In 1934, Chiang Kai-shek convened a military conference in Lushan, where he discussed a plan to deal with the ** Soviet zone and formulated the "Iron Bucket Plan", which was aimed at stifling the nascent people's power. According to Chiang Kai-shek's vision, the implementation of this plan would deal a devastating blow to the 100,000 Red Army and Soviet power in the Soviet area, and might even wipe out the Communist Party completely. However, this plan was learned of by the Communists immediately after the conference and soon failed. So, how did this information leak out back then?And how did the plan fail?In 1934, the Kuomintang army was far ahead of the Communists in military and economic power. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek harbored a desire to annihilate the Communists.
At that time, the Kuomintang had about a million regular troops and troops, as well as about two million local warlords and security forces, mostly stationed in urban areas. In comparison, the Red Army at that time had only 300,000 men, distributed over vast rural areas. The Kuomintang army not only has self-made**, but also a variety of foreign advanced **, with equipment advantages. In addition, the Kuomintang implemented an economic blockade policy, controlled the economic lifeline of the whole country, and dominated the industrial, financial, and cultural fields, making the balance of power between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party extremely unbalanced. At the Lushan Conference, Chiang Kai-shek summoned his henchmen in the hope of developing a detailed plan against the Communists, preferably annihilated in one fell swoop, to avoid future turmoil.
However, on the night of the meeting, the plan was leaked, and the leaker was none other than Mo Xiong, the then commander of the KMT security. Mo Xiong, a native of Guangdong Yingde, graduated from the Guangdong Army Lecture Hall in his early years, and actively participated in the Northern Expedition, but was ostracized by Chiang Kai-shek after the war and regarded as a dissident. The Communist Party of China listed it as a key target and made many secret contacts, which deeply touched it. Mo Xiong expressed his willingness to join the Communist Party many times, and finally decided to join the Communist Party under the guidance of *** and Li Lisan. In this way, news of the leak of the plan quickly reached the Communists.
Although Chiang Kai-shek's "Iron Bucket Plan" was aimed at strangling the nascent people's power, dealing a devastating blow to the 100,000 Red Army and Soviet power in the Soviet area, and possibly even annihilating the Communist Party, the Communists learned of the situation and quickly took action to avoid this disastrous consequence. Mo Xiong accepted Li Kenong's advice and decided not to join the CCP for the time being, which was beneficial to the cause of the CCP. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek attached great importance to it"The Iron Bucket Project", believing that this plan could completely annihilate the Red Army in the Soviet zone. He personally commanded the army, engaged in constant entanglement in order to distract the Red Army, and had the entire Soviet zone covered with his troops before the implementation of the Great Encirclement Plan, in case the Red Army detected his true intentions.
When the encirclement was formed, Chiang Kai-shek quickly withdrew his troops, then cut off communications inside and outside the Soviet zone, and set it in"The Iron Bucket Project"。At the end of the Lushan Conference, Chiang Kai-shek encouraged the senior military and political leaders present and expressed his right"The Iron Bucket Project"and determination to strike a thorough blow to the Communist Party. However, this plan was accidentally leaked out, and Mo Xiong was one of the participants in the meeting, and he risked will"Top secret"The document was handed over to the Security Command's Espionage Section Staff Officer Xiang and Nian, realizing that the entire Red Army could be in devastating danger. Xiang Younian gratefully shook Mo Xiong's hands and expressed the party's gratitude.
In order to record the "top-secret documents" of the "Iron Bucket Plan," Xiang Younian worked all night and used special potions and four newly purchased student dictionaries to record in detail the enemy's troop arrangement, the offensive plans of various units, the layout of firepower, and the arrangement of logistics organizations. He also meticulously drew some key military charts on gauzy paper. After several days of long travel, he finally arrived in Ruijin, found the temporary ** organ in Shazhouba, and met the familiar vice chairman. ** Listened carefully to Xiang Younian's report, looked at Xiang Younian's emaciated and deformed face affectionately, and felt very moved.
He not only instructed that he should take good care of this hero who had gone through great hardships to send "top secret" information, but also immediately instructed the personnel of the Operations Department of the General Staff Headquarters of the Red Army General to restore the charts and texts in the dictionary overnight. The "three-man group" composed of the senior leaders of the Red Army, Bogu, Li De, **, and others, was shocked when they circulated the contents of the "Iron Bucket Plan." They immediately realized that the Red Army would face a devastating threat, and if no immediate response was met, in another ten days and a half the Red Army could be completely surrounded by the enemy. Therefore, they decided to issue an operational order for the strategic transfer in the name of the ** Military Commissariat. Less than half a month after the implementation of the "Iron Bucket Plan" formulated by Chiang Kai-shek, the Red Army in the **Soviet area suddenly carried out a major strategic shift.
They gathered more than 86,000 people from the main force, crossed the Yudu Bu River at four ferries from October 16 to 18, and began to break through the westward road. On October 26, the day after the main force of the Red Army successfully broke through, the Kuomintang troops, which gradually advanced into the interior of the Soviet zone according to the "Iron Bucket Plan", completely occupied Ningdu, Changting, Huichang and other places. Seven days later, the enemy advance advanced outside Ruijin City, and only then did it become clear that the main forces of the Red Army had been successfully transferred. When Chiang Kai-shek learned the news, he was furious and cursed loudly, "Niang Xipi, someone must have leaked the news!."He was immediately discharged from the hospital, rushed to Nanchang by plane, convened an emergency meeting, and deployed how to urgently transfer the northern and southern armies to encircle, pursue and intercept the ** Red Army that broke through.
Chiang Kai-shek's elaborate "Iron Bucket Plan" eventually turned out to be a broken barrel full of holes. This valuable intelligence would have a profound impact on the survival and battle planning of the Red Army. The fact that Mo Xiong and Xiang Younian were able to deliver the "top secret" information in time was a fortunate turning point for the Red Army. This action enabled the Red Army to smoothly extricate itself from the crisis of "total annihilation" and began a long and arduous 25,000-mile long march, and finally successfully reached the anti-Japanese base area in northern Shaanxi. The party and the people will never forget the outstanding contributions made by these two men in the process of escaping the 100,000 Red Army in the Soviet area of the Communist Party of China.
It is precisely because of this that on the eve of the National Day in 1956, the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army sent special personnel to Fuzhou and Guangzhou to personally take Mo Xiong and Xiang Younian to Beijing, and asked them to climb the Tiananmen Tower to attend the National Day ceremony in recognition of their heroic feats.