Disclaimer: Wu Xuehua's original works
In May 1947, the kuomintang's reorganized 74th Division, due to the deep penetration of the lone army, was surrounded by more than 100,000 troops of Huaye commanded by Su Yu, and Zhang Lingfu pulled the troops to Meng Lianggu in order to blossom in a center.
According to the situation at that time, Tang Enbo, commander of the 1st Corps, commanded more than 100,000 national troops under his command, relying on American equipment, to fight a decisive battle with Huaye, with the intention of driving Huaye out of Shandong.
Facing the aggressiveness of the Nationalist army, Su Yu calmly analyzed and made a strategy of retreating first and then seeking opportunities to annihilate. Therefore, under the crazy attack of the Nationalist army, Hua Ye continuously lost Laiwu, Mengyin, Heyang and other places to avoid the nationalist army's sharp edge. For this reason, some of Hua Ye's generals believed that Su Yu had committed "escapism" and complained quite a bit, and many people said cool things behind their backs, but Chen Yi resolutely stood in Su Yu's front, maintained Su Yu's majesty, and blocked the mighty and evil atmosphere.
Finally, su Yu's bitterly awaited opportunity came, and Zhang Lingfu, because of his dedication to meritorious service, ventured forward alone, and pulled away from the other nationalist troops who fought in coordination with each other for tens of miles. It was these tens of miles that became the key to the Battle of Meng Lianggu.
Su Yu believed that as long as he gnawed down the hard bone of the 74th Division, he could effectively deter other Nationalist troops and not chase after Hua Ye's ass. But how to nibble has become a big problem.
The reorganized 74th Division has more than 30,000 people, and although it is the establishment of one division, the number of personnel is that of an army. It consists of 3 brigades and 6 regiments, equipped with 12 105 mm howitzers, 54 75 mm mountain guns, 36 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, 96 81 mm mortars, 108 60 mm mortars, 36 bazookas, 54 flamethrowers and 108 heavy machine guns. In addition, there were 1,080 7.62 mm 1918A2 light machine guns, 2,400 9 mm American M1 Thomson submachine guns and Canadian Stearing carbines, 4,800 7.62 mm M1903A1 Springfield rifles, and officers armed with 9 mm Browning M1911A1 pistols. The wireless telegraph is equipped with a total of about 300 motor vehicles and 1,000 mules and horses.
The 74th Division is the elite of the National Army, the ace of the aces, the combat ability is very strong, before Huaye's 6 columns, in Lianshui suffered a big loss of the 74th Division. The commander of the column, Wang Bicheng, had been grumbling about this matter, thinking about how to find Zhang Lingfu and save face.
On the issue of how to eat Zhang Lingfu, Su Yu was very cautious, and he also knew that once Hua Ye and Zhang Lingfu became entangled, other Nationalist troops flocked to him, and Hua Ye could not eat and walk. Therefore, Su Yu adopted the strategy of enticing the enemy to go deeper, took advantage of Zhang Lingfu's arrogance, and used part of the army of the 1st column and the 8th column to retreat while fighting, and gradually introduced the 74th Division into the encirclement.
In the deployment of the entire campaign, Su Yu opened up his old roots and ordered the 1st Column (Ye Fei), the 4th Column (Tao Yong), the 6th Column (Wang Bicheng), the 8th Column (Wang Jian'an), and the 9th Column (Xu Shiyou) to serve as the attack; the 2nd Column (Wei Guoqing), the 3rd Column (He Yixiang), the 7th Column (Cheng Jun), and the 10th Column (Song Shilun) as the task of blocking the attack.
In order to prevent the enemy from reinforcing, Su Yu also transferred some troops from the 1st, 6th, and 8th columns to strengthen reinforcements.
Su Yu's trick to close the door and hit the dog was used very well. But he also knows that there is a lot of pressure, and there is no score in his heart about how many chances there are. According to his estimation, being able to cripple the 74th Division would be considered a victory.
But what did not make Su Yu think was that Zhang Lingfu was very cooperative with his strategic intentions, and when facing Hua Ye's attack, he did not desperately break through, rushed out of the encirclement, and actually took the initiative to pull the army to Meng Lianggu.
Because the terrain of Meng Lianggu was too steep, the 74th Division could not pull up heavy weapons and cannons, and a large amount of ammunition was too late to be transported, which became Huaye's booty. Hua Ye's troops set up their cannons and slammed them into the mountains.
After Su Yu received the information, he also guessed Zhang Lingfu's intentions, in front of several large armies around the nationalist army, the 74th Division was willing to become the bait to lure Hua Ye, the purpose was very clear, and the next move was to go through the net.
Whether Hua Ye will be hooked or not, whether he can become the fish in the net of the national army, depends on the ability of the 74th Division.
I have to say that Zhang Lingfu's plan to blossom in this center is still very perfect, Hua Ye has indeed been hooked, and several columns have surrounded him, but he has completely ignored one thing while he is happy: the coordinated combat ability of the national army.
Although he also knew that the generals of the nationalist army were suspicious of each other, many times fighting wars was completely acting. But he believed in Commander Tang and president Jiang. He thought that as long as he persisted for three days, the nationalist army would rush up, bite Huaye tightly, and launch a big showdown with Huaye. But once again he miscalculated the situation and underestimated his opponent Su Yu.
Zhang Lingfu stood on Meng Lianggu and confidently communicated directly with President Jiang and Commander Tang, saying that he had attracted Su Yu's army and looked forward to the rest of the army quickly surrounding him.
The decisive battle between Huaye and the 74th Division began on May 14, with the 9th Column preemptively capturing the Diaowo located on the east side of Menglianggu and Lushan, while Wang Jian'an's 8th Vertical Lushan and Wanquan Mountains launched an attack, day and night fierce fighting, with Ligou, Shiwangya, and Dalaoyu in the north, Fengjiazhuang, Dayian, 285, and 330 in the west, Hongshan and 520 in the south, and Huaye's 1st, 4th, and 6th Columns also successively launched arduous mountain offensives against the outer positions of the 74th Division.
The mountain of Menglianggu is steep, the main peak is above 500 meters above sea level, the rock is heavy, the soil is hard, and it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The casualties of all the departments of Huaye were very large.
Under the supervision of Chiang Kai-shek and Tang Enbo, the reorganized 11th Division in Xintai, the 65th Reorganized Division in Mengyin, the 25th Reorganized Division in Taoxu, the Reorganized 83rd Division at Qingtuo Temple, the 7th Army and the Reorganized 48th Division in Heyang and Tangtou quickly moved closer to menglianggu. In addition, the 5th Army in Laiwu was also transferred to the south, and the reorganized 20th Division of Dawenkou advanced towards Mengyin.
This move of Chiang Kai-shek is indeed fierce enough.
The 74th Division began to fight desperately, they took the attack as a defense, and the entire company and the whole battalion of troops counterattacked Huaye, and the casualties of Huaye's several columns were getting bigger and bigger.
Several columns of Huaye fought with the 74th Division inch by inch, and just after taking a high ground, they were evaded by the 74th Division's counter-charge, and every time the two sides competed for a hill and a high port, they were repeatedly robbed, and the blood formed a layer of reddish-brown blood mud on the ground.
The "History of the Third Field Army" records that "every gram of the East China Field Army often passes through several or dozens of charges, and repeatedly fights until the short soldiers meet and the bayonets are red." The intensity of the war was rare since the Liberation War. ”
The commander and fighter of the 4th Column who served as a frontal attack cried out to commander Tao Yong: The casualties were too great to fight anymore.
Tao Yong ordered emphatically: No! Be sure to fight, and the remaining one must fight too!
The 9th Column, which was responsible for attacking the northeast of Meng Lianggu, also encountered a fierce attack from the 74th Division. Xu Shiyou watched from the telescope as groups of warriors fell, and his eyes were red. Where did he fight such a fierce battle since the Red Army?
In the face of Xu Shiyou's request, Chen Yi said on the phone: Now we must take down Meng Lianggu at all costs, you will fight a thousand, I will give you a thousand, I will give you a thousand, I will make up two thousand. Whoever attacks Meng Lianggu is a hero.
Ye Fei, commander of the 1st Column, was given the order: Don't be afraid when the column is exhausted. As long as you take down Meng Lianggu, I will give you additional personnel and horses, and restore the number.
According to Su Yu's plan, it must be taken by the early morning of the 15th at the latest, and if it cannot be taken, it must be considered how to evacuate.
But the battle was fought until noon on the 15th, and it was still deadlocked. Several nationalist troops on the periphery also surrounded the troops who came up, and Hua Ye was responsible for blocking the attack, using blood to buy time for the troops besieging Meng Lianggu. For every hour the battle dragged on, thousands of good boys fell.
When the battle came to this point, Su Yu knew very well that although Hua Ye was very bitter, the 74th Division was even more bitter than them, and Meng Lianggu did not even have a drop of water on it, and the heavy machine gun was dumb when it was beaten.
In this case, whoever survives will win.
Hua Ye's orders to the columns were still: do whatever it takes.
Zhang Lingfu's plan was actually perfect, and he thought that he only needed to stay up for three days.
Unfortunately, Su Yu did not give him a chance to breathe, the orders of the general offensive were followed one after the other, from the first general offensive in the early morning of the 15th did not break the 74th Division's defense line, and at 1 and 3 p.m., Hua Ye launched the second and third general offensives in a row.
In order to cooperate with the operations of the 74th Division, the Kuomintang air force at xuzhou and Jinan airfields took off and landed frequently and flew over Menglianggu to help the troops, but the positions on both sides of the ground were already in a state of staggered teeth in the fierce battle, and the strong mountain wind was erratic, coupled with the fact that the air-to-air radio of the 74th Division's headquarters was blown up in the previous battle, and it was impossible to conduct air communication. They can only yell at the sky.
By the afternoon of the 15th, in addition to the reorganized 25th Division and the 83rd Division on both wings of the 74th Division, and the 65th Division in Mengyin, the reinforcements on the outskirts of the Kuomintang Army had successively marched in the direction of Menglianggu, and Hu Lian's reorganized 11th Division had rushed south from Xintai to the south, advancing to the Baima Mountain and Fangshan line north of Mengyin, engaging the 3rd Column of Huaye, which was blocking the reinforcements; the 5th Army of Qiu Qingquan, another ace army, had also moved to Xintai, less than a day's journey away from Menglianggu; the 64th Division had reached Qingtuo Temple, and the 9th Division had advanced only about 5 kilometers west of Menglianggu The 7th Army and the reorganized 48th Division entered and exited at Wushentang and Hezhuang. Such a large battle seems to be extremely dangerous to HuaYe, if the core of the 74th Division cannot be quickly destroyed, the battle is bound to drag on, and once the reinforcements are pressed on all sides, the outcome is really unpredictable.
As a commander, Su Yu also felt how heavy the burden on his shoulders was, and he had only one belief in his heart: to quickly take down the 74th Division.
By the dusk of the 15th, Zhang Lingfu could not survive the battle, the 74th Division had been consumed continuously, the grain had long been unsustainable, there was no water to drink under the scorching sun, the physical strength of the officers and men was close to the limit in the fierce battle, and the positions conveyed to each other emergency methods to deal with hunger and thirst: killing livestock, drinking horse blood, drinking human urine...
The most difficult thing is that there is very little ammunition left.
At more than 10 o'clock in the evening of the 15th, Chen Yi called Ye Fei again: the enemy's 9th Division and 11th Division were close to Mengyin, the 5th Army had reached Xintai, and the entire 64th Division had reached qingtuo Temple. If the 74th Division is not completely annihilated by dawn tomorrow (16th), our army will be surrounded by the enemy.
Having said all this, what hesitation is there?
At 1:00 a.m., another general offensive began.
At eight o'clock in the morning of the 16th, Zhang Lingfu's side was only a few hundred people left, facing the Huaye attacking warriors who were spreading over the mountains, he was desperate, he had stayed up for three days as planned, but where were the large armies of the nationalist army?
Tang Enbo was well aware of the importance that Chiang Kai-shek attached to the 74th Division and Zhang Lingfu, and could not save the 74th Division; as the commander of the corps, he could not blame him; he called the various departments again in the morning, and the tone of the telegram was almost pleading: My division Zhang Lingfu has been stubbornly guarding Menglianggu for days, fighting alone and fighting bitterly, and is in a difficult situation; I have been ordered to assist all the troops, and we must act boldly, desperately, attack in the starry night, break the encirclement of the bandit army, and save the robe from danger, so as to carry forward the supreme martial virtue and glory of our revolutionary army's dear and sincere sincerity; if there are those who linger and do not see danger, they are by no means tolerated by my comrades , also Enbo can not bear to say also.
Under the repeated urging of Chiang Kai-shek, Gu Zhutong, and Tang Enbo, the belated reinforcements stepped up their offensive against the 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 10th columns of Huaye, who were acting as reinforcements.
Zhang Lingfu was still commanding the remnants of the 74th Division to resist to the death, but after all, the officers and men suffered serious casualties, the firepower was sharply reduced due to lack of ammunition, and the 74th Division was already at the end of the crossbow, and it was difficult to withstand the surging Huaye offensive.
At 10:00 a.m., Zhang Lingfu, in desperation, organized a breakout, but was quickly beaten back by HuaYe's troops.
After staying up until 3 p.m., Zhang Lingfu's guard battalion suffered casualties, the division headquarters lost contact with all the brigades and regiments, Huaye's artillery fire had already penetrated into the cave, and only less than 20 staff officers and servicemen remained on the position to persist in fighting.
There were only two paths before Zhang Lingfu: death and captivity.
At dusk on the 16th, Zhang Lingfu shot himself after sending a final telegram to Chiang Kai-shek.
Since then, the Battle of Menglianggu has come to an end. Hua Ye, the big fish, not only successfully ate the bait, but also got rid of the hook.
Dramatically, at the time of Zhang Lingfu's suicide, the nearest rescue force was less than three kilometers away. One of the reasons for the 74th Division's loss was the lack of water, but on the third day after his death, a heavy rainstorm fell on Meng Lianggu.
Heaven was mocking him.
From a tactical point of view, the tactics of "combining inside and outside" and "blossoming in the center" are perfect, but why did Zhang Lingfu lose? In addition to his arrogant nature, which offended many colleagues, caused others to see death and not save, and were all doing dramas to show Chiang Kai-shek, in fact, to see his jokes, there was another key reason, that is, he wanted face when he died.
On the morning of the 15th, after huaye's first general offensive, he and Qiu Qingquan passed a telegram, and Qiu Qingquan persuaded him to break through and send the 25th Division to meet him. At that time, if Zhang Lingfu broke through with a single blow, he would still be able to escape. However, he had already reported his plan to Chiang Kai-shek, and if he broke out, he would not be able to raise his head in front of other generals in the future. Therefore, no matter how bad the situation is, he must survive to the death.
Sun Tongsheng, commander of the 73rd Regiment of the 25th Division of the 9th Column of Huaye, who witnessed the Battle of Menglianggu, could not help but sigh when looking back on that period of history: The combat effectiveness of the Chiang Kai-shek Army that our regiment fought did not exceed that of the 74th Division, and was stronger than that of the reorganized 11th Division and the 5th Army, and was worthy of Chiang Kai-shek's 'Imperial Forest Army'.
Meng Lianggu was only 1.5 square kilometers, but the remains of tens of thousands of heroic warriors lay down. Behind each body were the tears of their mothers, wives and children, and the victory was not easy to come by.