In early May 1947, Gu Zhutong commanded 450,000 nationalist troops to launch a key offensive against the Liberated Areas of Shandong. In order to grab the lead, Zhang Lingfu left Huang Baitao and Li Tianxia on the left and right flanks, and led the reorganized 74th Division to break through alone, only to be surrounded by 5 columns of Huaye at Menglianggu. After three days of fierce fighting, our army completely annihilated the enemy army, and Zhang Lingfu's soldiers were defeated and killed. Some people say that the fundamental reason why the reorganized 74th Division was completely annihilated was that it was on the Jedi of Meng Lianggu. If we had not been in Meng Lianggu, but had held firm in the plains, with its strong firepower superiority, our army would not have been able to defeat him at all.
So, does this idea really hold true? If Zhang Lingfu did not go to Meng Lianggu, the 74th Division would not be destroyed? To answer this question is actually very simple, we only need to look at the Battle of Nanma to know. Shortly after the end of the Battle of Menglianggu, the Kuomintang army concentrated more than 300,000 troops, and under the command of Fan Hanjie, deputy commander-in-chief of the army, launched another large-scale attack on the Luzhong area. HuaYe's main forces, under the command of Chen Yi and Su Yu, rose up to meet the battle, not only recovering the previously lost places of Jieshou, Wande, Pingyin, and Feicheng, but also taking the opportunity to encircle Surabaya and Qufu, and the enemy's rear bases of Yanzhou and Xuzhou were seriously threatened.
Old Jiang saw the situation and hurriedly transferred 7 integrated divisions from Luzhong to come back to help. As a result, Luzhong's troops were empty, leaving only Hu Lian's reorganized 11th Division, Huang Baitao's reorganized 25th Division, Wang Lingyun's reorganized 9th Division, and Huang Guoliang's reorganized 64th Division, of which Hu Lian's reorganized 11th Division was the most advanced. Su Yu saw the arrival of the fighter and was determined to take the opportunity to destroy the enemy. On July 17, 1947, Hua Ye surrounded Hu Lian in the Nanma area with 3 columns, and the other 7 columns were responsible for reinforcements.
Zhang Lingfu was defeated and killed at Meng Lianggu, which greatly shocked Hu Lian. This time he was ordered to attack Luzhong, he became extra cautious, and after the reorganized 11th Division was stationed in Nanma, Hu Lian did not take another step. Instead, the fortifications were constantly built in Nanma, and it took nearly a month to build a dense group of bunkers, and obstacles such as barbed wire and deer were set up on the periphery of each bunker group. However, even with such a complete fortification, Hu Lian could not resist on the 4th day after the outbreak of the Battle of Nanma, and asked Chen Cheng for help one by one. Hu Lian was the backbone of Chen Cheng's civil engineering department, and Chen Cheng, seeing that his confidants would be surrounded, strictly ordered Huang Baitao and Wang Lingyun, who were closest to Hu Lian, to rush to the aid of the night.
Hua Ye was in charge of only 7 columns and one column, which was very difficult under the onslaught of Huang Baitao and Wang Lingyun. At this time, it rained heavily, and our troops attacking Nanma could only advance with difficulty in the knee-deep water, unable to intersperse detours, and many ammunition and explosive packs were also invalidated due to dampness, resulting in a great weakening of offensive firepower, and finally after 7 days of attack, our army was forced to retreat, and although Hu Lian's reorganized 11th Division was wiped out by more than 5,000 people, it was lucky to escape the disaster. The process of the Battle of Nanma showed that even if Zhang Lingfu did not go to Meng Lianggu and chose to hold on to the plains, the 74th Division would still be unable to escape the fate of the total annihilation of the army.
There are three reasons for this: First, Hu Lian's reorganized 11th Division is also the ace main force of the Nationalist army, and its equipment and combat effectiveness are no less than those of Zhang Lingfu's reorganized 74th; second, Hu Lian's battlefield command and response ability is far superior to Zhang Lingfu's; third, it was only Huaye's three columns that attacked Nanma, but Hu Lian could not withstand it after only 4 days of defense, and if it were not for the torrential rain for several days, the reorganized 11th Division would not exist. Therefore, taking Hu Lian as a reference, even if Zhang Lingfu did not go to Meng Lianggu and chose to hold on to the plains, under the siege of Huaye's five columns, it would still be the end of the total annihilation of the army.