Author: Old Streets and Alleys
In October 1948, seeing that the general trend of the war situation in the northeast had gone and the north China region had lost one after another, Chiang Kai-shek, who was sitting in Nanjing, could not sit still. At his behest, Fu Zuoyi's troops mobilized the "rapid troops" of 2 armies in an attempt to take advantage of the emptiness of our defenses in southern Hebei, central Hebei, and western Hebei to launch an attack on shijiazhuang, Xibaipo, and other "heartlands."
In order to realize Chiang's intentions, Fu Zuoyi mobilized 400 cars and dragged nearly 100 tons of explosives in an attempt to assemble Baoding four days later, and then marched into Shijiazhuang and blew up Shimen.
After hearing the news, the chairman personally ordered the 3rd Column of the nearest North China Field Army to act immediately, and must rush to Mancheng County, west of Baoding, in 4 days, to stop the enemy's plan with all his might.
At that time, the 3rd Column was still in Huailai's Gongshan Fort to deal with the remnants of the enemy, more than 500 miles away from the city. At the usual marching speed, at least ten days. However, when Wang Zonghuai and Zheng Weishan learned that the chairman had named the three columns to block the attack, they took on the arduous task without hesitation, and then quickly issued an order and immediately set out on the road with their troops.
Large troops marching during the day will inevitably be detected by Chiang Kai-shek's air force. Therefore, the 3 columns were changed to night marches, and instead of taking the avenue, they took the rugged mountain road. At that time, the 3rd Column had been fighting continuously for nearly a thousand miles in the Pingsui Area, and the officers and men of the whole column were very tired. Now I have to walk at least 100 miles of mountain roads every day, and the difficulties are self-evident.
Not only that, but the 3rd Column was also extremely short of vehicles and horses. Even commander Zheng Weishan, political commissar Wang Zonghuai, and other chiefs had to march on foot like soldiers. In order to solve the problem of the troops marching at the first time, Zheng Weishan simply walked at the front of the line with the chief of staff.
【Fu Zuoyi's Army】
【Zheng Weishan】
Forced at night, the troops were not allowed to speak or light torches. Only by following the people in front of them can the warriors advance step by step. The whole procession was like a long dragon, moving slowly on the undulating mountain path.
The Chairman was also very concerned about the safety of the 3rd Column, and Vice Chairman Zhou was aware of his concern and reported to the Chairman three times on the whereabouts of the 3rd Column in an hour.
On the afternoon of October 28, the 3rd Column successfully crossed the Bauhinia Pass. By this time, the troops had marched more than 280 miles. After hearing the news, the chairman instructed: After the troops have passed the Bauhinia Pass, they should march during the day and rest at night; if they can reach the Wangdu area before the 31st, they will have the chance of destroying the enemy!
On the way to the march, Commander Zheng Weishan ordered the troops to be light and light, and even asked to drop their backpacks, rice bags and various daily necessities, except for the necessary guns and ammunition, each soldier only brought two days' worth of dry food. For 3, time is life. Because many people have been running barefoot for a long time, blisters have run out of their feet, and even inflamed. Even so, none of the soldiers flinched and continued to gallop towards their intended goal.
At dawn on the 30th, the 3rd column of the trotting was a day ahead of schedule and arrived in Wangdu County, 60 miles south of mancheng. At that time, the enemy's 94th Army had broken through the defensive line of our army guarding Shijiazhuang on the right flank and was attacking the Tang River defense line. 3 Seeing the situation, he could not take a break and immediately threw himself into the tense battle. Throughout the night, the crowd fought against a large number of enemy troops, doing their best to stop the enemy north of the Shahe River.
Relying on strong perseverance, the officers and men of the 3rd Column used their own two legs to race through the enemy's car wheels. The rear road of the enemy 94th Army was quickly cut off. In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the northeast, Fu Zuoyi hurriedly ordered the 94th Army to withdraw to Wangdu and hold on. In this way, Chiang Kai-shek's plan to attack Shijiazhuang was declared bankrupt.
【Higashino Army Enters the Customs】
After entering November, the situation in North China changed again. Fu Zuoyi sent his ace army, the 35th Army, from Fengtai in Beiping along the railway to Zhangjiakou to help the local defenders. Who knew that the Northeast Field Army had entered the customs in advance, which was unexpected by Fu Zuoyi. In order to avoid losing the last "capital" in his hands and defendIng Beiping at the same time, he ordered the 35th Army to rush back to Beiping.
If the 35th Army is allowed to enter Beiping, it will undoubtedly give Fu Zuoyi the confidence to "stick to it". The Chairman also knew that in this way, it would be more difficult for Peiping to be liberated peacefully. He immediately ordered the 2nd Corps to rush to Xuanhua and Xiahuayuan at full speed to bite the enemy 35th Army fleeing east.
The 3rd Column set out again. This time, the troops set out from Qu County, west of Wangdu, and were ordered by their superiors to go to Xiahuayuankou to block the advance of the 35th Army.
At this time, the physical strength of the officers and men of the 3rd Column was close to its limit, not to mention that they had to deal with the severe cold that followed. When Zheng Weishan and Wang Zonghuai crossed the Dayang River, they personally led the team. After crossing the river, the water on his body was too late to wring out, so he put on his shoes and continued to rush forward.
The troops desperately pursued, but still failed to capture the main force of the enemy's 35th Army. Luo Ruiqing, political commissar of the corps, also specifically sought out Wang Zonghuai, pointing out the seriousness of letting go of the enemy's 35th Army, not only the corps could not account for it, but the head of the column was also responsible.
Zheng Weishan and Wang Zonghuai put a lot of pressure on the mountain and encouraged the troops to persist and persist. In the last 90 miles, the 3 columns ran smoothly. They stopped the enemy in the town of Xinbaoan, 40 miles east of the Lower Garden, and cut off the enemy's 35th Army's return route to the east.
In order to rescue the 35th Army, Fu Zuoyi sent the 16th and 104th Armies to launch a fierce attack on the new security guards. However, before enemy reinforcements could advance to the new security, they were confronted by the 3-column ambush unit.
On one side were the enemy 35th Army, which was fully engaged in breaking through, and on the other hand, under the cover of aircraft, the enemy reinforcements were desperately advancing westward. Sandwiched in the middle, the 3 columns were in a very difficult situation, but they were always like an iron wall, separating the two enemy forces in a 5-mile section, making it impossible for them to meet.
After our main force arrived, the 3rd Column and the brother troops turned to attack and completely annihilated the enemy's 35th Army. Some of the 104th Army aided by the west was annihilated by the Northeast Field Army that had entered the pass. At this point, the peaceful liberation of Peiping has seen favorable conditions for me, and the 3 columns are also indispensable.
【Peaceful Liberation of Peiping】
【Deeply cultivate the history of war, carry forward positive energy, welcome to submit, private messages will be restored】