Battles are like chess games. Each battle has its own key nodes. The key node of the Liaoshen Campaign was Jinzhou. When the Northeast Field Army captured Jinzhou, it closed the gates inside and outside the gate, forming a situation of "closing the door and fighting dogs". For hundreds of thousands of national troops in the northeast region, fate was already doomed from the moment Jinzhou fell.
So, where is the key node of the Huaihai Campaign?
One
In the 28th episode of CCTV's revolutionary history TV series "The Great Armageddon", our army took SuXian In Anhui (present-day Suzhou City, Anhui Province) as the key node of the Huaihai Campaign: "Suxian is like Jinzhou in the Liaoshen Campaign, we must build another Jinzhou in Huaihai, and close the door again to fight dogs!" ”
Su County is located in the north of Anhui Province, bordering Suqian City and Xuzhou City in Jiangsu Province to the northeast, Bengbu City in Anhui Province to the south, and Shangqiu City in Henan Province and Heze City in Shandong Province to the west. This is an ancient city, which belonged to the territory of the Su Kingdom as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. Since more than 2000, the jurisdiction and name of Suxian County have changed many times. In 1912, it was renamed Su County again.
At the beginning of the Battle of Huaihai, the main target of the East China Field Army was Huang Baitao's 7th Corps, which chased this army from Xin'an Town to Nianzhuang Town. During this period, the fighting was mainly concentrated on the outskirts of Xuzhou. The attack and blockade, rescue and rescue on both sides are inseparable from this range.
Two
However, as the scale of the campaign continued to expand and the number of troops joining the regiment increased repeatedly, the situation on the Huaihai battlefield underwent subtle changes.
On the one hand, Huang Wei's 12th Corps drove from Zhumadian, Henan to Mengcheng, Anhui Province, and most likely passed through Suxian County to rescue Huang Baitao's Corps. Huang Wei's 12th Corps is a fully mechanized American equipment corps, with 4 corps, 1 cavalry regiment, 1 tank battalion, 1 artillery battalion, a total of more than 100,000 people, is one of the main corps of the Nationalist Army, strong combat effectiveness. If Huang Wei's 12th Corps is really allowed to get close to Huang Baitao, it will definitely increase the great pressure on the East China Field Army.
On the other hand, after Xuzhou's "General Suppression Army" found that the Northeast Field Army was showing signs of attacking Xuzhou, he transferred Sun Yuanliang's 16th Corps, which was originally stationed in Suxian County, to the vicinity of Xuzhou, so as to fill the defense gap left by Qiu Qingquan's 2nd Corps and Li Mi's 13th Corps to reinforce Huang Baitao. In this way, Suxian was empty, leaving an opportunity for the Central Plains Field Army to take advantage of.
Three
Therefore, our army immediately made a decision and put forward a plan for the Central Plains Field Army to capture SuXian County. If the Central Plains Field Army can capture Suxian County, it will bring new changes to the entire Huaihai battlefield.
The first was to intercept Huang Wei's 12th Corps outside the Xuzhou battlefield, so that the East China Field Army could free up its hands and concentrate on annihilating Huang Baitao's corps.
The second is to "cut off the waist" of the military deployment of the national army. At that time, the military deployment of the Nationalist army in the Huaihai battlefield was like a "long snake". The Xuzhou guarded by Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi, Sun Yuanliang, and Huang Baitao is the "snake head", the Bengbu garrisoned by Li Yannian's 6th Corps and Liu Ruming's 8th Corps is the "snake's tail", and the Xu Beng section of the Jinpu Railway between Xuzhou and Bengbu in the middle is the "snake body". The midpoint of the Xuben section of the Jinpu Railway is right in Suxian County. After the Central Plains Field Army captured Su County, it was able to break the connection between Xuzhou and Bengbu.
Third, Suxian is an important supply base for Xuzhou's "suppression of the general". After the Central Plains Field Army captures Su County, it will put Xuzhou in a Jedi where grain and ammunition are cut off.
Fourth, after the Zhongyuan Field Army controlled the Xuben section of the Jinpu Railway by capturing Su County, it would completely block several regiments of the Nationalist army near Xuzhou in the Huaihai battlefield, once again forming a situation of "closing the door and fighting dogs."
Four
Of course, it was not an easy task for the Central Plains Field Army to attack Suxian County.
Defending Su County was Zhang Jiwu, deputy commander of the Jinpu Road Command, with the 148th Division under his command. Although the 148th Division was not a subordinate unit, it was well armed. At the same time, Suxian has a moat about 8 miles long and about 20 meters wide, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Zhang Jiwu also relied on the tall city wall, equipped with armored vehicles, sandbags, barbed wire and other fortifications. In the buildings in the city, many shooting holes are also set up.
Moreover, when the Central Plains Field Army jumped into the Dabie Mountains for thousands of miles, it lost all its heavy weapons because it had to move forward lightly. After coming out of Dabie Mountain, the Central Plains Field Army was not supplemented by a large number of heavy weapons. It is conceivable that the Central Plains Field Army lacks the heavy weapons necessary for the siege of the city, and will face great difficulties when attacking Suxian County.
The Central Plains Field Army advanced in spite of difficulties. After receiving the order to attack Suxian County, the Central Plains Field Army, with the 3rd Column as the main attack and the 9th Column as the support, officially began the siege on November 15. Under the stubborn attack of the commanders and fighters of the Central Plains Field Army, the Nationalist army collapsed one after another. At about 3:00 a.m. on November 16, the Central Plains Field Army finally captured Suxian and won the Battle of Suxian.
On the same day that the Central Plains Field Army occupied Suxian County, our army set up the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign and commanded the entire Huaihai Campaign. The "Little Huaihai", which had the goal of eliminating Huang Baitao's 7th Corps, became the "Great Huaihai" for the decisive battle on the southern front.