We are keeping a close eye on the changes in the enemy's situation. 13, the enemy of Suqian attacked along Suxin (Anzhen) and Suxin (Shuyang) highways in two columns. The vanguard of the left column occupied Xiaodianzi and Zhangshan Town (north of Suqian), and the vanguard of the right column occupied Caojiaji and Gaowei (north of Suqian). It's just that 1 1 division will participate in the war or not. We have two operational plans: the first plan is to annihilate the enemy who attacked Xin 'an Town in Wuhuading area first, and then to annihilate the enemy who attacked Shuyang. The second plan is that if the enemy's left column delays and the enemy's right column attacks, we will first concentrate on destroying the enemy in the areas west of Geng Xu and south of Yanji (east of Suqian). In order to ensure that the campaign was launched without losing time, the eighth division of the first column entered the area north of Xindianzi in the southwest of Xin 'an Town that night.
1February 14, the enemy continued to attack our army. At noon, it was found out that Cao Jiaji's enemy right column attacking Longan was indeed the reorganization of the 11th Division. The enemy who attacked Wuhuading and Shaodian was the reorganization of the 69th Division. According to this situation, we make further analysis and judgment: first, among the four enemies attacking East China, Dongtai, Huaibei and Yizao are our enemies, so we are worried that the attack speed will not be too fast. Enemies living in seclusion, seeing that our main forces are deployed in Yancheng, Lianshui and the area north of Longhai Road, may concentrate their forces on attacking Shuyang and Xin 'an towns. Second, the enemy reorganized the No.1 1 1 division (also belonging to the No.1 15, 25th artillery regiment and a battalion), which is well-equipped, arrogant and possibly aggressive. Dai, a new teacher of the 69th BGF Division, is a member of the Central Committee of the Third Youth League and a diehard anti-* * element. This division was hit by our annihilation (I wiped out two of its brigades), and I will try to take credit this time, which may be more risky than the first 1 1 reorganization division. Third, the reorganization of the 69th Division was made up of three brigades of different organizational units (the 3rd Brigade of the 57th Division, the 4th/kloc-0 Brigade of the 26th Division, the 60th Brigade of the 60th Division and the 92nd Brigade), with many internal contradictions and weak combat effectiveness; The reorganization 1 1 division has just been transferred from other places and is not familiar with the terrain and people's feelings in northern Jiangsu. Fourth, there are several small highlands on both sides of the road north of Suqian. The northeast of Suqian has an open terrain, small and dense villages and unstable houses. The canal, Liutang River and Shuhe River pass through, and we can't wade in casually, which is conducive to our division, encirclement and body count. At this time, the main force of the Shandong Field Army and the first unit of the Central China Field Army have entered the mobile position, and they can reach the attack start area within two days, carry out a sudden attack on the enemy's wings, gain operational advantages, and annihilate the enemy in the movement. If we can fight this battle well, we can turn passivity into initiative. We can encircle the enemy attacking Lianshui in the south, annihilate the enemy in southern Shandong in the north, and cooperate with the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan field army in the west to threaten Xuzhou and mobilize the enemy to find the enemy who will help us.
On the same day, I made up my mind to divide the strength of 24 regiments by one, separate the reorganization of the enemy's 69th division from that of the 11th division, stop the reorganization of the 11th division, and concentrate three times the enemy's strength. First, the sixty-ninth division was reorganized in the triangle area of Suqian, Shuyang and Xin 'an Town, and then, depending on the development of the war situation, if possible, the troops were transferred to the north to annihilate the eleventh division with the first division (the eighth regiment). We ordered all troops to enter secretly that night: the first column and the eighth division marched to the north of Xindianzi in the southwest of Xin 'an Town at dawn on 15 as originally planned; The Seventh Division and the Fifth Brigade advanced to Xibaowei (Suqian North) at dawn on the 15th, preparing to cross the Shuhe River to control the caves of Suxin Highway (Wu Shan). The second column advanced to Han Ji and Taishan area at dawn on 15; The ninth column stuck to the established positions such as Wuhuading, Ye Haizi and Lailong 'an to delay the enemy's advance and cover the main force's advance; The first division went north day and night to prepare for the war.
In order to fight in a new direction, we used 28 regiments to monitor and block the enemies of the other three routes: (1) We used the Sixth Division 13 regiments, the Sixth Brigade of the Tenth Column and the Nineteenth Brigade of the Seventh Division to monitor and block the invading enemies of Huaiyin in in Lianshui area, ensuring the safety of the main flank of northern Jiangsu. (2) Monitor and stop the enemy invading Yancheng from Dongtai and Xinghua with the forces of ten regiments of the 31st Brigade of the seventh column, 30th Brigade of the tenth column and 13th Brigade. The above two directions are commanded by a commander led by Comrade Tan Zhenlin, who is located in the northern suburb of Lianshui City. (3) Lunan, with the forces of the 10th Division and 5th Regiment of the Coastal Guard Brigade, is located in the east of Yixian, and cooperates with the local armed forces in Lunan to resolutely stop the enemies east of Taierzhuang, Yixian and Zaozhuang and ensure Linyi and Tancheng areas. We immediately reported this determination and deployment to the Military Commission at noon on 14, and reported that I had returned to the north according to the instructions of the Military Commission to direct the operations in Suzhou and Changshu with Comrade Chen Yi. 15, the CMC reiterated: "The determination and deployment are very good, and I hope to cable the situation at any time." .
1February 14 All day, the enemy reorganized the 69th Division to prepare the 3rd Brigade to attack a position south of Wuhuading along the highway. After being countered by the ninth column, the enemy retreated to Zhangshan Town. Enemy 60 Brigade entered Luo Zhuang and Bojiahu area. The enemy's forty-one brigade entered Shaodian, invaded Ye Haizi with one force, and was stopped by one of our nine columns. The enemy reorganized the 69th Division and led the 267th Regiment (under the 92nd Brigade) to the People's Peace Expo. At the same time, the enemy reorganized 1 1 division 1 18 brigade attacked our small archway and Lailong 'an position, and was repelled by the ninth column. The enemy division rate 18 brigade entered Caojiaji area. At this point, the enemy's first echelon reorganized all the 69th Division and the main force of the 11th Division, which has been fanned out, with a front line and depth of about 25 kilometers, and its rear supply is only a little Suqian.
The emergence of the enemy's aggressive posture shows that the enemy has not yet discovered my main action and is eager to seize Shuyang and Xin 'an as scheduled. This is a good opportunity for our army to split the battle formation and annihilate each other. In order to make the pre-war preparations of the main attack troops more adequate, maintain the greatest surprise of the campaign and give the enemy a surprise attack, we postponed the launch of the campaign until the evening of 15. In order to eliminate the weak left wing of the 69th Division to prepare for the third brigade first, and then eliminate the main force of the Division, we have adjusted the operational deployment and further defined the tasks of each unit:
( 1)
Continue to stick to the positions of Wuhuading, Ye Haizi and Lailong 'an with the main force of the ninth column, absorb the enemy, ensure that the main force of our army reaches the encirclement of the enemy, and then cooperate with the main force to reorganize the enemy's 69th division. (2) With the first column of the Eighth Division, the Seventh Division and the Fifth Brigade, panic in the enemy in Fengshan, Xiaodianzi and Zhang Shan respectively for the third brigade. After the task is completed, attack from west to east, and coordinate with friends and neighbors to assemble and reorganize the main force of the 69 th Division; (3) Wedge the main force of the first column into the enemy depth between Xiaodianzi and Jingertou, and cut off the contact between the 69th Division and the 11th Division when it retreats from Suqian; (4) With the second vertical assault from east to west, cooperate with the first vertical division of the reorganization of the sixty-ninth division and the reorganization of the eleventh division, and participate in the annihilation of the besieged enemy. In this deployment, one is to weaken the enemy, and the spearhead first points to the reorganization of the 69th Division with weak combat effectiveness. The second is to meet the enemy in secret, attack suddenly, and annihilate the enemy when the movement is unstable. The third is surrounded on all sides, flanked by two sides, interspersed with division and annihilated each other.
1On the morning of the 9th, the 4th1brigade of Miao and Zhuang enemies broke through in the north and south, and all but 300 people escaped. At this point, the enemy reorganized the sixty-ninth division and the whole army was wiped out. I wiped out more than 21,000 enemy troops, and the campaign was over. On the 18th, the Central Military Commission and Comrade Mao Zedong sent telegrams, "Celebrate the great victory of the Soviet Union-Chengdu front, and hope to issue orders to reward all those who have made meritorious deeds." On the 20th, they called and pointed out: "It is good and comforting to annihilate more than 20,000 enemy troops."
During this period, my troops fighting in Lunan, Lianshui and Yancheng all actively attacked the enemy, effectively containing, coordinating and guaranteeing the operations in the Jiangsu-Sichuan region. Among them, the battle of Lianshui is very difficult. Lianshui City is 0/30km away from Suqian/KLOC-0 and 80km away from Shuyang, which is located on the east side of Huaiyin-Shuyang Highway. If the enemy of Huaiyin goes north to Shuyang, Lianshui can attack the enemy at any time, which makes it impossible for the enemy to advance north before capturing Lianshui City. The enemy who attacked all the way was the 74th Division reorganized by Chiang Kai-shek's Wangpai army. The enemy began to attack us on1February 3, and our army fought bloody battles for thirteen days. Because our battlefield commander misjudged, the enemy took advantage of our defensive deployment. 16, the enemy invaded Lianshui city, and our army immediately retreated. In this battle, I killed more than 4,000 people, and our army also suffered 4,000 casualties and lost Lianshui City. Therefore, some people say that this is a defeat. This is wrong, this is a war of attrition. Lianshui combat is not mission defense, but sports defense. Delay the enemy's progress and consume the enemy's effective strength. As a result, the 74th BGF Division was blocked by our army to the south of Liutang River, and it was impossible to rescue the 69th BGF Division, thus ensuring that the battle of northern Jiangsu was fought from the south.
The Central Military Commission and Comrade Mao Zedong once pointed out: "The front lines of Suzhou and Shuhe, which have a bearing on the overall situation, won a great victory, and Lianshui was temporarily lost. This is not enough." Because the troops before the war were inspired by the "Second Lianshui Defence War", people used the gains and losses of Lianshui City to measure the victory or defeat of this battle, which was a mistake in mobilizing slogans. The evaluation of this campaign should be linked with the victory of the northern Jiangsu campaign. Of course, the lessons of Lianshui battlefield command should also be remembered.
Some comrades also believe that too many reinforcements in the northern Jiangsu campaign will affect the expansion of the results after the campaign. These comrades didn't know that the enemy had formed a semi-surrounded situation for us at that time. If any enemy's plan is realized, the battlefield situation will inevitably become sinister. What's more, the northern Jiangsu campaign ended on 1 February 19, and the Lunan campaign began on1February 2, only 12 days apart. In fact, the troops marched continuously from the Soviet Union to southern Shandong, not to mention the problem that too many reinforcements affected the expansion of the results.
The three-month battle shows that the correct strategic intention must be achieved through the victory of the campaign. After our army abandoned the Huai River and Huai River, both the enemy and ourselves are rearranging and brewing new and greater contests. At that time, the enemy was pressing me on all sides, and I was in a passive position on the battlefield. The victory of the battle in northern Jiangsu defeated the most threatening of the enemy's four routes, so that the enemy not only failed to cut off the links between our two field armies in Shandong and Central China, but also failed in their attempt to "quickly end the war in northern Jiangsu". But our army cut off the north-south ties and split into two parts, Shandong and northern Jiangsu, exposing its flanks and being threatened by our army. At that time, the Kuomintang's pseudo-state was not closed, and the battle of northern Jiangsu gave Chiang Kai-shek a loud slap in the face.
A comrade asked me why the battles in northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong were not so famous.
My answer is blocked by other bigger battles. In fact, these two battles are very important and played well. The main force of the Central China Field Army joined forces with the Shandong Field Army in northern Jiangsu, and the initial battle came to an end, and the battlefield turned from front to depth, which can be said to be the beginning of the first turning point in the East China Theater. The battle of northern Jiangsu is a symbol of victory to realize this turning point, and the battle of southern Shandong is a continuation of the battle of northern Jiangsu. "