After sweeping the western and middle sections of the Jiaoji Railway Line, the Shandong Corps of the East China Field Army took a slight rest and then marched west into the middle section of the Jinpu Line to launch the summer 1948 offensive operation. At this time, Huaye Headquarters led the Western Front Corps Chen Tang Corps, with the cooperation of the Central Plains Field Army, was competing with the enemy in the battlefield of eastern Henan.
Under the fierce blows of the People's Liberation Army, Chiang Kai-shek of the Kuomintang was already taking care of one thing and was stretched thin. After the Battle of Weixian County, the Kuomintang battlefields in the Central Plains, Northern Jiangsu, and Northeast China were in a state of emergency at the same time, and Chiang Kai-shek was forced to draw the 75th and 83rd Divisions from Shandong to aid the above-mentioned battlefields. In this way, the number of Jiang jun in Shandong was further reduced. Under the circumstance that the entire line of Jiaoji Road and the vast area have been captured by us, the enemy of Shandong only held on to the Jinan and Xuzhou sections of the Jinpu Line and a few towns on both sides of the Qingdao isolated city, in an attempt to block the confluence of Huaye's internal and external line corps, drag Huaye's main force, ensure Jinan, barrier Xuzhou, and support Shandong's remnants.
On the Jinan and Xuzhou sections of the Jinpu Line, which resemble "flat burdens," the enemy set up 3 appeasement zones, a total of 7 integrated divisions and 18 brigades, under the command of General Gu Zhutong, commander-in-chief of the Xuzhou "General Headquarters for Suppressing Bandits." Wang Yaowu of the Second Appeasement District of Jinan garrisoned the jinan city defense and the Jinan-Dawenkou section; the Tenth Suijing District of Yanzhou, Li Yutang, guarded the south to Teng County, north to Nanyi, east to Xintai, and west to Jining; Jia Wang's third appeasement district Feng Zhi'an Department, guarding the Xuzhou to Tengxian section.
After the Battle of Weixian County, the CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao Zedong ordered that "while organizing the Western Front Corps to launch the Battle of Eastern Henan, the Shandong Corps attacked the middle section of Jinpu Road, gradually eliminated the enemy at various points from Tai'an to Lincheng, advanced into Xuzhou, opened up contact with Southwest Lu, cooperated with the Western Front Corps, isolated Jinan, and created conditions for conquering Jinan." According to this, in late May, the Shandong Corps, with the exception of one unit cooperating with local armed forces to monitor the enemies in Jinan and Qingdao, the main force moved west to standby. After Gu Zhutong sensed the combat intentions of the Huaye Inner and Outer Front Corps, he urgently ordered Li Yutang of Yanzhou to strengthen the garrisons of Jining, Chongzhou, and Wenshang, ordered Liu Ruming's troops in the Fourth Suijing District to garrison Heze, and 4 battalions of the 139th Brigade to garrison Jinxiang, and the rest of the troops as a mobile move. The enemy's Fifth Army arrived in Taikang and northeast Of Xihua and fought with us. He tried to attack the Huaye Western Front Corps first, and then returned to the division to fight with the Shandong Corps.
On May 28, Huaye Headquarters formulated a battle plan for attacking gu enemies and the Jinan and Xuzhou sections of Jinpu Road, and reported it to the central authorities: First, Xu Tan should take advantage of the enemy's shrinkage to annihilate the Tai'an defenders. When the enemy contracted, he controlled the tai'an, Surabaya, Dawenkou, and Qufu regions with one unit, and the main camera captured Wenshang, Jining, or Yanzhou. After controlling Cao County, Dingtao, and Chengwu, I besieged Jinxiang with one unit, and the main force waited for the opportunity to annihilate the enemy. Second, after Xu Tan took control of Tai'an, Qufu, Surabaya, And Dawenkou, the main force went straight down to Zou County and Teng County, captured Lincheng and Hanzhuang, approached Xuzhou, captured Feng County and Yutai, and mobilized the Fifth Army to aid and annihilate xuzhou in a two-way manner. Third, when the main force of the Fifth Army was gathered west of Shangqiu, we planned to cross the river and surround Chengwu with a rapid march of 3 nights. The enemy has decided to shrink and is too far away. Nai Duan traveled 4 nights, entered Chengwu, controlled Chengwu with a cavalry regiment, and continued to search for Cao County. The main force arrived at dawn on the 3rd to reach Wu standby. Fourth, no matter what plan the Western Front Corps pursues, it should mainly monitor the main force of the Fifth Army. When the enemy comes to the rescue, it will follow him and cooperate with the troops here to attack and annihilate the enemy in motion.
The Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao immediately sent a telegram reply: "The Shandong Corps is in good order to implement your first plan, that is, to occupy Tai'an, Surabaya, Dawenkou, and Qufu in the first step." In the second step, the camera captured one of the three points of Wenshang, Jining, and Yanzhou, and asked for reinforcements from the enemy at other points to be mobilized and annihilated. In the third step, the camera captured Zou County, Teng County, Lincheng, and Hanzhuang. If the enemy of Wen, Ji, and Yan is difficult to attack, and Zou, Teng, Lin, and Han are more likely to attack, they can also attack first, or in the 7 points of Wen, Ji, Yan, Zou, Teng, Lin, and Han, choose the easier one to attack first and the more difficult one to attack later. In short, the task of the Shandong Corps is to capture 7 points one by one, and prepare to complete this task in four or five months. Regarding the deployment of the 6 columns of the Western Front Corps centered on the annihilation of the Fifth Army, it is very good" The Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee also pointed out: In the operation of the Huaye Front and the Shandong Corps, they must each make plans for independent operations, that is, the two corps should only cooperate strategically and should not attempt to cooperate in the campaign, so as not to involve each other and lose the warplanes deployed independently. He also stressed that "this is very important and I hope you will take it into account in advance."
Based on this, Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin decided to first open up the battlefield between the enemy Jinan and Yanzhou's two appeasement zones, open up a battlefield between the north and south of Tai'an, mobilize the enemies of Jinan and Yanzhou to come to their aid, seek to annihilate their living forces in the movement, and seize Tai'an. The troops participating in the battle included the Seventh, Ninth and Thirteenth Columns, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th Regiments of the Luzhong Military Region, the Artillery Battalion and Special Service Battalion of the Military Region, the troops of the Lunan and Bohai Naval Regions, and the units of the Hebei-Luyu Taixi Military Subdistrict, totaling 45 regiments. The Luzhong troops and the 1st column attacked Tai'an; the 1st column and the 1st column were inserted north of Tai'an; the 7th column was inserted south of Tai'an; the Bohai forces and the ninth column attacked Zhangqiu and Longshan, east of Jinan; the Lunan troops broke through the Xuzhou and Yanzhou sections of the Jinpu Line; the Taixi troops were active in the area around Feicheng; and the main force of the ninth column was located near Surabaya as a maneuver.
The Battle of Jinpu Road (also known as the Battle of Yanzhou) was officially fought on May 29, 1948. Lu Zhong's troops and the 13th Column attacked the east, south, southwest of Tai'an City, and the railway station, defending the 463rd Regiment of the 155th Brigade of the 84th Reorganized Division and the 1st Division of the 5th Security Brigade, and according to Wang Yaowu's "mobile operation" order, at 12 o'clock on the 30th, under the cover of aircraft and ironclad vehicles, fled north to the head of the border. The defenders at various points along the Jinpu Road followed suit, either fleeing north to Jinan or Yanzhou and Tengxian in the south. Commander Xu Shiyou immediately ordered all the units to seize the fighters and quickly expand the results of the battle to the north and south of Tai'an, and pursue and annihilate the enemy on the way out.
North of Tai'an, the Bohai sea troops and the 13th Column joined forces to attack Zhangqiu, and the 1st regiment of the 84th Division of the Defending Enemy's reorganization fled to the east of Longshan, and our army followed and pursued, annihilating the enemy at Longshan. In an emergency in the east of Jinan, Wang Yaowu ordered the reorganized 73rd and 2nd Divisions to counterattack to the east, and the Ninth Column rushed to aid the Bohai sea troops, annihilating 4,000 enemy troops and suppressing the enemy back to Jinan City. After the 13th Column occupied Tai'an, it marched north along the railway, and 1 battalion of the 211st Brigade of the Enemy of Feicheng fled to Changqing under the pressure of Taixi forces. The 13th Column continued to attack jieshou, and the enemy's 463rd Regiment and the 1st Bao 5th Brigade fled to Wonder. Wang Yaowu, with the main force of the 155th Brigade, the 633rd Regiment of the 2111th Brigade, and the 1st Unit of the Bao 5th Brigade, advanced to the south of Bande to block the attack. Under my heavy blows, the enemy fled to Zhang Xia on June 2. On the 13th, the 13th Column captured Zhang Xia's enemies and retreated south of Mount Gu. In this way, our army on the northern front reached the area of Gushan and Longshan, and clamped down on the enemy in Jinan from the southeast and east.
At the same time, the Seventh Column and the Luzhong troops, which were inserted south of Tai'an, rushed to catch up and swept through the fleeing enemy. On 31 May, the supplementary regiment of the 12th Reorganized Division of the Nanyi Defenders fled south to Dawenkou Xiemating, while the 334th Regiment of the 112th Brigade of the Xintai Defenders first fled to Surabaya and the next day to Yanzhou. The reinforcement regiment of the 84th Division and the 1st Regiment of Security of the Enemy's Reorganized Division at Dawenkou were slightly slower to escape, and after our army captured the bridgehead on the south bank of the Dawen River, it was blocked on the north bank. Although the enemy struggled desperately, it was to no avail. It was not until June 3 that the enemy broke through the siege and fled south, but at Weijiazhuang, 20 kilometers southwest of Dawen, we intercepted most of it, and the remnants of the enemy fled to Yanzhou. Huo Shouyi, commander of the enemy's reorganized Twelfth Army and commander of the reorganized Twelfth Division, saw that the situation was not good, and only the independent brigade of the army, composed of more than 10,000 armed forces of reactionary landlords in Qufu, remained firmly guarded, and on June 6, he led the army and the 331st Regiment to flee to Yanzhou. My seventh column surrounded Qufu.
Li Yutang and Huo Shouyi believed that in order to preserve Yanzhou, qufu must be held firmly, although it could not be held. Therefore, Sun Huancai, brigade commander of the 111th Brigade of the Reorganized 12th Division, was sent to lead two regiments to reinforce. As they reached the vicinity of Qufu, they were confronted by the People's Liberation Army, and their 332nd Regiment suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat to Yanzhou. Liu Zongyan, commander of the Qufu Independent Brigade, asked for help one after another, and Huo Shouyi ordered Sun Huancai to lead the whole brigade to help, and sent Wang Shujun, chief of staff of the army, to the brigade to supervise the battle. Sun Huancai believed that the siege of Qufu could not be solved at all, reinforcements could only increase casualties, and it was even more demoralizing to save strength and fight the People's Liberation Army in Yanzhou. However, he could not disobey the military orders, so he had to lead his troops east to the east of the Si River, where they were intercepted by the People's Liberation Army and forced to retreat. The first -- the first brigade lost two defeats in the eastern aid, and Huo Shouyi was furious and dismissed Sun Huancai from his post. The Great Battle of Yanzhou was imminent, and the enemy replaced the brigade commander of the main brigade, which showed the confusion and mediocrity of Huo Shouyi's military command.
The enemy troops in Qufu had no hope of reinforcement, and the People's Liberation Army was in a hurry to attack the city, and on the night of June 11, it broke through to the southwest, but how could it escape the siege? The troops were completely annihilated, and Liu Zongyan was also killed. The 3rd Zouxian Defensive Security Brigade fled to Yanzhou on the 12th, leaving only the County Self-Defense Brigade to defend, and the 12th Division of the Seventh Column and the troops of the Luzhong Military Region launched an attack on June 15. And defeated two enemy regiments aided by Lincheng north. Lu Zhong's troops attacked Ningyang and completely annihilated the enemy county self-defense brigade.
During this period, the troops of the Lunan Military Region sabotaged the railway from Tengxian to Hanzhuang, launched a fierce offensive on both the north and south sides of Tengxian County, and repelled the 141st Brigade of the 45th Division of the Jiehe Defenders, the 212th Brigade of the 45th Division of the Guanqiao Defenders, and the 37th Brigade of the 77th Division of the 77th Division of the Shagou Defensive Enemy.
After more than 20 days of fighting, our army eliminated the enemy along and on both sides of the Wande section south of Jinan to the north of Yanzhou on the Jinpu Line, and from Yanzhou to Lincheng, except for Tengxian County, annihilated 2 regiments of the enemy's regular army, 3 regiments of the security forces, and the self-defense brigades of Qufu, Tai'an, Surabaya, Xintai, Mengyin, Feixian, and Laiwu, totaling more than 20,000 people. Our army completely controlled the railway from Yanzhou to Jinan in the north and to Lincheng in the south, and recaptured 8 counties including Tai'an, Feicheng, Zhangqiu, Qufu, Ningyang, Zouxian, and Xintai. The troops of the Tenth Appeasement District were surrounded by us in isolated strongholds of Yanzhou, Jining, and Wenshang, because the railways on the north and south sides of Yanzhou were cut off, and only by air traffic, the days of their demise were numbered!
After the Shandong Corps captured Tai'an and other places, the mission of the first combat phase of the original campaign was completed. On June 1, Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin formulated the second phase of the battle plan and submitted it to the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Mao Zedong, the East China Bureau, and the Headquarters of Huaye. There were two plans: one was to capture Qufu and County with the thirteenth column and Teng County with cameras; Luzhong troops to monitor Yanzhou, Jining, and Wenshang, and capture Ningyang; and the seventh column to provide reinforcements north of Tai'an. Wait until the rainy season has passed before fighting Yanzhou. The second was to take the task of the thirteenth column with the seventh column, and after completion, the thirteenth column and the Luzhong troops captured Yanzhou, the camera captured Jining and Wenshang, and the ninth column transferred north of Tai'an to provide reinforcements. Xu and Tan believed that the implementation of the first plan would preserve the main force, so that the seventh column would not damage the vitality and fight after Li'er; if the second plan was implemented, these benefits would not be achieved, and it would be necessary to supplement a group of soldiers to the seventh column in the rainy season to restore its vitality.
While requesting Su Yu, acting commander and acting political commissar of Huaye, and Zhang Zhen, deputy chief of staff, to express their opinions on the shandong corps' operational plan, Chairman Mao Zedong instructed Xu Tan to base liu Deng's experience in crossing the Yellow River last year and conducting the southwest Lu campaign, and that the rainy season in southwest Lu and Luzhong began in early August, and that there were two full months to two and a half months before the rainy season. "It is feasible to implement the first option, but if there is time to attack a fixed enemy before the rainy season, the second option may be considered".
After the Huaye Western Front Corps changed its deployment, the enemy situation also changed, and Xu Tan believed that the enemy's reorganized Eighty-third Division might enter Jining from Jinxiang, and the reorganized Twenty-fifth Division might move north from Xuzhou. In this way, the Shandong Corps did not have enough reinforcements. Xu Tan prepared to abandon the plan to attack Yanzhou, and attacked the 77th Brigade at Longshan, east of Jinan, with the 9th and 13th Columns and Bohai Sea troops, and the 7th Column assembled in Tai'an. In view of the fact that the Huaye Western Front Corps was about to launch the Kaifeng Campaign, Chairman Mao telegraphed that the Shandong Corps should still attack Yanzhou and mobilize the 83rd and 25th Divisions of Xuzhou to assist them in the north, so as to alleviate the pressure on the hostile Su Yu and Zhang Zhen. He also emphatically pointed out: "This is the best way for you to assist Su and Zhang and make Su and Zhang successful in battle." You must not go to the Seventy-seventh Brigade at this time. When the enemy reinforcements arrive near Yanzhou, you can stop attacking Yanzhou, monitor the enemy's reinforcements, and still do not fight the Seventy-seventh Brigade. On June 17, the Shandong Corps expressed its determination to carry out the instructions of the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao of the CPC Central Committee, and attacked Yanzhou with the troops of the Seventh Column and Luzhong, and captured it with cameras, and if necessary, assisted by a main division of the 13th Column of Tai'an to the south, in order to attract the enemy from Xuzhou to the north.
The 7th Column and Luzhong forces besieged Yanzhou on June 20, and attacked 3 passes to the east, west and south, Old Pass on the 22nd, Liulichang on the 24th, and Xiguan on the 25th. However, our army did not attack the city, but paid close attention to the movements of the enemies in Xuzhou and Jinan. The campaign intention of Chief Xu Tan was to "attack Yan and fight for aid", in order to mobilize the xu and Ji enemies to come to the rescue, disperse the troops of Xuzhou's western aid to the eastern Henan battlefield, and coordinate the operations of the outer line corps; at the same time, seek annihilation and assistance to the enemy in the movement. After being continuously attacked by our army, the enemy in Jinan moved very cautiously, shrinking in the urban area of Jinan and not daring to act rashly. At this time, the Battle of Kaifeng in eastern Henan was fiercely carried out. The two battlefields of Kaifeng and Yanzhou were in a hurry at the same time, and the enemy in Xuzhou was uncertain about where to reinforce. By June 22, when the Huaye Western Front Corps had conquered Kaifeng, Gu Zhutong made up his mind to aid Yanzhou in the north, and ordered Huang Baitao's Corps to reorganize the 25th and 83rd Divisions and the 3rd Rapid Column and transport them north along the Jinpu Line from northern Jiangsu.
In addition to the 38th Division's stay in Tai'an to monitor the enemy in Jinan, the main force of the Shandong Corps quickly moved south to Surabaya and Qufu to meet the enemy in xuzhou's northern reinforcements. However, the enemy reinforcements made rapid progress, the Ninth and Third Columns did not reach the reinforcement position, and the enemy's vanguard reorganized Twenty-fifth Division had reached the Boundary River north of Teng County on the 28th. Xu Shiyou immediately dispatched troops to encircle Yanzhou and march south to help. Due to the premature siege of the troops to the south, exposing the attempt to besiege the city for reinforcements, and the Huaye Field Corps and the Central Plains Field Army launched the Suiqi Campaign on June 29, the Shounian Corps in the enemy area fell into a heavy siege and was in a hurry to seek help. Chiang Kai-shek reinstated Huang Baitao's corps to cha canal south of Shangqiu and re-aid the Suiqi battlefield. Huang Baitao had not yet arrived at The District Shou Nian and the whole army had already been destroyed. Huang Baitao "marched armedly" between Luyu and Yu provinces, and fell into the air at both ends. The Shandong Corps was unable to fight and aid from the south, and the enemy in Jinan in the north did not come to the south for a long time, and Yanzhou was isolated, and there was a "gap." The commander of the corps immediately seized the fighter and ordered the troops of the Seventh Column, the Thirteenth Column, and the Luzhong Military Region to re-encircle the Yanzhou Regiment on July 1, 1948. Yanzhou is one of the ancient nine prefectures, located in the main traffic road, known as "nine provinces through the Qu, Qilu throat" known. In this tun with heavy troops, the north can control Jinan, the south can strangle Xuzhou, the west can overlook Luxi, and the east can peek into Yimeng, which can really be described as the land of four wars. Historically, this ancient military town has seen countless major battles. On the eve of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, our army wanted to clean up the Japanese puppet army stationed here; in the summer of 1947, it was also fought but because the conditions were not ripe, it failed to succeed. This time it was the third time.
If the Kuomintang wants to maintain the Jinpu Road and stick to the Central Plains, Yanzhou is undoubtedly an important place that cannot be ignored. In 1946, the Kuomintang established the Tenth Appeasement District here, and Li Yutang, deputy commander-in-chief of the Twenty-seventh Group Army, was appointed as the commander of the Sui District, but the direct subordinate units only had one special service battalion, one gendarmerie regiment, and some local armed forces. The main force of shouyanzhou was originally the Zhou Zhidao Department of the reorganized 32nd Division, and in January 1948, the division was transferred to huo Shouyi of the reorganized 12th Army in Shouzibo, but Huo's heavy artillery battalion was detained by Wang Yaowu in Jinan.
The reorganized Twelfth Army nominally administered the reorganized Twelfth and Seventy-third Divisions, but because the reorganized Seventy-third Division, Cao Zhenduo, was in Jinan, under the direct command of Wang Yaowu, and in fact could only command the reorganized Twelfth Division in Yanzhou. The division has jurisdiction over 6 regiments of the 111th and 112nd Brigades. The total strength of the army is 28,000 people. Lieutenant General Huo Shouyi, Commander of the Reorganized Twelfth Army and Commander of the Reorganized Twelfth Division, Major General Wang Gao (concurrently commander of the Jieshou Garrison, not in Yanzhou), Song Dixi, deputy commander and director of the Political Department, Wang Shujun, chief of staff of major generals, Wang Zhaozhi, Ma Wanzhen, Tao Jingkui, Wang Dingzhong, and Guo Mingjiu of the 1st Brigade; Sun Huancai, brigade commander of the 1st Brigade, Liu Shuwei after sun was dismissed, Yang Yufang, commander of the 112nd Brigade, Yu Yifan, commander of the 112nd Brigade, Che Yuanxun, deputy brigade commander, and Liu Zongyan, commander of the Independent Brigade.
The enemy's troops were deployed in Yanzhou City, with the 111th Brigade and the 667th Regiment of the 112th Brigade in Yanzhou City, the Supplementary Regiment directly under the Army at Dongguan and near the station; the Independent Brigade and local teams stationed in Qufu; and the 112nd Brigade in Jining.
Li Yutang, the commander of Sui District, a native of Guangrao County, Shandong, was one of the "Three Li" of Shandong (also Li Yannian and Li Xianzhou) of the Republic of China generals. Graduated from the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy. The reorganized Twelfth Army was originally the Northeast Army, and it was the only remaining unit of the Northeast Army under Chiang Kai-shek's long-term discrimination and exclusion. Originally the 12th Brigade of the Northeast Army, it was reorganized into the 12th Brigade of the Army after the Northeast Yizhi, which was changed to the 112th Division in 1930 and later incorporated into the 57th Army. In 1939, he entered Shandong with the army. After the incident in southern Anhui, the New Fourth Army "encircled and suppressed" the Southern Jiangsu Army, and the deputy division commander Rong Ziheng led 3 battalions to stay in Lunan to surrender to Japan. In 1943, it was merged with the 111th Division and the newly organized 36th Division to form the 12th Army. In 1945, he went to Shandong. In 1947, it was reorganized into the integrated Twelfth Army. The Ministry is good at guarding.
Most of the Yanzhou security forces are composed of stubborn, rogue, and reactionary landlords, which are politically reactionary, poorly equipped and trained, and have weak combat effectiveness. In addition, yanzhou and its outskirts and Surabaya, Qufu, zou county, there are still landlords, bullies, and homecoming reactionary armed forces of more than 20,000 people, but they are vulnerable.
Yanzhou City lies in a depression on the west bank of the Si River. The depression resembles a giant iron pot. The east of the city is close to the Si River; there are trekking points a few miles south of the city, but they must be crossed by boat after rain; and the west of the city is a plain and open land. The Jinpu Railway surrounds both the east and the north. There are many open ponds in the city, and the Catholic Church and the Tower of The Peak (Xinglong Pagoda) are the commanding heights, overlooking the whole city. The city has a permanent population of 50,000 and 20,000 kuomintang army dependents.
Because it is a historical ancient city, Yanzhou City is tall and strong, and the city wall is more than 10 meters high and five or six meters thick. After years of operation by the Kuomintang army of the Japanese puppet army, on the basis of the original city wall, a defensive system was formed with the city wall combined with the four passes and the bunker group as the backbone. From the head of the city to the foot of the city there are 3 layers of firepower network: the first floor of the city, connected by the bunkers connected by the traffic trenches that run through the top of the city wall, the bunkers are built using battlements, one every 50 meters, all of which are stone and cement bunkers, and there are infantry fire bunkers and artillery positions in the traffic trenches. On the middle floor, the opening at the top of the city wall is dug into the waist of the wall to form a cave-type light and heavy machine gun fire nest. At the foot of the city, the passage dug out of the city and extended to the dark fort and group fort outside the city. The corner of Shing Mun City is the focus of defense, and the central ring city has a moat 6 to 10 meters wide and 4 meters deep, with a water depth of 1 to 2 meters, and is connected to the Si River. Hanoi is covered with iron tribulus terrestris. A trench 8 to 11 metres wide was dug outside the moat. Between the river and the trench, there were obstacles such as deer villages, barbed wire, power grids, and minefields, with a depth of 50 to 60 meters. The periphery is supported by four passes, and there is an independent mother-daughter fort. On the railway line on the east and north sides, armored vehicles patrol day and night. Chengdongguan also has a large oval fortified position supported by the Si River and connected the north and south corners of the city, with railway stations, airfields, barracks and so on in the middle.
As a result, Yancheng City Defense formed a solid defense system with high and thick walls, complex auxiliary defenses, three-dimensional crossfire nets and support points. Li Yutang and Huo Shouyi, because of yanzhou's strong fortifications and tight defense, once boasted that "Yanzhou is ironclad!" He also ordered people to engrave 5 large characters "The First Pillar in the World" on the stone bunker in the northwest corner of the city. Although the fortifications of the city are strong and the firepower is tight, the fly in the ointment is that morale is low, and they are extremely panicked, and they dare not go out of the city to fight.
Chiang Kai-shek ordered Li Yutang to "stick to the reinforcements, so as to reap the effect of containment, and then go to battle after the arrival of the reinforcements from the north and south, and repair the traffic in the middle of Jinpu." Li Yutang and Huo Shouyi immediately further strengthened their fortifications, redeployed their forces, and made plans to hold firm. Gu Zhutong of Xuzhou repeatedly cheered up the Yanzhou defenders, declaring that Yanzhou was "absolutely without problems" and repeatedly assured Li and Huo that heavy reinforcements would be dispatched if necessary. Huo Shouyi said at the officers' meeting: "The three columns of the Shandong Corps of the Communist Army, facing reinforcements from Jinan and Xuzhou, can at most use 1 and a half columns to attack Yanzhou, and no 3 times the strength of the troops cannot form an encirclement." He demanded that his subordinates rely on the deep ditch and high fortress, and wait in a strict position, so that the communist army would "run into the wall and flee." Li Yutang was even more fearless, and when our army surrounded the city on all sides, he was still in the Catholic Church for his deceased mother, and the "super-crossing undead" ascended to the Immortal Realm early. In the evening, they drink alcohol, play mahjong, and abuse female students as usual.
From July 1, our army attacked the outskirts of Yanzhou. The 21st Division of the Seventh Column captured Xinqiao, annihilated most of the sixth company of the enemy's 333rd Regiment, and occupied Zhaojia Village, defending the enemy's escape; the 19th Division conquered the kiln village before and after, annihilated more than 100 enemies, and controlled the Sihe Embankment for 200 meters; Luzhong troops conquered tofu shops, annihilated the Ninth Company of the enemy's Independent Eighth Regiment, and attacked Jiuguan without effect, and after repeated battles, recaptured Laoguan on the 7th.
In the peripheral battles, Xiguan fought the most fiercely and brutally. On 4 July, the 62nd Regiment of the 21st Division invaded Xiguan. In addition to the 332nd and 333rd Regiments, which were originally guarding the defense of Ximen City, the enemy transferred the 331st Regiment of the General Reserve and violently counterattacked us three times in a row, forming a confrontation. On the 5th, the 61st Regiment of the Seventh Column attacked Xiguan, and after 3 days of fierce competition, it was all over Kexiguan on the 7th. During the battle, more than 1 kilometer of Xiguan houses were destroyed. On the section of Sanyi Street and Banbian Street in Xiguan less than 200 meters, the enemy suffered 2,000 casualties. After conquering Xiguan, our army successfully completed the predetermined combat tasks on the periphery.
During the battle on the outskirts of Yanzhou, the 45th Division and the 18th Regiment of Security, which were reorganized by the enemy in Tengxian County, fled south to Lincheng, marched to Nanshahe and Guanqiao, and were intercepted by us, annihilating the artillery battalion and a heavy battalion of their divisions.
After Huang Baitao's corps switched to aid the eastern Henan battlefield, the ninth and thirteenth columns of the Shandong corps stayed in Surabaya and Qufu; the enemy of Jinan, Wuhua Wenbu, aided Yanzhou in the south, occupied Wande, and advanced towards the Jiehe River. The troops of the Seventh Column and the Luzhong Military Region who pretended to attack Yanzhou have been fighting continuously for 4 months since the battle on the Jiaoji Line, and the number of personnel has been greatly reduced, making it difficult to solve Yanzhou alone. To this end, Xu Shiyou, Tan Zhenlin, and Liu Shaoqing proposed two operational plans to the Central Military Commission, the East China Bureau, and the Huaye Headquarters on July 3: First, concentrate the Shandong Corps to attack Yanzhou with all their might, and the troops of the Lunan Military Region surround Lincheng and threaten Hanzhuang, so that they can eliminate the reorganized Twelfth Army, annihilate one or most of Wu Huawen's troops in the south, and capture Yanzhou, Jining, and Wenshang in order to facilitate operations after the rainy season; second, go all out to the south, conquer Lincheng and Hanzhuang, threaten Xuzhou, and leave the troops of the Luzhong Military Region to monitor the reorganized Twelfth Army in Qufu and Yanzhou. This would play a direct role in coordinating the Operations in the Central Plains, but the integrated Twelfth Army could flee from Jining to southwest lu. The head of the Shandong Corps held that which of the above two plans was better to implement, and whether the Huaye Western Front Corps would continue to fight Qiu Qingquan was the shift. If the Western Front Corps annihilates the reorganized 72nd Division and then attacks Qiu Qingquan, it is better for the Shandong Corps to go south; if it does not fight again, the Shandong Corps will attack Yanzhou as its advantage.
To this end, the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao's Western Front Corps Su Yu, Chen Shiyu, Tang Liang, and Zhang Zhen held that the Western Front Corps had the confidence to continue to annihilate the reorganized 25th and 72nd Divisions and not to attack the Qiu Qingquan Corps for the time being; xuzhou was no longer a threat to the battlefield in eastern Henan, and it was pointless for the Shandong Corps to threaten Xuzhou from the south, and proposed to agree to the Shandong Corps to concentrate its forces to conquer Yanzhou. The Western Front Corps supported the instructions of the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao of the CPC Central Committee, and approved the Shandong Corps in conquering the enemies of Yanzhou and Jining, and the enemies of Lincheng and Hanzhuang sections could be pressed by the Lunan Military Region. At the same time, Huaye's headquarters ordered the Northern Jiangsu Corps to attack the canal line and drag the huaibei enemy. On July 6, 1947, on the basis of weighing the situation on the battlefields of eastern Henan and Shandong and fully soliciting opinions, the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao formally ordered Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin of the Shandong Corps to inform Huaye Headquarters, the East China Bureau, and the Central Plains Bureau to organize the campaign to conquer Yanzhou, Jining, and Wenshang. The telegram said: "Regarding the concentration of the three columns and the Luzhong Corps to conquer the yanzhou, Jining, and Wenshang points before the rainy season, completely annihilate the reorganized Twelfth Army and other miscellaneous units, and strive to annihilate the enemy in jinan's southern aid, open up the traffic between the Shandong and Huaye western front corps, isolate Jinan, so that after the rainy season, your corps will let go of the southward or westward advance, and more effectively cooperate with Subu in fighting the great annihilation war." I hope that you will carefully organize this campaign in accordance with this policy. The timing of the completion of the mission shall be determined according to the enemy situation and your own conditions, 10 or 20 days. With regard to the precautions to be taken in the campaign, in addition to sending a unit to monitor the enemy in Jining at the time of the Yanzhou General Ke, and not to let you run away a little, it seems that a division should use the enemy's original fortifications at the western end of Dawenkou to firmly block the reorganization of the Eighty-fourth Division, and if the enemy comes to the rescue, the division will be behind the enemy's rear, so as to help the enemy and ensure the victory of this battle, and I hope to consider paying attention. ”
Our army cleared the 3 passes of Yanzhou, north, south, and west, and the ancient and tall city walls were exposed in front of the attacking troops of the Shandong Corps. Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin were determined to concentrate the troops of the Seventh Column, the Thirteenth Column, and the Luzhong Military Region to attack the city, and the Ninth Column to aid the enemy in Surabaya to block Jinan.