When it comes to the Tashan Blockade Battle, the commanders of our army who are talked about are often Lin Biao, Cheng Zihua, Wu Kehua, and others, but in fact, Hu Qicai, as one of the main commanders of the front, also plays an indispensable role.
Hu Qicai, the founding lieutenant general known as the Tiger General, participated in countless battles in his life and made outstanding meritorious achievements, showing the infinite loyalty of an old Red Army and old party members to the party. During the period of peaceful construction, Hu Qicai's spirit of being conscientious and responsible for his work and being meticulous also showed his firm party spirit.
Hu Qicai
In 1914, Hu Qicai was born in a poor peasant family in Huang'an County, Hubei Province, where he had attended a private school, worked as a long-term worker, sold tofu, and suffered from the oppression and humiliation of landlords. In 1927, under the leadership of the CCP's Jute Special Committee, peasants in the Huang'an and Macheng areas staged a riot, and 13-year-old Hu Qicai also joined the township children's group.
In August 1930, the captain of the children's regiment told Hu Qicai that the Red Army was now expanding, and as long as he wanted to join the Red Army, he could sign up and pass the selection of the township Soviet government to join the army.
Hu Qicai also wanted to join the Red Army, but after he told his father about the idea, his father was a little hesitant. Hu Qicai's mother has died, his grandfather is old and weak, his eldest brother is sick, his two younger sisters are still young, Hu Qicai is usually at home, and he can help his father to do farm work, but if he leaves, the burden of the family will have to be on his father alone.
Hu Qicai saw that his father had been hesitating, so he plucked up the courage to say to him: "Dad, don't you often say that you want to thank the Communist Party?" The Communist Party now wants to expand the Red Army for the sake of the poor! ”
After hearing this, my father said with great emotion: "Yes, if it were not for the Communist Party, our family would have died a long time ago!" Go, you can rest assured, as long as I am here, the family will not starve to death! ”
In this way, Hu Qicai successfully joined the Red Army, and he was assigned to the 1st Battalion and 1 Company of the 1st Division, 1st Regiment of the 1st Red Army as a soldier. On the night of enlistment, the squad leader handed him a "Hanyang-made" and told him: "The gun you are holding now was left by an old soldier in our squad, who used it to destroy countless enemies and sacrifice himself honorably." I hope you can carry on the tradition and kill the enemy bravely. After Hu Qicai took the gun, he happily couldn't sleep that night.
But it wasn't long before Hu Qicai lost the gun. On this day he went to the company's barber room for a haircut, and the barber saw that he was very handsome, so he chatted with him, and the two talked very speculatively, and before they knew it, it was noon. Hu Qicai was busy returning to the company to eat, but forgot the gun in the barber room.
When he assembled at noon, Hu Qicai found that the gun was missing, and he was sweating profusely, but he had to take sides with his scalp. The company commander saw that he did not have a gun, so he went up to him and asked him: "Hu Qicai, what about your gun?" ”
Hu Qicai bowed his head and said, "I can't find it..."
Fortunately, the barber sent the gun back at this time, but the company commander, in order to warn Hu Qicai, still punished him for raising the gun above his head and kneeling for two hours. Hu Qicai also remembered this profound lesson and made up his mind: in the future, he must hold the gun in his hand.
In January 1932, Hu Qicai was wounded in his right arm during a battle, and it took a month for the wound to heal, but the injured arm could not be straightened and the right hand could not be used. The leader thought that Hu Qicai could no longer fight, so he decided to transfer him to the guest house as a waiter.
But Hu Qicai was furious after hearing this: "I am a veteran, I am still a special shooter in the company, I have been a soldier for two years, I have fought no less than 20 times in big battles and small battles, and I have been injured 3 times, now let me sweep the water, I don't do it, I want to return to the original unit!" ”
Hu Qicai's trouble actually attracted the attention of his superiors, who praised his bravery and transferred him to the 2nd Company of the Guard Battalion of the Eyu-Anhui Revolutionary Military Commission as a squad leader.
In order to restore the function of his right arm, Hu Qicai secretly practiced the horizontal bar every night, and because he could not hold the horizontal bar tightly, he always fell down, but every time he got up in pain to continue practicing. After a period of hard training, his right arm miraculously recovered, and even raising his gun to shoot was normal.
horizontal bar
After that, Hu Qicai successively served as platoon commander, deputy company commander, instructor, battalion political commissar, regimental political commissar, and in December 1935, at the age of 22, Hu Qicai had been promoted to political commissar of the 11th Division of the Red 4th Army.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Hu Qicai led his troops into the northeast and was appointed commander of the 3rd Column of the Northeast People's Autonomous Army. In May 1946, Hu Qicai was transferred to the northeast Democratic Coalition Army as the commander of the 4th Column.
In 1946, Du Yuming, then commander of the Kuomintang Northeast Security Command, gathered 100,000 troops, relying on the medium-long railway, and swarmed three roads to the Andong and Tonghua regions of southern Manchuria, and the target of their attack was Hu Qicai's 4 columns. At that time, the three divisions of the 4th Column were carrying out tasks in 3 directions, and the troops were quite dispersed, and the equipment was obviously at a disadvantage.
Du Yuming
Hu Qicai did not panic in the face of a strong enemy, and he decided to concentrate his superior forces and use the method of mobile warfare to find fighters and annihilate the effective forces of the Kuomintang army. He targeted the 25th Division of the Nationalist Army, which was known as the "Thousand Mile Colt Division" and had obvious advantages in weapons and equipment; division commander Li Zhengyi was a graduate of the Huangpu Ivy Stage, and although he had certain combat experience, he was greedy and arrogant, eager to win, believing that our army was vulnerable and anxious to find our main force for a decisive battle.
Hu Qicai ordered the troops to retreat while fighting, attracting the enemy, and gradually attracted the 25th Division to the Xinkailing area, where he laid out pocket formations. On 31 October, Hu Qicai commanded his troops to launch a general offensive against the 25th Division.
However, because the enemy had a strong superiority in firepower, he preemptively organized a counterattack and even broke through some of our army's defensive positions, which led to a very difficult encirclement and annihilation battle of the 4 columns. The battle was fought for two days, and the 25th Division was still holding out, but the enemy reserve, the New 22nd Division, was about to reach the back of the 4th Column.
Battle of Xinkailing
In the face of such a grim situation, Hu Qicai summoned leaders at and above the division level to a meeting to study countermeasures; some people said that they should continue to fight, and some people suggested immediately withdrawing from the battle; Hu Qicai said after listening to everyone's speeches: "After two days of fierce fighting, although I have encountered great difficulties, the enemy's situation is even more difficult, and the whole division is tightly surrounded by me. Although the enemy had strong reinforcements, it would take more than ten hours to arrive. Therefore, we must continue to fight, as long as we establish confidence in victory, grit our teeth, and fight tenaciously, we will certainly be able to completely eliminate the enemy! ”
After listening to Hu Qicai's words, everyone also felt that it was very reasonable, and unanimously said that even if the difficulties were great, they must eliminate the 25th Division. Hu Qicai finally decided: all the men of the column would participate in the battle, and after 3 hours, they would launch an attack and strive to end the battle in one day.
At dawn on November 2, Hu Qicai once again commanded the 4th Column to launch a general attack, he stood next to a small pine tree next to the command post, and vigorously cheered for the officers and men, and the enemy's 25th Division, under the impact of our army, finally collapsed, morale was completely lost, and was completely annihilated by our army, and the division commander Li Zhengyi also became a prisoner.
Map of the Battle of Xinkailing
This battle annihilated more than 3,000 enemy personnel and captured more than 5,000 enemy personnel, setting a precedent for the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army to completely annihilate 1 whole division of the Kuomintang Army with 8 regiments in the northeast battlefield, and it was also the first largest and most brilliant annihilation war carried out since the establishment of the 4th Column. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a commendation telegram for 4 verticals:
Celebrate your great victory in annihilating one division of the enemy and look forward to commending the meritorious soldiers.
In September 1947, Wu Kehua, then chief of staff of the Liaodong Military Region, was transferred to the position of commander of the 4th Column, and Hu Qicai was changed to deputy commander. Although his position was reduced, Hu Qicai consciously obeyed the organizational arrangements and began to actively cooperate with Wu Kehua's work.
Wu Kehua
On September 12, 1948, the Northeast Field Army launched the Liaoshen Campaign, the first of which was to attack Jinzhou. In order to relieve the siege of Jinzhou, Chiang Kai-shek came to Huludao by cruiser, ordered 5 divisions drawn from north China and 2 divisions drawn from Shandong to rush to Huludao, together with 4 divisions stationed on the island, a total of 11 divisions with more than 100,000 people, under the command of Hou Jingru, commander of the 17th Corps, attacked Tashan from Jinxi and rushed north to aid Jinzhou.
Tashan, located between Jinzhou and Jinxi, is a village with only more than 100 households, the terrain is flat and there is no danger to defend, but its importance lies in the fact that it is the only way for the Jinxi Nationalist army to reinforce Jinzhou. In order to ensure the capture of Jinzhou, the Northeast Field Army designated the 4th Column to serve as the defense of the main position on the front of Tashan.
Schematic diagram of the Tower Hill Blockade Battle
Before the war, Mao Zedong asked Lin Biao to report on Tashan every two days. Lin Biao also attached great importance to Tashan, and he designated Hu Qicai to command the 12th Division on the Tashan front, and ordered him to report on the defensive situation four times a day.
After the 12th Division entered Tashan, Hu Qicai and several leaders of the 4th Column personally went to the front of Tashan to survey the terrain, and found that the 12th Division had placed the main force of defense on the mountain bag of Tashan, but only placed a company at Tashan Fort located on the highway line.
It is reasonable to say that it is in line with the law of war to hold the high ground of the mountain bag, but after all, this mountain bag is too small, and on the side of the road, if the enemy directly passes around the mountain and directly attacks Jinzhou along the road, even if the other parts of our army's defense line are firmly defended, they will lose the role of blocking the enemy's assistance. But the village of Tashan Fort is located on the road line, as long as the village is held, then the enemy cannot pass, and Tashan Fort is the top priority of the entire Tashan defense system.
Hu Qicai demanded that the 12th Division should place at least one battalion at Tashan Fort, and the 12th Division's Changjiang Xieyuan then ordered: The 1st Battalion of the 34th Regiment was transferred to all of them to enter Tashan Fort, and they would not retreat until they were exhausted. Hu Qicai personally confessed to the commander of the 1st Battalion: Take a step back and kill the head!
Jiang Xieyuan
As it turned out, this arrangement of Hu Qicai was crucial. After the war, Lin Biao specifically praised Hu Qicai, saying: "This battalion of Tashan Fort is like a nail, and it is safe." ”
Before the war, Hu Qicai carefully inspected the fortifications built by the 1st Battalion, and he asked the battalion commander, "How are your fortifications?" ”
The battalion commander replied, "No problem. ”
Hu Qicai asked again: "Is there really no problem?" ”
"No problem!"
Hu Qicai then asked someone to drag a 60-gun, and he issued an order: "Aim the gun muzzle at the fortifications, and bombard me!" As a result, the fortifications of Tashan Fort were destroyed in half.
Stills of Hu Qicai
Hu Qicai said solemnly to the officers and men of the battalion: "Is this your fortification?" Even a small 60-gun cannon can't stand it, and still want to deal with Chiang Kai-shek's aircraft cannon? Comrades, I tell you that this blockade war is not a movement war, nor a guerrilla war, and we have one battalion against one army! ”
Hu Qicai's words made all the officers and men of the battalion feel very ashamed, and the battalion commander immediately led everyone to dig up the fortifications again, and everyone was drumming up a lot of energy, and Hu Qicai looked at the officers and men and truly felt a kind of pre-war depression.
At 3:00 a.m. on October 10, the enemy took advantage of the fact that our position was not yet consolidated, and with the fire support of more than 40 heavy guns, 7 aircraft, and 2 warships, dispatched the strength of 4 divisions to launch an all-out attack on the Tashan position, opening the curtain of the Tashan blockade battle.
The first day of fighting was very brutal, the Kuomintang Army's "East Advance Corps" suffered 1174 casualties, while the 4th Column also suffered 319 casualties. Wu Kehua, the commander of the column, once recalled in his memoirs the tragic scene of the battle at that time:
Attack after attack followed, and it was impossible to fight or block. The enemy who rushed forward desperately and the soldiers of our army twisted together, grabbed their hair, tugged at their ears, wrestled, rolled, and worked hard. My forward bunkers, bunkers, communication trenches, trenches, gain and lose, lost and regained, showing a state of tug-of-war...
Lin Biao, who was in the rear, also personally called Hu Qicai: "Hold Tashan, and the victory will catch half of it." Tell you that Tower Hill must be kept. If you can't take Jinzhou, the Central Military Commission wants my head; if you can't hold Tashan, I want your head! ”
On the fourth day of the battle, the Kuomintang army was still unable to advance, and Chiang Kai-shek scolded the general for being incompetent, so he decided to transfer the independent 95th Division, known as the "Zhao Zilong Division", to attack Tashan. Hu Qi knew that although the independent 95th Division charged fiercely and was not afraid of artillery fire, it was afraid of white-knife warfare, and he instructed the soldiers to put on their bayonets and prepare to fight a white-knife battle with the enemy.
At dawn on September 13, the Kuomintang troops sent the independent 95th Division to take the lead and rushed toward Tashan, and the division commander Zhu Zhiyi also gathered the officers above the battalion level, and gave each of them a machine gun, ten grenades, and a red cloth strip to form a "super death squad" and rushed straight forward.
Hu Qicai saw everything through the telescope, and he immediately ordered the leader of the 28th Regiment and the political commissar to lead the death squad to rush up. The regimental commander against the regimental commander, the square team against the other team, thousands of gun stabs mixed into a group, creating a blood-red gun forest between heaven and earth.
700 people attacked, 70 people survived, but the 28th Regiment finally spelled out the last batch of "Zhao Zilong Division" death squads.
On September 14, when the battle entered a white-hot stage, Liu Yalou, chief of staff of the Northeast Field Army, called Hu Qicai in the early morning, telling him that our army would launch a general attack on Jinzhou at 10 a.m. and asking him what else he wanted. ”
Liu Yalou said, "Well, give you a gun company!" ”
It wasn't long before a 152 plus howitzer drove into Tashan, and Hu Qicai happily said to Jiang Xieyuan: "You command two artillery groups to hit the enemy warship and bombard it with several platoons of guns!" ”
Jiang Xieyuan said, "I'm afraid I can't fight!" ”
Hu Qicai said: "You can't fight, but you can scare them and drive them farther away!" ”
Jiang Xieyuan then commanded the artillery group to fight at the enemy ships "Chongqing" and "Lingfu", and a huge wave of emptying was set off in the sea, and the white waves were gushing, covering the warships, and the enemy quickly ordered the warships to retreat thousands of meters.
"Chongqing" warship
On the evening of October 15, our army conquered Jinzhou, and the tashan blockade was victorious. In the fierce battle of 6 days and 6 nights, the 4th Column annihilated 6117 enemy soldiers, and paid the price of 3145 casualties, of which 767 soldiers died in the land of Tashan.
After the battle, Luo Ronghuan praised Hu Qicai and said, "I didn't expect the 4 columns to fight so well!" Defensive warfare like this is also rare in the history of our army. ”
Lin Biao also nodded and said, "That camp in Tashan is well-placed, this Hu Qicai, his eyesight is quite poisonous!" ”
After the war, the 4th Column organized a dinner, the atmosphere was very warm, and Hu Qicai, who had never drunk alcohol, also raised a wine jug filled with wine, drank the wine, and after drinking it, he fell down. The doctor ran over to check it, and his face suddenly changed: acute appendicitis, almost perforated, and then there was a worry about life later...
In March 1949, according to the decision of the Central Military Commission, Dongye was renamed the Fourth Field Army, and the 4th Column was renamed the 41st Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and Hu Qicai was appointed deputy commander. At this time, his old injuries recurred and he had to be transferred to Beijing for treatment.
After Hu Qicai arrived in Beijing, Zhu De personally invited him to his home, made a table full of Sichuan dishes, and said to him: "Hubei people, are you used to eating spicy seeds?" ”
Jude
Hu Qicai replied, "Commander-in-Chief, I'm not used to that numbness, but I can eat it." ”
Zhu Dehaha laughed: "Bitter, spicy, sour, sweet, angry and sad, you have to taste everything!" ”
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Hu Qicai successively served as the commander of the Liaodong Military Region and the commander of the Western Liaoning Military Region, and in March 1955, he was appointed deputy commander of the engineering corps of the People's Liberation Army, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in the same year.
Hu Qicai's life is very simple, the diet is always coarse tea and light rice, he loves to eat rice and braised meat, breakfast often eats his own pickled small pickles, he never engages in special, did not use a penny of public money.
Hu Qicai and his family
On the wall of Hu Qicai's home, there is a high-scale military map that is almost the same size as the wall, which is a schematic map of the Tower Hill Blockade Battle, which shows one red and blue arrow after another, showing the hardships and cruelties in the confrontation between the two armies, and the flat drawing implies the bloody rain and bloody wind and the screams of killing in the battlefield.
Most of the engineering units are working in mountainous areas, and they all have some local specialties, and the leaders of the troops sometimes send Some local specialties to Hu Qicai, such as walnuts, persimmons, apples, etc., and he pays according to the price.
Once Hu Qicai went down to the army to inspect and guide the work, and the leader of the unit gave him two baskets of apples. After Hu Qi learned about it, he insisted on paying in full. The leader of the unit said: "It is our intention to give the chief two baskets of apples produced by himself, how can we collect money?" ”
Hu Qicai said: "I have received your wishes, but the money must be accepted, two baskets of apples are a trivial matter, if you do not pay the money, it will destroy the style of the troops." On the one hand, the good work style of the troops depends on grasping the work, and more importantly, it depends on the leading cadres to set an example by example! ”
Hu Qicai inspected the troops
On July 1, 1997, hu Qicai, with a feeling of excitement and joy, witnessed the solemn and sacred handover ceremony of Hong Kong's return of power on television with his family, and in the afternoon he was invited to attend the State Council's reception to celebrate Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
Hu Qicai in his later years
However, at 11 o'clock that night, Hu Qicai fell ill and was sent to the 301 Hospital for rescue, and finally suffered from gastric varicose bleeding caused by cirrhosis of the liver, and the treatment was ineffective, and he died on the afternoon of July 3 at the age of 83.
General Hu Qicai is immortal!