In 1946, a very extraordinary year for the Chinese revolution, the smoke of the War of Resistance Against Japan had just dissipated, and Chiang Kai-shek's reactionary clique provoked a full-scale civil war at home.
On June 26, 1946, the Kuomintang's 300,000-strong army launched a large-scale attack on the Central Plains Liberated Areas of our Party.
On the same day, in order to cope with the attack of the Kuomintang troops, Chairman Mao sent a telegram to the Central China Bureau, ordering them to make good arrangements for the war, and ordered: "Everything in the Central China Field Army is under the command of Chen (Yi) Shu (Tong)."
Chairman Mao
The next day, Chen Yi sent a telegram to the Central China Field Army, asking Su Yu to leave a column to hold on to the central Soviet region, and the other troops began to reorganize and prepare to fight in Huainan at any time.
Su Yu, who was commanding the soviet front, received this telegram and immediately analyzed the current war situation, believing that the Central China Field Army should remain in central Jiangsu to fight and could not immediately turn to Huainan.
Su Yu immediately sent this view to the Central Military Commission and Chen Yi by telegram. After that, Su Yu rushed to Huai'an without stopping, and called Deng Zihui, Zhang Dingcheng and Tan Zhenlin together for consultation, and the four of them had a long discussion, and finally unanimously agreed to Su Yu's opinion.
On June 29, the four jointly sent a telegram to the Central Military Commission and Chen Yi to express this opinion.
They believed that if the main force of central China was transferred to Huainan, the front line would be stretched very long, and it would be difficult to maintain the supply of supplies.
If the main force is transferred, it is difficult for the remaining troops to defend the central Soviet region, and once the Soviet Union falls and the front line fails in battle, I am afraid that it will fall into a dilemma.
The grain reserves in the Soviet Union are sufficient, manpower and material resources can meet the needs of the war, and the help to the war is very great, so the main force should be left to defend the Soviet Union and China with all its might.
Su Yu
After receiving the telegram, Chen Yi rejected their offer and ordered them to be ready to lead their troops to Huainan at any time.
Chen Yi believed that leaving the main force in the Soviet Union would not change the disadvantages of the Soviet Union, and should take the initiative to attack and seek changes.
After receiving Su Yu's telegram, Chairman Mao repeatedly studied his opinion.
The next day, Chairman Mao issued instructions to suspend action.
On the 30th, Chairman Mao sent another telegram to Su Yu, saying that he would consult with Chen Yi and inform him of the results.
On the same day, Chairman Mao sent a telegram to Chen Yi asking for his thoughts, in which he said that Su Yu's opinion had some truth.
However, Chen Yi still insisted on the plan of attacking from the southern front.
To this end, Chairman Mao first pressed the original plan, and on July 4 issued instructions to fight a few victorious battles on the inside line.
Under the instructions of Chairman Mao, Su Yu launched the famous Soviet-Chinese Campaign on the inner front on July 13!
On the same day that the campaign was launched, Chairman Mao sent a telegram to Chen Yi instructing him not to act rashly and to postpone the plan for operations on the southern front.
But the next day, in a telegram to the Central Military Commission, Chen Yi still proposed that the original plan should be adhered to and that it should be implemented immediately.
Chen Yi
On July 25, Su Yu led the Central China Field Army to victory in the second battle, and he immediately sent a telegram to the central government and Chen Yi, requesting that the fifth brigade be sent to reinforce the Soviet-central battlefield.
Although Su Yu's telegram was only a brigade transfer, it could determine whether to focus the battle on Central Jiangsu or Huainan in the future.
After Chen Yi received the telegram, he still insisted that he should send troops to Huainan, so he did not agree to Su Yu's request, and called again to ask Su Yu to lead his troops to Huainan.
At the same time, Chen Yi also reported this opinion to Chairman Mao.
After receiving the telegram, Chairman Mao did not explicitly reject Chen Yi's opinion, and after repeated reflection, Chairman Mao called Chen Yi on August 6: Let Su Yu fight another battle in Suzhou and China.
After receiving Chairman Mao's telegram, Chen Yi transferred the Fifth Brigade to Central Suzhou to support Su Yu in his battle on the front line.
With the support of the Fifth Brigade, Su Yu's battle in Suzhong was advancing vigorously, but at the same time, Chen Yi's battle was constantly frustrated, and the facts proved Su Yu's correctness.
On August 13, Chen Yi called Su Yu and agreed with him, ending the strategic debate between the two.
Su Yu eventually set a record of seven battles and seven victories in Suzhong, and the Battle of Suzhong was also known as the "Seven Victories of The Seven Battles of Suzhong".
On September 19, the Central China Field Army and the Shandong Field Army joined forces, and Chen Yi apologized to Su Yu and sent a telegram to the central government on October 1 to criticize himself.
On October 15, Chairman Mao sent a telegram, still establishing Chen Yi's leadership position in the army, while the command of the campaign was handed over to Su Yu, expressing his trust in Chen Yi as always and his affirmation of Su Yu's combat command ability.