Cao Derong
The martyr was a native of Qinyuan County, Shanxi Province, born in 1916 in a poor peasant family, joined the revolution at the age of 23, and participated in the Lanzhou Campaign with the First Field Army in 1949.
At dawn on August 21, 1949, Peng Dehuai, commander-in-chief of the First Field Army, issued an order to attack, and for a time the Nanshan area of Lanzhou City was in flames and the sound of gunfire was endless.
At this time, the outskirts of Lanzhou were already heavily armed, and the two corps of the First Field Army, a total of five armies, were ready to attack and deploy along the Majia Army
Shenjialing, Yingpanling, Doujiashan
Wait for the positions to be lined up.
Responsible for tackling tough problems
Camp Ridge
The position was the 50th Regiment of the 17th Division of the 6th Army, which was formerly known as the 16th Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, which was also a well-known Tiger Regiment, which had been a heroic unit from the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to the War of Liberation. So commander of the 6th Army
Luo Yuanfa
The task of the main attack in the first phase was entrusted to the regiment.
General Luo Yuanfa
Cao Derong was only 32 years old when he was the instructor of the Seventh Company of the Third Battalion of the 50th Regiment of the 17th Division, but he had been participating in the revolution for nearly 10 years, and he was originally an authentic Shanxi Hanzi, who followed the First Field Army into the Great Northwest after participating in the revolution.
On August 21, Cao Derong followed the troops to participate in the offensive operation against Yingpanling, and in the face of the Yingpanling position in front of him, no one expected that the next battle would be so tragic.
The Yingpanling position was the highest position of the Ma family army outside Lanzhou and was a key commanding height. The summit is relatively flat, with a large number of bunkers and ravines, and the surrounding area is quite steep, and the Ma family army has dug around it
Cliffs several meters high
to stop the PLA from attacking.
Stationed in the Panling position of the battalion was Ma Bufang's most elite 248th Division of the 82nd Army, the commander of the division
Han Youlu
Also fierce and cunning, not a mediocre person, the 248th Division, according to the terrain, from Yingpanling to Gaolan Mountain along the mountain ridge, built a strong defensive line.
After receiving the task, Cao Derong led the seven companies to the mountain ridge, and there was a small village in the mountainside called Sanyingzi Village, and Cao Derong divided the seven companies into two teams, advancing from two wings to the three camps.
There was an enemy forward position in front of the three battalions, there were not many enemies, and the enemy did not intend to hold here, so the enemy army withdrew to the rear position after a little resistance, and the seventh company temporarily occupied a small position.
However, the enemy's main position was at the head of the Seventh Company, and the enemy army occupied a topographical advantage from a commanding height, and could constantly shoot at the Seventh Company, and the follow-up troops could not come up for a while because of the fierce fire of the enemy on the mountain.
At this time, the position of the Seventh Company was very passive, and it could not advance and retreat, and the reinforcements could not come up, so the Seventh Company became a lone army. In this way, Cao Derong led the soldiers of the Seventh Company to a stalemate with the enemy troops on the mountain.
The even more unfavorable news was that after the end of the first phase of the offensive, General Peng called a halt to all the attacking troops, because the enemy's tenacity was unexpected, and our army suffered a lot of casualties, and General Peng asked the various units to renegotiate the offensive countermeasures.
At this time, Cao Derong's Seventh Company was still holding its position on the mountainside, and the Ma family army on the mountain saw that the large troops of our army had suspended the offensive, so they wanted to come down and retake a small forward position where the Seventh Company was located.
The soldiers of the Seventh Company fought alone, repelling the enemy's repeated counterattacks, and until August 25, they had held their positions for four days and four nights, and finally on this day, the soldiers of the Seventh Company heard the sound of the artillery of our army's general attack.
After a burst of fire, the friendly troops of the four companies finally rushed up, and at this time, only a few dozen people were left in the seven companies led by Cao Derong.
However, the battle was far from over, the enemy on the mountain was still firing fiercely, and our army never had the advantage in firing at the enemy on the mountainside.
However, the enemy had already dug several meters high cliffs around in advance, and there were strong cement bunkers on the cliffs, which was not easy to attack.
The bunker built by Ma Jiajun that year
At the beginning, our army wanted to use artillery to blow up the gap in the cliff, but at that time, the artillery of Ichino was still limited in power and could not blow up a gap.
Watching his comrades fall one by one, Cao Derong volunteered, saying that the Seventh Company was on the task of blasting, and must explode a gap in the cliff wall, but the soldiers of the Seventh Company failed to blast several times in a row.
He insisted that he personally undertake the blasting mission.
After saying that, he picked up two explosive packs and rushed away without hesitation, and when he rushed to the bottom of the cliff, he had to raise the explosive packs higher, otherwise the explosion at the bottom would not open the gap, but there was no suitable support around.
Cao Derong did not have time to look for support, because if he did not explode the gap, the hundreds of soldiers of the four companies waiting for the charge behind him would become live targets for enemy machine guns.
At this time, Cao Derong resolutely lifted the 25-kilogram explosive package with his hand support and pulled down the lead. Finally, after a loud noise, the hard cliff wall was finally blown open a gap, and the soldiers behind them immediately launched a charge, stepping on the road paved with the blood of Cao Derong and other martyrs, straight to the top of Yingpanling, and finally occupied the first core position of Yingpanling.
After the war, the seven companies of soldiers were awarded
Collective first class
The martyr Cao Derong was posthumously awarded
"Grand Blast Hero"
。
After Peng Zong learned of Cao Derong's heroic deeds, he named the Seventh Company "Cao Derong Company".
Qingming sacrifices heroes and martyrs, and heroes never forget.