In early July 1947, in order to complete the strategic task of passing through the Central Plains, the main force of the Central Plains Field Army of more than 120,000 people broke through the Yellow River defense line and advanced towards the Dabie Mountain area. After more than three months of arduous fighting, the encirclement and blockade of the Nationalist army was broken, and at the end of October, it triumphantly advanced into the Dabie Mountains. Although some troops were lost on the way to the battle, after replenishment, the main force of Nakano at this time was still 120,000 people. After advancing into the Dabie Mountains, Nakano soon liberated more than 30 county seats and initially gained a foothold.
At that time, the Yangtze River Basin was the center of the Kuomintang region, and nanjing, the administrative center with the Kuomintang, and the economic center Shanghai, were the areas that Old Chiang Kai-shek valued most. In the middle of this area is the Dabie Mountains. Nakano's 120,000-strong army advanced into the Dabie Mountains and wedged a nail in the heart of the Guotong District, posing a direct threat to Wuhan and Nanjing. Old Jiang, who was in Nanjing, was unable to sleep and eat, and urgently ordered Bai Chongxi to sit in Jiujiang and command 15 integrated divisions with a total of more than 400,000 troops to besiege Nakano.
Among the senior generals of the Nationalist Army, Bai Chongxi was known as a little Zhuge Ge. He knew that the Dabie Mountains were a vast area, and if all of his 400,000 horses and horses were scattered, they would be easily broken by each one. Therefore, he strictly forbade each unit to go deep alone, and at least two integrated divisions were sent out in groups in each operation. As a result, it will be difficult for our army to catch fighters to divide and encircle the enemy. At the same time, Bai Chongxi also ordered the elite of the 7th Army and the reorganized 48th Division of the Gui clan to continuously pursue and harass our army, and did not give our army a chance to rest.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, these Gui troops fought guerrilla warfare with the Japanese army in Dabie Mountain for several years, and they were extremely good at mountain warfare, and they were more familiar with the situation here than our army, so it was extremely difficult to deal with. At the same time as the military offensive, Bai Chongxi also tried to cut off the connection between the local people and our army. At that time, the clans in the Dabie Mountain area were very powerful, and the clan leaders were basically held by landlord bullies, who were dead set on the Kuomintang. Bai Chongxi organized this group of people, gave him guns and ammunition, and asked them to form a small security team.
These small guards are all locals, the terrain is familiar, and they do not wear military uniforms, and they put down their guns just like ordinary locals. They have specifically preyed on small units of our army, the wounded and sick, and the revolutionary masses, and their methods are extremely vicious and cruel. The evil deeds of the small security team had a very bad impact at that time, the soldiers were afraid of being injured, afraid of falling behind, unwilling to go to the local work, and the common people did not dare to contact our army. This has created great difficulties for the marching of troops, the resettlement of the wounded and sick and the replenishment of food.
Faced with this situation, Nakano decided to dispatch troops to resolutely attack the bandit armed forces of the Xiaobao Brigade. But the gang, familiar with the terrain, ran to Macheng before our attacking troops arrived. At the end of November 1947, a small security team of more than 2,400 people from 8 squadrons in Macheng carried out a frenzied massacre of the wounded and sick, local cadres and revolutionary masses left in this area of our army, killing more than 400 people, and then the bandits fled to Songbu.
The commander of Nakano was extremely indignant at the atrocities of the small guards, and immediately ordered the 6th Column 18th Brigade, which was closest to Songbu, to rush out to annihilate this stubborn bandit. After receiving the order, the 18th Brigade rushed to Songbu on December 3, surrounded on all sides, and immediately launched an attack. This band of bandits was no match for the 18th Brigade at all, and the battle was soon over. However, when counting the results of the battle, brigade commander Xiao Yongyin found that the small security team that had been killed and injured was less than 400 people, and the remaining more than 2,000 people were missing.
Surrounded on all sides, this gang of bandits could not escape at all, and the only possibility was that they had mixed into the homes of the people. So Xiao Yongyin ordered the troops to go door to door to call the young adults outside the town to gather, and then sent people to each household to find the hostess to verify the number of family members. By counting the number of people, there were just more than 2,000 people, indicating that the more than 2,000 small security teams were indeed mixed among the people. Next came the screening work, our army first announced the evil deeds committed by the bandits of the small security team in Macheng, and the villagers were indignant after hearing this.
Then Xiao Yongyin asked the women of each family in the town to come out and claim their sons or husbands, and before claiming, they must first say the age and general appearance of the claimees. The trick worked, and soon the women of each family led their sons or husbands home, and only more than 2,000 bandits were left behind. What should be done with these bandits? If they are released, they will continue to do evil; if they are not released, marching with them is a heavy burden, and perhaps it will become a time bomb. In the end, Xiao Yongyin made up his mind: Now is not the time to talk about benevolence, and this vicious bandit should all be killed.
Xiao Yongyin then reported his decision to his superiors and received their support, and soon all the bandits were executed. Killing more than 2,400 people at once, this move caused a great psychological deterrent to the small security teams in other places, and they no longer dared to be as arrogant as before, so the commander of the second field deliberately gave the 18th Brigade a credit. In 1955, Xiao Yongyin was awarded the rank of major general and successively served as deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region, deputy commander of the Chengdu Military Region, and deputy commander of the Wuhan Military Region. In 2002, General Xiao Yongyin died of illness at the age of 85.