Chapter 34 Counterattack Qinglong Temple

Since the launch of the "six-way siege", especially the attack on Wanyuan, Liu Xiang and Tang Shizun have imagined various possibilities for this huge battle in the face of the Red Army's tightening of positions and continuous resistance, but they just did not think of one : The counteroffensive of the Red Army.Precisely because he didn't think of this point, and didn't have any mental and material preparations for it, when this day came, under the thunderous counterattack of the Red Army, Liu Xiang's six-way army collapsed like water breaking a dike. Wanyuan, the command post of the Red Fourth Front Army.Under the dense shade of trees, there is a heavily guarded office. The staff in the room wear earphones and press the keys with concentration, copying the codes. People are constantly rushing in and out with messages in their hands, and the radio is sending and receiving reports. , conveying the tense and mysterious atmosphere before the war.

On August 8, in Wanyuan City, the command post of the Red Fourth Front Army.Zhang Guotao, Xu Xiangqian, Chen Changhao, and more than a dozen heads of various armies and divisions are holding a military meeting.The topic of this meeting is one: counterattack. The participants analyzed the growth and decline of the enemy's forces and decided to launch a counter-offensive immediately. The counter-offensive would start from the eastern front where the enemy's forces were most concentrated. , Four enemies.According to the enemy's deployment information provided by the radio station of the Red Fourth Front Army Headquarters, Qinglong Temple was chosen as the breakthrough point for the counterattack.

Seventy miles southwest of Wanyuan City, there is a mountain 2,500 meters above sea level running north-south. It winds for more than 300 miles and looks like a giant dragon. At the mouth of the Qinghua River, the dragon's tail connects to Phoenix Mountain in the county. Countless mountain beams extend from top to bottom like fishbone on the dragon's body.This mountain is called Qinglong Mountain. It starts from Xuanzu Hall in the east and ends at Laoyingzui in the west. It stretches for 20 miles.There is a temple on the top of the mountain called Qinglong Temple. Qinglong Temple is located between Fan Shaozeng's Department of the Fourth Division, the main force of the enemy's Fifth Route, and the First, Second, and Third Divisions on the right wing. If a breakthrough is made here, the counterattacking Red Army will be like a sharp knife, inserted into the enemy's junction, and can kill the enemy. The main force of the fifth route is divided left and right, shaking the enemy's entire front, and it is convenient to penetrate and detour in depth, cut off the enemy's retreat, and achieve the purpose of annihilating Liu Xiang's main force.

The terrain of Qinglong Mountain is dangerous, majestic and strange, which can be called the merit of good fortune.The main peak where Qinglong Temple is located is 2,500 meters above sea level, with cliffs on three sides and a depth of hundreds of feet.To the east is Qinghua River, with high mountains and steep cliffs, and there is no way to go up; in the north of the mountain, the cupboard cliff and Swan Baodan area are steep and full of strange rocks. It is covered with kudzu vines as dense as cobwebs. These kudzu vines are thick and thin, long and short, and involve each other.Almost all the mountain rocks are like sharp blades piercing the sky, forming large and small gorge mouths and wind tunnels. The gorge mouths and wind tunnels are hidden in dense thorns and bushes. The strange sound roared, eerie.There is a path less than one meter wide in front of Qinglong Temple, winding up from the foot of the mountain along the ridge called "Niubeiliang".On both sides of the ridge are tens of thousands of steep cliffs. If you want to go to Qinglong Temple, you can only take this small path in front. As long as a machine gun or a dozen rifles form a cross-fire force, no one can pass this path less than one meter wide. Come on the mountain trail.The terrain is dangerous, easy to defend but difficult to attack, and attacking Qinglongguan is by no means an easy task.Xu Xiangqian thinks:

This most dangerous place is the place where the enemy's defense is weakest, the place with the worst combat effectiveness, and the place where the Red Army would not expect to attack.We chose here the breakthrough point of the counterattack. Facing such a dangerous terrain, how to win Qinglong Temple?Xu Xiangqian was also quite embarrassed about this.As the highest military leader of the Red Fourth Front Army, Xu Xiangqian personally came to Nantianmen and Qinglongguan to survey the terrain and understand the enemy's situation.The reconnaissance team found an old medicine farmer in his sixties.The old drug farmer told Xu Xiangqian that in the eyes of outsiders, the terrain of Qinglong Temple is dangerous, but in their eyes, there is no place that cannot be reached.He told Xu Xiangqian that although the mountains are high and the roads are dangerous, the herb collectors wear footwear, iron hooks and long ropes when collecting medicines in the mountains, relying on big trees and long vines, they can climb the most dangerous cliffs and climb up to Qinglong from the back. view.What the old Yao Nong said made Xu Xiangqian's eyes shine.Based on various circumstances, Xu Xiangqian decided to send a small force as the tip of the knife for the whole army's counterattack, climb up the cliff from the north of the mountain, make a breakthrough from the back, and then quickly develop deep into the enemy, and cooperate with the main force to cut the enemy into two sections. In this way, the enemy's entire defense line can be shaken, and then quickly interspersed to outflank the enemy.

According to intelligence, Qinglongguan is on the line of Qinghua River, and the enemy is Liu Yuying and Zhou Jianchen's two brigades of the Sichuan Army's 23rd Army Wang Zhulong's division. Qinglongguan's enemy is Zhou Jianchen's brigade's two regiments.Wang Zhulong's troops were repeatedly beaten by the Red Army, and they were already frightened. Coupled with the difficulty in replenishing supplies, the morale of the troops was low and the army was disorganized. In October 1933, when Wang Lingji, the former commander-in-chief of the Fifth Route, came from Kaijiang, Liu Bangjun, the commander of the First Division of Liu Cunhou's Department, who was defeated by the Red Army, rushed to Shuanghechang to challenge Wang Lingji.Wang Lingji didn't look at him directly, and shook his hand: "We have a team." After saying that, he walked away.It made Liu Bangjun very uncomfortable.

Qinglong Guan is easy to defend and difficult to attack. This is an advantage, but the high mountains and steep mountain roads also bring difficulties to the transportation of supplies.The troops of the Zhou and Liu enemies were of poor quality, they were looked down upon by others within the enemy, and their supplies were also the worst.Others' troops ate new rice, but their troops ate old rotten millet that had been moldy and agglomerated after being stored for several years.It is this kind of rice, and it often breaks.With such treatment, how can the morale of the army be stabilized?The mood of the soldiers is unstable, and the officials are even more guilty.During a battle march, Liu Yuying led the team to the Xiaoyazi position between Qinghuaxi and Xuanzu Hall. Liu Yuying asked the left and right, "What's the name of this place?"

Left and right replied: "Kill Niuping." "Liu" in Sichuan dialect is a homonym for "cow". Liu Yuying's heart skipped a beat when she heard this, and she almost rolled off her horse with a sway.Without further ado, he hurriedly ordered the army to retreat, and called to request a change of defense with Zhou Jianchen's brigade guarding Qinglong Temple.Zhou Jianchen was puzzled and asked him why.Liu Yuying said: "My surname is Liu. When Niu (Liu) arrives in Shaniuping, there will be more bad luck than good luck." Zhou Jianchen was nicknamed "Zhou Dapao". When he heard Liu Yuying's words, he felt very upset. You are afraid of killing cattle, so am I not?He blocked it with one sentence: "Dude, don't be afraid, I have my cannon to protect you."

To the east of Qinglongguan is the first, second and third divisions of the main force of Liu Xiang's fifth road, and to the west is Fan Shaozeng's fourth division. After understanding the enemy's situation, the headquarters formulated a counter-offensive deployment: the first echelon consisted of 14 regiments including the 93rd Division of the 31st Army, the 10th and 11th Divisions of the Fourth Army, and the 25th and 26th Divisions of the Ninth Army. , responsible for the task of breaking through the enemy's line of defense; the second echelon formed by the 88th Division of the 30th Army, the 90th Division and the 99th Division of the 33rd Army cooperated with the first echelon to develop in depth to the enemy and wipe out the enemy in a roundabout way; the rest of the troops Continue to hold the position, the camera turns to the counterattack.Xu Xiangqian named the 274th Regiment of the 93rd Division of the 31st Army, which is good at close combat and night combat, as the "cow-killing" sharp knife for the surprise attack on Qinglong Temple.

The surprise attack on Qinglong Temple is the key to the whole army's counterattack, and it can only succeed but not fail.In order to ensure the success of the night attack on Qinglong Temple, Xu Xiangqian brought Sun Yuqing, commander of the 31st Army, Ye Daozhi, commander of the 93rd Division, and Du Yide, chief of staff, to the 274th Regiment to personally deploy, mobilize, and inspect the preparations for the night attack. The 2nd Battalion of the 274th Regiment climbed the cliff from the north of the mountain and practiced flowering on the top of the mountain. The 1st and 3rd Battalions attacked from the east and west sides, annihilating the enemy in one fell swoop.After success, raise the fire as a sign.

Since the anti-"six-way siege", the Red Army has tightened its position and retreated steadily. Tens of thousands of the main Red Army are recharging their energy in the rear. Now these troops will be furious. At 5:00 p.m. on August 9th, the sun was setting and the distant mountains were covered with red clouds. Various counter-offensive forces gathered around Qinglong Temple from various places.Zhangjiawan, Raojiashan, Songbaiping, from the bottom of Qinglong Guanshan to the front of Wengbai Temple between Niubeiliang, all the troops waited quietly for the signal and waited for the gunfire. At around 8:00 p.m. on August 9, Chen Jinyu, deputy battalion commander of the Second Battalion of the 274th Regiment, led the team to set off. Chen Jinyu, a native of Guangji, Hubei, joined the Red Army in 1929 and joined the Party in 1930. He was awarded the rank of major general in 1955 and served as deputy chief of staff of the Beijing Military Region.Chen Jinyu recalled: After careful study, the head of the regiment decided that our second battalion would take the lead... The battalion quickly organized two capable reconnaissance teams, led by the fifth company commander Zhang Jinchen and the company's first platoon leader Pang Zhenguo, and quietly touched the Qinglong Temple at night. Conduct latent reconnaissance.Sometimes when the sun is hot, the grass is as stuffy as a steamer; sometimes when the wind and rain blow, everyone is soaked in muddy water; after dusk, mosquitoes attack again, and the bites are unbearably itchy.But in order to complete the task, they lurk for two or three days... After continuous and careful reconnaissance, we have mastered the enemy's troop deployment, activity rules and position settings in Qinglongguan, and we are familiar with the terrain and roads.For example: the enemy likes to bluff every night, and shoot a burst of guns in the middle of the night to strengthen his courage; At the same time, the whole battalion launched intense night-touch training on a hidden hillside more than 20 miles north of Qinglongguan... day and night in the deep mountains and dense forests, they practiced quiet marching, cross-climbing, and Capture and fight, practice the ability to touch the whistle, and practice the courage and ability to fight independently. According to the road pointed out by the old Yaonong, after traveling in the thorny valley for more than three hours, Chen Jinyu led the team to a place called "cupboard cliff" and "swan holding eggs" on the west side of Qinglong Temple.It is more than 300 meters high from here to the top of the mountain, all of which are almost 90-degree straight up and down steep walls, and some places are even recessed inwards. From here, the sharp knife platoon will climb to the top of the mountain to attack the enemy.After Chen Jinyu asked the soldiers to check the equipment again, he ordered in a low voice: "Start action." The soldiers, in groups of three or four, tightly grasped the kudzu vines like a spider's web, and stepped on the slippery cliff like a gecko. Carefully, climb up step by step.At the gorge between the two mountains, the mountain wind howled, making people unable to stand still.Chen Jinyu climbed in the front with the five companies and one row - the sharp knife row.The kudzu vines in the mountains looked dense and slender, but under the weight of several people, the originally crooked vines straightened at once. Chen Jinyu and the two soldiers had just climbed halfway, and the kudzu vines in their hands stretched straight, and the feet of several people Kick off and fall together.In addition to the dense kudzu vines and thorns on the cliff, there are also some big trees growing in the cracks of the cliff. These big trees have dense branches, like big hands supporting Chen Jinyu and the two soldiers who fell down, and the branches scratched their faces and bodies. Debut bloodstains.Chen Jinyu struggled to stand up on the branch, and directed the soldiers to continue climbing.There are several small steps on the mountain wall. Soldiers climbed to these small steps and used the prepared bamboo poles with iron hooks to hang tightly on the cliff above. Climb up the ladder.The person who went up first tied the rope tightly to the big tree in the crevice of the cliff, and the people below grabbed the rope and stepped on the cliff to climb up.The steep cliffs are covered with moss, and people can't stand on them at all, and they have to use their hands to exert their strength.The sight is poor at night and the noise cannot be made, which makes climbing more difficult.The fighters of the Sharp Knife Platoon have practiced "Gecko Kungfu" on weekdays. Although there are constant dangers along the way, they just climb to the top with difficulty by relying on kudzu vines, bamboo poles, and ropes. The platoon leader Pang Zhenguo was the first to climb to the top. He quietly poked his head out on the edge of the cliff to observe. In the hazy night, the top of the cliff was empty. Except for the howling mountain wind, there was no one there. He gently greeted the soldiers below. They climbed to the top of the cliff one by one.After dozens of people all went up to the top, they held their guns, bent their waists, and moved forward gently.Suddenly, Chen Jinyu heard someone snoring in front of him. He ordered the soldiers to squat down quickly, and then observed carefully. It turned out that two enemy soldiers were holding guns and sleeping back to back.This is a "repost sentry" placed by the enemy on the top of the mountain.Pang Zhenguo pressed the tip of his bayonet against the enemy sentry's chest and kicked him awake.The guy opened his eyes and saw that he was almost scared to death. Pang Zhenguo shouted in a low voice: "Don't scream! If you scream again, you will be stabbed to death." Another enemy soldier was also awakened. I can't speak.Pang Zhenguo asked in a low voice, "How many people are here?" "It's just the two of us." The officer told them to keep watch here. Seeing the cliff here, they believed that even if the gods descended, they would not be able to climb up from the foot of the mountain, so they fell asleep in peace. Who would have thought that the Red Army would actually come. The enemy sentry explained the deployment on the top of the mountain and the password for that night. Chen Jinyu led the second battalion to destroy the enemy stationed on the top of the mountain according to the password provided by the enemy, and quickly took control of the top of the mountain. In order to cooperate with the night attack, the Red Twelve Division defending the Xuanzu Hall suddenly launched two attacks on the enemy.All the way from Cizhugou on the right side of the position, go straight down the Qinghua River along the river, and slam the enemy's brigade headquarters behind the Qinghuachang; all the way out of Xiaoyazi, cross Bamiaoya, Zasandong River, and slam Niubeiliang at the foot of Qinghua Mountain. The Qinghuaxi garrison is Liu Yuying's department who is afraid of "killing cattle". These days, the enemy troops from all walks of life have been beaten to a mess, and less than half of Liu Yuying's department is left.Under the sudden attack of the Red Army, the Liu Department immediately fell into chaos.Liu Yuying sent an urgent telegram to Zhou Jianchen for help, and Zhou Jianchen concentrated all his efforts to deploy troops in the direction of Niubeiliang, Sandongxi, and Bamiaoya.Just when the fighting here was in a mess, Wang Zhulong got a report: Qinglong Temple was occupied by the Red Army. Upon receiving the news of the loss of the Qinglongguan position, Wang Zhulong was startled and frightened. He immediately ordered the organization to counterattack. At dawn, an enemy regiment counterattacked Chen Jinyu's second battalion, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.Hearing the fierce gunfire on the top of the mountain, the Red Army, which had moved to the Wengbai Temple on standby, immediately launched a fierce attack.The main force of the Red 274th Regiment was led by the division commander Ye Daozhi.Seeing the arrival of the large Red Army troops, the enemies who counterattacked to the top of the mountain immediately dispersed.Qinglongguan Pass was completely controlled by the Red Army.The follow-up troops of the Red Army went into battle and wiped out most of Wang Zhulong's division. The enemy's defense line was torn open a big gap more than 20 miles wide. After receiving the news that Qinglong Temple had been captured, at dawn on August 10, Xu Xiangqian issued an order to counterattack across the board.The Red Army attacked across the board. At dawn on the 11th, the Ninth Third Division of the Red Army wedged deep into the enemy, the 25th and 26th Divisions of the Ninth Red Army attacked from the left wing, and the main force of the Fourth Red Army launched an attack from the right wing. The 93rd Division of the 31st Red Army wedged deep into the enemy from the breakthrough of Qinglongguan, chasing Shiren and Zhaodu to flee the enemy.The 25th and 26th Divisions of the Ninth Red Army launched a counterattack from the left flank to Qinghuaxi, Tianjiaba and other places in the southeast of Qinglongguan.The main force of the Fourth Red Army launched a counterattack from the right wing to the enemy southwest of Qinglongguan in two ways, and penetrated deeply into the enemy. The enemy army, which was already too weak to withstand a single blow, suddenly suffered such a heavy blow, and suddenly it was like a high embankment collapsing out of control.The remnants of Wang Zhulong's troops, Yang Guozhen's Second Independent Brigade, Liu Guangyu's Fifth Brigade, Wu Jintang's Frontier Defense Army's First Route and other enemies fled.Upon receiving the news of the collapse of the front line, Tang Shizun initially hoped to redeploy and block up the torn line of defense.He urgently ordered the troops on the left and right wings to quickly move closer, and transferred Chen Lanting's division and Fan Shaozeng's fourth division to maneuver towards the Red Army's breakthrough area in an attempt to close the gap.But all the departments of the Sichuan Army were afraid of being wiped out, and no one listened to him, and they all fled.The ministries of the Red Army have compressed the time for more than half a year, and they have already suffocated. Now they are letting the tiger go back to the mountain, and the sense of war drives each unit to pursue bravely. Facing the rapid counterattack of the Red Army, Tang Shizun convened an emergency meeting of the nearby division and brigade commanders in Shitangba to discuss countermeasures.These people have long lost their will to fight, and shouted in unison that it was difficult, that the troops could no longer fight, and they all advocated abandoning Xuanhan and Daxian.One brigade commander also politely cited the example of Hindenburg in World War I, which escaped the enemy's pursuit and then won the battle, explaining that it is appropriate to retreat and deploy defenses at a distance.Tang Shizun's confidant, Luo Jieying, chief of staff, pulled him aside and said: They want to stay safe for a while, avoid the front, and ignore the overall situation... But you can't do this: because the two county towns of Suiding and Xuanhan are on the right bank of the Qianhe River, if you guard the Qianhe River, you have to give up Sui and Xuan. Even if the battle situation improves in the future, people will say that Commander-in-Chief Wang (Lingji) takes Sui and Xuan, and Commander-in-Chief Tang loses Sui and Xuan, and he will surely get the same result as Liu Cunhou; Has become a frightened bird, who can keep it safe?Once there is another mistake, the future will be even more unimaginable! Tang Shizun heard Luo Jieying's words, and angrily shouted: "If you want me to give up Sui and Xuan, I absolutely cannot!" But the generals from all walks of life were indifferent to Tang Shizun's determination. Seeing that there would be no hope of giving up and the soldiers had no fighting spirit, Tang Shizun knew that the general situation was over, and finally decided that the right-wing frontline departments should cover each other and retreat the general headquarters.What he didn't expect was that before he deployed the retreat deployment on the map, all the Sichuan troops had already ordered to retreat under the fierce offensive of the Red Army. Tang Shizun's retreat order further promoted the escape race among the Sichuan troops. In 1934, the "Minutes of Sichuan Affairs in the Republic of China" also reported the situation of this fiasco: On August 10, bandit troops stormed the positions of the Fifth and Sixth Route Army of the Sichuan Bandit Suppression Army. Among the six routes of the Sichuan Bandit Suppression Army, the right-wing Six Routes was the weakest. On August 10, the bandits stormed the Six Routes' positions. Within a few hours, the whole line was shaken. Wang Zhulong's Brigade abandoned the Qinglongguan position and fled in defeat.All the puppet Ninth Army took advantage of the momentum and went straight in. They had copied to the rear of the fifth road, but the fifth road was not known at that time.The Puppet Fourth Army attacked from the middle, and the two brigades of Yang Guozhen and Liu Jixun bore the brunt. Under the pincer attack, the whole army was wiped out.The bandits took advantage of the momentum to plagiarize to the left, and the bandits in the front also came to attack, so the five roads collapsed and retreated steadily. Xuanhan did not defend, and the vicinity of Daxian County was also reduced to a bandit area.Five routes lost 14,500 guns, and seven or eight regiment leaders were killed. ... On August 28, the bandits attacked Tongjiang and Bazhong, and the two counties fell one after another. The third (Li Qixiang, Luo Zezhou) and fourth (Yang Sen) two route armies retreated to Baoyingshan and Quxian counties, causing heavy losses. After the successful self-attack of the Fifth Route Army, the bandits attacked the Third and Fourth Route Army in Tongjiang and Bazhong today. Li and Yang concentrated their forces to deal with it. Taking advantage of the bandits, the situation was in chaos, so they retreated to Baoyingshan and Quxian, and lost about four to five thousand guns.At that time, there were four regiments in Luozezhou in Bazhong. Because Li (his prime minister) army moved to the right, they were surrounded by bandits.Luo himself was in the rear of Bazhong, led five companies of remnant soldiers, and fled in a hurry. The four regiments he was besieged risked their lives to break out of the encirclement, and lost more than half of them. Zhang Caiqian recalled: On the morning of the 10th, the first echelon of our counter-offensive force on the Eastern Front quickly developed deep into the enemy as planned... I was transferred to the 10th Division as the deputy division commander... and pursued the enemy in the direction of Wulongtai, Shiwochang, and Qinjiahe... The troops braved the scorching heat, crossed mountains and ridges, forded streams and crossed rivers, traveled day and night, and pursued the fleeing enemy in the direction of Wulongtai.Along the way, in river ditches, hillsides, roadsides, and fields, there are enemy corpses everywhere, as well as guns, ammunition, and bamboo backpacks discarded by the enemy.We don't care about these, we just "race" with the enemy... we don't even care about eating and drinking water.If you are really hungry, you will grab a handful of dry food and eat while walking; if you are really thirsty, you will drink a few sips in the ditch, paddy field or pond by the road, get up and continue to chase the enemy. One evening, when I arrived at Wulongtai with the vanguard of the 28th Regiment, I learned that the Ran regiment (the leader's surname was Ran) of the enemy Chen Lanting's division stationed at Wulongtai...had fled towards Shiwochang not long ago...I Immediately ordered the twenty-eighth regiment to take a shortcut overnight to get ahead of the enemy, occupy Huangyanyuan, the place that must pass through to Shiwochang, and intercept and annihilate the enemy. ... Huangyan Courtyard is located on Zoumaping in the northeast of Shiwochang.Two north-south mountain beams intersect here, with a deep valley in the middle, and a mountain road passes through the valley.The 28th regiment immediately ordered the first and second battalions to ambush on the left and right mountain ridges, and the third battalion sent troops to block the valley entrance that Huangyanyuan must pass through to Shiwochang.In this way, a pocket is formed, waiting for the enemy to drill. At dawn, the scattered and exhausted Ran regiment slowly got into the pocket we had prepared for him... The Red Army ambushing on the mountain ridge fired at the enemy from all directions... With the loud trumpets, the Red Army commanders and fighters were like The fierce tiger descending the mountain rushed towards the enemy group in the valley amidst the sound of killing.After half an hour of fighting,... most of the enemy regiment was wiped out, and the regiment leader was also killed by me. ... When we entered Shiwochang, Commander Wang Hongkun instructed ... to continue chasing the enemy. After several days and nights of continuous pursuit, on the morning of the 17th, my leading troops arrived at the north bank of the Qinhe River and occupied the riverside highland Kuaiziling... In northern Sichuan in August, it was rainy and rainy, flash floods broke out, rivers swelled, and the water flow was turbulent.The Qin River, which was originally less than ten meters wide, suddenly became thirty or forty meters wide... In order to cross the river, the enemy pulled a few iron ropes on both sides of the river, demolished the wooden boards on the houses of the people, and temporarily erected a bridge. rope bridge.Due to the narrowness of the bridge, coupled with the scrambling of the Sichuan army and the fleeing landlords and gentry, it was extremely crowded.When it was known that the Red Army had occupied Kuaiziling, the enemies who had already crossed the river cut off the cable bridge, and the enemies crowded by the river looked at the rushing water and made a mess by the river.Some enemies were squeezed into the river and were immediately swallowed by the river... The Red Army soldiers came down the mountain, and the enemies surrendered their guns one after another.Some of the enemies jumped into the river, trying to swim across, and most drowned, being carried away by the rapids. On the 17th, the 88th and 90th divisions of the second echelon of the Red Army had entered the Yanshanchang, Laoyingyan, and Chixichang areas, and the 99th Division of the 33rd Red Army had entered the Hekouchang area, and the front of Wanyuan The enemy's first, second, and third divisions were left behind on the left.Tang Shizun's troops stretched in depth and were unable to retreat for a while, resulting in a situation of being divided and surrounded by the Red Army. Facing the fleeing enemy, how can we gain more from fighting?Xu Xiangqian advocated that the main force of the Red Army should go eastward for a large detour and deep encirclement, and build fortifications across the banks of the Zhonghe River from west to south along the mountains, cutting off the retreat route of the first, second, and third divisions of Liu Xiang's main force to Xuanhan and Kaijiang, and striving to wipe them out. Or annihilate most of them, which will seriously hurt Liu Xiang's vitality, and the Red Army's weapons and equipment will be improved accordingly, and the Xiajiang area will be owned by the Red Army. Xu Xiangqian's opinion was at odds with that of Zhang Guotao, the top leader of the Sichuan-Shanxi base area, then Secretary of the Central Sub-bureau and Chairman of the Northwest Military Commission. In the Sichuan-Shaanxi base area, there are three top leaders, namely Zhang Guotao, Xu Xiangqian, and Chen Changhao.Zhang Guotao is the secretary of the Central Branch Bureau, chairman of the Northwest Military Commission, and the highest person in charge of the party, government and army in the Sichuan-Shaanxi base area.Xu Xiangqian is the vice chairman of the Northwest Military Commission. He is the commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Army and the highest person in charge of military operations. He is responsible for formulating combat plans and directing the actions of the troops.Chen Changhao is the vice chairman of the Northwest Military Commission and the general political commissar of the Red Fourth Front Army. He is responsible for the political work of the entire army and assists Xu Xiangqian in commanding the troops.The political commissar system of the Chinese Red Army follows the political commissar system of the Soviet Army, which supervises the military chiefs at the same level and has the right to change the decisions of the military chiefs when necessary.In a sense, he can interfere with Xu Xiangqian's command.Chen Changhao had high revolutionary enthusiasm, was young and energetic, studied in the Soviet Union, and was one of the famous "twenty-eight and a half" Bolsheviks in the party.Since the two jointly commanded the Red Fourth Army, they have cooperated tacitly in Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Sichuan and Shaanxi, and Chen Changhao has supported Xu Xiangqian's proposition many times and argued hard in front of Zhang Guotao. In the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Sichuan-Shanxi bases, Zhang Guotao was like a coachman on a carriage, while Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao were like two horses pulling a cart according to the party’s organizational principle that subordinates obey their superiors.The driver can drive and direct the horse, but only with coordination between the driver and the horse can the carriage move forward smoothly. Objectively speaking, in Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Sichuan and Shaanxi, Xu and Chen respected Zhang's leadership and obeyed in most cases.Zhang also trusted Xu and Chen, and valued Xu Xiangqian's military command ability and Chen Changhao's political organization ability. From Zhang's memories, he did not see any record of dissatisfaction with Xu and Chen.In the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Sichuan-Shanxi base areas, when formulating large-scale campaign plans and planning large-scale military operations, such as formulating anti-"three-way siege" and anti-"six-way siege", and deciding to implement "tightening the position" and other military affairs related to the overall situation, When planning an action, it is necessary to pass the meeting of the Military Commission.When Zhang Guotao formulated these military strategic plans that mattered to the overall situation, although he would also express his opinions, he generally respected Xu Xiangqian's opinions. Judging from the disclosed party history and military history materials, there is no record of Zhang Guotao's brutal intervention in Xu Xiangqian's command. . But this time, Zhang Guotao unusually raised objections to Xu Qianqian's military command.Xu Xiangqian proposed to outflank Tang Shizun's troops in depth to the east, but Zhang Guotao insisted on the Red Army's detour to the west, chasing and annihilating Fan Shaozeng's Fourth Division, which was parallel to the Red Army.The two were separated by more than 200 miles, and they discussed on the phone for more than five hours. Chen Changhao also stood in Xu Xiangqian's position to work together, but Zhang Guotao insisted on his own opinion. Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao had to follow his opinion and ordered the troops to move westward. roundabout.Facts have proved that Zhang Guotao's opinion was wrong. As a result, Tang Shizun's troops were let go, and Fan Shaozeng's troops were not caught. The annihilation war turned into a defeat war. At this moment, the enemy troops from all walks of life are rushing wildly. The troops must chase and destroy the enemy as soon as possible. Brigade and other departments. Fan Shaozeng was born as a bandit. He was very cunning and could run faster than a rabbit.Before we could spin down, he had already turned around and fled from Xishentan with his team, fled southward for more than 400 miles in five days and nights, and only stopped at Sanhuichang in the north of Quxian County to build fortifications and hold on to the danger. Although Fan Shaozeng's division hadn't found a large Red Army force in person, Tang Shizun's 100,000 main force on the right wing had all collapsed. For a few days, Fan and Tang had lost contact, and the situation on the right wing was unknown. The situation of the troops is very dangerous.Fearing that the lone army would be wiped out, Fan Shaozeng immediately ordered the entire army to withdraw to the outskirts of Daxian County and nearby key passes through Chenghuang Temple, Shuangfengchang, and Madu Pass, and concentrate their forces to hold on.He also dispatched Pan Yin's nine divisions of the 12th Brigade and the 36th Regiment to arrive at the county seat day and night. Because Fan Shaozeng moved fast enough, the Red Army chased after the enemy, but Zhang Guotao's detour to the right failed to achieve his goal.As a result, the Fourth Red Front Army gathered its main force and went southward to Xuanhan and Daxian to intercept Liu Xiang's main force, Xu Shaozong and other divisions. However, the enemy's first, second, and third divisions had already retreated southward at night because they were threatened by the Red Army from the rear.Although the mountain roads in northern Sichuan are rugged, under the pursuit of the main force of the Red Army, some entire regiments or even brigades of Tang Shizun's troops were able to escape for more than 200 miles in one day and night.Master Xu Shao built fortifications in the south of Donglin River and north of Xuanda.The other divisions also fled to the front line of Laoyingzui and Maobachang in the north of Xuanhan City. On August 24, they withdrew to Jingxiba, passed through Dongshengchang, Majiachang and Shuanglongchang in the west, and built blocking fortifications along the right bank of the Zhou River, forming a confrontation with the Red Army.The counter-offensive on the Eastern Front came to an end in less than half a month.The encirclement war originally expected became a defeat war. Although the counter-offensive on the Eastern Front failed to deal a devastating blow to the enemy, it also caused the enemy's morale to be severely depressed, their fighting spirit was lax, and their combat effectiveness was weakened.Under the fierce pursuit of the Red Army, the 5th and 6th Route units dropped their helmets and armor, and countless officers and soldiers were killed by bullets, drowned in water, fell off cliffs, and fled to the mountains without counting their guns.During the pursuit and annihilation battle that lasted for nearly half a month, the Red Army annihilated the Zhou Shaowu Brigade of the 23rd Army, the 2nd Independent Brigade of the 21st Army, the 5th Brigade of the 2nd Division, and the three regiments of the Chen Lanting Department of the First Route of the Frontier Defense Army; The two brigades of the enemy's first division, the fourth brigade of the second division, the three brigades of the third division, the three brigades of the fourth division, the independent first brigade, and the first division of the 23rd Army all had different casualties.When Liao Yuchen's division of the 23rd Army withdrew to Xinchang for repairs, there were no more than thirty soldiers in each company, and only a dozen or so soldiers.Only the 21st Army, the main force of Liu Xiang, "lost a total of 14,500 men and guns, seven or eight regiment leaders were killed in battle, and the abandoned ammunition, food, grass, and luggage were uncountable."