During the Liberation War, there was a city that was very special, it was neither a provincial capital nor a city with particularly prominent economic development, and its area was not particularly large. But it is such a small city, but in 2 years broke out 4 battles.
This city is siping city in the northeast, such a small city in the northeast, but during the Liberation War four battles broke out, why is this?
First, let's take a look at the four battles that broke out in Siping.
The first scramble took place in March 1946. Before the First Battle of Siping, Soviet troops were stationed in Siping, because the treaty signed between the mainland and the Soviet Union during the War of Resistance stipulated that mainland troops could not be stationed in the cities where Soviet troops were stationed. However, at this time, the Kuomintang army had already coveted Siping, and soon after the Soviet army withdrew, it organized the Nationalist troops stationed in Shenyang to enter Siping immediately.
After that, our army realized the strategic significance of Siping, and quickly dispatched the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army stationed in the northeast to crush the nationalist army guarding Siping, and successfully liberated Siping, which was also the first Battle of Siping.
At this time, the main force of our army had not yet reached the northeast, so a month later, the second battle for four draws broke out.
At that time, Du Yuming led the main force of the Nationalist army to arrive and launched a fierce attack on our army stationed in Siping. After several days of deadly fighting, our army was still unable to resist the attack of the main Kuomintang troops, and had to withdraw from Siping, which once again fell into the hands of the Kuomintang.
The third scramble broke out in 1947, and this scramble was undoubtedly the fiercest. At that time, the Kuomintang defender of Siping was Chen Mingren, and in the face of the fierce attack of the main force of our army, Chen Mingren led the Nationalist 71st Army to stubbornly resist the attack of our army, and successfully dragged it until the arrival of the Kuomintang reinforcements. The superiors of our army had to withdraw from the Siping area in consideration of the problem of follow-up operations in the northeast.
The last battle took place in early 1948, when our Northeast Field Army had grown to the size of a million people, the liberation of Northeast China was the trend of the times, the people's hopes, and the anti-war sentiment in the Kuomintang army was high, Chen Mingren had long been transferred away from Siping, and our Northeast Field Army was like a bamboo, with only more than 3,000 casualties, annihilated nearly 20,000 Kuomintang defenders, and successfully liberated Siping.
How could such a small city in the northeast cause four fierce battles between the two armies?
First of all, we must understand that before the liberation of the northeast, the division of the northeast region was very mixed, and the northeast at that time was not only three simple provinces, but was divided into four regions from the four directions of east, west, south and north, and each area was divided into different regions, but if you look at the map, you will find that Siping is located in the middle of these four large areas at that time, and the strategic position is very prominent.
In addition, Siping City is located at the junction of Jilin Province and Liaoning Province, known as the "South Gate" of Jilin Province, and is located in the middle of the entire Northeast Plain region, east of the Great Black Mountain, west of the Liaohe Plain, north of Changchun, south of Shenyang, it can be said that Siping City is the throat of the railway belt between Changchun and Shenyang, once you hold Siping, you can cut off the connection between Changchun and Shenyang.
In addition, Siping City is also the intersection of many railways such as the Medium and Long Railway, the Pingqi Railway, and the Simei Railway. In that war era, transportation was very important, and Siping was the intersection of multiple railways, an important transportation hub, as long as Siping was occupied, it could better transport troops and materials to the northeast region.
In addition to its geographical location and transportation advantages, Siping is also one of the largest grain distribution centers in Northeast China. "The soldiers and horses have not moved, the grain and grass have gone first"; in the war, grain is the biggest problem of a troop, and as long as Siping is occupied, the problem of grain and grass in the army can also be solved.
In addition to these points, Siping also has a wealth of mineral resources, according to statistics, Siping has found 54 kinds of mineral resources, and the proven storage capacity of mineral resources reached 23 kinds, this rich mineral resources are very important during war and peace.
Such a small northeastern city actually has unique advantages in geographical location, transportation, grain and grass storage and mineral resources, and it is no wonder that 4 fierce battles will break out.