The sacrifice of Liu Zhidan, commander of the 28th Army of the Red Army, was misreported on the Internet, and General Song Renqian, the political commissar of the 28th Army, recorded Liu Zhidan's sacrifice in his memoirs:
Sanjiao Town is an important ferry port located in the western part of Zhongyang County, Shanxi Province, near the Yellow River. Hexi is the territory of Suide County in the Su District of Northern Shaanxi. The town is surrounded by mountains on the north and south sides, and faces water in the west, and the terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. At that time, the town was heavily guarded and there were strong fortifications along the river. Comrade Zhidan told everyone: The further south we go and the closer we get to the central headquarters, we must fight the battle of Sanjiao Town and open up the connection between the Shanxi front and the Shaanxi-Gansu region. In order to fight this battle well, Comrade Zhidan personally surveyed the terrain and carefully studied the enemy's situation and combat plan. On the day we received the telegram from the central authorities, we immediately convened a meeting of cadres at and above the regimental level to convey the news. The following arrangements were made for attacking the town of Sanjiao: One regiment attacked Nanshan, the second regiment attacked Beishan, and the third regiment acted as a reserve to serve as a guard and block the enemy who came to reinforce.
At dawn on April 14, the siege of Sanjiao began. The headquarters of our army is located on Dangjia Mountain on the top of the south hill, not far from our regimental position. A regiment soon attacked the hill from the southeast, progressing smoothly, taking down many of the enemy's bunkers in succession. The defenders of the South Mountain saw that the situation was not good, and all of them withdrew to the North Mountain to hold firm. Comrade Zhidan then ordered the first regiment to move towards the North Mountain and attack the enemy of the North Mountain with the second regiment. By noon, the attack was not going well. Only then did we discover that the original intelligence was inaccurate, and we thought that the enemy had only one battalion, but in fact a regimental headquarters, two battalions, and an artillery company. Comrade Zhidan consulted with me and asked me to stay in the military headquarters to grasp the overall situation, and he personally went to a regimental position to have a look. I asked Comrade Pei Zhouyu, the commissioner in charge of the security work, and the staff officer to accompany Comrade Zhidan.
Comrade Zhidan went to the forward position to command the troops to fight, and while observing the enemy's situation, he was unfortunately shot in the left chest and was seriously injured. Comrade Zhidan told Comrade Pei Zhouyu intermittently that he should tell the political commissar to lead his troops to destroy the enemy and resolutely attack Sanjiao Town! Pei Zhouyu and several other comrades carried Comrade Liu Zhidan to the position where the military headquarters was located, and I knelt down to touch his heart and pulse and examine the wound. At this time, Comrade Zhi Dan was unconscious due to bleeding from the aortic artery and could not speak, and he died suddenly in a short time. Comrade Liu Zhidan, an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, one of the founders of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, and leader of the people of northern Shaanxi, heroically sacrificed himself for the cause of Chinese the liberation of the people, at the age of thirty-three. Comrade Pei Zhouyu told me about Comrade Zhidan's bullet. We were so sad that we stood beside the bodies of our close comrades-in-arms and took off our military hats to mourn. I say to the comrades present that Commander Liu has sacrificed his life for the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people and shed the last drop of blood, and we must turn grief into strength, inherit his legacy, complete his unfinished revolutionary cause, eliminate the enemy more, and avenge Commander Liu. We carried Comrade Zhidan's body onto a stretcher, gently draped our military coats over him, and sent them down the hillside step by step. I immediately telegraphed the news of Comrade Zhidan's sacrifice to the Central Committee. He also hurriedly planned the ship and made a coffin to hold the remains of Comrade Zhidan, and dozens of people present supported the coffin and shed tears to say goodbye to Comrade Zhidan. Then, he sent someone to escort Comrade Zhidan's coffin across the Yellow River and transport it to Wayao Fort, the seat of the Party Central Committee. At the same time, the wounded and sick and surplus weapons were also transported across the river to facilitate the lightly armed combat of the troops.
Comrade Zhidan left us, and the Twenty-eighth Army still held its position and continued to fight, just as Comrade Zhidan did when he was alive. At dusk, we launched another onslaught of the enemy's positions with two companies of troops, and the anger burned in the chests of the soldiers, and the vengeful bullets and grenades shot at the enemy's positions, dealing a fierce blow to the enemy, and most of the town of Sanjiao was captured by us, but we failed to pull out the enemy's main bunker on the commanding heights. In the battle, the enemy suffered heavy casualties, and our casualties were not small. At night, we stayed up all night, carefully analyzed the battle situation, estimated that the enemy defending Taiyuan would come to reinforcements, and in order to avoid greater losses, we completed the tasks assigned by the central authorities on time, and decided that a squad would stay in the position, drag the enemy, and withdraw the large troops to the south. In order to avoid encounters with the enemy who came to reinforce, we did not take the main road, but took the mountain and beam trail. Who knows, the reinforcements of the enemy did not dare to take the main road, and also took the mountain beam trail, so our army fought an encounter with the enemy on the mountain beam. We weren't familiar with the terrain, and as we walked, we fought and fought very hard. I took cover in the rear with a part of my troops. Later, the enemy was thrown away.
