In the early days of the Liberation War, the CCP was in a weak position in many battles, and with the relentless pursuit of the Kuomintang, many liberated areas were lost, and the first squadron was also full of many defeats.
At a critical juncture, **and** leaders through discussion.
It was decided that Su Yu should lead 3 columns to cross the river and fight to attract Chiang Kai-shek's main army. However, after Su Yu heard about this, he felt that it was time to concentrate his forces to fight the Great Annihilation Campaign, which was not suitable for crossing the river and fighting.
Su Yu's views are obviously contrary to **, but Su Yu has no intention of changing his position and refusing the instructions of the **Military Commission. On February 1, 1948, **was left to the ** region with the chairman and other ** Su Yu's suggestion.
At this time, someone proposed to replace Su Yu. After hearing it, he immediately became anxious and said"No matter who replaces Su Yu, I'm afraid it will be wiped out!" ”
At this time, Su Yu had outstanding military achievements and served as the deputy commander of the East China Field Army, why did he propose to change the commander at this time? Haven't you ever thought that the military is unstable? What was going on at the time?
Su Yu, born in Huaihua, Hunan Province in 1907, has lofty ambitions since childhood, and when he was studying, he was exposed to advanced new democratic ideas in advance, so at the age of 18, he was determined to serve the country and join the army, and became a member of Ye Ting's subordinate teaching brigade. At the age of 20, Su Yu participated in the Nanchang Uprising, and then because of the defeat in the battle, he went to Jinggangshan with the army, and then participated in five anti-encirclement and suppression operations, and made countless contributions, winning high praise and trust from superior leaders.
Su Yu is also one of the very few generals of our army who did not participate in the Red Army's Long March, after the failure of the fifth anti-encirclement and suppression battle, Su Yu received instructions from his superiors to stay in Nanchang, and always insisted on fighting the enemy in a guerrilla situation, and made great contributions to the smooth development of our army's retreat and transfer.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Su Yu was colorful, served as a division commander, commander of a military region, actively participated in many classic wars, and finally integrated Central China and Shandong, laying a solid foundation for the victory of the war. In the War of Liberation, Su Yu was promoted to the post of commander because of his merits. In the liberation of the Soviet Union, Menglianggu, Jinan, Huaihai, the Yangtze River, Shanghai and other famous wars, he has made outstanding achievements and made extraordinary achievements. In particular, in the battle to liberate the Huaihai area, Su Yu was ordered to win a major victory over more than 440,000 enemies at the cost of more than 130,000 people.
In 1940, it was a period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, but Chiang Kai-shek's side kept bringing friction to the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army led by the Communist Party.
In October, Chiang Kai-shek sent 25 regiments of his army totaling more than 30,000 men to launch an offensive against the New Fourth Army at Huangqiao and further squeeze the revolutionary base of the New Fourth Army in northern Jiangsu.
At this time, the Northern Jiangsu Command happened to be led by ** and Su Yu, and the two met for the first time. Su Yu very much agreed with the leadership ability of **, and the policy of ** could be quickly implemented in the troops and the effect was obvious.
**I also like Su Yu's military ability very much, and I attach great importance to Su Yu's military opinion before every war.
In the face of the advance of the Kuomintang army this time, he handed over the decision of the army to Su Yu, which moved Su Yuda.
However, there was a discordant voice in the army, and he heard that Su Yu's order was his order to the whole army, and everyone must obey it.
After receiving the strong support of **, Su Yu seriously started the campaign planning, and he wanted to use the victory of this battle to give ** a perfect answer.
* Su Yu personally went to the front to command the battle, which boosted the morale of the New Fourth Army. The Kuomintang Independent Sixth Brigade never dreamed that this hardest "persimmon" would be pinched.
After three days of the Battle of Huangqiao, Su Yu led more than 7,000 people to defeat more than 30,000 Kuomintang troops, among which more than 11,000 people were captured. ** Praise the battle after knowing it.
In this battle, Su Yu specialized in military affairs, and the two of them worked closely together to achieve the victory of Huangqiao. The two have also become a potential partner, although ** is led by Su Yu, but there is no difference between the two.
However, it didn't take long for ** to be transferred out of northern Jiangsu, and the two were forced to separate.
In January 1947, Huaye was officially established, which was also the earliest team established by the four major field armies - Xiye was secondMore than half a year later than Huaye, Higashino was founded on January 1, 1948However, at that time, the military region and the field army had not yet been separated, and the middle field was established late after Liu Dengbing left Dabie Mountain in the late spring of 1948.
The history of Huaye's development is the same as his composition, and it is the most complex of the four major field armies. Chen Su is the first combinationBut the time not together is longer than the days together, during the period when the two were both senior leaders of the New Fourth Army, ** chose to leave the army to Yan'an at the end of 1943, and the two were separated for nearly two years, from the ** Central Plains region to the end of the Huaihai Campaign, and the two were not together for half a year!
Huaye completed it in July 1947 to assist Liu Deng's army"July Division".This field army was divided into three, and Chen Su led the Western Corps to assist Liu Deng in fighting on the outer line, in view of the fact that many troops were directly commanded by the East China Bureau, it could not be said that Huaye was commanded by Su Yu at this time.
Before the establishment of Huaye, Su Yu was the commander of the Central China Field Army, which was the New Fourth Army in the Soviet Union at that time, and it was an old unit that Su Yu was familiar with, so he was able to command it with ease; After the establishment of Huaye, the strength of the Shandong Field Army was merged, and the Shandong Military Region team was the elite established during the Anti-Japanese War, and the initial team was the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, so it is inevitable that there will be individual veteran soldiers with outstanding achievements who are not so convinced by the new leader Su Yu, and at this time it shows the power of the first.
In the summer of 1947, the Liberation War entered a new stage of development, and our army destroyed the enemy's attack on northern Shaanxi and entered the strategic link. In January 1948, Su Yu led the First Division of the East China Field Army to receive an order from the headquarters just after the Battle of ShatujiThe three columns of the East China Field Army formed a corps, led by Su Yu to cross the Yangtze River south and carry out mobile combat missions in the south of the Yangtze River.
This is an important action. Although our army has launched a comprehensive campaign, the enemy also has absolute superiority in terms of strength and equipment, and the war in the Central Plains is deadlocked.
This move serves two purposesThe first is to attract 20 to 30 brigades of the enemy into the south of the Yangtze River, push the war to the enemy's rear, and disrupt the enemy's deployment; Second, after Liu Deng's army advanced into Dabie Mountain, it attracted 33 brigades of the enemy's main army, but the battle was very difficult due to the lack of rear assistance. If Su Yu led the three columns of Huaye into the south of the Yangtze River, it was very likely that he would attract part of the enemy's main force and break the dilemma in the Central Plains battlefield.
Su Yu brought the army into the Puyang area for integrated training, sent scouts to reconnoiter the military situation several times, and began to make preliminary preparations for crossing the river. When he was actively preparing for the war, Su Yu was thinking about whether to cross the river all the time?
Su Yu felt that the best chance of completely annihilating the enemy was still in the Central Plains Theater, and if he won two or three major victories on the inner front, he would be able to quickly turn the situation in the Central Plains Theater and then find the best opportunity to annihilate the enemy. In 1948, Su Yu put forward his ideas to **, and after ** discussed, he finally failed to adopt them, but insisted on the original implementation plan, but Su Yu did not give up because of this, and once again wrote his idea into a telegram of more than 2,000 words to report to **, but the chairman still thought that the plan for crossing the Yangtze River in the south was the best.
Subsequently, he found ** to discuss together, but after the two of them discussed together for a while, ** found it difficult to make decisions, and it happened that *** was nearby, and the two hurriedly found him and wanted to hear his thoughts on this strategic concept. Unexpectedly, after learning about it, he agreed very much, saying that he fully supported the idea, and after listening to it, he also suggested that Su Yu report his thoughts to ** again.
** and Su YuThe two immediately went to Chengnanzhuang, Fuping County, at that time, *** also went to greet them, this is also the first meeting between Su Yu and *** after 17 years of separation, the two have known each other since 1929, and Su Yu learned a lot of tactical ideas by ***'s side at that time. After a few people had eaten, Su Yu began to report his thoughts.
In Su Yu's view, the current situation is more serious, which can be seen from three aspects.
First, although the Kuomintang army suffered many defeats, the living force was still very strong, and if you want to win the decisive battle, you must fight many large-scale wars with the Kuomintang army, and the final decisive battle must not be the Jiangnan region, because this is their ruling center, whether it is manpower or material resources, it will be more advantageous than our army.
Second, the conditions for annihilation in the Central Plains Theater are gradually being met, and the 10 main columns and other units of our army are all in this area, which has enough strength to fight a decisive battle with the Kuomintang army, and the Central Plains Liberated Area will also bring great advantages to our army.
Third, although it is said that the Central Plains region will quickly arrive because of the topography of the Kuomintang army's aid forces, our army's mobile operations are very conducive to implementation, and the Kuomintang army will inevitably deploy a large number of troops if it wants to block our army's communication routes, and this is a great pressure on them, while our army's military deployment may be more flexible, and it can first contain the Kuomintang army's strength, and then look for useful fighters to destroy the enemy.
After Su Yu finished the report, everyone stared at the map and pointed and compared. The chairman took a puff of cigarette and asked Su Yu:"What are the odds of winning? "Destroy 200,000 enemies, or more. "The Chairman said:"Is it possible to annihilate Chiang Kai-shek's 4.5 million troops north of the Yangtze River? ”Su Yu said"It's possible. ”"The Chairman said:"It takes time, and now it is very difficult for Liu Deng's army to be in Dabie Mountain. ”
Su Yu didn't say a word, and the chairman looked at Su Yu and said:"If you find it difficult, or if you really don't want to go south, we will consider changing the commander. ”
The chairman's sudden words shocked everyone. They all looked at Su Yu, Su Yu was a little nervous, unbuttoned his neckline, and immediately buttoned it again. ** is an acute sub-person, said eagerly"Who will be the commander-in-chief?" Whoever goes will be wiped out. Only if Comrade Su Yu goes, it may be possible to save tens of thousands of people. ”
Su Yu continued"We already have the prerequisites for the Great Battle in the Central Plains, and we will be able to ensure the destruction of the enemy's main forces north of the Yangtze River. The withdrawal of 100,000 troops from the Central Plains alone will weaken the strength of the main forces, and then the time for us to win the national victory will be delayed. ”
The atmosphere in the office was a little tense, and the chairman said with a smile"In today's meeting, everyone fully expressed their suggestions, and if there are no good opinions, they will take a 10-minute break. After speaking, the chairman left the conference room, and everyone went out one after another.
Ten minutes had long passed, and the chairman walked into the conference room with a group of people. He asked Su Yu:"Comrade Su Yu, how's it going? Do you still have to stick to your ideas? ”
Su Yu looked at the chairman with firm eyes and replied seriously"That's right, I personally believe that the three columns should be left to fight in the Central Plains and annihilate the enemy's main force north of the Yangtze River. Whatever decision is made, I will resolutely implement it. ”
"Good! ”The chairman exclaimed:"I think Comrade Su Yu's opinion is reasonable, and the three columns of Huaye will not go south for the time being, but will enter the Central Plains to fight, and strive to achieve the goal of killing the enemy north of the Yangtze River. ”
Su Yu's heart trembled, and his eyes moistened with excitement. As a matter of fact, the chairman had already planned for Su Yu's proposal, and the meeting wanted to see Su Yu's determination and self-confidence.
Su Yu shouldered the heavy responsibility of the East China Field Army. In June 1948, Su Yu led the Huaye First Corps in southwest Lu and annihilated more than 40,000 people of the 5th Army of the Jiang Army's mechanized troops. This battle proved our army's ability to annihilate the enemy on a large scale in the Central Plains battlefield.
The chairman admired Su Yu's insistence. Su Yu's suggestion was adopted, and our army lowered a large number of **, which also brought forward the time for the liberation of the whole country.