Chapter 22 (3) On the eve of the Western Expedition

An old ancestral hall surrounded by green trees by the Yudu River.The Central Revolutionary Military Commission refers to the temporary establishment of the military headquarters here.The spacious hall was full of people.Outside the window, the sky was gloomy, and it looked like it was going to rain but it didn't.All the doors and windows were open, but the light in the room was still dim.Zhou Enlai, who presided over the meeting, looked solemn, lacking his usual cheerfulness and joy, and looked a little tired.He is giving the participants specific action arrangements for strategic shifts.

Present here are Li Fuchun, deputy director and acting director of the General Political Department of the Red Army, Lin Biao, commander of the 1st Army Corps, Nie Rongzhen, political commissar, Peng Dehuai, commander of the 3rd Army Corps, Yang Shangkun, political commissar, Ye Jianying, commander of the 1st Column of the Military Commission (also known as the Military Commission column), Ye Jianying, commander of the Military Commission 2nd Column (also known as Central Column) Commander Luo Mai, Deputy Commander Deng Fa, 5th Corps Commander Dong Zhentang, Political Commissar Li Zhuoran, 8th Corps Commander Zhou Kun, Political Commissar Huang Su, 9th Corps Commander Luo Binghui, Political Commissar Cai Shufan .Among them, the heads of the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 9th legions had just been recalled from the front.The 1st and 2nd columns of the Military Commission were just established. Column 1 is the ministries of the Central Committee, and Column 2 is the ministries of the Military Commission and the Red Army Headquarters.

In order to keep military secrets, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission redefined the code names of the Military Commission, each regiment, and each division on October 13: the Military Commission was "Red Star", the first column of the Military Commission was "Hong'an", and the second column of the Military Commission was "Red Badge"; The Red 1st Army is "Nanchang", the Red 1st Division is "Guangchang", the Red 2nd Division is "Jianchang"; the Red 3rd Army is "Fuzhou", the Red 4th Division is "Ganzhou", and the Red 5th Division is "Suzhou". The Red 6th Division is "Tingzhou"; the Red 5th Army is "Chang'an", the Red 13th Division is "Yong'an", the Red 34th Division is "Ji'an"; the Red 8th Army is "Jinan", and the Red 21st Division is "Dingnan". The Red 23rd Division is "Longnan"; the Red 9th Army is "Hankou", the Red 3rd Division is "Luokou", and the Red 22nd Division is "Bakou".The code names of the units below the division are determined by each legion.

Prior to this, according to the deployment of the Military Commission, the front-line troops had basically given up major resistance, and the positions were handed over to the local troops for defense, while they prepared for long-distance marches. On September 25, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission sent a telegram to each army group: "On the morning of the 1st and 26th, Jiang's enemy will launch a general attack on us. Li Yannian's column will advance to Tingzhou, and Chen Cheng's all the way will advance to Shicheng. Occupy Ruijin, our center. Xueyue's 1st Road and Zhou Hunyuan's column have also been gradually advancing recently. Their goal is to occupy Xingguo and cut off our main force from the west. 2. All armies should be fully prepared for battle before the morning of the 26th. Before the battle, the highest level of political work should be carried out, and the great significance of this battle should be explained. 3. After the battle begins, one should cherish and use one's own forces, and should resolutely avoid heavy losses, especially cadres. 4. Disadvantages in battle Under the conditions, the leading position should be properly abandoned. Fifth, when the battle is defeated, it should withdraw from the battle in an organized manner, and all legions should report the course and results of the battle quickly so that the Central Revolutionary Military Commission can issue new orders in due course."

In this telegram, the slogans of "rejecting the enemy at the gate of the country", "not giving up an inch of land in the Soviet area", and "defending the Soviet area to the death" were no longer mentioned. Organized withdrawal from fighting".They all know that the large forces are going to make a strategic shift. However, they do not know the scale of this strategic transfer and what is the purpose of the transfer.Is it to lead Jiang Jun outside the Soviet area, and then fight them in a decisive battle outside the Soviet area?Or is it just an illusion of transfer to confuse Jiang's army and achieve the purpose of dispersing Jiang's troops?Or is there a big campaign in order to fatigue Jiang's army during the campaign and eventually eliminate them during the campaign? ... They don't know clearly and can only make various guesses.

Only now did they know that the strategic shift of the Central Red Army was to go to Xiangxi to join the 2nd and 6th Red Army led by Ren Bishi, He Long, and Xiao Ke, and establish a new Soviet area there.Only after gaining a firm foothold there can we fight back.As for when it will come back, it is still unknown. In the first phase of the retreat of the Central Red Army, the action positions of the troops were that the Central Committee and the Military Commission columns were in the middle, with the 1st and 9th Corps as the left wing, the 3rd and 8th Corps as the right wing, and the 5th Corps as the rear.The specific action schedule of each unit has been mimeographed, and each participant has a copy.

Zhou Enlai saw that the participants were all whispering after seeing the action schedule. He told everyone to stop discussing and emphasized: "This is only a rough deployment. If the situation changes, individual orders shall prevail." After a pause, He added: "Do you have any questions, comrades?" Nie Rongzhen asked: "Can we convey the decision of strategic transfer to the following?" Zhou Enlai shook his head and said, "It cannot be conveyed." Nie Rongzhen asked again: "Can't we convey it to the cadres at the division level?" Zhou Enlai: "No. Not only can it not be conveyed, but it must be kept absolutely secret."

Nie Rongzhen said: "If such a large military operation is not mobilized in advance, I am afraid that the commanders and fighters below will find it difficult to accept it for a while?" "This is the central government's decision." Zhou Enlai said solemnly, "We are about to break through Jiang's blockade line. Chiang Kai-shek has guessed the general direction of our breakout, but where the specific breakthrough point is chosen depends on our march. They don't know where the route is going. If this information leaks out and Chiang Kai-shek finds out, one can imagine the consequences!"

Peng Dehuai said: "Secrecy should be kept secret. However, once there is any movement in such a large military operation, I am afraid there will be no secrecy!" Zhou Enlai: "We strive to achieve that when Jiang's army is aware of our actions, we have already broken through their blockade." Peng Dehuai said: "I was worried that we would be discovered by them before we crossed their blockade!" Zhou Enlai said: "It's possible, but it's not very likely. Now I can tell you that our strategic transfer operation has actually been planned since the defeat of the Guangchang Battle, and it has been going according to plan for half a year. This situation Many of our comrades, including many leading comrades in the central government, do not fully understand the truth."

Hearing what Zhou Enlai said, everyone's eyes widened.As senior commanders, they didn't know anything about the strategic transfer plan that had been planned for nearly half a year! "For the sake of confidentiality, we have to do this." Zhou Enlai looked at everyone with an apology on his face. Guangchang fell, and the north gate of the Soviet area was opened by Jiang's enemy. Jiang's army is now suppressing the soldiers of the Central Soviet area.What's more serious is that the CCP's underground organizations in Shanghai have been destroyed by the enemy. From the telegram sent to Shanghai from the Central Soviet Area, they learned that the Central Red Army was about to transfer, so they set up several blockades around the Soviet Area.

Judging from the deployment of their troops, they have judged that the main force of the Central Red Army will go to Xiangxi to join the 2nd and 6th Army Corps.However, due to the relatively good secrecy work, they still do not know where the breakthrough point for the transfer of the Central Red Army is. Of course, such a large-scale military operation may have no secrets to keep, and it seems to be relatively difficult to be foolproof.But I have to do it again.The Red Army's situation is so dangerous, if we don't pay attention to secrecy and let the news of the breakout and transfer leak to Chiang Kai-shek, the Red Army's situation will be even more dangerous. In fact, Zhou Enlai said these words to everyone at this time, and his mood was very complicated and painful.For Bogu and Li De's mysticism, major issues of strategic transfer are not discussed at the Central Political Bureau and Secretariat meetings. resentment.However, he, who has always strictly abided by the party's organizational principles and disciplines, had no choice but to persuade everyone to absolutely implement the three-person group's strategic shift policy. Nie Rongzhen asked: "If the cadres below ask, where are we going to fight? How should we answer?" Zhou Enlai raised his thick eyebrows and said firmly, "Just tell them to absolutely obey the orders of the central government and fight wherever the central government wants them to go!" After announcing the adjournment of the meeting, as soon as he walked out of the meeting room, he asked the guard Xiao Wei to lead the horse over, and he mounted the horse and galloped away to the field hospital. The field hospital is hidden in a camphor forest at the foot of the mountain.When Zhou Enlai and Xiao Wei arrived, the medical staff and security personnel of the hospital were making intense preparations before departure. Various boxes filled with medical equipment and medicines were placed in front of the house, and the boxes just moved out of the house were carried to the When the playground came up, the raised dust filled the sky above the playground. Guided by a nurse, Zhou Enlai walked into a ward.Chen Yi, commander of the Jiangxi Military Region, was lying on the bed with a haggard face and a plaster cast on his left leg.He was lifted from the Xingguo front line six weeks ago due to a gunshot wound to his buttocks that had not healed for a long time, and fragments continued to be found in the wound.When seeing old friends and old bosses, he was still full of worries and irritability.He stared at Zhou Enlai and asked, "My chief political commissar, it's such a mess outside, what happened?" "We are going to break through the enemy's blockade and carry out a strategic shift." Zhou Enlai sat down beside Chen Yi's bed and said calmly. "Transfer! Where are you going?" "Our main force is going to Xiangxi to join the 2nd and 6th armies." Chen Yi stared at Zhou Enlai in surprise, and couldn't believe what the other party was telling the truth. "The central government has decided that you and Comrade Xiang Ying will stay in the Central Soviet Area." Zhou Enlai said solemnly, "You will lead an independent force of more than 30,000 people to persevere in the struggle in the Central Soviet Area." With a sad expression on Chen Yi's face, he lowered his head and said nothing more.At least one-third of the troops he would lead were wounded like him and unable to participate in the battle; only six or seven thousand people had received formal training, and the rest were Red Guards, many of whom had never held a gun!Once the main force of the Red Army leaves, the situation here can be imagined. "You have fought here for many years and know the situation here like the back of your hand, so you are the best person to stay and fight." Zhou Enlai said to Chen Yi in a comforting tone, "Of course, you were injured, and the injury was serious, so it is inconvenient for you to travel long distances. "He knew Chen Yi's injury very well. On August 24 of this year, he and Chen Yi commanded the Xingguo battle on the front line of Xingguo. Chen Yi was injured in that battle.Seeing that the old friend looked depressed, he said again: "We will call back soon after we get a firm foothold in Xiangxi!" Chen Yi heaved a sigh of relief, gritted his teeth, held Zhou Enlai's hand tightly and said, "I obey the orders of the Central Committee." Zhou Enlai patted Chen Yi's shoulder gratefully, his eyes were moist.He fixed his gaze on Chen's plastered thigh, and asked with concern, "Has your wound started to heal?" Chen Yi shook his head and said resentfully, "The doctor didn't take out the bone fragments, so the injury hasn't improved at all." "Have you had an x-ray?" "They said the x-ray machine was out of order." "Call the dean right away!" Zhou Enlai turned around, his scorching eyes fixed on the nurse's face. The nurse panicked for a while, then turned around and ran quickly to find the dean.Soon, the dean came with a panicked expression.Zhou Enlai asked sternly, "Why didn't you take an X-ray of Comrade Chen Yi?" "Report to the General Political Commissar that the X-ray machine and films have been packaged and are ready to be transferred." The dean looked distressed. "Can't you take it off after it's packaged?" "But... we... don't have electricity..." "Where's the battery?" "The battery is too weak to take pictures!" Zhou Enlai thought for a while, and said decisively to the dean: "Send someone to the headquarters immediately, bring the radio station's spare gasoline generator here to generate electricity, and take X-rays for Comrade Chen Yi." After leaving the field hospital, Zhou Enlai rode his horse to the Yudu River to check the bridge construction of the engineering battalion.The main force of the Red Army gathered on the north bank of the Du River. To cross the Du River, a bridge must be built on the river.As early as a few days ago, Zhou Enlai made specific arrangements for the bridge erection, and five bridges were erected at Yudu, Longshizui, Laigong Temple, Longmen Mountain, and Mengkou.The task of building the bridge was undertaken by the engineering battalion of the headquarters and the engineering company of the 1st Corps respectively. It was required that mules, horses and artillery carts could pass on the bridge, and it was limited to be erected before 12:00 midnight on October 16.In order to prevent Jiang's aircraft from reconnaissance and avoid premature exposure of the target and the Red Army's action intentions, the bridging operation was carried out between 5:00 pm and 7:00 am the next day. After inspecting the five bridge construction sites, and listening to reports from relevant responsible persons on the progress of the bridge construction work, the mood of the troops, and the support of the people in the Soviet area for the bridge construction, it was already dark.