Chapter 54 Evacuation scene

Due to the haste, there was no time for in-depth mobilization, and the junior officers and soldiers only remembered one slogan: "Go back to Guangdong!" Since it is going to war, weapons and ammunition are the most important.The Nanchang Uprising seized a large number of weapons, and everyone made sufficient supplements. The original rule was that each person brought 250 rounds of ammunition, but some comrades automatically brought more than 300 rounds.In order to carry more bullets, Sun Yizhong, the head of the 25th Division, even threw away his beloved pair of red leather straps.Even so, there were still a large number of weapons and ammunition that could not be taken away. These surplus weapons were thrown into the Gan River that night.The soldiers who took their weapons as their lives had never been "wasted" like this. They watched bundles of guns thrown into the river, stood on the bank, and couldn't bear to leave with grief.

On August 3, Zhu De led the contingent and set off as the first column of the Southern Expedition.They are called the Ninth Army, but they actually only have the strength of a battalion, about three or four hundred people.They left the city from Jinxian Gate, threw off their legs, and headed towards Fuzhou.It's raining, and the rain is not heavy. Not only does it not drive away the heat, but it also adds a bit of saltiness.Wet clothes stuck to the body, there were not many porters, and everyone took turns to carry the weapons they were reluctant to discard. After a while, they were covered with water or mud, and their steps became heavy.It seems that the road ahead will not be smooth.

In the following two days, Cai Tingkai, the commander of the left-wing column of the Southern Expedition, led the 10th Division as the second column; Ye Ting led the 11th Army as the third column; He Long led the 20th Army and various organs of the Revolutionary Committee set off one after another. The people in Nanchang have not yet enjoyed the benefits brought by the new regime, and soon they will make contributions. More than 800 young men and women joined the ranks of the rebel army and went south with the army.More migrant workers, they have to transport a lot of luggage for this team.

The troops began to unpack, and strictly stipulated that no one under the division commander should carry more than 20 catties of luggage; except for the elderly and sick, who could not walk, they were not allowed to ride horses.All the horses were used to pack the cannon and shells.There were still few porters, and a soldier was there to look after them, fearing that the baskets of guns and silver dollars would be carried away on their shoulders.Every soldier is heavily burdened, and some squads are still carrying big tents.Even so, there were still many weapons and ammunition that could not be taken away and were secretly thrown into the Gan River.The 25th Division, which served as the cover of the rear guard, finally left Nanchang on August 5.

According to the report of the vanguard: the people along the way fled one after another, causing many difficulties for our army.On the one hand, it was because the masses did not know the truth about the army's transit and were afraid of Lafu, but the main reason was that they were affected by the reactionary propaganda of the Kuomintang, and people panicked.Even so, due to the fact that most of the insurgents were strictly disciplined and committed no crimes wherever they went, the enemy's rumors gradually became useless.When the 25th Division followed up with the guards, they saw that the residents along the way had returned one after another.All their contacts with the masses strictly abide by the regulations of their superiors: when buying large quantities of grain, they use Wuhan banknotes; when buying small amounts of grain, rice, oil, salt, and vegetables, they use silver dollars.Wu Qinwu, a company commander of the 20th Division, was dismissed at that time because he failed to buy vegetables according to the regulations and gave banknotes to the people.

During the long-distance march, although the weather was hot and there were a lot of bullets on the body, no one pulled off casually. Even the indispensable guides were hired with money, one silver dollar a day.A guide who led the Seventy-Five Regiment sent them off for three days in a row. At the end, he was asked to go back, but he was still unwilling and said, "I will send you wherever you go." When camping in the village, an old lady took a young soldier's hand and said, "My child, I have wronged you so much! Rumors say that you are not good, but after watching it for two days, you are really a good team. I have lived such an old age. I have never seen such a good team!"

The old lady was telling the truth.But not every bystander is so reasonable; it is undeniable that there are scum in the rebel army.Because this is a new type of team, the new type of team cannot be completely reborn from the old team overnight; the team is still young, and passers-by are watching. In any case, the new team is still full of appeal to young people.Wuhan Military Academy has a female corps.Many of them arrived in Nanchang during the Nanchang Uprising.The instructor Peng Yilan told Hu Yuxiu, a female soldier who lived in the Gaoan Hotel: "The rebel army will leave for Guangdong on August 5."

Hu Yuxiu became anxious when she heard this, and begged: "Instructor, then you must take me there!" "I'm willing to take you away, but I don't know if the leader agrees or not." Peng Yilan's big eyes flashed, "Well, I'll take you to see Comrade Zhou Enlai right away. As long as he nods, you'll be fine." They found the Jiangxi Hotel and met with Zhou Enlai. Peng Yilan introduced Hu Yuxiu's situation to him, and said a few pleading words for her.Zhou Enlai looked at Hu Yuxiu for a long time, knowing that she was just recovering from an illness, he smiled and shook his head again: "No way! In this march, there will be enemy soldiers in front and chasing troops in the back, and you have no experience. It's not fun to get sick on the way."

Upon hearing this, Hu Yuxiu was extremely disappointed as if being poured with cold water.But the female soldiers in the military academy are all "tough bones", and they are not willing to retreat easily.She begged Zhou Enlai repeatedly: "My illness is completely cured, no matter what, please agree to my request! Chief of Staff (what many people called Zhou Enlai at the time), don't underestimate our female soldiers!" Zhou Enlai smiled again, but still refused to agree to Hu Yuxiu joining the team. He persuaded: "Since you are not in good health, you should take a step back! If you stay to do underground work, isn't it the same as doing revolution? Why must you go to the front line?" ?”

"No! No! I am determined to go! Chief of Staff, let me go, I promise I can bear it" Hu Yuxiu kept pestering. Zhou Enlai had no choice but to agree, half-smiling and said, "Well, hello, you little devil, let's go together!" Hu Yuxiu's wish came true, she hopped back to the hotel and told the news to her classmate Chu Zhiyuan who lived in the same room. During his training at the military academy, Chu Zhiyuan suffered from severe arthritis and had difficulty walking, so he stopped studying in the second half of the semester.When she learned that Hu Yuxiu was going to leave with the army, she was so happy and anxious that she hugged Hu Yuxiu's head and burst into tears.Hu Yuxiu quickly comforted her: "Don't be sad, the party decided to ask you to go to Wuhan to do underground work, isn't it also for the revolution?"

Chu Zhiyuan stopped crying, but he was still in a daze. The next day, Peng Yilan told Hu Yuxiu: "The chief of staff left you to work in the staff group. These few days, you will help me organize the female soldiers." At this time, 30 female soldiers came to Nanchang through various channels.Most of them are classmates of the military academy, and a few are students of the women's training class run by He Xiangning.This became the first batch of female soldiers in the People's Army. On August 6, some sporadic personnel were evacuated from Nanchang.The garrison commander Peng Ganchen asked several comrades to stay, and Tang Tianji, the deputy company commander of the 20th Army Secret Service Battalion, was one of them.Peng Yuchen let Tang Tianji know some of the enemy's situation, and managed to get in touch with more than 1,000 people led by Mao Zedong in Yuanzhou to participate in the uprising.After handing Tang Tianji a letter to contact the Provincial Party Committee, Peng Ganchen and the others were on their way.Tang Tianji sent off the last batch of insurgents, and when he got home it was past 1 o'clock in the evening. After finishing the urgent matters, the east had gradually turned white, and the cock crowed four times.He took off his armed belt, and wanted to squat for a while, when suddenly someone ran in outside, panting for him and said: "Adjutant commander, the enemy has come out, the provincial government is surrounded, let's go!" to shoot.Lurking enemies come out so fast! Tang Tianji hurriedly changed into plain clothes and walked towards the gate.As soon as he went out, he ran into a few enemy soldiers with guns running from the street, and asked him, "Hey, is there anyone in there?" "Yes!" After speaking, Tang Tianji walked into the street.In fact, the insurgents in the courtyard had already left.Tang Tianji ran to Guangya Porcelain Shop on West Street in one breath.It was a small shophouse.He knew two clerks in the store who sympathized with the Communist Party. He also met the boss Liu in the store, and he performed well during the Great Revolution.Even so, when Tang Tianji hid in, the clerk was still a little nervous.For fear of being discovered. In the morning, several of them went out separately to inquire about the news.After a while, a clerk came back and said: "The street is under martial law, and we are searching houses!" Tang Tianji was thinking about how to get away, when the proprietress ran in in a panic and said: "The search came next door, Mr. Tang, what are you doing?" Do you want to do it?" Tang Daji looked around, and found that this small shop only had a first floor and a ground floor, so it couldn't be hidden if you wanted to.The people in the room were in a hurry.Tang Tianji ran upstairs and saw a large vase, about 4 feet high.Without thinking too much, he put the big bottle down, stretched his feet in first, and then retracted his body. Boss Liu hurriedly lifted the bottle up and put a broken straw hat on the mouth of the bottle. Tang Tianji heard it clearly in the bottle: a burst of chaotic footsteps sounded on the stairs.Then I heard Boss Liu greeted with a smile: "Boss, please check, there are no outsiders here." "Is there no Communist Party?" "No, uh, boss!" The sound of enemy footsteps echoed across the floor.Suddenly, the sound of thumping leather boots came to the side of the bottle, and suddenly, thumping, thumping, he walked away again.Tang Tianji's heartbeat also rose and fell.He didn't let out a breath until he heard the sound of going downstairs. Boss Liu came up, helped Tang Tianji out of the bottle, and told him angrily that the enemy pointed at his nose fiercely and "warned" a few words before walking away. For 3 days in a row, the gates of the city were closed and searches were conducted under martial law.Now that the situation in the city was clearly understood, Tang Tianji planned to leave the shop and go out of the city to catch up with the troops.He discussed with the people in the store, and the clerks scratched their heads and tried to find a way.For a long time, Boss Liu frowned and said, "There is a way, I'm afraid you don't want to." "Any way is fine, as long as you can get out of the city!" Boss Liu hesitated for a while, then said, "Get out of the gutter." "Okay!" Tang Tianji was burning with anxiety.Immediately, several shop assistants scraped together a few dollars for him and gave him another set of clothes. In the middle of the night, Boss Liu led Tang Tianji into the gutter.It was late at night, and I couldn't see my fingers in the gutter.The half-foot-deep sewage gave off a foul stench.Boss Liu led the way with a flashlight, which flickered on and off; both of them were holding their breath, without saying a word, and walked forward step by step with their waists bowed. The sewer channel was very long, and it took about half an hour to walk outside the city wall.This is the darkest period before dawn.They took advantage of the darkness to safely pass through the enemy's blockade. After eating at Boss Liu's hometown 30 miles away from the city, he changed into dirty clothes and said some words of gratitude to Boss Liu. Tang Tianji embarked on the road leading to Fuzhou. Looking back at the heroic city of Nanchang, Tang Tianji swore in his heart: Nanchang, we must come back!