During the Liberation War, the Nationalist army had five main forces, namely the reorganized 74th Division, the integrated 11th Division, the 5th Army, the New 1st Army and the New 6th Army. Among these five main forces, the reorganized 74th Division is the most well-equipped and has the largest number of veterans, so it has become the number one trump card of the Nationalist Army. However, surprisingly, among the five main forces, the first to be destroyed is precisely this number one trump card. Many people attributed the reason for the collapse of the reorganized 74th Division to Zhang Lingfu, believing that he was incompetent in command and too poor in defense, and some people called him "Zhang Machen".
Compared with Zhang Lingfu, Hu Lian's defensive ability ranked among the top senior generals of the Nationalist army. During the Liberation War, Hu Lian repeatedly relied on his excellent defensive ability to overcome dangers. During the Battle of Nanma, several columns of Huaye failed to eat the reorganized 11th Division, which also made Hu Lian famous. Therefore, some people believe that in the Battle of Menglianggu, if Hu Lian had replaced Zhang Lingfu in command, the reorganized 74th Division would not have been completely destroyed. So does this make sense?
First of all, Hu Lian was fully prepared for the Battle of Nanma, while Zhang Lingfu was in a hurry to meet the battle at the Battle of Menglianggu. A month before the Battle of Nanma, most of the main force of the nationalist army in the Luzhong area was transferred by Su Yu. In the vast Luzhong area, only three nationalist integrated divisions were stationed, and they were scattered everywhere. Hu Lian, who was stationed in the Nanma area, keenly sensed the danger, and he ordered his troops to garrison the area and began to excavate fortifications. By the time of the Battle of Nanma, the reorganized 11th Division had built extremely complete fortifications, with as many as 3,000 bunkers of various types.
Looking at the Battle of MengLianggu, Zhang Lingfu was suddenly surrounded by Huaye in a state of lone advance, and he was not mentally prepared at all. Moreover, Meng Lianggu is rocky and rugged, not to mention repairing the bunker, even the bunker cannot be dug. After the battle began, the officers and men of the 74th Division, who were exposed to their positions, suffered heavy casualties under the fierce artillery bombardment of Huaye. At the same time, due to the rugged Menglianggu Mountain Road, the heavy artillery of the 74th Division could not go up the mountain at all, and the firepower was significantly weakened. Without the cover of the bunkers, the loss of heavy artillery, or the sudden encirclement, this situation, that is, to change the command of Hu Lian, it is also difficult to escape the fate of the total annihilation of the army.
Secondly, during the Battle of Nanma, it rained for several days in succession, and the water depth was no longer than the knee, which brought great difficulties to Huaye's attacking troops. Not only were tactics such as interspersed detours and split encirclements unsuitable, but even the explosive packs were unusable due to moisture. At the same time, because the road was washed away by the torrential rain, Huaye's artillery fire could not keep up, and the attack fire of the troops was seriously affected. The Battle of Menglianggu and the Battle of Nanma were just the opposite, there was not a drop of rain for many consecutive days, the fresh water carried by the 74th Division had long been exhausted, the soldiers were thirsty, and the water-cooled heavy machine guns were also set up because of the lack of water.
In the final Battle of Nanma, Huaye only invested four columns, three of which were responsible for attacking and one column was responsible for reinforcements. In the end, this reinforcement column failed to block the attack of Huang Baitao's integrated 25th Division, and Hua Ye was attacked by the enemy in his belly and could only retreat. However, in the Battle of Menglianggu, Hua Ye invested all his troops, 5 columns besieged the reorganized 74th Division, and 4 columns came to the rescue, and the strength invested was more than twice that of the Battle of Nanma. In this case, even if Hu Lian is changed to command, it is also difficult to escape defeat.
Among the senior generals of the Nationalist army, Hu Lian's sense of smell is extremely sensitive, and as long as he perceives danger, he will immediately flee or retreat. Moreover, Hu Lian was extremely sleek in fighting, rarely rushing to the front, and once the friendly troops were surrounded, he ran on his own legs, so it was difficult to be surrounded. If he had been replaced to command the reorganized 74th Division, with Hu Lian's cautious personality, it would probably have hidden behind Huang Baitao and Li Tianxia, and would never have thrown off the left and right wings of friendly troops like Zhang Lingfu and rushed forward on their own.
Therefore, in the Battle of Menglianggu, if Hu Lian had replaced Zhang Lingfu in command, the reorganized 74th Division would probably not have gone up the mountain. However, if after the Battle of Menglianggu broke out, Zhang Lingfu was replaced by Hu Lian, in the face of Hua Ye's all-out attack, Hu Lian would not necessarily be able to do better than Zhang Lingfu, and in the end, I am afraid that he would only end up with a defeat and death. Hu Lian has a certain defensive ability, but if he is surrounded, what he can do is very limited. During the Battle of Huaihai, he parachuted into the double stack to replace Huang Wei's command, and the 12th Corps was still completely destroyed, which is the best proof.