In fact, it should be said that Li Mo'an is not a mediocre talent, and he also has many achievements in the Northern Expedition and the War of Resistance Against Japan, but the goals pursued by the two sides are not consistent, so the way of playing is also different. His task was to drive the communists out of Central Jiangsu and remove the threat to Nanjing. At this time, Li Mo'an was facing the communication line from Nantong to Rugao, which had been cut off in the Battle of Dingyan and Lin Zi, and considering that Rugao was surrounded on three sides, once Su Yu attacked Rugao, Wang Tiehan's 49th Division (which was severely damaged in the second battle of Suzhong) could not be defended. Immediately dispatched the 99th Brigade stationed at Huangqiao to the east to rugao, but was also frightened by Su Yu's movement battle, and in order to be foolproof, he also asked Wang Tiehan of Rugao to send troops to the west of the three roads to meet him. At the same time, in order to let Hua Ye's main force withdraw from Central Jiangsu as soon as possible, another move was made, encircling Wei to save Zhao, and ordering Huang Baitao's reorganized 25th Division stationed in Yangzhou to go north along the canal and prepare to attack Shao Bo and threaten Huaiyin and Huai'an, the capitals of our central China Liberated Area.
But will Su Yu follow Li Mo'an's train of thought? Obviously, Su Yu just happened to do the opposite. After understanding the enemy's intentions, Su Yu planned to attack Wei to save Zhao, Su Yu wanted to save Shao Bo, then if he attacked the Yellow Bridge, he could threaten Taizhou, Taizhou because it was the rear of the 25th Division, once Taizhou was captured, and Shao Bo formed a front-and-back attack, then the 25th Division could only be wrapped in dumplings. Therefore, the enemy will definitely collect troops and return to Taizhou. Then we can also carry out reinforcements on the route of the 25th Division withdrew to Taizhou, killing three birds with one stone.
Su Yu decided to have the 10th Column (three regiments) and two regiments of the Second Military Division, which had just been upgraded from the local armed forces, defend at Shaobo, and the main force crossed the road from Rugao to Huangqiao (i.e., Ruhuang Road) on the night of August 23, 1946, and drove towards Huangqiao. On the 24th, he suddenly ordered to stop advancing, because Li Mo'an's telegram to reinforce Rugao was intercepted by the fourth squadron, and Su Yu calculated according to the time of the telegram and prepared to have an expected ambush battle with the 99th Brigade here. On August 25, 1946, the entire 99th Brigade had just entered the northeast boundary of Huangqiao, and was surrounded by the 6th Division of Huaye, and the three-way receiving force sent by Wang Tiehan from Rugao was also blocked by the 1st Division and the 5th Brigade of Huaye in a place called Jiali, and mutual communication was thus interrupted. That night, the enemies in the demarcation and intensification were firmly defended, because the enemy actually had far more troops than I had originally reconnoitred, and after a night of fierce fighting, they could not solve the battle.
At this time, the war situation may become unfavorable to our army, and the battles on the western canal line of Shao Bo and Qiao Shu are very fierce. The Qiao Shu position had been breached by the enemy. If our main force is delayed in the Ruhuang Road for a long time, once Shao Bo loses, the war situation will change drastically. Su Yu also felt anxious at this time, because there were not many mobile troops in his hands, whether there was a reserve for the availability, the number of large corps fighting, the number of troops directly determined the victory or defeat, at this time he thought of it, and switched to troop strength. Immediately take the deployment, after cutting off the enemy's rear road and cutting off the enemy's east and west parts can not get closer, first annihilate the two regiments of the weaker 99th Brigade. On 26 August, we transferred the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division from the direction of afterburners to the demarcation, and with the 6th Division and other units, with the absolute superiority of ten regiments and five to one, quickly surrounded and annihilated two regiments of the 99th Brigade. Immediately, the 6th Division and the 1st Brigade were transferred to the east, and together with the 3rd Brigade and the 5th Brigade, they surrounded and annihilated the three regiments of the enemy in Jiali and Xiejiadian with the strength of fifteen regiments. On the evening of the 26th, the eastern adjustment departments quickly marched in.
At this time, Shao Bo's battle was going on nervously. From August 23, the enemy, with the cooperation of gunboats and aircraft, stormed the front-line positions of Shaobo, Dinggou and Qiaoshu. Although the troops of our 10th Column and the Second Military Sub-district did not have much training and insufficient ammunition, the commanders were tenacious and flexible, and the mobilization work was carried out in depth and morale was high. They fought valiantly against the enemy on fortifications and rivers and lakes. According to the narrow frontal characteristics of the water network lake area, each regiment adopted the tactics of taking turns to garrison, destroying the enemy with continuous counter-impact and white-knife fighting. The enemy's 25th Division attacked fiercely for four days, most of the fortifications of our army collapsed, and the commanders and fighters of many units insisted on fighting in the waist-high water, often unable to deliver food, but the will to fight always overwhelmed the enemy, and although Qiao Shu was broken, the main position remained untouched. At this time, the enemy's 99th Brigade had already concentrated its superior forces on the Ruhuang Road and annihilated, and the 187th Brigade and other units would not be protected. When the news came, the enemy was shocked and deeply threatened, and the casualties had reached more than 2,000 people. The Battle of Shaobo, which lasted for four days and nights, ended in victory. This is the sixth battle.
On the morning of the 27th, all fifteen regiments of our enemy besieging Jiali and Xiejiadian arrived at their predetermined positions and engaged in battle. The enemy also cobbled together a multi-regimental force from Rugao, and under the cover of aircraft, they went west to meet them, and the enemies of Jiali and Xiejiadian broke through in separate units with battalions. All of our units attacked in an all-round way, annihilating the enemies who broke through one by one, and only a few hundred fled back to Rugao. Rugao's reinforcement of more than one regiment was also half annihilated by me. The Fifth Brigade inserted itself into the southwest of Rugao in time, just cut off the enemy's escape route, and captured a lot. The clothes of my Fifth Brigade were yellow, which was different from the gray-blue of the Soviet and Chinese troops, but similar to the yellow-green of the Kuomintang army at that time. When the brigade made a rapid attack on the enemy, the enemy mistakenly thought that reinforcements had arrived, jumped with joy, and immediately became prisoners. The Fifth Brigade then took advantage of the victory to conquer the Yellow Bridge on the 31st, and the five companies of the 160th Brigade defending the Yellow Bridge surrendered their weapons.
For example, in the Battle of the Yellow Road, our army annihilated two and a half brigades of the enemy and more than 17,000 people, setting a record for the one-time annihilation of the enemy since the Liberation War, and the Soviet-Chinese campaign thus achieved the famous "seven battles and seven victories." When the news reached Yan'an, Zhu De said a word: "Su Yu destroyed more enemies in the Battle of Suzhong than he did in his own strength. ”