On September 12, 1948, the Northeast Field Army launched the Liaoshen Campaign, which lasted half a month of fierce fighting, cutting off Jinzhou from the surrounding Kuomintang forces. On October 14th, Dongye concentrated the main force to launch the Jinzhou Campaign, in fact, although Jinzhou was fortified and defended by 100,000 troops of the Kuomintang army, it took only 31 hours to successfully liberate Jinzhou, and the liberation of Jinzhou also represented the rapid opening of the Northeast War, less than half a month before and after, the liberation of Shenyang on November 2 also marked the smooth end of the Northeast Battlefield.
For the Jinzhou Campaign, Zhao Xingyuan, then the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 20th Regiment of the 7th Division of the 3rd Column of the Dongye Column, can be said to have a deep memory, and he later said: "It only took 31 hours to really attack Jinzhou City, and the difficulty was to uproot a stronghold called the water distribution pool on the periphery." ”
Relative to the Liaoshen Campaign outside the major battlefields, the battle of the water distribution pool is only an insignificant battle, but the tragedy of this battle, but the memory of later generations, even if how many years have passed, for the people who participated in this battle, it is still unforgettable, to this day the battle site of the water distribution pool is still standing in place, on the wall of the periphery of the bunker, there is still such a line of words:
The distribution pool is the second Verdun ".
As the name suggests, the water distribution pool is the original water supply pool in Jinzhou, and it is also the commanding height of the north of Jinzhou, in order to defend Jinzhou, the Kuomintang army drained the water in the pool, and re-strengthened and built a pillbox, according to the battalion commander Zhao Xingyuan, who commanded the operation, later recalled: This pillbox is a reinforced concrete building, the wall of the bunker alone is more than one meter thick, even if the artillery hits, it will only leave a white spot on it.
Due to the importance of this commanding height, the battle to attack the water distribution pool was two days earlier than the launch of the general offensive of the Jinzhou Campaign, and at 8 o'clock in the morning of October 12, 1948, the reinforced battalion led by Zhao Xingyuan accepted the task and immediately launched an attack on the water distribution pool. The defending Kuomintang army was also the strength of a reinforced battalion.
An assault company of our army was ready to climb over the enemy's barbed wire into the trench, ready to paste it, what people did not expect was that the enemy placed a large number of explosives in the trench, as soon as they saw our army attacking, they immediately detonated the explosives, the assault company was suddenly ** miserable, and later it was said that only the company instructor walked down alive, and more importantly, in the subsequent attack, the Kuomintang troops guarding the distribution pool not only had fierce firepower, but also called for aircraft support.
Zhao Xingyuan led the soldiers to charge against the enemy's firepower, ** was extremely tragic, and the regiment headquarters later specially inquired about the results of the battle, and after learning that the troops were ** miserable, they immediately asked Zhao Xingyuan to withdraw.
Zhao Xingyuan did not agree, at that time, in the trench not far from the water distribution pool, there were more than a dozen soldiers of the remaining assault company, Zhao Xingyuan felt that he could not leave them alone, just when the regiment commander asked what help was needed, Zhao Xingyuan put forward his only request in this battle: support us with more grenades.
The regiment commander agreed, and immediately organized a company of troops, specifically for Zhao Xingyuan to transport grenades, Zhao Xingyuan led the whole battalion to occupy six houses not far from the water distribution pool, the Kuomintang defenders of the water distribution pool could not sit still, dispatched tanks and artillery, launched 27 charges in a row, but Zhao Xingyuan led the troops to fight tenaciously, which lasted a day of fierce fighting, Zhao Xingyuan led 5 soldiers to rush to the water distribution pool, captured more than 200 Kuomintang defenders.
According to post-war statistics, only 22 of the troops of a reinforced battalion that attacked the water distribution pool were still alive, and the remains of PLA soldiers were densely lying in the 100-meter radius in front of the water distribution pool, telling the tragic environment of the battlefield.
Zhao Xingyuan himself participated in the Eighth Route Army in 1941, after the War of Resistance and the War of Liberation, but there were only two battles in his life, which was the most impressive for him, one was the attack on Siping, Zhao Xingyuan was hit in the thigh by a bullet, almost died, and another time was the battle of the water pool, this battle was too tragic, even after more than ten years, Zhao Xingyuan recalled that he still could not forget the soldiers who died on the battlefield. In order to liberate Jinzhou, our army paid a terrible price.
In 1951, Zhao Xingyuan participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea as a volunteer, and was gradually promoted to the position of regiment commander, division chief of staff, division commander, etc., participated in several battles in his life, was wounded 9 times, and was awarded two special merits, and later received many times, and visited the Soviet Union as a combatant hero, in 1985 Zhao Xingyuan was promoted to the political commissar of the brigade garrison area, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1988.