17. Battle of Tangyin
In January 1947, the independent second brigade of our Taihang Military Region was established in Lin County, Henan. The brigade commander was temporarily absent. Political commissar Yu Hongyuan and deputy brigade commander Zhang Xianyang, I am the deputy brigade commander and chief of staff, in charge of the 43rd, 45th and 48th regiments. After the independent brigade was established, it immediately participated in the counterattack in northern Henan. Soon the superiors sent us Comrade Xiang Shouzhi, the brigade commander, and the mood of the entire brigade cadres and soldiers was high. In early April, our brigade came under the direct command of Commander Liu and Deng and participated in the Battle of Tangyin in northern Henan.
1. We lost our opportunity to attack Ji County for some reason. We launched an attack on Ji County near Xinxiang in northern Henan. Due to a sudden change in circumstances, I stopped fighting after one night. What has changed? It turns out that the Kuomintang has a reorganized 32nd Division stationed in the city, and its leadership is organized by our party. Among them, there was a regiment. It was originally agreed that after the fight started, they would open the city gates and cooperate with our army in the battle. However, after the fighting started, they refused to open the door. Instead, they resisted me tenaciously. They opened fire on us with the cooperation of American artillery and howitzers in the city. Ping Ping Pong played fiercely with us all night. Although our army destroyed about three enemy battalions on the periphery and inside the pass. However, we did not see any major movement from the revolting enemies. On the afternoon of the next day, my old party member Comrade Wang Qiming (then chief of staff of the division), who had been hiding for a long time and waiting for action, approached the regiment commander (whose name I can’t recall) who agreed to open the city gate to question him. Unexpectedly, the group leader broke his promise and changed his mind temporarily. He said: "Tonight you take two battalions away to find the Communist Party, and leave one battalion for me. Let's talk about whether the Communist Party wants me in the future!" When Wang Qiming heard this, the situation changed drastically. Thinking that this was a completely treacherous act, he regarded the uprising before the battle as child's play. I had no choice but to say: "Then forget it tonight! Let's go." Later, at the end of 1947, the 32nd Division of the Kuomintang Army was completely wiped out by Liu and Deng's main force in the Shawo area near Jining, Shandong. The regiment commander ran to Wuhan While escaping, he happened to be met by Comrade Wang Qiming. Wang gave him a hard lesson and scolded him: "Weak-willed, ran away before the battle, missed important events, and ended up dying."
Afterthoughts The main reasons why the enemy changed his mind before the battle were as follows: First, he failed to resolve my belief that the Communist Party must win and the Kuomintang must lose. Second, the Yellow River Bridge failed to be controlled, allowing enemy reinforcements to arrive, so the fighter plane was lost.
2. Encircle and annihilate Sun Dianying’s Sixth Column and One Regiment. Based on the battlefield situation at that time, the Supreme Command decided: "Besiege Tangyin City and mobilize the enemy's main force northward to find new fighters." In order to deal with our army, Sun Dianying's troops fell into my tactical trap and were mobilized by me. He wanted to shrink all the enemies in the peripheral strongholds into Tangyin City to concentrate his forces, carry out resistance, and wait for foreign aid. This gives us the opportunity to attack the enemies of contraction in the field. At this time, our superiors ordered us: "Set an ambush on the car road between Hebi and Tangyin to intercept and eliminate the first regiment of Sun Dianying's sixth column retreating from Hebi to Tangyin." Specific instructions: The brigade command post is located In the Northern Tang and Song Dynasties, the 45th Regiment and the 43rd Regiment were at the brigade's left and right sides, ready to face the North Motor Road and attack the enemy at any time. The 43rd Regiment used a blocking force to maneuver at any time in Huojiagang to annihilate the enemy.
This Sun Dianying surrendered to Japan when Japan occupied it. After Japan's defeat, he surrendered to the Kuomintang. At that time, Sun Yat-sen had an integrated division with two brigades in charge.
On the evening of April 4, we marched more than a hundred miles from Qi County and passed through a stronghold on the outskirts of the Sun tribe in Sanlitun west of Tangyin, but there was no engagement. Arrive at the destination Huojiagang at dawn on the 5th. And quickly set up "pockets" in the Huojiagang and Beitang Song areas.
Sun Bu's Sixth Column Regiment, which retreated from Hebi to Tangyin, arrived at 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon. First, Li Zhongxuan told me: "The enemy is coming." I said: "Get ready to attack!" Before that, small troops from both sides had come into contact. Once the enemy came into contact, they immediately huddled together and became motionless. However, after they assembled, they judged that our side was a small force. At this time, the third battalion of our 43rd regiment, led by battalion commander Wang Genyuan, had been deployed, and the regiment's six mortars had also been deployed. I stood on the car road and looked ahead. I saw an enemy officer there gesticulating and saying something to his superiors. Maybe he was explaining how to deal with us? Seeing this situation, I made a decisive decision and immediately ordered an attack preemptively. For a time, the mortars fired concentratedly, and a large number of shells fell on the enemy's assembled team. Dust was flying and gunpowder smoke filled the air. Our troops rushed towards it from the east, south and rear. Some of the defeated enemies fled north. The main force of the 43rd Regiment immediately pursued and annihilated the enemies fleeing north.
In this battle, our troops killed, wounded, and captured more than 850 enemy soldiers. 40 light and heavy machine guns were seized. A group of war horses. It’s a great morale booster for me! This was the first battle for our brigade to participate in the Northern Henan Campaign. Under the command of Brigadier Xiang Shouzhi, we fought cleanly and dealt a annihilating blow to the enemy regiment!
However, when the battle was mentioned later, Commander Xiang Shouzhi still said modestly: "We are all fishermen, and when we got together, some of the enemies slipped through the net and ran away."
After that, we followed the instructions of our superiors and eliminated some stubborn enemies in the southwest of Tangyin City.
3. Intercept the second fast column. In April 1947, our independent second brigade came under the command of Commander Chen Xilian of the third column of Liu and Deng's main force. On the night of April 16, our brigade passed through Dalaidian from the southwest of Tangyin City and headed towards the Juqiao Bridge in Junxian County.
When we arrived at Juqiao at dawn on the 17th, the puppet organization in Juqiao Town had already disappeared. Our brigade set up a headquarters in Baizhuang, about 1 kilometer south of Juqiao. Our 48th Regiment is in Weixian, Qihe, on our west side to protect the bridge to ensure the flank safety of our troops. Our 43rd Regiment is in the Zhenggang area east of Baizhuang, and the 45th Regiment is near our brigade command post. At that time, Commander Chen Xilian gave us the task of serving as the reserve team of his third column and resting on standby.
At about 9 o'clock in the morning, Ma Zhongquan, the commander of the Eighth Brigade of the Third Column, and Shi Jingban, the deputy brigade commander, came to our command post and conveyed Commander Chen's instructions. First, they talked about the enemy's situation. He said that the enemy was reinforcing Tang. Li Shouzhen, the second rapid column of Yin's troops, has led his 49th Independent Brigade, more than 7,000 men, and more than ten tanks. They have entered the north of Tongshan and continue to approach Tangyin City, striving to relieve Tangyin's enemies.
The Kuomintang Chen Cheng's direct line reorganized the Song Ruihe Division of the 199th Brigade of the 66th Division, following closely behind the Li Division.