Chapter 96 95. Dong Zhentang——Tie Liu's defender made great achievements

Dong Zhentang (1895-1937), courtesy name Shaozhong, was born in Xinhe County, Hebei.A member of the Communist Party of China and a senior general of the Red Army. Dong Zhentang was born in a poor peasant family in Xinhe County in 1895. He was determined to transform the unequal old society since he was a child.Dong Zhentang entered Caozhuang Junior Primary School at the age of 13, and was admitted to Jixian Middle School at the age of 19. He was awarded the title of Outstanding Model Student upon graduation. In 1917, he joined the army and was admitted to the Qinghe Army Preparatory School. In autumn 1920, he entered Baoding Army Military Academy. In spring 1922, he graduated from the ninth artillery department of the school. With the purpose of saving the country and the people, he served as a trainee officer in Feng Yuxiang's 11th Army Division. On September 17, 1926, Feng Yuxiang's National Army marched to Gansu and Shaanxi in Suiyuan Qiuyuan, echoing with the Northern Expeditionary Army from north to south.Communist Party member Liu Bojian served as the deputy director of the General Political Department of the National Alliance Army, hired Usmanov, the head of the Soviet Red Army, as a political and military adviser, and sent party and government personnel to each army to set up political offices, responsible for party affairs propaganda and training for the entire army.From then on, Dong Zhentang came under the political influence of the Communist Party. During the Northern Expedition, he led his troops to fight and defeated Wu Peifu's Henan-Hubei Allied Forces in one fell swoop with his allies. He won the praise of Feng Yuxiang for his outstanding military achievements. In just a few years, he was promoted from a trainee platoon leader to a division commander. .

In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution, destroyed the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and pushed the people into the abyss of civil war. Commander of the 73rd Brigade of the 25th Division of the 26th Route Army of the Revolutionary Army. In the spring of 1931, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the 26th Route Army to go south to Jiangxi to attack the Red Army.In an attempt to make this miscellaneous army and the Red Army fight each other and lose both sides.The majority of officers and soldiers were aware of Chiang Kai-shek's conspiracy and were unwilling to go south.After the failure of the third encirclement and suppression campaign, the 26th Route Army moved to Ningdu County, which was surrounded by the red area. The troops suffered heavy casualties, coupled with the unacclimatized environment and the prevalence of diseases, many people died of illness one after another.After the September 18th Incident, the Northeast fell. The officers and soldiers of the 26th Route Army demanded to go north to fight against Japan and defend their hometown.Senior generals also jointly sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, requesting to go north to fight against Japan, but was reprimanded by Chiang Kai-shek and blocked by heavy troops.During the months when Dong Zhentang was trapped in Ningdu, facing the propaganda and revolutionary activities of the Red Army, he saw the light of hope for China.In response to this situation, our party’s secret organization in the army took advantage of the situation and worked hard to transform the officers and soldiers of the 26th Army into a revolutionary direction. The party sent Zhao Bosheng to contact Dong Zhendang, and Dong Zhendang responded positively immediately. After the uprising plan was confirmed, in 1931 On December 12, Dong Zhentang called a meeting of his subordinates to arrange the uprising. On the 14th, under the command of Zhao Bosheng and Dong Zhentang, the 26th Route Army staged an uprising in Ningdu, Jiangxi Province. In the early morning of the 15th, all the fighting in Ningdu city ended.The Ningdu uprising disrupted Chiang Kai-shek's anti-communist civil war counter-revolutionary plan, strengthened the revolutionary armed forces, and wrote a glorious page in the history of Chinese revolution. In April 1932, the higher party organization approved Dong Zhentang to join the Communist Party of China.

In October 1934, the Red Army began the Long March, and the Red Army served as the rear guard of the whole army. In June 1936, Maogong and the Fourth Red Army successfully joined forces in Maogong, Sichuan, and the Fifth Red Army was therefore named the honorable title of "Tieliu Defender". In August 1935, after the Maoergai meeting of the Party Central Committee, it was decided that the first and fourth front armies would be mixed into two left and right armies to go north together. In early January 1936, the Fifth Red Army Corps was ordered to join forces with the 33rd Army of the Fourth Front Army to form the Fifth Red Army, with Dong Zhentang as its commander.In June of the same year, the Red Second Front Army arrived in Ganzi and joined forces with the Red Fourth Front Army. In late October 1936, more than 20,000 members of the Red Army crossed the Yellow River westward under the instructions of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, and marched into the Hexi Corridor in Gansu to implement the Ningxia campaign plan. In January 1937, Dong Zhentang's Fifth Red Army captured Gaotai County, Gansu in one fell swoop.Just as the people of Gaotai were celebrating their victory, about 20,000 people from the enemy army, including Ma Bufang, surrounded Gaotai.

Outnumbered and outnumbered, Dong Zhentang plans to break out.The north of the city is a barren grassland, not far from Beishan, and the enemy's strength is weak.Therefore, Dong Zhentang ordered Lu Renli, the head of the cavalry regiment, to dig a big hole under Beicheng to prepare to break out.At this time, the plainclothes correspondent sent a letter to the effect: According to the order of the headquarters, the high platform is an important military point to open up the international route, and the army commander is required to stick to the high platform. (Lu Renli: "Reminiscences of the Battle on the High Terrace") Dong Zhentang was unable to contact the headquarters of the West Route Army.He held a meeting of cadres above the battalion, read out the letter, and ordered: "Resolutely guard the high platform! We are in the high platform, and we swear to live and die with the high platform!"

From the night of the 18th, the enemy took turns attacking the city with ladders from all sides, but they were all repelled by the Fifth Red Army. Wounded soldiers and dead bodies of the enemy were scattered around the city wall. On the morning of the 19th, the situation became even more tense.Dong Zhentang led more than 50 officers and soldiers, and raised his fist to swear: "We will shed the last drop of blood and fight to the end! It is glorious to sacrifice for the revolution. The revolution will surely succeed, and the days of freedom and happiness will surely come." Dong Zhentang led the army to fight bloody for 9 days and nights. When the reinforcements were blocked and unable to reach, they stood firm on the high platform and fought the enemy until the last moment. More than 3,000 people died heroically.Dong Zhentang was only 42 years old at the time, and he shed the last drop of blood for the revolution.He died on the 20th.

After Dong Zhentang died, the cruel enemy cut off his head and hung it on the tower of Gaotai.The sad news of Dong Zhentang's sacrifice spread to Yan'an, and the generals of the Red Army were deeply saddened.In order to deeply mourn this unyielding revolutionary hero.The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a grand memorial service for him at the foot of Pagoda Mountain. Mao Zedong said affectionately, "The horsepower is known from a distance", and Dong Zhentang is a "resolute revolutionary comrade".