Xu Shiyou has always been fearless in battle. Why was he so indecisive when Jiaodong broke through from inside?

On August 16, 1947, Xu Shiyou led the ninth column on a rapid march to Jiaodong. In the second half of the night, dark clouds gathered and thunder bursts. In the blink of an eye, heavy rain like a flash flood fell from the sky.

Nie Fengzhi sent someone to ask Xu Shiyou for instructions. The troops were having difficulty walking and could they rest for a while and wait for the heavy rain to pass before moving forward.

Xu Shiyou wiped the water droplets from his face with a cold face, and said without doubt: "Why not march if it rains? We have to compete with the enemy for time, and we have to leave even if we use the knife!"

The team moved forward step by step on the muddy path. The rain mixed with sweat. The comrades were soaked. The rain blocked their sight. Everyone wiped the water on their faces as they walked.

Tan Zhenlin led the cadres of the newly formed Corps, starting from Linqu and marching to Jiaodong in heavy rain. The next day they came to Shaheji, Ye County, where the East China Bureau is based, and attended the East China Bureau meeting. After the meeting, Tan Zhenlin marched to Jiaodong with the second and seventh columns. On the way, he kept in touch with Xu Shiyou through the radio and exchanged information on the enemy.

A few days later, Xu Shiyou led his troops into the Jiaodong area and met with the newly formed Thirteenth Column of Zhou Zhijian. At this time, Jiaodong was in flames. The Kuomintang troops and the "Returning Regiment" burned, killed, and looted all the way. Wherever they went, there was a mess. One day, Xu Shiyou led his troops to a village in Ye County. The village was filled with flames and smoke, and the people's houses were reduced to ashes in the fire. Xu Shiyou heard the heart-rending shouts in the fire and ordered the troops to rush into the village to rescue people. An old man told Xu Shiyou that as soon as the Kuomintang troops and the "returning regiment" entered the village, the common people who had sent letters, done things, and said words of support for the Eighth Route Army were either buried alive, disemboweled, stabbed, or had their limbs mutilated. , the methods are extremely cruel.

Xu Shiyou gritted his teeth and said with suppressed anger: "Uncle, the more people the enemy kills, the faster it will perish. I, Lao Xu, swear to you that I will destroy Jiaodong within two or three years." The enemy will be wiped out." He firmly said to Chief of Staff Li Yingxi beside him: "The top priority is to fight a battle to destroy Fan Hanjie's majesty and inspire the morale of the army and the people."

At this time, underground. The traffic officer sent a piece of information saying that Fan Hanjie first dispatched six divisions from Qingdao, Gaomi, Zhuyang, Weixian and other places to attack Pingdu, Changyi, Laiyang, Zhaoyuan and Yantai. After reading the information, Xu Shiyou asked the underground traffic officer: "What else is going on?"

The traffic officer reported: "It is said that three days ago, Chiang Kai-shek personally went to Qingdao to give Fan Hanjie face-to-face instructions, and asked Fan Hanjie to give him instructions within a month. Eliminate the Shandong People's Liberation Army, occupy the coastal line of Yantai and Weihai, cut off the maritime connection between Shandong and Northeast China, and destroy the East China Field Army's rear base in Shandong. "

After the traffic officer left, Xu Shiyou stared at the map and said to himself. He said to himself: "Fan Hanjie is cruel and vicious. He wants to use comb tactics to drive us into the sea to feed the turtles. He also has a huge appetite."

Jiaodong is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has a mountainous hinterland. In the shape of a bull's horn, the enemy occupies the main transportation road, and our army has little room for maneuver. In particular, Fan Hanjie adopted a horizontal push from west to east. The three directions of south, south, north and south were the sea. The Eastern Front Corps could only fight with its back against the water, which was bound to be very difficult, and there was no retreat at all.

Standing aside, Staff Officer Zhang was eager to avenge the people and suggested to Xu Shiyou: "I think we must first launch a large-scale annihilation war to give Fan Hanjie a decisive blow."

Xu Shiyou waved his hand. Said: "Playing the piano randomly! Experience tells us that we can fight any war under any conditions. The enemy is several times larger than me and has sophisticated weapons. Fan Hanjie is coming with ferocity and is at its most violent period. We have come from a long distance and there are not enough soldiers and weapons. There is no basis for a large-scale annihilation war. According to your method, not only will we not be able to defeat Fan Hanjie, but he will be driven into the sea to feed the bastards. "

The atmosphere in the headquarters was tense, and everyone was worried. It's as heavy as a piece of lead. Li Yingxi said to Xu Shiyou: "The battles of Nanma and Linqu have just ended, and many troops have not had time to replenish their casualties, but they are about to fight again. What should we do?" He thought for a while, put forward his own opinion and said: "Should we first Send one or two columns to act as a blocker, cover most of the troops to rest and replenish troops, food and ammunition, and then compete with Fan Hanjie after regaining their strength."

Xu Shiyou nodded approvingly and said: "Yes, the first battle is necessary. Avoiding the enemy's edge is to help us "replenish blood" and enrich our troops; second, we can observe Fan Hanjie's tactics and combat effectiveness to find their weaknesses so as to combat his arrogance. "

Headquarters Staff Office. After the meeting, it was decided that Zhou Zhijian's Thirteenth Column would be responsible for blocking the attack, covering the large forces to conduct situation education, rectify the organization, and replenish troops.

Xu Shiyou informed Tan Zhenlin of the initial battle plan. Tan Zhenlin strongly agreed with the plan and established a "Southern Front Command" in the second column to command the second and seventh columns to support the 10th in the direction of Zhucheng. Three columns fought.

Zhou Zhijian is an old comrade who joined the Red Army in 1930. He is the brigade commander of the 13th Brigade of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army. He has commanded the famous battles of Xinjie, Xiaogan, Pingba, Zhurushan, and Yinji. He is The iron fist in Li Xiannian's hand. In June 1946, when the Central Plains broke out, Zhou Zhijian came to East China.

The Battle of Nanma ended. On August 17, 1947, the East China Field Army formed the 13th Column from the 5th, 6th, and 7th Divisions of the Jiaodong Military Region. Zhou Zhijian was appointed as the commander of the 13th Column.

Xu Shiyou pointed at the map and warned: "Comrade Zhou Zhijian, your troops stay here to build momentum and confuse the enemy. We must fight more small victories and accumulate small victories into big victories. Do you understand?"

Zhou Zhijian nodded and replied: "Understood!"

Zhou Zhijian returned to the column headquarters in Ye County and immediately summoned Gao Rui, commander of the 37th Division, Zhang Huaizhong, commander of the 38th Division, and Zhang Huaizhong, commander of the 30th Division. Xu Tishan, commander of the Ninth Division, held a combat meeting. The meeting ended and the three divisions quickly went into battle. Zhou Zhijian personally commanded the 39th Division, the Jiaodong Military Region Special Forces Regiment, the Nanhai Navy Region Independent Regiment, and the Pingdu Independent Battalion to launch a blocking attack in an area 40 miles deep east of Pingdu. At 10 a.m. on September 6, Huang Baitao came here with the reorganized 25th Division in a swagger. Suddenly, there was a mine explosion, followed by a deafening explosion that shook the originally silent earthquake. Several villages including Ligezhuang, Shagezhuang, and Hejialou heard explosions in succession. Huang Baitao's 25th Division all entered the mine array deployed by the 13th column. The mines exploded continuously for three or four hours, reorganizing a large area of ​​remains of the 25th Division. The 39th Division of the 13th Column took advantage of the enemy's panic and launched a pursuit. Huang Baitao resisted desperately, but there was no way to save the day, so he had to abandon the wounded soldiers and flee in panic with his troops.

Fan Hanjie received the news and immediately judged that Xu Shiyou's main force was east of Pingdu. He quickly adjusted his deployment and ordered Que Hanqian's reorganized 54th Division to assist Huang Baitao in reorganizing the 25th Division to attack Pingdu. Du, Wang Lingyun's reorganized Ninth Division attacked from Weixian to Pingdu, Huang Guoliang's reorganized 64th Division followed closely behind the reorganized 25th Division and the reorganized 54th Division as a reserve force.

Four divisions of the Kuomintang army suddenly arrived in the small Pingdu area, and every grain of food was robbed from the people. When Xu Shiyou received this report, dark clouds suddenly gathered on his face. At this time, the enemy's arrogance was overwhelming. He decided to avoid the enemy's edge and ordered the Thirty-ninth Division of the Thirteenth Column to withdraw from Pingdu in a planned way.

After receiving the order, Zhou Zhijian decided to conceal the purpose of the retreat during the retreat to prevent the enemy from holding on. The 39th Division was ordered to fight and retreat at the same time. At 10 a.m. on September 7, Huang Baitao's reorganized 25th Division and Que Hanqian's reorganized 54th Division took turns attacking Ligezhuang, Shagezhuang, Hejialou and other places near Pingdu City. For a time, The smoke filled the air and the two sides fought inextricably. Wang Lingyun's reorganized Ninth Division also took the opportunity to attack the back of the 39th Division from the west of Pingdu City to Mencun. At this time, the 39th Division faced the great dilemma of being surrounded and attacked by heavy troops. During this period, they fought hard until dusk. Suddenly, a strong wind blew in the sky. The strong wind rolled up the yellow sand, and the sky and the earth became pitch black. The Thirty-ninth Division took advantage of the weather and, under the leadership of division commander Xu Tishan, quickly moved to Jingshan and Pantao in the north of Pingdu City. The next day, they quickly moved to the ditch head between Pingdu and Laiyang to hide. At dawn on September 8, the troops of Huang Baitao and Que Hanqian were defeated in Jingshan and Pantao. They were as dejected as defeated roosters.

Just as the Thirty-ninth Division of the Thirteenth Column was fighting fiercely with Huang Baitao and Que Hanqian, the Thirty-eighth Division of the Thirteenth Column met Li Mi's reorganized Eighth Division at Fenghuang Mountain in the south of Ye County. On fire. Li Mi was sitting on an American jeep supervising the battle. He held up his binoculars from time to time and organized two regiments to charge towards Phoenix Mountain. Within half an hour of going up, the two regiments were beaten back. The next day, Li Mi organized two more so-called "Tiger Battalions" at all costs. Under the cover of 300 cannons, they alternately charged towards Phoenix Mountain. The fierce artillery fire blasted the soil from the 38th Division's position into the sky, and then fell heavily like hail. The officers and soldiers of the 38th Division were buried deep in the soil. After two hours of shelling, the enemy thought that the People's Liberation Army had been wiped out by artillery fire. The two "Tiger Battalions" thought that victory was in sight and happily ran up the mountain with their guns on their backs. Unexpectedly, when they were approaching the top of the mountain, they suddenly emerged from the soil. Hundreds of People's Liberation Army soldiers fired at them with guns drawn. The two "Tiger Camps" were caught off guard and turned around and retreated. The 38th Division fought hard at Fenghuang Mountain for seven days and then took the initiative to move to Fenzi Mountain in the west of Ye County.

In order to support the 13th column in blocking the attack, Tan Zhenlin seized the opportunity at the right time and organized the troops to launch an attack. On September 6, Fan Hanjie commanded the reorganized 64th Division to attack Zhucheng. Tan Zhenlin took a preemptive strike and ordered the local troops who occupied Zhucheng to withdraw outside the city. He reorganized the 64th Division and entered Zhucheng without firing a shot. This created a serious mentality of paralysis and underestimation of the enemy. They did not even send sentries to guard the city. That night, Tan Zhenlin ordered the seventh column to attack the city, occupy the entire city at dawn, and annihilate the 156th Brigade of the reorganized 64th Division.

Zhucheng lost a brigade. Fan Hanjie was furious and ordered the reorganization of the 131st Brigade of the 64th Division for rapid reinforcements. Tan Zhenlin analyzed that the overall situation was not conducive for me to stick to one city and one place, and Zhucheng was not suitable for long-term defense, so he ordered the seventh column to quietly withdraw from Zhucheng on the morning of September 11.

Fan Hanjie is a graduate of the first batch of Whampoa Military Academy and studied in Germany for two years. He has served as chief of staff, brigade commander, division commander, corps commander, and group army commander. He has certain practical experience and Tactical mind. After occupying Pingdu and Yexian, he accepted the lesson of spreading his troops and being beaten, suppressed the anger in his chest, and adjusted his deployment again, with four elite divisions as the front echelon to open the way, with two divisions following closely, adopting a steady and steady attack strategy. , making steady progress in play style.

Moreover, he repeatedly warned the four divisions in the front echelon not to be obsessed with fighting or to be lost in the enemy's attacks.

After occupying Pingdu and Yexian, Fan Hanjie occupied fifteen counties including Zhaoyuan, Jiaoxian, Gaomi, Changyi, and Laiyang. Wherever the Kuomintang troops and "returning regiments" went, they killed, flooded, scalded, hanged, buried alive, disemboweled, and dug out the hearts of the people. Many villages became "uninhabited villages." They killed more than 5,000 people at one time in Laiyang City.

Xu Shiyou has been watching Fan Hanjie’s atrocities closely.

Director Liu of the Staff Office said to Xu Shiyou: "Commander Nie called and asked for a counterattack. They can't bear the enemy's atrocities."

Xu Shiyou didn't say anything. He understood Nie Fengzhi's Mood, because the ninth column is basically all descendants of Jiaodong, with a layer of military-civilian feelings and a layer of flesh-and-blood feelings. This time, Fan Hanjie's regiment crazily massacred the people of Jiaodong. How could they not be furious when they saw their fellow villagers and their relatives being innocently killed by the enemy's butcher's knife? Why don't you want to avenge them? The Ninth Column lost more than 8,000 people in the battles of Nanma and Linxiang. After half a month of rest, it has basically recovered its strength. Xu Shiyou felt that the ninth column could be allowed to join the battle against Fan Hanjie's regiment.

At this time, Staff Officer Zhang from the General Staff Office came to report that the 8th Division of Fan Hanjie's regiment had distanced itself from the 9th Division. The 9th Division was in Zhaoyuan, and the 8th Division was attacking Daotou from Ye County. , the 166th Brigade of the Eighth Division has occupied Daotou.

"That's it!" Xu Shiyou said loudly to the Chief of Staff, "The 166th Brigade of Daotou has become a lone enemy. Call Nie Fengzhi quickly and ask the Nine Columns to counterattack Daotou immediately. We must fight hard! In addition, notify Zhou Zhijian to send a division to cooperate with the Nine Column counterattack to block the enemy's Ninth Division in Zhaoyuan, south of Daotou!" Upon receiving the order, he jumped up excitedly. While he sent people to reconnoiter the terrain, he convened a combat meeting to study and deploy a combat plan to counterattack the road. When the soldiers heard that they were about to fight back and fight, they said cheerfully: "Dao Tou, Dao Tou, the enemy's attack has come to an end, and so has our retreat."

On September 18, The counterattack against Daotou began. At 12 o'clock that night, Nie Fengzhi commanded the ninth column to attack Daotou fiercely. At dawn, the 166th Brigade that occupied Daotou was completely wiped out. Zhou Zhijian commanded the Thirteenth Column to block reinforcements from Fan Hanjie's Ninth Division and annihilated more than 1,300 enemy troops. Annihilating an enemy brigade is a big victory. This was Xu Shiyou's command of the Eastern Front Corps and gave Fan Hanjie a blow in the head in an extremely difficult environment.

The good news reached northern Shaanxi, and Mao Zedong sent a telegram with instructions: "One of your forces should block the attack on the inner line of Jiaodong, and the main force should be on the outer line, waiting to annihilate the enemy. As long as you win one or two battles, the enemy will not dare to Going deep into Jiaodong, at least one part of most of Jiaodong can be saved."

After reading the telegram, Xu Shiyou said to Li Yingxi: "Chairman Mao's telegram is a timely reminder for the battlefield in Shandong. He wants us to divide our troops into two groups and fight together. Stick to the inside line, and focus on the outside line on the other side, using a combination of internal and external forces to beat Fan Hanjie. "

Li Yingxi thought for a moment and expressed his idea of ​​attacking from the outside, which won Xu Shiyou's approval. That night, they informed Tan Zhenlin of their action plan. Tan Zhenlin replied by telegram and agreed, and proposed that the local armed forces should stay on the inside line and most of the main troops rush to the outside line. The East China Bureau offices and rear hospitals also withdrew to the outside lines.

An hour before the breakout, Xu Shiyou was alone and meditating under the big tree at the entrance of the headquarters. He thought that the local troops remaining on the inner line were small in strength and faced heavy encirclement and pursuit by the enemy. The struggle would surely be more difficult and cruel. In the rain of bullets or under the white terror, Xu Shiyou has always been courageous and fearless, rarely indecisive. Now, what he considers is not his personal safety, but the local troops remaining on the inside. If the number of troops is too small, they will be eaten up by Fan Hanjie's heavy troops. The inside and outside are a unified whole, and the outside troops must rely on the cooperation of the inside troops. The troops on the inner line are exhausted, and the enemy is going all out to deal with the troops on the outer line. How can the outer line troops fight alone and win the battle?

He thought about it and finally decided to keep the 39th Division of the 13th Column on the inside, plus the independent regiments of each military division under the Jiaodong Military Region, dozens of county independent battalions, and county troops. Brigades, hundreds of district squads, and hundreds of thousands of militiamen. In this way, the number of troops on the inside is not small, and it can fully support the situation of cooperating with the troops on the outside.

After Fan Hanjie's regiment suffered a blow at the head of the road, all units were afraid of being isolated and annihilated, so they hurriedly contracted in divisions and shortened the front. This contraction provided the Eastern Front Corps with an opportunity to break through, and Xu Shiyou decided to use Daotou as a breakout point.

Li Yingxi asked uneasily: "Do you want to study this issue again?"

Xu Shiyou said firmly: "There is no need to study it. The breakout point will not change until the end. Let's do it again. A supplementary order: On the evening of September 22, the breakout troops, East China Bureau agencies, and hospitals, numbering 30 to 40,000 people, were to act as one person! It started to drizzle. Although the weather is not good, it is the best weather for a breakout. The two enemy divisions are nine kilometers apart, and there are three or four major roads to break through. The Eastern Front Corps agencies, the East China Bureau agencies and the breakout troops were divided into two groups. The two divisions of the Corps and the 13th Column set out from Dong County.

The East China Bureau and the Ninth Column set out from between Daotou and Biguo. Thirty or forty thousand men and horses moved quickly, making no sound and not frightening the horses, running quickly on the winding mountain road. In the distance, I only saw figures shaking, and occasionally heard rustling footsteps.

At dawn, Xu Shiyou looked at the mountains, wiped the sweat from his face, and asked a staff officer beside him: "How many miles did you walk in one night?"

"Sixty-five miles "

Xu Shiyou estimated that he was about to get out of the enemy's encirclement, so he dismounted, walked to the roadside, and raised his binoculars. Through the binoculars, he saw a burst of fire, followed by bursts of gunfire. He hurriedly asked the staff officer: "What's going on? Order the radio station to set up the antenna and contact the 13th Column in front immediately!"

As soon as the antenna was set up, when he turned on the radio, he received a message from Zhou Zhijian reported that the Thirteenth Column was blocked by the entire Ninth Division of Fan Hanjie's Corps in Daze Mountain.

After Xu Shiyou read the telegram, he said to the staff officer: "Reply the telegram immediately and ask Zhou Zhijian to put his head on his waistband and beat him. We must do whatever it takes to repel the enemy's attack and give the troops a chance to break out." After the main force broke out, the 13th Column stayed in Daze Mountain to monitor Fan Hanjie's regiment. "

The gunshots were getting closer and more intense. Xu Shiyou got on his horse and waved his hand: "If you are not afraid of death, rush with me! If you rush out, you will win!"

Xu Shiyou led the ninth column and the East China Bureau and broke out of the encirclement in less than two hours. , and wandered among the mountains for another week. At this time, Tan Zhenlin, in accordance with the plan discussed with Xu Shiyou, commanded the second and seventh columns to sweep across Jiaoji Road overnight, breaking out of the enemy encirclement between Weixian and Gaomi. On October 1, in the west of Gaomi, Successfully reunited with Xu Shiyou in the Zhuyang area.