Chapter 7 "Cutting Tail" Battle

When Chiang Kai-shek learned that the Central Red Army broke through the blockade of the Xilan Highway, passed through Pingliang and Guyuan, crossed Liupan Mountain, and headed east, he was very annoyed: "Six years of hard work, but not all achievements", immediately deployed the Kuomintang Northeast Army in Longde, Pingliang and Guyuan worked together to intercept the Red Army, and urgently ordered He Zhuguo, Mao Bingwen, and Ma Hongbin's troops: "The Red Army marched a long distance, exhausted, and attempted to enter northern Shaanxi to join Liu Zhidan. I order your cavalry to intercept, surround with cameras, and annihilate them." Therefore, Ma Hongbin Mao Bingwen's cavalry regiment, Mao Bingwen's cavalry, and the Northeast Army's Bai Fengxiang's cavalry repeatedly confronted the Central Red Army.

On the morning of October 19, the vanguard of the enemy's cavalry marched along Toudaochuan for reconnaissance. Chen Geng, the head of the cadre regiment, led the guard troops to repel the enemy many times in the Wangpanzi, Xinzhai, and Baitun areas, buying time for the main Red Army to gather in Wuqi Town. . The cavalry of Ningxia's Erma and Mao Bingwen's troops suffered a lot from the Red Army soldiers who were left behind in the march.Although they fought against the Kuomintang cavalry on the Long March, some troops were still at a loss.In the past, the Red Army fought against a two-legged enemy, but now it wants to fight against a six-legged enemy. It feels like the cavalry is coming and going suddenly, and the swords are flashing, and the momentum is overwhelming.Therefore, when discussing how to fight the enemy's cavalry, everyone formed a common understanding: the enemy's cavalry can exert their advantages when fighting on the plains, but when fighting in the ravines, their advantages will become disadvantages.When fighting in the mountains, if the enemy wants to dismount from his horse to fight with us, and he has to call for his horse, his combat effectiveness will definitely decrease.

On the afternoon when the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China settled in Wuqi Town, Zhang Wentian, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Bogu were arranged to live in a cave dwelling in the Youfangyuan behind the Guandi Temple.Mao Zedong called Peng Dehuai at 7:00 p.m. and mentioned Baoan again: Wuqi Town is already on the border of the Soviet Area, and there is a red regime to the east of this place, and there are red troops in Baoan City, but there are hundreds of armed landlords in Jinfoping between Wuqi Town and Jintang Town. Yu Shoubao plans to send a team to destroy it.He also invited Peng Dehuai to come to Wuqi Town to discuss the battle against the enemy cavalry.Peng Dehuai, Mao Zedong, and Zhou Enlai exchanged views in detail on the military situation and combat operations.Mao Zedong said: "I am tired, and the enemy is also tired. The red flag fluttering on the wall shows us to repel the enemy, and don't bring the enemy into the northern Shaanxi base area."

After the meeting, according to Mao Zedong's opinion, Peng Dehuai carefully deployed and directed the "tail cutting" campaign. Ma Hongkui's cavalry regiment had just fought against Xu Haidong of the 25th Red Army. Ma Peiqing, the head of the regiment, knew the bravery of the Red Army, and he knew that he would not fight the Red Army hard.However, the Bai Fengxiang troops of the Northeast Army had never encountered the Red Army. They believed that they were strong and strong, and despised these exhausted troops, so they bravely marched towards Wuqi Town.Ma Peiqing said to Bai Fengxiang: "It is estimated that the Central Red Army has already joined the Northern Shaanxi Red Army. They have a strong force. We have left Gansu again. Should we fight?" Bai Fengxiang waved his pistol and said, "I didn't want to fight at first, but this brother ( Pointing to the pistol) If you don’t agree, you must fight!” So, the cavalry of the Northeast Army was in front, and the Ma Peiqing Cavalry Regiment was behind.Since October 19th, the exchange of fire with the Red Army's rearguard troops began. The Red Army retreated while fighting, and the enemy cavalry boldly chased after them.

On October 20, Ma Peiqing led the cavalry regiment to reconnaissance and advance along the mountains between Toudaochuan and Erdaochuan.Bai Fengxiang thought he was well-equipped and arrogant, and pushed forward along the Sichuan Road.They never expected that the Central Red Army was laying out an ambush circle, which would give them a powerful blow. Peng Dehuai focused his counterattack on the Toudaochuan area in the northwest of Hanqi Town.Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen led the first column to ambush Qiantou Daochuan and Platform Mountain (now Shengli Mountain); Peng Xuefeng and Li Fuchun led the second column to ambush Erdaochuan; Ye Jianying and Deng Fa's third column set ambush in Sandaochuan.The three columns ambushed at the designated position in the middle of the night on the 20th, ready for battle.

At 4:30 a.m. on October 21, the night was dark and the wilderness was silent. Mao Zedong took advantage of the starlight to climb Platform Mountain (Shengli Mountain) to the west of Wuqi Town, and came to the command post under the Dadu pear tree to gather some cadres. Carry out pre-war mobilization, and repeatedly emphasize the importance of fighting this battle well.Then Mao Zedong told the guard Chen Changfeng: "Don't call me when the gunshots are intense, and call me when there are sporadic shots." At this point, he lay down in peace and fell asleep soundly. At around 8 o'clock in the morning, the enemy cavalry, supported by an aircraft, advanced along the Sichuan Road and entered the ambush range of the Central Red Army.Thus began the "Tail Cutting" campaign.In an instant, the sound of guns, explosions, and shouts was earth-shattering, and yellow dust was flying.The enemy's cavalry was disrupted, the horses were shot and fell to the ground, and the wounded cavalry fell.In particular, the war horses were frightened and huddled together, unable to move forward, retreat and retreat, and could only be beaten passively.

In this regard, the Central Red Army adopted the tactics of segmenting and encircling by camera, dividing and encircling the enemy cavalry in Erdaochuan, the west of Platform Mountain, and Yangchengzi, Gediliang, Liushuliang, and Yanshanliang in Toudaochuan, and vigorously wiped them out. The enemy realized that the battle was unfavorable and that they were in danger of being surrounded and wiped out. They tried to seize the commanding heights along the Taiping Mountain line, but they were hit head-on by Lin Biao's first column. They retreated from the middle of the mountain and turned around to flee for their lives.The second column in ambush took the opportunity to launch a counterattack and chased the enemy for more than 40 miles.In this battle, after two hours of fierce fighting, the Central Red Army annihilated the 17th Regiment of the 6th Division of the enemy in one fell swoop. A large number of weapons and ammunition such as mortars and heavy machine guns cut off the "tail" that could not be shaken off.When Mao Zedong inspected the battlefield, he said humorously: "Infantry chasing cavalry, this is a pioneering work!"

Mao Zedong was very happy, and wrote a poem to Peng Dehuai: The mountains are high, the roads are far and the pits are deep, and the army is galloping. Who dares to slash immediately, but I am General Peng. When Peng Dehuai saw this poem, he smiled, took a pen and changed "Only I, General Peng" into "Only I, the Brave Red Army", and passed the draft of the poem to Mao Zedong.Although the four words are changed, it is enough to show Peng Dehuai's mind and modest character. Ma Peiqing, head of the cavalry regiment of Ma Hongbin's Department, recounted the scene when two cavalry regiments of the Northeast Army's Bai Fengxiang Department were annihilated by the Red Army:

... The third cavalry division and the sixth cavalry division of Bai Fengxiang's department are mighty and mighty, galloping along Tou Daochuan.At that time, the Baibu thought they had a large number of people and well-equipped equipment, so they were arrogant. They never expected that the Red Army would organize an ambush here. ... For a moment, the sound of gunfire and artillery echoed in the mountains, deafening, and the battle was very fierce.I witnessed this battle with my own eyes, saw the bravery and tenacity of the Red Army soldiers, and knew that Baibu was under a heavy siege, so I had to order the troops to attack a mountain in front. ... The 17th Regiment of the White Department has been wiped out, and the 18th Regiment is fighting fiercely with the Red Army.After contacting Bai Fengxiang, I knew that the Baibu had nearly four to five hundred casualties at that time.

Afterwards, Bai Fengxiang sighed and told Ma Peiqing that all their mountain artillery, mortars, heavy machine guns and other heavy weapons were lost in this battle, and they also lost more than 800 horses and pack horses. The "Tail Cutting" campaign left endless topics for the local people. Old man Yang Shenggao recalled: On the day of the battle on Victory Mountain, the Red Army blew loud bugles, the sound of cannons was like thunder, and the sound of gunfire was like popping beans. The Red Army all over the mountain took turns to fight fiercely.This battle completely defeated the Kuomintang chasing pong.The female Red Army soldiers of the Long March are used to military life, and they are not nervous about fighting at all. There is a war on the mountain, and they are washing clothes by the Yushuping River, talking and laughing happily...

The old man Ma Zengfu recalled: The Central Red Army fought fiercely with the cavalry of the Ma family army on the line from Shengli Mountain to Houling of Liuhe Bay.During the battle, a 10-year-old Red Army boy went up the mountain to deliver water to his elder brother who was fighting. Unfortunately, he was hit by an enemy bullet and died. You have been walking for a whole year, why haven’t you suffered? You left us as soon as you got home, what a life!'' Thinking about the heart-piercing crying, I feel terribly sad. In the "tail cutting" battle, the Red Army sacrificed more than 200 people.Senior cadres included Li Mingtie, secretary-general of the Political Department of the Legion, Hu Dingguo, political commissar of the Health Department of the Legion, Li Yinghua, captain of the Second Brigade of the First Column, and Fang Zhenjun, director of the General Affairs Department of the Political Department of the Legion. The "tail cutting" campaign drove the enemy out of the Soviet area. The columns of the Central Red Army held celebrations, parties, and mass meetings with county, district, and township cadres, guerrillas, Red Guards, and the masses to publicize and mobilize the masses. The masses united to do a good job in the construction of the Soviet regime, expanded local armed organizations, and actively participated in the Agrarian Revolutionary War and the National Revolutionary War to resist Japan and save the country.Mao Zedong appointed the Minister of the Democratic Movement to assist Zhang Mingke, the leader of the Chi'an guerrilla detachment, to hold a mass meeting attended by more than 3,000 people in Wuqi Town, at which the Fourth Corps of the Red Guard Army was established.After the meeting, a study class for local cadres and guerrilla cadres was held, which trained talents for the construction of political power in the Soviet area and the expansion of local armed organizations.