At the Battle of Menglianggu, the Nationalist 74th Division was destroyed, with about 13,000 casualties and 19,000 prisoners, but Huaye also paid a heavy price, with about 12,000 dead and wounded, and the number of dead and wounded was almost equal.
The strength of the 74th Division is evident
According to Hua Ye's post-war summary, the 74th Division's tactical application was quite skillful, and it was good at the roundabout movements of small groups in the offensive, the troops scattered and closed, and they were good at arranging light and heavy firepower, and attacking the heavy firepower of the other side.
Look at the troop input of the two sides: the five tigers of Huaye will be in battle
Hua Ye invested 5 columns, about 100,000 people, and all of them were elite soldiers, and the five tigers would fight together. The fourth column Tao Yong and the ninth column Xu Shiyou were responsible for the frontal attack, and the first column Ye Fei, the sixth column Wang Bicheng, and the ninth column Wang Jian'an were responsible for the roundabout side attack. There were only 32,000 Zhang Lingfu trapped on the Menglianggu Mountain, and there was a huge disparity in strength.
Zhang Lingfu
In addition, Zhang Lingfu also faced several major disadvantages
Time and place are not dominant
Menglianggu is located in the Lushan Mountains, 60 kilometers southeast of Mengyin County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, with an east-west width of 40 to 50 kilometers, and a north-south area of 30 to 40 kilometers, with many peaks connected, the main peak is called Menglianggu, with an altitude of more than 500 meters. The peaks here are all stone mountains, steep terrain, sparse grass and trees, not easy to hide. The stones were hard and it was impossible to dig trenches or build fortifications. There was no water source on the mountain, and in order to compete for the water source below the mountain, the 74th Division paid a heavy price and did not get a drop of water. In the absence of water, and without shade to avoid the sun, accept the sun's scorching heat on Stone Mountain. It was hard to survive the day, and at night they had to fight against the attacking Platon Army, and night battles were the BEST OF the PLA, and they were not good at it.
Even if they escaped the sun's scorching heat, escaped hunger and thirst, and escaped the night attack of the People's Liberation Army, they could not hide from flying stones. Stone Mountain has a fatal drawback, that is, after the shell hits it, the stone is instantly exploded, splashing everywhere, and the lethality is very large. At that time, the 74th Division was besieged, and the last tens of thousands of people were compressed on the top of the mountain 3 kilometers from east to west and 2 kilometers from north to south. The crowd was dense, and a single shell could fall, accompanied by gravel, and a large piece could fall.
Due to the steep terrain of the upper mountain, the heavy weapons and artillery of the 74th Division were still under the mountain, unable to play a role, and all of them were included in the pockets of the People's Liberation Army.
Ironically, the 74th Division, which had been short of water, received a heavy rain after it was completely destroyed, and if this rain had fallen earlier, it would have been a timely rain.
Li Xianzhou
People are even less dominant
Zhang Lingfu took care of Wang Yaowu, Chiang Kai-shek trusted, handled things arbitrarily, and ignored many of his colleagues. In Meng Lianggu, he finally realized what is called every day should not be, and the earth is not spirited. Many people are watching him perish.
On the outskirts of Meng Lianggu, there were still more than 400,000 Kuomintang troops at that time, and if the fire was full at the beginning, it was really difficult to say how long Huaye's four columns at that time and hundreds of thousands of people could resist.
On the night of 15 May 1947, the third day of the Battle of Menglianggu, Chen Yi could not sleep and was very anxious, so he called Ye Fei and said, "If the 74th Division cannot be completely annihilated before dawn tomorrow (16th), our army will be surrounded by the enemy."
This shows the severity of the situation at that time, if Huang Baitao, Hu Lian and Li Xianzhou could have attacked early, Huaye would have suffered from the enemy on his belly, and 74 would not only not perish, but also possibly besiege Huaye.
Li Xianzhou's 83rd Division was tasked with cooperating with the 74th Division and ensuring the safety of its right flank. However, Li did not carry out the order, and the position on the west bank of the Yishui River that he defended was quickly lost, resulting in the 57th Brigade of the 74th Division being separated from the 74th Division by Huaye Interspersed, and completing the plan of interspersing the 74th Division.
Li Xianzhou had been Zhang Lingfu's superior, but now that Zhang Lingfu was reused, Li became jealous.
It can be seen from this that the position on the west bank of Yishui is a matter of life and death for the 74th Division, and whether such an important position should be heavily guarded. However, Li Xianzhou sent a regiment of troops at that time, and it was the 58th Regiment of the 83rd Division with the worst combat effectiveness, and the regimental commander was named Luo Wenlang, and the regiment was all recruited by the puppet army, with poor morale and poor equipment, and every time it fought, it was used as cannon fodder.
However, Commander Luo Wenlang received several extraordinary phone calls, and Zhang Lingfu asked him how to defend the position, and when something happened, he put them in charge. Luo Wenlang had just finished hanging up the phone, and the commander-in-chief Tang Enbo called again, to hold the position, and there could be no problems in the rear. In the evening, division commander Li Xianzhou called again, suggesting that he would withdraw if he could not hold on. Just a while later, the brigade commander, who was directly superior, called again, saying that Luo Wenlang was under the command of Zhang Lingfu.
Luo Wenlang received different orders from different superiors and issued at the same time, whose orders should be carried out? Soon he lived up to expectations and let the position fall short.
Zhang Lingfu finally couldn't bear it, and he not only filed a complaint with Nanjing, but also reprimanded the friendly neighbor troops in a stern tone. But it was too late, and Hua Ye would never give him another chance.
Under the strangulation of various forces, the 74th Division finally fell, but its combat effectiveness was indeed very strong, and the Battle of Menglianggu was very fierce.