The course of the Battle of Yancheng

We selected a 22-year-old Comrade Xu Qu from among the enemy cadres and went to the city to deliver the message as the liaison staff officer of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army. Xiao Xu shook hands with us tightly before leaving and said firmly: "I will never let down the trust of the party and do my best to complete the task. If anything happens, please notify my mother in the organization and say that I have lived up to her expectations of me." "Comrade Xu Qu was intercepted and interrogated by puppet sentries on his way to Yancheng via Shangfeng and sent to the headquarters of the Puppet 40th Division. Xu Qu said to the puppet commander Dai Xinkuan: "I have come to deliver a letter to your Commander Zhao Yunxiang under the order of the leader Huang Kecheng. Please let me go as soon as possible!" When Dai Xinkuan saw that the letter was indeed written by Huang Kecheng to Zhao Yunxiang, he immediately drove to Yancheng. Report. The three characters Huang Kecheng appeared on the bright red ink pad, which made Zhao Yunxiang uneasy. His deputy commander and our army's insider Lu Yaolin took the opportunity to hint that this was a good opportunity to surrender to the New Fourth Army. But Zhao couldn't make up his mind for a while. While he regarded Xu Qu as an honored guest, he asked his boss Sun Liangcheng to contact Chongqing to test Chiang Kai-shek's attitude. Chiang Kai-shek responded to the call and decided to change the designation of the Fourth Army of Zhao's Wang Puppet Second Front Army to the First Army of the Kuomintang's Second Route Army, and appointed him as Lieutenant General. At the same time, Sun Liangcheng, commander-in-chief of the Second Route Army, was ordered to send two planes from Yangzhou to shoot around Yancheng every day to cheer him up. With the support of Chiang Kai-shek, Zhao Yunxiang, who had transformed from the commander of the Wang puppet army to the lieutenant general of the "national army", flatly refused our persuasion to surrender and went so far as to murder Xu Qu outside the north gate of Yancheng. After hearing the bad news, the comrades were filled with grief and indignation. I rushed overnight from the rural station in Yancheng to Funing Mulberry Trunk to report Xu Qu's sacrifice to Li Yimeng, secretary of the Jiangsu District Party Committee, and requested that troops be quickly dispatched to attack Yancheng. Li Yimeng was extremely sad when he heard that Xiao Xu had died. He calmly said to me: "Yancheng must be liberated, but we cannot attack now. The third division of the New Fourth Army has already moved north, and the other main forces are temporarily out of reach. At present, we must overcome our impatience and continue to make pre-war preparations to liberate Yancheng." After I returned to the working committee and conveyed the instructions of the district party committee, I vigorously launched a political offensive against the puppet troops. I deeply publicized the situation of the puppet troops all over the country who surrendered and received preferential treatment from our army after Japan's surrender. I also secretly circulated information about defecting to our army. "Pass". At the same time, he shouted to the puppet troops in the stronghold at night, expressing their homesickness and being far away from their homeland in North China, and wrote them into northern folk songs and drum storytellers. Through the artistic means of melodious flute and sad songs, he urged the puppet troops to abandon the darkness and turn to the light. After every shouting, some people from the puppet army always surrendered with weapons. On the other hand, we used insider personnel to quickly understand the enemy's situation, including the enemy's fortifications, troop deployment, weapons and equipment, firepower configuration, as well as headquarters, warehouses, etc., and drew detailed maps. On a sunny day in late September, the Working Committee received an urgent notice from the Subei District Party Committee, asking me to rush to Huai'an City. Unexpectedly, Xue Shangshi, the director of the Urban Work Department of the Subei District Party Committee, had already taken a small steamer to the suburbs of Yancheng, leaving behind The note asked me to rush back to the working committee for an interview as soon as possible. I returned to the working committee. Minister Xue was conveying the decision of the Central China Branch and the Central China Military Region to remove the last stronghold in northern Jiangsu. According to the instructions of the Central China chief and the defense situation of the puppet army, he proposed several things that we should flexibly grasp during the battle. Opinion: - The Puppet Forty Division is stationed in Yancheng. The division commander Dai Xinkuan also serves as the city defense commander. He has been influenced by our underground party member Guo Xinhe for a long time and has a good attitude towards us. ——The Puppet 39th Division is stationed in Wuyou Town, and the division commander Pan Ziming is quite stubborn. Wuyou Town is Zhao Yunxiang's passage to escape to Yangzhou. He must first capture the Thirty-ninth Division, capture Wuyou Town, cut off Zhao Yunxiang's escape route, and dispel his illusions about Chiang Kai-shek. ——After liberating Wuyou, he immediately laid siege to Yancheng. Taking advantage of our army's presence in the city, and targeting Zhao Yunxiang's fear of losing his troops and generals, he used insiders to persuade him to surrender to the uprising during the fierce battle. After two days and one night of fierce fighting, about 5,000 people from the troops directly under the Puppet 39th Division and three regiments were wiped out. In the early morning of November 8, under fierce artillery fire, our army's internal line Yaolin dragged Zhao Yunxiang and fled from the office to the basement. He boldly spoke to Zhao Jin and suggested negotiating with the New Fourth Army as soon as possible in order to preserve his strength. The words "preserve strength" really touched Zhao Yunxiang's heart, and he decided to hold a meeting of officers above the regimental level to discuss the future of the entire army. While the meeting was in full swing, Wang Faxiang, the leader of the 153rd Regiment of Zhao Yunxiang's elite troops who was captured by me, suddenly appeared. Wang Faxiang talked about the fierce battle before being captured and the preferential treatment he received after being captured. He also said that he had observed on the spot that the New Fourth Army was powerful and must not resist. He hoped that Zhao Yunxiang could negotiate with the New Fourth Army as soon as possible. Lu Yaolin took advantage of the moment when everyone in the conference room was in danger and quietly came to the officer corps to find the captain Peng Qianqing. After many years of friendship, now is the time to reveal your identity to him and use him to complete this righteous deed. "Old Peng, do you know that there is a Commander Peng Xuefeng in the New Fourth Army? I was sent here by him. You and I have known each other for many years. Please forgive me for not telling you the truth. Now that the army is approaching the city, what do you think we should do?" Peng Qianqing said: "The only way is to surrender. "Uprising is the only way to survive!" "What if Commander Zhao refuses to rebel?" "If he wants to resist to the end, I will quietly give up the defense positions of the three companies of the officer corps to the New Fourth Army and cooperate with him inside and outside." Peng Qianqing and Lu Yaolin came to the military headquarters. Zhao Yunxiang was thinking about how to make a decision. When he saw Peng Qianqing, he asked: "Qianqing, what should we do?" "The general trend is the trend of the times and the people's will.

Peng Qianqing shouted loudly to Zhao Yunxiang: "Time waits for no one, let's revolt as soon as possible!" "What if the Communist Party eats us after the uprising?" "This, you ask Lu Yaolin, he is an underground cadre sent by the Communist Party of China." "Like a time bomb that suddenly exploded, Zhao Yunxiang was shocked. He stood up suddenly, pressed the revolver on his waist, and shouted to Lu Yaolin with a stern look: "Are you really a communist? Can you guarantee the safety of our army? Lu Yaolin smiled lightly and said, "In all the years I have been by your side, have I ever let you suffer or be fooled?" This time the New Fourth Army sent a messenger. If you had listened to my suggestion and negotiated with the New Fourth Army, how could we have ended up where we are today? But it's not too late to start an uprising now. The New Fourth Army will not eat your troops. They want to liberate the entire Chinese people, which includes leading your troops to the bright road..." Zhao Yunxiang ordered loudly: "Send Guo Xin and his staff to negotiate with the New Fourth Army. They stop fucking! "The sound of artillery stopped. Zhao Yunxiang breathed a sigh of relief and was thinking about the next step. Guo Xinhe came back. He said: "The troops outside the city are the main force of the Central China Military Region of the New Fourth Army. I saw Chen Pixian at the headquarters. , Guan Wenwei and other leaders, they welcomed me to negotiate and immediately stopped the shelling. Now, they are waiting for the military commander to go to the meeting in person. After listening to Guo Xinhe's report, Zhao Yunxiang nodded slightly, but then he asked Lu Yaolin: "Do you think it will be dangerous for me to negotiate?" " Lu Yaolin said firmly: "No! I'll go with you! "On the morning of November 10, Zhao Yunxiang brought a guard, accompanied by Lu Yaolin, to Xinkaihe Airport outside Yancheng, met with Chen Pixian, Guan Wenwei and other New Fourth Army leaders, and then negotiated with New Fourth Army representative Xue Shangshi. Zhao Yunxiang established the Fourth Army of the People's Liberation of China under the leadership of the New Fourth Army, and immediately energized the country to oppose Chiang Kai-shek's civil war. Three days later, I went with the army to Binhai County for training. Colorful flags were displayed on the road leading to Binhai, and the gongs and drums were loud, and there were huge crowds of people. The uprising army. As the troops walked through a cemetery in the wilderness, Xu Qu's figure suddenly flashed in front of my eyes, and Xu Qu's voice echoed in my ears: "I know that entering the city this time is very risky, but I will never let down the party." Trust me, if an accident occurs, please organize the organization to inform my mother. I have lived up to her expectations. "I slowed down and shed tears.