Mark Twain said: "The human mind is remarkable, and as long as you focus on a certain cause, you will definitely make achievements that surprise you." "During the War of Liberation, there was no shortage of enemies in the battles between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang.
However, looking back at the history of battles in the past, it is found that during the Liberation War, the plaster's achievements were outstanding, and there were few battles that could not be won. Among them, the PLA's weapons, equipment, and troop strength cannot take advantage, and the code of victory is the PLA's ideology and willpower.
The Battle of Menglianggu was a classic battle in which a small number of victories were won, and chiang Kai-shek's key offensive was dealt a blow in the War of Liberation, and this victory in Huaye greatly boosted the morale of our army. However, many people will always feel that the Battle of Menglianggu was a "loss-making transaction" when recalling this battle. Why? Because the People's Liberation Army annihilated more than 30,000 enemy troops in this battle, only 10,000 guns were captured. The benefits from this war are, in addition to the substantial weakening of the enemy's numbers, but also the acquisition of weapons from them.
But only 10,000 guns were captured in this battle, and many people wondered where the guns went.
Tough combat environment
The Battle of Menglianggu was a very meaningful war that took place during the Liberation War, it was a war against the reorganized 74th Division of the Kuomintang Revolutionary Army under the direction of Mao Zedong, commanded by Generals Chen Yi and Su Yu, and carried out by the East China Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
It began on May 13, 1947, lasted four days, and ended with the victory of the People's Liberation Army. Some people say that this battle made the People's Liberation Army begin to change from weak to strong, and it finally annihilated the 74th Division and turned the tide of war in East China at once. At that time, the 74th Army was the "first of the five main forces" of the Kuomintang army, and the significance of the victory in this battle was grand.
Before the war began, Chiang Kai-shek and others were full of confidence in the occupation of Huaye. Because they had also failed in battle before, Chiang Kai-shek fully absorbed the shortcomings and experience of the past, sent the most powerful army, and began to launch a strong attack on Huaye.
The principle that our People's Liberation Army has always adhered to before is to fight first dispersion and then concentrate, and to fight weakness first and then fight strong. But the battle changed that principle.
At that time, the decision of the Kuomintang was to let the 74th Division go straight to its destination and send the 25th and 83rd Divisions to support. Chen Yi and Su Yu led the army to move eastward first, stopping the southward movement of the seventh column and letting the sixth column, which had already moved south, ambush in Lunan.
This plan succeeded in concealing the eyes and ears of the people, which made Chiang Kai-shek overjoyed, and immediately ordered the army to go to the Luzhong Mountains for a decisive battle. At that time, the 74th Division was the strongest army in the Nationalist army, and with the cooperation of the 25th and 83rd Divisions, many people believed that the Kuomintang was bound to win.
The 74th Division, the head of the Fifth Division, was annihilated
The result of the Battle of Menglianggu was something that Chiang Kai-shek had been obsessing over during his lifetime, because in his eyes, the 74th Division was his confidant and his most proud army. Chairman Mao Zedong was also surprised by the outcome of this battle, because at that time our army had no troops and no weapons and equipment, and it was difficult to win this battle.
As the war was about to begin, General Su Yu first sent four columns to capture the main points, and then blocked the 74th Division with the 25th and 83rd Divisions, thus disconnecting the three armies. At the same time, a column was sent to assist several other armies, and at the same time it was necessary to be on the lookout for the support of the other two enemy armies.
The whole layout shows the situation in which our army surrounds the 74th Division and the 25th and 83rd divisions surround our army. Therefore, whether the 74th Division can be won is a key to victory in this war. Fortunately, the bravery and fearlessness of the PLA army made the worst plans on the battlefield. The number of enemy troops reached 450,000, while the Plaster's East China Field Army had only 270,000 men.
The commander of the 74th Division was too urgent, from the initial "steady and steady fighting" to "fierce attack", perhaps because it was too eager to win, and finally after several days of fierce fighting, the 74th Division was declared lost, and the division commander Zhang Lingfu was also killed. The Huaye People's Liberation Army declared victory, and it successfully shattered Chiang Kai-shek's dream.
This Battle of Menglianggu wiped out a total of 30,000 enemy forces, and it is reasonable to say that 30,000 guns could be captured from it, but in the end it was 10,000 guns.
Why annihilate the enemy 30,000 and surrender only 10,000 guns
If you understand the following points, you may understand why it is normal to capture only 10,000 guns. On the battlefield, only infantry can be equipped with guns, and the composition of the army is more complicated, not only the infantry, but also the class responsible for other affairs. And there are not only guns on the battlefield, but also mortars, flat-fire guns, mountain guns, field guns and so on.
In addition, at that time, the Kuomintang army was extremely dependent on US weapons in the war, but looking back at the historical background at that time, the US government had imposed an embargo on the Kuomintang for ten months at that time, in order to promote the success of the Chongqing negotiations.
Then there is the reason for the Kuomintang army itself, their tactics have changed from "steady and steady fighting" to "fierce attack", and once radical led to the subsequent shortage of weapons.
At that time, in the Kuomintang army, it was not that weapons could be supplied if they wanted to. The government and the military are extremely corrupt, and if they want to support, they must bribe their superiors.
As the commander of the 74th Division, Zhang Lingfu was grumpy and eccentric, and he had many discord with other division commanders.
As a result, when the 74th Division requested support in the later period, the other divisions did not want to help. Although these situations did not occur in the People's Liberation Army, we cannot deny that the Kuomintang was poorly managed and too corrupt at that time, which is why this situation occurred.
In addition, throughout the campaign, Huaye's army also used a large number of shells. Under the carefully arranged three-tier fire, they destroyed countless enemy weapons with shells, so when they captured enemy guns, there were still many scrap iron. As a result of these reasons, although more than 30,000 enemy troops were wiped out, only more than 10,000 guns were captured.
Brief summary:
The significance of the victory in the Battle of Menglianggu was grand, and it shattered Chiang Kai-shek's dream of a decisive battle. It was one of the most representative wars of the Liberation War, annihilating the 74th Division, which was at the head of the Fifth Army. Although many people at that time had the idea that the Kuomintang would eventually win this battle, but later with the efforts of Huaye's army, the Battle of Meng Lianggu was won!
Many people say that this battle is a "loss-making transaction", but in terms of its results and significance, this is not the case. Although the number of guns captured was small, it annihilated many enemies and successfully defended the place. The bravery and outstanding combat performance of the PLA are the treasures of the Communist Party's victory in the War of Liberation.