In July 1934, the anti-Japanese advance team led by Xun Huaizhou and Su Yu set out from Ruijin, and they went north through Fujian to resist the Japanese. In order to support this operation, the Red Ninth Army stationed in Shicheng, Jiangxi, also entered the territory of Fujian and assumed the task of escorting.
On August 1, the Red Ninth Army arrived at Zhanghuban, an important town in central Fujian, where it rested for a few days and was warmly welcomed by the local people. The Red Army was highly disciplined, there was no encroachment on the people, and the whole town was kept in an orderly state.
Zhanghuban is an emerging town, located between Fuzhou and Yanping, on the south bank of the lower reaches of the Minjiang River, with superior geographical location and convenient transportation. The mountains and rivers here are beautiful, the scenery is pleasant, the population is about 20,000 people, and there are many shops and warehouses, which are prosperous and lively.
Before the Red Army reached the town of Zhanghuban, there was a warlord named Lu Xingbang, who was arrogant and oppressive to the people, and in order to maintain his rule, he gathered a group of ruffians and built an arsenal to produce ammunition.
When the Red Army learned of their eastward advance, Lu Xingbang hurriedly fled, but did not have time to take with him a batch of TNT black gunpowder that he had just purchased from Japan, which the Red Army had captured.
The appearance of this batch of gunpowder was undoubtedly an unexpected gain for the Soviet region, which had extremely difficult supplies. Since the arsenals in the Soviet zone could not produce enough black gunpowder, they had to replace it with white gunpowder, resulting in low bullet power and low lethality.
Therefore, the Red Ninth Army Corps was ordered to make sure that they managed to transport this batch of gunpowder back to the Soviet zone. After the commander of the regiment mobilized for battle and ordered the engineer company and local carpenters to make wooden boxes for gunpowder overnight, the whole regiment took on this important task.
Each soldier and groom had to carry a box of gunpowder (weighing about 20-30 catties), and also carry some salt that was in short supply in the Soviet area, so that with their own luggage and **, each person had to carry at least fifty or sixty catties, which was enough for a load.
In order to defend the Soviet area, the commanders and fighters of the Red Army rushed to carry gunpowder and other materials back to the Soviet area, even though they had a long distance and carried too many items. Today, the Red Ninth Army has completed the task of escorting the anti-Japanese advance team, and they returned to the Soviet zone with captured enemy gunpowder, salt and other supplies.
However, the difficulties encountered on the way back were much greater than those encountered during the expedition, and each person had to add dozens of pounds of gunpowder and salt, and the weight was greatly increased. Although the Red Army soldiers came from the workers and peasants, and it was not a problem to carry the burden, the difficulties were still not small due to the hot weather, long marches and combat missions.
However, the Red Ninth Army stayed overnight, marching fifty or sixty miles a day, and even in the rainy season in the mountainous areas of Fujian, where heavy rain was pouring in, they did not give up and resolutely returned to the Soviet area.
Although some of the warriors' feet were swollen and blood blistered under their feet, they still helped each other and took turns to carry the burden. Even if someone is physically exhausted, someone will take the initiative to take over, and everyone will move forward together.
After passing through Caoyang, Gaocai Khan, Xianzhang and other places, they arrived at Datian County on August 20. Although the Kuomintang county officials and militia groups in the city had already fled when they heard the news, the Red Army did not enter the city, but only camped in the southern part of the county to the western suburbs.
In order to prevent a sudden attack by the enemy, the Red Ninth Army Corps informed all units to be on strict alert, and gunpowder at night to be guarded intensively. During the march, the regimental commander always led by example, trying not to ride the mules and horses that were equipped, but to let them carry large and small wooden boxes and supplies, or let the seriously wounded and sick ride them.
When carrying gunpowder, the corps commander Luo Binghui also personally carried the burden. Driven by the commanders at all levels, the spiritual strength of the commanders and fighters of the whole regiment turned into a tremendous driving force, which made them have high morale, sang and laughed all the way, and overcame difficulties to move forward.
Tu Tongjin, a military doctor of the Red Ninth Army who was awarded the rank of major general in 1955, had an extraordinary experience.
During a long-distance march, he not only needed to carry dozens of pounds of gunpowder and medical equipment boxes like the commanders and fighters of the whole regiment, but also had to be ready to go into battle at any time to provide battlefield ambulance.
As a doctor, he also had to follow the reception team to help the wounded and sick catch up with the troops, and after camping at night, he had to seize the time to heal the wounded and sick, help the cooking squad boil water, and urge the soldiers to wash their feet with hot water so that they could continue the march the next day.
As a result, medical staff such as Tu Tongjin are often busy from morning to late at night every day. In 1955, the Red Ninth Army went through many difficulties and dangers and came to the Shifeng area west of Yong'an.
The regiment ordered to rest here for a day and check the handling of gunpowder. At this time, the Military Commission called and asked the Red Ninth Army to quickly march to Pengkou.
At this time, it was close to the edge of the Soviet area, and the military station department had already done a lot of work in the Tingdong Soviet area, mobilized thousands of civilian workers, and formed a transport team, which could join the Red Ninth Army in four days.
The whole legion was jubilant when they heard the news. On August 28, the Red Ninth Army finally arrived in Gutian, which meant a safe return to the Soviet area.
At this time, the ** team mobilized from the Soviet area also came to respond, and the Red Ninth Army handed over more than 4,000 boxes of gunpowder and a large amount of salt and other materials to the Military Commission military station intact, and successfully completed the gunpowder transportation task, which lasted 27 days and nearly a month.