Before the outbreak of the Jinan Campaign, although Wang Yaowu still had more than 100,000 troops in his hands, the main force was only nine regular brigades, and the rest were some security forces, and their combat effectiveness was very limited. So where did Wang Yaowu's elite troops go? The answer was that he was wiped out by HuaYe in the previous Battle of Laiwu. Wang Yaowu, who was deeply undermanned, believed that the isolated city of Jinan could not be defended, so he flew to Nanjing before the war, met with old Chiang Kai-shek, and requested that Jinan be abandoned and that his troops be withdrawn to Xuzhou to preserve their strength and facilitate future operations.
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Old Jiang reprimanded Wang Yaowu, and Old Jiang said, "You don't think big. We must ensure that Jinan cannot give up. Jinan is the capital of Shandong and a strategic location in East China. The railway from Jinan to Xuzhou has been repaired and opened to traffic. In order not to connect the common areas of East China and North China, and not to let them control the main artery of railway traffic, we must guard Jinan. That's the first point. In order not to isolate the U.S. Navy stationed in Qingdao, Jinan must also be defended. Otherwise, it will not only be disadvantageous to us militarily and politically, but will also affect the assistance of the United States to us. Therefore, no matter how the war situation in East China changes, Jinan must not give up. This is the second point. ”
After a slight pause, Old Jiang continued, "Third, we have a powerful airlift brigade that can send reinforcements at any time. In the case of air superiority, Jinan is not isolated, and it can fight without a rear. If Jinan is besieged, I should personally urge the main force to quickly reinforce. As long as you can hold on, reinforcements will arrive in time, and I have the strength to relieve you. In order to ensure Jinan, if necessary, more defensive troops could be added. Finally, Old Jiang eased his tone and said to Wang Yaowu, "You should know that fighting a war is mainly about morale. Boost your morale and don't be discouraged yourself in the first place. Our failure is failure to the demoralization of the people. If you do not work hard and strengthen your will, you will die without a place to bury. ”
Old Jiang had already spoken to this point, what else could Wang Yaowu say? He could only beat the spirit and expressed his desire to coexist and die with Jinan. After returning to Jinan, Wang Yaowu immediately reorganized his armaments and used a large amount of manpower and material resources to build several defensive positions and a large number of light and dark fire points. Looking at the bunker fortifications scattered around, Wang Yaowu was full of confidence, and he declared that the outskirts of Jinan could be defended for half a month, and the urban area could be defended for at least a month. However, after the Battle of Jinan broke out, Wang Yaowu's carefully constructed peripheral positions were quickly broken through by our army, and he hurriedly sent a report to Old Chiang Kai-shek for help. Old Jiang Dian ordered the troops near Xuzhou to relieve Wang Yaowu.
Huang Baitao's reorganized 25th Division was also ordered to break the siege, and when the troops reached Pi County, he said to the people around him: "Wang Yaowu will certainly not be able to defend Jinan, and our trip will be in vain." At that time, Huang Baitao's men did not believe it, but soon the news came that Jinan had been conquered, and Wang Yaowu was also captured on the way to escape. His men admired Huang Baitao's foresight and asked him why he concluded that Wang Yaowu could not defend Jinan. Huang Baitao said: "At the beginning of the siege of Jinan, I heard Wang Yaowu talking to the family of Nanjing on the wireless phone, telling his wife how something was, how something was, and how it was, and that it took half an hour to give me detailed instructions. At present, as a commander-in-chief, the commander is still in no time, how can he take care of family affairs? Selfishness and forgetting the public, there is no will to die. With such a mentality, how can we keep Jinan! Three months later, Huang Baitao was defeated and killed in Nianzhuang, and his outcome was far worse than Wang Yaowu's.