When it comes to the northwestern field army's remarkable achievements in winning more victories with fewer victories, repeatedly breaking through strong enemies, and finally liberating the great northwest, people should not forget Peng Zong's great talent and great strategy, nor should they forget the many xiao generals under his command, such as Wang Zhen, Xu Guangda, He Bingyan, Peng Shaohui, and so on, and of course, they cannot forget the taciturn "wisdom and many stars" beside Peng Zong--the founding lieutenant general Yan Yongyao, who was the chief of staff of the Northwest Field Army.
General Yan Yuyao served as chief of staff for a long time, especially in the northwest battlefield of the Liberation War, and assisted General Peng in organizing and commanding the famous battles of the Yan'an Defense War, Huanglong, Xifu, Libei, Shaanxi Central, Fumei, and Lanzhou, and made major contributions to the liberation of the Great Northwest and the establishment of a new China.
War is a contest of strength, but also a contest of wisdom. In the well-known military history of the Yan'an Defense War, Yan Yuyao offered Peng Zong a good strategy for retreating from the enemy, which fully embodied his characteristics of resourcefulness, courage to shoulder heavy burdens, perseverance in the face of danger, and courage to face the enemy.
At the beginning of 1947, Chiang Kai-shek's all-out offensive against the Liberated Areas had been completely frustrated, so it was changed to the focus of the attack on the two Liberated Areas in Northern Shaanxi and Shandong.
In northern Shaanxi, Lao Jiang appointed his concubine Hu Zongnan as the commander-in-chief, gathered the Hu Zongnan clique and the qinghai Ma Bufang, Ningxia Ma Hongkui, yulin Deng Baoshan troops, a total of 34 brigades and 250,000 people, and besieged the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region in five ways in an attempt to seize Yan'an and eliminate our leading organs in one fell swoop.
In March 1947, 12 brigades of Hu Zongnan's first-line attack force, a total of about 80,000 people, supported by nearly 100 aircraft, launched a rapid attack on Yan'an in dense formations and multiple routes, and threatened to "occupy Yan'an within three days!" ”
At this time, our high command and other organs and schools have not yet been transferred. The Central Military Commission ordered the Instruction Brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia People's Liberation Army Field Army and the Seventh Regiment of the Third Garrison Brigade to carry out mobile defense in the area south of Yan'an to resist and delay the attacking enemy, to delay and annihilate the enemy in large numbers, to buy time, and to cover the safe transfer of the head organs.
In a situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak, and the situation is very critical, Yan Yu, who is the chief of staff of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Field Army, must be calm and self-assured, actively assist Peng Zong in organizing and commanding the troops to hold out the resistance in an orderly manner, and constantly coordinate the combat actions of various units.
At the most tense moment of the battle, Yan Yu personally went to the front line to ask the commanders of the defensive forces to use troops flexibly, adopt mobile defense, rely on the field fortifications of multiple defensive zones, alternately cover, resist the enemy step by step, counterattack at an appropriate time, and try to stop the enemy as much as possible, but not die.
At the same time, Yan Yu also commanded the militia and guerrillas to actively cooperate with the main force in combat, lay mines behind the enemy in front of the enemy, destroy roads, and carry out guerrilla warfare, so that the enemy would have to pay a heavy price for every step forward.
Due to the correct command and the heroic fighting of the troops, after three days of fierce fighting, not only annihilated a large number of enemies, but also blocked Hu Zongnan's group on the first line of Mazi Street, Mafang, and Jinbin Bay, and Hu Zongnan's attempt to occupy Yan'an within three days was shattered.
At this time, Yan Yu had to very calmly analyze the situation of the first three days, and then he reported to General Peng and put forward a very timely suggestion: Although the enemy lost thousands of people in this attack, it did not hurt the vitality, they would reorganize, and they might change their tactics and attack us more wildly.
He also offered a good strategy for retreating from the enemy: We are not worthwhile to fight hard with the enemy when the enemy is strong and weak, and we must take advantage of favorable conditions such as familiar terrain and the support of the masses to carry out guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare, especially to use the night to attack the enemy and turn passive into active.
Mr. Peng pondered for a moment and said, "Yes! Beggars can't compete with the Dragon King, he beats his, I beat mine, if you can't win, you can go, be flexible and fight, and strive to take the initiative! ”
Sure enough, after Hu Zongnan suffered hardships, he changed his tactics and did not dare to rush to attack, so he had to advance cautiously, attack at dawn, stop before dusk, camp on the mountain, avoid night fighting, and open the way for the attack by plundering the cattle of the masses.
At the same time, Hu Zongnan continued to increase the strength of the first line of attack, strengthened the offensive, and was determined to occupy Yan'an at all costs.
As the enemy changes, Yan Yu must instruct all units to readjust their deployment in a timely manner. During the day, the front-line troops hold the main points with a small number of troops, grasp the laws of the enemy's actions, select the enemy's weaknesses in a planned manner, and organize counter-attacks at an appropriate time; after dark, they take advantage of the darkness of the night and give play to the special skills of night warfare to attack the enemy.
After changing tactics, the morale of the troops was high, the Vietnam War became more and more courageous, and the commanders and fighters fought bravely against the enemy, fought bravely, fought tenaciously, and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy.
From March 13 to 19, after seven days of arduous fighting, the field army only resisted the frenzied attack of the "Hu Army" of 80,000 people with only a small number of more than 5,000 troops, and only at the cost of about 700 casualties, in exchange for the victory of annihilating more than 5,200 enemy troops.
At the same time, this campaign successfully completed the task of covering the transfer and evacuation of the masses of our high command headquarters and other organs and schools, leaving an empty city for the "Hu Army."
It is worth mentioning that in the history of our army, this campaign has created a precedent for mobile defense to strike weak and strong.
Since then, Yan Yu has made many military achievements, and after the founding of New China, he became a founding lieutenant general.