In September 1935, the commander of the Red 15th Army decided to send the 243rd Regiment of the Red 81st Division to besiege a battalion of the enemy's 110th Division in Ganquan City, and adopted the method of "encircling points to provide reinforcements" to induce the enemy troops stationed in Yan'an to go south to reinforce.
Liu Zhidan, the deputy commander of the army, personally commanded the troops in combat, and he was familiar with the art of war and the geographical environment of northern Shaanxi, so he decided to send troops to ambush near Laoshan Mountain from Yan'an to Ganquan, set up a "pocket array", and fight an ambush battle.
To the east and west of the town are mountains with dense trees, a river ditch sandwiched in between, and a salty elm highway running along the river. It can be said that the terrain here is very dangerous, and it is convenient for large troops to hide, which is very suitable for ambushing the enemy.
After in-depth study, Liu Zhidan made arrangements: the Red 75th Division and the Red 78th Division were ambushed on the hills on both sides of the road north and south of Laoshan Mountain, respectively, and the 241st Regiment of the Red 81st Division was ambushed on the line of Baitupo to prevent the enemy from approaching Ganquan County.
Liu Zhidan ordered that when the enemy advanced to Laoshan, the 241st Regiment would attack first, and then all the troops would coordinate to annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop.
After all the ambush troops reached the designated area, the 243rd Regiment besieging Ganquan City launched a fierce attack, and the enemy who was besieged in the city was frightened and constantly asked for reinforcements from his division headquarters.
On the morning of October 1, He Lizhong, commander of the enemy's 110th Division, led the entire division out of the division and set out from Nanguan in Yan'an to reinforce Ganquan.
The Red Army had the support of the local people and did a very good job of secrecy, so that He Lizhong was unaware of the Red Army's actions and obediently entered the ambush circle.
At about 2:00 p.m., when the vanguard of the enemy's 110th Division came to the white earth slope at the southernmost end of the ambush circle, the light and heavy fire of the 241st Regiment of the Red Army opened fire at the same time, aiming at the 110th Division and giving a head-on attack.
As soon as the gunfire sounded, the Red 75th Division and the Red 78th Division also attacked from the flank positions.
In the valley more than 20 miles long, the sound of gunfire and shouts of killing was everywhere, the smoke of gunfire was filled, the dust was covered, and the formation of the enemy's 110th Division was quickly disrupted.
However, the enemy's 110th Division was the main division of the Northeast Army at that time, and the majority of the troops were veterans, so it did not take long for them to organize a counterattack and fight with the Red Army.
The enemy in the "pocket" desperately wanted to break through, desperately concentrated all kinds of firepower and forces, and launched a crazy counterattack against the 241st Regiment of the Red 81st Division that was blocking the attack in the Baitu slope area, hoping to kill a bloody road to Ganquan City.
Kong Lingfu, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 234th Regiment of the Red 78th Division, saw the fierce battle situation in front of the White Earth Slope from the west hill, and after consulting with the instructor Wang Sihai, decided to immediately lead the whole battalion down the mountain to reinforce the 241st Regiment.
Liu Maogong, commander of the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion, had a different view of this place, and he objected to Kong Lingfu and Wang Sihai: "Battalion commander, instructor, we should not go to reinforce the 241st Regiment!" ”
"Why? The situation of friendly troops is urgent, and it is not natural for us to go to reinforcements? Kong Lingfu was stunned.
"Although the situation on the 241st Regiment is a little tight, as long as they hold out for a while, the enemy will retreat. We have more important things to do—"
"What? Mao Gong you just say! Wang Sihai encouraged.
"I think our battalion should cross the river as soon as possible to seize the opposite hill and resolutely block the enemy's escape to the south!" Liu Maogong dared to put forward his own suggestions.
Wang Sihai nodded his head in approval and said to Kong Lingfu, "Old Kong, I think what Mao Gong said is very reasonable. You see—"
"That's it!" As soon as Kong Lingfu turned his head, he gave the order to the company commanders in a categorical manner, "Immediately go and block the enemy, don't let them run!" ”
Subsequently, Kong and Wang led the whole battalion down the mountain, crossed the road and ditch, and rushed to the opposite hill.
When the enemy saw that the 3rd Battalion was climbing the mountain, he pounced from the flank to the hillside and held a "climbing competition" with the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Battalion.
The two sides reached the top of the mountain at about the same time, but the enemy became more and more panicked as the enemy fought, and the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Battalion took the opportunity to chase the enemy down the hill and retreat.
At this time, the sky was gradually darkening, and the main enemy force on the road had been interspersed and divided into several pieces by the main forces of the Red Army, and eaten bite by bite.
Under Kong Lingfu's orders, the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Battalion, armed with bayonet-mounted rifles, rushed down the hillside toward the enemy group, hitting them with no way to escape, and had to surrender their weapons.
At about 6 p.m., the fierce battle ended with a major victory for the Red Army.
In this battle, more than 1,000 people were killed and wounded by He Lizhong, commander of the enemy's 110th Division, nearly 4,000 enemy prisoners, and more than 5,000 guns of various types, 5 light and heavy machine guns, and 1 artillery.
Among the spoils of war were a batch of fine cotton military uniforms and cotton coats, which were the most urgently needed materials for the Red Army to survive the winter.
After the battle, Liu Zhidan learned of Liu Maogong's bold proposal to oppose the reinforcement of friendly troops during the battle, praised him for having a big picture view, making up for the shortcomings in the command of his superiors, and playing an important role in our army's victory in this great victory.
Because He Jinguang, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 234th Regiment, died gloriously in this battle, Liu Zhidan personally ordered Liu Maogong to be transferred to the commander of the 1st Battalion.
It is worth mentioning that Liu Maogong later became an excellent commander of our army and became a founding major general in 1955.