After working in the 9th Division of the Luliang Military Region of the Jinsui Military Region for 10 months, Luo Tong received two telegrams from the leaders of the former army in June 1947, inviting him to return to the Central Plains and work in the old army.
However, he did not give any reply to these two telegrams.
The reason why Luo Tong did not return to the old army was very simple, he felt that ** was a place to do revolution. The superiors are ready to transfer Liu Deng's main force south to Dabie Mountain, and the troops of the original *** 5th Division will also go south to fight.
As a person who has been working in southern Hunan for a long time and is familiar with the working environment here and the work of the troops, he went south to cooperate with the main force strategy and to better accomplish the task.
Luo Tong was originally reluctant to go south, but **'s words aroused his fighting spirit, he took two companies south to Fenxi County, found the former New Fourth Army 5th Division Acting Political Appointment Zhibin, and met *** in Jincheng
**Asked how he worked in Jinsui, he replied that it was okay, and after greetings, ** gave him the task of leading the new unit as the brigade political commissar. This new unit is composed of soldiers transferred from the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region and can be formed into three regiments.
The old troops, together with the new troops, formed the 12th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Lu-Henan Field Army, ** originally planned to let Luo Tong serve as the brigade political commissar, but he said that he was not in good health and could not bear such a heavy burden, so it was recommended to select cadres from the original 5th Division.
In the end, he served as the captain of the cadre brigade of the column and followed the troops south.
Despite his poor health, Luo Tong insisted on the long journey, carrying several large bags of medicine to work in Jinsui. His health is not optimistic, he suffers not only from stomach problems, but also from lung diseases.
However, that didn't stop him from moving forward. He once led the 12th column into the Jianghan region and opened up a base area. The Jianghan Military Region added 4 subdivisions, and he served as the deputy political commissar of the 3rd Division, and later served as the political commissar of the 2nd Independent Brigade.
For more than two years, he worked in the local and military areas, working to open up and consolidate the Jianghan Military Region. In 1949, he was transferred to the 51st Army as deputy political commissar, and in 1955 he was awarded the rank of major general.