In December 1946, Liao Hansheng led his troops to Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningbo to take a photo.
Four
In September 1945, the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army was reorganized in accordance with the "Decision on the Current Establishment of the Army" of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, and established the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Field Army and the two military regions of Eastern Hubei and Jianghan. He Bingyan was appointed commander of the Jianghan Military Region, Zheng Shaowen was appointed political commissar, and Liao Hansheng was appointed deputy political commissar. At the beginning of 1946, Liao Hansheng was reappointed as the political commissar of the Jianghan Military Region and the acting party secretary of the Jianghan Provisional Region of the Communist Party of China. In March, Liao Hansheng was transferred to the Executive Department of the Beiping Military Adjustment Office. After working for 10 days, when listening to the mediation report of the Northeast Siping Battle, Ye Jianying said to Liao Hansheng: "If the battle is not good, there is nothing to talk about, you should go back to the ravine to fight!" In this way, Liao Hansheng returned to Yan'an and returned to the Jinsui front line with He Long in May. In July, the Northern Shanxi Field Army Headquarters was formed, with Zhou Shidi as commander and political commissar, He Bingyan as deputy commander, Liao Hansheng as deputy political commissar, and Wang Shaonan as chief of staff.
On July 11, Zhou Shidi, He Bingyan and Liao Hansheng commanded the battle to capture the county seat of Laoxian. Before the war, Liao Hansheng organized the troops to carry out political mobilization and policy education step by step, and promulgated strict discipline for entering the city. The battle began on the evening of the 11th and ended in the early morning of the 12th, with more than 2,200 defenders annihilated. After the troops entered the city, they properly protected the interests of industrial and commercial enterprises and the masses, strictly observed the discipline of the masses, and the common people took to the streets to celebrate liberation. Zhou Shidi, He Bingyan, and Liao Hansheng jointly reported the battle process and experience to the head of the Jinsui Military Region. The Jinsui Military Region reported the report to the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China. Chairman Mao Zedong drafted a telegram of instructions from the Central Military Commission, affirming that "the experience of attacking the fortress is very good" and informing the troops in other regions as a reference.
On June 17, 1947, Liao Hansheng (first from right) and He Bingyan (first from left) and other commanders conquered Huanxian County.
In the two-month Northern Shanxi Campaign from mid-June to mid-August, Liao Hansheng and the command post of the head of the Northern Shanxi Field Army annihilated more than 8,100 Kuomintang troops, recovered 9 county towns including Shuoxian, Ningwu, Huairen, Shanyang, Fanzhi, Daixian, Laoxian, Wutai, and Dingxiang, uprooted 103 large and small strongholds, controlled more than 200 kilometers of railway lines north of Datong, and isolated the Kuomintang defenders in Datong.
On 10 November, the Jinbei Field Command Organ and its directly subordinate units, the 358th Brigade and the 1st Independent Brigade formally formed the first column of the Jinsui Military Region in the Lanxian area, with Zhang Zongxun as commander and Liao Hansheng as political commissar. In mid-November, the first column crossed the Yellow River west at the mouth of the moraine in Linxian County, Shanxi, and went to Yan'an to carry out the glorious task of defending the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
In mid-March 1947, when the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao Zedong took the initiative to evacuate Yan'an, the first column served as a cover mission. On the morning of the 19th, the first column marched along the Yanhe River to Ansai in accordance with the scheduled deployment, causing Hu Zongnan of the Kuomintang army to mistakenly believe that this was the central organ and main force of the Communist Party of China, and sent Dong Zhao, commander of the reorganized First Army, to lead five brigades to chase after him. At this time, the Northwest Field Corps had already assembled in Qinghuatou to wait. Subsequently, the first column only introduced the Kuomintang army into Ansai with only a small number of troops, and the main force was transferred to Qinghuatou according to Peng Dehuai's order, and participated in the battle of the 31st Brigade in the south of Huzong. Then, he participated in the battles of Yangma River and Panlong Town one after another. Three victories in three battles, capturing alive the commanders of three brigades of the Kuomintang army, and annihilating a total of 14,000 Kuomintang troops, greatly boosted the military and people in the border areas, and strengthened their confidence in defending the Party Central Committee and Yan'an.
At the beginning of 1948, he took a photo on the breached enemy pillbox. The person on the right is Liao Hansheng.
In July, the war situation took a major turn, and the People's Liberation Army shifted from strategic defense to strategic offensive. The Northwest Field Army was officially renamed the Northwest Field Army, and He Bingyan took over as commander of the first column, and Liao Hansheng remained political commissar and secretary of the party committee of the column. In mid-August, He Bingyan and Liao Hansheng led their troops to participate in the Battle of Shajiadian, and in September and October, they participated in the Battle of Yanqing. After that, the army took advantage of the winter truce to carry out a general grievance campaign and land reform education. Then, according to the deployment of the Northwest Field Army and in light of the actual situation of the first column, Liao Hansheng organized and carried out a political rectification training centered on complaining about grievances and three investigations (checking class, ideology, and fighting spirit). At the enlarged meeting of the former committee held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in January 1948, Liao Hansheng reported on the new reorganization of the first column. Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai listened carefully to the report, interjected from time to time, inquired about the situation, and enthusiastically affirmed the first column's practice of complaining about grievances and conducting three investigations. Mao Zedong said happily: "When we came from the Central Soviet Region, we wanted to find a good way to educate the prisoners, and this method of complaining about grievances and three investigations has solved this problem. After the meeting, He Bingyan and Liao Hansheng led the first column to carry out a large-scale military training activity, and the military and political quality of the troops was greatly improved, and the mood for war was unprecedentedly high.
In March 1948, he took a photo in front of the Yellow Emperor's mausoleum. The second from the left is Liao Hansheng.
In the spring of 1948, the Northwest Field Army moved south to central Shaanxi and cooperated with Chen Geng's corps in the Central Plains to attack the main force in the south of Huzong. As the first step to "fight out", it was to launch the Battle of Yichuan. On February 24, the Northwest Field Army launched a fierce attack on the defending enemy in Yichuan, and Hu Zongnan urgently ordered Liu Huan, commander of the 29th Army, to lead four brigades along the Yiluo Highway through Wazijie to help, and the Northwest Field Army was determined to gather and annihilate the army in the Wazijie area. According to the top arrangement, He Bingyan and Liao Hansheng led the first column to brave the goose feathers and heavy snow, quickly attacked and advanced to Wazi Street, and captured the place at 6 o'clock on the 19th, cutting off the retreat of the reorganized 29th Army. When they learned that the second column had not yet occupied the high ground south of Wazi Street due to the long distance and the difficult snow road, and that Liu Huan's main force was assembling there, He Bingyan and Liao Hansheng were determined to plug this gap, so they decisively ordered a battalion of the 714th Regiment and the 715th Regiment of the 358th Brigade to attack the high ground southeast of Wazi Street. This high ground is the breakthrough point where Liu Hu wants to break through, and the battle is extremely cruel. Liu Sihu, a typical Liu Sihu who emerged in the three investigations of grievances, used a bayonet to engage in a white-knuckle battle with more than a dozen Kuomintang soldiers, stabbed seven to death in a row, and he himself was stabbed 11 times and still did not get out of the line of fire. Everyone in the 358th Brigade and even the entire column bravely fought for the first place, not afraid of sacrifice, and fought against the enemy. By the morning of 3 March, the Battle of Yichuan ended victoriously, and the first major victory of the strategic offensive in the northwest battlefield was achieved. In this battle, the first column annihilated more than 11,000 Kuomintang troops and captured 43 cannons and 3,747 guns of various kinds. In the Battle of Yichuan, the first column successively participated in the battles of Baoji, Hancheng, Chengyang, Taiyang, Libei, and Yaoxian. In the Battle of Libei, the first column boldly interspersed the depth of the Kuomintang army, killed, wounded and captured more than 6,500 people, and suffered more than 2,600 casualties.
In January 1949, Liao Hansheng, on behalf of the first column, accepted the flag from the people of the liberated areas.
In February 1949, the Northwest Field Army was renamed the First Field Army and the First Column was renamed the First Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, with He Bingyan as commander and Liao Hansheng as political commissar. From late February to mid-March, the First Army took part in the Northwest Spring Campaign. From early May to mid-June, he participated in the Battle of Central Shaanxi and liberated Xi'an and the vast areas of central Shaanxi. In July and August, he participated in the Battle of Fumei and the Battle of Liberation of Lanzhou.
In August, the commander of the First Field Army issued an order to march into Qinghai, and the PLA armies from all walks of life advanced into Qinghai. The Qinghai Kuomintang army collapsed without a fight, Ma Bufang and his son fled by plane, and their subordinates went their separate ways. On September 5, the vanguard of the First Army entered Xining with the welcome of the people. On 8 July, the First Army was ordered by the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China to set up the Xining City Military Control Commission and the Qinghai Provincial Military Control Commission, with Liao Hansheng as director of the Provincial Military Control Commission. After that, the First Army remained in Qinghai Province and organized the Qinghai Provincial Military Region to undertake the task of completely destroying the reactionary rule and building a new Qinghai.
In October 1949, Liao Hansheng, on behalf of the Qinghai Provincial Military and Political Commission, accepted the flag from the living Buddha monks of Taer Temple.
On September 26, the Qinghai Provincial People's Military and Political Committee was established to temporarily assume the functions and powers of the Qinghai Provincial People's Government. Liao Hansheng was appointed director of the Military and Political Committee to preside over the military and political work of the province. At the same time, Liao Hansheng also served as deputy secretary of the Qinghai Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. On October 1, the Qinghai Provincial Military Region was established, with He Bingyan as commander and Liao Hansheng as political commissar. (Excerpt from "Pillars of the Country - Party and State Leaders Who Came Out of the New Fourth Army", photo source "Liao Hansheng's Memoirs")