Chapter 39 39. Central Red Army to Northern Shaanxi

October 19, 1935, is a day worth remembering forever. That evening, the Shaanxi-Gansu detachment of the Red Army led by Mao Zedong passed through the yellow-brown valley Toudaochuan to Wuqi, a dusty town in the heart of the Loess Plateau in Shaanxi.To the north of the town is the Great Wall, and to the south is the mausoleum of the Chinese ancestor, the Yellow Emperor. On the loess plateau south of the Yellow River, on this land where the Chinese nation originated, the Red Army found their home; In the loess cave dwelling, I found my home.In the long years to come, they will become more and more accustomed to living in cave dwellings.The 25,000-mile Long March of the Central Red Army came to a successful conclusion.

Wuqi Town, this is a small historic city.According to legend, during the Warring States Period, the famous general Wu Qi guarded the border here and died on the battlefield in order to resist aggression.Later generations named this place Wuqi Town in memory of him.Then the Red Army fought another beautiful battle here, and planted the banner of victory on Yanwa Mountain, the highest point of the town.Therefore, the local people changed "Wu Qi" to "Wu Banner", expressing Mao Zedong's intention to hold high the revolutionary banner and lead the people of northern Shaanxi to make revolution from here.Yanwa Mountain was renamed Victory Mountain to commemorate the tail-cutting battle commanded by Mao Zedong here. When the government of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region established a county in 1942, it officially named Wuqi Town as Wuqi County.

As soon as the soldiers of the Red Army, who had endured thousands of miles of battle, entered Wuqi Town, they saw eye-catching slogans written by the Red Army in northern Shaanxi on the earthen walls of the town, such as "beat the local tyrants and divide the land" and "support Liu Zhidan". Slogan: At the door of a dilapidated cave dwelling, there was a signboard of "District Soviet Government". The soldiers of the Red Army felt very cordial. Many people were so excited that they ran up to touch the wooden signboard and cheered, "We have finally arrived in Shaanxi." The northern base!" Since the Long March, the commanders and fighters of the Red Army have dreamed of finding a foothold, and now they have finally reached their "home".

However, as soon as the Central Red Army arrived in Wuqi Town, before they had time to experience the warmth of "home", the cavalry regiment of the Kuomintang followed them. After chasing, he continued to harass the follow-up troops of the Red Army.It turned out that Chiang Kai-shek failed to realize the poisonous plan to annihilate the Red Army during the Long March. He repeatedly wailed that "six years of hard work have not been completed"; After a long march, exhausted, he attempted to enter northern Shaanxi to join Liu Zhidan. I order your cavalry to intercept, surround with cameras, and annihilate them..." But what Chiang Kai-shek never expected was that his cavalry troops were "surrounded by cameras" by the Red Army.

The Shaanxi-Gansu detachment led by Mao Zedong discovered the "tail" trailing behind the Red Army. He asked Nie Rongzhen to go to the front position for a field inspection to learn about the enemy's situation.Nie Rongzhen came back and reported to Mao Zedong that we should attack.The enemy's cavalry is only a few thousand people. Don't look at him aggressively on the horse, if he really fights, he will die.He must get off his horse to fight with us, and he has to greet the horses, and his combat effectiveness will decline.Mao Zedong immediately decided to give the chasing enemy a powerful blow.Mao Zedong said that letting the enemy's cavalry follow all the way to northern Shaanxi is not good for us, and we are always passive.This "tail" must be cut off outside the gate of the base area, and the enemy should not be brought into the base area.

Toudaochuan and Erdaochuan to the west of Wuqi Town have difficult terrain and are ideal positions to wipe out the enemy cavalry.The Red Army set up an ambush on the mountain by taking advantage of the terrain. On the morning of October 21, Ma Hongbin's 35th Division Cavalry Regiment and Bai Fengxiang's Northeast Army Cavalry Division came "as promised". As soon as they entered the valley, they were immediately attacked by the Red Army.Peng Dehuai directly commanded the battle.The Red Army was condescending and fought bravely with fierce firepower.The enemy was caught off guard, and before they had time to fight, they were already defeated.Everywhere on the battlefield are cavalry startled horses, galloping and screaming, and the enemy will collapse without fighting.The shouts of the Red Army sounded in the valley: "We are the Red Army of Workers and Peasants. Don't work for Chiang Kai-shek!" After deliberation, it was decided to withdraw from the battlefield immediately.He said to the battalion commanders: "If the superiors ask, they will say that the bullets have run out, and no one is allowed to leak the slightest information."

At that time, after the long march of the Central Red Army, there were only more than 7,200 people left. However, in northern Shaanxi in October, the north wind was already harsh, and many soldiers were still wearing single clothes and straw sandals. The long march made everyone very weak, and many people suffered from diarrhea and dysentery. In this exhausted situation, the Red Army wiped out one enemy cavalry regiment neatly, defeated the following three cavalry regiments, captured a large number of prisoners, seized a large number of light and heavy weapons and horses, and cut off the annoying " Tail".After that, the enemy dared not rashly follow and attack behind the Red Army.This beautiful battle was the first victory of the Central Red Army after it arrived in northern Shaanxi. The Red Army planted the victory flag on the top of the mountain in the town, and the mountain was named after it - Victory Mountain.

This victory was a gift from the Central Red Army to the Northern Shaanxi Red Army who was about to join forces with them, and it was the epilogue to the successful end of the Central Red Army's Long March.Mao Zedong held Peng Dehuai's hand tightly and said: "Infantry chasing cavalry, only our Red Army can create such a miracle!" For this reason, he wrote a poem praising Peng Dehuai's outstanding command ability: The mountains are high, the roads are dangerous and the ditches are deep, and the cavalry is at your disposal. Who dares to slash immediately, but I am General Peng.

On October 24, the Party Central Committee held a meeting of cadres above the Shaanxi-Gansu Detachment in Wuqi Town.Mao Zedong made a brilliant summary of the Long March. "We have traveled a total of 367 days from Ruijin. We have traveled through 11 provinces including Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan, Kangxi, Gansu, and Shaanxi. We conquered the Wuling Mountains, the Xiangjiang River, the Wujiang River, the Jinsha River, the Dadu River, snow-capped mountains, grasslands, and other thousands of rivers and mountains. We captured many towns, and some of them traveled 25,000 miles. This was a truly unprecedented long march. The enemy always wanted to destroy us. We have not been wiped out. Now, the Long March has ended with our victory and the enemy's defeat. The Long March is a manifesto, a propaganda team, and a planter. It will be recorded in history. When our Central Red Army set out from Jiangxi, it was Of the 80,000 people, only 10,000 are left now, and what remains is the essence of the revolution. Now we have successfully joined forces with the Red Army in northern Shaanxi. In the future, our Red Army will unite with the people in northern Shaanxi to jointly accomplish the greatness of the Chinese revolution Task!"

The Long March of the Central Red Army ended in northern Shaanxi. It lasted one year and the 25,000-mile long march came to an end. The legendary victory of the Central Red Army's Long March had a wide impact both at home and abroad.Lu Xun in Shanghai sent a congratulatory message to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China: "Heroic Red Army generals and soldiers, your heroic struggle and your great victory are the most glorious page in the history of the liberation of the Chinese nation! The whole Chinese people look forward to your greater victory The Communist International also spoke highly of the Long March of the Red Army of Chinese Workers and Peasants as "a model of heroic struggle." Edgar Snow, a well-known American journalist, warmly praised the Long March of the Chinese Red Army in his "Westward Journey" as an "exciting epic expedition. ", "is the largest armed propaganda tour in history".Later, the famous American writer Harrison Salisbury praised the Long March of the Chinese Red Army as "unparalleled in the history of human activities", "unparalleled in the world", and "the most exciting and fearless deed since human beings have written records." , "It will become a monument of human steadfastness and fearlessness, and it will be handed down forever in the world."

During the Long March, Mao Zedong left behind a majestic and profoundly meaningful immortal masterpiece "Seven Laws. Long March": The Red Army is not afraid of the difficulty of the expedition, and the thousands of rivers and mountains are just waiting for leisure. Wuling meanders with fine waves, and Wumeng walks with majestic Niwan. The waves of the golden sand beat the hanging rocks warm, and the iron cables across the Dadu Bridge were cold. I like the snow a thousand miles away in Minshan Mountain, and the three armies are all happy after passing. (In the "Long March" poem published later, Mao Zedong changed "wave" to "water" and "hanging rock" to "cloud cliff" in this sentence.)