Huang Baitao's corps was the first regiment to be destroyed in the Battle of Huaihai, and the reason for the collapse of Huang Baitao's corps has been talked about by later generations, and there are many controversies.
Some people think so
Huang Baitao himself died
Some say that it is Xuzhou General
Liu Zhi was incompetent
Others say yes
Chiang Kai-shek blindly commanded
。 So who caused Huang Baitao's demise?
Eight days after the collapse of Huang Baitao's corps, the inspection team of the Kuomintang Ministry of National Defense concluded:
"Due to Huang Baitao's command error, when Xin'an Town moved west, he did not build a bridge over the canal, delaying the time, resulting in the siege of Nianzhuang."
This is obviously pushing all the responsibility on the dead, bullying Huang Baitao who has died can not be justified.
Is it true that the reason for the collapse of Huang Baitao's corps is simply that there is no bridge?
Was the lack of a bridge the main reason for the annihilation of Huang Baitao's corps?
Before the war, Huang Baitao's corps was stationed in the area of Xin'an Town, with the corps headquarters and the 63rd Army stationed in Xin'an Town, the 25th Army in Ahu Town, the 64th Army in Gaoliu, the 100th Army stationed in Wayao, and the 44th Army in Haizhou.
On November 5, Huang Baitao received orders to retreat from Xin'an Town to Xuzhou. Since it was necessary to meet the 44th Army in the direction of Haizhou, Huang Baitao set the departure time at 5:00 a.m. on November 7.
And to retreat west must pass through the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the large army crossing the river is often the most vulnerable time, Huang Baitao is also a battle-hardened general, so he made detailed arrangements for crossing the river, the situation is as follows:
1. Liu Zhenxiang's 64th Army was the vanguard unit, and in coordination with the headquarters of the 7th Corps and the troops directly under it, it crossed the river first, and then occupied positions such as the compound, the East Building, the Xiaofeizhuang, and the Wuzhuang near Nianzhuangwei;
2. Chen Zhang's 63rd Army detoured south, reached Yaowan to cross the canal, and then assembled at Nianzhuangwei.
3. Chen Shizhang's 25th Army was responsible for receiving the 44th Army, and then followed Wang Zejun's 44th Army across the river and stationed in villages such as Daxiaoyazhuang and Youjiahu.
Fourth, Wang Zejun 44 jun crossed the river and entered the Nianzhuang station and nearby villages.
Fifth, the 100th Army of Zhou Zhidao occupied the current position, served as the rear troops of the Corps, covered the crossing of the river by the troops, and after the 25th Army was withdrawn, quickly passed through the canal and entered the villages of Pengzhuang and Hetaizi west of Nianzhuang.
It can be seen from here that Huang Baitao made detailed arrangements for crossing the river. Huang Baitao did not mention the bridge in the above deployment, but the various units were arranged in which village they were stationed, did he not expect to build a bridge when crossing the river? It should be unlikely that Huang Baitao thought it was not too important to build a bridge at that time, and he felt that a railway bridge was enough for the troops to pass smoothly.
If there is no accident, according to Huang Baitao's deployment, a railway bridge is indeed enough. However, Huang Baitao did not know that Su Yu had already launched the Huaihai Campaign in advance on November 6, and the columns were rapidly moving south.
Dawn on November 8. The 64th Army, the vanguard of Huang Baitao's corps, had successfully crossed the river. But then the speed of the 44th Army crossing the river was surprisingly slow, because the 44th Army came from Haizhou, not only the troops, but also followed a large number of fleeing civilians, dragging their families and mouths, and chaos.
Coupled with the fact that the railway bridge is not wide, and trucks have broken anchor on the bridge, the bridge is congested for a while, and the follow-up troops are constantly reaching the shore.
It was not until the afternoon of November 8 that the 44th Army crossed the canal, while the 25th Army and the 100th Army were still on the east bank of the canal.
At the same time, HuaYe's vanguard troops arrived at Xin'an Town but pounced. At this time, Su Yu knew that Huang Baitao's corps had slipped ahead of schedule, so Su Yu ordered the Huaye 11th Column in Suqian to quickly move north and directly into Zhao Dun to block the westward retreat of Huang Baitao's corps.
On the afternoon of the same day, Hua Yexian exchanged fire with the 25th Army, the 100th Army and other troops that were still on the east bank of the canal, but the scale was not large. In the end, on the evening of the 8th, the main forces of the 100th Army and the 25th Army overtook the river, of which the 25th Army suffered little losses, about 2,000 casualties, while the 44th Division of the 100th Army, which was responsible for the rear of the palace, suffered heavy losses, one regiment was annihilated, and another regiment failed to cross the river.
However, from the 63rd Army, which crossed the river from Yaowan alone, due to its procrastination, it had been caught up by Huaye 1 column and could not run away.
However, the main force of Huang Baitao's corps had all crossed the river by November 9. If the bridge is built, the army may have crossed the river on the morning of the 8th, but the bridge was only delayed for half a day.
The encirclement of Huaye was completely closed on November 11, which was two days during this period. Nianzhuang is only a few tens of kilometers away from Xuzhou, and Huang Baitao has every chance to escape to Xuzhou, but he did not leave, but chose to stay in Nianzhuang and stick to it.
Obviously, the lack of a bridge was not the main reason why Huang Baitao's corps was surrounded by the mill.
Was it Liu Zhi who put Huang Baitao in a desperate situation?
As the commander-in-chief of Xuzhou, Liu Zhi was responsible for the affairs of the Xuzhou front, what decisions did he make after Huang Baitao's army crossed the river?
On November 8, Huang Baitao's corps was crossing the canal, and a major incident occurred in the Feng Public Security Department of the Third Appeasement District north of Xuzhou, Zhang Kexia and He Jifeng led more than 20,000 people to revolt in the Jiawang area, and for a time the northern gate of Xuzhou was directly opened to the People's Liberation Army.
Zhang Kexia (right) He Jifeng (left)
The emptiness of troops in Xuzhou made Liu Zhi panic and feel that Xuzhou was not safe. After asking Chiang Kai-shek again, let the nearest 72nd Army quickly return to defense, and at the same time transfer Li Mi's army, which was receiving Huang Baitao at Cao Baji, to return to Xuzhou.
In the early morning of November 9, He ordered Huang Baitao's corps to quickly reach Xuzhou to defend the defense east of Xuzhou. According to Liu Zhi's orders, Huang Baitao asked the 44th Army to send a vanguard force to Cao Baji and advance towards the Daxu family.
After the order for the whole corps to march west was issued, the first
Liu Zhenxiang, commander of the 64th Army
He immediately objected, and he felt that he should stay and fight with Hua Ye.
In fact, Liu Zhenxiang wanted to save the 63rd Army in his heart, because the 63rd Army and the 64th Army were also Guangdong Army troops. At this time, the 63rd Army was besieged in Yaowan, and if the 7th Corps went to Xuzhou, it would inevitably abandon the 63rd Army.
There is also liu Zhenxiang who is a bit arrogant and arrogant, thinking that the People's Liberation Army is just like this, and wants to stay and touch Hua Ye. At this time, Huang Baitao was also hesitant in his heart, because the uprising of the Third Appeasement District allowed the Huaye interception troops to go directly south, and when they were surrounded by interceptions, they would fall into the embarrassing situation of blocking in front and chasing soldiers in the back.
So Huang Baitao once again asked Liu Zhi how to act, Liu Zhi was embarrassed and useful, where did he know what to do, and Liu Zhi was afraid of taking responsibility, so he let Huang Baitao make his own decisions.
Liu Zhi
At this time, there was still one day before the encirclement circle of Huaye was completely closed, huaye 8 columns had already occupied the canal iron bridge, and Huaye 4th, 6th and 9th columns had already set up pontoon bridges on the canal to cross the river with all their might.
In the north, the 7th and 13th columns of Huaye were rapidly moving south, cooperating with the 11th column to intercept the way forward of Huang Baitao's corps.
On November 10, Huang Baitao thought twice, but still decided to continue to the west and not to stay.
That is to say, Liu Zhi's order was not the direct cause of Huang Baitao's siege at the mill, and it was someone else who made Huang Baitao change his decision.
Chiang Kai-shek's decision bought Hua Ye precious time
Chiang Kai-shek has a characteristic, that is, he likes to command at a higher level, and if he likes to command beyond a higher level, the key is that the orders issued are often wrong.
Why did Chiang Kai-shek make the embarrassing liu zhi the commander-in-chief of Xuzhou in this Huaihai campaign? That is, although Liu Zhi's military level is not high, Liu Zhi is very obedient, and whatever Chiang Kai-shek says, he absolutely implements.
The main reason why Huang Baitao's 7th Corps was besieged in Nianzhuang in the Huaihai Campaign this time was Chiang Kai-shek's repeated changes in decision-making.
On November 10, Chiang Kai-shek changed his decision and asked Huang Baitao's corps to stop advancing westward, and the armies quickly returned to Nianzhuang for a decisive defensive deployment. At this time, the 499th Regiment, the vanguard of the 44th Army, had already occupied Cao Baji, and after receiving the order, it voluntarily abandoned this important stronghold of Cao Baji and returned to Nianzhuang.
By noon on November 10, Hua Ye intercepted the vanguard of the troops, and the 7th Column reached The Daxu family. On the night of the 10th, the main forces of the 7th Column and the 13th Column arrived near Cao Baji, encountered the remnants of the 44th Division of the 100th Army on the west side of the unauthorized, and after a night of fierce fighting, the remnants of the 44th Division were completely annihilated by more than 3,000 people, and Cao Baji was controlled by HuaYe.
On November 11, Huaye's 10th column and 11th column also reached the outer blocking positions, completely separating Huang Baitao's corps from Xuzhou and encircling it deadly in Nianzhuang.
It can be said that it was Chiang Kai-shek's decision that bought Hua Ye precious time and allowed Su Yu to completely seal his pockets.
In general, from the beginning of the retreat on November 6 to the complete encirclement on the 11th, there are many influencing factors, such as waiting for the 44th Army; crossing the river without building a bridge; He Jifeng and Zhang Kexia revolt; And Li Mi's army withdrawing prematurely.
But in the end, the main reason why Huang Baitao's army was besieged in Nianzhuang was Chiang Kai-shek's decision.
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