Chapter 24 The twenty-fourth division commander was captured and heartbroken, and the company commander led his troops to find a way out

On November 26, 1934, Chen Shuxiang, the commander of the 34th Division, had just deployed his troops to enter the Huluyan position south of Dao County to take over the blocking task of the 4th Division. New combat missions. Chen Shuxiang and political commissar Cheng Cuilin ran to the regiment command post with several regimental leaders and political commissars.They understood that the situation in front of them was serious, and they could not delay for a minute. This was the first time since the army went west, they accepted the task assigned by the head of the legion face to face. When they ran to the command post out of breath, several regiment leaders were waiting for them.

Army chief Dong Zhentang shook hands with them one by one, and chief of staff Liu Bocheng glanced over them one by one with serious eyes.Commander Dong Jun said: Now, Chiang Kai-shek has mobilized 400,000 troops to press our army step by step, and the situation is very serious.Commander-in-Chief Zhu ordered us to block the enemy with all our strength. The other troops formed 4 columns, crossed the Xiangjiang River from Xing'an and Quanzhou, and gathered in the Xiyan area. Your 34th Division will have to work hard. Your specific tasks will be determined by the Chief of Staff. Comrade Liu Bocheng arranges for you.

Liu Bocheng took a deep breath, walked to the map, pointed to the map, and said sternly: At present, He Jian's 1st Route Army has entered Quanzhou and Xianshui from Dong'an, and a part of the 2nd Route Army has entered Lingling On the front line of Huangsha River and Huangsha River, the 3rd Route Army is following me and catching up, and the 4th and 5th Route Army have also assembled towards the Dong'an area. Liu Bocheng paused and said again: "The enemy's attempt is to block and pursue, attack from north to south, and encircle and annihilate our army on the side of the Xiangjiang River."We are in a state of being attacked from both sides and from the north and the south, and the situation is very unfavorable to us.

Liu Bocheng glanced majestically at the people listening to him in front of him again, and then said: The current task of your 34th Division is to resolutely block the enemy who is chasing after you, cover the 8th Army to pass through the Sujiang River and Paojiang River, and become the rearguard of the entire army. As soon as you are intercepted by the enemy, you will return to southern Hunan to develop guerrilla warfare. Chen Shuxiang and others listened to Liu Bocheng's order, but did not say a word for a long time.They felt the weight of the burden on the shoulders of the 34th Division.

Liu Bocheng softened his tone and said: The 34th Red Division is a unit with a glorious tradition. Commander-in-Chief Zhu and Political Commissar Zhou asked me to tell you that I believe that the 34th Division can complete this great and arduous task. Chen Shuxiang had tears in his eyes at this time, he glanced back at his subordinates, slowly raised his right hand, and then all the people raised their right hands.Chen Shuxiang said word by word: Please rest assured the head of the legion, and tell Commander-in-Chief Zhu and Political Commissar Zhou that we will resolutely complete the tasks assigned by the Military Commission and win glory for the entire army!

The 34th Division was formally established in the spring of 1933. With the help of Tan Zhenlin, Luo Ruiqing, Xiao Jinguang and other comrades, it was reorganized from the people's soldiers in western Fujian. Most of the cadres of the division were the backbone transferred from the former Red 4th Army and graduated from the Red Army School. Cadres have rich combat experience and strong combat effectiveness. When several commanders of the 34th Division left the command post, Commander Dong Jun and Chief of Staff Liu Bocheng held their hands tightly one by one.When Liu Bocheng held Chen Shuxiang's hand, the general's eyes were wet, and he said in a slow voice: "Shuxiang, you must not only complete the tasks assigned by the Military Commission, but also be prepared to fight alone in case the enemy cuts off your rear... ...Liu Bocheng couldn't continue, and shook Chen Shuxiang's hand vigorously.

Yiyi bid farewell, no one thought that their farewell would become a forever farewell. Back at the command post of the position, without a moment of rest, Chen Shuxiang quickly revealed the deployment that he had planned on the road: According to the instructions of the superior and the situation of our division, I consider that Comrade Han Wei will lead the 100th regiment to go ahead in the direction of Guanyang, and take over the task of the 6th division in the Hongshujiao area to prevent the Guangxi enemy from advancing northward; Political Commissar Cheng led the 102nd Regiment to follow up. After covering the 8th Army Corps passing through the Sujiang River and Paojiang River, they quickly marched westward, occupying favorable terrain on the Wenshi and Shuiche lines, and blocked the chasing enemy Zhou Hunyuan and other troops to ensure that the main force crossed the river.

On December 2, shrapnel screamed from the 34th Division's position between Xinxu and Wenshi, and flesh and blood flew everywhere. The bursts of shouts were drowned in the sound of artillery fire... Several times the enemy was under the cover of artillery fire again and again Attack the positions of the 101st and 102nd regiments. The blood and silt coagulated together, turning the entire mountain top into a purple-brown color, and the wounded were lying horizontally and vertically on the top of the mountain.This blocking battle has lasted for dozens of hours... Chen Shuxiang stood on a rock, held up a telescope, and observed the position in front of him. The scene in front of him was like a dangerous dream.

The main force of the entire Red Army had all crossed the Xiangjiang River at this time, and only the 34th Division was cut off by the enemy, fighting alone on a few hills on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River.The surrounding bloody battle positions seemed to be isolated islands submerged in a pool of blood. All contact with the main force of the Red Army had been cut off. The 34th Division received the final order: to break out of the encirclement with all their strength, cross the river in the Fenghuangzui area, and catch up with the advancing troops; if they could not cross the river, they would fight guerrillas in the nearby mountains.

Everything in front of him has clearly told him that crossing the Xiangjiang River is no longer possible, only breaking through.But the enemy in front of me is several times larger than me, and it is not easy to rush out. In the trenches, the corpses of the enemy and the Red Army piled up into hills, and the entire position was burning.The scorching mountain wind carried the turbid bloody smell, drifting in the valley, making the soldiers standing on the ground parched and suffocated. The whole division has been divided by the enemy on several small hills, and they have lost contact and support with each other. At this time, they can only fight alone.

Chen Shuxiang put down the binoculars, and crawled to the front position with several left-behind personnel from the division headquarters around him.The wounded soldiers groaned on the ground, and the enemy temporarily stopped attacking, which meant that it would not be long before there would be a more violent attack.This wave-like attack put the troops through the most severe and dangerous test. Chen Shuxiang finally climbed up to the position, and there were corpses everywhere around him. I don't know how many soldiers are still alive. Chen Shuxiang shouted: Is there anyone? Is there anyone else? Following his shout, several people crawled out from the pile of corpses, and they saw the commander.One of the leading company commanders called out in a low voice: "Master..." tears flowed down my face. Chen Shuxiang gritted his teeth and snorted: What we need now is not tears. The company commander held back his tears and reported: "Reporting to the division commander, I am Liu Da, the third company commander. I am in command of the position now, and the other commanders are all killed." Chen Shuxiang didn't speak for a while. Liu Da said again: Commander, I can still gather a company of troops now, let's cover the chief to break through, while we still have a company of troops... Chen Shuxiang was thinking. Now that the main force of the Red Army has crossed the river, they have completed the blocking task, and the only way to go is to break through.However, can it stand out?Even if it protrudes, how many people can get out alive?How can these few people fight guerrillas?Thinking of this, he shook his head and said in a low voice: It seems that breaking through is not an easy task. No, even if there is only one of us left, we have to protect the chief and rush out. Chen Shuxiang dragged a spear from the pile of corpses, and said calmly: "Company Commander Liu Da, there are no more commanders now. I am already a soldier. We will fight side by side, and we would rather die than be captured!" The teacher—Liu Da cried out weeping. A platoon leader jumped out of the bunker and shouted: For the division commander, for the Soviet, rush, rush out, and fight the enemy——Chen Shuxiang had no time to stop it, and about 30 people jumped out with the platoon leader. Holding guns with no bullets, some brandishing knives, screaming and rushing towards the enemy's position. Chen Shuxiang was stunned by the scene in front of him, more than 30 people were involved in the enemy's siege, tearing, biting, cursing, shouting to kill...blood splattered, moaned, shouted... In just a moment, the platoon that rushed out was overwhelmed by the enemy, and there was no sound. Chen Shuxiang closed his eyes, his heart ached.He suddenly opened his eyes again, and said in a low voice: Lieutenant Liu, gather the troops. Liu Da gave the order to assemble, some came over, some crawled over, and some soldiers were helped over, and they all gathered in front of Chen Shuxiang. Liu Da counted the number of people, and then checked the ammunition situation and reported: Commander, we still have 53 people, 15 were slightly injured and 7 were seriously injured.There are more guns and 103 rounds of bullets... After Liu Da's report, he said: "Master, let's go, now, maybe there is still a glimmer of hope." Chen Shuxiang shook his head.Just relying on these few people in front of them, with this little ammunition, it is simply impossible to rush out.There is at least 1 regiment's strength around their position.It is too unrealistic to use more than 50 people to fight against an enemy regiment. Chen Shuxiang knew that he could only fight the enemy until the last one, until the last drop of blood was shed. The enemy seems to have noticed that the Red Army on the ground has run out of ammunition and food, but they still dare not venture forward. They know that they are some people who have long put life and death aside, a group of "crazy" people, and they are put to death and then survived. , People in this situation will have extraordinary strength and courage. So the enemy attacked the position with shelling instead.Dull explosions, flying shrapnel, gravel, limbs, and flying guns form a chaotic world... The enemy finally rushed up, getting closer and closer to them. Liu Da threw aside the empty box gun and touched the big knife beside him. He raised the knife and shouted loudly: Come on—— He jumped out first, followed by dozens of disabled soldiers.The enemy lays down first, then shoots.At this time, the enemy's artillery rang again, and exploded in the formation of dozens of people.They quickly approached the enemy. The enemy seemed not to want to fight with these "crazy" people, so they turned around and retreated.The enemy artillery bombarded here more violently. Liu Da still wanted to chase and kill the enemy with a knife, when he heard someone calling him: company commander, company commander, division commander is injured. He stopped, turned around, and saw Master Chen Shuxiang lying in a pool of blood. He yelled: Teacher——and rushed over. A guard was pressing on Master Chen's body, and half of that guard's head was blown off by a shell, and red, white and white things flowed all over the ground. I don't know whether it belonged to the master or the guard.Liu Da frantically pushed away the guard's body, and he saw the division commander.At this time, Chen Shuxiang's abdomen was covered with blood, and there was a big hole torn by shell fragments, and blood was flowing out from there.The teacher's face was sallow, and he still murmured: "Fighting...the last person - Liu Da tore off his blood-stained skirt, bent down to support the teacher, and he was bandaging the teacher. Chen Shuxiang murmured again: I...I can't do it...You all rush out...I will cover... Liu Da yelled heart-piercingly: Master—he stood up slowly, and there were only about 20 intact soldiers around. There were still several wounded people struggling on the ground, and they were looking at Liu Da in despair.A wounded man waved his arm that had been blown to pieces and said: "Company commander, you cover the division commander and rush out. As long as we have a breath, we will hold the enemy... Liu Da raised his head. At this moment, he saw the division commander pulled out his pistol from his waist and pointed it at his head tremblingly.Liu Da rushed over and grabbed the gun in Mr. Chen's hand. Chen Shuxiang opened his eyes and said weakly: Comrade Liu Da, please, shoot. Liu Da slowly put the gun in his waist, knelt down, grabbed the trembling hand of the teacher and said: Teacher, we will definitely protect you and rush out——Liu Da stood up again, and at this time there were two soldiers A stretcher was made of wooden sticks broken by shells, and the division commander was placed on it.Liu Da gave an order to the people around him in a low voice: break out - a group of people ran down the mountain ridge, and two soldiers carrying stretchers walked in the middle of the group. The wounded soldiers watched the group go away.They stared at each other in silence for a moment, then took out the last grenade from their pockets.The broken-arm soldier called out to the others with a hoarse voice: "Comrades, come here." Those few people crawled over here silently, and they all gathered around the broken-arm warrior.The Broken Arm Warrior held the only grenade in his hand. One soldier hummed first, it was a melody they were familiar with, and soon they all hummed together, and finally let go of their throats and sang—— Who dares to invade the sacred land freedom? Who dares to ravage the red regime?what! Iron Fist awaits the fascist KMT. We are red warriors, fight! until the last person! ... Chen Shuxiang seemed to have heard the singing, he opened his eyes with difficulty, and saw the spinning sky and woods.He closed his eyes again, and then he heard several people shouting with all their strength: Long live the Chinese Soviet! Then there was a dull explosion, and then the whole position fell silent. Chen Shuxiang seemed to have returned to his hometown of Changsha and saw his wife and mother.Mother was looking at him with a smile.Mother said: Shuxiang, why did you come back?My mother cried after saying this. She cried and said, "You have been away for so many years. Don't leave this time. You should live in peace. You are 29 years old this year and you don't have a child yet. I and your wife I look forward to your return every day... A sharp pain woke him up, and soon he lost consciousness again.Another set of images flashed before his eyes: after the Autumn Harvest Uprising in September 1927, he excitedly raised his right hand to the party flag. ... The vigorous guerrilla struggle in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian made him mature quickly. He served as the captain of the special task force of the headquarters, killing bullies and eliminating traitors. After that, he served as the commander of the 56th Division of the 19th Army and the 34th Army of the Red 5th Army. teacher teacher.A jolt made him open his eyes again, and he saw two panting warriors carrying him, and the enemy who was getting closer behind him... Put it down... put it down... put me down!He said to the two soldiers. The two soldiers didn't seem to have heard his words, they were still staggering forward.Suddenly a shell exploded beside them.He lost consciousness again, he felt as if he had turned into a floating cloud, flying lightly into the air... After an unknown period of time in the haze, he woke up again and heard the voices of several people: Hurry up, hurry up, while you are still alive, if you catch a teacher, you will be rewarded with 10 taels of gold. Battalion Commander, I'm afraid he won't live long. Alive, look, his eyelids are still moving.It was the battalion commander's voice again. This person is really a teacher, I don't think so.Another soldier's voice. Don't talk too much, let's go, while he still has a breath.It was the battalion commander's voice again. The stretcher bumped and swayed along the uneven road. Chen Shuxiang shivered suddenly, he realized that he had become a prisoner.He never expected that he would become a prisoner of the enemy.He also thought of the singing of the wounded soldiers and the heavy and muffled explosion when he left the position. He tried his best to open his eyes, and saw the setting sun in the west, dyeing half of the sky red like rain, like the blood of a strong soldier in the whole division flowing on the battlefield.His heart constricted suddenly.He raised his hand, wanting to grab something, but he grabbed the skirt wrapped around his stomach, which was the skirt that Liu Da wrapped his wound around.He tore off the skirt of his shirt without much effort, and a burst of pain made him lose consciousness again. The stretcher bumped on the mountain road. He heard the voices of those people again. Look, this kid is really lucky, his intestines have come out, and he is not dead yet.That warrior's voice. Can't die, the red bandits are all dead.The battalion commander's voice. Another voice said: Battalion commander, you said we captured a teacher alive, can you really give 10 taels of gold? There is still a lie, this is what Chairman Jiang himself said, not only will there be gold, but each person will be able to upgrade to three levels in a row.said the battalion commander. Hey, that's nice.said another soldier. The intestines are all exposed, I am afraid that I will die. Anyway, we are almost at the regiment headquarters, as long as we have a breath.said the battalion commander. Intestines, intestines, this thought violently hit Chen Shuxiang's mind.The intestines are all exposed, why is it still not dead? Hurry up, hurry up, we will arrive at the regiment headquarters in ten minutes.The battalion commander's voice. Battalion Commander, let the brothers take a breath, I really can't walk anymore.A soldier begged. Damn, I can't even lift a person.All right, just rest for a few minutes, smoke a cigarette and let's go.said the battalion commander. Thank you, Battalion Commander. The stretcher was lowered. Those people avoided Chen Shuxiang and went to the side of the road to smoke. Intestines, intestines, we will arrive at the regiment headquarters in 10 minutes, these bursts of words rolled in chaos in his mind.Never a prisoner, never, never. He stretched out his hands and touched the intestines, and the warm intestines were held in his hands, and he no longer felt the pain.He gritted his teeth, tried his best with both hands, and let out a loud cry... The last he heard was an expletive: Damn, this guy ripped his own gut out. All feelings are far away from Chen Shuxiang. Several Kuomintang officers and soldiers looked at Chen Shuxiang lying there dead in horror. Company Commander Liu Da led more than 10 people and only focused on fighting in front. He only had one thought in his mind, to fight a bloody road and cover the division commander to break out of the encirclement.Bullets kept passing over their heads, and shells kept exploding around them. Soldiers one after another were suddenly shot and fell down while running. They had no time to see whether the fallen comrades were injured or dead. They didn't have time to look. There were enemies in front of them and pursuers behind them. They could only run forward without hesitation. The shell exploded behind them, and Liu Da turned his head once. He saw the two people who were carrying the division commander lying in a pool of blood, and the division commander was also overthrown from the stretcher. He wanted to run back to have a look at the division commander, but the enemy But first they rushed there, and they couldn't go back. Not only would they not be able to rescue the teacher, but they would also be going to die. Liu Da cried out sadly in his heart: Teacher, wow—there is a steep slope in front of them. They tried their best to sprint towards that slope. At this time, the steep slope became long and endless. They persisted and persisted, and the bullets fell in front of them. Behind him, on the hillside, is a forest that can't be seen at a glance.They took a breath and ran forward, and finally rushed into the woods.They didn't stop, they were still running forward... Finally, the gunshots behind them became distant.Finally they couldn't hold on anymore and fell down on the grass in the forest. At this point, there were only five of them left. After waking up, they knelt on the grass and cried.For the rest of their lives, but also for the despair in front of them. Liu Da was a platoon leader during the defense of Guangchang. From that battle, he has truly experienced what life is and what is death.Liu Da has been in the Red Army for 4 years. He has experienced countless battles, big and small, and he has become mature in battle. Although they have thrown off the pursuing enemy, it is not easy to find a way out in the wild mountains and mountains.Just the five of them, not to mention insisting on fighting guerrillas, it is not easy to survive. Liu Da made up his mind at that moment, walked out of the forest, and walked back to Jiangxi. If he wanted to fight guerrillas, he could only go to Jiangxi. The other four fighters had no objection, but they were worried, could they go back to their hometown in Jiangxi?