The reorganized 74th Division, also known as the 74th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, which was the number one main force of the Nationalist Army during the Liberation War, was completely annihilated by the Huaye Army in 1947, and it caused a great shock within the Kuomintang army at that time. However, Chiang Kai-shek was not willing to accept defeat and ordered Wang Yaowu to reorganize the reorganized 74th Division.
The reorganized 74th Division was not completely annihilated, and at that time there were still three new recruit teaching regiments left in the rear to rest, and Wang Yaowu used these three new soldiers teaching regiments and a howitzer battalion to form the 51st Brigade, which was reorganized into the 57th Brigade with the Second Shandong Garrison Brigade and the 58th Brigade from the Guangdong Aviation Garrison Brigade. In January 1948, the reorganized 74th Division was rebuilt and included in the Ministry of National Defense. Qiu Weida, the commander of the newly formed reorganized 74th Division, was also an old classmate of Zhang Lingfu in the huangpu fourth phase and an old subordinate of Wang Yaowu.
In March 1948, the Central Plains Field Army, which had just emerged from Dabie Mountain, was seriously short of heavy weapons, the supply of equipment was seriously insufficient, and morale was very low. In this case, the Central Plains Field Army continued to fight a victorious battle to boost morale, and they first took a fancy to the Kuomintang Army's Chen Zhen Corps, but was slipped away by it, and in this case, Nakano took a fancy to the 58th Brigade of the reorganized 74th Division stationed in Fuyang, Anhui. The 58th Brigade of the reorganized 74th Division, with more than 9,000 people and fully armored and equipped, played a shameful slogan when they learned that Nakano was coming to fight.
In order to eliminate this unit, the First Column, the Second Column, the Third Column, the Sixth Column, and the 11th Column of the Central Plains Field Army all went out, and the East China Field Army also sent ten columns to reinforce. The main offensive units of the People's Liberation Army are mainly composed of the 1st Column and the 11th Column, as well as the Independent Brigade of the Yuwan Soviet Military Region, which attacks The East Pass and the South Pass in the First Column, the North Pass in the 11th Column, and the Independent Brigade attacks the West Pass. The walls of Fuyang were tall and not easy to fight, and Nakano lacked the heavy weapons needed to attack the strongholds, so the battle was very passive at the beginning.
On 29 March, the 59th Regiment of the 1st Column 20th Brigade took the lead in attacking, annihilating a company in the outer positions of the 58th Brigade, but was immediately counter-attacked by the 58th Brigade and suffered heavy losses. On the 30th, the 58th Regiment sent a sharp knife company to carry out the interspersed task, preparing to cut off the suspension bridge between the east gate of Fuyang City and Dongguan, but then the sharp knife company was left with one squad, and the 59th Regiment sent a battalion to support the 58th regiment, and also lost more than half. The Nationalist army also set up an artillery observation post on the Wenfeng Tower, the tallest building in Fuyang at that time, to attack the People's Liberation Army from a commanding height, and although the First Column and the Second Brigade paid a lot of casualties when attacking this tower, the tower was only blown off by the explosive package and was not blown down.
During the fierce battle at Dongguan, a battalion of the enemy, which was divided outside Fuyang, entered the city under the leadership of Cai Yiya, the commander of the 222nd Regiment, and also cut off the combined headquarters of the 1st Column 2nd Brigade and the 20th Brigade, and hit one column and one by one. The reinforcements of the Kuomintang army were not idle at this time, Qiu Weida came with the rest of the reorganized 74th Division, and the aircraft of the Kuomintang army also continued to bomb the attacking troops in the middle field, causing a lot of casualties.
After six days of fierce fighting, Chiang Kai-shek ordered more than 20 nearby brigades to come to reinforcements in an attempt to form a siege under Fuyang City and annihilate the main force of the People's Liberation Army. In order to avoid a deterioration of the situation, Nakano decisively withdrew from the battle, and the battle against Fuyang ended in failure.