In September 1946, the 6th Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region, led by the famous general Wang Jinshan (a lieutenant general in 1955), was ordered to attack the county town of Lanfeng in eastern Henan.
After the establishment of the 6th Column, the originally designated commander Wang Hongkun did not arrive at the post, and the deputy commander Wang Jinshan acted as the commander.
Unexpectedly, at the battle meeting before the Battle of Lanfeng, Wang Jinshan encountered a very difficult problem - the two generals had a dispute because they rushed to fight the main attack.
Before the meeting, Wang Jinshan had promised to give the main offensive task of this attack on Lanfeng to Xiao Yongyin (major general in 1955), the commander of the 18th Brigade.
The latter saw the commander and nodded, thinking that the matter had been settled in one fell swoop, and was in a very good mood.
Unexpectedly, the combat meeting had just begun, "halfway out of the way to bite the gold", suddenly someone proposed to "grab" the main offensive task.
He was the brigade commander of the 16th Brigade and deputy commander of the column, Wei Jie (lieutenant general in 1955).
How to say that good things change and change? Xiao Yongyin is a belligerent and warlike general, and of course refuses to miss a good opportunity to play the main attack.
Although Wei Jie did not say much, his attitude was very resolute, that is, the 16th Brigade had to fight the main attack.
Although Wang Jinshan was a fierce general who said that he was a fierce general, he was like a brother in front of his comrades and subordinates, so this matter made him very embarrassed.
Wang Jinshan saw that the two sides were deadlocked, and neither of them would give in, so he had to temporarily adjourn the meeting and prepare to talk privately with the two parties.
Xiao Yongyin was eager to fight, and it was a good thing that he was willing to fight, and his enthusiasm could not but be considered.
Wang Jinshan was very familiar with Wei Jie's character and conduct—Wei Jie was a generous and humble person who did not like to compete for merit, and had never done anything to "grab" tasks with brother troops in the past, nor would he deliberately go through with his comrades-in-arms or subordinates.
What's more, Wei Jie acted cautiously and thoughtfully, and he always thought about problems more deeply and thoroughly than others.
Wang Jinshan concluded that since Wei Jie must let the 16th Brigade play the main attack, there must be a reason for him. However, what Wang Jinshan did not expect was that Wei Jie only used two sentences to convince him.
"Old Wei, our 6th column is just about to leave the Longhai Line, and there are more hard battles and big battles in the back!" Old Chiang Kai-shek's millions of troops are enough for us to eat, so why do you have to stare at the three thousand people and horses in Xiaoxiao lanfeng City? ”
Wei Jie smiled and said, "Commander, I will ask you, how many Lan Feng have we fought in the 6 columns?" ”
"Didn't you ask knowingly?" Wang Jinshan said, "Not long after the establishment of the 6 columns, this is not the first battle of the Long Sea!" ”
"Yes," Wei Jie breathed a sigh of relief, "this is the first battle and the first battle of our 6 vertical longhais!" ”
Wei Jie only said two words, but what kind of intelligent person was Wang Jinshan? He immediately understood Wei Jie's good intentions to "grab" the task - where this deputy commander, who had always been low-key, was out of his own selfishness, and took the initiative to take up the burden for the entire 6 columns to fight the first battle!
As soon as the train of thought switched, Wang Jinshan immediately understood one thing: This time the 6 column was the first battle in Lanfeng, and the main attacking force had to be the 16th Brigade!
Although the 16th, 17th, or 18th Brigades had the combat strength to conquer Lanfeng, it was reasonable that the 16th Brigade should fight this battle.
When the 6th Column was established 7 months ago, most of the 9 regiments under its jurisdiction were local armed forces such as the independent regiment of the sub-district, and only the 46th Regiment of the 16th Brigade had the oldest history and was a Red Army team, and the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Regiment were "original" Red Army battalions inside and outside.
The 46th Regiment was formerly subordinate to the Red 25th Army, and after the Long March to northern Shaanxi, it was incorporated into the Red 75th Division of the 15th Army, with the name of the 224th Regiment. At that time, Wei Jie served as both the regimental commander and the commander of the 75th Division, and his influence could be seen to be far-reaching.
The 46th Regiment not only had the hardest brand among the regiments of the 6 columns, but also had the best weapons and equipment - the whole regiment was all Japanese-style equipment, with 2 to 3 machine guns in one platoon, and the firepower was the best in the whole column.
The 52nd Regiment of the 18th Brigade was slightly better equipped, but compared with the 46th Regiment, it was still a lot worse.
Wang Jinshan once again knowingly asked, "Which regiment are you going to use to attack the main attack?" ”
"Of course it's the 46th Regiment!" Vijay replied without hesitation.
Wang Jinshan had been completely persuaded, and he immediately went to Xiao Yongyin and said the questions that Wei Jie was considering in a more subtle way.
Although Xiao Yongyin was still unwilling, he was not good at saying anything more, so he had to accept the task of assisting and assisting.
After Receiving the task, Wei Jie gathered the leaders of the regiments together for a meeting.
Before making specific combat arrangements, he said bluntly: "I have fought for the main offensive task of this battle, but this task is not for me personally, but for our 16th Brigade." As you all know, for this reason, the opinion of the 18th Brigade is great! ”
He turned sharply: "I won't say more off-topic, one sentence - next, it depends on how our 16th Brigade fights!" ”
"Deputy Commander Wei rest assured, our 16th Brigade has no problem taking Lanfeng!"
"We can't defeat Lan Fengcheng, let's see you!"
Several regimental commanders were very excited to see that there was a battle to be fought, and their chests were "banging".
"Then we think too simply, this battle we must not only fight Lan Fengcheng, but also fight well!" Wei Jie waved his hand and said.
"How can it be considered a good fight?" Someone asked.
Wei Jie said without hesitation: "That is to fight beautifully, the siege should be fast, the breakthrough should be fast, the interspersed division should be fast, and the mud and water should not be dragged!" ”
"Yes! Guarantee to fight this battle! ”
The determination of the regimental commanders was not in vain, and after the battle began, the battle plans of each regiment and battalion were well executed, and everything was fought as Wei Jie had requested, and finally a great victory was achieved.
In this battle, the 16th Brigade alone captured 1,100 enemy soldiers, captured 120 horses, 10 artillery pieces, 1,750 horse rifles, 68 heavy machine guns, 62 light machine guns, and more than 500,000 rounds of various guns.
Not only did the entire column capture 11 tanks for the first time, but the open arsenal was filled with ammunition.
After Wang Jinshan learned of this, he said to Wei Jie with excitement: "The battle of the 16th Brigade is really beautiful, and the captured ammunition alone is enough for our 6th column to use for three years!" ”