In late November 1948, the East China Field Army annihilated Huang Botao's corps in the Battle of Huaihai, and immediately ordered the columns to quickly advance westward to pursue and annihilate another fierce enemy, the Du Yuming clique.
The Ninth Column and the Twenty-fifth Division ran at the forefront of the whole column, advancing lightly and pursuing westward with all its might.
After several days and nights of continuous pursuit, division commander Xiao Jinghai led the division personnel to a small village. At this time, the time was to report that the radio had malfunctioned and had to be stopped and repaired immediately.
Xiao Jinghai said anxiously, "How long will it take?" ”
"Half an hour or so."
"It's taking too long!" Xiao Jinghai couldn't manage so much, and waved his hand: "You are limited to fixing it within twenty minutes!" ”
Taking the opportunity to ask Ke to repair the radio, Xiao Jinghai re-wrapped the leggings, and then suddenly felt a grunt in his stomach, which made him realize that he had not eaten for too long, and he was hungry and panicked.
From the moment he received the order from the column, Xiao Jinghai led the whole division to pursue the enemy vigorously, and for several days and nights, the axis rotated continuously, and everyone only saw the enemy in their eyes, and all of them could not care about eating, and on the way to the march, they ate a piece of dry food and drank a few sips of water, even if they had finished dealing with a meal.
But after a few days, the dry food on his body was finished, and his stomach was so hungry that people almost stared at Venus. Although Xiao Jinghai was the commander of a division, under the principle of equality between officers and soldiers, he, like ordinary soldiers, could only use his willpower to fight against a strong sense of hunger.
The troops had to stop temporarily, and Xiao Jinghai suddenly thought: Why don't you use this time to make a meal?
He immediately ordered everyone to hurry up and finish their meals, and as soon as the radio was repaired, they would continue to move forward.
Everyone was very happy and busy. Xiao Jinghai also grabbed a bunch of sorghum straw and personally boiled the noodles.
For people who have been hungry for many days, it is better to eat a hot meal than anything! No matter what you cook as a meal, as long as it is cooked, you don't need any condiments at all.
Although Xiao Jinghai was the commander of the division, his hands and feet were also very sharp when he made a meal, and it didn't take too long to make the fire, boil the water, and the noodles were also boiled in boiling water, and they could eat it quickly.
Xiao Jinghai was about to scoop the noodles out of the pot when he suddenly heard a loud voice behind him: "Old Xiao, what are you doing?" ”
As soon as he heard this familiar voice, Xiao Jinghai knew that the person who came was Nie Fengzhi, the commander of the column, and he couldn't help but be surprised, so he quickly saluted and asked, "Commander, how did you run to the front?" ”
What he didn't know was that in order to speed up the pursuit of the enemy by the various units, Nie Fengzhi mobilized elite forces to set up a command group and rode forward on horseback to personally "supervise the pursuit."
Nie Fengzhi did not answer Xiao Jinghai's words, but he split his head and asked, "Did your troops catch up with the enemy?" ”
Xiao Jinghai honestly replied, "Not yet." ”
Nie Fengzhi's brow suddenly twisted a knot, and he said the second sentence: "You didn't catch up with the enemy, but you stopped here and ate comfortably?" ”
His words seem unreasonable, but in fact there are reasons why they have to be emphasized in this way.
Among the various large armies in Huaye, only the Ninth Column was ordered to pursue the west alone, and the target of the pursuit was the three major corps under Du Yuming, each of which was a well-equipped veteran unit, and there were cars that could transport troops, and it was theoretically difficult for the Ninth Column to catch up.
However, from the Central Military Commission to the Huaye Command, the strategic goal has long been set to eliminate the enemy's main force north of the Yangtze River, which is by no means easy to change, otherwise it will have a great negative impact on the entire process of the liberation war!
Under such circumstances, Nie Fengzhi gave the generals a death order: At all costs, du Yuming's clique must be stopped or dragged to the ground, even if the entire column is lost, the enemy cannot be allowed to escape!
Speed, speed, or speed! This is the only action guide for the whole vertical and downward, in addition, everything else must be put aside first, even if you can't eat or sleep well, you must also ensure the speed of the march!
In fact, how could Nie Fengzhi not know that the commanders and fighters of the Twenty-fifth Division, led by Xiao Jinghai, had been doing their best to rush forward? Why didn't he understand that a division commander must be a last resort when he was cooking and eating by himself?
Therefore, when he continued to say the third sentence, "The enemy has not caught up, where is the time to eat?", his heart was sour, and he secretly thought: "My good comrade, after the victory of this pursuit battle, I will apologize to you again!" ”
However, the military intelligence was in a hurry, and the task of pursuing the enemy was above all else, and at this time, he could only put aside his compassion and urge the whole column to continue to pursue.
What is touching is that Xiao Jinghai did not defend himself a word or cry out bitterness in the face of the commander's three stern interrogations, but immediately threw down his rice bowl and the noodles that were about to be cooked, did not eat a mouthful of rice, and replied in a loud voice: "Let's go immediately!" ”
Then he said to the messenger, "Pass on my orders, don't delay for a second, and everyone will go at once!"
The correspondent was stunned: "The radio station of the confidential section..."
"It is not too late to repair it when you catch up with the enemy, and you can't lose big because of small things!"
"Yes!"
Immediately afterward, all the commanders and fighters of the division threw down their rice bowls and ran away, continuing to chase west desperately
Incredibly, it was precisely with this determination that "even if he starved to death, he must first catch up with the enemy", caught up with and grabbed the enemy in front of him, stopped the enemy who fled the fastest, and successfully locked the passage for Du Yuming's group to flee west!
Not long after, Du Yuming's 300,000 "elite soldiers and strong generals" were finally wiped out.
Reference historical materials: "Huaihai Decisive Battle", "Huaihai Campaign Record", "East China Field Army Conquest Record" and so on