Eight regiments in 24 hours spelled out, the Nationalist 18th Army in the Battle of Huaihai, tens of thousands of people did not surrender
During the Liberation War, many people only knew about the powerful 74th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, that is, the 74th Army, but they did not know that there was another strong unit, which was the 18th Army of the National Revolutionary Army. This unit is also one of the five main forces, and it is also the traditional ace unit of the Nationalist Army, the starting force of Chiang Kai-shek's confidant Chen Cheng.
After the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance, Luo Zhuoying led the 18th Army to carry out a deadly battle with the Japanese 11th Division in the strategic location of Luodian, and the Battle of Luodian also became the most tragic battle during the Battle of Songhu, several senior commanders of the 67th Division of the 18th Army were killed, the division commander was seriously injured, and later this unit fought less than one regiment under the leadership of Huang Wei, and other units of the 18th Army also suffered heavy losses. In the Shipai Defense War in 1943, Hu Lian, deputy commander of the 18th Army and commander of the 11th Division, once again led his troops to severely damage the Japanese army, breaking the Japanese attempt to occupy Chongqing.
After the liberation war began, the 18th Army was reorganized into the 11th Division, but this unit was still the shelf of the army, and because of Chen Cheng's support behind it, the weapons and equipment were even better than the reorganized 74th Division. Hu Lian, commander of the 11th Reorganized Division, and Zhang Lingfu, commander of the Reorganized 74th Division, were classmates of the Huangpu IV phase and fellow villagers, both from Xi'an, Shaanxi, but Hu Lian and Zhang Lingfu were different in that he was more sleek in his handling of people and more cunning in military command. In 1946, Liu Bocheng led three columns of Nakano to annihilate this unit, but they were unexpectedly blocked for a week by a regiment of the reorganized 11th Division, and finally broke through by the regimental commander of this regiment. After the collapse of the reorganized 74th Division in 1947, Su Yu led four columns of Huaye to surround this unit in Nanma, but after six days of fighting, there was no progress, and finally had to retreat.
In the Battle of Huaihai in 1948, the 12th Corps of the Kuomintang Army, led by the 18th Army, was surrounded by Nakano in the Shuangduiji area. After the 12th Corps was surrounded by Nakano, Liao Yunzhou, commander of the 110th Division, led his troops to revolt with heavy weapons, but Nakano still could not stop this unit, mainly because the 18th Army's fierce tiger combat effectiveness was too strong, and finally Huaye's two columns with heavy weapons emergency reinforcements trapped this fierce tiger. At that time, the commander of the 12th Corps, Huang Wei, and the deputy commander, Hu Lian, both served as the commanders of the 18th Army and relied heavily on this unit.
At the critical moment of the Battle of Shuangduiji, Huang Wei placed the 33rd Regiment of the 18th Army in Dawangzhuang, which was only a few kilometers away from the headquarters of the 12th Corps at that time. The 33rd Regiment of the 18th Army is known as the Tiger Regiment, the whole regiment of more than 3,000 officers and men are all composed of veterans, the combat effectiveness is very strong, the first to fight dawangzhuang is the 58th regiment and the 60th regiment of the 20th division of the Seventh Column of Huaye, although the initial progress was relatively large, but soon by the 33rd regiment to retake most of the positions, only the 59th regiment that went up later stationed in the southwest corner of Dawangzhuang.
At the critical moment of the battle, the 46th Regiment of the Sixth Column of Nakano came to reinforcements, and the three regiments of the 20th Division of the Seventh Column of Huaye also rushed up with a drum, and the sound of explosive packs, shells, and grenades exploding on the position was not heard, and finally Nakano Huaye joined forces to finally eliminate all of this unit. After the war, the entire Dawangzhuang was in ruins, and this small village with only a few dozen families was completely destroyed, without even a complete wall.
After the Battle of Dawangzhuang, the headquarters of the 12th Barrier Corps was only a few small highlands in the Jiangudui area, and Huang Wei placed the 54th Regiment of the 18th Army here. The 54th Regiment, known as the Tiger Regiment and the elite unit of the 18th Army, also replenished the combat effectiveness of this unit, and Huang Wei and Hu Lian also supplemented the remnants of several other corps of the 12th Corps. Attacking Jiangudui were Huaye Third Column and Nakano Sixth Column, they both drew their own ace troops, Luoyang Battalion and Xiangyang Battalion, launched several attacks on Jiangudui in one breath, due to poor combat, Yang Botao shot two regimental commanders in one day, and Nakano Huaye paid a great price to completely annihilate Jiangudui.
In the last days of the Battle of Shuangduiji, tens of thousands of people of the 18th Army caused great trouble to Nakano Hanano, and few surrendered, and finally they were completely annihilated. After the Battle of Jiangudui, Huang Wei issued an order to disperse the breakthrough, and in the process of the breakthrough, Huang Wei, Yang Botao and others were captured, and Hu Lian escaped by chance.