The Long March was a military miracle in history. Under the leadership of ***, 30,000 Red Army commanders and fighters relied on backward equipment and under the encirclement of more than 100,000 Kuomintang troops and local warlords, skillfully maneuvered, and finally jumped out of the enemy's encirclement. Among them, the two battles related to the Dadu River are extremely important. Leaning on the two iron legs behind, the Red Army created a marching speed unimaginable to ordinary people, and finally captured the Luding Bridge and opened the way to the north. Among them, the role of a former Qing veteran talent is impossible to estimate. It was he who guided the Red Army to the maze that led to the later capture of the Luding Bridge. 
Difficult River Crossing In early May 1935, the Red Army temporarily got rid of the enemy's pursuit after two battles, the Chishui River crossing four times and the Jinsha River skillfully. Therefore, the leaders of the Red Army decided that the troops would advance to the Dadu River, and after crossing the river, they would enter the northwest region of Sichuan and join up with the Red Fourth Front Army operating there. At the beginning, the leaders of the Red Army originally chose Anshun Field as the place to cross the river. Anshun Field is located in the southwest of Sichuan Province on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Dadu River, formerly known as Zidadi, the terrain is dangerous, is the closest river crossing site to the Red Army. In order to successfully capture Anshun Field, 17 warriors of the Red Army forcibly crossed the Dadu River, occupied the beachhead, and repelled the enemy's counterattack with the support of follow-up troops, and finally successfully completed the task. 
However, the situation in Anshun Field made everyone's hearts tighten: due to the sabotage of the Sichuan warlords, most of the ferries in Anshun Field were destroyed, and there was only one that could still be used. The Reds hurriedly seized ships from elsewhere, and as a result, they received two more. Later, a sharp-eyed warrior found that a shipwrecked ship could be repaired, and this was another one. That is, in the hands of the Red Army, one worker now has 4 ships. Each ship is capable of carrying 30 warriors, and four ships are 120. However, the Dadu River is turbulent and dangerous to sail, and it takes more than an hour to go back and forth. It will take a month for the more than 30,000 soldiers of the Red Army to cross the river in full!What's more serious is that May is the flood season of the Dadu River, when the river surface has reached more than 300 meters, the water depth has reached 30 meters, and the water flow is more turbulent than the dry season. It is simply impossible to build a pontoon bridge over the river. Shi Dakai, a famous general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was trapped in the river here and was finally defeated and captured. At this moment, Chiang Kai-shek saw the plight of the Red Army and asked Xue Yue to lead the main force of the Kuomintang north along the Jinsha River and quickly pursue it. At the same time, he ordered the Sichuan warlord Yang Sen to fully assist Xue Yue and strictly prevent the ** Red Army from crossing the Dadu River. Other enemies on the other side of the Dadu River were also actively deploying defenses in a vain attempt to block the Red Army's way. 
There was a lot of water in front and pursuers in the rear, and the situation of the Red Army was very critical. It seems that taking Anshun Field is more like a trap for Chiang Kai-shek. It is no wonder that the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy said that he wanted to turn the Red Army into "Shi Dakai's second." It is not difficult to find that he at this time is indeed too similar to Shi Dakai back then. At that time, Shi Dakai's Taiping army was also 30,000 people, and now the Red Army troops are also 30,000;Back then, Shi Dakai was deeply trapped in Anshun in May, and now the Red Army is in the same situation. Can the Red Army break the enemy's encirclement and not follow in the footsteps of Shi Dakai?**'s brain is spinning at a rapid pace. On the evening of May 26, the director of the General Political Department of the Red Army suddenly came to *** and brought a news: In a small town not far from Anshun Field, there lived an old Xiucai of the Qing Dynasty who was over 90 years old. This person had witnessed the whole process of Shi Dakai's downfall back then. Now that the Red Army is in a predicament, it is better to consult this old man. **After hearing this, I was overjoyed. There are some circumstances that are not clear to the Red Army when they first arrive, but these people, who have lived here very well with the situation in the region, should be able to offer some constructive advice. So *** quickly cleaned up and said to ***: "I'll go in person!."”
**, and two guards carrying lanterns, knocked on the door of Lao Xiucai's house at night. This old showman's name is Song Dashun, and he is also a well-known hermit in the local area. He witnessed the strict discipline of the Red Army, which was better than Shi Dakai and better than the Kuomintang army, and did not want such a team to suffer losses. Only then did he show his heart to ***, and he was willing to tell the Red Army about the process of Shi Dakai's downfall, and help make suggestions. Now that *** visited late at night, Song Dashun was deeply moved, and the two immediately started talking. In Lao Xiucai's description, the process of Shi Dakai's failure is as follows: In April of the second year of Tongzhi (1863), after Shi Dakai crossed the Jinsha River, he also led more than 30,000 people to arrive at Zidadi in May, which is now Anshun Field. Unfortunately, his concubine gave birth to him a son at this time. In order to boost morale, Shi Dakai decided to reward the whole army and feast for three days!The precious time that was supposed to be used for strategic transfer was easily wasted by him. In the past three days, Tang Yougeng, the chief soldier of Chongqing Town, Sichuan Province of the Qing Dynasty, has led the army to approach Shi Dakai. Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Sichuan, also bought off the local Yi troops. When Shi Da woke up, he found that he had fallen into a siege. The Dadu River has also entered the flood season, and the river water has risen sharply and cannot be crossed. 
In this way, Shi Dakai, the winged king who once won the world, has only one way to fight a decisive battle. But his troops had run out of ammunition and food, and had no capital to fight. Shi Dakai had no choice but to surrender under Luo Bingzhang's persuasion. Luo Bingzhang then ignored his promise and executed Shi Dakai Lingchi. It can be seen that the key to Shi Dakai's failure is those three days. Song Dashun mentioned that Shi Dakai has not yet reached the point of exhaustion. As long as the troops move, he can go to Qamdo to the west, Yunnan to the south, Kham to the north, and he can escape for his life. But he just didn't move, missed the opportunity, and finally fell into a desperate situation!Hearing this, ** understood what Song Dashun meant. Anshun Field is an excellent ferry port for civil use in peacetime, but it is a dangerous place in wartime, and it must be evacuated as soon as possible. But where else can the Red Army go after evacuating Anshun Field?Shi Dakai can go to Yunnan, Qamdo, and Khamba, but the Red Army cannot. Now all around, there are warlords everywhere, and they are all sworn enemies of the Red Army. Only by crossing the Dadu River and making peace with the Red Fourth Front Army is the only way out for the Red Army!
Thinking of this, ** continued to humbly ask Song Dashun for advice, and said: "Old man, what should the Red Army do to get out of today's predicament?"Song Dashun said: "Looking at it now, there is only one way for the Red Army troops to cross the river. If you go up along the Dadu River, you can reach Luding by walking more than 300 miles. There is a chain bridge built by Kangxi in Luding, named Luding Bridge. As long as you are not afraid of hard work and quickly seize this bridge, you can escape. Remember to leave Anshun as soon as possible!Hearing Lao Xiucai's suggestion, ** was very excited and said firmly: "Thank you, old man!."Our Red Army is short of food and ammunition, but we are not afraid of hard work. It doesn't matter how far the road is, it's good to have a direction. "On May 26, ** returned to the station and immediately made arrangements: let the Red 1st Division continue to cross the river with all its strength at Anshun Field, and at the same time named the Red 2nd Division to go north to seize the Luding Bridge, and must take it on May 29!In order to complete the task, the 4th Regiment of the 1st Red Army launched a rapid march day and night, and in less than two days, it walked 240 miles of mountain roads and arrived at the west bank of Luding Bridge in the early morning of the 29th. After that, 22 warriors flew on the iron chain to capture the Luding Bridge!The large force of the Red 4th Regiment then covered the killing, defeated the enemy stationed in Luding County in one fell swoop, and opened the passage. Relying on a stubborn will to fight, the Red Army completed an almost impossible strategic shift, leaving the Kuomintang army behind. The help of the veteran Xiucai Song Dashun to the Red Army fully illustrates the truth that "there is much help for the righteous, but little help for the unjust." Only the people's army can win the support of the people and be invincible in the war.