In the spring of 1935, the 33rd Regiment of the 11th Division of the Red Fourth Army was ordered by its superiors to go to the area of Dagangshan, west of Jiangyou, Sichuan, to block the enemy, smash the "six-way siege" of the Sichuan warlord Liu Xiang, and cover the continuation of the long march of the main forces.
After the Thirty-third Regiment arrived at the designated area, the regimental commander Zhang Jihou commanded the whole regiment to fight with the enemy for more than a week, although it did not let the enemy take the position, but also paid a considerable casualty price.
At dawn, the enemy launched another massive attack, and the offensive was fiercer than any previous attack.
Seeing that the peripheral positions were lost one after another, and the situation was extremely critical, Zhang Jihou was so anxious that he could only prepare for the worst -- he took the lead in rushing out and fighting until the last moment.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Jihou was about to take a step to rush towards the enemy group, but he was pulled by a person behind him and said, "Commander, the battle cannot be fought like this!" ”
"What do you mean?" Zhang Jihou took a look at him, and the person who pulled him was Xiao Yongyin, a 17-year-old trumpet commander (in charge of managing the trumpet soldiers).
"Leave the troops to me!" I'll direct the battle and make sure to fight the enemy down!" It seems that he wants to "rob" the regimental commander of the command.
"You're in command?" Xiao Yongyin's words made Zhang Jihou stunned, "Blowing the trumpet to blow the enemy away? ”
"Colonel, you let me fight!" Fight badly, military law engaged, I myself to see! Although Xiao Yongyin had only worked as a messenger and trumpet soldier before, and had never had the experience of commanding operations, at this time he was obviously strong and insisted on becoming a commander.
At this time, the enemy was getting closer and closer, and there was no time to think about it too much, so Zhang Jihou had no choice but to say, "Then give you two companies, and you will command!" ”
"Yes!"
Xiao Yongyin said and immediately led the two companies assigned to him by Zhang Jihou to counterattack the enemy.
It is undeniable that Zhang Jihou did not stick to the old standards, but dared to break the routine and fully authorized Xiao Yongyin, who dared to fight and dare to take responsibility, at a critical moment of battle, which is also very worthy of affirmation.
The reason why Zhang Jihou dared to do this may be due to two factors:
First, he usually has a deep understanding of Xiao Yongyin's personality and fighting style, and believes that Xiao Yongyin will not disappoint him.
Second, Zhang Jihou is well versed in the principle of "the two armies are victorious against the brave" and understands that our army is at a serious disadvantage, and at this time, it is particularly necessary for the brave soldiers who are not afraid of sacrifice to stand up and set an example for the commanders and fighters of the whole regiment, so as to help the troops get out of the predicament.
From this point of view, Xiao Yongyin, a small soldier who "grabbed" the command, was undoubtedly very lucky to have such a superior, at least his initiative to ask for help received a positive response, and he got the opportunity to "break through the cocoon and become a butterfly" by trying his hand for the first time.
So the question is, after Xiao Yongyin got the command of the two companies, could he seize this excellent growth opportunity?
Incredibly, Xiao Yongyin, the temporary commander, led those two companies to become a strange soldier in this battle, turning the tide of the battle in one fell swoop!
Is Xiao Yongyin really a military genius born for fighting? Of course, we can't put such a high hat on him, after all, anyone from "trainee commander" to "excellent commander" will have to go a long way, and it is impossible to achieve it overnight, otherwise it will violate the basic law of the development of things.
From a rational point of view, a more reliable explanation is that after continuous and bitter battles in the Red Thirty-third Regiment, the morale of the whole regiment has been relatively low, and the tactics of warfare have been basically understood by the enemy.
And when Xiao Yongyin asked for orders in danger and led the cadres and fighters of the two companies to rush to the enemy group from the position in a roar, both the enemy and us were greatly psychologically shocked.
From the perspective of the Red Army, the momentum of Xiao Yongyin, a small soldier, who bravely shouldered a heavy burden and sacrificed himself and others, was tantamount to giving a shot of strength to the Red Army soldiers in adversity -- even a 17-year-old commander is so heroic, what reason do we have to retreat!
Encouraged by this spirit, the commanders and fighters of the whole regiment fought bravely and scrambled one by one to take the lead, and at once threw the hunger and fatigue of the past few days out of the cloud of nine clouds, took up their weapons, and rushed to the enemy position with slogans shouted under the leadership of Xiao Yongyin.
From the enemy's point of view, the Red Army had been taking a defensive position before, but now Xiao Yongyin and two companies of fighters counterattacked and took the initiative to jump out of the trenches to counterattack the enemy, and the spirit of the entire unit suddenly changed, making the enemy unprepared, and thought that the Reinforcements of the Red Army had suddenly killed.
The great reversal of the battlefield was staged--Xiao Yongyin saw that the enemy could not advance, and led the soldiers to rush more fiercely and fight more resolutely. Zhang Jihou saw that the opportunity could not be missed, and also led other companies to press up in one fell swoop, and even beat the enemy into the wilderness and fled.
Xiao Yongyin became more and more courageous as he fought, but while pursuing an enemy officer, he was hit by a bullet that pierced a hole in his left lung.
The soldiers immediately carried Xiao Yongyin down to the rescue, and he was in a coma for three days and three nights, and finally woke up.
The troops were about to continue to advance, but according to the regulations at that time, the seriously wounded below the regimental level cadres had to stay in the local area for treatment and could no longer participate in the Long March.
However, Zhang Jihou had already realized that Xiao Yongyin's talent was rare and was unwilling to leave him behind, and after asking the military commander Xu Shiyou for approval, he made a case for Xiao Yongyin and arranged for the soldiers to carry him on a stretcher to complete the Long March.
Xiao Yongyin, who became famous in World War I, gradually grew into an excellent commander in the history of our army, and together with Zhang Jihou became the founding major general in 1955.