The prototype of the Southern Expedition and the Northern Expedition (Laiwu Campaign —— The Southern Expedition and the Northern Expedition Produces Raiders)
1947 65438+ 10, the Kuomintang Army Command misjudged the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army. After the Northern Jiangsu Campaign and the Southern Shandong Campaign, it was bound to consume huge sums of money and its ability to continue fighting was not strong, so it formulated the "Southern Shandong Campaign" plan in an attempt to force our main force to fight in Linyi. Chen Cheng, relying on his military superiority, thought he would win, and threatened: "Even if it's all tofu, it can support the communists!"
1At the beginning of February, 947, Shandong Field Army, Central China Field Army and Shandong Military Region troops were co-edited as East China Field Army. The first victory after the establishment of the East China Field Army was the battle of Laiwu. The battlefield changed from Linyi, where the Kuomintang troops tried to force us to fight a decisive battle, to Laiwu, where the Kuomintang troops were later annihilated, which fully reflected the superb campaign command art of the commanders of the East China Field Army.
The Central Military Commission telegraphed the East China Field Army twice: "We should concentrate our absolute superior forces and adopt the policy of luring the enemy deeper. I won't fight until the enemy moves. The deeper the enemy, the better. The later I play, the better. " The enemy of the southern line adopts the operational policy of "concentrating troops, slowly but surely, advancing hand in hand and avoiding prominence", and it is difficult to divide and annihilate with heavy troops; Li Tuan, the enemy of the northern line, took advantage of the situation to March into Laiwu on February 4, threatening the rear of the East China Field Army.
In this situation, disrupting the enemy's deployment and creating favorable fighters have become the key to winning the battle. Chen Yi, commander and political commissar of the East China Field Army, and Su Yu, deputy commander, deployed two columns in the south of Linyi according to the instructions of the Central Military Commission and the actual battlefield, pretending to be the main force and posing as a decisive battle with the enemy of the southern line. On February 10, they secretly went north in three ways, ready to find a machine to annihilate the northern line Li Tuan.
/kloc-in February of 0/5, the Kuomintang troops on the southern line occupied Linyi. Chiang Kai-shek listened to his subordinates' false report on the meritorious service of "annihilating the Communists 16 Brigade in the periphery of Linyi", judged that the abandonment of Linyi by the East China Field Army was "heavy casualties, and it was unbearable to fight again", and ordered the northern Li Tuan to accelerate its southward advance and implement the plan of north-south attack as soon as possible. At this time, the main force of the East China Field Army braved the cold day and night and quickly moved northward, reaching the periphery of Laiwu on 19, forming a situation surrounding Laiwu City.
On the afternoon of February 20th, the battle of Laiwu started. That night, the 77th Division of the Kuomintang was completely annihilated and won the first battle. At the same time, the main force of the East China Field Army attacked Li's headquarters in Laiwu and the 73rd Army. On the 23rd, the East China Field Army stormed Laiwu with the tactics of "encircling three gaps and opening one side". Li led his troops to the north to break through, during which the commander of the 46th Kuomintang Army and underground party member gave up their command, and the enemy fell into chaos. On the night of the war, Li was wounded and captured, and the enemy troops on the northern line were wiped out.
In this war, the East China Field Army annihilated more than 56,000 Kuomintang troops, liberated Boshan, Zichuan and other counties 13, connected the Bohai Sea, Luzhong and Jiaodong liberated areas, and shattered the Kuomintang army's "Lunan Battle" plan.
The victory of Laiwu campaign can not be separated from the strong support of Shandong people. During the150km mobile journey of the main force of the East China Field Army from Linyi to Laiwu, hundreds of thousands of former migrant workers camped against the wind, climbed mountains and waded, and transported huge amounts of grain, grass and ammunition to the northern line in time with shoulders, animals and unicycle. The people in the old liberated areas in central Shandong actively cooperated with our army's combat operations, collecting food and grass for the army day and night, making pancakes, standing guard day and night, preventing rape and blocking news, and made great contributions to winning the battle of Laiwu.
(Professor Lu Yong from National Defense University)