Chapter 25 Chapter 3 Loushan Pass——The Decisive Battle to Recapture Zunyi City

On February 25, 1935, on the avenue from Tongzi to Zunyi, there was a moment of people screaming and screaming.A Red Army team was advancing rapidly, and I saw propagandists mobilizing for battle while walking in the queue. "Comrades! In order to capture Zunyi, Loushan Pass must be occupied!" "Comrades! The Xiaoshui River has crossed! The Xiangjiang River has crossed! The Wujiang River has flown over! Miaoling Mountain has climbed over! Loushan Pass, can't we win it?" Do you?" "Don't forget the past glory of the Thirteenth Regiment! Is Wang Jialie comparable to the Nineteenth Route Army?" "We have long been familiar with the 'Double Spears' of Wang Jialie, the opium smoker, and the 'Monkey Army' of Hou Zhidan. Passed!" "Pay more guns and catch more prisoners! Go to Zunyi to eat cakes and oranges!" Peng Xuefeng, head of the 13th Red Regiment, and Li Ganhui, political commissar, were at the forefront of this team.As they walked, they analyzed the situation.

After the Zunyi Conference, Chairman Mao commanded the main force of our Red Front Army to march northward from the Zunyi area in mid-January 1935, rushing toward southern Sichuan, preparing to cross the Yangtze River in the Yibin area and join the Red Fourth Front Army in northern Sichuan to create a base in Northwest Sichuan. .Chiang Kai-shek was shocked when he heard the news, and urgently dispatched the elite troops of the Sichuan warlord Liu Xiang to defend the front line of the Yangtze River. He also urgently ordered the troops of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan to cooperate with the Central Army's Xue Yue, Zhou Hunyuan, and Wu Qiwei's troops to oppress our army south of the Yangtze River. , East of the Hengjiang River, and the narrow area west of the Wujiang River to the north, encircled and suppressed.While Chiang Kai-shek was making wishful thinking, the Central Military Commission and Mao Zedong had an overview of the overall situation and insight into the enemy's situation. In view of the fact that the enemy forces from all walks of life were attacking together and concentrating, and only the enemy forces in northern Guizhou were weak, they decided to use the enemy forces to judge whether the Red Army was still fighting. The illusion of crossing the Yangtze River north, by surprise, first waved Ge Dongzhi, and returned to southern Sichuan; then re-entered Guizhou, and then occupied Zun and Tong areas, bankrupting Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to encircle the Red Army.

From February 11th, the Red Army was divided into left and right.The two right roads went back to the east from Tashi, Yunnan, passed through Xuyong and Gulin in Sichuan, crossed the Chishui River at Erlangtan and Taiping, re-entered Guizhou, passed through Xinglongchang, Liangcun, Jiuba and other places, and occupied Tongzi. It opened the prelude to the battle of Zunyi. When the Red Army suddenly returned to northern Guizhou, Chiang Kai-shek was taken aback and ordered Wang Jialie to take command from Guiyang to Zunyi.After Wang Jialie came to Zunyi, he hurriedly mobilized 4 regiments under his command to defend Loushan Pass and prevent the Red Army from advancing towards Zunyi.Chiang Kai-shek also ordered Xue Yue, Wu Qiwei, and Zhou Hunyuan to quickly cross the Wujiang River north to reinforce the Guizhou army and enter Zunyi.If the Red Army did not break through Loushan Pass and occupy Zunyi as soon as possible, allowing Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army to seize the opportunity, then the Red Army would be trapped under Xiongguan and Jiancheng, and be surrounded by the enemy again, and the outcome would be disastrous.

Everything depends on whether the Red Army can capture Loushan Pass as soon as possible!The Military Commission made a decisive decision. In addition to using a force to block the enemy's pursuit in the Liangcun and Shuanglongchang areas in the north, it assembled the main force of the Red 1st and 3rd Army Corps to overcome the natural danger of Loushan Pass and occupy Zunyi before the enemy.Peng Dehuai, who is good at fighting tough battles, is under the unified command of the attacking and seizing troops.After Peng Dehuai accepted the task, he transferred the Red Thirteenth Regiment, which was good at fighting tough battles in the anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign in the Soviet Area of ​​Jiangxi Province, to the forefront. Famous team of heroes.After the Red Thirteenth Regiment received them, the crowd was excited, and they rushed all the way to the north slope of Loushan Pass.

Loushan Pass is located between Zunyi and Tongzi, on top of Dalou Mountain. There is a pass (pass) between two peaks, surrounded by mountains, and the peaks are like swords. The road in front of the pass is winding, seven steps and one turn, eight steps At one bend, the terrain is extremely dangerous, and it really has the tendency of "one man guards the gate, and ten thousand men cannot open it".When Peng Xuefeng and Li Ganhui led the Thirteenth Red Regiment to Loushan Pass, the peaks stood tall and the Zuntong Highway meandered up. Looking up from the bottom of the mountain, it looked like a flying dragon.An enemy regiment has taken the lead and sealed off the road; the peaks on the right wing of Loushanguan are all cliffs and cannot be climbed; It is small and can be climbed, and after the capture, it can be condescending, overlooking and controlling Loushan Pass.

Capturing Dianjin Mountain is the key to capturing Loushan Pass. Should we wait for the follow-up troops to arrive together to launch an attack, or take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold and launch an attack immediately? "The Thirteenth Regiment has no tradition of waiting for the backup troops. It must take the Golden Mountain before dusk!" After the side, the main force raised the order to attack Dianjinshan. Difficult tasks were given to the 1st Battalion.The whole battalion organized two echelons, and organized a fire team, and entered the starting position.The charge horn blew, and the mountains sounded and the valley responded; the fire team fired fiercely at the enemy's position on the top of the mountain, and the smoke filled the air; , Gunshots, and grenade explosions rang together, and the sky was covered with smoke and dust; the barrel was red, the bullets were used up, and the bayonets were used to fight;

The enemy left hundreds of corpses and fled in embarrassment from the southern slope of the mountain. "Hurry up and repair the reverse fortifications to prevent the enemy from counterattacking!" After Peng Xuefeng and Li Ganhui rushed to Dianjin Mountain with the team, they were not relieved by the victory.The current situation is still grim, the enemy has 4 regiments, the Red Army has only 1 regiment, and in the battle of attacking the mountain, many commanders and fighters died honorably. Sure enough, Wang Jialie was unwilling to fail.He urgently ordered Du Zhaohua, who was squatting in the black temple behind the mountain, to lead the six and fifteen regiments to counterattack Loushanguan and Dianjinshan.The Song Huaxuan and Liu Heming regiments of the Guizhou Army hurriedly mobilized personnel to organize a stormtrooper and a supervisory regiment, screaming and rushing towards Dianjin Mountain, eager to regain the commanding heights.Our thirteenth regiment is not only good at attacking, but also good at defending. Now the generals in Gaoshan are shooting one by one, and the enemy has been scattered several times.At this time, the soldiers had not eaten for a day, were hungry, sweated coldly, and were cold inside and out when the mountain wind blew, but they were condescending. Seeing how the enemies gathered near Loushanguan, how they organized, and how they charged and counterattacked, they couldn't help but get excited. Shout out to the mountain:

"Soldiers of the White Army, what are you working hard for? Look at your officers who are supervising the battle, the beautiful concubines of Yinyang, the beautiful women in the golden house, and look at yourselves!" "Brothers, turn your guns and kill the officers who oppress you!" Ah!" "Raise the muzzle an inch, and the Red Army will avenge it!" An enemy officer at the foot of the mountain held a pistol and a whip, and used cruel methods such as shooting, cutting with a saber, and whipping to drive the soldiers to counterattack the mountain. Peng Xuefeng gave an order: "Special shooters! Concentrate on shooting and kill him!" "Aim—let go!" The five special shooters knocked down the enemy supervising officer to the ground.Before the enemy could recover, the Red Army countercharged, and the enemy, like ducks under a bamboo pole, rolled down the mountain screaming.The Red Army seized Loushan Pass by victory!

When I came to the pass, I saw a stone tablet standing tall, with three vigorous characters on it: "Loushan Pass", and it seemed that there were still faint traces of war and gunpowder.There are two thatched huts in front of the pass, which are already dilapidated.At this time, it was raining slightly and night fell.The Red Thirteenth Regiment must not only guard the pass, but also prevent the enemy from counterattacking from the road in front of the pass.There was no house, so we had to camp in the rain. At dawn the next day, there was a thick fog. The sergeant post in the south of Loushanguan reported that the enemy had started a crazy counterattack. The outpost had been occupied by the enemy. The enemy approached Loushan Pass.The fourth regiment, the enemy's most elite army, is contrary to the usual weakness of the "Two Gun Soldiers". Its fierce counterattack, group charge, and row of guns and artillery fire make people suspect that this is no longer Wang Jialie's troops, but the Kuomintang Central Army. up.However, they paled in comparison to the Red Army.

"We can win Loushan Pass, and we can defend Loushan Pass even more!" The 13th Regiment roared angrily. The first battalion worked hard all night. Under the cover of the first battalion, the third battalion counter-charged and knocked down the fourth regiment of the Guizhou army. A large number of enemy corpses lay on the road. However, Qian Jun also seemed to be red-eyed and organized 6 charges, but each time they were beaten down by the Red Thirteenth Regiment.The enemy suffered heavy casualties, and the Red Army also sacrificed a lot.At this moment, another 3 enemy regiments detoured from Banqiao to the left side of Loushan Pass, and the 13th Red Regiment fought alone, and the situation was very dangerous.

Suddenly, the shouts of the Red Twelve Regiment came from the thick fog, and the reinforcements arrived. Due to poor communication, the Red Thirteenth Regiment's capture of Dianjin Mountain and Loushan Pass was not known to the Legion Headquarters until midnight.So the Red Twelfth Regiment was ordered to set off in the early morning to replace the Red Thirteenth Regiment, which had suffered heavy casualties after a day of hard work, and achieved a breakthrough in the middle, taking down the southern slope of Loushan Pass.Peng Dehuai also ordered Zhang Jiaxun and Huang Kecheng to lead the 10th Red Regiment to encircle the enemy at Banqiao from the left wing of Loushan Pass and pass through Niuwangtun from Xiaoqing; Hunzichang went straight into Zunyi Gaoping Bridge, cut off the connection between Banqiao and Zunyi, and cut off the enemy's retreat; the 3rd army divided into encirclement and wiped out 4 regiments under Wang Jialie. Seeing that the Red Thirteenth Group had taken the lead, the Red Twelve Group had long held back their energy.At this time, the head of the regiment Xie Song and the political commissar Zhong Chibing were all red-faced men unwilling to be left behind. They immediately mobilized after receiving the order: "The third battalion guards the pass, breaks through the middle, the second battalion is the second echelon in Zuoshanya, and the third battalion is in the north of the Guanbei, as a reserve team!" Yang Wei, the commander of the third battalion, is really majestic.From 8:00 am to 10:00 am, the enemy repelled 6 charges.The last time the third battalion made a counterattack and drove the enemy under the hillside in front of the pass. Suddenly, Xie Song received a report from the correspondent: The forward troops of the third battalion were shot by the enemy's intensive machine guns, causing heavy casualties and urgently needing reinforcements. "Second Battalion, go!" Following the command of the regiment commander, Deng Keming, the commander of the Second Battalion, led a counterattack, broke through 9 obstacles of the enemy in a row, and drove the enemy back to the Black Temple below Loushan Pass.The Red Fifth Company served as a commando in the counterattack, and the company commander Gao Shuguan led the whole company down the mountain like a tiger, beating the enemy to flee in embarrassment.Finally, in the Black Temple, they encountered heavy enemy troops to help.The whole company used local materials, built fortifications, and blocked the enemy.At that time, Wang Jialie had no grenades under his command, so Gao Shuguan used the power of the grenades, and a row of grenades went down, killing a large number of people and smashing the enemy's counterattacks many times. Relying on the large number of people and guns, the enemy organized many counterattacks.At the critical moment, battalion commander Deng Keming led the fourth and seventh companies to rush down the mountain.Battalion Commander Deng adopted a flanking and roundabout tactic to seize the commanding heights from the right side, so that the counterattacking enemy was attacked on both sides.The enemy was caught off guard and fled from the Black Temple and Pianyanzi.In this battle, Zhong Chibing, the political commissar of the 12th Regiment, was seriously injured. At the age of 21, he was forced to amputate one leg and became the famous "one-legged general" among the generals of our army. After 3 days of bloody battle, by February 27, most of Wang Jialie's 4 regiments stationed in Loushanguan and Banqiao were wiped out, and the rest fled back to Zunyi City. The Legion Department ordered: "Our army will take advantage of the victory to pursue and occupy Zunyi before Wu Qiwei's department of the Kuomintang."Seeing that the officers and soldiers of the 13th and 12th Regiments of the Red Army had made great contributions, they wished they could grow a pair of wings, take down Zunyi City as soon as possible, and establish new meritorious service.The Red Eleventh Regiment spread its legs, chased and rushed all the way, broke through several enemy lines of defense, and the avant-garde kept biting the enemy's rear.A pair of brothers served as soldiers in a company and fought side by side. The elder brother died in the battle, but the younger brother did not bother to bury his brother's body, but still pursued the enemy relentlessly. On the afternoon of February 27, the Red Army occupied Fenghuang Mountain and Xiaolong Mountain outside Zunyi, controlled the Tiaodeng River flowing through the city to Ximatan, and faced the enemy of the old city of Zunyi across the river.Chief of Staff Deng Ping of the Red Army Corps died heroically during the inspection of the terrain. This is the highest military commander of the Red Army who died since the Long March.In addition, Luo Ming, Minister of Group Works, died, and Hu Yaobang, Secretary-General, was injured. The whole army turned grief into strength, launched a fierce attack on Zunyi at night, and took the city in one fell swoop. In this way, from Loushanguan to Zunyi City, the Red Army Corps successively defeated the strength of Wang Jialie's six regiments, and finally occupied Zunyi City before the Kuomintang Central Army arrived.It was more than a month and a half since the first occupation of Zunyi. On February 28, 1935, it was near evening, the sky was full of sunset clouds, green hills were emerald, and the mountains were quiet. Loushanguan was welcoming a great team today. On the customs clearance road, a team came.This is the Military Commission column.After months of hard work, everyone looked tired, and many had long beards that they didn't have time to shave.Although the Red Army seized Loushan Pass and took Zunyi City by chance, Mao Shidong, who was riding a horse, still felt that the situation was grim, and the enemy's siege and interception had not been completely shaken off.However, looking at the sunset in the Cangshan Mountains, Mao Zedong was still full of poetry. He wrote a poem "Recalling Qin'e Loushanguan", which described the scene and emotional experience of the Red Army from the battle at Loushanguan at dawn to the victory at dusk. The Battle of Shanguan left behind a dazzling historical picture: