In the winter of 1948, in the Huaihai Campaign, due to the annihilation of Huang Baitao and the siege of Huang Wei, Chiang Kai-shek was chased and abandoned Xuzhou, which was completely expected by the CCP. But the question is which way Du Yuming, the defender of Xuzhou, will take to escape when he abandons Xuzhou.
Only by figuring out the escape route of the enemy Du Yuming and his 300,000 men and horses from Xuzhou can the PLA hold him with limited forces and then concentrate on destroying him.
Therefore, figuring out Du Yuming's escape path is the key to victory or defeat in the third phase of the Huaihai Campaign.
Later, Zhang Zhen, then chief of staff of Huaye, wrote an article entitled "The Combat Operations of the East China Field Army in the Huaihai Campaign", which gave a detailed record of how the PLA figured out Du Yuming's escape route:
"After Nakano encircled Huang Wei, Mao Zedong's telegram pointed out: 'After I solve Huang Wei, the enemy in Xuzhou may flee to Liangzhun or Wuhan, and later it is estimated that the enemy may escape from the sea to Lianyungang.' After receiving the telegram, Huaye immediately held a meeting to study it, and some comrades advocated besieging Xuzhou and preventing the enemy from coming out. Commander Su Yudai considered that it was very likely that the enemy would abandon Xuzhou. If they flee south by sea through Lianyungang, the ships and wharves will be in difficulty, and after being chased by us, they will fight against the sea and be annihilated. If we take the two Huai and flee through the central part of the Soviet Union to the south, although we can avoid our main force, the rivers and rivers in the area will not allow the large corps to move, and they are all our old base areas, so they will be surrounded by our local troops and militia, and it will be difficult to escape. If you go south along the west side of the Jinpu line, bypassing the mountainous area, the terrain is open, the road is flat, you can echo with Li Yannian and Liu Ruming, and advance from north to south, which not only relieves the siege of Huangwei, but also concentrates troops to defend the Zhun River, killing two birds with one stone. …… Therefore, Huaye arranged the main force in an arc on both sides of the Jinpu line south of Xuzhou, not to encircle Xuzhou to death, lure the enemy away from the fortified Xuzhou City, and annihilate it in the field battle. "
In other words, Su Yu first calculated Du Yuming's escape route.
As Su Yu expected, then, Du Yuming walked on the west side of Jinpu Road.
Originally, there was another road between the east and west roads of the Jinpu Railway, which was the Jinpu Railway. Jinpu Road is a railway, transportation is fast and convenient, if this road is still under the control of Jiang Jun, Du Yuming will not fall to the tragic point that he can't run away. Because, escaping from this road is reliable, safe, and fast. However, this road was cut off by the People's Liberation Army at the beginning of the Huaihai Campaign. After that, although Jiang's army fought against each other from the north and south, it was unable to get through it. Therefore, now that Du Yuming has escaped, this originally convenient Tianjin-Pudong Railway will not be considered by both the enemy and us.
Therefore, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) took control of the Tianjin-Pudong Railway at the beginning of the campaign, which was undoubtedly a very clever move.
And the key to controlling the Jinpu Road was the rapid liberation of Suxian by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) - this was done by Nakano led by Liu Bocheng.
Conquering Su County is what Liu Bocheng thinks and does. This move was successfully implemented in the first stage after the Huaihai Campaign, and since then, it has been controlled by Nakano, and it is still playing a very important role in the final third stage. Some military researchers later said: This is "the finishing touch in the magnificent picture of the entire Huaihai operation."
This is a very eloquent and accurate statement.
In the entire Huaihai Campaign, Su Yu and Liu Shuai's strategies have been fully and brilliantly played, so Su Yu and Liu Shuai, whose strategy is more clever? Chen Guanren, the secretary of the CPC History Publishing House's "Ten Marshals of the Chinese People's Liberation Army: The Little-Known History of the Ten Commanders of the People's Liberation Army," recounted the incident. The book is the society's annual bestseller, and once ranked first on the best-selling list of China's military bestsellers (pictured).