The "Armageddon" TV series is currently airing, so starting today, it is planned to talk about the Liberation War, especially the three decisive battles. Regarding this period of history, the "Armageddon" TV series began with the Chongqing negotiations, and I planned to start with the Battle of Jinan, because from the beginning of the Battle of Jinan, the Armageddon can be said to be the official beginning.
I. Why did the PEOPLE's Liberation Army fight the Battle of Jinan?
The Battle of Jinan was of great significance in the Liberation War.
first
Jinan's geographical location is crucial, it is an important hub of north-south transportation, there is Jiaoji Railway in the east and west, and there is Jinpu Railway in the north and south, which is a strategic place that can determine the trend of war;
second
After the surrender of Japan, although the Kuomintang army took over almost all the important cities and communication lines in Shandong, the People's Liberation Army controlled most of the rural areas and small towns, and its strength was not weaker than that of the Kuomintang army;
third
The Battle of Jinan is the first urban offensive battle launched by the People's Liberation Army, and if this campaign is successful, it will greatly enrich the PLA's experience in attacking tough battles and accumulate experience for the three major battles.
The picture shows Wang Yaowu, who was captured after the liberation of Jinan
Second, how did the CPC Central Committee and Mao Zedong deploy Jinan?
Mao Zedong's forward-looking strategic vision makes people have to admire. As far as playing Jinan is concerned, Mao Zedong has already arranged many good chess moves.
The first good chess hand is to arrange the two-line corps in advance.
The so-called two-line corps refers to the Eastern Front Corps and the Western Front Corps. The Western Front Corps was arranged when Liu Deng's army advanced thousands of miles into Dabie Mountain, commanded by Chen Yi and Su Yu, with a total of 8 columns, whose initial purpose was to cooperate with Liu Deng's army in southwest Lu. The Western Front Corps was commanded by Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin, with a total of three columns, mainly fighting in the Luzhong and Jiaodong areas, and by the end of 1947, the Eastern Front Corps had successively recovered Gaomi, Pingdu and other places, greatly expanding the scope of the Liberated Areas.
The second hand of chess is the "two major sports" in the Liberated Areas.
First, the land reform campaign was launched, the "Outline of China's Land Law" was promulgated, the peasants obtained land, and they strengthened their determination to follow the Communist Party, which became the strongest public opinion base of the PLA. Then a new-style army reorganization movement was organized, with complaints, three investigations, and mass military training as the main contents, which further awakened the enthusiasm of the masses and soldiers in combat, enhanced the army's actual combat capability, and the entire army's work style was eye-catching, and every soldier became a hungry wolf like Li Yunlong said.
A good third hand is to cut off the "blood vessels".
The main artery of Jinan City is the Jiaoji Railway and the Jinpu Railway, and once these two railways are cut off, Jinan, which is heavily surrounded by liberated areas, will become an "isolated city". How to cut off these two railways? Mao Zedong proposed
"Three steps"
: The first step is to cut off the western section of the Jiaoji Railway; the second step is to cut off the middle section of the Jiaoji Railway; and the third step is to cut off the middle section of the Jinpu Railway. Facts have proved that in the course of the subsequent battles, everything was advanced according to the established deployment, which further verified the correctness of Mao Zedong's strategic deployment. In the first step of the "three-step walk," that is, the battle on the western section of the Jiaoji Railway, the People's Liberation Army overcame many difficulties, marched in a hurry for seven consecutive days, and unexpectedly appeared near Zhoucun, where Wang Yaowu, commander of the Kuomintang army, chairman of the Shandong Provincial Government, and commander of the Second Appeasement District, slapped the table and scolded angrily: "Where did the communist army come from?!" Could it have fallen from the sky?! Hurry up and find out! In the face of the sudden attack of the People's Liberation Army, the Kuomintang army was ill-prepared, did not know how many people in the People's Liberation Army, nor did it know what the intentions of the People's Liberation Army were, fell into great panic and chaos, and the People's Liberation Army effortlessly completely annihilated the Kuomintang reorganized 32nd Division, and the division commander Zhou Qingxiang fled in panic and was finally shot by Jiang. After the victory of the first battle, Mao Zedong immediately made arrangements for the "second step" and attacked Weixian in the middle section of the Jiaoji Railway. Weixian was strongly defended at that time, the strength of the defenders was strong, guarded by Chen Jincheng, commander of the reorganized 96th Army, but because Weixian was surrounded by layers of liberated areas, it was actually an isolated city, and the military was very scattered, Jiang Telegraphed Chen Jincheng, asking him to "be sure to hold the position", Chen Jincheng knew that scattered operations could not take advantage of the PLA, so he ordered all the troops around the strongholds to shrink to Weixian City and engage in key defenses, and Xu Shiyou, who commanded the attack on Weixian County at that time, realized that this would bring great obstacles to the PLA siege, so he mobilized the troops before the battle. All the commanders and fighters of the People's Liberation Army were required to "make full preparations, not afraid of sacrifice, and pull out Weixian County."; all officers and men had a high morale, and after 25 days, they successfully laid siege to Weixian County, and the Kuomintang reorganized 96th Army was completely destroyed.
Wang Yaowu saw that the Jiaoji Railway was completely cut off, and realized that the next step of the People's Liberation Army was to take over the Jinpu Line, once the Jinpu Line was cut off, Jinan would become a real "lonely island", once it became an isolated island, then Jinan would definitely not be able to hold on. In order to prevent unnecessary casualties, Wang Yaowu immediately flew to Nanjing and suggested to Jiang that Jinan be abandoned and the main force retreated south. Jiang was greatly dissatisfied, reprimanded, and told Wang Yaowu, "Jinan must not be lost!" "There are three reasons: one is that Jinan is the provincial capital and it is not good to lose; second, Qingdao has the US Navy, and Jinan has lost the aid that affects the United States; the third is that the party and the state have an air force, even if the railways are broken, they can also be transported by air. At the same time, Jiang promised Wang Yaowu: "If Jinan is besieged, I will definitely personally come forward and urge the reinforcements to rush to reinforcements!" Wang Yaowu flew back to Jinan in desperation, and slapped the table in anger, because Jiang's orders must be obeyed, but the promises made have always been difficult to achieve, the so-called reinforcements generally cannot be arrived on time, and Wang Yaowu knows that he can only defend Jinan with his own strength.
Soon, the People's Liberation Army began to implement the "third step", that is, to cut off the southern section of the Jinpu Line, and to cut off the southern section of the Jinpu Line, it was necessary to lay down Yanzhou. Yanzhou was not Wang Yaowu's defensive zone, and this part was defended by Li Yutang, the commander of the Tenth Appeasement District. On July 7, the People's Liberation Army began to attack Yanzhou, and by the 12th, Yanzhou was successfully taken by the People's Liberation Army, annihilating more than 60,000 enemy troops, and Li Yutang fled in disguise. None of Chiang's so-called reinforcements came.
The picture shows the liberation of Jinan City
Third, the general offensive - the liberation of Jinan
Everything was ready, and the attack on jinan city was officially put on the agenda. Attacking Jinan faced several very great difficulties, one was that the city of Jinan was fortified, and the Platon Army basically had no experience in attacking strong points; second, even if Jinan was easy to fight, it was necessary to guard against the front and rear attacks of the Kuomintang army, and when the People's Liberation Army attacked Jinan City on a large scale, in case the Kuomintang troops stationed in Xuzhou came to the aid in a big way, the Platon Army would suffer from the enemy on its back.
After several considerations, Mao Zedong decided to attach equal importance to capturing Jinan and blocking the Kuomintang reinforcements, and to "attack Jinan with the majority of troops and Attack Jinan with a small number of troops."At the same time, he told Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin, who commanded the front line: "Under the premise of following the overall operational deployment, you will let go of command, and the Party Central Committee will not interfere too much." Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin decided to attack Jinan with 140,000 troops and block reinforcements with 180,000 troops.
What is Jiang doing at this moment? Constantly changing my mind. Wang Yaowu was well aware of Chiang Kai-shek's fickleness, lest the reinforcements he had won before would not be in place, so he repeatedly asked Jiang to "quickly send the air force to transport troops to Jinan." In desperation, Jiang ordered Liu Zhi of Xuzhou to airlift the reorganized 83rd Division to Jinan within ten days. Not surprisingly, Wang Yaowu slapped the table again in anger. This is why Chiang Kai-shek lacked the firmness and boldness that a military commander should have, and the great reason for the defeat of the war should be blamed on him.
The picture shows Liu Zhi
Shortly after the siege began, Wu Huawen, commander of the Reorganized 96th Army of the Kuomintang Army, led an uprising, because as a non-concubine central army, it was repeatedly sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder, so it revolted in anger. Wu Huawen's uprising demoralized Wang Yaowu, and he once again suggested that Jiang abandon Jinan and break through to the north, while Jiang, as always, demanded to "stick to the rescue", and unsurprisingly, until the liberation of Jinan, there was not a single reinforcement. On September 24, in just 8 days, the People's Liberation Army attacked Jinan, and Wang Yaowu tried to escape in disguise and was captured by the People's Liberation Army, annihilating nearly 110,000 defenders in this battle.
Where are the reinforcements that Chiang promised? Huang Baitao's rescue corps did not even assemble until the city of Jinan was broken, Qiu Qingquan's rescue corps could only walk more than ten kilometers a day under the obstruction of Su Yu, and when Jinan was liberated, the Qiu Corps was still far away from Jinan.
Iv. How significant is the Jinan Campaign?
After the Battle of Jinan, the liberated areas in northern China were almost contiguous, while the Kuomintang-controlled northeast region and the Xuzhou region were completely separated, and the northeast had become an isolated island, and Pingjin had also become an isolated island, laying a solid foundation for the PLA to annihilate the enemy's living forces in the three major battles. After the Battle of Jinan, as Chen Cheng said, "the rivers are falling day by day, the waves are falling, and there is no way to recover them." After Jiang learned of the fall of Jinan, he said that he was "faceless and deeply guilty."