In 1948
The Battle of Liaoshen began, and on the second day of the Tashan Blockade, the Nationalist army suffered heavy losses. On October 11, Hou Jing, commander-in-chief of the 17th Corps, led the 21st Division of the 92nd Army from Tangshan to Huludao and immediately took over the military force from the temporary commander Que Hanqian. That night, he summoned the leaders and staff officers of the various armies to a meeting to study the situation and discuss the next battle plan. At the same time, except for 2 divisions of the Shandong 39th Army still on the road, the North China combat team has arrived, with 9 divisions in Jinxi and Huludao. In addition to leaving 2 divisions to defend these 3 places, there are 7 more divisions to fight.
At that time, two battle plans were discussed, the first plan was to bypass Tashan and attack the area west of Baitai Mountain, which was widely terrained, sparsely fortified, and easy to break through, and the second plan was to attack Tashan from the front under the cover of artillery fire, still the same as the previous 2 days. Que Hanqian supported the first plan, and the 2-day defeat made him learn the lessons, so he insisted on this plan. However, Roach was very proud and complacent, believing that with his own old unit, the 95th Division, participating in the battle, Tashan was bound to win, and there was no need to seek far away.
Hou Jingru was pessimistic about this blockade battle, he believed that even if he broke through Tashan and entered Jinzhou, the final result would be that he would not be able to come out and die, and he might be able to persist for a few more days without fighting. On that day, Wei Lihuang, commander-in-chief of the Northeast Suppression Campaign, inspected Huludao, and he privately told Hou Jingru that it would be difficult for the East and West to break the siege of Jinzhou, and he must be careful.
In the end, Hou Jingru chose the second plan, With Roach personally commanding the 95th Division to attack Tashan from the front, and Lin Weili commanding 2 divisions of the 62nd Army and 1 division of the 54th Army to attack Baitai Mountain and the Railway Bridge. They also issued a reward to the troops: there was a reward for capturing Tashan, and when they announced it, they would raise their heads to see it. Since the troops had just arrived from the sea, the wind and waves were not smooth, the road was bumpy, everyone was physically tired, and they were not familiar with the terrain, Roach suggested a one-day truce. On this day, Roach and other officers came to the front line to survey the terrain and coordinate.
On the 12th, the enemy due to the truce, which gave the Fourth Column of the People's Liberation Army a precious rest and preparation time Wu Kehua and other column leaders quickly sent a small team to investigate the situation of the enemy. By capturing the enemy, he learned about the changes in the enemy's deployment and adjusted the deployment accordingly. As the 34th Regiment of the 12th Division, which was guarding the Tashan front, suffered heavy casualties in the battle, Wu Kehua ordered the 28th Regiment of the 10th Division of the Second Echelon to replace the position east of the Railway Bridge of the 34th Regiment. The 34th Regiment concentrated on defending Tashan Village, while the 36th Army of the Twelfth Division continued to defend the Baitaishan defense line and adjusted its reserves. In order to win the next defensive battle, the Fourth Column asked all troops to seize the time to build fortifications, adjust their organization, replenish their weapons and stock up on ammunition.
Commander Cheng Zihua judged that the main direction of the enemy's attack was from Baitai Mountain to the Tashan area based on the battle situation in recent days. Therefore, the 11th Column was transferred to the east to replace part of the position of the 4th Column so that the 4th Column could concentrate its forces on the defense. He added an artillery regiment to the 4th Column, and the artillery positions moved forward to enhance frontal firepower. Dazed, Roach decided to give the 4th Column a precious respite, strengthen its defenses, repair the destroyed fortifications, and prepare for the next battle.
The battle of October 13 must be a brutal test.