The 18th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, among the five main forces of the Kuomintang, the oldest and most powerful brigade with the earliest army, the strongest strength, and the most famous generals, was born in the warlord melee, grew stronger than the tangled Red Army, and disappeared into the Huaihai War. In May 1946, the 18th Army was reorganized into the reorganized 11th Division, and Hu Lian served as the commander of the division. The combination of Hu Lian and the reorganized 11th Division is simply a match made in heaven.
The Kuomintang High Command regarded the reorganized 11th Division commanded by Hu Lian as a super mobile unit, and wherever the situation was not right, Hu Lian would lead people to rush wherever they went, just like the "fire brigade", as if wherever they went, the fire would not spread again and would soon subside. The Central Military Commission of the CPC also paid some attention to the reorganization of the 11th Division, and in view of its characteristics of exceeding that of ordinary Kuomintang troops, Chairman Mao personally formulated the tactic of "dragging Hu Lian to death":
Don't face it face to face.
After all, the reorganized 11th Division is a division; if it is not easy to fight, the PLA will avoid it first, and then go to clean up well later. Chairman Mao issued a document to the troops who were about to meet Hu Lian:
"Hu Lian of the Eighteenth Army is as cunning as a fox, and it is advisable to avoid it in order to preserve its strength and wait for the opportunity to win."
As a result, a strange scene appeared on the battlefield of the Central Plains:
Hu Lianbu ran around blindly, and was led away like a dog walked by the People's Liberation Army.
Northern Jiangsu to northern Anhui, Shandong to Henan, Nanyang, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Zhengzhou, etc., have left Hu Lian's footprints. Nanjing, Xuzhou, Hankou, and Zhengzhou, the four commanders were driving him around
"Fire Fighting"
The victory did not fight anything, and the morale and physical strength of the troops dropped by a large margin. Hu Lian was miserable, the reorganized 11th Division was like a little daughter-in-law in the feudal period, the mother-in-law, the husband, the father-in-law, and the in-laws were all telling him to do different work, listening to this, he offended that, Hu Lian was really dizzy, really did not know what to do.
Hu Lian and the 11th Division were active in the Central Plains Battlefield and the East China Battlefield, and fought against Liu Bocheng's Erye and Chen Yi's Sanye divisions for many years. As soon as the War of Liberation began, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping commanded the troops to achieve the achievements of three battles and three victories in Shangdang, Pinghan, and Dingtao, and the Kuomintang army of 10 divisions was wiped out; Erye showed an unstoppable situation, seeking to annihilate the main force of the Kuomintang army all the way.
The southwest base area of Eryelu was targeted by the Kuomintang, and the second of the five main forces of the new: the entire 1st Division, the New 5th Army, was dispatched to attack it. On September 12, the entire 11th Division occupied Dingtao; on September 20, Heze (a strategic point in southwest Lu). The Kuomintang army was not willing to accept this, and then went to Juye,
Yuncheng launched a fierce attack, directly threatening Jining, another important town in southwest Lu. At this time, Erye could no longer retreat, and then retreated to the southwest liberated areas of Lu and gave up, and Erye became a rootless duckweed. Next you have to fight!
Since you want to fight, who are you going to fight? At that time, the opinions of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and Erye were not unified. Chairman Mao believed that if Erye could eliminate the entire 3rd Division, then the elimination of the New 5th Army and the entire 11th Division would not be a problem, and if this goal was achieved, the situation in the Central Plains would be fundamentally changed. Chairman Mao immediately sent a telegram asking for the opinions of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping. Liu Bocheng has always obeyed orders and listened to commands, and seeing that Chairman Mao had this intention, he called back the next day to make sure that he could fight.
On September 29, 1946, after the Battle of Dingtao, After nearly a month's rest, Erno was ordered to be mobilized by the command. This battle, the history of the People's Liberation Army, is called the "Battle of Juye", also known as the "Battle of Longfeng". This battle was a frontal decisive battle between the main forces of the army and the generals. The New 5th Army was blocked by the 2nd Column in the area of Longqu ji and could not advance. This gave Liu Bocheng a good opportunity to concentrate his forces and annihilate the entire 11th Division in one fell swoop.
Our army adopts the tactic of enticing the enemy to penetrate deeper and encircle and annihilate him. Thus, from 28 September onwards, the entire 11th Division's offensive was almost unhindered and resisted, pushing all the way sideways. On October 2, the Kuomintang army occupied Zhang Fengji, Wang Zhuang, Dong Guantun and other places. The cunning Hu Lian realized that something was wrong, that the Plakmen had not formed an effective resistance, and that the entire 11th Division and the New 5th Army were too far apart to provide support at the first time.
At the same time, judging from the reconnaissance information released, a large number of PLA troops were found in the Dayiji area. For the sake of prudence, Hu Lian decided not to advance any further, but ordered the troops to strengthen the fortifications, increase their vigilance, and prepare for the defense. At that time, the entire 11th Division was not very complete, and a brigade and a cavalry regiment were stranded in Kaifeng. With 5 regiments and 20,000 men, Hu Lian felt that the strength of the troops was weak; for this reason, he gathered the engineer battalions directly under the division headquarters to form a combat regiment. Subsequently, Hu Lian began to arrange the battlefield and deploy troops.
Qiu Qingquan, commander of the New 5th Army, also realized that something was wrong, and relayed the news that Liu Bocheng's main force had been moved to the area around Zhang Fengji to Hu Lian, and ordered him to retreat to Ma Yuan to avoid the situation of a lone army going deeper. However, it was too late. On October 3, Liu Bocheng saw that Hu Lian had stopped at Zhang Fengji and was slow to enter the preset battlefield; LongQuanji had been fighting for 5 days, and the officers and men of the 2nd Column were exhausted and could not be stopped.
Liu Bocheng immediately decided not to delay any longer, taking advantage of the fact that the entire 11th Division had just gained a foothold and was ready to take the initiative to attack and annihilate it. On the afternoon of the same day, the various units of Liu Bocheng's army arrived at the offensive position they were looking for again; the 52nd Regiment of the 11th Division noticed that there was movement and made a tentative attack north of Sun Zhuang, which was counterattacked by our army. The 52nd Regiment quickly withdrew to Sunzhuang. Hu Lian heard the news, stood in front of the map and pondered the decision on whether to retreat immediately, and finally decided to fight a decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army formed a siege here.
At 8:00 p.m. on the 3rd, the Erye 3rd Column, 6th Column, and 7th Column attacked in full line. Liu Bocheng's plan was for a column (about 20,000 people) to attack an enemy regiment and concentrate superior forces to gain a greater advantage. But as soon as the battle began, the result was unexpected by Liu Bocheng. Our army's offensive did not go well, the enemy used the terrain to carry out raiding and covering, and when the situation was not good, they immediately retreated, and the large troops quickly withdrew into Zhang Fengji, and did not engage in direct confrontation with our army at all.
At dawn on the 4th, the 7th and 6th Columns not only threw themselves into the air, but also suffered many casualties; only 3 columns beat a company of the enemy's 31st Regiment to more than half of the casualties, but this was the case, and the rest of the units achieved very little success. Because of the anticipation and arrangement, Hu Lian did not panic at all, and acted as a wise man, calmly commanding the troops to meet the battle, while telling Xue Yue and Wang Jingjiu about the situation and asking Xue Yue to send the air force to help in the past few days.
After Xue Yue received Hu Lian's report, he soon realized that this battle was likely to determine the situation in the Central Plains, so he kept finding the 1st Wing of the Air Force stationed in Xuzhou and asked them to send aircraft to assist the entire 22nd Division in combat. On the same day, the 1st Wing sent a brigade to reconnoiter the situation around Juye and informed Hu Lian of the distribution and movement of the People's Liberation Army that had been reconnoitered.
Such an efficient support operation greatly encouraged Hu Lian. Relying on the intelligence of aerial reconnaissance, Hu Lian judged Liu Bocheng's intentions and made corresponding arrangements. In the Juye Battlefield, the entire 11th Division fought with great success, but it could not resist forming an encirclement and far exceeding their PLA strength. Hu Lian sent a telegram to Qiu Qingquan, commander of the New 5th Army, seeking his reinforcements and help. Qiu Qingquan coldly replied:
"As long as our side attacks, it will naturally reduce the pressure on your entire 11th Division."
After saying that, the phone hung up. Seeing this, Hu Lian knew that he had not obeyed Qiu Qingquan's orders to retreat before the war, which caused his dissatisfaction. Hu Lian felt that he was wronged, but he was not good at saying anything, so he turned around and called Chen Cheng, the chief of staff, and asked him to transfer the support of the new 5th Army. Chen Cheng's side conveyed Hu Lian's opinion to Qiu Qingquan; note that it was conveyed, not an order.
The contradiction thus became more acute, and Qiu Qingquan believed that Hu Lian was filing a complaint, so he ignored Chen Cheng's proposal to support it.
The PEOPLE's Liberation Army was also uncomfortable, and the attacks of all units were lost, and Liu Bocheng sobered up:
He, including Chairman Mao, underestimated the entire 11th Division.
As a result, Liu Bocheng quickly made new adjustments and deployments. On the night of the 4th, Liu Bocheng reorganized the whole line of attack, but still did not achieve much effect, but was taken advantage of by the well-organized Kuomintang army. In the early morning of the 5th, Yang Botao, commander of the 11th Brigade of the enemy's 11th Army, personally led the special service brigade to attack, defeated the People's Liberation Army in front of him, captured more than 100 people, and surrounded more than 100 people in the field.
Hu Lian was quite satisfied with the situation of the two days of fighting; he preserved his strength, defended the main position, and also suffered no small casualties. On the 5th, Hu Lian called Qiu Qingquan again to ask for reinforcements, but never received a positive response. Xue Yue also received the situation in Juye from the aircraft reconnaissance team, so he immediately called back to Hu Lian and informed him of the ammunition and materials he needed, and he could start the airdrop.
So, what is Qiu Qingquan's New 5th Army doing? On the 5th, the New 5th Army was still gathering in Longqu and launched a fierce attack on the 2nd Column, but did not achieve significant results. When Qiu Qingquan received Hu Lian's second telegram requesting reinforcements, he was still angry about his last disobedience to orders and small reports, and called back:
You can't get close to the rescue.
After Hu Lian received it, he was so angry that he scolded Qiu Qingquan for being selfish in front of the generals, and then reported to Chen Cheng and Xue Yue.
Chen Cheng and Xue Yue immediately unified their attitudes, and on the night of the 5th, Xue Yue called Qiu Qingquan and forcibly ordered the New 5th Army to attack south from Longqu and break the siege of the 11th Division. After Qiu Qingquan received the order, he knew that he could not delay any longer, otherwise he would have to go to the Military Justice Department and immediately ordered his troops to move south. The actions of tens of thousands of troops could not be concealed. Liu Bocheng heard the news on the 6th and ordered the 2nd Column to drag the New 5th Army as much as possible to buy more time for the main force of Erye.
However, the operation of the New 5th Army was carried out smoothly, and the 2 columns did not play more leading roles. At the same time, the entire 11th Division became more and more courageous, giving our army a considerable blow in the back-and-forth offensive charge. The officers and men of the entire 11th Division were baptized by the brutal War of Resistance Against Japan, and their morale was strong, and they dared to fight and kill. Colliding with the PLA troops, it was really thunderous and fiery, and the two sides fought to the death and could not stand each other.
On the morning of the 7th, the entire 11th Division felt some fear in the face of the People's Liberation Army, which had absolute superiority in troops and launched a continuous charge, and some people began to waver. For example, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the enemy's 32nd Regiment broke through and fled with two companies, resulting in a vacancy in the enemy's Zhang Fengji defense line. Our army saw the opportunity and launched a fierce offensive on the 3rd and 7th columns. On the afternoon of the same day, relying on the high-walled ancestral hall in the village and the advantage of strong firepower, the enemy army withstood the onslaught of our army and defended the last position of Zhang Fengji.
At this time, the New 5th Army was also getting closer and closer to the entire 11th Division. Liu Bocheng heard the news and believed that if he continued to fight, Erye would be attacked by the two main forces of the Kuomintang army, and the fierceness would be more and less auspicious. Liu Bocheng then ordered the withdrawal from the battlefield, and at the same time arranged for the 6 columns to pretend to attack the enemy in Fengjia Shawo to attract fire. This move really worked, the People's Liberation Army retreated, without any interference, Hu Lian was tired of sending troops to reinforce Feng Jiashawo, and did not pursue at all. The Battle of Juye is almost over.
The "news of victory" of the Juye campaign reached Xuzhou, and Xue Yue was very happy, thinking that the opportunity to completely destroy the People's Liberation Army Erye had come, so he began to dispatch troops and generals to the north.
In the early morning of the 11th, the Kuomintang
Commander of the 32nd Army
Wang Jingjiu arrived at the headquarters of the 11th Division in Fengjia Shawo. As soon as Hu Lian saw Wang Jingjiu, he complained to him. Wang Jingjiu wanted to take care of this matter, so he diverged from the topic. Wang Jingjiu also concealed the fact that he first went to the New 5th Army to see Qiu Qingquan, and then to the entire 11th Division to see Hu Lian. Wang Jingjiu said a lot of true and false things, which made Hu Lian flicker and move him to tears.
Seeing that the situation was almost the same, Wang Jingjiu began to defend Qiu Qingquan. As he spoke, Qiu Qingquan entered the door. After Qiu Qingquan saw Wang Jingjiu salute, he took the initiative to shake hands with Hu Lian and said, "Brother Bo Yu, you have worked hard. Reaching out and not hitting the smiley face, Hu Lian was not good at having a seizure, so he had to laugh and sarcastically said: "Not hard, it is fate." Brother Qingquan, how did you do it? The more I call you, please hurry up, the farther away you are from me. ”
Qiu Qingquan was annoyed in his heart, I am your superior military commander, and when you talk to me like this, you show a look of indifference: "I am also fighting there, why do you have to come to you?" When Hu Lian heard the fire, his face was pulled down and he loosened his grip: "You are blind, you are hitting the air." Qiu Qingquan laughed hesitantly, "I'm fighting tight there, but it's not as anxious as your side." ”
Hu Lian was extremely angry and shouted, "You can't run when I'm done." Everyone thought that Qiu Qingquan would be angry, and the two quarreled, but they didn't expect that Qiu Qingquan was not angry, and continued to laugh: "It's really ridiculous, how can I do that, and later you will see my achievements." Hu Lian couldn't control his anger completely, and then shouted, asking Qiu Qingquan why he didn't use a division empty. Qiu Qingquan was also angry when he was said, and he roared, scolding Hu Lian for being greedy and afraid of death, and not worthy of Huangpu students.
Hu Lian was so angry that he wanted to beat people up. Wang Jingjiu, who was on the side, saw that he was about to fight, and hurriedly pulled it aside and began to fight. At the dinner table, Wang Jingjiu took the initiative to praise Hu Lian, and Qiu Qingquan also praised him on the side, only Hu Lian smiled bitterly and said that he was just a fluke, Liu Bocheng really had two hands, came without a shadow, went without a trace, and was really haunted.
In this big battle, the fierce battle lasted for 5 days, and the casualties on both sides were very large, with more than 5,300 Kuomintang casualties and more than 5,000 casualties of the People's Liberation Army. After the war, Liu Bocheng conducted a review and said bitterly:
"This time I was in a clumsy state of stalemate with the enemy. Very unwise. ”
In Liu Bocheng's eyes, the lives of PLA soldiers are far more important than those of Kuomintang soldiers, and one change is too much of a loss, at least a few dozen.
After this battle, Wang Jingjiu reported the irreconcilable contradictions between Qiu Qingquan and Hu Lian to Xue Yue, and Xue Yue began to consider whether to let the two men act separately and not be subordinate to each other. The matter of Qiu Qingquan and Hu Lian is indeed a bad account, and no one can say whether it is right or wrong. During the Liberation War, this situation was commonplace within the Kuomintang. If you fight like this, you will not be defeated.