On May 29, 1935, 22 Red Army warriors braved the enemy's artillery fire and stepped on the iron rope of Luding Bridge with *** and a few wooden planks.
Under the bridge was a turbulent river, but the raging flames in the hearts of the Red Army soldiers were not extinguished by the river, and the 22 warriors braved the rain of bullets and bullets to rush forward little by little.
This was a tragic battle, but also a great battle, in the desperate situation of having no way to retreat and there were pursuers behind him, he rushed out of a degree, opening a life channel for the 20,000 Red Army behind him.
This is the story of the flying Luding Bridge that we learned in our primary school textbooks.
In fact, this battle was far more brutal than what we learned in our primary school textbooks, and the situation faced by the Red Army at that time was just like that of Shi Dakai back then.
However, the Red Army simply performed a miracle and broke the fate of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
However, many people have a question afterwards, why didn't Liu Wenhui, who was guarding the Luding Bridge at that time, blow up the bridge? In fact, when the Red Army flew to capture the Luding Bridge, Lao Jiang did verbally order Liu Wenhui to blow up the Luding Bridge, but Liu Wenhui only demolished the wooden planks on the bridge in the end, what is the hidden meaning of this?
After the failure of the fifth anti-encirclement and suppression, the Red Army was forced to start the 25,000-mile Long March, but in the early stage of the Long March, due to the wrong command of Li De and others, it suffered heavy losses in the bloody battle of the Xiangjiang River, although it crossed the Xiangjiang River, the Red Army was sharply reduced to 30,000 people.
After the Zunyi Conference, Li Desheng's strategic position in the Red Army was finally determined, and the Red Army began to march lightly and simply, towards the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo region, where the enemy's strength was weak.
After that, Li Desheng played a military miracle, the high operation of crossing the Chishui River was dazzling, and then the Red Army skillfully captured the Jinsha River, leaving Xue Yue's 80,000 ** army far behind.
After that, as long as the Red Army crossed the Dadu River and crossed the snow-capped Jiajin Mountain, the Red Army would be able to completely get rid of the encirclement and interception of the Kuomintang heavy army group.
In May 1935, the Red Army entered the territory of the Sichuan warlord Liu Wenhui, but a Dadu River blocked the way of 30,000 Red Army.
Dadu River is a big tributary of Minjiang River, the river width is up to 300 meters, the river water is breathing, there are mountains on both sides again, the terrain is very steep and precipitous, it is the flood season of Dadu River in May and June every year, the water flow reaches five to six times of usual.
Under these circumstances, it was obviously unrealistic for the Red Army to build a bridge to cross the river, and it was also unrealistic to cross the river by ferry.
At that time, in order to encircle and suppress the Red Army, almost all the wooden boats were taken away, and the Red Army only found three wooden boats all over the mountains, and it was undoubtedly unrealistic to cross the Dadu River by relying on these three wooden boats, and it was impossible to cross the Dadu River in a few weeks.
However, Lao Chiang's pursuers were behind him at this time, and if he could not cross the river as soon as possible, then the Red Army was likely to repeat the mistakes of Shi Dakai back then.
At that time, Shi Dakai did not cross the Dadu River in time at the Anshun Field of the Dadu River, which eventually led to being caught up by the Qing soldiers, and finally Shi Dakai was killed.
Therefore, the old Jiang urgently telegraphed the Sichuan warlord Liu Wenhui: If the Dadu River is lost, military law will be involved.
At the same time, Xue Yue, who was pursuing in the rear, was asked to speed up his pace.
Just when the Red Army was in danger, the leader of the ** at that time inadvertently learned from an old Xiucai that there was a Luding Bridge 320 miles north of Anshun Field, and if this Luding Bridge could be captured, then the Red Army might be able to turn the corner.
After learning the news, the ** Military Commission immediately ordered: let the headquarters of the Red First Army, the Red Fifth Army and the Red Second Division continue to march north on the west bank of the Dadu River; The remaining Red First Army Corps and cadres rushed to Luding Bridge, making sure to capture Luding Bridge.
On May 27, Wang Kaixiang and Yang Chengwu quickly led the Red Fourth Regiment to march from the direction of the Dadu River towards Luding Bridge.
On May 28, the 4th Red Regiment received an order from the 1st Red Army that "the Luding Bridge must be captured by noon tomorrow." ”
Anshun Field was 320 miles away from Luding Bridge, and the Red First Army had to fight the enemy while marching rapidly, so it only marched 80 miles at this time.
The capture of the Luding Bridge before the 29th meant that the Red Army would have to march 240 miles in one day and night.
In the face of this difficult task, the Red Army soldiers did not give up, so they fought against natural disasters in the torrential rain, and finally arrived at Luding Bridge at 6 a.m. on the 29th.
However, when the Red Army soldiers arrived, there were only 13 black iron cables left on the river at this time, and the planks on the bridge had been removed by Liu Wenhui, and the enemy set up machine guns on the other side of the bridge to guard them, and even arrogantly shouted that you have the ability to fly over.
In the face of these difficulties, the Red Army soldiers were not afraid, and after a short discussion, Yang Chengwu finally divided the troops into three parts, one part used heavy fire to suppress the enemy troops on the opposite bank, and at the same time sent 22 warriors to attack the enemy along the iron chain from the bridge deck, and the remaining soldiers made simple rafts to return to the enemy's rear to relieve the pressure on the soldiers in front.
In this way, 22 warriors braved the rain of bullets and launched an attack on the opposite bank.
At that time, the light and heavy machine guns set up by the enemy on the opposite bank were constantly firing towards the Luding Bridge, and the iron cables on the bridge deck kept shaking, and the soldiers would fall into the river under the abyss as long as they were not careful.
In the face of the "madness" of the Red Army soldiers, the enemy was also afraid, they even set fire on the opposite bank, the raging fire burned the iron cable, and the soldiers were quickly burned, but for the fire in their hearts, the soldiers still did not give up, gritted their teeth and continued to advance.
Finally, 22 warriors arrived on the other side, when the bright red flag was planted on the other side, it meant that the Red Army completely smashed Lao Jiang's sinister intention to make the Red Army become Shi Dakai's second, and in the face of the current outcome, although he was furious but helpless.
In the face of Liu Wenhui, who did not listen to his orders, Lao Jiang had the heart to kill him, but he could not do anything at all except for the incompetent roar, and how powerless the "military law engagement" he said before the war was at this time.
So what happened between Liu Wenhui and Lao Jiang at that time, and why did he dare to disobey Lao Jiang's order and not blow up the Luding Bridge?
Before the war, the old Jiang Yan ordered Liu Wenhui to blow up the bridge, and it can be seen from his forced requisition of the ships along the Dadu River that he was determined to win this battle.
But Lao Jiang thinks like this, it doesn't mean that Liu Wenhui must think like this, Liu Wenhui openly contradicts Lao Jiang on the matter of blowing up the bridge, and the reason why this is so still has his own concerns:
First of all, this Luding Bridge is a way of life for the Red Army, but it is also a way of life for Liu Wenhui.
For the Red Army, Lao Chiang and these local warlords had a different idea, and Lao Chiang had an attitude towards the Red Army that he must be wiped out, but at that time, whether it was the Gui Army, the Sichuan Army, or the Hunan Army, the idea was that as long as the Red Army did not enter our territory, then they could let one horse go.
It was precisely this idea that allowed the Red Army to break through from the encirclement of hundreds of thousands of troops.
For Liu Wenhui, at that time, the Red Army was only borrowed to the north, and had no intention of occupying its own territory, in contrast, Xue Yue's 80,000 ** army was the trouble in his heart, if the Red Army was eliminated, the 80,000 ** army would not enter Xikang to seize his own territory.
At that time, Liu Wenhui and Liu Xiang fought for the territory of Sichuan, and finally Liu Xiang unified Sichuan because of the support of Lao Jiang, but Liu Xiang was also worried that if Liu Wenhui was killed, it would be swallowed up by other warlords, so he let Liu Wenhui go, and since then Liu Wenhui has retreated to western Sichuan, that is, Xikang Province.
At this time, Liu Wenhui had lost Sichuan, and Xikang was his only remaining family foundation.
Once Lao Chiang eliminated the Red Army, would the ** army take this opportunity to enter Xikang and take the opportunity to eliminate him Liu Wenhui, when the Luding Bridge was destroyed, Liu Wenhui would not even have a way to retreat.
Therefore, the retention of this Luding Bridge is to leave a road for the Red Army, but at the same time, it is also to leave a way for oneself to survive.
The second is the value of Luding Bridge.
Luding Bridge began in the Kangxi period, is the only important passage to the first in Sichuan at that time, before that there was never a transition bridge on the Dadu River, the goods on both sides of the river can only rely on the ferry, once the flood season, then the goods can only be put on hold.
Therefore, Kangxi ordered the construction of this chain bridge
This bridge was not only the lifeline of the Red Army, but also Liu Wenhui's money bag.
Some people will say, wouldn't it be better to rebuild this bridge after it was blown up?
The question is who pays for it?
At that time, Xikang Province was a well-known poor province in the country, with Liu Wenhui's financial and material resources, how much would it cost Xikang to build a chain bridge weighing more than 40 tons?
And if Liu Wenhui didn't pay for it, then he could only rely on Lao Jiang, but at that time, Lao Jiang himself wanted to eliminate the local powerful warlords, and at this time, there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, would he miss it?
Therefore, no matter how you look at it, blowing up the bridge is a beneficial and harmless thing for Liu Wenhui, so he does not dare to make this decision rashly.
But he had to listen to Lao Jiang's orders, and in the end he had to make a discount and remove the bridge plate on the Luding Bridge, so that the 13 bare iron cables of the Red Army could not escape even if they were winged.