In 1948, the Huaihai Campaign began. Huaye joined forces with Nakano to engage in a life-and-death duel with 800,000 Kuomintang troops in the Xuzhou area. The first battle was successful, the Kuomintang 7th Corps was destroyed, the commander Huang Baitao committed suicide, the victory or defeat of the battle began to appear, and our army began to gradually encircle and annihilate the Kuomintang army.
However, when this exciting news came, Su Yu did not feel joy, but fainted on the spot.
It turned out that the wife of General Su Yu also told such an incident: "Su Yu did not dare to confide in the chairman about his hardships!" "Why did General Su faint when he heard the news?
What is the meaning of what his wife said about not daring to complain to the chairman? Let's uncover the truth about Su Yu's fainting in the Huaihai Campaign.
Before the Huaihai Campaign began, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had already planned to conduct a strategic decisive battle in the area centered on Xuzhou. At the beginning of November 1948, Gu Zhutong, chief of the National Staff, took Guo Rugui, director of the National Defense Department, to the front line in Xuzhou and released the "Battle of Xu Beng" plan of the Kuomintang to the front-line generals.
In the operations conference room in Xuzhou, many high-ranking Kuomintang generals gathered, including Huang Baitao, then commander of the Seventh Corps. Huang Baitao is not from the Whampoa family, he is one of the few outliers among the senior generals of the Kuomintang.
In the early years, Huang Baitao started as a private soldier of the Beiyang warlord, and became the herald of the warlord Li Chun with his excellent appearance.
Li Chun was not very prominent among the Beiyang warlords, but for him, he was an important figure. It was the appreciation of this key figure that completely changed his life.
During his tenure as a herald's personal soldier, he won Li Chun's favor with his wit and outstanding appearance. Li Chun not only gifted him a maid in his own house, but also personally sent him to the military academy for further study, hoping to train a reliable general.
At the Nanjing Military Academy, he forgot to sleep and eat, and worked hard to repay the kindness of the leaders through excellent results. However, his lord Li Chun was defeated in a brutal warlord struggle.
After Li Chun's death, he took refuge with the then Feng warlord Zhang Zongchang, and still served as a middle-level commander under the Beiyang warlords. During the Northern Expedition, Zhang Zongchang and other warlords lost power, and he switched to Chiang Kai-shek, who controlled most of China, and became a member of the Kuomintang army.
Huang Baitao, a man whose resume seems to have changed hands, but deep down he deeply respects the traditional concept of loyalty and filial piety. Although he was not born in the first army, he gradually emerged in the Kuomintang army with his outstanding combat ability and unique strategic and tactical insights.
His military ** was appreciated by He Yingqin, which further promoted his military career. He Yingqin recommended him to Gu Zhutong, who greatly admired his courage to fight and excellent tactical ability, which made him famous under Gu Zhutong.
Although Gu Zhutong lacks his own military command ability, he attaches great importance to a talent like Huang Baitao and regards him as a confidant. Even Chiang Kai-shek was very important to him, and even allowed him to go straight to his office and face himself.
Huang Baitao was grateful for this kind of support, and regarded Gu Zhutong and Chiang Kai-shek as his lifelong benefactors.
In the early days of the Liberation War, Zhang Lingfu's unit was completely annihilated by our army at Menglianggu, which made the Huang Department take on the task of supporting the troops to respond to the blockade. Although he failed to complete the mission successfully and was bitterly scolded by Chiang Kai-shek, he was still promoted to commander of the 7th Corps soon after, and participated in the Huaihai Campaign.
At the Xuzhou operational meeting, General Gu Zhutong gave him a detailed introduction to the relevant battle plan of the Ministry of National Defense, and asked him to lead the 7th Corps to retreat westward and return to the surrounding areas of Xuzhou for garrison.
Huang fully agreed with Gu Zhutong's order and immediately returned to the garrison to carry out the mobilization work before the garrison.
After receiving the ** from Liu Zhi, the new commander of Xuzhou's "Suppression Chief", Huang Baitao was ordered to stay in the Xin'an Town area and wait for the 44th Army, which also retreated, to go on the road together. Although he had reservations about Liu Zhi's opinion, he could only accept this order because of Liu Zhi's status.
However, after waiting for a day, the 44th Army, which was supposed to arrive, did not appear, but instead received an urgent telegram from Huaye's troops to occupy Linyi and prepare to encircle the Xuzhou area.
In this critical situation, what choice will Huang Baitao make? How was he completely annihilated by our army in the Nian Zhuang area?
Liu Zhi's order caused Huang Baitao to stay in Xin'an Town, and the Huaye army suddenly attacked, how should he deal with this crisis? Who would have thought that Liu Zhi's order would become Huang Baitao's talisman?
Despite the indignation in his heart, he decided to put it aside for the time being and go all out to find a way out for the troops. As a result of the previous order, the 7 Corps did not erect pontoon bridges over the canal.
In the case of Huaye's troops' actions, if they set up a pontoon bridge and retreat, they could easily be "attacked halfway" and become Huaye's primary target. In order to save the lives of the officers and men of the 7th Corps, he could only risk leading his troops to retreat from the canal bridge.
However, this emergency retreat caused a panic. More than 100,000 soldiers of the 7th Corps crowded the canal bridge, and the bridge became difficult to move an inch.
Despite General Huang's determination to solve the problem, the stubbornness of the Kuomintang stragglers complicates the situation. As a result, the speed of retreat of the 7 Corps was greatly limited, and many of the troops were stranded on the other side of the canal.
Faced with such a dangerous situation, Huang's heart was full of anxiety and uneasiness. In order to ensure the safe crossing of the river, he personally went to the headquarters of the 13th Corps, which was located behind him, to discuss with General Li Mi.
He hoped that Li Mi would send troops to hold Cao Baji and other important areas to provide a safe environment for his troops to cross the river. However, Li Mi refused his request on the grounds of military orders and insisted on abandoning the strategic rear of the 7th Corps.
Faced with the rejection of the request, Huang had no choice but to return to the Nianzhuang area where he was stationed. In the meantime, he received an urgent telegram from the Ministry of Defence informing him that he could be repaired in the mill.
Seeing this telegram, Huang made a wrong decision, and the whole army was stationed in Nian Zhuang for rest.
What I did not expect was that the governor of the 3rd appeasement district, who was closely behind Huang Bu, had contacts with our party and launched an uprising at a critical moment. Huaye's troops immediately followed up, successfully cut off the retreat of the 7th Corps, and surrounded the 7th Corps in the small mountain village of Nianzhuang after the pursuers in the direction of the canal arrived.
Although it is only a few dozen kilometers away from Xuzhou, this section of the road is particularly difficult for Huangbu. Faced with the layers of encirclement of our army, the Huang Department could only resist hard. By the tenth day of the siege, most of the troops of the 7 Corps were on the verge of collapse.
The Kuomintang units of the 5 armies trapped in the Nian Zhuang area suffered heavy losses without ** ammunition and daily food resources. While waiting for the transfer of assets by the 44th Army, they suffered another blow: the army commander was captured by Huaye, and the next division commander also chose to surrender.
At the same time, the commander of another corps also died heroically in the battle with Huaye. The other units, although they did not suffer heavy losses, were physically and mentally exhausted and had reached their limits.
When the 7th Corps was facing difficulties, Chiang Kai-shek wrote a letter of encouragement, asking them to hold on to help and proceed from the overall situation. Huang Baitao's boss Gu Zhutong even called ** directly and ordered him to stick to the village and look forward to the rescue of Li Mi's troops.
However, when Huang Baitao had an in-depth understanding of the rescue plan, Gu Zhutong avoided the important and trivialized. Obviously, the so-called support is just a blank promise. However, Huang Baitao, who was deeply influenced by traditional thinking, did not betray rashly because of this, but decided to stick to his post and do his duty for his master.
Even if he understood that the Kuomintang ** was using himself as a cover, he was still willing to die on the battlefield as a way to express his apologies to the world. On November 21, 1948, the Huaye troops began a general offensive to encircle and annihilate the Yellow Corps.
After more than ten days of siege, the 7th Corps was unable to resist and was quickly broken through the defense by the charge of Huaye officers and soldiers. Huang Baitao's subordinates, Yang Yanyan, the deputy commander of the main force, immediately grabbed Huang Baitao and began to break through to the outside of Nian Zhuang.
However, at this time, they were surrounded by Huaye's troops and were destined to die. In what way will Huang Baitao end his life?
Huang Baitao was besieged and was taken out of the village by Yang Yanyan. The remnants of the defeated generals made a final struggle in Wuzhuang, and Huang Baitao and the only remaining officers deployed to break through, but they disagreed and had to shrink.
Huaye's troops quickly surrounded Wuzhuang, and on the afternoon of the 22nd, they raided and hit the Huang Department again. During the retreat, Huang Baitao was injured in the leg and could not move.
Why did he have to wait for the 44th Army, why didn't he erect a pontoon bridge over the river while waiting, and why did Li Mi's corps not firmly occupy Cao Baji and other places? These questions are not only for his subordinates, but also for himself.
As the supreme commander of the 7 Corps, his mistakes on the first two issues are unforgivable. In the last moments of his life, he was troubled by this question and questioned it.
However, no one could give him the answer to this question. After he raised these questions, he committed suicide despite Yang Yanyan's dissuasion.
Huang Baitao's death symbolized the complete defeat of the 7th Corps of the Kuomintang Army, and also laid a solid foundation for the advancement of the Huaihai Campaign. After the destruction of Huang and his troops, Huaye and Zhongye successively defeated the two major corps of Huang and Qiu, and finally successfully captured Du Yuming at Chenguanzhuang and won a brilliant victory in the Huaihai battlefield.
Therefore, the defeat of Huang Baitao and his troops had an immeasurably important impact on the entire campaign. As the main commander of the Huaihai Campaign, Su Yu did not show the excitement of an ordinary soldier after learning the news, but suddenly fainted in the combat command room.
Everyone was confused by this, so they could only send Su Yu to the hospital immediately for treatment. Many years later, General Su Yu's wife revealed that Su Yu had not rested for a long time because of the Huaihai Campaign, and had been paying attention to the latest developments on the battlefield.
After learning the news of Huang Baitao's suicide, he immediately realized that the 7th Corps had been defeated by our army. Suddenly, he felt the pressure suddenly lessen, and his mental pillar instantly collapsed, and he fainted to the ground.
Due to the huge psychological pressure of working for the war, he fainted, which was not uncommon for General Su Yu. His wife revealed that this was an old problem with General Su, but considering that the chairman was concerned about national affairs, in order not to worry him, Su Yu never mentioned this matter to the chairman.
The Huaihai Campaign was one of the strategic decisive battles of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and had a far-reaching impact in the history of liberation. If the Liaoshen Campaign changed the pattern of national affairs, then the Huaihai Campaign completely shattered Chiang Kai-shek's dream of dominating half of China.
General Su Yu made great efforts in the Huaihai operation, and his decision-making was finally victorious under the pressure of Chairman ***. When the news of Huang Baitao's suicide came, he understood that the PLA was about to launch a large-scale offensive, so he fainted under the emotional shock.