Jinsha river
In 1933, before the Kuomintang army launched the fifth "encirclement and suppression" against the central Soviet region, Chiang Kai-shek set up an officer training regiment in Lushan to train officers above the platoon level who participated in the "suppression of bandits" operation. He personally gave lectures and gave some instructions on the issue of initiative on the battlefield, saying:
"As soldiers, we must make meritorious contributions and win battles, so we must always remember the word 'initiative' when necessary. If you fall into a passive position, you will fail! The so-called initiative is to make the enemy and bandits follow our plan. More specifically, we have a plan to manipulate the bandits. We want bandits to go to the east, and the bandits can't go to the east; If the bandits want to go to the west, the bandits cannot go to the west; If the bandits are to attack, the bandits must not retreat; If the bandits were to retreat, the bandits were not allowed to attack. And all our own actions come and go freely, vertically and horizontally. Only in this way can we win the battle and completely wipe out the bandits in the shortest possible time! ”
Mao Zedong also had his own understanding of initiative, and it was more sophisticated than Chiang Kai-shek's, not only interpreting the meaning of initiative in war, but also elevating it to the level of philosophy and making a brilliant definition. He said:
"The superiority or inferiority of war forces is certainly the objective basis for determining whether to be active or passive, but it is not yet a reality of initiative or passivity. It is only after struggle and competition of subjective ability that there is de facto initiative or passivity. In the struggle, due to the correctness or error of subjective guidance, it is possible to turn disadvantages into advantages and passivity into initiative; It is also possible to turn advantages into disadvantages and turn initiative into passivity. ”
Map of the Red Army's march to Yunnan to cross the Jinsha River (April 8 ~ May 9, 1935)
Chiang Kai-shek's initiative was imposed on the other side by his own plan, while Mao Zedong's initiative was the result of "struggle and competition of subjective ability," and it was won by relying on the excellent command ability to turn passivity into initiative and disadvantage into superiority in battlefield battles. Therefore, although Chiang Kai-shek once occupied a certain degree of initiative on the battlefield after launching the fifth "encirclement and suppression", and forced the Red Army step by step onto the road of the Long March, he once fell into a desperate situation for the Red Army. However, when Mao Zedong returned to command of the Red Army, the initiative on the battlefield that he had already held suddenly disappeared completely, and his lofty arguments about the initiative became a wonderful irony for his own battlefield command. It was not that he wanted the Red Army to go east and west to the west, but Mao Zedong led him by the nose and asked him to go west and east if he wanted him to go east. The Kuomintang army has completely lost the initiative on the battlefield.
However, Chiang Kai-shek did not want to throw in the towel. He argues:
"Now the remnants of the bandits in Guizhou are basically surrounded by our big and small surrounding; In addition, the mountains and rivers in Guizhou are dangerous, and he can't escape even if he wants to, and in fact he has become a 'poor man' in the so-called 'encirclement' and 'dead land' in the art of war. ”
Therefore, he quickly adjusted his deployment and began to launch a new "pursuit" operation against the Red Army.
Although the Red Army temporarily jumped out of the encirclement and interception of the Kuomintang army of several hundred thousand troops, the situation was still tense, and the slightest mistake in action would lead to a heavy encirclement. Moreover, the transfer of the Yunnan Army was only the realization of the first step in the plan to go north, and there was still a natural danger in front of the Red Army - the Jinsha River. Only by crossing the Jinsha River can we completely get rid of the pursuit and blockage of the Kuomintang army and truly occupy the strategic initiative.
As a result, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, the Red Army and the Kuomintang army, launched a new round of thrilling contest to seize the initiative on the battlefield in the lofty mountains and mountains of Guizhou and Yunnan.
01
Wave into Yunnan
After receiving the report of the Red Army's westward advance into Yunnan, Chiang Kai-shek convened a meeting of the senior generals of his "pursuit and suppression" army on 10 April, and decided on a new strategy of "pursuing and suppressing without resting." He explains:
"Now the remnants of the bandits in Guizhou are hungry and exhausted, panicking, desperately trying to escape from the encirclement and find a place to rest, so they desperately flee. If our army can closely follow the encirclement and suppression, so that he cannot breathe a little, he will be sick, dead, outdated, and scattered along the way, and his strength will be lost day by day, and at last the whole thing will be completely collapsed. On the other hand, if we can't chase after him and encircle him, he can stay in one place for a few more days, or even entrench himself, then he can coerce the people, collect food, and expand his strength. Closely pursuing encirclement and suppression is the easiest and most effective strategy for us to achieve. ”
He ordered the two columns of Zhou Hunyuan and Wu Qiwei and the 53rd Division to turn around and move westward, and carry out a parallel pursuit on the right side of the Red Army along the Guizhou-Yunnan Highway; ordered the Sundu column to follow and pursue behind the Red Army; Xue Yue was ordered to regain command of the "pursuit and suppression" army, and led all units to carry out the "pursuit and suppression" operation. At the same time, the Yunnan warlord Long Yun was ordered to deploy troops in the Yunnan-Guizhou border area to block the Red Army.
The slogan of the Red Army in Yunnan
However, despite Chiang Kai-shek's desperate efforts to cheer up his subordinates, his "pursuit" troops were exhausted. After several months of running on the mountain roads of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou, the Kuomintang troops were exhausted and greatly attritional. The officers and men were disgruntled, their morale was low, and they were not willing to work for Chiang Kai-shek at all. As a result, the "pursuit and suppression" movement was slow and could not keep up with the pace of the Red Army's westward advance.
While Chiang Kai-shek was readjusting his deployment, the Red Army was crossing Guizhou and advancing into Yunnan. Since the main forces of the Kuomintang army were all transferred to the Qiandong area, the Red Army, which was advancing westward, was advancing on two routes, and it was progressing smoothly. On April 18, the main force of the Red Army crossed the Beipan River in the areas of Baili and Zheping. Subsequently, the North Road Lianke Guangshun, Zhenfeng, Longchang, Xingren and other places; The south road captured Dingfan, Changzhai, Chaiyun, Anlong, and Xingyi, and approached the border of Yunnan and Guizhou. The Red 9th Army Corps, stranded north of the Wujiang River, also entered the Shuicheng area in western Qianxi, echoing the main force of the Red Army from north to south.
The Red Army approached Yunnan, and Long Yun, known as the "King of Yunnan," was very anxious and hurriedly convened senior military and political officials to discuss countermeasures. At this time, Long Yun was not only afraid that the Red Army would take root in Yunnan, but also afraid that Chiang Kai-shek would drive the Central Army into Yunnan in the name of "pursuit and suppression", just like dealing with Wang Jialie in Guizhou, and pacify his Long regime. Therefore, he determined the basic policy of going all out to intercept the Red Army outside Yunnan, and determined that if the Red Army could not be stopped, it would be necessary to do everything possible to make the Red Army pass through the border areas of Yunnan only and turn to the neighboring provinces as soon as possible, so as not to allow the Red Army to enter the hinterland of Yunnan. Accordingly, on the one hand, Long Yun ordered the Yunnan army to "disregard the heavy sacrifices and strive to kill the enemy in order to achieve the effect of a flanking attack," and decided to set up a Kunming City Defense Headquarters to strengthen the defense in depth, and on the other hand, he secretly telegraphed Sun Du: In case the Red Army enters Yunnan, "it is essential to try to surpass the front day and night and block its penetration," and urgently dispatched the elite Li Xiang Independent Regiment and other units to Pingyi County (now Fuyuan County) to deploy defenses and block the Red Army.
Monument to the Red Army in Zhanyi County, Yunnan
When Long Yun dispatched troops, the "pursuit" army troops sent by Chiang Kai-shek also pressed on the Red Army. Xue Yue led the former enemy's headquarters into Guanling, summed up the lessons of repeated failures in "pursuit and suppression" in Guizhou, and decided that in dealing with the Red Army, "pursuit" would be futile, and blocking the side was the best policy, so he ordered the two divisions of Zhou Hunyuan's column to advance to Xingren, the main force of Wu Qiwei's column to the south of Puding and Anshun, the Sundu column to advance to Guanyin, and the 53rd Division to assemble in Zhenning in an attempt to intercept the Red Army in the Pingba, Anshun, Puding, and Zhenning areas.
However, for the Red Army commanded by Mao Zedong, the Kuomintang army pursued it in vain, and the blockade was even more ineffective, because Mao Zedong's war command has always avoided reality and made up for nothing, and will never break into the pockets set by the opponent. So blocking was just Xue Yue's wishful thinking, because Mao Zedong had no intention of going north at this time.
The Kuomintang army was approaching, and Mao Zedong originally planned to set up pockets on the Xing (Ren) Pan (County) Road to eliminate the 13th Division of Zhou Hunyuan's Division, but due to the unfavorable terrain, this plan was quickly abandoned. On April 23, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission issued an order to march westward into Yunnan, with the Red 3rd Army Corps advancing to Pingyi (now Fuyuan) and Zhanyi as the right column, the Red 1st Army Corps advancing to Qujing through Pingyi as the left column, and the Red 5th Army Corps and the Military Commission Column as the central column advancing in the direction of Yijiying.
On the 24th, the Central Red Army entered Yunnan. On the 25th, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission instructed that "the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Army Corps must take advantage of the opportunity of a few days before the main force of the Chiang enemy is approaching the northeast of Yunnan, and most of the Yunnan enemy is far away from us, to first destroy the vanguard of the Yunnan enemy (its four stronger regiments) in the Baishui, Qujing, and Zhanyi areas." The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China also pointed out in its instructions to the leaders of the regiments:
"The near future will be an urgent juncture for our field army to fight a decisive battle with the enemy and strive for victory to change the tide of the war.
The first battle into Yunnan was fought in Bailong Mountain. After the 2nd Regiment of the 2nd Avant-garde Red Division entered the territory of Yunnan, it crossed the Tuanze River and, on the way to the Yangjiao Camp in Pingyi County, encountered the Li Xiang Independent Regiment of the Yunnan Army, which was ordered to defend the border, at Bailong Mountain at an altitude of more than 1,800 meters. The Dian army was one step ahead and occupied the commanding heights of the main peak and its vicinity, blocking the road. Under the command of regiment commander Liu Ruilong and political commissar Deng Hua, the Red 2nd Regiment launched a fierce attack without pause during the march, and the Yunnan army had not yet come to its senses, and the forward position Yangmeikeng had been lost. The Red 2nd Regiment continued to attack fiercely, and the soldiers shouted the slogan of "capture Li Xiang alive and open the passage into Yunnan", and under the cover of night, the frontal feint combined with the flank detour, and soon seized the mountain beams on both sides of the main peak and approached the main peak. The Dian Army, which had never fought with the Red Army, really understood the power of the Red Army at this moment, and in the darkness only felt that the Red Army was all over the mountains, and panicked. Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Xiang hurriedly ordered a retreat. The Red 2nd Regiment pursued and fought fiercely, chased 35 kilometers in one go, and captured the Dian army at Chexinkou near Nuogang Village in Pingyi County. At this time, it was already dawn, and Li Xiang saw that the Red Army was not many in number, so he reorganized his ranks and resisted stubbornly against all odds. The Red 2nd Regiment attacked head-on with a small number of troops, and the main force quickly circled behind the Dian army and suddenly launched an attack. The fierce battle lasted for more than two hours, killing more than 200 enemies and capturing hundreds of enemies.
The Red 2nd Regiment opened victoriously and opened the passage into Yunnan. The Red Army Brigade quickly followed up and marched into Yunnan along the predetermined route.
02
Soldiers are coming to Kunming
The main force of the Central Red Army entered Yunnan in a big way, and Chiang Kai-shek finally understood that Mao Zedong's purpose in transferring Sun Du out was to use Yunnan to conquer the west. He judged that the main force of the Red Army would most likely advance north from Pingyi, join up with the Red Ninth Army Corps, which was operating in the Shuicheng area of western Qianxi, and then cross the Jinsha River to the west or enter southern Sichuan via Bijie in the north. Therefore, Liandian Longyun and Xue Yue ordered Zhou Hunyuan's column, Wu Qiwei's column and the 53rd Division to advance north to Xuanwei and Weining, the Sun Du column of the Yunnan Army pursued the Red Army, the Guizhou Army deployed troops in the western Guizhou area to intercept it, and a division of the Sichuan Army gathered to maneuver in Bijie in an attempt to encircle and annihilate the Red Army in the Xuanwei and Weining areas.
Mao Zedong and the Central Revolutionary Military Commission will make a plan and order the Red 9th Army Corps to continue to act alone, developing from the Shuicheng area of Guizhou to the Xuanwei area in northeast Yunnan, attracting the main force of the Kuomintang army to "pursue" the army to the north; The main Red Army marched westward through Pingyi to Zhanyi, Qujing, and Ma Long, and smashed into Kunming, Longyun's old nest. Chiang Kai-shek's plan to encircle and annihilate the Red Army in the Xuanwei and Chengning areas fell through again.
At the same time, this is also a clever use of the trick of striking the east and the west and diverting the tiger from the mountain. Mao Zedong used a two-pronged approach, on the one hand, the Red 9th Army Corps to lead the main force of the Kuomintang army northward, and on the other hand, he wanted to make Long Yun and Chiang Kai-shek believe that the Red Army's goal was to capture Kunming, so he mobilized troops to help clear the way for the Red Army to cross the Jinsha River north. On April 27, the Red Army captured Malong, then Xundian and Songming, and the advance went straight to Kunming.
Long Yun was shocked. His elite division, the Sun Du Column, was transferred to Guizhou to rescue Chiang Kai-shek but did not return, and the independent regiment and other units with strong combat effectiveness deployed defenses to intercept the Red Army on the Guizhou-Yunnan border, and the hinterland of Yunnan was extremely empty, especially in Kunming. So, he urgently telegraphed Xue Yue for help, and ordered Sun Du's column to return to Kunming day and night. Chiang Kai-shek did not dare to slack off, and ordered Xue Yue and others to lead his troops to support Kunming.
The main force of the Kuomintang army returned to Kunming, and Mao Zedong's first goal of concentrating the enemy's attention on Kunming and ignoring the defense of the Jinsha River had been achieved. However, he was not satisfied, because if the towns on both sides of the road leading to the Jinsha River, especially in the areas along the Jinsha River, were entangled, it would affect the speed of the Red Army's advance and hinder the Red Army's rapid crossing of the river. So, Mao Zedong stabbed Long Yun in the chest again: he continued to advance with a part of his troops, creating a momentum for attacking Kunming, forcing Long Yun to mobilize troops in Yunnan to defend the city, and transfer troops along the Jinsha River to towns along the Jinsha River and along the Jinsha River.
The Red 4th Regiment and the Red 5th Regiment Camouflaged the main force, continued to advance, and advanced to Yanglin on April 29. It is only 50 kilometers away from Kunming, which is the eastern barrier of Kunming, and the Dian army has a military station here. The Red Army seized a large amount of supplies, opened warehouses to help the poor, and posted slogans such as "Go to Kunming and capture Long Yun alive" to create public opinion for an attack on Kunming. Subsequently, the Red Army continued to advance until it reached Dabanqiao, which was only fifteen kilometers from Kunming. Liu Zhong, chief of the reconnaissance section of the 1st Red Army, led the reconnaissance company of the 1st Red Division and the plainclothes reconnaissance team of the regiment to the outskirts of Kunming, shouted the slogan of "capture Longyun alive" and mobilized the masses to build ladders to climb the city. There was a panic in the city of Kunming, and the whole territory of Yunnan shook violently.
Long Yun was in a big mess, and while calling for help from Chiang Kai-shek, he urgently ordered the local troops to quickly assemble in Kunming, prepare to defend the city, and obediently follow Mao Zedong's intention to open the way for the Red Army to go north to the Jinsha River. The militia groups in various parts of Yunnan concentrated on Kunming to strengthen the defense of Kunming and its surroundings, and Chiang Kai-shek's "pursuit" army also galloped towards Kunming, further weakening the defense of the northern counties of Yunnan and the south bank of the Jinsha River.
Mao Zedong immediately seized the moment. On April 28, responsible persons of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission of the Central Revolution held a meeting to study the actions of the Red Army. Mao Zedong pointed out at the meeting:
The terrain conditions in Yunnan are not like those in Hunan and Guizhou, and there are good mountainous areas to be taken advantage of, and it is not suitable for the Red Army to engage in a major battle with the enemy in the Pingchuan area northeast of Kunming; it should take advantage of the emptiness of the enemy along the Jinsha River and the fact that the enemy troops in pursuit are still a few days away from our army, and quickly move north, rush across the Jinsha River, and seize the first opportunity.
On 29 April, the Central Military Commission of the Central Revolution immediately issued the "Instructions on Our Army's Speedy Crossing of the Jinsha River and the Establishment of a Soviet Zone in Western Sichuan," pointing out:
"As a result of the maneuvers over the past two months, our field army has obtained favorable conditions for moving westward, and the general pursuit of the enemy is already behind our flank, but the enemy has already concentrated more than 70 regiments of troops to pursue us, and it is no longer convenient for us to carry out a larger combat maneuver in the present area. On the other hand, there is emptiness on both sides of the Jinsha River, and the central authorities' decision in the past to transfer the field army to western Sichuan and establish a Soviet base area is now possible. ”
therefore
"Our field army should take advantage of the favorable opportunity of the present day to quickly cross the Jinsha River, move to western Sichuan, destroy the enemy, and establish a Soviet base area."
On April 30, the Red Army Military Commission column arrived at Dangui Village in Kedu, Xundian County, Yunnan Province, where the Central Revolutionary Military Commission held a meeting to deploy the operation of rushing across the Jinsha River, and determined: The main force of the Red Army was divided into three routes, with the Red 1st Army Corps as the left flank, and went west through Luquan, Wuding, and Yuanmou to take Longjiedu; The Red 3rd Army Corps was the right flank, and captured Hongmendu through Siliba and Malutang; The column of the Military Commission and the Red 5th Army Corps were the middle road, and seized the Kyaukpingdu between Longjiedu and Hongmendu through Shancang Street, Hailongtang and Shibanhe, of which the 5th Army Corps also carried out the task of covering behind the palace. At the meeting, Mao Zedong stressed: All units of the Red Army must take this step to seize the Longjiedu, Hongmendu, Kyaukpingdu, and other ferries on the Jinsha River before 3 May.
The former site of the Red Army Headquarters in Dangui Village, Kedu Town, Yunnan
The Red Army units set out from the Xundian and Songming areas and rushed to the Jinsha River like a whirlwind. On the way to Longjiedu, the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Red Division used the Kuomintang military uniforms and some weapons that could be matched with the Kuomintang captured when the Second Army took Zunyi, and disguised itself as the Kuomintang "Central Army" with three companies, outwitting the three cities of Luquan, Wuding, and Yuanmou in one day, and seized a large number of weapons and other materials, thus winning valuable time for reaching the Jinsha River as soon as possible.
Chiang Kai-shek finally understood the true purpose of the Red Army's entry into Yunnan, but the main force of his "pursuit" army had already been opened by the Red Army for three or four days, and the defenders on the south bank of the Jinsha River in Yunnan were basically transferred to the vicinity of Kunming, making it difficult to intercept the Red Army's northward advance. In desperation, Chiang Kai-shek could only pin all his hopes on the natural danger of the Jinsha River. He instructed all units of the "pursuit" army to turn around and pursue northward, and ordered the air force to conduct reconnaissance at the Jinsha River ferries every day, and strictly ordered Long Yun to supervise the counties along the Jinsha River, confiscate all ferries and river crossing materials, "clear the wilderness with strong walls," and block the ferries. At the same time, he ordered Liu Wenhui, commander of the 24th Army on the north bank of the Jinsha River and commander-in-chief of the Sichuan-Kang Frontier Defense, to strictly guard the crossings of the Jinsha River, resolutely not leaving a single boat or log to cross the river to the Red Army, in an attempt to take advantage of the natural dangers of the Jinsha River to block the Red Army's advance and force the Red Army to fight a decisive battle against the water.
03
Clever Kyaukpingdu
The Yangtze River in Xikang (now Sichuan) and Yunnan is called Jinsha River. The Jinsha River originates in Qinghai, rushes down, suddenly makes a sharp turn of more than 100 degrees from Batang to Shigu, turns around and goes north, forming the famous first bend of the Yangtze River. The rushing Jinsha River rushes into the Haba Snow Mountain and the Yulong Snow Mountain at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters, cutting out a grand canyon of more than 3,000 meters - Tiger Leaping Gorge. After the river crosses the canyon, it flows to the area of Yuanmou and Luquan in Yunnan, where the river surface gradually widens, and the water flow is slightly slower. Longjie Ferry, Hongmen Ferry and Kyaukpyeong Ferry are all important ferry crossings along the river, Sichuan and Yunnan. The climate here is hot, and it is said that Zhuge Liang "crossed Lu in May, deep into the barren" during the Three Kingdoms, which refers to this place.
After receiving a telegram from the Kuomintang Army's Sichuan-Kang Frontier Commander-in-Chief, Liu Wenhui deployed his 24th Army as two defensive lines, with the Jinsha River as the first line of defense and the Dadu River as the second line of defense. Liu Yuanzhang, commander-in-chief of the Chuankang Frontier Army, commanded 12 regiments to defend the Jinsha River, responsible for the first line of defense, and ensuring the security of the Xichang area. After receiving the order, Liu Yuanzhang decided that it was better to defend the city than to defend the river, and led three regiments with brigade commander Liu Yuanjiao and commanded the local militia regiment to be responsible for the defense of the Jinsha River, but put the main force in Huili, Xichang and other places, unwilling to fight to the death with the Red Army on the Jinsha River, and only wanted to be able to defend the city for a few more days, and when the central army's pursuers arrived and the Red Army left, it would be regarded as a handover.
Liu Yuanjiao, commander of the Chuankang Frontier Army, who was in charge of the defense of the Jinsha River, believed that there might be three routes for the Red Army to cross the river and advance northward: First, it would cross the river from Qiaojia and attack Xichang through Ningnan; the second is to cross the river from the direction of Jiang Shun to attack Huili; The third is to cross the river from the direction of Tong'an Prefecture and attack Huili. Of the three routes, he judged that the Red Army was most likely to take the first route, so he placed the main force in this direction, and another regiment to guard the direction of Jiang Shun. As for the direction of Tong'an, he believed that this was the road leading from Yunnan to Huili, and that the Red Army would not dare to take this road for covert operations, so he handed over the defense of this place to the Jiangfang Brigade to be responsible, and only sent one battalion to assist in the defense, and only one company was placed on the riverside.
When the Kuomintang army urgently deployed the Jinsha River defense, the Red Army had already reached the south bank of the Jinsha River. The Red 1st Regiment seized the Longjie ferry port and immediately began to look for boats, but none of them were found. The pontoon bridge was broken down just halfway through the erection because the river was too wide, the current was too fast, and the enemy planes were constantly bombing and harassing. At the same time, the 3rd Red Army Corps also seized the Hongmen Ferry, but because the current was too fast, the pontoon bridge was washed away, and only one regiment was crossed, and it was forced to stop the resumption of the crossing.
The activities of the Red Army at Longjiedu and Hongmendu were soon discovered by reconnaissance planes of the Kuomintang Air Force. After receiving the report, Xue Yue judged that the main force of the Red Army "must cross the river at Renhe in the north of Yongren, and the first part will cross the Jinsha River in the north of Yuanmou", so he ordered Ou Zhen's division to advance from Yuanmou to the Jinsha River, and arrived by the afternoon of the 7th; Liang Huasheng's division advanced from Yuanmou to Yongren, and arrived on the 8th; Wan Yaohuang's division quickly shifted from the area west of Tuanjie to the Yuanmou area. At the same time, the Air Force was ordered to take turns to monitor and bomb the ferry crossings to stop the Red Army from erecting pontoon bridges.
Red Army slogan at Dragon Street Ferry
The main forces of the Kuomintang army were all concentrated on both sides of the Longjiedu River. Xue Yue determined that the river in this area was turbulent, it was impossible to build bridges, the ferries were taken away, and the Xikang army was stationed on the north bank, so it was impossible for the Red Army to cross the river, and could only fight him in a decisive battle on the riverside near Yuanmou. Sun Du made a statement to reporters, saying that the Red Army would be "chased to the riverside to solve the problem." Chiang Kai-shek also instructed the troops to go all out and do their best, and specially awarded a reward of 10,000 yuan to the pilots who blew up the Red Army's pontoon bridge.
But the Red Army did not want a decisive battle with the Kuomintang army at Longjiedu at all. After the Red 1st Army Corps and the Red 3rd Army Corps failed to cross the river at Longjiedu and Hongmendu, Mao Zedong focused his attention on the Kyaukping Ferry, handed over the task of seizing the ferry to the cadres of the Central Military Commission, and determined that the cadre regiment would be commanded by Liu Bocheng, chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, and Li Kenong, director of the Executive Department of the State Security Bureau, would lead the working group to act with the team. Zhou Enlai personally explained the task to Chen Geng, head of the cadre regiment, and Song Renqiang, political commissar, and stressed that whether or not the capture of the ferry can succeed has a bearing on the safety of the whole army, and it must be successful.
On the evening of May 2, the cadre regiment, with the 2nd Battalion and 9 Companies as the vanguard, set out from Kedu, crossed the mountains and mountains, marched 100 kilometers in a day and night, and suddenly appeared at the Kyaukping Ferry on the bank of the Jinsha River at dusk on May 3, and quickly took control of the South Bank Ferry, seizing two wooden boats. Song Renqiang, the regimental political commissar who commanded the avant-garde company, immediately ordered the company commander Xiao Yingtang to lead the 1st and 2nd platoons to cross the river by boat, eliminate a company of the Kuomintang Chuankang Frontier Army and a section of the Jiangfang Brigade defending the enemy on the opposite bank, seize the commanding heights on the riverbank, and control the ferry. Liu Bocheng, who had already rushed to the ferry port on the south bank, immediately ordered the regiment commander Chen Geng to lead the 2nd battalion of the cadre regiment to cross the river, quickly develop in depth, and seize Tong'an Prefecture.
Monument to the crossing of the river by the Red Army in Kyaukpyeongdu
Located 20 kilometers north of Kyaukpyeongdu, Tong'an is a small mountain market town, but the terrain is dangerous, guarding the road to Huili. From Kyaukpyeong to Tong'an, the mountains and mountains are rugged along the way. At this moment, the Kuomintang army had learned the news that the Red Army had crossed the river, and a battalion of the Chuankang Frontier Army, which was in charge of the defense of the river, was blocking the attack along the way, and Liu Yuanjiao also hurriedly led two regiments of troops stationed in Huili and Xichang to rush to reinforce it, trying to control Tong'an Prefecture and prevent the Red Army from moving north.
Liu Bocheng commanded the place where the river was crossed, the general stone
After Chen Geng led his troops across the river, he soon encountered the Kuomintang army border defense battalion. The Kuomintang troops occupied dangerous points on the roads and held back the Red Army with boulders and firepower. The Red Army resolutely advanced, crossed the Zhongwu Mountain, broke through the blockade of the Kuomintang army, and penetrated straight into Anzhou. But Liu Yuanjiao's reinforcements arrived one step ahead of the Red Army and took control of Tong'an Prefecture. Chen Geng commanded the troops to launch an attack on the march and attack the town. After a fierce battle, the Red Army was weakened and was forced to withdraw from the town and confront the Kuomintang army.
Liu Bocheng had also crossed the river at this time, and after receiving the report, he ordered Song Renqiao to lead the main force of the cadres and regiments to Tong'an Prefecture for reinforcements, and asked the cadres and regiments to resolutely take Tong'an Prefecture at all sacrifices to ensure the smooth crossing of the river by the whole army. Chen Geng and Song Renqiang adjusted their deployment, with the 2nd Battalion making a frontal feint, and the 1st and 3rd Battalions detouring from the right flank to launch a fierce attack on Tong'an Prefecture. Liu Yuanjiao's border guards were attacked by the Red Army's successive attacks, and soon became a mess and retreated in the direction of Huili. The cadres and regiments pursued the victory and reached the city of Huili, which not only consolidated the safety of the Kyaukpyeong Ferry, but also created favorable conditions for the main force of the Red Army to move after crossing the river.
The former site of the Red Army's river-crossing headquarters
04
Cross the Jinsha River
The cadres and regiments skillfully captured Kyaukpingdu and occupied Tong'an Prefecture, opening the way for the main force of the Red Army to cross the river. The Red Army units that arrived one after another searched hard near the ferry and found five more wooden boats. Seven wooden boats, the big one can cross thirty people, and the small one can cross eleven people. Because the current was too fast to erect a pontoon bridge, more than 20,000 Red Army troops crossed the Jinsha River, relying on seven wooden boats to cross the river. To this end, the Central Military Commission of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Revolution set up a river crossing command, which was specially responsible for directing the work of crossing the river, and lit firewood on both sides of the river to cross the river day and night.
The names of the 37 boatmen who helped the Red Army cross the river
When all the troops arrived at the river, they all stopped and stood by, and only after receiving a notice could they move forward and board the ship according to the instructions. Each ship not only stipulates the number of passengers and baggage, but also indicates the order of seating. When boarding the ship, the personnel went up in a column, and each ship was assigned a captain who was responsible for maintaining order in the ship, from the commander to the ordinary soldiers, all obeyed the command of the river crossing headquarters and the captain. Due to careful planning and meticulous command, although there were many people and few boats, and the time was pressing, the Red Army crossed the river in an orderly and orderly manner, and it was not chaotic.
For the boatmen, the Red Army took care of them. On the first day of the crossing, there were only eighteen boatmen, which was later increased to thirty-seven. In addition to propagating revolutionary doctrines, the Red Army paid the boatmen preferential remuneration, five oceans a day, six meals with meat. The Red Army personnel who commanded the crossing of the river only had green beans for each meal. The boatmen had never been treated like this, and had never seen such an army, so they were full of love for the Red Army, and some of them joined the Red Army.
While the Red Army of the Middle Route crossed the river at Kyaukpingdu, the other two Red Army routes continued to be blocked at Longjiedu and Hongmendu. The Central Revolutionary Military Commission ordered the Red 1st Army Corps and the Red 3rd Army Corps to quickly rush to Kyaukpingdu. The troops of the 3rd Red Army Corps first reached Kyaukpyeongdo and immediately began to cross the river. After receiving the telegram on May 5, Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen immediately ordered their troops to set off and rush to Kyaukpingdu along the riverside path.
The boatman who once sent the Red Army to cross the Jinsha River
In the process of the main force of the Red Army crossing the river, Chiang Kai-shek also found out from the reconnaissance report of the air force that the Red Army's crossing point was the Kyaukpyeong Ferry. However, Xue Yue's main force had already advanced in the direction of Yuanmou, and only Wan Yaohuang's 13th Division was closest to Kyaukpingdu, so he ordered Wan Yaohuang to lead his troops to pursue with all his might, and at the same time ordered Zhou Hunyuan and Wu Qiwei's columns to quickly move closer to Wan Yaohuang's division. Wan Yaohuang's division had two brigades and six regiments, and although they were Chiang Kai-shek's descendants, Wan Yaohuang was not Chiang Kai-shek's cronies, and he did not want to pay for his survival in order to give Chiang Kai-shek his life, and his actions were slow. On May 3, Wan Yaohuang's division reached Tuanjie, continued to advance northward, and soon made contact with the Red 5th Army Corps covering behind the palace near Shibanhe Village, Luquan County, and started a fierce battle.
The Red 5th Army Corps held the favorable terrain, resisted step by step, and took advantage of the lone advance of Wan Yaohuang's division to launch a counterattack and defeat the vanguard of the division. As soon as Wan Yaohuang was counterattacked by the Red 5th Army Corps, he immediately withdrew the whole division to Tuanjie and held on, but sent a report to Chiang Kai-shek, falsely claiming that no trace of the Red Army had been found on the road ahead, and continued to send a report on the 6th, saying that after a day of reconnaissance, the Red Army was still not found in the front, and he was ready to turn to other directions to cooperate with friendly forces to "encircle and suppress" the Red Army, and then lead his troops to retreat. Chiang Kai-shek was furious after receiving the telegram, and sent a plane to Wan Yaohuang to drop a warrant to "arrive immediately" at the Jinsha River ferry, strictly ordering him to immediately attack in the direction of Kyaukpingdu, otherwise the military would be punished. Wan Yaohuang had to lead his troops back to Tuanjie again and attack in the direction of Shiban Village.
Wan Yaohuang's division lingered near Tuanjie for two days, which just gave the Red 3rd and Red 1st Corps time to move towards Kyaukpingdu. The 1st Red Army marched day and night, marching more than 120 miles, and finally arrived at Kyaukpyeong on the 7th. Mao Zedong, who had always been worried that the Red 1st Army would not be able to cross the river in time, breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen, and said:
"I'm relieved that you're here."
The crossing of the river by the troops of the Red 3rd and Red 1st Army Corps was carried out in an intense and orderly manner. On the one hand, Mao Zedong ordered the Red 3rd and Red 1st Army Corps to speed up the crossing of the river, and on the other hand, he sent Li Fuchun, deputy director of the General Political Department, to the Red 5th Army Corps, ordering it to resolutely block the enemy army and ensure that the main force of the Red Army crossed the river, and asked Li Fuchun to convey to all the officers and men of the Red 5th Army Corps:
"The Central Committee believes that the 5 Army Corps will be able to accomplish this great and arduous task."
The Red 5th Army was adapted from the troops of the Northwest Army of the Ningdu Uprising. After being tempered by the furnace of the Red Army, it has long become an iron army with a brave style and good at fighting. After the Long March, he often undertook the task of covering behind the palace and made many meritorious achievements. After receiving the order of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, Commander Dong Zhentang said on behalf of the officers and men of the whole regiment:
"The people are in the position, and they will resolutely complete the task."
On May 8, Long Yun and Xue Yue sent a joint telegram to Zhou Hunyuan, Wu Qiwei, and Sun Du, ordering the three columns to "press the bandits in the area of the Shiban River with all their might, and attack them halfway through." Chiang Kai-shek also personally cheered up the troops, took planes to supervise the troops' advance, and ordered the troops to assemble in regimental units at open places in the garrison wherever they went.
Under Chiang Kai-shek's strict orders, Wan Yaohuang began to increase his forces and attack the Red 5th Army with all his might. The Red 5th Army Corps calmly faced the battle, held its position, did not let the Kuomintang army take a step forward, and in the course of the battle, first sent all the wounded to the ferry to cross the river, and then, after completing the blocking task, alternately covered, withdrew from the position, rushed to Kyaukpingdu with a rapid march, and quickly organized a crossing of the river.
On May 9, the Red 5th Army Corps all crossed the river. The main force of more than 20,000 Red Army troops crossed the Jinsha River so far. The Red 9th Army, acting alone, marched westward from the Shuicheng area and captured Xuanwei on April 27, capturing a large amount of supplies. After completing the task of containing the enemy, he also crossed the Jinsha River in the Shujie and Yanjingping areas west of Dongchuan (now Huize), and deployed defenses along the west bank of the Jinsha River to cover the main movement of the Red Army.
Two days after the Red Army crossed the Jinsha River, Wan Yaohuang's 13th Division marched to the Kyaukping Ferry. Xue Yue's other troops pursued the river seven days after the Red Army crossed the river. At this moment, the ferry port was empty, and the main force of the Red Army had already finished resting in the Huili area and headed for Xichang. Xue Yue and the others had no choice but to look at Jiang and sigh.
After crossing the river, Huang Zhen and others wrote a live newspaper drama entitled "Broken Straw Shoes", which enthusiastically praised the glorious victory of the Red Army in crossing the Jinsha River skillfully, turning danger into safety, and turning danger into relief, and bitterly satirized the sad ending of the enemy pursuing thousands of miles and only picking up a few broken straw shoes of the Red Army. The Red 5th Regiment "Fierce Advance" troupe rehearsed this play and toured the troops. After watching the play, the Red officers and soldiers all laughed.
Wang Longyun of Yunnan was smoothly entered from Yunnan into Sichuan by the Red Army from under his nose, and he was both happy and afraid. The good news is that the Red Army never attacked Kunming, and the strength of the Dian Army did not suffer any losses; What he feared was that Chiang Kai-shek saw the crime and used the topic to play and weaken his power. So, on the night when the Red Army crossed the Jinsha River, he telegraphed to Chiang Kai-shek that the Red Army "has crossed the river without a doubt, and it will be like burning within five days of hearing the news...... There is no way to dispatch the actual job...... The only way to ask Jun Zuo to be strict in his office is to deal with it. Then he sent Meng Zhiren, a member of the army to destroy the ships along the river, to be executed for "delaying the military plane", exonerating himself from responsibility. At this point, Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to do so, and if he wanted to be held responsible, first of all, he made a mistake in judgment and command, so he had no choice but to do so.
Under the command of Mao Zedong, the Red Army crossed the Chishui River four times and skillfully crossed the Jinsha River, and after nearly four months of fighting, it finally completely jumped out of the encirclement and encirclement of hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops, completely smashed Chiang Kai-shek's plan to encircle and annihilate the Red Army in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan, realized the strategic policy of crossing the river to the north, and won a major victory of decisive significance in the strategic transfer.
Mao Zedong's operational command was a combination of heaven and man, and he was superb, writing a miracle in the history of the Red Army's war, which is impressive. Even Li De, who had always been arrogant and self-satisfied and looked down on Mao Zedong's "guerrillaism", was convinced, and wrote in his memoirs "China Chronicle" written in his later years:
"After crossing the Jinsha River, a new and more favorable situation has been formed strategically."
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Resources:
1. "Long March" (Xu Zhongyue, Wu Yingfang).
2. "The Long March" (by Ye Yonglie).
3. "The Ten Marshals of the Communist Party of China on the Long March" (Tao Zhenbiao).
4. "The Long March on the Map" (by Tang Ming).
5. "Red Long March" (by Zhao Jianxue).
6. "Chronicle of the Long March" (by Zhu Qinghai).
7. "The Long March for Children" (by Sima Yi).
8. "Memoirs of the Long March" (by He Long).