Chapter 17 17. Xiongguan Road is really like iron, and now it is moving from the beginning

Taking advantage of the enemy's still judgment that the Red Army will look for an opportunity to cross the Yangtze River north, the Red Army decided to make a sudden U-turn, cross the Chishui River for the second time, and re-enter Guizhou. This move of the Red Army really caught the enemy off guard.The process of returning to Guizhou was the same as the process of avoiding pursuers after crossing Chishui, and was not blocked by the enemy, because most of the enemy troops gathered in the direction of Tashi.Of course, the pursuers followed quickly, and the Red Army had to cross the Chishui River quickly.The Red Army then divided into two groups and chose to cross the river at the same time from Erlangtan and Taipingdu.From the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to the north, the Chishui flows into the Yangtze River. The area before the Erlangtan is the upper reaches. It belongs to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The area it flows through is above 1,000 meters. When it reaches Erlangtan, it reaches the edge of the Sichuan Basin, and its altitude drops abruptly to More than 400 meters, the river is only more than 60 meters wide.About 20 kilometers downstream of Erlang Beach is Taipingdu.Erlang Beach and Taipingdu are located on the left bank of Chishui River, belonging to Gulin County, Sichuan, and the right bank is Xishui County, Guizhou.

On the evening of February 18, 1935, the vanguard of the Third Army of the Central Red Army arrived at Erlang Beach. After crossing the Chishui River with three wooden boats and a repaired pontoon bridge, they joined a unit of the Guizhou Army in the east. Shore encounter.This Guizhou army first occupied the commanding heights, so that the Red Army had to fight with its back.In the early morning of the next day, the Red Army attacked from the front on three fronts, went all the way to the enemy's back, defeated the enemy with two flanking attacks, and ensured that the follow-up troops could cross the river.

Although the Red Army crossing the river in Taiping did not face the enemy head-on, it aroused the panic of the common people. They thought that Wang Jialie's "two guns" were coming, so they closed their doors and houses, hid in the mountains, and hid their boats in the river beach.At that time, what the common people were most afraid of was the KMT's large and small warlord forces. They couldn't tell the difference between the Red Army and these armies.But when they really saw that the Red Army was strictly disciplined and did no harm to the people, especially when they learned that this army still fought for the people, so that they had clothes and food, they all really liked this army, and many People joined the Red Army.

In Erlangtan and Taipingdu, the Red Army adhered to their consistent tradition, as in other places, and distributed the food, salt and clothing obtained from the local tyrants to the poor.Erlangtan produces Langjiu, all of which are brewed with clear spring water.The Red Army opened warehouses at Erlang Beach to distribute salt, and the common people rewarded the soldiers with fine wine.After the Red Army got Langjiu, they were reluctant to drink it, and mostly used it to scrub wounds.On the Chishui River today, a folk song can still be heard: "The clear water of Langquan can wash my feet; the fragrance of Langquan's wine can be used as my medicine."

The Red Army crossed Chishui four times, 72 days before and after, of which three times entered Gulin City and stayed in Gulin for as many as 54 days. From February 18th to 21st, the Red Army crossed Erlangtan and Taipingdu one after another, once again threw off the enemy and entered Guizhou.When the Red Army crossed Chishui for the fourth time, they also chose these two ferries. After crossing Chishui for the second time, the Central Red Army rushed to Tongzi and Zunyi.Chiang Kai-shek blocked the northward and westward travel of this team. He believed that the Red Army would be more likely to be besieged in northern Guizhou and would not stay for long. Loushanguan, Zunyi, and Tongzi were heavily deployed.Chiang Kai-shek had been confused by Mao Zedong's series of tactics and actions at this time, and it was difficult to figure out Mao Zedong's intentions. In fact, even the senior commanders and fighters in the Red Army did not know Mao Zedong's strategic intentions very well.

Just a few days ago, on February 16, on the way back from Tashi to northern Guizhou, the Red Army issued a document "A Letter to All Red Commanders and Soldiers". The style of writing is very similar to Mao Zedong's tone. To win, we must seek favorable opportunities and areas to destroy the enemy. Under unfavorable conditions, we should reject that risky and uncertain battle.Therefore the Red Army must constantly shift the area of ​​operations, sometimes to the east, sometimes to the west, sometimes to take the main road, sometimes to take the small road, sometimes to take the old road, and sometimes to take the new road, and the only purpose is to win battles under favorable conditions. . ——This text can somewhat explain Mao Zedong's suggestion that the Red Army go east and return to Zunyi to follow the old road.Although the purpose of the document is very clear, everything is to win battles and survive, but when the Red Army is running around looking for life, Mao Zedong has to withstand pressure from all sides every day, and even he himself cannot tell with certainty Red Army: If you follow my method, you will be successful.Lin Biao was one of the Red Army generals who objected to the winding march, complaining that troops were being moved too frequently, exhausted, and rested too little.

On February 24, the Red Army entered Tongzi County.About 13 kilometers south of Tongzi County is the famous ancient battlefield Loushan Pass, and about 50 kilometers south of Loushan Pass is Zunyi, which is at the junction of Tongzi and Zunyi.Loushanguan is more than 1,500 meters above sea level. It rejects Bashu in the north and Guizhou in the south. It is the main road from Tongzi to Zunyi. It has always been a battleground for military strategists. ——There is a local saying that Tongzi is the gate, and Loushan Pass is the second gate. It is steep and not easy to climb. There is only one narrow pass through the mountains, and there is an imposing manner that one man is in charge of the pass and the other is not open.

According to intelligence, the Guizhou Army was heavily guarding Loushan Pass. Lin Biao suggested to attack Loushan Pass on the 26th so that the troops could take a rest.But Peng Dehuai suggested launching an attack before the enemy came to reinforce Loushan Pass.The Military Commission adopted Peng Dehuai's opinion. In the early morning of the 25th, the troops ran and marched towards Loushanguan, with the 12th and 13th regiments of the Red Third Army serving as forwards.On the same day a unit of the Qian Army set out from Zunyi at eight or nine o'clock in the morning and tried to intercept the Red Army before they reached Loushan Pass.Time counts, and the Red Army must take Loushanguan before the arrival of enemy reinforcements in the afternoon.The enemy took advantage of the terrain and used firepower to block the cliffs of Dijinshan, the main position.The Red Army launched more than a dozen assaults, but they could only advance the position by more than 100 meters. After one morning, more than 500 people were killed or injured.Peng Dehuai rushed to the pass from the Tongzi headquarters, just as the 13th regiment organized a new round of attack, about a battalion of soldiers got stuck under a recessed cliff in front of the pass, caught in a dilemma under the firepower of the Guizhou army.

Unable to attack hard, the Red Army had no choice but to adopt the method of sideways and backward detours. This method was used by Lin Biao's Red Army when it broke through Loushan Pass for the first time.Peng Dehuai issued a firm order that Loushan Pass must be captured before dusk, only in advance and not delayed. ——By 3:00 p.m., the good news came. The Red Thirteen Regiment, which was attacking from the front, found a thorny ravine in the cliff on the right. , One captured the two hills on the left wing, and the other cut off the road for enemy reinforcements on the right wing.When the sneak attack was successful, Peng Dehuai climbed to the top of the peak and looked towards Zunyi, and found that on the north side of the mountain, the enemy reinforcements were only two to three hundred meters away from them, and they arrived only 5 minutes earlier than the enemy.

Relying on the captured Dianjin Mountain Highlands, the Red Army repelled the repeated attacks of the Qian Army.In the evening, Loushan Pass was completely controlled by the Red Army.The victory of the Battle of Loushanguan opened the prelude to the Battle of Zunyi.In the next few days, the Red Army captured Zunyi City for the second time, defeated and wiped out 2 divisions and 8 regiments of the enemy, killed and injured more than 2,400 enemies, and captured more than 3,000 people, which greatly boosted the morale of the Red Army.Some soldiers mentioned that during the battle, although they only ate two meals in two days, they fought a beautiful battle and were very happy.This battle was indeed the first major victory of the Red Army during the Long March. Chiang Kai-shek angrily claimed that this was a great shame and humiliation since the national army pursued the Red Army.The victory of the Red Army in Guizhou also helped He Long and Xiao Ke in Xiangxi, who were attacked by 4 enemy divisions.In order to prevent the Guizhou Red Army from entering Hunan, the enemy had to temporarily stop the attack on He and Xiao and turn to defend the Central Red Army.

After winning the battle of Loushanguan, Mao Zedong was full of confidence and wrote "Recalling Qin'e?""Loushanguan", celebrating the great victory of Loushanguan: "The west wind is strong, and the geese in the sky are called the frost morning moon. The frost morning moon, the sound of horseshoes breaking, and the sound of horns swallowing. The Xiongguan road is really like iron, and now we are moving from the beginning to the beginning. From the beginning, Cangshan is like the sea The setting sun is like blood." Mao Zedong himself said, "In the long march of thousands of miles, thousands of rounds and hundreds of turns, the smoothness is less than the difficulty, and the mood is gloomy." The Red Army still needs to overcome many difficulties tenaciously before it can completely shake off Chiang Kai-shek's pursuit. Suppress. The victory gave the Reds a much-needed boost.One is supplies, and the other is combatants.The Red Army gathered the prisoners for a meeting and mobilized them to join the Communist army. Each soldier could receive three silver dollars and a gun.Afterwards, many people joined the ranks of the Red Army.There were also those who did not want to join the Red Army, and they were given travel expenses immediately to let them go home.In short, they can go wherever they want, and the Red Army will never stop them, nor will they mistreat the prisoners.This is completely different from the Kuomintang army.The Red Army seized a lot of clothes, ammunition and livestock.The Red Army likes to fight against the Kuomintang's central army, which is usually richer than the local army and has much better spoils.