Speaking of the integrated 74th Division, I believe that everyone is no stranger to it, and it can be described as a unit with extremely strong combat effectiveness. The 74th Division was formerly known as the 74th Army and was formed at the Battle of Songhu. In the eight years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the 74th Army participated in almost all major battles against Japan on the frontal battlefield, repeatedly accomplished miraculous feats, and was known as the "Anti-Japanese Iron Army".
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Lingfu was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general of the 74th Army. Chiang Kai-shek relied heavily on the beloved general and the 74th Army, which had made great achievements in battle, and not only gave them the most advanced equipment, but also handed over the defense of Nanjing to the 74th Army.
Soon after, a great war broke out between the Kuomintang and the Communists. After the 74th Army was reorganized into the 74th Division, it immediately became the vanguard and main force of the Nationalist army's civil war, and under the leadership of Zhang Lingfu, it captured Huaiyin, Lianshui in World War II, and achieved some small victories. At this time, Zhang Lingfu began to be arrogant, thinking that his opponent was vulnerable. So he did not wait for the friendly army to arrive, so he went deep alone, and as a result, he was surrounded by Hua Ye and meng Lianggu. After three days and three nights of fierce fighting, the reorganized 74th Division was completely destroyed, and the division commander Zhang Lingfu was also killed.
His confidante killed Zhang Lingfu and killed Meng Lianggu, and the 74th Division, the ace of the Concubines, was also destroyed, and Chiang Kai-shek was deeply saddened by this. In order not to let such a loud sign of the 74th Division be annihilated, he and Wang Yaowu decided to rebuild and reorganize the 74th Division.
It should be noted that the newly built 74th Division is not an unfounded pull together of people. Its backbone was the three regiments of the 74th Division that remained in the rear at the outbreak of the Battle of Menglianggu. The three regiments were not equipped with heavy weapons at that time, so they did not participate in the battle, and naturally they were not annihilated. As for the selection of the division commander, on the recommendation of Wang Yaowu, Qiu Weida was able to succeed Zhang Lingfu as the commander of the division.
Qiu Weida was also an old man of the reorganized 74th Division, and during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he followed the 74th Army in the southern expedition to the north. At the same time that Zhang Lingfu was promoted to division commander, Qiu Weida was also promoted to deputy division commander, which shows his seniority and combat achievements. At the time of the Battle of Menglianggu, Qiu Weida was reporting to work in Nanjing, so he escaped the disaster.
After the reconstruction, the reorganized 74th Division, with a number of more than 20,000 people, although the combat effectiveness was not as strong as before, but the "skinny camel was bigger than the horse", which was also considered elite in the national army. For example, in the "Battle of Jinan", the newly reorganized 74th Division began to show its strength.
At that time, in order to help Wang Yaowu defend the city, the reorganized 74th Division was airlifted to Jinan, but later the airport was blocked by Huaye, so only seven companies of troops were transported. However, these 7 companies actually repelled the attack of huaye's 3rd column main division several times later, and finally all of them were killed.
After the outbreak of the Battle of Huaihai, Qiu Weida's 74th Army (later the 74th Division was renamed the 74th Army) was included in the battle sequence of the Qiu Qingquan Corps. Against the background of the total rout of the Nationalist army, Qiu Weida's 74th Army was quickly annihilated in the ChenGuanzhuang area and became a prisoner himself. At this time, it was less than 20 months after Qiu Weida took over as the division commander. I have to say that since he chose to make an enemy of the people, he was actually doomed to failure, I don't know what everyone thinks?