On the afternoon of October 13, 1948, Cheng Zihua, commander of the Second Corps of the Northeast Field Army of the People's Liberation Army, was anxiously pacing back and forth in the command post.
The battle ahead was fierce, and the sound of gunfire, artillery, and the roar of aircraft engines were clearly transmitted to Cheng Zihua's front-line command post.
Due to the influence of shells, loess still fell from time to time in the command post, and everyone inside was covered with dust.
The ringing of the telephone and the ticking sound of the telegraph also kept ringing in the ears, and the atmosphere in the entire command post was depressed and tense, although the weather had turned cold at this time, but sweat beads oozed from everyone's foreheads.
Soon, a soldier finished translating a new telegram, picked up the telegram, and quickly ran in the direction where Cheng Zihua was. Before the person arrived, Cheng Zihua heard his voice:
"Report, Noji call! Report, Noji call! ”
The soldier ran to Cheng Zihua's side, and before he could salute, Cheng Zihua anxiously took the telegram. The content of the telegram was very short, with only one line on it: 101 (in the Liberation War, Lin Biao's code name was 101) Order, I don't want casualty figures, I just want Tashan, just Tashan.
Lin Biao is a famous general of our party, who has rarely lost battles in his life, and his biggest characteristic of fighting wars is that he loves soldiers like a son and never fights dangerous battles, so the casualty rate of his soldiers is often very low.
But why, Lin Biao's telegram to Cheng Zihua was so harsh? What exactly does Tower Hill mean? Why doesn't Lin Biao want casualty numbers, just Tower Hill?
Campaign key
In September 1948, after months of preparation and wandering, the main force of the Northeast Field Army finally surrounded Jinzhou and prepared to attack the city.
In fact, as early as March this year, Chairman Mao, who was far away in Xibaipo, North China, issued several reports demanding that Lin Biao capture Jinzhou as soon as possible and close the gate to the northeast.
But at the same time, Shenyang and Changchun also had nearly 400,000 troops of the Kuomintang Zhengdong Group, Liao Yaoxiang Group, and Wei Lihuang Group.
Therefore, if you want to bypass the main force of the Northeast National Army and drive south to attack Jinzhou, which has a complete defense system, so that Dongye is under the enemy, this pressure is not ordinarily great.
After the defeat of the siege of Changchun, Lin Biao finally realized that Chairman Mao's previous strategic plan was correct. Under the persuasion of Luo Ronghuan, political commissar of the East Field, Lin Biao finally made up his mind and led the main force of the East Ye to the south to attack Jinzhou, and the first stage of the Liaoshen Campaign began.
When he learned that the PLA was attacking Jinjin with all its might, revealing major flaws in its abdomen, Chiang Kai-shek also realized that this was probably the last chance to defeat the Northeast People's Liberation Army. Therefore, he personally flew to Shenyang and Huludao, and established two battle plans with Wei Lihuang and Hou Jingru.
That is, when the main force of Dongye attacked Jinzhou, Wei Lihuang's department and Hou Jingru made separate moves, and attacked with something to defeat Dongye in one fell swoop.
After nearly a month of peripheral fighting, the Northeast Field Army had cleared dozens of counties and towns outside Jinzhou, and the Kuomintang troops were basically compressed to the lines of Jinzhou, Tangshan, and Shanhaiguan.
In this month's peripheral battles, Chiang Kai-shek had also completed the transfer of troops.
In addition to the Wei Lihuang and Liao Yaoxiang Corps, which were in charge of the westward advance, he also transferred six divisions from North China and Yantai, and formed the Eastern Advance Corps with the original garrison of five divisions of Houjingru in Huludao, which was bound to win the ownership of the northeast in the narrow strip of the Liaoxi corridor.
Due to Chiang Kai-shek's personal supervision of the battle, Hou Jingru was under great pressure, he did not dare to delay the fighters, and began to cross the sea to attack after the troops were assembled. Huludao is only eleven kilometers from Jinzhou, and the terrain along the road is flat, and there is almost no danger to defend. The only obstacle is Tashan south of Jinzhou.
Although there is a mountain character in the name, Tower Hill is not actually a mountain, there is only a small village of more than 100 families, called Tower Hill Village. To the north of the village, there is a small high slope more than 100 meters above sea level, which is considered a mountain.
Originally, in Lin Biao's deployment, there were only 5 divisions of Hou Jingru on Hulu Island, and their strength was not strong, so he only sent a column of 4 columns to block the attack here.
However, with Chiang Kai-shek's increase in troops, the Tashan blocking position, which was originally inconspicuous in the campaign deployment, turned into a key chess spot for the entire Liaoshen Campaign and even the Liberation War.
Why is Tashan so important, here we need to understand two facts, that is, although in Chiang Kai-shek's original plan, the Kuomintang Eastern Advance Regiment and the Western Advance Regiment acted simultaneously and went hand in hand.
But Liao Yaoxiang had long been afraid of Lin Biao, and he didn't know whether the purpose of Dongye attacking Jinzhou was to take Jinzhou or feign an attack.
The vast Jinxi Plain, with flat ground, is suitable for mobile corps operations and for the rapid advance of mechanized troops. It was precisely for this reason that Lin Biao could not make up his mind to attack Jinzhou, because once Liao Yaoxiang and Wei Lihuang's entire army attacked, it would be impossible to hold on to the Liaoxi Plain, a place where there was no danger to defend.
Interestingly, Liao Yaoxiang knew this relationship, but he still did not dare to send troops to surround Lin Biao. Because in his opinion, Lin Biao's military style would never make such a risky military deployment, so his real goal was definitely not Jinzhou, but to surround and help.
Therefore, although Liao Yaoxiang came directly to the main force of Dongye with an army of more than 100,000 on the surface, after laying down a Zhangwu, he grinded and did not move forward.
Liao Yaoxiang's calculations were shrewd, and he was waiting for the results of Hou Jingru's attack. If Hou Jing can take Tashan, then he will make up his mind and come to help the battle.
Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek was overseeing the battle on Huludao at this time, and Hou Jingru did not dare not attack. But if Hou Jingru can't beat Tashan, it means that the war situation in Jinzhou has deteriorated, and he is far away in Zhangwu, and he can transfer at any time.
Due to the many factions within the Kuomintang, in this first major Armageddon between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, millions of troops were fighting, and the final outcome depended on the success or failure of the Tashan Blockade, which no one had expected before the war.
However, by the time the Tashan Blockade began, the Liaoshen Campaign had entered its most intense period, and neither Hou Jingru nor Cheng Zihua dared to relax at this time.
Tower Hill Attack and Defense
The Tashan Blockade officially began on 10 October, and at dawn on the 10th, the Kuomintang troops concentrated superior artillery fire from the navy and air force and bombed our Tashan position indiscriminately.
Under the cover of monstrous artillery fire, the Tashan position was leveled by several meters, but fortunately, under the cover of this round of intensive artillery fire, our troops suffered few casualties.
As early as around October 6, when they heard that the People's Liberation Army had built a position here, the men, women, and children of Tashan Village spontaneously organized. Ordinary people dismantled the door panels of their homes, took out the boxes for their dowry, and even worse, took out their own coffin boards and gave them to the PLA to strengthen its position.
After a few days of construction, the anti-artillery capability of the Tashan blocking position was also considered first-class, these were the experiences that Higashino had explored in the past two years of fighting with the Kuomintang army, and now, it was time for the final showdown.
After the shelling, the independent 95th Division of the Kuomintang acted as the vanguard and attacked our beachhead first.
Speaking of this independent 95th division, it is known as the "Zhao Zilong Division", and the successive division commanders are all from Whampoa and are known as the elite of the national army.
During the Liberation War, the "Zhao Zilong Division" had an arrogant slogan, "There is no position that our division cannot fight," and it was precisely because of the 95th Division's powerful ability to attack fortified positions that Chiang Kai-shek specially transferred it from the battlefield in North China to Huludao.
At the beginning of the battle, the 95th Division really deserved the title of "Zhao Zilong Division". They led the regiment battalion commander in front, covered with light and heavy machine guns, and attacked the PLA positions with the whole regiment and battalion in a wave-like combat method.
In the morning of fierce fighting between the two sides, the 95th Division suffered 1,245 casualties and the PLA 4th Column suffered 1,048 casualties, of which only 21 remained in the 34th Regiment guarding the frontal position of Tashan.
Attacking from the sea to the land, or a beachhead in the muddy wetlands, can eventually achieve a close one-to-one exchange of battle losses with the defenders. The combat effectiveness of the 95th Independent Division of the Kuomintang can be seen, and it is not difficult to imagine the brutality of the Tashan blockade.
However, although the combat effectiveness of the Independent 95th Division was strong, the Tashan garrison was not a general. Their deputy commander was Hu Qicai, a general personally ordered by Lin Biao to defend Tashan, and the 4th Column had completely annihilated the Kuomintang 25th Division known as the "Thousand Liju" in the Xinkailing area, shocking the northeast.
Hu Qicai is also known as the "Five Tigers of Dongye" together with Li Tianyou, Deng Hua, Han Xianchu and others, and is the five most powerful generals under Lin Biao.
The Tashan blockade was fierce and fierce, which greatly damaged Cheng Zihua of the rear command, and he saw in the telescope that the vanguard of the 95th Division had even penetrated the first trench of our army.
Although it was quickly recaptured by our army, it was already so difficult in just one morning of the war.
More importantly, the determination to fight shown by our army in this battle also made Cheng Zihua feel a little drummed in his heart.
It was not that he was afraid of defeat, but he knew very well in his heart that the success or failure of the Tashan Blockade was related to the final outcome of the entire Liaoshen Campaign and the fate of millions of troops on both sides of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
Moreover, if something went wrong in the Jinzhou campaign, it might even affect the process of national liberation, and such a great pressure made Cheng Zihua dare not raise it, and he called Lin Biao to report the situation truthfully, focusing on the ferocity of the attack and the tenacity of the will of the national army.
When Cheng Zihua sent the report, Lin Biao had not closed his eyes for several days because of the deployment of the general attack, at this time Lin Biao was resting on the chair, Liu Yalou was afraid of disturbing Lin Zong, did not wake him up, but read the telegram with the political commissar Luo Ronghuan.
After reading Cheng Zihua's telegram, Rao Liu Yalou also realized the seriousness of the situation, he had to wake up Lin Biao, and asked him: "President Lin, the pressure on the Tashan side is too great, isn't it time to let a vertical up?" ”
Lin Biao also has a habit of using troops, that is, he likes to stay in reserve, and wait until the battle is going on at a critical moment as a surprise soldier and suddenly kill.
The commander of the First Column was Li Tianyou, who followed Lin Biao during the Red Army period, the head of the "Five Tigers of the Eastern Wild", and among the million-strong army of the Eastern Field, the First Column was also the strongest column.
After reading the telegram, Lin Biao pondered for a long time, and then, he stood up and said to Liu Yalou: "Tell Cheng Zihua that I don't want his casualty figures, I just want Tashan, I only want Tashan." ”
This sentence was very harshly worded, Liu Yalou had followed Lin Biao for many years, and he had hardly seen him say such a thing.
It can be seen that this Armageddon has also caused great pressure on Lin Biao. Subsequently, Liu Yalou quickly walked to the newspaper room and sent this sentence to Cheng Zihua.
After a while, probably worried that Cheng Zihua would not be able to bear the pressure, Lin Biao added another telegram to him. Lin Biao told him that this was a spiritual war, and its significance was not which side had stronger artillery fire and stronger combat effectiveness, but spirit. As long as the spirit is strong, then it will definitely be the final winner.
After seeing this telegram, Cheng Zihua said to Lin Biao, please rest assured that even if the troops are exhausted, he will personally go with the guard regiment and swear to defend Tower Mountain.
The soul is everlasting
Tashan couldn't attack for a long time, and the pressure on Hou Jingru's side was also great.
Fan Hanjie constantly sent electricity to ask Chiang Kai-shek to send reinforcements, Liao Yaoxiang pretended to attack, but in Zhangwu Mo did not advance, Chiang Kai-shek personally supervised the battle at the headquarters of Hou Jingru in Huludao, which made Hou Jingru's eyes red, he gave orders to the troops not to rest for a moment, and attacked day and night.
Although the garrison of Tashan was strong, it could not be supported under such a fierce artillery bombardment from the Kuomintang, and three days after the start of the campaign, our army's fortifications at Tashan were almost completely destroyed.
Fortunately, after Lin Biao learned of Huludao's reinforcements, he sent the 11th Column and two independent divisions to strengthen the Tashan defense line. Cheng Zihua understood that it was time to fight for will, and at this juncture, whoever took a step back would be a complete failure.
On the afternoon of the 14th, Cheng Zihua adjusted the deployment of Tashan, and he asked the 11th Column to connect with the defense line of the original 4th Column, and the wounded of the 4th Column were first withdrawn from the front line of Tashan.
In his order to the troops, Cheng Zihua wrote: The division commander should go to the regiment to sit in the town, and the column commander should go to the division to sit in the town, even if all the shots are gone, they are not allowed to take a step back.
Until now, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have long been red-eyed, and the Kuomintang troops have left layers of corpses in the beachhead, and there is no time to bury them. Our army also suffered heavy losses, even the divisional establishment was crippled, and the whole division was left with less than one regiment.
When the Nationalist army crossed the trench and rushed towards our position, the division commanders and regiment commanders led the soldiers to rush up and engage in a white-knuckle battle with the enemy, and our army was like a nail, although it was shaky, but it was always nailed to the Tashan position, and could not let Hou Jingru's Eastern March Regiment advance further.
In the Jinzhou battlefield, the main force of the East Field launched the final general attack on Jinzhou at ten o'clock in the morning of the 14th, Fan Hanjie listened to the artillery fire in the direction of Tashan more than ten miles away, and he encouraged the defenders of Jinzhou, as long as they held on a little longer, the Eastern Advance Regiment and the Western Advance Regiment could surround Lin Biao's main force, and at that time, the entire northeast war situation would be centered on Jinzhou and blossom in the center.
However, Fan Hanjie would never have imagined that our army could hold so resolutely in Tashan, a place without geographical advantages. Hou Jingru personally led 11 divisions, as well as the strong cooperation of the navy and air force, and has not been able to advance for five days now.
At 18 o'clock on the 15th, the 150,000 defenders of Jinzhou were completely annihilated by the main forces of the East Ye, and Lieutenant General Fan Hanjie of the National Army was captured by our troops at his headquarters. When he learned the news of the loss of Jinzhou, Chiang Kai-shek held the telegram in his hand, his eyes were tearful, and his legs were trembling (from Du Yuming's memoirs).
Fan Hanjie
Later, in Du Yuming's memoirs, he said: "The fall of Jinzhou means that the battlefield in the northeast will become the real rear of the Communist Party, and throughout the history of China, all of them are fought from the north to the south, and in two years at most, the whole country will fall into the hands of the Communist Party." ”
After the fall of Jinzhou, Hou Jingru realized that it would be useless to defeat Tashan again, so he ordered his troops to stop the attack and retreat one after another, and the Tashan Blockade finally ended.
In this battle, our army, with the strength of two columns, withstood the continuous attacks of 11 divisions of the nationalist army for nearly 7 days. For the victory of this battle, there was a rumor among the troops of Higashino at that time: Tower Mountain has no tower and no mountain, and the fourth column is both a tower and a mountain.
However, although the Tashan Blockade achieved brilliant success, the losses of our army were really not small.
According to post-war statistics, our army lost a total of one division commander, ten regimental-level cadres, more than thirty battalion cadres, and almost all of the remaining commanders were wounded.
In order to commend the major strategic contributions made by the defenders of Tashan, the Central Military Commission awarded the 34th Regiment of the 4th Column the title of "Tashan Heroic Regiment".
Because too many comrades-in-arms were buried in Tashan, after the liberation of the country, the leaders who participated in the Tashan Blockade came here almost every year to pay homage to the heroic spirits.
Wu Kehua, Mo Wenhua, Hu Qicai, Ouyang Wen, Li Fuze, Jiang Xieyuan, Li Hongmao, Jiao Yushan, Jiang Minfeng.
These 9 founding generals who participated in the Tashan Blockade chose to be buried in Tashan after their deaths, and together with their former comrades-in-arms, they guarded this land, the victory of the Liaoshen Campaign, and the liberation of the whole country.
To this day, after many major disarmament and military reforms, the Tashan Heroes Regiment still retains its name and belongs to the Southern Theater of the People's Liberation Army.
Even though they have changed new personnel and battlefields, the spirit of the Tashan Heroic Regiment has always existed, and they are still contributing to the mainland's national defense cause.
After watching the process of the Tower Hill sniper battle, what do you think of the screen in front of you? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area~