Chapter 32 10. Battle of Huajialing

On October 10, 1936, the First and Fourth Front Armies finally joined forces in Huining County.The ancient town was immersed in a festive atmosphere, with red flags waving on the city tower, soldiers cheering and jumping, and the nationwide Long March of the Red Army came to an end here.But the situation at that time was not optimistic. The strategic policy formulated by the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao for the whole army was: unite internal forces, unite friendly forces, and crush Chiang Kai-shek's encirclement and suppression plan.First of all, the anti-Japanese situation in the northwest was created, so as to force Chiang to resist the Japanese, stop the civil war, and form a national anti-Japanese national united front.The friendly forces here refer to the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army.At that time, the Red Army was in a state of secret contact with them, and a consensus had been reached on the issue of joint resistance against Japan.

Chiang Kai-shek had long heard of the secret connection between Zhang Xueliang, Yang Hucheng and the Communist Party. In addition, the three main Red Army forces were concentrated in the northwest, forming a strategic situation across the banks of the Yellow River and standing in the northwest.Chiang Kai-shek, who was determined to destroy the Communist Party, was restless like a thorn in his back. At this time, he was busy dealing with the "Guangdong Incident" and couldn't let go.When he finally settled the matter, he immediately ordered the final encirclement and suppression of the Red Army in the northwest.This time, he mobilized 300,000 troops and 100 fighter-bombers, determined to gather and annihilate the main Red Army in the Shaanxi-Gansu region east of the Yellow River.At the same time, he forced the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army to participate in his encirclement and suppression plan, hoping to weaken their strength in the war. If they refused to obey, they would be transferred from the Northwest, out of contact with the Red Army, and gradually dismembered to eliminate future troubles.This was an extremely reactionary and insidious plan, but Chiang Kai-shek did not expect that Zhang Xueliang notified the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in time of his carefully planned "Tongwei Battle" plan, and suggested that the Red Army carry out the Ningxia Campaign as soon as possible to control Hexi and connect to the Soviet Union.

In view of the time constraints, the Party Central Committee issued the "October Combat Program" on the second day of the meeting to implement the Ningxia campaign plan ahead of schedule and disrupt Chiang Kai-shek's military deployment. At that time, the Fifth Army, as the general guard of the Red Fourth Front Army, was currently performing security tasks along the Xilan Highway from Majiayingzi to Huajialing.When the news of the victorious reunion came from the front, all the soldiers of the five armies were excited about it, and the troops were high-spirited and high-spirited.

In order to ensure the safety of the main force going north after joining forces, Dong Zhentang led his troops to build field fortifications on the spot according to the arrangement of the headquarters, preparing to resist the attack of Mao Bingwen's 37th Army.Since the terrain here is not conducive to defense, it is extremely important to choose a position.Dong Zhentang, together with Deputy Army Commander Luo Nanhui and Chief of Staff Li Pingren, carefully surveyed the front line of Huajialing, and finally decided to place the first line of defense at Majiayingzi, with the 37th and 39th Regiments of the 13th Division in charge.The two regiments of the 15th Division hid in the back mountain of Huajialing as the second line of defense.The first line of defense is commanded by Deputy Army Commander Luo Nanhui, and the second line of defense is directly controlled by the military department.

In the early morning of the 21st, one division of the enemy and nine American-style equipment regiments approached Majiayingzi. Their leading troops drove over unscrupulously along the road, and unknowingly entered the pocket that the Fifth Army had already preset.Deputy Commander Luo gave an order, and the light and heavy machine guns, rifles, and grenades on the mountainsides on both sides swept towards the enemy together, and the enemy's vanguard troops suddenly became chaotic.Deputy Army Commander Luo decisively ordered an attack, and the 37th Regiment, led by regimental commander Li Pingren and political commissar Xie Liang, rushed towards the remnant enemy.This battle lasted only 30 minutes, and the five armies wiped out hundreds of the enemy's leading troops, and captured more than 30 prisoners alive.After cleaning the battlefield, the soldiers scattered on the positions on both sides of the road, waiting for the next round of the enemy's attack.

Not long after, enemy planes came over, dropping bombs and strafing frantically over Majiayingzi.In an instant, Majiayingzi was submerged in a sea of ​​flames.After the bombardment, a whole regiment of enemy infantry swarmed along the road again. Relying on the positions on Guangshan on both sides of the road, the soldiers dealt another heavy blow to the enemy, and the enemy retreated again.After a while, the enemy plane flew over the position again and bombarded the positions on both sides indiscriminately. Since this area is full of bare hills, there is nothing to hide, so the 37th Regiment fell under the bombardment of the enemy plane. , more casualties.

At noon, the thirty-seventh regiment led the enemy to the second line of defense step by step. The attacking enemy first bombarded the main position of the forty-fifth regiment on the back mountain of Huajialing with heavy artillery. Seeing no movement, a whole battalion of infantry howled Shouting and jumping up.The head of the regiment, Ye Chongben, was not in a hurry to open fire, and kept placing the enemy only about 50 meters away from the top of the mountain, and then made a violent assault, beating the enemy until they fled back to the foot of the mountain.The embarrassed and angry enemy transferred to the plane again and violently bombed the main position defended by our army.In an instant, the flames on the mountain ridge shot up into the sky, and the gunpowder smoke filled the air.Soon, the enemy's second round of attack began. One battalion attacked from the front, and the other battalion sneaked around from the side.During the fierce battle, Captain Ye discovered the danger in time, and immediately, together with political commissar Zhang Lixiong, led the spy company and the first battalion to rush to the enemy who came up by surprise.The enemy and our two sides launched a life-and-death encounter on the back mountainside. Leader Ye held a gleaming broadsword in his hand and led the soldiers to fight with the enemy together.Political commissar Zhang led several soldiers to point light machine guns at the enemy's follow-up troops and sweep them.Not long after, the enemy couldn't hold on anymore, and they fled down the mountain one after another.

On the morning of the second day, the enemy made adjustments. Wang Jun's Third Army continued to attack from the front, while Mao Bingwen's troops made a detour from the east, forming a two-sided attack.The blocking battle on this day was particularly difficult. The chief of staff of the 37th regiment died, and the 43rd regiment was attacked by the enemy from both sides, and its positions changed hands several times.At the critical moment, Commander Dong personally led the thirty-ninth regiment to come up for reinforcements, and then he stabilized his position.In the afternoon, when Comrade Luo Nanhui, deputy commander of the Fifth Army, was directing operations, a heavy bomb exploded beside him, and the shrapnel hit his right chest and head.The staff officers and guards of the command post hurriedly carried Deputy Commander Luo down, and the hygienist Gong Jinwen rushed over to bandage his wound.At this moment, Luo Nanhui, who was seriously injured, was still very conscious, and said to the combat staff: "Convey my order, you must stick to the two wings, hold the position, and never let the enemy advance..."

The combat staff communicated the battle orders to the troops on the phone, and also reported the injury of Deputy Commander Luo to the commander Dong Zhentang. Dong Zhentang immediately instructed on the phone: "Send Deputy Commander Luo to the rear immediately. Get to the forward position!" When Commander Dong dropped his phone and rushed to the position, Luo Nanhui was still lying on a stretcher, commanding the troops to fight with serious injuries.The situation is now extremely critical. The enemy Wang Jun's and Mao Bingwen's troops are advancing towards Huajialing Village from the east and south, and have already occupied the small hotel in front of the village. in danger.Dong Zhentang ordered the 37th Regiment to reinforce the 45th Regiment and regain the lost positions.

Luo Nanhui at this moment refused to go back to the rear no matter what.Dong Zhentang said earnestly: "Comrade Nanhui, as the saying goes, 'If you keep the green hills, you will not be afraid of no firewood'. You should retreat with the military headquarters and take good care of your wounds. The future will be long! With me here, I will never let the enemy advance Half a step, you can rest assured!" So, with great reluctance, under the care of the guards and health worker Gong Jinwen, four soldiers carried a stretcher and withdrew to the rear. Under the command of Commander Dong Zhentang, the Fifth Red Army finally repelled the enemy's attack after two more fierce battles.But soon, the enemy's plane came again, and Dong Zhentang glared at the enemy plane's unscrupulous ultra-low-altitude bombing and strafing from the mountain.He stomped his feet angrily, but there was nothing he could do.The army has no anti-air weapons, and the limited bullets can only deal with the attacking enemy. After finally staying at night, the enemy's attack stopped.The 37th Regiment suffered heavy casualties, Dong Zhentang ordered the 39th Regiment to go up and replaced the 37th Regiment.

At night, Dong Zhentang held a meeting at the military command post to study tomorrow's blocking plan.Attending the meeting were Army Commander Dong Zhentang, Political Commissar Huang Chao, Chief of Staff Li Pingren, Director of the Political Department Yang Keming, Head of the 37th Regiment Li Lianxiang, Head of the 39th Regiment Wu Daichao, Head of the 43rd Regiment Guo Xishan, Ye Chongben, head of the 45th Regiment, and others.Commander Dong first said: "Comrades! After two days of fierce fighting, our soldiers have shown great bravery and tenacity. We have repelled more than ten attacks from the two armies of the enemy. As long as we stick to it until dark tomorrow, we will fully complete the battle." Blocking mission. Do you have the confidence to fight tomorrow's battle well!" "Yes!" All the commanders present answered in unison.Political Commissar Huang Chao went on to say: "We have suffered a lot in the two days of fighting. Chief of Staff Wang Li of the 37th Regiment died, and Deputy Army Commander Luo was also seriously injured today. But we managed to hold back the enemy and prepare for the reunion. It bought time for the main force to go north and created good conditions for the implementation of the Ningxia campaign plan deployed by the Party Central Committee..." Then, Chief of Staff Li Pingren made precise arrangements for the specific implementation of the operation. He asked the troops to carry out close combat so that every bullet had an effect.Due to the extreme lack of ammunition, he instructed the troops to organize a counter-charge in due course according to the actual situation, and seized the enemy's guns and ammunition to supplement themselves. After the meeting was over, the heads of the regiments hurried back to their troops to deploy combat missions.With a heavy heart, Dong Zhentang came to the military health center to visit Luo Nanhui.For more than a year, during the difficult years of climbing snow-capped mountains, crossing grasslands, and moving to Sichuan and Shaanxi, the two fought side by side with utter devotion.At this moment, Luo Nanhui was awake but unable to speak due to excessive bleeding.The two old comrades held hands tightly, looked at each other speechlessly, and silently encouraged each other... Before leaving, Dong Zhentang told the hygienist Gong Jinwen to take good care of Deputy Commander Luo. On the third day, Dong Zhentang took the initiative to withdraw the defense line to the Dadunliang area. The 43rd and 45th regiments defended the main peak of Dadunliang, and the 37th and 39th regiments defended Songjialiang.Before the enemy attacked, as usual, the planes bombed and strafed, and then the infantry attacked in several columns.The regiments of the Five Armies fought back calmly, repelling the enemy's crazy attacks again and again.In the afternoon of the battle, the enemy still hadn't broken through the positions defended by the Red Army. The enraged enemy once again dispatched planes to bomb along the main peak position of Dadunliang.Since this area is full of bare mountain ridges, there is nothing to hide, causing heavy casualties to the five armies.A shell fell directly into the command post (an earthen castle) and exploded, and a cloud of earth mist suddenly filled the hill.Gong Jinwen, who was bandaging the wounded outside the bunker, heard the explosion and rushed into the bunker. The dust made him cough and he couldn't see anything.He groped his way into the bunker, and dimly saw that the house where Deputy Army Commander Luo Nanhui lived had collapsed.A few combat staff officers ran out from the nearby house, and together with Gong Jinwen, they scraped open the remaining roof, only to see that Deputy Army Commander Luo and health worker Chen Shide had been blasted to a bloody mess.With tears in their eyes, they sorted out the remains of the martyrs and buried them on the spot under the west wall of the fort.When Commander Dong Zhentang saw that the command post had been bombed and rushed down from the main peak, Luo Nanhui's body had already been buried.He and the officers and soldiers present took off their military caps, stood in front of Luo Nanhui's grave and bowed deeply three times. The fierce battle lasted until after five o'clock, it was getting dark, and the enemy stopped attacking. After burying the sacrificed comrades, Dong Zhentang ordered the confidential staff to send a report to Commander-in-Chief Xu Xiangqian: After that, Dong Zhentang issued a combat order to the troops, asking all the troops to launch a counter-charge, and then alternately cover and retreat from Maoniuchuan to Huining.The charge horn sounded, and the soldiers chanted the slogans of "revenge for Commander Luo" and "revenge for the martyrs", and rushed towards the enemy while shooting, and the enemy retreated in panic again.In the evening, the Fifth Red Army, which had retreated to Zhongchuan, gathered on the threshing field. Army commander Dong Zhentang presided over a memorial service, and all soldiers took off their hats and bowed three times.Dong Zhentang introduced the life of Comrade Luo Nanhui. He spoke highly of Luo Nanhui's life of firm stand and command of troops. Finally, he said sadly: "Luo Nanhui is a very good comrade, and his blood will not be shed in vain. , must be repaid by the enemy double!" "Commander Xu Xiangqian also sent a telegram, giving a high evaluation: Comrade Luo Nanhui was an excellent commander in the Red Army, and his death was a great loss to our army.Comrade Nanhui's dedication to the party is higher than that of Huajialing, and Comrade Nanhui's famous name will coexist with Huajialing. After cleaning up, the Huajialing three-day blockade battle, the Red Army sacrificed nearly 2,000 people, and only 887 people were sacrificed in the Battle of Dadunliang alone, accounting for nearly 2/5 of the total number of the army, and more than 1,600 guns were damaged.There are more than 1,100 guns, each with an average of only 5 rounds of bullets.Although the Five Armies paid a heavy price, they also bought time for the transfer of the main Red Army going north and made outstanding contributions to the overall situation of the revolution.