Chapter 15 2. The head of the legion sits in confinement

On April 6th, Mao Zedong handed over the task of attacking the first battle of Longyan County to the 15th Army, which was assigned to the Red First Army.Army commander Huang Zhongyue and political commissar Zuo Quan expressed their determination in public: "Chairman, don't worry, entrusting this battle to us is a sign of trust in our Ningdu uprising army. We promise to complete the task." After accepting the task, the two returned immediately. To the troops to actively prepare for war. In the early morning of April 7, the 131st Regiment of the 44th Division of the 15th Army, under the leadership of Yuan Xuezu, went straight to the enemy's outpost in Xiaochi.Several times of strong attacks failed. Yuan Xuezu's eyes were red, and he personally led the sword team to kill.

In this campaign, the 131st Regiment wiped out the enemy's supplementary battalion.On April 10th, Su Jin, the commander of the 44th Division of the Red Army, led the main force to attack Kaotang. The enemy's 291st Regiment refused to defend. Su Jin carefully observed the enemy's position on the front line, and organized a commando after returning , He told the commandos to be by surprise and concentrate their firepower to knock out the enemy's heavy machine gun firepower.The commando set off, and the soldiers were cautious one by one. They moved carefully step by step under the ridge and behind the bushes. After they all reached the intended attack position, Su Jin shouted: "Hit!" The grenade flew into the enemy's trench at the same time, blowing up the enemy's flesh and blood, and several important firepower points in the enemy's front were all bombed out.Immediately afterwards, Su Jin swung his broadsword in his hand: "Comrades, charge!" The Red Army officers and soldiers rushed up wielding their broadswords. In just ten minutes, the enemy threw away their helmets and armor, and fled across the mountains and plains.Taking advantage of the victory, the 44th Division captured Kaotang in one fell swoop and approached Longyan City.

At the same time, Huang Zhongyue and Zuo Quan led the 43rd Division of the 15th Army to launch a fierce attack on the west gate and north gate of Longyan City.The enemy's 145th Brigade stationed in the city huddled in the bunker at the head of the city and suppressed the Red Army's attack with machine guns.At the critical moment, it was Su Jin of the 44th Division who used the commando team in time to destroy all the first few bunkers in the enemy city with bundles of grenades.However, under the crossfire of the enemy, the commandos suffered heavy casualties, and they used their young lives to fight a bloody way for their comrades.The angry generals of the 15th Army rushed towards the west gate in overwhelming momentum, lost the firepower of the bunker, and the enemy had no danger to defend, and the defenders began to retreat one after another, fighting and retreating.Commanders and fighters of the 15th Army stormed into the city like a tide and fought street battles with stubborn enemies.The resistance gradually weakened, and the enemy brigade commander fled through the south gate with only more than 100 remnants.

The Red Army occupied Longyan County, and the people in the city beat gongs and drums to welcome the Red Army. They also spontaneously established a logistics headquarters to support the Red Army's eastern expedition.On the same day, the surrounding farmers sent more than 30 pigs and baskets of vegetables, eggs, dried powder, etc. to condolences to the Red Army soldiers. Soon, the main force of the Fifth Red Army also rushed to Longyan under the leadership of Dong Zhentang and Xiao Jinguang. Mao Zedong presided over a meeting of cadres above the division to study the specific issue of attacking Zhangzhou. The meeting decided:

The Battle of Zhangzhou was divided into two steps. First, eliminate the enemies on the periphery, open up the road to attack the city, and then attack the enemies inside the city.Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen led the Fourth Army of the Red First Army as the main attack force, Huang Zhongyue led the Fifteenth Army to assist, and the Third Army of the Fifth Red Army was the reserve team. Dong Zhentang and He Changgong led the Thirteenth Army and troops from the Western Fujian Military Region to station in Longyan. Monitor the actions of the Cantonese Army. Before setting off, Dong Zhentang anxiously went to political commissar Xiao Jinguang and said, "Political commissar, why did you leave me here? I want to join the army to join the war!" Then he said, "I'm going to find Chairman Mao!"

Xiao Jinguang was afraid that he would be impatient, so he had no choice but to follow him to the headquarters. The two first found Nie Rongzhen. When Nie heard about his intentions, he was very embarrassed: "This matter was decided by Chairman Mao, and the headquarters cannot change it. You have to report directly to the chairman." The three of them came to the Chairman's residence together, and Nie Rongzhen said: "Chairman, Comrades Dong Zhentang and Xiao Jinguang have something to ask for you!" Mao Zedong was reading a book under the lamp, and immediately closed the book: "Oh, General Dong is here, please sit down, if you don't have a stool, just force a few of you to sit on the bed!"

Dong Zhentang did not sit down, but stood up and said: "Chairman, I am ashamed that the Ganzhou campaign was not fought well last time! Let me follow you to the front line to kill the enemy this time!" Mao Zedong shook his head and said with a smile: "Ganzhou suffered a loss in the battle. It has nothing to do with General Dong and the Fifth Red Army. If you hadn't arrived in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable! You fought well!" The chairman lit a cigarette, heavy He said: "Some of our comrades are so hotheaded that they want to smash eggs against rocks! But they don't care about the fundamental fact that the enemy is strong and we are weak. Even if Ganzhou is occupied, I don't think it will last long. Hold it in your hand What's the use? Our principle is: avoid the truth, and win every battle. Bravery is important in war, but it also needs to be resourceful. General Dong, the first reason I keep you in Longyan is to protect Longyan to Zhangzhou. The second is to prevent the Cantonese enemy from copying our rear, and only you, General Dong, can take on this important task!" After listening to the chairman's words, Dong Zhentang was embarrassed, and he said embarrassedly: "I understand, Chairman, you put me in Longyan because you have full trust in me. I will definitely complete this task well."

The main force left, and Dong Zhentang and He Changgong, political commissar of the Thirteenth Army, led their troops to garrison Longyan.Since this place has just been captured by the Red Army and belongs to the new area, the situation is very complicated.The local local tyrants and evil gentry fled to the nearby Tuweizi, and many people were deceived by the Kuomintang to hide in the mountains, coupled with the rampant banditry in the area.Dong Zhentang not only commanded the troops to suppress bandits, but also led the troops to mobilize the masses to help the local establishment of a red regime and raise food and funds, so his work was very busy.One day at noon, when he just came back from a meeting, he took off the pistol in his waist, and suddenly remembered that he hadn’t taken care of (wipe) it for a long time. Weapons are the life of soldiers. Dong Zhentang pulled out his favorite Browning, first took off the clip, Remove the bolt, then disassemble it, carefully wipe the various parts..., then skillfully load the gun, and finally push the magazine in, but accidentally hit the trigger, and there was a "bang!" - the gun went off up.The gunfire alarmed the sentry at the door, and soon the headquarters also called. Dong Zhentang calmly picked up the phone, and truthfully said to the staff on duty: "It's okay, I wiped the gun and fired it." After putting down the phone, Dong Zhentang silently opened the backpack. Alright, come to the door of Political Commissar He Changgong: "Political Commissar He! Just now I accidentally fired while wiping my gun, and now I'm going to confinement."

He Changgong hurriedly ran out of the room when he heard this: "Old Dong, wait! You are the commander-in-chief. The situation here is very complicated. I can't do it without you. I don't think it will be carried out!" "No! If the gun goes off, you will be confined. This is the discipline of the Red Army. No one can be an exception. Although I am the commander-in-chief, I must take the lead in enforcing the discipline." Dong Zhentang turned his head and left after speaking. What he said was indeed reasonable. He Changgong couldn't find any good reason to persuade him, so he simply said: "Okay! If you must go, then I will go with you."

Dong Zhentang turned around and said sincerely: "Political Commissar, please think about it for me! If I, Dong Zhentang, don't take the lead in enforcing discipline, then how can I manage the troops in the future? If you go with me like this, who will manage the troops?" Nah!" He Changgong had no choice but to let him go. The news that the commander-in-chief was in confinement quickly spread throughout the army, and the vast number of commanders and fighters received a profound education. Some veterans who had lax discipline before the uprising also began to consciously abide by the revolutionary discipline.Soon, the Red Fifth Army became a disciplined Red Army force.

On April 16, the Eastern Expeditionary Army arrived outside the city of Zhangzhou with lightning speed, approaching the lair of Zhang Zhen, the "King of Southern Fujian".Zhangzhou defends the enemy with two brigades of the 49th Division of the Kuomintang. On the 17th, the 15th Red Army, led by commander Huang Zhongyue and political commissar Zuo Quan, launched an attack on Jingcheng. Seeing the ferocious attack of the Red Army, Yang Fengnian's brigade, who defended the enemy, was so frightened that he abandoned the city and fled to Zhangzhou.The Fifteenth Army clung to the enemy, pursued and beat them fiercely, and the fleeing enemy was in a mess, fleeing all over the mountains and plains. At this moment, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as defeated like a mountain. At dawn on the 19th, the head of the First Red Army Corps* ordered a general attack on Zhangzhou.Under the command of Commander Wang Liang and Political Commissar Luo Ruiqing, the Fourth Red Army launched an attack from Fengshuang Ridge and Shierling Ridge on the left; Attack the city. The cannons brought over by the Fifteenth Army during the uprising played a huge role in this battle. A round of shells seemed to have eyes, and fell into the fortifications, bunkers, and heavy fire points that the enemy had already built. The defenders were dizzy.Immediately afterwards, the brave Red Army soldiers rushed to the enemy's position in an overwhelming force, and the defense line that Fujian warlord Zhang Zhen painstakingly managed in Zhangzhou was disintegrated in an instant.At the same time, another route of the 15th Army, under the leadership of division commander Wang Hongzhang and political commissar Liu Ying, forcibly crossed the Xiangshui River, attacked Baolin Bridge by surprise, and wiped out all the strongholds arranged by Zhang Zhen along the coast. Seeing that the general trend was over, Zhang Zhen insisted on holding on to it would be tantamount to sitting still, so she immediately ordered the bombing of the ammunition depot in Zhangzhou City, and then led the remnants to flee towards Shao'an.On April 20, the Red Army entered Zhangzhou.In the Zhangzhou campaign, 1,647 enemies were captured, 2,331 rifles, nine machine guns, six cannons, more than 130,000 bullets, and 242 bombs were captured.In addition, the Red Army seized two planes for the first time, as well as a large amount of cloth, food and salt.These trophies greatly eased the financial and material shortage difficulties of the central base area and the Red Army at that time.