In November 1948, the Central Military Commission ordered the six columns of the Central Plains Field Army to turn between Mengcheng, Suxian and Guzhen and Suxian to fight Huang Wei's mechanized corps to the west, to block Li Yannian and Liu Ruming and other units to the south, and to cooperate with the East China Field Army to annihilate Huang Botao's corps.
When Mao Zedong saw that Huaye had encountered Huang Botao, a tough opponent, he did not let Huaye divide his troops, but instead blocked the burden of enemy reinforcements in the west and south of Xuzhou, and put it on Nakano's shoulders to the greatest extent.
The first to feel the weight of this burden was the Nakano 1 Column commanded by Yang Yong, a famous general of our army.
The General Front Committee ordered Yang Yong to lead the 1st Column to the Mengcheng, Banqiao, and Tangji areas within two days, to block the Huang Wei Corps head-on, and required the 1st Column to hold out for 3 days to cover the main force of Nakano to complete the assembly and deployment.
Yang Yong did not expect that Liu Yong, Chen, and Deng General Front Committee members did not expect that Yang Yong's bloody battle of blocking the attack would become the opening battle to annihilate Huang Wei's corps in the future.
It is no exaggeration to say that Yang Yong gritted his teeth and fought.
At the time of receiving the task, the 1st Column of Nakano commanded by Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua had just annihilated Mi Wenhe's enemy 181st Division near The Mountain, and the troops had not yet rested and felt tired.
What is even more fatal is that the 1st Column and 20th Brigade are still ordered to intercept the enemy on the front line of the Honghe and Yinghe rivers at this moment, and have not yet been rebuilt. The adjustable troops in Yang Yong's hands were actually only 2 brigades.
Yang Yong had misgivings, with his 2 tired journeys to fight against Huang Wei's 120,000 steel army, the strength of the troops was really too bad! And at least 3 days, can it work?
But Yang Yong's habit was never to cry bitterly in front of the chief, and he had difficulties and came back to find a way.
At 1 o'clock in the afternoon of the 16th, Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua led 1 column into the Mengcheng and Banqiao areas, and personally led the brigades and regimental commanders to survey the terrain.
At dusk on the 18th, the 18th Army, the vanguard of the enemy's 12th Corps, first engaged Yang Yong's 1st Column. This was the sixth encounter between the two armies in several years.
The 18th Army is both an ace army and an old opponent of Yang Yong, and is well aware of Yang Yong's tenacity in defense. Four frontal assaults were unable to be fought, so the 119th Division was sent to detour from the right side and wade across the Vortex River to take the two villages of Huangjia and Chenjia.
At that time, the two areas were originally planned to be defended by the brigade reconnaissance company and the special agent company, but due to the late return of the brigade reconnaissance unit chief, the troops did not go up, and the two villages actually had only one reconnaissance platoon of the 2 brigades and 8 regiments.
The 18th Army attacked 1 platoon with 3 battalions, unable to resist, and the Huang and Chen families were quickly lost.
At the headquarters of the Banqiao Column, Yang Yong hurriedly sent the phone directly to the headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, and ordered the 2nd Brigade to immediately organize a counterattack and take back the position.
When the 2nd Brigade saw Yang Yong's anxious eyes, no one was not anxious, and at once transferred the entire 4th Regiment of the Reserve Team to retake the position in one go.
Jin Shilin, the commander of the 4th regiment, and Zheng Lu, the political commissar, led the 4th regiment to launch a counterattack against the Huang family and the Chen family.
On one side were the elite soldiers of 3 battalions, who opened the way for the whole army to cross the river and desperately defended after occupying the Huang family and the Chen family; on the other side, the brave soldiers of 1 regiment were desperate to regain the position. A bloody battle killed the huang family and the Chen family, two small villages, soot and dust rolled, and the blood flowed into a river.
The great contest between the 2nd Column and the 18th Army was almost always held around these two small villages.
The 18th Army was well-equipped and extremely firepowery, and after occupying two villages, it was carefully prepared, and the counterattack of the 2nd Brigade and 4th Regiment was very difficult.
During the fierce battle, the commander of the 3rd Battalion was injured by shells, and the counterattack troops in the northeast direction were a bit chaotic.
The regimental commander Jin Shilin was furious and angrily scolded: "Dog X wants to fight hard today, Lao Tzu has fought for this life!" He immediately led the guards and trumpeters to rush to the village.
It was another bloody and fiery battle, and Jin Shilin was unfortunately shot several times and died heroically.
The staff officer of the regimental headquarters saw the death of the regimental commander and took the initiative to take up the heavy burden of command.
The officers and men of the 3rd Battalion saw the death and wounding of the regimental and battalion commanders, their eyes were red, and they shouted: "Avenge the regimental commander", "Avenge the battalion commander", "Rush!" "Rushing in despite death or death, fighting with the officers and men of the Kuomintang army house by house, fighting to the death."
The northern half of the village was recovered, the main passage in the village was blocked, and the commanders and fighters of the 4 regiments annihilated more than 800 enemy soldiers, and they also paid a considerable casualty price.
At the Banqiao collection, Yang Yong heard the report and pondered for a long time, and categorically issued a military order: "The Huang family must not retreat, but also increase the number of troops." If the Huang family is lost, the vortex river is not protected, and the task of blocking the attack is difficult to complete. Chief Noji called on us to fight for our lives, and now is the time to fight for our lives! ”
On the south bank of the Vortex River, Yang Baitao, commander of the 18th Army, also gave the same order: "Increase troops!" We must defend the Huang family, repel Yang Yong, and kill this bloody road for the corps! ”
Day and night, the sound of explosions, gunshots and shouts of exhaustion was like a storm, blowing on the Huangjia village with only a hundred or so families.
The night became day, the day became a curtain of blood and fire, everywhere there was fire, everywhere people, dead people and living people were mixed together.
The first round was played for two days and two nights, and the Huangjia Village magically disappeared from the bank of the Vortex River, leaving only the deep imprint of the war.
On the 3rd day, Huang Wei withdrew the 18th Army and replaced it with the 85th Division of the 14th Army.
After two days of bloody fighting, the 118th Division of the 18th Army suffered thousands of casualties, and this kind of beating made Huang Wei extremely heartbroken.
On the 20th, the 14th Army stormed Banqiaoji. Huang Wei wanted to blow up a bloody road with planes, artillery, and tanks, but he was very wrong.
The 1st Battalion of the 7th Regiment of our army, which was firmly at the Banqiao position, resisted the onslaught of the enemy's 14th Army in one day and annihilated more than 700 enemy troops. In front of the position of 1 battalion and 1 company alone, the 14th Army dropped more than 200 corpses.
Huang Wei, who was anxious to advance, did everything he could, but he was unable to break through the iron-blooded defense line of the 1st Column soldiers.
For 3 days and 3 nights, Yang Yong, who gritted his teeth and went into battle, completed the task of blocking the attack, was ordered to retreat, and lured the enemy in.
Yang Yong was worthy of being a tiger general under Liu and Deng, and as soon as he fought with the 18th Army, he gave Huang Wei a chance to get off the horse, which surprised the famous general of the Nationalist Army who had not fought with the People's Liberation Army for several years.