Speaking of the Battle of Menglianggu that broke out in 1947, I think everyone is no stranger to it, it can be described as an unprecedented and tragic war. At that time, the Nationalist army successively mobilized 24 integrated divisions (armies), totaling more than 450,000 troops, to launch a key attack on the Liberated Area of Shandong. In order to crush the enemy's attempt, Huaye's 270,000 troops were desperate, determined to surround and annihilate the main force of the enemy's main force, the integrated 74th Division, in order to reverse the situation of the battle.
Under the command of General Su Yu, Huaye's five columns quickly completed the task of dividing and encircling and annihilating, and successfully surrounded the integrated 74th Division in the narrow area of Meng Lianggu. In addition, Hua Ye also mobilized 4 columns to take charge of reinforcements. Faced with several times the enemy's encirclement, the reorganized 74th Division was not flustered, and the division commander Zhang Lingfu even came up with a strategy of "blossoming in the center.". As we all know, the reorganized 74th Division is one of the five main forces of the Nationalist Army, and the troops are all American-style equipment, up to more than 30,000 people when full, and the soldiers are carefully selected, and the combat effectiveness is extremely strong.
After the battle began, Hua Ye immediately organized troops to launch an uninterrupted attack on Meng Lianggu. However, the reorganized 74th Division relied on favorable terrain and strong firepower to resist desperately, and both sides paid great sacrifices. At this time, the ten reorganized divisions on the outskirts of the Nationalist army were rushing to the aid of Meng Lianggu, and if they could not make a quick decision, Hua Ye was likely to fall into the predicament of counter-encirclement. At the crucial moment, huaye officers and men held their determination to break through the cauldron and sink the boat, went forward and followed, and launched a tidal charge at the positions of the reorganized 74th Division. Although the reorganized 74th Division was able to fight a hard battle, after all, it was a lone soldier, and the ammunition and water sources were insufficient, and finally it was gradually unable to support it.
At 13:00 on the afternoon of May 15, Huaye launched a general offensive, and the troops attacked from all sides and multiple roads. The reorganized 74th Division, under the command of Zhang Lingfu, was still fighting with trapped beasts, and they tried their best to resist, and both sides were red-eyed. By the morning of the battle, the mountains were stained red, and the balance of victory finally fell to Huaye's side. The main position of the reorganized 74th Division was completely lost, and the division commander Zhang Lingfu was also killed on the battlefield. The Battle of Menglianggu lasted fiercely for three days and three nights, and the scale and casualties were undoubtedly unprecedentedly tragic, so how many casualties were there between the enemy and us? Let's move on.
In the Battle of Menglianggu, the enemy's losses mainly included a regiment supported by the reorganized 74th Division and the 83rd Division, and as for the reinforcements on the outskirts of the Nationalist army, the battle was over before they reached the Menglianggu area, so the casualties were not large. The casualties of our army were mainly the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th columns that were tasked with encirclement and annihilation, and their losses were relatively large under the stubborn resistance of the reorganized 74th Division. As for the reinforcements on the periphery, there were also casualties, but relatively small.
After the battle of Menglianggu, after statistics, our army annihilated the 57th regiment of the reorganized 74th Division and the 83rd Division, totaling more than 32,000 people, of which more than 19,000 were taken prisoner. As for the casualties of our army, according to the data, Huaye lost about 2,043 people and wounded more than 9,300 people. It can be seen from this that the Battle of MengLianggu was indeed a huge victory.