Early one morning in November 1948, Xuzhou. This city, which has been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times, has been in the annals of history with 158 bloody battles that have been written for more than 2,000 years.

Only 10 years ago, in the surrounding area of this city, an earth-shattering bloody battle broke out, the regular armies of China and Japan invested a total of hundreds of thousands of troops here, the fierce battle, the heavy casualties, is unprecedented, the pride of the Japanese Army, the Itagaki Division, was heavily damaged here, the bones of tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers were buried here, and the number of Chinese soldiers killed was several times that of the Japanese. The Battle of Taierzhuang left an indelible impression on the Chinese and Japanese soldiers.

Now, 10 years later, another big war has broken out here, and this war is not a war between two countries, but a war between two political parties of the same country and the same people. The scale of this war exceeded that of any previous war, and the total number of troops invested by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party reached 1.4 million, and the previous wars were really insignificant compared to the great wars that took place here and now.

The Kuomintang and the Communist Party called it the Battle of Xu Beng, while the Communist Party's history textbooks called it the Battle of Huaihai.

In this decisive battle, which decided the fate of a country and a nation, the Kuomintang army invested 800,000 troops, and the People's Liberation Army invested 600,000 troops. In the end, the 600,000 who were inferior in troops and equipment defeated the 800,000 who were in the upper position.

As soon as the war ended, the generals and cadets of the Frunze Military Academy of the Soviet Union, the second largest military power in the world at that time, included it as a classic example and studied it as a major topic. Many years have passed, and the war history textbooks of military academies of various countries have called this war a classic example.

Dozens of US-made B-25 bombers formed several attack waves and dived to the ground to drop bombs, and hundreds of heavy artillery pieces and more than 100 tanks turned the front line from Deng Lou to Tuanshan on the east side of Xuzhou City, which was more than 40 miles wide, into a sea of fire.

The citizens of the eastern suburbs of Xuzhou City were stupefied by this earth-shattering war scene, the window panes were shattered in the strong sound waves, pouring down, the houses were shaking, the beams and pillars were creaking, as if they were about to collapse at any time, the overwhelming smoke of gunpowder made the sun and moon dull, and people were shocked and lost their hearing in the continuous loud noise without any intermission.

Lieutenant General Qiu Qingquan, commander of the Second Corps of the Kuomintang Army, held up a telescope in the corps headquarters.

The scene of fierce battle appeared in the telescope, with the impact of the tank tracks, a gray-white waterline suddenly appeared in the north and south for more than 40 miles, like the sea water at high tide, rushing to the east, all kinds of light and heavy firearms exploded so that it was no longer audible, the sound of hand **, **** explosion, the impact of bayonets and guns, and the hoarse shouts converged into a huge wave.

Qiu Qingquan grabbed the phone microphone: "I want the 89th Division." Hey, Master Chu? The front of your division is Zhao Zhuang, and I order you to take Zhao Zhuang at all costs. ”

On the other end of the phone was Chu Yunfei, a major general of the 89th Division under the Second Corps of the Kuomintang Army. Chu Yunfei, the colonel of the 358th Regiment of the Jin Sui Army, who was active in the northwest of Shanxi Province, was sent to the Nanjing Army University for further study because of his outstanding military exploits. Chu Yunfei was wearing an American-style yellow tweed military uniform, shiny riding boots on his feet, a golden general star on the epaulette and the general's logo on the collar - golden plum blossoms, his fair face was hung high with two thick black sword eyebrows, and there was no passion or anger in his eyes, only as calm as water. On his left hand, holding a telescope, he wears a platinum ring set with a large diamond. He had an aristocratic temperament that was invisible, and in the face of the landslide-like artillery fire in front of him, a large amount of death and blood seemed to be blind, and there was a cold smile on the corner of his mouth.

Miss Man Lin, a reporter from the Central News Agency, was standing behind Chu Yunfei admiring his charming demeanor, in Miss Man Lin's eyes, the aristocratic demeanor of this general was by no means different from the aristocratic demeanor of those sons who were in high positions by nepotism in the salon of high society, this is a kind of calmness and self-confidence mixed with well-educated and battle-hardened experience, polite and slightly cynical. In the ranks of the Kuomintang army, Miss Manlin has never seen a general with such charisma.

In Chu Yunfei's telescope, Zhao Zhuang, who was shrouded in the smoke of artillery fire, appeared and disappeared from time to time, and the Kuomintang officers and soldiers pounced on it again and again like a gray wave, and had to retreat again and again, each time they retreated, leaving behind a piece of corpses and wriggling dying wounded, Chu Yunfei's beautiful sword eyebrows twitched slightly, and he was secretly surprised in his heart, just at such a impact distance of dozens of meters, there was a wall of death composed of machine guns, rifles, and hand **, and no one could enter this high wall. He remembered the famous words of the German military strategist Clausewitz: Annihilate the enemy's combat strength with infinite violence, and in order to achieve this goal, only the combined impulse of mobility and firepower can be achieved. He readjusted the configuration of heavy firearms, coordinated the coordination of air artillery with radio and the commander of the Air Force, rearranged the coordination between artillery groups and armored groups, infantry detachments, and then ordered the organization of death squads. Soon, a death squad of more than 1,000 people, consisting of 30 yuan per person, had entered the attack position, most of them were fanatical young lieutenant officers, they didn't care much about money, and some officers scattered the silver yuan they had just received to the soldiers of the second echelon like a heavenly maiden scattering flowers: "Brothers, after the battle, go to buy wine and drink, what do you want money for......

In addition to the theory of the Three People's Principles to save China, they also have the orthodoxy of loyalty to the party-state. In their minds, the party is the state, the country is the party, and to oppose the Kuomintang is to oppose the country and the enemy, and it is glorious to dedicate oneself to the party and the state. They are fighting for the fate of the country and the nation. A new round of aerial bombardment and artillery bombardment began, and Zhao Zhuang seemed to be torn to pieces and drowned in the blazing fire. More than a dozen American-made Sherman M4 tanks lined up in battle formation to advance towards Zhaozhuang, and the fierce daredevils took off their shirts, and their upper bodies were full of hands**and**, and they were holding all Thomson-style *** in their hands, and they roared, and the gray waves rolled towards Zhaozhuang.

Zhao Zhuang was silent as if he was dead. The attacking tank column approached Zhaozhuang, and it was about to be completed, the corners of Chu Yunfei's mouth curved slightly upward, and his face became more and more peaceful. Yes, even if you are a piece of iron, it is time for you to melt now. Suddenly, Zhao Zhuang suddenly came back to life, bursting out a circle of blazing and dazzling white light, and in the continuous explosion of the landslide and cracking, more than a dozen tanks ignited a skyrocketing fire. The daredevils didn't flinch, their *** spewed tongues of fire, roaring and rushing into the opponent's circle of fire...... In the binoculars, the ragged PLA soldiers jumped out of the collapsed bunker with bright bayonets, forming an earthy yellow tide, the two tides suddenly collided, countless white bayonets flashed dazzling in the sun, the two sides shot at each other without any cover, and the crowd fell one by one...... After 20 minutes, Zhao Zhuang was silent again, as quiet as death, and none of the Kuomintang daredevils survived. Chu Yunfei felt that the cold sweat on his back was slowly oozing out, and he leaned against the supporting wood of the shelter and said to himself tiredly: "God! What kind of troops is this......"

The division intelligence chief took a step forward and said in a low voice: "Division, the defense of Zhaozhuang is the second division of the enemy's 11th column in Huaye, and the division commander's name is Li Yunlong......

Chu Yunfei didn't move as if he had been struck by lightning, he closed his eyes and thought: Brother Yunlong, it's been a long time, it is really the will of heaven for you and my brothers to see each other on the battlefield.

Zhou Jiazheng, chief of staff of the division, threw the slide rule on the map in frustration and said: "This place is less than 40 kilometers away from Nianzhuang, and these 40 kilometers have become an insurmountable place of death." It's over, the besieged Huang Baitao Corps is hanging. ”

Chu Yunfei would not have thought that at this time, a regiment of the Second Division of the 11th Column of Huaye, which was sticking to the position in Zhaozhuang, was now less than 100 people, and the staff officers, guards, clerks, and cooks all picked up their guns and walked into the bunker, and Li Yunlong, the commander of the Second Division, had already become a heavy machine gunner.

Li Yunlong has just become a teacher. At the beginning of the Liberation War, he was still the regimental commander. His situation is rare in the whole army. During the Red Army, he was the commander of the main regiment, and in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, he was the regiment commander again, and in the early days of the Liberation War, he became the regiment commander again. It's strange to say that after every relegation, he will fight a good fight again, so he will be promoted to another level.

Before the start of the Huaihai Campaign, Li Yunlong's regiment belonged to the Central Plains Field Army. On one occasion, this regiment cooperated with the East China Field Army to send reinforcements, and did a very good job, and General Su Yu, the acting commander of Huaye, heard about Li Yunlong's incident, so he tried every means to find an excuse and not allow this regiment to be rebuilt. In Li Yunlong's own words: "Lao Tzu joined the Red Army in 1927, if he hadn't made a mistake, let alone the division commander now, the column commander is nothing, besides, even the position of division commander was not for nothing, it was earned by Lao Tzu." ”

A few days ago, the Seventh Corps of the Kuomintang Army withdrew from Xin'an Town and shrank in the direction of Xuzhou. Corps commander Huang Baitao led more than 100,000 troops to cover in order and slowly retreated to Xuzhou. This Seventh Corps, in the eyes of General Su Yu, the acting commander of Huaye, is a big fat piece with oil, and he has been staring at it for a long time. This time, the Seventh Corps withdrew from Xin'an Town, as long as it crossed the canal and backed up to Xuzhou, it would be difficult to encircle and annihilate it, could it be allowed to escape? For the first time, Ye Si issued such a combat order: not afraid of fatigue, not afraid of difficulties, not afraid of hunger, not afraid of casualties, not afraid of disrupting the system, not afraid of being blocked by rivers, and resolutely pursue the enemy wherever he goes, completely annihilate the Yellow Corps, and capture Huang Baitao alive. On both sides of the Longhai Line, hundreds of thousands of Huaye officers and soldiers spread their legs, rolled up the yellow dust in the sky, and chased east from the north and south. Hundreds of thousands of troops have been disorganized, all the formations have been disrupted, and even the battalion-level structures no longer exist, the regiment commander cannot find the battalion commander, the battalion commander cannot find the company commander, and many division headquarters and regiment headquarters have become empty shelves. Where are the troops? No one knows. It doesn't matter if the establishment is chaotic, everyone has the bottom in their hearts, chase eastward, catch up and fight, the class fights for itself, and the people fight for themselves.

Footboards made of human flesh and wheels made of rubber are in a race. The 63rd Army of the Kuomintang Army, which served as the rear cover of the Seventh Corps, found that a huge wave of earthy yellow was surging in the yellow dust behind it, and hurriedly stopped the car to prepare for cover. This is what Huaye Jiuzong did. Before I could understand the taste, the 11th Column of Huaye had already surpassed the marching column of the 63rd Army and was waiting in front, so the forward troops of the 63rd Army were swept away by two more regiments, this time it was Li Yunlong's regiment who did it. In this great pursuit, Li Yunlong's regiment was one of the few teams among the hundreds of thousands of Huaye troops that remained intact. In the end, it was an old unit that had been in battle for a long time, and the battle formation of the whole regiment had not changed at all, and all the officers and men of the regiment had thrown away all the other things except weapons and ammunition, and they had set a speed of 180 miles in the day and night march in the rush.

When the troops of the Ninth Column bit the rear guard of the 63rd Army, Li Yunlong also led the troops to arrive. At that time, the Ninth Column had no organizational structure, and they were like herding sheep, not to mention regiment-level commanders, not even battalion-level commanders, and as soon as the machine guns rang out, they rushed up in a chaotic manner, in groups of three, in groups of two, each fighting in their own way, only recognizing clothes and not people, and when they saw those wearing Kuomintang uniforms, they would set fire. Li Yunlong looked at it and said straight to the tooth flower, what kind of battle is this fucking for? It is okay to say that it is okay to herd sheep, and it is okay to say that it is okay to go to the market. He passed down the order, the whole regiment to maintain the battle formation, not to fight, one strength to the depth**. They finally overtook the marching column of the 63rd Army, took advantage of the cover of night, and blew up seven or eight tanks of the forward of the 63rd Army with a cluster hand, and the whole regiment rushed up to divide the enemy column into several pieces, and fought in ping pong for half the night. When it was dawn, two regiments of the enemy had been killed, and the captured supplies were piled up. The troops were usually poor and afraid, but this time they threw away all the pots and jars in order to be light, but now that they have made a fortune, they can't hold it back, and they all rush up to grab the spoils of war, and the organization is about to be chaotic. Li Yunlong also quickly calculated in his mind, he didn't see this little loot in his eyes, he knew that if he wanted to eat fatty meat, he had to chase down, and stop the pursuit if he took a small advantage, that was a little bit of childishness, and the little loot in front of him was at most a bit of broth. Pursue! Eat the fat and go! Of course, the meat must be eaten, and the soup cannot be poured. He left a company to guard the booty, and the whole regiment continued the pursuit. The 63rd Army was eaten several regiments, and the main force retreated into the town of Yaowan. Although the fortified platform of Yaowan Town can be relied on, where can it block the attack of Huaye Yizong who came later? Another pitched battle.

Li Yunlong's regiment finally ate the fat, they arrived before the first column attack, and before they even had time to breathe, the avant-garde company was connected with the defending enemy. The whole group didn't wait for Li Yunlong's order, so they swarmed up and started ping-pong. The leader of the column here is still wondering, why did I start before I gave the order to attack? Li Yunlong also has his own ideas, attacking an entire army with a mere regiment, even if he has the courage to think about it, but today's timing is good, there is a column behind him to support himself, and there are 400,000 troops in Huaye who are arriving one after another, what is Lao Tzu afraid of? Fuck it.

The fierce battle lasted for a day and a night, Yaowan Town became a ruin, Chen Zhang, the commander of the 63rd Army, was killed by a bullet, and the 63rd Army collapsed in an instant. One of the arms of the Seventh Corps was cut off. In this fight, Li Yunlong's regiment inexplicably became a column of avant-garde regiments, and the first merit naturally could not be run, and Li Yunlong's regiment became famous in the Huaye army. Su Yu, the acting commander of Huaye, personally issued an order to promote Li Yunlong to the deputy commander of the Second Division. Who knew that Li Yunlong would not do it, he said, I don't do the deputy position, if the superiors want to trust me Li Yunlong, they will give it to a division commander, or I will be the head of this regiment. Su Yu listened to the report, muttered for a long time, slapped the table and said, let him be the division commander.

Li Yunlong, who had just become the commander of the division, almost made the same mistake again, the booty he captured when he was fighting the forward of the 63rd Army was robbed by the brother troops who came later, and the company commander who guarded the trophy could not stop it, and was slapped twice by a battalion commander of another unit. Li Yunlong was furious, didn't say a word, and led the whole regiment to surround the battalion that was grabbing the booty and set up machine guns. He yelled: "Whoever dares to move me will break his shit, but it's the other way around?" Don't have a king yet? If you have the ability to seize it yourself, that's a man. Lao Tzu is not a landlord and a wealthyman, so he doesn't need you to fight the local tyrants. Company Commander, who hit you? Go! Give him two slaps in the face, so that he can have a long memory in the future. ”

The commander of the first company rushed forward as if he had received a holy decree, grabbed the battalion commander who had slapped him, and returned two slaps from the left and right. The battalion commander's boss, the division commander of the Ninth Vertical and Fifth Division, was passing by, and when he saw this, he lowered his face and said, "Why did you, the division commander, order your subordinates to beat me?" Li Yunlong waved his hand contemptuously: "Lao Tzu has this temper, and he wants to go to the field to see him in a lawsuit." A company commander, you kid is really a bear bag, remember that if you encounter someone with your hands raised in the future, don't care about his big and small officials, beat him first, don't fight back after being beaten, don't mix in my second division, Lao Tzu can't afford to lose that person. ”

Jiuzong sued the Noji, and finally it was resolved. There is a division commander as an example, and the temper of the soldiers of the second division has also grown, not only fighting and not dying, but also grabbing loot. In Huaye's battle sequence, the 11th Column and the 2nd Division are recognized as the howling troops, and they must be top-notch in everything, both in battle and in loot, which is called the two-headed spike. If it is said that fighting the 63rd Army in the great pursuit is the light of the right time and place, then in the Zhaozhuang blocking battle, Li Yunlong led his old troops to indeed play a majestic role. The Fifth Army under the jurisdiction of Qiu Qingquan's Corps is known as one of the five main forces of the Kuomintang Army, China's first mechanized army, and is the trump card among the elite. This time in the blocking battle of Zhaozhuang, Li Yunlong did not let the Fifth Army take a step forward. Lieutenant General Du Yuming, the commander of the Kuomintang army on the Huaihai battlefield, witnessed the tragedy of the Zhaozhuang resistance battle through his telescope, and he threw down the telescope with a pale face and did not speak for a long time.

At dusk, when Li Yunlong led the remnants of the regiment to withdraw from the Zhaozhuang position, everyone cried. Li Yunlong's heart was heartbreaking, this regiment was the old foundation of the independent regiment he brought from the northwest of Shanxi, and now it is almost gone. After the end of the Zhaozhuang blockade, a large number of additional soldiers arrived, most of whom were captured by the Kuomintang army, and the second division was replenished and became a full division, with a strength of tens of thousands. He had not yet had time to rest his troops, and a new combat mission had arrived.