Chapter 7 (3) Zhangzhou Great Victory

After the Battle of Ganzhou, Mao Zedong believed that Fujian was the weak link of Jiang's army at that time. Except for Zhang Zhen's 49th Division, they were all local security forces, which was a good direction for development.The Eastern Route Army must go straight down to Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in order to mobilize the enemy to win the war and start the situation.Zhangzhou's terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is beneficial to the Red Army. After the Red Army withdrew from Ganzhou, it assembled in the southeast of Ganzhou for training.Zhou Enlai rushed to the front from Ruijin and presided over an enlarged meeting of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area at Jiangkouwei in the northeast of Ganzhou to summarize the experience and lessons of attacking Ganzhou and study the Red Army's policy of action.The Red Army stormed Ganzhou for a total of 33 days, causing more than 2,400 casualties. The main attacking force, the Red 3rd Army, almost lost a main division and paid a heavy price.It was decided at the meeting that the main force of the Red Army would develop northwards, move down the Ganjiang River, and seize the center or larger cities in the Ganjiang River Basin.

On March 18, 1932, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission issued the "Instructions on the Reorganization of the First, Third, and Fifth Army Corps": Peng Dehuai and Teng Daiyuan led the Red 3rd Army and the 16th Army to form the West Route Army, attacked Ganjiang West, and continued to seize the Ganjiang River The central city on both sides of the strait is the main task; the Red 1st and 5th Corps form the Central Route Army, Lin Biao is the commander-in-chief, and Nie Rongzhen is the political commissar. After the reorganization is completed, it starts from the Changluo area of ​​​​Ganxian County and quietly goes down the east bank of the Ganjiang River and develops towards the west of Fujian. .Mao Zedong acted with the Central Route Army as the chairman of the Central Government and a member of the Military Commission.

At that time, Mao Zedong made an incisive analysis on the whereabouts of the Red Army based on the situation, and proposed to develop northward.However, his idea of ​​concentrating troops on the development of Northeast Jiangxi, where the enemy's defense force is relatively weak, and gradually uniting with Northeast Jiangxi base areas through guerrilla warfare, did not receive the support of most leaders. This time when entering Fujian, the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area asked the East Route Army to go outside to Ninghua, Qingliu, and Naturalization, and raised money to supplement its troops.

After entering Fujian, Mao Zedong had an in-depth understanding of the situation in southwestern Fujian, and believed that the Red Army's eastern expedition must go outside and go straight to Zhangquan in order to take the initiative. The basis for his idea is that, firstly, the Japanese army invaded Xiamen, and the people’s anti-Japanese sentiment was rising day by day. ", took the opportunity to apportion the plane donation to the people, and people complained; third, Zhang Zhen claimed to be the direct descendant of Chiang Kai-shek, and most of his troops were recruited from the militia. Under the banner of "suppressing the Communist Party", Zhen asked Chiang Kai-shek too much for arms. Both of his main brigades were equipped with brand-new weapons and 6 aircraft. Prosperity is conducive to the development of base areas.

Based on this, he presided over the decision-making meeting on the Eastern Expedition to Zhangzhou in Changting, and after making the decision to "go straight to Zhangzhou", he instructed Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen to lead the 1st Red Army to march northward to confuse the enemy, and at the same time, the 1st and 5th Red Army And the 7th Division action called Zhou Enlai: "(1) Politically, you must go straight to Zhangquan to mobilize the enemy, win the war, and develop the current situation. If you simply raise funds near Longyan, it is still a conservative situation, and the following is very difficult to do.

"... "Thirdly, it only takes five days for the Cantonese enemy to travel from Tai Po to Longyan to threaten our rear; it takes fifteen days for the Fifth Army to travel from Xinfeng to Longyan. Therefore, if it is known that the Cantonese enemy has entered Fujian and then mobilized, it will be too late. "(4) The First Army Corps has already moved to Xinqiao in Tingdong to rest, to spy out the enemy, and wait for the Seventh Division to gather together, then go east first. The Fifth Army Corps can then enter Fujian, but it must reach Longyan by April 20 at the latest Stand by. The Thirteenth Army must also enter Fujian. It is located in Longyankan City to protect the rear. Now that the First Army is advancing, the rear is completely empty. .

"(v) I will go to Jiuxian tomorrow to meet Tan (Zhenlin) and Zhang (Dingcheng)." After receiving Mao Zedong's telegram, Zhou Enlai immediately left Ruijin and rushed to Changting. At the East Route Army Headquarters, Mao Zedong explained to Zhou Enlai his plans for the Longyan and Zhangzhou campaigns in detail. While smoking a cigarette, Mao Zedong gestured on the map and said: "While our 1st Army Corps captured Longyan and Zhangzhou, in order to prevent the Guangdong enemy from coming out of Longyan from Dapu to threaten our army's rear, I request that the 5th Army Corps be transferred from Xinfeng. .Otherwise, the 1st Army Corps will be weak and the rear will be empty, so there is little chance of victory."

Zhou Enlai thought for a while and said, "Yes. I will immediately order the 5th Army to come to Longyan." Mao Zedong said: "I will rush to Shanghang and Jiuxian to arrange for Tan Zhenlin and Zhang Dingcheng to cooperate with the 1st Army to attack Longyan and Zhangzhou." Zhou Enlai said: "Okay! I will stay here and be responsible for mobilizing troops, raising supplies, and meeting the needs of the frontline." Mao Zedong smiled and said, "Enlai, with you sitting here, I will be sure to win the battle!" In fact, Mao Zedong's idea of ​​developing Fujian was precisely Zhou Enlai's original idea.As early as late December 1931, when he entered the Central Soviet Area and came to Changting, he wrote to the Political Bureau of the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, advocating the development of western Fujian. , Consolidate the base area in western Fujian, fully integrate with the central region, develop into northern Fujian with the main force of the 12th Red Army Army, and act in concert with the Jiangxi Red Army."Now, it can be said that his wish was realized by Mao Zedong.He then presided over a meeting of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area. At the meeting, it was unanimously agreed to change the name of the Central Route Army to the East Route Army, and march into Fujian from the east. Mao Zedong's actions were commanded by the army.

At the same time that Zhou Enlai went to Changting, he transferred the 5th Red Army from the Xinfeng area to ensure that the Red Army went south. According to Mao Zedong's command, on April 3, more than 9,000 people from the two armies of the 1st Red Army marched south from Tingzhou and arrived in Baisha on April 7.After Mao Zedong assigned combat missions to Tan Zhenlin and Zhang Dingcheng in Shanghang, he also returned to Baisha on the same day to meet with Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen. When the Red Army went straight down to Zhangquan, they had to take Longyan first, and to take Longyan they had to conquer Dachi first.The next day, the Red 4th Army and the Red 15th Army, which belonged to the Red 1st Army, rushed to Baisha from Xinqiao and Guanqian.After the troops arrived at the designated location, they took a hidden rest.

Mao Zedong was conducting a full analysis of the enemy's situation, and adopted methods of slamming east and west to confuse the enemy's eyes and ears, so as to mobilize and paralyze the enemy.When the Red Army arrived at Dachi in Longyan, they acted very secretly. Yang Fengnian, who was defending the enemy, received news from the front that the Red Guards were attacking Dachi. The Red Army and Red Guards quickly captured Dachi.The enemy militia retreated to Xiaochi and joined Ye Yangyu, the second supplementary battalion. On the 9th, the Red Army gathered in Dachi to rest, and Lin Biao immediately sent a small team to scout the enemy's situation in Longyan.Mao Zedong adopted "regardless of Kanshi, go straight to Longyan", and "camp in Dachi instead of going to Xiaochi" to defeat the enemy by surprise and win the first battle in Zhangzhou.At this time, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission made a decision according to the situation: use part of the troops to cooperate with the local red guards in Dachi to attack Xiaochi to defend the enemy, causing the trend of "earth communist harassment" to continue to confuse the enemy.The 4th Army made a detour to the copper bowl, and then went straight down to Longyan City.

At dawn on the 10th, Mao Zedong ordered the 15th Red Army to be the first echelon, and the 4th Red Army to be the second echelon to attack Longyan all the way.The 15th Red Army first wiped out a small number of Jiang's troops in Xiaochi, and then attacked Kaotang, the outlying stronghold of Jiang's army stationed in Longyan.At this time, a regiment and a supplementary battalion of the Zhang Zhen Department of the 49th Division of the Jiang Army stationed in Longyan resisted with strong fortifications and gun towers in Kaotang, and the Red 15th Army's attack was blocked.Mao Zedong ordered the 4th Red Army to attack Jiang's army along both sides.After the Red Army wiped out the enemy's 291 regiment in the fierce battle in Kaotang outside Longyan, they took advantage of the victory and divided their troops to attack Longyan City in two ways.All the way from Longyan to attack the west gate from the front; all the way to bend the copper bowl and attack the north gate from the back.Most of the enemy's independent regiments defending Longyan City were recruits and lacked combat effectiveness. They fled at the sound of guns, and most of them were annihilated by the Red Army. In the Battle of Longyan, the Red Army wiped out two regiments of Zhang Zhenbu, captured 685 people, captured a radio station, two cannons, 10 machine guns, 925 rifles, 72,400 bullets, 70 grenades and a batch of military supplies.The Red Army killed 70 people and wounded 189 people. As soon as the Battle of Longyan was over, Mao Zedong called Zhou Enlai on April 11 to report the situation of the Battle of Longyan and the next action plan.He pointed out in the telegram: "The reason for Longyan's victory is to unite the troops and not be prepared to attack the enemy. Our army's entry into Zhangzhou will definitely lure the Guangdong enemy." Zhang Zhen was greatly shocked by the fall of Longyan, and hurriedly dispatched two regiments of the 146th Brigade Wang Zuqing to the Jinshan and Hexi lines in Nanjing overnight to resist the pursuing Red Army.At the same time, defensive positions were set up on the front lines of Nanjing and Punan, in an attempt to use Tianbao Mountain as the main battlefield to fight to the death with the Red Army. On April 14, when Mao Zedong learned that the 5th Red Army quickly rushed to Longyan from southern Jiangxi and realized the rendezvous of the main force of the East Route Army as scheduled, he asked Zhou Enlai for instructions on the combat arrangement for attacking Zhangzhou according to the original plan.After obtaining Zhou Enlai's consent, he arranged for the 13th Army of the 5th Red Army to be stationed in Longyan, responsible for ensuring the supply and transportation line from Longyan to Zhangzhou, and the 3rd Army followed the 1st Red Army to attack Zhangzhou. Zhang Zhen deployed the main force of her 145th and 146th brigades on the line from Tianbao to Nanjing in the northwest of Zhangzhou. One of them was stationed in Zhangzhou. Relying on the Longjiang River, using the steep terrain to strangle the only way for the main force of the Red Army to attack Zhangzhou. The specific layout is that Rongziling, Fengshuangling, and Shierling in Tianbao Mountain will be used as the decisive battle zone, and the Bijiashan and Rongziling positions on the left will be defended by two regiments 289 and 290 of Yang Fengnian's brigade. The Shierling and Fengshuangling positions on the right wing are defended by Wang Zuqing's 293 and 294 regiments, and the frontline headquarters is located in Tianbao Town.In addition, a battalion of the 292nd regiment was placed near Wushi Mountain to cooperate with Chen Guohui's department to guard the front lines of Hua'an and Punan.The division headquarters controls some directly subordinate units and is stationed in Zhangzhou to command. Tianbao Mountain, located in the northwest of Zhangzhou City, runs from Rongzai Ridge along Fengshuang Ridge to Shierling Ridge. It runs north-south and lies on the Zhanglong Highway. It is the last pass for Longyan to enter Zhangzhou.To the north is Tianxian Wufeng Mountain, which is the commanding height of Twelve Ridges.The west side of Wufeng Mountain is full of cliffs, the peaks go straight into the sky, easy to defend but difficult to attack.Zhang Zhen invested more than 9,000 troops, and the two brigades of Yang Fengnian and Wang Zuqing guarded the left and right wings respectively, using Zhangzhou, a natural barrier in the northwest, to resist the Red Army.Zhang Zhen also sent planes from Zhangzhou to Longyan to scout the Red Army's actions.Because the Red Army strictly blocked the news and moved secretly and quickly, the vanguard had already arrived in Jinshan and Longshan areas, but Zhang Zhen still didn't know anything about it. On April 16, Mao Zedong held a military meeting in Mashan with the participation of Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, Luo Ronghuan and others.After listening to the enemy's reconnaissance report, Mao Zedong decided to contain the enemy's left wing first, concentrate his forces to eat up its light and weak right wing, and then detour around Jingcheng to surround Yang Fengnian's brigade and wipe out the enemy.The specific offensive deployment is that the Red 4th Army is the main offensive task, attacking the Jiang Army's Tianbaoshan position; the Red 15th Army assists the Jiang Army on the front line from Baolin to Nanjing; the Red 3rd Army is the battle reserve. At dawn on April 19, Zhangzhou City was awakened by the sound of attacking artillery from the Red Army.The 11th Division of the Red 4th Army, as the first attack echelon, launched a fierce attack on Jiang Jun at Yangmeiling, Shierling and Fengshuangling with the cooperation of the 10th Division.The 33rd regiment of the division rushed across the Dongxi River, cooperated with the 10th division of Youlin to capture the Jiang army's position on the east side of Dajian from the front, and then attacked Tianbaoshan on the outskirts of Zhangzhou.The 31st Regiment went around to the Dajianshan position behind Jiang Jun, and the 32nd Regiment followed up with the 33rd Regiment. After the battle started, Jiang Jun fought fiercely with the Red Army by virtue of the dangerous situation.However, their strong defensive line was still unable to withstand the fierce offensive of the Red Army, and soon collapsed across the board.Zhang Bu guarded the 145th Brigade in the front line from Dajianshan to Tianbao on the outskirts of the city, and all surrendered to the Red Army. In order to keep the strategic location on the outskirts of the city, Zhang Zhen urgently dispatched a part of Zhangzhou defenders out of the city for reinforcements. As soon as they left the city, they were suppressed by the Red Army in the southeast of Tianbao Mountain and returned to the city.At the same time, the Red 15th Army, which was in charge of attacking Jiang's army on the line from Nanjing to Baolin, also had a successful start. The 44th Division, which was in the vanguard, successfully annihilated or defeated Jiang's army at various points along the way.Seeing that Jiancheng was on the verge of collapse under the fierce offensive of the Red Army, Zhang knew that the situation was over, so he ordered the ammunition depot in the city to be burned, and then led the remnants to flee in a panic in the direction of Zhangpu, Quanzhou, and Xiamen.The Red Army occupied Zhangzhou on April 20. In the Battle of Zhangzhou, the Red Army wiped out four regiments under Jiang Zhangzhen, captured 1,600 people, captured two planes, a batch of weapons, ammunition and military supplies.The results of this battle were brilliant, and the Red Army's prestige was greatly boosted. When the news of the victory in the Zhangzhou Battle came, Zhou Enlai was overjoyed and rushed to Zhangzhou on horseback.Just after leaving Changting City, a team came over at the intersection, and someone stopped him. "Enlai!" A familiar and kind woman's voice. Zhou Enlai reined in the reins, looked away, and it was none other than Deng Yingchao who waved to him and ran towards him!He was pleasantly surprised, and shouted: "Xiao Chao!..." Turned over, jumped off the horse, and galloped towards Deng Yingchao. The two hugged tightly.After a long time, the two let go of their hands and looked at each other.Both pairs of tender eyes were filled with crystal clear tears.When the two of them parted ways in Shanghai, it was a bitterly cold winter, and now it is late spring, which is breezy and sunny.On the hillside, there are luxuriant grasses and flowers blooming; at the foot of the hill, the bamboo shadows are shaking and the stream is gurgling. After parting, they were worried about each other, lingering in their dreams, and the reunion finally became a reality.Under the careful arrangement of Wu Defeng, the head of the Central Transportation Bureau, she and her mother disguised themselves as housewives, and together with Xiang Ying's younger sister Xiang Defen and her brother-in-law Yu Changsheng, left Shanghai secretly on a ship of the British merchant Jardine Matheson.After the ship arrived in Shantou, under the cover of Li Peiqun, the head of the West Fujian Traffic Station, and the Red Army Pistol Team in West Fujian, it entered the Central Soviet Area from Tingzhou, Fujian.Deng's mother is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. As soon as she entered the Soviet area and saw so many sick and wounded people, and there was still a shortage of medicine and medicine, she volunteered to join the team of treating the sick and wounded. Seeing his wife coughing, Zhou Enlai realized that her face was pale, and asked worriedly, "Xiao Chao, are you sick?" "It's nothing, it's because of being tired from running around on the road." Deng Yingchao smiled and said lightly. "No. I can see that you are sick!" Zhou Enlai looked at his wife's face and became anxious. "Hey, you have to pay more attention to your body!" "Look, you are in a hurry, the disease is on me, don't I know better than you?" Deng Yingchao pretended to be nonchalant, and deliberately changed the topic. Deng Yingchao talked about Zhou Enlai's residence being discovered by Kuomintang agents shortly after Zhou Enlai left Shanghai. Fortunately, she remained vigilant and took her mother to transfer in time, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.I just got rid of the pursuit of the Kuomintang spies, and saw the "Notice of Wu Hao and others leaving the Communist Party" from "Shenbao" and other newspapers.She knew that this was a vicious scam concocted by Kuomintang secret agents, but how could she expose the enemy's conspiracy to party comrades when the party organization was in a state of extreme secrecy?If the enemy's conspiracy is allowed to succeed, the losses and impact on the party will be even worse than her being arrested and imprisoned! She was worried, and finally found Chen Yun, a member of the Political Bureau of the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and asked the Central Committee to try to clarify the matter as soon as possible. "Declaration" had a great influence in Shanghai. Chen Yun wanted to send someone to the advertising office of the Declaration Office to send the "Wu Hao Announcement" written on behalf of the party to deny the forged advertisement of the Kuomintang secret agents.After several negotiations, finally with the support of general manager Shi Liangcai and consultant Tao Xingzhi of the declaration office, they agreed to publicly reply in the newspaper in the name of the advertising office: "Mr. Otherwise, because the Fuchang Bed Company denied the guarantee and the procedures were inconsistent, it was not published.” This is the only way to deny the forged notice under the eyes of the Kuomintang secret agents. Then, Chen Yun also took more clear and forceful measures to dispel the rumors, found a progressive barrister Chen Zhigao, and asked him to come forward to find a way to defend Wu Hao.Chen Zhigao didn't know Wu Hao well, but he had read many of Wu Hao's articles and appreciated them, so he agreed to help him out.Going back and thinking about it again, he felt that if he came forward directly, the Kuomintang authorities would definitely interfere, so it would be better to find a foreign lawyer to come forward and let the Kuomintang authorities have nothing to do. So he invited Mr. Ba He, a famous French lawyer in Shanghai and perennial legal advisor of Shenbao, to have a meal, and gave him an ancient painting, and Ba He agreed to his request.In this way, in the name of Zhou Enlai's other alias, Zhou Shaoshan, "Shenbao" was asked to publish the notice on his behalf to deny the forged notice.After paying a lot of money, the "Emergency Announcement of Bahe's Lawyer Representative Zhou Shaoshan" was published in "Shenbao" on March 4.Most people in the party knew that Zhou Shaoshan was Zhou Enlai's alias. As soon as this announcement was published, the deception painstakingly designed by the Kuomintang agents was self-defeating. The husband and wife were in a state of agitation, confiding in each other their feelings of parting, when the big white horse led by the guard in front neighed.Deng Yingchao asked, "Where are you going?" Zhou Enlai said excitedly: "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Mao Zedong won a big victory in Zhangzhou, and I was about to go to condolences to them!" "A happy event!" Deng Yingchao said excitedly, "When I came to the Soviet area, I encountered such a happy event!" "You are here, there will be many happy events like this in the future!" "Then don't hurry up." "But you...?" "I'm going to Ruijin. I'll wait for you in Ruijin!" "Okay, then let's see you in Ruijin!" The couple who reunited after a long absence embraced and parted in a hurry. Zhou Enlai rode his horse forward for a few steps, reined in the rein, and turned around to look at his wife.Then, he whipped his horse and galloped away. Standing by the roadside, Deng Yingchao watched her husband leave quickly, climbed the hillside ahead, and disappeared into the thick jungle.