Welcome to Shiyuan History Column No. 2381. The main forces of our army in the late stage of the Liberation War, including the four major field armies plus the field troops of the North China Military Region, were also known as the "five major field armies" in the civilian population. However, in addition to these five strategic armies, in the first half of 1948, another field army was almost born, that is, the "Southeast Field Army". Perhaps many friends have not heard of the name of this unit, but it did appear in the decision-making of the central government, and there was a serious discussion, and it was not until May 1948 that the plan was temporarily cancelled. What's going on?
It turned out that after entering 1948, our army had gradually turned back from defending to attacking on the northern battlefield, and began to grasp the initiative on the battlefield, and the nationalist army was restrained everywhere and passively defended the major cities. According to the chairman's bold strategic concept, it is hoped that a powerful strategic force will go deep into the area south of the Yangtze River, especially in the fujian, Zhejiang, and Gansu areas, attack and threaten the core areas of the kuomintang area, further establish the superiority of the national battlefield, and thus accelerate the process of liberation. This idea was also influenced by the successful practice of advancing into Dabie Mountain and the glyph layout in 1947, and in January 1948, the chairman decided to establish the "Southeast Field Army".
This southeast field army, which was planned in the early stage to cross the river as a field regiment, consisted of three main forces, namely, the first column, the fourth column, and the sixth column of the East China Field Army, that is, the three ace main forces of Huaye, Ye Fei Column, Tao Yong Column, and Wang Bicheng Column, which were historically known as the "Ye Wang Tao" under Commander Su, and could be called the main force in the main force of the East China Field Army. They formed a corps, as the backbone of the Southeast Field Army, which undoubtedly has strong combat capabilities and is expected to quickly gain a foothold in the new battlefield.
In the planning of the Central Military Commission, the commander of the Southeast Field Army is still the commander of Huaye, Mr. Chen Lao, and at the same time concurrently serves as the political commissar of the field army. Of course, from the composition of the troops, it can also be seen that the actual commander who is really responsible for crossing the river and conducting military command and attacking the Kuomintang army is Commander Su. Because "Ye Wangtao" himself was the most effective three-member cadre general of Commander Su, with their cooperation, Commander Su commanded Huaye in the first half of the War of Liberation and achieved a large number of victories, effectively annihilating the enemy's living forces in East China, including many elite units such as the reorganized 74th Division. Therefore, after the central government decided to establish the Southeast Field Army, it directly communicated with Commander Su on relevant matters, nominally commanded by General Chen Lao, and it was Commander Su who was really responsible for implementation.
If so, why didn't the planned Southeast Field Army end up landing? It was precisely because the key figure, Commander Su, opposed this plan. He held that the time for the troops to cross the river was not ripe enough, and if the troops of the East China Field Army were dispersed and the three main forces were placed in Jiangnan, it would not only be impossible to achieve substantial strike results, but it would also be possible to weaken the military strength in the north of the river, miss the large-scale decisive battle that might break out in the central plains, and make the war situation passive. In the deduction of Commander Su, in 1948, a frontal decisive battle with the Kuomintang army would break out in the Central Plains and East China. In fact, this is indeed the case: in 1948, the Battle of Eastern Henan, the Battle of Jinan and the Battle of Huaihai broke out successively, and the East China Field Army annihilated hundreds of thousands of the enemy's main troops, initially laying the foundation for victory in the Liberation War.
Based on the above analysis and judgment, Commander Su "dared to go straight to Chen" and repeatedly expressed to the Central Military Commission his intention to temporarily postpone the crossing of the river, hoping to first concentrate huaye's main forces to complete the great battle in the north of the river, and then Xu Tu marched south. At first, the chairman disagreed with such a proposal and still urged Commander Su to speed up the construction of the Southeast Field Army, but at the repeated insistence of Hua Yeji, the chairman summoned two generals, Chen and Su, in April 1948. Before meeting the chairman, Mr. Chen was still a little worried, worried that Commander Su's insistence on his own opinion would make the chairman dissatisfied. However, Commander Su did not think so, and always believed that it was correct to concentrate Huaye's main forces in Jiangbei. In the end, Commander Su's superb military insights impressed the chairman, and after his patient explanation and analysis, the chairman agreed not to form the Southeast Field Army for the time being. It was for this reason that until the end of the Liberation War, this planned strategic army was not formed.
Commander Su is a famous military figure in the history of the People's Liberation Army; his battlefield exploits in the War of Liberation are rarely comparable to those of a general; he has a calm ability to analyze the war situation and a superb strategic vision; he seeks truth from facts; he does not simply pander to and implement the decisions of the central authorities, but is able to make suggestions to the Central Military Commission in light of his own experience and judgment, and does not shy away from disagreements with the central leaders in the slightest. This is a highly responsible performance, and it is also the point that the chairman admires Commander Su the most, and his ability and quality are impressive.
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