In 1946, during the Shandong Liberation War, the 74th Division led by Zhang Lingfu was surrounded by Huaye in the Battle of Menglianggu. Despite Huang Baitao's best efforts, the 74th Division was eventually wiped out. In this battle, some troops failed to rescue in time for various reasons, resulting in a loss in the battle.
In 1946, the War of Liberation was in full swing, and Shandong was in full swing, in Chiang Kai-shek's plan, more than 100,000 elites were dispatched to defeat Shandong's army, but he did not expect to lose his wife and lose his troops.
The 74th Division led by Zhang Lingfu was the top unit in a unit, all of which were weapons of the US army.
Before the Battle of Menglianggu, the 74th Regiment had been like a sharp dagger, constantly attacking the People's Liberation Army, and fighting in coordination with other armies to advance towards the liberated areas, an army that the People's Liberation Army had coveted for a long time.
After Hua Ye learned that the 74th Regiment was stationed in Duozhuang, he planned to surround the 74th Regiment and swallow it.
Zhang Lingfu deserves to be an old Jianghu, he soon discovered Huaye's plan, and immediately told Chiang Kai-shek his plan: first use the 74th Division as bait to attract Huaye's main forces, and then the other troops immediately launched an encirclement of Huaye, attacking inside and outside, and annihilating Huaye in one fell swoop.
His thinking was very right, Hua Ye had already taken this situation into account when he surrounded the 74th Division, so he was fully prepared. The first battle of Meng Lianggu broke out, and the surrounding troops were under the command of Zhang Lingfu, and they were in an orderly manner, without any tension at all.
Zhang Lingfu insisted internally that Chiang Kai-shek was anxious in Nanjing, and that the reinforcements who had arrived from outside had slowed down the advance for various reasons. In this battle, not everyone abandoned the 74th Division, and Huang Baitao's 25th Brigade is the best example.
Huang Baitao received instructions from Zhang Lingfu and quickly rushed through the PLA's heavy defense lines and reached Mashan.
Both sides are very clear about the significance of this position, if Huang Baitao can meet with him before Zhang Lingfu's entire army is annihilated, Huaye will face the danger of being flanked in front and back, if he can't break through in time, he will inevitably lose in the end, and the situation in Shandong will be completely changed.
The two corps fought each other for this position, and the twenty-five regiments were only five kilometers away from the 74 regiments, but the twenty-five regiments did not cross over. As soon as Zhang Lingfu died, Huang Baitao had to order the withdrawal of the army.
This battle was fought very hard, Huaye almost knocked out the four regiments, and only by ensuring victory could he withstand the attack of the 25th Division.
Originally, they also had the possibility of winning this battle, but because of the civil war, the entire 74th Division was disabled, and Zhang Lingfu was arrogant in the army because his subordinates were all elites, which provoked many people.
Some of them did not help out of the sake of protecting themselves, and the other part was because they had a grudge against Zhang Lingfu, although Huang Baitao tried his best to rescue Zhang Lingfu, but he was unable to support it alone, and finally lost to Huaye, and Zhang Lingfu's 74th Division was wiped out.
It is strange to say that General Huang Baitao, who contributed the most in the Battle of Menglianggu, was not only not rewarded later, but was severely reprimanded by Chiang Kai-shek, which shows that the defeat in this battle was not unreasonable.