Chapter 37 (4) Letter from Lin Biao

In the Qingkeng area, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made a decision on March 13 that the Red Army would still use northern Guizhou as its main area of ​​activity, and control the upper reaches of the Chishui River as a transfer hub to eliminate Xueyue and Wang Jialie's troops. On March 14, the former enemy headquarters of the Red Army sent a top-secret telegram, deciding to launch an attack on Zhou Hunyuan's troops the next day. In the Battle of Lubanchang, the Red Army was stubbornly resisted by Zhou Hunyuan's troops.The battle was extremely fierce, the two sides back and forth, hand-to-hand combat, blood flowed, and in some places, the thorns and thatch that were as deep as people were trampled to the ground.Due to the concentration of the enemy's forces, the dominant terrain in the middle of the country, and solid fortifications, the reserve team was sent to counterattack from time to time. Although the Red Army broke into the enemy's position many times, it did not make much progress.The fierce battle continued until dusk when enemy reinforcements approached, but the Red Army still failed to succeed, so they withdrew from the battle.In this battle, the Red Army killed and wounded more than 1,000 enemies, but also sacrificed 480 and injured more than 1,000.

Zhou Hunyuan's department obeyed Chiang Kai-shek's order and pursued the Red Army. The major threat it posed was unmatched by local warlords, so Mao Zedong listed it as the main target of attack.If the Battle of Lubanchang succeeds and Zhou Hunyuan's troops are annihilated by the Red Army, it will not only relieve the Red Army's confidantes immediately, but also deter enemies from all directions, boost the morale of the Red Army, and thus play a role in turning the tide of the battle. In Mao Zedong's view, if you fight against local warlords, even if you win, it will be a war of attrition, which cannot change the situation of the war.Lubanchang is only 20 kilometers away from Maotai Ferry, and it is the only place for the Red Army to cross Chishui three times.Zhou Hunyuan's troops set up camp here and stepped up construction of fortifications. The purpose was to hold back the Red Army and wait for Wu Qiwei's troops from the south of Wujiang River to come, so as to encircle and annihilate the Red Army.If Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen's suggestion is to attack Dagu Xinchang, success or failure will not change the crisis, but will give the enemy time to speed up the encirclement.The Red Army crossing the river at this time may fall into the danger of a last stand.

The Red Army took the initiative to attack, even if it could not win, it could buy time, forcing the enemy to dare not leave the nest and attack, so that the Red Army could calmly cross to the west.Launching an attack while retreating to prevent the opponent from pursuing is a common tactic used by military strategists. Mao Zedong knew that only by grasping the initiative on the battlefield can the Red Army survive from desperation.However, a wise man is bound to make a mistake. Although Mao Zedong learned the lesson of the failure of the scattered troops in the Tucheng Battle and concentrated his efforts on attacking Luban Field, he never imagined that the Red Army would suffer such heavy casualties.

On March 16, the Red Army crossed Chishui three times to the west at Maotai and its vicinity, and headed towards Gulin and Xuyong in southern Sichuan.Zhou Enlai commanded the central column at the intersection of Renhuai to give way to the field troops and ensure the occupation of the ferry. On the 19th, the Red Army captured Zhenlong Mountain, defeated the Sichuan Army's obstruction, and entered the Dacun, Tiechang, and Lianghekou areas. Chiang Kai-shek thought that the Red Army was about to cross the Yangtze River again, so he hastily adjusted his combat deployment. He used the warlord troops of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Hunan provinces, and two columns of Wu Qiwei and Zhou Hunyuan to attack the Red Army. In an attempt to form an encirclement circle, encircle and wipe out the Red Army in the south bank of the Yangtze River.

After the goal of mobilizing Jiang's army was achieved, Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong, and Wang Jiaxiang decided that the Red Army should quickly cross the Chishui River eastward, and the heads of each army regiment should not issue orders in advance to keep secrets.In order to confuse the Sichuan Army and the Yunnan Army, a regiment of the Red Army pretended to be the main force to march westward according to the order of the three-member regiment, and then returned to Guiyang within a time limit, and crossed the Chishui River with the main force. On the 21st and 22nd, the Red Army crossed the Chishui River via Erlangtan, Jiuxikou and Taipingdu respectively.Zhou Enlai personally commanded the troops to cross the river at Jiuxikou.After the Red Army crossed the river to Guizhou, they rushed southward in the interval between Jiang's formation.

After crossing Chishui four times, the Central Red Army dumped Jiang Jun's heavy troops on the west bank of Chishui River.Then, on March 21st and 24th, the three-man regiment ordered the field troops to move southward quickly after crossing the river, and quickly passed the Zunren Line to seek new maneuvers southward. Chiang Kai-shek was confused by the actions of the Red Army and flew from Chongqing to Guiyang on March 24 to supervise the battle. The Red Army marched south from the south side of Zunyi and Renhuai Avenues on March 27.The three-man regiment ordered the Red 9th Army to temporarily stay on the north bank of the Wujiang River, pretend to be the main force in the Mazongling area west of Gouba, and restrain the two columns of Zhou Hunyuan and Wu Qiwei to cooperate with the main force.Since then, the 9th Army of the Red Army marched alone through the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou. Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong commanded the 9th Army of the Red Army through the radio.Zhou Enlai specifically instructed the Communications Bureau of the Military Commission to pay attention to the call sign of the Red Ninth Corps radio station, and to give priority to answering calls.

On the 31st, the main force of the Red Army crossed the Wujiang River southward at Jiangkou, Datang, and Tiziyan. On April 2nd, they pretended to attack Xifeng. , The trend of the 6 Legion rendezvous. Chiang Kai-shek, who was in command of the "encirclement and annihilation" Red Army in Guiyang, hurriedly dispatched the Yunnan Army to Guizhou for reinforcements, and hurriedly ordered his direct subordinates, the Central Army, the Hunan Army, and the Guizhou Army to block the Red Army from going out of Hunan. On April 5, the Dian army arrived at Qingzhen and Guiyang. On the 7th, the Red Army marched southward from Ximahe, Longli, and Guiyang, and from the 10th onwards joined the cities of Kedingfan, Guangshun, and Changzhai. From the 16th to the 18th, they crossed the Beipan River in the white layer of Zhenfeng County, and then successively occupied Zhenfeng, Anlong, Xingren and other counties. On the 23rd, they entered Yunnan and immediately occupied Pingyi and Luoping.

On the 25th, in accordance with the deployment of the three-member regiment, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission called the heads of the various corps, pointing out that the northeastern region of Yunnan is a hub of strategic maneuvering, backed by the natural dangers of the northwest, which is convenient for the Red Army to fight east and south, and it is also convenient for the Red Army to fight eastward and southward when it is unfavorable and necessary. Northward transfer.In view of the fact that the main force of Jiang's army was moving to the northeast of Yunnan, and the Yunnan Army was far away from the Red Army, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission ordered the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Army Corps of the Red Army to first wipe out the leading troops of the Yunnan Army in the Baishui, Qujing, and Zhanyi areas, and then quickly entered another area. , Eliminate Zhou Hunyuan and Wu Qiwei's minions to start a new situation.

Two days later, the Red Army defeated Baishui, Qujing, Zhanyi, and Ma Long. The 1st Division of the Red 1st Corps, the vanguard, captured Songming City, 50 kilometers away from Kunming. The 2nd Red Division captured Yanglin, which was only 15 kilometers away from Kunming. posture.At this time, the main forces of Long Yun's 6 brigades of the Yunnan Army had already been transferred out, and Kunming only had regiment defense and guard troops. He urgently ordered Sun Du to lead his troops back to Kunming for defense.Just as the Yunnan army rushed back to Kunming to defend the city, the main force of the Red Army suddenly split into two groups, turned northwest, and headed straight for the Jinsha River.

Marches are carried out at night.It was raining and the road was muddy.During the continuous march, the soldiers were exhausted and staggered as they walked. Some people fell in front of them, and those behind them also bumped into each other and fell into a ball.These days, they sometimes took the main road, sometimes took the small road, sometimes took the new road, and sometimes turned back. They have been going around in circles with Jiang Jun, playing hide-and-seek.Sometimes even an order was given to attack a county seat, and when the troops were ready to attack the city, they ordered to climb several hills in a row, and when they passed by Jiang Jun, they did not fire a single shot.

In this way, Li De, the foreign consultant, was exhausted and dizzy.He couldn't bear hardships at first, walking on such a rugged and muddy mountain road, he couldn't ride a horse, and within a few days his legs were sore, his soles were blistered, and he limped as he walked, like a lame man.Since the Zunyi Conference abolished the three-member regiment and lost the highest military command, he volunteered to Lin Biao's Red 1 Army to experience Mao Zedong's guerrilla warfare.Some time ago, Nie Rongzhen, the political commissar of the Red 1st Corps, had a foot injury and he assisted Lin Biao in commanding the battle. As he walked, Li De felt top-heavy and dizzy.I don't know when the rain stopped, but thunder was still faintly audible in the night sky, and the weather became hot and stuffy.He stepped into the air, he was erratic for a while, and with a thud, he fell into the stream.Only then did he wake up.When he found himself submerged in the stream, he cried out in terror.The interpreter and the guards were walking along the stream in a daze, only then did they come to their senses, jumped into the stream, and helped Li De ashore. Lin Biao caught up from behind and learned that Li De had accidentally fallen into the stream, angrily reprimanded the guards and the translator.Seeing Lin Biao coming, Li De said to Lin Biao: "Commander Lin, do you think we are marching like this? This is simply sleepwalking! If this continues, won't the army be dragged down?" Lin Biao nodded and said, "I'm also full of anger now! I always avoid the enemy and go around in circles. I don't fight, and I just go back and forth. It's no wonder that the troops are not dragged down!" Seeing that Lin Biao had the same point of view as his own, Li De obviously found a bosom friend, and said emphatically, "I used to fight the enemy face to face, and said I was taking risks. Now I always avoid the enemy, and I always march without interruption, dragging down the troops. Now, what’s going on? Is Mao Zedong’s strategy and tactics going to work?” Lin Biao was silent. Li De said again: "These days, soldiers are falling behind. You know what soldiers say now. They say they are not afraid of fighting, but they are afraid of being exhausted from the march and falling behind and being captured by the enemy!" Lin Biao sighed in annoyance. Li De went on to say: "Commander Lin, the current situation in the army is very serious, and you have seen it. As a frontline commander, you can't pretend to be deaf and dumb!" Lin Biao nodded and said, "No. I cannot turn a blind eye to this situation. I will report the situation to the central government!" Based on the current situation of the troops, Lin Biao recalled the debate over whether to attack Dagu Xinchang or Luban.At that time, the suggestion of Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen was supported by all the members of the Military Commission, because Mao Zedong opposed it alone, and later Zhou Enlai supported him, who rejected it on the grounds that it should not be a fortified battle with one division defending the enemy, and instead attacked the army with three divisions defending the enemy. Luban field, a tragic battle!When retreating from Luban Field, the 1st Red Army had to fight the battle of Xishui again, and the fierce battle ended in failure after a day.Lin Biao was already angry in his heart, but now it was unbearable. The next day, Lin Biao wrote a letter to the Central Committee.After the letter was written, he gave it to Nie Rongzhen to read. Nie Rongzhen read half of Lin Biao's letter before his eyes widened.In the letter, Lin Biao not only criticized the strategy and tactics of the three-member regiment, and believed that they would only drag down the army if they always took the "backward road" to avoid the enemy's detours. He does not directly participate in military command, and Peng Dehuai is in charge of the former enemy command.Looking down, Nie Rongzhen's face became dark. Lin Biao didn't notice the expression on Nie Rongzhen's face, and said, "Commissioner Nie, please sign and we will send the letter together." Nie Rongzhen returned the letter to Lin Biao and said coldly, "I cannot sign this." Lin Biao was taken aback and asked, "Why?" "These references in your letter are inappropriate." "Am I not talking about the actual situation?" "How can you, a legion commander, propose to reorganize the headquarters?" "This is not a reorganization of the headquarters, but a change of command method to strengthen battlefield command." "Isn't that the same thing?" "Whoever's method is successful now, we will adopt whose method. You also know the situation of the troops during this period of time. If this continues, how can we win the battle?" "If you have any opinions, you can submit them to the central government. But I do not agree with the request to change the leader of the Military Commission. Such a formulation is wrong." Lin Biao blushed with anger, glared at Nie Rongzhen and said, "If you don't sign, you will be defeated! I will ask Lao Peng to sign!" Nie Rongzhen said seriously: "Commander Lin Jun, listen to my advice, don't send this letter up. It won't affect you well!" Although Nie Rongzhen agreed with Lin Biao on the issue of attacking Peng Xinchang, and even shared Lin Biao's views on the battle of Lubanchang, he disagreed with Lin Biao's proposal to change the military command organization.Seeing the resolute attitude of the political commissar, Lin Biao curled his lips, called the correspondent, and ordered his letter to be sent to the Red 3rd Army immediately and handed over to Peng Dehuai. At this time, Lin Biao had his own ideas in seeking Peng Dehuai's support.After the Battle of Lubanchang, on the eve of the Red Army crossing the Chishui River for the fourth time, the three-member regiment ordered the Red Army to go eastward and quickly cross the Chishui River in the name of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission on March 20.Peng Dehuai objected to this, and proposed to the Military Commission, "According to the enemy situation on the 20th, our army should continue to march westward to attract the Sichuan and Yunnan enemies, and then break away from the Sichuan enemy and fight the Yunnan enemy." He also criticized the Battle of Zunyi and the Battle of Lubanchang launched by Mao Zedong, pointing out that "At present, I should avoid decisive battles with the enemy of equal strength, maintain my own superior force, and should not attack the tough ones randomly. The victory of the Zunyi Battle did not expand, due to mechanical In principle, the battle at Luban Field should not be fought.” From this, it is not difficult for Lin Biao to see that Peng Dehuai not only has views on Mao Zedong’s command, but also has similar views on the current situation. After reading Lin Biao's letter, Peng Dehuai scratched his head and scratched his cheeks, lost in thought.Lin Biao reflected that the troops always took the "bowed road", always avoided the enemy and did not fight, the troops were extremely tired, and there were complaints from below... etc. He felt the same.However, Lin Biao proposed that he should command the current enemy instead of the three-man regiment to directly command military operations, which made him feel deeply disturbed. Just when Peng Deweisi was at a loss, Lin Biao called.On the phone, Lin Biao said in a urging tone: "Old Peng, have you read my letter! What's your opinion?" Peng Dehuai breathed a sigh of relief and said: "I agree with you to report the mood of the troops to the central government. However, you proposed to set up the front enemy headquarters and asked me to be in charge of the front enemy command. I cannot agree to this." Lin Biao said anxiously: "Can't you see that they are at the end of their rope and the old methods are no longer effective. If they continue to command like this, the troops will only be dragged down! Lao Peng, your method will work. You command, we Listen to you!" Peng Dehuai smiled wryly, and said, "Commander Lin, you have followed Lao Mao for many years, but you still don't know his temper? You are obviously forcing him to step aside!" Lin Biao said: "How can you say that? The few of them should concentrate on presiding over the big plan, and should not directly participate in the command of the battlefield. It should have been like this a long time ago!" Peng Dehuai sighed and said, "I always feel that something is wrong." Lin Biao said: "Old Peng, at the critical moment, you should do your part!" "No. It's not right, I can't do this." Peng Dehuai said, putting down the phone headset.He called the correspondent and ordered the letter to be delivered to the Red 1st Army headquarters and returned to Lin Biao. At this time, a staff member of the Legion's Political Department walked into the headquarters and handed Peng Dehuai a draft telegram.This telegram is mainly to report to the central government that during this period of time, due to the uninterrupted march, the troops have suffered severe fatigue, and there has been a phenomenon of falling behind and reducing personnel. Peng Dehuai frowned when he saw it.In his opinion, the situation of lagging behind, fatigue, and downsizing in the army is indeed serious. There are various opinions below, and some people are talking about the old marching without fighting. How many years and months will it take to finish?There are quite a few people complaining, and the situation is indeed worrying, but it should not be so pessimistic.This telegram mainly reflected the emotions of the army commanders and fighters. In the final analysis, it was a political issue rather than a military issue. He believed that it should not be reported to the Central Committee in the name of the army headquarters, but in the name of the army political commissar and the director of the political department. Lin Biao's letter and the telegram of the Red 3rd Army were quickly circulated among the main leaders of the central government.Luo Fu felt that these situations were unusual, so he called Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong, and Wang Jiaxiang to a meeting during the march to study the questions raised by Lin Biao's letter and the telegram of the Red 3rd Army. The meeting was held in front of a cave on the hillside.Below the cave is a mountain road, and the troops are hurrying on the mountain road.The sun was scorching in the sky, and there was no wind on the ground. The soldiers who were on their way were panting and sweating profusely.There are stragglers on the side of the road, discarded luggage, and war horses who are too tired to walk. Mao Zedong was already very disgusted with holding such a meeting at this time, but Luo Fu and Wang Jiaxiang insisted on it, so he had no choice.As soon as the meeting started, he lowered his face and said, "It doesn't matter when you raise such a question, isn't it just adding to the chaos? You guys are taking it seriously!" When Luo Fu heard Mao Zedong's tone, he was unhappy.He said: "Comrade Mao Zedong, you can't say that. The problems reported by Lin Biao and the others cannot be regarded as ordinary problems. If these problems are not handled properly or not handled in a timely manner, they may lead to serious mistakes." of!" Wang Jiaxiang also said with a serious expression: "I think what they report about the lagging behind, fatigue, and downsizing of the troops is in line with the reality. These days, I have been paying attention to these issues." Mao Zedong glanced at Wang Jiaxiang and said, "You mean, stop, we're not leaving?" Wang Jiaxiang spoke with anger: "Always marching, always avoiding the enemy, always not fighting, this is not the way." Mao Zedong couldn't restrain himself a little bit.He said to Wang Jiaxiang, "Is it the way to fight to the death with the powerful enemy who is chasing and intercepting us now?" Wang Jiaxiang blushed and said loudly: "Choosing one or two battles that are sure to fight can boost morale. If you keep walking all day like this, the troops will become more and more tired, and more and more laggards will be left behind every day. How can we boost morale!" Mao Zedong also blushed.He was about to lose his temper, but after thinking about it, he held back.He said patiently: "Going to fight them at this time is in the hands of Old Jiang. Have you ever thought that our top priority now is not to fight, but to escape. We can only survive if we get rid of their siege and interception." Wang Jiaxiang said sharply, "You said it all! How can we get rid of them if we just run around in circles instead of fighting?" "Let's stop arguing." Zhou Enlai interrupted the argument between Wang Jiaxiang and Mao Zedong, feeling a little impatient. "Now is not the time to argue. If we continue to argue like this, we can only wait for Lao Jiang to surround us." No one said anything. Zhou Enlai continued: "Our immediate task is to rush to the Jinsha River and cross the Jinsha River. Only by crossing the Jinsha River can we get rid of Lao Jiang's siege and interception. How do we achieve this goal?" Still no one said anything. Zhou Enlai looked at Mao Zedong, Wang Jiaxiang and Luo Fu, and said with a solemn expression: "We don't go around too much, how can we confuse Lao Jiang? If we don't confuse Lao Jiang, how can we jump out of their encirclement? If Lao Jiang is now We knew we were going to cross the Jinsha River, so we can imagine, can we cross the Jinsha River?" The cloud on Mao Zedong's face dissipated a little, he looked at Zhou Enlai and nodded appreciatively. Wang Jiaxiang turned his face away and remained silent. Luo Fu thought for a while, and said: "We can't just ignore the fatigue, lagging behind, and downsizing of the troops. How about this, I will go to the troops to find out the situation in person, do research and research first, and then talk about the specific situation."