Chapter 27 over the snow mountain grassland

After the Second Red Army and the Fourth Red Army joined forces in Ganzi, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission issued an order to form the Second Red Army, the Sixth Red Army, and the Thirty-second Red Army into the Second Red Army.Ren Bishi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and political commissar of the Second Red Front Army, asked Zhang Guotao for the secret code to communicate with the Central Committee, and was able to communicate directly with the Central Committee from then on.In the past, He Long and Ren Bishi learned some news about the split between Zhang Guotao and the Central Committee from Kuomintang newspapers. They thought it was a rumor spread by the Kuomintang. After joining forces with the Fourth Red Army, they realized that the Fourth Red Army had indeed split.In order to unite the Red Fourth Front Army, Ren Bishi left the Red Second Front Army, and together with Zhu De and Zhang Guotao went north with the Red Fourth Front Army.Ren Bishi kept talking to cadres, communicating and exchanging from the perspective of unity, and felt that differences still existed, and the contradictions within the party needed to be resolved.

On July 10, 1936, Ren Bishi sent a long telegram to Lin Yuying, Zhang Wentian, Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong, Bogu, Wang Jiaxiang, Deng Fa, and Liu Shaoqi, notifying the current situation of the Second and Fourth Front Armies, specifically pointing out: "I deeply feel that there is an urgent need for unity within the party and the establishment of an absolutely unified and centralized supreme leadership, and we cannot wait for the Seventh Congress." And Ren Bishi said: On the basis of seeking the consent of Zhang Guotao and Zhu De, he asked the comrades in the Central Committee Put forward six suggestions, the first of which is: When the first, second, and fourth front armies are close together, hold an enlarged central meeting, at least an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. In addition to the members of the Central Political Bureau, the main cadres of the first, second, and fourth front armies will participate , and asked the international to send responsible representatives to attend the meeting.The agenda should include summarizing the experience and lessons learned in the five anti-'encirclement and suppression' struggles, discussing the current urgent tasks of the party, and creating a unified and centralized supreme leadership within the party and outside the party.

On July 11, under the signature of Luo Fu, Zhang Wentian called Zhang Guotao, Ren Bishi, and Zhu De in Zhidan to convey the call from the Communist International to the Central Committee.Special referral to the following call from the International Secretariat on July 2: Central Secretariat: We do not understand the content of the dispute between Guotao and the Central Secretariat.We want to help you with this problem.Therefore, please state in detail the main points of contention between you and Guotao.At the same time, please pass on to Guotao and tell us his opinions that differ from those of the Secretariat of the Central Committee.Before receiving your report, we believe that Guotao will be able to sincerely work with the Secretariat of the Central Committee to complete the current great political task of the party in the Northwest.

On July 14, Zhang Wentian, under Luo Fu's signature, replied to Ren Bishi at Zhidan: The call informed him that he had asked the International for approval to convene the Sixth Plenary Session, gave instructions in principle, and sent responsible representatives to attend.As for the time and place of the meeting, it can only be decided after the international reply and its representatives arrive, or the arrival date is confirmed.Naturally, representatives from the whole country and the Red Army should be present at this meeting.The main agenda of the meeting is to inspect the work since the Fifth Plenary Session and decide on future political tasks.

Since early July, the Second Red Army and the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army have marched northward in three columns according to the established northward deployment.The 9th Army of the Red Fourth Front Army, the 12th Division and the Independent Division of the Fourth Army, the 93rd Division of the 31st Army and the headquarters of the Front Army gathered in the Luhuo area of ​​​​Sichuan were the central column, led by Xu Qianqian, and marched towards Baozuo The 10th and 11th Divisions of the 4th Army of the Red Fourth Front Army, the 88th Division and the 32nd Army of the 30th Army, and the 32nd Army of the Red Fourth Front Army assembled in the Ganzi area were the left column, led by Zhu De and Zhang Guotao, Advance to Baozuo and Banyou; the Fifth Army of the former Red Front Army and the 91st Division of the 31st Army of the Red Fourth Front Army assembled in the Suijing and Chonghua areas of Sichuan are the right column, led by Dong Zhentang, to Mao Zedong The child cover and the bag seat move forward.

This time the two armies went north and had to cross the vast grassland.The journey from Ganzi to Baozuo is more than 1,000 kilometers. Except for the residents of Aba, the rest of the place is an endless deserted grassland. In order to ensure that the units of the Second Red Army and the Fourth Front Army passed through the grassland smoothly, Xu Shiyou led the cavalry division of the Fourth Red Army to the front station and raised 20,000 to 30,000 cattle and sheep and a large amount of food. It was the third time for the Red Fourth Front Army to cross the grassland. Thanks to their experience, they issued an order to fry the raised grain and carry it with them.Xu Shenji, the commander of the 93rd Division of the 31st Army at the time, recalled: "The third time I crossed the grassland, the distance was the longest, and it was the most memorable for me. There were swamps everywhere, water plants everywhere, like a river but not a river, like a lake but not a lake A dry place is rare for camping. The climate of the meadow changes from day to day. Sometimes the sun is scorching hot and you are sweating from the sun; There is a lot of dew, the night is windy, and the air is cold. Due to thin clothes, little food in the abdomen, long-term lack of nutrition, excessive fatigue, and weak body, it is difficult to support when encountering diseases. It is not easy to get out of the grass!"

It was the first time for the Second Red Army to cross the grassland. The troops mobilized several times, requiring each soldier to bring 10 days of dry food and prepared straw sandals, tents, mules and horses.In order to allow the brother troops to pass through the grassland smoothly, the Red Fourth Front Army deliberately left all the yaks carrying luggage in the direct subordinate team to the Red Second Front Army.Yan Jinsheng, who worked in the Political Department of the Red Second Front Army at the time, recalled: "The most prominent and most difficult problem is the problem of food. After a few days on the grass, the soldiers' grain bags are almost empty. Because the troops walking in front have already filtered After going through the wild vegetables, when the Second Front Army entered the grassland, they could only eat grass roots. In order to get out of the grassland alive, the soldiers squeezed the last edible things from the cattle bones, hooves, and horns left by the vanguard. Cutting hard bones and picking out the discolored marrow; some soldiers scraped the dried blood clots, and some picked the yellow-white collagen bit by bit with bayonets..."

The vast grassland is more difficult than the soldiers expected, it is the test of life and death, it is the purgatory of falling and living.When Wang Enmao recalled the situation of the grassland, he wrote: "The road from Aba to Baozuo is basically a water grassland. It is more difficult to pass through the water grassland than through the dry grassland." "The weather in the meadow is bad, and it changes every day. Sometimes the sky is sunny, sometimes the sky is full of clouds, sometimes it is windy, sometimes it rains heavily, and sometimes it rains heavily. Some hailstones are as big as a bowl, and some people are injured by the hailstones. Some mules and horses were killed. The bad weather on the grassland, we can barely withstand the daytime march, but it is very difficult to camp at night. Many weak comrades camped on the grassland for a long time and could not withstand the wind and rain. Tortured to death”; “Some people and mules and horses in our army went the wrong way and fell into the muddy pit and died.”

In addition to the bad weather and the terrible mud, another serious threat to the Red Army commanders and fighters at that time was hunger.At the beginning of entering the grassland, each person still had three taels of highland barley flour per day, but soon ran out of food.The commanders and fighters of the Red Army had to rely on digging wild vegetables and grass roots to satisfy their hunger. Some of them accidentally ate poisonous vegetables and weeds, and their bodies were swollen and died of poisoning.Later, even wild vegetables and grass roots were no longer picked, and even leather belts, gun belts, leather shoes, and saddles were boiled and eaten, and some even went to cow dung to pick those undigested grains.

At that time, in the face of death, the soldiers still maintained a high spirit and sang the "Song of the Leather Belt": The cowhide belt is three feet long, and the grass and wasteland are good for dry food. Boiled in boiling water, it has a unique taste, and it is especially fragrant when cooked in wild fire. One section is used to cook wild vegetables, and the other section is used to make fresh soup. There are many kinds of soup and vegetables, leaving a comrade-in-arms to taste. Later, in the "Summary Report on the Political Work of the Long March of the Second and Sixth Army Regiments" on December 19, 1936, there was such a statement to Guo Caochang: "...especially the rear guard troops (such as the Sixth Division) are more difficult, and they are still hungry after arriving at Aba. More than a dozen people died, and many died of starvation along the way. The dead bodies had grass in their mouths. Especially the soldiers who fell behind and lost contact, suffered from hunger. It has been solved satisfactorily, and you can often see roasted beef and sheep bones and cow hides along the way....There are many places on the Aba Tongbaozuo Road that have no wild vegetables, or very few, which have been picked up by the front troops. Therefore, in the last few days, there were no wild vegetables. There is no food and no wild vegetables, so it is very difficult to support it.”

On the road from Ganzi to Aba, more than 750 people died of starvation, freezing, or illness.More people died of starvation, freezing, or illness from Aba to Baozuo. On the way across the grassland, He Long saw the soldiers who were swollen due to hunger, so he ordered his bay red horse to be killed and distributed the horse meat to the soldiers.Encourage everyone: Let's move forward together, breaking through the grass is victory! In addition to starvation and disease causing the Red Army to reduce its personnel, it was also often attacked by erratic and haunted enemy cavalry.Guo Peng, who had just been transferred to the chief of staff of the Red Second Front Army General Headquarters, was shot by enemy cavalry hiding in the grass when he went to inspect the campsite of the troops. The Ministry of Health rescued him and found that the bullet was still in the hip joint, requiring immediate surgery.Guo Peng was lying on the door panel in pain, with cold sweat streaming down his face. Without anesthesia or anti-inflammatory drugs, the doctors struggled in the middle of the night and managed to remove the tin bullet from his hip joint. Ren Bishi did a lot of work for the unity of the party and the Red Army in the process of going north with the Fourth Red Army, which played an important role in promoting the unity of the party and the Red Army.Zhang Guotao also said: Ren Bishi spent a lot of time talking with Zhu De, Xu Xiangqian, Chen Changhao, Liu Bocheng and me in detail to study the crux of the dispute.I was very moved by his enthusiasm. As the Second Red Army and the Fourth Front Army moved rapidly northward, Cong Zhidan, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, kept informing the Second and Fourth Front Army of the enemy and the Sui Dynasty, introduced the revolutionary situation in the country, and encouraged them to overcome all difficulties and march forward in unity. On July 22, the central government called Zhu De, Zhang Guozhu, and Ren Bishi in Zhidan County with the signatures of "Yuying, Luo Fu, Zedong, Enlai, Bogu, and Dehuai": (a) At present, there are more than 150 regiments from the ministries of Tang Enbo, Yang Hucheng, Gao Guizi, Gao Shuangcheng, Zhang Xueliang, He Zhuguo, Yu Xuezhong, and Ma Hongkui in Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia. Under Chiang Kai-shek's order and oppression, they are attacking us.All Mao Bingwen and Ma Bufang were also attracted by me to the vicinity of Ganbei, in an attempt to defeat me first and then prevent you from going north. (b) We are mobilizing the entire Red Army and the people of the Soviet Area to smash the enemy's attack and welcome you to go north. (c) It is advantageous for the second and fourth front armies to move quickly to Gannan.When you reach the appropriate location in southern Gansu, order the first army to cooperate with you in the north-south pincer attack, eliminate He Zhuguo, Mao Bingwen and other troops, achieve the complete convergence of the three front armies, and start a great situation in the northwest. (D) Since the 6th, international radio communication has been unblocked. Brother Wang Guotao telegraphed the situation and opinions of the Fourth Front Army, so as to convey the information to the international. ④ On July 25, when Zhang Wentian called Zhu De, Zhang Guotao, and Ren Bi in Zhidan, he reminded them to do the work of winning over the enemy in Sichuan and Gannan: (a) It is very important to carry out the united front in Sichuan. I hope to send people to Liu Xiang, Sun Zhen, Deng Xihou and other departments. Yang Sen said that he had a good relationship with Comrade Zhu De in the past. The various ministries in Sichuan made an agreement to jointly fight against Japan and punish traitors with mutual non-aggression. (B) To adopt the policy of courtesy first and then troops to the Jiangxi ministries in southern Gansu, send people first to send letters of petition to stop the civil war and unite to resist the Japanese. Those who are determined to be our enemies will fight against them under the slogan of opposing and blocking the way of the Cantonese army to resist the Japanese.Commander Zhu De of Wang Jun and Mao Bingwen can write more letters. (C) We hope that you will come north as soon as possible. Will you be able to reach Gannan in mid-August?Please let us know your situation at any time. In view of the actual situation of the Second Red Army and the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China officially approved the establishment of the Northwest Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on July 27. As a member, he unified the leadership of the Second Red Army and the Fourth Red Front Army going northward.The composition of the Northwest Bureau of the Communist Party of China was beyond Zhang Guotao's expectations. Obviously, the Northwest Bureau was not directly under the Communist International delegation and parallel to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, but a subordinate organization under the unified leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. On July 27, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Yang Shangkun called Peng Dehuai and turned to Zuo Quan, Nie Rongzhen, Zhu Rui, Cheng Zihua, Wang Shoudao, Song Shilun, Song Renqiong, Xiao Jinguang, Li Fuchun, and Liu Xiao, instructing to attack the enemy from the west, east, and south.Mao Zedong also instructed Peng Dehuai: to rest and reorganize the team in August, increase the number of troops, and to attack the enemy with the Second and Fourth Front Army in the north and south in September, and seize the Shaanxi-Gansu Highway. On August 1, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Peng Dehuai called Zhu De, Zhang Guotao, and Ren Bishi twice in a row, informing them of the deployment of the Kuomintang's Northwest "Suppression General" forces and the blockade of the Red Second and Red Fourth Front Army's northward route, and suggested that "Red Second, Red Fourth Operational deployment of the Front Army: The Fourth Front Army should take a short break at Baozuo and move north quickly; the Second Front Army will follow up and rest after arriving at Hadapu to prevent the enemy from blocking the Minxi Line and making it difficult to go north." On the same day, Zhu De, Zhang Guotao, and Ren Bishi replied to Lin Yuying, Zhang Wentian, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Peng Dehuai: All the commanders and fighters of our second and fourth front armies were unanimously excited about the joint and coordinated actions of the three front armies, and were ready to sacrifice everything to fight to the end for the first victory in the northwest.As soon as the troops are assembled, they will go to Tao, Min, and Xigu. About mid-August, the main force can attack Tianshui and Lanzhou Avenue.With the purpose of eliminating Mao Bingwen and Yu Xuezhong, we will cooperate with your army. On August 3, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and the General Political Department of the Red Army notified the corps that the Second Red Army and the Fourth Red Front Army were about to enter Gannan, requiring all units of the Western Field Army to mobilize extensively to prepare for the arrival of the Second Red Army and the Fourth Red Front Army.At the same time, Lin Yuying, Zhang Wentian, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Bogu called Zhu De, Zhang Guotao, and Ren Bishi: they were relieved to receive the August 1 call.Unite as one, sacrifice everything, and realize the great task of a new situation in the Northwest Anti-Japanese War. Our hearts are exactly the same as yours. ... We have notified the Red Army of the entire Soviet area of ​​your call, and called on them to welcome you with warm comradery and prepare all conditions to achieve the great unity of the three front armies. In the situation faced by the Red Second and Red Fourth Fronts who stepped out of the grassland one after another, the Northwest Bureau held a meeting in Qiuji Temple in Baozuo, Sichuan, and decided to organize the battles of Min (zhou), Tao (zhou), and Xi (gu). On August 5, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De issued the "Mintao Xigu Battle Plan", which is "to use lightning means to eliminate the enemy in large numbers in mobile warfare before the enemy's main force is concentrated in Tao and Min, and to take the lead in obtaining Tao, Min, and Xigu. In the solid area, the main force is advancing towards Tianshui and Lanzhou, and the goal is to support the army on the one hand to destroy the enemy." On August 7, Zhang Wentian called Ren Bishi: (A) Thank you for your call, and it has been circulated to all comrades. (B) The Sixth Plenum International has not responded yet, and they are discussing it. (c) The Military Commission and the General Political Department here have issued an order to the First Army and the independent army divisions and battalions to welcome the Second and Fourth Front Armies in a warm and comradely spirit, so that the three Front Armies can achieve complete brotherly unity after their reunion. (D) After the launch of the Anti-Japanese War in Guangdong and Guangxi, Chen Jitang withdrew to Hong Kong because Yu Han conspired to rebel and occupy Guangzhou. Li (Li Zongren) and Bai (Bai Chongxi) in Guangxi were still fighting, and organized national defense.The party's work has developed throughout the country, and North China has achieved better results.The united front can gain greater sympathy from the whole country. It is not yet common among the various troops in the Northwest, but there are already considerable relationships in some parts.Brother Fang Guo Mao (Mao Bingwen, commander of the 37th Army of the Kuomintang), and Wang (Wang Jun, commander of the 3rd Army of the Kuomintang) sent people from various ministries to lobby. (e) On the one hand, the main force of the army has formed the Western Field Army, which has occupied Dingbian, Yanchi, Yuwang, and Huanxian in the past two months. It has completed the initial task of creating a Western base area. It is now consolidating and reorganizing the troops for preparation. At the right time, cooperate with the second and fourth front forces to attack from the north and the south, seize the Shaanxi-Gansu Avenue and its north, and expand the base area. (f) Use the secondary Red Army and guerrilla units in northern Shaanxi to develop guerrilla warfare and defend the Soviet area. The four cities of Yanchuan, Anding, Ansai, and Baoan are in my hands.In southern Shaanxi is a vast guerrilla zone. On August 9, after the Red 88th Division seized the natural danger of Lazikou, the Red 89th Division then captured Dacaotan and Hadapu, wiped out more than a thousand enemies, and started the Taominxi Battle.