After completing the deployment of artillery support, Li Ziyuan made a bold decision. On 19 April, a reinforced regiment of Li Ziyuan's subordinate reinforced a company of the engineer battalion, under the cover of artillery fire before midnight on 20 April, secretly lurked at a distance of only 150 meters from the last line of defense of the enemy army under the city of Taiyuan.

That is to say, the lurking troops, as soon as they look up, they can see what the enemy forces in the last line of defense are doing. Li Ziyuan's approach can be described as quite risky. Even if the enemy on the front line couldn't see anything at that time, as long as one of the more than 3,000 cadres and soldiers lurking couldn't stand to move, the enemy troops on the opposite side and on the city wall could easily find it.

The most important thing about the camouflage of his plan is that the hidden discipline is quite strict. More than 3,000 troops lurked under the noses of the enemy. Even if one person can't hold on, it will cause the entire army to be exposed. And once the latent troops are exposed, covered by the fire of the enemy's walls and front-line positions, this casualty figure can be imagined.

Needless to say, a single firepower coverage of the enemy's artillery groups inside and outside the city is enough to cause more than half of the casualties of the sleeper troops, and it is even possible that the entire army will be wiped out. But Li Ziyuan insisted on this idea and reported it to the corps and the army. In the end, with limited support from the army, Li Ziyuan's plan was still implemented.

At 11 o'clock at midnight on the 19th, the troops of a reinforced regiment, with the cooperation of an engineer battalion, under the cover of bluff artillery fire, dressed in camouflage made of weeds, secretly lurked less than 150 meters from the enemy's front-line positions and less than 1,500 meters from the city wall.

Before the battle began, a reinforced regiment of more than 3,000 troops lurked under the noses of the enemy. During the entire nine-hour incubation process, no one in the whole regiment moved. The enemy patrol was even less than fifty meters away from the lurking force at its closest.

Despite the darkness of the night, no problems were noted. Maybe with the intuition of a soldier, he sensed that something was wrong with the previous artillery fire. The enemy forces inside and outside the city also continued to test their firepower, and light and heavy machine guns continued to fire aimlessly. Until the battle was in full swing, the enemy troops in the city continued to shoot sporadic artillery fire blindly, and they also continued to fall into the latent positions.

The cadres and soldiers who were injured by the artillery fire were in severe pain until death, and there was no one * and rolling. Until the battle began, none of the more than 3,000 troops lurking under the enemy's nose revealed their whereabouts and the whereabouts of the troops. For nine hours, under the cold artillery of the enemy's constant fire, he lay there without moving.

On April 20, 1949, the battle to cross the river on the southern front officially began. After repeated persuasions to no avail. The deputy commander-in-chief, who took over the command of the commander of the 1st Corps, who was seriously ill, personally gave the order to attack. With an order, 1,300 artillery pieces outside Taiyuan City roared almost simultaneously.

The dense artillery fire completely covered the enemy positions inside and outside the city under a barrage. Almost every time a large-caliber heavy artillery shell from the Fourth Field Artillery Division falls, there will be a permanent fortification that the mountain artillery could not gnaw at all before, and it will be blown into ruins by the shells.

A large number of other * guns, mountain artillery, field artillery, infantry artillery, light and heavy mortars, battle defense guns, and the longest-range Japanese-made cannons constantly smashed the same dense shells into the enemy's positions. The smoke from the shells lasted for a long time. The shock wave and vibration caused by the shells made the impact felt by people hundreds of meters away.

Looking at the shells that kept falling in the telescope, Li Ziyuan, whose command post was less than 500 meters away from the forward position, turned his head to look at Ma Yongcheng and He Sanliang beside him and said: "This is really different from what it used to be. One hundred and fifty millimeters* of one shot, all the fortifications were in ruins. ”

"I think that during the Red Army, we didn't have a few mortars for one front of the Red Fourth Front Army. Just a few mortars, because there were no shells, had to be thrown away when climbing snowy mountains and crossing meadows. When it was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, apart from a few mortars in the three formed divisions, there were not a few mountain artillery guns at all. ”

"We have six mortars in one division, and the total number of artillery shells that can and cannot be used together is just over 60. The headquarters is just a mountain artillery company that has been picked up, and it is still like a treasure, and it is easy not to use it. Look at the present, good guy, in Taiyuan City, there are more than a thousand large and small artillery pieces, which was unimaginable before. ”

Regarding Li Ziyuan's feelings, Ma Yongcheng said with some equal emotion: "The artillery firepower has changed from weak to strong, which has witnessed the change of our army from weak to strong. From the enemy's mouth to contempt for the earth eight roads, step by step to today's strength. I believe that as long as we continue to work hard, our army can only grow stronger and stronger. ”

Regarding Ma Yongcheng's same feelings, Li Ziyuan nodded thoughtfully, and then set his eyes on the battle in front of him. At this time, the last line of defense of Taiyuan City in front of him had been torn apart by the dense cannonballs. It turned out that the group of permanent fortifications, which could not be gnawed by mountain artillery and mortars, had been blown up in a mess under the bombardment of large-caliber * artillery.

As the artillery fire began to extend the firing, under the order of the division command post to fire three red flares, the lurking troops suddenly jumped up in front of the enemy. With lightning speed, with the assistance of the long ladder prepared in advance, in less than a few minutes, the enemy's first blockade ditch was directly broken through.

And just when the enemy army has not yet figured out how the PLA in front of him is like a divine soldier descending from the sky and appearing directly in front of him. Li Ziyuan's troops, who were lurking at a distance of 150 meters from the enemy, had already rushed in front of him with their rifles loaded with bayonets and under the cover of deep fire.

At the same time, the two Japanese-made 41-type mountain guns and three 92-type infantry guns that followed the action of the latent troops were quickly assembled after they also passed through the blockade ditch. Follow the attacking troops, adopt the tactics of close fire with bayonets on the cannons, and knock out the remaining firing points one by one.

Li Ziyuan's troops' attack was carried out as smoothly as smoothly as smoothly after a considerable period of exercise. Each battalion and company of the attacking unit performed its own duties, and the infantry, artillery, and engineers cooperated with each other. The remaining points of fire that the artillery could not knock out, cover the sappers to go up and blast with *.

Once the gap is opened, the infantry rushes quickly. The entire defense system of the enemy army was disturbed by Li Ziyuan's flowing attack. Not even a decent resistance was organized, and the entire line of defense was completely broken. It took less than half an hour for the attacking troops to completely break up the enemy's resistance.

Almost at the same time as the forward lurking troops launched the attack. As Li Ziyuan's raised right hand slashed downward, a green flare rose into the air. Along with this green flare, Wang Jun, who was in front, personally pressed the electric ignition device of *.

It has been secretly buried in three tunnels under Taiyuan City, and a full 1,800 kilograms* have produced a violent explosion. The east city wall of Taiyuan was blown open in an instant with a gap of more than 1,000 meters long. The smoke from the explosion could be seen clearly from more than a dozen miles away.

At this time, at the fastest speed, tear through the last line of defense on the enemy's perimeter. And under the cover of the heavy artillery group behind him, the enemy's last line of defense on the periphery of Taiyuan was scattered, and an attack force with a width of two kilometers had been opened, and the frenzied counterattack of the enemy army was launched on the spot.

The second echelon, which was followed by the attacking force, quickly rushed through the breach to the city when the bricks and dust that had been blown up had not yet fallen. The second echelon of the attacking force quickly rushed into the city along the passage opened by the first echelon, under the cover of artillery fire from the divisional artillery group behind it that was extending to the two flanks of the gap in the city wall.

Seeing that the troops scheduled to enter the city had already rushed into the city, Li Ziyuan immediately transferred the reserve team and rushed into the city behind the first echelon. At this time, the friendly neighbors and other troops who participated in the attack were still fighting with the enemy around the last line of defense on the periphery of Taiyuan. In particular, the south and north wings of the city are still in a fierce battle.

Even the two flanks of Li Ziyuan's brother troops, including the other two divisions of his own army, were still engaged in the final battle for the periphery. Although the progress was quite rapid, no one expected that Li Ziyuan's side had already broken into the city less than three hours after the battle began.

Li Ziyuan fulfilled his promise to be the first to tear through the enemy's last outer defensive circle and be the first to break through the city. received a report that Li Ziyuan's department had rushed into Taiyuan City. The deputy commander-in-chief immediately changed the original deployment and ordered Li Ziyuan's army to immediately adjust its own deployment.

In addition to leaving part of the forces behind and annihilating the enemy in front of you. The rest of the troops all turned around and moved closer to the breakthrough opened by Li Ziyuan. Take advantage of the breakthrough opened by Li Ziyuan to develop rapidly in the city. The remaining two corps of the Corps, together with the two brigades of the Jinzhong Military Region attached to them, did not leave any reserves and launched an all-out attack on the enemy in front of them.

Strive to completely eliminate the enemy in front of you in the shortest possible time, at least make it impossible to return to the city, and cooperate with the actions of Li Ziyuan's troops who have already entered the city. In addition to ordering Li Ziyuan's corps to adjust its deployment, the deputy commander-in-chief also informed the other two corps participating in the battle of the eastern part of the city.

After receiving the report from the boss, the commanders and political commissars of the corps smiled wordlessly. What did Li Ziyuan do, and how did he move so quickly. Others were still fighting on the periphery, but he had already opened a breakthrough and rushed into the city. What the hell is in this guy's head, and how can he move so quickly?

Could it be that his troops, one by one, have wings? Even if the outer defense depth to the east of Taiyuan City is far less than that of the other directions after several consecutive battles. But his speed is really too amazing. Everyone has fought a lot of battles, and even with so much artillery assistance, it has never been so fast.

It's just that the discussion is in the heart, but after receiving a report from the superiors, the corps can only find a way to speed up its action. After receiving the order from the superiors, the whole army of Li Ziyuan's army turned around and changed to enter the city from the direction where Li Ziyuan was. The boss then transferred a brigade of the Jinzhong Military Region to Li Ziyuan's command. And all the trucks are concentrated and transported in the shortest possible time.