During the Liberation War, the capture of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, was a key step in the Battle of the River Crossing.
On the eve of our army's crossing of the river, old Chiang Kai-shek sent He Yingqin to Fly to Hangzhou to summon a cadre of party and government officials from Zhejiang to study how to organize a strong defensive line in Zhejiang to prevent the People's Liberation Army from moving south.
He Yingqin also announced at this secret meeting: "Before the communist army approaches Hangzhou, we must blow up the Qiantang River Bridge, and you must resolutely carry it out!" ”
The Qiantang River Bridge was designed by Chinese bridge expert Mao Yisheng and built by Chinese himself. The bridge is double-decker, railway and highway, 16 holes, and the bridge is 1453 meters long, which was completed in September 1937 and became an important north-south transportation hub.
In order to carry out this conspiracy, He Yingqin specially summoned Hou Jiayuan, director of the Zhejiang-Gansu Railway Bureau, to plot the destruction of the bridge.
Teng Haiqing, commander of the 21st Army of the People's Liberation Army (who became a founding lieutenant general in 1955), who was ordered to lead his troops to capture Hangzhou, also knew the importance of the Qiantang River Bridge, and he ordered the Sixty-second Division to take the Liuhe Pagoda and the Qiantang River Bridge in the southern suburbs of Hangzhou as the goal and seize and control the bridge as quickly as possible.
The Twenty-first Army used a division to seize the bridge, which shows that the Qiantang River Bridge is in a crucial position in the minds of the commanders of the army.
The first echelon of the Sixty-second Division rested for only 3 hours at night in Yuhang County, and began to force at dawn.
During the march of the troops, Teng Haiqing was most worried about one thing: When my assault troops arrived, would the Qiantang River Bridge still exist?
Because he knew very well in his heart that according to the enemy's consistent style, they would certainly stop our army from advancing into Hangzhou at all costs. To this end, they are very likely to blow up the Qiantang River Bridge.
While marching at the front headquarters of the 21st Army, Teng Haiqing repeatedly asked Zhou Chunlin (major general of the 21st Division) about the situation on the front line, especially whether the Qiantang River Bridge was safe and sound.
When the vanguard regiment of the Sixty-second Division reached the vicinity of the Qiantang River Bridge, Zhou Chunlin reported to Teng Haiqing: "The good news is that the Qiantang River Bridge is still there, but unfortunately, according to the reconnaissance report, the enemy is laying explosives..."
This mixed news made Teng Haiqing shudder: "Is explosives being planted?" Or just transported to the bridge? ”
"There are places, there are carrying, there are."
"You must speed up your actions and must not let the enemy's plot to blow up the bridge succeed!" But only light weapons fire can control the bridge deck when attacking! ”
"Understood! We will definitely keep the bridge! Zhou Chunlin replied emphatically.
Military commissar Kang Zhiqiang (who became a founding lieutenant general in 1955) also expressed concern when he learned that the enemy was preparing to blow up the bridge: "If you keep the bridge, you will occupy half of the city of Hangzhou." If the bridge could not be saved, the First Battle of Hangzhou would not be complete. ”
Teng Haiqing said, "Yes. Now I only hope that the bridge is there, not collapsed, even if it cannot be attacked for a while, it is easy to do a little. ”
A surprising news finally reached the military command post on the same day: the Sixty-second Division captured the Qiantang River Bridge!
The bridge is in the hands of our army, and it is the most satisfactory result.
The vanguard of the bridge was the 185th Regiment of the Sixty-second Division. Under the leadership of regimental commander Chen Fusheng and political commissar Huang Zefu, the regiment issued specific tasks while advancing, carried out combat mobilization, and conveyed the call of the division leaders: "Carry forward the spirit of wanting a bridge and not dying, and seize the Qiantang River Bridge before 12 o'clock!" ”
With the tactics of frontal maneuvering and flanking attack, the fifth company of the regiment captured the Liuhe Pagoda in one fell swoop, controlled the commanding heights overlooking the whole picture of the bridge, and blocked the bridge and the river surface with machine guns.
Immediately afterward, the main forces of the five companies, with the cooperation of the four companies, captured the bridgehead at the northern end of the bridge.
Several cars loaded with military supplies rushed from the direction of Hangzhou in an attempt to flee south through the bridge.
The five companies opened fire on the enemy at a favorable position, hitting one of the vehicles in the head, and the vehicles behind them were blocked, and the enemy accompanying the vehicles was killed and captured.
The defenders of the South Bridgehead could not resist at first sight, so they set on fire many bundles of explosives placed in advance, with a dull explosion and rising smoke, but the bridge was still standing. Although there were several damages to the upper and lower decks, the damage was minor.
Why did the Qiantang River Bridge explode and not be destroyed? It soon became clear afterwards that the person behind the preservation of the bridge was an inconspicuous little person — a bridge maintenance worker named Lin Zhengfa.
After Lin Zhengfa learned that Jiang Jun was going to blow up the bridge, he was anxious: Why should such a good bridge be blown up? What is the sin of the bridge? The People's Liberation Army has even crossed the Yangtze River for thousands of miles, can it still cross the Qiantang River? If you blow up the bridge, how can you be worthy of future generations?
In order to protect this famous bridge on the famous river, Lin Zhengfa reasoned with Zhou Fuyuan, a sapper who was preparing to blow up the bridge.
The next day, Lin Zhengfa and his relatives and co-workers gathered 100 pieces of Guangyang, which were quietly introduced by the sappers surnamed Zhou, and discussed with the sapper platoon leader surnamed Huang about protecting the bridge.
Captain Huang accepted Guangyang and promised to do his best. The explosive packs, which were originally scheduled to be bundled every 60 kilograms, were actually filled with only a few or two explosives, and the rest were replaced by sand.
As a result, the Qiantang River Bridge naturally exploded but was not destroyed.
After Teng Haiqing understood the truth, he gave high praise to Lin Zhengfa and others: "Thank you very much for the work you have done! Although you didn't fire a shot, you were no less effective than one of our divisions! ”
Lin Zhengfa said: "If there were no people's liberation army to descend from heaven, we would only be able to deceive the enemy for a while, and it would be difficult to ensure the permanent safety of the bridge." ”
Teng Haiqing sighed: "Without your close cooperation and heroic and resourceful struggle, it is impossible to save the bridge." ”
Afterwards, Teng Haiqing instructed Zhou Shizhong, the political commissar of the Sixty-second Division, to send someone to receive 100 yuan of Guangyang from the logistics department, to return Lin Zhengfa and others, and to reward them.
In this way, Lin Zhengfa, a small person, made a great contribution to the smooth liberation of Hangzhou by our army by preserving the Qiantang River Bridge and thus enabling our army to successfully liberate Hangzhou.