In June 1948, Su Yu opened the seal, which was called a pioneering move; before him, in February 1948, Chen Geng beat Luoyang, which was even more a pioneering move.
Why?
In the summer of 1948, Su Yu opened the seal, which was completely arbitrary, and suddenly proposed to the central government to attack Kaifeng. This, out of the central accident, also caught the enemy off guard! Finally, kaifeng was taken down, shocking the whole country. In one fell swoop, this battle opened up the situation of the People's Liberation Army in the Central Plains.
This battle was praised by many military experts.
In fact, 4 months ago, Chen Geng opened Luoyang, which was completely the same as Su Yu, and also did not give up when the central authorities had not yet agreed, and continued to use troops, and suddenly as soon as the fighter arrived, he attacked Luoyang. This battle turned Chiang Kai-shek from an advantage to a disadvantage in the Central Plains. When Su Yu opened the seal, it was almost a copy of Chen Geng hitting Luoyang.
The attack on Luoyang was the result of Chen Geng's three suggestions, and it was also an example of his use of strange soldiers.
In February 1948, the People's Liberation Army had moved to the outer front. When Chen Geng's corps was carrying out a new type of army reorganization movement, Chen Geng began to think about the next combat operation. On the 18th, he sent three consecutive telegrams to the Central Military Commission to request the battle, and proposed a plan for the next action, saying:
"Hu Zongnan commanded 5 brigades of the 5th Corps (Pei Changhui), 4 brigades of the 13th Sui District (Nanyang Wang Lingyun), 4 brigades of the 18th Army (Hu Lian), commander-in-chief of the 'Qing Suppression' Army in western Henan (now in Zhumadian, Xiping), and 5 brigades of Sun Yuanliang's corps in Pinghan and the eastern side of the 'Qing Suppression'. At the end of the month, I began to act with Chen Tang (Chen Shiyu, Tang Liang):
1. Entering and leaving the Hanshui River Basin;
2. Capture the Luoyang Longhai Line;
3. Move eastward.
In view of the loopholes that had occurred in the previous Battle of The Mountain due to unclear command relations, Chen Geng also proposed:
"If I and the Shiyu Department are still concentrating on moving southwest, please appoint Shiyu and Tang Liang to take unified command."
This was the first time that Chen Geng proposed to fight Luoyang.
On the second day, Chen and Tang, in view of the fact that "the troops have not yet been assembled, and it is not appropriate for the third and eighth columns to duel with the enemy alone, in order to avoid the enemy's attack and gain the initiative," Chen and Tang also proposed to the central authorities that "the first step be to withdraw from the Pinghan Line, move to the area between Xiangcheng Yingqiao and North Wudu, and be close to Chen Xie's troops to assemble and wait for the enemy to be annihilated." ——Chen Geng's suggestion was echoed by Chen Shiyu and Tang Liang.
Why did Chen Geng advocate the capture of Luoyang?
This is mainly for the sake of the overall situation in the Central Plains.
Luoyang is the key to the three provinces of Qin, Jin, and Henan, and is a place where soldiers of all generations must fight. Chen Geng held that by capturing Luoyang, the main artery of the Longhai Sea could be cut off, and the new liberated areas of Hubei, Henan, and Shaanxi would be connected to the old liberated areas north of the Yellow River, and a far-reaching rear would be gained; the PLA could both go forward and send them back, while the enemy's reinforcements in the northwest battlefield were bound to detour through the Qinling Mountains. Moreover, the launch of this battle can also mobilize the enemy troops in the southern section of the Pinghan Road to cover Liu Deng's transfer out of Dabie Mountain.
On the 21st, Chen Geng and Chen Tang sent a telegram to the Central Military Commission to propose the following plan for combat operations in the next two months: '
"The first step is still to act against Zheng and Tong,...... Threatening Zhengzhou, mobilizing Pei's army to reinforce, annihilating the enemy in the movement, and capturing Luoyang with cameras... After the completion of the first step of the task, after a short period of rest, in early or mid-April, we will go south to Xiangfan and Nanyang. First of all, the security team of the four counties of Wanxi was solved, and the camera captured nanyang and Xiangfan, Laohekou and other cities. ”
This was the second time that Chen Geng had proposed to fight Luoyang.
However, the Central Military Commission considered that the Tenth and Eleventh Columns of Huaye were covering the safety of Liu Deng and Subu in Yuwansu and could not be transferred westward, but only 11 brigades of Chen Tang and Chen Geng attacked and annihilated 7 brigades of Pei Changhui, and the strength of the troops was still insufficient, so a decision was delayed.
Chen Geng, like Su Yu at the beginning, "secretly" began to act himself, although the central authorities did not approve it.
First, he ordered the Reconnaissance Section to print intelligence materials and maps in the Luoyang area.
2. Zhou Xihan was appointed to draw up a specific plan in accordance with his battle plan.
3. Move the command post to the Heilou Temple in Xiangcheng and wait for the arrival of the Chen Tang Corps.
As a result, in the Battle of Yichuan, the Northwest People's Liberation Army completely annihilated Hu Zongnan's 29th Army Headquarters, the 90th Division, the 27th Division, and the five entire brigades under its jurisdiction, with a total of 30,000 people, and took advantage of the victory to advance into the Jingwei River Valley with one force and pounce on the Xi'an and Baoji sections of the Longhai Road. This position forced the Pei Changhui regiment, which was originally stationed in Tong and Luo, to have to help from the west at the same time. As a result, the 800-mile defensive line in the enemy's Zhengtong section, except for Luoyang, which was garrisoned by regular troops, was defended by local stubborn and security teams.
Warplanes appeared.
Chen Geng saw that the time was ripe to capture Luoyang, and on March 6, he proposed to the Central Military Commission for the third time the deployment of the capture of Luoyang.
Subsequently, the central government approved.
Therefore, Chen Geng commanded four columns in western Henan to march north toward Luoyang.
On March 8, Huaye's eighth and ninth columns cut off Luoyang's connection with the east and west sides. The next day, Huaye's third column and Chen Geng's fourth column began to attack the city of Luoyang from all sides.
After six days of fierce fighting, on the evening of the 14th, the third and fourth columns completely annihilated more than 20,000 enemy defenders in Luoyang, liberated Luoyang, and captured the enemy chieftain Qiu Xingxiang.
Subsequently, enemy reinforcements rushed over. Chen Geng led his troops to quickly withdraw from Luoyang City, just as Su Yu had withdrawn from Kaifeng in the first place—Chen Geng completely mobilized the enemy army in the Central Plains to annihilate Liu Deng.
After the main force of the enemy reinforcements occupied Luoyang City, there was no fighting for half a month, while the military situation in other areas was urgent, and on April 3, they began to return to the DPRK one after another.
Unexpectedly, on the 5th, Chen Geng led four columns to return again and besiege Luoyang, but the battle lasted only two hours, completely annihilating more than 4,600 enemy defenders and retaking Luoyang. Since then, Luoyang has been liberated and controlled by the CCP.
Chen Geng's attack on Luoyang was a tough battle. This battle relieved the pressure on Liu Deng's army, and enabled the three large armies of Chen Geng, Liu Deng, and Chen Su to successfully achieve the division, and the Central Plains region became the world where the People's Liberation Army occupied the advantage. Someone said:
"Chen Geng's capture of Luoyang City was a successful urban offensive initiative, and Su Yu then opened the seal, which was almost a copy of Chen Geng's battle against Luoyang."