Hit Tian Songyao hard.
January 26, 1933 was the first day of the first lunar month. Together with the people of Pakistan and China, we have had a lively and lively "happy year". Celebratory gongs and drums, earth-shattering firecrackers, melodious songs, rowing colorful boats, stepping on Gao Xiao, acting in new plays... A liberated mountain town is full of vitality and prosperity. The day when the masses of the people are happy is when the counter-revolutionaries are uncomfortable. The initial victory of our army after entering Sichuan. Greatly shocked the enemy. On the second day of the first lunar month, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Tian Songyao as the supervisor of the "suppression of bandits" in the Sichuan-Shaanxi border, and allocated 200,000 yuan in military expenditure, 1 million rounds of ammunition, and four planes, so that he could take advantage of our army's unstable foothold and quickly carry out "encirclement and suppression." On the third day of the first lunar month, Tian Songyao announced his inauguration in Chengdu and sent a telegram to the whole of Sichuan, asking the warlords to "work together".
At the urging of Chiang Kai-shek's telegrams, the Sichuan warlords had temporarily ceased the melee in late January. However, out of their own interests, they fought openly and covertly, and there were many contradictions, and it was impossible for them to carry out Chiang Kai-shek's strict order of "unity" or to satisfy Tian Songyao's demand for "full cooperation." Only Yang Sen and Liu Cunhou, who were adjacent to the Tian army's defense, were ready to send part of their troops to cooperate with the Tian army, and Deng Xihou, who was interdependent with the Tian army, sent 100,000 troops, and other warlords stood by and watched.
Tian Songyao's 29th Army had five divisions, three roads, and one independent brigade, with a total of 60 regiments. After he took up the post of "superintendent," he immediately transferred most of his troops west of the Jialing River to the east, and with a strength of about 60,000 troops from 38 regiments, he was organized into three columns, left, center, and right, and prepared to besiege our army in three ways, in a vain attempt to strangle the newly-born revolutionary base areas along the Sichuan-Shaanxi border in the cradle.
The young Sichuan-Shaanxi border base area is facing a severe test!At that time, our army had not yet entered Sichuan, the troops had not yet been expanded, the base area was still new, the combat maneuver area was also small, and the enemy's strength was less than three times that of our army. These are all downsides. On the other hand, however, there are also many favorable conditions: Our army has won successive battles, its morale is strong, it has received the necessary rest and replenishment since entering Sichuan, its physical strength has basically recovered, and its combat effectiveness far exceeds that of Tian Songyao's troops, who are opium-smoking and have outdated equipment. At the same time, they can also get support from the people in the base area. The terrain of northern Sichuan is high in the north and low in the south, which is conducive to the defense of our army and is not conducive to the enemy's attack. Therefore, as long as we are clear-headed, not only see the difficulties in front of us, foresee the potential dangers, but also make full use of the favorable conditions for overcoming the difficulties, we will be able to completely crush the enemy's siege.
After correctly analyzing the situation of the enemy and ourselves and the topographical characteristics of northern Sichuan, the General Headquarters of the Front Army decided to adopt the operational policy of "tightening the position and luring the enemy into depth." All units are required to take advantage of the dangerous terrain to build necessary fortifications, to defend the enemy with a large number of casualties, and then gradually shrink centripetally to achieve the concentration of troops, and when the time is ripe, concentrate on crushing the enemy's siege. According to the position of the troops and mobilizing the masses, the General Headquarters decided to use the 73rd Division (the 218th Regiment and the 11th Division (33rd Regiment) to deal with the enemy's left column (25 regiments) in the Sanjiangba, Mumen, and Changchi areas of the Nanjiang River, and the 12th Division to deal with the enemy's central and right columns (seven regiments of the ** column and six regiments of the right column) in the Bazhong area In addition, the 218th Regiment is located in the Beiba area in the northeast of the Nanjiang River, guarding in the direction of southern Shaanxi, the 10th Division is located in Hongkouchang in the northeast of the Tongjiang River, and the 33rd Regiment is located in the Desheng Mountain in the southwest of the Tongjiang River.
At that time, our regiment was located in Pingliang City and the Enyang River area south of it, and was tasked with resisting the enemy's ** column.
One morning in mid-February, I was inspecting the positions of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions on the hill of Pingliang City, when a messenger from the 1st Battalion came running to report that the enemy had begun to harass and reconnoiter the front of our position with small forces. I had a premonition that an enemy attack was coming, so I went to the 1st battalion with a traffic squad.
The headquarters of the first battalion led two companies and a machine-gun platoon to Xing'er Ya, which was more than 30 miles southwest of Bazhong, and one company was located on the north bank of the Enyang River to confront Tian Songyao's troops across the river. Xing'er ridge is a hill more than 600 meters high. But location matters. It is a highway from Yilong to Bazhong to the west, and a small road to the east, which is a shortcut to Bazhong.
I waited in the first battalion for ten days and there was no fighting. The enemy grinded back and forth on the other side of the Enyang River, not daring to take a step beyond the Enyang River. During this period, the enemy's left column launched a fierce attack on Sanjiangba and Mumen on the Nanjiang River, and our 73rd and 11th divisions put up a stubborn resistance and dealt a heavy blow to the enemy.
One foggy morning, suddenly there were bursts of gunfire from the direction of the Enyang River, at first I thought it was a small group of enemy troops, but the gunfire became more and more intense, and there was the sound of shells in the middle. I ordered the commander of the first battalion to immediately lead the troops into the first-line positions of Xing'erya and Qijiawan.
Under the blowing of the steep spring breeze, the thick fog quietly faded. From time to time, the sun peeked out from behind the dark clouds to peek into the earth, and then hid in the dark clouds. Around eight o'clock, the gunfire in front of me gradually thinned out. After another hour, the three companies that were on the outpost mission withdrew according to the original plan. The company commander wiped the sweat from his face and reported:
The enemy, with about three regiments of troops, crossed the river from the town of Enyang to attack us. We held out for two hours, annihilating hundreds of his men. I even have more than ten people. ”
Well played!Now your task is to go down and rest, ready to fight. I patted the company commander on the shoulder and said.
It is true that Tian Songyao's troops are not slow to escape, but the speed of the attack is too slow. It was not until eleven o'clock that the Liao Gang Brigade of the enemy's division of Zeng Xiandong slowly walked along the Yiba Highway.
When the enemy vanguard entered the fire zone of our troops, our three heavy machine guns "clicked" and shouted. The sudden fire knocked the enemy into a daze, some of them lay down like dead pigs that had been bled and did not move, and some of them stumbled and rolled into the ditch by the side of the road.
After a while, the enemy, with the strength of a regiment, launched an attack on the Qijiawan Heights in three directions. Our troops on the Qijiawan Heights consisted of only one company and one machine-gun platoon, and the soldiers fought very bravely. The enemy dropped corpses and retreated in disarray.
The battlefield after the fierce battle was extraordinarily quiet. The north wind blew and made people shiver. The cooking class brought a steaming lunch, and the soldiers ate it with relish, as if they were participating in a sumptuous feast.
As soon as the jobs were lost, the soldiers immediately began to repair the fortifications. After a while, the enemy pulled all three regiments up and attacked the line of Xing'er Ya in Qijiawan. "Boom 1 boom," the enemy fired at our machine-gun position. Under the command of the commander of the first battalion, the machine-gun platoon was transferred to the position of Apricot Ya. The company guarding the Qijiawan Heights, after inflicting a large number of casualties on the enemy, also retreated to Xing'erya's preset position.
Under the cover of artillery fire, the enemy approached our position step by step. Although they suffered a large number of casualties, they still climbed up step by step by relying on the strength of the population. The situation is getting more and more tense. The forward positions had already been occupied by the enemy, and after consulting with the commander of the first battalion, I decided to put the reserves into battle.
After half a day's rest, the comrades of the Third Company were full of energy and had already held back their strength. After receiving the task, they quickly moved to the high ground in front of Xing'er Ya's left, and attacked the enemy's flank with sudden fire. Our frontal troops took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack, drove the enemy who had broken through to the forward position, and pursued the enemy with dense fire, driving the enemy down the hill.
When the sun set, after completing the task of delaying and consuming the enemy, we carried the newly captured **, quietly withdrew from our positions, and advanced along the mountain path to Pingliang City. After walking more than a mile, there was still a fierce gunfire in the direction of Xing'erya. Stupid enemy, probably thinking that we are still in position.
The next day, the enemy's ** column attacked Pingliang City along the Yiba Highway, and our regiment fought fiercely with the enemy for a day, annihilating hundreds of enemies, and withdrew to Nantu Mountain in the southern suburbs of Bazhong City on the evening of the same day. The next day, the enemy continued to attack Bazhong, and when it reached Nanwan Mountain, our 34th and 35th regiments suddenly counterattacked the enemy's two flanks, annihilating more than 1,000 of them.
At the same time, the 5th Mixed Brigade of Yang Sen's Division attacked from Yingshan to our Lancaodu, but was strongly blocked by our 36th Regiment and stayed behindThe enemy's right column marched towards Desheng Mountain, and Liu Cunhou's brigade and two other regiments attacked Yuanshanchang and Yujiaping respectively, but were successively repulsed by our 33rd Regiment and 10th Division.
Seeing that the Bazhong direction had completed the task of consuming the enemy on the first line, the Front Army Headquarters ordered our division to withdraw from Bazhong on 8 March and move to the vicinity of Qingjiangdu to organize a new defensive line. On 18 March, the 73rd Division also took the initiative to abandon Nanjiang City, and the troops of the 1st Division gradually shrank their positions to the Guimin Pass, Guanlu Junction, Guanshan Road, and Damingya line.
Although our army abandoned the two county towns of Bazhong and Nanjiang, the enemy paid a heavy price of nearly 8,000 people. After Tian Songyao's troops suffered this blow, their morale was greatly defeated, and the offensive was reduced. From late March, the enemy was forced to stop the offensive on all fronts, and the situation of the battle was in a state of confrontation.
The confrontation between the two armies after the fierce battle was a tense period for the transition to the next fierce battle. While reorganizing and replenishing and preparing to launch a new offensive, the enemy is wantonly looting people's wealth and food in its rear to satisfy its so-called "suppression of bandits." Our troops, on the other hand, stepped up the construction of fortifications, actively carried out cold-gun killing activities, and often sent small detachments and guerrillas to harass the enemy's rear. At the same time, it is necessary to sum up the combat experience of the previous period, carry out battlefield training, conduct in-depth political mobilization, and mobilize the masses in the base areas to join the army and participate in the war, raise food and socks, and prepare for the enemy's new offensive and the holding of the army.
After a month's rest and replenishment, Tian's army launched another onslaught on the entire front on 26 April. Our army has made full use of the combat experience of the previous period and continued to use a small number of troops and relied on dangerous terrain and fortifications to create many examples of winning more with less. In the three days from the 26th to the 28th, our troops on all fronts killed and wounded more than 3,000 enemy troops.
In the past two months or so, although our army has consumed a large number of the enemy, on the whole, the enemy still has a great numerical advantage, and the conditions such as "the full concentration of the main forces of the Red Army," "positions conducive to combat," and "discovering the enemy's weak points" have not yet been met. In order to concentrate troops to a high degree, further deplete the enemy, and cause and discover the enemy's mistakes, our army took the initiative to withdraw from Tongjiang City on 29 April and once again tightened its position to the line of Pingxiba, Yinglongshan, Jiziling, and Jiuzipo.
In the history of warfare, it is not uncommon for mediocre people to be carried away by superficial victories, and Tian Songyao and his ilk are no exception. After the enemy occupied Tongjiang, "the front-line commanders of all divisions mistakenly believed that the Red Army was overwhelmed by heavy oppression and that its withdrawal from the Sichuan border was inevitable," and "they thought that they would be able to return to their divisions without waiting for ten days." Tian Songyao also telegraphed Quanchuan and said: "Since mid-February, more than half of the bandits have collapsed. Its arrogance is beyond words. The left column, which was the main attacker, concentrated the strength of thirteen regiments and pounced to the east, while the ** column and the right column advanced to the north of the Tongjiang River in an attempt to annihilate our army in the Kucaoba area. Liu Cunhou also thought that there was an opportunity, and hurriedly seized Zhuyu Pass with the strength of eight regiments, threatening the left flank of our army.
A decisive battle between life and death is imminent!
At this time, the situation seems to be very serious, but in fact there has been a fundamental change in my favor.
After three months of fighting, the enemy army was struck a succession, ** more than 10,000, and the last general attack launched by it was the end of the crossbow. The 13 regiments of our left column ventured into the Liulinxi area south of Kongshanba, where it was difficult to replenish, the personnel were exhausted, and the morale was depressed. Liu Cunhou's purpose was to take advantage of the fire to rob, there was no follow-up force, his troops were weak in combat effectiveness, and they had just entered and occupied Zhuyu Pass, and although their foothold was not stable, our army had retreated to the Kongshanba area within a radius of less than 100 miles, but the battle line was shortened and the main force was concentratedAlthough the supply is difficult, and he often relies on bamboo shoots and red weeds to satisfy his hunger, his morale is strong and his fighting mood is extremely highThe altitude of the Kongshanba area is 1,000 to 2,500 meters, and the mountains in the territory are lined with peaks, and the trees are towering to the sky.
To sum up, we have basically met the operational conditions for transferring to ** as pointed out by Comrade **!
However, the existence of conditions and situations that are favorable to us and unfavorable to the enemy have not yet caused the enemy to fail. Such conditions and situations have the possibility of deciding victory or defeat, but they are not yet realistic in terms of victory or defeat, and the victory or defeat of the two armies has not yet been realized. To achieve this victory, we will rely on the decisive battle between the two armies. Only a decisive battle can resolve the question of who will win and who will lose between the two armies. ”
The commander of the front army conscientiously analyzed the current situation of superiority and disadvantage of the enemy and decided to first annihilate the enemy who had entered and occupied Zhuyu Pass, and then quickly returned to his division and concentrated his forces to destroy the enemy at Liulinxi.
Late on the night of 15 May, the main forces of the 10th Division and the 1st Division occupied the dangerous positions in the northwest, northeast, and southeast of Zhuyu Pass in one fell swoop. The next day, the enemy at Zhuyuguan collapsed on all fronts, and our army pursued more than 60 miles of victory, killing and wounding more than 800 enemy people, thus relieving the worries of the first battle.
In order to completely annihilate the enemy at Liulinxi, the headquarters of the front army summoned our cadres at and above the regimental level to a meeting at Kongshanba. In a dilapidated thatched hut halfway up the mountain, the head of the headquarters took out half-baked red weeds and beans and warmly entertained us. Everyone listened to Commander-in-Chief Xu's briefing on the current situation, and then enthusiastically expressed their opinions. In accordance with the situation of the enemy and the suggestions of the comrades, the head of the General Headquarters decided that the 11th Division would move back from the north of Kongshanba to the left side of the enemy, cut off the enemy's rear route, and the main forces of the 10th and 12th Divisions would attack the enemy's right flank from the east of Kongshanba and in the Changping areaThe 73rd Division still held its positions on the large and small mules and horses, and the small kanzi, and waited for an opportunity to turn to a frontal attack.
Since the 12th Division tightened its position for the third time, except for the 36th Regiment participating in holding the frontal position, the 34th Regiment, the 35th Regiment and the 33rd Regiment of the 11th Division have been concentrated in the Changping area as a mobile force and have been actively making preparations. Now, ** is about to begin, and everyone is sincerely happy.
Immediately after the meeting at the headquarters, the troops in which we served as ** underwent political mobilization and material preparations. In the frontal defense, the 73rd Division fought hand-to-hand with the enemy many times in the spirit of swearing to the death, repelled the enemy's crazy attacks again and again, and won precious time for the preparation of the enemy.
On the afternoon of 20 May, we braved the pouring rain and set out from the Changping area, secretly inserted into the east side of Liulin Creek, and occupied the starting position for the attack.
At four o'clock in the morning of the next day, the general offensive began. From all sides, the sound of gunfire, the deafening sound of artillery, the cries of the soldiers, the howls of the enemy, and the neighing of mules and horses converged into a stirring battle march that inspired us to fight the enemy bravely. The enemy, awakened from his sleep, was overwhelmed and disorganized, some running naked, and some shooting at their own men. Our warriors, wielding their broadswords, cut down the stubborn enemies to the ground one by one. In less than two hours, we annihilated an enemy regiment and captured alive one of the enemy's regiment commanders.
At daybreak, the troops of the 11th Division cut off the enemy's rear route, and the 73rd Division also launched a fierce attack from the front. Our army surrounded most of the enemy's 13 regiments in the Yujiawan and Liulinxi areas. After three days and nights of fierce fighting, by the 24th, we had completely annihilated seven enemy regiments, routed six of them, killed, wounded and captured nearly 5,000 officers and men under the enemy's brigade commander Yang Xuanfu and brigade chief of staff Li Hancheng, and captured more than 3,000 long and short guns, more than 20 machine guns, and more than 50 mortars. When Tian Songyao heard the news, he was "extremely sad" and ordered "the officials and gentry of all counties to abstain from feasting and pleasure" to show their condolences, otherwise they would be "punished decidedly."
After the victory at Kongshanba, the enemy had collapsed on all fronts. Our army pursued and attacked fiercely, constantly attacking. After the 73rd Division regained Nanjiang City on the 26th, it approached the city of Guangyuan. The 1st Division of the 10th Division forced Liu Cunhou's troops to continue to retreat', and one part of the Division reached the land fort. The 11th Division recovered Changchi and Mumen, and approached Cangxi. After our 34th and 35th regiments regained Tongjiang on the 29th, they recaptured Bazhong City on 5 June, followed the town of Keenyang and coerced Yilong, and the 36th Regiment regained Jiangkou (now known as Pingchang County) along the west of the Tongjiang River through Desheng Mountain. In the retreat, the enemy panicked, collapsed, and completely lost the ability to resist. Our army captured more than 6,000 enemies along the way.
The four-month anti-siege campaign came to a successful end. Our army not only recovered the lost territory, but also more than doubled the base area. In total, more than 24,000 enemy soldiers were killed, wounded, and captured, and more than 8,200 guns and more than 50 mortars were surrendered.
The Tian army lost nearly half of it, and the rest retreated along the Jialing River. Tian Songyao admitted that "the material is light and the responsibility is heavy", and "sent a telegram to Chairman Jiang asking him to be relieved of his post in the Sichuan-Shaanxi border region to suppress bandits, and Jian Xian can take over." ”
The heroic and warlike Red Fourth Front Army has since gained a firm foothold in northern Sichuan, and has grown and developed its own ranks in the struggle. The headquarters of the Front Army held a military meeting in Mumen in Nam Giang County in late June, and decided to expand the four divisions into four corps. In late July, the units completed the reorganization. The 10th Division was organized into the 4th Army, the 11th Division was organized into the 30th Army, and the 73rd Division was organized into the 31st Army.
Our 12th Division, together with the independent regiments of Bazhong, Enyang, Yilong, and Bazhong counties, was expanded into the Ninth Army, under the jurisdiction of the 25th Division and the 27th Division, with Army Commander He Wei, Political Commissar Zhan Caifang, I as Deputy Army Commander and Commander of the 25th Division, and Wang Xueli as Chief of Staff and Commander of the 2th and 7th Division. The four armies actually had 29 regiments with a total of more than 40,000 men.
** As early as 1928, Comrade wrote two books, namely "Why Can China's Red Regime Exist?".and "The Struggle in Jinggangshan" scientifically pointed out the basic conditions for the armed secession of workers and peasants and the opening up of revolutionary base areas. ** These conditions pointed out by the comrades were basically in place when opening up the Sichuan-Shaanxi base areas.
At that time, the Sichuan warlords were semi-independent of Chiang Kai-shek, opposing the entry of Chiang Kai-shek and provincial troops into their territory, and there were many internal contradictions, and the war between the white regimes provided favorable conditions for our army to develop an offensive. The criminal rule of the warlords, gentry and landlords and the struggle of the people of Tongnamba to resist donations have given our army a very good mass base. The terrain in northern Sichuan is dangerous and abundant, providing our army with a terrain conducive to combat and sufficient supply capacity. After entering Sichuan, our army quickly completed the strategic development, occupied the Tongnamba area, carried out the tasks of the task force, and extensively mobilized the masses to adopt the policy of "tightening the position and luring the enemy into depth" in the anti-three-way siege, and smashed the enemy's siege.
It is precisely because of these objective conditions and subjective reasons that the Sichuan-Shaanxi base area has been able to form and develop. However, the establishment of the Sichuan-Shaanxi base area was carried out under the historical conditions of being far away from the first and without the direct guidance of the first comrade. It is precisely because of this special circumstance that it can better illustrate the undeniable objectivity, universality and truth of thought. History proves with irrefutable facts:
**The great banner of thought is the banner of victory of the Chinese people!