In December 1946, after chiang kai-shek launched an all-out offensive and occupied some regional central cities such as Zhangjiakou and Huaiyin, he spared no expense to draw troops from other battlefields to strengthen the offensive force in east China, and made arrangements for advancing in four directions and attacking our troops in east China from north to south.
On 12 December, according to the enemy's deployment, the leaders of the East China Field Army Headquarters headed by Chen Su analyzed that although the enemy adopted a multi-way offensive and unified command in this battle, and had nearly 30 brigades, its deployment also had weaknesses, that is, the front of the offensive was more than 300 kilometers wide, and the gap between the various units was very large. If one of the roads is hit or besieged, the other troops will not be able to reinforce in time, and it will be difficult to obtain campaign coordination. Objectively speaking, the Kuomintang troops have a variety of factions, intrigues and strife, and great contradictions, and in order to preserve their strength, it is not uncommon for those who see death on the battlefield and do not save them.
Therefore, the command finally formulated a battle plan to concentrate its forces on the enemy along the way to Lunan. That is, to first attack the enemy's reorganized 26th Division and the 1st Rapid Column, and then to fight its reorganized 59th Division and 77th Division after winning the battle: and then, depending on the development of the battle situation, seek an opportunity to annihilate the enemy forces of the reorganized 69th and 11th Divisions. He also took advantage of the victory to strike at the enemies of Lianshui and Lianghuai, and gradually expanded the results of the battle.
After determining the battle plan with Lunan as the main force and dividing the troops into two roads and submitting it to the central authorities, the enemy's progress along the Suqian road was faster than imagined.
According to this, after analysis and research, Chief Huaye held that the enemy troops who are making rapid progress on this road may be the reorganized 69th Division, and the division commander Dai Ziqi was trained by Chiang Ching-kuo when he was running a training class for young cadres in Jiangxi after returning from the Soviet Union, and is a rookie in the Kuomintang army.
However, this unit was not without weaknesses to follow: after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, some elders in the Kuomintang military circles, with the intention of weakening Chiang Ching-kuo's influence in the military circles, reorganized and reorganized their youth army, and retained only three or four divisions. Of the three and a half brigades to which the 69th Division belonged, only the 60th Brigade and 1 regiment of the 92nd Brigade were the original formed units, the 3rd Reserve Brigade was originally the integrated 57th Division, and the 41st Brigade was originally the integrated 26th Division.
Moreover, the 3 and a half brigades of the reorganized 69th Division were very dispersed, and the offensive targets of the division and Hu Lian's 11th Division were Shuyang and Xin'an, respectively, and the more he advanced, the greater the gap, which was convenient for our army to divide and encircle. The terrain north of Suqian is open, mostly plains, only a few small highlands of Beacon Mountain and Zhangshan Mountain, the villages are small and dense, there are no water trenches and city walls, most of them are earthen grass houses, and they are not strong, and the enemy has no fortifications. The canal here cannot be in vain, and when the enemy reaches the area east of the canal, if the only bridge connecting Suqian is destroyed, the enemy will have to fight against the water.
Although most of the units participating in the battle of our army are not full and have no experience in concentrating on fighting major battles, they are just arranged on both sides of the enemy's offensive direction, and they can meet the enemy without making complicated adjustments and arrangements. At the same time, this enemy is located in the middle of the four enemy roads, after this victory, it is also a good plan to swing the division north and then annihilate the enemy of Lunan.
Commander Chen Yi summoned the comrades in charge of the Shandong Field Army, the Central China Field Army, and the Central China Military Region, Su Yu, Tan Zhenlin, Zhang Dingcheng, Deng Zihui, Chen Shiyu, Tang Liang (director of Huaye's political department), and Liu Xiansheng (huaye's deputy chief of staff), and others to a meeting, and everyone unanimously agreed to fight the enemy in Suqian first, and then return to the division to annihilate the enemy in Lunan.
After the opinions were unified, Chen Shiyu and several comrades of the Huaye Command studied a plan. It is planned to concentrate 3 columns, 2 or 3 divisions, a total of 24 to 27 regiments, to fight the enemy's 69th Division and 1 brigade of the 11th Division: first cut off the connection between the enemy's integrated 11th Division and the reorganized 69th Division, and concentrate superior forces. The troops were divided into two routes, and after the east-west confrontation annihilated the reorganized 69th Division, they then attacked the enemy's reorganized 11th Division. The specific deployment is:
The 9th Column (5 small regiments) and 3 regiments of the 5th Brigade of the Central China Field Army held a frontal blockade to delay the movement of the reorganized 69th Division to the north and buy time for the main force to attack.
With the 1st Column and the 8th Division of the Shandong Field Army as the western offensive force, they crossed the Longhai Road south from the area west of Xin'an Town, and then waved the division west, around to the west of Beacon Mountain, and used the strength of 1 division to directly insert Cao Jiaji, cutting off the enemy's approach from Suqian to the southeast. Destroying bridges over the canal and cutting off the contact between the headquarters of the enemy's reorganized 69th Division and the brigades, the main force attacked from west to east: first attacking and annihilating the enemy at Fengshan and Xiaodianzi, and then attacking from a commanding height to the east to destroy the main force of the enemy's reorganized 69th Division.
The 2nd Column of the Shandong Field Army attacked from east to west, attacking Gaoxuzi, Lailong'an, Renhe, and Miaozhuang, and destroying 1 brigade of the enemy's reorganized 69th Division and the units directly under the division headquarters.
The 1st Division of the Central China Field Army rushed north from the direction of Yancheng, waiting for the opportunity to join the battle.
After the plan was determined, huaye chiefs divided their work and organized commands. Commander Chen Yi sat in the command headquarters. Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin commanded the 2nd Column of the Shandong Field Army, the 9th Column of the Central China Field Army, and the 5th Brigade to fight from east to west. Chen Shiyu and Tang Liang commanded the 1st Column and the 8th Division, which attacked from west to east after the enemy.
On December 14, the 3rd Brigade of the Enemy's Reorganized 69th Division attacked our position south of Wuhuading, and after the counterattack of our 9th Column, it retreated to the town of Zhangshan and Xiaodianzi and occupied the Beacon Heights; the 41st Brigade of the Enemy's Reorganized 69th Division occupied Shaodian and attacked our army position in Yehaizi to the east, in an attempt to plan the actions of the 11th Division, and retreated back to Miaozhuang, Fujiahu and other places through our 5th Brigade; the troops of the enemy's reorganized 69th Division and 1 regiment entered the Renhewei area; the vanguard of the enemy's reorganized 11th Division came to me from Cao Jiaji to Long'an. The small PaiTang position attacked and was repulsed by our 9th Column. The enemy's integrated 11th Division entered the battle, marking that the enemy had completed the combat deployment and begun the offensive operation.
After finding out the specific deployment of the enemy, the Huaye Command further clarified the tasks for each unit and issued supplementary instructions:
The 9th Column of the Central China Field Army organized a movement defense along the Su (Qian) Xin (Anzhen) Highway and the Su (Qian) Shu (Yang) Highway, and before 15:00, it ensured that it came to Long'an, Wuhuading and other positions, and then attacked the enemy's reorganized 69th Division, coordinating with friendly and neighboring troops to annihilate the enemy;
The 1st Column and the 8th Division of the Shandong Field Army marched rapidly, entered the area north of Xindianzi before dawn on the 15th, launched a surprise attack on Xiaodianzi and the enemies in the northern and southern regions, cut off the enemy's retreat to the direction of Suqian in the areas of Zhangshan and Xiaodianzi, and then organized an attack from west to east, surrounded the Xiaodianzi enemy with the main force, attacked and annihilated it, and then attacked to the east;
The 8th Division of the Shandong Field Army attacked the enemy at Fengshan and Cockroach Mountain, and then also advanced to the east;
Before dawn on the 15th, the 7th Division of the Shandong Field Army crossed the Shu River in the south through West Baojiaxu and attacked in the direction of The Town of Zhangshan, and coordinated with the 1st Column and the 8th Division of the Shandong Field Army to encircle and annihilate the enemy in the area;
The 2nd Column of the Shandong Field Army entered the Hanji and Taishanji areas before the 15th, attacked from east to west, coordinated with the 1st Column of the Shandong Field Army to cut off the contact between the enemy's reorganized 69th Division and the reorganized 11th Division, and prepared to participate in the encirclement and annihilation of the besieged enemy;
The 1st Division of the Central China Field Army marched north from the Yancheng area and prepared to enter the battle, fighting in coordination with the 2nd Column of the Shandong Field Army;
All units of our army in Yancheng, Lianshui, Fengxian, and other places actively resisted the enemy in front of them and ensured the smooth progress of the Subei Campaign.
On the 15th, the troops entered the designated area to deploy. On the night of the 15th, the main force of the 1st Column of the Shandong Field Army, led by commander Ye Fei, deputy commander He Kexi, and deputy political commissar Tan Qilong, inserted itself into the Jing'ertou and Caojiaji areas, and some troops broke into Caojiaji, where the headquarters of the enemy's 11th Division was located. After a fierce battle. Most of the engineer battalions and cavalry battalions directly under the enemy's integrated 11th Division were eliminated.
At 22:00 on the 15th, our 8th Division, with the 1st Battalion of the 23rd Regiment, first attacked the enemy at Beacon Hill from the southwest, and by dawn on the 16th, three successive attacks had not been effective. At this time, the enemy of Xiaodianzi shot at our 8th Division with artillery fire, and there was a call for help, and the situation was very urgent. The leaders of the division and regiment were well aware that if they could not capture Beacon Mountain before dawn, it would affect the progress of the entire campaign. Therefore, Commander He Yixiang and Political Commissar Ding Qiusheng immediately ordered the L Battalion and the 24th Regiment of the 23rd Regiment to resolutely capture Fengshan at all costs. Wang Liusheng, political commissar of the 23rd Regiment, immediately rushed to the command post of the 1st Battalion for an emergency mobilization in the line of fire, demanding that the existing strength of the whole battalion be organized and resolutely take down the hill before dawn: The battalion combined more than 40 people who were still able to participate in the assault into 4 squads and formed 1 commando team; the 3rd Company formed 1 squad, commanded by the company commander, to pretend to attack from the frontal attack road to attract the enemy; the rest of the personnel were organized into 3 squads, led by deputy instructor Zhang Ming, and went around to the southeast side of the enemy to carry out the main assault. When the 1st Battalion of the 23rd Regiment made its last impact. The 24th Regiment also launched an assault. After fierce fighting, it successfully passed through the trenches and attacked the top of the mountain, and the enemy quickly disintegrated under the attack of our army on both sides. After a night of continuous attacks, the 8th Division finally occupied Beacon Mountain at dawn, completely annihilated 1 battalion of the enemy, opened a gap in the enemy's entire deployment, and controlled the commanding heights of the battlefield.
At the same time, the 9th Column and the 7th Division of our Eastern Front also captured the town of Zhangshan and completely annihilated the enemy. In this way, the two commanding heights of the entire battlefield were occupied by our army.
After the 7th and 8th Divisions captured the towns of Fengshan and Qishan, the enemy had detected that its flanks and rear were exposed, and the Xuzhou enemy headquarters urgently ordered the 4l Brigade to shrink from Miaozhuang to the 118th Brigade and Cao Jiaji, and gave a death order to the reserve 3rd Brigade at Xiaodianzi and the 60th Brigade in Luozhuang to retake the commanding heights of Fengshan. On the same day, the enemy concentrated its forces and launched a continuous attack on the 8th Division of Beacon Hill, and the troops of the 8th Division stubbornly resisted by taking advantage of the fortifications that the enemy had already repaired at Beacon Hill.
At dusk on the 16th, the enemy attacking Beacon Mountain was repeatedly repelled, and the troops of our 8th Division guarding Beacon Hill fought very hard. Chen Shiyu judged that the enemy was already very confused at this time, and if he attacked the enemy at nightfall, he would win. Therefore, the 8th Division was ordered to concentrate all its efforts on attacking the enemy in Xiaodianzi, except for a few troops left at Beacon Hill to serve as a guard.
The 8th Division was ordered to attack immediately. In one fell swoop, it broke through the enemy's position, fought fiercely for 5 hours, and completely annihilated the 3rd Brigade of the enemy's integrated 69th Division. The troops of the 8th Division suffered a setback in the Battle of Surabaya, in which after two days and two nights of fighting, they destroyed 1 entire enemy brigade and fought a turnaround battle.
At the same time, at about 4 p.m. on the afternoon of the 16th, the two brigades of the 1st Column of the Shandong Field Army marched all the way east from the position of the 8th Division of Fengshan, occupying Gaojiawa, Sanzhaoshan, and other places that night, and some troops also inserted themselves south of Xiaodianzi to contact the 3rd Brigade of the column, cutting off the retreat route of the enemy's integrated 69th Division to Suqian, and forming a frontal blockade posture against the enemy's integrated 11th Division.
In the evening, with the cooperation of the 9th Column of the Central China Field Army and the 7th Division of the Shandong Field Army, after 3 hours of fierce fighting, luozhuang was conquered and the 60th Brigade of the enemy's reorganized 69th Division was completely annihilated. The 1st Column also suffered some losses in the Lunan Campaign a few months ago, and this time it was more than enough.
Fierce fighting is still ongoing. On the 17th, the 2nd Column of our Shandong Field Army and the 9th Column of the Central China Field Army launched an attack on the enemies of Gao Wei and Li Wei, but to no avail. In the course of our army's encirclement and annihilation of the enemy's reserve 3rd Brigade and 60th Brigade, the enemy's integrated 11th Division, with the cooperation of the air force and artillery, went all out to assist the north, but was stubbornly blocked by our army.
On the 18th, the remaining 41st Brigade, division headquarters, and 276th Regiment of the 92nd Brigade of the enemy's reorganized 69th Division were cowering in the Renhewei area and were no longer able to counterattack: At this time, Chief of Staff Chen Shiyu heard the enemy desperately shouting from the newsstand: "Please help the 11th Division..." This was the cry for help from Dai Ziqi, commander of the enemy's reorganized 69th Division.
At midnight, as three red signal flares rose in the night sky, various units of our army launched a general attack on the enemy division headquarters and the 41st Brigade. The 2nd Column of our Shandong Field Army first broke into Renhewei, and by the morning of the 19th, the enemy's 41st Brigade, except for the brigade commander who led a few people to escape, was annihilated: Dai Ziqi, commander of the enemy division, killed himself, becoming the first martyr on the battlefield to carry out Chiang Kai-shek's precept that "if you are unsuccessful, you will become a ren."
When Commander Chen Yi heard the news of this victory, he was very excited and excitedly wrote a poem: When the enemy reaches the canal song, why should the annihilators be suspicious? Try to see the beacon mountain, buried Dai Ziqi.
The Subei Campaign completely annihilated 1 reorganized division, 3 semi-brigades and part of the reorganized 11th division of the enemy, totaling more than 20,000 people.