Do you know which city was the hardest to fight during the Liberation War? Is it Shenyang of the Liaoshen Campaign? Xuzhou at the Battle of Huaihai? Or Beijing at the Battle of Pingjin? In fact, these are not the ones, the most difficult city to fight is located in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Compared with the easy victory of other cities, the Battle of Taiyuan was particularly difficult, in this battle, the PLA troops invested a total of 3 corps, 9 columns, more than 300,000 troops, and was commanded by 2 founding marshals to achieve the final victory.
Why is Taiyuan so hard to fight? Which two marshals commanded this battle? How did it end up?
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Why is Taiyuan so hard to fight?
(Taiyuan during the Republic of China)
Soon after the Wuchang Uprising, Yan Xishan, a local stalwart of the League, was appointed as the governor of Shanxi, and from this period on, Shanxi almost became his acre and three points of land, and with its geographical advantages and the large-scale military power in the hands of shanxi natives, Yan Xishan managed Shanxi tightly and controlled the land of his hometown for 38 years, and was a veritable emperor of Shanxi.
In the newspapers of the Republic of China period, a picture was published, and the image of Yan Xishan with an animation effect held a well-known abacus in his hand, calculating how much money could be made here, and how much money could be made there. It is worth mentioning that in the stage of Yuan Shikai's restoration, in order to gain his trust, Yan Laoxi also sent his old father to Beijing as a "meat ticket", which is really speechless.
It is precisely because of the decades-long operation of Yan Xishan that Shanxi has become an important area that cannot be crossed on the northwest gateway, and the provincial capital Taiyuan, as the old nest of Yan Xishan, is even more guarded, and it is difficult to conquer here.
Geographically, Taiyuan is close to the Fenhe River and surrounded by mountains on three sides
, coupled with strong troops, it almost became a strong fortress that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. From the time Yan Xishan first ruled Shanxi, he built a strong fortification in Taiyuan without interruption, and even captured thousands of ghosts as his own military advisers during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and constantly reinforced Taiyuan.
(Yan Xishan)
In the period of the Liberation War, in the face of the menacing force of the People's Liberation Army, yan xishan's reinforcement project did not stop for a moment, and by the time of the Taiyuan Campaign, more than 5,000 bunkers had been built within a radius of tens of kilometers of the city, which were equipped with enough daily necessities and food in addition to weapons and ammunition. At that time, Yan Xishan also boasted about Haikou,
He said his fortifications could hold out until World War III, at least against the onslaught of the PLA's 1.5 million troops.
Judging from the comparison of the military forces of the two sides before the start of the war, Yan Xishan had money and soldiers, was well-equipped, had advanced weapons from abroad, and was even more strong and strong
There are more than 130,000 elite soldiers
And our side was composed of Xu who had just finished fighting the battles of Jinzhong and Linfen
The former marshal led 80,000 warriors
Besieging Taiyuan City, from the perspective of troop deployment, the PLA fighters are not superior, coupled with the fact that they have experienced a battle not long ago, there are some losses in personnel and equipment, and it is indeed difficult to rely solely on these people to attack the impregnable Taiyuan, but from the perspective of historical development trajectory, Taiyuan was finally taken by our army, what did it experience during the period?
At the beginning and end of the Battle of Taiyuan, Yan Xishan was defeated in Shanxi
In May 1948, Marshal Xu Qianqian, who had left the front line of the battle for several years, returned to the front line of the combat command for the first time and served as a marshal
The position of commander and political commissar of the First Corps of the North China Field Army
The first stop of the mountain again was to return to his hometown of Shanxi.
(Marshal Xu Qianqian)
In May, Xu Shuai led the First Corps to quickly take Linfen with lightning speed, Yan Xishan had not yet reacted, the important gateway to Taiyuan had already been lost, he hurriedly mobilized troops to guard the Jinzhong area, while being responsible for defense, resisting the attack of the People's Liberation Army, while building fortifications again, grabbing the autumn harvest, and preparing for a long-term defensive battle. For him, Jinzhong was too important, just like Zhangjiakou in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was a very important strategic stronghold for the People's Liberation Army, and once it was lost, the consequences were unimaginable.
What Yan Xishan did not expect was that Xu Xiangqian's troops came so quickly, that is, in a month's time, the fortifications in Jinzhong had not yet been repaired, and the People's Liberation Army had started the last battle under the city of Taiyuan, conquering Jinzhong in a short period of time and annihilating its own side
More than 100,000 troops
。 Yan Xishan was completely panicked this time, Linfen and Jinzhong were taken one after another, Xu Xiangqian's purpose was very obvious, the next is the sword pointing to Taiyuan, the balance of strength between the two sides at this time is not obvious, the People's Liberation Army has successively come to support, and Yan Xishan, although in the first two battles in the loss of troops, but Taiyuan City is not easy to fight, do not forget that there are still thousands of fortresses that are easy to defend and difficult to attack have not yet played a role.
There is no doubt that in Taiyuan in the near future, the People's Liberation Army and Yan Xishan's department will fight a final battle, and both sides have the reason and strength to win, in this case, defense may have more advantages for Yan Xishan. from
Since October, Yan Xishan has begun to recruit and expand wildly in order to defend Taiyuan. In order to capture Zhuang Ding and raise grain and grass, Yan Xishan sent out
The strength of the 7 divisions, divided into three fronts, started from the east of the Fenhe River and west of the Tongpu Road, and continued to advance south.
Originally thought that Yan Xishan stuck to the old nest can not come out, the People's Liberation Army wants to take Taiyuan needs to take a lot of work, the result has not yet begun to fight, Yan Xishan himself sent out the troops, but also divided the troops in many ways, for Xu Shuai this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he immediately seized the opportunity of Yan Xishan's troops to break away from the fortifications, 1
In the early morning of October 5, a blockade battle on the outskirts of Taiyuan was decisively launched. After eleven days of hard work, the People's Liberation Army annihilated the strength of 2 divisions and 3 regiments of Yan Xishan, occupied Wusu Airfield, and then controlled the North Airfield, and successively took the front-line positions of Shizuizi and Jielingshi, and opened the gate on the south side of the defense line of the Mountain Bunker in The East of Yanxi Mountain.
After this battle, Yan Xishan no longer dared to send troops, had to seize the defense, concentrated forces to defend Taiyuan, at the same time the defeat of the two military airfields, let him be in a hurry, the strategic significance of these two airfields is too important, once lost means the loss of air transport lines, Taiyuan can not receive military assistance from the United States and Chiang Kai-shek, when the materials in Taiyuan City are exhausted, it will be reduced to lambs to be slaughtered in an instant, Yan Xishan ordered, vowed to take back the north airfield, and at the same time sent troops to the western section of the Fenhe River to build a new temporary airfield. As a result, it was attacked by the People's Liberation Army.
On the 26th, the two sides began to fight around the four major fortresses of Niutuozhai, Xiaoyaotou, Naoma and Shantou
。 These four fortresses are less than 5 kilometers away from Taiyuan, which is the eastern barrier of Taiyuan, and Yan Xishan added many more complex and more difficult fortifications to the Japanese fortifications during the War of Resistance.
This battle was very fierce, in order to take control and block the pace of the People's Liberation Army's attack, Yan Xishan did not hesitate to throw in
Strength of 8 divisions as well as 3 columns and 1 security regiment
。
The People's Liberation Army has also invested more than 27 regiments of combat strength to compete for the four major fortresses. The battle involved more than 800 artillery pieces, and the two sides fought fiercely for half a month, and on November 12, the People's Liberation Army successfully took the four major fortresses in eastern Taiyuan.
However, the day before the victory of the four major fortresses, after continuous command battles and day and night work, Xu Shuai once again fell ill and had to be temporarily sent to the rear for recuperation. At this time in the eastern region, the Liaoshen Campaign has been won, the Huaihai Campaign is also in a tense stage, the Pingjin Campaign will also be fought at the same time after the Dongye Army is launched, if the three fronts are fought at the same time, perhaps Fu Zuoyi, who is guarding Beijing, will jump the wall in a hurry, this is a military talent, once he lets him lead the troops to run, it will increase the difficulties of the liberation road to the south later.
Therefore, the central authorities decided to slow down the pace of attacking Taiyuan and not let the enemy run, and Yan Xishan would let him hold on to Taiyuan if he wanted to, and as soon as the war in the east was over, he would immediately mobilize his troops to launch a general attack on Taiyuan, striving to take it in one fell swoop and eliminate the troubles forever.
In mid-March 1949, the Central Military Commission dispatched the 19th Corps and the 20th Corps of the North China Field Army and 1 artillery division of the Dongye and North China Military Regions to Taiyuan together, and together with the original strength of Xu Shuai outside Taiyuan, the strength of the People's Liberation Army had reached more than 320,000 people.
It has an absolute advantage in quantity.
On the 17th, the Taiyuan Front Provisional Command was established, and Marshal Xu Qianqian still served as commander and political commissar, and at the same time, on the way to the northwest to participate in the operational command, he was stopped by Xu Shuai, hoping that Mr. Peng could go to the Taiyuan front and actually command the Taiyuan operation.
(Mr. Peng)
Taiyuan City had fallen into chaos, the People's Liberation Army soldiers approached the city, the city's external communication line supply line was almost completely cut off, ammunition, grain and grass and other materials were almost all exhausted, and the morale of Yan Xishan's troops was scattered. Due to the shortage of materials, the Kuomintang soldiers had lost their minds and began to rob the people in the city, and for a time there were all kinds of mourning and resentment, and Yan Xishan further lost the hearts of the people. The Yan Xishan cadres in charge of guarding Taiyuan were stubborn and stubborn, and Taiyuan City could no longer be peacefully liberated.
On April 20, under the command of Xu Shuai and General Peng, the PLA forces launched a general offensive against Taiyuan. The 19th Corps attacked from the south of Taiyuan City, the 20th Corps from the north, and the 18th Corps from the east. On the evening of the 22nd, the enemy outside the Taiyuan city wall was completely annihilated by the PLA troops.
On the morning of the 24th, more than 1,300 artillery pieces mobilized by the People's Liberation Army opened fire at the same time, launching a final attack on Taiyuan City, and the defenders in the city were in disarray. Mr. Peng resolutely ordered 3 corps and 1 artillery division to immediately attack the city, engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, and formally take Taiyuan after 9 hours, and the battle ended.
In this campaign, the PLA, under the leadership of Xu Shuai and General Manager Peng, annihilated more than 138,000 enemy personnel, successfully liberated Taiyuan, opened up the northwestern front, greatly promoted the subsequent peaceful liberation of Datong, and also sounded the death knell for the Kuomintang.