In the autumn of 1949, when the northwest wind was surging, the remnants of the cavalry of the Ma Jiajun Army, under the leadership of Ma Jiyuan, marched south menacingly to plot against Xi'an, intending to inflict heavy damage on the PLA and divert the declining situation. Previous examples show that the cavalry of the Ma Jiajun has a fierce style and has defeated the PLA several times, which is intimidating. And this time, Ma Jiyuan was even more ashamed, claiming that the People's Liberation Army was most afraid of the Ma cavalry, and vowed to smash the city of Xi'an.
However, unexpectedly, Ma Jiajun suffered a crushing defeat outside Xianyang City and fled without a fight. The reason for all this has to start with the angry shout of Peng Dehuai, commander of the People's Liberation Army Yiye - "Transfer all the heavy machine guns!"
Peng Dehuai: I understand Ma Jiajun
When the news of Ma Jiajun's southward movement came, Peng Dehuai immediately attracted great attention. The reason why this is so is because Peng Dehuai and Ma Jiajun can be described as old acquaintances.
As early as more than 20 years ago, Peng Dehuai fought with Ma Jiajun in northern Shaanxi. In 1935, he was ordered to lead the Shaanxi and Gansu detachments of the Red Army to defeat the Ma Jiajun in the northern part of Subei, and won the high praise of Chairman Mao's "who dares to cross the sword and stand immediately, only I am General Peng".
Therefore, when Ma Jiyuan braged unashamedly that the People's Liberation Army was most afraid of the Ma cavalry, Peng Dehuai could not take it seriously. He is well aware of Ma Jiajun's weaknesses and has the confidence to deal with them.
Peng Dehuai knew that the reason why the cavalry of the Ma Jiajun was proud was that the cavalry was flexible in cavalry and shooting, had a ferocious style, and destroyed our army's formation when charging. However, this tactic in the era of cold weapons is no longer effective under the intensive exchange of firepower. The key is to kill a large number of Ma Jiajun's war horses and disrupt their charging rhythm.
For this reason, Peng Dehuai decisively ordered: "Transfer all the heavy machine guns!"
The 181st Division guarded the city and waited for reinforcements
When Peng Dehuai learned that Ma Jiajun's army was heading south and aimed directly at Xi'an, Yiye's troops were obviously difficult to resist. Fortunately, the 18th and 19th Corps of the North China Field Army have been ordered to move westward and are expected to arrive within a few days.
In order to gain time to wait for reinforcements, Peng Dehuai decided to send the 181st Division to Xianyang City to win more with less and block the offensive of Ma Jiajun.
This 181st Division was the "leather brigade" that made great achievements in that year. Many actual battles have shown that they are good at fighting bravely and are deeply appreciated by Peng Dehuai. This dispatch is to hope that they will give full play to their strengths and stubbornly resist the cavalry of the Ma Jiajun.
The 181st Division quickly gave Commander Peng Dehuai a satisfactory answer. They quickly built fortifications in Xianyang City to ensure the defense. At the same time, scouts were also sent to operate on the periphery to find the movements of the Ma Jiajun.
Just when a reconnaissance squad went out to reconnoitre, it encountered the vanguard battalion of the 8th Cavalry Brigade of the Ma Jiajun. Faced with an enemy several times their size, this reconnaissance squad resolutely decided to stand firm and wait for reinforcements.
"Catch me alive!" Ma Jiajun was overjoyed when he saw this, and immediately launched a fierce charge. In the past, they often attacked our positions in this way and slaughtered officers and soldiers. However, this time, under the intensive fire of the PLA, they suffered heavy casualties and did not retreat.
In this battle, although the reconnaissance squad completed its mission, more than half of them were killed or wounded. Among them was Comrade Wang Qingshan, a reconnaissance staff officer, who died a heroic death and became the first martyr in this defensive battle.
Three lines of defense meet the enemy's charge
Ma Jiajun's defeat made Ma Jiyuan very surprised and angry. The next day, he immediately ordered the whole army to launch a general attack, vowing to break through the Xianyang defensive line.
The 181st Division, on its part, was already ready to face the battle. According to Peng Dehuai's instructions, they built three lines of defense outside the city.
The first line of defense is made up of hand-to-hand combat masters. These sturdy warriors, armed with Japanese long knives captured from Taiyuan, were strong enough to gain an advantage in white-knuckle combat.
The second line of defense was equipped with submachine guns, carbines and other weapons. Their task was to provide fire support during hand-to-hand combat in the first line of defense, killing the horses of the Ma family's army.
As for the most critical third line of defense, it was the heavy machine gun that Peng Dehuai directly transferred from the military headquarters. These fierce firepower will constitute a strong barrier that is difficult for the Ma Jiajun to cross.
Under such a deployment, the general offensive of the Ma Jiajun is destined to be difficult to achieve. The soldiers of the first line of defense fought hand-to-hand with the cavalry, and the fire of the second line of defense killed the horses, causing confusion in the charge. And those who were still able to break through were also splashed with blood five steps under the heavy machine guns of the third line of defense.
On this day, the cavalry of the Ma family army was defeated and slaughtered unprecedentedly. Their cold-weapon tactics were outdated in the face of firepower, with thousands of casualties. This bloody battle finally shattered the myth of the invincibility of the Ma Jiajun, and the PLA proved that it had the strength to meet the challenge of the remnants of the enemy in the northwest.
After the fiasco, Ma Jiyuan could only lead the remnants to flee south. And the 181st Division, after a bloody battle with the enemy, only a hundred people remained. But they blocked the offensive of the Ma Jiajun, bought precious time for the reinforcements, and made outstanding achievements.
After this battle, the 18th and 19th Corps of the North China Field Army soon arrived, and the Ma Jiajun was devastated and annihilated!
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