Chapter 34 1. The tiger falls in Pingyang

On November 8, 1936, the general headquarters of the Fifth Red Army, Ninth Army, Thirty Army and Fourth Front Army, which crossed the Yellow River westward, were awarded the title of Red Army West Route Army by the Central Revolutionary Military Commission. Its establishment is as follows: Commander-in-Chief: Xu Xiangqian; General Political Commissar: Chen Changhao; Deputy Commander: Wang Shusheng; Chief of Staff: Lite; Director of the Political Department: Li Zhuoran. Fifth Red Army: Army Commander Dong Zhentang, Political Commissar Huang Chao, Chief of Staff Li Pingren, Director of the Political Department Yang Keming.

Jurisdiction over the 13th and 15th divisions, a total of 4 regiments, more than 3,000 people, more than 1,000 guns, with an average of 5 bullets per gun; Red Ninth Army: Army Commander Sun Yuqing, Political Commissar Chen Haisong. Jurisdiction over the 25th and 27th divisions, a total of 6 regiments, 6,500 people, 2,500 guns, with an average of 15 bullets per gun; Red Thirty Army: Army Commander Cheng Shicai, Political Commissar Li Xiannian. Administer the eighty-eighth and eighty-ninth divisions with a total of 6 regiments, 7,000 people, 3,200 guns, and an average of 25 bullets per gun;

In addition, there are general headquarters organs and directly subordinate cavalry divisions, secret service regiments, teaching regiments, women's independent regiments, etc.The whole army has a total of 22,000 people.There are less than 10,000 guns, and food and ammunition are extremely scarce.Especially the Fifth Army, the weakest.There are only 5 rounds of bullets per gun, which is only enough to protect the gun. The task given to the West Route Army by the Party Central Committee and the Central Revolutionary Military Commission is to establish a base in Hexi.It is the task to directly open up the distant place, and it is planned to complete it in one year.

Directly opening up the distance leads to Xinjiang, from which we can obtain the aid materials from the Soviet Union to our side. The main enemy forces facing the West Route Army were the warlords Ma Buqing and Ma Bufang who were entrenched in Gansu and Qinghai.Ma Buqing is the commander of the Fifth Cavalry Division. His headquarters are located in central and western Gansu. He has three cavalry brigades, one infantry brigade, and one regiment each of pistols, engineers, and artillery.His younger brother Ma Bufang is the commander of the new second army and the commander of the 100th division. He is mainly located in Qinghai and Gansu. He has three infantry brigades, one cavalry brigade, one artillery regiment, one military police regiment, and one pistol regiment. There is also a garrison in southern Qinghai The three cavalry brigades under the headquarters are much more powerful than Ma Buqing.

The above-mentioned enemy troops have more than 30,000 regular troops alone, and more than 100,000 militia armed forces, mainly cavalry.Its soldiers are mainly from the Hui, Salar and Dongxiang people who believe in Islam in Gansu and Qinghai. Driven by the upper ruling class's use of religious concepts, coupled with the ethnic estrangement and vendetta formed in history, the soldiers of the Ma family army fought against foreign and foreign nationalities. The army's campaign showed strong cohesion, courage and brutality.Its soldiers are fierce and tenacious, daring to fight in close combat in battle.Its combat power has inherited the tactical characteristics of the Northwest Cavalry in the past dynasties, that is, ruthless and cunning.Zuo Zongtang, a famous general in the Qing Dynasty, once commented: "The sharpness is very sharp. If you encounter a strong army, you will disappear in an instant, and if you encounter a leisurely army, you will enter when there is a gap." Ma Jiajun also sang in the cavalry song written by himself: "Strike the front and disturb the rear. , like lightning, like madness."

After the Red Army crossed the Yellow River, it has threatened the reactionary rule of Erma.The Ma family warlords who have always regarded territory as their life are afraid that the Red Army will occupy the Hexi Corridor after crossing the river to the west, and then control Qinghai, taking away their old nest; territory.If the West Route Army just used the road to go to Xinjiang without stopping, it would not do much harm to their interests.The two horses once had concerns about this, and if they did not fight, they would not be able to deal with Chiang Kai-shek; if they really fought, both sides would suffer.At that time, the two horses exchanged telegrams, among which Ma Buqing once proposed: "If the Red Army is only passing through the border, you don't need to fight. If it stops, you can fight." Ma Bufang also said: "As long as the Red Army has no purpose of occupying the city, you can let it Pass, no fight.” From this, it can be concluded that the two horses did not want to be enemies of the Red Army.

In November, the Northwest Plateau is already a freezing season. The brave Red Army commanders marched westward against the bitter cold wind and billowing dust. They had just finished the Long March and hurriedly embarked on the difficult westward march.Most of them were still only wearing tattered single clothes. The troops had no supplies and often had no food to eat, so they had to tighten their belts and march forward.Marching in the cold night and howling wind, the body was cold, the stomach was hungry, and the legs seemed to be filled with lead.What's more difficult is that the West Route Army was chased, intercepted, and surrounded by Ma's army all day long.After walking hard all night, I wanted to find a village to rest, but the enemy's cavalry covered the whole night's journey of the Red Army in less than two hours.Not only could the Red Army not be able to rest, but they had to quickly set up deer villages and build bunkers to stop the enemy.Because there is only consumption, no replenishment, and the bullets are getting less and less. One bullet is more valuable than a tael of gold.

Enemy cavalry sometimes ran up and down the ranks of the Red Army, parading in groups to show their prestige.The Red Army commander pushed the bullet into the barrel of the gun, squeezed the trigger with his index finger, and did not shoot until the enemy could not get any closer.When the enemy was a little farther away, everyone released their index fingers again, pulled out the bullets and put them in the bullet bag, persisted until it was dark, then protruded and surrounded them, continued walking, and were surrounded again at dawn, so they persisted until dark, and then broke out .In this way, the various units of the West Route Army marched, broke through, and marched in the enemy's encirclement...

For more than ten days since crossing the river, the five armies have been fighting every day, and the Ma family cavalry has come and gone, erratic.Every time it can bring a lot of losses and casualties to the team, how can it go on like this. Dong Zhentang, who has always been calm, also began to become restless at this time. He had contacted the Ma family army when he was in the Northwest Army before, and the Ma family warlord was not powerful at that time.Feng Yuxiang took an oath in Wuyuan, appointed Liu Yufen as the chairman of Gansu Province, and incorporated the troops of the local warlords in Gansu into Feng's Ministry.Qinghai Province, led by Ma Bufang, refused to accept the incorporation of the Hui ethnic minority troops, and fought with Feng's Ministry in the Yongdeng, Gulang, Yongchang, and Wuwei areas of the Hexi Corridor for more than a month. The Ma's were finally defeated, and they sent people to negotiate peace with Feng's Ministry and agreed to incorporate them. .Dong Zhentang has long been taught how ferocious and cunning he is in combat.With the current strength of the West Route Army to compete with the Ma's Army, the disparity is too great.A few days ago, he had taken the initiative to suggest to General Commander Xu: go west quickly, do not stop, get through Xinjiang, get assistance from the Soviet side, and then come back to deal with the horse bandits.After hearing this, Xu Xiangqian fully agreed, which somewhat comforted Dong Zhentang.

At night, Dong Zhentang finished checking the sentry as usual and returned to the military headquarters.The so-called military headquarters is just an abandoned small courtyard in the desolate Gobi. There are no doors or windows, and the ceiling is also dilapidated. Chief of Staff Li Pingren is sitting by the brazier and warming the fire. hand it over.Dong Zhentang took it and took a sip, then sat down and said to Li Pingren: "Pingren! Tomorrow, call Lu Renli of the cavalry regiment to step up vigilance and deal with it seriously. The enemy's cavalry moves quickly and is fierce, and it is easy to catch us by surprise. The situation, this is very unfavorable to us. The enemy has successfully attacked several times recently, and it seems that the old trick will repeat itself. We must always be ready, seize the opportunity, and beat him hard. We must try our best to get more horses back and strengthen the cavalry The strength of the regiment. Fighting in the northwest, cavalry without mobility will suffer a lot.”

Li Pingren is an old subordinate brought out by Dong Zhentang during the Ningdu Uprising. He has been working in the Fifth Army for these years. That kind of military cadre with both civil and military skills.He threw the cigarette butt into the fire, and said softly: "Commander, don't worry, go to bed early. I have made arrangements, as long as he dares to come tomorrow, I will beat him up!" Dong Zhentang nodded, staring at the ignited flames, and asked thoughtfully: "Pingren, are you from Jiujiang, Jiangxi? How did you come to the difficult Northwest to serve as a soldier?" Li Pingren replied with a wry smile: "It's a long story, Commander, my family is considered well-known in the local area. With the family business passed down from my ancestors, I could have lived a carefree life at home. I remember when I was a child in school, A gentleman surnamed Sun often taught me to be an upright person, a cultured person, and a person who will be useful to the country and the nation in the future. To be honest, he had a great influence on me. Later , despite my father’s objection, I was admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy. But soon, Chiang Kai-shek began to purge the Communist Party. I witnessed the brutal persecution of the Communists in Wuhan. Of course, there were many close friends of mine. At that time, I felt very confused I was very disappointed. I heard that Feng Yuxiang from the Northwest was a real revolutionary, so I resolutely dropped out and applied for his Northwest Army Officer Academy. There I met Liu Zhenya, Li Su and other classmates. They were all members of the Communist Party. With their help, I quickly joined the party organization." Dong Zhentang nodded approvingly, and said: "You have studied in both military academies, one in the south and one in the north, and your qualifications are not shallow! Yes, many of our comrades have abandoned many things that are envied by the world, but we got Yes, but nothing can be exchanged for it.” Dong Zhentang stared at the flames, filled with emotions in his heart. At this moment, he was not tired anymore, lowered his head and said to himself: "Ningdu uprising until now, how many good comrades have sacrificed their precious lives!" Li Pingren was a little puzzled, how could the old chief talk about such a heavy topic today, so he diverted the topic and said: "Commander! We have joined the Red Army since the uprising, and the whole army is famous for daring to fight, Boss Zhu." He also praised our Fifth Army Corps as a steel guard. All the comrades from our army regiment are good, just take Dong Junyan and Li Caiyun who were transferred not long ago, and they are now the commanders and chiefs of staff of the cavalry division." Dong Zhentang pondered for a long time, and said to himself: "We are alive to fulfill the last wishes of the martyrs, to work hard to get rid of the current predicament, to lead this team of heroes, and to let this team continue to develop and grow. Our responsibility is not light. !" ... On November 10, the Thirty Red Army repelled the enemy's obstruction along the way, and advanced to the vicinity of Dajing.Dong Zhentang led the five armies to cooperate with the division to surround Tumenzi, and forced an engineer battalion of the enemy's Mabuqing Department to surrender. On the 18th, Yongchang was conquered again, and Shandan was conquered on the 21st.At the same time, the Ninth Army, the main force of the West Route Army, also progressed relatively smoothly as the other route. It defeated the attack of 3 enemy brigades in Ganchaiwa, and then took advantage of the momentum to occupy Gulang City on the 13th. Ma Bufang was shocked when he learned that Gulang had fallen, and immediately ordered Ma Yuanhai to take it back within a time limit at all costs.Gulang City is the throat of the Hexi Corridor. It was called "Tiger Wolf Pass" in ancient times. It is located in an important place and has always been a battleground.Under the command of Ma Yuanhai, more than 20,000 people from the Ma family army swarmed in, and the two sides were about to start a bloody battle at the foot of a mountain. Due to the underestimation of the combat power of the Ma family army, the Red Ninth Army placed the two main divisions on the commanding heights outside the city, and only the military headquarters and government personnel were stationed in the city. Coupled with the fatigue of continuous combat, the Red Army's fighting spirit relaxed.In the early morning of the 16th, the enemy's three cavalry brigades, two infantry brigades, and four militia groups launched a surprise attack on Gulang.The cavalry of the Ma family came in lightning on the Gobi desert, and the Ninth Army hurriedly faced the battle, and fell into a passive position.Although the weapons of the Ma's army are not as good as those of the Central Army of the Kuomintang, they are much stronger than the Red Army. After several attacks by the enemy, the Red Army inside and outside the city was quickly separated. Under repeated impacts, almost the whole regiment was wiped out.Then, the enemy pointed their spearheads at the city again. The Red Army defending the city was weak and weak. Under the bombardment of the enemy's mountain artillery, the position was quickly broken by the Ma's army.The enemy cavalry moved quickly, broke into the city and slashed violently along the streets, causing heavy casualties to the personnel of the Ninth Army's military headquarters.At this critical juncture, a division of the Ninth Army broke through the Ma's army's defense line outside the city and entered the city. Seeing that it was getting late and not used to fighting at night, the Ma's army withdrew their troops and left.On the 18th of the war, the 9th Red Army killed more than 2,000 enemies and more than half of its own casualties. Chen Bozhi, chief of staff of the 9th Army, Wang Haiqing, commander of the 25th Division, Yi Hanwen, political commissar of the 27th Division, and many other cadres died in the battle.After this battle, the Ninth Army was severely injured and unable to hold on to the dangerous city of Gulang, so they withdrew overnight and moved closer to the 30th Army and the Fifth Army on the right.At that time, many seriously wounded soldiers of the Red Army could not be taken away, so they had to stay in the city. Zeng Risan, director of the Political Department of the Ninth Army (formerly a political commissar of the Fifth Red Army Corps), left a letter in the name of the Red Army, hoping that Ma’s army would proceed from humanitarianism and not kill our wounded soldiers. sick people, treat our prisoners well.As a result, when Ma's army entered the city the next day, the first thing they did was to kill all the Red Army wounded they found. After Ma Jiajun conquered the ancient wave, he held a military meeting in Wuwei to discuss how to deal with the Red Army crossing the Yellow River. Ma Bufang, Ma Buqing, Ma Yuanhai, Ma Biao, Ma Pu, Ma Lu, Han Qigong and other military leaders attended the meeting.First, Ma Biao reported on the process of overcoming the Gugulang, followed by Ma Yuanhai's report on the Red Army's formation, military types and numbers, and then reviewed the reasons for the failure of the river defense. According to the case files obtained by Gulang, there were three armies of the Communist Army crossing the Yellow River, namely the Fifth Army, the Ninth Army, and the Thirty Army. Before crossing the river, the number was about 30,000. At present, due to the defeat of Gulang, the casualties are relatively high. There are more, and there are about 25,000. Chen Changhao and Xu Xiangqian are the most fierce in the Red Army. If our army and the Red Army fight face to face, we will not be able to compare with the Red Army in terms of actual strength and equipment, and we will not be able to fight the Red Army. This battle is a war for us to survive, protect our hometown, and maintain our sect. We can only win in danger, and we must never fail! I think that the word corridor is very appropriate for the place of Hexi Corridor. Jiayuguan has the Qilian Mountains in the south and the Mongolian Gobi in the north. There is a narrow and long passage in the middle. If the Communist Army wants to cross the Qilian Mountains and go south, it will be difficult and impossible to overcome. It is even more impossible to cross the Mongolian Gobi. The only The only feasible way is to flee westward. In my opinion, it is not appropriate to intercept or encircle the Red Army head-on. The best way is to chase after it. We have a lot of cavalry, and we use the mobility of cavalry to take advantage of the cavalry's maneuvering expertise to enlist the Communist Army's rear troops every day. , cut off a part, from Wuwei to Jiayuguan on the narrow and long passage, it is very possible to cut off a large part of the Communist Army's troops. This method of cutting the tail, the Red Army can only endure the pain, it is impossible to turn around to protect the tail, and the number of troops used is not much. The effect of the harvest must be considerable. If the Red Army has traveled a long distance and is exhausted and occupying the city to resist, I will use the main force to besiege. Because of the tired pursuit of the cavalry along the way, the rest and supplies of the communist army will be problematic. With a hungry and exhausted army, occupy There is absolutely no reason why an invincible city can be conquered." At the meeting, all the generals thought this was a good idea, so they recommended Ma Yuanhai as the commander-in-chief of the infantry and cavalry army, with Ma Biao as his deputy.The commander-in-chief directly commanded the 2nd Garrison Brigade in Southern Qinghai and the Liu Decheng Regiment of the 100th Division of the New 2nd Army, the Eighth Xunhua Workers' Militia (led by Han Jinzhong), and the Xining Dongnanchuan Militia (led by Ma Huarong).Ma Biao is the commander of the first cavalry, under the new Second Army Ma Zhongyi Regiment, Chen Jiake Regiment, Ma Yuanxiang Regiment, Ma Desheng Regiment, Linxia Old Taozhuang Militia Regiment (led by Ma Ni), Yuan Min Regiment 1 and 2 The third regiment (led by Ma Yongling).Ma Pu was in command of the Second Cavalry Route, under the cavalry brigade of the 100th Division, the two regiments of Xining Lushaer Militia (led by Ma Xingtai and Ma Gui respectively), the Xining Shangwuzhuang Militia (led by Ma Baoku), Huang (Sandianshui) Yuan Mintuan (led by Li Zengyin).Ma Lu was in command of the third cavalry division, under Ma Lu's brigade and Han Qilu's brigade of the fifth cavalry division.Han Qigong was in command of the infantry, and his subordinates were the 300th Pistol Brigade of the 100th Division, the Xining Citizens Corps, the Zhangye Militia Corps, and the Ma Chengxiang and Qi Mingshan Brigades of the Fifth Cavalry Division.The 100th Division Ma Bukang, Ma Quanyi and other units, as well as the Minhe, Huzhu, Ledu, Guide, Tongren and other county corps are the general reserve team.In short, the cavalry is the main force, and we are going to fight the Red Army in three ways. In the battle of Gulang, Ma Jiajun grasped the most fatal weakness of the Red Army, and at the same time exposed the danger of the West Route Army.The hastily established Red West Route Army has just finished the Long March and hastily embarked on a new journey. In terms of equipment and numbers, it is far inferior to the Ma's Army. In addition, the Hexi area is sparsely populated and the products are poor. It is not easy to replenish the West Route Army, and the future is not optimistic. .The opponent, Ma Jiajun, has been entrenched in Hexi for many years. They are familiar with the terrain, and most of them are cavalry. They are fast in combat and their combat effectiveness is even stronger than that of the Kuomintang Central Army. Beginning on November 22, the Ma family's army launched a larger-scale offensive against the West Route Army. If the entire West Route Army marched firmly to Xinjiang at this time, perhaps the losses suffered would not be so great.But at this time, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission called to order the West Route Army to stop its westward advance and establish bases on the spot (in Yongchang, Liangzhou, and Shandan).If it is said that what the West Route Army faced in the early stage was only the harassment of the Ma Jiajun.But now, the two horses are devoting their main force to a decisive battle with the Red Army.Because the two horses will never sit back and watch a red base led by the Communist Party appear on their own territory. In order to get out of the predicament and gain the initiative, Xu Xiangqian personally drafted a message on November 24, reporting the actual situation to the Party Central Committee, requesting reconsideration of the West Route Army's course of action. The message stated: 1. Although the horse enemy now has more than 5,000 casualties, they can recruit a large number of militia men to supplement them. Both men and horses have bullets, and they still continue to fight with me. 2. The cavalry's tactics are based on cavalry moving around and storming the fortress in a dense formation.After dusk, fearing my night battle, I retreated to the fortress.When repeatedly attacking a certain point and failing, gather troops to attack another point.Most of them ride horses, advancing and retreating at an even speed.If our side wins, it will be difficult to capture, and if we lose, there will be no survivors. 3. In the Yongliang area, the terrain is open, the area is narrow, there are no trees and no houses, and it is full of fortresses, which is not convenient for our army to attack in a roundabout way. 4. Every time I defend a fortress, I need more than one battalion of troops. After a fierce battle all day long, I can run out of ammunition. There are few spears and bayonets, so it is difficult to stop the enemy's attack.The Ninth Army currently has 4,600 people, 1,800 rifles, and each gun has less than two rows of bullets; the Fifth Army has less than 4,000 people, and fewer bullets; There are about 500 people and horses, and the men and ammunition are exhausted and useless. They fight all day long, and the enemy cavalry harass them everywhere.It is planned to strengthen the cavalry, but it is difficult to raise horses. Fifth, the Ninth Army fought fiercely in Gulang, suffered heavy losses, and was resting; the Thirty Army fought fiercely at Sishipu, ran out of bullets, and killed more than 500 people by fighting with swords; Part of it is responsible for the task of guarding the city wall. Three regiments of the enemy's Mabiao are operating near the outskirts of Yongchang. Based on the above situation, we are currently unable to gather superior forces and have too little ammunition to destroy the enemy in the Gandong area.Request the Central Revolutionary Military Commission to quickly indicate the next course of action. On November 25th, the central government resumed the telegram, still requiring the West Route Army to persist on the spot and open up the situation. The West Route Army did not have any foreign aid, no successors, and the already limited ammunition was getting less and less, and the situation was getting worse. At that time, many senior generals of the West Route Army sent the telegram to the Central Committee requesting the West Route Army to establish bases in Gansu and Liang. Dissenting. The West Route Army squatted here without advancing or retreating, which just gave the Ma's army an opportunity to attack. Ma Bufang mobilized heavy troops to rush towards the Yong and Liang areas, and Hu Zongnan's supplementary brigade also marched towards the Liangzhou area. A big battle was inevitable.The reason why the Central Revolutionary Military Commission was subordinated like this was also a last resort. Its main intention was to create the illusion that the Red Army in Hedong would join the West Route Army in Hexi, and mobilize Chiang Kai-shek's main force to guard the Yellow River area so that the main Red Army in Hedong would go east or south. , to carry out a large-scale strategic shift.In this way, the pressure on the West Route Army can be imagined. Li Xiannian, the political commissar of the 30th Army, did not understand the plan of the headquarters, so he went to the general political commissar Chen Changhao angrily and said, "Here is not east, nor west, waiting to be beaten. I'm also a vanguard!" Chen Changhao, like Zhang Guotao, has a very serious parental style. He put on a straight face and reprimanded: "What do you know! Talk too much! We have established a solid base here, and if we have a base, can we suffer from staying here?" Xu Xiangqian didn't know the content of the plan, so he and Chen Changhao once quarreled on the issue of establishing a base area.Regardless of the actual situation, Chen insisted that he could gain a foothold here and open up a new situation.Xu Xiangqian shook his head helplessly, and said: "The central government is thousands of kilometers away in northern Shaanxi, and I don't know the actual situation here. The conditions here are not comparable to the Sichuan-Shanxi base in any way." After a short pause, Xu Xiangqian continued: "We are now in the waist of the bee in the Hexi Corridor. To the north are the Longshou Mountains and the desolate desert; to the south is the Qilian Mountains, which are covered with snow all year round. The middle is no more than a hundred miles wide, and the villages are scattered and sparsely populated. In terms of climate, where dripping water turns into ice, most of our soldiers are Southerners cannot adapt to the harsh climate here; most of the residents here are ethnic minorities, and they have religious beliefs that cannot be underestimated by foreigners; the terrain here is also incompatible with us, and even if there are mountains, they are bare, and we cannot hide. They are all infantry, how to fight in this situation? The enemy's advantage is obvious. They are mainly cavalry, with winter clothes to keep out the cold, sufficient water, food and ammunition, and villagers who obey their orders. No matter The timing, the location, and the harmony of the people have all been taken by the enemy. The battles in the previous period have fully proved this point. The enemy is mobile, comes and escapes quickly, and we can't do anything to them. And as long as we are a little careless, we will suffer. Let's just talk about the Ninth Army. A little farther away from the main force, the enemy suffered heavy losses in Gulang. The enemy's wolf pack tactics will repeat itself in the future. How many times can you stand this kind of torment again!?" Chen Changhao just listened, but did not express any opinion. Xu Xiangqian said sincerely again: "Changhao, there is no condition for establishing a base here at all. We should reflect the facts to the central government. We..." Before he finished speaking, Chen Changhao said angrily: "That means you oppose the implementation of the central government's order!" Xu Xiangqian has partnered with Chen Changhao for many years. Knowing his paternalistic and arbitrary style, he said tactfully: "I only analyze the actual predicament we are in from a military perspective. Besides, I should report the truth to the central government so that the central government can accurately understand it. It’s not a bad thing in terms of the actual situation here.” "Well, the analysis is the analysis, and the central government's orders must be resolutely implemented." Chen Changhao said coldly, then turned his head and stepped out of the room. Talking for so long is tantamount to talking in vain, Xu Xiangqian stared at Chen Changhao's back, looking so helpless, anxious and uneasy.The future and destiny of the West Route Army seemed to be a heavy burden, which made him breathless. "What should I do?" Xu Xiangqian walked around the room with his hands behind his back, but he couldn't think of any good way to persuade Chen Changhao, the top leader of the West Route Army. At this moment, Li Xiannian pushed the door open and entered, and Xu Xiangqian temporarily stopped his chaotic thoughts. "Report to the commander-in-chief, our army has withdrawn to the east of Yongchang City, what should we do next?" Xu Qiangqian gave a dry cough and said, "Establish a base on the spot, expand red, raise food..." Li Xiannian was a fierce general of the Fourth Front Army and an old subordinate of Xu Xiangqian. Seeing that there was no one else in the room, he leaned closer and whispered, "Commander, this is not going to work. The poverty in this area is clanging, and the crops are only harvested once a year. The common people don’t have enough food for themselves, even if we have money, it’s hard to buy them. There’s also winter clothes, it’s too cold here, if we don’t fix it, we’ll be blamed if we don’t freeze to death!” Xu Xiangqian sighed helplessly: "Get over it first, let's execute it!" At this point, the West Route Army started a brutal fight with the Ma's army on a narrow strip stretching 300 miles from Liangzhou Sishipu in the east to Shandan in the west.