In July 1949, with the end of the battles in Fufeng and Jixian County, the Liberation War in the northwest region entered a new stage. Our army was unstoppable, and the enemy fell into a state of retreating step by step.

In July 1949, with the end of the battles in Fufeng and Jixian County, the Liberation War in the northwest region entered a new stage. Our army was unstoppable, and the enemy fell into a state of retreating step by step.

But the Hu Zongnan Group, Ma Bufang , Ma Hongkui and other " Ma Family Army " forces, are still "a centipede insect, die without being stiff". If they are not completely eliminated, they will be in danger.

July 24, according to the changes in the situation between the enemy and us, Peng Dehuai decided to lead the First Field Army to chase and annihilate the Qingning two "horses". This is the "Longlong Pursuit Battle" that is well-known in the military history.

Qingning two "horses" tried every means to stop the PLA's pursuit, but they were defeated repeatedly. Ma Bufang racked his brains to come up with a trick of "Pingliang and Quick Battle", but Ma Hongkui thought that it was Ma Bufang who treated him as cannon fodder, so of course he refused to join, which made Ma Hongkui so angry that he could not help.

Under the step-by-step advance of my first field army , Ma Hongkui and Ma Bufang were both panicked and retreated to Ningxia and Lanzhou respectively.

For these two enemies, dividing troops to attack is not the best strategy. Therefore, General Peng, in accordance with the principle of "concentrating superior forces to fight an annihilation war", decided to adopt a strategy of defeating the two enemies in a way that first dealt with Ma Bufang, and then eliminate Ma Hongkui.

Just as the 1st field army was chasing, an intelligence came from the front: Ma Bufang had formulated a new plan, that is, to "defend Lanzhou to the death", and according to this idea, he was making preparations in full swing, and he was in a desperate battle with our army.

When studying the enemy situation, the generals of the first field expressed their concerns about this situation. The fundamental reason is that Lanzhou is the old nest that Ma Bufang has worked hard for many years, and it has the Rolling Yellow River as a barrier. If the enemy defends it with all his might, it will inevitably cause a lot of trouble for our army.

At that time, the situation in the country was very good, and the First Field Army also had a strong desire to liberate the northwest as soon as possible. Some generals only wanted to win quickly and were unwilling to spend time with Ma Bufang. Therefore, some people suggested that it would be better to deal with Hu Zongnan Group first and then attack Ma Bufang.

President Peng finished his opinion after everyone expressed his opinion. Seeing that they were all worried about Ma Bufang's plan to guard Lanzhou's old nest, but he didn't care at all. Instead, he laughed out loud: "I have a different idea from you. Ma Bufang wants to do this, just in my wish, I can't ask for it! Hahaha..."

Everyone was puzzled. I wonder why President Peng was not worried at all, but was so happy.

"Think about it, what are our real worries?" Mr. Peng paused deliberately before saying, "It's not that Ma Bufang wants to defend, but they ran away! Once they ran, we couldn't achieve the goal of destroying them all, and instead wasted more time."

He continued, "But he didn't run away, but instead hid in Lanzhou and waited for us to fight. In this way, we can eliminate all the enemies in Lanzhou. Isn't this a good thing we can't ask for!

" But for Hu Zongnan , we can't force it too fast. Once we were too anxious, Hu Zongnan ran to Sichuan and threw the burden to Erye, which would be unreasonable! "

After hearing this, everyone suddenly realized and praised Mr. Peng for his correct judgment of the situation.

Next, Peng Dehuai made further analysis of Ma Bufang's true intention to defend Lanzhou.

The reason why Ma Bufang was fearless in defending Lanzhou was that he was blindly confident in his strength. He placed the two main forces of the 82nd Army and the 129th Army in Lanzhou City, while the 91st Army, the 120th Army and the newly formed cavalry army were placed on the periphery. With the advantage of natural dangers in the Yellow River, he arrogantly believed that Lanzhou could not be captured by our army.

In addition, Ma Bufang also had a vicious plan, that is, he gained a foothold in Lanzhou, and then joined forces with Hu Zongnan's four armies and Ma Hongkui's three armies to wait for an opportunity to counterattack our army, and attempted to "annihilate" the first field troops.

General Peng's analysis can be said to have peeled off all the cocoons, breaking all Ma Bufang's real intentions. To say, all the generals were convinced after hearing this.

He said confidently: "Ma Bufang, the old fox, is indeed very cunning, but his so-called 'counterattack' and 'annihilation' plan is completely based on an extremely fragile foundation, which is to bet that he can defend Lanzhou. We can completely use his arrogant mentality to take advantage of the situation and eliminate this enemy cleanly in Lanzhou, and not even let them escape!"

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Peng Dehuai waved his hand: "Don't be anxious, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry! Although we should despise the enemy strategically, we should not act too rush. We should also repeatedly think about tactical things, make full preparations first and then attack Lanzhou with all our might. The old saying goes, sharpening the knife will not delay chopping wood!"

Next, General Peng and the generals conducted in-depth analysis of the specific tactics of attacking Lanzhou, conducted repeated research and discussion, and finally determined a highly targeted combat plan.

On August 25, under the command of President Peng, the army of the first field officially launched an attack on the enemy in Lanzhou. In the afternoon of the same day, the three lines of defense set up by the enemy on the periphery were completely broken, and they conquered several important strongholds on the Gaolan Mountain line respectively.

Gaolan Mountain's fall caused Ma Bufang's formation to be in chaos, and then he fell into chaos. The army of all fields was full of momentum, taking advantage of the victory and attacked the entire line.

Battle to the morning of the 26th, the last fortress of the enemy, Beitashan, the highland of the north of the city, also fell into the hands of our army. This means that it only took a day and a half from the launch of the general attack to the end of the victory. It is really "soldiers are the most important to be fast"!

As stated in " Sun Tzu's Art of War ": "Predicting the enemy to win, the plan is dangerous and easy to get far and near, the way of generals. Those who know this and use the war will win..." In the Lanzhou battle, General Peng fully interpreted the way of generals of "predicting the enemy to win" to the fullest.

After this battle, the generals admired General Peng's insight and decisiveness in using troops. When recalling this history after the liberation of the 1st Corps, General Wang Zhen, who was the commander of the First Corps, he deeply sighed: "Old Mr. Peng is always a well-deserved strategic thinker and outstanding military strategist. His judgment of the situation of war, his grasp of the fighter and his courage and vision for military use are extremely admirable!"