The Long March in history is a great feat of our party leading the people's heroic revolution and can be called a glorious epic of the Chinese nation. During this long march, which lasted two years and 25,000 miles of arduous struggle, our army crossed mountains and mountains, crossed rivers, and fought countless battles.
Among them, the battles of flying to capture the Luding Bridge and forcibly crossing the Dadu River are of great historical significance. The Luding Bridge spans the turbulent Dadu River, and if it were blown up, the Red Army could be wiped out.
So, why didn't the Kuomintang blow up the Luding Bridge? The answer lies in Liu Wenhui, then chairman of Xikang Province.
Against the background of the chaotic times, the contradictions are escalating, and the forces of all parties are competing against each other, and at this time, our party is leading the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army to begin the long march of a great strategic shift. At this critical moment, the Liu family, which has been entrenched in Sichuan and Chongqing for a long time, has just ended the internal power struggle, but Liu Wenhui lost to his cousin Liu Xiang in this battle, this defeat hit Liu Wenhui hugely, he lost the territory he occupied before, and most of his army was also absorbed by Liu Xiang, leaving only 20,000 remnants, which ended miserably, and fled to Ya'an, Sichuan, to take over the governance of this chaotic and backward area.
However, the governance of this region is not easy, because it is a multi-ethnic mixed area, and the cultural customs and religious beliefs of the Tibetan, Yi, Hui, Han, Mongolian, Manchu and other ethnic groups are different.
In addition, the geographical location of this region is in Sichuan and Tibet, new ideas have not yet been popularized, and the people's belief in religion is extremely high, and other regimes have little authority in the eyes of the broad masses of the people except for religious rule.
Under the severe environment, Liu Wenhui began the difficult road of governing Xikang, and implemented a series of policies aimed at "teaching auxiliary government, and political wing education". In order to lead by example, he became a devout follower of Buddhism, went deep into the people, improved relations with Tibetan areas, and gradually became an all-round leader in the Xikang region.
However, just as the situation was improving, he encountered a new challenge, that is, the place he governed was the only way for the Red Army's long march to the southwest. He was ordered to fight against the Communist Red Army.
As the supreme leader of Xikang and a general officer of the National Revolutionary Army, Liu Wenhui had become a warlord, but theoretically he still had to obey the orders of Chiang Kai-shek, the supreme leader of the Kuomintang.
Chiang Kai-shek ordered the interception of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army led by ***, and Liu Wenhui did so. However, Liu Wenhui did not blindly obey Chiang's orders, and his actions were not simply "generals who are not subject to the orders of foreign troops".
For him, the Red Army was the only force that could compete with Chiang's forces at that time, and the coexistence and mutual checks and balances of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were what he wanted to see the most. Because it makes the forces under his control safer.
Although Liu Wenhui and Chiang Kai-shek belonged to the same Kuomintang faction in the nature of their armies, in reality, they were not completely united, and Liu Wenhui was not Chiang Kai-shek's direct general.
There were many contradictions within the Kuomintang, and Chiang Kai-shek's threat to Liu Wenhui was intensifying. If the Communist-led Workers' and Peasants' Red Army weakened and Chiang became dominant, Liu Wenhui's small-scale separatist forces would inevitably be eliminated.
Therefore, after Liu Wenhui received Chiang Kai-shek's order to suppress the Communists, he felt hesitant and could not carry it out wholeheartedly, resulting in his slow action at the critical moment of flying to seize the Luding Bridge and crossing the Dadu River, and the Luding Bridge was dismantled with wooden planks, but the bridge body and iron cables were still intact.
Liu Wenhui may have thought that this would not violate military orders and would prevent the Red Army from crossing the river.
Under the turbulent water, the Luding Bridge was connected only by iron cables, and the heavy fire of the Kuomintang troops was opposite. The Red Army faced a great challenge, and everyone thought that it would be impossible for them to cross the bridge smoothly.
However, the Red Army's belief in victory and the brave fighting of the warriors in the air allowed them to successfully cross the Dadu River, preserve the main forces, and once again thwart the Kuomintang's plan of encirclement and suppression.
As an important transportation hub and economic lifeline, Luding Bridge has a long history and great significance. As a native of Sichuan, Liu Wenhui is well aware of the history and value of Luding Bridge, which is the historical wealth in the hearts of Sichuan people and has far-reaching cross-era significance.
Luding Bridge, the bridge that accompanied the growth and life of the Sichuan people, played an important role in the transportation hub in history. The dense footprints on the bridge deck have witnessed the passage of Sichuan people from generation to generation, carrying extremely high transportation value and spiritual connotation.
If Liu Wenhui was a Kuomintang general from other places, in order to besiege the Red Army led by our party, there might be a glimmer of hope for blowing up the Luding Bridge, but as a local warlord, he would definitely not do such a thing.
Because at that time, the domestic traffic situation was generally inconvenient, if the Luding Bridge was blown up, the traffic in Sichuan, Tibet and the surrounding Yunnan, Guizhou and other areas would be seriously blocked.
This will not only lead to the stagnation of economic development, but also the replenishment of combat readiness necessary for the war will not be timely**. Liu Wenhui couldn't predict that he would be the first to be trapped by the predicament.
Based on many factors, Liu Wenhui did not blow up the Luding Bridge, which also laid a good foundation for him to later turn to Guangming, fight hand in hand with our party, and lead his troops to join the People's Liberation Army.
In the thirties of the last century, in order to relieve the encirclement and interception of the Kuomintang army, our army strategically transferred the main force from the Soviet areas north and south of the Yangtze River to the Shaanxi and Gansu revolutionary base areas.
In these more than 600 battles that were related to the life and death of our party's Red Army, the capture of the Luding Bridge and the forcible crossing of the Dadu River were undoubtedly one of the most popular and magnificent chapters.
General Liu Wenhui, with his outstanding political wisdom and noble patriotic sentiments, has made great contributions to our revolutionary cause. He not only won us important victories militarily, but also provided us with a certain amount of support politically.
In his later years, he continued to devote himself to the development of national forestry and received the cordial care of our party. Although he eventually passed away due to illness at the age of 82, his contributions will always be remembered.
General Liu Wenhui's heroic deeds and noble qualities deserve to be studied and cherished forever.