In the front-line command post, Su Yu pointed to the map on the wall and said: "The enemy's nearly 300,000 troops have launched an attack on the liberated areas of our army in four ways, our main forces are mainly concentrated in the Yancheng and Lianshui areas, and the enemy's purpose is obvious, he wants to drive our troops out of the Jiangsu region and fight a decisive battle with our army in Shandong!" ”
Chen Yi listened to Su Yu's analysis of the upcoming big war, and he deeply felt that Su Yu's words were very reasonable, Chen Yi said: "Su Yu! Our two field armies currently have less than 200,000 troops, and the enemy has nearly 100,000 more troops than us in this battle, and I think we should focus on attacking a certain part of the enemy and opening the gap in the enemy's encirclement, so that we can disrupt the enemy's strategic deployment! ”
Photo of General Su Yu
Su Yu smiled and said, "Commander Chen's suggestion is really powerful!" I think this advice is correct and I think so too! But how should this battle be fought? Which enemy unit should be fought first? Let's also analyze and study it carefully! ”
In fact, it is a bit inaccurate to call this unit the East China Field Army at this time, because at this time the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army have just joined forces, and although the community has been realized in command and operation, Chairman Mao has not yet formally issued instructions for the formal merger of these two field armies.
This upcoming battle is called the Battle of Subei, which was the first battle of the East China Field Army in the Liberation War, and Su Yu once recalled in his later years: "I have fought in all directions all my life, commanding hundreds of battles large and small, of which the command of three battles made me the most nervous, one was the Battle of Huaihai, one was the Battle of Eastern Henan, and the other was the Battle of Subei!" ”
The Battle of Huaihai and the Battle of Eastern Henan both involved hundreds of thousands of people fighting in large armies, and it was common for Su Yu to have a lot of pressure on his shoulders, but the scale of the Subei Campaign was not large, so why was Su Yu so nervous? The reason is that the Battle of Subei is the first battle of the East China Field Army!
Xue Yue, director of the Kuomintang Xuzhou Office, was holding a pre-war meeting at this time, and this famous general who invented the "Heavenly Furnace Tactics" during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression glanced at the various generals attending the meeting at the bottom with his eyes, and he sighed and said: "Our strategic goal this time must be clear to everyone, but I want to remind you that our opponent this time is Su Yu, and this person is unpredictable with his use of soldiers, and you must not be careless!" ”
Hu Lian, commander of the Eleventh Division of the Kuomintang's "Five Main Forces," said: "Is he Su Yu really so powerful?" Chief Xue, I have never dealt with this person, and I would like to meet him! ”
Xue Yue said, "Master Hu's ambition is commendable! I'm not fighting to destroy my own prestige, I'm just reminding everyone! In the Battle of Central Jiangsu, we fought seven battles with the Central China Field Army, and su Yu used seven different tactics in these seven battles. ”
When Hu Lian heard Xue Yue say this, he began to pay attention to Xue Yue's reminder that Hu Lian was one of the few fierce generals among the reactionary enemies; he was a general of the Kuomintang general's general Chen Cheng's lineage, and the Eleventh Division led in his hand was the old unit on which Chen Cheng had started his family, and his combat effectiveness was very strong.
In the command post of the East China Field Army, a scout returned to report, and in a large amount of reconnaissance information, Su Yu saw a crucial message: "The enemy has 4 lines of men and horses, and in the middle of the road, two divisions led by Hu Lian have launched an attack on our army from the direction of Suqian, and these two divisions are the Sixty-ninth Division led by Dai Ziqi and the Eleventh Division led by Hu Lian!" ”
Su Yu immediately said this important information to Chen Yi, and Su Yu thought for a moment and said, "The fighter is coming!" The enemy's Sixty-ninth Division has reached the north of Suqian from now on, and I think their target is the town of Xin'an, and the most important thing is that this Dai Ziqi's troops are marching very fast, and Hu Lian's Eleventh Division can't catch up in the rear, so we will target this enemy's Sixty-ninth Division! ”
Chen Yi looked at the map carefully, and after a moment his face immediately showed a smile and said, "Great! This Dai Ziqi planned to venture in alone, and just crashed into the muzzle of our army's guns! ”
Photograph of Marshal Chen Yi when he was young
Su Yu already had a battle plan in mind at this time, and he immediately issued the combat tasks for this big war to the generals below, which can be roughly summarized into three points:
The first column, led by Ye Fei, He Yixiang, and Chen Shiqu, launched an attack along Fengshan Mountain north of Suqian, and attacked the enemy's Sixty-ninth Division in the front of the Subei battlefield.
The Second Column and the Ninth Column encircled the enemy Sixty-ninth Division from both flanks, and the second column, together with part of the first column, interspersed with some of the troops of the First Column, to the position of Cao Jiaji to block Hu Lian's Eleventh Division.
The remaining columns set out from multiple directions to block the enemy's two three-way armies, namely the enemy's Ou Zhen Corps, Li Yannian's Corps, and Wang Jingjiu's Corps.
After the combat mission was issued, the various units of our army advanced rapidly, arrived at the designated positions one after another, and the big war was about to break out, this time the East China Field Army basically mobilized all its own family foundations, and only invested nearly 100,000 troops in the key battles against the enemy's 69th Division and the enemy's Eleventh Division.
Dai Ziqi, commander of the Kuomintang Sixty-ninth Division, was a faction within the enemy whose faction was different from that of others; he was neither a concubine of Chiang Kai-shek nor a concubine of Chen Cheng and others; he was a concubine of Chiang Ching-kuo, and he could be said to be the first favorite general under Chiang Ching-kuo, but ironically, the first favorite general under Chiang Ching-kuo had little actual combat experience and was not very good at commanding troops.
After the first column of our army arrived at Fengshan, it quickly launched a fierce attack on Fengshan, and the battle to attack Fengshan was the most important part of this annihilation war, so to speak, Fengshan was the famous gate of Dai Ziqi's Sixty-ninth Division, and it was the enemy's retreat to Suqian.
At this time, the telephone of the enemy's headquarters of the Sixty-ninth Division rang, and Dai Ziqi picked up the phone, and from inside was Hu Lian's voice: "Commander Dai! Your Sixty-ninth Division is too fast, and the distance between my Eleventh Division and your troops is already ten kilometers! Commander Xue Yue had explained that he should go hand in hand and slowly advance, your current position is too far ahead, like an arrow, very dangerous! ”
Dai Ziqi's arrogance and arrogance did not listen to Hu Lian's advice at all, and he said loudly: "Our army has taken the lead in launching an attack on Xin'an Town, and the troops blocking the front are gradually retreating, and Commander Hu can come and see for himself!" ”
After saying that, Dai Ziqi hung up the phone, and Hu Lian said loudly in anger: "This Dai Ziqi! I knew the conductor couldn't move him! ”
Hu Lian decided to ask Wu Qiwei, deputy director of the Xuzhou Public Office, to go with him to Dai Ziqi to give orders, and Hu Lian knew that he was commanding Dai Ziqi and had no choice but to ask Wu Qiwei to come out.
Coincidentally, Wu Qiwei took the initiative to call Hu Lian, and he said: "I just learned that the retreat of the communist army in Xin'an Town was deliberate, with the purpose of luring Dai Ziqi's Sixty-ninth Division into the encirclement, and you and I quickly went to the front line to check the situation!" ”
The two then came to Dai Ziqi's headquarters, and Wu Qiwei came up and asked, "Dai Ziqi!" Do you know you're surrounded! Your rear peak mountain has been plunged into a sea of fire, and you are still proud of yourself here, telling me that everything is going well! ”
Wu Qiwei's words made Dai Ziqi dumbfounded, and he said hesitantly: "How come?" How can it be? ”
When Dai Ziqi went to confirm, he found that this was indeed the case, Su Yu's several men and horses had already surrounded his Sixty-ninth Division, the key was Fengshan, and his only way to retreat was also being violently attacked by our army!
Hu Lian frowned, and he suddenly shouted, "Not good! My troops may be in danger too! ”
After saying this, Hu Lian did not talk nonsense with Dai Ziqi anymore, directly turned around and left, quickly returning to his eleventh division, and sure enough, the 2nd column and the 9th column of our army completely blocked the way forward of the eleventh division, and the two sides had already carried out a small-scale contact battle in Caojiaji.
Some people will ask, is Hu Lian unaware of such an important situation? When their own troops and people fought, did they not even know it as a division commander?
Hu Lian's photo
It was such a coincidence that Hu Lian did not take this into account, but he did not expect Su Yu's movements to be so fast, and the most important thing was that when Su Yu launched the blockade war against the Eleventh Division, Hu Lian was on the way to Dai Ziqi, so his news lagged behind.
On the front line of Fengshan Mountain, Dai Ziqi remedied in time, deployed powerful firepower at several important commanding heights, and doubled the width and depth of the trenches, and the attack of the first column of our army was blocked.
If Fengshan cannot be attacked for a long time, the strategic objectives of our army will not be realized, and it should be known that this battle also has great risks, Su Yu saw this situation, and he decided to personally go to the front line of Fengshan to direct the operation.
As soon as Su Yu arrived at Fengshan, he shouted loudly, "He Yixiang and Chen Shiqu!" Tell me about the state of the battle at Fengshan. ”
Chen Shiqu frowned and reported, "Our army has launched thirteen strong attacks on the enemy's positions, and at present it has not been able to take Fengshan. ”
Su Yu nodded and said, "I tell you that Fengshan must be taken before dawn, and in order to annihilate the enemy's Sixty-ninth Division, our army has attacked everywhere to block the enemy's various people and horses from coming to reinforcements, and the longer it drags on, the greater the risk, and if any enemy troops come to reinforce, our entire army will be in danger!" ”
He Yixiang said, "Commander! I will organize the onslaught again, and send more people and horses! ”
Su Yu shook his head and said, "I have an idea now!" The enemy's fortifications are very strong, and if these fortifications are not destroyed, I am afraid it will be difficult to take down the peak mountain! You organize multiple commandos and demolition teams, and whenever you reach a line of defense of the enemy, you will throw all the explosive packets at the enemy's defensive offensive by pretending to attack from the front and covering the two wings, and then launch an attack after destroying the enemy's defense fortifications. ”
After Su Yu's words were finished, Chen Shiqu's eyes lit up, and he said loudly, "Commander! Good luck you're here for this trip! This method of warfare will certainly be able to take down the peak mountain before dawn! ”
Su Yu nodded and said, "Two! Please! Be sure to take down the peak mountain before dawn! ”
Then Su Yu turned away, he also had to go to the various front-line command posts to check the battle situation, Su Yu's military talent was too strong, he formulated a tactic in three words, and he could soon change the trend of the war situation.
Then Chen Shiqu and He Yixiang began the most ingenious attack on Fengshan according to the tactics taught to them by Su Yu, fighting steadily along the way, first destroying the enemy's fortifications, and then launching a charge, finally breaking through Fengshan before dawn!
Dai Ziqi learned that Fengshan was taken by our army, he sat paralyzed on the chair, he immediately called Hu Lian for help, Hu Lian did not care about Dai Ziqi's previous arrogant attitude, he said loudly to Dai Ziqi: "Master Dai, please rest assured!" My Eleventh Division will never see death and not be saved, and I will kill a bloody road to support you as soon as possible! ”
What Hu Lian did not know at this time was that his own eleventh division would soon fall into a more dangerous situation, because Su Yu temporarily changed tactics and aimed his spearhead at Hu Lian's eleventh division.
After Fengshan was successfully taken, Su Yu no longer had any worries, but at this time, the pressure on our army's troops to block the enemy's various reinforcements was very high, and at the same time Su Yu saw a fighter plane, that is, at this time, if the troops were divided to fight Hu Lian's Eleventh Division, Hu Lian would definitely not be able to do so, and at this time Hu Lian would definitely think that our army would strive to encircle and annihilate Dai Ziqi's Sixty-ninth Division.
In this great battle, the 2nd and 9th columns of our army performed very well, and at the very beginning they blocked Hu Lian's troops from reinforcing Dai Ziqi, and at the same time took the crucial position of Cao Jiaji, so that Hu Lian's Eleventh Division and Dai Ziqi's Sixty-ninth Division completely lost contact!
Schematic diagram of the strategy of our army's march in the Subei Campaign
Su Yu gave a temporary order to yizhong: "Now order the first column to divide one-third of its troops, unite the reserves of the five regiments of the second column and the ninth column of the Cao family, bypass the Cao family, and reach the hinterland of the enemy's eleventh division to launch an attack. ”
Su Yu's use of troops has always been able to grasp the fighter in time, and Su Yu's tactics are very bold, looking at the dangers, but often see the true level in the details.
Su Yu's temporary change of tactics has two important significance:
After Fengshan was conquered by our army, Dai Ziqi's Sixty-ninth Division had become a turtle in an urn, and there was no longer any need for our army to deploy so many troops around his troops; at this time, the enemy's reinforcements from all directions fought fiercely, and the pressure on the troops of our army to fight the blockade battle was too great, and Su Yu's attack on Hu Lian's Eleventh Division at this time could change the direction of the enemy's reinforcements and reduce the pressure of our troops' blockade.
At this time, it was the best time to attack Hu Lian's eleventh division, hu Lian's eleventh division was the enemy's ace force, and annihilating an eleventh division was of much greater significance than annihilating a sixty-ninth division.
At this time, Hu Lian was commanding the battle in the front, and his purpose was to quickly pass through our army's blocking position and quickly reinforce Dai Ziqi's Sixty-ninth Division, when Dai Ziqi called again and said: "Brother Hu! I regret that I did not listen to your advice in the first place, because I caused the fate of my Sixty-ninth Division today, and at the last moment, your troops may not be able to support me! I only ask you one thing, my wife and children will trouble you to take care of! ”
Hu Lian shouted loudly, "Master Dai! If you hold out for another day and a night, I will definitely be able to lead the army to arrive! ”
Dai Ziqi said sadly, "It's really affliction to see the truth!" These days I have made countless distress calls, Ou Zhen and Li Yannian are all prevaricating me for various reasons, only you Brother Hu Lian is willing to fight bloody battles to support me! ”
Dai Ziqi hung up the phone after saying this, Hu Lian was indeed a person with great righteousness, not only Dai Ziqi entrusted his wife and children to Hu Lian, but later Zhang Lingfu died and killed Meng Lianggu, and before he died, he also sent a telegram to Hu Lian, entrusting his family to Hu Lian.
At six o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, under the order of Su Yu, the troops of the first column of our army launched a final general offensive against Dai Ziqi's sixty-ninth division, and at this time our army temporarily had two units, the first column and the second column, which were formed into parts of the troops, and the qi troops had reached the hinterland of Hu Lian's eleventh division.
Under Su Yu's orders, this strange army quickly rushed up to divide Hu Lian's Eleventh Division, and the fire in the backyard surprised Hu Lian, he couldn't understand why Su Yu's troops suddenly appeared in his rear, Hu Lian exclaimed: "It turns out that Su Yu's real target is my eleventh division!" This person's use of soldiers is just as Xue Yue said, the gods are unpredictable! ”
But Hu Lian did have two brushes, he immediately left a small force on the front line pretending to continue to attack our army's blocking position, he himself with the main force of men and horses desperately rushed back, he carefully looked at the map, made an important decision: "All troops urgently retreat to the south of Suqian, all close to the canal south of Suqian to withdraw!" ”
Hu Lian's military order saved his eleventh division, because there was a Grand Canal south of Suqian, and by the canal to withdraw, our army would have no way to further divide the troops surrounding Hu Lian!
However, this strange army of our army still annihilated two battalions of Hu Lian's Eleventh Division, but it was unable to further expand the results of the battle, which has to be said to be a pity, but General Su Yu's genius command ability is indeed admirable.
The general offensive of our army against Dai Ziqi's Sixty-ninth Division lasted for several hours before it ended, and the strength of 3 and a half brigades of Dai Ziqi's Sixty-ninth Division was completely annihilated by our army, and Dai Ziqi chose to cut himself.
When Su Yu learned that Hu Lian had led the Eleventh Division to retreat by a canal, Su Yu was still a little surprised, and he said in a very regrettable tone: "What a pity! Only two battalions of Hu Lian were annihilated, and Hu Lian was able to sit in the position of commander of the reactionary ace division, which was indeed not simple! ”
However, Hu Lian's many later encounters with Su Yu ended in failure, especially in the Battle of Huaihai, Hu Lian served as the deputy commander of the Twelve Corps, and the commander was Huang Wei, who was later captured alive by our army. erhu! Ten 'Northwest Kings' are no match for one 'Golden Gate King'! ”
Erhu refers to Hu Zongnan and Hu Lian respectively, which means that ten Hu Zongnan is not as good as one Hu Lian.
After the Battle of Subei, our soldiers captured photographs of enemy supplies
In the Battle of Subei, our army won a complete victory, and in the case of a 100,000-stronger troop strength than the enemy, it skillfully annihilated 21,000 enemy troops and won an unprecedented victory.
After this battle, Chen Yi reviewed Su Yu's command process in this battle at the headquarters, and Chen Yi said heartily: "Su Yu is really using soldiers like gods! ”