On May 29, 1947, the 358th Brigade of the First Column of the Northwest Field Army fought the first battle of the "Battle of Longdong Trilateral Campaign", the Battle of Baima General Tai.
The enemy stationed at Jiangtai was the 179th Regiment of the Sixty Brigade of the Reorganized 81st Division of the Ningxia warlord Ma Hongkui. The leader of the regiment was named Ma Dianbang, and was Ma Hongkui's son-in-law.
The unit responsible for attacking Wang Jiayuan, the main position of the general, was the 716th Regiment of the 358th Brigade, whose commander was named Chu Hanyuan, who joined the Red Army at the age of 35 and followed He Long in the Southern Expedition to the Northern War, who was already 51 years old at the time, and was a veritable veteran general and one of He Long's favorite generals.
After Chu Hanyuan accepted the task, he immediately led the whole regiment to Wang Jiayuan. Immediately afterward, he took several battalion company cadres to the front to personally reconnoiter the terrain.
After seeing the terrain, Chen Qunfa, the commander of the first battalion, immediately asked Chu Hanyuan for battle: "Commander, give the main offensive task to our first battalion!" ”
For the fact that the commander of a battalion took the lead in taking the initiative to ask for battle, Chu Hanyuan was happy in his heart, which showed that his subordinates had a high desire to fight. What's more, the first battalion is still the battalion with the strongest combat effectiveness among the three battalions and the battalion with the most meritorious achievements in the past, and it is undoubtedly natural for them to undertake the main offensive task.
Chu Hanyuan nodded and asked, "How sure are you?" ”
"Twelve points of certainty!" Chen Qunfa blurted out.
"Oh?" Chu Hanyuan was quite surprised to hear this, "You are so confident? You know, the enemy is a reinforced regiment, with far better troops and weapons than we do. ”
"I know, but according to the information we have received, this enemy regimental commander Ma Dianbang is a driver by birth, does not understand military affairs at all, and against such an opponent, we have no reason to lose the battle!"
"Just because you heard that the other side doesn't understand military affairs, you have the certainty of victory?" Chu Hanyuan's face became serious.
Chen Qunfa was stunned for a moment, still a little unconvinced: "Commander, no matter whether Ma Dianbang understands military or not, our battalion can definitely take Wang Jiayuan!" ”
Chu Hanyuan glanced at Chen Qunfa, shook his head, turned to the other two battalion commanders and said, "Let's talk about your respective views too!" ”
Zheng Xingwu, commander of the second battalion, said: "Commander, my view is that Wang Jiayuan is an isolated position, and we have adopted the encirclement and reinforcement tactics that our army is best at, which will not only allow the besieged enemies to chaos without a fight, but also may eliminate the enemy who comes to reinforce and expand the achievements of our regiment." ”
Chu Hanyuan bowed his head slightly to show his approval, and then turned to Wang Youtai, the commander of the third battalion, and said, "Comrade Wang Youtai, what is your opinion?" ”
Wang Youtai said in a calm tone: "I carefully observed the terrain around Wang Jiayuan and felt that this place may not be as easy to fight as we thought. ”
"Why?" Chen Qunfa asked.
"You see, the west, south, and north sides of Wangjiayuan have built tall and strong bunkers, and the commanding heights have been controlled by them with machine guns, while the east side is our front, and the terrain is too flat, and if our army attacks, it will have no support..."
"Then isn't this battle not going to be fought?" Chen Qunfa said disapprovingly.
Wang Youtai still said unhurriedly: "Frontal feint attack, flank and rear strong attack, or may be broken." ”
"Maybe it's broken?" Don't you have the confidence to triumph? Chen Qunfa smiled: "Comrade Tai, the battle has not yet started, why are you a little timid first?" ”
Chu Hanyuan finally spoke at this time: "I see it like this, Comrade Youtai, your three battalions have come to serve as the main attack battalion." ”
"Yes! Mission accomplished is guaranteed! "Wang Youtai is by no means ambiguous at this time.
Chen Qunfa was anxious as soon as he heard it: "What about our battalion?" ”
"You are carrying out a feint attack on the front, and the second battalion is on standby."
"Colonel, this... Isn't it counterintuitive to arrange this? Chen Qunfa said a little excitedly, "Our first battalion took the initiative to seek battle, and we have the confidence to win, so why can't we take the lead in attacking, but let the three battalions that suffer from gains and losses fight the main attack?" ”
Speaking of this, Chen Qunfa whispered again: "What's more, the combat effectiveness of our first battalion is also recognized as the strongest, and the third battalion..."
Although Chen Qunfa did not finish his words, everyone understood his implications.
In a recent battle, the three battalions were seriously reduced due to a command error, and Wang Youtai was also criticized by the head of the division and regiment by name for this, and the whole battalion held their breath.
Not only was Chen Qunfa dissatisfied, but even Zheng Xingwu, commander of the Second Battalion, and several regimental combat staff officers who accompanied him were difficult to understand Chu Hanyuan's deployment of troops.
"The task is urgent, we must seize the action, let the three battalions take the lead, and that's it!" As for why you did this, you will know why after this battle! Chu Hanyuan's words ended everyone's debate.
What happened later proved that Chu Hanyuan was completely correct in letting the three battalions attack mainly, and such a platoon deployment had a miraculous effect.
After accepting the task, Wang Youtai immediately returned to the third battalion, mobilized all the cadres and fighters of the battalion to conduct in-depth discussion and study on how to fight this battle well, and formulated a set of active and prudent "circular attack" tactics according to the characteristics of the terrain and terrain.
After the general offensive was launched, a battalion launched a feint attack from the front, and the three battalions, led by Wang Youtai, launched a "circular attack" on the enemy's weakest northern bunker, and it took less than two hours to attack Wang Jiayuan.
At this time, Chu Hanyuan ordered the second battalion serving as a reserve to join the battle group, and finally the whole regiment annihilated all the enemy's 179th regiment with a single blow, and the enemy regiment leader Ma Dianbang was captured.
After the battle, Chu Hanyuan really broke the magic of not letting the first battalion take the lead, but letting the three battalions attack the main attack, although there were only eight words such as "proud soldiers will be defeated, mourning soldiers will win", but everyone looked back and couldn't help but praise one after another: "Although the regimental commander is a little older, the use of soldiers is not ambiguous at all." It seemed counterintuitive to let the three battalions attack at the beginning, but it was actually a clever arrangement! ”