Chapter 40 Chapter 1 The political commissar of the International Division of the Communist Party of China, Xiao Hua, who has matured early

When it comes to the Long March, there is no one who is a little older who does not know the epic work "The Songs of the Long March-The Red Army Is Not Afraid of Difficulties in the Expedition".This work depicts the magnificent picture scroll of the Long March in concise language, outlines the indomitable heroes of the Red Army soldiers with dignified brushstrokes, and praises Mao Zedong's correct line with fiery passion.However, when it comes to the legendary experience of the author of the song, General Xiao Hua in the Long March, not many people know about it. As early as the period of the central base area, the young Xiao Hua was famous throughout the army for his youthful promise and versatility.

At the age of 13, he was the secretary of the Xingguo County Committee of the Communist Youth League; at the age of 16, he was the Youth Minister of the Political Department of the First Red Army; when the Red Army started the Long March, Xiao Hua, 18, had been the political commissar of the International Division of the Communist Youth League for more than a year. One evening, Xiao Hua, who had just unloaded his luggage, was sitting around with the soldiers having a bonfire party, and cheerful laughter burst out from the crowd from time to time.This is Xiao Hua's consistent style. No matter how fierce the battle is or how difficult the environment is, he always shows a high degree of revolutionary optimism, mobilizing the fighting enthusiasm of the soldiers without losing the opportunity, encouraging everyone to overcome difficulties and welcome victory.At this time, a soldier shouted: "Welcome the political commissar to come to a Xingguo folk song, okay!" Xiao Hua was not polite, and amidst the cheers of the soldiers, an "Ouch" pushed the party to a climax.

While the party was in progress, Xiao Hua suddenly heard the sound of "dede" horseshoes. In order not to affect the entertainment of comrades, he quietly withdrew from the crowd and walked towards the sound of horseshoes.The person who came was the cavalry messenger of the Military Commission. "Report to Political Commissar Xiao, Vice Chairman Zhou invites you to talk." The correspondent got off his horse, saluted first, and then reported. "Vice Chairman Zhou wanted to talk to me?" Xiao Hua suddenly felt very sudden. "Yes, he asks you to go!" the correspondent added, and then flew away without waiting for a reply.

Xiao Hua had a premonition that something important must have happened, otherwise Vice Chairman Zhou wouldn't be in such a hurry to talk to him.But when he hurried to the residence of the head of the Central Committee, he felt very puzzled, because he found Zhou Enlai's relaxed and happy expression. "What's going on here?" Xiao Hua asked himself. "Yo, Xiao Huazi is here, please sit down!" Seeing Xiao Hua, Zhou Enlai called his nickname affectionately and gave him a seat.Along the way, Xiao Hua was used to seeing Vice Chairman Zhou's dignified and deep expression. Seeing him so happy, he thought in his heart that it must be a happy event. Could it be that he was holding a meeting in Zunyi...

"Comrade Xiao Hua, I have two things for you." Zhou Enlai suddenly became serious again, and he continued: "You may already know that the central government recently held a meeting in Zunyi. The first thing I want to do is to inform you about the spirit of this meeting." Xiao Hua heard Zhou Enlai's introduction, and his excitement was beyond words.The failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign and the huge setback suffered by the "Great Relocation" in the early days of the Long March made him suspicious of the left-leaning way, and he longed for Mao Zedong to return to lead and command the Red Army.Thirty years later, when he wrote "Songs of the Long March" while recuperating in Hangzhou, he recalled the scene at that time and wrote very excitedly: "Miao Ling is beautiful, the sun is rising. A hundred birds are singing to herald the new year. The Zunyi meeting shines brightly, and the whole party The whole army celebrates together. All the people cheer Chairman Mao, the Marxist-Leninist line guides the voyage....The wise leader takes the helm, and the revolution marches forward majesticly." If the news of the Zunyi Conference inspired Xiao Hua, another news surprised him : The International Division of the Communist Party of China is facing the fate of disbanding.

Zhou Enlai said: "Although Mao Zedong has returned to the leadership position, the situation we are facing is still very severe. In order to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops, make the troops more capable, and facilitate combat command, the Military Commission decided to reorganize the entire army." Xiao Hua certainly supports a wise move, after all he is a division-level commander, able to look at problems from the perspective of the overall situation.But when he heard Zhou Enlai's following words, he still couldn't turn the corner emotionally: "The Central Military Commission has decided that the International Division of the Communist Party of China and the main force of the First Red Army will continue to carry out the mission of going north to resist Japan. You will be appointed as the Chief of the Political Department of the First Army. Do you have any comments?" Xiao Hua was at a loss for words for a while, not knowing what to say .

Zhou Enlai fully affirmed the combat performance of the International Division of the Communist Party of China in the past one and a half years, pointing out that it is the youngest unit in the Red Army. A batch of backbone strength.The Central Military Commission is satisfied with the work of the International Division of the Communist Party of China.I hope that Xiao Hua will do a good job in the ideological work of the commanders and fighters after returning to ensure the smooth progress of the reorganization work. At this time, Xiao Hua has returned to his normal state, he nodded firmly, and made it clear: "Please rest assured, the Military Commission, we firmly support the decision of the Military Commission. After I go back, I will immediately start the preparatory work for the reorganization. Please prepare for the head of the First Legion , As soon as possible, recruit the international division of the Shaoxing Communist Party." On the way back to the division headquarters, Xiao Hua was still full of emotions.Guangchang training camp, group village battle, Naozhai battle, post station battle, Shicheng defense battle... The battle history of the International Division of the Communist Party of China flashed in his mind like a movie.At this moment, a majestic singing interrupted his memory. "We are the International Division of the Communist Party of Shaoxing, and we officially swore an oath in Ningdu today. We are ready to go out and smash the enemy's 'encirclement and suppression' without any delay. We are all young people, and we are willing to dye our blood with red flags." This is Xiao Hua's inaugural meeting of the International Division of the Communist Party of Shaoxing The concluding remark of the speech was later composed to a song called "Song of the International Teachers of the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of China".

The International Division of the Communist Party of China is a typical "baby" unit. The average age of the soldiers is only about 18 years old, and there are many red ghosts who are 14 or 15 years old. Many soldiers are not as tall as guns.Most of these soldiers still need their parents to take care of their children when they are at home. When they first arrived in the army, they screamed in training and class, and ran around after training.Organizational discipline, revolutionary ideals, military knowledge, including the basic knowledge of life must be grasped from the beginning, and the tasks of political training and ideological work are very heavy.Before taking office as the International Division of the Communist Party of China, Xiao Hua worried that he was too young, afraid that if he could not bear such a heavy burden, he would fail the great trust of the party.At that time, Zhou Enlai laughed loudly when he heard his concerns: "You are called to go because you are young. Young cadres lead young soldiers, so that the troops will be more energetic. As long as you study hard and go through the temper of struggle, you will Gradually move towards maturity." Practice has proved Zhou Enlai's prophecy, and Xiao Hua and the International Division of the Communist Party of China flourished in the flames of war together.

Child soldiers have the characteristics of child soldiers, and fighting is no exception.During the battle in Naozhai, the soldiers set up many water tanks in the trenches. In addition to drinking water, the rest of the tanks were filled with lime water, charcoal powder water, and red stone powder water.During hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, two young fighters aimed at an enemy with a water gun played by a doll and aimed the irritating water at the enemy's face suddenly. When the enemy blinked, the bayonet had already penetrated He hit him in the stomach, confused the enemy, and somehow killed him.

When Xiao Hua returned to the division to convey the spirit of the Zunyi meeting and the reorganization order, the comrades were both happy and uncomfortable.The happy thing is that Mao Zedong has returned to the leadership position of the Red Army. The sad thing is that the comrades who fought bloody battles and shared joys and sorrows are about to part ways. Xiao Hua said emotionally to everyone: "Today, our heroic International Division of the Communist Party of China has successfully ended its glorious battle course. The comrades of our whole division will also be sent to different combat positions. But please believe that, The achievements of the International Division of the Communist Party of China will shine through the future, and her spirit will surely be inherited and carried forward by hundreds of millions of young people, thus radiating even more brilliant brilliance!"

From the disbandment of the International Division of the Shaoxing Communist Party to the Lianghekou Meeting in July 1935, Xiao Hua served as the head of the organization of the Political Department of the Legion.In the past six months, he was rarely seen in the queue of the agency.He was always ordered to take on the most difficult tasks, following the vanguard, overcoming obstacles, robbing passes, and constantly opening up the way forward for the Red Army on the Long March. When passing through the Yi nationality area in Daliangshan, Xiao Hua was ordered to lead a working group to carry out political work with the advance troops and mass work along the way. Xiao Hua made full use of the party's ethnic policy to patiently persuade the Yi people. He told the fourth uncle of Xiaoyedan, the leader of the Yi people: The Red Army fought the world for the oppressed poor, and they did not disturb the Yi people when they came here, but just took the road north.According to the characteristics of the Yi people who value loyalty very much, Xiao Hua also told him that Commander Liu of the Red Army personally led a large number of troops to march north, passed by here, and was willing to become brothers with the leaders of the Yi people.Xiao Hua also gave them a pistol and several rifles as a token of sincerity.Due to Xiao Hua's outstanding work, Commander Liu Bocheng of the advance team and Xiaoye Dan, the leader of the Yi nationality, formed a blood alliance and became brothers, which opened the way for the Red Army to safely pass through the Yi area and go northward smoothly. The advance team traveled day and night and arrived at the Dadu River on May 24, 1935.This is the most turbulent river encountered by the Red Army since the Long March.Chiang Kai-shek has vowed to let the Red Army become Shi Dakai's second here. When Xiao Hua and the head of the advance team arrived at the Anshunchang Ferry, the Red First Regiment had already wiped out the defenders of two companies, and had found more than a dozen boatmen and an old boatman, but these people were full of worries. The old boatman pointed to the enemy's machine guns on the opposite bank and said, "This gun has no eyes. We are all poor people, and the whole family depends on this oar for food. What if we get shot?" Xiao Hua did not directly answer the question raised by the old boatman, but first cordially inquired about the situation in their family, and then said: "Your hardships are caused by the Kuomintang reactionaries. They specially oppress us poor people. Only by eliminating them, Poor people will have a good life. The enemy on the other side of the river looks fierce, but with our Red Army here, you can rest assured." Then, Xiao Hua asked the administrator to give them each a dozen Guangyang. The boatmen were moved by Xiao Hua's words and deeds, and they all rolled up their trousers and were about to board the boat.Xiao Hua stopped everyone and said: "Don't worry, let's eat first, we can row when we are full." The forced crossing began, Xiao Hua, Commander Liu Bocheng of the advance team, and Political Commissar Nie Rongzhen stood on the shore and observed this thrilling scene.With the sound of bugles and bursts of gunfire, 17 warriors quickly rowed to the opposite bank under the cover of firepower. Suddenly, a row of bullets hit the trumpeter's feet. The little guy was startled, and the sound of the horn stopped. "Why did the trumpet stop? Continue to blow the charge!" Liu Bocheng shouted. Xiao Hua stepped over to the side of the trumpeter in a few steps, took the trumpet and shook it twice, then puffed up his chest and started blowing. Immediately afterwards, the trumpeters of each company also blew.Amidst the sound of trumpets and the fire support of the Red Army's mortars and light and heavy machine guns, seventeen warriors flew off the ship and rushed ashore, defeating the enemy, occupying the beachhead and controlling the ferry. The pursuers are approaching, and it is difficult to cross tens of thousands of Red Army in a few days with only a few small boats.Mao Zedong decided to divide his troops into two groups, go back to Hebei, and seize the Huding Bridge.Xiao Hua moved with the right column across the river. When the right column reached the barbed wire ditch, it encountered the enemy's tenacious resistance. Hearing the fierce gunshots in front, Xiao Hua and the leader of the Vanguard Regiment hurried forward. It turned out that there was a steep stone wall in front, and there was a crack in the middle, which seemed to be split with a giant axe.The rugged path happened to pass under this crevice. "It's so dangerous!" Xiao Hua thought secretly.When he saw that the assault failed to succeed even several times, and the casualties were relatively large, he began to carefully observe the terrain. "Yes," he pointed to the stone wall and said to the commander of the assault company: "Strengthen the fire cover, as long as you rush to the dead corner under the stone wall, you can build a ladder and climb up to destroy the enemy." Under the cover of several machine guns, Xiao Hua Jump up. "Communists, follow me!" Suddenly, a grenade landed not far from Xiao Hua, whistling white smoke.Guard Wu Zonghan rushed over and pushed Xiao Hua down, with a "boom", the grenade exploded, and gravel and clods splashed on them, but fortunately, they were not injured.Xiao Hua turned over and jumped up, and took the lead to rush forward again. The Tiesigou defenders finally lost to the wise and brave Red Army soldiers. The right column crossed the Tiesigou and rushed straight to Huding City. Due to Zhang Guotao's continuous obstruction, the Red Army stayed in the Maoergai area for a month, and the food supply became increasingly tense.Zhang Guotao was forced to agree to go north after a fierce debate and struggle at the Maoergai Conference. Once the policy of going north was determined, the Red Second Division, as the vanguard force, began to raise food locally and prepare the grassland. Raising food in Tibetan areas is not an easy task.Although there is no chasing and intercepting by the Kuomintang troops here, due to the language barrier, the Tibetan chieftains do not understand our policies, and often send cavalry to harass the Red Army's grain-raising squad.Some of the Red Army soldiers who were attacked died, and some had their limbs cut off, which was horrible.The comrades' eyes were red with anxiety, and they all demanded to clean up these armed chieftains and avenge the sacrificed food-raising team members. Xiao Hua, who was the political commissar of the Second Red Division at the time, was also very indignant, but after all, he is a person with strong policy concepts and overall concepts. He first calmed down his emotions, and then calmly said to everyone: "The feelings of comrades are understandable. Why am I not in a hurry? But don't forget that our main enemy is the Kuomintang reactionaries. Our most urgent task is to pass through the grasslands and go north to resist the Japanese. The Tibetan people have also suffered a lot from the Kuomintang. The oppression of the reactionaries, we should do our best to do a good job in uniting and persuading, and win their support and help. For the chieftains, we must also analyze and deal with them in detail, and win the majority." After Comrade Xiao Hua said, everyone's indignation was justified. Slowly calm down. The forbearance of the Red Army seemed to prove its weakness, and the chieftain armed forces became more and more rampant.The next day, another food-raising team was attacked, seven soldiers were killed, and youth officer Zhou Shuliang was taken away, whereabouts are unknown. Xiao Hua was struggling with no good way to save people, a lama from a nearby monastery sent a letter.Xiao Hua hurriedly found Tong Si for translation.It turned out that this was an ultimatum, saying that the Red Army troops should be withdrawn immediately, otherwise cavalry would be dispatched to fight the Red Army. Xiao Hua couldn't help but laughed loudly at the lama: "The hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops can't do anything to us, you guys, what can a few guns do to us?" After saying this ridicule, Xiao Hua's His expression became dignified again: "We and the Tibetan compatriots are brothers, not enemies. Our common enemy is the Kuomintang reactionaries. Only by defeating them can the Tibetan compatriots gain equality, freedom and liberation. Therefore, we do not fight with you, but only borrow your Baodi crossing the road. I hope to get your support and help." Then, Xiao Hua asked about Zhou Shuliang's whereabouts.The lama gave an affirmative answer: "There is a young man in our place. The chieftain wants to keep him to work in our place, but he refuses to live or die. He doesn't eat or drink all day long. I hope you can persuade him to stay, otherwise his life will be killed." It's hard to guarantee." Xiao Hua paced back and forth in the room, thinking over and over again.The party's ethnic policy does not allow direct conflict with the chieftain, so forceful robbery is not acceptable, and the chieftain has already made up his mind to let Zhou Shuliang stay, other methods may not be effective for a while, and besides, it is difficult for the army to raise food at the moment, it is better to... He frowned, thinking about it. He suggested to several leaders in the division: "The matter has come to this, I think it is better to persuade Zhou Shuliang to stay as the seed of the revolution. At the same time, we can also use him to work as a chieftain and sell some grain to us." Everyone nodded. Said yes.Then Xiao Hua said to the lama: "Please tell the chieftain, we agree to do work to let Zhou Shuliang stay, but we must let him come back to meet. In addition, I hope the chieftain will sell us some food, and then our troops will drive away." Lama again and again I promised to leave. Zhou Shuliang finally came back.When he saw his comrades, like a child seeing his mother, he plunged into Xiao Hua's arms and burst into tears.He already knew the organizational decisions.Xiao Hua patted Zhou Shuliang's back lightly, and didn't speak for a long time.When his crying subsided, he comforted him and explained the reason for his decision. Zhou Shuliang replied word by word: "Chief, for the sake of the Red Army and the Party's cause, I obey the organization's decision." "After the Red Army leaves, you must face many difficulties. But no matter what, don't forget that you are A member of the Communist Party and a soldier of the Red Army. I hope you will become a red seed that will take root and blossom here. The revolution is victorious, and we will come to pick you up." Xiao Hua held Zhou Shuliang's hands tightly and said affectionately. Zhou Shuliang nodded again and again, and gave a military salute to Xiao Hua and his comrades.He turned around and left with the lama, gradually disappearing into the mist. Things have to start with Erdu Chishui.On this day, Director Luo Ruiqing of the Security Bureau of the First Red Army came to several young men who were talking about the danger they encountered yesterday, and said to Wu Zonghan, "Little brat, I decided to transfer you to Comrade Xiao Hua, the organization director of the Legion, to be his bodyguard." Arriving at the campsite, Wu Zonghan reported to Xiao Hua's residence.As soon as he entered the door, he "reported——" When he saw a young man about his age sitting on the bench, he couldn't help being stunned, and he swallowed the word "chief" behind it.The handsome Xiao Hua burst out laughing all of a sudden: "Okay, here comes another Xingguo old man. Don't be afraid if you are with me, I have nothing to take care of, just take care of yourself. I walk fast, you don't Just fall behind." Since then, the fates of the two have been linked together.Although Wu Zonghan had remembered Xiao Hua's words, he thought to himself, how could such a strong young man like me fall behind?After going through the hardships and trials in the snowy mountains and grasslands, Wu Zonghan had to admire: Xiao Hua is still amazing! When crossing Jiajin Mountain, Wu Zonghan felt dizzy and his legs were weak, and wanted to sit down to catch his breath.Xiao Hua pulled him up, and encouraged him while pulling him: "Keep working harder, you will reach the top of the mountain, you must not sit down." Wu Zonghan gritted his teeth and followed up with difficulty.Xiao Hua organized people to publicize to everyone: No matter what, you can't sit down and rest. Anyone who wants to stop and sit down at this time will never be able to stand up again.When the soldiers heard this, the strong helped the weak, the big helped the small, hand in hand, arm in arm, and tried their best to climb to the top. When crossing the grass, Wu Zonghan faces a more severe test. The weather in the meadow is changing rapidly, sometimes the sun is high in the sky, sometimes it is stormy, sometimes hail falls suddenly, and sometimes it snows all over the sky.The severe cold at night is even more unbearable.Xiao Hua's and Wu Zonghan's clothes and rations all fell into a deep valley together with their horses when they crossed the snow mountain. Only a raincoat and a single top were carried on Wu Zonghan's body and they were not lost.At night, Wu Zonghan took it out for Xiao Hua to wear, Xiao Hua saw that Xiao Wu's lips were blue from the cold and trembling all over, so he took the clothes and put them on for Xiao Hua.Xiao Wu worried him and said: "This is your clothes, it's so cold, how can you do it in such thin clothes?" Xiao Hua smiled and said: "What's yours and mine, seeing you frozen like that, your body is not good Okay, hurry up and put it on!" For the first three days in the grassland, Xiao Hua and Wu Zonghan only ate two meals a day, highland barley and wild vegetable soup. Later, seeing that there were only two or three catties of highland barley, Xiao Hua said to Xiao Wu: "This little food will take several days, so let you eat it alone, and don't cook for me in the future. "Xiao Wu asked: "What should you do?" Xiao Hua said: "I can go to the comrades in the headquarters to 'fight guerrillas'!" Where is he "fighting guerrillas"? eat! On the sixth day, Wu Zonghan couldn't bear it anymore. When he woke up in the morning, he felt dizzy and his limbs were weak.He sat on the ground and rubbed his swollen and shiny legs, leaning on a tree branch and struggling to stand up.Seeing this, Xiao Hua hurried over to support him.At this time, Director Luo happened to pass by, saw Wu Zonghan like this, and said, "What's wrong with Xiao Wu, isn't he in poor health? Now it seems that you not only can't take care of the chief, but the chief takes care of you. In order to reduce your burden , transfer you back to the security team!" Wu Zonghan was very sad when he heard that, a sense of guilt for not completing the task welled up in his heart, and tears fell down his face.Xiao Hua hurriedly comforted and said: "Old Wu, go! We will meet often! Otherwise, your health is so poor, and you still have to do things for me every day, I'm afraid you will really stay in the grass." In such unprecedented difficulties and dangers as the Long March, Xiao Hua disregarded his own safety, hunger, cold and fatigue, and was always active in the front line of the battle, active in the marching queue and by the fire in the camp, keeping abreast of the situation of the troops , care about the sufferings of subordinates, and carry out in-depth and meticulous ideological and political work.As the chief, he enjoys high prestige among the officers and soldiers of the Red Army.