In January 1947, Chiang Raised 240,000 heavy troops and launched the Battle of Lunan in an attempt to destroy the main force of the Central China Field Army. In order to show the importance attached to this battle, the chief of staff Chen Cheng personally rushed to the front line to supervise the battle. 240,000 soldiers divided into three routes, along the Yi River and Shu River to launch an attack on Linyi, in order to avoid the dispersion of troops and the destruction of our army one by one, Chen Cheng sternly ordered all his subordinates not to advance alone, must be "united and go hand in hand." At the same time, for the sake of safety, he also ordered Wang Yaowu's Second Appeasement Zone to send three troops to participate in the battle in an attempt to attack our army from the north to the south.
Wang Yaowu was very reluctant to carry out Chen Cheng's order, the troops in his hands were not strong, and if he transferred three more troops, he would be even more stretched. If the East China Field Army took this opportunity to attack the north again, he just wanted to deal with the fact that there would not be enough troops at that time. However, Chen Cheng was very confident and believed that the Lunan Campaign would definitely destroy the main force of the East China Field Army, so he insisted that Wang Yaowu send troops. In desperation, Wang Yaowu had to send deputy commander-in-chief Li Xianzhou to lead the 12th, 46th and 73rd Army groups to cooperate in the south.
Because the enemy's troops were absolutely superior and were close to each other, the East China Field Army made many unsuccessful attempts to mobilize the enemy, and there were no fighters to look for on the southern front. Li Xianzhou, who was approaching south, posed a long snake array, and his troops were very dispersed. Su Zong decided to seize this opportunity and lead the main force of the East China Field Army to the north to encircle Li Xianzhou's group. In order to confuse Chen Cheng, General Su ordered the second column to disguise itself as the main force, establish a stronghold in the Linyi area, pretend to be a decisive battle, and the main force will quickly increase the whip and secretly march north, which can be described as the Ming Xiu Trail and the darkness of Chen Cang.
On February 15, the Nationalist forces of the Southern Front occupied Linyi after a "fierce battle". In order to gain honors, the front-line commander Ou Zhen reported very exaggerated data on the annihilation of the enemy. On this basis, Chen Cheng believed that the East China Field Army could no longer fight, and ordered Li Xianzhou to speed up the southward movement and encircle and suppress the remnants of the East China Field Army. Under Chen Cheng's constant urging, Li Xianzhou entered the encirclement circle of our army. On February 22, the East China Field Army surrounded Li Xianzhou at Laiwu with three columns. At this time, the 73rd Army and the 46th Army were stationed in Laiwu City, while the 12th Army was far away.
After being surrounded, Li Xianzhou decided to immediately carry out a breakthrough. His plan was to transfer 2 divisions each from the 73rd Army and the 46th Army, use the strength of these 4 divisions to advance in tandem, and concentrate all firepower to open the way, break through to the north, and then meet the 12th Army. The group then returned to Jinan in a group. I have to say that he is worthy of being a student of the first phase of Huangpu, and this breakthrough plan is indeed very feasible. At that time, our army's siege troops were not yet fully in place, and the spit was still in the hands of the enemy. If the enemy concentrates all his strength on breaking through at this time, it is very likely to run away.
However, Han Liancheng, commander of the 46th Army, refused Li's order to break through, on the grounds that it would take time for his troops to assemble and that he would need to replenish ammunition and other armaments, so he advocated delaying the breakthrough by one day. Since the 46th Army used semi-American equipment, it was very strong in combat effectiveness, so it was the main force for the breakthrough of the 46th Army, so Li had to agree to Han Liancheng's proposal. It was this delay that caused Li to lose 60,000 horses, and it was precisely during this time that the East China Field Army was able to successfully attack Tusikou and completely cut off Li's retreat. In the end, our army annihilated 60,000 of Li's men in the Gaojiawa area. Wang Yaowu was very angry when he heard the news. These 60,000 men were the elite troops in his hands. As a result, they were destroyed by Chen Cheng. So, why did Han Liancheng delay the breakout time? There was only one reason, because he, like Liao Yunzhou next to Huang Wei, was a secret member of my party.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to engage in dictatorship and launched a civil war, sending him to serve as the commander of the Kuomintang Forty-sixth Army and attacking the Liberated Areas of Shandong. Since the Forty-sixth Army belonged to the Gui clan of Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, after the army completed its reorganization, it was immediately sent to Hainan Island to accept the surrender of the Japanese army. At this time, Han Liancheng wanted to contact our Qiongya column, because the Qiongya column did not establish radio contact with the Party Central Committee, and Han Liancheng's attempt was unsuccessful. When the civil war broke out in June 1946, the Forty-sixth Army was transferred from Qingdao to Shandong to cooperate with the Kuomintang's north-south attack and the Shandong Liberated Area for a decisive battle.
On January 28, 1947, Han Liancheng went to Xuzhou to attend a military conference convened by Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng, and immediately after returning, he conveyed the important information of the Kuomintang's plan to carry out the Lunan Operation and completely annihilate the Linyi communist bandits to Huaye in Linyi through the dismissal of the kui.
On February 1, Li Xianzhou, deputy commander of the Kuomintang Second Appeasement District, issued an order to occupy Xintai and Laiwu. Han Liancheng immediately told Yang Side of this information and asked him to report it to Hua Ye immediately, and Hua Ye quickly formulated a battle plan for fighting a battle in the Laiwu area.
Han Liancheng accompanied Marshal Chen Yi on an inspection tour, and on February 12, Li Xianzhou's troops occupied Kouzhen, Laiwu, Yanzhuang, and Xintai, posing as a "one" long snake array.
On February 14, Chen Yi led Hua Ye to the Mengyin area by day and night, and on the 20th, besieging Laicheng with lightning speed, Li Xianzhou was shocked, and on the evening of February 21, a meeting of senior generals was held, and it was decided to break through to the north at 8 o'clock in the morning of February 22. Han Liancheng suggested postponing the breakthrough by one day on the grounds that the troops of the 46th Army were not dispersed and concentrated. His proposal was supported by Li Xianzhou. Li Xianzhou never imagined that because of the postponement of the one-day breakthrough, his troops would be buried in the vast ocean of people's war. Because he left a day late, he gave Huaye's troops time to move, and in less than a day, Li Xianzhou's three armies were firmly packed in Huaye's pocket.
Early in the morning of February 23, Li Xianzhou came to beibu village north of the city, and on February 21, it was agreed that he, Han Liancheng, and Han Jun, commander of the 73rd Army, would hold a meeting before the troops broke through. When it was time to break through, Han Liancheng suddenly proposed to go to the east of the city to discuss an important matter with Commander Su, and after waiting for half an hour without any news from him, Li Xianzhou vaguely felt that things were not good, and sent the people of the 46th Army to search throughout the city, and confessed that they wanted to see people alive and corpses when they died.
At 10:30 on February 23, Li Xianzhou ordered a breakthrough, and as soon as the troops moved, there was a faint sound of gunfire, and the 46th Army was in a mess because it had no commander. At 11 o'clock the battle was in full swing, several columns of Huaye attacked one by one, from Laiwu to Kouzhen in this narrow land of killing, artillery fire, less than two hours, Li Xianzhou's 60,000 troops were annihilated, laiwu battle achieved a brilliant victory. So, at the critical moment of the Laiwu War, how could Han Liancheng mysteriously disappear? Where did he go? This has become a mystery in people's minds.
After 26 years, Li Xianzhou was pardoned and revisited Laiwu from his hometown in Jinan, comrade Zhou Xingli, secretary of the Laiwu County CPC Committee, accompanied Li Xianzhou on a boat trip to the Xueye Reservoir, and after talking about the past of the Battle of Laiwu, Li Xianzhou said: "I have long had doubts about Han Liancheng, commander of the Forty-sixth Army, who broke through alone: I can't lead 60,000 troops to kill a road, so how can Han Liancheng stand out from the siege alone?" "Premier Zhou Enlai solved the mystery for him. In 1973, Li Xianzhou was received by Zhou Enlai after being pardoned. Li Xianzhou was a student of the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy and performed a disciple ceremony for Zhou Enlai. Before leaving, Zhou Enlai asked Li Xianzhou what he wanted, and Li Xianzhou raised the above question that he had doubted for more than 20 years. He got a subtle reply: "Comrade Han Liancheng is in Beijing, you can meet." ”
Although Li Xianzhou did not go to see Han Liancheng, his doubts of more than 20 years had been answered. It turned out that after Han Liancheng left Li Xianzhou, he was transferred by Yang Side and Xie Kui to an underground party-linked shop in Xiguan, Laicheng, and hid in the basement of the store. Because the 46th Army was leaderless and lost its command, the troops immediately fell into chaos, causing the commander of the enemy Li Xianzhou to lose control of his command, dragging down the main force of the 73rd Army, enabling the People's Liberation Army to win the opportunity to encircle the second main force of total annihilation, and contributing to the victory of the Battle of Laiwu. The victory at the Battle of Laiwu and the subsequent victory at the Battle of Menglianggu completely shattered Chiang Kai-shek's dream of focusing on attacking Shandong.