Selected Cases of Liu Bocheng's Military Strategy

Author: Liu Bocheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: "Selected Battles of Liu Bocheng at War" is an anthology of the operational plans, command processes, and post-battle summaries of classic battles by Marshal Liu Bocheng, highlighting his distinctive strategic and tactical principles in command. It includes guerrilla tactics summarized during the Anti-Japanese War, such as ambushes, raids, swift attacks, and luring enemy reinforcements, as well as the strategic masterpiece of commanding the Liu-Deng army's "Thousand-Li Leap into the Big Bend Mountains," along with the extraordinary military command artistry demonstrated in battles such as Shangdang, Dingtao, Zhunhai, the Yangtze River Crossing, and the advance into Southwest China. The book employs schematic diagrams and appendices for key battles, supported by detailed historical records and illustrations, making it an invaluable learning and reference material for military commanders at all levels, military academies, military theorists, soldiers, and military enthusiasts.
Battle of Yongyang
(September 29, 1932)
On September 22, 1932, a regiment of the enemy's 28th Division, led by Gong Bingfan, advanced from Taihe to occupy Yongyang (north of Heishui in the southwest of Ji'an). Due to harassment by our guerrillas, they retreated the next day. On September 26, the enemy's 28th Division launched another attack, with one regiment (commanded by Colonel Bi Weihan) occupying Yongyang and the other two regiments positioned five li south of Yongyang at Nangangkou.
After occupying Yongyang, our Qushan Township guerrillas actively besieged and harassed the enemy day and night. During the day, they fired firecrackers and detonated landmines outside Yongyang, planted red flags, blew bugles, and created a false impression to deceive the enemy. At night, they sent people to raid enemy sentries and set fires on the surrounding hills. One night, guerrilla member Hu Dali, armed with a homemade submachine gun and aided by a local woman, sneaked into the enemy's new trench sentry post. Seizing the opportunity when the enemy was gambling carelessly, he shot at them through a window. Meanwhile, other guerrillas set fires on the surrounding hills, confusing the enemy, who fired randomly into the night.
Upon learning of the situation in Yongyang, our forces decided to launch a surprise attack to eliminate the enemy regiment. On the morning of September 29, the 7th Regiment of the Independent Third Division, the Special Service Company of the Third Corps, and the Ji'an Independent Camp moved from Zhouhu in Anfu to Antang, twenty li northwest of Yongyang, for battle preparation and political mobilization. The soldiers were highly motivated, unanimously declaring, "We'll have breakfast after destroying the enemy." At 8 a.m., our forces deployed in the Shigutang and Shibihead areas. The Independent Division advanced from Dongtou and Xilong, eliminating the enemy sentry post in Xixi and attacking the western side of Yongyang; the 7th Regiment of the Independent Third Division advanced from Datian, eliminating the enemy sentry post in Xintang and striking centrally into Yongyang; the Ji'an Independent Camp advanced from Xikeng and Guowa, first cutting off the central ferry crossing at Zhongzhou and then attacking Yongyang from both east and west; the Special Service Company of the Third Corps and local guerrillas first occupied Longpo Bridge and then expanded eastward to prevent the enemy from fleeing south across the river from Huji.
After several nights of harassment by our Qushan Township guerrillas, the enemy had grown fatigued and dispirited. When the Independent Division attacked the enemy sentry post in Xixi, the enemy commander was still smoking opium, dismissing the guerrillas as a minor nuisance. Our forces quickly eliminated the enemy at both Xixi and Xintang. The 7th Regiment also sent a small, elite team to cut the enemy's pontoon bridge on the east side of the street. At this point, the enemy, who had been complacent, turned panicked and fled eastward, attempting to cross the river at Zhongzhou and escape south to Nangangkou.
The enemy fled only a short distance before being repelled by the Ji'an Independent Camp and forced back westward to Huji and Dongyuan, where they were again blocked by the Special Service Company and local armed civilians. By then, our main force had already broken into the city. With the enemy surrounded on three sides, they were unable to resist or escape, and surrendered en masse. Some enemy soldiers, unaware that the pontoon bridge had been destroyed, rushed to the river. Our forces gave chase, and those who did not drown were captured. The entire battle lasted less than an hour, completely and thoroughly annihilating the enemy regiment.
(Excerpted from Liu Bocheng: "Battle of Yongyang")