Chapter 34 Build a military base camp

The Jinggangshan base area entered its heyday, marking the final realization of Mao Zedong's decision to "establish a military base camp centered on Ninggang". Mao Zedong's idea of ​​"establishing a military base with Ninggang as the center" was born shortly after he led troops to Jinggang and Maoping to settle down. On June 15, 1928, "Du Xiujing's Report to the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China" mentioned: "Ninggang is a small mountainous county with a big mountain, surrounded by Yongxin, Suichuan, The five counties of Lingxian, Chaling, and Lianhua, of which Ningkang is the center, are easy to defend and difficult to attack. After more than half a year of operation, the mass movement in each county has a little foundation. Simultaneous progress to Chaling and Yongxin can affect the two counties. The province, and the upper reaches of the two provinces. Comrade Mao Tse-tung had already had the idea of ​​using this place as the base camp, and there was a suggestion from the Border Special Committee.”

The reason why he chose Ninggang as the center to establish the military base camp was Mao Zedong's careful investigation and analysis. He divided the area from northern Guangdong along the border of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces to the Luoxiao Mountains in southern Hubei into the northern section, the middle section, and the southern section. , in his "Report of the Jinggangshan Front Committee to the Central Committee", he made such a comparison: "The terrain in the northern section is not as good as the middle section, which can be entered and defended, and it is too close to a large political city. If Changsha or Wuhan is not quickly captured It is very dangerous to place most of our troops in the Liuyang, Liling, Pingxiang, and Tonggu areas. The terrain in the southern section is worse than that in the northern section, but the mass base is not as good as that in the middle section, and the political influence on Hunan and Jiangxi provinces is also smaller. , it’s not as good as every move in the middle section can affect the downstream of the two provinces.”

"We have traveled the entire Luoxiao Mountains. Comparing all parts, the middle section of the Luoxiao Mountains with Ninggang as the center is the most conducive to our military separation." Even after the fall of the Jinggangshan base area on September 1, 1929, in the "Report on the History and Conditions of the Zhu Mao Army", Chen Yi still spoke highly of the decision to choose Ninggang as the center to establish a military base camp: "Ning The seven counties of Ganggang belong to the same lofty mountains, and Jinggangshan is the most dangerous, with a circumference of about 200 miles. The Fourth Army can rest and reorganize when it has this terrain. This policy is very correct."

For the military base camp, it is natural to consider more military needs.The "mountain king" who gathers in the mountains and forests still has a "cottage" as a shelter. Shouldn't the Red Army, as a revolutionary armed force, have its own base camp and a solid rear! Jinggangshan has good conditions for establishing a military base camp. Mao Zedong believed: "In the red separatist regime in the middle of the surrounding white regime, military bases in dangerous mountains are indispensable. Because there are enemies all around, the defense must be defended in all directions, and the natural mountain dangers are not used to supplement the accidental shortage of manpower (such as the enemy is the largest and most powerful) crisis), it is very difficult for the red separatist regime to exist for a long time when the bourgeois regime is stable."

Jinggang Mountain happens to be a dangerous mountain. Jinggangshan, which is located at the junction of two provinces and four counties, has another major advantage, which is easy to defend, in addition to the basic conditions that are conducive to armed separatism, such as the enemy's weak ruling power here, backward transportation and easy foothold, and natural economy that is easy to survive. Difficult to attack. Yishou means that among the high mountains, you can only go up the mountain by passing through the five precipitous outposts of Huangyangjie, Bamian Mountain, Shuangmashi, Zhushachong and Tongmuling.It can be said that if you defend these five outposts, you will also defend Jinggangshan.It can be said that one husband is in charge of the gate, and ten thousand husbands cannot open it.

Difficult to attack means that the mountains are high, the slopes are steep, and the roads are narrow, which is neither convenient for large troops to attack nor for the use of heavy weapons. After introducing troops to Jinggang and making Maoping his home, Mao Zedong carried out a series of work on the construction of the Jinggangshan military base camp: setting up a rear guard office in Maoping, establishing an officer teaching team in Longshi; first in Maoping, and then in Dajing and Xiaojing. The Red Army Hospital; established the "Chinese Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army Clothes Factory" in Taoliao Village, Maoping; successively organized the army and civilians in the base areas to repair and reinforce the fortifications of the five outposts; based on a small repair shop run by Yuan Wencai, Developed and established the Red Army Ordnance Department;...Under the guidance of Mao Zedong's decision-making thought of "establishing a military base camp centered on Ninggang", after the establishment of the Fourth Red Army, it further strengthened the construction of military bases, and gradually formed Jinggangshan and Jinggang Mountains. There are two military bases in Jiulong Mountain.

Mao Zedong talked about these two "military bases" in "The Struggle of Jinggangshan": "The first base is Jinggangshan, which is located at the intersection of Ninggang, Lingxian, Suichuan, and Yongxin counties. The northern foot is Ninggang. Maoping, the southern foot is Huang'ao of Suichuan, the distance between the two places is ninety miles. The east foot is Nashan in Yongxin, and the west foot is Shuikou in Lingxian County. The distance between the two places is 180 miles. It starts from Nashan and passes through Long Yuankou (above Yongxin), Xincheng, Maoping, Dalong (above Ninggang), Shidu, Shuikou, Xiacun (above Ling County), Yingpanwei, Daijiapu, Dafen, Duiziqian, Huangao, From Wudoujiang, Che'ao (above Suichuan) to Nashan, the total is 550 miles. ... The second base area is Jiulong Mountain at the junction of the four counties of Ningkang, Yongxin, Lianhua, and Chaling, which is less important. Jinggangshan, the final base of the local armed forces in the four counties, has also been fortified."

The two military bases of Jinggangshan and Jiulongshan, which are dangerously situated, have become strategic bases for carrying out armed struggles, preserving and developing revolutionary forces. The advantage of the Jinggangshan base lies in the danger of the mountains, and the disadvantage lies in the lack of food. Thousands of troops have to use Jinggangshan as their base, and it is a big problem to eat and dress.A relatively closed economy is also a relatively backward economy. It is really not easy to provide for the Red Army in remote areas with many mountains and few fields. Economic issues became the primary issue in establishing a solid military base.

Mao Zedong pointedly pointed out: "If the border party cannot find an appropriate solution to the economic problem, the separatist regime will encounter great difficulties under the condition that the stability of the enemy's forces will still have a relatively long period of time. This economic problem is quite important. It really deserves the attention of every party member.” To this end, the border party organizations and the Red Army took some measures to solve the economic problems in the base areas, one of which was to mobilize troops to Ninggang at the foot of the mountain to carry grain up the mountain, so as to reserve sufficient grain for the base area.

Thus, there was a mass movement of carrying food up the mountain. For the Red Army soldiers, this is a special task; for the base areas, this is a strategic action related to life and death. In the tense days of picking food, many Red Army officers and soldiers and the masses rushed between Ninggang and Jinggang Mountains from morning till night.The soldiers and civilians lined up in a long line, with their backs on their backs, their picks on their backs, and they marched continuously on the narrow path that runs through Huangyangjie. Zhu Liangcai, a veteran of the Red Army, described the situation of picking grain in his memoir "The Life of the Red Army Company": "In those days in Jinggangshan, 'picking valleys and cols' became a regular job for us. From Jinggangshan to Ninggang Maoping, there are fifty or sixty miles up and down. The mountain is high and the road is steep, and it is really difficult to walk. On the day of picking grain, we set off at dawn and rush to the place where the grain is picked. Some carry it in baskets, and some use bags. Some comrades simply take off a pair of trousers, tie up the trouser legs tightly, put the two trouser legs on the back, and put them on the shoulders. This kind of pick and choose, back to back, over mountains and valleys, We didn't return to the mountain until dark."

Leaders such as Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Chen Yi all personally participated in the movement of carrying food up the mountain. "Commissioner Mao went up the mountain with his back on his back" was a good story for a while. "Zhu De's shoulder pole" is a well-known and well-known story, which has spread all over China and has become a symbol of the spirit of self-reliance and hard work of Jinggangshan soldiers and civilians. Mao Zedong and Zhu De's exemplary action of picking grain up the mountain in person drove and inspired the soldiers of the whole army, and the soldiers became more motivated to pick grain.Everyone worked hard, and it took only one month for the rice picked up the mountain to fill the households in five wells of all sizes, and even the stone pavilions at the outposts of Huangyangjie were full of grain. The establishment and consolidation of military bases has economic guarantees.