During the Liberation War, the Northeast Theater was divided into four military regions: North Manchuria, East Manchuria, West Manchuria, and South Manchuria. Among them, the most arduous of these, the Southern Manchuria Military Region, was once debated over whether to persist in the struggle.
In October 1946, the commander and political commissar of the Liaodong Military Region were Xiao Jinguang and Chen Yun respectively.
At this time, the situation in southern Manchuria was very serious, and Du Yuming concentrated more than 100,000 people, and his troops rushed to the base area of southern Manchuria in three ways, occupying many places respectively. The main force in Southern Manchuria was only 3 columns and 4 columns, and the strength of the troops was less than 40,000.
How to deal with the enemy's encirclement and suppression and whether to hold out or retreat to northern Manchuria is the most difficult issue facing Xiao Jinguang, who has just become commander of the Liaodong Military Region.
As to whether or not to persist in southern Manchuria, the military region held a cadre meeting in qidaojiang, which could not form a unified understanding. A small number of people were in favor of staying and dragging the enemy along; the majority were in favor of evacuation, believing that the terrain of southern Manchuria was narrow, that there was no roundabout place for large corps to fight, and that there were not enough troops, few weapons, and insufficient confidence. As the saying goes, "Stay in the green mountains, don't be afraid of no firewood". Wait for the opportunity to counterattack later.
Xiao Jinguang advocated sticking to Nanman, saying: Like Wu Song fighting a tiger, after several repeated fights back and forth, it caused others to laugh disapprovingly.
At the first meeting, it was presided over by Commander Xiao Jinguang, while Chen Yunyuan was far away in Linjiang. Whether to hold out or withdraw, he was like a needle felt, calling Chen Yun for advice. At that time, Chen Yun was suffering from a cold, and after learning about it, he arrived at the Qidaojiang River through various means of transportation, listened to two opinions, and talked to these cadres separately.
When the meeting was held again, the two different voices argued again, and Chen Yun already had his own basic opinion. When he saw that everyone was arguing, he asked everyone to quiet down and listen to himself. He said: We will not go, nor will a column.
As soon as these words came out, they were shocked and applauded enthusiastically by the cadres who advocated sticking to southern Manchuria. Chen Yun said: Why not go, the strategy of Southern Manchuria is too important. He analyzed the pros and cons of the main force to stay.
Chen Yun likened the enemy to a cow, the head of the bull facing north, the tail of the ox facing south, if you let go of the tail of the cow, the whole cow began to rampage. The implication is that by abandoning Southern Manchuria, the enemy army has no worries about the rear, can concentrate its forces on dealing with Northern Manchuria, and hold on to Southern Manchuria so that the enemy army cannot take care of its head and tail, and to a certain extent, it can contain the enemy's strength.
Chen Yun's remarks made many cadres who advocated evacuation very reflective. In the end, the meeting unanimously adopted the decision to stick to Southern Manchuria.
Next, the Southern Manchurian troops were four to protect the river, while the Northern Manchurian troops fought three times south of the river in response to the southern Manchuria. After three battles of Jiangnan and Sibao Linjiang, the enemy's living forces were effectively annihilated and the enemy's attempts were completely crushed.
After the Battle of Sibao Linjiang, the situation in both the southern Manchuria region and the entire northeast changed, shifting from passive to active and advancing towards a larger-scale victory.