In late November 1948, the "ace unit" under the famous Kuomintang general Huang Baitao and the famous Seventh Corps were completely annihilated by our army in the Battle of Huaihai.
The General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign, the command center of our army, did not rush to celebrate the victory, but summoned the principal commanders of each column on the same day to study the next operational deployment under the auspices of Deng Xiaoping.
This time, they targeted the enemy on another elite division of the Nationalist army, the Huang Wei Corps.
The meeting was very fruitful, and after discussion, everyone quickly determined the overall operational idea: first encircle the Huang Wei Corps, and then gradually divide and annihilate it.
In order to achieve the goal of annihilating the enemy, the most urgent task at the moment is to firmly control the strategic point of Nanpingji and win sufficient time for our army to calmly dispatch troops.
Such a difficult task, which general can carry it? The next member of the account did not hesitate to take the initiative to ask for help, and Chief Liu Deng glanced at each other and smiled heartily: This person is the best candidate!
He is a cheerful and witty personality, but he has never been ambiguous in fighting.
Chief Liu Deng made a decision on the spot: the Fourth and Ninth Columns of the Central Plains Field Army, plus the Ewan-Su Independent Brigade, were all under the unified command of Chen Geng, relying on the Xunhe River and stubbornly defending Nanpingji!
Although Chen Geng was enough to shoulder this heavy responsibility, it was not easy to defend Nanpingji, it was bound to be a bloody battle, so Liu Deng repeatedly advised: "No matter what happens, Nanpingji must not be lost, otherwise you are the only one who asks!" ”
Chen Geng retracted his usual smiling style, and his expression became extremely serious: "Whichever whole unit fights only the last person, it will never let the enemy take away Nanpingji!" ”
After the meeting, Chen Geng immediately led his troops straight to Nanpingji. The first thing he did when he arrived on the battlefield was to personally reconnoiter the terrain on the south bank of the Huan River.
The south bank of the Xun River, that is, the south of Nanpingji, is a low north and south high terrain, and the pingchuan river is not dangerous at all, but it is greatly conducive to the advance of the mechanized troops of the Kuomintang.
After looking at the terrain, Chen Geng put forward a line of thinking that surprised the commanders of various brigades and regiments: To unfold the troops on the south bank of the Hun River, build a large-depth, wide-fronted group fortification, and arrange the formations layer by layer in squads and platoons.
Why were the crowd stunned? Because the backwater formation is too fierce, it does not leave a way back for yourself at all, which obviously violates military common sense!
Therefore, they questioned one after another: If they set up a position on the north bank of the Xun River, they can attack and retreat, which is in line with the art of war. Why do we have to force our troops to the brink of extinction before the war begins? This is a big taboo for soldiers!
Chen Geng had already anticipated that the crowd would have such a reaction, and he said without hesitation and with a smile: "You are right, this is indeed an unconventional method of warfare, and I will not do this unless I have to." But everyone has thought about it, this method of warfare may be our only hope of victory! ”
The crowd was still confused and asked why.
Chen Gengzheng said, "If you think about it, Huang Wei's corps is well-equipped, with a large number of shells and a long range, and aircraft to assist in the battle." And what about us? Artillery can not be compared with the enemy at all, if deployed on the north side of the Xun River, the shells across the river can not threaten the enemy at all, only to be beaten. ”
He stared into the eyes of the generals and deliberately used a provocative move: "Are you going to fight a battle that you can't win and can be a deserter, or a battle that may be sacrificed but still has a chance of winning?" ”
"I'd rather die on the battlefield than desert the soldiers!" The crowd will take a stand.
"Good! Now that you've said that, we're even more sure we're going to win! Chen Geng said excitedly, "Let's break the rules and win in chaos!" You know, the essence of a war on the back of the water is to live on the ground of death! ”
A column staff officer praised: "In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the famous general Han Xin once put down a water wheel that was taboo for soldiers and defeated the Zhao army, and from then on his fame became famous in history!" ”
"No, no, no!" Chen Geng hurriedly waved his hand, "There is still a little difference between us Han Xin and that, his backwater array is dead, and our backwater array is alive!" ”
"Why is it alive?" The generals were confused again.
"Don't forget, we are not fighting alone, there are still Commander Liu and Political Commissar Deng behind us who are in control of the situation at any time!"
"Right, right, right!" The multitude will suddenly realize.
Under the meticulous planning of Chen Geng and the generals, the various troops did indeed lay a strange formation on the south bank of the Huan River with no way to retreat.
After mobilization, all the commanders and fighters understood that this battle must be fought with all their might to crush the enemy, otherwise they could only accept defeat or even the total annihilation of the army, so they were all highly moraleed and shared the same hatred.
From November 23, under the command of Chen Geng, Nakano fought an extremely fierce battle with the 18th Army, the most elite force under Huang Wei!
When Huang Wei learned that Chen Geng, an old classmate of the Whampoa Military Academy in the past, had formed a formation on the south bank of the Huan River, and that the Eighteenth Army had repeatedly attacked this strange formation and was even delayed, he could not help but be surprised.
Chen Geng took the initiative to put the troops in a desperate situation, which made Huang Wei secretly impressed, but he was not willing to be a general of the defeated army, so he frequently dispatched troops and generals, and did everything in his power to defeat this old classmate.
But what made Huang Wei extremely frustrated was that the many elite troops he commanded, facing the Plaster's backwater strange array, although the scene was extremely lively, killing five in and five out, but he never failed to conquer the projectile land of Nanpingji!
Just when Huang Wei was humiliated by a phone call sent by Chiang Kai-shek and determined to fight with Chen Geng's troops to break the net, he received another heavy blow -- due to the success of the blockade, the strategic intention had been realized, and Chen Wei was ordered to lead his troops to move in an orderly manner the night before, leaving Huang Wei to sigh on the south side of the Huan River...