On December 4, the vanguard of the Ming army avoided the heavy Qing troops in the direction of Xuzhou and detoured northward. The tracks of the 4th Armored Division stirred up muddy water and swept through the relatively weakly defended Yi County and Taierzhuang along the north bank of the Hanzhuang Canal.
tank
The tracks rumbled past the rails of the Jinpu Railway and advanced to the east bank of Weishan Lake. The frontline approached Zaozhuang City, Shandong. At this point, the first step of the plan was completed, separating Xuzhou from the east and Shandong, and cutting off Jinpu.
railway.
Hanzhuang Canal is a canal that connects Weishan Lake in the north and Luoma Lake in the south. It is more than 100 meters wide and flows from the south side of Taierzhuang, close to Zhuangzi. The canal makes a big bend here in Taierzhuang.
To the west of Taierzhuang, it runs east-west. After passing Taierzhuang, it turns northwest-southeast.
The current situation is that south and west of the Hanzhuang Canal are the areas heavily fortified by the Qing army. The Qing army has basically abandoned the east and north of the canal. Now on the west and south sides of the canal, the 100-meter-wide canal is regarded as a dangerous point.
to defend.
On the Hanzhuang Canal between Weishan Lake and Luoma Lake, there are two large ports along the river. One is Pi County in the south, and the other is Taierzhuang in the north. Now Pi County has been taken over, and Taierzhuang is far away from the Jinpu Railway
, it is very close to Jiawang Town and Xuzhou. Another more important reason is that there is a large highway bridge here in Taierzhuang. Therefore, the Qing army's defense is still very strong, and the Ming army still has not defeated it.
On the 4th, the Ming army had already invaded Taierzhuang, but the Central Plains Corps of the Qing army issued a death order to defend Taierzhuang. Because once Taierzhuang was lost, the Ming army could cross the Hanzhuang Canal from here. Whether it was tanks or heavy artillery,
You can just drive across the bridge and attack Xuzhou.
Although Taierzhuang is called "Zhuang", it is very large. The densely built area alone covers several square kilometers and has a population of hundreds of thousands, making it like a small city. The Central Plains Corps of the Qing Army gathered a Manchu Eight Banner Division and two Mongolian Eight Banner Divisions to defend here.
.These are the most elite Manchu Eight Banner Divisions. Two Mongolian divisions took turns fighting the Ming army in the village. A Manchu division was supervising the battle on the south bank of the canal, setting up machine guns and artillery. Anyone who dared to run south would be killed.
This time the Qing army did not "coerce the civilians" and allowed the people in the village to evacuate in advance. However, they were not allowed to go north, that is, to the Ming army. They were only allowed to withdraw to the Qing army's control area south of the canal. And in advance
Explanation: Whether to withdraw is entirely voluntary and not forced at all. He also told the people that it would not be a big problem even if they did not withdraw, because the Ming army always did not bombard residential areas. During the war, as long as you hide at home and don't go out, they usually won't.
Something happened.
This is also the intention of the Qing army garrison. Because of this, many civilians will "voluntarily" stay in the village. The reason is simple: since it is voluntary to leave or stay, it is better to risk staying. If you want to evacuate, you should evacuate to the control of the Qing army.
District, no matter who wins or loses in Taierzhuang, I can only continue to be a common citizen of the Qing Dynasty. The Ming army has already reached the door of my house. It would be a big loss to retreat to the rear at this juncture. If I risk staying in the village, maybe tomorrow, I will
They are the people of Ming Dynasty.
The Qing army guard general was very clever. He was able to have a large number of civilians as human shields in the village without violating the Ming army's "Order to Save Civilians." The following officers were not in danger of being shot and could fight with peace of mind:
——Look, I didn’t coerce the civilians. I allowed them to withdraw, making them unwilling to withdraw. They want to stay here and wait for your Ming army. What can I do?
There are a large number of civilians in the village, so the Ming army will not use heavy weapons in the village. In this way, the Qing army can safely maintain a high density of troops in the village without being bombarded by heavy artillery. The density of troops in the village is high, and the Ming army
If you want to capture it, you will have to fight hard.
However, the Qing army's defenders occupied the canal. They could advance and attack - enter the village to fight in the streets, retreat and defend - and retreat to the south bank to guard the canal. The two divisions could take turns retreating to rest and reorganize. The retreat was in their own hands and they were not surrounded.
Worry, you can withdraw when the fighting fails - this is also an important reason why the Qing army intervened and resisted tenaciously.
…
At first, the Ming army did not expect that a small Taierzhuang would start fighting. Without aerial reconnaissance, the Ming army did not know how the Qing army deployed its defenses on the other side of the canal, nor did it know how many Qing troops there were in Taierzhuang. They just encountered fierce battles in the village, and successive
Only after losing three companies did we take it seriously.
At this time, the Ming army was ready to surround Xuzhou in the south and slowly gnaw it. In order not to be "disturbed" by the Qing army in the north, the Fourth Armored Division of the People's Guard had been transferred to the Lunan area in the north to guard against the Qing forces in the direction of Zaozhuang and Linyi.
Army. Now the Army Infantry Division behind has caught up.
To fight this kind of street fighting, precious armored divisions can no longer be used. The regiment of the Army's 30th Motorized Infantry Division (affiliated to the 12th Army) is currently responsible for the main attack on Taierzhuang.
In the evening, the fighting was temporarily silent. After a night's rest, both sides rested for a night. At dawn on the 5th, the fighting was about to resume.
…
At 7:20 in the morning on the 5th, the 1st Regiment of the 30th Division of the Ming Army resumed the offensive. However, the Qing Army strengthened its heavy artillery position a few kilometers south of the canal and violently bombarded the Ming Army's assembly area. The Ming Army did not have aerial reconnaissance, so it was difficult to judge clearly.
The specific location of the army's artillery position was unknown, and since it was across the canal, ground reconnaissance could not pass through it, so we could only respond roughly.
If the Ming army wanted to attack inside the village, they had to assemble at several places outside the village. The coordinates outside the village were fixed and had been measured by the Qing army before the battle. Now the Qing army's artillery fire was extremely accurate and fierce, and the Ming army suffered losses.
heavy.
The Qing army set up loudspeakers at more than a dozen high places in the village, constantly broadcasting news about the treatment of the families of the Qing soldiers who surrendered in Haizhou. In a moment, the heads of the families of the surrendered officers and soldiers were executed, and the heads of the families were executed.
Labor camp; soon a senior officer surrendered to the Ming army, and the whole family was sent to the labor camp...
Every once in a while, another kind of information will be broadcast, that is, the officers and soldiers of a certain division and a certain regiment fought bravely and fought to the death, and the whole regiment received many ocean rewards, and everyone was promoted to one level; or that a certain division and a certain regiment were investigated.
How many soldiers died in the Ming Dynasty, how much pensions were received by the families of these officers and soldiers, how much land were allocated, how many years of tax exemptions... and so on.
With both positive and negative information, carrots and sticks, plus the fact that the retreat is now in his own hands and there is no worry of being encircled, Shouchi's Eight Banners Division becomes more courageous as the war progresses, and it feels like "defending the homeland and the country".
The Qing army resisted so desperately, but the Ming army's temper was also aroused. These motorized infantry divisions of the Ming army are also the elite of the army. No matter how many divisions they pull out, they will not be inferior to the Eight Banners Division. Now the commander of the 12th Army of the Army, Hou Hekun,
He also focused his attention on this small village. Hou Hekun was a famous general in the army during the battle to defend Nanjing, and he was known for being good at fighting tough battles.
Now, he immediately ordered the 30th Division to increase its troops and put two other infantry regiments into the Taierzhuang battlefield. The three regiments attacked the village at the same time. Then, he transferred additional 32nd Division from the east, ready to take over the resting 30th Division at any time.
.He plans to increase his military strength to
The Qing army's defenders were equal. The two divisions took turns to attack in relays. Since we couldn't use heavy artillery on the village, we just piled people inside. Street fighting was basically light weapons. That is, whoever has a higher troop density will have more firepower.
Stronger, the offensive front will be more powerful.
Each motorized infantry division of the Ming Army has a tank battalion with 32 Lightning-3 tanks. Now these 32 tanks have been deployed near Taierzhuang. But the Qing army seems to have also deployed a large number of tanks in Taierzhuang. And the Qing army's tanks
They are all Balutu and Kubu tanks, standard infantry tanks. They have strong firepower and thick armor. Although they move slowly, they are very useful in covering infantry in street battles.
The Qing army's tank team hid the tanks in the building, waiting for the Ming army tanks to approach and lay an ambush. First, they destroyed the leading Lightning 3 tank with one shot, and then the machine guns on both sides fired fiercely.
They got out and rushed towards the Ming army infantry, followed by a large group of screaming Qing soldiers. Many times, the streets that the Ming army had captured were recaptured by the Qing army in this way.
At nine o'clock in the morning, the Ming army occupied the northern quarter of Taierzhuang.
At 10:30 in the morning, the Qing army counterattacked, and the Ming army lost almost half of what they had already gained.
At 12 o'clock at noon, the Ming army stepped up its attack and the battle line returned to what it was like at nine o'clock.
However, it is said to be a "battle line", but in fact there is no obvious front. The control areas of both sides are intertwined and penetrate each other, and they are also in the other side's control area, forming "isolated islands" one by one. Some of these "isolated islands" were surrounded and annihilated.
.Sometimes, when a street or a building is breached, our own control area is connected together.
In the afternoon, the casualties of the 30th Division of the Ming Army had exceeded 1,500. The casualties of the Qing Army were unknown, but the division commander of the Ming Army judged that they were at least twice as many as their own. However, as the same division, the Ming Army was more mechanized and had more complex arms.
The division of labor among the arms was finer and there were more technical positions. On the other hand, the Qing army had a low degree of mechanization and technical soldiers
There are not many species, and the degree of division of labor and coordination between the arms is not high. Therefore, excluding the morale factor, the military structure of the Ming Army is actually more "delicate" and more difficult to tolerate high casualties. When both sides have the same morale, 30% to 40% of casualties will be
The Qing army may not feel it at all, but for the Ming army, the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.