Chapter 15 Battle of Ganzhou

On January 9, 1932, the provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which was ruled by "Left" erroneous leaders, saw that after the third anti-"encirclement and suppression" victory, the Central Soviet Area expanded rapidly, the situation was very good, and it was even more blindly optimistic. The "Resolution on Striving for the First Victory of the Revolution in a Province or Several Provinces" further proposed: "The first victory in the provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi began by occupying central cities such as Nanchang, Fuzhou, and Ji'an, and combining the currently scattered Soviet base areas." According to the spirit of this resolution, on January 10, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission (referred to as the Central Revolutionary Military Commission) issued a military order to capture Ganzhou.The instruction stipulates that the Third Red Army and the Fourth Red Army are the main combat armies; the main combat army is the Second Division of the Third Red Army and the Seventh Red Army to attack the city, and Peng Dehuai is the commander-in-chief of the former enemy.

Ganzhou is the central city in southern Jiangxi. It is located in the upper reaches of the Ganjiang River and is surrounded by water on three sides.The enemy stationed in Ganzhou is the 67th and 68th regiments and an independent regiment under the jurisdiction of the Ma Kun Department of the 34th Brigade of the 12th Division of the Kuomintang, with about 3,000 people; there are also 17 counties in southern Jiangxi who fled More than 10,000 armed landlords in Ganzhou City and reactionary armed forces such as the "Business and Civilian Self-Defense Group" and the "City Defense Office" in Ganzhou were shot.After the various units of our Red Army Corps surrounded Ganzhou City on February 3, the enemy destroyed the fortifications outside the city and sent troops into the city to wait for reinforcements.

Starting from February 5th, we followed the instructions of the regiment and carried out a week of siege preparations and political mobilization.At that time, we were all young and lacked the ability to objectively analyze the national struggle situation. We were also inspired by the slogan of attacking big cities and winning the first victory in several provinces. We held various meetings of party members and activists day after day.During the political mobilization, he also talked about the great revolutionary situation after the third counter-revolutionary "encirclement and suppression" of the Kuomintang, talked about the important strategic position of Ganzhou City, and loudly proposed that "Ganzhou City must be captured to prepare a revolutionary struggle for the Central Committee to command the whole country." The base." The fighting spirit of the troops was very high, and they were actively preparing for the siege.

The siege began on February 13th. The Seventh Red Army blasted for the first time, opening a gap in the gate of Yuecheng, the east gate of Ganzhou, and then launched a charge, but was blocked by enemy fire from the bunkers on the two wings of the east gate and the Drum Tower. break into.On February 17th, the Seventh Red Army blasted the city for the second time, and the blasting point was chosen to be on the left side of the Yuecheng gate in the east gate of Ganzhou.In order to quickly rush into the city after the successful blasting of the Seventh Red Army, the headquarters of the Third Red Army organized a commando team of about 200 people to ambush at the foot of the city wall in advance. All sacrifices did not work.During this period, our Red Second Division actively dug tunnels at the south gate, preparing to dig the tunnels close to the city gate to bury explosives and blast them. However, the terrain at the south gate was low and the water level was high.One night, our army organized a commando team to climb up the top of the city with a ladder, but the enemy used the horizontal wall fortifications built on the top of the city to resist, forming a crossfire attack from left and right. I couldn't go up, so I had to be forced to retreat.Due to the enemy's strong fortifications and strong troops, our army continued to blast and attack the city for a month, and the commanders and fighters fought bloody battles, but they were still unable to attack repeatedly.

At the end of February, more than 20,000 people from the enemy's Chen Cheng and Luo Zhuoying's troops rushed to the aid of Ganzhou. Four regiments of their vanguard had set up pontoon bridges outside the north gate to sneak into the city one after another; In an attempt to wait for an attack, attack our army from inside and outside, and annihilate our army under the city of Ganzhou.At 2 o'clock in the morning on March 7th, Ganzhou defended the enemy and saw that the time had come. The 68th Regiment of Ma Kun's 34th Brigade attacked me from the east gate and Xiaonanmen tunnel; Luo Zhuoying's 11th Division and a regiment from the southwest gate The main force of the 11th Division of the enemy advanced along the Zhangjiang River from the Nanmen Wharf to the position of our third army, forming a situation of internal and external pincer attacks. The situation was very serious, and our army was forced to withdraw from the battle.The head of the division ordered my Red Seventh Regiment to act as a guard blocking mission at the South Gate.

The airport outside the south gate is the only way for the Red First Division to retreat eastward when our army attacked Ximen. If our Red Seventh Regiment cannot effectively stop the enemy, the retreat of the First Division is in danger of being cut off.Fortunately, in the early days of the siege, when our Red Seventh Regiment was tasked with guarding and assisting, we built a blocking position outside the south gate, preparing to annihilate and reinforce the enemies in Ganzhou. Take a part of the team and divide the troops to guard the blocking positions on the east and west sides outside the south gate.

As soon as our troops occupied the position, the enemy concentrated several times as many troops as we did and rushed towards our position like locusts.But the enemy is in an open area, all under the control of our firepower, and our soldiers rely on favorable terrain and blocking positions, inflicting great damage on the enemy and repelling several enemy attacks.Unexpectedly, the enemy regrouped. Relying on their large numbers, with the support of fierce artillery fire, they concentrated their forces and broke through the position on the east side of our front. Commander Long was forced to lead his troops back.At this time, gunpowder smoke was billowing on the battlefield, and the scenery could not be seen clearly from a few meters away. Our troops on the east and west sides lost contact. I wanted to find Captain Long to organize a counterattack, but I couldn't find it for a while.At this critical moment, I tried my best to remain calm and calm. While gathering the troops a little bit, preparing to support the counterattack from the east side, I sent a few scouts to get in touch with Captain Long, and agreed on the sound of the horn. , Immediately organized a counterattack, used grenades, bayonets, and gun stocks to regain the forward position, beat the enemy down again, and completed the task of covering the eastward retreat of the first division.

Just as Captain Long and I were about to lead the Seventh Red Regiment to evacuate the position, Peng Xuefeng, the political commissar of the division, rushed to our position and asked us to reinforce the Xiaonan Gate on the east side as soon as possible to rescue the Fifth Red Regiment.It turned out that at dawn on the 7th, the defending enemy in Ganzhou City attacked through tunnels and besieged the Red Fifth Regiment guarding Xiaonanmen on the position outside the city. The enemies inside and outside the city attacked the Red Fifth Regiment from both sides.The commanders and fighters of the Red Fifth Regiment fought fiercely for more than five hours, repelled the enemy's many attacks, and killed a large number of enemies. However, they also suffered heavy casualties and still failed to break through.

Political Commissar Peng knew that our regiment was exhausted from the frequent battles of the past few days, and the task of blocking the guard this morning was even more difficult, and the troops suffered a lot of casualties, but at this time there was no good way to break the siege of the five regiments, so he asked me and the dragon regiment with concern Long: "Is there any difficulty?" I understand that Commissar Peng's question is out of concern and sympathy for our troops. I thought, brother troops are in danger, so what if we don't go to reinforce them?Then I replied resolutely: "It is our responsibility to reinforce the brothers' troops, and we must overcome even the greatest difficulties!" At this time, I found that Political Commissar Peng was carrying a 20-gun shell gun, and our 20-gun shell gun had been fired. It's all gone, and I really want to ask him for a few bullets, but I'm too embarrassed to ask him for bullets on this battlefield where ammunition is desperately needed. After hesitating for a while, considering that there is still a battle ahead, I finally mustered up the courage to ask tentatively: " If it’s difficult, I’ve run out of ammunition in my shell gun, can you give me a few bullets?”

Political Commissar Peng readily took out two rows of shell gun bullets from the leather bullet box carried by the guard and handed them to me.Political Commissar Peng braved the hail of bullets to command the battle on the front line. I have admired this brave and fearless spirit, and he even gave me twenty rounds of his own bullets at this fierce moment of the battle. I was even more touched. Rescuing soldiers is like fighting a fire, and there must be no slack in the slightest.Immediately, Captain Long and I led the team along the mountain road to the east along the mountain road and went straight to Xiaonanmen with Political Commissar Peng.When I arrived at Xiaonanmen, I met Zhang Pingkai, the political commissar of the Fifth Red Regiment. He told me that they had just repelled another enemy attack, and now the enemy is organizing a new attack.According to the instructions of Political Commissar Peng, I asked the fifth regiment to withdraw eastward quickly, and our seventh regiment covered it.

Seeing the five regiments retreating eastward, the enemy immediately pounced on them.We brought the enemy closer, and a sudden burst of heavy blows caused great damage to the enemy. However, some of the enemy had already rushed into our forward position.Our soldiers raised their bayonets again angrily, fought and fought with the enemy, and finally drove the enemy down and consolidated their positions. Political commissar Peng saw that the fifth regiment had withdrawn, so he ordered us to retreat while fighting.Relying on their large numbers and good weapons, the enemy clung to us tightly.Fortunately, the 15th Army of the Fifth Red Army arrived at this time, and a violent counterattack defeated the enemy;They all go into battle shirtless, wielding gleaming broadswords, shouting "kill" with an invincible and invincible heroic spirit, and slashing left and right, killing the enemy to call their father and mother, and run away with their heads in their arms.When we looked back at this heart-pounding battle scene, we all cheered, "The big knife team killed well!" The 15th Red Army pursued and fled the enemy, and pursued them to the south gate of Ganzhou City, wiped out part of the enemy, and captured many prisoners, so that our Red Fifth and Seventh Regiments safely evacuated and moved to the Jiangkou area of ​​Gan County to join the army. Rest and supplement. Soon after we withdrew from Ganzhou, our Red Army Corps moved westward, preparing to attack Chongyi, Shangyou and other counties.One morning, when our army marched to Sanxiwei, Shuikou, Nanxiong, it was suddenly attacked by the four regiments of the Cantonese Army who were reinforced by the enemy in Ganzhou.For fear of being held back by the enemy, the head of the legion did not want to entangle with the enemy, so as not to be passive, so he ordered our Red Seventh Regiment and Red Fifth Regiment to block the Guangdong Army and cover the rapid transfer of the whole army.This is an arduous task, because the enemy army has a regiment of more than a dozen companies with 1,600 or 1,700 people, while our regiment has only five companies with 7,000 or 800 people. There is a huge difference in strength, but our army has a strong political work guarantee. The morale was high, and the commanders and fighters of the two regiments worked together to fight the enemy bloody for a whole day, repelling many attacks of the enemy large and small, and the position remained unchanged.When we completed the blocking task and withdrew from the position, the two regiments covered each other alternately, retreating while fighting. At this time, I led two guard companies of the Red Seventh Regiment, and Zhang Pingkai led a guard company of the Red Fifth Regiment to cover the rear of the regiment. Because we cooperated closely, supported each other, and faced the battle calmly, we ensured that the blocking troops got rid of the powerful enemy and withdrew. fought.In this blocking battle to cover the transfer of the corps, our two regiments, especially the guard company, suffered heavy casualties. The guard company led by Zhang Pingkai retreated to cover our regiment, and only 13 comrades were not injured in the whole company; There are only more than 50 people left in the two guard companies.Judging from the two blocking battles at the South Gate of Ganzhou and Nanxiong Sanxiwei, the spirit of our Red Sixth Regiment and Red Fifth Regiment fighting side by side and supporting each other truly reflects the style of our Red Army commanders and fighters who have the overall situation in mind and unite and cooperate. This is the guarantee for our army to turn barbarians into danger and defeat powerful enemies repeatedly, and it is also unmatched by the Kuomintang army.However, in the Battle of Ganzhou, regardless of the enemy's strong city and strong troops, he insisted on attacking for 33 days, and after suffering heavy casualties, he was passively withdrawn from the siege.