On January 9, 1947, the 1st Division of the Central China Field Army led by Tao Yong took advantage of the victory to move toward Zaozhuang, with the aim of eliminating the Kuomintang 51st Division and liberating Zaozhuang.
The Kuomintang 51st Division, which originally belonged to the Northeast Army faction, was later incorporated by Chiang Kai-shek and belonged to the miscellaneous units. Poor equipment, many recruits, and average combat effectiveness. The division commander was Zhou Yuying.
When Zhou Yuying learned that Tao Yong's 1st Division had attacked, he knew that with the strength of the 51st Division alone, it was impossible to defend Zaozhuang. So he asked Xue Yue, the commander of the war zone, several times to retreat, but Xue Yue refused.
Zhou Yuying had no choice but to strengthen the fortifications at Zaozhuang and wait for reinforcements to arrive. He built the core fortifications in the ZTE Company in Zaozhuang City, using steel and cement buildings to construct fortifications, and there were wide trenches, barbed wire, antlers and other obstacles around the fortifications. In addition, independent support points have also been established on the outskirts of the core fortifications, and a number of small strongholds have been set up around the support points to form the interconnection and response of firepower.
His purpose in doing so was nothing more than to delay our army's offensive and delay it for a little longer. Because if our army attacks, we must first knock out the peripheral support points. Without taking down the outlying strongholds, it will be impossible to launch troops to attack the core fortifications. It is inevitable to consume a lot of time and strength to attack the periphery, and it is impossible to concentrate superior forces to surprise and annihilate the enemy.
On the night of 10 January, heavy snow fell, and the 1st Division reached the outskirts of Zaozhuang after a continuous night of marching. The siege time was very tight, and it was too late to prepare the equipment for siege and blasting.
The situation reported by the reconnaissance units at the division headquarters was also very simple, and many of the place names they reported could not be found on Tao Yong's map. The situation at that time, in the words of the cadres of the 1st Division, was that "the whole situation was confused, the terrain was not clear, it was really blind people touching loach, and everyone was trying their luck."
The 1st Division's understanding of the enemy situation was not comprehensive enough, and it should be said that it was impossible to attack quickly. However, because of the previous few big victories, everyone did not pay attention to the enemy in front of them.
When the grass-roots companies held a meeting to study the attack tactics, some cadres said: If we want to hold any meeting, we will just take it and fight it. Immediately after that, they rushed into battle, and as a result, due to insufficient preparations, three brigades fought overnight, and except for the 1st Brigade, which captured the barracks, the 2nd And 3rd Brigades did not succeed.
In the next two days, the 1st Division launched several attacks, but the 51st Division relied on strong fortifications to resist, and our army's attacks failed again and again, depleting its own strength.
Tao Yong, the commander of the 1st Division, was known for his good fighting in Suzhong, and when he failed in this attack on Zaozhuang, his heart was naturally on fire. At the same time, Ye Fei's 1st Column successfully conquered the village of Qi near Zaozhuang and wiped out the 113th Brigade of the 51st Division.
The main unit of the 1st Column attacking Qi Village was the 1st Brigade, and the magic weapon for their victory in this battle was blasting! In the battle, continuous blasting was carried out, first blowing up the stone wall of the great wall, then blowing up the large bunker in the southeast corner, and then blowing up the east gate tower.
In this battle, there was a young warrior named Yang Gensi, who showed his skills, and every explosion would be successful, and he alone captured more than 100 prisoners. Later, he participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and won the glorious title of special combat hero.
Su Yu saw that the progress of the 1st Division was not going well, and on the afternoon of the 14th, he came to Tao Yong's headquarters and ordered a temporary suspension of operations. Su Yu called to ask Ye Fei for his opinion, and Ye Fei advocated resolutely capturing Zaozhuang and saying that he could transfer the 1st Column to cooperate with the 1st Division to attack the fortifications. Tao Yong also insisted on capturing Zaozhuang. Ye Fei told Tao Yong that they relied on explosion to lay down Qi Village, which was the key to the battle.
Su Yumi had a positive attitude toward attacking the strongholds of the 1st Column and the 1st Division, and was very happy, and decided at the moment that a regiment would be drawn from the 8th Division, which was good at attacking strong points, to strengthen the ability of the 1st Division to attack the strongholds, and decided to concentrate the superior forces of 16 regiments and resolutely take Zaozhuang!
This time our army made full pre-war preparations, observed the terrain, prepared explosive equipment, and assigned tasks. After resting, the warriors also regained their strength and morale was high.
During this period, our army twice sent a letter to Zhou Yuying urging the 51st Division to lay down its weapons, but it was ignored.
At dusk on the 17th, after resting for two days, our army launched another attack on Zaozhuang.
A column of 4 regiments first blew up the bunker in the southeast corner of the city wall, opening a gap and occupying the commanding heights of the Catholic Church. Subsequently, the 1st Division also successfully captured The North Well, the enemy's peripheral fortifications were destroyed by our army, and the enemy fled into the core fortifications of ZTE Company. On the evening of the 19th, our army cleared the surrounding obstacles and the main force encircled the enemy 51st Division command post ZTE Company.
The time for the final general offensive has arrived! With the order of the division commander Tao Yong, the artillery prepared for artillery fire, and the cannon rumbled, instantly turning the Jiang Army's positions within a radius of more than ten miles of ZTE upside down and a sea of fire. The few guns of the 51st Division were completely suppressed and unable to return fire, and Chiang Kai-shek fled into the underground fortifications to escape.
A column of troops broke through the old city of Zaozhuang, continuously blasted and exploded the big fence, and engaged in street battles with the Kuomintang army. The 23rd Regiment of the 8th Division was unsuccessful in its blasting and plunged into battle from a vertical breakthrough. The 1st Division exploded the West Gate of Daweizi and charged at the ZTE Company building.
The officers and men of the 51st Division resisted for many days, and had been exhausted, and there were no reinforcements, and their morale was low, so they surrendered one after another. Xu Yifeng, the head of the mission unit of the 1st Division, took the lead in rushing into the building and waving his pistol to order Jiang Jun to surrender. He grabbed an officer and asked, "Where is your division commander?"
The officer looked pale and led our soldiers into the air raid shelter of the 51st Division's headquarters, and Zhou Yuying, commander of the 51st Division, Han Shiru, deputy division commander, Li Xianzhong, chief of staff, and all the other members of the division laid down their weapons and became prisoners.
At noon on January 20, 1947, Zaozhuang was successfully liberated by our army.