On May 10, 1947, sitting in Xuzhou, he was responsible for commanding 450,000 troops in 24 integrated divisions (60 brigades), focusing on attacking Gu Zhutong, commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Army in the Liberated Areas of Shandong, and ordering his troops to advance to juxian, Yishui, Yuezhuang, and Zibo, and to "track and pursue" the east China Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army east of Laiwu, Xintai, and Mengyin. The specific arrangements were: Tang Enbo's First Corps entered and occupied the Tanbu and Yishui fronts; Wang Jingjiu's Second Corps attacked in the direction of Boshan and Zhangdian; ou Zhen's Third Corps gathered in the Xintai and Mengyin areas, and after the First and Second Corps had succeeded in their attack, they would then go all out to develop an offensive to the east, in an attempt to encircle Huaye's main force in the Yimeng Mountains or drive Huaye's main force across the Yellow River.
After learning that Huaye's main force was withdrawing eastward, Tang Enbo, commander of the First Corps, changed his tactics of fighting steadily and steadily, and did not wait for the unified action of the Second and Third Corps, that is, the reorganized 74th Division and the 25th Division attacked the north of the areas of Duozhuang, Taoxu, and Qingtuosi on the 11th, and occupied Tanbu on the 12th; at the same time, the 7th Army and the reorganized 48th Division each moved from the Gegou and Heyang areas to sucun and Jiehu, and the 74th Division fought, and the main force was gathered in Tangtou and Gegou to wait for the opportunity With the strength of the reorganized 83rd Division, the right flank of the 74th Division attacked in the direction of MaMuchi, and the main force was controlled in the area north of qingtuo Temple, serving as a reserve for the corps; the reorganized 65th Division still served as a defense of Mengyin and covered the left flank of the 25th Division.
After the main force of the East China Field Army moved eastward, Su Yu, the deputy commander in charge of campaign command, faced with the kuomintang army's pressing steps, once considered two plans for annihilating the enemy: 1. If the Kuomintang army dared to advance, that is, it would concentrate its main force at the right time and choose its way to annihilate it; 2, if the enemy was still densely close together and took the battalion step by step, I would take another step back, taking Weixian As bait to lure the enemy into the movement. On the evening of 10 May, Su Yu learned that the vanguard of the 7th Army and the 48th Division of Tang Enbo's Corps had entered the Miaojia District and Jiehu Lake south of Yishui, and might continue to attack Yishui.
In view of the fact that these two enemy forces were the rightmost wing of the First Corps and their posture was relatively isolated, Su Yu immediately decided to annihilate the enemy in the area between Yishui and Sucun with the 2nd, 7th, and 8th Columns; at the same time, the 1st, 4th, and 9th Columns advanced to the areas north of Tanbu, north of Buqianzhuang, and west of the Yi River, and at the same time, they sought to annihilate the enemy's part that might be aided by Mengyin and Taoxu from the east; and the 3rd and 10th columns were located in the northeast area of Laiwu and Kou town, to contain and annihilate the enemy in the north. Although the decision was made to annihilate the enemy on the right wing first, Su Yu did not think that the 7th Army and the 48th Division were ideal targets, because these two units belonged to the Gui clan of Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, known as the "Monkey Army", which fought cunning and tenaciously, and they often fought with them without much capture, often into a war of attrition.
HuaYe's determination to annihilate the enemy had just been settled, and he received instructions from the Central Military Commission: "If the enemy has the appearance of rushing to Zibo and other places, you should concentrate your main forces, wait for the enemy to enter the appropriate place, lose no time in launching a counterattack, and first annihilate the enemy's first or two divisions; according to the experience of northern Shaanxi, the enemy's reinforcement capability is not large, and if there is a certain gap, resist with a powerful construction work, so that the enemy's strong reinforcements cannot be reinforced at all." Su Yu followed this instruction, and in addition to adjusting the deployment according to the original plan, he immediately informed the intelligence department to strengthen the reconnaissance of the entire battlefield, closely monitor the movements of the enemy troops, and pay close attention to the subtle changes in the enemy's situation in order to find more favorable fighters.
On May 11, the units of the First Corps of the Kuomintang Army began to commit crimes in the north according to Tang Enbo's orders. On the same day, the 74th Division occupied the line of Chongshan and Aishan, crossed the Wen River, and attacked the positions of Yangjiazhai and Gushan of the 9th Column and was repulsed. The division's actions were the most active, and the situation was relatively prominent. One brigade of its left wing 25th Division advanced to occupy Huangdoudingshan, and one of its right wing 83rd Division entered and occupied Sun Zu, but both divisions were more cautious in their actions and made limited progress.
That evening, Huaye's technical reconnaissance department intercepted a telegram from Tang Enbo ordering the integrated 74th Division to capture Tanbu on May 12, which was an important piece of information that concerned the overall situation. Su Yu pondered for half an hour about this, and he asked the Intelligence Department to verify its accuracy and further collect relevant intelligence. Based on information obtained from various sources, Huaye Command found out the combat deployment of Tang Enbo's corps overnight:
With the integrated 74th Division as the center, the reorganized 25th Division and the reorganized 83rd Division as the left and right wings; the reorganized 65th Division supported the flanks of the reorganized 25th Division, and the 7th Army and the reorganized 48th Division supported the flanks of the reorganized 83rd Division, and limited to the capture of Tanbu on the 12th (later changed to the 14th). At the same time, it was found that the 5th Army of Wang Jingjiu's Corps and the reorganized 11th Division of ou zhen's corps had been dispatched from Laiwu and Xintai to attack the east. The left and right wings of the Nationalist army and the integrated 74th Division were only 1 to 2 days apart.
Based on the offensive deployment of the Kuomintang army, Su Yu judged the enemy's operational intentions: Tang Enbo was obviously using the reorganized 74th Division as the main assault force, under the cover of the two wings and the subsequent powerful corps, to carry out a central breakthrough against the East China Field Army, and the spearhead of the attack was directed at Tanbu, where the Huaye headquarters was stationed, in an attempt to attack the Zhonghuaye command center in one fell swoop, trapping Huaye in chaos and surrounded on all sides, gathering and annihilating Huaye's main force in the Yimeng Mountains, or forcing Huaye to a corner of Jiaodong, or rushing across the Yellow River.
Su Yu was keenly aware that this was a rare favorable fighter, and immediately proposed a new combat plan: instead of fighting the 7th Army on the right flank and the reorganized 48th Division, su Yu would instead fight the reorganized 74th Division, the enemy's elite main force with the strongest combat effectiveness located in the middle of the road. A few powerful troops were quickly mobilized nearby, and with the tactic of "fierce tiger digging out the heart", the central breakthrough was used to deal with the enemy's central breakthrough, from the central wedge of the enemy's dense combat formation, cutting off the connection between the integrated 74th Division and its left and right flanks, and annihilating it in the area south of Tanbu and north of Menglianggu.
Su Yu's new operational determination is based on four main points on the basis of fully grasping and dialectically analyzing the situation of the enemy and ourselves and its development trend, and repeatedly weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the two operational plans:
1. Although the reorganized 74th Division is one of the elite main forces of the Kuomintang Army, its combat effectiveness is relatively strong, and it is in the center of the front line, with more reinforcements left and right and a relatively close distance; However, the division has been fully deployed and is in an unfavorable terrain, the amount of grain and ammunition carried is insufficient; the situation is also quite prominent, and there is a certain gap between it and its friendly neighboring troops on the left and right; in addition, the division is usually arrogant and arrogant, indispensable, and has deep contradictions with other units of the Kuomintang army, and once it is surrounded, other enemy troops will not struggle to rescue them, so it is convenient for our army to divide and annihilate them.
2. The main force of our army is just assembled on its front, and there is no need to make major adjustments to the deployment; there are 5 columns that can be switched to the nearest area, the superiority of the troops is 5 times that of the enemy, and the enemy has enough troops to encircle and annihilate the enemy; in particular, the 6th Column, which is hidden behind the enemy," if it advances in a hidden and rapid northward, can reap surprise attacks and quickly cut off the enemy's rear road; moreover, since the beginning of the War of Liberation, the reorganized 74th Division has often taken the lead, and it is a sworn enemy of Huaye, and all the commanders and fighters have long had a strong demand for the enemy to "destroy this pilgrimage." Emotions are high, morale is high, and confidence in victory is sufficient.
3. This area is the hinterland of our Central Luzhong Liberated Area, the conditions of the masses are excellent, and the militia organization is strong; the area is mountainous, the terrain is complex, and the roads are few and narrow, which is convenient for us to gather covertly and find gaps to intersperse, and it is not convenient for the enemy to move heavily with troops, which is the most ideal battlefield for annihilating the enemy.
4. The reorganized 74th Division is the elite main force of the Kuomintang army, and annihilating the enemy will surely greatly shock the enemy army, seriously dampen its morale, and give the enemy the heaviest blow in terms of strength and spirit; at the same time, it is the greatest encouragement to the commanders and fighters of our army, which can immediately thwart the enemy's offensive, and then quickly change the battlefield situation, thus reversing the situation in East China.
Having made up his mind, Su Yu immediately adjusted the campaign deployment: five columns, including the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th columns, were tasked with encirclement and annihilation, of which the 1st and 8th columns were interspersed with detours from the left and right flanks of the reorganized 74th Division, respectively, to seize the Lushan position, and to cooperate with the 6th Column, which was returning from the south of Lu, to cut off its retreat route and close the encirclement, and to attack from the front with the 4th and 9th columns. Five columns coordinated to encircle and annihilate the enemy. In addition, the 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 10th and other four columns served as the task of blocking and containing the enemy troops.
On the morning of May 12, Chen Yi and Su Yu issued operational orders to annihilate the reorganized 74th Division, and the battle was scheduled to be launched at dusk on the 13th. Zhang Lingfu and his "Royal Forest Army" are about to enter the countdown to life.
There are clouds in Sun Tzu's Art of War: "Soldiers are impermanent, water is impermanent, and those who can win due to changes in the enemy are called gods." For this sentence, Su Yu deserved it!