After every battle, Su Yu always grasped three things first: he wanted the troops participating in the battle to collect the enemy's telegram code for research and deciphering; It is necessary for the units under the staff officers to understand the combat situation and combat experience and the performance of commanders at all levels in combat; Talk to the captured senior enemy generals, ask them to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of our army's combat practices, and talk about the command characteristics of the enemy generals they know.
In particular, the situation of commanders of units at and above the enemy's divisional and brigade levels has been clearly understood, from their resumes, military attainments, command ability, combat personality, combat style, age, personality, specialties, and hobbies, as well as their contradictions with each other. Among the materials he carried with him, in addition to the roster of photographs attached to cadres at and above the regimental level, there were also information cards classified by officers at and above the enemy division level.
Even his mastery and understanding of the enemy situation often exceeded that of the staff officers. In this way, once he fights with the enemy, he can find the weaknesses of the strong enemy from it, formulate corresponding tactics, and make clever use of them: if the other party is suspicious, I can set up more suspicious soldiers; If the other party is a fierce general, we will come to a set of soft ones.
He has had a savage evaluation of many generals of the Nationalist Army.
After the Battle of Laiwu, Chiang Kai-shek abolished Xu Sui's office, transferred Xue Yue, and Stationed in Xuzhou with Gu Zhutong, who unified command of the kuomintang troops of the former Xuzhou and Zhengzhou Sui Bureaus.
Su Yu commented that Xue Yue was astute and decisive in using his troops, while Gu Shitong had always been a defeated general under our army, which was tantamount to replacing capable people with mediocre talents. The change of senior military commanders is a symbol of the Kuomintang's poverty and eventual collapse.
To Du Yuming, Su Yu commented: Du Yuming can only win the battle, not lose the battle; War can only be fought under favorable conditions, not under unfavorable conditions. During the Indo-Burmese war, he had American supplies and was in the limelight. In the northeast, there are trains, ships, and planes. But this time, we were surrounded by the Yongcheng area, unable to stand out, unable to hold on, and annihilated by us.
To Qiu Qingquan of the Fifth Army, Su Yu said: He has always been Huaye's opponent in search of annihilation. The combat effectiveness of the Fifth Army was slightly worse than that of the Seventy-fourth Division, comparable to that of the Eighteenth Army, and each had its own strengths. Qiu Qingquan is good at fighting a slippery head battle, and has a bad relationship with friends and neighbors. He didn't have much difficulty in solving it this time.
In the Battle of Jinan, Su Yu faced his old rival Wang Yaowu. In the previous Battle of Laiwu, the East China Field Army had planned to annihilate Li Xianzhou's group from the east to the west. However, Wang Yaowu, unlike Chiang Kai-shek Chen Cheng, judged that Hua Ye had an attempt to go north, and immediately ordered Li Xianzhou to retreat north. This impressed Yu.
Summing up the lessons learned from the Laiwu Campaign, Su Yu said: "Our understanding of the enemy's situation is not enough, especially Wang Yaowu's command characteristics. If we learn that Wang Yaowu's character is bold and decisive, and can order his troops to retreat hundreds of miles a day and a night, then we can boldly insert our troops near Jinan, so that the enemy Twelfth Army will not be able to escape. ”
Therefore, when deploying the Jinan Campaign, Su Yu stressed: Wang Yaowuzhi's command, after more than a year of understanding, is a more capable commander in Chiang Kai-shek's army, and this factor must be taken into account when deploying offensive and rescue operations.