On August 15, 1945, the Japanese Emperor announced his surrender to the world. On September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri moored in Tokyo Bay, Japanese Foreign Minister Aoi Shigemitsu and Army Chief of Staff Yoshijiro Umezu signed the instrument of surrender. After years of war of resistance, foreign insults surrendered, and the people of the whole country rejoiced.
In October 1945, in order to prevent civil war and build China peacefully, the Communist delegation headed by Chairman Mao held peace talks with the Kuomintang delegation with the greatest sincerity and signed the Double Tenth Agreement. Soon after, Chiang Kai-shek tore up this agreement. With the support of the United States, the Kuomintang quickly transported troops to North China, Northeast China, and the Central Plains to seize urban jurisdiction and strategic materials. In addition, Chiang Kai-shek's government secretly instructed the Japanese army not to surrender and hand over materials to the communist army, and instructed the puppet army to occupy various strongholds and stubbornly resist, waiting for the Kuomintang troops to enter and prepare for provoking a civil war.
In this context, the Japanese army in Gaoyou actually dragged on until December and did not surrender! After 14 years of fighting the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Japan killed my compatriots and committed a deep sin, but at this time Chiang Kai-shek wore a pair of pants with the Japanese Kou, which was simply slippery in the world!
Gaoyou stationed more than 1,000 Japanese troops, more than 5,000 puppet troops, and the city walls are tall and strong, surrounded by rivers and lakes, the Japanese army has been painstakingly operating here for many years, and the fortifications are complete. As for the Japanese army of Gaoyou, our New Fourth Army has long issued an ultimatum for surrender within a time limit, but they have ignored the dangerous city and heavy troops in their hands, and have also shouted: Only surrender their weapons to the National Government, and the New Fourth Army is not qualified to surrender! This was not enough, the Japanese army also went out of the city to attack the New Fourth Army, in an attempt to cooperate with the Kuomintang army in attacking the liberated areas of northern Jiangsu and achieve the goal of tearing apart the liberated areas of central China.
As for the devil's upside-down donkey not to fall, Su Yu was furious when he heard the news: Is there any reason for this, pull it out! Su Yu personally deployed and mobilized before the war, ordering the siege of the outlying strongholds to be destroyed first, and then carried out a general attack. In terms of logistics, the people enthusiastically supported, dispatching 15,000 migrant workers and more than 500 civilian boats to transport ammunition, grain and other materials; in addition to organizing logistics work, local organs also carried out secret reconnaissance of enemy fortifications and firepower, and organized more than 3,000 militia to participate in the battle.
Late on the night of December 19, the 6th, 7th, and 8th columns of the Central China Field Army pointed directly at Gaoyou in three ways. Su Yu ordered his troops to attack from the east, west, and north, only to "open the net" to the south. At noon the next day, the enemy desperately broke through to the south, and was surrounded and annihilated by the 7 columns and one unit that had long been ambushed; when sweeping the outer strongholds, the remaining Pure Land Pagoda Temple was very strong and fierce, and the soldiers relied on the tried and tested "earth tanks" made of square tables and wet quilts to gradually advance, cutting off the supply between the tower and Gaoyou, and the artillery bombarded uninterruptedly, and finally took down, and the outer strongholds were all cleared. On the 21st, the Japanese army organized forces to desperately attack the blockade line of our army in an attempt to open the gap, and the casualties were heavy and ineffective.
After that, the remaining Japanese puppet army shrank into the city, no longer leaving the city, but reinforcing the fortifications, using machine guns and artillery to shoot at our army. Su Yu commanded his troops to use sacks of soil, and set up machine guns on them after building a high platform to shoot at the enemy to defuse the geographical disadvantage.
During the confrontation, our army used loudspeakers to continuously play the Japanese Emperor's surrender edicts, and also played Japanese songs, and used bows and arrows, mortars, and kites to scatter a large number of leaflets into the city. Homesick songs and leaflets in the sky made the Japanese army in the city restless, and played a great role in breaking the enemy's fighting spirit.
On the 25th, 3 regiments of the New Fourth Army launched a general attack on Gaoyou in 3 ways, and the artillery violently bombarded the city, and the soldiers set up a ladder to enter the city from the opening, and grenades kept throwing out. The few warriors who entered the city first fought with the enemy with bayonets. After most of them broke into the city, the warriors continued to intersperse and detour, clearing the bunkers and fire points in the city, and engaged in fierce street battles with the enemy. On the 26th, the Japanese command was completely surrounded, and the rampant Japanese commander Iwasaki Daisaku still intended to resist, and our army immediately said: Lay down your weapons, otherwise all will be destroyed! In the event of surrender, it will be treated in accordance with the policy of captivity.
Seeing that the tide was gone, Iwasaki finally bowed his head and accepted the surrender ceremony of our army, which was also the last surrender ceremony of the Japanese army on Chinese soil. Interestingly, General Su Yu quietly mixed in the crowd of the surrender ceremony to watch, and on the third day, Iwasaki knew about it, and only then did he respectfully present the battle knife to General Su Yu.
Chairman Mao's remark that "the barrel of a gun comes out of power" is true, and even the Japanese army, which was ordered to surrender, would not be willing to be convinced and disarm even if it did not face the blow.
In this battle, our army completely annihilated more than 1,100 Japanese troops, more than 4,000 puppet troops (including prisoners), and captured more than 80 artillery pieces of various kinds and more than 6,000 guns. The main significance of the Gaoyou Campaign was to crush the Kuomintang's attempt to capture the Liberated Areas of Suwan and Anhui, so that the central Jiangsu, northern Jiangsu, Huainan, and Huaibei regions were completely connected, and provided the soil for the subsequent General Su Yu to create a brilliant "seven battles and seven victories."