At the end of the movie "The Battle of Liaoshen in Armageddon", the director summarizes the Battle of Liaoshen with a commentary:
On November 2, 1948, Shenyang, the largest industrial city in northeast China, was liberated. On the same day, Yingkou was liberated. In the 52 days before and after the Liaoshen Campaign, the Nationalist army annihilated one 'bandit suppression' headquarters, four corps headquarters, eleven corps, and thirty-three divisions, totaling 472,000 people..."
At the time of the outbreak of the Liaoshen Campaign, the Nationalist army stationed in the northeast region had a northeast "suppression general" headquarters. There are four corps under the northeast "Suppression General" command, namely the 1st Corps of Zheng Dongguo, the 6th Corps of Lu Junquan, the 8th Corps of Zhou Fucheng, and the 9th Corps of Liao Yaoxiang. The 1st Corps was in charge of the 53rd Army and the 6th Army, the 6th Corps was in charge of the new 5th Army and the 93rd Army, the 8th Corps was in charge of the 6th Army and the 53rd Army, and the 9th Corps was in charge of the new 1st Army, the new 3rd Army, the new 6th Army, the 49th Army, the 52nd Army, and the 71st Army. In a few strokes, 4 corps have a total of 12 corps.
So, since there are 12 armies stationed in the northeast, why are only 11 corps annihilated by the northeast field army? Where did the other 1 army go?
The answer was: the army had escaped from the Northeast. It was also the only army in the Liaoshen Campaign to flee the Northeast Battlefield in an organized manner.
This army was the 52nd Army under the 9th Corps.
The predecessor of the 52nd Army can be traced back to the 6 instruction regiments under the Army Officer School. In the spring of 1930, 6 teaching regiments were reorganized into the 2nd Teaching Division. In May of that year, the 2nd Division was reorganized into the 4th Division. In 1932, the 4th Division was expanded into the 17th Army. In 1937, the 17th Army spun off the main force, the 25th Division, and expanded it into the 52nd Army. This was the official formation of the 52nd Army, under the jurisdiction of the 2nd Division and the 25th Division.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the 52nd Army successively participated in large-scale battles such as the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Wuhan, and the Battle of Changsha, and made great contributions to defending the country. At the end of 1941, the Pacific War broke out, and the Japanese army invaded and occupied Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, threatening the security of China's rear area. The 52nd Army was ordered to the south of Yunnan and stationed itself on the border to prevent the Japanese from attacking.
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the 52nd Army was thrown into the northeast battlefield and was subordinate to Liao Yaoxiang's 9th Corps.
Liao Yaoxiang's 9th Corps has a total of 6 corps, of which the New 1st Army and the New 6th Army are one of the five aces of the Nationalist Army. In fact, the remaining 4 armies are also very effective. For example, the 52nd Army, because of its fierce fighting style, is known as the "Sixth Ace Army of the Nationalist Army".
However, no matter how fierce the ace army is, when it reaches the northeast battlefield, it will be beaten back to its original form. In October 1946, the Northeast Field Army struck hard at the 52nd Army in the Battle of Xinkailing, annihilating its 25th Division, setting a precedent for the Northeast Field Army to annihilate 1 enemy division in one battle. Although the 52nd Army subsequently replenished its troops and restored the 25th Division, it was seriously injured and no longer had the strength to do so.
In April 1948, as the Liaoshen Campaign was about to break out, Liu Yuzhang was ordered to take over the post of commander of the 52nd Army and stationed near Shenyang with Liao Yaoxiang's 9th Corps.
Liu Yuzhang is a far-sighted person. After he arrived in the northeast region, he saw the situation on the battlefield and had a premonition that sooner or later Shenyang would fall into the hands of the Northeast Field Army. After the Liaoshen Campaign began, Liao Yaoxiang led the 9th Corps to form the Westward Advance Corps and went to Jinzhou to rescue Fan Hanjie. Liu Yuzhang managed to get the 52nd Army out of the sequence of the 9th Corps and accepted another task - to go to Yingkou and open a sea passage for the Nationalist army.
Obviously, this is a good task. When the Northeast Field Army conquered Jinzhou, it closed the gate of the northeast region, forming a situation of "closing the door and fighting dogs". Yingkou is equivalent to the only escape window in the northeast region. Liu Yuzhang led the 52nd Army to Yingkou, which could avoid following Liao Yaoxiang to a hard confrontation with the main force of the Northeast Field Army, and could occupy an escape window in advance.
After Liu Yuzhang occupied Yingkou, he blocked the news to the outside world, "quietly entering the village, don't shoot guns," and kept the Northeast Field Army in the dark. Later, the Northeast Field Army finally reacted and sent the 9th Column to Yingkou to intercept the 52nd Army. The two sides engaged in a fierce battle near Yingkou, and each side suffered damage.
Soon, Gui Yongqing, commander-in-chief of the Nationalist Navy, took the cruiser "Chongqing" and led 3 merchant ships to Yingkou to receive the 52nd Army. Liu Yuzhang then left Yingkou with more than 10,000 people from the remaining 52nd Army on cruisers and merchant ships, crossed the sea to Huludao, and then returned to Guannei via Huludao, becoming a "fish that slipped through the net" in the Liaoshen Campaign.
After Liu Yuzhang returned to Guannei with the 52nd Army, he was stationed in the Jiangnan area for recuperation. In May 1949, the Battle of Shanghai broke out. Liu Yuzhang led the 52nd Army to participate in the Battle of Shanghai, and suffered certain losses to the 28th and 29th Armies of the Third Field Army in the Battle of Yuepu. Subsequently, Liu Yuzhang led the 52nd Army to withdraw from the Shanghai battlefield and reach baodao through Zhoushan.
Liu Yuzhang led the 52nd Army to escape the blows of the Northeast Field Army and the Third Field Army twice, creating a miracle in the history of Chinese warfare.