Chapter 13 Battle of Yingqu

After the victory in the Battle of Yinan, the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area expanded to the south of Yilong in the southwest direction.However, the warlord Yang Sen's troops entrenched in Yingshan, Quxian and other places occupy Yushanchang and Dingshanchang in Bazhong County. The terrain of Yushan and Dingshan is dangerous, protruding between Yilong and Jiangkou, like a knife In the hinterland of the base area, it became a serious obstacle for the Red Army to continue to develop southward.How can you allow others to snore beside the couch?After thinking about the map for several days, Xu Xiangqian decided to solve this problem thoroughly.

The Fourth Red Army occupied Tong, Nan, and Ba, which caused great shock among the Sichuan warlords. How to survive among Chiang Kai-shek, Liu Xiang, Liu Wenhui and the Red Army was a question considered by various small and medium-sized warlords.Some Sichuan warlords are as corrupt and stubborn as Liu Cunhou, some are as arrogant as Tian Songyao, and some are good at calculating and planning for themselves. In terms of territory and strength, Yang Sen belongs to this category. Yang Sen, formerly known as Shuze, also known as Bojian, nicknamed Hui, was born in Guang'an, Sichuan. In 1907, Yang Sen was admitted to the Sichuan Higher Military Training Institute, and after completing his studies, he entered the Sichuan New Army as a platoon leader. In 1913, Yang Sen served as the battalion commander at the base of Wangling. During the melee between warlords, Yang Sen kept changing masters and his own official position was constantly promoted. In 1927, Yang Sen had been mixed into the commander of the 20th Army of the National Revolutionary Army. The territory was defeated, and more than 20 counties in eastern Sichuan were all occupied by Liu Xiang, leaving only six incomplete brigades, entrenched in the Yingshan and Quxian areas.

Yang Sen's 20th Army has six mixed brigades (three regiments in each brigade), pistol regiments, military police regiments, etc., with a total strength of about 20,000 troops, deployed in depth and echelon from north to south.The Second Mixed Brigade was located in Yushanchang and Dingshanchang in Bazhong County, north of Yingshan, and was an outpost for the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area.Its military headquarters is located in Guang'an. Seeing the end of Tian Songyao's confrontation with the Red Army, Yang Sen knew that he was not an opponent, so he quietly contacted the Red Army, hoping to reach a non-aggression agreement with the Red Army.Since you are not willing to confront the Red Army, then you have to make a compromise.Xu Xiangqian first sent someone to negotiate with Yang Sen, asking him to give up Yushan and Dingshan.But Yang Sen has no news.

After discussing with Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao, they decided to take advantage of the opportunity to launch the battle of Ying (mountain) and Qu (county), directly attacking Yang Sen's old lair, especially destroying the mixed second brigade of Yang Sen's troops protruding from Yushanchang and Dingshanchang, and breaking the top. The knife in the center of the base, and then developed to the south, the camera annihilated its main force.Just when the Red Army was discussing to attack, Yang Sen's reply to the Red Army arrived. In the letter, Yang Sen congratulated the Red Army on their victory against Tian Songyao. He proposed that if the Red Army attacked Langzhong to the west and Liu Cunhou to the east, he would be willing to give up the area north of Yingshan Mountain. For this reason, special representatives were sent to negotiate with the Red Army.Xu Xiangqian said, yes, let him send someone to talk.But after waiting for many days, there was no news from Yang Sen.At the same time, the headquarters of the Red Fourth Front Army received news that Yang Sen stepped up the "Qing Communist Party" in his defense area and killed 12 people including Liao Yubi, the main leader of the Huaying Mountain guerrillas.

In the dense forest of Huangshi Forest in Yilong, there are two temples, one is Guandi Temple and the other is Zhangye Temple.The two temples are close to each other, and those who enjoy the incense in the temple are Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the famous generals of the Three Kingdoms era.The temple is very large, with a main hall in the front, wing rooms on both sides, side halls, monks' houses and kitchens in the back.Outside the temple is a dense forest, which is quiet and secret. After the Battle of Yinan, the headquarters of the Red Fourth Front Army held a military and political work conference here.In those few days, in these two ancient temples, the generals were shining, and almost all the commanders above the Red Fourth Army Division and the main leaders of the party organizations in the various bases gathered here.Wang Shusheng, deputy commander-in-chief of the Fourth Red Army, circled the temple twice: "Guan Yu and Zhang Fei really know how to choose a place to enjoy, and now it's time for our Red Army to come here to enjoy it for two days."

Xu Xiangqian was also very satisfied with the environment here. He took a thorough look at the Guandi Temple inside and out and said, "This is the command post for the next battle." In addition to summarizing the Yinan campaign, this meeting focused on discussing the next steps of the troops, especially how to solve Yang Sen's problem. At the beginning of the meeting, Xu Xiangqian first spoke: "A military meeting will be held here today. The meeting will last for three days. The agenda of the meeting is the situation of the recent army training, where to start the next battle, and what preparations should we make. From the current point of view, Yang Sen is a very cunning person, he said he sent someone to negotiate, but so far he has not seen anyone, I guess there is a ghost, if he sends someone, we will have to fight him for a few days."

When discussing where to play next, two views emerge.One thought that Langzhong should be attacked. The reason was that the area around Langzhong was fertile and had a large population. Langzhong was an important water and land wharf with well-developed transportation and abundant supplies. Taking down Langzhong could solve the army's needs for supplies, especially medicine and cloth.The underground party there is active and can effectively assist the troops to solve the problem of red expansion.Another view is that it is important to solve the material demand, and it is more important to solve the threat to the base area. The protruding parts of the Yangsen Defense Area are Yushan and Dingshan. If we don't solve the problem of Yang Sen, we will never have peace.Once this problem is solved, it will not be too late for Langzhong to fight again.

Xu Xiangqian finally made a concluding speech. He made it clear that Yang Sen's salient was too much of a threat to the Soviet area, and I think it is necessary to beat Yang Sen.When to fight and how to fight depends on the specific situation.The troops are now hurrying to rest and prepare for battle at any time. The day after the meeting, Janssen's negotiator arrived.There are two negotiators for Yang Sen. One is his chief of staff, surnamed Yang, who is his cousin; the other is his adjutant, surnamed He, who is his brother-in-law.Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao instructed: According to the predetermined plan, our staff will receive them on the grounds that the main leaders are not at the front, but they must treat each other with courtesy.The Red Army negotiators were Fu Zhong, deputy director of the General Political Department, and Shu Yuzhang, deputy chief of staff.The negotiation venue was set in a landlord's compound in Yilong.

A square table covered with a white cloth is the negotiating table. When the representatives of the two parties meet, they bow their hands to each other, and then sit face to face.As soon as the negotiation started, Yang Sen's Chief of Staff Yang said that they came here in good faith.Chief of Staff Yang claimed that Yang Sen was marginalized among other warlords in Sichuan. There were more than 200 counties in Sichuan, and Yang Sen's department only occupied the defense areas of five mountainous counties and one plain county. Tian Songyao in the west and Liu Xiang in the south compressed him In such a small area, their own survival is a problem, and it is really impossible to help the Red Army. Please forgive me.

Obviously, Yang Sen was unwilling to withdraw from Yushan and Dingshan. Fu Zhong said: Our army is a new type of army for workers and peasants. Our army entered Sichuan this time to resist Japan and save the country, and we took advantage of it.However, Chiang Kai-shek ordered all the troops in Sichuan to cooperate with Jiang's army to "encircle and suppress" our army. When we couldn't bear it, our army fought back in self-defense and defeated Tian Songyao.Our party and our army have already announced to the world that resisting Japan and saving the country is a national righteousness. If anyone is against the people on this issue, don't blame our army for being rude.Please tell Commander Yang Sen, both of you, not to do things that make your loved ones hurt your enemies.You claimed to assist our army, why did you delay for eight days after contacting our army for negotiations?As a soldier, don't you know that the military situation is like a fire?

That Chief of Staff Yang had a humble attitude and slick language: Our army is negotiating with your army this time, it is really sincere.Now that your army is marching westward, our army was unwilling to participate in the "encirclement and suppression" of your army. It was actually Chiang Kai-shek's strict order to urge us to join the war against our will. I really feel sorry for your army.As for the delay in the negotiation time this time, Mr. Yang wanted to choose an auspicious day.Furthermore, if our army withdraws from the defense line and advances too aggressively, we are afraid that the surrounding troops will talk too much and cause future troubles.This time we brought a map to your army, which is enough to show the sincerity of our army. Adjutant He took out a map from the document bag and handed it to Fu Zhong with both hands: "This is the map of the deployment of Tian Songyao's troops for your army's combat use." Chief of Staff Yang went on to say: "This time your army has crossed Jiangxi to attack Tianbu, our army will definitely provide great assistance. If you need mortar shells, bullets and other supplies, we can provide some assistance at any time." At this point, Yang Sen's cards were all shown, and Yushan and Dingshan would not give in. At the same time, he hoped to lure the Red Army to let him go and attack Tian Songyao's troops westward with a small profit. Fu Zhong smiled slightly: "Since your army is very sincere to our army, why bother to form an enmity? I accept the maps, materials and gifts sent on behalf of the Red Army of Workers and Peasants." He expressed his gratitude. The purpose of the Red Army's arrival in Sichuan was very clear, that is to "redify the whole of Sichuan" and eventually wipe out all the warlords. The agreements reached with warlords, large and small, could only be expedient.Now the base area of ​​the Red Army is gradually expanding, but Yang Sen's troops are like a knife firmly on the belly of the base area. These warlords want to negotiate an agreement with the Red Army is completely driven by their own interests, and they have no credibility at all. There have been changes, and no one can guarantee that they will not suddenly turn around and attack the Red Army.No matter what the situation, the Red Army must not allow a sharp knife to be on its belly all the time.It is based on this that Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao are determined to break the knife.But some people think that since Yang Sen is about to negotiate with the Red Army at this time, we should respect our credibility and not take the initiative to attack him.Chen Changhao's attitude is very firm: this battle must be carried out.For this reason, a very heated debate broke out in the Red Army headquarters.Xu Xiangqian has a long discussion in "Recalling the Creation of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base Area" on whether this battle should be fought, which is very pertinent: After we conquered Nanba, Yang Sen sent someone to negotiate with us. So, should the Red Army attack him, or should they take the initiative to attack? ... We want to expand our base areas, attack Liu Cunhou and Liu Xiang, and develop to Suiding and its south. Our strategic goal is to "redify the whole of Sichuan" instead of just staying on a small piece of land under Daba Mountain.Yang Sen's troops occupy Yushanchang, Dingshanchang, and Jiangkou on the south side of the Tongjiang River, like a knife stabbed in our stomachs, do you think it is uncomfortable?What should I do?I agree to fight.It is necessary to take advantage of the internal contradictions of the enemy to win over allies and form a united front.However, it depends on the target and cannot be fooled by the illusion of the enemy.Yang Sen is not a bourgeois leftist, nor is he really willing to cooperate with the Communist Party.He is a warlord and politician who is capricious and capricious.In Sichuan, everyone knows that since the Red Army entered the northern Sichuan area, he has adopted a policy of killing one to warn others, strictly controlling, and actively preventing communism, killing many progressive young people and the masses; and consolidate their own territory.He is a speculator, one thing today, another thing tomorrow, one way of yin and another of yang.When Tian Songyao attacked us, Yang Sen thought it would be profitable and sent troops to join the battle, but when he saw that the situation was not good, he turned around and ran away.Therefore, when negotiating with such a person, you must stick to your principled position and never be fooled by him. At this time, we need to expand our base areas, develop and consolidate ourselves, whether to fight or not, we must fight.Without fighting, the base area cannot be expanded, and the difficulties cannot be solved.You stretched down from the east and west sides, but there was still Yang Sen's fist against your chest in the middle.Ok?no.Assuming that Yang Sen allowed the Communist Party to send staff to do secret work, transform his troops, and cooperate with us to clean up other warlords, if there is such a situation, it would be wrong for us to beat him.You hit your friend!But that is not the case, he is not our friend, our ally, but our enemy.We talked back and forth with Yang Sen, what to talk about, what are the principles, what are the conditions, which things must be adhered to, and which things can be compromised, it is not clear.The so-called agreement is nothing more than verbal and has no actual binding force.A compromise without principles is not a revolutionary compromise, and cannot establish a true united front relationship. The result can only paralyze and restrain ourselves. The Battle of Yingqu was in full swing, and the troops made use of night raids to break through, advancing hundreds of miles in a few days.It's a pity that we had concerns at that time, and we didn't play thoroughly enough, and it would be better to be more thorough.Yang Sen's team was not many, they ran fast, and part of them were wiped out, which lifted the obstacle in our chest, which was very important for Liu Xiang's "six-way siege" after the smash, otherwise, once the enemy came over, Yang Sen's knife It will soon be inserted into the hinterland of Tongjiang and Bazhong, and it will be extremely difficult for us. Chen Changhao and Xu Xiangqian ruled out different opinions and made up their minds to beat Yang Sen. The deployment of the first phase of the Yingqu Campaign was as follows: the 31st Army monitored the enemies in Guangyuan and southern Shaanxi, part of the Fourth Army monitored Liu Cunhou's troops in eastern Sichuan, and the main force of the 30th Army located in the Bazhong area attacked the front of Yang's troops from north to south. , the main force of the Ninth Army went east from the Yilong area, and the 11th Division of the Fourth Army went west from the Jiangkou area in the southeast of Bazhong to attack on both sides. On September 17, the Red Army headquarters dispatched a capable team, disguised as enemy salt police, to infiltrate the enemy-occupied area.As soon as the detachment entered the enemy-occupied area, it intercepted an enemy ship carrying military pay. The ship carried 200,000 ocean pay for Yang Sen's troops.Then he touched the enemy's heavy machine gun position, and without firing a single shot, the enemy guarding the position fired a machine gun.Wu Ruilin, who was the team leader at the time, recalled in the article "Fighting in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area": We cleared the hilltop where the company was stationed, and seized a total of 20,000 rounds of ammunition, 15 rifles made in Sichuan, and more than 300 grenades.We interrogated the enemy company commander.He told us that these four heavy machine guns were newly supported by Chiang Kai-shek, and there were four more that had not yet arrived.A total of twelve.In addition, he said that there is a battalion headquarters ten miles away from this mountain... There are four heavy machine guns deployed there... I discussed with the political commissar Zhang Erxin and decided to follow the original method, strapping grenades to each prisoner...and forcing the enemy prisoners to lead us in the front, and we arrived at the mountain where the enemy was stationed in less than an hour.The enemy was very paralyzed, and two sentries were placed at the sentry post, and they were easily caught alive by my soldiers.I immediately took a prisoner to lead the way to solve the heavy machine gun position. On September 22, it rained heavily, the sky and the earth were hazy, the line of sight was extremely poor, and the ground was muddy and difficult to walk on.Launching an attack in this weather is conducive to defending the enemy and not conducive to the Red Army.The 73rd Regiment of the 25th Division of the Ninth Red Army braved the rain and passed through the remote mountain trails, concealedly inserted behind the Yushan Field and the Dingshan Field. , like clay figurines.The troops hid in the mountains and forests all night. At dawn the next day, with a clear gunshot, thousands of soldiers suddenly opened fire, and the enemy's position was instantly covered by a hail of bullets. All of a sudden, there was chaos, and they scattered without organizing a decent resistance. The Red Army successfully captured the dangerous position of Longbeichang.Xu Shiyou led the 74th and 75th regiments to take advantage of the momentum to capture Ma'anchang and wiped out most of the more than 1,000 local militiamen.At the same time, the main force of the 30th Red Army approached Yushan Field head-on, forcing the defenders to flee southward.The Ninth Red Army and the Thirty Red Army fought hard to pursue the fleeing enemy. Although the officers and soldiers had not rested for two days and nights and were hungry, they still gritted their teeth and tightened their belts, and pursued hard.In the heavy rain, the political agitation work was unique. A propagandist shouted "One hundred and one a day", and the soldiers who were running and chasing shouted in unison, "Hurry up and chase the fleeing enemy!" The propagandist shouted "One hundred and three a day", The soldiers shouted again: "Tomorrow, we will attack the camp mountain!" On the 24th, the Ninth Red Army and the Thirty Red Army pursued to Mashenxi, more than 60 miles north of Yingshan, and stopped and wiped out the enemy fleeing south.On the same day, the 11th Division of the Fourth Red Army defeated the Sixth Regiment of the enemy's Second Mixed Brigade stationed at Dingshan Field. 1. Quick telegram from ahead: On the morning of September 23, our Ninth Red Army captured the naturally dangerous Longbei Mountain, and all the enemy battalions were defeated.A total of more than 50 rifles were handed over, and 32 people were captured, including a company commander and three platoon leaders.The enemy killed and injured more than 50 people, and the enemy retreated to Jishan Village one after another, and our army was preparing to pursue it forward. 2. One of the 11th Division of the Fourth Red Army occupied the extremely dangerous Dingshan, the stronghold for attacking Yingshan and Quxian yesterday, wiped out the 6th regiment of the white bandit Yang Sen, handed over 300 guns, took hundreds of prisoners, and obtained military supplies There are many, and our army is continuing to pursue them. 3. Receive a quick telegram from ahead: Our Red Ninth Army and the First Part of the Red Thirty Army marched towards Yingshan yesterday (September 24th). When all the bandits were defeated and more than 2,000 long and short guns were seized, the remnants of the bandits fled to the camp mountain one after another. After receiving the report of the Red Army's attack, Yang Sen was in a panic. In order to ensure Yingshan, Quxian, and Peng'an, he urgently ordered the main force of the first mixed brigade to strengthen the front line defense of Folou Temple and Yangjiazhai, and the remnants of the second mixed brigade and the fifth mixed brigade The Ministry occupied the front line from Tianchi to Damiaochang, and transferred the main force of the third mixed brigade and the fifth mixed brigade to strengthen the defense of the Peng'an and Yingshan areas. On September 29, the main force of the Red Thirty Army conquered Folou Temple and Yangjiazhai, completely annihilating two regiments of the enemy.Subsequently, they cooperated with the Ninth Red Army to attack Yingshan.The 11th Division of the Fourth Red Army approached the outskirts of Qu County. On the night of October 2, when heavy rain poured down, the 73rd and 75th regiments of the Ninth Red Army ran long distances in the rain, detoured behind the enemy, and continuously broke through the seven fortifications between Yuhuanggong and Tongtianchang.Xu Shiyou personally led the 74th regiment to go straight to Xindianzi between Damiaochang and Yingshan City, seize the pontoon bridge on the Yilong River, cut off the escape route of the fleeing enemy, and wiped out more than 2,000 enemies. On October 3, the Ninth Red Army occupied Yingshan County. On October 6, they occupied Zhoukou on the east bank of the Jialing River.Yang Sen's troops retreated to Quxian, Guang'an, and Yuechi on the west bank of the Jialing River. The Battle of Yingqu lasted more than ten days. The Red Army killed more than 1,000 enemies, captured more than 2,000 enemies below the regimental commander, and captured more than 2,500 long and short guns. , the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area expanded more than 50 kilometers to the south, with a new population of 900,000. On October 4th, before the Battle of Yingshan was finally over, Chen Changhao wrote "The Meaning of Victory in Occupying Yingshan City" in "Must Read for Cadres": 1....The battle in the heavy rain for more than ten days has occupied the enemy's natural dangers Dingshan, Longbei, Yushan, Xiaodafeng, Folou Temple, etc., and finally the battle of Damiao wiped out the main force of the enemy and opened the camp. At the last gate of Guang'an, Quxian, and Guang'an, the enemy was defeated and completely occupied Yingshan City on the night of October 3. Almost all the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th brigades of the enemy Yang Sen took part in this battle.As a result, most of the first brigade was wiped out. Chen, the commander of the enemy's first regiment, was shot dead in Yangjiazhai, and Yong Shoukang, the commander of the third regiment, was captured alive at the same time; the second brigade was completely wiped out... the third brigade was not much left; , The sixth brigade heard the news and fled; the fifth brigade collapsed. Our army seized more than 2,500 long and short guns (mostly made in Hanyang), two machine guns, and two mortars. We captured a total of 1,000 enemy officers and soldiers, killed more than 1,000 enemies, and drowned hundreds of enemies in the river. ... ... 2. What is the significance of this victory? First, we eliminated Yang Sen, shattered the enemy's newly attacked southern position, and began to break the enemy's offensive plan.Preemptively strike and tire the enemy out... Second, the Sichuan-Shanxi Red Area pushed southward for hundreds of miles, not only occupied Yingshan County, but also approached Peng'an, Shunqing, Guang'an, Quxian, and Suiding. We were condescending, and the enemy had no danger to defend... … Thirdly, in the areas of Tong, Nan, Ba, Lang, Cang, Nan and Yi, a large number of workers and peasants joined the Red Army...