Tucheng was only called Tucheng because at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, when local people were building houses, they discovered a large number of earthen walls, so it was called Tucheng from then on.
In fact, Tucheng was called Pingmai County in the Western Han Dynasty and Zizhou in the Northern Song Dynasty. It governed Renhuai and Chishui counties. Whether it was called Pingmai or Zizhou, the name "Tucheng" was not as loud as the later Tucheng.
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Historically, the Red Army's Long March fought a tragic "Battle of Tucheng" here. The Central Red Army and the Sichuan Army fought on two square kilometers of Qinggangpo, three kilometers east of Tucheng. The three presidents of the Republic of China,
Four defense ministers, seven marshals, and numerous generals, admirals, lieutenant generals, and major generals all participated in this fight.
The idea of the Qinggangpo battle is to concentrate the main force of the Red Army's Third Army and the Fifth Army to set up an ambush at Qinggangpo to eliminate the Sichuan Army's model division Guo Xunchu's brigade and the four regiments of Pan Zuo's brigade under his command. During the battle, the Sichuan Army's Liao Ze (Liao Haitao) brigade rushed
When they entered the battlefield, the Red Army's net was burst by fish. At the critical moment, Chen Geng and Song Renqiong led their cadre regiments to charge desperately, repulsed the Sichuan army, and stabilized the position. The Second Red Division also returned reinforcements from Yuanhou, and the Red Army was able to retreat calmly and cross the border.
After crossing Chishui, we started the wonderful fourth crossing of Chishui.
The Qinggangpo battle in the Battle of Tucheng was brutal, with losses on both sides around 2,000. For the Sichuan Army, 2,000 or 3,000 were just casualty figures that could be quickly replenished. For the Red Army,
That was an irreparable number of more than 2,000 elite Red Army troops. After the Zunyi Conference, the Third Red Army Corps, which was reduced to four regiments, and the Fifth Red Army Army, which was reduced to three regiments, were even worse. The main force was seriously damaged. After the second crossing of Chishui, Wu Qiwei and his two men were eliminated.
In a fierce battle between the individual divisions and the eight regiments of the Guizhou Army, the Third Army Corps was basically crippled. When the Eighth Route Army was reorganized at the end of the Long March, not even one of the brave and capable Third Army Corps of the Red Army remained, and only one regiment was reorganized.
The Battle of Tucheng was the first battle of Mao Zedong's comeback in Zunyi, and it was also one of the few battles in Mao Zedong's military career that he did not win. In the past, the Battle of Tucheng was generally not mentioned in military history and was relatively taboo. However, the Battle of Tucheng made the two men famous all over the world.
, the first is the famous Sichuan Army general Guo Xunchu, who was so desperate that he wanted to commit suicide during the battle, and was promoted to the commander of the Sichuan Army Model Division after the war. The second is the founding general of the Republic Chen Geng. Speaking of General Chen Geng, I have to say a few words here. Chen Geng’s life is full of legends, and he graduated from Huangpu
, he saved Chiang Kai-shek during the Eastern March, and Zhou Enlai during the Long March. During the Soviet area, Chiang Kai-shek caught Chen Geng who was being treated in Shanghai for treatment and was reluctant to kill him. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen Geng participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Vietnam, and was the first general of New China to go abroad to fight. Ren Ha
When he was the director of the military industry, he summoned Qian Xuesen and was the first to write to Chairman Mao requesting the development of missiles and nuclear weapons.
In fact, Mao Zedong only discovered Chen Geng's military talent during the Battle of Tucheng. As early as when Mao Zedong was writing the "Investigation Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan", he had lived in Chen Geng's home. From Chen Geng's parents, he knew that Chen Geng was also a Communist. Before the Long March
Mao Zedong never knew Chen Geng. During the Long March, he was introduced by Zhou Enlai to Chen Geng, who was then the chief of the Confidential Section of the Military Commission. After the Zunyi Conference, Mao Zedong returned, and Chen Geng was transferred to the head of the cadre regiment. At the most critical moment of the Qinggangpo battle, Chen Geng led the cadre regiment to reinforce.
After repelling the enemy and watching the battle, Mao Zedong said: "Chen Gengxing can be the army commander." From then on, Chen Geng worked in our army from the Red Army cadre commander to the Eighth Route Army brigade commander to the column commander, corps commander and general in the Liberation War.
Unimpeded traffic.
Now that history has changed, the main force of the Red Army moved covertly to southern Sichuan one month earlier than in history. The tragic Battle of Tucheng was impossible to happen, but the Ninth Red Army Corps, which was tasked with deceiving the enemy, was now in a very dangerous situation.
The alarm first came from across the Chishui River.
Tucheng should not be called Tucheng, but Liquor City.
On the night of the 30th, after the Ninth Red Army Corps easily captured Tucheng, the soldiers discovered that it was not only an important dock for Sichuan salt to enter Guizhou, but also had a lot of wine. The Red Army soldiers were in high spirits, and drank a good meal like they were celebrating the New Year.
Then we camped and rested.
Luo Binghui, He Changgong, and Guo Tianmin woke up at around 10 a.m. After waking up, the confidential staff sent a telegram from the Military Commission.
After reading the telegram, the three people understood that the Military Commission ordered the Ninth Army Corps to harass the enemy all the way, with the purpose of attracting the Sichuan Army to leave northern Guizhou and cover the main force's march into southern Sichuan.
Just as Luo Binghui was about to order his troops to prepare to set off for Chishui to further attract the Sichuan Army, he received a report that the Sichuan Army appeared on the other side of the Chishui River, with about a brigade of troops.
Luo Binghui, He Changgong, and Guo Tianmin rushed to the entrance of the town and saw that the Sichuan Army was really there on the other side of the river. It seemed that there were about five or six thousand people. The engineers were building rafts. It seemed that they wanted to cross the river and seize the ferry on the pier.
Seize the Tucheng.
Luo Binghui thought to himself that this was not a good sign. Our army had just occupied the territorial city last night, and the enemy arrived this morning. It seemed that they came from southern Sichuan. Their posture was not to block the enemy along the river, but to actively attack.
Now that the enemies in southern Sichuan have arrived, the enemies in the Chishui direction may be arriving soon. Maybe the Sichuan army may leave Qijiang and pass through Tongzi towards Tucheng. If that is the case, it means that the Sichuan army wants to concentrate
The troops were engaged in a battle of annihilation in Tucheng.
As if to confirm Luo Binghui's judgment, the 9th Division was responsible for reporting to the troops on alert in the direction of Chishui. A large Sichuan army was discovered in the direction of Chishui. It was very large and the forwards were less than 6 miles away from Tucheng.
There is no hesitation, you must retreat immediately, otherwise the enemy will make dumplings for you.
Luo Binghui ordered Chief of Staff Guo Tianmin to lead the 28th Regiment of the 9th Division to immediately occupy the commanding heights to the west of the territorial city and block the pursuit of the enemy in the direction of Chishui. He ordered the 25th Regiment of the 8th Division to set off immediately and occupy the position eastward to cover the retreat of the main force. He ordered the entire army to launch 3 75mm mortars.
Twelve 60mm mortars established a position to bombard the enemy on the other side of the Chishui River and force them to retreat; the engineer company was ordered to destroy the ferry and try to slow down the enemy's pursuit across the river; the main force retreated along the main road towards Xishui County.
After the order was issued, Guo Tianmin led the 28th Regiment to establish a blocking position on the hillside west of Tucheng, and the artillery began to fire on the other side.
This was the first live-fire firing by the artillery of the Ninth Army Corps. To be honest, the shooting was not very good. It was incomparable with the shooting level of the Central Military Commission Artillery Battalion and the Guard Division Artillery Regiment. It could not produce the power of platoon artillery fire. I was so angry.
Luo Binghui jumped to his feet and scolded that it was a waste of artillery shells. However, the shelling effect was good. The Sichuan army who was preparing to cross the river was in a mess, and it became even more chaotic when it was bombed by the artillery shells. It was like herding sheep, running around on the other side of the river, just in time to let the soldiers escape.
Why are the artillerymen of the Ninth Army Corps on the road blindly catching dead mice, and the flying shells can also kill and injure some unlucky people.
Seeing that the Sichuan army on the other side was in chaos and it would take a while to sort out the troops, Luo Binghui ordered to stop the artillery bombardment. The artillerymen immediately retreated and went to the blocking position of the 28th Regiment.
Hearing the sound of artillery coming from Tucheng, Sichuan Army brigade commander Pan Zuo knew that friendly forces and the Red Bandits were engaged in fire. He reported to Guo Xunchu and urged the troops to advance quickly to attack the Red Bandits.
When the leading battalion of Pan Zuo's brigade approached Tucheng, it stepped up its pace, began to form a battle formation, and searched forward.
When you examine the miscellaneous troops during the Republic of China, sometimes you will find that those miscellaneous troops mainly have poor weapons and equipment, poor treatment, and poor discipline. However, they have rich combat experience and high combat skills. Many veterans are in blood and fire.
Those who rolled out of the house were very vigilant even though the guy in their hands was unsuitable. The battalion commander of the Sichuan Army's vanguard battalion was such a person.
Just when Guo Tianmin looked anxiously at the enemy's leading battalion and almost shouted, hurry up, the commander of the Sichuan Army's leading battalion also noticed something was wrong and always felt that there was danger ahead. He decisively ordered the troops to stop advancing along the road and sent a company to the east of the road.
They searched and advanced on the side of the hill, with one company supporting them and another company standing by on the road.
This made Guo Tianmin's plan to wipe out the vanguard battalion in one fell swoop come to nothing.
Seeing that a company that the enemy was searching for came up and could only eat one after another, Guo Tianmin ordered to open fire. One regiment and one company were attacked. Naturally, there was no suspense. If this company could still escape, it would definitely be
Just made it up.
But this fight brought out the Sichuan Army's vigilance. The main force of Pan Zuo's brigade that followed them began to occupy the hilltop, build fortifications, and organize exchanges with the Red Army.
When Luo Binghui came up, the two armies had already begun to stalemate. After a brief discussion with Guo Tianmin, Luo Binghui ordered to quickly break away from the enemy and retreat eastward.
After reinforcements from Guo Xunchu's brigade came in, he ordered the artillery to set up positions and bombard the Red Army positions. After shelling for a while, but no movement was seen, it was known that something was broken and the Red Army had escaped. Guo Xunchu ordered the troops to quickly occupy the territorial city.
After occupying Tucheng and crossing the river with a brigade of Sichuan troops on the other side of the river, Guo Xunchu reported to Pan Wenhua that Tucheng had been recaptured and the red bandits fled towards Xishui.
If Pan Wenhua had ordered his troops to stand by in Tucheng, the battle in Tucheng would have been over, and the Sichuan army would not have suffered any subsequent losses. However, there is no assumption of war. After Pan Wenhua received the call, he ordered Guo Xunchu to command three brigades to pursue Xishui
, camera and occupy Xishui. Order the four brigades coming from the direction of Tongzi to speed up and attack the main force of the Red Bandits. Order the remaining troops of the Instructor Division, Model Division, 1st Division, and 5th Division to advance quickly to reinforce Guo Xuncui.
After resting for a while in Tucheng, Guo Xunchu led three brigades to pursue Xishui County. The march sequence was Pan Zuo's brigade in the front, Guo's brigade in the middle, and the brigade from the 5th Division from southern Sichuan in the back.
About half an hour after Pan Zuo's brigade set off, there was fierce gunfire. Guo Xunqi knew as soon as he heard that something was wrong. Pan's brigade was ambushed, so he quickly ordered the two brigades to run forward to reinforce Pan's brigade.
It turned out that after He Changgong led the main force to retreat, he walked about six miles and arrived at Qinggangpo Village. When he saw the typical gourd formation here, he had an idea in his mind.
He Changgong is a veteran. When Mao Zedong led the Autumn Harvest Uprising troops to Jinggangshan, He Changgong was one of the most trusted generals of Comrade Mao. He recruited Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai's department, and He Changgong made great achievements. It should be said that He Changgong made great achievements.
Changgong witnessed the development of the Central Red Army and the Central Soviet Area, and had a certain say in the Red Army. Therefore, after the Zunyi Conference, considering that the Ninth Army Corps suffered heavy losses in the Xiangjiang Battle, and Luo Binghui was another uprising general, Mao Zedong named him as good at ideological work
, He Changgong, a firm stander and experienced, and Cai Shufan were exchanged as political commissars of the Ninth Army Corps.
He Changgong knew that if he did not fight and let the Sichuan army know how powerful the Red Army was, the enemy would be chasing them and would not be able to escape even if they wanted to leave. Seeing that the terrain here was good and it was the only way for the enemy's pursuit, He Changgong
He decided to ambush the Sichuan Army here. Although the regiment commander and chief of staff were blocking the enemy from behind, He Changgong still decisively ordered the troops to stop advancing and quickly seize the favorable terrain.
By the time Luo Binghui and Guo Tianmin led the blocking and covering regiments to arrive, the main force had already deployed. Luo Binghui saw that there were valleys on both sides, which was an ideal terrain for ambush. Anyway, since the Long March, he had been chased and beaten by the enemy.
The Ninth Army of his three divisions was divided into three regiments. Fortunately, it continued to expand after transferring to Guizhou. From the prisoners supported by the guard division, it obtained 1,000 Hunan Army prisoners, 2,000 Central Army prisoners and 1,000 slightly injured.
After ideological education, these captured veterans have all become Red Army soldiers. With the addition of weapons and ammunition provided by the guard division, the combat effectiveness of the Ninth Army has increased significantly. In the past few days, the occupation of Zheng'an, the capture of Tongzi, and the attack on Tucheng are proof. Think about it.
When the Ninth Army Corps was first established, there were hordes of new soldiers and insufficient weapons. Luo Binghui became so heroic that he used the Sichuan Army to evaluate the combat effectiveness of our Ninth Army Corps after its rest in Zunyi.
Thinking of the day when he and Liu Yimin were drinking together, the boy said that he hated fighting a war of attrition the most in his life. Then he thought about the tactical thinking that Chairman Mao had always advocated. Luo Binghui decided that this ambush was just an ambush, because the Sichuan army was approaching and the battle would last for a long time.
It was not good for me. Only by limiting the scale of the battle to the ambush range and running away with one strike could we avoid being entangled by the Sichuan army. Therefore, the 28th Regiment was ordered to be on guard in the direction of Xishui. The remaining five regiments all occupied the ambush positions, concentrated their forces and
Firepower was used to catch the enemy by surprise. At the same time, the troops were ordered not to pursue the enemy and to withdraw after the ambush.
After the troops laid an ambush, the two regiments of the Pan Zuo Brigade of the Sichuan Army and another independent battalion entered the ambush circle. Luo Binghui gave an order and the Red Army came down from the top. They fired mortars, light and heavy machine guns, and rifles at the same time, firmly pinning the two regiments of the Sichuan Army.
At the bottom of the valley, accept the baptism of bullets.
Compared with the Red Ninth Army in history, the Red Ninth Army at this time not only had much stronger troops, but also had much better weapons. It had a full range of mortars, light and heavy machine guns, sufficient ammunition, and the tactical literacy of the soldiers was also higher.
Many, especially the Hunan Army and Central Army prisoners recruited from the Guard Division, are well-trained veterans. After ideological transformation, their combat effectiveness is extremely strong. With this display of power, the gun will become more stable, accurate, and ruthless, and the bullets will chase.
With the Sichuan soldiers in sight, they beat the two regiments of Pan Zuo Brigade to the ground, causing heavy casualties.
The reason why the battle of Qinggangpo in history was so difficult was mainly due to three reasons: First, the enemy's situation was misjudged. Originally, the number of enemy troops detected was more than 6,000 in four regiments, but the result was more than 10,000 in six regiments.
, and the Red Army's troops were scattered, and the most elite army was not on the battlefield. The second was to underestimate the enemy. The Red Army thought that the Sichuan Army and the Guizhou Army were similar, and they were both ordinary and miscellaneous armies. They were defeated in one blow. They did not expect that the Sichuan Army would fight to the death, one hilltop after another.
The third was the leakage of secrets. According to the recollection of a staff officer of Guo Xuncui who participated in the battle after liberation, he picked up a Red Army propaganda leaflet on the road. The slogan printed on it was to eliminate Guo Xuncui's division. After reporting Guo Xuncui, it aroused Guo's vigilance.
Knowing that there were bad pockets in front of the Red Army waiting for him to exploit, he ordered the troops to slow down their marching speed, and instead of walking through the valley bottoms, they took over the mountain ridges and consolidated each hilltop after occupying it. As a result, the Red Army's ambush battle turned into a battle for position between the two sides.
However, Mao Zedong was a great strategist. When he saw something was wrong, he immediately decided to withdraw from the battle and cross the Chishui River to the west. In fact, fortunately, the Red Army withdrew early. If it delayed any longer or insisted on destroying Guo Xunchu's troops, the main force of the Sichuan Army behind would be
If we are to press forward, the fate of the Red Army will probably be much more difficult.
The current situation is different from history. First, the Ninth Army Corps did not have the idea of completely annihilating Guo Xunzhen's troops, so they would not be willing to fight and leave after taking advantage. Second, Guo Xuancheng did not receive any warning and did not know that the Red Army would set up an ambush here without any precautions.
Measures. Therefore, when Guo Xunchu led two brigades for reinforcements, the sound of gunfire stopped, and the valley was full of corpses and wounded soldiers of the Sichuan Army. Pan Zuo held a pistol and loudly cursed the Red Bandits and cowards. This is what they would do.
Don't run away from the sloppy ambush and sap stuff if you can, and fight me with a real gun and a real sword.
Guo Xunzhen said angrily: "Commander Pan, stop scolding, the Red Bandits have withdrawn, gather the troops quickly, are we still chasing the Red Bandits?"
When Pan Zuo heard this, he got angry and immediately jumped to his feet and yelled: "Son, open your eyes and look at me. More than half of my troops were killed or wounded. Why are you pursuing me? I'm sorry, you can't just stand and talk."
My back hurts, why did you just put it on your troops? It was all his mother’s blind command. He dared to let the troops pursue him even if he didn’t know the enemy’s situation. Isn’t this asking me to be shot?”
Guo Xunzhu had no choice. They were both brigade commanders. Who could do anything to whom? Besides, Guo Xunzhu knew in his heart that Liu Xiang and Pan Wenhua had long suspected that he sympathized with the Communist Party. The reason why he was allowed to lead the army in the battle was largely to test him.
Therefore, instead of arguing with Pan Zuo, he ordered his own brigade and the brigade of the Fifth Division to seize the hilltop to prevent the red bandits from trying to expand the victory, and let Pan Zuo gather his troops and follow up.
Seeing Guo Xunzhen leading his troops to occupy the hilltop, Pan Zuo fell to the ground. What kind of bloody battle was this? The red bandits were hiding on the top of the mountain, and they were at the bottom of the valley. They could only be beaten, and they didn't even fight back.
No chance!
When the troops gathered together, Pan Zuo burst into tears when he saw that one of the two regiment commanders was dead and the other was injured, and three of the seven battalion commanders were dead. The casualties of the soldiers were even more severe, and less than a third of them could even hold a gun to fight.
Fortunately, the turtle son named Guo sent reinforcements in time and the red bandits were not able to completely eat him. Otherwise, I am afraid today would be my memorial day.
Tired of crying and scolding, Pan Zuo sent a report directly to Pan Wenhua, reporting the ambush situation and asking the troops to withdraw to the rear to rest.
Pan Wenhua was shocked after receiving the report. He knew the combat effectiveness of Pan Zuo's brigade. He didn't know how it compared with the Central Army. He had never fought, but it was the absolute main brigade in the Sichuan Army. He didn't expect that it would suffer such a big blow when it came up.
deficit.
Pan Wenhua simply ordered Pan's brigade to withdraw to Chishui to rest and recuperate. When the battle came to an end, he would then withdraw to central Sichuan to replenish his troops.
After thinking that the Red Bandits were so cunning and had to be careful, Pan Wenhua ordered Guo Xunzhen to be cautious, slow down the pursuit speed, and increase the search intensity. If that didn't work, wait for the follow-up troops to come up before pursuing the pursuit again, so as not to fall into the Red Bandits' tricks again.
After sending the telegram to Guo Xunchu, Pan Wenhua was still uneasy and sent several more telegrams in succession, urging the troops to move forward quickly and join forces with Guo Xunchu's troops to attack Xishui.
The Ninth Red Army Corps, which had taken advantage, did not go far.
After the troops withdrew, they quickly advanced along the road towards Xishui County for about 20 miles. When they were approaching Guanjing Bay, an enemy reconnaissance plane flew in, and Luo Binghui had to order to disperse and hide.
At this time, Guo Tianmin proposed a bold plan: "Reoccupy Tucheng".
Guo Tianmin's reason was: Since the Sichuan Army from Chishui has arrived, and the Sichuan Army from south Sichuan on the other side of the river has also arrived, then the Sichuan Army and the Guizhou Army from the direction of Qijiang will definitely come towards Xishui. It is broad daylight, and the sky is full of enemy aircraft.
, there is an enemy force of unknown size in front, and the pursuers behind it. It is very dangerous for the troops to move like this. They can easily be discovered by the enemy and surrounded and attacked. It is better to find a place to hide and rest, and then jump out of the encirclement after dark. This place is Tucheng.
, the enemy just occupied it and then pursued our army eastward. It is estimated that Tucheng currently either has no defenders or only a small number of defenders. After our army reoccupies Tucheng, if the enemy's main force is not discovered, we will rest in Tucheng.
; If the enemy's main force discovers it, we can set up another ambush to prevent the enemy from knowing our strength, and then cross the Chishui River and go to southern Sichuan.
When Luo Binghui heard this, he realized that Guo Tianmin's judgment on the enemy's situation was the same as his own, but the idea of going to massacre the city was a bit unbelievable and he had to think about it carefully.
He Changgong said: "As the saying goes, it's dark under the lamp. This is the truth. I agree to reoccupy Tucheng. We will hide first and let the Sichuan army chasing us advance towards Xishui, and then return to Tucheng. As long as it gets dark, that's it.
We, the Red Army, have nothing to fear in this world."
Luo Binghui thought it made sense and decided to follow the plan.
As a result, the Ninth Red Army Corps left the road, turned around and headed south, hiding among the vast mountains.
Guo Xunqi led two brigades over the mountains and ridges, searching carefully and moving forward. After walking for two hours, he did not see a single figure of the Red Bandits, and the troops were exhausted. Guo Xunqi thought that if they advanced at this speed, they would be able to catch up in the Year of the Monkey.
As soon as the Red Bandits contacted the troops of the instructor division, the Liao Brigade, the Mu Brigade, the Jiang Brigade, and the Independent Brigade, together with the Third Division of the Guizhou Army and the Wan Regiment, came to Xishui in two directions. They were only a few dozen miles away from the county seat. Guo Xunqi arrived.
He thought that he must speed up and attack Xishui County together with several brigades of his instructor. So, he ordered to stop searching along the mountain top and advance along the road towards Xishui County.
The scouts responsible for monitoring the enemy's movements saw the large Sichuan army heading straight for Xishui County along the road, and hurriedly reported to the leaders. Luo Binghui immediately ordered the troops to return to Tucheng.
At this time, there was only one battalion of the Sichuan Army left in Tucheng. The officers and soldiers were all having fun and drinking in the "Six, Six, Five Leaders" area. Who could have imagined that the Red Army would go and return, obediently becoming prisoners.
The Ninth Red Army Corps arranged a warning and quietly rested in Tucheng.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Guo Xunzhen led his army to Xishui County. He found that everything in Xishui was normal. The red bandits had never been to the county. Guo Xunzhen was shocked. Where was the main force of the red bandits who occupied the city and ambush Pan Brigade?
By the time the instructor's brigades arrived, it was almost dark, and the brigade commanders were confused as to where the red bandits would escape.
Jiang Zaizhen, commander of the Third Division of the Guizhou Army, boldly speculated whether the Red Bandits would return to Zunyi.
Guo Xunchu, Liao Haitao and others could not make a clear judgment, so they had to report to Pan Wenhua: "Our army has occupied Xishui. Everything is normal in Xishui. The red bandits have not entered Xishui County. It is unknown where the main force of the red bandits is located. We will send troops tomorrow.
The troops are conducting reconnaissance in the direction of Zunyi."
Pan Wenhua also looked confused when he received the report. This red bandit was simply unbelievable. They had just ambushed Pan Brigade in Tucheng, and they obviously went to Xishui along the road. How come the troops lost track of them after chasing after them? That was tens of thousands.
Man, how can you say that you have disappeared without a trace? Could it be that the red bandits are repeating their old tricks and ambushing somewhere, preparing for another ambush?
Pan Wenhua was puzzled and had to ask Liu Xiang for instructions.
When Liu Xiang saw that Pan Brigade suffered heavy losses, he felt extremely distressed. Thinking more carefully, he found that this was definitely not the main force of the Red Bandits. If it were the main force of the Red Bandits, it would be impossible to let go of the two reinforcement brigades. This must be the Red Bandits.
The vanguard troops were sent to reconnoitre the road into Sichuan and left in one strike. The main force of the Red Bandits was definitely still in Zunyi.
After Liu Xiang's judgment was reported to Nanjing, it was recognized by Chiang Kai-shek. On the one hand, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Liu Xiang to increase troops to northern Guizhou, and on the other hand, he strictly ordered the Central Army to speed up its advance towards Zunyi.
Seeing that his judgment was consistent with that of the Chairman, Liu Xiang strictly ordered Pan Wenhua to urge the follow-up troops to catch up quickly, cooperate with Guo Xunchu and other troops, advance towards Tongzi and Suiyang, threaten Zunyi from the north, and attack Zunyi after the Central Army departments arrive.
, surrounded and annihilated the main force of the red bandits in one fell swoop.
At this time, the 3rd and 5th Army Corps and the Central Column of the Red Army had arrived at Renhuai after a day's march. They joined the troops directly under the 1st Army Corps and the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, preparing to secretly cross Chishui at night and rush to Gulin and Xuyong to rest and recuperate.
.Zunyi has long been an empty city.
The army gathered in the small town of Renhuai, which suddenly became lively. Fortunately, the First Army Corps had occupied Renhuai for a few days, and the military supply had been arranged, which basically guaranteed the army's food needs.
After dinner, Mao Zedong asked if there was any telegram from the Central Guard Division.
Liu Bocheng reported that the Guard Division entered Xuyong at 5:30 in the afternoon and is now resting in Xuyong. The First Army and the First Division left the Third Red Regiment to guard Gulin to meet the main force. The division leader led the First Red Regiment. The Second Red Regiment had just marched towards Xuyong.
Departure, it is expected to take over Xuyong at dawn. The guard division will leave a small force to guard Xuyong, and the main force will march towards Yibin at night.
Mao Zedong asked where the Ninth Army Corps was?
Liu Bocheng reported: "According to the report of the Ninth Army Corps, the Sichuan Army attacked Tucheng this morning. The Ninth Army Corps shelled a Sichuan enemy brigade rushing from southern Sichuan, and then blocked the enemy's leading troops west of Tucheng. After completing the blockade, they retreated to Tucheng
They ambushed the enemy at Qinggangpo, three kilometers to the east, and severely damaged a brigade of the Sichuan Army. They then moved into concealment and released the main force of the Sichuan Army to advance towards Xishui County. The Ninth Army Corps returned to reoccupy Tucheng, which is now resting."
Mao Zedong said with a smile: "Our Red Army is getting better and better at fighting. We fought three times in a short period of time this morning, and the results were good."
After thinking for a while, Mao Zedong turned to Zhou Enlai and Zhu De and asked: "Enlai, boss, what do you think of the Sichuan Army's actions?"
Zhou Enlai said: "Having just deciphered the telegrams from Liu Xiang and Pan Wenhua, Liu Xiang judged that the vanguard troops of our army preparing to enter Sichuan to explore the road had ambushed them, and strictly ordered the follow-up troops to speed up their actions, and cooperate with the six brigades that had occupied Xishui County to attack Tongzi.
, Suiyang advances to threaten Zunyi, and prepares to cooperate with the Central Army to attack Zunyi."
Mao Zedong said: "It seems that the Sichuan enemy knows nothing about our army's actions, and knows nothing about Zunyi. In this case, there is no need for the Ninth Army to stay in northern Guizhou, and they are ordered to secretly cross the Chishui River tonight.
, directly insert into Xuyong. However, we must take away all the prisoners. Don't cross the river in Tucheng. We must choose a remote place to cross the river so that the enemy cannot trace our troops."
Mr. Zhu said: "I agree. The later the enemy knows about our army's movements, the better. Not only the Ninth Army Corps must move secretly, but the main force must also move secretly. The First Army Corps should be ordered to lead the Second Division and the Third Division to set off immediately and join the First Division as soon as possible.
The rest of the troops also took action immediately to cross the Chishui River as planned. They must rush into Gulin County tomorrow morning. After resting, they will march to Xuyong tomorrow night. The guard division should be ordered to move forward quickly and no more troops should be left waiting for the main force.
, wasting time. After occupying Yibin, the guard division acted alone and no longer considered the issue of cooperation with the main force. The main force cannot hold back the guard division."
Mao Zedong nodded: "The Guard Division has opened the way for the main force to march into southern Sichuan, and the mission of cooperating with the main force has been completed. Now it is time for them to perform alone. Blindly cooperating with the main force will easily reveal their intentions and will not be able to function as a surprise force.
Enlai, Bocheng, let me see the telegram and send it as you just agreed."
Zhou Enlai: "I agree. We have made a good start and victory is in sight. Guys, get ready to go."
After receiving the telegram from the headquarters, Luo Binghui, He Changgong, and Guo Tianmin knew that the mission of the Ninth Army Corps in northern Guizhou had been completed, and the next step was to secretly march westward and rush to Xuyong to join the main force.
Guo Tianmin was a little regretful. He originally planned to wait until the Sichuan Army's follow-up troops passed by in the evening or tomorrow to conduct an ambush before leaving. Now it can't be done. He read the headquarters telegram for fear that setting up an ambush in Tucheng would arouse the Sichuan Army's suspicion of our army's movements.
, forget it, give them a break!
Luo Binghui ordered the troops to end their rest and recuperation. The 25th Regiment, along with the engineers, took the boats and immediately moved upstream to build a pontoon. The troops quietly left Tucheng in three batches and prepared to cross the river.
The 25th Regiment and the Engineer Company who accepted the mission immediately took action. After more than an hour of marching, they found a river crossing point and three ferries 10 miles away from Tucheng.
Fortunately, there are woods and bamboos everywhere on the hillside. The 26th Regiment was responsible for cutting down and carrying rafters and bamboos. The Engineer Company learned from the 5th Regiment’s method of building a pontoon bridge on the Wujiang River, pulled up two ropes, and fixed the ferry. The pontoon bridge was soon built.
More than 9,000 people from two divisions and six regiments of the Ninth Red Army escorted the prisoners, stepped across the pontoon bridge, and rushed along the mountain road toward Xuyong in the dark night.