The Battle of Hengbao in Xiao Jinguang's biography

Hikiko

*This article is excerpted from "The First General - General Xiao Jinguang"

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After the peaceful liberation of Changsha, Bai Chongxi deployed the troops under his control on the line from Hengyang to Baoqing, formed a "Hunan and Guangdong joint defense line" with the Yu Hanmou group in Guangdong in the south, and echoed with the Song Xilian group in the west to form a "joint defense line in western Hunan and Hubei" in an attempt to prevent the PLA from advancing to south and southwest China.

The Bai Chongxi group was the most combat-effective group in the Kuomintang army at that time. Eliminating this group is the top priority for the PLA as it moves south.

Mao Zedong noticed the movements of "Little Zhuge " Bai Chongxi very early, and he was also thinking about how to defeat this "Little Zhuge very early". When Xiao Jinguang led the southward advance troops to approach Hunan, Mao Zedong arranged the "aftermath" for Bai Chongxi, Mao Zedong said to Lin Biao: "Bai Chongxi has a small capital, and he will never fight with us until the last resort." To fight against Bai Chongxi, we should not adopt the method of close encirclement, but should adopt the method of encirclement and roundabout from a distance, occupy his rear, and force him to have to fight with us. ”

Mao Zedong pointed out where Bai Chongxi wanted to fight the PLA:

——Xiangnan, Guangxi, Yunnan. Guangxi is the most likely.

As for Bai Chongxi, he also did not want to lead the People's Liberation Army into his hometown to "enter the house" and fight a bloody battle in his hometown. He wanted to inflict a heavy blow on the People's Liberation Army on the border between Hunan and Guangdong. If you can block the People's Liberation Army from moving south, thank God, if you can't stop it, you can return to your own one-third of an acre to compete.

So there was the Battle of Hengbao.

"Hengbao" refers to the abbreviation of Hengyang and Baoqing in Hunan. Hengyang is located in the south of Hunan Province, at the southern foot of Nanyue Hengshan Mountain, and is the boundary between the middle and upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River. As far back as the Sui Dynasty, Hengyang set up a state capital, and since then it has been an important town in southern Hunan, where the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and the Xianggui Railway converge. Baoqing, which is today's Shaoyang City, is located on the shore of Zishui about 100 kilometers east of Hengyang. It was established as Shaozhou during the Tang Dynasty and renamed Baoqing Mansion after the Song Dynasty, which was the transportation, industrial and commercial center of south-central Hunan.

According to Mao Zedong's strategic policy of moving back, Siye decided to divide his troops into three ways to encircle and annihilate the Bai Chongxi group.

The Left Route Army was composed of the Deng Hua Corps of the Siye Corps and the Chen Mai Corps of the Second Field Field, which was attached to the Siye Operations, and took Guangdong directly to cut off the enemy's possible escape route by sea, and then Chen Geng's Corps entered Guangxi to complete the task of strategic relocation of the left flank; the Right Route Army was composed of Cheng Zihua's 13th Corps of the Siye Army, which took the Yuanling route to break through the enemy's defense in the Zhijiang River, cooperated with the frontal troops to encircle and annihilate the enemy in the Hengbao area, and then marched to Guangxi to cut off the enemy's escape to Yunnan-Guizhou; the Middle Route Army was the 12th Corps led by Xiao Jinguang of the Siye Army, whose task was to launch a frontal attack on the enemy in the Hengbao area。

The burden fell on Xiao Jinguang's corps.

At this time, Xiao Jinguang's subordinates were like clouds, and the tiger army gathered. The 12th Corps under his command had six corps, namely the 40th, 41st, 45th, 46th, and 49th Corps, as well as the 18th Army of Erye, which was attached to him for combat. Xiao Jinguang has never had so many troops under his command. He was very confident and determined to catch Bai Chongxi.

Xiao Jinguang deployed his troops as follows:

The 46th Army and the 18th Army were placed in the Anren area east of Hengyang to contain the enemy and coordinate the frontal attack; the 40th, 45th, and 41st armies spread out on the front line of the Hengbao Highway and carried out the main assault; and the 49th Army was deployed behind the 45th Army to strengthen the frontal assault force.

On September 15, the troops began to move to the designated area, and Xiao Jinguang asked the troops to try to hide as much as possible when engaging the enemy and block the news. As a result, the 41st Army disguised itself as a local unit and advanced by small road; the 40th Army turned northwest from Youxian and then turned to Xiangtan; and the 49th Army, which was originally west of the Xiangjiang River, was on strict alert against the enemy in front of the Hengbao Highway to ensure that other troops crossed the Xiangjiang River smoothly. For the 46th Army, which was advancing towards the Anren area, Xiao Jinguang asked the army to bluff and create a false impression to the enemy, thinking that the main direction of our army's attack was on the line from Hengyang to Leiyang.

After the armies completed the assembly within the specified time, Xiao Jinguang ordered the three armies in front to attack the enemy together on October 2. Chiang's armies in the Hengbao area at that time were the 71st, 126th, and 58th armies. The three armies of Chiang's army were not satisfied. Xiao Jinguang issued a battle mobilization order to all armies, saying that the enemy has lost his dog, our army is absolutely superior to the enemy in terms of quantity and quality, and all units must surround and annihilate the enemy bravely and quickly.

At dawn on the 3rd, our troops broke through the enemy's first line of positions and forced the 71st Army to retreat. On the 4th, the defending enemy in Hengyang and Baoqing wavered on all fronts, and our army took advantage of the victory to develop in depth. By the morning of the 5th, all the corps of the 12th Corps had advanced 20 to 50 kilometers, controlled the area from the Zhajiang River to Jieling, and formed a confrontation with the enemy north of the Hengbao Highway.

Xiao Jinguang and the Siye Headquarters' operational intention was to quickly cut off the Xianggui Railway and the Guangdong-Hankou Railway after giving the Bai Chongxi Group a fierce blow, preventing the Bai Chongxi Group from escaping back to Guangxi, and striving to annihilate a large number of its living forces in southern Hunan. According to the operational routine, after Bai Chongxi was severely attacked by our army, he should quickly shrink his forces to avoid being attacked again. However, after Bai Chongxi was broken through in his front-line position, he transferred his main force, the 7th Army, and transferred his 46th Army and 48th Army to the north along the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, and at the same time moved the 97th Army and 71st Army to the Hengbao Highway, putting on a posture of a big battle with the 12th Corps.

The Hengbao Highway is only 200 miles long, but Bai Chongxi suddenly concentrated a large number of his main forces!

"Little Zhuge " Bai Chongxi has always been witty in battle, does not fight hard with opponents, and wins with dexterity. At this time, what is the intention of suddenly having a decisive battle with the main force of the four fields?

The emergence of this situation aroused Lin Biao's vigilance, and he decisively ordered all troops to suspend their advance.

In the Siye Headquarters, Lin Biao thought for a long time in the face of the military map, he thought to himself that Bai Chongxi had always fought wits and not strength with others, but this time he was unusual, concentrated all his forces, and put on a posture of fighting to the death with the People's Liberation Army, there must be ghosts in this!

Military maps indicate that the Hengbao area is a water network area, with ditches and rivers. Such terrain was extremely unfavorable for the movement of mechanized and heavy artillery units.

Could it be that Bai Chongxi set up a pocket array, which was obviously a head-on battle, but in fact lured me into an ambush circle and ate me with his mouth open?

Lin Biao picked up the candle and carefully inspected the location of the enemy troops on the map.

Sure enough, several of Bai Chongxi's main forces had occupied some important commanding heights and transportation arteries. If our army rashly attacked, although it would be able to break through the enemy's forward defense line, it would inevitably fall into the pocket formation set up by Bai Chongxi in advance if it developed in depth; coupled with the dense water network, our army would inevitably be slow to move and find it difficult to deal with the situation. Even if you don't get bogged down, you can incur significant losses.

Lin Biao, who had always been moody, put down the candlestick, sighed long, and said to the staff officer beside him:

"Order all troops to suspend the offensive and assemble in place!"

After receiving Lin Biao's order, Xiao Jinguang ordered all troops to stand by twice on October 5 and closely monitor the enemy.

However, there was a force that continued to fight and rush all the way into the nest of the Bai Chongxi group!

This unit was the 45th Division of the 135th Army.

It was not that the 135th Division did not carry out the order, but that they fought smoothly in the Battle of Yongfeng, advanced extremely fast, and lost contact with the military headquarters for a while. When the attack of the four field troops on the whole line stopped, they were unaware of it, and continued to rush forward, and they actually advanced 160 miles in a day and night, crossing the Hengbao Highway, and this time, they became a "lone army".

A small fish burrowed into the vast sea of Bai Chongxi's army, and this small fish did not realize that it was surrounded by murderous intent all around.

However, it was this small fish that turned the sea upside down, leading to a commendable battle of Hengbao in the history of the Liberation War.

Judging from the actions of the 135th Division, their "lone advance" was purely accidental, it was not the decision of Xiao Jinguang and Lin Biao, but it suddenly disrupted Bai Chongxi's careful deployment. The position in which the 135th Division advanced was like a sharp knife, which was suddenly inserted into the vital point of Bai Chongxi's group, threatening his entire deployment.

Bai Chongxi had no choice but to hurriedly adjust his deployment, dispatch one division to intercept in the rear, and use the two divisions of the 7th Army and the two divisions of the 48th Army to use his ace troops to copy it.

Bai Chongxi used 5 divisions to deal with 1 division, and his intention was obvious, that is, to cut through the chaos with a quick knife, and wanted to swallow the 135th Division, a small fish that had entered the ambush circle, as soon as possible, and then resume the decisive battle posture.

A good 135th Division, caught in a heavy siege without panicking, this is the most glorious chapter in the history of the division's war. Many years later, Mao Zedong still clearly remembered the battle of the 135th Division on the Hengbao battlefield, and called Ding Sheng, the commander of the 135th Division, "Ding Daring".

After Ding Sheng found that his troops were surrounded by enemy troops, he did not panic and did not order a retreat, he knew that there must be heavy troops in ambush on the way to retreat, and retreating could only suffer a catastrophe.

However, he did not order his troops to build fortifications on the spot, and he was not the kind of commander who let the enemy fight. In an extremely treacherous environment, he decisively ordered the whole division to rush forward! This rush turned the world upside down and swept Bai Chongxi's pocket array into a mess.

Bai Chongxi's 7th Army was the ace army of the Gui troops, not only well-armed, but also cunning and changeable tactical methods, which had always been favored and reused by Bai Chongxi. After the People's Liberation Army's million-strong division crossed the Yangtze River, this army only lost one regiment, and its strength was not affected, and Bai Chongxi regarded it as a "firefighting team" to undertake the most important tasks.

At the beginning of the Battle of Hengbao, Bai Chongxi placed the 7th Army in the direction of Hengyang as a general reserve, personally mastered and commanded.

The officers and men of the 7th Army were also pretentious, empty-eyed, boasting that they were the "Steel 7th Army". After arriving at the Hengbao line, leaflets were posted everywhere that "the steel army is hard, and the eight roads dare not touch me".

However, the 7th Army met an opponent on Hengbao Road and the 135th Division of Xiao Jinguang's Corps, which was not afraid of heaven and earth.

The battle between the two "steel armies" was a melee. When the 7th Army hurried to intercept the 135th Division, it encountered the 135th Division in the middle of the night, forming a dog-tooth situation. The 135th Division continued to attack and rush fiercely regardless of whether the enemy in front of it was a "steel army" or an "iron army". Sometimes they get involved with the enemy, and when they find that the accent is wrong, they hit them on the head, and sometimes they are chasing the enemy in front of them, and suddenly another enemy comes out behind them, and they turn back and attack the enemy behind them.

There are often situations in which our soldiers rush straight to the enemy in front of them, and some of the soldiers run out of bullets, so they chase after them with empty guns and blasting canisters, and chase them out for five or six miles in one breath like chasing ducks. When the fleeing enemy turned back and saw that our army was not having many troops in pursuit, he organized a counterattack. Our soldiers turned to the defense on the spot, and when the enemy approached, they suddenly opened fire, and the enemy ran away.

In this way, in the melee, one division of the 135th Division dragged Bai Chongxi's four entire divisions, forcing the enemy to engage our 135th Division everywhere, and it was impossible to get out at all.

Bai Chongxi originally wanted to set a trap to counterattack our army, but not only did the plan fail, but was stabbed into the oblique stab of our 135th Division, he was afraid of being controlled internally and externally, so he had to change his plan and ordered the entire line to retreat in the early morning of the 7th. In order to evacuate safely, he ordered the 7th and 48th armies to advance in the direction of Takeoka and secure their left flank.

At this time, Bai Chongxi showed the ability of "Little Zhuge again", and if he escaped slowly, his housekeepers would all have to be reimbursed in southern Hunan.

Seeing that Bai Chongxi had retreated, Lin Biao and Xiao Jinguang immediately ordered the 4 armies and 12 divisions of the frontal attack to attack and pursue the enemy on all fronts. At the same time, the 46th Army was ordered to cross the Xiangjiang River and advance to Leiyang, and the 18th Army to advance to Lingling.

Our troops and the enemy have launched a great race of perseverance and speed. At this time, Xiao Jinguang knew in his heart that it was impossible to completely encircle and annihilate Bai Chongxi Group, but it was still possible to seize a large part of it and encircle and annihilate it. So he ordered all the troops to overcome all difficulties and dangers, and when they found the enemy, they bit it to the death, and then the armies worked together to destroy the enemy.

It was raining in those days, the roads were muddy, and it was difficult for the troops to advance every mile. However, the commanders and fighters of the 12th Corps were not afraid of hardship or tiredness, and they fought day and night, fighting and chasing bravely.

At this time, our 135th Division, which was drilling into the enemy's nest, once again became a blocking force to strangle the enemy's escape! They intercepted and flanked the enemy everywhere. In the face of a large number of enemy forces, they sometimes attacked, sometimes harassed. Sometimes they run ahead of the enemy, and sometimes they collide with the enemy. They are like Sun Wukong getting into the belly of the "Bull Demon King", punching and kicking, and using all eighteen kinds of martial arts. Their heroic actions effectively delayed the enemy's escape, so that the other units of the 12th Corps caught up with Bai Chongxi's main force, the 7th Army, on the night of the 8th, and surrounded it in an area of 50 square kilometers northeast of Wenmingpu.

Since the 135th Division got into Bai Chongxi's pocket, Bai Chongxi, the person who weaves the pocket, has been uneasy. He had lost a lot of weight, and he had not unbuttoned his clothes for three days, and he was so sleepy that he leaned back in his chair and took a nap.

His ace army is in danger, and it tugs at his heart more than anything else. He knew that he had to rely on strength to deal with Chiang Kai-shek, and he had to rely on strength to speak and count in the Kuomintang, and this was the weight of the trump card.

On the evening of the 8th, he couldn't get in touch with the 7th Army, Bai Chongxi had a premonition that the situation was not good, he leaned back in his chair for a long time and didn't move, and then called an adjutant and said weakly: "Contact the divisions directly, and ask them to organize a breakthrough at all costs, and go out as much as they can." ”

The adjutant opened his mouth, probably wanting to say a few words of comfort, but in the end he didn't dare to speak, and turned to convey the order.

Just when Bai Chongxi was in trouble, he received a telegram from Chiang Kai-shek.

Chiang Kai-shek has always been wary of the Gui faction, and at this time, the Gui troops were surrounded in Hengbao, and Chiang Kai-shek was both happy and worried. Happily, if the PLA can inflict heavy damage on the Gui troops this time, it will be equivalent to cutting off the wings of Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren. As soon as he thought of what the Gui family had done in the past year, Chiang Kai-shek was annoyed. Now that the People's Liberation Army is striking hard at the main force of the Gui system, Chiang Kai-shek can be regarded as exhaling in his heart.

From a long-term perspective, Chiang Kai-shek did not object to Bai Chongxi's return to Guangxi, but was very afraid that Bai Chongxi's troops would retreat to Fujian. If most of the Gui troops retreated to Fujian and then went to Taiwan, then Chiang Kai-shek really had no place in Taiwan.

Fortunately, Li and Bai didn't expect to take this move, so it would be a joy to use the sword of the People's Liberation Army to kill the prestige of the Gui family as soon as possible.

However, Chiang Kai-shek's heart was full of melancholy. His business in the mainland for many years has been shattered, and if he wants to turn the situation around, he has to count on the strength of the Gui family to support it. If all the troops of the Gui family are annihilated, their descendants in the southwest will fall into a situation where they will be attacked by the enemy on their backs, and if the People's Liberation Army picks up a quick knife and sweeps the mainland, it will be difficult for them to turn over again.

After careful consideration, Chiang Kai-shek decided to seriously inquire about the situation on the Hengbao battlefield. He sent a long telegram, proposing to Bai Chongxi the idea of the next operation, and especially inquired about the breakthrough of the 7th Army and other troops.

After reading the message, Bai Chongxi frowned and put the message aside.

Until this time, Bai Chongxi still had confidence in the combat effectiveness of his subordinate troops. He believed that even if one or two troops were damaged, most of them would still be able to withstand the communist army.

He was a little shocked that a division of Xiao Jinguang's corps could be so brave and tenacious, he couldn't beat it, couldn't push it, couldn't swing it, he really couldn't swallow this breath.

He waited in the war room for some kind of miracle.

However, the miracle he was expecting could not materialize.

At midnight on the 9th, Xiao Jinguang commanded 9 divisions to surround and force up, and another 6 divisions blocked the front and back, encircling the main force of the Gui system in the encirclement.

In terms of numbers, Siye has already invested four times more troops in this area than the enemy.

From midnight on the 9th to the morning of the 10th, the besieged Gui troops made every effort to organize a breakthrough. In almost 10 hours, the 135th Division alone repelled 18 enemy attacks.

On the afternoon of the 10th, Xiao Jinguang organized 8 divisions to launch a general attack on the surrounded enemy. Three divisions from north to south, two divisions from west to east, and three divisions from southeast to northwest. Most of the besieged enemy was annihilated, and the remnants fled into the deep mountains and jungles.

That night, the autumn wind was bleak and the drizzle was misty, and the soldiers of our army endured the fatigue and hunger of several days and nights of continuous fighting, and searched in the rain in the deep mountains and dense forests, and by the morning of the 11th, more than 20,000 enemies had been annihilated.

Ling Yunshang, the deputy commander of the 7th Army, was also taken prisoner, and he was the first Kuomintang army-level cadre captured by the Fourth Field Army after crossing the Yangtze River.

As for the captured officers of the rank below the division commander, there are countless of them.

Sources:

"The First General - General Xiao Jinguang"