Have you ever heard the story of flying over the Luding Bridge?It was a thrilling battle and a battle that changed history. In May 1935, the Red Army encountered the danger of the Dadu River during the Long March, and only one chain bridge could lead to the opposite bank, but the wooden planks on the bridge were removed by the enemy. Regardless of life and death, the Red Army warriors broke through the enemy's bullets and bullets by stepping on iron cables, seized the Luding Bridge, and opened a life passage for more than 20,000 Red Armymen. It was a great victory and a miraculous escape.
However, have you ever wondered what will happen to the Red Army if the enemy blows up the Luding Bridge?Is there any other option for the Red Army?Why did the enemy not blow up the bridge, but only dismantle the planks?What kind of secrets and stories are there?
The importance of the Luding Bridge.
Luding Bridge is a chain bridge across the Dadu River, which was built in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty and is an important passage from Sichuan to the first place. The construction of the Luding Bridge is to facilitate cross-strait trade and trade, and also to strengthen the control of the first place. The bridge body of Luding Bridge is composed of 13 iron cables, each iron cable weighs one or two tons, and the whole bridge weighs more than 40 tons, which is an engineering miracle at that time. Luding Bridge is not only a bridge, but also a witness of history, which witnessed the decline of the Qing Dynasty, the turmoil of the Qing Dynasty, the Long March of the Red Army, and the establishment of New China.
The dilemma of the Red Army.
In October 1934, the Red Army was forced to start the Long March, with the aim of breaking through the encirclement and suppression of the Kuomintang and finding a new base for the revolution. During the Long March, the Red Army experienced numerous hardships and obstacles, the most critical of which was at the Dadu River. Dadu River is a major tributary of the Min River, the river is up to 300 meters wide, the water flow is turbulent, the mountains on both sides are steep, the terrain is steep, and every year.
May and June are the flood season of the Dadu River, and the water flow can even reach five to six times that of usual.
In this case, if the Red Army wanted to cross the river, there were only two options, one was to build a ferry bridge, and the other was to ferry the boat. However, both options come with great difficulties and risks. Building bridges requires a lot of material and time, and is easily detected and destroyed by the enemy. The ferry boat needs to have enough boats and sailors, and it is easy to be shot and intercepted by the enemy. The Red Army searched the river, but found only three small wooden boats, with which it would take several weeks to cross the river as quickly as possible.
However, the Red Army did not have time to wait, they still had Kuomintang pursuers in their rear, and they had to cross the river as soon as possible, otherwise they would be in a desperate situation. The leader of the Red Army, *** and others, rushed to the riverside, and after consulting with ** and others, it was decided to send an vanguard force to seize the only chain bridge north of Anshun Field and let the large army pass through here. Whether this chain bridge can be captured or not is related to the life and death of the Red Army.
Defense of the enemy.
Chiang Kai-shek, as the leader of the Kuomintang, had always wanted to completely wipe out the Red Army, and he was very clear about the topography and strategic significance of the Dadu River, and he saw it as a perfect opportunity, he gave the order to blow up the bridge and sent Hu Zongnan to cooperate with the Sichuan warlord Liu Wenhui to blockade the Dadu River.
Liu Wenhui, a warlord in the Chuankang area with hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, sent a brigade to remove the wooden planks on the Luding Bridge and plant explosives under the bridge. He also deployed machine guns and bazookas at the head and tail of the bridge, ready for heavy fire on the Red Army. His plan was to wait for the Red Army to go to the bridge, and then introduce ** medicine to blow up the Red Army and the bridge together, so as to achieve the goal of annihilating the Red Army in one fell swoop.
The breakthrough of the Red Army.
The vanguard of the Red Army was led by Wang Kaixiang and Yang Chengwu, and after receiving the order, they immediately set out from the west bank of the Dadu River and marched rapidly to the Luding Bridge. Along the way, they encountered the enemy's resistance and the dangers of the mountain roads, they had to bend down and move through the cliffs that only allowed one person, they had to speed through the pouring rain, they could not see their fingers, they were hungry, they were drenched in cold, they drove more than 240 miles in a day and night, it was an astonishing march.
They finally arrived on the west bank of the Luding Bridge on time on May 29, but they found that the wooden planks on the bridge had been torn down by the enemy, leaving only 13 cold iron cables hanging in the air”
The soldiers of the Red Army did not hesitate, they knew that this was their only chance, and they had to seize the Luding Bridge, otherwise they would be annihilated. They shouted slogans, rushed to the bridgehead, stepped on the iron cables, and rushed forward.
Victory of the Red Army.
The Red Army's capture of the Luding Bridge was a major victory and a major turning point in the Long March. It not only broke Chiang Kai-shek's blockade and opened the passage for the Red Army to break through to the northwest, but also demonstrated the Red Army's heroic, fearless, and indomitable spirit, inspired the fighting spirit of the broad masses of the people, and laid a solid foundation for the later War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation. The Red Army's capture of the Luding Bridge was also a major lesson, which exposed the Red Army's deficiencies in military command, intelligence work, and political work, prompted the Red Army to carry out profound reflection and summing up, and created conditions for the subsequent victory of the Zunyi Conference and the Long March.
The defeat of the enemy.
The enemy's defeat at the Luding Bridge was a major setback and a major lesson for them on the Long March. It not only disrupted Chiang Kai-shek's plan of encirclement and suppression, won precious time and space for the Red Army, but also exposed the enemy's weaknesses in military command, intelligence work, and political work, intensified the contradictions and contradictions within the enemy, and created a favorable situation for the later War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation.
Summary. The Red Army's capture of the Luding Bridge was an earth-shattering feat and a historical miracle. It showed the revolutionary spirit and combat effectiveness of the Red Army, but also reflected the corruption and incompetence of the enemy. It is a microcosm of the Long March and a turning point in the Chinese revolution. It is an enduring piece of history and a valuable asset. It deserves to be remembered forever and to be Xi forever.