How badly was the Battle of Menglianggu? According to local people, they did not dare to go up the mountain for three years
Here, the People's Liberation Army led by Hua Ye fought to the death against the Kuomintang 74th Division, and finally won the victory, defeating the enemy army, known as the "head of the five main forces" of the Kuomintang. The cost of this victory was terrible, the brutality of the battle was heartbreaking, and many brave men bravely sacrificed their lives to defend the safety of their homes and people.
Legend has it that after the battle, the mountain people of Menglianggu struggled through the shadowy period of several years in the face of the trauma caused by the war.
In 1946, Chiang Kai-shek brazenly tore up the peace agreement, and the civil war broke out again, and the spearhead was directed at the liberated areas. The war spread to Shandong and became an important strategic area. Gu Zhutong was entrusted with the important task of commanding a huge army in an attempt to reverse the situation in the liberated areas.
On the Shandong battlefield, Chiang Kai-shek sent hundreds of thousands of troops and gathered three of the "five main forces", which was huge. The East China Field Army, under the leadership of ** and Su Yu, faced with a numerical inferiority, but still stuck to the Yimeng revolutionary base and was ready to deal with a strong enemy.
Su Yu was far-sighted and decided to adopt the tactic of "feints to lure the enemy and lure him to annihilate him" in an attempt to find a breakthrough when the enemy is strong and we are weak. The Kuomintang army adopted a cautious strategy of "moving closer together intensively and steadily and steadily", so that Su Yu's plan did not come true.
Although Su Yu repeatedly formulated battle plans, under the orderly work of the Kuomintang army, it became more and more difficult to achieve battle results.
Far away in Yan'an, *** always pays attention to the war situation in Shandong, and is full of concern and expectation for the struggle of the People's Liberation Army in Menglianggu. When he learned that Su Yu's conspiracy failed to come true, ** immediately sent a telegram to the Huaye Command and conveyed **'s important instructions: "Be very patient and master the maximum number of troops, there is always a chance to destroy the enemy." This instruction greatly encouraged Huaye and his troops, and strengthened their confidence to continue fighting.
Under the command of leaders such as ** and Su Yu, the PLA has always maintained a high degree of vigilance and flexible response. They are well aware that in the face of a formidable enemy, they must always keep a clear head and strategic patience and wait for the time to come.
Fortunately, the wait didn't last long. The reorganized 74th Division led by Zhang Lingfu, with its self-confidence and tough attitude, decided to advance alone, in an attempt to defeat the PLA in one fell swoop and make great achievements. It was this arrogant behavior that allowed the PLA to find an excellent opportunity to annihilate the enemy.
* This proposal was taken very seriously and was immediately discussed and adopted by Su Yu. They decided to devote all the forces of the East China Field Army to this operation and completely annihilate the 74th Division.
The total annihilation of a well-equipped army is not an easy task. In order to ensure the success of the operation, careful deployment must be carried out in advance. Not only did they need to closely monitor the activities of the 74th Division to block any possibility of escape, but they also had to be vigilant against interference and assistance from other Kuomintang troops around them.
* He Su Yu knew that this operation would bet on all the belongings of the East China Field Army. So, they summoned all the column commanders, commissars, and other senior commanders overnight for an urgent operational meeting.
Su Yu concisely but forcefully summed up the combat mission and emphasized the determination to destroy the reorganized 74th Division and his belief in victory. His words made the hearts of the generals present tighten, knowing that this battle was destined to be a life-and-death struggle.
After listening to Su Yu's speech, the generals were silent, but their eyes revealed firmness and determination. They are well aware that this is not just a tough battle, but a crucial battle that will determine victory or defeat. The atmosphere in the war room became tense and solemn.
With the encouragement of **, everyone's confidence has been boosted. At the end of the operational meeting, Chen Shiqu announced the detailed task deployment of each column.
Looking back at the Battle of Menglianggu, it can be seen as a battle that was carried out in stages. First, review the first phase, the battle of May 13-15.
On 13 May, the columns of the East China Field Army began to gradually move closer to the reorganized 74th Division in accordance with the operational plan drawn up in advance. Even Su Yu quietly moved to the Thousand People Cave not far from the front line in order to command the battle nearby.
At this time, the integrated 74th Division gave the PLA an excellent opportunity to encircle it because of its lone in-depth army. of the East China Field Army.
The 1st, 4th, 8th, and 9th Columns had completed the encirclement of the 74th Division on three sides at dusk.
As night fell, four columns simultaneously launched a fierce attack, delivering a fatal blow to the 74th Division.
The initial battle went well, because the Kuomintang army did not expect Huaye to move so quickly, so they were caught off guard and had to urgently retreat to the area of Menglianggu.
Subsequently, Zhang Lingfu adjusted his combat strategy and decided to use himself as a decoy to attract the main force of Huaye as much as possible, while letting the 74th Division use its powerful firepower to defend Menglianggu.
At the same time, he also informed the peripheral allies that they were ready to launch an assist to Huaye at the right time to achieve the tactical goal of "blossoming in the center".
On the afternoon of the 14th, the Sixth Column led by Wang Bicheng penetrated to the rear of the 74th Division, completely cutting off the way for the 74th Division to flee south.
By the end of the night, the encirclement of the 74th Division by the East China Field Army had been completely closed.
Faced with the difficult situation of internal and external attacks, Huaye had to concentrate his forces to deal with the besieged and integrated 74th Division, and at the same time resist tens of thousands of enemy reinforcements from all directions. The battle is extremely difficult, and every step is fraught with unforeseen risks and challenges.
At the front-line command headquarters in Qianrendong, ** personally went to the battlefield and constantly kept in touch with the commanders of various columns through **, giving them encouragement and instructions.
In the face of the enemy's peripheral encirclement and the stubborn resistance of the 74th Division, ** knew the urgency of time, and he said to Xu Shiyou, the commander of the Ninth Column: "Now the reinforcements and blocking troops are fighting very hard, and the 74th Division is here in one move, and we are running out of time to gain it, you take Meng Lianggu as soon as possible!" This sentence fully reflected the critical situation on the battlefield at that time, and also expressed the trust and expectation of the soldiers.
Huaye's army was facing an extremely serious situation, and any breach of the gap could lead to the annihilation of the entire army. The two commanders, Su Yu, always pay attention to every detail of the battlefield, and constantly look for breakthroughs and opportunities in command and map analysis. They understood that the only way to break the tie was to annihilate the 74th Division, otherwise it would be difficult to break the deadlock in the entire battle.
In the continuous tragic battle, the Huaye columns stubbornly advanced, constantly compressing the encirclement of the 74th Division.
After two full days of fierce fighting, the reorganized 74th Division kept trying to break through, but the East China Field Army clung to them, like a trapped beast, and did not give up any opportunity. In this desperate struggle, every inch of land has become the dividing line between life and death, and the various tribes of Huaye are like hungry beasts, desperately chasing their prey.
On the night of the 15th, as the encirclement continued to compress, the Huaye Army withstood the pressure from all sides and prepared for the final decisive battle with the 74th Division.
Subsequently, ** quickly dispatched Ye Fei as the commander-in-chief of the line of fire, commanding the general attack of the first, fourth, sixth, and ninth columns in a unified manner, and specially told him: "No matter how much it costs, even if you fight two columns, you must complete the task!" ”
At 1 o'clock in the morning of the 16th, the 29 regiments of the four columns of the East China Field Army divided their troops and launched a general attack on Menglianggu.
At this moment, Meng Lianggu seemed to be illuminated by countless roaring "fire dragons", and the battlefield instantly became a burning hell. Artillery fire roared, bullets whistled, and the warriors charged, launching a fierce offensive on multiple heights controlled by the enemy.
The sky above Meng Lianggu was filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood, the shouts of killing shook the sky, and the sound of gunfire and explosions mixed with the screams of the enemy was endless.
Seeing that the situation was critical, Zhang Lingfu no longer regained the calm and calm of the war, and on the one hand ordered the remnants to resist desperately, and on the other hand, he asked Chiang Kai-shek, Tang Enbo, Huang Baitao, Li Tianxia and other troops for help.
Chiang Kai-shek naturally did not want to see his "ace army" completely wiped out, so he immediately urged nearby troops to rush to Menglianggu to rescue.
The East China Field Army's onslaught at Menglianggu to reorganize the 74th Division did not mean that the vigilance on the periphery was relaxed. The reinforcements sent by Chiang Kai-shek were stubbornly resisted by Huaye one after another, and none of the support troops were able to ***
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the 16th, the Huaye Army launched a final charge.
In order to reduce the number of soldiers, the Huaye Army mobilized thousands of howitzers, mountain artillery, mortars, etc., to shoot at the enemy's positions from all directions.
Under the bombardment of artillery fire, the entire Meng Lianggu showed a scene of the sky falling apart, the smoke of gunpowder was filled, the flames rose into the air, and the enemy's position was instantly blown to pieces.
When the Huaye Sixth Column secret service group learned of Zhang Lingfu's hiding place, they did not hesitate to launch a surprise attack on the target, and finally succeeded in killing the Kuomintang commander. Zhang Lingfu's death marked the end of the Menglianggu Battle, and he died with Cai Renjie, deputy commander of the 74th Division, Lu Xing, commander of the 58th Brigade and other senior generals.
As evening fell, the troops led by Hua Ye finally captured the main peak of Menglianggu and declared victory in the battle. This battle not only completely wiped out the 74th Division of the Kuomintang "Ace Army," but also inflicted heavy losses on a regiment of the 83rd Division, which had a great impact on the Kuomintang's military deployment in East China.
Looking back on the Battle of Menglianggu, people were not only amazed by the command art of commanders such as ** and Su Yu, but also shocked by the tragedy of the war at that time.
With the tremendous efforts of the Huaye troops, this battle completely annihilated the elite troops of the enemy, reversed the situation in East China in one fell swoop, and laid a solid foundation for the victory of the PLA in the region. This victory also came at a huge cost, with a total of 1** of 20,000 people.
The smoke of the Menglianggu Battle filled the mountains, and the tragic scenes on the battlefield shocked the surrounding people, and even made them dare not go up the mountain for three years. The remnants of the murderous aura on Menglianggu Mountain have become a memory that can never be forgotten in the hearts of the locals.
Despite the brutality of the Battle of Menglianggu, this victory is of far-reaching historical significance. This battle demonstrated the strong combat effectiveness of the PLA under inferior conditions, and successfully divided and annihilated the enemy's main force by concentrating superior forces several times that of the enemy, and became a classic example in the War of Liberation.
It is worth mentioning that the reorganized 74th Division was regarded as an important force in the Kuomintang army, and some people even once shouted "With the 74th Division, there is the Kuomintang!" With 10 74 divisions, the whole of China can be unified! In the Battle of Menglianggu, Huaye completely annihilated it, a result that was undoubtedly a devastating blow to the Kuomintang.
This victory not only psychologically deterred the Kuomintang army, but also disrupted their strategic deployment in Shandong. The Battle of Menglianggu became a turning point for the PLA to shift from strategic defense to active offensive, while the KMT gradually fell into a situation of passive attack.
After the Battle of Menglianggu, the defeat of the Kuomintang was irreversible.
The Battle of Menglianggu was an extremely important battle in the Chinese Liberation War, and its significance was not only in completely defeating an elite division of the Kuomintang Army, but also in showing the indomitable will and heroic spirit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in defiance of sacrifice.
In this battle, the 1.. of the East China Field ArmyWith tenacious perseverance and courage, 20,000 commanders and fighters fought to the death against the reorganized 74th Division. They were not afraid of hardships and dangers, spared no choice but their lives, and wrote a magnificent chapter in the War of Resistance with their blood and lives.
In the face of the powerful enemy army and the harsh battlefield environment, these heroic soldiers always maintained an indomitable fighting spirit, persevered until the last moment, and defended the dignity of the motherland and the nation with their blood and lives.
Their heroic sacrifice and selfless dedication have become a glorious page in the Chinese Liberation War, and have also laid a solid foundation for the birth of New China and the peace and security of the country and the people today.
Therefore, people's feelings for the Battle of Menglianggu are now more reflected in the nostalgia and respect for these heroes and soldiers. Their spirit will always be remembered and inherited, and their sacrifices will always be remembered by the people, inspiring us to work hard for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
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