In the early morning of October 17, 1948, the weather in the northeast was already very cold, and the smell of gun smoke slowly intensified in the early morning mist. The New 7th Army of the Kuomintang Central Army in the western district of Changchun City is preparing for the planned breakthrough. Someone inadvertently glanced across the central street, but suddenly became nervous: I saw that the 60th Army of the Dian Army, stationed in the east of the city, had been fully dressed at any time, and the number of sentries and patrols had nearly doubled compared with yesterday. "It seems that they are uprising, and it is estimated that we will not be able to leave, and Changchun City may not be able to hold on." I don't know who muttered such a sentence, and the people who heard it looked at each other blankly and slowly lowered their heads.
Miscellaneous soldiers eating horse feed
In March 1948, the Northeast Field Army of the People's Liberation Army ended its winter offensive. Under the impact, there were only three isolated cities left in the northeast land, Changchun, Shenyang and Jinzhou, and the situation in Changchun was the most miserable. Jinzhou is close to the port of Huludao, the sea transport is still quite smooth, materials and supplies can be transported up relatively conveniently; Shenyang is not yet an isolated city in the full sense, there are tieling, Benxi, Fushun and other small and medium-sized cities on the side, the area is still relatively open, there is a certain strategic depth, there is also a part of the strategic material reserves; but Changchun is different, the original pseudo-Manchukuo capital city, has now completely become a lonely dead city, material shortage, is really difficult to sustain. Although there will be airdrops for supplies every day, it is also a drop in the bucket.
The 60th Army of the Dian Army, although it was a miscellaneous army, was also a real anti-Japanese iron army, participating in the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Taierzhuang, the Battle of Wuhan, the Battle of Changsha and other large-scale battles, and was known for being good at defense and fighting hard battles. After the victory of the War of Resistance, the 60th Army came to the northeast battlefield and fought against the People's Liberation Army in the ice and snow. Later, because the overall situation in the northeast gradually deteriorated, their situation became increasingly difficult.
Here, it should be said that the overall situation in Northeast China at that time was overview. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Northeast Democratic United Army (later reorganized into the Northeast Field Army of the People's Liberation Army) led by Marshal Lin Biao quickly entered the northeast and gained a firm foothold. Chiang Kai-shek could not keep up with one step, so he tried in vain to use his own strength to suppress Lin Biao. Therefore, the "fire brigade leader" Du Yuming came to the northeast and struggled to maintain the current situation. At this stage, the strength of the People's Liberation Army is not strong, and Du Yuming has a certain advantage. Later, Chen Cheng, a big man of the Kuomintang's "civil engineering department," suffered a defeat in Shandong, and he wanted to regain face in the northeast, so he squeezed out Du Yuming and took charge of the northeast himself. At this moment, the situation of the Kuomintang in the northeast took a sharp turn for the worse, and soon the strength of the two sides underwent a fundamental reversal. Chiang Kai-shek then changed generals on the spot, and let the famous anti-Japanese general Wei Lihuang take office to clean up the mess. Wei Lihuang was not originally a descendant of Chiang Kai-shek, and at this time he was even more passive in battle, stubbornly sticking to the big city, and as a result, the vast land in the northeast became the world where the northeast field army could run freely.
In order to consolidate the city defenses, the 60th Army withdrew from Yongji (present-day Jilin City, Jilin Province) to Changchun in mid-March 1948. At that time, the main force of the Northeast Field Army was besieging the traffic to rush to Siping, and the 60th Army had to march in a hurry in order to quickly enter Changchun City. Finally the troops came in, but a large number of weights and weapons were thrown on the road. After entering Changchun, all the grain reserves of the 60th Army were exhausted, and there were no surplus materials in the city. In order to survive, some officers used public funds to buy grain at high prices, but it was still a drop in the bucket. In desperation, they had to seek help from the New 7th Army. The New 7th Army has been stationed in Changchun for a long time, controlling all the material warehouses and airdrop sites, so it is quite generous in terms of grain. However, instead of taking out the materials and sharing them with friendly troops, they packed half of the horse materials such as soybeans and bean cakes they had previously purchased and sent them to the 60 army. Zeng Zesheng, the commander of the 60th Army, jumped like a thunderbolt, but because of his identity, he could only choose to swallow his anger.
From sitting in a lonely city to a battlefield uprising
As the days passed, the days of the 60th Army, like "cattle," were about to pass. It turned out that even the horse feed was now almost finished. The troops of 30,000 people want to eat, they have to be consumed, what if they don't? Some people come up with a new idea and go to winemaking workshops to dig up aged lees to feed their hunger. But this thing was neither full nor small in number, and it was soon eaten. In desperation, the soldiers of the 60th Army could only take guns to rob the people. The people's families were not rich, and the only bit of rations they had had been robbed of, and they all scolded the 60th Army as bandits and robbers. Zeng Zesheng had no choice but to continue to find the New 7th Army to solve the problem, but the other side found various reasons to prevaricate, that is, it refused to take out grain to help the 60th Army. In this way, relying on robbery, relying on begging, and relying on digging the ground, Zeng Zesheng struggled to maintain the army. He was a Whampoa officer, and he still hoped that his principal, Chiang Kai-shek, would save himself from escape.
But his wish was shattered in the autumn of 1948. On October 15, the People's Liberation Army, under the command of Lin Biao, conquered Jinzhou City, the gateway from the northeast to north China. The hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops still in the northeast are like sick cattle isolated in the lion herd, and it is impossible to retreat or receive reinforcements. Zeng Zesheng saw that the general trend had gone, and he couldn't help but look up at the sky and sigh. At this moment, Zheng Dongguo, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northeast Suppression Campaign stationed in Changchun, sent an order for Zeng Zesheng to step up preparations, and all troops would break through at dawn on October 16 and move closer to Shenyang.
Zeng Zesheng took the order and felt troubled in his heart. Going out of the city to break through and fight a decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army, it is impossible to succeed, it is equivalent to seeking a dead end; it is impossible to stick to it, there is no food, is it possible to let the soldiers sit in the well hungry and watch the sky? At this moment, the shadow of a person appeared in his mind: Pan Shuorui, the commander of the 184th Division. Two years ago, he took a regiment to revolt in Haicheng, and now that he has heard that he is doing well in the People's Liberation Army, can he also follow suit? Come to think of it, the uprising seems to be the only way to survive.
In fact, from the moment it stepped on the northeast land, the underground party of the CCP had begun to gradually infiltrate the 60th Army. Among the Kuomintang troops, the miscellaneous army and the central army were very different in treatment, and it was easy to produce bad emotions. Therefore, the underground party's policy of rebellion and struggle has been carried out very effectively, and many officers in the 60 army are secret party members. Zeng Zesheng also contacted several people and listened to each other's political views in small talk. He was deeply impressed, but because of Chiang Kai-shek's relationship, he did not take the last step.
Now the opportunity has come, and we can finally say goodbye to this unfair camp and see a new world. However, Zeng Zesheng still had concerns, Changchun City was not only his own unit, but also the security regiment and the New 7 army. The security regiment does not have to worry, they do not have the strength to stop themselves, so what should the New 7th Army do?
Thinking of the New 7th Army, Zeng Zesheng was immediately full of anger. When we are in the same boat, everyone should be warming up. But what did the New 7th Army do? They ate their own rice noodles and let us eat horse feed! Our 60th Army is a miscellaneous army, but it is also a human, not a cattle. Treating us like this is really intolerable. If you really want to fight, are you afraid that they won't succeed? Just do it.
Zeng Zesheng told his subordinates what he thought. After some trials, several regimental leaders suddenly revealed their identities, and it turned out that they had already developed into an underground party. Zeng Zesheng was shocked, but also couldn't help but laugh. Even the commander of the 184th Division was a Communist, let alone anyone else.
So on the night of October 16, 1948, Zeng Zesheng and his division commanders Long Yao and Bai Zhaoxue officially led an uprising!
Liberation of Changchun
The movement of the 60th Army soon attracted the attention of Long Guojun, chief of staff of the New 7th Army. At this time, his military commander Li Hongzheng was recuperating from illness, and he had the final say in the army. But the difference in strength between himself and the 60th Army, he knows very well. Two of his three divisions were temporary divisions, all of which were reorganized from the old local police, puppet armies, and bandits, and their combat effectiveness was low. Although the only new 38th Division has some strength, it is a bit of a joke to use one division to stop others and an army. Long Guojun took a hint of luck and ordered the two companies to investigate the enemy situation, but the result was gone. It was later reported that they had been disarmed by the 60th Army. Long Guojun called the 60th Army again and found that the line had been cut off. Just when the Changchun City Defense Headquarters was in a hurry, the Changchun City Defense Headquarters called: Ouyang Wu, deputy commander of the Provisional 52nd Division of the 60th Army, had just reported that Zeng Zesheng had officially led the uprising!
Unable to fight, unable to stop, Long Guojun was really in a dilemma. In desperation, he sent people to contact Long Yao, commander of the Provisional 21st Division of the 60th Army, and through him and Zeng Zesheng reached an agreement: although the two armies have their own views, they should not attack and kill each other at this time, causing unnecessary casualties. Everyone is still bounded by the central street, stationed separately, and does not interfere with each other. I only hope that everyone can restrain the troops and avoid conflict.
Such a big move finally made Li Hong, commander of the New 7th Army, get up from his sickbed and summon officers at or above the battalion level to discuss the current countermeasures. At the same time, the 60th Army had withdrawn outside Changchun To await reorganization, while the Northeast Field Army entered Changchun City and took over the defense of the eastern part of the city. Changchun's offensive and defensive system was therefore completely torn apart. Li Hong saw that things had developed to this point, and there was no way but to order the troops to lay down their weapons and surrender. Zheng Dongguo was not willing to accept defeat and led a special task force to hold firm in the central bank building. But by now, no one wants to be cannon fodder for him. On October 19, all the Kuomintang troops laid down their weapons and the city of Changchun, which had been besieged for more than half a year, was dramatically returned to the hands of the people.
Thereafter, the 60th Army was reorganized into the 50th Army of the People's Liberation Army, still led by Zeng Zesheng. In 1950, the 50th Army entered Korea to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and independently resisted the ferocious offensive of the US Army in the fourth campaign, although the losses were very large, but did not take a step back, which bought time for the subsequent troops to enter the DPRK. His heroic and tenacious style won the respect of Marshal Peng Dehuai and Chairman Mao.