At 5 p.m. on December 9, 1948, the most crucial battle of Dawangzhuang in the Battle of Huaihai began. This is the key barrier position of the core position of the Kuomintang Huang Wei Corps Headquarters, and stationed here is the most elite "tiger regiment" of the 18th Army, one of the "five main forces" of the Kuomintang, the 33rd Regiment of the 11th Division. In order to take this key position, Hua Ye threw in two main regiments of the 7th Column, the 58th Regiment and the 60th Regiment of the 20th Division. Under the encounter of the strong and the strong, a battle beyond everyone's imagination at that time, known as the most tragic and cruel Battle of Huaihai, broke out. In less than 21 hours, the two sides surrounded the small village, fighting bloody battles and constantly throwing in new forces. In the end our army won the victory. In this bloody battle, the enemy and we fought out the formation of 7 regiments here, and even more frightened the more than 10,000 Kuomintang troops stationed in the nearby Xiaowangzhuang to surrender directly to our army.
In early December 1948, the Battle of Huaihai entered the second phase, the Battle of Shuangduiji.
In order to annihilate the Huang Wei Corps, which was besieged by our army in shuangdui as soon as possible, our Central Plains Field Army and a unit of the East China Field Army concentrated their forces to launch a powerful offensive against the enemy.
As one of the most elite units of the Kuomintang army in the central plains battlefield, the 18th Army under the command of the Huang Wei Corps, which is known as one of the "five main forces," and its subordinate 11th Division is Chen Cheng's starting blood, so it is particularly concerned, the equipment of the unit is very good, the number of veterans is also very large, the quality is relatively strong, and it has always been a fierce enemy of our army since the red army period.
The "Tiger Regiment" of the Kuomintang 18th Army was defending Dawangzhuang
At the critical moment of the Battle of Huaihai, in order to reverse the decline, the enemy gritted his teeth and threw this trump card into the decisive battle!
To the south of the Shuangduiji there is a small village called Dawangzhuang, which is the key barrier guarding the Huang Wei Corps Headquarters in the core position of the Shuangduiji, the Jiangudui and Pinggudui.
Huang Wei specially placed the 33rd Regiment of the 11th Division of the 18th Army, which is known as the "Tiger Regiment," here, and placed the 54th Regiment of the 114th Division of the 10th Army, which is known as the "Mighty Regiment," in the Jiangudui. The 54th Regiment was also formerly the 18th Army, and was later transferred to the battle sequence of the 10th Army, which was also the ace of the enemy.
Huang Wei finally pinned his hopes on these two ace troops, fantasizing that they could block the attack of our army and wait for the enemy on the southern front to come to reinforcements.
These 2 enemy forces are not only experienced and well-equipped, but unlike other enemy forces, they are quite good at building fortifications.
The Kuomintang army has been fighting with our army in numbers and equipment far inferior to its own for many years, and most troops have developed the habit of not being good at building fortifications, while the 18th Army is different, and the enemy has built a complete set of defense systems in a very short period of time relying on the terrain after occupying the double stack.
The enemy dug the polders around the village deeper, then used the excavated soil to heighten the polder walls, and then built a large number of so-called "plum blossom forts" outside the polders, which formed a plum blossom-shaped independent combat unit for every 5 fire points, and the fire points were connected by traffic ditches, and each unit had side fire and reverse fire in addition to the frontal fire.
Units can fight independently and cooperate with each other, making it difficult to deal with. In the Battle of Nanma Linqu a year ago, the East China Field Army suffered heavy losses.
However, in the course of fighting the enemy with superior strength and firepower for a long time, Nakano gradually summed up a set of tactics for destroying the enemy's defense and firepower system with soil work.
When Nakano had just surrounded the Huang Wei Corps, he mobilized his entire army to dig trenches on the enemy's periphery, on the one hand, to save himself under the superior firepower of the enemy, and on the other hand, to cause difficulties in the enemy's breakthrough.
When the enemy and we repeatedly tug-of-war and the enemy is no longer able to break through, our army will further gradually dig the trenches in front of the enemy's positions in order to minimize the casualties of the enemy on the open ground where the enemy's fire is tightly sealed.
After Hua Ye also joined the siege of Huang Wei's army, the participating troops also quickly learned the hand of soil work from Nakano's brother troops.
In order to prevent enemy shelling and bombing, the trenches of our army are always dug and curved, and the upper width and lower are narrow, and the trench walls are also very neatly constructed. Numerous bunkers, air raid shelters, shelters and command posts were also dug and built on both sides of the trench. The fortifications were also reinforced with wood. Neither shelling nor bombing by the enemy can inflict serious casualties on our army.
With this reliable channel for receiving the enemy, our army is determined to launch a total attack on the enemy's core positions! The 58th and 60th Regiments of the 20th Division of the 7th Column of Huaye first launched an attack on the enemy at Dawangzhuang with the support of strong artillery fire.
But the "Tiger Regiment" is indeed worthy of the name. After the 3 battalions of the first echelon of our army quickly rushed along the trenches through the open ground of the enemy and us and broke into the enemy's defensive line, the 33rd Regiment not only did not collapse as quickly as other enemies, but immediately launched a counter-assault on our army under the command of the officers.
The enemy with submachine guns, carbines, and light machine guns shouted and rushed over, and engaged in a melee with my assault troops.
Blood in the trenches soaked the legs of the pants
In the fierce and brutal melee battle, the "Tiger Regiment" and our army launched a street-by-house battle, and the positions of the two sides repeatedly changed hands. The enemy, under the cover of mortars, light and heavy machine guns, bazookas and flamethrowers, continued to counterattack our army, while our army dealt a heavy blow to the enemy with bayonets, grenades, explosive canisters and explosive packs.
Casualties on both sides were very large, and the small village of Dawangzhuang was soon turned into a pile of ruins by the intensive fire of both sides, and then little by little, under the unabated artillery fire, it became a flat land.
The enemy's 33rd Regiment finally could not resist the fierce offensive of our army and was squeezed out of Dawangzhuang little by little. Under his strict orders, the "Tiger Regiment" replenished the personnel of the reserve team, and then under the command of the regimental commander, under the cover of deep artillery fire, launched a night attack and counterattack.
The Kuomintang army took the initiative to launch a night attack, which is very rare in the history of the liberation war. That night, the enemy cut off our army's contact with the follow-up troops with fierce artillery fire, and then rushed to Dawangzhuang like a tide. Replacing the 58th Regiment and the 60th Regiment, the 59th Regiment of our army held their positions, fought bloody battles with the enemy and did not retreat.
But the enemy was repelled once and soon rushed up again, as many as 15 consecutive charge. In the end, the enemy's "tiger regiment" had run out, but our army had almost all of them.
By the morning of the 10th, the 59th Regiment, which had suffered complete casualties, could only temporarily withdraw from its position, and the Nationalist army recaptured Dawangzhuang at a high price. Before the enemy could catch his breath, our 59th and 60th regiments, together with the 46th Regiment of the 6th Column of Nakano, who had come to support, entered Dawangzhuang together.
And so the more brutal battle broke out. Survivors recalled that the bodies in the trenches and fortifications were stacked on top of each other, and the blood in the trenches soaked the legs of the pants.
At the last moment, Huang Wei personally ordered the transfer of a whole regiment from the 11th Division of the 18th Army, together with all the available troops of the 118th Division, and even the remaining forces of the corps headquarters, such as drivers, attendants, brothers, and grooms, to be handed over, and sun Zhujun, the commander of the "Tiger Regiment," organized a reserve to counterattack Dawangzhuang.
At the same time, the enemy also concentrated the mountain artillery, howitzers, and field artillery battalions of the 85th Army, and poured all its ammunition to bombard Dawangzhuang. After the shelling, the densely packed enemy launched a final desperate charge against our army.
And our Huaye 7th Column also sent the last reserve of the column, a fully loaded column headquarters guard company, and more than 150 brave soldiers pounced on the dying enemy without hesitation.
In the final collision, the "Tiger Regiment" was finally completely defeated by our army. At 8:00 p.m. on the 10th, Sun Zhujun, commander of the enemy's 33rd regiment, was beaten as the "commander of the light pole" and fled back to the division headquarters to report the news. However, there were only 17 guards left in the 7th Column of Huaye.
According to relevant statistics after the war, the enemy and us fought in the battle of Dawangzhuang and fought together to complete the formation of 7 regiments, and each casualty was as high as 5,000 people.
More than 10,000 people of the 23rd Division of the enemy's 85th Army stationed in nearby Xiaowangzhuang were frightened and scared after seeing this 27-hour bloody battle. They could no longer muster up a shred of fighting spirit.
Although the 46th Regiment of the 6th Column of Nakano, which was forcing them, was exhausted, a large number of enemies did not hesitate to lay down their weapons and obediently entered the prisoner-of-war camp of our army.
My "Luoyang Battalion" and "Xiangyang Battalion" worked together to take down the Jiangu Pile
After the collapse of the enemy in Dawangzhuang, on December 12, 1948, the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign issued the "Letter of Urging Huang Wei's Immediate Surrender", demanding that the encircled Kuomintang troops should no longer make fearless resistance, should cherish the lives of officers and men, lay down their weapons as soon as possible, and surrender to the People's Liberation Army.
However, although Huang Wei and Hu Lian felt that the encirclement circle of our army was getting smaller and smaller, they always felt that the troops could still fight, so they refused to surrender, trying to wait for the change and wait for reinforcements from the enemy on the southern front.
After Dawangzhuang was captured by the People's Liberation Army, Huang Wei's 12th Corps at that time was left with only the last commanding heights and barriers of Jiangudui. The Sharp Valley Pile is located on a small gentle slope, on the endless Huanghuai Plain, which is an extremely important commanding height.
Although the height here is only 25 meters, but control here, you can see the situation in the surrounding tens of miles, the enemy's artillery observation post is located here, defended by the enemy's "mighty regiment".
Our army had attacked this before, but the enemy fought back desperately under the cover of air force, tanks and artillery, and our army suffered heavy losses, so the superior finally decided to transfer the 3rd column of Huaye and the 6th column of Nakano to attack here.
After three days of forced marching, the 3rd Column arrived at the intended assembly site before dawn on 13 December. Subsequently, the commanders of the column, division, regiment, and battalion quickly went to the headquarters of the Nakano 6th Column to listen to briefings from the fraternal units.
Wang Jinshan, commander of the Nakano 6th Column, explained the situation in detail to Sun Jixian, commander of the Huaye 3rd Column, who had rushed to the scene. At this time, our army has been besieging the Huang Wei Corps for 10 days, and the enemy's peripheral positions have been completely occupied, but the enemy still refuses to wait and die, and wants to fight the trapped beasts.
In order to take out Huang Wei's last trump card, our army decided to attack the "Weiwu Regiment" with the 1st Battalion of the 23rd Regiment of the 3rd Column of Huaye, that is, the famous "Luoyang Battalion" and the 1st Battalion of the 49th Regiment of the 6th Column of Nakano, that is, the "Xiangyang Battalion".
Both the enemy and us are elite divisions, and this battle will determine the victory or defeat of the most crucial annihilation battle in the Battle of Huaihai.
On December 14, Huaye Chief of Staff Chen Shiqu commanded The 3rd Column and the 6th Column of Nakano launched an attack on the fortifications of the Kuomintang army group in the northeast of Shuangdui. The main spearhead of our army's attack was directed at the enemy's heavily fortified sharp valley piles.
In order to cover the smooth attack of the "Luoyang Battalion" and the "Xiangyang Battalion", Chen Shiqu specially formed an artillery group of 3 artillery companies of the 3rd Column Artillery Regiment and the artillery battalion of the 8th Division, which was specially used to directly support the assault on The Jiangudui.
In the evening of the 14th, our artillery began to shell the enemy fortifications to clear the way for the attacking troops. At the beginning of the dark, a signal bomb rose from the west side of the sharp valley pile, and the attack began!
The "Luoyang Battalion" preemptively launched an attack! After blasting the deer and barbed wire of the outer polder, the demolition team of my first echelon found that the polder was not too deep and the infantry could directly break through.
So the "Luoyang Battalion" immediately launched an attack. 1 platoon of the 1st Company directly attacked the enemy's core fortifications, the 3rd Platoon was responsible for attacking the Plum Blossom Fort on the flank of our army's impact line, and the 2nd Platoon followed as a reserve.
Sun Jiming, the instructor of the "Luoyang Battalion", followed closely behind with 2 companies. Seeing that the 1st Company had broken into the enemy's position, Sun Jiming immediately ordered the 2nd Company: "Comrades, follow me forward!" ”
However, the enemy at Meihua Fort in the right front fired sideways with fierce fire, blocking 2 companies and blocking the trench attack port facing the enemy's position. Our mortars then fired continuously at the enemy's Plum Blossom Fort, quickly suppressing the enemy's fire. But Instructor Sun was unfortunately shot and killed, and before he died, he still encouraged everyone: "Comrades, bravely advance and resolutely destroy the enemy!" ”
The 3 companies then entered the battle, attacking the enemy in the Plum Blossom Fort on the right front to ensure that the follow-up troops could enter the battle smoothly.
In the direction of the assault of the "Xiangyang Battalion", the battle also entered a white-hot situation, with projectiles fired by both sides and bayonets fighting each other, and the battle has been very fierce. The 1st Company of the Battalion was also served as the Sharp Knife Company.
After the 1st Company 3 Platoon tore open the breakthrough, it was immediately met with 2 counterattacks deployed by the enemy in the deep reserve, and although the enemy was eventually repelled, only 3 people were left in the 3 platoons. Fortunately, 2 consecutive 2 platoons followed up in time.
After repelling the enemy's counterattack. The troops of the "Xiangyang Battalion" attacked west along the south polder wall, and met with the 1st and 3rd platoons of the "Luoyang Battalion" 1 Company, and the two sides joined forces to tear the breakthrough points in the enemy's defense line larger and larger, and completely shook the enemy's entire defense system.
Which of the "mighty regiments" that are about to be destroyed will admit defeat? Huang Wei and Hu Lian personally sat in the headquarters of Pinggudui to direct the battle, and the two enemy chiefs desperately cheered their subordinates on the phone, and as far as possible, they threw all the troops they could collect into the battlefield of Jiangudui, which determined the life and death of the 12th Corps.
Under the pressure of the most senior commander, the enemy's ace showed a rare tenacity and madness. The enemy army, which is not good at white-knife warfare, has also launched white-knife counterattacks against our army many times, and even once severed the connection between my two heroic units in the counterattack. The enemy is also trying in vain to drive our army out of its position.
But our army calmly responded to the battle, not frightened by the temporary setback of the offensive, but stubbornly held every small position, never taking a step back! Everyone is brave and competes to be the first.
Everyone knows that if they draw more enemy forces and firepower to themselves, other fraternal units can better develop into the depth of the enemy. This position is the last barrier of the enemy corps headquarters, as long as it is captured, the end of the enemy will come!
Although under the personal supervision of the supreme commander of the enemy's 12th Corps and the 18th Army, the attack of the "Mighty Regiment" was higher than the round, the follow-up troops of our army continued to pour in from the breakthrough point torn open by the joint efforts of the "Luoyang Battalion" and the "Xiangyang Battalion," and soon suppressed the counterattacking enemy back.
While organizing a counterattack from the enemy, the 3 companies of the "Luoyang Battalion" continued to penetrate deep into the enemy and took down the regimental headquarters of the "Mighty Regiment" in one fell swoop. The enemy lost his direct command and morale collapsed, and some fled to the corps headquarters at Pinggudui, some surrendered in despair, and some wanted to blend in with the crowd and escape.
At this time, the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 23rd Regiment of Huaye also entered the battle. Zhang Ming, the battalion commander of the "Luoyang Battalion", immediately ordered the 9th Company to penetrate to the northwest to cut off the enemy's retreat that was trying to escape back to Pinggudui.
The 9th Company took advantage of the enemy's panic to penetrate the enemy's depths and rapidly, and soon cut off the connection between the enemy in the sharp valley pile and the flat valley pile. In less than a quarter of an hour, the task of breaking the enemy's retreat was completed, and 3 red signal flares were fired. Our artillery fire immediately extended deeper.
Seeing that the destruction was imminent, all the enemy commanders of the 12th Corps were all confused, and Yang Botao, commander of the 18th Army, personally commanded the special service battalion and the engineer battalion of the army, and organized the artillery that had finished firing shells to be used as infantry, trying to counterattack our army in order to retake the Jiangudui.
In repeated tug-of-war, the enemy finally exhausted all the assault power and collapsed! Morale collapsed, and the Kuomintang soldiers, who had no intention of fighting, fled like headless flies in the encirclement, running around the battlefield without direction. Our army is throwing at the enemy from all directions, and there is no way to escape the enemy.
After the Jiangudui was captured by our army, the headquarters of the 12th Corps, the howitzer position, the temporary airfield, the communication center and other important targets have all been exposed to our army's troops, and it is only a matter of time before they are destroyed.
Huang Wei, who jumped the wall in a hurry, gritted his teeth and organized the last remnants of the 12th Corps, including the guard battalion of the Corps Headquarters, and more than 1,000 personnel of the 14th Army who were still able to fight in the first battle, and gave them all to Yang Botao.
Yang Botao personally went to the front line to supervise the battle, and all officers who dared to retreat were shot on the spot. In the 3 days before the final collapse of the 12th Corps, Yang Botao actually shot and killed 4 regimental commanders!
But no amount of struggle could stop the powerful offensive of our army.
At 16:00 on the afternoon of December 15, our army launched a general attack on the 12th Corps. Cornered, Huang Wei and Hu Lian ordered their troops to blow up heavy weapons, radios, and heavy weights, and break through each other! Our army took advantage of the darkness of the night to launch a final encirclement and annihilation of the enemy at a time when the combat effectiveness of the enemy's air force, armored units and artillery was greatly reduced.
In the end, the 12th Corps was completely annihilated, and a large number of enemy officers and soldiers, including Huang Wei, were captured, winning the most crucial battle of the Battle of Huaihai! Thus laying the foundation for the victory of the decisive battle on the southern front!
Resources:
"Spark of Fire" Volume 10 --- "Smashing the Tiger Regiment with Two Fists"
History of the National Liberation War of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Vol. 4
"The Conquest of Chen Su's Army"