On May 4, 1947, ** suddenly sent a telegram demanding that *** and *** immediately prepare to lead a large army to the south. **Four choices were given: Zheng Han, Bianxu, Funiu Mountain, and Dabie Mountain, which surprised *** and ***. Although the situation in Shanxi, Hebei, Luyu and Henan was very good at that time, and the strength of the troops had reached 420,000, Liu Deng's troops were based on the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army that year, and they trained elite soldiers. However, they resolutely accepted ***'s order and immediately began to prepare for the south. They knew that this move was difficult, but they did not raise objections to ***, because they knew that ***'s strategic vision was more far-sighted.
Although Liu Deng is planning the layout of the entire north, he is focusing on the overall situation of the whole of China, so Liu Deng gave up his efforts for many years and actively responded to the overall situation. 1947 was an extremely difficult year for the Liberation War, and it was also a crucial year for the entire Liberation War. The Kuomintang's key offensive brought tremendous pressure to the liberated areas of Shandong and northern Shaanxi, and large areas of base areas were destroyed, which were in danger for a long time. In Shandong, the enemy army seriously damaged the base area, forcing ** to have to absorb Kuomintang prisoners to replenish the troops. Su Yu is good at winning more with less, but this kind of battle is often accompanied by a huge **, especially after the division of troops in July, Huaye's situation has become extremely difficult.
After the Kuomintang army suffered heavy losses at Meng Lianggu, it adopted the tactic of concentrating superior forces to annihilate the enemy, making it difficult for Su Yu to find fighters. With the large-scale destruction of the liberated areas by the Kuomintang army, our army fell into passivity, and there were problems in increasing troops and supplies, and many people in the liberated areas became dissatisfied. Due to the heavy situation of many units of our army, the task of conscription has become arduous, resulting in the emergence of all young people joining the army in individual cities and towns, and agricultural production has been seriously affected. Some counties with small populations need to undertake major stretcher tasks, which has caused dissatisfaction among the local people.
Although these situations are not many, they are a symptom, and our army is facing tremendous pressure, the liberated areas have suffered serious damage, and the pressure on logistical supply and conscription is constantly increasing. The pro-people masses are the key to our army's victory, and once they waver, our army will lose the foundation of fighting against the Kuomintang army. This is precisely the insidious and vicious nature of the Kuomintang army. In this case, the troops everywhere had to hold out, but the people in the rear were overburdened and could not live normally. Therefore, having a unit stand up and lead the battlefield from the liberated areas of our army to the enemy-occupied areas and break the conspiracy of the Kuomintang army is the most far-sighted view at the national strategic level, and it is also another manifestation of the long-term vision. However, this plan is both effective and fraught with risks.
It is such a difficult task for a lone army that has lost its base area to enter the enemy-occupied area, but *** and *** firmly accepted the task, and after reorganizing the troops and horses, they decided to advance into the Dabie Mountain, undertook the heavy task of breaking through the predicament, and finally completed the mission. Liu Deng's army abruptly left Shanxi, Hebei, Luyu and advanced towards Dabie Mountain, a move that immediately attracted Chiang Kai-shek's attention. In order to prevent Liu Deng's army from bringing the battlefield into the area controlled by Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek immediately assembled heavy troops to encircle and intercept Liu Deng's army. Liu Deng's army struggled to move forward in the midst of difficulties and dangers, and with its strong combat capability, it successfully shifted its position in the encirclement and interception of the Kuomintang's heavy troops, and annihilated tens of thousands of enemy troops.
However, this process also caused Liu Deng's army to suffer heavy losses and lose a large number of important **, which affected the ability to attack fortifications later. Fortunately, Liu Deng's army finally succeeded in achieving the strategic goal of advancing into Dabie Mountain.12The 40,000-strong troops successfully entered the Dabie Mountains, and later received 20,000 reinforcements from other field armies, forming a total military force of more than 140,000 people. Due to the particularity of the geographical location of Dabie Mountain, it directly threatened Nanjing, Wuhan and other important towns, attracting a large number of Kuomintang troops to attack. In just half a year, Liu Deng's army suffered huge losses, reduced by nearly half, and the number of troops was sharply reduced to about 70,000.
This is about 350,000 fewer than the 420,000 troops before Liu Deng's army advanced into Dabie Mountain. The whereabouts of these 350,000 people are a mystery. Of the 70,000 people who were reduced, not all of them were sacrificed, some of them accounted for a small half, and the remaining 40,000 or so left the army in the course of the struggle and stayed in the localities to assist in the development of base areas. In addition, in the process of advancing into Dabie Mountain, there were about 30,000 people**, while the rest of the troops successively joined the Second Field, such as the Chen Xie Corps, the Ninth Column and the Eleventh Column. However, the remaining troops did not join the Second Field Army, because with the establishment of the North China Military Region, the original Jin, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan troops also joined the North China Field Army.
Regardless of where these troops end up, they should all be attributed to Liu Deng's army. Because for the sake of the overall situation, they broke the predicament, paid a huge price, achieved great success, and thwarted Chiang Kai-shek's conspiracy. Giving up years of operation, Liu Deng's army broke the predicament for the sake of the overall situation, paid a huge price, and finally achieved great success and thwarted Chiang Kai-shek's conspiracy.