Chapter 25 The fire left by the Nanchang Uprising

At the beginning of October 1927, when Mao Zedong led the Autumn Harvest Uprising troops to guerrilla around Jinggang Mountain, looking for the whereabouts of the Nanchang Uprising troops and hoping to join them, where were the Nanchang Uprising troops? In Shuikou, Ling County, Mao Zedong learned from the enemy's newspaper that the Nanchang Uprising troops had been defeated in Chaoshan. However, it was not published in the newspaper, and Mao Zedong had no way of knowing that the troops of the Nanchang Uprising were not completely wiped out, and there was still a relatively complete team.

This is part of the rebel army led by Zhu De to stay in Sanheba, Guangdong. Staying at Sanheba was a decision made by the front committee of the rebel army. On August 1, 1927, the Nanchang Uprising led by Zhou Enlai, He Long, and Ye Ting fired the first shot against the Kuomintang reactionaries in arms, enabling the Chinese Communist Party to have an army entirely of its own for the first time.However, this armed uprising with the goal of capturing the city, under the crazy counterattack of the powerful enemy, had to withdraw from Nanchang City one after another according to the scheduled plan on the third day after the uprising, and began the iron-flowing journey of thousands of miles to the south.

Although it was a last resort to withdraw from Nanchang City, the rebel army was not discouraged.They still have 20,000 soldiers, and they still have confidence!The purpose of their trip is very clear: to fight back to Guangdong, to regain the power in Guangdong, and to restore the birthplace of the Chinese revolution. Expeditions are pretty tough.Braving the sweltering summer heat, the soldiers of the rebel army marched long distances across mountains and rivers, while constantly fighting with the enemies who came to intercept them.Hunger, disease, casualties, and escapes occurred from time to time, and the attrition was serious.After conquering Huichang and entering Tingzhou, Fujian, there were only more than 15,000 rebel troops left.

On September 5, the former committee of the uprising army made a decision in Tingzhou, Fujian to leave some troops to garrison after capturing Sanheba, and use the main force to capture Chaoshan and then occupy Guangzhou.The specific arrangement is: Zhu De, the commander of the Ninth Army, led the 25th Division of the Eleventh Army and the teaching regiment of the Ninth Army, a total of more than 2,500 people stayed at Sanheba to guard against the enemies in Meixian; The main forces, including the 11th Army and the 24th Division of the 11th Army, sailed down the Han River and went straight to Chaoshan.

On September 18, the rebel army successfully occupied the dangerous Sanheba in the south of Dapu County, Guangdong. According to the scheduled plan, a small part of the team led by Zhu De stayed here, and the main force went to Chaoshan without stopping.This is the famous Sanheba division. For this division of troops, after the failure of the uprising, many people criticized it, thinking that it was a major mistake of the leading members of the uprising army, because it made the already increasingly insufficient uprising army more dispersed, which directly led to the failure of Chaoshan. From the tactical point of view at the time, this criticism is undoubtedly correct.However, from the perspective of the strategic development direction of China's revolutionary war, it is precisely because of this division of troops that when the main force of the uprising army of more than 10,000 people failed in Chaoshan, a revolutionary fire for the Nanchang Uprising was preserved, and a revolutionary fire was saved. The armed forces withdrew northward to Jinggang Mountains, realizing the great reunion of Zhu Mao's Red Army, which laid an important foundation for the future development of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.Also because of this division of troops, Zhu De, Chen Yi, Su Yu, Lin Biao and other all-powerful generals of the people's army showed their talents in the later history of China's revolutionary war.

The division of troops at Sanheba caused the catastrophe of Chaoshan's failure, and the troops staying at Sanheba also suffered heavy losses.If there is no division of troops, perhaps the rebel army will not lose so quickly for the time being.However, under the guidance of the strategic thinking of blindly capturing big cities at that time, the troops were concentrated together. Even if they could persist in the short term, the fate of failure was inevitable in the end, and the failure was likely to be even worse.Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. However, whether it is a disaster or a blessing, the key lies in people.Without the hard work and correct leadership of Zhu De and others, the troops staying at Sanheba might have ceased to exist long ago.It can be said that it was Zhu De and others who saved this army at a critical moment.

All these were unexpected when the decision to divide the troops at Sanheba was made. The 25th Division staying at Sanheba is the most effective unit among the Nanchang Uprising troops. It was compiled from the Ye Ting Independent Regiment of the Fourth Army during the Northern Expedition. The commander of the 25th Division is Zhou Shidi, and the party representative is Li Shuoxun.Li Shuoxun was the biological father of Li Peng, who later served as Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. However, the supreme commander of this force is Zhu De. Appointed by the Front Committee of the Uprising Army, Zhu De, as the commander of the Ninth Army, served as the commander-in-chief of the troops staying at Sanheba.Although he has the title of army commander and commander-in-chief, he has no historical connection with the 25th Division of the 11th Army. Although his Ninth Army has the designation of a battalion of the Officers' Teaching Regiment in name, it has actually been merged into the The twenty-fifth division went inside.Therefore, as the commander of the army, he seemed to be "living" in this army at this time.The officers and soldiers of the 25th Division only felt that the supreme leader who had just arrived in their unit was kind-hearted and humble, but they didn't know much about other aspects, let alone prestige.

However, Zhu De, who was born in the Yunnan Lecture Hall, served as a brigade commander in the National Defense Army more than 10 years ago, and studied military affairs in Germany and the Soviet Union, has no one in the 25th Division in terms of qualifications and status. In comparison, those division leaders naturally had to obey his command. Moreover, in the days of crisis in the future, with his firm revolutionary will and outstanding intelligence, he won the admiration and trust of all officers and soldiers, and truly became the leader of this team. After the main force left Sanhe Dam, Zhu De took the division commander Zhou Shidi and the party representative Li Shuoxun to carefully observe the terrain here, and built fortifications overnight, ready to meet the enemy at any time.

On October 2, more than 20,000 people from Qian Dajun's garrison in Meixian County rushed straight to Sanheba in a fierce manner.The two sides launched a fierce battle. After three days and three nights of tenacious resistance, the soldiers of the rebel army killed and wounded the enemy in large numbers, but they also suffered heavy casualties and fell into the heavy encirclement of the enemy.In view of the completion of the task of covering the main force's advance to Chaoshan, Zhu De ordered the rapid transfer of troops in order to preserve his strength. In the early morning of October 6, Zhu De and Zhou Shidi led the remaining 2,000 people from the 25th Division to withdraw from Sanheba, and decided to go to Chaoshan via Baihou and Raoping to join the main force.

However, when they arrived at Maozhi, north of Raoping, they met more than 200 officers and soldiers of the rebel army who broke out from Chaoshan led by Zhou Bangcai, Chief of Staff of the Third Division of the 20th Army (Su Yu and Mao Zetan were both in this team) Middle), it is known that the main force has failed in Chaoshan, and the leading organization has disintegrated. The remaining more than 1,300 people have retreated to Hailufeng under the leadership of Dong Lang, head of the 70th regiment of the 24th Division. The news of the failure of the main force is like pouring cold water on everyone's heads.Although at this time the 25th Division and the 3rd Division of the 20th Army that broke out from Chaoshan joined together, and there were more than 2,500 people, there was serious chaos and instability inside, and some commanders were also at a loss. .

It's a really grim moment.Su Yu recalled: "The enemy's army is suppressing the border. The Kuomintang reactionary army gathered in the Chaoshan and Sanheba areas has more than five divisions, a total of about 40,000 people. They are fierce and attempt to completely wipe out our army and extinguish the revolutionary fire. From the inside In other words, our troops have just been reunited from all sides, and under the blow of a sudden defeat, they are quite chaotic both organizationally and ideologically." Losing contact, Zhu De can only be responsible for everything independently and make decisive decisions. Although most of the troops below are not his old troops, it is difficult to lead, but at this critical moment, he analyzed the current situation of the enemy and us, The right decision was made.” In order to determine the next direction of action for the troops, Zhu De sent Li Shuoxun to ask for instructions from the higher party organization on the one hand; on the other hand, he called more than 20 commanders to hold a military meeting at Quande School in Maozhi. The atmosphere of the meeting was quite tense. The participants discussed a lot, some advocated going to Hailufeng, some advocated scattered actions, and some remained silent. After a brief analysis of the situation facing the troops, Zhu De believed that the main force of the enemy was concentrated in the south, and it would be dangerous if the troops went south to Hailufeng;He firmly said to everyone: "Although the main force has failed, the banner of the August 1st Uprising must not be thrown away, and the path of armed struggle must be continued. Now, our situation is very dangerous, and it is a severe situation for everyone. As a member of the Communist Party, I have the responsibility to preserve the revolutionary seeds of the August 1st Nanchang Uprising, and I am determined to shoulder the heavy burden of revolution. In the current situation, together with comrades, we will continue to carry out the revolution to the end!" Zhu De's impassioned words won warm applause. At this time, Chen Yi, the party representative of the 73rd Regiment of the 25th Division stood up and said: "I firmly agree with these speeches made by Comrade Zhu De. Comrades, we must help Comrade Zhu De achieve this goal!" "Yes, we listen to Commander Zhu!" Mao Zetan, head of the Propaganda Section of the Political Department of the 24th Division who just came to join the 25th Division, also agreed. Zhu De looked at the comrades who supported him with gratitude, and continued: "At present, the tasks before us are very difficult. First, we have lost contact with our superiors. Instructions from superiors. Second, if we want to keep this army as the seed of the revolution, we must find a foothold that is both concealed and mass-based. The border area of ​​Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi is a place where the enemy's troops are weak, and it is a zone where no one cares. The peasant movement in this area started early and is the most effective support for the Northern Expedition. We should use this as our foothold. Third, according to the latest information, the enemy has approached me from the south, west, and north, and we want to penetrate from the northeast. Now The enemy is strong and we are weak, and our army is isolated and helpless. We don’t have much ammunition, so we must covertly move and move along the border to avoid the enemy. Fourth, we must continue to do arduous political and ideological work for the entire army. It is necessary to resolutely reverse the chaotic thinking that has lost confidence in the revolution, to stabilize the morale of the army, and to prevent some defeatists from leaving the army freely, fleeing with their guns, and even defecting to the enemy. Zhu De's words pointed out the way out for the team that was in trouble and fell into chaos. Regarding the correct decision made at this meeting, Zhu De later summarized it in three sentences and twelve characters in a conversation with the American writer Smedley: go northward in concealment, go westward through mountains, and go straight to southern Hunan.