In 1949, the People's Liberation Army led by Chairman Mao launched a general offensive against Chiang Kai-shek, and successively won the three major battles of Liaoshen, Pingjin and Huaihai. At this time, the Kuomintang reactionaries pinned their last hope on the Gui warlord, "Little Zhuge " Bai Chongxi. So, what is the strength of Bai Chongxi, who is known as "Little Zhuge ", and what kind of story happened when he annihilated "Little Zhuge " ?
"Little Zhuge " Bai Chongxi, the Kuomintang's last hope for a turnaround. As the core figure of the Kuomintang Gui warlords, and Li Zongren is called the "Li Bai" of the Gui family, Li Zongren is responsible for politics, Bai Chongxi is responsible for training troops to fight, the two have been close for many years, and they have worked together to make the Gui army second only to Chiang Kai-shek's descendant Central Army in strength, which can be called the second largest force group of the Kuomintang. In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi also made repeated military exploits, participating in the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Taierzhuang, which dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese invaders. Bai Chongxi's anti-Japanese war tactics such as "clearing the wilderness with strong walls and developing guerrilla warfare" and "accumulating small victories into big victories and exchanging space for time" were also quite effective.
By 1949, Chiang Kai-shek's descendants, who had been defeated in the three major battles, were completely lost, and Lao Chiang had to reuse Bai Chongxi of the Gui system again, and some Kuomintang members also had confidence in the hundreds of thousands of elite Gui troops of "Xiao Zhuge ". However, Bai Chongxi, who received Chiang Kai-shek's appointment, did not see it that way, and he also mentioned in his diary later that he thought that it would be difficult for him to win the PLA, that the elite of the Kuomintang Central Army was nearly one million, and that all the armed corps in the United States had been annihilated by the PLA. So, Bai Chongxi led his Gui army to Hunan to fight a decisive battle with the Northeast Field Army led by Lin Biao. Bai Chongxi, who is worthy of being known as "Little Zhuge ", gave Lin Biao, who had just entered Hunan, a dismount when his troops were at a disadvantage. On August 16, 1949, Bai Chongxi commanded the Gui troops to forcibly encircle the 146th Division of the Northeast Field Army at Shuangfeng Qingshuping. Although the 146th Division later forcibly broke through, this operation still cost the PLA more than 800 casualties. Bai Chongxi's first victory made another boost to the KMT's top brass, and Chiang Kai-shek's commendation order was then sent to Bai Chongxi. At that time, reporters from the Central News Agency also published newspapers advocating that Bai Chongxi had achieved a major victory in "suppressing the Communists", which was expected to lead the Gui family to reshape the glory of the Northern Expedition. On the side of the PLA, this defeat also made Lin Biao realize that although the current situation of the Kuomintang is declining, his old opponent Bai Chongxi is still not easy to deal with. In addition, Lin Biao also discovered Bai Chongxi's cunning, his own army had arrived, but he could not find the location of his main force, the Seventh Army of Steel, and could not start a decisive battle with Bai Chongxi. In his report to Chairman Mao, Lin Biao reported on the current situation and offered to force Bai Chongxi to fight a decisive battle with him in the area of Baoqing in Hengyang, so as to take most of Hunan. As everyone knows, Chairman Mao has always not delayed time in military affairs, and generally the telegrams sent by generals are handled and replied to by Chairman Mao within three hours. However, this time Lin Biao waited for 36 hours and did not expect the chairman's reply, the chairman's hesitation reminded Lin Biao of his previous strategic differences with the chairman, Bai Chongxi had slipped away in his own hands, and also disabled a division, it was indeed a small defeat, Lin Biao was also a little apprehensive. However, the chairman still sent a telegram, agreeing with Lin Biao's strategic deployment and telling Lin Biao to be careful. Lin Biao, who saw the telegram, was relieved and ready to fight with his old opponent Bai Chongxi. He knew that Bai Chongxi's Gui army was different from Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army, which was divided into parts, and the Gui family was very united and was known for its ability to fight tough battles, which was clearly demonstrated during the anti-Japanese war. Treat the scheming Bai Chongxi even more carefully. But the plan couldn't keep up with the rapid changes, and soon Lin Biao received information from the front-line troops: "Bai Chongxi actually retreated."
You must know that Bai Chongxi is very cunning, knowing that he is inferior to the million-strong Northeast Field Army, so he ordered the troops to retreat in an orderly manner and lure the People's Liberation Army to go deeper. At this time, Bai Chongxi could seize the PLA troops who were unfamiliar with the terrain and rush forward, and use superior forces to encircle and annihilate them, reducing Lin Biao's vital forces. Bai Chongxi's plan was really exquisite, and the battle situation was also happening in the direction he predicted. At this time, Lin Biao also saw Bai Chongxi's attempt, stopped the large army attacking and reorganized the formation to pursue Bai Chongxi in an orderly manner. But at this time, the situation between the enemy and us has changed, the 135th Division of the 45th Army is marching rapidly in the direction of Bai Chongxi, and did not receive an order, Bai Chongxi was overjoyed, and ordered his subordinates to surround the 135th Division, ready to eat it in one bite. This began the Battle of Hengbao in military history.
In the Battle of Hengbao, Lin Biao and Bai Chongxi faced off against each other. Lin Biao and Bai Chongxi can be called the two famous generals of the Communist Party and the Kuomintang, and they are also ace generals. These two ace generals often clash in the domestic civil war, and it can be said that it is difficult to distinguish between the two and the winners. However, in the Battle of Hengbao in 1949, it proved that Chairman Mao defeated these two ace generals!
After the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River in 1949, the Four Field Army led by Lin Biao crossed the Yangtze River, and then galloped all the way to South China, liberating China's southern Xinjiang with a sword. After the founding ceremony on October 1, 1949, Lin Biao's three corps of the four fields all entered the Hunan area. In the victory of the Yisha Campaign and the Hunan and Jiangxi Campaigns, the People's Liberation Army successively captured large and medium-sized cities such as Wuhan and Changsha, and the next goal was to liberate South China and then the whole of China. At this time, the Gui army led by Bai Chongxi still had 300,000 elite troops, which were also stationed in Guangxi. In order to prevent the People's Liberation Army from continuing to move south, Bai Chongxi also dispatched 300,000 elite Gui troops to urgently deploy in the southern Hunan region of Hunan, in a vain attempt to organize the Four Field Army to liberate all of South China.
Bai Chongxi knew the importance of this battle. At that time, he led 300,000 Gui soldiers, these Gui troops were his painstaking efforts on the battlefield for many years, and he would not give the lives of Gui soldiers in vain in the war and lose his capital. Therefore, Bai Chongxi used the military knowledge he had learned all his life to build the Hengbao defense line relying on the highway from Hengyang to Baoqing in Hunan and the Hengshan to Lechang section of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway. From the layout of Bai Chongxi's Hengbao defense line, it can be seen that he has outstanding military talent and command ability. There are Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway and Hengbao Highway here, which is convenient for transportation, material support, and retreat to Guangxi. Moreover, Bai Chongxi's goal in this battle is very simple and clear, the layout here, starting from Guangdong in the east and echoing with the Song Xilian group in the west, can rely on the geographical location of Hengyang and Baoqing, and form a triangle complementary to the armies of Yu Hanmou and Song Xilian, as well as a semi-arc Hunan and Guangdong joint defense line. Moreover, it is possible to adopt the interspersed and circuitous combat methods of guerrilla warfare to avoid the sharp edge of the PLA. When the PLA is disjointed, it will find an opportunity to annihilate the flanks on both sides.
Lin Biao saw that Bai Chongxi's army had set up a posture, and all he had to do was to see the move. According to the instructions of his superiors, he made the general policy of this campaign, that is, to outflank the enemy from a long distance, insert it into the enemy's rear, and then fight back, killing the enemy Bai Chongxi in one go. As a result, Lin Biao divided his troops into three routes: the West Route Army marched into western Guizhou to complete the strategic detour of the right flank, the goal was to cut off the retreat route of Bai Chongxi's army towards Yunnan and Guizhou, and at the same time to transfer an army to contain Song Xilian's army. The Middle Route Army, consisting of six corps of the Twelfth Corps. The main task is to strike a frontal blow at the Hengbao area. The East Route Army is to directly take the army, encircle and annihilate Bai Chongxi's Southern Route Army, complete the left-wing strategic detour, and then cut off Bai Chongxi's escape route to Vietnam. It should be pointed out that although Lin Biao's military talent is universally recognized, his control over the battle situation is also breathtaking. But Lin Biao also lost to Bai Chongxi when he was in a bloody battle. At that time, Bai Chongxi was full of self-confidence, believing that he was commanding an elite army known as the "wolf soldiers of Guangxi" in a vain attempt to fight to the death with Siye in the southern Hunan region, defeat Siye, and continue to be the "king of South China"! Therefore, the Gui Army and the Siye Army launched a campaign in the Hengyang City and Baoqing areas of the southern Hunan region, relying on the mountainous terrain of the south, to invest more than one million troops. In this war, who is better than the ace generals of the two parties, Bai Chongxi or Lin Biao?
When this battle was launched, Chairman Mao, as the supreme leader of the country, attached great importance to it, and he also said to Lin Biao before the war: "Bai Chongxi's 'Little Zhuge 'is not in vain, this person is flexible and changeable, good at roundabout combat, and is absolutely unwilling to fight a decisive battle with our army easily, so you have to find a good opportunity to force him to fight a decisive battle with our army." Lin Biao agreed with Chairman Mao's operational guiding ideology. So at the beginning of the Battle of Hengbao, Lin Biao and Bai Chongxi were cautious in arranging their troops, fearing that the other party would suddenly appear in a place they couldn't imagine, and being wary of the other party's roundabouts and interspersing, and they were all cautious in their battles. In this way, the two armies of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were like shadows, constantly flickering in front of each other, and engaged in many short-distance roundabout operations, but neither could find the main force of the other side there, so there was no way to carry out a real decisive battle. Bai Chongxi's roundabout operations and guerrilla warfare feel very familiar! That's right, he copied Chairman Mao's fundamental strategic thinking on commanding the "anti-encirclement and suppression" battle in Jinggangshan. Bai Chongxi copied Chairman Mao's guerrilla warfare tactics to deal with our army. However, Bai Chongxi could only copy books and did not learn the essence of Chairman Mao's guerrilla tactics. In this way, both Lin Biao and Bai Chongxi launched roundabout battles, but did not make substantial progress in the war, and many of the fighting processes between the two sides were written and transmitted to the Party Central Committee.
The so-called "authorities are obsessed with bystanders", Chairman Mao in Beijing, after seeing the report of Lin Biao's battle with Bai Chongxi, smiled lightly, and immediately grasped Lin Biao's thoughts, saying: "Lin Biao back then, I wanted to avenge Siping's arrow too much!" After that, Lin Biao said to Ye Jianying beside him: "Lin Biao and Bai Chongxi are both powerful generals, but both of them cherish their feathers very much, so they are cautious in battle, and they dare not make the slightest mistake." This is the reason why Lin Biao did not really let go of his hands and feet to fight. It seems that I'm going to give Lin Biao some guidance!" Chairman Mao was very correct in analyzing Lin Biao's operational shortcomings. Lin Biao's cautious combat style made him unable to grasp the overall situation and fell into a struggle with Bai Chongxi. You must know that Bai Chongxi is known for his wit and cunning, and his operations are flexible and changeable, and Lin Biao is like a cat catching a mouse, always staring at Bai Chongxi's army movements. As soon as Lin Biao moved, Bai Chongxi immediately moved, and it would be difficult for the two armies to achieve substantial results in such a confrontation! Therefore, Chairman Mao took up his pen and issued Lin Biao's "Instructions on Fighting with the Troops," that is, a detailed report on commanding Lin Biao's operations. Although the content is not much, it played a decisive role in the victory of the Battle of Hengbao. The main content of this report is: Bai Chongxi's overall strategic intention is to defend against retreat and preserve strength in anticipation of US aid and changes in the international situation. Therefore, the battle is naturally based on offense and defense, skillfully setting up suspicious formations, and bluffing. The strategic policy of our army should be-for-tat, that is, to use strategic detours to block the retreat of Bai Chongxi's army and seize the initiative of the army, so as to seize the enemy, gain a firm foothold, and annihilate it in one fell swoop. Bai Chongxi's combat characteristics were that he was good at using mountain warfare. Since the Gui army has lived in the southern mountainous areas for a long time, they are also familiar with the southern mountainous areas. Taking advantage of the negligence of our army, the forward troops of our army were raided and ambushed, and the retreating but good at taking advantage of the mountainous terrain dispersed into small groups and retreated quickly. Therefore, our army should be good at rushing to attack, learn to attack separately and in combination, learn to fight, and dare to attack behind enemy lines, but we must be careful not to rush forward lightly. In addition to the above instructions, Chairman Mao also instructed Lin Biao that he should let go of his hands and feet in battle, not to compete with Bai Chongxi for a while, and to see through his guerrilla goals. In this way, Chairman Mao pointed out the strategy for Lin Biao at the overall strategic level. Lin Biao is also a famous general, and he can be empowered as long as he beats it slightly. Lin Biao also understood that in fact, Bai Chongxi's current tactics were to copy the guerrilla warfare in Jinggangshan back then!
As a result, Lin Biao, under the instructions of Chairman Mao, also began a drastic strategic adjustment. Therefore, Lin Biao first ordered his two corps, in order to cover up their strategic intentions, to set out from Hengyang and Baoqing that night, and divided into two wings to directly intersperse the enemy's rear. In this way, even if Bai Chongxi's army detected it, it would be difficult to guess the strategic intentions of his army. On the other hand, in order to confuse Bai Chongxi, Lin Biao had to give him a hook and bait to find out where Bai Chongxi's main force was, and this bait was the 49th Army led by Zhong Wei. The 49th Army of our army lured the enemy into depth. At that time, Lin Biao sent Zhong Wei, who was most trusted, to lead the 49th Army to undertake the task of going deep into the lone army and attracting Bai Chongxi's main force. When the 49th Army arrived at Qingshuping, it then attacked Bai Chongxi's army from the periphery. After Bai Chongxi also discovered this army, he immediately sent an army to surround the 49th Army. In this way, a fierce battle unfolded in Qingshuping. When the report of the ambush in the 49th Army was transmitted to the headquarters, the other personnel were shocked, but Lin Biao said calmly: "With Zhong Wei in charge, the 49th Army is a copper pea that cannot be smashed!" This sentence shows that Lin Biao has a very good understanding of the combat capability of the 49th Army and the military talent of the army commander Zhong Wei. After 48 hours of the first battle of Qingshuping, although the 49th Army faced an enemy force that surpassed its own in combat strength several times, after a bloody battle, most of the personnel were able to move safely. Judging from the losses, of course, the PLA suffered relatively large losses. From this point of view, it seems that "Little Zhuge " Bai Chongxi won Lin Biao again. But Lin Biao took a big advantage in this battle, because the lure of the enemy to go deep achieved the effect, and he finally found the position of the main force of Bai Chongxi's group. So, a fierce battle broke out again. At that time, Bai Chongxi's army surrounded the 49th Army led by Zhong Wei, pretended to be defeated, and then retreated in the direction of Hengyang. After Bai Chongxi tasted the sweetness of the victory in the Battle of Qingshuping, he seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, and then hurriedly led his troops to take advantage of the situation to chase after him, wanting to tear open the encircled hole from the 49th Army. However, when Bai Chongxi led his troops to the center of Hengyang, Zhong Wei suddenly led his troops to turn around and attack Bai Chongxi. At this time, Bai Chongxi realized that he had been tricked, and he was "smart for a lifetime, but also confused for a while" on the battlefield.
It turned out that the East Road Army and the West Road Army arranged by Lin Biao were also surrounded behind Bai Chongxi's army in a roundabout way when the 49th Army lured the enemy deeper. Bai Chongxi found that he had been encircled, and hurriedly shrank his forces and prepared to rearrange the formation.
Wei Tongtai, the founding general of Cao County, once personally told reporters: The victory in the Battle of Hengbao was God's blessing to our army. On October 2, 1949, after the battle on the middle line, the 135th Division of the People's Liberation Army kept turning off the communication function of the radio station, and then kept marching and fighting on the rugged and muddy mountain roads. Just like the guerrilla warfare in Jinggangshan, you will fight when you encounter the enemy, but you will never fall in love with the battle, and you will run after a while, so that the enemy has nowhere to track. But three days later, on October 5, when the 135th Division of the People's Liberation Army turned on the radio and restored normal communication functions, it passed on the location of its troops to Lin Biao. After Lin Biao saw it at that time, he was also very surprised, at this time, the 135th Division actually arrived in the Linggong area, which is the heart of Bai Chongxi's army! It seems that the 135th Division was also fighting guerrilla warfare in the mountainous areas, and inadvertently penetrated into the core area of Bai Chongxi's army. Therefore, Lin Biao hurriedly ordered the 135th Division to control the commanding heights in the mountainous area, and then build a ring fortification to block the enemy's attack. When everything was completed, Lin Biao gave the order to the 135th Division to charge the whole army! When the battle guns rang out, Bai Chongxi panicked. The sudden appearance of the 135th Division also completely disrupted Bai Chongxi's original strategic layout. He himself did not expect that in the heart of the rear of the battlefield, a People's Liberation Army would suddenly emerge. So, Bai Chongxi hurriedly ordered his five divisions to encircle and suppress the 135th Division that occupied the commanding heights. However, the 135th Division had built fortifications in advance, and the firepower of the 5 divisions could not be attacked. In the face of the 135th Division being surrounded, Lin Biao keenly discovered the fighter plane from the crisis, this is a good opportunity to annihilate Bai Chongxi's main force, the 135th Division is like a wedge, directly stuck on the only way for Bai Chongxi to retreat - on the Xianggui Railway, if the 135th Division can withstand the attack of the surrounding Gui army and drag Bai Chongxi's retreat to the south, he can lead the large forces of the Northeast Field Army to keep up, encircle and suppress Bai Chongxi's troops, and the elite troops of Bai Chongxi in front of him will also be eaten by our army. And the winner of this battle will determine whether the 135th Division, which is alone in the depths, can withstand Bai Chongxi's onslaught. Bai Chongxi did not dare to delay, and urgently dispatched four divisions of the Seventh Army to encircle and suppress the 135th Division, this Gui Seventh Army nicknamed the "Steel Seventh Army", is Bai Chongxi's most elite trump card troops, the whole army is very tenacious in fighting, good at fighting in the mountains and from Guilin, when participating in the War of Resistance against Japan in Guangxi, participated in the Battle of Guilin and other famous battles, did not let the Japanese army suffer, so it was named "Steel Seventh Army". Bai Chongxi was also familiar with Lin Biao's plan, if he didn't eat the 135th Division quickly, he would be surrounded by Lin Biao's Northeast Field Army troops who rushed from the north. Therefore, Bai Chongxi's order to the Seventh Army of Steel was to fight a quick battle, continue to retreat after eating the 135th Division, and wait until it entered the Guangxi region, the base camp with complex terrain, and then fought a decisive battle with Lin Biao. The battle soon began, the 135th Division did not flinch in the environment of one enemy and four enemies, and bravely resisted many attacks by the Kuomintang army several times its own for several days, and still quietly, chose to take the initiative to attack, to attack as defense, crossed the Hengbao Highway, and plunged directly into Bai Chongxi's hinterland like a sharp knife, so that "Xiao Zhuge " was in a dilemma, and the steep terrain here also gave the soldiers of the 135th Division the best cover. At this time, in order to save time, Li Benyi, the commander of the Seventh Army, ordered the military headquarters of the Seventh Army and two divisions to pass through here, and the remaining two divisions passed through the southwest path, just when Li Benyi's troops marched forward, suddenly shouting and killing from all sides, Wei Tongtai, the commander of the 405th Regiment of the 135th Division, who ambushed here, led 9 companies of the headquarters to swoop down from the mountain, cutting off the connection between the military headquarters of the Seventh Army and other troops。 Wei Tongtai took advantage of the situation to directly take the 1st Battalion of the 405th Regiment and Li Benyi's military guard battalion to exchange fire, both sides were holding submachine guns to shoot bullets at each other, and after the bullets ran out, they used the butts and bayonets to engage in hand-to-hand combat, and in the fighting, the losses of our army were not small, and the 200 people of the 2nd Company were beaten to only 20 people. Li Benyi, commander of the Seventh Army, broke through in embarrassment in the chaos and took a train to Guangxi to retreat, and the remaining two divisions of the Seventh Army were also annihilated by the PLA reinforcements that surrounded him. Except for 1 regiment that escaped, Bai Chongxi's 4 elite divisions were all annihilated by the PLA, and for Bai Chongxi, the Battle of Hengbao was the worst battle he lost. The fighting was fierce, with heavy weapons on both sides.
Seeing that the most elite Seventh Army of Steel was defeated, Bai Chongxi was completely powerless to return to the sky, and fled to Guangxi with a large number of defeated remnants. I don't know if Bai Chongxi thought that when Bai Chongxi was retreating, Zhang Lingfu two years ago was also a siege and annihilation battle, and the People's Liberation Army that cooperated with him besieged Zhang Lingfu's integrated 74th Division in Menglianggu and completely annihilated it, without letting Huang Baitao and Li Tianxia's two corps take a step closer. And he mobilized the four divisions of the main steel Seventh Army to besiege a 135th division of the People's Liberation Army, but not only failed to defeat it, but was combined by the 135th division and flanked in front and back. It seems that in addition to fighting bravely and tactically, the PLA is also better at uniting and resolutely carrying out orders. The Battle of Hengbao, together with the Hainan Island Campaign and the Southwest Campaign, is also known as the three major battles after the Chinese People's Liberation Army crossed the river, and is also one of the decisive battles in the People's Liberation Army's march to central and southern; from September 13 to October 16, 1949, it lasted 34 days, and finally eliminated more than 47,000 people in 3 armies and 5 integrated divisions, the elite troops of the most powerful Gui warlords in the late stage of the Liberation War, and liberated 24 county towns in Hunan. It created favorable conditions for the Northeast Field Army to advance into Guangxi in the future, annihilate the Bai Chongxi group and the Central Plains Field Army, attack Xiangxi, and advance to the southwest. A month later, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) pursued all the way to Guangxi, broke through the defense line of Huang Jie's corps, liberated Guilin on November 22, and liberated Liuzhou and Wuzhou three days later. On December 4, Bai Chongxi fled to Haikou, and more than 100,000 people in his department were defeated by Siye at the junction of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Xu Qiming's corps was also wiped out, and the only remaining strength of the Gui system was lost. Soon after, General Han Xianchu led the soldiers of Siye to liberate Hainan Island, and the entire mainland was liberated.
During the interview, General Wei Tongtai, a veteran of the Siye, recalled the Battle of Hengbao and said: The Gui army is not a vegetarian, and the charge is more powerful than the devil, but it is still a lot worse than our Siye.
According to the operational deployment, on September 21, 1949, the 45th Army was dispatched from the Pingxiang area and crossed the Xiangjiang River on the 30th. Then, according to the planned deployment, the 133rd Division advanced to attack Yunshanpu, the 134th Division advanced to attack Yanpi Bridge, and the 135th Division advanced to attack Xiaolingkou.
Soon after the departure, it began to rain, and it was pouring down quite patiently, and before I knew it, I stopped for a while, and before I knew it, it started to rain again.
The mountains and fields were foggy, and the sun occasionally showed its face and disappeared, and the red muddy road became more and more muddy. However, the officers and soldiers wore straw sandals. Naturally non-slip. Much lighter. Worn out. Drag down two more. Discarded straw sandals can be seen everywhere on the road.
On the morning of October 3, the divisions came into contact with the enemy one after another. The 135th Division was another ambush and another encounter, and it entered the Huamenlou area that night and encountered the 176th Division, the main force of the Gui system, and the vanguard regiment made no progress until dawn.
At dusk, the 41st Army on the right flank started at Qingshuping, the 176th Division was divided into reinforcements, and the main force of the 135th Division took advantage of the gap to thrust south. That night, they occupied the water of the Dongjiang River on the Hengbao Highway. And quickly crossed the Hengbao Highway. At 14 hours on the 5th, it entered the area of Shaping and the Spirit Palace.
After traveling day and night, there was no chance to set up a radio station, and when the contact was opened at this moment, I realized that I was far away from the main force and was alone behind the enemy.
Division Commander Ding Sheng and Political Commissar Wei Zuzhen. Look at the map spread out at your feet and ponder.
Both of them knew that at this moment, the troops had undoubtedly entered a dangerous place of death, but at the same time, they had also put the enemy behind them to death.
After Ding Sheng learned that the 135th Division was alone with the enemy, Ding Sheng thought of pestering and scuffling at any cost, dragging the enemy down, and annihilating the enemy when the large army arrived. And when Lin Biao personally grasped this chess piece in his hand, the 135th Division became a banner that commanded the spearheads of all armies in the Battle of Hengbao.
It's just that no matter how resourceful Lin Biao is, it depends on whether the flag officer of the year can hold this flag.
On 6 October, when the sky was bright and the regiments had finished breakfast, the assembled team was about to set off, when suddenly fierce gunfire was heard from the direction of the 405th Regiment in Sunjiawan.
It was the 171st Division of the 7th Army, as well as the 138th and 176th Divisions of the 172nd Division and the 48th Army, all of which were the elite main forces of the Gui system.
Ding Sheng reported to the headquarters and ordered all regiments to seize advantageous terrain, build positions, and organize defense.
Waves of infantry on the ground, planes in the air bombed and strafed in turn, and they attacked until dusk at all costs, but they did not get any bargains.
Ding Sheng decided to withdraw from the battle, took advantage of the cover of night, divided his troops into two routes, and drove to Hongqiao and the direction according to the original plan.
He knew that this was not a place to stay for a long time, and the nearly 100-mile mountain road from the Spirit Palace to Hongqiao was full of murderous opportunities, and it was undoubtedly advancing in the tiger and wolf pack.
An old man said that this soldier was divided into two routes, quite learned, surrounded by enemies, all the way in columns, a division dragged out more than 10 miles, once it was hit by the waist, it would be difficult to take care of the head and tail. Later, the military headquarters and directly subordinate units of the enemy's 7th Army were defeated in this way.
The soldiers are divided into two ways, which can speed up, and more importantly, they can rely on each other, cover one way to be blocked, and the other road can also reach the designated area.
The two columns encountered the enemy from time to time, and the night was full of dangers. The 403rd Regiment on the left was the most dangerous, and successively entangled and scuffled with the enemy's three main divisions or killed a bloody road, or fought and walked, taking advantage of the night to maneuver with the enemy in the mountains and forests.
The regiment fought hard for two days and nights, from Chibi Ridge and Shenxian Cave to Tongluoping, and then to Jingtouchong, disrupting the enemy's deployment all the way, delaying the enemy's movements, and playing a very important role in seizing the enemy for the large army.
When the old men of the 135th Division wrote an article recalling the Battle of Hengbao, they all mentioned that Ding Shengfeng would talk about the style of work, and after the war, he said that what we wanted was the style of the 403rd Regiment.
On the afternoon of the 8th, Lin Biao instructed the 135th Division to insert from the Shizhu Bridge to the west of Loess Pu to block the fleeing enemy and rush to Yanjiamiao. The freshly turned wet red clay stands out against the green.
The avant-garde regiment asked for instructions on whether to fight, Ding Sheng came up, looked at it for a while, and spit out two words, "Don't fight".
The avant-garde changed into a rear team, bypassed the enemy on the mountain beam, crossed a big mountain southwest from Yanjiamiao, and entered Lumen through the canyon in front of the boundary ridge to Lumen, and found that on the high ground on the northeast side of the village, there was another battalion of the enemy rushing to build fortifications, Ding Sheng decided to launch an attack after dusk, and the 405th regiment destroyed this enemy
The 405th Regiment had already been deployed, and Ding Sheng suddenly ordered to withdraw and command the troops to march close to the enemy at the foot of the West Mountain, get rid of the enemy and the canyon behind him, and enter the Guanjiazui area for camera action.
The former did not fight because it was difficult to end the battle during the day, which could affect the interspersed operation.
The latter one fought, and they didn't fight, because the avant-garde 405th Regiment was put into battle, and the division and the 404th Regiment were going to nest in the canyon behind them. At this time, the main force of the enemy's 7th Army, which was retreating south, was pressing down from the direction of Jieling, and the 135th Division would immediately fall into a dilemma, and it would only be passively beaten. The Art of War: The army will be broken and killed if an order is lost. Ding Sheng made no mistakes.
Just when Lin Biao was paying attention to every move of the 135th Division with appreciative eyes, the 119th Division of the 40th Army unknowingly became a pivotal chess piece.
On the morning of October 7, after receiving the information that Bai Chongxi was retreating on all fronts, Lin Biao immediately ordered all the armies on the central route to pursue them on all fronts.
The 40th Army set out from the Zhajiang area, the 120th Division on the left pursued in the direction of Dashuitank, Hongqiao, and Guanshanping, the main force 118th Division followed up, and the 119th Division on the right took a shortcut to pursue in the direction of Wenmingpu and Qiyang.
It was drizzling and the roads were muddy. It was late summer and early autumn, and the weather was cooler, just in time for the march. More importantly, after the "strong soldiers and strong horses", everyone's physique has improved, and they have become more and more adaptable to the weather and terrain in the south.
Most of the officers and men wore straw sandals, and those wearing rubber shoes and cloth shoes were covered with "foot horses" - a concave iron tool two fingers wide with four claws underneath. In the Northeast, he wore a "foot horse" and walked on the ice and snow road, splashing with ice under his feet, and walking like flying. It can also be non-slip on the muddy road in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is especially labor-saving to climb the mountain. Yanpi Bridge, Jingtou River, Guandi Temple, Shishiling, day and night, chased more than 100 kilometers in two days, and did not see the shadow of the enemy's main force. Division commander Xu Guofu was a little anxious: "Will the enemy have run away earlier?" Political commissar Liu Guangtao shook his head: "No, they are not as fast as us." ”
At 16 o'clock on the 9th, the troops entered Yangjiaqiao to make a fire and cook. The division headquarters rested in several households in the east of the village. Xu Guofu asked the landlord Lao Han, has there been any soldiers here in the past few days, and the old man even said no, no, you see that I have just finished the happy event for my son, and I can still have the heart to do a happy event after the army?
Chief of Staff Shak said: "I have contacted the army, the corps, and the headquarters, but I have not said that there is any enemy situation in this area. ”
When the meal was ready, everyone was about to eat, when they heard a burst of machine guns ringing out from the north mountain behind the room.
There is a situation! Xu Guofu pulled out the shell gun on his waist and ran out. When I ran to the top of the mountain, I saw a company of enemies climbing up the mountain. The divisional guard battalion, which had arrived on their heels, opened fire in unison, and immediately counterattacked, capturing several prisoners. When asked, it was the vanguard of the 171st Division of the 7th Army.
In the 20x telescope, in a large river more than 3,000 meters away from the undulating land in the north, there are white and yellow tents, and wisps of cooking smoke rise from the river. The enemy is also hungry and tired, and it seems that he will not leave tonight.
OMG! The commander of the 119th Division grabbed the hand of the telescope and trembled with excitement: Look where you are running this time!
Nearly half a century later, Xu Guofu wrote in his memoirs "The Sound of the Desert":
The main force of the enemy's 7th Army was held up by the 135th Division in the west and could not move, and the area around Yangjiaqiao became the only passage to retreat to Guangxi through Qiyang, which resulted in us blocking it again. If 135 was inadvertently a sharp knife to the enemy's heart, we ran too fast and rushed ahead of the enemy. While reporting the enemy situation to the army, corps, and headquarters, Xu Guofu deployed troops to meet this vicious battle. Lin Biao ordered to resolutely resist the enemy and never allow him to break through to Qiyang.
While giving the same order to the 119th Division, Han Xianchu urgently ordered the 118th Division to follow up and move closer to the 119th Division, and the 120th Division controlled the north and south areas of Nanhe Ling to ensure the safety of the flank of the main force of the army.
Xu Guofu didn't need to look at the map, standing on the north slope of the landlord's house, the surrounding mountains and highlands were clear at a glance.
The 356th Regiment seized commanding heights such as Lachong Mountain and Maocaoling, the 357th Regiment held the high ground such as Xinglong Mountain and Songshan Pavilion, and the artillery battalion occupied the firing position on the west side of Yangjiaqiao.
The 355th Regiment was the main force, the most capable of fighting, and was kept as a reserve. The 7th Army is a mad dog, and it has been cut off from retreating, and the dog must jump over the wall in a hurry, and then release the tiger of the 355th Regiment at a critical moment.
The word "fast" is what the encounter wants, and whoever starts first, seizes the opportunity, and occupies a favorable position, will take the initiative. It's like two gunmen facing each other, whoever shoots fast is the winner.
Xu Guofu is bold and careful, with quick eyes and quick hands, and this hand is very powerful. That battle was fought so well, and that's a very important one.
The deployment stopped, and the new commander held a meeting with the political commissar, chief of staff, and director of the political department.
Xu Guofu said no, the enemy is outnumbered, and taking the initiative to attack may blow the enemy away, and it is even more likely to shake the defense line and let the enemy go. We are now going to be nailed here, resolutely block the enemy, and wait for the main force to arrive to encircle and annihilate the enemy.
The political commissar, chief of staff, and director all agreed with him, believing that this was in line with the intentions of the headquarters and was the only correct way to do it at the moment.
Some old people sighed: It was the greatest blessing in the war years to keep up with a general who could fight and could fight.
On October 1, Baoqing was in a tight situation, and Bai Chongxi ordered Ling Yunshang, deputy commander of the 7th Army, to lead the 513th Regiment of the 171st Division to urgently transport Baoqing to a feint.
At dawn on October 9, the 135th Division entered the area of Guanjiazui in the northwest of Lumen to occupy positions, and the 405th Regiment was in Quanbiling. At noon, the headquarters instructed that the enemy was retreating to the area in front of Lumen, so that the 135th Division could choose a favorable terrain and resolutely block the enemy.
Ding Sheng immediately decided that the 404th Regiment would block the enemy in front of Jieling and Lumen, and let the 405th Regiment go to Loess to build a second line of defense.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Wei Tongtai, commander of the 405th Regiment, led cadres above the battalion level to the mountains to see the terrain. As soon as I reached the halfway point of the mountain, I saw that the mountain road of more than 5 kilometers was full of enemies and was on the move.
The straight-line distance is no more than 2 kilometers, the sky is cloudy, the visibility is not very good, the 20x telescope, all the big pants, are all American weapons.
At that time, Wei Tongtai thought that nine out of ten of these were the 7th Army, but he didn't expect it to be the military department.
At that time, Wei Tongtai went from Cao County, Shandong to Yan'an, and joined the army for 11 years, and he was considered experienced in a hundred battles, but such a good opportunity to destroy the enemy, how many times can he meet in this life?
The 405th Regiment immediately decided to make a surprise attack and make a surprise attack. It's too late to ask the teacher, so report while you act. The 404th Regiment on the left had already begun to move, and for fear that they would not find out the enemy's situation, they also sent people to contact at the same time.
The terrain is unfavorable. The enemy was marching on the mountain road from Jieling to the White Emperor Temple, which was condescending and overgrown with trees. There is a river at the bottom of the slope, more than 20 meters wide, and the depth is not up to the neck. There is an open field by the river, all rice fields, and the late rice to be cut is golden, 300 meters wide and narrow.
Wei Tongtai repeatedly stressed that the troops should pass through the open field as quickly as possible, and no matter how fierce the enemy's firepower is, they must not stop before fighting bayonets. What should be highlighted now is the fierce attack and rush in the "three fierce tactics," which must rush forward desperately and cut off the enemy's waist and cut it into several sections.
If you hesitate, stay, or lie down, it will be difficult to raise your head, and then the casualties will be greater, and the enemy will flee.
Chief of Staff Zhang Wei led the 3rd Battalion, Deputy Regiment Commander Han Huaizhi led the 2nd Battalion, and Wei Tongtai and Political Commissar Jing Jian led the 1st Battalion. All the troops were released, leaving no reserves.
Cheng Biting Jin is three axes, and the 405th Regiment must rush and disrupt the enemy at once, and one axe will make it have no curse.
There is 404 regiment on the left, no worries. Not so reassuring is that on the right side, the enemy passed at least one regiment. Wei Tongtai handed over the only spy company in his hand to Liu Shuzhen, the head of the reconnaissance unit, and asked him to follow the enemy's avant-garde regiment and fight with a butt gun. If the enemy comes back to help, he will occupy the position, and without an order, he will not be allowed to retreat even if he has a single person left.
The troops were all lightly armed, running forward, and assigning tasks, mobilizing, and deploying while running. As soon as the charge horn sounded, on a wide front of about 5 kilometers, 9 companies swept out like 9 whirlwinds.
The enemy moved very quickly, quickly occupied the position, light and heavy machine guns, small artillery and all kinds of firearms, desperately blocked the open area, bullets rained down like weaving, splashing in all directions.
The 405th Regiment immediately suffered casualties, but more men still charged, the front fell and the rear stepped over and continued to charge. Some tripped and got up and kept running.
What does it mean to "follow one after the other"? What does it mean to "raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for a while"? The quality of a unit depends on this kind of action.
The sound of guns, shouts of killing, and the sound of charging trumpets, the heavens and the earth were filled with this sound. The company called the trumpeter, the battalion called the trumpet (squad leader), the regiment called the trumpet commander (platoon leader), and the trumpet of a regiment sounded the charge horn together.
The majesty, the atmosphere, the thrilling sensation that makes people's blood boil and their eyes red, can only be experienced by experiencing it firsthand.
The 3rd Battalion ate a piece of "tofu" and rushed into the 7th Army Health Battalion, shouting "Surrender the gun and don't kill", and the wounded soldiers, doctors and nurses were left with only the share of raising their hands.
The 2nd Battalion attacked the 172nd Division's rear and tail regiment with the worst combat effectiveness.
Only the 1st Battalion ran into a big nail, it was a military guard battalion, an engineer battalion, a combat artillery battalion, and a communications battalion, which could be fought except for the communications battalion, and the combat artillery battalion ran out of artillery, all of which were light weapons.
The most difficult to gnaw on was the guard battalion, all of which were veterans of eight years, all Thomson submachine guns, each with a shell gun, carrying a large knife, very arrogant, 7 consecutive counter-charges. Wounded and pressed there, he will not surrender, but will shout and fight with you.
For the 7th Army, Wei Tongtai is no stranger. Two days ago, that is, on October 6, the 405th Regiment was in Sunjiawan, and the sky was bright, and the 171st Division of the 7th Army touched it.
Machine guns and artillery fire pressed the troops into the village, shells fell in the courtyard of the regimental headquarters, and the division headquarters was in a large temple behind the regimental headquarters.
Wei Tongtai recalled in his later years: This 7th Army does have two hits, dare to touch you, good at sneak attacks, and is very powerful in close combat. But compared to Siye, the kung fu is still not hot, a little bit worse.
At that time, the regimental headquarters was about to set off, the troops were assembled, and the guard posts were withdrawn. If it dared to touch it closer, it would have smashed several leaders of the 405th Regiment with a grenade. The result was that the 405th regiment headquarters touched it, and a grenade smashed it away.
After the 7th Army arrived at Loess Pu, the army commander Li Benyi breathed a sigh of relief and said that this time the communist army could no longer catch up with us. As a result, the 405th regiment was suddenly overwhelmed and blinded, and the captured prisoner said, "Where did you come from?"
The enemy is in chaos, and so is the 405 regiment. The enemy's military headquarters was disrupted, the troops were cut into several sections, and the whole thing was in disarray. The 405th Regiment was entangled with the enemy, and some of the formed squads were gone, so they formed groups to fight for themselves, and people fought for themselves.
Both sides scolded each other in their own dialects, and they couldn't hear anything, and the enemy couldn't be mistaken, anyway, he couldn't be mistaken. The 5-kilometer mountain road is filled with gunsmoke, and every tree, every grass, and every slope is spewing flames.
After the war, Simonov of the Soviet Union came to the battlefield to cover the news, and he saw dead birds hanging on trees, and you think about how dense the bullets were, how fierce the battle was.
Grab some prisoners, and if you don't have a place to put them, you draw a circle in the rice field and let them stay in it. Deng Dazhi, chief of staff of the 7th Army, was also inside, but he didn't know that the black light blinded him and made him run away, and he was captured by his brother troops the next day.
It started at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and the battle ended at more than 9 o'clock, and the division asked the 405th Regiment to immediately reinforce the 404th Regiment.
There were more than 20 people left in the 1st company, 10 in the 2nd company, and more than 50 in the 3rd company. Wei Tongtai decided that the 1st Battalion, which suffered the heaviest casualties, stayed to clean up the battlefield and guarded to the east, and he personally led the 2nd Battalion and the 3rd Battalion to rush to reinforcements.
There was no one in the 3rd Battalion, the battlefield had not been cleaned, and some wounded soldiers in big trousers were lying in the grass and shouting.
It turned out that after eating "tofu", the 3rd battalion went back to sleep at the place where the attack started.
Wei Tongtai was furious, and scolded angrily at the war review meeting: "There are heroes in defeating battles, and there are bad breeds in winning battles!"
The 404th Regiment collided with the 7th Division of the 172nd Army (one regiment owed) in front of Lumen.
In front of the deer gate is a pass more than 100 meters wide, with deep mountains and large valleys in the north and medium undulating land in the south. Dozens of families are scattered near the pass, and a country dirt road and a small river pass through the pass.
The 404th Regiment first took control of the high ground on the west side of Lumen and cut off the 172nd Division from the army headquarters. That night, he captured the high ground on the southeast side, and broke through to the commanding heights on both sides in front of Lumen, and pressed the enemy in the canyon on the north side.
The 405th Regiment was in the loess, and the hungry tiger pounced on the enemy's marching column. The 404th Regiment was in front of Lumen, which was like a big mountain climbing competition.
The main force of the Gui family, which is called "monkeys" by many old people in the Northeast, climbs mountains and drills forests like monkeys, swishing and flying.
The sweaty trousers are sticking to the legs, and they are indeed not as cool and light as the big pants, but the Siberian tigers that have gone through the "strong soldiers and strong horses" movement are no longer the sick and hungry tigers of the Yisha and Hunan and Jiangxi battles.
Fierce hill fighting, sometimes only a little faster than the enemy. And in the world, success and failure, often lie in a little bit.
The enemy is well aware of the consequences of being trapped in the canyon, and desperately clashes to seize the commanding heights.
Before dawn on the 10th, Wei Tongtai, the commander of the 405th Regiment, led the 2nd and 3rd battalions to Lumen.
Ding Sheng decided to launch a general offensive.
The divisional artillery battalion lifted the mountain guns to the top of the hill and condescendingly bombarded the enemy, and the light and heavy machine guns also opened fire at the same time.
The 404th Regiment assaulted from the front, and the 405th Regiment turned east behind enemy lines and pressed at the enemy from both sides. The enemy could not support it and rushed to Jingchong Mountain.
Mt. Jingchong is the highest mountain in that area, and if the enemy occupies it, it will not be easy to deal with for a while, and the casualties will be large.
The enemy climbed up the hill in dense packs, but was hit head-on by a machine gun and grenades, and the dead were killed, wounded, and crawled with rolls. What's going on? There are no troops sent from there?
It turned out to be the 403rd regiment on the left. Their radio station was broken, they lost contact with the main force of the division, and they did not close their eyes for two days and two nights, and they fought all the way to the well. Hearing the sound of guns and cannons in front of Lumen and in the area of loess shop, he judged that the main force of the division was fighting fiercely with the enemy, so he rushed over and first seized Jingchong Mountain, and made a surprise attack.
All that's left is to take prisoners all over the mountains.
The headquarters of the 7th Army was annihilated, the 172nd Division was surrounded in the canyon in front of Lumen, the 171st Division of the 7th Army and the 138th and 176th Divisions of the 48th Army were forced to flee to the southeast, and were blocked by the 119th Division of the 40th Army at Yangjiaqiao.
After the first burst of gunfire rang out, Ling Yunshang, deputy commander of the 7th Army, judged that it was not a small group of communist troops that he encountered, and he knew that this time it was more than lucky, and he also understood that only by desperately fighting to open a bloody road could there be a way to live.
For the bloody road, Ling Yunshang experienced it once 11 years ago. In the Battle of Xuzhou in 1938, Ling Yunshang was still the commander of the 7th Army at that time, led his troops to defend Mengcheng, and fought a bloody battle with a wing of the Japanese army for 3 days. Looking at the troops, there are only 21 people left.
Now, can Lingyun still have as good luck as 11 years ago?
His opponent Xu Guofu's heart was even more transparent: Do you want to pass from me?
In the past day, from the company to the size of the regiment, the enemy attacked no less than 20 times, and basically did not stop, at most three regiments were set up at a time, and they attacked separately towards Lachong Mountain, Maocaoling, Xinglong Mountain, and Songshan Pavilion, and the man covered the slopes of the mountain
Submachine guns, carbines, the 7th Army are all American-style weapons, and the 40th Army are also American-style weapons, Soviet-style equipment that was only changed after the Third Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
Many old people still remember it vividly when they wrote articles in their later years: the 171st Division of the 7th Army charged more than the Japanese devils, did not bend over, climbed the mountain quickly, and under the cover of artillery fire, screamed, fell in front and went up, that was really a capital sacrifice.
As the saying goes, the soft are afraid of the hard, the hard are afraid of the stunned, and the stunned are afraid of dying. If you don't want to die, who is afraid of death? Not to mention a dog jumping off the wall. Xu Guofu, commander of the 119th Division, told political commissar Liu Guangtao that he would convey the spirit of General Lin's telegram to the company.
Liu Guangtao said: "Yes, resolutely fight this battle and give a generous gift to the founding of New China. ”
"Mr. Lin directly commanded us!" "What kind of specifications and treatment is this?" Everyone is excited, and they feel honored, proud, and energetic!
The 2nd Battalion of the 356th Regiment held on to Maocaoling, and the deputy battalion commander Ren Zhisheng led the 6th Company to the front. The deputy battalion commander was seriously injured and could not get out of the line of fire, the instructor Pang Yuming was shot and died, and the company commander Xu Peilin made great contributions to Jinzhou, and was named "combat hero" by the army in this battle.
Xu Peilin has been in Kanto with his father since he was a child, a small man, small eyes, usually as if he didn't wake up, and he became a tiger or a fox when he started a war. In half a day, he led the whole company to repel more than a dozen attacks.
Boxes of grenades are placed in front of the fortifications, the covers are unscrewed, the guns are shot far away, the grenades are smashed when they are close, and the blasting canisters are thrown when they are closer. Gui does not know the blaster, it is called "iron rod". Later, I saw that the "iron stick" flew in, but it didn't blow up, and the man blew up the camp first.
When the bullets ran out, they sent people to touch and pick up the enemy's corpses in the darkness of the night. How much of a problem this can solve, just roll and smash with stones, and fight with the enemy with bayonets. The people of the Northeast are large and energetic, and they have the upper hand in hand-to-hand combat.
Some positions have changed hands several times, and in the end they are all in our hands.
Later, Xu Guofu organized the cadres and logistics personnel of the division's organs and threw them into battle.
They held out until the evening of the next day, and reinforcements from all walks of life arrived.
The 7th Army is the capital of the Gui family, Bai Chongxi always uses the brand of "Steel 7th Army" to scare people, Siye still eats your set? But in the Hunan and Jiangxi Campaign, many people are not adapted, it is wearing big pants, and many soldiers are barefoot, so they can't catch up with it.
Holding your breath is also holding your breath, and you want to shout with this "Steel 7th Army" to see whose steel mouth is hard. This time, the 135th and 119th Divisions were blocked, but it was time to get out of breath.
At 20 o'clock on October 9, the 171st and 172nd Divisions of the 7th Army of the Gui Department and the 138th and 176th Divisions of the 48th Army were surrounded by the Siye Middle Route Army in an area of less than 50 square kilometers in the area of Loess Pu, Tielanqiao, Yanjiadian and Shizhuqiao.
On the evening of 5 October, when Lin Biao learned that the 135th Division had been "lost" behind enemy lines, no matter how unmoved his face was, he couldn't help but sweat in his palms.
Four days later, when the 135th and 119th Divisions intercepted the enemy, Lin Biao had a plan in mind.
At 22 o'clock on the 9th, in a telegram from the commanders of the divisions, it said:
At present, all divisions on the front line should immediately attack the line of Hejiaping, Taipingling, and Majiadui, and attack the enemy wherever they are on the way.
At 24 o'clock on the same day, call the heads of all military divisions:
There are two and a half divisions of the enemy (actually four divisions, the author's note) on the line of Loess Pu, Lumenqian, Jieling, and Yanjiadian, and all divisions of our army should make a general attack on this area tomorrow morning, and all units should organize firepower to carry out the tactics of key breakthroughs and continuous expansion.
On the morning of the 10th, 8 divisions of the four fields launched a general attack.
The 134th and 158th Divisions of the 45th Army and the 146th Division of the 49th Army attacked side by side from north to south, the 135th Division of the 45th Army and the 121st Division of the 41st Army attacked from west to east, the 119th Division of the 40th Army attacked from east to west, and the 118th and 120th Divisions attacked from south to north.
Next, in Lin Biao's words, it is "the implementation of the prisoner capture competition".
On the afternoon of the 10th, when the sound of guns gradually became scarce, the Wufeng Mountains and mountains were full of the sound of "surrender the gun and not kill" in the northeast.
At night, the "captive competition" enters the climax, and villages, mountains, ravines, and lanterns and torches all over the world shine like day.
The Hengbao area is high in mountains and dense forests, and when the enemy sees that the situation is not good, they all run into the mountains and forests. This "monkey" does not climb trees, caves, rock crevices, grass, and becomes a "ground mouse", and the leaves are so dense that sometimes it is difficult to find without stepping on them.
Some soldiers went to the river to drink water and saw the aquatic plants moving, but it turned out that the enemy was hiding in the water with the aquatic plants. Look again, there are many "water rats" in the river, all of them are above the nostrils on the water, and a pair of eyes are staring at you in horror under the aquatic plants.
Some ordinary people also led the four-leaf army to search the mountains, they were familiar with the terrain and knew where it was easy to hide. I also searched at night, dipped mangosteen in gasoline, and lit torches. "Surrender the gun and don't kill it, the People's Liberation Army treats prisoners preferentially!" "Come out, I see you!"
I was afraid that the officers and men of the 7th would not understand the Northeast dialect, and some of the enemies would not understand it, so they asked the common people to help shout and the prisoners to shout. When many enemies crawl out of caves and bushes, they will have the strength to surrender their guns, and they will ask you for food when they open their mouths.
The 134th Division of the 45th Army achieved the greatest results, capturing 4,354 people below the commander of the 176th Division, deputy division commander and chief of staff.
A few days after the war, in the large and small ravines of the Hengbao Mountains, there were piles and columns of prisoners wearing big pants, each carrying a bundle of straw on their backs. When it rains, cover yourself from the rain, and when you rest, sleep under your bed.
The "Steel 7th Army" turned into a "scarecrow".
Deputy Army Commander Ling Yunshang said in his memoirs that there was a guard company by his side at the beginning, and then there was a pistol squad left, and then he became a guard. Before breaking through, in order to avoid revealing his identity, he burned all the documents and documents, but he didn't expect that the guard still had a copy of his resume in his purse, but he still showed his feet.
He didn't say that when he was pointed at gunpoint, he also took out more than 100 yuan from his pocket in an attempt to bribe the People's Liberation Army that captured him -- the "money for buying the road" was probably prepared a long time ago, right? In the Battle of Hengbao, 47,000 enemies were annihilated, including 38,000 prisoners (17 generals).
The significance of the Battle of Hengbao is not how many enemies were eliminated, but that the Gui family, which had never suffered heavy losses in the War of Liberation, completely crushed the morale by defeating the four elite divisions of the 7th Army and the 48th Army. As Ling Yun said: "After these two armies were wiped out, although the remnants of Bai Chongxi's fleeing Gui claimed to be 300,000, they were all terrified, and as soon as they came into contact with the People's Liberation Army, they collapsed. Therefore, after the People's Liberation Army entered Gui, like the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, all Bai's troops were wiped out in a very short time, and the new Gui system was finished. ”
