Chiang Kai-shek suffered defeat in two counter-revolutionary "encirclement and suppression" of the ** revolutionary base areas, so he personally arrived in Nanchang and appointed himself commander-in-chief of the "encirclement and suppression". He regrouped 300,000 troops, including his own descendants, and formed 4 corps, 18 divisions and 2 independent brigades, and couldn't wait to launch a frantic attack on the ** revolutionary base area again.
He said: "If this encirclement and suppression fails, I will never return to Nanjing!" Different from the previous strategy of "dividing the attack and attacking together" and "taking the battalion step by step," this time he adopted the strategy of "gathering troops and encircling and suppressing them by different routes."
He divided the "encirclement and suppression" army into two flank group armies, left and right, and put almost all the troops in the north of the ** revolutionary base area, forming a long snake formation to attack to the south and west.
His plan was to use 300,000 horses to suddenly attack the base area with 300,000 horses and horses when the Red Army had repelled him twice in a row and the troops had not been rested and ammunition and food had not been replenished, so as to realize his plan of completely "annihilating the Red Army" within three months.
In the roar of Chiang Kai-shek, who was tough on the surface but weak in his heart, the third anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign of the Red Army kicked off. On July 1, 1931, Chiang Kai-shek ordered an all-out offensive with Ningdu as the primary target.
The enemy army quickly advanced to the south, successively occupied Xingguo, Futian, Gupiwei and other places in the ** base area, and continued to advance, frantically looking for the main force of the Red Army for a decisive battle.
However, at the moment of facing an existential crisis, he calmly analyzed the situation between the enemy and us, and according to the comparison of forces between the enemy and us, it was decided that the Red Army would return to the division for thousands of miles, maneuver quickly, and concentrate the main forces in the Xingguo area.
Their strategy is to lure the enemy deeper, avoid the enemy's main forces, strike at its weak links, and retreat to annihilate them. Returning thousands of miles to the division, maneuvering quickly, and concentrating the main forces requires not only great courage and determination, but also superb command art and keen insight.
Faced with the heavy encirclement of 300,000 powerful enemy troops, the 30,000 Red Army did not flinch. They are determined to return to their divisions for thousands of miles, hoping to change their position relative to the enemy, concentrate their forces, preserve their strength, and form a certain advantage.
They succeeded, and the main force of the Red Army immediately set out from the northwest of Fujian and took a detour to avoid encounters with the enemy and conceal attempts. After 10 days of arduous trekking, they walked more than 1,000 miles by relying on a pair of "iron feet", successfully reached Xingguo, and completed the campaign maneuver of returning thousands of miles to the division.
This successful campaign maneuver not only won the Red Army a chance to breathe, but also laid a solid foundation for the Red Army's three victories and final victory in the third anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign.
It is no exaggeration to say that without this successful maneuver, the Red Army would have been unable to achieve a final victory.
With a decisive retreat and flexible maneuvers, the Red Army changed its position with the Kuomintang troops, avoided the enemy's edge, successfully saved and concentrated its forces.
During this period, in order to destroy the enemy and occupy the initiative, Lai De and others again led the main force of the Red Army from Xingguo at the end of July, crossed the Duhe River, skillfully bypassed the enemy's main force Zhao Guantao Division and Wei Lihuang Division, and penetrated deep into Shacun, Taihe County, preparing to strike at the enemy at Futian first.
However, when this plan was discovered by the enemy, in accordance with the principle of changing the enemy into a change, he immediately adjusted his strategy, abandoned the original plan, and quickly withdrew the main force of the Red Army to the vicinity of Xingwei for concealment and standby.
Suddenly, ** learned that the enemy's Shangguan Yunxiang's 47th Division and Hao Mengling's 54th Division had left Futian and moved south. He made a decisive decision and ordered the main force of the Red Army to break through from the enemy's midst, maneuver and advance in the direction of Liantang in Xingguo County, Liangcun in Yongfeng County, and Huangpi in Andu County, forming a roundabout trend and launching an attack from behind the enemy.
After dark, the 30,000 Red Army quietly ceased their movements, quietly and silently marched forward, and after a whole night of rapid marching, they reached their destination at dawn and quickly hid.
Night fell again, and the Red Army was like an arrow from the string, quickly maneuvering towards the Liantang area, like a sharp knife plunging straight into the enemy's rear, preparing to destroy the enemy's Fuyun Xiang Division.
In the evening, the Tan Zijun brigade of the enemy Shangguan Yunxiang entered the ambush area of the Red Army, and the Red Army suddenly launched a fierce attack. The unprepared enemy was stunned by this sudden blow, could the Red Army be a heavenly soldier?
True, the enemy army never expected that the Red Army, which had been heavily surrounded by them a few days ago, would now use flexible maneuvers to surround them in turn. As a result, the Red Army completely annihilated the enemy in just a few hours.
After the victory of the Red Army in the Battle of Liantang, it once again maneuvered to Liangcun at lightning speed and gathered forces, successfully encircling and eliminating the enemy's Hao Mengling division. Immediately afterwards, the main force of the Red Army advanced eastward, and after a rapid march of three days and three nights, it quickly reached Huangpi and surrounded the enemy Mao Bingwen's division.
During these five days, the Red Front Army changed its position with the enemy in a timely manner and concentrated its main forces through rapid and flexible tactics, thereby enhancing the combat effectiveness of its troops, turning from a disadvantage to an advantage, and winning three battles at Liantang, Liangcun, and Huangpi.
After that, he correctly commanded the Red Army to continuously advance and retreat in the base area, successfully defended itself during the maneuver, and also attacked and destroyed the enemy, and finally succeeded in ending the third anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign that lasted 75 days.
Chiang Kai-shek, who once thought highly of himself, finally had to slip back to Nanjing because of the wild saying that "if you don't defeat the Red Army, you won't return to Nanjing." Although more than 60 years have passed since this period of history, the feat of the 30,000 Red Army led by *** to successfully get rid of and defeat the 300,000-strong army of the Kuomintang still makes us think deeply.
Why, then, were these 30,000 Red Army able to compete with 300,000 troops? Among them, where is the superb conducting art embodied? What enlightenment can the Red Army's third victory against "encirclement and suppression" bring us?
When we ponder, we will understand that the number of troops is not the key to victory or defeat.
The outcome of a war does not depend entirely on the number of troops, but on how they are used flexibly. ** and the Red Army led by them, with the art of maneuvering, skillfully adjusted the position with the enemy, successfully concentrated relatively weak forces, and thus won the victory against the "encirclement and suppression".
This is one of the keys to solving the complex problem of war.