War is the main theme of modern China, and these bitter battles have stained the lives of countless soldiers. Where there is war, there is killing, and war is a cruel theme in human history. The Battle of xiangjiang has buried countless lives, but how tragic the battle of the Xiangjiang river is, I believe many people do not know much.
During the civil war, the Battle of the Xiangjiang River was a nightmare for countless people, and even the local people recalled the battle as miserable. There is also a local saying that "I will not drink the water of the Xiangjiang River for three years, and I will not eat the fish of the Xiangjiang River for ten years", and the Xiangjiang River has been dyed with the blood of the soldiers because of the fierceness of the battle.
Background to the war
In October 1934, because Bogu and others made a "left-leaning" mistake in their decision-making, it led to the failure of the Fifth Anti-Encirclement and Suppression campaign of the Red Army. Old Chiang Kai-shek will not give up such a huge advantage and lead the army step by step to approach the remaining places of our party. Our Party had no choice but to leave Ruijin, the capital of the Soviet Republic, and began the long March.
Old Chiang Kai-shek already understood that after the Red Army's decision-making mistakes, the Red Army would definitely carry out a strategic shift, and sent 16 divisions of troops to pursue the Red Army in an attempt to wipe out all of our Party's troops. During the pursuit of the Red Army, Chiang Kai-shek carried out three strategic blockades, but all of them were successfully crushed by our army.
By November 1934, the Red Army was forced to withdraw to the Xiang River. Old Chiang Kai-shek carefully observed the terrain, so he decided to make full use of the xiangjiang river's easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack terrain and powerful military strength to round up and kill our party's Red Army, which had come from the wind and dust, and old Chiang even decided to use the military combat methods of "iron triangle" and "pocket array" so that our army would be annihilated in one fell swoop and there would be no return.
New Dragon Blocking Battle
In the face of such a fierce offensive by Old Chiang Kai-shek, the top level of our Party also made a quick decision to let the main force of the Red Army leave first, leaving a part of the army for cover. This decision could provide the red army's main force with great vitality and survival rate, but it also meant that the army that stayed behind to cover would die nine times, and it could even be said that it was inevitable.
In this blockade battle to cover the escape of the main forces, it is necessary to mention the new blockade battle. The Red Fifth Division of the Third Red Army voluntarily stayed behind to resist the Japanese, and their goal was clear, that is, to buy enough time for the main force of our army. However, at that time, the rifles used by our army were not only poorly equipped and insufficient ammunition reserves, but also stuck shells from time to time, and the enemy used the latest machine guns to sweep, which brought serious challenges to the resistance of our army.
The cover corps in the New Dragon Blockade Battle bought a total of three days for the transfer of the main force of our army, and after three days, it is not an exaggeration to say that the enemy stepped over their bones. According to the recollections of the common people at that time, the battlefield at that time was full of densely packed soldiers who sacrificed their lives, and they could not be buried, and finally they were pushed into the trenches and buried. According to later statistics, the number of Red Army soldiers killed in this battle alone was as high as 10,000.
The brutal Battle of the Xiang River
The purpose of the Xinjiu Blockade War was to cover the withdrawal of large troops, but how could Old Chiang kai-shek let our party troops withdraw safely. The old Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of the natural topographical conditions in the Xianggui region long ago, coupled with the rational stationing of the army, to form a "pocket array," which made it more difficult for our party's army to break through.
Not only that, Lao Jiang also dispatched the most advanced American equipment at that time. Not only were machine guns fired wildly on the only road of our party's army, but there were also fighter planes hovering in the air and carrying out repeated bombing. However, our party's army only has the old millet plus rifle, which has a low range and small power, but even with such rudimentary equipment, our party's army cannot be fully equipped, and even some soldiers still carry large knives to the battlefield, and the equipment gap can be seen.
In this Battle of the XiangJiang River, there were not only contradictions between the enemy and us, but also internal contradictions among our top brass were also very acute. Wang Ming, Bogu, and others insisted on fleeing, and despite the command of the situation, they also inflicted heavy losses on our army. It should be known that the culprit of the Red Army's Long March was triggered by the "left-leaning" thinking of Wang Ming, Bogu and others.
With the dual contradictions between the outside and the interior, coupled with the stable terrain in the Xiangjiang area that is difficult to break through, our army suffered heavy losses, and even the blood water sacrificed by the soldiers flowed into the Xiangjiang River, making the water of the Xiangjiang River turn from green to red, and the water of the Xiangjiang River changed so drastically in a few days, that the local people also felt very frightened, and even circulated in the local area: "Do not drink the water of the Xiangjiang River for three years, and do not eat the fish of the Xiangjiang River for ten years", which shows the cruel battle at that time.
A new dawn of the Chinese revolution
After the Battle of the Xiangjiang River, the red army contingent of our party changed from 86,000 to 30,000, which can be said to be the biggest loss in the process of strategic transfer of the Red Army. Such a bitter war also gave the Communists who were groping at that time a bitter lesson. Finally, after this campaign, the top brass of our Party drew experience and lessons and seriously analyzed the current situation at that time.
In this context, the Zunyi Conference came into being. Proceeding from its own current situation and conforming to the choice of history, the Zunyi Conference established the general command of the Chinese political power headed by the great man, and opened a new chapter in the history of our Party and China. The bitter lessons of the Xiangjiang Campaign have enabled our party's army to readjust in a timely manner and stop losses in a timely manner, which also embodies our party's tenacious vitality and great historical choice.
brief summary
The bitter lessons of the Xiangjiang Campaign have become a lingering nightmare in modern history, in which our Party lost the lives of more than 50,000 Red Army soldiers. The cruelty of the war forced us to think about it, and our party advanced with the times, adjusted its direction in a timely manner, put an end to the erroneous leadership of Wang Ming, Bogu, and others, and ushered in the first people's power under the leadership of great men.
The Xiangjiang Campaign changed the mindset inherent in the senior leadership of our party, and at the same time it is also a concrete embodiment of the transition of our party's political power from naivety to maturity. I will not drink the water of the Xiang River for three years, and I will not eat the fish of the Xiang River for ten years. In fact, the most suffering in this battle is the ordinary people, and the unarmed people in the war are the biggest victims of the war.
We should thank history and the people for choosing our Party's political power, and at the same time we should not forget the more than fifty thousand Soldiers of the Red Army who died in this campaign, and we should not forget all the tens of thousands of compatriots who died in the war. Now that we are far away from the war-torn era, we should not and will not forget the extraordinary dedication of the soldiers who shouted in that era, and now we must remember them even more.