Chapter 76 Peng Dehuai volunteered in danger

The 20,000 troops not only have to deal with Hu Zongnan's 230,000 elite soldiers, but also shoulder the heavy responsibility of defending the safety of the Party Central Committee and Mao Zedong. Who will be the commander-in-chief of this battlefield in northern Shaanxi? The five secretaries of the Central Secretariat are all thinking about this question.At that time, He Long was the commander of the joint defense of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Jinsui and Suizhou.Someone suggested He Long. But what Mao Zedong thought of was: Jinsui was consolidating the party, the army, and the land reform, and He Long was busy with the affairs there, so he couldn't get out for a while. Besides, as the rear of northern Shaanxi, Northwestern Shanxi also needed him.

At this moment, Peng Dehuai appeared.He said: The enemy is now, and the brigades in northern Shaanxi, plus logistics personnel and local troops, are only more than 20,000 people, and there should be a unified command. "Before Commander He comes to Yan'an, should I temporarily command the troops in northern Shaanxi?" Mao Zedong looked at Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, and Liu Shaoqi with inquiring eyes, as if he was somewhat complacent.He couldn't help thinking of a six-character poem he wrote to Peng Dehuai during the Long March: The mountains are high, the roads are far and the pits are deep, and the army is galloping.

Who dares to slash immediately, but I am General Peng. Ren Bishi was even more joyful.Expose the old background that several of them just discussed behind Peng Dehuai: "Just now the chairman asked me to prepare a draft, first international, then domestic, and then talk about China's destiny, first Marxism-Leninism, then the party's organizational discipline, and then talk about party members I mobilized you to take up the heavy responsibility of defending Yan'an, but I didn't expect you, General Peng, to take the initiative to ask for a fight." Mao Zedong stood up and shook Peng Dehuai's hand emotionally: "You are asking for a job in danger. Whenever you are in danger, you always take the heavy burden on your shoulders, which is very admirable." After a pause, Mao Zedong slightly He said apologetically: "It's just that our family background is too weak, and there are too few people who will give you the new commander."

Peng Dehuai said: "The number of people is a little less, but when our Red Army first arrived in northern Shaanxi, there were only 10,000 people, and the enemy had 300,000. Didn't we win? It is not terrible to have fewer people. The question is whether I, the commander, can Set an example for the 20,000 brave soldiers!" On March 16, the Central Military Commission announced that the designation of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Field Army was revoked, and the Northwest Field Army was established, with Peng Dehuai as commander and political commissar, and Xi Zhongxun as deputy political commissar.

In this way, Peng Dehuai led 20,000 subordinate soldiers and set up a ring with fierce enemies 10 times his own.In the Qinghua Bian Niu Dao small test, that is a big victory. Qinghuabian is located in Panlongchuan, 50 miles northeast of Yan'an. A road goes north along Sichuan, passes through Panlong and Yangma River to Wayaobao, and there are rolling mountains on both sides of the road.After Peng Dehuai inspected, he decided to lay his pockets here, and took advantage of Hu Zongnan's eagerness to find the main force of our army for a decisive battle to lure him into the bait. The opportunity came quickly. On the evening of March 21, the field army radio station intercepted and deciphered the telegram sent by Hu Zongnan to the 31st Brigade.In the telegram, Hu Zongnan ordered the 31st Brigade to advance to Qinghuabian, establish a stronghold, and arrive within 24 days.

Second from left), Xi Zhongxun (third from left), etc. Peng Dehuai immediately reported the news to Mao Zedong on the forward position of the Qinghuabian battle, and dispatched troops to let the second battalion of the second regiment of the only brigade to stay in the northwest of Yan'an, causing a kind of massacre The momentum of the retreat of the troops "pulled" the main force of the enemy to the Ansai area, and at the same time ordered other troops to gather on the east and west sides of Qinghuabian for concealment before the 23rd, preparing to annihilate the 31st Brigade of the enemy.

At dawn on the 23rd, the main forces entered the ambush positions.However, the commanders and fighters lay on the frozen ground and waited from dawn to noon, and from noon to night, but there was no sign of the enemy, and they couldn't help talking: "Did the news leak out?" "I'm afraid the information is inaccurate?" "Will Hu Zongnan change his mind?" At 6 p.m., Peng Dehuai ordered the troops to withdraw from the position and rest. In the field army headquarters, the leaders of the field army are also discussing enthusiastically.Peng Dehuai walked with his hands behind his back, patiently listened to everyone's opinions, and finally he said confidently: "The people in the old base area will not tell the truth, and the information will not be wrong. The enemy will definitely come. Although Hu Zongnan is an idiot, but he He still has some military common sense, otherwise how could he be mistaken for an army general? Besides, he has cannons, tanks, and cars, and he wants to The main force to capture me, the only road in northern Shaanxi, can he not go? He must come."

Everyone was deeply impressed by Peng Dehuai's analysis. Peng Dehuai paused for a moment, and then said very sternly: "Tomorrow, we will carry out the ambush as usual, prepare carefully, and strictly disguise and keep it secret. Don't relax your combat preparations just because the enemy doesn't come once or twice, and delay the opportunity!" The brigades re-entered positions at 4:30 the next morning. It was just dawn, and the enemy really came.The vanguard of the 31st Brigade entered Fangjiaqiao in the "pocket mouth".Two enemy planes flew close to the treetops at low altitude for reconnaissance, circled four times, and flew northeast. More than 20 plainclothes soldiers and a company of troops spread out on the mountains on both sides of the road, searching and advancing.The large troops advanced in marching columns, mountain artillery, mortars, and heavy machine guns were wearing gun jackets, and the gun jackets were tied to the mules' backs, without any precautions.

An hour later, the enemy forward marched to Qinghuabian, and the defender crossed Fangjiaqiao and completely entered the "pocket". Two red signal flares rose into the air, the second column first tied the "mouth of the bag", the new fourth brigade then sealed the "bottom of the bag", the 358th brigade and the teaching brigade attacked from east to west, the red flag was flying, the horns were loud and loud, dense crowds Fire poured down.The enemy's 31st Brigade was compressed in a ditch that was 7 kilometers long and 230 meters wide.Another 1 hour and 47 minutes later, the battle ended, and 2,900 members of the 31st Brigade and the 92nd Regiment were wiped out.Brigadier Li Jiyun stared blankly at the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army who appeared in front of him like a parachutist, dumbfounded.

This battle was fought very quickly, neatly, with low consumption of bullets and a large number of seizures. It was called "one of the model battles" by Xinhua News Agency at the time. After the battle, Peng Dehuai said excitedly: "The enemy is fierce and looks powerful, but on this small battlefield in front of us, we overwhelmed him with an absolute superiority of troops. In a specific battle, we have to use a sledgehammer!" "We should trust the people, we should rely on the people." In summing up the battle, Peng Dehuai highly praised the role of the people in the border area. He said, "When the ancients wrote letters, the word 'like a bottle' was written on the envelope. The enemy is really tight-lipped. Qinghuabian's battle would have been very difficult if it hadn't been in northern Shaanxi."