231 sweeps the heavens

After the breakthrough of the Wujiang defense line, Chongqing was under the direct threat of the Hubei army.

Chen Yan came to Chongqing to supervise the war. I stayed in the forest garden. Before I took a bath, I asked Zhong Tedao to report the situation.

Zhong Tido briefly introduced the current situation, and finally said in self-criticism: "The madman Li is playing tricks, and we are actually kept in the dark. Now, they not only broke through the southwest defense line, but also cut off the way for tens of thousands of Sichuan troops to retreat to the south in Sichuan and Shaanxi. If this situation continues..." Seeing that Chen's face was warm, Zhong Tedao immediately changed his words and said, "Of course, the president and teachers entrusted the responsibility for the overall situation in the southwest to me, causing such consequences. I am ashamed of the president. The trust of the general is worthy of the teacher's trust. Ask the president and the teacher to punish me. Even if I cut my brain, I won't complain.

"Forget it, forget it," Chen Eunuch waved his hand. "I know that you are loyal to the president. Let's talk about this responsibility!" Chen Yan's voice changed, "Zhang Zhenfang from Hebei and Li Chun from Jiangxi are all rice buckets!"

Due to the geographical location of Chongqing, Chen Yan did not set up a fixed force here in advance. When the Hubei army gradually approached Chongqing, Chen Yan was in a hurry and hurriedly ordered the Sichuan army group to give up the first-line defense line of Qinling, and the troops withdrew south to preserve their strength. The first division was transferred to Chongqing and Jiangjin to strengthen Chongqing's defense; the fourth division was ordered to quickly reach the Qijiang and Nanchuan front line to advance, delay the westward advance of the Hubei army; and ordered one of the fourth division to reach the Loushan Pass in northern Guizhou to prevent the Hubei army from going north; ordered the third division and other units to move west along Dazhu and Guang'an to strengthen the defense of Sichuan.

Chen Eunuch's attempt is to retreat the Kuomintang troops in Sichuan, Yunnan and Kang, preserve their strength as much as possible, wait for the turning point in the battlefields of Henan and Jiangxi, and wait for the opportunity to counterattack.

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Before the 5th Corps on the Southern Front captured Guiyang, Yang Fan judged the enemy's attempt and planned the next action of the 5th Corps.

Yang Fan lit a cigarette, swallowed clouds and puffed fog, and said, "Liu Xianshi, the envoy of the Guizhou regiment, has decided to give up resistance. Guiyang raised a white flag, and Lu Jianzhang, who is loyal to Beiyang, ordered the 49th regiment to retreat to Panjiang and Zhenfeng areas for assistance. The 89th regiment retreated to Zhijin, Qianxi and Bijie areas, and Lu Jianzhang himself also retreated to Panjiang. The mission of the two regiments is to form a north-south defense line from Bijie, Qianxi, Zhijin to Zhenfeng to prevent me from continuing to the west.

Chen Xiaochun said, "We may quickly occupy Guiyang without fighting, and it seems impossible for Lu Jianzhang's two regiments to fight. Under the circumstance that the main force of the enemy army in Sichuan and Guizhou retreated to Guizhou and Yunnan, the focus of our current battle is still to cut off the retreat of the four regiments to Yunnan and strive to annihilate them on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

"Exact" Yang Fan smiled and said that he walked to the map and pointed to it: "Therefore, after occupying Guiyang, your five regiments will continue to move forward after occupying Guiyang for no more than three days. In terms of disposal, we should pay attention to the following points: (1) The 17th Division in Guizhou must not disperse its troops. It should take one regiment to Guiyang, and two regiments should enter the Anshun area. On the one hand, it should cover the main force to advance to Bijie, and on the other hand, it should force Lu Jianzhang to continue to retreat west to consolidate Guiyang. When the main force enters Sichuan, the army is also prepared to deal with the possible disturbance of the enemy for two or three months. You should also pay attention to this situation in the arrangement of local work.

(2) When your main force is cutting off the enemy's retreat to Yunnan, you should not only quickly occupy Bijie, but also pay attention to if the enemy is along Shanghai County. Yibin, when withdrawing south along Yunlian, Yanjin, Daguan and Nuantong River, you should quickly take a division from Bijie straight out of Yunlian and Daguanguan route. If this step is achieved, the retreat of the enemies in eastern Sichuan, southern Sichuan, eastern Guizhou, western Guizhou and northern Guizhou will be completely cut off.

(3) The 10th Regiment should occupy Zunyi around the 17th and 18th, and then take a shortcut out of Shanghai County. In addition, the 5th Corps Bijie Road and Yaolian Road, there are three arrows advancing to the northwest and intercept the enemy, which can not only respond to each other, but also be in line with the next step of crossing the river.

(4) Therefore, you should pay special attention to the investigation of the possible forwards of each of the above.

"Understand!"

Chen Xiaochun and the named general said sonorously.

Yang Fan raised his head. The afterglow of the sunset outside the window reflected the green mountains after the rain. The fog steamed, and the treetops, roofs, mountains and the sky were coated with a layer of rose purple. Half a silence, he said:

"In the past half month, our troops have been marching and fighting in rainy days, and they must feel tired. I hope to encourage morale and use modern foreign countries to ensure the supply and health of soldiers. Don't lose a lot because of small. Five yuan of oil, salt and one catty of vegetables per person per day are indispensable. The most important! The most important!"

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On the day of the release of Zunyi Jie, Yang Fan called the 5th and 3rd Corps: From the overall situation of the battle, the left-wing circuitous force of our army is extremely important. After judging that the enemy sheltered in Nanchuan and Qijiang, he either retreated to Chongqing or retreated west to Huzhou. From Yibin, Bijie, Zhaotong to Kunming, the latter may be the largest. Therefore, if my 16th, 18th and 10th divisions can reach the Xuyong, Yunlian and Yanjin areas first, they can complete the way to break the enemy's retreat from Yunnan and annihilate them. Calculate the time, the 16th Division can go to Bijie on the 28th and to Xuyong or Yanjin around March 4th. The 18th Division is three days later than the 16th Division. The 10th Division can reach Maotai on the 28th and Chishui around March 2nd. The enemy traveled from Qijiang to Hu County for about four days, from Qijiang to Xuyong for about seven days, and from Qijiang to Yanjin for about twelve days. If the enemy begins to withdraw west on February 25, it can go to Xuyong on March 1st and Yanjin around March 6th. Therefore, in addition to the 10th Division of the 5th Corps, which should indeed calculate the itinerary and time (including combat), and seek the first enemy to occupy the line of Tucheng, Xuyong and Yanjin to take the initiative, the 3rd Corps is advantageous to move the enemy from the front for a few days. Please consider it. After the 11th and 12th Divisions enter the grain area in Nanchuan, if the enemy is still guarding the Qijiang area, you can stop and rest so that the echelon and artillery can catch up, especially when the 10th Division of our 5th Corps detours to the predetermined position and then move forward. The 47th Division should continue to enter Fuling City, but it will not cross the river for the time being.

In order to continue to implement the strategic intention of detours to the south of Sichuan, Yang Fan called Li Xiping and Zeng Gao on the 22nd: In the case that the 47th Division has crossed the Wujiang River to advance to Nanchuan and directly cooperate with our army, our opinion should order the 150th Regiment and the 155th Regiment of the two battalions of the 50th Division to change to Fengdu and Fu after the assembly of Shizhu. The Ling area is concentrated and on standby to maneuver. Combined with the 47th Regiment, it vows to invite the east to fight, so that the friendly forces can focus on the detour in the west.

At this time, the battle between Li Xiping and Zeng Gao in western Hubei has been basically completed.

Li Xiping and Zeng were higher than the next day's reply Yang Fan: According to the previous telegram, the 150th and 155th regiments have been ordered to Fengdu. Fuling moves forward. All the troops on our Western Front (three regiments of the 50th Division, two regiments of the 47th Division, one regiment of the 42nd Division, an independent regiment from Hubei, a total of seven regiments) ask you to command for cooperation.

Marshal Li of the Military Commission also called Li Xiping and Zeng Gao and told Yang Fan: "If Yang Fan needs it, I agree with you and hand over to Yang Fan with seven regiments to direct the battle into Sichuan."

Since then, all the 50th Division, the two regiments of the 47th Division, the 124th Regiment of the 42nd Regiment and the 1st Hubei Independent Regiment were under the command of Yang Fan.

In view of Liu Jing's gathering of Xichang and Hanzhong and about to go south to fight, the Military Commission called Yang Fan and Liu Jing on the 27th: "For the purpose of coordinating and annihilating all the enemies of Sichuan, the Military Commission decided that Liu Jing's headquarters should be under the command of Yang Fan. We do not directly command Liu Jing to avoid differences."

In this way, all the Hubei troops marching to the southwest were under the unified command of Yang Fan.

According to the deployment, the 16th Division departed from Guiyang on February 21 and made a detour in the direction of Bijie and Yibin. The 10th Division set out from Zunyi and Tongzi for Huzhou from the 25th. The 18th Division arrived in Guiyang on the 24th and followed up.

On the way forward, the 5th Corps also encountered the Wujiang River, a big river in the border area of Sichuan and Guizhou.

The Wujiang River, also known as the Qianjiang River, has cliffs on both sides, strange rocks and phosphorus, and the rapid river. In addition, the remnants of the Lu Jianzhang Corps are stationed along the river, which is a big obstacle on the way forward of the Hubei army, which has caused great difficulties for the 5th Corps to advance to the west.

"In order to break through the enemy's Wujiang defense line," Yin Pingzhi, the commander of the 16th Division, stood on the edge of the rapid Wujiang River and ordered: "Divide the troops into three roads: the 47th Regiment is the left road, advancing in the direction of Zhijin, White Cat and Liugui, and inserted behind the side of the enemy's defense line; the 136th Battalion of the 46th Regiment is the middle road, attacking headlonging along the Wujiang River; No. 46 The 137th Battalion of the regiment is on the right, smuggling in the northeast. If you have any comments, let's talk about it.

"No objection."

"Well, the 47th Regiment, which is responsible for the attack on the left, with the 141st Battalion as the avant-garde, is best to enter the Yachi River at dusk on the 21st."

"Yes," the head of the 47th Regiment patted his chest: "I will lead the team myself to ensure the completion of the characters."

Yin Pingzhi nodded and said, "The Yachi River ferry is a very dangerous ferry. There is a regiment of enemy troops on the other side of the river, and there will be a lot of casualties when crossing the river. The opinion of the division's staff is that your department can consider taking a detour to the White Cat River, 20 or 30 miles south of the Yachi River, where the water is shallow, the shore slope is low and flat, and the enemy's defense here is also weak. The 141st Battalion can quickly cross the river, seize the beachhead position, and cover the passage of the follow-up troops.

......

In this way, the 47th Regiment attacked more than 270 miles in a row in three days, crossed four rivers, and occupied the Yangchang Dam on the highway from Qianxi to Bijie on the 24th, cutting off the enemy's escape from western Guizhou. In the early morning of the next day, the leading troops of the 47th Regiment entered and arrived in Dading, destroying a sleeping enemy.

Also on the 24th, the 137th Battalion of the 46th Regiment arrived at the ferry across the Qing'an Dam in the upper reaches of the Wujiang River.

This is a ferry with a rather steep terrain. Although the river here is only a hundred meters wide, the water flow is rapid, the reefs are dense, and it is difficult to cross. The biggest problem is that there is no tool to cross the river.

In the face of the arduous task of the torrential river and the arduous tasks assigned by superiors, the 137th Battalion carried out an emergency mobilization, and each company held the "Zhuge Liang Meeting" to promote military democracy and discuss ways to cross the river.

"Lao Li, you usually have so many ideas. Why did you become mute today?"

"I said, don't laugh..."

"You're right. Who will laugh at you?"

"Isn't there no boat to cross the river? We can use the marching pot to cross the river.

"Hahaha..."

"I said you would laugh at me..."

Sure enough, this suggestion was immediately opposed and ridiculed by some people.

"Stop, Lao Li's plan is a feasible solution! Think about it, we really can't find any other tools to cross the river except the marching pot.

So several leaders of Battalion 137 decided to adopt this plan after research.

Ten minutes later, the relatively decent marching pots in each company of the whole regiment were concentrated by the river, a total of eight, just divided into two rows. The soldiers tied the pot with a rope between the pot, then tied the bamboo around them, and then fixed a wooden board as the rudder at the tail. A simple "charge boat" was made.

At night, the seven warriors, led by Dong Dalang, the deputy commander of the second cannon company, took the "charge boat" and rowed to the other side...

The first time failed, and the second time came. When it was more than two feet away from the other side, the seven warriors jumped into the turbulent river and struggled to swim up the shore...

"Smuggling successfully!" The regimental commander put down the telescope and said excitedly.

Behind him, there was a suppressed low cheering.

Dong Chengyi led the six strong men to occupy the Qing'anba ferry in one fell swoop, seized the ships, and destroyed the enemy defenders near the ferry.

At noon on the 25th, the 137th Regiment all crossed the Wujiang River and took advantage of the enemy's unprepared penetration and completed the task.

From then on, "eight-mouth iron pot crossing the Wujiang River" has been a good story in the army...

On the 28th, the 16th Division of the 5th Corps liberated Bijie, an important town in northwest Guizhou, and cut off the retreat of the Sichuan army's attempt to escape to Yunnan.

While crossing the Wujiang River and occupying Bijie with the 5th Corps, the 3rd Corps on the Northern Front commanded the 47th, 11th and 12th Divisions to cross the Wujiang River, and attacked the Huanghuju Group, which was retreating.

On the 25th, the 12th Division captured Nanchuan, cutting off the way for the enemy to retreat to Qijiang in the west. The main force hit the enemy's 242st and 242nd Regiments in Heshunchang, Jiuli Cao and other places. After several days of fierce fighting, on the 26th, the main force of Huanghu Group was annihilated in the area north of Nanchuan.

In view of the rapid development of the situation on the northern front, it is impossible for the enemy to escape to the west. Yang Fan then changed the original idea of waiting for the 16th, 10th and 18th Divisions to detour to the northward the northward area to cross the river and then cross the river. He decided that the northern front troops annihilated the enemy on the south bank of the Yangtze River and crossed the Yangtze River early to surround or occupy Chongqing with cameras.

To this end, Yang Fan called the head of the 3rd Corps on November 26 and told Li Xiping and Zeng Gao: Our 12th Division has liberated Nanchuan on the 25th and pursued Qijiang. The main force of the enemy is now oppressed by our 11th Division and the 47th Division in the cold water field and Longtan field area north of Nanchuan, and is gradually withdrawing to Chongqing and Mudong Town. Retreat. Huanghu's army has been defeated. In order to annihilate the enemy on the south bank of the Yangtze River and complete the purpose of crossing the river or occupying Chongqing with a camera early, the following deployment is made:

1. The 12th Division should quickly advance to the Qijiang River, capture and annihilate the enemy. Then it went straight to the river and prepared to cross the river and detour Chongqing. 2. The 11th Division and the 47th Division quickly worked together to capture and annihilate the cold water field, Longtan field area and the main enemy troops fleeing to Chongqing and Mudong. After that, the 11th Division left the old factory to monitor the enemies of Chongqing. The main force went out of Yudong Town to prepare to cross the river. In cooperation with the 12th Division, the camera liberated Chongqing. The 47th Division is ready to cross the river from the east and west and longevity sections of Mudong Town. 3. Please ask Zeng Gao to order the 50th Division to rush to Fuling, and to order the 150th, 155th and Independent 1st Regiments to approach Fengdu. Fuling section, prepare to cross the river at the same time.

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