Chapter 6 Finally home!Wuqi Town, Chi'an County

The Central Red Army crossed Liupan Mountain and marched in two groups at a rapid speed through Longdong to northern Shaanxi. Although there were constant battles with the blocking enemy forces along the way, they mostly adopted non-entanglement methods and tried their best to shake off the chasing enemy. One day in mid-October, when the team left Longdonghuan County and arrived at the border of Shaanxi and Gansu, five people dressed as ordinary people galloped up. : Are you the Central Red Army?Where is Chairman Mao?Chen Changfeng stepped forward and asked: Who are you?One of these five people dismounted, stepped forward and said loudly, "Old Liu asked us to deliver a letter to Chairman Mao. Where is he?" Chen Changfeng was overjoyed after hearing this, and immediately led the five of them to meet Mao Zedong.

It turned out that they were comrades in Liu Zhidan's army.Mao Zedong shook hands with them warmly. After reading the letter, he was very excited. He strode up to the soldiers, held up the letter and said to the comrades: "Comrades, we are going to the northern Shaanxi base area! Our Red Twenty Comrades from the Fifth Army and the Red Twenty-Sixth Army have contacted us." Immediately, the soldiers cheered excitedly, they were about to arrive at the base area, and the days of suffering were coming to an end! Not long ago, in September, the Shaanxi-Gansu base area had learned from various channels that the Central Red Army was going north, and it was estimated that they would come to northern Shaanxi.Liu Zhidan instructed the second guerrilla unit on the Shaanxi-Gansu border: always inquire about news, and take the initiative to contact each other.Liu Zhidan also proposed at the meeting of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and the 15th Red Army to send troops to Longdong to fight against the enemy outside the Soviet area to meet the Central Red Army.Liu Zhidan's opinion was overruled by the leaders of the "Left" line, and instead they used to contain the enemy on the spot to meet the Central Red Army.Not long after that, the wrong eradication of counter-revolutionaries in northern Shaanxi began, and Liu Zhidan was imprisoned.

General Xiao Feng, who walked the Long March, wrote in his "Long March Diary": northern position. On October 18, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a Standing Committee of the Politburo in Tiebian Town, Wuqi Township. According to the situation at that time and the situation of the troops, they discussed the combat policy against "encirclement and suppression" after entering Shaanxi, establishing good relations with the masses, expanding the Red Army, To solve the problems of food and clothing supply, it was also decided to suspend in Bao'an County. If the enemy's situation permits, it is planned to put the troops in Wuqi Town and Jingbian, and send the person in charge to the Soviet area.In the past, the enemy pursued the Red Army, but now it has become an "encirclement and suppression". This "encirclement and suppression" must be broken.

On October 19, 1935, the Central Red Army finally arrived at Wuqi Town, Chi'an County, the Shaanxi-Gansu base area. This is a moment of historical significance. The Central Red Army's 25,000-mile long march lasted more than a year and successfully settled in Wuqi Town, Chi'an County!Victory has landed in the town! Wuqi Town is located on a narrow platform beside the Luohe River. It is named after Wu Qi, a military strategist in the Warring States Period, guarding the border here. It is under the jurisdiction of six districts and one township in Chi'an County.The current Chi'an County was called Bao'an County in the past. It was named after the garrison of the Bao'an Army in the second year of Taiping Xingguo in the Song Dynasty. In November 1934, after the establishment of the Shaanxi-Gansu Frontier Soviet Government in Liyuanbao, Gansu Province, Baoan County was changed to Chi'an County, declaring the meaning of the Red Revolution.After the establishment of the red regime, people here have led a new life full of hope.The ballad sang:

The Central Red Army of more than 7,000 people suddenly came to Wuqi Town, and the people were very surprised.They had never seen so many teams, thinking that the Kuomintang army was coming to counterattack, and the only 11 families ran to the mountains to hide. The Central Red Army saw the sloping kiln houses and the desolate harvested crop fields in Wuqi Town, but saw no people.However, their eyes brightened, and they saw slogans on the wall such as "Fight the local tyrants and divide the land", "Long live the Communist Party of China", and "Support Liu Zhidan", which made them very excited.Suddenly, I saw a wooden sign "Soviet Government of the Sixth District of Chi'an County" hanging at the entrance of a cave dwelling. Like a lightning bolt, the exhausted and ragged Red Army soldiers immediately understood that they had really arrived at "home"!After nine deaths and a long and difficult long-distance battle, they finally found their home. The soldiers cheered loudly with tears in their eyes.

Cheng Fangwu, a veteran of the former cadre regiment and a famous writer, described the scene of going to Fuwuqi Town in his "Memoirs of the Long March": In the afternoon, camp in some villages about 20 miles away from Wuqi Town.In the evening, just after dinner, the headquarters ordered all columns to station in Wuqi Town and nearby villages.Everyone was very happy when they heard this order, because they were about to return to the red zone.Many people forgot the fatigue of marching for several days, and ran like children, jumping and running, and ran straight to Wuqi Town.But when we entered Wuqi Town, the masses mistakenly thought that the bandit army came to harass us again.I ran away in panic.We found slogans saying "Long live the Communist Party of China!" and "Support Liu Zhidan" everywhere on the street and inside and outside the cave dwellings.Everyone excitedly said in unison: "We have really returned to our home!" So we went out to look for the masses, and found a few old men and old ladies for a long time, but they couldn't speak the language, and they said, "I can't solve it." Comrades mistakenly think that the masses are "scared" because the pronunciation is very similar.The soldiers first cleaned the streets and put up various slogans, such as "Go north to fight against Japan and regain lost ground!"Soon those old people found some people again.Soon the local branch secretary and the chairman of the township government returned. They shook hands warmly with the soldiers. The soldiers surrounded the township cadres and almost lifted them into the sky. They showed a very excited mood, and some people had tears on their faces for a long time.The township cadres are very enthusiastic to study and solve various supply and demand with the comrades in charge of the army.The next morning, all the men, women and children in the town came back. They all smiled when they saw us, and kept saying, "Ah! So it's our own people!"

Unexpectedly, the Central Red Army really came.The old people in Wuqi Town still have a deep memory of the arrival of the Central Red Army. In their dictation, they can really feel the scene at that time. The old man Lei Yi was only 14 years old at the time, and he was still a cowherd boy.He recalled: At around 9 o'clock that morning, I was grazing cattle in Toudaochuan.Three people came over and drove two cows with bells hanging around their necks, ringing and ringing non-stop.I have never seen that kind of cow before. It has very long hair and black color (yak).When those people saw me, they came over and said to me, "My countryman, we are the Central Red Army." I couldn't understand what they said, so I said, "I can't understand it."They heard it as "scared", and said to me: "Don't be afraid, folks, we are a team of the poor." Then there was a large team, one team after another, and it took a whole day, and it was not over yet.In the evening, I heard from the adults that it was the Central Red Army that came up.

When the Red Army came up, they were very poor. Their clothes were messy, some were gray, some were yellow, some were blue, but each of them wore a hat with a red five-star on it, and branches and carnations stuck on it.It was almost winter, and the Red Army was still wearing single clothes, half trousers, and wrapped bare feet with sheets. Most of them wore broken hemp straw sandals, and some didn't even wear hemp straw sandals. There are also women with children on their backs in the team, and some are also carrying pots and stoves.The Red Army was black and thin, and they were so hungry that it was really distressing to see.The Central Red Army are all southerners and love to eat dog meat.At that time, my family fed a big white dog, which was very fat.At that time, there were many wild animals, and the war had just been fought. Dogs ate dead human flesh and became very fat.There are 3 red soldiers with a Sichuan accent who want to buy my dog.On the first day, we didn’t sell it, but when it came again the next day, we sold it, and the Red Army gave us a silver dollar.In fact, a dog is not worth a silver dollar at all.At that time, money was scarce, and one silver dollar could buy many things.We have been reluctant to spend it, and this silver dollar has been kept until now.

Zong Shixi was 18 years old and the village chairman of Baigouwa.He recalled: When the Red Army came up, they were very hungry.As soon as we met, they said to us: "My fellow countrymen, we are the Central Red Army, buy us some grain." The grain came, the corn was boiled in the pot, and the pot was picked up when it was half-cooked. Just as we were about to eat, an order came , I went to war without taking care of food, but another army ate it.At that time, they were really starving. Some soldiers picked beans on the road and ate them raw, and picked rotten vegetables and leaves in the field and stuffed them into their mouths.The pigs sent by the common people were cut off one by one before the hair fell out after being killed.

There are also women in the Red Army ranks.Our place is feudal, and men and women do not speak (talk).After the female Red Army soldiers came up, their elder brothers shouted very affectionately, and they squatted down to eat like men. As soon as the Central Red Army arrived in Wuqi Town, Zhang Mingke, the leader of the Chi'an guerrilla detachment, knew about it and sent a verbal message to the district government of Luopingchuan, Chi'an County.At that time, Liu Jingrui, who was the secretary of the party branch of the first township in the sixth district of Chi'an County, immediately got up and rushed to Wuqi Town. When he arrived at Zonggedu, he saw the constant flow of the Red Army.At the same time, I also know that Liu Jingquan, the chairman of the township Soviet government, has been here for a long time and has already taken back the task from the Ministry of Health in Penggoumen: the Central Red Army needs more than 20 stretchers to fight.At present, the most difficult problem for the Red Army is the food problem. Local cadres are asked to help buy some food and vegetables.

Liu Jingrui and Liu Jingquan felt that the arrival of the Central Red Army would further strengthen the revolutionary forces and bring about major changes in China's national liberation cause. Therefore, they discussed while walking, and immediately sent village officials to find the team leader Zong Weigan and Chi Wei. The person in charge of the army called everyone to form a branch committee, and went to the villages under the jurisdiction of the six districts to publicize and mobilize the masses to take active actions, deliver food and grass to the Central Red Army, and organize stretcher teams.There was a member of the Red Guard named "Running Shoes" who was very enthusiastic about his work and took the initiative to go to various villages to publicize and mobilize the masses. ” Sure enough, he ran to all the households in the villages overnight. On October 20, as soon as it was dawn, the masses led donkeys and horses, and stepped on the starlight, gathered from all directions to Wuqi Town to deliver food, meat, and vegetables to the Central Red Army.According to incomplete statistics at the time, this time the three villages around Wuqi town sent a total of 14,000 kilograms of millet and buckwheat noodles, more than 50 pigs, and more than 270 sheep.The Chi'an guerrilla detachment also sent more than 300 sheep confiscated by the bully landlords, and other vegetables and chickens were not counted.In order to thank the township government for its strong support, the Central Red Army specially presented a Type 79 rifle. When the Central Red Army stationed in Wuqi Town, it was very difficult to eat and live.The simple and selfless common people believed that the Central Red Army, like Liu Zhidan's team, was a team of the poor, so they did everything possible to free up houses and kilns for the Red Army to live in, provide pots and stoves for the Central Red Army to cook as much as possible, and offered to carry water for them , chopping firewood, and processing grain. Frost had already fallen in October in northern Shaanxi, and the climate was a bit cold, with a large temperature difference between day and night. The villagers put on cotton-padded jackets in the morning and evening.The Central Red Army lacked supplies for a long time, and many soldiers wore single clothes and straw sandals.Due to the shortage of housing, many comrades sleep in the wild.In 1944, Xie Juezai wrote the poem "Zui Fu" and added the inscription: There is a sentence in Banqiao's poem "I feel frost all over my body at dawn", recalling that I went to Wuqi Town in the early winter of 1935, and stayed in the wheat field which was very warm. "I feel frost all over my body at dawn" Faced with the mountains and rivers of Wuqi Town and the soldiers with high morale, Lin Boqu immediately wrote the poem "First Arrival in Wuqi Town":