On January 16, 1948, Xiao Yongyin led the 6th Column 18th Brigade to the area of Wangjiadian in Hubei Province, and after many days of rapid marching, the troops finally got rid of the pursuit of the Kuomintang reorganized 28th Division, but they were also very tired. Xiao Yongyin decided to rest here for one night and march again the next day, and he set up his headquarters on the hillside to the south, while the brigade political department, the ministry of health, and the stretcher team went into the town to rest.
At ten o'clock in the middle of the night, suddenly there was a loud gunshot around him, Xiao Yongyin grabbed his gun and jumped up from the bed and ran out to check the enemy's situation, at this time the company commander who was on a vigilance mission ran back to report that the enemy had come up from all sides, and the vanguard troops were less than two kilometers away from the brigade headquarters. Xiao Yongyin was puzzled after hearing this, and the reconnaissance report said that the enemy's reorganized 28th Division had been left far behind, and it was at least three or four days away. So where did this enemy come from now?
It turned out that this enemy was not the reorganized 28th Division, but the reorganized 11th Division led by Hu Lian, who discovered that Xiao Yongyin was purely accidental, and his troops were carrying out their missions through Dawu County. The plainclothes reconnaissance team, who was serving as a vanguard, inadvertently discovered that there was a unit stationed in Wangjiadian, and the contact found that there were no friendly troops stationed here, so Hu Lian determined that it was a Platon army unit and a lone army.
Known for his shrewdness and prudence in fighting, Hu Lian did not attack during the day, but quietly sent troops to surround Wangjiadian and launched a surprise attack in the middle of the night. At that time, Xiao Yongyin only had 5 battalions of troops around him, but Hu Lian's reorganized 11th Division had tens of thousands of people, coupled with the haste of the incident, our army was not prepared, so at the beginning of the battle, our 18th Brigade was in a disadvantageous position, Xiao Yongyin sent the guards to the company, and failed to block the enemy's attack.
At this time, the situation was very unfavorable to our 18th Brigade, and if we did not break through, there was a danger that the entire army would be destroyed, but once the troops broke through, the brigade political department and health department left in the town would be very dangerous. However, to rescue them, there were not enough troops, and finally Xiao Yongyin made a painful decision: to lose the car and protect the marshal.
He personally led the main force to kill a bloody road from the enemy army and broke through, while the brigade headquarters and health department and more than 300 stretcher teams remaining in the town were eventually captured by the enemy. Hu Lian also personally lectured them: "Brigadier Xiao Yongyin, who was originally going to arrest you, ran fast, and ran slowly and caught him." ”
In the battle of Wangjiadian, Hu Lian killed one of Xiao Yongyin's brigade headquarters by sneaking attack, and Wang Jinshan, the commander of the 6th Column who was recuperating from injuries, was furious when he heard that, the 6th Column had never suffered such a big loss, and they were all holding their breath to seek revenge on Hu Lian, and soon they found an opportunity.
Less than a year later, Hu Lian and his 18th Army were surrounded by Nakano in a double pile, the 6th Column was one of the main columns participating in the siege, and there was no need to mobilize to fight Hu Lian, Xiao Yongyin personally led the 18th Brigade to annihilate Hu Lian's ace 52nd Regiment in the Battle of Li Tulou, and then Wang Jinshan commanded the 6th Column and the brother troops to completely annihilate Hu Lian's 18th Army.