The Advance into the Dabie Mountains

After their full-scale offensives on the Liberated Areas were repulsed, the KMT troops were forced to focus on the two Liberated Areas in Shandong and northern Shaanxi in March 1947, while finding themselves temporarily on the defensive on other battlefields. Their aim was to end the war in these two places as quickly as possible, so that they could turn their attacks to other battlefields.

To counter the KMT's strategic plan, the CPC Central Committee decided to use its main forces to fight on the exterior lines and force the enemy troops to reinforce their rear areas, thus carrying the war into the KMT-controlled areas and changing the offensive-defensive balance between the two sides. The Dabie Mountains on the Central Plains was chosen as the main target of the assault.

On June 30, 1947, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping led 120,000 troops from Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces to cross the Yellow River southward and wage a campaign in southwest Shandong. This was the precursor of a series of strategic offensives of the War of Liberation.

On July 23, Mao Zedong telegraphed Liu and Deng and told them to give up the rear areas, and march to the Dabie Mountains within two weeks. On the evening of August 7, Liu and Deng led their main forces in three columns and set out on a journey of about 500 km to the Dabie Mountains from southwest Shandong.

The troops reached the Dabie Mountains in late August, where they were supported by the local people and repulsed repeated attacks by 200,000 KMT troops. By November, they had inflicted more than 30,000 casualties, liberated 24 county towns, and established democratic governments in 33 counties, initially fulfilling their strategic mission.

At the same time, part of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, led by Chen Geng (1903-1961) and Xie Fuzhi (1909-1972), advanced into western Henan, and the main force of the East China Field Army, led by Chen Yi and Su Yu (1907-1984), pushed into the area between Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces.

These three armies formed a triangle posing a direct threat to the KMT's ruling center of Nanjing and the strategic city of Wuhan. In December, they coordinated with each other and defeated the KMT assault on the Dabie Mountains.

The advance of the Liu-Deng forces to the Dabie Mountains was decisive in changing the balance between the Communist and the KMT troops. Its failure in the Central Plains campaign forced the KMT into a position of strategic defense, and gave the PLA the foothold for a nationwide victory in the final battles of the War of Liberation.

千里躍進(jìn)大別山

1947年3月，國(guó)民黨對(duì)解放區(qū)的全面進(jìn)攻受挫后，改為重點(diǎn)進(jìn)攻山東、陜北兩個(gè)解放區(qū)，而在其他戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)轉(zhuǎn)取守勢(shì)，力求迅速結(jié)束這兩個(gè)地區(qū)的戰(zhàn)事，再轉(zhuǎn)用兵力于其他戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)。為了打亂國(guó)民黨的戰(zhàn)略部署，中共中央決定：以解放區(qū)主力打到外線，調(diào)動(dòng)敵人回防空虛的后方，粉碎國(guó)民黨蔣介石的戰(zhàn)略企圖和方針，把戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)引向國(guó)民黨統(tǒng)治區(qū)，迫使敵人轉(zhuǎn)入戰(zhàn)略防御，改變敵我之間攻防形勢(shì)。中共中央選擇地處中原的大別山區(qū)作為戰(zhàn)略進(jìn)攻的主要突擊方向。

6月30日，劉伯承、鄧小平率晉冀魯豫野戰(zhàn)軍主力12萬(wàn)人強(qiáng)渡黃河，發(fā)起魯西南戰(zhàn)役，揭開(kāi)人民解放戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)戰(zhàn)略進(jìn)攻的序幕。7月23日，毛澤東致電劉鄧：“下決心不要后方，以半個(gè)月行程，直出大別山?！?8月7日黃昏，劉伯承、鄧小平率晉冀魯豫野戰(zhàn)軍主力部隊(duì)12萬(wàn)大軍，在華東野戰(zhàn)軍外線兵團(tuán)部分兵力佯動(dòng)掩護(hù)下，分左、右、中三路，從魯西南的巨野、鄆城地區(qū)出發(fā)，拉開(kāi)了千里躍進(jìn)大別山戰(zhàn)役的序幕。

經(jīng)過(guò)艱苦跋涉和激烈戰(zhàn)斗，劉鄧大軍于8月底進(jìn)入大別山區(qū)。劉鄧大軍依靠人民群眾，艱苦作戰(zhàn)，粉碎20萬(wàn)國(guó)民黨軍隊(duì)的輪番進(jìn)攻，至11月殲敵3萬(wàn)余人，解放縣城24座，建立了33個(gè)縣政權(quán)，初步完成了在大別山的戰(zhàn)略展開(kāi)。同時(shí)陳賡、謝富治率晉冀魯豫野戰(zhàn)軍一部向豫西挺進(jìn)，陳毅、粟裕率華東野戰(zhàn)軍主力挺進(jìn)豫皖蘇邊區(qū)。三路大軍形成“品”字形陣勢(shì)展開(kāi)，直接威脅國(guó)民黨的統(tǒng)治中心南京和戰(zhàn)略要地武漢。12月，三路大軍協(xié)同粉碎了國(guó)民黨對(duì)大別山的重點(diǎn)進(jìn)攻。

劉鄧大軍千里躍進(jìn)大別山，對(duì)于改變敵我之間的攻防形勢(shì)，起了決定性的作用。由于中原戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)的失利，國(guó)民黨被迫轉(zhuǎn)入戰(zhàn)略防御。由此，人民解放軍吹響了奪取全國(guó)勝利的嘹亮號(hào)角。