The Battle of Ren Shanhe: The First Battle of the Liberation of Ningxia

Ren Shanhe is a tragic historical picture.
In 1949, the revolutionary torrent of liberating China swept across the country. Chiang Kai-shek was not reconciled to failure and attempted to rely on the groups of Hu Zongnan, Ma Bufang and Ma Hongkui, who were entrenched in Shaanxi Qingning, to stick to the northwest, connect the southwest and make a comeback.
However, the northwest battlefield good news, Xi'an liberation. Seeing that Hu Zongnan could not support it alone and was retreating steadily, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Ma Bufang from Qinghai and Ma Hongkui from Ningxia to send troops to help Hu Zongnan.
At this time, Hu Zongnan was as frightened as a bird. Compared with the time when he attacked Yan'an two years ago, his arrogance has disappeared. After the Battle of Fumei, the People's Liberation Army annihilated its main 4 armies with about 43000 people. Hu Zongnan had to withdraw the rest to northern Sichuan and Hanzhong, leaving only one regiment to occupy Baoji.
The PLA's offensive spearheads were directed at Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia. The Qinghai Longdong Corps led by Ma Jiyuan, the son of Ma Bufang, and the Ningxia Corps led by Ma Dunjing, the son of Ma Hongkui, saw that Hu Zongnan had gone and there was no hope of aiding Shaanxi, so they ran back separately in an attempt to retreat to their lair.
In July 1949, the 19th Corps of the First Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army took advantage of the victory to pursue and "clamp Hu and beat the horse" and launched the Longdong 800 Li pursuit and annihilation.
At the end of July, the 63rd and 65th armies of the People's Liberation Army chased the enemy to the area of Sanguankou and Wating south of Guyuan. The 64th army of the People's Liberation Army left the Xilan Highway and took a direct route into Guyuan County, intending to cut off the rear path of the enemy's 128 army and form an encirclement to achieve complete annihilation.
"This is a unique skill. If it succeeds, Ma Hongkui's nest Yinchuan will be destroyed." Ningxia Guyuan Municipal Party Committee Party History Research Office Deputy Director Qi Yuezhang introduction.
At that time, Ma Dunjing felt that he was in danger, so he held an emergency military meeting in Kaesong and ordered Ma Guangzong's 11th army to rush to build field defense fortifications 10 li in front and 30 li in depth in the area of Ren Shanhe overnight, in a vain attempt to stop the PLA's offensive and hold the "Ningxia Gateway".
Ren Shanhe is a small village in the ancient town of Pengyang County, Ningxia. There is a simple road beside the village, which is the only way to Guyuan County, so its strategic position is very important. On the left and right of the village are Yinggezui, which is 1821 meters above sea level, and Luojiashan, which is 1858 meters above sea level. These two mountains choke the middle road and the village like iron tongs.
On August 1, 1949, when the main force of the 64th Army of the People's Liberation Army entered the Renshanhe area, it was intercepted by the 168 Division of the 11th Army of the enemy and found that the enemy was building fortifications here in an attempt to occupy favorable mountainous terrain to block our army's advance.
At 12 noon on the same day, the military headquarters ordered the 191 and 192 divisions to attack the enemy's defenders in the highlands of Yinggezui, Luojiashan and Hala Mountain, in order to break through the enemy's defense line and cut off the retreat of the enemy's 128 army and other departments.
At the beginning of the general offensive, ten thousand guns were fired, and the mountains were shaking. About 15 minutes later, the 4th and 5th companies of the 2nd Battalion of the 568 Regiment of the 190 Division, which served as the main attack on the left wing, attacked Yinggazui in two ways. The enemy deployed four companies in Yingge's mouth, equipped with two mortars and four heavy machine guns to guard against death. The officers and men braved the rain of bullets and fought bloody battles. After paying a high price, they finally won the No. 1 highland.
When the 3rd Battalion was attacking another commanding height, a burst of heavy rain hit the sky, causing flash floods and many soldiers were washed out far away. The troops held on to the rainstorm and continued to attack tenaciously after the rain was slightly smaller. At this point, the defending enemy played a white flag to defraud the surrender. The battalion commander did not know the plan, but was about to come forward to be landed when the enemy suddenly opened fire and the battalion commander was shot and died heroically.
When the soldiers saw the battalion commander lying in a pool of blood, they were filled with anger and shouted the slogan "revenge for the battalion commander!" "Revenge for the fallen comrades!" He rushed into the enemy's line and fought a hand-to-hand battle with the enemy. After a brutal fight, he finally occupied the commanding heights and completely wiped out the enemy.
The sharp knife battalion that attacked Ren Shanhe was the 2nd Battalion of the 574 Regiment of the 192 Division. The battalion launched several heavy attacks, all of which were blocked by the enemy. The soldiers were stranded in a 2-foot-wide ditch, exposed to enemy range, and suffered heavy casualties. As the 5th company of the sharp knife company, only instructor Duan Songkui and 6 soldiers were left.
The wise and brave Duan Songkui was not afraid of danger. Taking advantage of the enemy's shooting gap, seven people stood up from the ditch together, each a few meters apart, lined up, and rushed to the front of the enemy with their guns. The enemy was caught off guard at that time. Some of them died and were injured. Some of them ran with their heads in their arms, some of them knelt down and begged for mercy. Ren Shanhe position was captured by our army.
The 572 regiment of the 191 division, which served as the main right-wing offensive, captured the forward position of Luojiashan shortly after the general offensive began. While advancing, the 3rd Battalion and 8th Company were blocked by a deep trench, causing nearly half of the casualties. About 10 minutes later, the 3rd Battalion reorganized the attack. A dozen of the enemy's machine guns formed a dense network of firepower, blocking the road of our army's advance.
Most of the officers and men of the 8th company were killed and injured. the whole company did not have a complete squad. only 5 machine guns destroyed 4, and all 60 shells were fired. In this case, the surviving soldiers, led by instructor Wang Zhen, launched a new attack with fearless heroism. Machine gunner Wang Huaxing was carrying the only remaining machine gun, picking up the enemy's bullets while shooting. At a juncture, the machine gun suddenly stopped firing! Wang Huaxing looked down and saw that the barrel of the gun had turned red. He used his quick wits to urinate on the barrel to lower the temperature of the barrel, and the machine gun "chuckled" again.
Under the cover of machine guns, the commandos marched along the traffic trenches between the enemy's 2. three lines of defense, and were about to approach the main peak, but the enemy's bullets were raining down, so that the soldiers could not lift their heads. When he was extremely anxious, the enemy's gunfire suddenly stopped. It turned out that the 574 regiment that had taken Ren Shanhe arrived in time and bypassed the enemy's back from the side. A grenade solved the enemy on the main peak. After six hours of fierce fighting, the field defense system 10 miles in front of the enemy and 30 miles in depth was completely destroyed at dusk.
At dawn on August 2, 1949, the 64th Army Forward Command Post contacted and communicated with the divisions. The military headquarters immediately ordered the 190 and 191 divisions to continue to pursue northward and occupy and liberate Guyuan City. 192 Division is the second echelon; The supplementary trainers are responsible for receiving prisoners, cleaning the battlefield, burying martyrs and transporting the wounded, and then followed suit.
The battle between Ren Shanhe lasted two days and nights, killing and injuring 1450 "Ma Jiajun" and 1345 prisoners. 28 mortars, 108 heavy and heavy machine guns, 1349 rifles and submachine guns, 121 war horses and other materials were seized.
The Battle of Ren Shanhe was the first battle for our army to liberate Ningxia, and it was also the most tragic and far-reaching battle. This battle destroyed the morale of the "Ma Family Army" in Ningxia, defeated the Kuomintang's defensive enemies, and opened the southern gate to liberate Ningxia.
Castle Peak lucky enough to bury loyal bones, blue blood heart casting loyal soul. In this battle, 364 officers and men of the Chinese people's Liberation Army gave their precious lives and wrote a magnificent tragic song for the liberation of New China. The national spirit forged by them with their blood and life turned into an eternal light to inspire future generations and enlighten their thoughts. The heroic spirit of revolutionary martyrs who shed their heads and blood for the realization of their ideals will always show their descendants and become an inexhaustible driving force for economic and social development.
 

Source: Ningxia Daily