The process of crossing the river
1On April 20th, 949, the Nanjing Kuomintang government flagrantly refused to sign the domestic peace agreement. That night, the China People's Liberation Army launched the crossing operation as scheduled.
Mao Zedong, Chairman of the China People's Revolutionary Military Commission, and Zhu De, Commander-in-Chief of the China People's Liberation Army, issued orders to March across the country and ordered the China People's Liberation Army? March forward bravely, resolutely, thoroughly, cleanly and thoroughly annihilate all Kuomintang reactionaries in China, liberate the people of the whole country, and safeguard the independence and integrity of China's territorial sovereignty? .
After crossing the river, Su Yu spent the night in the command post. He said to the staff around him: In order to ensure the victory of the battle of crossing the river, none of you can sleep tonight, nor can I, so don't think about my rest. If anything happens, let me know at once, and I'll stay by the phone. ?
The People's Liberation Army Group first carried out the operation of crossing the river. Qian Fan competitive development, strong leap? Natural barrier? In just over an hour, it broke through the defensive position of the Jiang army from Lugang to Tongling, captured Tongling, Shun 'an, Fanchang, Eqiao and other places, and cut off Chiang Kai-shek's thousands of miles of defense.
After crossing the river from Jiangyin to Yangzhong, the Fourth Army of the East Group, under the direct command of Su Yu, quickly broke through Chiang Kai-shek's defensive position, repelled the repeated counterattacks of the three enemy armies, and established a beachhead position with a depth of 50 kilometers from east to west and 10 kilometers, and continued to advance in depth. The Western Line Group under the command of Liu Bocheng broke through the enemy's defense from pengze county, Jiangxi Province to Guichi County, Anhui Province, and developed rapidly in depth, cutting off the contact between Tang Group and Bai Chongxi Group. Chiang Kai-shek Group's Yangtze River defense line, which had been painstakingly managed for more than three months, suddenly collapsed.
At the same time, under the political struggle between the * * * production party and the People's Liberation Army in China and the instigation of the * * * underground organization, more than 7,000 Kuomintang defenders in Jiangyin Fortress revolted, and Dai Rongguang, commander of the captive fortress, immediately turned the muzzle to support the People's Liberation Army to cross the river; Lin Zun, commander of the Second Fleet of the Kuomintang, led his 25 warships to revolt near Nanking. Another 23 warships surrendered in Zhenjiang, and the rest fled to Shanghai. Chiang Kai-shek's naval fleet deployed in the Yangtze River suddenly collapsed.
The navy of the East China Military Region stationed in Baima consists of some cadres of the Third Field Army, a training regiment and troops stationed in the Soviet Union. Navy? The coastal defense column of the Subei Military Region, which was developed on the basis of the Marine Corps, and the Kuomintang naval fleet rebelled and surrendered. Later, April 23rd was designated as the anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy.
Su Yu led his headquarters to cross the river and went to Jiangyin Fortress, where he met Tang, party member and others who organized the uprising. Su Yu said? You have made important contributions to the victory of the army crossing the river and made great contributions to the party and the people. The party and people will never forget you. ?
The PLA succeeded in crossing the river in one fell swoop with lightning speed. The Kuomintang reactionaries were in chaos, hastily deployed and implemented a general retreat. Acting President Li Zongren led some Kuomintang government personnel who stayed in Nanjing to flee from Nanjing. Su Yu judged according to various aspects. When the enemy in Nanjing was in chaos, did they retreat south or east? Order all ministries to speed up crossing the river and intercept and annihilate fleeing enemies. Su Yu's decree states:? If the enemy of Nanjing escapes, the 35th Army should immediately cross the river to occupy Nanjing, maintain order and protect all public and private property abandoned by the enemy. The army should pay special attention to observing policies and enforcing city discipline. ?
On April 23, with the support of Nanjing * * * Party organizations and people, the Third Field Army troops successfully invaded Nanjing, rushed into Chiang Kai-shek's presidential palace, lowered the right-wing flag of the Kuomintang, and declared the collapse of the Republic of China, which ruled China for 38 years, and the Chiang Dynasty, which ruled China for 22 years [2].
The news that the People's Liberation Army broke through the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and liberated Nanjing reached Beijing. Mao Zedong was so excited that he wrote a poem:
Zhongshan is windy and rainy, and millions of heroes cross the river.
Tiger's dragon card is better than in the past, upside down and generous.
It is advisable to chase after the poor bandits with the remaining courage, not to learn from the overlord.
If the sky is sentimental, it will grow old, and the right way in the world is vicissitudes.
After crossing the river, Su Yu pointed out in his speech at the meeting of Sanye cadres that the victory of the battle of crossing the river? Is it of great significance to the development of China revolution? ,? It is not enough to see the collapse of the Kuomintang from a military perspective, but more importantly, from a political perspective. We crossed the river not only militarily, but also politically? .
Background of crossing the river campaign
Deployment of Kuomintang troops
After the three major battles, there were 7 1 army and 227 divisions in the Kuomintang regular army, and the number was about 1 1.5 million. Together with special forces, government agencies, schools and local troops, the total strength is 2.04 million, of which 1.46 million can be used for combat. Most of these troops were newly built or rebuilt after being destroyed, and they were distributed in a vast area from Xinjiang to Taiwan Province Province, so they could not organize effective defense strategically.
In order to gain time, Chiang Kai-shek relied on the mountains and rivers in the south of the Yangtze River to reorganize the army and wait for an opportunity to make a comeback. On the one hand,194965438+1October 2 1 announced his retirement, and Li Zongren, the vice president, was appointed? Acting president? , and put forward peace talks to China * * * production party; On the other hand, he is still in charge of military and political power as the chairman of the Kuomintang, and actively expands his army to prepare for war. Expand Beijing, Shanghai and garrison headquarters into Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and garrison headquarters, and appoint Tang as commander-in-chief to command the military affairs in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and eastern Jiangxi. Fight bandits? Bai Chongxi, commander-in-chief of the General Command (renamed Central China Military and Political Chief's Office in April), organized forces to defend the Yangtze River. By April of 1949, the Kuomintang army had deployed 1 15 divisions with about 700,000 troops along the Yangtze River, more than 800 kilometers away from Yichang and Shanghai/kloc-0. Among them, there are about 450 thousand people in 75 divisions of Tang Tuan, which are deployed on the road section from Hukou, Jiangxi to Shanghai for more than 800 kilometers; There are about 250,000 people in 40 divisions of Bai Chongxi Regiment, which are deployed in the section from Hukou to Yichang near 1000 km. At the same time, the Navy's 2nd Fleet of Coastal Defence and Jiang Fang Fleet, with 26 warships and 56 gunboats, are stationed in Anqing, Wuhu, Zhenjiang and Shanghai, and more than 40 main ships are stationed in Yichang, Hankou and Jiujiang to patrol along the river. More than 300 aircraft of four air force brigades are distributed in Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai and other places to support the army's operations.
In addition, the United States, Britain and other countries also have warships moored in the waters near Wusongkou, Shanghai, threatening or waiting for an opportunity to obstruct the PLA from crossing the river. [3]
Strategic guidance of the People's Liberation Army
In his later years, when talking about the battle of crossing the river, Su Yu said: If crossing the river is not tense, the defense of the Kuomintang crossing the river will be nothing. By then, our firepower had surpassed and overwhelmed the enemy. Of course, we attach great importance to tactics and specific deployment.
Su Yu's belief in winning the battle of crossing the river is based on his scientific analysis of China's strategic situation and rich practical experience. During his stay in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, he successfully led troops to cross the river from Nanjing to Jiangyin three times. 1940, led the main force of Jiangnan headquarters of the New Fourth Army to cross the river to the north, and carried out the strategic task of opening up northern Jiangsu and developing Central China. 1944, he led the main force of the Soviet area and nearly 10,000 local cadres to cross the river south in two ways to carry out the strategic task of developing to the border of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. After War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory 1945, he led more than 60,000 troops and local cadres in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Military Region to cross the river in batches. North extension and south defense? Strategic policy. During those three crossings, under the situation that the enemy was strong and we were weak, we adopted the tactics of surprise attack, avoiding reality and ignoring reality, and chose the weak parts of the enemy to sneak attack. Su Yu realized from the practice of crossing the river three times that the Yangtze River is not an insurmountable defense line. This is the fourth time that Su Yu led the army to cross the river. He has a plan in mind and has been preparing for it for more than ten months.
Su Yu thought that the upcoming battle of crossing the river was carried out after the strategic decisive battle of the downtown and the annihilation of Chiang Kai-shek's elite troops in Jiangbei, which was very different from the south crossing of the river envisaged by the Central Committee 1948. First, the situation and tasks are different. At that time, the central government decided that the purpose of crossing the river to the south was to lead the war to the far rear of the Kuomintang and mobilize 20 or 30 brigades of the Kuomintang army in the battlefield of the Central Plains to defend the south of the Yangtze River, so as to reverse the war situation in the Central Plains and develop a strategic offensive. The People's Liberation Army has grown to 3.58 million, and the total population of the liberated areas has reached about 200 million, which has gained political, strategic, quantitative and technological advantages. The elite main force that Chiang Kai-shek relied on to launch the civil war has been completely annihilated, and the remaining combat troops are only 654.38+0.46 million. The reactionary Kuomintang clique has reached the brink of total collapse militarily, politically and economically. The PLA? The general task of national operations is to cross the river, liberate all China, and eliminate the Kuomintang ruling institutions and residual military forces? . Second, the struggle is more complicated. The crossing was carried out under the political background of the resumption of peace talks between the two sides. Chiang Kai-shek played? Peace? 、? Retired? Conspiracy, trying to save half of Jiangnan, waiting for an opportunity to make a comeback. The Yangtze River, especially the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou area, is the political and economic center of the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang, and also an important base for imperialist aggression against China, which plays a decisive role in the post-war construction of new China. This crossing the river is not a simple military action, but a complex struggle combining military struggle with political, economic and diplomatic struggle. It should not only closely cooperate with the peace talks between the two parties, but also prepare for possible armed intervention by the imperialists; We must defeat the enemy not only militarily, but also politically; We should not only win the war, but also consider the post-war economic recovery and construction. Third, the way of fighting is different. This time, under the strong advantage of the People's Liberation Army, we adopted a practical tactic, and large troops crossed the river openly, extensively and actively. The breadth of the fighting area, the number of troops participating in the war and the complexity and variety of the fighting methods are unprecedented not only in the history of the war of liberation, but also rare in the history of China and even the world war. There are 650,000 people in the Third Field Army alone, which is responsible for more than 700 kilometers of frontal and more than 300 kilometers of in-depth combat tasks, including crossing the river, field pursuit and annihilation, and the biggest urban battle in the War of Liberation, and needs more adequate, solid, scientific and rigorous preparations.
The significance of the battle of crossing the river
The battle of crossing the river, also known as the battle of Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, lasted 42 days. The People's Liberation Army used wooden sailboats as the main means of navigation, and broke through the Kuomintang army's Yangtze River defense line in one fell swoop, combining mobile warfare with urban warfare to encircle and annihilate its heavily armed groups. In this campaign, the People's Liberation Army suffered more than 60,000 casualties, wiped out more than 430,000 Kuomintang troops 1 1 military headquarters and 46 divisions, liberated Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan and other big cities, as well as all of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, most of Zhejiang Province and parts of Jiangxi, Hubei, Fujian and other provinces, which created important conditions for the later liberation of East China and the March to South China and Southwest China.