Chapter 22 Chapter Ten The Hero Died on the Wrong Way——Dong Zhentang

The turbulent stream of people marched with difficulty along the rugged mountain road.This is a Red Army unit from the Ningdu Uprising. It was organized into the Fifth Army of the Red Front Army. During the Long March, it was responsible for the guard task of covering the whole army to break through. The head of the legion, who was at the forefront of the team, had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and his expression was imposing.He is Dong Zhentang, a famous general of the generation. This place is called Laoshanjie, and it was the first difficult mountain that the Red Army crossed during the Long March. The "zigzag"-shaped mountain road is only more than one foot wide, and there are many cliffs and canyons beside it.

Enemy planes circled the sky, their roars echoing in the valley.Withered and yellow leaves fell one after another, and several horses were frightened and lost their minds. They accidentally fell from the cliff into the valley, neighing mournfully. At this moment, Dong Zhentang was holding up his binoculars and was concentrating on looking at Leigongyan, the peak of the mountain.On the almost 90-degree vertical stone ladder leading to the summit, a group of figures appeared; then, thunder clouds rose up and puffs of dust and smoke rose. "Could it be that the secret service battalion has engaged in fire with the enemy guarding the top of the mountain?" he thought to himself.

Suddenly, the enemy plane sprang out from behind the mountains, a dive, accompanied by a roar, a long string of bombs fell from the sky. "Lie down!" The guard Gao Shixin yelled, and at the same time jumped towards the army commander. It was too late to say it, but it was fast at that time, only a "boom" was heard, and a bomb exploded not far away.The guard was knocked to the ground by a powerful air wave, and Dong Zhentang also fell to the ground. "Legion Commander! Legion Commander!" As soon as the bomb fell, Xiao Gao cried and staggered to Dong Zhentang. Dong Zhentang fell to the ground on his back, seemingly unable to hear Xiao Gao's call.His face was completely blackened by gunpowder smoke, and his body was covered with a thick layer of sand.

The guard was at a loss, brushed the sand off his body with his hand, and swallowed and said: "League commander, don't die!" "You are Xiao Gao? Gao Shixin!" Unexpectedly, the army commander sat down by himself. He got up, took his hand and said, "Aren't you hurt? Why can't I see or hear clearly?" Dong Zhentang shook his head vigorously as he spoke. "I'm fine. Let me see you..." Xiao Gao replied in surprise.It turned out that the army commander's ears and eyes were all covered with mud, so he carefully picked them out with his fingers and wiped them with the skirt of his clothes.After a while, the head of the legion laughed: "You patronize me to wipe it, and you don't even look at your big black face!" Xiao Gao stroked his face embarrassedly, and asked eagerly: "Head of the legion, what are you doing now?" Can you see and hear clearly?" "The enemy's bombs can only frighten people, they haven't made a bomb that can kill me!" Dong Zhentang said humorously: "The revolution has not yet succeeded, so I don't deserve to die. !" "When I was young, I heard my parents say, 'If you survive a catastrophe, you will have future blessings', and Commander Dong Jun must have future blessings." Xiao Gao said happily.

For some reason, after hearing this auspicious sentence, Dong Zhentang felt a sense of sourness and heavy emotion in his heart. Perhaps, he remembered He Changfeng, Wang Yue and others who graduated from the Baoding Military Academy together and later instigated the Ningdu Uprising. On the eve of the Long March, they were secretly executed by the wrong leaders of the left-leaning adventurism as "internal traitors".Dong Zhentang, who has just entered the age of 40, is inevitably a little more confused. Perhaps, he remembered that during the Ningdu Uprising, there were 2 divisions, 6 brigades and 11 regiments with a total of about 18,000 people. Now there are only 1 division and 2 combat regiments left. , a whole division was wiped out.

"I'm a 'surviving' survivor. Maybe most of the comrades who have died are not reconciled. Give me the TOEFL and ask me to complete their unfinished business." Thinking of this, Dong Zhentang said to himself again: " The revolution hasn't succeeded yet, I don't deserve to die!" The vast grassland is boundless.A vaguely discernible path stretches into the distance. There is no one inhabited here, and the climate is like a baby's face. The sun was shining brightly just now, but suddenly there was a strong wind, and it was raining and snowing. Dong Zhentang led the troops of the former Red Fifth Army, which had been reorganized into the Red Fifth Army, to fight desperately against hunger, fatigue, cold, and disease.

"Follow in the footsteps of the predecessors, follow closely!" Dong Zhentang reminded his troops from time to time. On the muddy grass, every step you take is a strenuous effort.When Dong Zhentang saw that an officer of the Political Department of the Legion was injured in his ankle, he asked the guards to lead his big mule and horse, helped him onto the horse, and told his troops from time to time: "Follow closely!" An extremely tired soldier Seeing that he was about to fall behind, he wanted to take a shortcut and move forward, but just after taking a few steps, his body sank involuntarily, and he cried out in anxiety.Seeing this, another soldier ran over in a hurry, but failed to pull him up, but was also dragged down.

"Don't panic!" Dong Zhentang, who was on crutches, heard the call, and hurried to the scene. He quickly untied his leggings, threw one end to the soldiers struggling in the mud, and then joined other comrades in a tug of war. Two fighters pulled out from the quagmire. A mule with serious "liberalism" may be so hungry that it breaks away from the team and just eats grass, but it gets stuck in the quagmire and struggles desperately to no avail.Since they were far away and could not be rescued, the soldiers could only watch helplessly as the mule carrying the camping luggage gradually disappeared.

As night fell, the troops began to camp.Hunger and cold assailed the exhausted Red Army soldiers. The troops had been out of food for two days, and Dong Zhentang mobilized everyone to dig wild vegetables and grass roots to satisfy their hunger. In such a difficult and difficult time, the Red Army soldiers still maintain the spirit of optimism, solidarity and mutual assistance.For the only little wild vegetables, they still give way to each other.A staff officer handed Dong Zhentang a small bowl of wild vegetables, urging the army commander to eat it. "Give it to the little tiger." Dong Zhentang said.

Little Huzi is a 15-year-old soldier in the Legion Guard Company.When the Red Army moved from the Central Revolutionary Base, an old mother with frost on her temples dragged him to the outside of the village, and asked Dong Zhentang to take him to join the team.Dong Zhentang never forgot the earnest gaze and entrustment of the old mother, and it was vivid in his memory. "He, he fell asleep..." When the staff officer said this, tears welled up in his eyes.Dong Zhentang's heart sank suddenly: "What are you talking about? Take me to see it!" He said eagerly. The little tiger was lying quietly on the grass slope, with an innocent smile on his face.He was asleep, and asleep forever.

"How did this happen!" Dong Zhentang, who rarely got angry with his subordinates, couldn't help roaring. "He was very hungry and ate poisonous weeds..." the guard company commander bowed his head and said softly. "What a good soldier! How can I tell his old mother about this?" Dong Zhentang burst into tears, and there were sobs all around. The next morning, under the golden sunlight, among the bright flowers and plants, Dong Zhentang gathered his troops and held a grand memorial service for the young Red Army soldier Xiao Huzi. "Comrades, let us swear in front of the comrades-in-arms who died in the Long March: the revolution will triumph in the future, and the comrades who survived among us must tell future generations the deeds of the heroes who fell today-the victory of the revolution is the result of countless A martyr like Xiao Huzi bought it with blood and life!" Dong Zhentang said excitedly. After finishing speaking, he gently covered the little tiger with a precious blanket that had accompanied him in more than ten years of war.Then, one by one, the soldiers put the wild flowers in their hands on it, and piled them into a tomb of incomparably beautiful flowers... October 1936. Shortly after the three main forces of the Red Army, the First, Second, and Fourth Front Armies joined forces in Huining County, Gansu, the commanders and fighters of the Fifth Red Army, which had been reorganized into the Fifth Army of the Fourth Red Army, had not yet had time to breathe a long sigh of relief, let alone receive any After resting and supplementing, he received an order to cross the Yellow River westward with the Red Fourth Front Army Headquarters, and to open up the international route westward with the Thirty Army and Ninth Army who crossed the river first. "Is this an order from the Party Central Committee, Chairman Mao, or Zhang Guotao's personal opinion?" Dong Zhentang looked at the military map on the wall and fell into deep thought. A gust of cold wind blew open the door of the Legion Headquarters.A staff officer was about to close the door, but Dong Zhentang signaled that he didn't need it, and then walked out of the door. This is a ferry on the east bank of the Yellow River west of Jingyuan City.Seeing the rolling Yellow River rushing endlessly, Dong Zhentang's heart was ups and downs, just like the waves of the Yellow River... We have had a long march of 25,000 miles, and we have had enough of the hardship of not having a revolutionary base area. Now that we have managed to get together and have a base area in northern Shaanxi, why do we have to cross the river and march westward, and go deep alone?To the west is a narrow and long corridor, which is the vast Gobi. A depleted team has to suffer from hunger and cold, but also has to fight against the enemy cavalry unit "Majiajun" who is waiting for work. The consequences are really unimaginable. Thinking of this, Dong Zhentang couldn't help shivering. "Go and find Company Commander Wang of the communication company." He seemed to have an idea, and ordered to the guards around him, and then went straight back to the headquarters. After a while, there was a rush of hoofbeats.Communication company commander Wang Zhu arrived panting. "Sit down. How's the mood of the soldiers recently?" Dong Zhentang asked. "Emotions?" Company Commander Wang thought to himself, calling me in the middle of the night would not be enough to understand thoughts and emotions, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.After being stunned for a while, he said intermittently: "I'm not in a good mood. I always feel that something is wrong with Xizheng." "I asked you to come to give you a special task to reflect our opinions to the Party Central Committee." Said At this point, Dong Zhentang's expression was particularly serious, and Company Commander Wang deeply felt that this task was extraordinary. "Take a class, people must be reliable, horses must be good horses, and we will start at dawn tomorrow." Dong Zhentang explained word by word.When Company Commander Wang turned around and walked to the door, he warned again: "Keep secret, especially the whereabouts, and don't disclose it to anyone." After sending Wang Zhu away, Dong Zhentang sat at the wooden table and wrote a letter to the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao. write a letter. Almost at the same time when Dong Zhentang finished writing this letter, the elite squad led by Wang Zhu arrived at the entrance of the army headquarters. Dong Zhentang solemnly handed over the sealed letter paper to his trusted subordinates, and he said earnestly: "It is related to our Red Fifth Army, no! The life and death of the entire Red Fourth Front Army!" He said. "Okay! Let's go!" After Dong Zhentang gave the order, the team with a special mission galloped eastward.Dong Zhentang watched them off affectionately until they disappeared... As part of the West Route Army, the Fifth Red Army led by Dong Zhentang fought all the way to Gaotai County, an important town in the Hexi Corridor. It's the middle of winter, and the road to the county seat is covered with ice and snow.Dong Zhentang knew that Gaotai City must be captured as soon as possible, otherwise, without the enemy's counterattack, the howling cold wind could knock down the team that lacked clothing and food.He took a few entourages and conducted on-the-spot reconnaissance first. A moat about 4 meters wide and 1 meter deep surrounds the high city wall and becomes a natural barrier.The source of the river comes from an underground fountain, and it never dries up in four seasons.On the city wall, there are several gate towers and turrets, as well as newly built watchtowers, which form a firepower network condescendingly.There are more than 1,400 enemy troops guarding the city. Due to the dangerous terrain of the entire city, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, they don't pay much attention to the approach of the Red Army, and more than 10,000 of their reinforcements are coming. The enemy army clearly underestimated their opponent.Dong Zhentang's siege troops consisted of the 39th Regiment, the 45th Regiment, the Headquarters Special Service Regiment and two companies of cavalry, a total of more than 3,000 people. With the help of God, everyone is like a little tiger. Dawn on January 1, 1937.Dong Zhentang gave an order, and thousands of Red Army commanders and fighters braved the hail of bullets and rushed to Gaotai County.A small part feigned an attack at the west gate, and most of the troops concentrated on attacking the east gate.Seeing that the east gate was about to fall, the enemy defenders put all their eggs in one basket, opened the city gate, and dispatched cavalry troops to charge back against the Red Army! The Red Army cavalry company, which had been prepared for a long time, pulled out their sharp sabers in unison in an instant, rushed into the enemy group, and started a fierce battle immediately.The enemy army was in disarray and fled in all directions.The Red Army cavalry pursued the victory and captured many horses and prisoners.The troops of the Red Army attacking the city took advantage of the situation and rushed into the city.Seeing that the general situation was over, the defending enemy army raised the white flag obediently. At this time, the sun rose from the east, and the bright red flag was flying high on the city tower.Yang Keming, director of the Political Department of the Army, was busy organizing the Red Army to open the warehouses of the county government, distribute food and clothes to the hungry and cold people, and carry out mass work.The commanders and fighters of the Red Army finally had enough to eat and put on new cotton-padded clothes.On New Year's Day, Gaotai County is filled with festive scenes. Dong Zhentang's joy was quickly replaced by heavy pressure.He clearly knew that the situation facing the Red Army was very serious: Ma Bufang and Ma Buqing had gathered 5 cavalry brigades, 2 infantry brigades, artillery regiments, and militia regiments, with more than 20,000 people, and they were rushing aggressively.Some of them contain the Red Army in Linze and Nijiayingzi areas, while 4 brigades, 3 regiments and some militia groups are concentrated in an attempt to surround and destroy the Red Army in Gaotai. That afternoon, he called the cadres above the battalion to hold a military meeting in a church.After listening to the military briefing, all the participants felt that a fierce battle was just around the corner.During the meeting, the enemy's cold guns and cold guns were already heard in my ears.When everyone finished receiving the task and walked out of the church, there was a smell of gunpowder in the air. On January 12, the enemy launched an attack.Intensive artillery fire blew up some of the original gate towers, turrets and watchtowers, and even blasted a big hole in the thick city wall.Under the cover of artillery fire, enemy death squads armed with knives and short guns attacked forward in turn. Dong Zhentang came to the front line to direct the counterattack.When the gap in the city wall was blasted, soldiers were organized to repair it quickly; when some enemy troops rushed into the city, they immediately ordered the reserve team to drive the enemy out of the city.Where the most dangerous and most urgent, there is the figure of Commander Dong.The Red Army soldiers were deeply encouraged, and they stubbornly repelled the enemy's attacks again and again. Late at night.The enemy who had attacked all day left behind a lot of corpses, and failed to cross the city and enter the city, so they had to temporarily withdraw their troops resentfully.According to the original battle plan, the Red Army will break through at night and approach the main force of the West Route Army in Linze and Nijiayingzi.At this moment, a company commander hurried to Dong Zhentang and handed him a letter tied to a grenade without a fuse.This was written by Huang Chao, the political commissar of the Fifth Red Army, in the name of the headquarters of the West Route Army. Perhaps the courier could not send it into the city in person, so he had to mix with the enemy army and throw it into the city.The letter asked Dong Zhentang to lead his troops to resolutely guard the high platform.It seems that it is impossible to break through. Dong Zhentang looked at the letter and was speechless... "Old Dong, you take some people to break through first and report the situation here to the headquarters. I will take command here." Yang Keming, the director of the military political department wearing myopia glasses, knew that there would be no chance if he did not break through. I hope to leave it to a generation of famous generals whom I admire. "Legion Commander, Director Yang is right, 'If you keep the green hills, you are not afraid of no firewood', you are the flag of our Fifth Red Army, let's break through first." It was Ye Chongben, the division commander with a bandage on his head, who said this. A brave warrior under Dong Zhentang. Dong Zhentang deeply understands and appreciates the true feelings of his comrades.His eyes were moist, and he looked up to the sky and sighed excitedly: "If all the comrades are sacrificed, what do you need me, the regiment commander?" He patted Director Yang and Master Ye on the shoulders, and then said, "None of us will leave. Let's see how to hold the high platform." January 20, 1937.History will always remember this day. Dong Zhentang commanded the brave and tenacious Red Army soldiers to withstand the enemy's successive attacks for a week. But the troops suffered heavy casualties, and the ammunition was almost exhausted. In the early morning of this day, the enemy army launched a fierce attack from several directions at the same time, relying on their numbers.Both Ximen and Dongmen were in emergency frequently. There is no reserve team to save the emergency.Dong Zhentang and Yang Keming each took a dozen or so government personnel around them and rushed to the tower to fight the enemy desperately. On the West Gate Tower, Master Ye led the few remaining wounded to fight hand-to-hand with the enemies who had already climbed up the tower.Seeing that he was about to be unable to hold on anymore, Dong Zhentang arrived, picked up the box gun and fired fiercely, catching the enemy by surprise. Under the city wall, high corpses were piled up; on the city tower, dark red blood covered the blue brick floor. The battle reached its most intense moment. Unexpectedly, the surrendered personnel reorganized after the Red Army captured the high platform rebelled. They turned their guns and gave the Red Army a fatal blow from behind! "Quickly retreat! Withdraw to fight the enemy in the streets!" Dong Zhentang had to give up his last effort to hold on to the tower, and gave the order to retreat.When they withdrew to the church in the center of the city, there was the sad news that Yang Keming, director of the Military Political Department, had died.The frenzied enemies even cut off his head and hung it on the tower for public display. Dong Zhentang shouted the slogan "Revenge for Director Yang", like an enraged lion, he led the rest of his troops to kill the tower where Director Yang's head hung. A shell landed near Dong Zhentang, knocking him to the ground with a "boom", and blood flowed down his cheeks.The strong-willed Dong Zhentang struggled to get up.Several soldiers who were also bleeding were watching him with concern, and one of them was a tall soldier holding a military flag riddled with bullet holes.Dong Zhentang's eyes lit up, and he was about to walk over when suddenly, a sinister bullet hit the tall soldier, and the military flag also fell down.Several other soldiers were just about to go to help, but unfortunately they were hit by another round of bullets, and blood was sprinkled all over the military flag.Dong Zhentang took the box gun and fired repeatedly, knocking the enemy cavalry who attacked them upside down. Dong Zhentang slammed and charged, and suddenly found that there was no soldier behind him.But in front of them, groups of enemy cavalry wielding big sabers appeared.He quickly seized a favorable terrain and pressed the last few bullets into the magazine. "Catch him alive!" "That Red Army must be a high-ranking official, catch him back and receive a reward!" The horse bandit army let out strange screams. At this time, Dong Zhentang calmed down a lot.He looked contemptuously at the horse bandit army that was getting closer and closer, counting the distance to the enemy and also counting the bullets in the gun, and secretly said in his heart: "Come on, I'll let you go to Lord Yama to receive the reward." At the same time A bullet was fired, and the enemy cavalry who had charged in the head fell off their horses in response; then another bullet was fired, and another enemy fell down. "1, 2, 3..." When he counted and knew that there was only the last bullet left in the gun, he hesitated. "Do you want to keep this last bullet for yourself?" he thought. Just as he was thinking, an enemy bullet hit his head.He miraculously stood up and fired the last bullet at the enemy! Dong Zhentang was only 42 years old when he died.Many people not only deeply miss him, but also mourn and regret his unfortunate death in battle. Ye Jianying wrote a poem: