In December 1945, based on the six regiments of the former Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army, our army formed the Ninth Column of the Central China Field Army in Lingbi, Anhui Province. According to statistics, there are more than 10,000 people in this unit, with Zhang Zhen as commander and political commissar, Rao Zijian as deputy commander, Yao Yunliang as chief of staff, and Wang Xuewu as director of the political department. Among them, Zhang Zhen, Rao Zijian, and Yao Yunliang were all veteran Red Army soldiers who had experienced hundreds of battles, and they were all deeply weighted by Peng Xuefeng, the former commander of the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army.
New fourth army
At the same time, our army left behind some local troops in the east of Jinpu Road in Huaibei, with a total of more than 10,000 people, that is, the Seventh Sub-district of the Central China Military Region, with Zhang Zhenqiu as commander and Lai Yi as political commissar. The predecessor of this unit was also the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army, and the deputy commander Zhao Huichuan was soon changed to the chief of staff of the Ninth Column of the Central China Field Army. Under the command of Chen Yi and Su Yu, the Ninth Column and the Seventh Division fought jointly, and annihilated more than 5,000 enemies in the battle of Chaoyangji.
However, unfortunately, due to the heavy concentration of enemy troops, they frantically besieged our Huaibei Liberated Area. Our army was outnumbered, so Zhang Zhen was forced to lead the Ninth Column out of Huaibei. Subsequently, with the help of Zhang Zhen, the main force of the Seventh Division also withdrew from Huaibei and moved to Huaihai District. After our army withdrew from Huaibei, less than 5,000 soldiers and local cadres remained. They retreated to the Hongze Lake area, continued to maneuver with the enemy, and waited at any time for the main force to return to Huaibei.
After the enemy occupied Huaibei, they burned and plundered, and did nothing evil. What is even more infuriating is that they even destroyed the cemeteries of some anti-Japanese heroes. This group of thugs hated the New Fourth Army so much that they first destroyed the grave of Peng Xuefeng, the former commander of the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army, and then threw his bones into Hongze Lake. In addition, they strictly forbade anyone to collect the body of this famous anti-Japanese general. At this time, the Huaibei region was simply dark, and the vast number of people were full of grief and indignation!
Peng Xuefeng
Hearing this bad news, Peng Xuefeng's old subordinates were all deeply saddened. Zhang Zhen and Rao Zijian and other commanders repeatedly applied to kill back to Huaibei to avenge the old chief. However, the time is not yet ripe, and they can only continue to endure. However, it is gratifying that the people in huaibei risked their lives to find Peng Xuefeng's remains and handed it over to the local guerrillas. Immediately afterward, the guerrillas who remained in Huaibei endured hardships and dangers and finally contacted the main force of our army.
In January 1947, after many meetings and studies, our army decided to form a unit to return to Huaibei and rebuild the Huaibei Liberated Area. Subsequently, our army revoked the name of the Ninth Column of the Central China Field Army and incorporated three of its regiments into brother units. The other two regiments of the Ninth Column, together with the independent regiment of the former Seventh Central China Division and the cavalry regiment, were merged into the Huaibei Advancing Detachment. According to statistics, there are more than 3,000 people in this detachment, and Rao Zijian, an old Red Army, is the commander and political commissar.
On January 19, the Huaibei Advancing Detachment all crossed the canal and killed the Hongze Lake Area. On January 24, our army finally arrived at the shore of Hongze Lake. In the evening of the same day, our army finally found the guerrillas who remained in the Hongze Lake area. Since the main force withdrew from Huaibei, this team has been short of food and clothing, and survival is difficult, but they stubbornly persist for fifty-eight days. When they heard that the main force had returned, they were ecstatic, and even many people shed tears, Huaibei is going to change the sky!
Zhang Zhen
According to investigations, there were more than 3,300 people in the Huaibei Advance Detachment, with Rao Zijian as commander and political commissar, Zhao Huichuan as deputy commander and chief of staff, Wang Xuewu as director of the Political Department (soon after, he was promoted to deputy political commissar), and Wang Fengwu as deputy director of the Political Department. Among them, the 77th Regiment was headed by Ye Daoyou, Sun Zhaoxu was the political commissar, and the 81st Regiment was led by
Wu Zhongtai served as the head of the regiment,
Li Renzhi served as the political commissar, the cavalry regiment was appointed by Cheng Chaoxian as the chief of staff, and Hu Guangming was appointed as the secretary of the general branch.
After the main force of our army returned to Huaibei, it quickly eliminated some local reactionary forces. What is even more gratifying is that in March of the same year, Gao Oukui and others who had destroyed the tomb and dumped the body were all captured. After a public trial, our army executed these thugs, and finally avenged General Peng Xuefeng! Hearing this good news, Rao Zijian laughed loudly, and he was in a happy mood from then on, and he became more and more courageous. Thanks to the efforts of him, Zhao Huichuan, Wang Xuewu, and other famous generals, our army soon opened up a new situation.
At the end of January, our army was besieged and blocked by thousands of enemy troops. At this time, the cold wind was biting, the snow was flying, the ground was frozen and slippery, and the officers and men of our army were miserable. As a result of the long march, many people's shoes were worn out and they had to go barefoot. However, their morale was always high, first annihilating more than 80 enemy people on the front line of the New River in Zhuhu Lake, and then in a bloody battle in Zhangchang, they annihilated more than 200 enemy people in total. At the beginning of February, our army returned to the shore of Hongze Lake and temporarily escaped danger.
Rao Zijian
On February 13, Ye Daoyou and Sun Zhaoxu each led a battalion to contain the enemy and cover the main force. Near Suining Da Li Ji, our army was besieged by two regiments of the enemy army. After a bloody battle, Ye Daoyou finally led his troops out of the encirclement, and then fought with the pursuing soldiers for several hours. In the end, our army finally broke through to the northeast corner of Qingyang Town and towards the west. According to statistics, in this battle, Ye Daoyou led his troops to annihilate no less than a hundred enemies. At the same time, our army also suffered heavy losses.
In the first three months of 1947, the Huaibei Advance Detachment was repeatedly besieged and chased by heavy enemy troops. Our army usually camps at dawn, rests in the morning, fights in the afternoon, marches in the evening, and hardly sleeps a good night' sleep. The whole army, up and down, was extremely tired as a result. However, no one has ever cried bitterness, and no one has ever cried tiredness. Although our army suffered heavy losses, it also annihilated thousands of enemy troops. In this way, our army finally became familiar with the local environment and gradually gained a firm foothold.
In early March, Wu Zhongtai led a battalion to attack Cui Ji, and in one battle, nearly a hundred people of the Tu stubborn army were annihilated. Then, Rao Zijian personally led three battalions to attack Bancheng. After a fierce battle, our army won a complete victory in only ten hours, not only destroying more than two hundred defenders, but also repelling more than three hundred reinforcements of the enemy army. The enemy was not content with defeat and sent more than eight hundred reinforcements. Our army quickly captured this fighter and concentrated its main force to encircle this enemy force in Gaoxuzi.
Zhao Huichuan
On the evening of March 5, our army officially launched a general offensive. After two hours of fierce fighting, the enemy was completely annihilated. Moreover, our army also captured more than two hundred long and short guns and more than twenty machine guns. Although the scale of this battle was not large, it was the first major victory of our army after killing Huaibei and greatly encouraged the fighting spirit of the soldiers and people of Huaibei! Since then, the Huaibei Advance Detachment has completely gained a foothold! For this reason, Rao Zijian and Zhao Huichuan were warmly commended by the Central China Sub-Bureau and the Central China Military Region.
Since the Huaibei Advancing Detachment returned to Huaibei, it has been fighting almost every day. According to a statistic, the enemy army has invested no less than 40,000 people and has repeatedly sought out the main force of our army for a decisive battle. However, our army is mobile and flexible, the vast number of soldiers are brave and fearless, and there is also the cooperation and support of the local people, so it is possible to win many battles and victories. Even if our army loses the battle, the losses are not too great. By May 1948, our army had fought a total of 649 battles and annihilated more than 10,000 enemy troops.
While the main force of our army was killing the enemy in blood, Wang Fengwu, Chen Yuanliang,
Zhang Canming, Zhang Zuoyin, Li Renzhi and other old seniors came to the place. Through unremitting efforts, they gradually established a democratic regime in seven counties and 46 districts. According to statistics, the reconstructed Huaibei Liberated Area has a total of tens of thousands of square kilometers, and there are hundreds of thousands of ordinary people. In the same year, Liu Deng's army advanced thousands of miles into the Dabie Mountains, and Chen Su's army also launched a counter-offensive, and the situation in Huaibei was very good!
Wu Zhongtai
Subsequently, the Huaibei advancing detachment also gradually launched a counterattack against the enemy army, and also sent people to the west of Hongze Lake to carry out work. Under the threat of various units of our army, the enemy army in Huaibei was forced to shrink along the Jinpu Railway, completely losing the vast rural areas and some small and medium-sized towns. After the end of July, our army fought several battles in Siyang Xiangcheng, Sisu Xinxingwei, and Siyang Cao temple, annihilating more than 500 enemy troops. In September, our army conquered GuanZhen, annihilating nearly 200 enemy troops.
At the end of September, after several days of fierce fighting, our army finally conquered the town of Qingyang, annihilating more than 600 enemy troops. Since then, the three counties of Siyang, Sisu, and Sinan have been connected together, and the vast number of soldiers and civilians have rejoiced! In October, the Huaibei Advancing Detachment cooperated with the 3rd Column of the East China Field Army to retake Lingbi and Sicheng. On November 21, the Huaibei Advance Detachment recaptured Sicheng again, annihilating nearly 700 enemy troops. In March 1948, our army launched the Battle of Sidong, annihilating nearly 2,000 enemy troops.
When our army first arrived in Huaibei, it repeatedly fought passively and suffered heavy losses, and at one point it was reduced to more than 2,000 personnel. However, after a year of hard work, our army not only gained a firm foothold, but also firmly grasped the initiative on the battlefield in Huaibei. In May 1948, our army established the Jianghuai Military Region, with Chen Qingxian as commander and Cao Diqiu as political commissar. The Huaibei Advance Detachment was reorganized into the Independent Brigade of the Jianghuai Military Region, and Rao Zijian was reappointed deputy commander of the Jianghuai Military Region and brigade commander of the Independent Brigade of the Military Region.
Li Renzhi
At this time, the Huaibei Liberated Area had more than 23,000 square kilometers of land, a population of more than 1.5 million, and a democratic regime in seven counties and nearly 50 districts. In addition, the independent brigade of the Jianghuai Military Region has a total of no less than 5,000 commanders and fighters, and together with the local troops, there are tens of thousands of PLA troops in Huaibei. Subsequently, Rao Zijian and Wang Xuewu led the Independent Brigade to participate in the Battle of Huaihai. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, this unit developed into a division of the Thirty-fourth Army of the Third Field Army, with Ye Daoyou as the division commander.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the divisional headquarters of this division was incorporated into the Fujian Branch of east China Military and Political University, and the three regiments under its jurisdiction were assigned to the Twenty-eighth Army and the Twenty-ninth Army of the Third Field Army, which were used to rebuild the three regiments lost by our army in the Battle of Kinmen. In this regard, the Huaibei Advance Detachment, the Independent Brigade of the Jianghuai Military Region, and the 101st Division of the 30th Army of Sanye ended their revolutionary mission and gloriously withdrew from the stage of history! However, the Republic and the broad masses of the people will never forget this mighty brigade!
Ye Daoyou
According to statistics, the Huaibei Advance Detachment sacrificed nearly a thousand commanders and fighters in Huaibei. At the same time, this unit also produced a large number of founding heroes. Among them, the more famous ones are: Lieutenant General Rao Zijian, Major General Zhao Huichuan, Major General Wang Xuewu, Major General Ye Daoyou, Major General Zhang Xiulong, Senior Colonel Sun Zhaoxu, Senior Colonel Wu Zhongtai, Former First Secretary of the Wuhan Municipal CPC Committee and Mayor Li Renzhi, Former Deputy Director of the Anhui Provincial People's Congress Chen Yuanliang, former Vice Governor of Anhui Province Yao Ke, and Former Vice Governor of Anhui Province
Wang Fengwu, commissioner of the Suxian Special District Office...