Li Xiannianmiao used the "empty city plan", or was it under the eyes of the enemy?

The Empty City Scheme A well-known scheme of women and children, a well-known story.

The stars shift and the years turn. In June 1946, Li Xiannian used the empty city plan again.

It was a sweltering, rainy summer. The Dawu Xuanhua store in Edong Town was roasted by the scorching sun and washed away by torrential rain. The Zhuhua River, which runs through the east and west of the town, has lost its former tranquility and grayness, and the muddy river is rolled with mud and sand and branches, roaring through, and the roar can be heard from afar.

Li Xiannian came out of the headquarters of the Central Plains Military Region on South Street, stepped on the ancient stone road, and went straight to the bamboo pole river. He lit a paper cigarette and looked out at the distant river of Bencao, quietly looking out.

For more than five months, the troops of the Central Plains Military Region, in order to carry out the strategic containment task entrusted by Chairman Mao of the CPC Central Committee, held a gun in one hand and a hoe in the other, fought bitterly with the 300,000 kuomintang troops around them, effectively supported China's anti-civil war struggle in east China, north China, and northeast China, and won extremely precious time for our party to do a good job in facing the all-out offensive of the Kuomintang army. However, more than 50,000 troops of the Central Plains Military Region were besieged by the Kuomintang troops in a narrow area centered on Xuanhuadian and with a radius of less than 100 kilometers, facing great danger.

After entering June, the situation has changed a lot. According to the secret telegram sent by Yan'an, the general, believing that its internal deployment was ready, decided to tear off the veil of peace negotiations and start a large-scale all-out civil war starting from July, starting from the siege of the troops of the Central Plains Military Region. He He trampled on Chengcheng and openly let the outside world blow, wanting to "annihilate the Central Plains communist bandits in one fell swoop" and "completely annihilate the communist army within 3 months." The CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao Zedong sent a telegram ordering the troops of the Central Plains Military Region to make early plans and prepare for a breakthrough.

In accordance with the instructions of the central authorities, Li Xiannian, Zheng Weisan, Wang Zhen, Chen Shaomin, Wang Shusheng, Ren Qianbin, and others repeatedly brewed and made a strategic plan to make a breakthrough in the main force on the night of June 26, when the main force was divided into north and south roads to the west, and other troops coordinated with the operation on the eastern, western, and northern fronts, which was approved by the party Central Committee and Chairman Mao. At present, the deployment of major campaigns has reached all columns and brigades, and the troops are nervously making pre-war preparations.

After more than ten years of conquest, Li Xiannian formed a habit: whenever the great war came, he always had to think quietly and demonstrate every detail of the battle in his mind. He knew very well that every slight negligence of the commander would cause losses to the troops and even directly affect the overall situation of the campaign. This breakout, the situation is very complicated. The Kuomintang's 300,000-strong army has besieged the Central Plains troops for a long time, building defensive lines layer by layer. Our army is faced with an enemy five or six times larger than itself, and if it wants to break through, it must surprise the enemy and attack him unprepared. However, at this time, xuanhua shop still lived in the thirty-second group of the military investigation department, and its representatives and staff of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek were actually the "eye qing" placed by the Kuomintang in Xuanhua shop. How difficult it must be for tens of thousands of our troops to withdraw from the defensive ground under the eyes of the enemy without being detected!

"Empty City Plan!"" Empty City!" Li Xiannian, who loves to watch Peking Opera, has been thinking about this story in his mind for the past few days. He was going to compose a new song "Empty City Plan" in Xuanhua Shop in the 1940s.

Thinking of this, Li Xiannian strode back to the headquarters war room and said to the operations staff officer, "Let Comrade Zhang Tixue come to me immediately."

Zhang Tixue was a political commissar of the Second Independent Brigade in eastern Hubei and a member of Li Xiannian's ai general. After receiving the order, he immediately raised his horse and whipped up and rushed from Lü Wangcheng, the garrison of the Second Independent Brigade, to XuanhuaDian.

Seeing Zhang Tixue, Li Xiannian smiled and said, "Comrade Tixue, starting from today, I will give you a new title -- Commander of the Security Guard of the Central Plains Military Region."

Zhang Tixue was confused for a while, and he didn't know what was going on, and he thought that the commander was joking with him.

Li Xiannian brought Zhang Tixue to the front of the battle map and said solemnly: "The key to the success of our breakthrough this time lies in whether we can surprise the enemy and attack him unprepared." The Kuomintang army was scheduled to launch a general offensive on July 1, and we began to move on June 26, approaching the enemy's Pinghan railway blockade line on the 29th, and the main force must break through the enemy's inner encirclement on the morning of July 1. Until then, our operational intentions must not reveal the slightest trace. ”

"But," Li Xiannian said in a lowered voice, "the Thirty-two Groups are in the Xuanhua shop, they are paying attention to us at all times, and they will report our situation to their headquarters on the radio every day."

"Then put these guys under house arrest." Zhang Tixue said very dryly.

"Haha." Li Xiannian lovingly patted Zhang Tixue's shoulder: "Then don't fight yourself!" Not only can we not put them under house arrest, but we must also be extra careful to entertain them and show them the show. "Acting?" Zhang Tixue seemed to be aware of the commander's intentions.

"Yes, acting! Play a 'Empty City Meter.' Li Xiannian asked Zhang Tixue to sit down and continued: "In addition to blocking the enemy at changwang city and fota mountain in the south wing of Xuanhuadian and covering the withdrawal of the main force, your second brigade will also star in this empty city plan at Xuanhuadian."

Li Xiannian commanded, "From today onwards, you will enter the role of a human being." After returning home, select a group of elite guards, and be sure to secretly rush to Xuanhuadian before dawn on the 26th, take over the guard task of the central plains military region's guard units, and cover the transfer of the central plains bureau, the central plains military region's head organs and the main force, until the main force reaches Pinghan Road on the 29th, you can withdraw. ”

Zhang Tixue said with confidence: "Please rest assured commander that he will definitely accomplish his task well." Li Xiannian instructed: "The representatives of the Thirty Works Group are very cunning, and they must not be careless in the slightest, and they must think of everything that may happen. In addition, after completing the mission, you will also send someone to escort the thirty-two teams to Hankou. ”

Seeing that Zhang Tixue seemed to be somewhat reluctant, Li Xiannian added: "Escorting the members of the Thirty-two Groups to Hankou safely is a matter of political influence, and it must not be sloppy!"

Zhang Tixue said, "Yes! Commander. ”

Li Xiannian was still not at ease, and together with Zhang Tixue, he studied some details of the "empty city plan."

On June 26, the sky was low and foggy. Before dawn, Zhang Tixue led a company and a platoon of the guard battalion of the 2nd Independent Brigade in Eastern Hubei to secretly rush to Xuanhuadian, and unknowingly and unconsciously took over the security of the head organ of the Central Plains Military Region.

It was also at dawn on 26 June that Liu Zhi, director of the Kuomintang Zhengzhou Appeasement Office and commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army besieging the Central Plains, was ordered by Chiang Kai-shek's telegram to reorganize the 41st Division, the Forty-seventh Division, the Forty-eighth Division, and the Seventy-second Division, with a total of more than 80,000 troops in seven brigades, divided into four routes, and launched an offensive outpost against the troops of the Central Plains Military Region from Xinyang, Guangshan, Luoshan, and Huang'an (present-day Hong'an). The sound of "boom, boom" cannons came from afar from time to time.

The rumbling of cannons awakened Chen Qian, a Kuomintang representative of the Thirty-second Group of the Military Investigation Department, who was sleeping soundly at the Xuanhuadian "International Guest House," rubbing his sleepy eyes and showing a sly smile on his face. Only to see him put on his pajamas and slippers, sneaking into the room of The American representative White...

At about 8 o'clock, several "staff members" of the Kuomintang side of the thirty-two groups who "went shopping" came out of the "International Guest House." For a moment they turned to the street opposite the headquarters of the Central Plains Military Region to "take a look," and the next moment they wandered to the front of the dormitory of the chief of the Central Plains Military Region to "take a look." But what they saw was the same as usual: in the headquarters of the Central Plains Military Region, the electric keys clicked, and the staff came in and out, in an orderly manner; Sentry Wei Li in front of the central plains military region's chief's dormitory and other important departments; On the street of Xuanhuadian, from time to time, the patrol team walked neatly: on the Zhusheng River beach, the soldiers went out as usual.

The Kuomintang deputies' every move did not escape the eyes of Ji Xiannian and Zhang Tixue to further confuse the enemy, and Li Xiannian decided to hold a "literary and artistic waiting meeting" on the evening of the 26th and in the name of Zhang Tixue and Ren Shishun, the representative of our side of the thirty-two groups, to invite the representatives of the Twelve Groups of The United States and Chiang Kai-shek to "come."

At night, the auditorium of the Central Plains Military Region is brightly lit and has a festive atmosphere. Inside the auditorium, there were crowds of people, there were soldiers, there were masses, and everyone watched with great interest the performance of the Central Plains Military Region's Cultural and Labor Troupe.

Zhang Tixue, Ren Shishun, and others accompanied the representatives of mei jiang to sit in the front row of the auditorium, and talked with White and Chen Qian from time to time.

White and Chen Qian were also particularly happy: the nationalist army's large-scale offensive was about to begin, but the communist army was still in the dark, and just now, when they went from the "International Guest House" to the auditorium of the Central Plains Military Region, they also saw Li Xiannian and Wang Zhen walking leisurely in the streets!

Where did White and Chen Qian know that all this was Li Xiannian's elaborate "empty city plan". Just as they were enjoying the literary and artistic programs in the auditorium and secretly proud of the fact that the Nationalist army was about to launch a large-scale attack, the Organs of the Central Plains Bureau and the Central Plains Military Region had unknowingly withdrawn from Xuanhuadian, and the main forces of the Central Plains Military Region, led by Li Xiannian, Zheng Weisan, Wang Zhen, and Wang Shusheng, were rushing toward the Pinghan Railway by stepping on the night of Mangyuan tearing through the night.

On the 27th, the artillery of the Kuomintang attack became more intense. Xuanhua store, still as calm as ever.

The cunning representative of Mei Jiang seemed to sense the abnormality of the Xuanhua shop, and on the 28th, White suddenly proposed to meet with General Li Xiannian.

Li Xiannian had already anticipated this move of the US and Chiang Kai-shek deputies. After leaving the Xuanhua store, he deliberately handed Zhang Tixue something, which was a famous postcard to White that he had written by hand, with his own photo on it, and deliberately wrote the date on June 28.

Zhang Tixue called White and said, "General Lee is not in good health, so I'll see you another day." On the one hand, he sent someone to send Li Xiannian's "gift" to White to White to receive a famous letter written by Li Xiannian himself, convinced that Li Xiannian was still in Xuanhua Shop. In order to further dispel the suspicions of the US and Chiang Kai-shek deputies, before dawn on the 29th, Zhang Tixue ordered Ma Qichun, commander of the first battalion of the sixth regiment of the Independent Second Brigade, to take the battalion to Xuanhuadian and increase the number of garrison personnel at Xuanhuadian. When the US and Chiang Kai-shek deputies saw the "sentries," "patrol teams," and a large number of troops on duty at Xuanhuadian, they completely dispelled the suspicion of the transfer of the main force of the Central Plains Military Region.

In the afternoon, just as the main forces of our two roads were secretly approaching the Pinghan Railway and about to make a fierce breakthrough, Ren Shishun, the representative of our side of the Thirty-second Group, held a reception for the US and Chiang kai-shek deputies at the "International Guest House" under the prior instructions of Li Xiannian, thanking them for their "contributions" to the "mediation" of the Central Plains Armistice, and thanking White for his "special concern" for Li Xiannian. The table is full of fine wine and delicacies, and the aroma is strong. Deputies from the United States and Chiang Kai-shek frequently raised a toast, secretly wishing them the "victory" they were about to achieve.

Just when the US and Chiang Kai-shek deputies were drinking heavily, Zhang Tixue came to the banquet with his guards and solemnly announced to the US and Chiang kai-shek deputies on behalf of the Central Plains Military Region and Commander Li Xiannian: "Gentlemen, I regret to tell you that the Kuomintang army tore up the "Armistice Agreement" and launched a large-scale attack on our army, and our army has been forced to move. Now, General Li Xiannian has led the main force of our army to break through the blockade line of the Kuomintang army. ”

This news was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, which made the representatives of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek stunned. After a while, Chen Qian woke up like a dream: "We have won the plan, Xuanhuadian is an empty city!"

"Yes, Xuanhuadian has long been an empty city, we are going to hand it over to the Kuomintang army, for the safety of the gentlemen, please immediately return to Han by car." Zhang Tixue finished speaking and turned away.

Looking at Zhang Tixue's distant figure, the representative of Mei Jiang was angry and frustrated. In order to delay time, they deliberately found reasons not to ride in the jeep that escorted them away. After Zhang Tixue learned of this situation, he sent people to the mountain behind Xuanhua shop to shoot a row of guns, and when the representative of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek saw that the "flames of war" had burned in front of his eyes, he was afraid of hurting his life and rushed to the car and left.

On the way to the breakthrough, Li Xiannian looked at the telegram sent by Zhang Tixue and let out a hearty laugh.