The Battle of Menglianggu was a classic battle of our army during the War of Liberation, which annihilated the 74th Division of the First Ace Division of the Kuomintang Army and killed the division commander Zhang Lingfu, which made Chiang Kai-shek feel painful, saying that this was "the most painful and regrettable thing" since the Civil War.
In fact, from the comparison of the strength of the two sides, this battle is very difficult to fight, the Kuomintang army gathered 24 divisions, a total of 450,000 people, especially dispatched the "head of the five trump cards" to reorganize the 74th division, Chiang Kai-shek just wanted to complete the battle and completely solve the Shandong battlefield.
The East China Field Army has only 9 columns, a total of 270,000 people, and it is incomparable in terms of equipment.
First of all, let's talk about "location".(The time of day is related to the location, and we will talk about it next).
Menglianggu is one of the "seventy-two valleys" in the Yimeng Mountains, although the altitude is only 536 meters, but the mountain is very steep, and it is a stone mountain, the mountains and rocks rise everywhere, the vegetation is scarce, resulting in the lack of water sources, which is not conducive to warfare.
Especially for the Kuomintang army, the operation is highly dependent on the heavy **, such as the reorganization of the 74th Division, there are more than 300 mountain artillery, mortars, and battle defense guns, more than 200 heavy machine guns, and more than 1,000 light machine guns.
The officers and men of our army have been engaged in guerrilla warfare for a long time, and all of them have developed the ability to climb mountains and cross rivers as if they were walking on flat ground, and they can be said to be like fish in water when fighting in the terrain of Menglianggu.
Comparing the two, it is self-evident that our army has a "geographical" advantage.
In the 90s of the last century, Hao Bocun, Taiwan's former "Minister of National Defense" and "Commander-in-Chief of the Army," made a special visit to Meng Lianggu and said:"I was thinking in Meng Lianggu, why did Zhang Lingfu lead a reorganized division of about 20,000 people to attack Tangbu, but since he was counterattacked by the superior enemy, why did he retreat to a stone mountain to set up a defensive position?Deeply puzzled.
"If Meng Lianggu chooses his own position for Zhang Lingfu, it is Zhang's mistake, even if it is instructed by his superiors, but the front-line commander personally went to a barren mountain of pure stone, how can there be water?How to do the fortifications?Enemy artillery fire on the stones only increases its power. ”
Indeed, Meng Lianggu is very unsuitable for defense, there are too many rocks, one is not conducive to digging fortifications, and the other is that the cannonballs hit these stones, which will make the stones scatter and crack, increasing the lethality.
Even more deadly was the lack of water sources, Zhang Lingfu's attendant adjutant, Zhu Ye, later recalled"After four days and nights of fierce fighting, the officers and men did not eat a single bite of food or drink a drop of water. The scorching sun and heavy wind and sand smoke in the north scorched the lungs and thirst. As I lay between two rocks, looking at the shining umbrella, I thought there was an entrance to a clear spring. Seeing the partners quenching their thirst with their own urine, after a few hesitations, they had no choice but to do so, and once they didn't know the taste of it, they did feel energetic. ”
Even Zhang Lingfu's attendant adjutant couldn't find water to drink, so he could only drink his own urine, and the others could imagine it.
And what is the situation with our army?According to statistics, during the Menglianggu Campaign, a total of 200,000 migrant workers enthusiastically supported the front, and every household made pancakes, and the food and drink were continuously transported to the front line, and the front-line soldiers did not have to worry at all.
This is the "geographical advantage" gap between the enemy and us, one is self-trapped, so that the earth should not be called ineffective, and the other is like a fish in water, with a steady stream of logistics, the victory or defeat of the battle is actually doomed.
Let's talk about "time of day".
The time of day is actually closely related to the location, that is, it does not rain all the time, so the defenders on Meng Lianggu have no water to drink.
Meng Lianggu is located in the Yimeng Mountains of Shandong, there was not much rain, it was May, the weather also began to get hotter, especially in the days when the battle broke out, the sun shone brightly, there were few clouds in the sky, there was no sign of rain.
Later, Xu Shiyou, commander of the 9th Column, who participated in the campaign, recalled:"The sky was fine for days, but I saw only a few floating clouds, and there was not a drop of rain. The enemy ran out of food and water, and hunger and thirst were unbearable. ......The besieged enemy was so hungry and thirsty that some drank horse blood and horse meat, and some even drank horse urine and human urine. ”
The Battle of Menglianggu began on May 13, 1947, and the officers and men of the 74th Division were looking forward to some rain from God all the time, but until the end of the battle on the 16th, not a drop of rain fell.
The strange thing is that in the evening of the day after the battle, it was suddenly overcast and rained heavily!
After Xiang Yu's defeat that year, he shouted "God will kill me", and the soldiers of the reorganized 74th Division must have also asked in their hearts: Is it really God who wants to kill us?
Finally, there is "people".
Meng Ziyun: "The time is not as good as the location, and the location is not as good as the people." The Battle of Menglianggu illustrates this truth of war.
If it's just that God doesn't rain, as long as there is water on the ground, don't be afraid;Even if there is no water source on Menglianggu, it is not suitable for defense, but as long as the "friendly army" can be reinforced in time, in fact, the reorganized 74th Division can hold out to the end.
However, on the last "harmony", Zhang Lingfu wanted to cry without tears, and completely lost the power to return to heaven!
It has long been no secret that the Kuomintang army acted independently and pulled each other's troubles, and it was brought into full play in the Battle of Menglianggu.
Originally, Zhang Lingfu's original intention was to advance into Menglianggu by himself, attract the main force of Huaye to surround him, and then let the Kuomintang's 400,000 troops carry out counter-encirclement, and attack inside and outside, and he will definitely be able to win a complete victory.
However, Zhang Lingfu obviously underestimated the degree of cooperation of the "friendly forces", Li Tianxia's integrated 83rd Division, Huang Baitao's integrated 25th Division, and the integrated 74th Division all belong to Tang Enbo's corps, and should closely cooperate with the integrated 74th Division, but Li Tianxia and Huang Baitao each have their own ghosts, and they are close at hand but lingering.
After the Battle of Menglianggu, Chiang Kai-shek was rarely furious, and immediately dismissed Tang Enbo, dismissed Li Tianxia from his post and investigated, and Huang Baitao was also investigated and dealt with strictly!
On the other hand, in our army, all columns cooperate closely and unite as one, no one plays tricks, and everyone has only one purpose, that is, to completely annihilate and reorganize the 74th Division at all costs!
*, when Su Yu mobilizes the troops, one ** is enough, even if the troops are difficult, they must overcome all difficulties and arrive at the battle site in time.
For example, Ye Fei's 1st Column and 1st Division were responsible for guarding Tianma Mountain, because the enemy's offensive was fierce, it was about to be lost, and Ye Fei really had no reinforcements, so at this critical moment, Tao Yong's 4th Column and 1st Battalion passed here, regardless of their own exhaustion, they immediately helped the 1st Column and 1st Division to defend Tianma Mountain, and finally kept their position.
Such an incident is absolutely not seen in the Kuomintang army!
Therefore, Zhang Lingfu's defeat was of course due to the factors of "time" and "location", but the most important thing was the defeat of "people".
(Reference: "The Battle of Menglianggu", "The Biography of Su Yu and Chiang Kai-shek's Ace General Zhang Lingfu").