Chapter 19 (4) Depressed and helpless days

The fact that the Red Army did not stand on the same front as the 19th Route Army undoubtedly helped Chiang Kai-shek a lot. In mid-December 1933, he appointed himself the commander-in-chief of the "Rebel Army", sent 11 divisions to attack Fujian, and fought fiercely with the 19th Route Army in Jian'ou, Yanping, and Gutian; he also sent planes to bomb Fuzhou, Zhangzhou and other places, and sent the navy Blockade Haikou, Fujian, and attack Fuzhou, Xiamen and other places.He also sent Chen Yi to Taiwan to conclude a secret agreement with Japan, requesting Japan to send troops to assist.The Japanese then sent warships into Majiang, and together with Jiang's troops occupied Xiamen.

The 19th Route Army had to abandon northern Fujian and retreat to Fuzhou. On January 5, 1934, Jiang mobilized more than 100,000 troops and marched southward from Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces into Fujian. Jiang personally went to Jian'ou to command and violently besieged the 19th Route Army. The 19th Route Army was isolated and helpless, coupled with the lack of unity within the Fujian Revolutionary Government, Jiang also lurks spies in the 19th Route Army, and his military dynamics are under Jiang's control.By mid-January, Fuzhou, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou were successively occupied by Jiang's army. The remnants of the 19th Route Army retreated into Guangdong and were incorporated by Chen Jitang.The 19th Army, which made great contributions in the Songhu Anti-Japanese War but was unwilling to fight a civil war, was completely wiped out by Jiang.

In early February 1934, after suppressing the 19th Route Army and the Fujian Revolutionary Government, Chiang Kai-shek readjusted his combat deployment to the Red Army.He organized the troops entering Fujian to form the East Route Army, which cooperated with the previously established North Route Army, West Route Army, and South Route Army to form a trend of encircling the Central Soviet Area, and restarted the "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Area.Gu Zhutong is the commander-in-chief of the North Route Army, and Chen Cheng is the commander-in-chief of the former enemy; Jiang Dingwen is the commander-in-chief of the East Route Army, and Wei Lihuang is the commander-in-chief of the former enemy; He Jian is the commander-in-chief of the West Route Army, and Liu Jianxu is the commander-in-chief of the former enemy; Chen Jitang served as the commander-in-chief of the Southern Route Army, and Yu Hanmou was the commander-in-chief of the former enemy.

This time, under the planning of the German military adviser and General von Seeckert under Hitler, he did not adopt a long-distance drive, but a "step by step" fortress tactic, building blockhouses as he advanced, moving only two or three kilometers a day Step by step, they approached the center of the Soviet area and the main force of the Red Army. In the face of Jiang's attack, Bogu relied on Li De's military command, and Li De not only asked the Red Army to build bunkers in important towns, large residential areas, traffic arteries, passes, etc. "Shock" against Jiang's army, and hastily asked the Red Army to use the main force to launch an attack on Jiang's fortress positions or fronts backed by fortresses.From January to March 1934, the Red Army failed to defeat or disrupt Chiang's offensive deployment in campaign or strategy, nor was it able to achieve tactical victory. Instead, it suffered heavy losses and the Central Soviet Area gradually shrank.

At this time, Zhou Enlai was nominally still the General Political Commissar of the Red Army and the Vice Chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission. He was also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and one of the secretaries of the newly established four-member Secretariat (the other three were Bo Gu, Luo Fu, and Xiang Ying). 1. The main leading members of the Party Central Committee are responsible for military work according to the division of labor.However, due to the full support of Bogu, who represented the Central Committee leading the work of the Military Commission, Li De had the final say on military issues.Zhou Enlai stayed away from the front line and was designated by Li De to stay behind in Ruijin.

When the collective leadership of the Military Commission is not normal, he, like other members of the Military Commission, cannot keep abreast of all major military decisions.Because many major military issues are no longer discussed in the Military Commission, or even decided by the Political Bureau or the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, but directly issued by Li De. During this period of time, he was very depressed. On the one hand, many of his suggestions on military command were ignored by Li De; He is in charge of organizing the implementation. The front is constantly in a hurry, and the rear Ruijin can't be at peace.Jiang Jun's planes often descended on the sky over Ruijin, carrying out indiscriminate bombing.On this day, after avoiding the bombing of Jiang Jun's plane in the air-raid shelter at the head of Wushilong Village, and commanding Chuang to rescue the wounded, Deng Yingchao did not let Zhou Enlai return to the office of the Military Commission as usual, but took him for a walk up the mountain.She knew that he was in a bad mood recently, if he was immersed in work, it would only make things worse.

In March of Yangchun, the more conspicuous places on the mountain were completely devastated by Jiang Jun's planes, and the smoke was billowing.In places not bombed, there are still luxuriant grasses and wild flowers.For those who have just escaped the bombing of enemy planes and are still in shock, this situation is enough to make people feel refreshed. After arriving in the Central Soviet Area, Deng Yingchao was in poor health, but insisted on working while sick.She first served as the secretary-general of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area, and now she is in charge of women's affairs in the Central Bureau of the Communist Party of China.Arm in arm, the two walked around a crater filled with gunpowder smoke, and walked along a mountainside that was spared from being bombed by Jiang Jun's plane.Here, the pine trees stand tall and the green grass is fluffy. After the sound of rumbling explosions subsides, it looks surprisingly quiet.

Seeing her husband frowning looking at the billowing gunpowder smoke on the hillside, Deng Yingchao deliberately changed the subject and told him something else.The two were talking and walking, when they saw a figure wandering in the woods beside the hillside ahead.This man was tall and thin, with long disheveled hair almost shoulder-length, with a slightly hunched back, a sickly face, cigarettes in his hand, and kept puffing.Zhou Enlai quickly recognized that the man was Mao Zedong.He and Deng Yingchao went forward to greet Mao Zedong. "Enlai, I was just about to talk to you!" Seeing Zhou Enlai, a little smile appeared on Mao Zedong's gloomy face.

Deng Yingchao knew that Mao Zedong must have important matters to discuss with Zhou Enlai, so she said that she wanted to go there to pick a bunch of azaleas, and left alone. Since the Ningdu Conference, Mao Zedong can no longer ask about the military.With the arrival of Bo Gu and Li De, his situation is even more difficult.It turned out that he was still able to preside over the work of the Soviet central government. Later, a people's committee was established in the central government, with Luo Fu as the chairman. In fact, Luo Fu presided over the work of the central government. His chairman became idle and had nothing to do.

Seeing that the military situation is gradually deteriorating, as a member of the Military Commission, he has made many suggestions to Li De on strategic and tactical issues.After the Fujian Incident, with a long-term vision of a strategist, he suggested that the Red Army should not only fight from the northeast of Jiangxi, but should also rush into the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi regions centered on Zhejiang, galloping across Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuhu, Nanchang, and Fuzhou In the meantime, transform the strategic defense into a strategic offensive, threaten the enemy's key areas, and seek operations in the vast fortress area.In this way, we can force the enemy attacking the southern Jiangxi and western Fujian areas to return to aid their base areas, smash their attacks on the Jiangxi base areas, and assist the Fujian People's Government.

However, Li De still ignored Zhou Enlai's suggestion, and Li De's attitude towards his suggestion can be imagined. "Chiang Kai-shek blocked and surrounded us with fortress tactics, but we can't use fortress tactics to deal with it, let alone fight hard." Mao Zedong said to Zhou En worriedly. "Chiang Kai-shek's weapons and equipment are many times better than ours! He still has planes in the sky! Coupled with the fortress tactics of his German consultant, he is even more powerful! Why should we fight him head-on? Impossible!" "In your opinion, how should we break Chiang Kai-shek's fortress tactics?" Zhou Enlai asked sincerely. "Avoid the truth and stay empty. Don't attack the enemy's fortress, but go around the enemy's rear and attack their weaker front." Mao Zedong obviously had already typed many times in his heart, and the topic was full of eloquence as soon as he opened it. "Chiang Kai-shek is very powerful, and this attack is extremely ferocious, but he also has weak links. If we can avoid his blockhouses, set up another battlefield on his side or behind, and adopt tactics to lure the enemy deep into an ambush, Or attack his front without a blockhouse, so that we can be sure of victory. Otherwise, we can only suffer losses!" Zhou Enlai nodded and said, "I have thought about it in the same way, and it can be said that it is not much different from your thinking." "Oh, that's right!..." Mao Zedong's eyes lit up. "However, people will say that ours is a right-leaning concept!" Zhou Enlai said angrily, "to put it more seriously, this is an offensive line against the International and the Central Committee, and it is to cower and flee in front of a strong enemy!" "It's unreasonable!" Mao Zedong also said angrily, "What did their offensive route bring? It's retreating steadily, and the Soviet area is shrinking day by day!" Zhou Enlai exhaled bitterly, bowed his head and remained silent. Mao Zedong pondered for a few minutes and stared at Zhou Enlai: "Enlai, you are different from me. You still have military power and your words have weight. The foreign consultant's style of play is wrong. You can't ask him to command as he pleases. You fight hard like that. The battle must be won!" Zhou Enlai smiled bitterly, and said in a helpless tone: "I don't know how many times I have mentioned such a suggestion. They are acting in accordance with the 100% correct Communist International line. How can we allow us to make irresponsible remarks?" "Why, they don't even hear your words!..." Mao Zedong said in surprise. "Aside from strictly implementing the decisions of the Communist International and the Central Committee, what else can I say?" Zhou Enlai implied that under the circumstances that Li De was overshadowing the sky, he was the general political commissar of the Red Army in name, but in fact he was performing a Duties of the Chief of Staff. "This Supreme Emperor!..." Mao Zedong cursed angrily. Seeing that Mao Zedong was very depressed, Zhou Enlai thought for a while and said in a comforting tone: "Chairman Mao, don't be so pessimistic. The defense of Guangchang is about to begin. Comrades Bogu and Li De will come to the front to command in person. This is the key. What a great battle! After so many defeats, the foreign consultant should be clear-headed. We all have high hopes for him, and hope that he can turn things around through the defense of Guangchang!" As early as the beginning of February of that year, Chen Cheng used the 14th Division, 94th Division, and 79th Division as the right path to attack Zhangcun and Huangshu Village, and took the 11th Division, 67th Division, and 6th Division as the left path. , Attacking Dongshan and Deshengguan.The Red 3rd Army is guarding Desheng Pass.Chen Cheng covered the infantry's charge with aircraft and cannons, but the Red 3rd Army could not stop the attack and retreated to Xinqiao.The 1st Red Army Corps stationed in Zhangcun and Huangshu Village also failed to hold on.Afterwards, Chen Cheng ordered Fan Songfu to lead the 79th division to go to Camellia Pass, and then lead the 11th and 67th divisions to attack Tianai, and will attack Jianning.At the Pingcha pass in Wuyi Mountain, Fan Songfu's 79th Division withstood the attack of the Red 1st Army. Guangchang is the gateway to the Central Soviet Area. To occupy the Central Soviet Area, Guangchang must be captured first. At the end of February, Chen Cheng ordered Luo Zhuoying to lead the 11th, 14th, 67th, and 94th divisions of the 18th Army to attack Guangchang from Nanfeng.The Red 1st and 3rd Army Corps were forced to return to Jiangxi from Jianning, Fujian to block the attack, and set up defenses near Nanchenggang.The two sides used the main force to face the main force, forming a stalemate. Chen Cheng urgently ordered Fan Songfu to lead the 79th Division to reinforce, broke through the Red Army's defense line, and opened the first gateway to Guangchang. Subsequently, Chen Cheng transferred 5 divisions of the 19th Army, Fan Songfu's 79th Division, and Xue Yue's 5th Army to attack Guangchang, and fought fiercely with the Red 1st and 3rd Army in the Donghuashan area. At first, Chen Cheng's general attack was unsuccessful. The two divisions of Luo Zhuoying and Fan Songfu did not have an advantage in the fierce battle with the 1st and 3rd Red Army. The 3rd Army retreated to the south of Donghua Mountain and Sanxi. Then, after the Nanfeng-Baisha Highway was built, Chen Cheng ordered Liu Shaoxian's 43rd Division and 97th Division to guard the bunker. Luo Zhuoying, Fan Songfu, Tang Enbo, and Wu Qiwei's 11 divisions attacked Guangchang along the Tingjiang River. In the face of the enemy, 11 divisions were concentrated to attack Guangchang.Li De, who had suffered many defeats, was still not clear-headed, and still adopted the original strategy and tactics. Regardless of the fact that the Red Army was already very tired and attrition after continuous combat, he hastily mobilized 9 divisions. Jiang Jun fought decisively in Guangchang and the area to the north.Faced with Jiang's army's repeated bombing by planes and fierce artillery attacks, Li De still insisted on the strategy and tactics of "using blockhouses against blockhouses" and "short assaults", and fought desperately with Jiang's army. Zhou Enlai, who was stationed in the rear, received news of defeat in the front battlefield one after another, and he was very worried.He knew very well that once the Guangchang Battle was defeated, the northern gate of the Central Soviet Area would be opened to Jiang's army, and the failure of the fifth counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression" would be irreversible. Peng Dehuai rode his horse back to Ruijin and went straight to the headquarters of the Military Commission of Wushilong Village.Zhou Enlai was studying the battle plan with several combat staff officers. Seeing Peng Dehuai returning alone with a tired and angry face, Zhou Enlai frowned and asked with concern: "Comrade Dehuai, why are you back?" Peng Dehuai threw a simple luggage bag against the wall and said, "I'm going to the Military Law Office." Zhou Enlai said: "The battle is not over yet, what military law office are you going to?" Peng Dehuai said, "I scolded Li De." Zhou Enlai couldn't help laughing: "You are quite courageous! But you want to go to the Military Law Department after scolding Comrade Li De, you are far from qualified?" Peng Dehuai said: "I just couldn't bear his blind command, so I scolded him. Anyway, I don't want to lead troops under his command to fight. How to deal with it, you can figure it out!" At the headquarters of the forward position in Guangchang, Peng Dehuai couldn't understand Li De's blind command, and angrily scolded Li De for "I don't care if I sell my father."Li De's translator, Xiao Wu, didn't understand the meaning of this sentence, so he couldn't translate it to Li De, so he asked Yang Shangkun, political commissar of the 3rd Red Army, who was beside him.Yang Shangkun is from Sichuan, and he didn't know much about this Hunan saying, so he said to Xiao Wu, "It doesn't hurt that my son betrays me." Xiao Wu translated Li De in this way, and Li De didn't understand it, and reprimanded Peng Dehuai: "What kind of son sells Lao Tzu's field? Feudal thinking!" Zhou Enlai stared at Peng Dehuai and asked, "On this matter, you left the battlefield without authorization?" Peng Dehuai said: "What to do, you tell me!" Zhou Enlai said, "I want you to go back to the front line immediately!" Peng Dehuai turned his head: "I won't go back." Zhou Enlai said sternly: "Comrade Dehuai, what time is it now, you must put the overall situation first!" Peng Dehuai stared at Zhou Enlai, startled. A confidential officer walked in and handed a draft telegram to Zhou Enlai.Zhou Enlai was shocked when he read the telegram. Everyone stared at Zhou Enlai in astonishment.Peng Dehuai asked: "General Political Commissar! What happened?" Zhou Enlai looked around the people in the room in frustration, and said in a low voice: "Guangchang has fallen." Everyone was shocked.