biao the "King of Northeast China"

Lin Biao "repeatedly defeated" and lost a large area of ​​liberated areas. If it were other leaders, he might have been removed from office directly. However, a great man was a great man after all, and Mao Zedong almost gave Lin Biao unlimited trust and tolerance.

In the Red Army era, it was precisely because of Mao Zedong's trust that Lin Biao was promoted to the commander of the Red First Army at the age of 24. On the way to the Long March of Jinggangshan and , Lin Biao sang opposite Mao Zedong twice. The first time, Mao Zedong wrote "A spark can start a prairie fire"; the second time, Mao Zedong smiled at Lin Biao: "You are a baby, what do you know?"

On July 16, 1943, Lin Biao returned to Yan'an from Chongqing. As we all know, Mao Zedong generally had the habit of working at night, usually sleeping during the day and not getting up early. On this day, Mao Zedong rarely got up early and wanted to welcome Lin Biao in person. Shi Zhe, who welcomed Lin Biao with Mao Zedong at that time, recalled:

"I was shocked when I heard this, and thought that Commander-in-Chief Zhu came back from the front line, Enlai and Bishi came back from the Soviet Union, and the Chairman did not welcome him like this... And today, he actually personally welcomed Lin Biao, a young man who was much lower than General Zhu, Enlai and Bishi."

Mao Zedong's respect and support for Lin Biao was more than that. In the War of Liberation, the Northeast was the focus of the struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and the key to determining whether the civil war was successful or not. Mao Zedong once pointed out that as long as our army wins in the Northeast, the national revolution can also win. In such an important war zone, Mao Zedong handed it over to Lin Biao, who had been "dispersed in the battle formation for a long time", and equipped him with the most elite troops of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, the most excellent weapons, and the most capable personnel. And this is precisely because Mao Zedong believed that Lin Biao would definitely have the ability to annihilate the elite of the Kuomintang and liberate the entire Northeast. This kind of trust has never been shaken even if Lin Biao was defeated by Siping and almost went up the mountain to fight guerrillas.

does not doubt the employment of people, and does not doubt the doubt. Mao Zedong finally made an unexpected decision, a decision that was enough to subvert the entire Northeast war situation, that is, to make Lin Biao the "King of Northeast China". In Northeast China, Lin Biao would combine the power of the party, government and military, giving unprecedented power.

On June 16, 1946, Mao Zedong sent a thunderous telegram to the Northeast Bureau:

" The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued instructions to the Northeast Bureau regarding the cadres and some of the work issues of the Northeast Bureau.It pointed out that the current situation in Northeast China is serious. In order to unify leadership, it was decided to use Lin Biao as the secretary of the Northeast Bureau, commander-in-chief and political commissar of the Northeast Democratic Alliance, Comrades Peng Zhen, Luo Ronghuan, Gao Gang and Chen Yunsi as the deputy secretary and deputy political commissar of the Northeast Bureau, and Lin, Peng, Luo, Gao and Chen organized members of the Northeast Bureau. The Central Committee believes that this division of labor is not only necessary but also possible under the current circumstances. The Central Committee believes that all comrades will be able to work together, unite under the re-division of labor, and strive to overcome difficulties and win! ”

From then on, Lin Biao returned to the agency from the front line and began to lead the overall Northeast. You must know that Lin Biao was only a member of the Central Committee at that time, while Peng Zhen, Chen Yun and Gao Gang were all members of the Politburo.

For Lin Biao's extraordinary use, Mao Zedong once clearly said: "I was ordered during the chaotic army and ordered to be in difficulties. Only when Lin Biao goes can we unify all aspects of the Party, government, military and civilians in the Northeast."

html In July, Central Committee members Lin Biao, Peng Zhen, Luo Ronghuan, Chen Yun, Gao Gang, Li Fuchun, Li Lisan, Zhang Wentian, Cai Chang, Lin Feng; later Central Committee members Huang Kecheng, Wang Shoudao, Tan Zheng, Chen Yu, Xiao Jinguang, Lu Zhengcao, Gu Dacun and others gathered in Harbin to hold an unprecedented grand meeting.

7 On July 5, Chen Yun drafted an agreement based on the spirit of the meeting, "Association of the Northeast Bureau on the Current Situation and Tasks of the Northeast Bureau "The Proposal is the famous "July 7 Resolution". The resolution of

pointed out that in the future, the creation of a base will become the first priority of the Northeast Democratic Alliance:

"Run out of the city, throw away the car, take off the leather shoes, put on the farmers' clothes, regardless of civil and military, men and women, or qualifications. All cadres who may go to the countryside will go to the countryside to determine whether they can go deep into the farmers as the standard for examining the character of Communist Party members. All those who go deep into the countryside will be rewarded and are unwilling to go to the countryside to obtain criticism. "

As a result, the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army regained its magic weapon for land reform, distributed the land to the people, won the support of the people, established a stable base, obtained guaranteed logistics, and then established an army that could sweep thousands of troops. Once the "July 7 Resolution" was issued, it set off a boom in land reform in the Northeast, and a large number of Northeast youth joined the peasant army. At the same time, our army also began to launch a bandit suppression campaign in the rear, annihilation of those bandits who had committed evil, committed crimes, and had been harmed for many years. Finally, a solid base was built.

was like this, the Northeast The fundamental reversal of the situation is coming.

3. Big reversal

Just as our army stabilized its position again, the Kuomintang began to lose its chain. After the Battle of Siping, Bai Chongxi and Du Yuming repeatedly demanded to fight the Songhua River and completely eradicate the Communist Party in the Northeast. If this suggestion is implemented, our army will face the most serious setback.

However, unexpectedly, Chiang Kai-shek announced that they would station troops south of the Songhua River and had a truce for 15th. Why is the reason? ? Some people think that this is because of the mediation of the United States. It turns out that at that time, the five-star general of the United States, Marshall, was actively mediating the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Therefore, he threatened to stop US aid and demanded that Chiang Kai-shek stop march immediately. For the corrupt and inefficient Chiang Kai-shek government, the US aid was extremely necessary. Without the financial aid of the United States, the National Government would inevitably face economic collapse and the collapse of the army.

But in fact, Chiang Kai-shek's ceasefire was not entirely due to Marshall's oppression. After liberation, Su Jing, the general of the 4th Field Army, once asked Du Yuming, at that time, the National Army Ming Ming has a huge advantage, why is it just Songhua River? This is something that our army cannot stop.

Du Yuming replied that the national army does not want to pursue, but cannot pursue. It turned out that the national army has successively captured Shenyang, Siping, Changchun and other cities along the way, with a long front line, and each city has to keep troops to guard, resulting in insufficient mobile troops. Crossing the river rashly may lead to adverse results.

However, Du Yuming also understands that once "let the tiger return to the mountain", our army will definitely return with a stronger attitude:

"After the armistice, our army (the national army) will be replenished, and the Communist army will also be replenished. The Communist army expanded very quickly, but our army could not try to supplement it."

is the 15 days of the truce. Lin Biao smelled the opportunity for reversal. Mao Zedong's military thoughts emphasize eliminating the enemy's live power and not caring about the gains and losses of a city and a place. Lin Biao is naturally familiar with this. He once said:

"The situation in the Northeast is that the enemy is strong and we are weak." We only have one fist, and the enemy has several fists, and one fist cannot hit several fists. what to do? It is to turn the enemy's fists into palms. what to do? Just throw the city to them. Once the city is lost, our baggage is gone, our bodies are lighter, and the enemy's fists are stretched out, and we can eat them with one finger and one finger. "

After a lot of intensive remediation and training, the total number of military regions and troops in the northeast of our northeast was more than 324,000. Judging from the situation at that time, our army was divided into two isolated bases in the northeast, North Manchuria and South Manchuria. Therefore, some people believe that the South Manchuria base should be abandoned and the troops should be concentrated on the safer North Manchuria .

However, Chen Yun, who was in charge of South Manchuria, did not agree. He believed that he should "stick to the South Manchuria" and form a horn of mutual support with North Manchuria. With the existence of South Manchuria, it can threaten the enemy's flanks and "make a big fist in the sky palace behind the enemy. ". The South Manchuria was attacked, and the North Manchuria supported; the North Manchuria was attacked, and the South Manchuria was disturbed in the rear. Under this general policy, the grand prelude to " Four Guards Linjiang , Three Goes to the South of the Yangtze River" was opened.

At this time, Lin Biao also invented a new tactic to deal with the Kuomintang's US Armed Army - a hard fight.

When the Kuomintang invaded our army's North Manchuria and South Manchuria bases, Lin Biao specially found Wan Yi. Wan Yi was born in the Northeast Military Academy and read some ancient military books.

Lin Biao asked Wan Yi straight to the point:

"The New First Army and the New Sixth Army are now very arrogant and arrogant, and they have been breaking into the Songhua River. Although we fought with them for a few battles and suffered a little loss, they were still very arrogant in general. I am going to take out some troops and fight hard with them. I will sacrifice my best efforts to make sure that I will definitely fight them. What do you think? "

Wan Yi replied: "Although I haven't read much ancient books, I remember that Qi Jiguang proposed three tactics. The first is to calculate the final battle, and go through the temple in advance, with plans and arrangements; the second is to sacrifice your life, if you have no plan in advance, if you suddenly encounter the enemy, the brave will win; the third is to confusing the battle, if you have no plan in advance, if you are unwilling to sacrifice your life in the face of the enemy, if you fight in a mess, you will inevitably lose. Did the tactic you proposed sacrifice your life to fight? "

Lin Biao shook his head: "Qi Jiguang has classified all previous battles after fighting several battles and summarized these three tactics. Our fighting style is decided in advance. It is different from his life-sacrificing battle. "

During the conversation, Lin Biao's new tactics were formed. On December 24, 1946, during the period when Lin Biao was defending Linjiang in South Manchuria, Lin Biao sent troops to support South Manchuria. In the telegram, Lin Biao proposed the idea of ​​fighting hard.

Before this battle, our army advocated concentrating superior forces and fighting a battle of 100% certainty. Lin Biao was cautious in using troops and rarely took risks. This time, Lin Biao changed this policy, that is, concentrating troops, and only 60 to 70% of the victory was determined and determined to fight. He fought very tenaciously. The result may become an annihilation war, and both sides may suffer heavy casualties.

This kind of fighting hard is nothing else, just to destroy the arrogant arrogance of the national army Yan, beat them away and fear. In this way, the two major bases of North Manchuria and South Manchuria cooperated with each other and supported each other, and were elusive. At the beginning, the Kuomintang army went deep into the army alone, attacking our army with relatively thin forces as before. Our army concentrated several times higher than it, and defeated them in the form of fierce rushing and fierce attacks.

In three and a half months, the Northeast Democratic Alliance annihilated more than 40,000 Kuomintang troops and recovered 11 towns, defeating the Kuomintang army's strategic goal of "attacking the south and defending the north, first south and then north". The Kuomintang's originally small mobile forces were greatly weakened by our army. The South Manchuria base was preserved, like a nail inserted behind the enemy's army; the North Manchuria base was also consolidated and became the base for our army's large-scale counterattack.

What is even more surprising is that the National Army was frightened by our hard battle and lost confidence in the fight. Even the New Sixth Army and the New First Army did not dare to send a mere regiment to attack our army, and its mobility was greatly reduced. Thus, the initiative on the battlefield was transferred to our army.

KMT stopped its attack. In the rear of our army, under the management of Luo Ronghuan, our army began to establish a powerful field army. The young people joined the army enthusiastically, and our army gradually surpassed the Northeast National Army in terms of number. A counterattack has been formed.

Since 1947, the Northeast Democratic Alliance launched three large-scale offensives in summer, autumn and winter. In the last winter offensive, our army recovered large and medium-sized cities such as Siping, Jilin, Anshan , Liaoyang , Faku , Yingkou , Kaiyuan , etc. The liberated areas occupied more than 70% of the land in the northeast, and the liberated areas were completely connected into one area. The 500,000 Kuomintang troops were compressed into three isolated areas including Changchun, Shenyang, and Jinzhou, and were divided and surrounded by our army. Railway contact was interrupted and we fell into a deeper dilemma, thus fundamentally reversing the contrast between the forces of the enemy and us in the Northeast, laying the foundation for our army to finally liberate the entire Northeast.

1948, the Liaoshen Battle of started. Under Mao Zedong's planning and under the command of generals such as Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan, hundreds of thousands of Northeast Field Army closed the door and beat dogs, wiped out more than 470,000 elite Kuomintang troops, and liberated the entire Northeast. The once arrogant New First Army, New Sixth Army and 71st Army were wiped out under the attack of our army. After the liberation of the Northeast, the liberation of the whole country has become an unstoppable trend.

In the Northeast Liberation War, Mao Zedong not only showed amazing strategic standards, but also showed great art of employing people. He does not judge heroes by temporary success or failure. When Lin Biao was defeated in Siping and almost fell into a desperate situation, he did not choose to change the generals in the last battle, but gave Lin Biao absolute support, allowing him to command the power of the Party, government and military in the Northeast, thus realizing the reasonable division of labor of personnel and the reasonable allocation of resources