In the history of the Red Army, "Wang Taiji" is a little-known name.
Many people are unfamiliar with him because he was killed by the Kuomintang in 1934, at the age of 28, which can be said to have died young.
However, Wang Taiji was also a pivotal figure in the history of the Northwest Red Army, his rank was once higher than that of the military master Liu Zhidan, and the founding father Gao Gang was once his partner.
In August 1933, after Wang Taiji, Gao Gang, and Liu Zhidan led their troops to conquer heshui County, Gansu, Because they did a lot of things that were very gratifying, Wang Taiji was called the "god general" of the Red Army by the local people.
Although this nickname is obviously exaggerated, it is an indisputable fact that Wang Taiji has outstanding military command skills.
This is not difficult to see from the following examples.
In the autumn of 1933, because the Red Army guerrillas led by Wang Taiji continued to win victories in the struggle against the enemy, the Kuomintang reactionaries in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces were restless, and in addition to ordering Shaanxi to dispatch troops to "encircle and suppress," the Kuomintang troops in Gansu also wantonly searched and intercepted this Red Army.
In late October, the commander-in-chief Wang Taiji and the chief of staff Liu Zhidan led the troops from Heshui County to Qingyang Sanlipu, staying overnight in a small mountain village called Maojiagou Gate.
The next morning, the originally quiet small mountain village suddenly sounded several gunshots, Wang Taiji knew that it was the sentry calling the police, and immediately walked out of the house.
Through the glimmer of the morning light, Wang Taiji found that the enemy was coming from the south of the village, and there was only one river between him and the Red Army, and the situation was very critical!
Wang Taiji was unfazed, and immediately asked Liu Zhidan to gather a large army to retreat to the mountain to the north, while he himself led three battalions to quickly set up a position on the riverside and occupy favorable terrain to block the enemy to the south.
When Zhao Wenzhi received the information, he wanted to hit the Red Army by surprise, but he did not expect that as soon as they appeared, they exposed the target, but instead they were confronted by the Red Army, and immediately retreated to the ditch in a daze.
Wang Taiji made a decisive attack, buying time for the large army led by Liu Zhidan, allowing them to retreat quickly.
Seeing that the large troops had been successfully transferred, Wang Taiji immediately led three battalions out of the blocking point and prepared to go north to catch up with the large troops.
Fortunately, Wang Taiji did not rush out, but first used the telescope to inspect the situation in the north, and there was really a situation -- the enemy Tan Shilin's cavalry battalion was speeding forward!
Obviously, Zhao Wenzhi and Tan Shilin had already planned to go south and the other to the north, with the purpose of carrying out a two-sided attack on the Red Army.
And Wang Taiji and the three battalions were blocked on a hillside, and they had fallen into a desperate situation of being attacked from the stomach and back!
He knew very well that if he miscommanded, he would make himself and the three battalions all live targets of the enemy.
At this critical juncture, Wang Taiji immediately made a decision and ordered the three battalions to stop retreating to the top of the slope and organize their weapons and ammunition to prepare for a counterattack.
The commanders and fighters of the three battalions, who were originally a little flustered, saw that the commander-in-chief was so calm and confident, and they also calmed down one after another, turned around and lay down on the ground.
When Zhao Wenzhi saw that the reinforcements had arrived, he immediately laughed triumphantly. His soldiers were also very arrogant, and seeing that there were not many Red Army soldiers, they did not shoot, but they shook their heads and slowly advanced forward with a small song.
Wang Taiji calmly said to the commanders and fighters of the three battalions: "Comrades, we have no way to retreat, we can only fight with all our might!" Now the enemy is so arrogant that they anticipate that we will be defeated and can only surrender. This is just a good opportunity for us to break out of the siege, and when they are paralyzed, they will definitely be able to defeat them by coming to a counter-charge! ”
The generals said one after another: "The commander-in-chief is right, the more he does not take us seriously, the more he wants to defeat them!" ”
Wang Taiji understood that the enemy's cavalry was about to arrive and must attack as soon as possible, so he categorically ordered: "Fight! ”
The charge horn sounded suddenly, and Wang Taiji jumped up with all his might, charging at the enemy while throwing the grenade.
The commanders and fighters of the three battalions also followed close behind, jumping up from the hillside with a roar of anger and rushing forward to the enemy group condescendingly!
This sudden counter-charge instantly disrupted the enemy's formation, and they did not expect that the Red Army would not only not flinch, but would desperately rush forward to kill.
At this time, in the eyes of the enemy, those Red Army soldiers who roared angrily and rushed down from the slope, one by one, were like divine soldiers descending from the sky, and they could not be stopped at all!
Wang Taiji, who was rushing to the front, saw Zhao Wenzhi hiding behind the tree turn his head to run, raised his hand and shot at Zhao Wenzhi's shoulder, causing him to howl like a slaughtered pig in pain.
When the enemy soldiers heard this scream, they were even more frightened and immediately scattered and fled.
Ironically, Tan Shilin's cavalry battalion had already been defeated by Zhao Wenzhi's regiment to the south, and he hurriedly turned his horse's head and fled back from the same road.
Our army, which was originally in a desperate situation, actually relied on this decisive counter-charge alone to turn the tide of the war and turn defeat into victory in an instant!
It was unbelievable, but it just happened without warning.
In the end, the commanders and fighters of the three battalions not only escaped from danger safely, but also achieved the results of annihilating more than 200 enemy soldiers and surrendering hundreds of guns.
Although the scale of this battle was not large, it staged a rare major reversal in the history of our army, and also made Wang Taiji, the "divine general" of the Red Army, even more famous.
Afterwards, when Wang Taiji reviewed the battle with Liu Zhidan, he said with some fear:
This battle is so thrilling! As long as Tan Shilin's cavalry battalion swooped down from the north slope, the consequences were really unimaginable.
”
Liu Zhidan nodded his head in admiration and sighed: "The narrow road meets the brave to win, and this battle fully shows that the factors that determine the victory or defeat of the battle between the two armies are by no means the number of troops and the superiority or inferiority of weapons, but the key lies in the decisiveness of the commanders and the fighting spirit and confidence of all the soldiers!" ”