The famous Battle of Menglianggu took place during the Kuomintang Civil War, that is, the Liberation War. From May 13 to 16, 1947, the East China Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army fought an arduous battle against the 74th Division of the National Revolutionary Army in the Menglianggu area southeast of Mengyin County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, so the history is called the "Battle of Menglianggu".
This war is of great significance in the period of the War of Liberation. This battle was personally instructed by Mao Zedong and commanded by two generals, Chen Yi and Su Yu, and it was a mountain movement annihilation battle, and the requirements for tactics and military strength were extremely high.
At that time, there was still a great disparity in the strength of the two sides, because the reorganized 74th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, which was fighting against the East China Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army at that time, was called the "head of the five main forces" of the Kuomintang. Therefore, the importance of this battle can be imagined, and it has a decisive significance for the entire liberation war.
Therefore, when the battle of Menglianggu was victorious, it meant that the Communist forces had turned the tide of the war in East China in one fell swoop. In this battle, the Communist People's Liberation Army annihilated the division in total, and later coordinated the operation of the integrated 83rd Division 1 regiment, a total of 32,680 people, of which 19,680 prisoners.
It was not easy to take 20,000 prisoners with a reorganized army. At that time, the war was still in a fierce stage, and even though the battle had come to an end, more than 200,000 elite Kuomintang troops had begun to surround and attack the East China Field Army. For these 20,000 captives, both management and food, it was very tense and difficult.
But even so, the East China Field Army Headquarters still issued a death order, and none of the prisoners of the reorganized 74th Division could be released. And not only can not be released, but also to improve the treatment of the captured squad leader.
The sudden addition of about two thousand prisoners of the rank of lieutenant led the Captive Management Office to expand the number of captives into five brigades, for a total of twenty-seven squadrons. In a time of crisis, if a prisoner is not released, what are the considerations for improving the treatment?
The Beginning of the Great War
After March 1947, the Nationalist army began to gradually abandon the strategy of all-out offensive. Strengthening depth, drawing closer together intensively, fighting steadily, and advancing gradually were the main offensive strategies of the Civic Party army during this period.
Led by Gu Zhutong, commander-in-chief of the Xuzhou Headquarters Army, the Kuomintang army, with a total of twenty-four integrated divisions, organized into three mobile corps, began to concentrate on small-scale and focused attacks, in an attempt to first attack and occupy the two places of northern Shaanxi and Shandong, and then gradually expand the attack on the liberated areas.
Since the Nationalist army began to show a clear tactical improvement after this, relying on its superiority in strength and acting cautiously, it put an end to the previous defeats. Our East China Field Army has repeatedly hoped to find opportunities to actively meet the battle, but the effect is not very obvious.
When the Central Military Commission saw this situation, it also immediately issued a directive: "The enemy army is dense and difficult to fight, and it is very appropriate to be patient and standby. As long as there is patience, there will always be a chance to annihilate the enemy" "First, do not be impatient, second, do not divide the troops, as long as the main force is in hand, there is always a chance to annihilate the enemy." This shows that our army is also particularly cautious about the upcoming big war.
In early May, Chen Yi, commander and political commissar of the East China Field Army, and Su Yu, deputy commander, adjusted their deployment and were ready for battle at any time. At that time, after the battle order was issued, our army also made a very rigorous analysis of the war situation at that time, and unanimously agreed that the 74th Division of the Kuomintang Army could be annihilated first.
Thoroughly investigated
However, the 74th Division is not a troublesome role, they are equipped with sophisticated American equipment, and have received professional American military training, they are the elite units and ace corps of the Kuomintang Army, and they are known as the "first of the five main forces" of the Kuomintang. It can be seen from this that our army has extraordinary courage in being able to hope to confront this unit head-on.
However, of course, the decision to make this attack was also taken into account by our army, for example, the division's arrangement was in a prominent position, and the troops were relatively loose, and small units could make surprise attacks, divide the troops and eliminate them in turn.
The rugged and complex terrain of the combat area is more conducive to the East China Field Army to carry out concealed ambushes and interspersed operations; Zhang Lingfu, the commander of the division leading the team, is arrogant and arrogant, and there are contradictions with other units, so the rescue coordination operation is certainly not good.
Of course, the most important point is that the status of the 74th Division was too important in the Nationalist army.
On the one hand, winning this battle must be unquestionable for destroying the morale of the Kuomintang army; on the other hand, if this one can be won, there will be new trends in the entire war situation of the war of liberation, and with the victory of the war situation in East China, it will be able to pull the great movement of the war on the entire battlefield.
Therefore, Chen Yi and Su Yu resolutely made up their minds and chose to use the tactic of "fierce tiger digging out their hearts" to oppose the powerful 74th Army, and a big war was about to break out.
Captives
When the East China Field Army attacked the 74th Division on the evening of the 13th, the entire Kuomintang army and the top brass seemed unexpected. Chiang Kai-shek was surprised, but he was still full of confidence that there would be no big problem in this battle, after all, the strength of the 74th Division was beyond doubt.
However, the final battle situation was obvious, the 74th Division lost the initiative, and after the East China Field Army launched a general offensive, even if the 74th Division tried its best to resist, it was still to no avail.
The commanders and fighters of the East China Field Army occupied the top of the mountain, annihilated the 74th Division and 1 regiment of the reorganized 83rd Division, and killed Zhang Lingfu. In this battle, the Communist People's Liberation Army annihilated a total of 32,680 people, including 1 regiment of the reorganized 83rd Division, which later cooperated with the operation, of which 19,680 were taken prisoner.
At that time, the East China Field Army Headquarters still issued an order that none of the prisoners of the reorganized 74th Division should be released. And not only can not be released, but also to improve the treatment of the captured squad leader.
There are many reasons for this: First of all, the 74th Army, as the "head of the five main forces," is the absolute main force of the Kuomintang army, and if they break away from the captive troops, everyone will pose a great threat to our army, and the fruits of our army's arduous victory cannot be surrendered.
Secondly, the 74th Division is known for its arrogance and arrogance, from the division commander Zhang Lingfu to the ordinary soldiers, because they have very outstanding military strength, so they have a proud confidence, once they leave, it is inevitable to continue to fight against our army.
In addition, although our army won an astonishing victory in the Battle of Menglianggu, the cost of victory was also staggering, with about 12,000 casualties, so these nearly 20,000 people can make up for the gap in our military strength very well, the war is still continuing, and the test for our army is not so simple to end.
brief summary:
The victory in the Battle of Menglianggu was of great significance in the War of Liberation and was of great significance to reversing the tide of our army's war. In this battle, the Communist People's Liberation Army captured a total of 19,680 people, not only did not let any of them go, but also gave them high treatment, all out of the special considerations of our army at that time.
Under the strong leadership of our Party, our army, with its outstanding military strength and courage, has finally completed the reversal and won the final victory in the War of Liberation.