In 1948, the War of Liberation entered its third year. A series of major counteroffensives were carried out in the northwest, east, and northeast battlefields, and the Kuomintang troops were defeated one after another, and they were forced to change "divisional defense" to "key defense."
The total strength of the Kuomintang was reduced from 4.3 million at the beginning of the war to 3.65 million, and it was divided into five battlefields centered on Shenyang, Beiping, Xi'an, Wuhan, and Xuzhou.
The total strength of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has grown from 1.27 million at the beginning of the war to 2.8 million, and it has the capability to conduct large-scale movement warfare and positional warfare. As a result, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to shift from a strategic counteroffensive to a strategic decisive battle.
1. Battle of Jinan, "Fight to Jinan Mansion and capture Wang Yaowu alive"
On July 14, 1948, the Central Committee issued an instruction to the East China Field Army to "conquer Jinan in August and September".
Jinan is strategically located connecting East China and North China. Chiang Kai-shek ordered about 100,000 troops under Wang Yaowu, the commander of the Second Appeasement Zone, to hold Jinan, and at the same time organized about 170,000 people gathered near Xuzhou into three corps to wait for an opportunity to come to the north.
In September 1948, the East China Field Army launched the Jinan Campaign, which was commanded by Su Yu, the acting commander and political commissar of Huaye.
On September 16, the Shandong Corps of the East China Field Army attacked the city with 140,000 men and sent reinforcements with 180,000 men, while mobilizing 500,000 former migrant workers. In the wave of "hit Jinan Mansion and capture Wang Yaowu alive", all kinds of assault troops approached the inner city.
After eight days and nights of fierce fighting, by the evening of September 24, Jinan was completely captured. In Shouguang, Shandong, Wang Yaowu was captured and absconded in disguise.
The liberation of Jinan completely connected the two liberated areas of East China and North China, and was praised as a "great victory" by Mao Zedong.
At the cost of 26,000 casualties, the battle conquered the city of Jinan, which had 100,000 heavy troops and strong fortifications, and became the beginning of the People's Liberation Army's overtake of the enemy's key fortified cities, thus opening the prelude to the strategic decisive battle.
2. Liaoshen Campaign
After the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army's winter offensive in 1947, Wei Lihuang, commander-in-chief of the Northeast "Suppression of Bandits" General Headquarters, commanded 4 corps, 14 corps, 44 divisions, plus local security teams, totaling about 550,000 people, were divided into Changchun, Shenyang, Jinzhou and their vicinity.
By the autumn of 1948, the Northeast People's Liberation Army had grown to more than 1 million people, including 700,000 field troops and 300,000 local troops, and the total strength was nearly double that of the Northeast Kuomintang Army.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was hesitant about whether to withdraw to Guannai. Based on this, Mao Zedong proposed to "close Chiang's army in the northeast and annihilate each one" and ordered the Northeast Field Army to "close the door and fight dogs".
Although Jinzhou is geographically important, the surrounding logistics supply lines are easily cut off. Once trapped, the army of more than 100,000 is likely to be in a desperate situation. Lin Biao and others in Dongye thought that it would be safer to fight Changchun first. The generals argued about it.
"If Fu Zuoyi takes the opportunity to go north, we will suffer from the enemy on our backs, and I am afraid that the whole army will be wiped out!"
"Yes, there are still 150,000 national troops around Jinzhou, and reinforcements may come at any time. Our logistical supply lines are too fragile and can be easily cut off.
Mao Zedong was confident, "Fu Zuoyi may not go north easily, don't take the enemy situation in the south too seriously." "
The controversy lasted for more than a month, and Mao Zedong repeatedly stressed that "the war of liberation cannot be delayed." As a result, more than 20 telegrams were sent back and forth between Mao Zedong and the Northeast Field Army, some of which were several thousand words long, and the interval was only one or two hours, and finally ended with Mao Zedong's "very good, very comforting" telegram.
At the same time, there were serious differences between Chiang Kai-shek and Wei Lihuang, and for a time, special planes frequently took off and landed in Shenyang and Nanjing until the Battle of Jinzhou began.
01. Tower Hill Blockade
On September 12, Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan ordered the Northeast People's Liberation Army to launch an attack, first attacking the Jinzhou-Tangshan section of the Bac Ninh Railway with the main force, connecting several cities, and then besieging Jinzhou.
Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly transferred 5 divisions from Bac Ninh County and 2 divisions from Shandong, together with 4 divisions originally in Jinxi, a total of 11 divisions, to storm Tashan to relieve the siege of Jinzhou.
The 4th Column of Dongye fought fiercely with the Eastern Advance Corps of the National Army here, and stubbornly resisted it for six days and six nights. "In those days, I was red-eyed, and when I ran out of bullets, I threw grenades, and when the grenades were gone, I fought with bayonets. We know that as long as we hold Tashan, there is hope for Jinzhou!"
At the same time, in the city of Jinzhou, the main force of Dongye launched wave after wave of fierce attacks, and the national army resisted stubbornly, and the two sides launched a tragic street battle. The entire city of Jinzhou was shrouded in gunpowder smoke and artillery fire.
On October 15, after more than a month of bloody fighting, Jinzhou was finally conquered, and more than 100,000 defenders were annihilated. The Northeast Kuomintang army withdrew to the gate of Guannei and was completely cut off.
On the 17th, Zeng Zesheng, who was stationed in Changchun, led 26,000 men of the 60th Army to revolt, and the rest surrendered under the leadership of Zheng Dongguo, deputy commander-in-chief of the northeast.
It is worth mentioning that Fu Zuoyi has always stood still. This variable, which once made Higashino sleepless, finally became a false alarm. People can't help but sigh that Mao Zedong, as a military strategist, has a far-sighted strategic vision!
02. Montenegro resistance battle, capture Liao Yaoxiang alive
In October 1948, the Northeast Field Army made a long-distance attack, and it took only 30 hours to capture Jinzhou, after which the main force of the Northeast Field Army quickly moved north from Jinzhou, and on the 21st, the soldiers peacefully liberated Changchun without blood. In the black land of the northeast, only the enemy of Shenyang remains, and he resists stubbornly.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek still wanted to recapture Jinzhou, open up the communication inside and outside the customs, and ordered the Ninth Corps to continue to advance towards Jinzhou. And Liao Yaoxiang's corps stationed in Shenyang is in a dilemma between advancing west or retreating south.
Du Yuming asked Liao Yaoxiang to prepare for retreating south to Yingkou, and Chiang Kai-shek strictly ordered him to quickly recover Jinzhou. Liao Yaoxiang did not dare to risk his death in Jinzhou, nor did he dare to retreat rashly. So he let the troops spin in place and linger.
After five days of quarrelling, Du Yuming, Wei Lihuang and others unanimously opposed the westward advance to Jinzhou, and Chiang Kai-shek agreed to retreat to Yingkou. But whether it is west to Jinzhou or back to Yingkou, Montenegro is the only way for Liao Yaoxiang.
Lin Biao also knew in his heart that only by holding Montenegro could he hold back Liao Yaoxiang's corps and buy time for the main force of Dongye in Jinzhou to go north. Suddenly, Montenegro became the key to encircling and annihilating the Liao Corps. On the evening of the 21st, Liao Yaoxiang ordered the troops of five divisions to launch a continuous charge, in a vain attempt to break through the Montenegrin defense line in one fell swoop. Montenegro could not be attacked for three consecutive days, and Liao Yaoxiang decided to give up, turned around and headed east, making a detour towards Yingkou.
In the early morning of the 26th, Liang Xingchu of the 10th Column, with the strength of one column and two divisions, under inferior firepower conditions, resisted Liao Yaoxiang's 100,000 army, and fought the most tragic battle in the entire Liaoshen Campaign for five days.
Liao Yaoxiang thought that there must be a main force in the event of heavy artillery, so he hurriedly withdrew from Yingkou to Shenyang. Hundreds of thousands of troops from the seven columns of Dongye launched an overwhelming offensive against Liao Yaoxiang's corps from all directions in the southeast, northwest and northwest.
On October 28, the three-day fierce battle ended, and Liao Yaoxiang's 100,000 elite troops were completely annihilated. In the evening of the same day, the 3rd and 7th Divisions of the Dongye Group arrived at a village called the Hu family's shack, and the common people told them that there were many enemies living in the Hu family's shack in front. Liao Yaoxiang, who absconded with makeup, was captured alive.
Immediately after the Northeast Field Army took advantage of the victory to pursue, and launched a fierce attack on Shenyang on November 1, after 28 hours of fierce fighting, Shenyang was captured on November 2, and the Liaoshen Campaign, which lasted 52 days, ended successfully, and the entire territory of Northeast China was immediately liberated.
On the fourth day after the end of the Liaoshen Campaign, the Huaihai Campaign resumed again. The Northeast Field Army, which had no time to rest, was ordered to move its division into the pass.
3. Battle of Huaihai
After the Jinan Campaign, the East China Field Army proposed to fight in the Huaiyin, Huai'an, and Haizhou areas and organize the Huaihai Campaign.
For this reason, the Central Military Commission decided to expand the scale of the campaign, concentrating more than 600,000 troops from the two field armies in East China and the Central Plains and local troops, and fighting a decisive battle with more than 600,000 people from Liu Zhi in order to annihilate the main force in the Xuzhou area.
On November 6, 1948, the Central Committee decided to form the General Front Committee of the Communist Party of China by Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, Deng Xiaoping, Su Yu, and Tan Zhenlin, with Deng Xiaoping as secretary, to coordinate all the work of the Huaihai Front.
01. Encircle and annihilate Huang Baitao
Mao Zedong ordered that "the focus of the first phase of this campaign is to sweep away the enemy east of Xuzhou and cut off its sea retreat." The way to play is, first make a breakthrough in the middle, and then wipe out Huang Botao. ”
Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping read the telegram and said with understanding: "This is called eating one, sandwiching one, and watching one."
After Huaye surrounded Huang Baitao's corps in the Xuzhou Nianzhuang area, Huang Baitao built a solid three-dimensional fortification, no matter how Huaye's troops attacked, they could not break through Huang Baitao's defense, and the battle fell into a stalemate.
However, our army still has a "killer feature", that is, night battles, taking advantage of the poor vision at night, the firepower of Huang Baitao's corps could not play a role, and our army quickly broke through several gaps.
However, after dawn, Huang Baitao's corps will use powerful firepower to fill these gaps again.
At this time, suddenly heavy fog fell from the sky, the firepower of Huang Baitao's corps suddenly lost its power, our army quickly broke through the enemy's defense line, and started a street battle with it, on November 22, 1948, Huang Baitao committed suicide in defeat, and the 7th Corps was all annihilated.
02. Annihilation of the Huang Wei Corps
After Huang Baitao's corps was surrounded in Xuzhou, Chiang Kai-shek immediately sent Huang Wei to lead the 12th Corps to reinforcements.
Huang Wei's 12th Corps is Chiang Kai-shek's descendant troops, under the jurisdiction of 4 armies, a total of 120,000 people, almost all of them are American weapons and equipment, if Huang Wei's corps can arrive in time, it can be flanked inside and outside Huang Baitao's corps.
However, not long after the Huang Wei Corps began to set off, it suddenly rained heavily, and the roads became muddy, making it difficult for the mechanized troops of the Huang Wei Corps, and when they finally arrived in the Nian Zhuang area, the Huang Baitao Corps had already been annihilated!
You know, it was November at that time, and it rarely rained in the north, and no one expected that it would suddenly rain heavily for several days, and the national army couldn't help but lament: "Heaven is killing me, not a crime of war!" ”
03. Capture Du Yuming
In December 1948, the Kuomintang Xuzhou "suppressed the general" retreated from Xuzhou, and our army pursued all the way, and finally surrounded Sun Yuanliang, Qiu Qingquan, and Li Mi in the Chenguanzhuang area of Yongcheng, Henan, with a total of more than 300,000 people.
When Sun Yuanliang's corps broke out, it was wiped out by our army, and the remaining two corps could not break through and could only ask Chiang Kai-shek for help. Chiang Kai-shek immediately sent air reinforcements to cover the breakout.
But just when the plane was about to take off, it suddenly snowed heavily, and it had been a full 10 days, and to add insult to injury, the food had already been eaten, and it was in a desperate situation for a while! I couldn't help but lament: "This is really going to kill me!" ”
On the contrary, our army mobilized millions of migrant workers to continuously deliver food and various materials to the front line, so our army launched psychological warfare, lined up hundreds of cauldrons on the front line, filled with fragrant pork stewed vermicelli, and kept shouting to the Kuomintang soldiers on the radio:
"Brothers, as long as you lay down your arms and come and surrender, you can eat these good meals and dishes as you like!"
Many Kuomintang soldiers even had company commanders and platoon commanders who came with their troops.
On 6 January, the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign felt that the time was ripe and ordered a general offensive to be launched, which ended the battle in victory in only four days.
In the Huaihai Campaign, which lasted 66 days, the Chinese People's Liberation Army completely annihilated more than 550,000 people in 56 divisions of the Kuomintang army with 600,000 troops against 800,000 enemies, and captured 124 high-ranking generals including Du Yuming, deputy commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang army's Xuzhou "Suppression General."
At this point, the Kuomintang lost almost all of its elite forces in the Central Plains and East China battlefields, and the East China and Central Plains north of the Yangtze River were basically liberated. The Kuomintang was increasingly in disintegration.
3. Battle of Pingjin
After the Liaoshen Campaign, more than 500,000 troops under Fu Zuoyi, commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Army's North China "Banditry" General Headquarters, which were entrenched in Tangshan, Tianjin, Beiping, Zhangjiakou and other places, had become "frightened birds." They were hesitant to withdraw or defend.
In order to stabilize Fu Zuoyi, the Central Military Commission ordered the main force of the Northeast Field Army to end its rest and recuperation ahead of schedule, enter the customs in concealment, and cut off the escape route of Fu Zuoyi's group to the sea as soon as possible;
At the same time, the 3rd Corps of the North China Military Region and the advance corps of the Northeast Field Army were ordered to surround Zhangjiakou, cut off the Pingsui Railway, and prevent the main force of the Fu Zuoyi group in the Pingjin area from retreating westward.
On November 29, 1948, the 1 million main forces of the Northeast Field Army and the North China Military Region jointly launched the Pingjin Campaign against the 520,000 troops of the Kuomintang army Fu Zuoyi. The division and encirclement of Tanggu, Tianjin, and Beiping was completed, and the practice of "encirclement but not fighting" was implemented.
During this period, the underground organization of the Communist Party of China in Beiping received instructions from their superiors to negotiate with Fu Zuoyi. The underground party decided to let Fu Dong test her father's attitude before making a decision.
Fu Dong, also known as Fu Dongju, is Fu Zuoyi's eldest daughter. at Southwest Associated University in Kunming. After graduating, he worked as a reporter at Ta Kung Pao in Tianjin, where he joined the Communist Party. In the winter of 1948, the party organization sent her to Peking to do her father's work.
Fu Dong's direct leader was Wang Hanbin, the head of the CCP's Beiping underground. The content of Fu Dong's conversation with his father was dictated by the head of the underground party. Fu Dong could write it down almost word for word, and said it to his father when he got home.
After a long time, Fu Dong's words and deeds aroused her father's suspicions, and he asked her many times if she had joined the Communist Party?
Fu Dongmei denied it, saying that she was not qualified enough.
01. Capture Tianjin
From January 14 to 15, 1949, the Northeast Field Army conquered Tianjin with five columns, annihilating more than 130,000 defenders. On the same day, Mao Zedong issued a "Statement on the Current Situation", urging Fu Zuoyi to make a decision immediately.
Tianjin was lost, and Beiping became an isolated city. 900,000 People's Liberation Army soldiers descended on the city. Fu Zuoyi was alone and in a dilemma.
At this time, Fu Zuoyi's teacher, Liu Houtong, said to Fu Zuoyi: The representatives you sent twice before, whether it is qualifications, status, prestige, or relationship with you, are not enough to serve as your representatives. Now you have to send a deputy commander-in-chief, as your plenipotentiary, to negotiate with the PLA.
When Liu Houtong was the brigade commander, Fu Zuoyi was a company commander of his unit. After Fu Zuoyi became the commander-in-chief of the "suppression of the general" in North China, he took Liu Houtong from Tianjin to Beiping and served as the general counselor. Honorific title Liu Houtong is "teacher".
As a result, Fu Zuoyi sent a plane to take Deng Baoshan, deputy commander-in-chief of the North China "Suppression Chief" in Baotou, to Beiping.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Deng Baoshan served as the commander of the 22nd Army Corps and the commander-in-chief of the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Sui Border Region. Garrisoned in northern Shaanxi, he visited Yan'an many times.
On 16 January, Deng Baoshan, deputy commander-in-chief of the North China Bandit Suppression Headquarters, was entrusted by Fu Zuoyi to go to the Pingjin Front Headquarters in Xiwuliqiao, Tongxian County, to negotiate with Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, Luo Ronghuan, and Liu Yalou. The Agreement on the Peaceful Liberation of Peking was soon reached.
On the 22nd, Fu Zuoyi signed the "Agreement on the Peaceful Settlement of the Problem in Peiping" and delivered a radio speech. At the same time, the 250,000 defenders of Fu Zuoyi's headquarters in the city began to move to the designated place outside the city, waiting for the reorganization, and all the movements were completed by the 31st.
02. Enter the city to receive defense
February 3, 1949 is the sixth day of the first lunar month. The People's Liberation Army held a grand ceremony to enter the city. Previously, Mao Zedong asked the team to pass through Dongjiaomin Lane.
The troops entering the city are divided into two routes, one starting from Nanyuan, entering the city from Yongding Gate, passing through Qianmen Street, entering Dongjiaomin Lane, and meeting with the troops entering the city from Xizhimen on the other road.
Lin Biao, commander of the Pingjin Front Command, Luo Ronghuan, political commissar, Nie Rongzhen, commander of the Pingjin Garrison, Peng Zhen, secretary of the Beiping Municipal CPC Committee, Ye Jianying, mayor of Beiping, and all representatives of the Beiping Joint Office climbed the Qianmen Arrow Tower to inspect the troops entering the city.
The People's Liberation Army officially entered the city to take over the defense, and at this point, Beiping was declared peacefully liberated.
The three major battles liberated the entire territory of Northeast China and most of North China, and advanced the front to the north bank of the Yangtze River. Chiang Kai-shek's elite main force was mostly lost.
During this period, Xibaipo drafted and sent a total of 199 telegrams. In the words of Zhou Enlai, "Chairman Mao commanded the world's largest revolutionary war in the world's smallest headquarters."