As we all know, the vast majority of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region is located in the area of northern Shaanxi, Gansu Longdong, and Ningxia Huamachi, but the southernmost part of the border area is a small sac-shaped area of the Guanzhong Plain, which administers the five counties of Chunyao, Chishui, Yonghong, Xinzheng, and Xinning.
After the Battle of Zhiluozhen, the central government abolished the Shaanxi-Gansu-Jin Provincial Party Committee, and divided the entire Soviet region into two parts, north and south, Shaanxi-Gansu Province to the south and Northern Shaanxi Province to the north, and established three special zones of Trilateral, Shenfu, and Guanzhong and corresponding military sub-districts.
The Guanzhong Special Administrative Region is densely populated and is the most economically developed area in the entire border area. But at the same time, it is also the object of Hu Zongnan's coveting. In January 1947, the Nationalist army dispatched two brigades to invade the Guanzhong Sub-district, and in order to preserve its living strength, our army took the initiative to withdraw.
In view of the increasingly obvious trend of the Nationalist army's key offensive against northern Shaanxi, in February 1947, the central government decided to establish the Northwest Field Corps, appointing General Peng as commander, commanding the first column of the Jinsui Military Region, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Jinsui Joint Defense Army Instruction Brigade, the New Fourth Brigade, and the Seventh Regiment of the Third Garrison Brigade to defend Yan'an.
In the name of the acting commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Jinsui Joint Defense Army, Wang Shitai led the second regiment of the first brigade, the third regiment, the fifth regiment of the third brigade of the garrison, and the sixth cavalry division (all infantry, only one thousand people) to the south, pretending to be four brigades, first recapturing the Guanzhong sub-district, and then relying on the Guanzhong sub-district, to carry out guerrilla warfare against the enemy's rear, destroying the Xianyu Highway and the Xilan Highway, and mobilizing Hu Zongnan's main force as much as possible.
After the troops moved south, they successively won four battles and four victories in Miaowan, Liulin, Gaoeryuan, and Tiewangzhen, which disrupted Hu Zongnan's attempt to completely control Guanzhong. On 7 April, the three regiments of the 1st Police Brigade set up an ambush at Xiaoyuanzi, completely annihilated the 3rd Battalion of the 248th Regiment of the 83rd Brigade of the 10th Division, killed and wounded more than 600 enemy prisoners, and set an example of a regiment of our army annihilating a battalion of the US Ordnance Army.
After this battle, the enemy troops in the strongholds of the Guanzhong Division fled in the wind, and five days later, the enemy security six regiments defending the town of Malan retreated without a fight. At this point, all the Guanzhong divisions have been recovered. The occupation of the Guanzhong Division by Hu Zongnan's forces lasted only 50 days.
Wang Shitai led three infantry regiments and hundreds of cavalry to fight more than a thousand kilometers in 22 days, successfully completing the task of recapturing Guanzhong given by General Peng, and effectively supporting the northwest field corps in the battles of Qinghua and Yangmahe.
After the reconquest of Guanzhong, the combat troops on the southern front had a solid support, and began to attack the enemy's rear, fighting guerrillas on the Sealand and Xianyu highways, pinning down the strength of the four entire brigades of the Nationalist army and effectively cooperating with the front line operations of the Northwest Field Corps.
On 15 July, the central authorities sent a telegram informing them that Liu Jie, commander of the 29th Army in southern Huzong, led 8 divisions of troops to try to encircle our Guanzhong Sub-district, causing the two regiments to jump out of the encirclement day and night.
When studying the direction of action of the troops, Gao Jinchun, commander of the First Police Brigade, and Liu Maogong, chief of staff, suggested that they first go south to the Jing River, go to the Xifu area, or cross the Xianyu Highway to the east, and insert themselves into the areas of Fuping and Pucheng, where the enemy forces are relatively weak, to find fighters.
Some leading comrades, on the other hand, advocated a rapid move north and a return to Longdong, the old base area of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, to recuperate and replenish the source of troops.
After fierce debate, the minority finally obeyed the majority, and the whole army decided to go northwest.
As soon as the troops withdrew from Guanzhong, the enemy army was pressed down from the huangling, Yijun, and Jiaoping lines. At this time, the two regiments of our army had already crossed the Meridian Ridge and retreated to Huan County in Longdong.
At the beginning of August, the main force of our Western Field stormed Yulin. The main enemy force invading the Guanzhong Subdistrict advanced north to reinforce Yulin, and the Guanzhong Subdistrict was empty, and our southern troops planned to depart from Huanxian County, pass through Heshui, cross the Meridian Ridge, first go to Ning County to rest, and then continue south and return to the Guanzhong Subdistrict.
On the evening of August 14, the 1st Police Brigade arrived at Chaiqiaozi, Yangjiayuanzi and other places to camp. Wang Shitai led the 5th Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, the 6th Cavalry Division, and the Guanzhong Prefectural Committee to camp in the Area of Xiwa on the east side of Jiu da Yuan.
After the first police brigade had finished arranging the vigilance, several leaders returned to the garrison to rest, and suddenly received a telegram from Wang Shitai, saying that two or three hundred enemy cavalry had caught up with them and were going to concentrate the main forces of the two regiments to annihilate this enemy.
At this time, the dinner had not yet been cooked, liu Maogong took Yu Zhanbiao, the commander of the second regiment, Ge Haizhou, the commander of the third regiment, and Liu Xie, the chief of the brigade's operations section, and the guards, unable to wait for dinner, wearing straw hats, and returning in the rain.
The road was muddy after dark, one step at a time, and it was only at dawn that we reached the camp of the headquarters, and everyone became mud men and mud horses.
Then there was the assignment of combat tasks: the enemy had two or three hundred cavalry, assembled at Pankori. Our army plans to set up an ambush on two flanks of the five regiments of the third brigade of the police, and the second regiment and the third regiment of the first brigade of the police will attack backwards. Fight to eat this enemy and seize the warhorses armed Guanzhong Prefectural Committee guerrillas. Combat organization is under the unified responsibility of the First Police Brigade.
However, the cadres of the First Police Brigade raised objections, and Chief of Staff Liu Maogong held that if the good do not come and the people who come are not good, this small group of enemies may have great intentions or may be on guard for large troops, and the enemy's situation is unclear and cannot be fought.
The deputy secretary of the Guanzhong Prefectural Party Committee was not happy to hear this: "The enemy has only ruined the common people, and he cannot let it go in vain!" Gotta hit it. Otherwise, how can the people support us? ”
Seeing that the local comrades had made such a statement, the cadres of the First Police Brigade had no choice but to gather troops and go to the predetermined combat site to make preparations.
The ambush position of the Fifth Regiment of the Third Police Brigade was opposite Pankori, separated by a large ditch, and after the rain, the morning fog was coming up from the bottom of the ditch, and it was a white expanse. Liu Maogong, chief of staff of the first brigade who had arrived at the ambush position earlier, raised his telescope and looked at the opposite side, and could not help but be surprised:
The people and horses on the opposite hillside were densely packed, not only two or three hundred people, but at least three or four thousand people! Moreover, the enemy troops were lining up, one to the northeast, one to the southwest, and the other path straight toward our ambush positions.
Just at this time, a certain leader came up. Liu Maogong handed him the telescope: "The enemy has come too much to fight." I saw that the first brigade had to quickly retreat to the high ground behind, build fortifications to prepare for resistance, and cover the southward retreat of the troops on this side. ”
A certain leader raised his telescope to look at it, and he couldn't help but get nervous: "How to reconnoiter!" The fifth regiment could not hold on at all, and had to call a brigade to come up! ”
Liu Maogong disagreed: "How can this work?" As soon as the troops come up, they will be surrounded by the enemy. ”
The two quarreled for a while, but a certain leader still insisted that the three regiments fight head-on, the sixth cavalry division and the second regiment fighting in the east, and the fifth regiment fighting in the west. The Third regiment and the fifth regiment were personally commanded by a certain leader, and the sixth cavalry division and the second regiment were handed over to Liu Maogong for command.
Liu Maogong saw that his tone was very resolute, and there was no room for negotiation, so he had to immediately run to command the troops and rush into the position.
Later, it was learned that ma jiajun first received information that our troops on the southern front were going to return to the Guanzhong sub-district, and that Ma Jiyuan, son of the Qinghai warlord Ma Bufang and commander of the Kuomintang Eighty-second Army, personally led the eighth brigade, the 100th brigade, the fifth regiment of independent cavalry, and 4 independent battalions, and a total of 8 regiments fully loaded followed our army south in a vain attempt to annihilate me in the Ningxian area.
Ma Jiyuan, the eldest son of Ma Bufang, the chief of Qingma. He was carefully cultivated by his father from an early age, and later graduated from the fifth phase of the Officer Training Class of the Kuomintang Central Army Officer School, the first phase of the General Officer Class of the Army University, and the fifth phase of the National Defense Research Institute.
In 1941, at the age of 20, Ma Jiyuan took charge of Ma Bufang's 82nd Army as a major general and deputy commander. His young man was ambitious, arrogant and arrogant, and his command was fierce and fierce, and he was regarded by Ma Jiajun as a rising star and a young marshal.
However, our army only has two regiments and three regiments of the first brigade of the police, five regiments of the third brigade of the police, and 4 regiments of the sixth cavalry division, and the actual strength of the troops is about 1:6 compared with the enemy army, and the combat effectiveness is only the third regiment of the first brigade of the police and the fifth regiment of the third brigade of the police, and the situation is extremely unfavorable.
Not long after, the enemy had found the three regiments that were frontally deployed and launched an attack, and the killing sound was tremendous, and the guns and guns were fired in unison. The three regiments fought hard, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy and repelling them.
After the enemy adjusted its strength, it launched another charge, and the overseer team swung a knife and a gun behind to drive the soldiers forward. The three regiments fought hard and fought hard, and the three battalions of the vanguard held out at the mountain beam for 10 hours, and the enemy suffered heavy casualties. The losses of our army were not small, and the "Mu Guang Cheng Platoon" of the second battalion and five companies defending on the left side of the third battalion all died heroically. Comrade Mu Guangcheng is an old Red Army member who participated in the Western Route Army.
The soldiers who held their positions had no water to drink or food to eat. Yang Zhengmin, deputy commander of the Sixth Cavalry Division, somehow got an enamel teapot noodle from nowhere and gave the cadres two bites each.
Ma Jiajun raided for a day, seeing that the front could not be defeated, so he turned his troops to the west to attack the left wing, and the five regiments of the third brigade of the police were caught off guard, and the position was broken. In order to avoid casualties, a certain leader of the Third Police Brigade quickly gathered the troops and withdrew.
As soon as the fifth regiment withdrew, the flanks of the three regiments were completely exposed to the enemy, and Ma Jiyuan commanded the troops to attack the sixth cavalry division and the second police regiment on the right flank, and the sixth cavalry division fought back in taoshuzhuang to the northeast, and the fight was very hard, and zhang Yaxiong, the leader of the third regiment, and Zhao Zheng, the political commissar, were both wounded.
The situation was obvious, and Ma Jiajun obviously occupied the two wings first, and then ate the three police regiments that were defending head-on. The three regiments of the police resolutely withdrew from their positions, retreating while fighting, and the enemy pursued them while fighting, and chased our army all the way to Meridian Ridge.
It was dark, and the enemy did not dare to venture forward, so they gathered their troops and retreated.
At about ninety o'clock in the evening, the troops arrived at Wulidun (belonging to Ning County) in the Meridian Ridge for a temporary rest. Except for the early withdrawal and basic integrity of the five regiments of the third brigade of the police, the other regiments suffered heavy losses.
The three regiments fought the hardest, with two companies of casualties, and together with the enemy attacks on the direct subordinate organs and logistics departments of the first brigade stationed in Chaiqiaozi, the total number of personnel was reduced by more than 500 people.
In response to the Majiajun attack, the leading cadres at and above the regimental level of the southern front held a centralized meeting, and everyone talked about it for several hours without a single unanimous opinion.
Liu Maogong shouted, "At this time, what meeting will be held!" The enemy situation is so clear, what else to study? It is now a matter of commanders making up their minds. In my opinion, the local party and government organs, the Logistics Department, the Ministry of Health, the Cultural and Labor Corps, and so on should be withdrawn south to the old base areas in Guanzhong, hurry up, and leave now! Don't take the main road, specially drill ravines and woods, until dawn can go out sixty or seventy miles, you will be safe. The combat troops retreated eastward into the mountains to preserve their living forces! ”
Major General Liu Maogong, chief of staff of the First Police Brigade
After speaking, everyone was silent for a while. Liu Maogong added: "If you don't do this, I'm afraid we are all in danger!" ”
So Wang Shitai made up his mind: "Well, just do it!" He and Gao Jinchun, commander of the First Police Brigade, led the three regiments of the first brigade and the sixth cavalry division to withdraw first, ordered Liu Mao to take cover of the second regiment of the first brigade of the police brigade and the fifth regiment of the third brigade of the police, and asked Liu Maogong to persist on the mountain until after dawn before retreating.
The second and fifth regiments stepped up their vigilance on the mountain, and the rotation rested for a while, and nothing happened. By dawn, the cover mission had been completed, and he withdrew from the battle with confidence and rushed forward.
The troops had just descended into the ditch and found that the men of the Sixth Cavalry Division were making breakfast in the ditch and did not rush forward. The Five Regiments of the Third Police Brigade urged them to leave quickly. While shouting, the five regiments sped forward and reached the camel neck, the main road leading to Guanzhong.
The terrain of the camel is precarious, with dark mountains towering from the north and south, and a mountain beam protruding between the two narrow ditches, which can choke the passages on both sides, so named because of its resembling the neck of a camel. Further east, you can reach Huangling County in Shaanxi Province.
After the troops arrived, the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Regiment occupied camels first to cover the retreat of the troops. As soon as the second battalion went up the hill, the large troops of the Ma family army chased after it, and the fierce battle was until noon, and the position of the second battalion of the fifth regiment was precarious.
Our army immediately ordered the four companies with the strongest combat effectiveness of the second regiment to reinforce, and the four companies suddenly went up, made a surprise attack from the flank, and fought fiercely for 4 hours before repelling the Majia army, with 97 people in the whole company, and only 17 people were left after the war.
After the Ma family army retreated, the second battalion and the fourth company merged into one, rolling down the hillside to get out of danger.
The danger was far from over, and when ma jiajun saw our army retreating northward, it immediately pursued it, and Ge Haizhou and the three police regiments covered the retreat of the first and third brigades of the police and the logistics and cavalry sixth divisions in Wanjialiang, and fought for a whole day.
In order to narrow the target, the breakthrough troops decided to divide the troops into several roads: the third brigade of the police brigade and the fifth regiment and the first road, the southern command headquarters and the police three regiments and one road, the first brigade of the police brigade and the second regiment of the police, the sixth cavalry division all the way, scattered the breakthrough.
The breakout troops drilled the tops of the forest, descended deep ditches, climbed high mountains, and retreated while fighting. The enemy cavalry got on their horses one moment and dismounted the next, and they pursued them relentlessly. The warriors fought for two days and one night in a row, without eating, drinking, or sleeping, hungry and tired, and their legs were as heavy as lead.
The cadres constantly encouraged: "Don't stop, don't fall behind, stand out is victory!" Help the warriors who are left behind to catch up with the team.
The troops climbed a mountain beam, and below it was a cliff, but the cliff wall was covered with bushes of trees. The warriors all grabbed the branches and went down, but the enemy cavalry did not dare to come down, and the people shouted at the horses for a while and withdrew.
Nie Derong, commander of the special service battalion of the First Police Brigade, was an old Red Army soldier in northern Shaanxi, his health was not good, plus he had not eaten for two days and one night, he really could not run, he sat in the ditch and could not get up, and begged the guards to say: "Give me a shot, even if my old Nie Revolution is the end!" ”
The guards ran to Liu Maogong in tears. Liu Maogong transferred three soldiers from the Second Regiment and got Nie Derong up. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Nie Derong served as the commander of the Tianjin Garrison District and died in the early 1980s.
Of the three roads, the most dangerous ones were the Southern Front Headquarters and the Three Regiments of Police, and the enemy seemed to know that there were high officials there, and mobilized the cavalry to pursue them desperately. Ge Haizhou and Cao Guangzhi led three regiments to block the second attack, covering the retreat of Wang Shitai and other commanders.
The battle was fought from morning to night, and the main regiment of more than 2,000 soldiers a few days ago had only three battalions intact, leaving less than 800 men
The Third Police Regiment is the old foundation of the Shaanxi-Gansu Red Army, suppressing bandits, counter-friction, "welcoming the king" to fight, and recovering Guanzhong, fighting dozens of battles large and small, and it can be said that they have made outstanding achievements and are invincible in all directions. Now that three-quarters of the time has been lost in just 3 days, how can we not make people tear their hearts and lungs and their hearts ache!
After completing the cover mission, the three regiments retreated westward and rendezvoused with the brigade of the first brigade of the police and the second regiment of the police.
In the evening of the same day, cadres at and above the regimental level of the first brigade of the police held a meeting to discuss the next action of the troops.
A few comrades believe that now that the enemy is strong and we are weak, and the pursuing troops are still behind, our army should be reduced to pieces, turn the two regiments into small units of companies, platoons, and squads, go up to the mountains to fight guerrillas, and wait for the main leading comrades to return before trying to find a way to rally them.
Group photo of the leaders of the 1st Police Brigade who experienced the fighting
Liu Maogong resolutely opposed it, advocating, first, concentrating the troops and clenching this fist; second, actively sheltering the scattered commanders and fighters so that they could return to the troops as soon as possible; and third, mobilizing the local masses to clean up the battlefield, bury the remains of comrades who had sacrificed their lives, and rescue comrades who were injured and stranded nearby.
Most of the comrades did not have a positive opinion, and finally the deputy political commissar of the brigade insisted: "It is so decided, change into plain clothes and hide, and immediately disperse the action." ”
The next morning, after the troops dispersed, the brigade commander and a dozen men from the guard squad formed a group and headed south. Liu Maogong rode on his horse while walking and continued to loudly insist on the idea of concentrating on the breakthrough. The deputy political commissar did not say a word and just left.
After walking for about half an hour, the deputy political commissar directly dismounted: "Don't leave first, then discuss and discuss!" Comrade Zuo Ai, director of the political department of the brigade, also said: "Such a dispersion is not a solution. ”
The deputy political commissar had no choice but to say, "Then do as Maogong advises!" "At that time, although the troops had dispersed and had not gone far, they were all gathered in less than an hour.
The Second and Third Regiments went south to the old base area of Guanzhong to clear the water source, hid in several villages near Gancaoping, and found Ren Chengyu, director of the Security Department of the Guanzhong Prefectural Committee, who had a radio station. The First Police Brigade used this radio station to send a telegram to He Long, commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Jinsui Joint Defense Force, and reported on the situation of the troops.
Commander He Long called back and ordered the troops to be concentrated, to send people to shelter the scattered personnel, to clean up the battlefield, and to wait for the right time to break through.
A few days after arriving in Gancaoping, the First Police Brigade received a report from the masses that a battalion of the Second Provisional Brigade in the south of Huzong had come out of Xunyi County, and it seemed that it was going to cooperate with the attack of the Ma family army.
Some comrades advocated retreating south to Chunhua in order to avoid the enemy's attack. Gao Jinchun patted the table: "We can't withdraw, there are still many comrades scattered everywhere, once we withdraw, the comrades who want to return to the team will not be able to find us." Besides, the enemy has only one battalion, and we have two regiments that can hit him. ”
After fierce debate, it was finally decided to gather the second and third regiments and ambush them in the villages on both sides of the enemy's direction, and a company blocked it head-on. After the enemy has entered the effective range, the two sides are simultaneously pinched.
After a fierce battle, our army annihilated two companies of the enemy, and finally fought a battle of annihilation with a raised eyebrow. At the same time, Ma Jiajun also went deep into our base area for several days, afraid of entering the pockets of our army, and also withdrew from the Guanzhong Sub-district, and our army turned the crisis into safety.
The battle of Jiudanyuan in Ningxian County was fought for three consecutive days and two nights (from the morning of August 15 to the night of August 17), and our army killed one each of the enemy's main and deputy brigade commanders, two regimental commanders, and annihilated more than 1,700 enemy troops.
Although our army initially reduced a lot of personnel, because it was an internal battle, many of the fallen and wounded soldiers evaded the butcher knives of the Majia army under the cover of the masses in the base area, and soon returned to the army. After the war, the estimated casualties were around 800.
The history of warfare concluded that it was a defeated battle. But some people still think it was a victory. How should it be evaluated? The author believes that in the spirit of seeking truth from facts, it should be admitted that this is a serious defeat:
First, the enemy army is taking the initiative to attack, we are in a hurry to respond to the battle, passive retreat, or we are chased by the enemy and run, and we are beaten up in a chaotic manner, but because of the advantages of internal combat, the total attrition of our army is not much.
Secondly, in this battle our army captured only forty enemy soldiers (i.e., one battalion of the ambushed Provisional Second Brigade) and captured only thirty long and short guns. However, some cadres and fighters of our army were taken away by the Majia army, and mountain artillery, mortars, heavy machine guns, and other weapons were all abandoned in order to be lightly armed during the breakout, and they fought an encounter that was not worth the loss.