Author: Forget about the jianghu
Hu Lian, by some articles, has been called "super intelligent and super courageous, standing out from the flock, and a good general who is difficult to find in eternity".
Hu Lian is actually more "tough" than Zhang Lingfu, more "loyal" than Huang Baitao, and more "strategic" than Huang Wei. Legend has it that Chairman Mao once wrote a letter to the front-line generals: "Hu Lian of the Eighteenth Army is as cunning as a fox and as brave as a tiger. It is advisable to avoid it, preserve strength, and wait for the opportunity to win. Although this statement needs to be examined, Hu Lian does have both "tiger nature" and "fox nature". Yang Botao once recalled that Hu Lian had obtained a combat diary of a commander of the Erye Regiment and studied it in depth.
Liu Bocheng, the "god of war", and Su Yu, the "god of war", were two talented warriors, both suffered great losses in front of Hu Lian.
Military god Liu Bocheng
In June 1946, the Liberation War broke out in full swing, and the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army won consecutive battles: in august the Battle of Longhai, more than 16,000 people were annihilated in 2 brigades and 5 security regiments. In September, the Battle of Dingtao, in which more than 17,000 people of Zhao Xitian's reorganized Third Division was annihilated at Dayang Lake and Xiaoyang Lake, shaking Nanjing.
In mid-September, Gu Zhutong concentrated 6 divisions to encircle Liu Bocheng, and in late September, the 5th Army approached Longguji west of Juye, and the reorganized 11th Division advanced to Zhang Fengji, south of Juye. Subsequently, a fierce battle broke out in the small and unknown village of Juye.
On October 3, the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army concentrated the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th Columns and the Independent Brigade of the Jiluyu Military Region to launch the Battle of Juye, with 1 column blocking the 5th Army west of Longguji and three columns besieging the entire 11th Brigade of the 11th Division of the Zhangsuoji.
Hu Lian participated in the Battle of Dangyang Blockade, the Battle of Shipai Fortress, the Battle of Xiangxi, and the Battle of Xuefeng Mountain, and his combat effectiveness was not inferior to that of Zhang Lingfu of the 74th Army. The entire Eleventh Division has strong firepower, strong coordination and defensive capabilities, and a strong fighting spirit. Liu Deng's 20th Brigade, 59th Regiment, 58th Regiment Wu Zhong, and 63rd Regiment Chief of Staff Zhang Xingchen led two battalions plus two companies to break into the village, and only 180 people remained in the end. After 5 days of fierce fighting, the 32nd Regiment of the 11th Brigade of Hu Lian's entire 11th Division was annihilated by more than 3,000 people, but more than 200 people of the regimental commander Zhang Muxian escaped. More than 5,300 enemy were annihilated in this battle, and Liu Deng lost more than 5,000 people.
Neither side was satisfied with the battle, with Hu Lian accusing Qiu Qingquan of ineffective rescue, and Liu Bocheng repeatedly reviewing the "horns of the cattle" as unwise.
Liu Deng in the Liberation War
In May 1947, Hu Lian's entire 11th Division, 74th Division, and 5th Army attacked Shandong together, and Su Yu set up an ambush in Xintai and surrounded Hu Lian with 4 columns. However, Ou Zhen's three corps were quickly reinforced, and Qiu Qingquan's Fifth Army was also very active, and Su Yu took the initiative to withdraw from the siege and find another target.
Ten days later, the arrogant Zhang Lingfu reorganized the 74th Division at Menglianggu and the entire army was destroyed.
In July 1947, Huaye "Divided troops in July", and Su Yu concentrated four columns of three regiments of the Garu Central Military Region to attack Nanma. Hu Lian predicted in advance that Hua Ye might attack and built fortifications in advance, including a large number of Zimu Forts, and Su Yu's siege troops suffered a lot. Huaye's four columns attacked for 5 days, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. God didn't help either, and a heavy rain fell for 7 days, which seriously affected the attack.
Huang Baitao's entire 25th and 64th Divisions broke through the reinforcement positions and approached step by step. In order to gain the initiative, Su Yu was forced to retreat.
In September 1947, Su Yu Chen Yi annihilated the entire Fifty-seventh Division at Dingtaotu Mountain. Subsequently, it encountered the entire Eleventh Division on the front line of DayiJi and Tushanji, and the two armies fought fiercely again. Hu Lian was still the old way, digging fortifications to shrink the defense, Su Yu attacked the 18th Brigade of Tushan Ji with three columns and eight columns, and blocked Dayi in four columns to help the enemy. After many days of fierce fighting, reinforcements from the Fifth Army, the entire Seventy-fifth Division, and the Entire Tenth Division approached, and Su Yu had to give up again.
In this battle, Huaye suffered more than 4,400 casualties, and the entire Eleventh Division suffered more than 3,500 casualties, which was another fierce battle that was not worth the loss.
Su Yu, who commanded the operation in front of the map
In September 1947, Liu Deng advanced to Dabie Mountain, and Hu Lian's eleventh division became the most difficult opponent.
On December 13, Liu Bocheng, who was heading north to the Huai River, and Yang Yong, a column, encountered Hu Lian's 11th Division and Luo Guangwen's 10th Division at Beixiangdian in Guangshan County, Henan Province, and an extremely tragic "rallying number" battle broke out in the history of the war, and Dai Runsheng's Second Brigade insisted on a bloody battle until dark.
Soon after crossing the Huai River in the north, in January 1948, Liu Deng sent Wu Zhong's 20th Brigade to move westward in Xincai to attract Hu Lian to cover the main force to rest in the area north of Xiangcheng. On 10 January, the 20th Brigade was surrounded by the mechanized Eleventh Division at Baoxinji, and in the evening, the entire Tenth Division arrived. During the breakout, the 59th Regiment of Wu Zhong's 20th Brigade suffered heavy losses, with a battalion of more than 400 losses and only more than 80 people returning.
Jiang Jun hyped up the "great victory of Bao Xinji", and Liu Deng also issued a "fine": Wu Zhong, Liu Zhenguo, and Li Jue gave serious warnings; Dong Zhenghong, commander of the 59th Regiment, was dismissed from his post; The political commissar of the 59th Regiment, Yin Fa Tang, was greatly overstated; and Li Yingzheng, deputy instructor of the 1st Battalion of the 59th Regiment, escaped from the battle and was sentenced to death!
On January 15, Liu Deng, Wei Jie, deputy commander of the Sixth Column, Xiao Yongyin Brigade headquarters of the 18th Brigade, and 5 battalions were attacked by Hu Lian's 18th Brigade at Wangjiadian, and more than 200 people directly under the brigade were captured, and the four mountain guns of the artillery company were also lost. Jiang Ke, political commissar of the 52nd Regiment, Wu Xiaoxian and Yu Yongxian of the 1st Battalion were punished with warnings!
On January 26, 1948, Liu Deng called Chairman Mao: "Our current situation is that the troops are extremely inadequate, and the ammunition is gradually difficult. Without the assistance of friends and neighbors, at least the eleventh division will be transferred away, and the assembly of troops will be difficult. ”
Hu Lian, a famous general who is "cunning as a fox"
By the time the War of Liberation entered the second half of 1948, Liu Deng's Nakano and Su Yu's Huaye had already formed a balance of power over Chiang Kai-shek's army in the Central Plains.
In the second phase of the Battle of Huaihai, Huang Wei's twelve corps were surrounded by double piles. As early as the formation of the corps, Hu Lian, who had not become the commander, was very dissatisfied with the mixing of Bai Chongxi and Luo Guangwen and left the team. Later, he was invited back to serve as the deputy commander of the Twelve Corps.
However, this time Hu Lian no longer had the good luck and strength of the past, the last five main twelve corps were completely destroyed, Hu Lian fled in a tank, Huang Wei was not so lucky, the tank did not run far before it broke anchor, and was taken prisoner into Gongdelin.
In October 1949, Hu Lian's 12th Corps and Li Liangrong's 22nd Corps, in the village of Guningtou in the northwest corner of Kinmen, almost all of the 9,000 commanders and fighters of the Sanye 28th Army were destroyed.
Schematic of the Battle of Kinmen
Of course, at this time, the general trend of national liberation was unstoppable, and the coastal islands were liberated one after another. In 1951, Hu Lian sent agents to infiltrate the mainland to conduct guerrilla attacks in Kinmen, and was swept away in less than a week.
On the afternoon of August 23, 1958, our army bombarded Kinmen with ten thousand shells, fired more than 40,000 shells in 2 hours, and the three deputy commanders who chatted on the island were all hit, Zhao Jiajun and Zhang Jie were killed on the spot, Ji Xingwen was seriously injured and died, and even "Defense Minister" Yu Dawei was injured.
However, Hu Lian, who accompanied Yu Dawei on a walk, reacted at the first time and ran back to the underground bunker headquarters by himself.
On June 22, 1977, Hu Lian died on Taiwan Island, leaving behind a "Boyu Road" and the Kinmen sorghum wine that he was famous for.
[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]