In June 1946, Chiang Kai-shek launched an all-out offensive against our Liberated Areas.
Due to geographical reasons, the Central Soviet Liberated Area bore the brunt of it. Li Mo'an led 120,000 elites and pounced on Su Zhong. The People's Liberation Army had only 30,000 troops, and the enemy was outnumbered, and Chairman Mao planned to let the Central China Field Army leave the Liberated Areas and move to the outer front.
But Su Yu did not think so, Su Yu felt that "some fights", and he pointed out: first gnaw hard bones!
In the end, under the command of Su Yu, the Central China Field Army won seven battles and seven victories, defeated the strong enemy with inferior equipment, and gained a firm foothold under the heavy encirclement of the Kuomintang army. When Chairman Mao learned of this, he exclaimed: Su Yu is not simple, and he can command an army of 400,000 to 500,000 in the future.
In this issue, we will explain Su Yu's battle of fame: seven battles and seven victories in the Soviet Union.
The central Soviet union is part of the liberated area of central China, bordering Huaiyin in the north and the Yangtze River in the south, and is very close to Nanjing, the center of Kuomintang rule. On the side of the bed, others were allowed to snore, and Old Chiang Kai-shek vigorously attacked the liberated areas of central China in an attempt to wipe out or expel our army into Shandong.
Soviet Central was the focus of the Kuomintang army's attack, and the old Chiang Kai-shek personally ordered Li Mo'an to lead an army of 120,000 to attack.
Li Mo'an was a high-achieving student in Huangpu, and there is a saying circulating in the Whampoa Military Academy: Wen you He Zhihan, Wu you Hu Zongnan, Neng Wen Neng Wu Li Mo An. Li Mo'an, who was both literate and martial, commanded 25 divisions of Huang Baitao, 83 divisions of Li Tianxia, 49 divisions of Wang Tiehan, and 21st and 65th divisions, with a total strength of 120,000 troops, and most of them were American weapons and equipment.
The enemy is fierce and determined to win the central Soviet union.
Chairman Mao's plan was to mobilize the main force of the Shandong Field Army, Liu Deng's army, and Su Yu's troops to shake off the Kuomintang army, and then insert themselves into the Dabie Mountains, move southward, and burn the flames of war to the Kuomintang area. The purpose is to make Old Jiang tired in the south and unable to take care of the northeast, so that Lin Zong can develop steadily and take away after the rise.
Su Yu was given the task of leaving The Soviet Union and attacking the outer line.
However, Su Yu proceeded from the actual situation and put forward a different view. Su Yu believes that attacking the outside line is an away battle, and the risk is too high. Moreover, the diversion operation would soon encounter the 5th Army and the 74th Division, and if the initial battle was unfavorable, it would be a big blow to morale. On the other hand, if we fight in the Soviet-Chinese base areas, the people's hearts and minds are on our side, and our army can give play to its home field advantage, so it is better to fight a few victorious battles on the inner front first, and then switch to the outer front.
Considering that the commanders on the front line might know the situation on the battlefield better than the rear, Chairman Mao agreed to Su Yu's proposal.
It is true that the national army has superior troops and weapons, but it also has a fatal drawback, that is, it is not clear about the battlefield situation. The Nationalist army only knows that the main force of our army is in the central Soviet region, but it does not know the specific location. And our army can rely on the intelligence network that penetrated into the national army and the cooperation of the people in the Soviet Union and China to know every detail of the deployment and mobilization of the national army's troops, just like opening a full map of the battlefield.
The first battle of Suzhong, Xuan (Jiabao) Tai (Xing) offensive battle.
According to the characteristics of our army's ability to concentrate superior troops, Li Mo'an predicted that our army would go to attack the 49th Division in Nantong before the national army's strength was assembled. Therefore, he ordered the 49th Division to strengthen its vigilance, advance steadily, and then march in tandem with the main force after the division formed a large corps.
Our army did want to take the lead in attacking, but Li Mo'an did not expect that Su Yu had prejudged his prediction, and our army did not fight the 49th Division, but went straight to the strongest 83rd Division. This is what Su Yu said about "gnawing hard bones first."
Li Tianxia, on the other hand, was the elite and had no fear, and he felt that our army would certainly not dare to attack the 83rd Division, but he did not know that our army was fighting the elite!
On July 13, Su Yu concentrated five times the strength of the other side and attacked 2 regiments of the 83rd Division stationed at Xuanjiapu and Taixing. Su Yu used 12 regiments to reinforce, 3 regiments to attack the stronghold, and the enemy troops in the Xuan and Tai areas were instantly submerged in artillery fire.
At this time, Li Tianxia still did not believe that what she was encountering was the main force of our army.
Li Mo'an also felt that Su Yu was attacking the west from the east and the west, ostensibly attacking the 83rd Division, and the actual target was the 49th Division, so he hurriedly ordered the advancing 49th Division to retreat.
In this way, the 2 regiments of the 83rd Division did not wait for reinforcements, and the 49th Division also missed the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. By the time Li Tianxia and Li Mo'an found out, most of the 56th Regiment and the 57th Regiment of the 19th Brigade of the 83rd Division had been wiped out, and our army had annihilated more than 3,000 enemy troops in this battle.
The second battle of the Soviet Union, such as the south of the South (Suchao) rapid attack.
After learning that the main force of our army was in Xuantai, Li Mo'an made the following arrangements: the main force of the 83rd Division attacked Hai'an, the 49th Division attacked Rugao by taking advantage of the void, and the 65th Division reinforced Taixing.
Su Yu immediately made adjustments, leaving a part of his troops disguised as the main force, continuing to stay in Taixing, and then the large army marched eastward and rushed to attack the 49th Division.
After the 49th Division learned that the main force of our army was in Taixing, it confidently and boldly advanced toward Rugao. On July 17, the 79th Brigade and the 26th Brigade of the 49th Division traveled to the area of Ghost Head Street and Songjia Bridge in the southeast of Rugao.
The 12 regiments of our army forcibly marched 50 kilometers and surrounded the enemy at night. After completing the encirclement, our army suddenly launched an attack, and the 49th Division was defenseless and suffered heavy losses. After two days of fierce fighting from the 19th to the 20th, the 26th Brigade of the 49th Division was completely annihilated, and the 79th Brigade was annihilated by most of it.
Considering that the 65th Division had arrived on the battlefield and our army was fighting continuously and was very tired, Su Yu took the initiative to withdraw his troops to the east of Hai'an for recuperation. In this battle, our army annihilated 15,000 enemy troops at the cost of 5,000 casualties.
The third battle of the Soviet Union and China, the defense battle of the Hai'an Movement.
Li Mo'an concentrated his forces and attacked Hai'an under the cover of aircraft; Su Yu withdrew his large troops from Hai'an, leaving 7 columns and 4 regiments of troops to defend the enemy.
The 7 columns of large troops resisted one after another, slowly depleting the enemy army, and a small number of troops interspersed into the enemy's rear, specifically picking night raids to harass the other side. After 5 days of resistance, the 7 columns withdrew from Hai'an. At the cost of more than 200 casualties, the 7th Column annihilated and wounded more than 3,000 enemy casualties.
But on Li Mo'an's side, it is recorded that "our army occupied Hai'an without much effort, the communist army lost 20,000-30,000 people, and the general trend has gone." As for why the conclusion of annihilating the enemy was 20,000-30,000, this is the characteristic of the Nationalist army: false reporting of battle achievements.
In fact, a large unit of our army is being repaired a few kilometers northeast of Hai'an, and it can be said that it is right under Li Mo'an's eyes, but he is completely unaware.
The fourth battle of the Soviet Union, the battle of Fort Lee.
After Li Mo'an occupied Hai'an, he thought that our troops were powerless to fight any more and had withdrawn from Suzhong. So he divided his troops into multiple routes, one along the Taizhou and Hai'an front defenses, one from Hai'an to the north to search and attack, the rest of the troops were busy digesting the central Soviet region, such a deployment gave our army the opportunity to break through each.
Su Yu keenly caught the fighter planes, and the main force of our army was in the Hai'an area, and he was familiar with the deployment of the enemy nearby.
The 105th Brigade of the enemy's 49th Division was stationed at Fort Lee, east of Hai'an, and its prominent position was set by our army as the primary target.
On August 10, our army took advantage of the opportunity of the 105th Brigade and the new 7th Brigade to change their defenses and decisively attacked. After half a month of repairs, the 1st Division and the 6th Division of the Central China Field Army were in full swing, and after a night of fierce fighting, 2 regiments of the 105th Brigade and 1 regiment of the New 7th Brigade were completely annihilated by our army. The 21st Regiment of the New 7th Brigade did not understand the situation and still advanced towards the Fort Lee area, only to be completely annihilated by the 6th Division and the 7th Column in the Yangman River area.
In less than a day of this battle, our army destroyed about 8,000 enemy 1 and a half brigades at the cost of 900 casualties, and Li Mo'an's troops began to be stretched.
Seeing that Su Yu had fought so well, the PLA Headquarters also issued instructions: The dispersion of the enemy's forces in the Soviet Union and China will help our army to break through each one, and we hope to arrange several more battles to eliminate more of the enemy's living forces.
The fifth battle of Suzhong, Ding (Wei) Lin (Zi) attacked the battle.
After the Battle of Fort Lee, the enemy could not touch the position of the main force of our army, so he had to rely on the line of communication for passive defense. Su Yu sent 7 columns to attack Hai'an, and the troops of the First and Ninth Divisions pretended to attack Nantong to confuse the Nationalist army. The main forces of the 1st and 6th Divisions suddenly moved south to the area south of Rugao.
On August 21, the main force of our army ambushed five traffic police brigades of the enemy army in the area of Dingyan and Linzi. The combat effectiveness of the traffic police brigade, just like his name, was quickly defeated by our army, and the enemy captured more than 3,500 people in this battle.
The sixth battle of the Soviet Union, the defensive battle of the Shaobo position.
After discovering the main force of our army south of Rugao, Li Mo'an concluded that our army would attack Rugao, so he asked the 99th Brigade stationed in Taixing to come to support. At this time, the nationalist army in the northwest attacked Huai'an, and the main force of Huang Baitao's 25th Division attacked Shaobo Town and Gaoyou, and Shaobo was in a critical situation.
Su Yu decided to encircle Wei and save Zhao with one hand, and he commanded the main force to attack Taixing, and sent a telegram to the whole army to prepare for an encounter with the enemy.
Sure enough, our army bumped into the 99th Brigade reinforcing Rugao and the 187th Brigade that came to meet them in the Area of Huangqiao. A fierce encounter broke out between the two sides.
Unlike previous battles, this one was a real head-to-head battle. In the area around Huangqiao, 6 regiments of the 1st Division of our army surrounded 3 regiments of the enemy's 187th Brigade, and 10 regiments of the 6th Division surrounded 2 regiments of the enemy's 99th Brigade, but the enemy was so numerous that it was difficult for our army to eat for a while.
At this time, Huang Baitao was attacking Shaobo Town, and he was shocked to learn the news that the 99th Brigade was besieged, at this time the rear road of the 25th Division was empty, and the attack on the frontal battlefield was firmly resisted by the 10th Column, and it was difficult to break through. So Huang Baitao reported to Li Mo'an, who ordered the 25th Division to retreat, and The Shaobo guards were victorious.
The seventh battle of the Soviet Union, such as the (Gao) Huang (Bridge) Encounter, is the battle in which the main force of our army destroys the besieged enemy troops.
The 6th Division of the 1st Division was difficult to eat the enemy, and everyone was in a hurry. If it is delayed for too long, when the enemy's peripheral troops arrive, the Central China Field Army will be counter-encircled.
After calmly analyzing, Su Yu decided to be weak first and then strong.
He drew 3 regiments from the 1st Division to support the 6th Division, creating a 5:1 superiority over the enemy. Under a fierce attack, 2 regiments of the enemy's 99 brigade were completely annihilated. When our army vigorously surrounded and annihilated the 99th Brigade, the enemy's 187th Brigade did not take the opportunity to break through, but stayed in place and waited for help. After the 99th Brigade was wiped out, our army joined forces and ate 3 regiments of the enemy's 187th Brigade in one fell swoop, and incidentally eliminated a regiment reinforced from Rugao.
For example, in the Battle of Huang, our army annihilated the enemy and captured 17,000 enemy soldiers, and the nationalist army was seriously injured.
At this point, the seven wars between the Soviet Union and China ended with a complete victory for our army.
Statue of the Memorial Hall of the Battle of Suzhong
In the seven wars between the Soviet Union and China, 30,000 against the Nationalist army and 120,000, our army annihilated the enemy with inferior troops of 53,000 people, not only smashed the nationalist army's attack on the liberated areas, but also showed that the US ordnance troops of the nationalist army could be defeated, and our army could rely on the favorable conditions of the liberated areas to adopt flexible strategies and tactics to defeat the strong with the weak.
The Central Military Commission, on the other hand, gained valuable experience in internal combat, and since then, concentrating superior forces to annihilate the enemy has become the basic method of warfare of the PLA.
Of course, the greatest contributor to the Seven Battles of the Soviet Union was the commander Su Yu.
Throughout the Soviet-Chinese battlefield, our army's strength is obviously at a disadvantage, but Su Yu has always been able to give play to the characteristics of mobile operations and form a superiority in troop strength in local areas, so that our army has fought one downwind battle after another. Poor Huangpu general Li Mo'an was beaten by Su Yu, who had never attended a military academy.
When the news of the seven victories in the seven battles between the Soviet Union and China came, the PLA headquarters could not believe it for a while. Chairman Mao repeatedly asked, "Is it because the transmitter made a mistake?" "There are also continuous phone calls to inquire about the Central China Field Army. After learning that the situation was true, Chairman Mao could not help but sigh: Su Yu is not a simple person, and he can command an army of four or five hundred thousand in the future!
The subsequent Battle of Huaihai also confirmed the chairman's judgment.
Su Yu
Lin Zong, who was far away in the northeast, got the news and became extremely interested in the seven battles and seven victories in the Soviet Union, and he ordered people to collect detailed information on the battle, and then locked himself in a small dark room to study for several days and nights.
A few days later, Liu Yalou pushed open his door, and Lin Zong issued an exclamation: This Su Yu, do your best to fight the immortal battle.