When and where did the Battle of Siping take place in the War of Liberation?

I am from Siping!

From April to May 1946 (the 35th year of the Republic of China), during the third civil revolutionary war, the Northeastern Democratic Alliance Army launched one attack each in Northern Liaoning Province (now Jilin Province, Liaoning Province, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region). Department) Siping area, a defensive battle against the attack of the Kuomintang army.

The Kuomintang army, which landed in Qinhuangdao and marched into the Northeast, took over the defense of Shenyang from the Soviet Red Army on March 13 and successively occupied Fushun, Tieling and Liaoyang. In late March, Xiong Shihui, the director of the Kuomintang Army's Northeast Operation, and Du Yuming, the security commander, relied on their superiority in American equipment and troop strength to take advantage of the retreat of the Soviet army and blatantly sabotaged the March 27 meeting between representatives of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and the U.S. Marshall. The "three-person team" signed an agreement to mediate the ceasefire in Northeast China, and began to take action on March 31 in advance. The troops of 11 divisions from 5 corps were concentrated from the Shenyang area along the Zhongchang Road (from Harbin to Manzhouli in the west and Suifenhe in the east). Dalian in the south) and Anshen Road (Andong to Shenyang) launched a large-scale attack on southern Manchuria and northern Manchuria in an attempt to capture the areas on both sides of the Zhongchang Road and control the Liaodong Peninsula before the Northeast Armistice Agreement was signed. Its deployment is: use the newly formed 1st Army and the 71st Army to attack north of Shenyang, expecting to capture Siping on April 2; use the newly formed 6th Army, 52nd Army and the 5th Division of the 94th Army to attack north of Shenyang. Attack in the south and complete the occupation of Anshan, Benxi and other southern Manchu industrial areas. Then prepare to concentrate the New 1st Army, New 6th Army and other units to launch an offensive north of Siping along the Zhongchang Railway, in an attempt to suppress the main force of the Democratic Alliance Army on the south bank of the Songhua River and eliminate it.

In order to prevent the Kuomintang army commanders from advancing directly, cooperate with the Chongqing negotiations, and promote the realization of peace and democracy in Northeast China and the whole country, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission have determined to fully control the northern Manchuria area and Changchun, Harbin and Zhongchang Road. The section from Manzhouli to Suifenhe. So on March 24, he sent a telegram to the Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Headquarters of the Democratic Alliance Forces, requiring the Northeast Democratic Alliance Forces to quickly concentrate their main forces, resolutely guard the Siping area, and deal a powerful blow to the enemies advancing northward; the main forces in South Manchuria were concentrated In the Benxi area, attack and contain the enemy. Cooperate with the operations in the Siping area; after the Soviet army withdrew from Changchun, Harbin, and Qiqihar, they quickly annihilated the bandit and puppet armed forces in the three cities and captured them. Commander Lin Biao and political commissar Peng Zhen of the Northeastern Democratic Alliance Army, following the instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, decided to use one force to defend Benxi in southern Manchuria; another force to liberate Changchun, Harbin, and Qiqihar; and deploy the main force to stop it in the Siping area. The Kuomintang army attacked northern Manchuria. The specific deployment is: use the 10th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army to adopt mobile defense in the areas north of Tieling and south of Siping to delay and kill the enemies advancing northward, and to cover the 1st and 2nd Divisions and the 7th Column (the expansion of the original Binhai Detachment) , the main force of the 7th Brigade, the 8th Brigade, and the Independent Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army were concentrated in the Siping area. When the enemies advancing from the north were in motion or had not yet established a stable foothold, they concentrated superior forces to annihilate them one by one; with the 3rd and 8th Brigades in the south Manchuria The 4th Column and the 3rd Bao Brigade were responsible for fighting in the Benxi area; the main force of the Shandong 7th Division and other units were used to capture Changchun, the 359th Brigade and other units were used to capture Harbin, and the first section of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army was used to capture Qiqihar.

Siping Street is located in the central plain of Northeast China. It is the intersection of Zhongchang, Si (Ping) Tao (South), and Si (Ping) Mei (Hekou) railways. It is one of the important strategic hubs in Northeast China. The New 1st Army and the 71st Army (under the 88th Division) of the Kuomintang Army, which advanced north along the Zhongchang Road from Shenyang, occupied Kaiyuan and Faku, and continued to attack in the direction of Siping in early April. By mid-April, the Kuomintang troops attacking northern Manchuria successively occupied Tieling, Changtu, Faku and other places. The Democratic Alliance Army implemented mobile defense south of Siping and blocked attacks step by step. Annihilated more than 2,000 people of the New 1st Army. On April 16, the democratic coalition forces concentrated on the Shandong 1st Division, the 7th Column, the 8th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army and other units, and used their superior force to annihilate the 87th Division of the 71st Army of the Kuomintang Army in the Dawa and Jinshanbao areas southwest of Siping. department. On the 17th, the newly formed 1st Army advanced to the areas east and south of Siping, forming an arc-shaped encirclement of Siping Street. At the same time, in the battle to defend Benxi, our army in South Manchuria repelled the enemy's attacks twice and wiped out more than 4,000 enemies. In mid-to-late April, the Kuomintang troops liberated the three cities of Chang, Harbin and Qi as planned and annihilated more than 26,000 armed bandits.

At this time, the negotiations between our party and the Kuomintang on the Northeast issue have reached a critical stage where it is possible to reach an agreement quickly. However, in order to put itself in a more favorable position, the Kuomintang still attempted to seize Siping, Changchun, Jilin and more places. The Party Central Committee instructed the Northeastern Democratic Alliance Army to hold on to Siping and annihilate a large number of enemy troops in the Siping area to facilitate negotiations. In order to resolutely defend Siping, the Northeastern Democratic Alliance decided to form the Siping Garrison Headquarters with the 1st Security Brigade. The brigade and the 56th Regiment of the 7th Column were under the unified command of Ma Renxing, commander of the 1st Security Brigade. ***6,000 people defended Siping. The 1st Regiment of the Brigade guards the west of the railway, and the 56th Regiment of the 7th Column guards the east of the railway; concentrate its main forces in the areas west and north of Siping, waiting to annihilate the enemy; and successively orders the Shandong 7th Division, the 359th Brigade and other units to move south, and orders the troops located in the south The 7th and 8th brigades of the Manchu 3rd Column and the 3rd Security Brigade went north to participate in the Siping Defense Battle.

On April 18, under the cover of aircraft and artillery fire, the New 30th Division of the New 1st Army attacked Siping from the south and the New 38th Division from the west and northwest, which lasted for three days. The 1st Security Brigade and the 7th Column of the Democratic Alliance Army's city defense troops relied on fortifications to fight tenaciously and organized multiple counterattacks, inflicting heavy damage on the Kuomintang troops and making little progress.

At this time, the 71st Army of the Kuomintang advanced to Bamiancheng and Sipingjian, and carried out a detour to the right side of the Democratic Alliance position. At the same time, the first part of the New 1st Army also launched in the southeast of Siping. In order to strengthen the defense of Siping's left and right wings, the Democratic Alliance Army deployed the 1st and 2nd Divisions and the 8th and 10th Brigades of the 3rd Division to the northwest of Siping; the 7th Brigade of the 3rd Division was transferred from Sandaolinzi in the north of the city to beyond Siping. Strengthen the defense of the 7th Column in the East Hafu and Huoshiling areas; use the Yang Guofu Department of the 7th Division to take over the Sandaolinzi Beishan position of the 7th Brigade. At this point, the Democratic Alliance Army formed a defense line of more than a hundred miles winding from the east (Huoshiling) to the west (Bamian City) with Siping as the center, and deployed six divisions (brigades) of mobile troops. In this way, although the democratic coalition defeated the Kuomintang army's attempt to bypass Siping, our army also lacked the mobile forces to launch a powerful counterattack. The democratic coalition defenders relied on temporary civil fortifications and seized Japanese miscellaneous light weapons to fight the Kuomintang troops, who were fully equipped with American weapons and equipment. They fought bravely and tenaciously. The main defensive position on Siping Street was hit by nearly 30 artillery shells and bombs per minute on average. The defending troops of the Democratic Alliance fought fiercely from the air and on the ground during the day, and organized emergency repairs and reinforcements at night. During the fierce battle, the 3rd Company of the 56th Regiment of the Democratic Alliance suffered more than half of its casualties. However, under the command of political instructor Sun Yongzhang, they still persisted in fighting. In order to concentrate its forces to attack Benxi, the Kuomintang's Northeast Security Commander's Headquarters stopped its attack on Siping Street on April 27, and the two sides formed a confrontation on the Siping Street battlefield.

On April 26, the Party Central Committee instructed the Northeastern Democratic Alliance: "Marshall has proposed an armistice plan. If there is a possibility of an armistice, we hope to strengthen Siping's garrison strength, encourage persistence, weaken the enemy's energy, and buy time." On April 27, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China sent a special telegram to Lin Biao, praising "the Siping defenders for being very brave" and also suggesting that "please consider adding some defenders (for example, one or two regiments) to transform Siping Street into Madrid." On May 1, the Central Committee pointed out: "The Northeast War has attracted the attention of China and foreign countries. Chiang Kai-shek has rejected the armistice plan agreed by Marshall, the Democratic League and our party, and insisted on fighting to Changchun. Therefore, we must persist in fighting in Siping and Benxi. , beat the two stubborn armies to exhaustion, consume their strength, frustrate their vigor, and make the troops, weapons, and ammunition mobilized in 6 months suffer the maximum consumption, and there will be no time to replenish... At that time, it will be possible to obtain something Good for my peace."

In order to concentrate its forces in the main combat direction of Siping, the Democratic Alliance Army deployed the 19th Brigade of the 7th Column, the 20th Brigade and the 21st Brigade of the 7th Division to defend the southeast of Siping Street, with the 1st and 2nd Divisions defending To the north of Siping Street, the 359th Brigade was transferred south from Harbin and served as a reserve force at Gongzhuling. The main force of the 3rd Column and the 3rd Security Brigade were transferred from South Manchuria to the north to participate in the Siping Operation. In addition to tenaciously resisting the Kuomintang attack on the front of Siping, The 7th and 8th brigades of the 3rd column and the independent brigades of the 3rd division were also used to detour from the east and west wings of Siping and penetrate deep into the side of the Kuomintang army, cutting off their transportation and threatening their rear.

In order to concentrate more troops to capture Siping, the Kuomintang army took advantage of the opportunity of the main force of the third column of the Democratic Alliance to be transferred north, and launched another attack on Benxi with 5 divisions in southern Manchuria starting from April 28. After six days of heroic resistance, our army withdrew from Benxi on May 3 after killing a large number of enemies. After the Kuomintang army took control of Benxi, it immediately transferred the New Sixth Army of South Manchuria, the 195th Division of the 52nd Army, and the 88th Division of the 71st Army northward to Siping, increasing the strength of the Kuomintang army in the Siping area to 10 divisions.

On the 12th, the New Sixth Army and other units entered the Kaiyuan area, and the Democratic Alliance Army's 3rd column blocked the attack along the Kaiyuan, Yehe Station, and Xifeng lines. On the 14th, the Kuomintang army, under the cover of aircraft, tanks and a large number of artillery, carried out repeated attacks on Siping in an attempt to "press down and eliminate the main force of the democratic coalition within the Liaohe (River) Tao". Its deployment is: the right-wing corps consists of the 14th Division of the 6th Army, the 22nd Division, the 88th Division of the 71st Army and the 195th Division of the 52nd Army, attacking the southeast position of Siping Street along the Kaiyuan-Yehe Highway; the Central Corps is Three divisions of the New 1st Army attacked from the southwest suburbs of Siping Street; the left-wing corps was the 87th Division and 91st Division of the 71st Army, cooperating with the Central Corps to encircle and attack Shuangshan; the 182nd Division of the 60th Army took charge of the south of Siping Road protection tasks.

At dawn on the 15th, the Kuomintang army on the Siping front line launched 10 divisions, divided into three corps: left, center and right, and launched an all-out attack on Siping. And use a wave-like group charge. In front of the badgerzidong position, two regiments of troops took turns attacking 10 times throughout the day, but were repelled by the democratic coalition forces. Under the tenacious resistance of the democratic coalition, the main forces of the New 1st Army of the Central Corps of the Kuomintang Army (195th Division) and the 71st Army of the Left-Wing Corps made no progress in several attacks. Only the 50th Division of the New 1st Army was on high ground at 258, with a force ten times that of the democratic coalition. The defenders attacked Hill 258 and occupied Hill 258. The New Sixth Army and other four divisions of the right-wing regiment made rapid progress. On the 16th, the Kuomintang army stormed the 331.5 heights southeast of Siping Street. The democratic coalition fought tenaciously and repelled seven attacks in a row. Finally, they lost the position because most of their firearms were destroyed. On the 17th, the Kuomintang army captured Huoshiling, and then concentrated its forces to launch an assault on the Tazishan position. The Tazishan position was the last commanding height on the left side of the Siping Street defensive position and was related to the safety of the southeastern position. The 1st Battalion of the 58th Regiment of the 7th Column of the Democratic Alliance fought bloody battles and repelled 12 consecutive charges. Later, due to excessive casualties, the 19th Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the West Manchurian Army was assigned to defend.

At dawn on the 18th, another fierce battle took place in Tazishan. The commanders and fighters of the 19th Regiment, taking advantage of the extended artillery fire of the Kuomintang army, climbed out of a pool of blood and resisted the Kuomintang army's charges with hand-to-hand combat. In the end, due to excessive casualties, the Tazishan position was lost that night. On the 18th, the 195th Division of the Kuomintang Army's right-wing corps occupied Hafu. At this point, the democratic coalition's defense in Siping was in a very unfavorable situation. The Kuomintang army wanted to detour to the northeast of Siping in an attempt to block the retreat of our Siping defenders. Our army has suffered more than 8,000 casualties in the defensive operations that lasted for more than a month. In order to get rid of passivity, avoid being cut off from retreat, and maintain combat effectiveness, after consulting the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, we decided to withdraw from Siping from the night of the 18th to the early morning of the 19th. The regions retreated one by one. Part of the main force arrived at the north bank of the Songhua River in early June to rest and recuperate, while the rest of the troops moved to the East and West Manchu areas to rest and recuperate and engage in the construction of base areas. The Kuomintang troops occupied Siping Street on the 19th.

Comment: The Siping Defense Battle lasted for more than a month, and the democratic coalition forces annihilated more than 10,000 Kuomintang troops at the cost of more than 8,000 people. This battle is a large-scale urban defense battle carried out by the Party Central Committee based on the national strategy and in conjunction with the negotiation struggle. In this battle, our army delayed the enemy's plan to advance northward, which played an important role in consolidating the base areas in North Manchuria. The Party Central Committee pointed out: "Our army held on to Siping for a month and fought against ten enemy divisions, which demonstrated the high tenacity and heroic spirit of the people's army. This struggle is of historic significance." Later he pointed out: "The Siping defensive battle was caused by temporary special conditions and cannot become my general combat policy." The original plan of the Kuomintang army to occupy Siping Street on April 2 was postponed for 47 days. The "Summary of Important Battles in the First Year of Appeasement" compiled by the History and Political Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense of the Kuomintang government said in the "Review of the Battle of Attacking Siping Street": "Although the final decisive battle of Siping was won, it was delayed for more than two months, allowing the enemy to calmly Leaving the battlefield and failing to completely defeat the enemy's main force will cause endless trouble for the Northeast Suppression Army."