Author: Old Streets and Alleys
Statement: Soldiers say original, plagiarism will be investigated
In early 1950, after the end of the southern Yunnan pursuit and annihilation, Chen Geng, commander of the Erye 4th Corps, led his elite generals to kill Xichang, the last major stronghold of the Chiang army on the mainland.
Interestingly, the general stationed in Xichang was None other than Chen Geng's old classmate and defeated general, Hu Zongnan.
In the early days of the Liberation War, Hu Zongnan had just thrown his old capital, the "First Brigade under Heaven," into Jinnan, and was eaten clean by Chen Geng. This time, his opponent was Chen Geng again. After learning of the battle, Hu Zongnan sighed: "Any battle I command will inevitably have to fight with Chen Geng." For decades, there was not a single victory. This time is probably the last battle I fought on the mainland, and the situation should change! ”
Chen Geng on the other side also sighed, "It's not that the wrongdoers don't get together!" ”
Hu Zongnan, who was regarded by Chiang as a "firefighter", repeatedly lost to his Huangpu classmate Chen Geng
Hu Zongnan has always been regarded by Chiang as the "last hole card" to deal with the "most difficult situation". But not long ago, he let Jiang shi down. When the Battle of Chengdu began in December 1949, Hu Zongnan swore an oath at the operational meeting: "I have already made up my mind to die for the country!" "A meticulous breakout plan was also carried out for the subordinate units. Who knew that the next day, the commander-in-chief threw off his troops, got on the plane he had already prepared, and secretly fled to Hainan. Within a few days, its main force was wiped out and Chengdu was liberated.
The angry and corrupt Jiang Shi charged Hu Zongnan with "leaving the ranks without asking for instructions" and asked Gu Zhutong to go to Hainan Island to "investigate and deal with it." This scared Hu Zongnan half to death, and he flew from Haikou to Xichang on December 28 to "dai sin and make meritorious contributions".
Xichang is the home of Chiang's business for many years. As early as the liberation of Lanzhou, Hu Zongnan repeatedly planned to flee to Xichang. When Erye marched to the southwest, he also urged the withdrawal of troops to Xichang in order to flee abroad in a critical moment, for which he also praised it as "preserving the living forces and preparing for the coming Japanese counteroffensive." However, Chiang resolutely disagreed, resulting in most of the main force being annihilated in the Sichuan Basin, and only a few fish that escaped into the net fled to Xichang.
The day after Hu arrived in Xichang, Jiang sent a telegram from Taiwan Island with a burning 100,000. He was asked to "hold on to Xichang for three months and wait for the international situation to change." But Hu Zongnan searched all the troops and only gathered 30,000 troops. He knew that Xichang would be difficult to hold and that he had to premeditate a retreat. However, due to Jiang's orders, Hu could only hide in Xichangli to "hold on".
[He Guoguang (1885-1969), the "commander of city defense" who held Xichang with Hu Zongnan. Although its subordinates have the numbers of the 2nd, 27th, 56th, 124th Army and other departments, they can be counted as the Xichang Garrison Division, and the total strength is only 30,000 people.
The army advanced to the southwest
After Hu Zongnan entered Xichang, he waited left and right, but he did not wait for Chen Geng to attack. It turned out that the old classmate had played a trick with him. First liberated Yunnan and set Xichang aside. As a result, as soon as Yunnan was liberated, the remnants of Hu Zongnan in Xichang had no way to retreat. Just when he was panicking, on March 12, 1950, Chen Geng led a total of 17 regiments of the 14th, 15th, and 62nd Armies to attack Xichang.
Hu suddenly panicked. He hid in Jiang's xingying in Xichang and QiuHai's new village, and spent all day with a sad face and a hard time sitting. If you want to run, you are afraid of Jiang's rebuke; you are stubborn, afraid of becoming a prisoner of our army. In the early morning of March 24, his subordinates suddenly broke into his headquarters and reported him an important message: "The enemy is now attacking Huili, and within a day it can attack Xichang." Hu Zongnan hurriedly found a few close associates to discuss countermeasures. After the meeting, he ordered Gu Jiehou, commander of the 124th Army, to "be sure to hold on to Huili City for one day." At the same time, Zhu Guangzu, commander of the 2nd Division, was ordered to withdraw from the Ningnan area and immediately send reinforcements to the areas of Huili and Dechang. In addition, Hu also ordered Hu Changqing, commander of the 5th Corps north of Xichang and commander of the 67th Army, to hold out at Dashu Fort for several days.
Although it was all a few days. However, the last time he escaped from the front in Chengdu, the generals were very distrustful of the commander-in-chief. They pressed Hu and asked, "Do you want to leave Xichang immediately?" ”
Hu was very embarrassed, and could only change the subject: "You should gather all the troops in Xichangli and hold on to Dechang (which is 20 kilometers away from Xichang) for two or three days!" ”
Hu Zongnan's intentions are very obvious. He wanted to keep it for another 4 days, that is, until March 28, so that he could make up enough to "stick to it for 3 months", so that even if he slipped away, he could also account to Jiang. Subsequently, he and his cronies secretly agreed on a "breakout plan" - to go to Muli via Dechang to Yanyuan and then to Tibet. After crossing the Himalayas, he fled to India and then to Taiwan Island.
In this regard, Hu also pretended to say: "Let Zhao Longwen and He Guoguang fly to Taiwan Island to report the situation before our action, and I will stay and act with you!" ”
Unbeknownst to his cronies, this was just a lie made up by Hu Zongnan to deceive them.
During the Liberation War, Su Yu, Zeng Xisheng and Chen Geng took a group photo (from left to right)
I don't know who leaked the news that "the People's Liberation Army is going to attack Xichang," causing everyone in the city to endanger themselves. In the early morning of March 25, Tang Shizun, the chairman of Sichuan who had just been appointed by Chiang Kai-shek, and Yang Ren'an, commander of the New 2nd Army, fled Xichang. The city was in chaos. As for Chief Hu's trick of slipping away, his cronies are not unknown. Zhou Shimian, Li Youlong, and others even moved their residences to the side of Hu Zongnan's chief of staff, Luo Lie. They thought that Hu Zongnan would take his chief of staff with him when he escaped this time.
At this time, the situation in Xichang City was already very critical. Several of his cronies surrounded Hu and told him to "take action." But Hu was always unsure of his whereabouts. Finally, he threw down a sentence: "You have prepared your luggage, supplies, and transportation, and when I consider the specific departure time, I will inform you immediately." ”
Until the morning of the 26th, Hu Zongnan also asked Luo Lie to deceive his subordinates. Claimed: "Mr. Hu has decided to leave Xichang at 5 o'clock on the 27th and let He Guoguang fly to Taiwan Island tonight. And we will flee with him to Tibet via Lugu via Luding. Who knew that at 11:10 p.m. that night, when the main force of the 44th Division of the 15th Army was only 15 kilometers away from Xichang, Hu Zongnan left his staff behind, once again secretly boarded a plane, and fled.
It took more than an hour for the cronies to learn that Chief Hu had escaped. The crowd scolded in unison, "This stupid pig has always been in charge of himself, completely ignoring the lives and deaths of the people below!" ”
The opponents were not honest, and the same means were used against Hu Zongnan of the Jiang clan. Before fleeing on the night of March 26, he deliberately handed over a telegram to Chiang. The content first talked about the urgency of the situation, and then said that the 3-month sticking was completed. In addition, it will go from Xichang to Haikou at 2:00 a.m. on the 27th to turn to Taiwan. The Southwest Military and Political Governor's Office and the rest of the troops will decide to drop it after they have moved from western Yunnan under the leadership of Luo Lie. At the end of the telegram, he filled in at 1 a.m. on March 27. In this regard, Hu also repeatedly reminded the list:
"It must be issued on time, and it must not be sent early or late, so as not to expose the horse's feet!"
Unlike Hu Zongnan, who fled by plane, Luo Lie did not reach Taiwan Island until 1951
Not long after Hu Zongnan's plane took off, our army rushed into the airfield outside Xichang City. The rest of the troops also quickly advanced into Xichang City. At this time, Jiang's army was defeated and scattered in the mountains around Xichang, either starving to death, freezing to death on the way to escape, or being taken prisoner. Very few escaped alive.
The Battle of Xichang ended in Chen Geng's victory.
Hu Zongnan lost clean this time. With the destruction of the army in his hands, this "Northwest King", who was once hot in front of Chiang Kai-shek and had empty eyes, finally fell from the peak of power and became a cloud of past smoke.
[Deeply cultivate the history of war, carry forward positive energy, soldiers say that all parties are welcome to submit articles, private messages will be restored]