1947 (36 years of the Republic of China) In August, during the third revolutionary civil war, Liu Dengjun of the People's Liberation Army launched a strategic attack on Dabie Mountain, a Kuomintang-ruled area.

After the troops of Liu Deng, commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Army, crossed the Yellow River, Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of Liu Deng's troops to gather and rest in the southwest of Shandong Province, and mobilized eight BGF divisions with a total of 18 brigade and14,000 people, which were divided into two converging attacks by Heze, Dingtao, Jiaxiang and Yuankou, respectively, in an attempt to encircle and annihilate. Liu Bocheng, commander of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, and Deng Xiaoping, political commissar, made decisive decisions according to the established policy of Mao Zedong, chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission of China, and the fact that the Kuomintang troops tried to take advantage of the continuous rainstorm, the water level of the Yellow River rose sharply, and the People's Liberation Army was flooded. They resolutely did not leave the rear and went straight out of the mountains. On the evening of the 7th, the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army 1 1 column feinted at the Yellow River Ferry, and the 5th column of the East China Field Army clamped down the 5th and 85th divisions of the Kuomintang Army in the east of Yuncheng. With the cooperation of Liu and Deng, the 4th column jumped out of the encirclement and pushed southward through Juye and Dingtao. 1 1 On the same day, we crossed Longhai Road, with 1 column commanding the Central Plains Independent Brigade as the right wing, the third column as the left wing, and the second and sixth columns covering the Central Plains Bureau of the Communist Party of China and the command organs of the field army as the middle road, making a dash for Dabie Mountain. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek mistakenly thought that Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were "fleeing south but not crossing north", that is, taking 12 brigade as 1 echelon and 8 brigade as the second echelon, and successively pursued Liu Dengjun; The other four brigades attacked Xuchang and Luohe, and deployed two reorganization divisions and 1 traffic police corps in Zhecheng county and Lu Yi area in an attempt to panic in Liu Dengjun in the Yellow River area. The flooded area of the Yellow River, which is more than 20 kilometers wide, is full of silt. The water is knee-deep and umbilical, and it is deserted. It is very difficult to March, board and lodging. 17, Liu Deng's army overcame many difficulties and successfully crossed the Yellow River flooded area. 18, crossing the Shahe River again. On the 20th, the troops rushed to Ruhe lightly. By the 23rd, the 3rd, 1st and 2nd columns had crossed the Ruhe River and approached the Huaihe River after repelling a few sniper troops along the route of the Kuomintang army. When the 6th Column and the teams directly under the Central Plains Bureau and the Field Army arrived at the north bank of Ruhe River, the 85th Division of the Kuomintang Army, which was intercepted by Pinghan Road, had occupied the ferries such as Runan Port, and the three divisions were only 20 kilometers apart. Accordingly, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping personally inspected the ferry and commanded the troops to cross the river. On the night of 24th, a section of the 6th column crossed the Ruhe River under the cover of artillery fire, seized the sub-ferry, covered the main force of the column, and led his troops to cross the river safely. By the 27th, Liu Deng's troops had all crossed the Huaihe River, occupied Gushi and Huangchuan counties respectively, and completed the task of advancing to Dabie Mountain, like a sword inserted into the strategic depth of the Kuomintang army. In this battle, 8,500 people were wiped out, of which 4,400 were captured and 4 100 were injured. However, Liu Deng's army also suffered heavy losses, with more than half of the casualties and the loss of all heavy weapons.

Comments: This war is a great turning point in the War of Liberation. At this turning point in history, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) set up a strategic commando with Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army as the main force. With the cooperation of the soldiers and civilians in the liberated areas and the cooperation of the two armies in the rear, they took the offensive style of leaping thousands of miles without the rear, went straight to the Dabie Mountain ruled by the Kuomintang army, created a large revolutionary base area, threatened its capital Nanjing and Wuhan, and laid the foundation for turning into a national strategic offensive. This creative strategic decision, unique strategic offensive style and rich operational experience have added new contents to Mao Zedong's military thought.

Before this military action, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Liu Bocheng had studied it repeatedly. It was a bold military adventure, even gambling. At the swearing-in meeting before departure, Deng Xiaoping put forward three possibilities for this action: First, the troops could not reach Dabie Mountain; Second, after the troops arrived in Dabie Mountain, they could not hold on. Third, the troops took root in Dabie Mountain. He went on to suggest that we should resolutely avoid the first and second results and strive to achieve the third result, because the first result was that Liu Deng's army was wiped out and the second result was to return to the base area to fight guerrilla warfare.