The Soviet Union and China were located in the southeastern outpost of the entire liberated area of China, and they confronted Nanjing and Shanghai, the political and economic centers of the Kuomintang government, across the river, and greatly deterred them. As soon as the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression ended, Chiang Kai-shek took the capture of northern and central Jiangsu as an important goal. In the resumption of peace talks, he personally went out to ask the Communists to cede northern Jiangsu (referring to the area north of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, including the Soviet Union and China). Chiang Kai-shek said bluntly: "The northern part of Jiangsu is not big, it is nothing to let it out, and you still have many places to survive." Now you can see that you are in northern Jiangsu, and you pose a great threat to Nanjing and Shanghai. "
Su Yu, then commander of the Central China Field Army, had a clear understanding of Chiang Kai-shek's conspiracy. In May 1946, with the approval of the Central Military Commission and the Military Department of the New Fourth Army, Su Yu concentrated more than 30,000 people from 16 regiments of the 1st Division, 6th Division and 7th Column in the Soviet-Central Region to complete the strategic assembly. Prior to this, the Central China Field Army had conducted general combat training, carried out a large-scale military and political training of 100 troops, strengthened political work, raised the level of military technology and tactics, and enhanced the combat effectiveness of the troops.
On June 6, Su Yu said in a telegram to the Central Military Commission and the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army: "Attack Yiling and Baita on the Yangzhou and Taizhou lines, attract the stubborn 25th Army and the 100th Army to come out to fight, and seek to fight two to three major battles here, and after the annihilation of the stubborn two to three divisions, the camera will seize Taizhou to consolidate the southern front." "On June 11, the Central Military Commission sent a telegram to the East China Bureau, agreeing to the operational deployment of the Central China Military Region.
On June 24, the main force launched an offensive from south to north against Chiang Kai-shek, with the main railway line as the axis. In the first strategic attempt to seize and control the cities and communication lines in the liberated areas and to eliminate the main force of the PLA, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission sent a telegram to the East China Bureau: "The Taihang and Shandong armies will attack the eastern Henan and Jinpu lines in the first step, and cross the Huai to the south in the second step. The "demand" is that "the Soviet-Chinese local corps should be used to attract and contain the enemy on the (southern) and Yang (state) lines, and Su Yu should lead the main force to occupy the railway line between Bengbu and Pu (kou), annihilate the enemy in the third and fourth divisions (the third and fourth divisions of the Huainan Military Region under the Central China Military Region), and fight in the north." On June 26, the Central China Military Commission sent another telegram to the Central China Branch: "The main force in Central China is out of the Huainan Jinpu Line. He pointed out: "Your district should use a division to attract and contain the enemy on the (southern) and Yangzhou (state) lines in the Soviet Union, and Su Yu should lead the main force (no less than 15 regiments) in the 3rd and 4th divisions to cooperate with Chen Ye (the Shandong Field Army commanded by Chen Yi) to occupy the railway line between Bengbu and Pukou in one fell swoop, completely destroy the railway, annihilate the enemy in the area, restore the lost territory of the 3rd and 4th divisions, and prepare for a big battle to annihilate the enemy advancing north from Pukou." The Central China Branch was asked to reply after considering the pros and cons.
Chen Yi immediately telegraphed the main force of the Central China Field Army to march west to Huainan to carry out the combat mission of the Bengpu section of the Jinpu Road, first of all, "concentrating the two columns of Tao (Yong) and Wang (Bicheng), the fifth brigade and Xie (Xiangjun) column for training between Liuhe and Tianchang."
After reading the telegrams of the CPC Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and Chen Yi, Su Yu realized that this was a strategic opportunity to attack from the outside: Chiang's army was going north, our army was going south, and the enemy was advancing to us, forcing Chiang to negotiate peace. This war has a great impact on the development of the future war situation, and we must win the first battle. Proceeding from the actual situation, he conscientiously analyzed and studied the question of whether the main forces in Central China should attack the Huainan Jinpu Line or fight a few battles between the Soviet Union and China, and weighed the pros and cons of fighting in the Soviet Union and China and fighting in Huainan. In the end, he believed that it would be more advantageous to fight a war between the Soviet Union and China and then move westward: First, the Soviet-Chinese liberated area was one of the older base areas of the New Fourth Army, which was rich in natural resources, had a large population (more than 9 million), had a relatively developed economy, and accounted for two-fifths of China's grain income and one-half of its tax revenue. In the future, after the main forces of Shandong and Central China are transferred to Huainan to fight, not only will grain and grass need to be supplied by the Soviet Union and China, but also the manpower and material resources of the Soviets and China will also play a great role in supporting the long-term war in the future. Second, most of the region is a water network area, and the masses of the people have a strong organization, have relatively rich experience in fighting against the enemy, and are relatively well prepared for war; if they leave without a fight, they will automatically give up the favorable conditions for the geographical and human resources, which is contrary to the will of the Soviet and Chinese people. Third, although there were nine divisions of the Kuomintang army in front of the Soviet Union and China, their strength was relatively weak compared with the enemy in the Huainan area, and the main force of our army was concentrated in the central Soviet region. Once the Soviet Union and China fall and the Huainan war cannot be won, our army will be in a dilemma. If this happens, it will have a greater impact on the supply of the entire combat force in Central China.
The next day, Su Yu convened a meeting of the heads of divisions and columns to convey the instructions of the Central Committee and the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army on the main force of Huaye to fight in Huainan. The commanders of all units unanimously demanded that they first win a victory in the Soviet Union and China before leaving, and Su Ge held that this action had a bearing on the overall strategic situation and should be decided by the Central China Sub-Bureau. As soon as the meeting ended, he set out from Hai'an and traveled more than 300 miles to Huai'an, where the Central China Sub-Bureau and the Central China Military Region were stationed, to discuss with Central China Military Region Commander Zhang Dingcheng, Political Commissar Deng Zihui, Deputy Commander Zhang Aiping, and Deputy Political Commissar Tan Zhenlin how to carry out the instructions of the Central Military Commission and the Military Headquarters of the New Fourth Army. All four agreed with Su Yu's opinion. On June 29, the day of the meeting, the four of them jointly sent a report to the Central Military Commission and the Military Department of the New Fourth Army.
At this moment, information that Chiang's army was going to attack the liberated areas of Jiaoji, Xuzhou, northern Henan, eastern Henan, and northern Jiangsu came one after another. The Central Military Commission resolutely decided to fight on the inner front first, pointing out: "It is more politically advantageous for me to win a few battles on the inner front and then move to the outer front." "
This decision actually approved the proposal of the Central China Military Region.
On July 13, Su Yu, who was stepping up preparations for the Soviet-Chinese campaign, received a telegram from Mao Zedong: "The Great War in Northern Jiangsu is about to begin, and Chiang's army will move from Xuzhou to the south, from Jinpu to the east, and from Jiangbei to the north. Under such circumstances, after the enemy launches an attack on our central and northern Soviet Unions, the various units of our central and northern Jiangsu provinces will first fight on the inner line, and it is best to win a few battles first, so as to see the enemy's weaknesses, and then it is most advantageous for our main forces in southern and northern Henan to join the battle. "
"Win a few battles first and see the enemy's weak points" This is the task given by the Central Military Commission and Mao Zedong to the Central China Military Region to fight in the Soviet Union and China, which shows that the Soviet-Chinese campaign has the nature of strategic reconnaissance and strategic experimentation. Su Yu felt a heavy responsibility on his shoulders.
Ever since the Central Military Commission made the decision to win several battles on the inner front, Su Yu has closely watched the enemy's movements.
In mid-June, Chiang Kai-shek completed the offensive deployment of northern and central Jiangsu. Tang Enbo of the First Sui District (transferred to Li Mo'an in mid-July to replace him) had a total of 120,000 troops from five integrated divisions and five brigades assembled on the front line of Nantong, Jingjiang, Taizhou, and Yangzhou, in an attempt to capture the Rugao and Hai'an lines, clear the areas along the river, and then advance north from Hai'an and Yangzhou, and join forces in Xuzhou and Huainan to attack the two Huai (Huaiyin and Huainan) and destroy our Central China Field Army, or force our Central China Field Army to withdraw north to Shandong, and capture the liberated areas of Jiangsu and Anhui in one fell swoop.
At this time, the Central China Field Army gathered on the front line of Hai'an and Rugao, including Tao Yong and Wang Chengcheng's First Division, Wang Bicheng and Jiang Weiqing's Sixth Division, and Guan Wenwei and Ji Luo (Ji Pengfei) Seventh Column, a total of 19 regiments of more than 30,000 people. On the Soviet-Chinese battlefield, the ratio of forces between us and the enemy was 4 to 1. Chiang Kai-shek threatened: "Three weeks is enough to recover the north, and then three weeks to end the battle of Suzhou-Anhui." "
On 10 July, the "Fourth Squadron" (the code name of the Intelligence Department of the Central China Military Region Command) obtained from reliable sources the operational plan of the Kuomintang troops belonging to the No. 1 Sui District on the north bank of the Yangtze River: The reorganized 49th Division in the Nantong and Baipu areas will attack Rugao in the north; the 99th Brigade of the integrated 69th Division in the Jingjiang area and the 83rd Division in the Taixing area will first occupy Huangqiao in two ways, and then cooperate with the reorganized 49th Division to attack Rugao; and the 148th Brigade of the 25th Division in the Taizhou area will attack Jiangyan in the east, and then join forces with the 49th Division in the Rugao area to attack Hai'an. Simultaneous offensives are scheduled to begin on 15 July.
At 8 o'clock that night, the Central China Field Army operational meeting began, and Su Yu presided over the meeting. He said: "Now the enemy is coming from three directions, and they have to fight with us to open the shelf. We will not accompany him, and we will fight him all the way. The question is whether to strike on the two wings or in the middle? On the two wings, Nantong and Taizhou are fortified, which is not good for our army. Although the enemy in the middle occupied Taixing and Xuanjiabao for more than half a year, our conditions were good, which was beneficial to our army. He invited everyone to speak freely and discuss the battle plan. The meeting made clear the specific arrangements: In addition to the three regiments of Guan Wenwei and Ji Luo's Seventh Column to monitor the enemy's 49th Division on the East Road, and the three regiments of Xie Xiangjun and Liu Peishan's Tenth Column to contain the enemy's 25th Division in the direction of Shao Bo, the troops of the 12 regiments of the 1st Division of Tao Yong and Wang Chengcheng and the 12 regiments of the 6th Division of Wang Bicheng and Jiang Weiqing were concentrated to annihilate the two regiments of the enemy's 83rd Division and 19th Brigade stationed in Xuanjiabao and Taixing on the Middle Road. At the end of the meeting, Su Yu said: "The enemy's 120,000 men attacked more than 30,000 of us, which was 4 to 1. We're going to give him a 6-on-1!"
At 12 o'clock in the evening, the Central China Field Army Headquarters held a pledge meeting in Jingjiazhuang, Hai'an, for the mobilization of cadres at and above the battalion level of the participating units. Under the moonlight, Su Yu walked up to the stage and said in a loud voice: "Comrades, there is going to be a war! The Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek has already put his knife on our necks! A full-scale civil war is imminent. We have only one way, to fight each other against each other, to fight against each other, to resolutely, thoroughly, cleanly, and completely eliminate them, and to win the war of self-defense. "The Kuomintang has better guns and more guns than us, it doesn't matter, those weapons will be delivered to us soon." Which gun or bullet we have in our hands is made by us? Is it not terrible? Looking down at 800 meters, a person is only 5 inches long, and as long as he doesn't move, he can see what it is. There was a burst of laughter in the room.
Xuanjiabao is a small market town north of Taixing, surrounded by water on three sides in the south, west and north, there is a big river running through the street, and there are earth polders and high-rise buildings around it. The 56th Regiment of the 19th Brigade of the 83rd Division of the enemy and a mountain artillery battalion were stationed here, who had fought in Burma as an expeditionary force, and were equipped with semi-American equipment, with strong combat effectiveness, and were quite arrogant, boasting arrogantly: "If the Communists take Xuanjiabao, then they can carry their guns upside down and enter Nanjing without firing a single bullet." "
On the morning of July 13, the battle began. Zhang Zhendong, the former commander of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Huaye Division, who attacked Xuanjiabao, later recalled: "The enemy's artillery fire was much more fierce than we expected, and Zhang Wenming, deputy commander of the 1st Battalion of our 3rd Regiment, Bu Rulin, deputy commander of the 1st Company, and some companies and platoon cadres of the 2nd Company were all shot and killed while leading the troops to charge. It is said that shortly after the battle began, Li Mo'an, who was in command in Changzhou, called Li Tianxia, who had returned to the headquarters of the 83rd Division in Taizhou, and asked: "I heard that there was a battle in Xuantai?" Li Tianxia replied nonchalantly: "'The enemy is stationed and we are disturbing'! There are not many people, so don't worry. "
Zhang Zhendong recalled: "Li Tianxia was right, Commander Su did not invest many troops at the beginning of the battle, and intended to paralyze the enemy, and only launched a general attack with superior forces in the evening. But at that time, Li Tianxia still did not pay enough attention to it. As for Li Mo'an, because he did not know the truth of Huaye, he was afraid that Commander Su would attack the west and the east and steal Nantong, so he urgently ordered the main force of the 49th Division, which had advanced to Baipu, to retreat back to Pingchao on July 13. On the 15th, it was determined that the main force of Huaye was indeed in Xuanjiabao and Taixing, and he urgently ordered Wang Tiehan, the commander of the 49th Division, to order the main force to advance north. This contraction and extension gave Commander Su 2 days in vain. At dawn on the 15th, the battle of our brigade's attack on Xuanjiabao ended successfully. The 6th Brigade attacked Taixing City, launched a general attack at 18 o'clock on the 15th, and fought until 24 o'clock, completely annihilating the enemy's 57th regiment. "
In less than 60 hours, the Xuantai battle annihilated two regiments and two battalions of the Kuomintang 83rd Division, captured more than 3,200 people, including Zhong Xiongfei, the commander of the enemy's 56th Regiment, and captured a large number of weapons, ammunition, and military supplies.
When he heard that the main force of Huaye was still in the Taixing and Xuanjiabao areas, he immediately ordered Wang Tiehan, commander of the 49th Division, to lead Hu Kun's 26th Brigade, field artillery battalion, and special service battalion as a right-hand column to reinforce Taixing and attack Huangqiao; the Wenli 79th Brigade was a left-hand column to attack Rugao along the Tongru Highway and occupy Linzi and Nanmatang; and ordered the 83rd Division to advance eastward from Taizhou in an attempt to flank Huaye's main force between Rugao and Huangqiao on three routes.
Tao Yong, who was the deputy commander of the Huaye First Division at the time (division commander Su Yukan), later recalled that the "Fourth Squadron" quickly reported Li Mo'an's operational deployment to Huaye. Commander Su faced the marked military map, staring at the blue circles, curves, and arrows. He judged that the enemy attacking Rugao was in motion and had no fortifications to rely on; the enemy's 49th Division of Wang Tiehan was a miscellaneous army and could be regarded as a weak enemy; the troops were divided into two routes, which was convenient for each to be annihilated; and in addition, the main force of Huaye was more than 100 miles away from Rugao, and the enemy might be paralyzed and careless. This is precisely the opportunity that our army can take advantage of. Therefore, it was immediately decided to transfer troops to the east, make a long-distance attack, and annihilate the enemy's 49th Division that was in motion. The 1st and 6th Divisions of Huaye and the 7th Column carried forward the style of "fighting, running, and starving" and continuous combat, immediately transferred their troops, and marched eastward day and night in an attempt to annihilate the enemy in the southeast area of Rugao City.
The main force of the 6th Division, which was responsible for destroying the enemy forces on the left flank, annihilated most of the 79th Brigade of the 49th Division of the enemy after 2 days and 2 nights of attack, and the remaining regiment of the enemy stuck in the corner of Songjiaqiao, which was surrounded by a deep ditch, and the troops were unable to overcome repeated attacks. At about 10 o'clock in the evening, Su Yu came quietly, which is his usual style. After the battle began, he went deep into the participating units to give specific guidance, and he appeared wherever the combat tasks were heaviest and where difficulties were encountered. Su Yu said to deputy division commander Wang Bicheng and deputy political commissar Jiang Weiqing: "Let's fight in a different way!" He turned his face to Wu Qiang, who was standing aside, and said, "Let's have a political offensive and take a look." You wrote a letter, in my name, asking the regimental commander of the Kuomintang army in Songjiaqiao to lay down his arms. Tell him that your division headquarters and the 26th Brigade have been completely annihilated by our army on Guitou Street, and the division commander Wang Tiehan has been taken prisoner, and I hope you will not have illusions, but make a decision and immediately put down your arms. After laying down our arms, we will earnestly guarantee the safety of the lives and property of all your officers and men. "
Wu Qiang immediately picked up a pen and paper to draft a letter of persuasion. It was nearly midnight, and there was only scattered gunfire and barking of dogs on the position, and candlelight flickered in the hut of the command post. Wu Qiang looked up and saw that Su Yu was already asleep on the bed on the door panel and his clothes.
After four days and four nights of fierce fighting, Huaye annihilated more than 10,000 people from one and a half brigades of the 49th Division and one and a half brigades and one of the 65th and 99th brigades of the Kuomintang Army, and captured more than 6,000 people under Major General Hu Kun, the commander of the 49th Division.
On the day of the end of the second war, Mao Zedong sent a telegram to Su Yu:
"(1) Celebrate your great victory; (2) The enemy situation is still serious, and I hope that the main forces participating in the battle will concentrate on resting and recuperating, replenish the shortcomings, and recover from fatigue so as to facilitate the resumption of the battle. "
The battles of Xuanjiabao, Taixing, and Runan caused the Kuomintang troops to lose 160,000 men and a large amount of weapons and ammunition, which greatly shocked Chiang Kai-shek and his chief of staff, Chen Cheng. On Chiang's orders, Chen Cheng hurriedly went to Nantong to convene a joint meeting of the party, government, and army to redeploy the operational plan for attacking northern Jiangsu. They ordered more than 100,000 people from seven brigades, including the 65th Division and the 21st Division, to cross the river and march northward to concentrate their forces on Hai'an. At the same time, the 63rd Brigade of the 83rd Division and the 148th Brigade of the 25th Division were dispatched eastward from the Jiangyan and Baimi lines, and the two routes attacked Hai'an. In order to prevent being broken by each other, a conical offensive was adopted, with a front of less than 30 miles and a depth of more than 10 miles, and the brigades advanced closely.
Facing a strong enemy with superior forces, divided into combined attacks, and pressed step by step, Su Yu sat on the overturned bench, leaned back on the legs of the stool, and faced the military map with the terrain on both sides of the Yangtze River, and the red and blue circles, curves, and arrows were all active like shuttles. After a long period of repeated thinking, Su Yu decided to withdraw from Hai'an and put forward a preliminary operational plan: The 1st and 6th Divisions would assemble in the area of the Sancang River in the northeast area of Hai'an to rest and wait for attack, and the 7th Column would fight a defensive battle on the periphery of Hai'an.
However, many people could not figure out this combat plan, believing that it would be a pity to withdraw from Hai'an.
Although Su Yu was convinced that his decision was correct, he did not dare to make it alone. He decided to return to Huai'an, where the Central China Sub-Bureau and the Central China Military Region were stationed, 300 miles away, for the second time to solicit the opinions of other leading comrades. He took only one guard, first on a motorcycle, to the west of Jianhu County, where the motorcycle could not move, so he walked; when he was still more than 50 miles away from Huai'an, in order to gain time, they borrowed a bicycle from the arsenal, and the two of them exchanged treadmills and took them forward. After a long journey of one day and one night, they finally arrived in Huai'an as planned. Su Yu passed by the door, only went in to drink a little water, and hurried to the Central China Branch and the Central China Military Region. At the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Central China Sub-Bureau, comrades Zhang Dingcheng, Deng Zihui, Tan Zhenlin, Zeng Shan, and other comrades present at the meeting seriously discussed Su Yu's operational plan of taking the initiative to withdraw from Hai'an and annihilate the enemy during the movement, and decided to first carry out movement defense in Hai'an, and then take the initiative to evacuate and create new fighters.
On the morning of August 1, the day after the meeting, Su Yu returned to the Haian front. From 30 July to 3 August, the Seventh Column, which was responsible for the defensive battle of the Hai'an Movement, fought with more than 3,000 troops to resist the repeated attacks of more than 50,000 Chiang's troops, killing and wounding more than 3,000 enemies at the cost of more than 200 casualties, setting a new record of 15 to 1 casualties between the enemy and us. After the intended purpose was achieved, Su Yu ordered the evacuation of Hai'an.
As Su Yu expected, after Huaye withdrew from Hai'an, the vanguard of Chiang's army attacking Hai'an immediately occupied the place, and reported to the higher authorities one after another to ask for merit, and the statistics of the First Sui District Command actually "annihilated" Huaye by 20,000 or 30,000 people. They got carried away and misjudged: "The communist army in northern Jiangsu has been completely defeated, and the first and sixth divisions of the main force have fled north to the sea." Li Mo'an believes that the first operational objective has been achieved, and according to the predetermined operational plan, adjust the deployment, divide the troops and occupy a wide territory, and establish a military blockade line on the 300 miles from the seaside in the east to Yangzhou in the west, cut off the connection between Nantong and Rugao and the Dongtai and Xinghua liberated areas, clear out the occupied areas within the blockade line, and then join forces with the southbound troops in Xuzhou to realize the second-step operational plan -- to attack the two Huai.
This battle plan of Chiang's army was learned by Huaye's "Fourth Squadron" from radio reconnaissance on 6 August: The enemy who had entered and occupied Hai'an was divided into troops to advance eastward, and the 105th Brigade of the 65th Division began to attack from Hai'an to Fort Lee.
When Su Yu learned of this information, he said excitedly: "This is a good opportunity, not to be missed!"
On the morning of 7 August, Su Yu sent a telegram to the Central Committee and the Central China Sub-Bureau, reporting that "a good opportunity has arrived to annihilate the enemy" and suggesting for the fourth time that the 5th Brigade in Huainan should be transferred east to the Soviet Union and China to participate in the war, so as to concentrate its forces on the main operational direction. In this report, Su Yu used the wording "bold and straightforward". During the war years, the subordinates were allowed to make proposals to their superiors, and the same content was only allowed to be submitted three times. Su Yu reported to the Central China Military Region, Commander Chen Yi, and the Central Committee on 25 July, 28 July, and 5 August: "After 10 days or half a month of rest and replenishment with troops and cadres, we can still fight again. However, with the stubborn 10 divisions (brigades) in front of us, and the fact that we were only able to concentrate 35,000 people (including officers and men) in one direction of assault, it would be difficult for us to open up a greater situation in the battle situation in a short period of time. At present, the situation of our Huainan troops is very difficult to keep the sky long and the fetus. If this is the case, then Huainan will only be able to insist on a few. Therefore, it is suggested that when the Huaibei Campaign has not yet been fought, the 5th Brigade should still be transferred to the Soviet Union and China to participate in the battle, which is more effective than staying in Huainan. How? "
In order to implement the Central Military Commission's strategic policy of attacking from outside the line, Chen Yi has led the main force of the Shandong Field Army from southern Lunan to Huaibei. After receiving Su Yu's telegram, he replied to two telegrams on July 27 and 28: "The Huainan Fifth Brigade will remain in Huainan without changing its eastward transfer, and it is advisable for Su Yu to gradually move westward." "It is not advisable for the Fifth Brigade to move eastward, because the Jinpu line is the main front and there is a shortage of troops. "
After receiving Chen Yi's reply, Su Yu felt that it was necessary to state his views to the Central Committee, Commander Chen Yi, and the Central China Military Region, and in addition to expressing his views on how the strategic areas should cooperate in the fight against the encroachment of Chiang Kai-shek's divisions, he still suggested that most of the main forces of Huainan should be moved eastward to the Soviet Union and China to participate in the war. He said: "As long as the situation between the Soviet Union and China is opened, the situation in Huainan may gradually improve, and then I move westward with the main force, and the situation in Huainan may also be opened." On August 5, in reply to the Central Military Commission's inquiry telegram on August 2, Su Yu suggested for the third time that the 5th Brigade should go to the Soviet Union and China to participate in the war and concentrate its forces to annihilate the enemy in the Soviet Union and China. Su Yu said in the telegram: "Under the condition that the Fifth Brigade is increased to the Soviet-Chinese Brigade, it is certain that two more enemy brigades will be annihilated within August." If the Fifth Brigade does not come, and only fights with its existing strength, it will find it difficult, and this will also have an impact on the fighting in September, and it will not be able to improve the situation between the Soviet Union and China more quickly. Therefore, "the Fifth Brigade and its special service regiment were still required to move eastward to participate in the war, with a view to changing the situation of the Soviet-Chinese war as soon as possible, so that the main forces could move westward." Otherwise, Huainan and the Soviet Union and China will become a stalemate, and the entire war situation will not be favorable. Courage to stand up, and pray for it".
On August 6 and 7, Mao Zedong drafted two telegrams for the Central Military Commission, one to Chen Yi, instructing him to "meet Su Zhi's requirements as much as possible and concentrate the maximum number of troops in the main direction." One was given to Su Yu: "According to your method of telegraphing at noon on the 5th, there will be another battle in the Soviet Union and China in August, and then move west." Chen Yi also replied to Su Yu on August 8: "It is agreed that the 1st Division, 6th Division, 7th Column, and 5th Brigade will concentrate on the East (Taiwan) Sea (An) to stand by to destroy the enemy, fully prepare for a hurried wave battle, and then move west after the war." "
After the enemy occupied Fort Lee and Jiaoxian on August 7 and 8, Li Mo'an decided to transfer his reorganized 65th Division to Taizhou and Huangqiao via Hai'an on the 9th to take over the defense of the 25th Division and the 99th Brigade, and on the 10th, he ordered the new 7th Brigade to advance from Hai'an to take over the defense of the 105th Brigade on the front line of Fort Lee.
Su Yu said: "The frequent movements of the enemy's troops have given our army a great opportunity to annihilate it while its movement or foothold is not stable. He made a quick decision and concentrated his forces to destroy the enemy of Fort Lee in the movement.
At 20 o'clock on 10 August, the battle began, and our 1st Division took advantage of the enemy's handover of defense to capture Fort Lee and Jiaoxian in one fell swoop; on the morning of 11 August, the commander of the enemy's new 7th Brigade led one regiment eastward from Hai'an, and the 6th Division and the 7th Column used sorghum and corn fields as ambushes to annihilate the enemy in the movement.
The battles of Fort Lee and Jiaoxian lasted only 20 hours, and more than 9,000 people from one and a half brigades of the enemy were annihilated. At that time, Huaye called the battles of Xuantai and Runan the first battle, and the battles of Hai'an and Fort Li as the second battle. The Central Military Commission sent a congratulatory message: "Celebrate your second great victory. On August 12, Mao Zedong drafted a telegram to Chen Yi and Song Shilun for the Central Military Commission, pointing out: "Su Yu's army's second victory in the Soviet-Chinese battle the day before yesterday not only put the Soviet-Chinese and Chiang's troops in great difficulty, but also made it impossible to transfer the Huainan Fifth Army to the north. Su was familiar with the people in the Soviet Union and China, it was easy to supply, the terrain was convenient, and the equipment of the enemy troops in the Soviet Union and China was also worse than that of the Fifth Army, so it was easier to win. Immediately transfer Huainan, because the enemy is hard and the terrain is dangerous, it may not be able to cut off the Bengpu Road mission. It is better to order Su to fight in the Soviet-Chinese war for another period and win one or two more battles, so that the Soviet-Chinese and Chiang-kamp armies will completely turn to the defensive and protect the Soviet-Chinese liberated areas, which will be of great benefit to the overall situation. In this way, it is more advantageous to cooperate with the Huaibei operation. "
On August 13, Chen Yi telegraphed Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin: "It is advisable to develop the situation on the spot, and there is no need to be busy with the westward transfer. It is advisable for the troops to rest for a few days and then seek new maneuvers, so as to cooperate more effectively with all parties than to move westward. "
This is the end of the controversy of different opinions.
From the first battle of Xuantai on July 13 to the surprise attack on Fort Lee on August 12, in one month, Huaye won four consecutive battles, annihilating more than 30,000 enemies, breaking Chiang Kai-shek's dream that "three weeks is enough to recover the north". Chiang's mobile forces in the Soviet Union and China were no longer many, and it was difficult to continue the all-out offensive, so they had to adjust their deployment.
On August 19, just as Su Yu was "thinking about how to fight the next battle," the "Fourth Squadron" sent information that Chiang Kai-shek had convened a military conference in Lushan on August 25. Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin immediately decided to "burrow into the enemy's belly and fight" and went south to fight on the front lines of Dingyan, Baipu, Nantong, and Haimen, seeking to annihilate one or two brigades of the enemy and deal a serious blow to the enemy. On August 20, the Central Military Commission and Chen Yi replied to the plan of action for the south. He emphasized: "It is of great significance to annihilate the enemy forces in these towns behind enemy lines, even if they are one battalion and one company in each place. "
That night, Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin led the main force of the 1st Division, 6th Division, 5th Brigade and more than 30,000 people of the Special Service Regiment to advance behind enemy lines. The so-called behind enemy lines is actually the old base of the New Fourth Army, and although it has temporarily fallen into the hands of the enemy, the military and the people have a deep affection for each other. Wherever the troops hit, the masses of the people will support them. The soldiers and civilians are accustomed to marching at night, and even the sound of barking dogs is difficult to hear. The Kuomintang troops were kept in the dark, deaf and blind, and knew nothing about Huaye's actions.
On the night of the 21st, Su and Tan led the army to penetrate deep into the waist of the 300-mile long snake formation of Chiang's army, and the 1st Division attacked Dingyan, the 6th Division attacked Lin Zi, and the 5th Brigade attacked Dongchen, like three sharp steel knives, slashing at the enemy's waist together.
Dingyan and Linzi are two market towns on the highway from Nantong to Rugao, where six brigades of the Kuomintang government's traffic police corps and one battalion of the 26th Brigade of the Kuomintang Army are stationed, with about 3,700 people. After a night of fierce fighting, this ferocious enemy was completely annihilated, more than 2,000 people below the deputy commander of the major general were captured, many arrested local cadres, militiamen, and land reform activists were rescued, and a large number of military supplies such as American-made 10-wheeled trucks, machine guns, carbines, and Tom-style submachine guns were seized.
The victory in the battle of Dingyan and Lin Zi opened the door for Huaye's westward advance, directly threatening Rugao's enemies. According to Su Yu's analysis, the enemy is likely to immediately send troops to reinforce Rugao. Sure enough, as Su Yu expected, after Li Mo'an learned that Ding Yan and Lin Zi had lost, he judged that Huaye was going to attack the 49th Division in Rugao City, and urgently ordered reinforcements from the 99th Brigade of the Huangqiao defenders. At the same time, Huang Baitao's 25th Division stationed in Yangzhou and Yiling was ordered to attack Shao Bo, in an attempt to cooperate with the Kuomintang army on the northern front to attack the Central China Branch of the Communist Party of China and the Central China Military Region. His wishful thinking is very fine, Huaye's main force is far away in the southeast of Rugao, if he wants to reinforce Shao Bo, he will have to go north around his blockade circle Dongtai and Xinghua, which will take a lot of time. Using this time, he could capture Shao Bo and cooperate with Chiang's army to attack Lianghuai. In this way, he not only saved Rugao City in the east, but also chose Shao Bo in the west, and the east and west echoed, killing two birds with one stone. Su Yu is even more advanced than Li Mo'an, Li Mo'an wants to "kill two birds with one stone", but Su Yu came to attack Huang (Bridge) and rescue the Ministry (Bo) to help, "kill three birds with one stone".
The day after the battles of Dingyan and Linzi ended, Su Yu deployed three regiments of the 10th Column and two regiments of the Second Army Division, which had just been upgraded from local armed forces, to defend against the enemy's 25th Division advancing north in Shaobo Town, Jiangdu County. In addition to the main force launching a pincer attack between Jiangyan and Hai'an with the Seventh Column, the 1st Division, 6th Division, 5th Brigade, and Special Service Regiment advanced in great stride to the center of the enemy's blockade circle on the night of 23 August, attacking Huangqiao and Taizhou. Taizhou is Huang Baitao's rear, and if he takes Taizhou, Huang Baitao will be trapped in the back of the enemy, and he will inevitably return to the army to save Taizhou. Use the tactics of "encircling Wei to save Zhao" to mobilize the enemy, find and destroy the enemy's vital forces in the movement, and lift the siege of Shao Bo.
Su Yu said: "This is a surprise move, and it is also a dangerous move. This area is bordered by the Yangtze River in the south, and the blockade line formed by many enemy strongholds in the east, north, and west. The blockade circle is more than 100 miles from east to west and only a few dozen miles from north to south, and we dare to insert 30,000 combat troops into it, which greatly surprised the enemy. "
On the morning of August 25, the 99th Brigade of the Kuomintang was ordered by Li Mo'an to aid Rugao in the east. After arriving at the demarcation area in the morning, he did not dare to advance lightly, for fear of being hit during the movement, and asked Rugao to defend the enemy to respond. After listening to the report of the "Fourth Squadron", Su Yu calculated the time, and the two enemy troops happened to collide with our army on the Ruhuang Road.
On the afternoon of August 25, the 6th Division of Huaye fought with the enemy's 99th Division in the area of the boundary of Ruhuang Road. Soon after, the 1st Huaye Division also encountered the enemy from Rugao in the Ruhuang Road Afterburner area, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle. Because the enemy in both the boundary and the afterburner adopted the tactics of group holding, and the actual strength was greater than what we had previously reconnoitred, after a night of fierce fighting, both sides were unable to resolve the battle. At this time, the battle of Huang Baitao's 25th Division attacking Shao Bo was raging, and some of the Qiao Ye and Dinggou positions on Shao Bo's two flanks had been broken through. Su Yu realized that if Huaye's main force delayed time on the Ruhuang Road, once Shao Bo lost, the battle situation would change unfavorably in our army. However, he did not have many troops in his hands, and he had no reserves to adjust! In an emergency, Su Yu used his best trick: Promptly transferring troops on the battlefield and adjusting his deployment.
For example, in the battle of the Yellow Road, Huaye annihilated more than 17,000 people from two and a half brigades of the enemy, and this battle was fought cleanly and neatly, setting a new record for the largest number of enemies destroyed in a single operation since the War of Liberation.
In the course of the battle on Ruhuang Road, Su Yu closely watched the situation of Shao Bo's defense. On the eve of the Soviet-Chinese campaign, he inspected the positions of the 10th Column and clearly put forward the operational policy of defending Shao Bo. The 10th Column and the divisional units of the 2nd Army, in accordance with the predetermined operational policy, adopted the method of taking turns to defend each regiment, relied on their positions, and made a short counter-assault to repel the enemy, and held their positions for four days and four nights, holding their positions without moving, killing and wounding more than 2,000 of Chiang's troops. After Huang Baitao learned that the 99th Brigade had been annihilated on Ruhuang Road, he hurriedly withdrew to Yangzhou.
In the Soviet-Chinese Campaign, from 13 July to 31 August, the Central China Field Army used more than 30,000 people to deal with more than 120,000 Kuomintang troops, won seven battles and won seven victories, setting a record of destroying more than 53,000 enemies in one campaign, and the total number of enemies annihilated was 1.76 times the number of troops participating in the Central China Field Army, showing the divine might of the People's Liberation Army and creating a miracle in the history of warfare. This victory had a major impact on reversing the situation on the southern front in the entire liberated areas, realizing the strategic plan of the Central Military Commission, and developing the war situation in the future, and wrote a glorious page in the history of the People's Liberation War.
As the planner and commander of this battle, Su Yu was warmly supported and praised by the military and people of the Soviet Union and China: "Chairman Mao is a prosperous family, and Commander Su wins the war." This ballad was adapted into songs and stories, which circulated for a long time in the Soviet-Central Region and the East China Field Army, and to this day, the elderly and veterans who participated in the battle in the Soviet-Central Region can still rap skillfully.
[Kong Cheng, born in October 1917, a native of Liuyang City, Hunan Province, and former deputy commander of the Sichuan Provincial Military Region. In April 1938, he joined the anti-Japanese guerrilla advance team of the New Fourth Army in southern Jiangsu and was hailed as an "anti-Japanese old hero" in the Weigang ambush. 】