In March 1947, before the outbreak of the Battle of Menglianggu, the Kuomintang army gathered 200,000 troops, with the ace 74th Division as the vanguard, and had been circling around the Yimeng Mountains in Shandong, trying to occupy northern Shaanxi and Shandong and annihilate the main force of our army, the East China Field Army! Our army is also poised to concentrate its forces and crush the morale of the enemy in one fell swoop.
In May, after receiving a message, General Su Yu suddenly issued an order to the Ninth Column led by General Xu Shiyou. And Xu Shiyou, who had just returned from outside, heard General Su Yu's words, and the fire came up at once, and he suddenly became angry, grabbed the phone, and shouted to his superior, Su Yu, deputy commander-in-chief: "You only know how to get stuck on the map every day, you don't understand our hardships at all, and the soldiers are also running on two legs!" Before General Su Yu could react, Xu Shiyou hung up the phone.
On May 15, under the command and dispatch of General Su Yu, the Battle of Menglianggu entered the stage of general offensive and decisive battle. Several columns of our army came from many directions, and the Kuomintang 74th Division was embattled, and after a day of stubborn resistance, the whole army collapsed on the 16th, and the division commander Zhang Lingfu was defeated and killed!
After the victory in the Battle of Menglianggu, General Su Yu did not take the incident of the hero Xu Shiyou colliding with him, and Xu Shiyou was celebrating the victory with the soldiers, and he also forgot about this matter. But Marshal Chen Yi, who was the commander-in-chief, did not forget, and he was ready to teach Xu Shiyou a big lesson! How did Marshal Chen Yi teach General Xu Shiyou back then? What order did General Su Yu give to make Xu Shiyou play an attitude toward him?
In order to resist Japan, China suffered heavy losses, and after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, China should have adopted the method of recuperation to resume production. However, in June 1946, chiang kai-shek launched a civil war, and the liberation war officially began. In the later stages of the Liberation War, the Kuomintang side also changed its offensive strategy.
In March 1947, the Kuomintang abandoned the all-out offensive against our Party's Liberated Areas, and after consultation, they decided to shorten the route and concentrate 450,000 troops to carry out a key attack on northern Shaanxi and Shandong. The Kuomintang had originally attempted to occupy these two important strategic areas and then wait for the opportunity to go north, but what happened later disrupted their plans.
After learning of the nationalist intentions, our army sent two commanders, Chen Yi and Su Yu, on May 11 to lead the Seventh Army and the 48th Division from Heyang to defend the Yishui area. The Nationalists were well aware of the cruciality of the battle, and in order to win the battle, they sent the famous 74th Division to fight in the vanguard.
The Kuomintang 74th Division was known as the "Imperial Forest Army of the Party-State", and in the course of the early battles, the division's battle record was also extremely brilliant. Before the Battle of Menglianggu began, Zhang Lingfu once made a wild statement: "The 74th Division is the strongest unit of the Kuomintang, and as long as the 74th Division is there, the Kuomintang will certainly not lose!" ”
As a general of the Kuomintang, the reason why Zhang Lingfu said such a thing stemmed not only from his support for his own party, but also from the super strength of the 74th Division. This unit participated in many well-known battles such as the Battle of Songhu, the Battle of Xuzhou, and the Battle of Changsha, and the Japanese army suffered a lot from them. In addition to their rich combat experience, the equipment they are equipped with is also the top in the country, and such an iron army should indeed not be underestimated.
Although the enemy is strong, our army is not weak! Whether it is General Xu Shiyou, who is brave and invincible and charges at the front line, or General Su Yu, who is experienced and commands and dispatches, and Marshal Chen Yi, they are all veterans of the battlefield with many impressive achievements. Moreover, the East China Field Army is the main force of our army, riding on the momentum of victory, and it is only stronger than the main force of the 74th Division and even the 450,000 National Army!
When Xu Shiyou led his soldiers to fight on the front line, General Su Yu was in command in the rear. The Yimeng Mountain area is mostly rocky and the terrain is extremely complex. The East China Field Army was very good at covert assembly and fighting raid warfare, so in the early stage of the battle, General Su Yu often let them move their positions and disturb the enemy's line of sight.
Originally, General Su Yu wanted our army to solve the Kuomintang 48th Division first, but then Su Yu got the news: "Zhang Lingfu has come with the Kuomintang 74th Division!" In order to solve this problem and prevent our army from being attacked by the enemy, Su Yu quickly called Xu Shiyou and asked him to return the same way. This is where the opening scene begins.
Su Yu planned to let Xu Shiyou first gnaw the most difficult bone of the 74th Division, and then turn around and go back to fight the 48th Division. However, Xu Shiyou, who received the call, had no idea about the movements of the 74th Division, and after listening to the instructions, he also thought that General Su Yu was talking about soldiers on paper and dispatching indiscriminately, so the grumpy General Xu would be taken over by anger.
Although as a soldier, Xu Shiyou was not afraid of hardship, but looking at the tired appearance of the soldiers marching back and forth on the mountain, his heart was also extremely painful. In order to give his subordinates a grievance, he yelled at the phone, and before he could give General Su Yu a chance to explain, he stopped the phone.
General Su Yu over there was also stunned after being scolded. He stood there for a long time before he put down the phone and left the scene with a red face. And even if there are tens of millions of dissatisfaction in his heart, Xu Shiyou still has to obey military orders. After hanging up the phone, he rushed out angrily and shouted to the people around him: "Go, retreat!" ”
After the fire, Xu Shiyou's mood was also calmed, and he led his troops back all night, and finally arrived at the battle site within the specified time. Later, in the battle against the Nationalist 74th Division, the Ninth Column under his command performed very well.
On May 10, Xu Shiyou and his troops intercepted the 74th Division. He immediately made his attitude clear to his subordinates, and this time he would take a good look at this so-called undefeated army and teach them a lesson. He also said dismissively to the people around him: "Don't look at the Kuomintang blowing him so godly, what steel walnuts, we go today, we will smash them into rotten grapes." ”
The purpose of our army in this battle was to take this opportunity to annihilate the entire 74th Division in one fell swoop, so the task assigned to the Ninth Column by the organization at that time was to drag the Kuomintang troops and prevent the enemy from fleeing. If our army attacked too fiercely at the beginning, Zhang Lingfu and others would lead their troops to retreat to the Duozhuang area, and the subsequent battle situation would become very difficult.
Therefore, what Xu Shiyou has to do this time is to hold the battle line at the same time, not to let the 74th Division escape, as long as we can entangle them, then the next thing will be easy to handle.
Originally, the Ninth Column had already seized several nearby hills, but that night, Xu Shiyou received a call from the headquarters and organized them to order the soldiers to withdraw from the hills and continue to fight with the Kuomintang troops. Shortly after Xu Shiyou ordered the withdrawal of troops, the enemy quickly occupied the hill. Seeing that several of the strongholds in his hands had become enemy positions, Xu Shiyou was very angry, and he immediately ordered the soldiers to go forward and launch an attack, and soon after our army once again took the stronghold for itself.
On the night of the 13th, General Xu Shiyou fought with the enemy all night and occupied the front line of the Zhao family. At the same time, the Sixth Column and the Eighth Column also opened up other fronts and surrounded the 74th Division. After successfully encircling the Kuomintang troops, the old Chiang Kai-shek was also panicked, and in order to rescue the troops of the Concubines, Chiang Kai-shek quickly gathered a large number of reinforcements and prepared to help the 74th Division complete the breakthrough.
The 74th Division was very important to the Nationalists, and in order to rescue them, Chiang Kai-shek did not hesitate to bring in ten divisions. When our army received the news, the Kuomintang reinforcements were only a day and a half away from Meng Lianggu, and our army must complete the task of annihilation before the nationalist army arrived, otherwise this battle would be extremely dangerous.
Commander-in-Chief Chen Yi was so anxious about this crisis that he quickly called the commanders of various departments to inquire about the specific situation, and Xu Shiyou also received a call from Chen Yi. In the face of Chen Yi's inquiry, Xu Shiyou did not pay attention to it. He assured him confidently: "Now that the fight has been like this, can I still let the enemy run away?" Now I still have a division in my hand that I don't use, you can rest assured! The 74th Division would never run away from me! ”
Listening to Xu Shiyou's words, Chen Yi also relaxed his heart, and he turned to the people around him and said, "This Xu Shiyou is not simple, the battle has been fought for so long, and it is useless to have a division left in his hand." ”
With this self-confidence, General Xu Shiyou led his troops to fight a beautiful battle. At 3 p.m. on the 16th, the 74th Army, known as an undefeated army, was completely destroyed, and division commander Zhang Lingfu was killed on the spot! After hearing this news, old Chiang Kai-shek sighed one after another and lost the 74th Division, and the hearts of the Kuomintang army began to waver.
Under the leadership of Commander Chen Yi and Deputy Commander Su Yu, our army won a great victory in the Battle of Menglianggu. Originally, the Kuomintang 74th Division was extremely difficult to deal with, but General Su Yu, who was expected to be like a god, caught Zhang Lingfu by surprise with his ability to capture the fighter and his courageous execution.
After the battle, even Chairman Mao praised the two men: "You eliminated the 74th Division at such a rapid speed, not only did old Chiang Kai-shek not expect it, but even I was deeply surprised." ”
Because Xu Shiyou's performance on the battlefield was very good, after the war, General Su Yu did not bother with him about the previous events, and Xu Shiyou himself was also blinded by the victory and threw this matter out of the cloud of nine clouds. However, Commander Chen Yi had always been grumpy about this matter.
From Xu Shiyou's behavior of calling his superiors on the battlefield and throwing his face at his superiors, we can see that Xu Shiyou's own personality is actually very flawed. He should be given a profound lesson to avoid making a big mistake on the battlefield in the future.
After the end of the war, it was also time to discuss the reward for meritorious deeds, and when the soldiers of the Ninth Column were enthusiastically celebrating and waiting for the reward of the whole army, an accident occurred! At the meeting of the East China Field Army to celebrate their achievements, Commander Chen Yi criticized them by name. Before the meeting began, Commander Chen said, "In this battle of Meng Lianggu, we have won a big victory! First of all, we would like to thank the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao for their correct leadership; no matter how cunning the enemy is, he will not be able to escape the palm of our army's hand. ”
After speaking, Chen Yi took a special look at the soldiers sitting under the stage, and he suddenly raised his voice and shouted to everyone: "You fought this battle really beautifully, the commanders were brave and good at fighting, and the soldiers were not afraid of sacrifice." Although the Kuomintang 74th Division is hard, we are harder than them! In addition, we also want to thank the people and local governments for their support, without them, we will not be able to move forward, let alone talk about victory! ”
Here, Commander Chen Yi paused for a moment, and his words turned sharply: "So, after winning the battle, everyone must not be proud, do not think that Lao Tzu is the first in the world, and from now on it will be remarkable." I heard that some of our comrades are proud to be commanders! Arrogant! Still here to say weird things! What only knows how to point around on the map, and how to command the troops without pointing fingers on the map? ”
The people present knew very well in their hearts that Commander Chen Yi was secretly cursing Xu Shiyou! Although Commander Chen did not settle accounts with him during the battle, now that the battle is over, it is still necessary to mention this "reckless man" well. However, at this point, Commander Chen Yi suddenly stopped speaking, and after scanning his eyes over and over again under the stage, he did not find Xu Shiyou's shadow. The lord was not there, and if he scolded again, he would play the piano to the cow, so he began to talk about other things.
It turned out that before the meeting, General Xu Shiyou heard the news: Commander Chen Yi was ready to scold him at the meeting! Therefore, at this meeting, General Xu neither came nor asked for leave, but ran to the political commissar and begged him to lead the team. Under Xu Shiyou's repeated pleading, the political commissar also agreed to his request.
Of course, this public criticism was still very effective, and General Xu Shiyou also realized his mistake, and in the later course of the battle, he retracted a lot, and gradually learned to restrain his emotions and consider the overall situation. In 1979, under the appointment of Deng Gong, Xu Shiyou became the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, leading the soldiers of our army to raise their might to the world: China cannot be deceived!
Man is not a sage, and no one can be wrong. Although Xu Shiyou has a hot temper, he is still a good general who is admired and benefits the people, whether from the standpoint or the merit! In today's era of advocating individuality, it is good to be a person with an attitude and an opinion, but we should also learn from General Xu, and we must not forget the responsibility on our bodies!