Four Field Generals Series 64: Deng Yue (III)
Author: Mast
Deng Yue has a straightforward personality, is quick to speak, and has always spoken directly. In the war years, because of the ability to fight wars and promote quickly, it is inevitable that young and vigorous, strong and competitive. Especially in the war to fight for the main attack, to fight to laugh haha, did not fight to breathe. But he is not flying violently, and he is also quite strategic.
Dongye 3 has 3 big Kongs, namely Deng Yue, Ning Xianwen, and Xu Guofu, all of whom are lords who can fight and fight. Especially between Deng Yue and Xu Guofu, the relationship between them is usually very good, but every time they fight for the main attack, they are red in the face, angry at each other, and quarreled. The commanders of the 3rd Column, including Han Xianchu, had headaches before each battle over which division to attack. Today I will talk about these things about Deng Yue.
Deng Yue
(1) Deng Yue, who has always been quick to speak, did not say a word this time
The old people of the 3rd Column (40th Army) all know that Deng Yue has always been a quick man and a quick talker, with something to say, fighting a war in the front, and never leaving behind when meeting to express opinions. However, at a combat meeting when it was necessary to express their own opinions, Deng Yue did not say a word from beginning to end. Why?
It was at the battle meeting of the Fourth Battle of Linjiang Defense. Beginning on March 27, 1947, the enemy army in the northeast mobilized 7 divisions to attack Linjiang for the fourth time, and the situation was very severe. The Liaodong Military Region decided to form a temporary front-line command headquarters with Zeng Kelin, commander of the 3rd Column, and Han Xianchu, deputy commander of the 4th Column, to specifically command the operation. At the meeting, the famous dispute between Zeng and Han over whether to fight the weak enemy first or the strong enemy first took place: Zeng Kelin advocated hitting the weak enemy first, and Han Xianchu advocated hitting the strong enemy first. Deng Yue was the commander of the 7th Division of the main force of the 3rd Column, but he was in favor of fighting a strong enemy first, and according to his usual style, he was definitely the first to stand up and take a stand. But this time, he didn't say a word from the beginning to the end. This made the 3rd Column and the other leaders of the division very strange.
Deng Yue did not speak in order to avoid suspicion. Before this meeting, most of the cadres of the 3rd Column and the divisions did not know Han Xianchu. And the relationship between Deng Yue and Han was too close: both came from the Four Fronts Army, still from the same township (one Macheng, one Huang'an), in the Party School 1 Brigade was a partner (a captain, a deputy captain), and together with the Party School cadres to march into the northeast.
After the two arrived in the northeast, one was assigned to the 3rd column and the other to the 4th column, and they had not seen each other for more than 1 year. Just before the meeting, the two talked about the old story for a long time. Deng Yue was a subordinate of Zeng Kelin, and with this relationship with Han Xianchu, it was not easy to openly support Han's plan. But with his character, he couldn't say anything against his heart, so he didn't say a word. It can be seen from this that Deng Yue is also quite strategic.
Han Xianchu
(2) Young and vigorous, did not compete for the main offensive mood
At the end of September 1946, Dongzong found that the enemy forces on the xifeng and Hailong fronts were relatively weak, so he ordered 3 columns to attack one by one to disrupt the enemy's deployment of troops to attack northern Manchuria.
In the 3 columns, the three division commanders, especially between Deng Yue and Xu Guofu, were inseparable from each time for the main attack. This time, it was the first offensive battle after Siping's retreat, and everyone held their breath and the two of them fought again on the main offensive issue.
In the 3 verticals, it is recognized that Deng Yue is the most capable of fighting and the most able to grab. But this time, Xu Guofu took the lead: at that time, the chief of staff of the 3rd Column was xiefang. During the chaos of siping's retreat, Xu Guofu commanded the 9th Brigade at meihekou to cover the transfer of the Liaodong Military Region's organs. With this friendship, Xu Guofu did the work of understanding the party in advance.
At the operational meeting presided over by Cheng Shicai, commander of the 3rd Column, Deng Yue and Xu Guofu engaged in a fierce competition, laying out the facts and reasoning, doing their best to do their best, and doing whatever "means." At the critical time, the Xie side supported Xu Guofu, and finally entrusted the task of attacking Xifeng to the 9th Division, which was responsible for blocking the reinforcements in the direction of Xi'an (present-day Liaoyuan).
After the mission was announced, Deng Yue did not say a word, and left the venue breathlessly, and the political commissar Luo Shunchu called him, and he "did not hear" it, and rode away on his horse. On the contrary, on the way back to the division headquarters, Xu Guofu, who had five incomplete tones, sang Peking Opera.
Subsequently, the troops began to move to the designated locations. On the way, Deng Yue still had a gloomy face and did not say a word. At this time, Xie Fang rushed over, and after a few words of talk alone, Deng Yue's face immediately became bright. Originally, the xie side told Deng Yue that it was the engineering corps of the 207th Division of the enemy's new 6th Army stationed in Xifeng, and that the troops stationed in Xi'an were also the enemy's 207th Division, which were all-Americanly equipped, had strong combat effectiveness, and were also rather arrogant. Therefore, once Xifeng fights, the enemy of Xi'an will definitely reinforce. The column reassured you that it arranged for the 7th Division to come to this direction for reinforcements. This was obviously a consolation to Deng Yue. It cannot be said that Xie Fang is indeed a master, and his coordination ability is extremely strong, and a few words will make Deng Yuemei, who is breathing, smile.
The reason why Deng Yue turned cloudy and sunny was that he heard the taste from Xie Fang's words. He immediately changed his deployment, changing the blockade to reinforcements and from blocking to ambushing: placing the 21st Regiment in the front, preparing to resist step by step and luring the enemy deeper; the 19th and 20th Regiments ambushed on both sides of the road from Xi'an to Xifeng, preparing to ambush and assist the enemy.
The campaign basically developed in the direction that Deng Yue expected. After the 9th Division began to attack Xifeng, the enemy of Xi'an sent 4 battalions of the 5th Regiment of the 207th Division, divided into 2 echelons to help. In one fell swoop, the 7th Division annihilated 2 battalions of its first echelon. This battle was clean and clean, and the results were not small. Unfortunately, the enemy's second echelon moved slowly and did not enter the ambush circle for a long time.
(2) When encountering "Deng Crazy Man", Han Xianchu really couldn't do anything
In those years, the improvement of the equipment of our army mainly relied on battlefield capture, and a considerable part of the soldiers were also replenished by prisoners. Therefore, it is generally believed that the main attack is "eating meat", the merit is great, and the capture is more; the reinforcement is "gnawing on the bones", it is a supporting role, the casualties are not small, the capture is very small, the effort is thankless, and the enemy cannot even catch the battle if he does not come to the aid.
Therefore, the reasons why our army's troops are vying for the main offensive are, first, the commanders and troops have a strong desire to fight; second, when the main offensive has made great achievements in battle; and third, when the main offensive "has meat to eat." This phenomenon of competing for the main offensive was not only common in the 3rd Column, but also in the Four Fields and in other field battles. It is said that some column commanders in Huaye, and even the commanders of the corps, had opinions about Su Yu because these columns had long been responsible for fighting and could not attack the main attack.
Judging from the history of the 3rd Column, most of the main offensive tasks were still undertaken by the 7th Division.
At the end of December 1947, before the battle of Wenjiatai of the enemy's New 5th Army, Han Xianchu was ready to have the 9th Division as the main attack, and when communicating before the meeting, the division commander Xu Guofu was very happy, because the 9th Division had not fought the main attack for a long time. However, when it was announced at the meeting, the main offensive task was given to the 7th Division, and the 9th Division was responsible for blocking the reinforcements. At this moment, Xu Guofu was on fire, and he was about to stand up and argue at the meeting, but he was held down by the political commissar Tan Kaiyun. As soon as the meeting was adjourned, Xu Guofu caught Han Xianchu's theory: "Didn't you say a good thing, how can the commander talk without counting?" ”
Han Xianchu said helplessly, "Guofu, that Deng Yue Anderson is a madman who grinds hard bubbles, and he has to fight the main attack, I really can't do it." The next battle will leave your division to the main attack. ”
At this time, Xu Guofu was angry, and he didn't care what kind of superiors and subordinates were: "Whoever grabs it is whoever grabs it, who won't go crazy?" You commander is good at anything, that is, the concept of fellow countrymen is too heavy. That's hard enough and heavy enough. Han Xianchu didn't get angry when he heard it, but just said, "I can't say that, I also have bitter feelings, so be more considerate." ”
Xu Guofu
From this point, you can see how much Deng Yue can grab, this time hard to cut the meat from Xu Guofu's mouth. But on the other hand, there are also reasons for the history of the army behind Deng Yue. The 3rd Column was formed by the combination of the Shandong 3rd Division, the 3rd Garrison Brigade and the Jidong Army, and the core was the 3rd Division and the 3rd Garrison Brigade brought by Luo Shunchu from Luzhong. This historical factor cannot be ignored.
I have to say that Deng Yue and the 7th Division are indeed reassuring: hitting Yixian County, fighting the pool, fighting Jinzhou, destroying the command post of Liao Yaoxiang's Corps in the Western Liaoning Corridor, attacking Hainan Island, firing the first shot to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and so on. In the Battle of Hainan Island, the first and second batches of smuggling were undertaken by the 7th Division, while the 43rd Army was undertaken by the 128th and 127th Divisions. When the large-scale sea crossing landed on April 16, 1950, the rest of the 7th Division also landed on the island.