In August 1948, in order to meet the upcoming final decisive battle, Chiang Kai-shek ordered to abandon Kaifeng, the capital of Henan Province, Zhengzhou and other places, and shrink all the troops on both sides of the Longhai Railway to the vicinity of Xuzhou, blocking Jianghuai and defending Nanjing. In this context, the 5th Pacification Zone of the Kuomintang Army stationed near Zhengzhou was quickly reorganized into the 16th Corps, with Sun Yuanliang, the former commander of the Appeasement Zone, as the commander of the Corps, commanding the 41st Army and the 47th Army under his command to move east to Xuzhou to assemble.
The Kuomintang army assembled in Xuzhou
After being besieged Chen Guanzhuang, the deployment broke through
In early November, the 16th Corps arrived at Sanbao, Jiulishan Mountain, Bawang Mountain and other places on the outskirts of Xuzhou, dug fortifications, and deployed defenses on the spot; on November 30, as the war situation deteriorated, Xuzhou was about to give up, and Sun Yuanliang's corps also fled from Xuzhou with the main force, and advanced to the Yongcheng area through Xiao County, in an attempt to move south to defend the south bank of the Huai River and defend Nanjing. As a result, as soon as the troops arrived in the Qinglongji, Chenguanzhuang, and Li Shilin areas near Yongcheng, they were blocked by the East China Field Army of the People's Liberation Army.
On December 4, not only Sun Yuanliang's corps, but also Qiu Qingquan's 2nd Corps and Li Mi's 13th Corps, which had retreated together, were surrounded, with a total of more than 300,000 people, compressed into more than 30 villages within a radius of 20 miles, and food and ammunition were very scarce. Du Yuming, deputy commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's "Suppression Commandery," who was in charge of unified military command, quickly convened a meeting of the commanders of all corps to make arrangements for the breakout, and agreed that the Qiu Qingquan Division of the 2nd Corps would break through to the south, the Li Mibu of the 13th Corps would break through to the east, and the 16th Corps would break through to the west.
Only the 16th Corps broke through alone
After the meeting, Sun Yuanliang immediately rushed back to the garrison to make arrangements, and ordered that once the breakthrough began, the communications battalion should cut off all telephone lines, and the radio station should stop sending and receiving telegrams, and specifically instructed the headquarters not to receive any telegrams. Because although the 16th Corps is a Sichuan Army, Sun Yuanliang himself is a general of the Central Army who graduated from the first phase of Huangpu, and he is very familiar with the habits of high-level orders and changes, and he is worried that the Nanjing high-level or Du Yuming will temporarily change his mind and suddenly order no longer to break through, and his troops will be the weakest at that time, and his life in the encirclement will also be the most difficult.
At 8 o'clock that night, the armies and divisions of the 16th Corps were arranged as scheduled and marched westward. Since there was no moon that night and the five fingers could not be seen, the troops began to crowd each other and become a mess soon after they set out; the 40th Army, the 47th Army, and the units directly under the Corps were mixed together, and the officers could not find the officers, and the soldiers could not find the officers, and the structure was completely disrupted. Anyway, both officers and soldiers only know how to follow where there are many people, so it doesn't matter the direction and road.
Qiu Qingquan stills
It was blocked by Qiu Qingquan's corps for 2 hours
As a result, in a panic, the troops actually touched the cordon of Qiu Qingquan's 2nd Corps, and the 2nd Corps immediately opened fire, and immediately gunfire erupted, and many soldiers of the 15th Corps were hit and fell, and the rest had to lie on the ground and take shelter temporarily. Fortunately, Wang Jiaofeng, commander of the 47th Army, immediately sent the adjutant of the military department to contact him and inform him that he was ordered to break through the encirclement; but at this time, he learned that Du Yuming had indeed canceled the order to break through the encirclement, and the corps of Li Mi and Qiu Qingquan had all ceased to act, and only Sun Yuanliang's corps had been unable to contact him.
Although Qiu Qingquan's corps canceled the breakout operation, after some explanation and communication, they still let go of the cordon and let friendly troops pass. However, when the passage was granted, it was already two hours later, and during this time, everyone could only lie on the ground and hide all the time, how uncomfortable and uncomfortable it was. What's even worse is that the gunfire just now has already reached the positions of the East China Field Army outside the encirclement, and they have made preparations in advance in the villages where they are stationed.
As soon as he got out of the encirclement, he was ambushed again
As soon as the troops of the 16th Corps approached, whistles, gunshots, and grenade explosions immediately sounded everywhere, all roads were tightly blocked, and shouts were everywhere: "Brothers of the Kuomintang Army, give preferential treatment to ...... guns" The troops of the 16th Corps were already in a mess, and everyone was like a frightened bird, and after this blow, they rushed around in a panic, and most of them were captured and disarmed, but nearly 10,000 people still ran back the same way, and were immediately scattered and absorbed by the 2nd Corps and the 13th Corps.
However, Sun Yuanliang himself was also captured by the East China Field Army, but he was indeed cunning enough, and even claimed to be a lieutenant adjutant to evade interrogation, took advantage of the chaos of the battlefield to escape, and finally ran back to his hometown in Sichuan.
The Battle of Huaihai ended victoriously