Chapter 48 The Guangxi Clique "pursued and suppressed" fraud, and the Seventh Red Army was forced to transfer to southern Hunan

Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi and other leaders of the Guangxi faction received amnesty from Chiang Kai-shek, and were appointed the commander-in-chief of the "communist suppression" in Guangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou, and the commander-in-chief of the joint defense.It seems that overnight, Jiang and Gui turned their fighting into friendship, shook hands and talked happily, and got back together again. Li Zongren regrouped and wanted to show Chiang Kai-shek a show: he ordered Qin Lianfang and Han Caifeng's two main divisions (that is, the 60th division and the instructor) to chase and intercept the Seventh Red Army, and Bai Chongsui personally supervised the battle-in order to ask Chiang Kai-shek for advice. get military spending.When Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 100,000 troops to launch the first "encirclement and suppression" to the revolutionary base areas in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian failed, Li Zongren immediately sent Chiang a "suppression and annihilation battle situation" telegram saying: "Our 20,000 soldiers are bravely trying to stop Li ( Mingrui) and Zhang (Yunyi)'s army are expected to wipe out the bandits in the area north of Liu and Guangxi." When we meet together, we plan to increase our military strength and wipe out the bandits in the Liu, Guangxi or Xiangli areas." "At present, there is a lack of military expenditures and no back-up support, which needs to be resolved urgently." Yunyun.

Chiang Kai-shek always believed that the Communist Party only wanted his life, but the Guangxi clique wanted his life, his soldiers, and his money.Jiang also always demanded that "all comrades in the party should be honest and self-disciplined, prevent erroneous events, and eradicate corruption." He himself first set an example of honesty and thrift.However, in order to complete his great cause of "suppressing the Communist Party", he had to make a gesture of generosity by allocating 500,000 yuan in military expenses and supplies to the Guangxi clique, and at the same time replying to Li Zongren: "Never let Li and Zhang The bandit fled to Hunan and Li, and the purpose of forming a joint venture with Zhu Mao." "Surround and suppress the bandit in the area north of Liu and Guangxi."

When appropriating funds to the Guangxi clique and signing telegrams, Chiang Kai-shek murmured as if praying to God: "The sky net is well restored, and it is not leaked. Whether or not the Communist bandits can be completely wiped out depends on whether they will do what they say, and there is no question of their fate!" I'm afraid only God knows.The intention of Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi is still the strategy of "playing hard to get": when chasing and intercepting the Seventh Red Army, there is no need to pay too much. In mid-December 1930, the Seventh Red Army attacked Chang'an with its main force.

Chang'an is an important town in northern Guangxi, located on the west bank of Rongjiang River, with a population of about 30,000 to 40,000.It is rich in products and gathers merchants. It is the thoroughfare wharf for going south to Liuzhou and north to Qianxiang.Before the Seventh Red Army arrived, Bai Chongxi had built fortifications in Chang'an Town with Qin Lianfang and Han Caifeng's two divisions, and deployed a lineup in an attempt to "encircle and wipe out" the Red Army here. It was winter, and the Seventh Red Army decided to attack Chang'an in order to raise winter clothes and meet urgently needed supplies.Commanded by Li Mingrui himself, this campaign launched an attack on Chang'an Town from the west, south, and north.

occupied the outer positions.The enemy retreated to the town to resist, and asked Bai Chongxi to send the enemies in Guilin and Liuzhou for reinforcements.The enemy set up three deer villages around the town, the fortifications are indeed strong, and the firepower is densely crossed.The three commandos of the Red Army attacked fortified positions several times. Although they were close to the town and broke through some streets and alleys, the troops suffered heavy casualties and failed to capture the center of the town. The fight with each other became more and more intense, and the fight became more and more sticky.Both know each other is a sophisticated and powerful opponent.Both of them gave full play to the prestige of the "Northern Expedition Veterans".During the Northern Expedition, Li Mingrui served as the brigade commander of the Seventh Army and the division commander of the 15th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, and Bai Chongxi served as the deputy chief of staff of the National Revolutionary Army General Headquarters and the former enemy commander of the Eastern Route Army.At that time, two people marched together, researched and deployed together, and commanded battles together; now, two people represent two opposing camps, and they are fighting to the death here.

When Li Mingrui ordered the artillery platoon to bombard the enemy's fortifications, Bai Chongxi, who came to Chang'an to supervise the battle, immediately ordered the artillery fire to fight back with ten times the madness. When Li Mingrui sent another battalion to attack the Zhenmenguan position, Bai Chongxi also immediately dispatched a battalion of death squads to rush out of the city gate, and cut off the retreating pontoon bridge so that the death squads could fight each other When Li Mingrui ordered to stop the offensive and wait for orders to attack again, Bai Chongxi also seemed to order a ceasefire in a polite manner, and stood ready!

Here is the duel between the lion and the tiger! Blood for blood!Tat for tat!Eye for an Eye! The battle has been going on for five full days.Both sides suffered heavy casualties.Qin Lianfang, the commander of the enemy division, was wounded.Bai Chongxi seemed to have placed some kind of bet and was devoted to this contest.He couldn't help but admire the opponent's command. An army: they wear tattered clothes that do not cover the sun, the wind and the cold, or even the skin and flesh. Wild vegetables, rice husks, and grass seeds fill their hunger; with scars and diseases, they walk bloodstained, stagnate, but they are so firm and persistent. Facing the god of death, facing the boundless evil road and dangerous road, he fought and rushed with incredible tenacity and endurance, and moved into the battle. Go to hell, poor people can hardly enter heaven.

Oh, this is the truth of the Communist Party, and this is the belief of the Red Army of the poor to conquer the world.If I want to ascend to heaven, I must send you to hell; if you want to ascend to heaven, I must also send me to hell.Then, the life-and-death class struggle will inevitably kick off the curtain of war!The reason why the Red Army fought so tenaciously, apart from survival, wasn't it because of the belief in "ascension to heaven"? Bai Chongxi couldn't help sighing, and then put a sly smile on his broad and fat face: Only when it is difficult and dangerous can he show his true qualities as a hero.Well then, we still have to compete to see the outcome.Bai Chongxi sent a letter to Li Mingrui: Brother Yusheng, do you still want to fight?You can fight as much as you want, for as long as you want, and I, Bai Jiansheng, will accompany you to the end!If you capture Chang'an, I will retreat and stay away. This place belongs to my brother. Li Mingrui can tell at a glance that there is "deceit" in it - Bai Chongxi is famous for using deceitful techniques, using this trick to confuse the other party into taking the bait, and he will take the bait from behind unexpectedly. Stab each other.

Li Mingrui and Bai Chongxi have known each other for many years, and they are well acquainted with Bai's temperament and resourcefulness.Since childhood, Bai has learned the tactics of preferring to outsmart the enemy rather than force the enemy.Bai once told him a story of his youth: 9-year-old Bai Chongxi goes to school with 6-year-old Modi.Mao Changlin, the oldest student in the same class, has a violent temper and bad character. He often regards himself as a "big king" and bullies his brothers and weak elementary school students to be his loyal "subjects", ordering them to provide him with change, food and more. As a "tribute", if he couldn't satisfy his blackmail, he would fight and kick.Although Bai Chongxi was annoyed, he was weak and invincible.So he secretly discussed with the sixth younger brother how to win by wisdom, defeated the "big king" and seized the "throne".On the way home from school one day, Bai Chongxi ambushed behind a hillock where the "big king" must pass. Seeing Mao Changlin climbing the hillock and going down, he took advantage of his surprise and pushed hard from behind, and Mao Changlin rolled down. fell crippled.He asked the sixth younger brother to go home first and tell his family what happened, while he hid in a cave in the mountain behind the village, waiting for the incident to end.It is by no means ordinary for a 9-year-old child to make such elaborate arrangements.

Bai Chongxi is also good at doing things on his own, using yang to obey and yin to violate. Fifteen years ago (1915), he was a company commander in the old Guangxi clique. At that time, banditry was rampant in Guangxi.At that time, the Guangxi government adopted the strategy of enlisting the gangsters. Since Lu Rongting became the governor of Guangxi, he strongly advocated the policy of recruiting.Lu Rongting was wanted because he kicked a French consul's dog into the river when he was a soldier in the Qing army. Lu Weizui absconded and fell into the green forest. In order to show revenge, he donated the property he got to poor families, and thus won the support of the poor people, and his power grew stronger and stronger. Later, he was recruited by Su Gongbao, the governor of the Qing government, and appointed as a border defense supervisor.After the Revolution of 1911, Lu Rongting took control of the military and political power in Guangxi.Because Lu was a bandit and was recruited, after he came to power, he treated all bandits with leniency in order to expand and consolidate his power.

But Bai Chongxi, who was only the leader of the company at that time, advocated that suppression of bandits was more important than recruitment.Among the more than 300 bandits he recruited, he selected 80 habitual bandits, and wanted to kill them to avoid future troubles.The battalion and regiment leaders did not dare to make decisions, so they asked Lu Rongting for instructions.Lu Wenzhi was furious, and reprimanded him: "If you start killing, if the bandits and chieftains from all over the country don't come, they will pacify you. How can the law and order in this province be maintained? Let them all be released and be treated leniently!" Use tricks. Bai Chongxi gave preferential treatment to the habitual bandits he wanted to kill: he gave them three days off to go home for the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion with their families, and strictly ordered them to return to the team on time.After the habitual bandits returned as scheduled, Bai Chongxi was furious. He pretended that someone accused some of them of going back to his hometown and committing bandits again, raping civilian women and robbing money, which meant that he owed him preferential treatment.The habitual gangsters all said that there was absolutely no such thing, while Bai Chongxi said that the accusers were waiting in the school, and they would be able to recognize the criminals, so they all went to the school for the accusers to identify.The habitual bandits were willing to go to prove their innocence, so they filed into the school gate.The soldiers in the school laid down early, captured them one by one, and shot them all that night.Bai Chongxi said to the commander of the battalion and regiment after beheading, "the gangsters took advantage of the night to snatch guns to plot rebellion. The matter was rushed. Because they didn't have time to ask for instructions, they might miss the military opportunity, so they used emergency measures to punish all the bandit leaders." Can accept a fait accompli.This is a mysterious and sensational murder case in the history of suppressing bandits in Qingxiang, Guangxi.From then on, the "recruitment" to bandits was changed to "advance and suppression". Li Mingrui rubbed Bai Chongxi's letter into a ball of snowflakes and sprinkled it on the ground, then laughed again and again: "Haha, what a smart Zhuge! I, Li Yusheng, cannot be fooled by your 'White Tiger'!" Contrary to Li Mingrui's expectations, on the sixth day of the battle, Bai Chongxi had quietly mobilized a division of troops to march towards Chang'an, intending to attack the Red Army from behind.Li Mingrui then ordered to withdraw from the battle. The Seventh Red Army withdrew from Chang'an on the night of the 18th and moved to Guizhou and Hunan. Bai Chongxi did not send troops to pursue him.In fact, this is exactly an expedient strategy established by the Guangxi Clan. Hurry all the way.Over the mountains, through the Miao and Dong townships, and through the Tongdao county in southwest Hunan (in mid-December 1934, the Central Red Army broke through Chiang Kai-shek's four blockade lines and held an emergency meeting in the passage, thus starting a ten-thousand-li expedition without a rear) Hunger and cold On December 20, the Red Seventh Army occupied an ancient town called Suining.I thought I could raise some food and clothing here to meet the urgent need.However, this is an empty city. Before the arrival of the Red Army, all the residents and businessmen who had listened to the propaganda of the Kuomintang ran away.The Red Army had found nothing so far. However, the news that the Seventh Red Army entered Hunan and occupied Suining was quickly reported by the Kuomintang newspapers.The CCP's official newspaper "Red Flag News" also reported on this: Changsha news on the 24th: The Seventh Army of the Red Army attacked the southern Hunan Passage from the Sanjiang area in Yining, Guangxi, and the counties in Suining were commanded by Li Mingrui. After conquering Suining in Japan, they continued to attack Wugang and Chengbu counties with great momentum.Hunan warlord He Jian was very nervous when he heard the news, and urgently ordered Wang Jialie to send three regiments from Jingzhou to attack the channel and Suining; ordered Zhang Liangji's brigade to go to Wugang to get in touch with the Guizhou army in Suining; Stationed in Xinning, alerted Wugang and Chengbu; ordered teams from Xiangxiang, Xinhua counties to go to Baoqing to concentrate in order to resist.Looking at this arrangement, we can see how tight the White Army in southern Hunan is. The Seventh Red Army did not and could not see reports from both the enemy and ourselves.The Red Sixth Army was completely unaware of the enemy's various military deployments.After staying in Suining for one night, the troops marched to Wugang, an important town on the southwestern border of Hunan, in the midst of hunger and cold. "Mother Xipi! They are a group of wolves who can't get enough to eat! Wolves!" Chiang Kai-shek saw the secret report that "the rebel Li Mingrui led the remnants into southwestern Hunan", an unstoppable anger suddenly rose in his heart, and he hurt fiercely angrily. Cursing, using one finger to keep tapping on the urgent telegram sent by He Jian, it was like tapping on the heads of Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi. The Seventh Red Army occupied Suining, which was a big blow and disturbance to Chiang Kai-shek, because at this time the 100,000 troops he mobilized were "encircling and suppressing" the Red Army of Zhu and Mao.However, the Guangxi faction, which took a large amount of his military expenditure, not only failed to "gather and wipe out" the "communist bandits" in Guangxi, but instead introduced the "communist bandits" into Hunan. ——This attempt, Chiang Kai-shek saw it very clearly.If he was in the position of the Gui family, he would do the same, and he did it more cunningly and skillfully than Li and Bai. Now, he issued a letter of appointment to He Jian, appointing He Jian as the commander-in-chief of the pursuit and suppression army, ordering him to "suppress and wipe out the bandits who entered Hunan in Wugang and Suining."Chiang Kai-shek's appointment and promotion of officers has always been arbitrary. Even if you are a small platoon commander or company commander, as long as he likes you, he will think you are useful, and he will promote your regiment and brigade commander as soon as he says a word.This does not prevent him from knowing people well and employing them properly.But it took a lot of effort for him to appoint He Jian as the commander-in-chief of the pursuit and suppression army. He Jian, courtesy name Yunqiao, was born in Liling, Hunan Province. He graduated from the third infantry department of Baoding Military Academy in 1916. In 1918, Cheng Qian, the commander-in-chief of the Hunan Army, appointed him as the guerrilla commander, and then under the command of Tang Shengzhi, he served as the head of the cavalry regiment and the brigade commander of the Ninth Brigade. When the Northern Expedition began in July 1926, he served as the commander of the First Division of the Eighth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and was later promoted to the commander of the 35th Army and also served as the supervisor of the Hunan Qingxiang Association.He Jian crazily massacred Communists in Hunan. He is a well-known anti-communist expert and master, with vicious and cruel methods.In the Kuomintang, he is a soldier who is very good at opportunistic drilling. He and Bai Chongxi, Hu Zongduo, and Xia Wei of the Guangxi family are classmates and friends of Baoding Military Academy, and then they made an alliance with Jinlan by blood.But he clearly relied on the Guangxi faction and secretly communicated with Chiang Kai-shek. When the Chiang-Gui war broke out in 1929, he supported Chiang against Guangxi and stabbed Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi in the back. On the surface, he was particularly friendly to the Guangxi faction.Li and Bai were forced to go into the wild and flee. He Jian was appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as the chairman of Hunan Province.Now, Chiang Kai-shek appoints He Jian as the commander-in-chief of the pursuit and suppression army. First, he will stop the Seventh Red Army from entering Hunan; It will cause disputes among local forces.He Jian received Chiang Kai-shek's letter of appointment, and immediately rushed to Hengyang to supervise the deployment of the army, and carried out a vicious interception of the Seventh Red Army.