As we all know, Su Yu has fought countless victories in his life and his achievements are outstanding. Because of his brilliant performance in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, Chairman Mao repeatedly proposed that Su Yu should be the founding marshal, but Su Yu directly refused the rank of marshal in a low-key manner, and Chairman Mao had no choice but to name him the "first general" of New China. Such a victorious general also has a "lifelong enemy" who has defeated him several times on the battlefield. Su Yu has experienced countless big battles in his life, and his only regret is that he did not catch this person.
This person was Hu Lian, who was called "General Changsheng" by the Kuomintang army. Chairman Mao's appraisal of Hu Lian as "cunning as a fox and fierce as a tiger" shows how outstanding Hu Lian's military ability is. In the War of Liberation, Su Yu was almost invincible against the Kuomintang army, but he suffered losses here at Hu Lian. Next, let's take a look at this "legendary general" of the Kuomintang, what are the strengths that make Chairman Mao evaluate it this way.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression repeatedly made great achievements and severely damaged the Japanese army</h1>
When the Battle of Songhu broke out in 1937, Hu Lian was still a regimental commander, and he was ordered to lead the 64th Regiment of the 11th Division to guard Luodian in northern Shanghai. In order to achieve this goal, the Japanese army was extremely aggressive, in a vain attempt to capture Shanghai and occupy China's largest city in one fell swoop. China and Japan gathered a large number of troops here, and for a time Shanghai became a veritable "meat grinding ground".
At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the disparity in strength between China and Japan was enormous. The Japanese constantly sent aircraft and artillery to bombard the positions of the 64th Regiment in an attempt to use Luodian as a breakthrough point, and Hu Lian could only be forced to defend. Under the cover of aircraft artillery, the Japanese used smoke grenades as a cover for infantry to cooperate with tank advances. Hu Lian knew that tanks were not something he could stand up to, but he couldn't sit still.
In order to stop the Advance of the Japanese Tanks, he selected a death squad in the army, and the death squad tied several grenades together to launch an attack on the Japanese army, which was the only way Hu Lian could think of. At the cost of many casualties in the death squad, Hu Lian successfully blocked the advance of the Japanese army.
With advanced weapons and equipment, the Japanese army engaged in positional warfare with the 64th Regiment and slowly advanced forward, and Hu Lian ordered the machine gunners of the 64th Regiment to form a fire network on the Japanese forward passage, which repelled the Japanese army dozens of times. Under the command of Hu Lian, Luodian not only failed to become a breakthrough point for the Japanese army, but was dragged here.
After the Battle of Songhu, due to Hu Lian's excellent performance in battle, he was successfully promoted to brigade commander of the 119th Brigade of the 67th Division. Subsequently, he led the army to carry out guerrilla warfare in southern Jiangsu, and repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese army. Hu Lian also commanded the army to destroy the railway, causing great trouble to the Advance of the Japanese Army.
After a guerrilla war that lasted for half a year, Hu Lian set up his headquarters on Mount Jiuhua on the Yangtze River, where Hu Lian often observed the deployment of the Japanese army on the shore. The Japanese army has many warships in the Yangtze River, in order to prevent the Chinese army from causing damage to the warships in the Yangtze River, the Japanese army is heavily guarded on the river, and it is difficult for outsiders to approach.
Near the 119th Brigade's garrison, the Nationalists had a naval special forces active on the Yangtze River, whose mission was to sabotage Japanese warships on the Yangtze River. When Hu Lian learned of this, he decided to cooperate with the special forces, and he led the army on Mount Jiuhua to often raid the Japanese positions on the shore and lead them away, so that the special forces could lay mines in the river. With the cooperation of Hu Lian, the Navy's special forces used this method to blow up and sink dozens of Japanese warships in one year, so that Japanese warships did not dare to act arbitrarily on the Yangtze River.
In 1943, the Battle of Western Hubei began, by which time Hu Lian had become the commander of the 11th Division. In the Battle of Western Hubei, there was a crucial "Battle for the Defense of Shipai Fortress", which was the key to Western Hubei and would be fully invaded by the Japanese army once it lost southwest China. Chiang Kai-shek said that the Shipai Fortress was China's "Stalingrad" and that it must not be lost. Chen Cheng, commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Sixth Theater, ordered Hu Lian to lead the 11th Division to the death.
Hu Lian was well aware of the importance of this battle, and also knew the difficulty of holding the Stone Fortress. He led all the officers and men of the division to worship heaven and earth and swore to coexist and die with the fortress. In the face of the sophisticated weapons and equipment of the Japanese army, Hu Lian decided not to fight hard with the Japanese army, and relied on the dangerous terrain in the mountains to have a "wisdom fight" with the Japanese army. Hu Lian ordered some of his army to stay at the fortress, while he led the rest of the army into the mountains around the fortress to hide. With such tactics and the determination of the soldiers to defend the fortress to the death, the 11th Division managed to hold out for two days.
On the third day, when the Japanese launched a final attack, Chen Cheng asked Hu Lian on the phone whether he was sure of holding the fortress, and Hu Lian replied: "Although success is not certain, Cheng Ren is indeed determined." With such determination, Hu Lian successfully led the 11th Division to defend the Shipai Fortress and avoid Japanese aggression in the southwest region. After the war, the Nationalist government awarded Hu Lian the "Order of the Blue Sky and White Sun", and Hu Lian was promoted to the commander of the 18th Army.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Hu Lian, with his exquisite tactics, inflicted several heavy losses on the Japanese army, successfully entered the top echelons of the Kuomintang, and became a favorite general of Chiang Kai-shek, which also gave Hu Lian the opportunity to shine in the Liberation War.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" > Suyu's "enemy of a lifetime"</h1>
Hu Lian first fought Su Yu in the Battle of Subei, but the two did not fight directly in this battle. After the defeat of the Kuomintang army, Hu Lian realized that there was a huge disparity in strength and led his troops to retreat. Before the People's Liberation Army prepared to launch the Battle of Subei, the Kuomintang also held a combat conference to discuss operational strategies. The Nationalist commander ordered Hu Lian of the 11th Division to march north with Dai Zhiqi of the 69th Division to prevent Su Yu from attacking.
At the operational meeting, Hu Lian proposed that Chen Yi might lead his army south to join Su Yu, and the two of them added up to more than 100,000 troops, and their two divisions alone might not be able to resist. Dai Zhiqi argued, "How can you be suspicious and decisive?" Besides, that Chen Yi is a fool, he dares to disregard the old nest? Hu Lian did not argue with it, but both of them had a trace of mustard buried in their hearts.
Hu Lian insisted on his ideas at the meeting, fearing that he would be ambushed by Su Yu on the road, and was cautious along the way. On the other hand, Dai Zhiqi had no scruples along the way, and sure enough, he plunged headlong into the encirclement set up by Su Yu. Dai Zhiqi knew that if there were no reinforcements this time, he was afraid that he would be less fierce, so he immediately asked the signal soldiers to seek support from the headquarters. At this time, Hu Lian's 11th Division was only more than a kilometer away from Dai Zhiqi. Hu Lian was afraid of being ambushed by the People's Liberation Army, and did not dare to lead troops to support, and it was not long before the 69th Division was completely annihilated, and Dai Zhiqi swallowed his gun and committed suicide.
Su Yu later recalled that this battle was also a little afraid, Hu Lian's 11th Division was much stronger than Dai Zhiqi's combat effectiveness, and if Hu Lian came to support, Su Yu could only flee. Thanks to mutual suspicion among the Kuomintang troops, Su Yu was able to achieve this victory. The first confrontation between the two ended in mutual jealousy.
The second confrontation between Hu Lian and Su Yu was at the Battle of Nanma, in which Su Yu's army suffered heavy losses, and Hu Lian's cunning made Su Yu suffer a lot. More than a year after the liberation war began, Su Yu, who had won several battles, decided to take Hu Lian's 11th Division in one fell swoop in Nanma. Hu Lian knew that he had been targeted by the People's Liberation Army, and after occupying Nanma, the Kuomintang authorities ordered Hu Lian to hold Nanma and drag the People's Liberation Army here. Hu Lian built a large number of plum-shaped zimu forts within a radius of five kilometers of Nanma, and only two or three soldiers remained in each bunker.
Su Yu ordered three columns to attack Nanma, and the fortifications that Hu Lian spent a lot of time building played a huge role. In the face of Zimu Fort, Su Yu had no choice but to adopt strong attack tactics, and the People's Liberation Army often had to make great efforts to capture a bunker, but there were only two or three enemies in each bunker, but he had to pay a heavy price. When the People's Liberation Army finally pulled out all the bunkers to encircle and annihilate the 11th Division, the sky suddenly began to rain heavily, and the reinforcements of the Kuomintang Huang Baitao also arrived in time, and Su Yu had no choice but to retreat.
The Battle of Nanma was a major defeat suffered by Su Yu in the Liberation War, with the People's Liberation Army losing more than 14,000 people and Hu Lian's 11th Division losing only more than 8,000 people, which shows the uniqueness of Hu Lian's use of troops. When Chiang Kai-shek learned of the results of the battle, he was extremely excited and said to the people around him: "With Hu Lian here, I can sit back and relax." ”
Soon Hu Lian and Su Yu met again on the battlefield, and Hu Lian led his lone army to march deep into the Tushan Ji area, which Su Yu thought was a fighter when he learned of it. The 11th Division was alone and must have been very tiring for many days of marching. Su Yu was very eager to avenge the Battle of Nanma, and Su Yu ordered the third column and the eighth column to attack Tushan Ji, and the other three columns were wrapped up in the distance. The Third Column and the Eighth Column were the two most powerful units in Su Yu's hands, and after three or four hours of fierce fighting, the Third Column successfully tore two small openings in the Tushan Ji defense line, but the Eighth Column made no progress.
Six companies of the People's Liberation Army successfully entered the Tushanji position, but were soon beaten out again. The 11th Division, as one of the five main forces of the Kuomintang, was indeed worthy of its name, and the personnel involved in the battle of the three columns at that time said: It is rare to encounter a Kuomintang army with such strong combat effectiveness. After three days of fierce fighting, the three columns and eight columns commanded by Su Yu were severely damaged, and the other units of the 11th Division also repelled the other three columns commanded by Su Yu and directly surrounded the three columns.
Su Yu saw the situation of the battle and thought that he could no longer fight, and quickly ordered the front-line troops to retreat. In this battle, the People's Liberation Army lost more than 4,000 people, Hu Lian's 11th Division lost more than 3,000 people, and Su Yu once again suffered a defeat at Hu Lian's place.
In 1948, the Battle of Huaihai broke out, and Su Yu decisively attacked to surround Huang Baitao's 120,000 group army. Chiang Kai-shek ordered Huang Wei's Twelfth Army to xuzhou to rescue Huang Baitao, a mechanized regiment of the Kuomintang, but the road to Xuzhou had to pass through several rivers, and there were constant blockades by the People's Liberation Army along the way, and the march was very slow. On November 18, Huang Wei's corps was finally about to arrive in Xuzhou, but it was met with fierce resistance from the People's Liberation Army on the north bank of the Vortex River.
After three days of fierce fighting, Huang Wei's army successfully defeated the North Bank People's Liberation Army and began to cross the river. At first, Huang Wei was still complacent, he did not expect that this was a trap of the People's Liberation Army, and Huang Wei's army, which had just crossed the river, immediately surrounded liu Bocheng and his troops. The officers and men of the Twelfth Corps were in a state of panic, knowing that they were surrounded, they must be more fierce and less fortunate, and what awaited them was the Ensuite Army bit by bit. Many soldiers in the corps prayed every day that Chiang Kai-shek could "airdrop" Hu Lian, and they firmly believed that this situation could only be broken by Hu Lian.
On the other hand, Chiang Kai-shek was also very anxious, the Huang Wei Corps was a mechanized unit he had built with his own hands, and if all of them were damaged here, the Kuomintang would be seriously injured. In desperation, Chiang Kai-shek even thought of many soldiers in Huang Wei's corps, and he also thought that Hu Lian could resolve this situation.
Chiang Kai-shek immediately summoned Hu Lian to Nanjing and asked if Hu Lian could rescue Huang Wei's army, and Hu Lian saw Chiang Kai-shek and directly boasted to Haikou and said, "Please rest assured, Principal!" I personally went to rescue the Twelve Corps, and I was still able to rely on the dangers of the Huai River and the Yangtze River to defend Nanjing, stabilize the overall situation, and then try to counterattack. Chiang Kai-shek breathed a long sigh of relief when he heard these words, and then asked Hu Lian how many reinforcements he was going to bring to rescue Huang Wei's regiment.
Hu Lian was very arrogant, and he believed that the problem of Huang Wei's corps was not the number of troops, but the command. Saying that it is enough to go alone will definitely bring back the Huang Wei Corps in its entirety. On December 1, Hu Lian's plane landed on a temporary airfield built by the Huang Wei Corps, and the desperate Huang Wei Corps saw Hu Lian's arrival and rushed to tell them that they had been saved.
Unfortunately, in the later stages of the Liberation War, the People's Liberation Army was no longer the original People's Liberation Army, and Hu Lian commanded the counterattack but had no effect. At this time, the Kuomintang army also planned to reinforce the Huang Wei Corps, and this information was intercepted by Su Yu's Central China Field Army. Su Yu immediately led his troops to the battlefield, trying to completely annihilate Huang Wei's corps before the Arrival of Nationalist reinforcements.
On December 7, Hu Lian flew back to Nanjing to ask Chiang Kai-shek for support, but he did not expect that Chiang Kai-shek's previous reinforcement plan was all in vain. Hu Lian returned to Huang Wei's regiment and told Huang Wei that there was really nothing he could do this time, and that the Kuomintang army had no more troops to reinforce them, and he began to discuss a breakthrough with Huang Wei. On December 15, Huang Wei ordered the whole army to break through from different directions, while he and Hu Lian fled with a tank on their backs.
Hu Lian fled in the direction of the PLA's attack, and in order not to be discovered, he decided to take the risk. Hu Lian took off the Kuomintang flag on the tank and drove towards the PLA team, and many PLA fighters thought it was their own tanks and made way for them. However, the tank fuel was limited, and it didn't take long to run out of fuel, so Hu Lian had to escape on foot.
What Hu Lian did not expect was that he was discovered as soon as he got out of the car, Hu Lian's people immediately fled, the People's Liberation Army shot in pursuit, and Hu Lian was shot in the back in the panic. Hu Lian's guards carried him to escape, and saw that there was no way to escape by the river. However, the guards found a small boat by the river, and Hu Lian and his party took the boat down the river. There were battles fighting on the shore, and the personnel on both sides had no time to take care of the river, so Hu Lian escaped smoothly.
As the name suggests, the Hu people are not only cunning, but also slippery. Hu Lian was shot and did not die, but was later transferred to shanghai hospital for treatment, and doctors removed more than thirty shrapnel from his body. After the defeat of the mainland, Hu Lian fled to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek, and the story of Su Yu and Hu Lian ended here.
However, Hu Lian was still active in the Kuomintang military circles. In October 1952, Hu Lian sent agents to infiltrate Nanri Island in Fujian province to investigate, and found that the PLA troops on Nanri Island were empty. On October 11, Hu Lian commanded more than 9,000 Kuomintang troops to sneak into Nanri Island under the cover of several aircraft, and in the evening the Plaster rushed reinforcements under the condition of unclear intelligence, and was defeated again.
This was the biggest loss suffered by the People's Liberation Army after the founding of New China by the Kuomintang army, and Chairman Mao severely criticized the Fujian garrison after learning of this. Perhaps it is precisely because of this incident that Su Yu will never forget Hu Lian in the second half of his life.