The Reliao troops advanced to the northeast
Li Yunchang
5. Reorganize the troops to block the offensive of the Kuomintang army
Since our army had taken control of the northeast first, the Kuomintang's attempt to take over the northeast through diplomatic channels had failed. Chiang Kai-shek decided to rely on the direct assistance of US imperialism to seize the northeast by force. In October, the Kuomintang troops landed on Qinhuangdao one after another by US ships and began to attack our troops.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Northeast Bureau saw through the enemy's conspiracy and promptly deployed troops to block the Kuomintang's offensive in a war of self-defense. Since eastern Hebei, Shanhaiguan, western Liaoning, and Rehe are the necessary places for North China to lead to the northeast, and Huludao, Yingkou, and Qinhuangdao are the places where the enemy has landed, and their strategic position is very important, the Central Military Commission and the Northeast Bureau ordered me to return to Jinzhou to carry out three tasks:
(1) Reorganize the troops, prepare for battle, and control the Shanhaiguan and Huludao military ports;
(2) Receiving troops and cadres continue to enter the Northeast;
(3) The party, government and military work in western Liaoning is under the unified leadership of the Northeast Bureau, under the command of Lin and Peng.
After I returned to Jinzhou from Shenyang in October, I immediately organized the 19th and 22nd Brigades and the 31st Regiment of Jizhong to build fortifications at Shanhaiguan and Huludao in preparation to fight back at the invading Kuomintang army.
At this time, most of the more than 20,000 troops in western Liaoning were recruits, except for the 4,000 men of the three old regiments, and they urgently needed to supplement the old troops as the backbone to improve their combat effectiveness and meet the needs of the operation. In late October, Sha Ke, Huang Yongsheng, and Wen Niansheng arrived in Jinzhou with four veteran regiments, totaling more than 4,700 people, and reported to the Northeast Bureau for approval to be combined with the new troops of the Jireliao Military Region in western Liaoning, and re-equipped with cadres on the basis of the old troops. After the battle of Shanhaiguan began, the opportunity was seized to carry out the co-compilation.
Wen Niansheng's 1st Police Brigade and 2 regiments were combined with the 22nd Brigade and the 30th Brigade of the Jireliao New Force, with Ou Zhifu as the commander of the 22nd Brigade, Zhou Jiamei as the deputy brigade commander, Chen Zhibin as the political commissar, and Wu Zongpeng as the deputy political commissar. Zhang Defa is the commander of the 30th Brigade, Xie Bozhong is the political commissar, Zhang Su is the deputy brigade commander, and Xu Naibin is the chief of staff. Huang Yongsheng taught a regiment of the 1st Brigade, and the 1st Regiment of the Jireliao Special Agent Regiment and the 31st Regiment of Jizhong were combined into the 27th Brigade, with Ding Sheng as the brigade commander and Wei Zuzhen as the political commissar.
In November, the General Headquarters of the Northeast People's Autonomous Army, in order to prepare for the battle against the Kuomintang army, set up five front-line commands, among them, the third front-line command, which was responsible for the unified command of the troops from Yingkou (exclusive) to Ye Baishou's line, I concurrently served as commander and political commissar, Huang Yongsheng, Wen Niansheng, and Sha Ke were deputy commanders, Lei Jingtian was deputy political commissar, and Xin Shixiu was chief of staff.
The reorganization of the Liaoxi army was completed in early November.
After that, Zeng Kelin and Tang Kai's expanded troops in South Manchuria, as well as the troops left in Shenyang, Qiqihar, and Sipingjie of the Jireliao Military Region, were all handed over to the direct leadership of the Northeast Bureau.
In late October, the Kuomintang army concentrated 70,000 men of the 13th Army and the 52nd Army, landed from Qinhuangdao (the port was defended by American troops), and occupied the town of Haiyang first. Beginning on October 25, a small-scale attack was launched against the defenders of our Shanhaiguan. At this time, our troops guarding the Shanhaiguan were two regiments of the 19th Brigade and one regiment of the 22nd Brigade of Jireliao.
During this period, US planes often dispatched to Shanhaiguan to reconnoiter and threaten at low altitudes, sometimes as many as dozens, and told our troops to withdraw from Shanhaiguan, and after being rejected by our army, they immediately sent marines to take the lead for the Kuomintang army. On 28 October, dozens of US troops and one Kuomintang officer, in several cars, provoked the defenders of Shanhaiguan. Under the command of Zhang Heming, commander of the 19th Brigade, our defenders resolutely dealt a severe blow, destroying a car, killing one American soldier, seizing a jeep, capturing four American soldiers and one Kuomintang officer, and the rest of the American troops fled back to Qinhuangdao in disarray, not daring to attack for three days.
At the beginning of November, Yang Guofu, commander of the 7th Division of the Shandong Army, arrived at Shanhaiguan with a brigade of 7,000 men. The General Headquarters of the Northeast People's Autonomous Army ordered Yang Division to defend Shanhaiguan and uniformly command the Shanhaiguan troops to fight. The Shandong Seventh Division was a veteran unit that was good at night warfare, and had twice attacked the enemy south of Shanhaiguan at night, inflicting great casualties on the enemy and capturing a lot of weapons.
At that time, our troops guarding the ninth gate of Shanhaiguan had one brigade of the Shandong Seventh Division, two regiments of the Jireliao Nineteenth Brigade and one regiment of the 22nd Brigade, totaling more than 10,000 people. From 8 to 16 November, the enemy attacked the nine gates of Shanhaiguan head-on with 70,000 men, and was repulsed by our army in many fierce battles. Due to the lack of troops and the lack of reserves to block the enemy, we had no choice but to withdraw from Shanhaiguan on 16 November under the unfavorable situation of being outnumbered by the enemy. The battle to defend Shanhaiguan began on 25 October and withdrew on 16 November, a total of 22 days.
After the enemy occupied Shanhaiguan, he continued to attack eastward along the railway. In the future, when our newly reorganized three brigades have time for training, they will go to the front line to fight the enemy in the Xingcheng and Jinxi areas. However, due to the enemy's strategic offensive, our troops participating in the battle were untrained and had poor combat effectiveness, and were unable to stop the enemy's advance.
At this time, Lin Biao had already gone to the front line to command. The 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army in East China and the main forces of the 1st and 2nd Shandong Divisions had just arrived in the area of western Liaoning, but due to the fatigue of the troops from the long-distance march and the lack of supplementary equipment, the Gaoqiao ambush could not be successfully fought, and our army was forced to withdraw from Suizhong, Xingcheng, Jinxi, and other places in late November. Then, Lin Biao ordered to withdraw from Jinzhou on his own initiative. On November 26, the enemy occupied Jinzhou.
From 25 October to 25 November, the Jireliao troops fought side by side with the Shandong Seventh Division for a month in Shanhaiguan and western Liaoning, striking at the enemy. Although Shanhaiguan, Jinzhou and other places were not kept, they delayed the time for the Kuomintang army to enter the northeast, and achieved the purpose of transporting cadres and covering the troops to enter the northeast.
By the beginning of December, the troops and a large number of cadres from the old areas had marched long distances and arrived in the northeast through the Jireliao region and by sea, thus realizing the strategic plan of the central authorities to send 100,000 troops and 20,000 cadres into the northeast. The arrival of these troops and a large number of cadres laid the foundation for the creation of a consolidated base area in the northeast.
After the enemy occupied Jinzhou, Lin Biao led the main force of 60,000 people to withdraw to the areas of Fuxin, Montenegro and Beizhen, and the troops of Jireliao were scattered to the areas of Beipiao, Chaoyang and Yixian.
In mid-December, according to the notice of the Central Committee and the Northeast Bureau, Lin Biao led the Third Division of the New Fourth Army, the three Shandong Divisions (the 1st, 2nd, and 7th Divisions) and the 19th Brigade of Jireliao to Ximanchuria.