Chapter Fifty-Three: Adaptation
With the peaceful resolution of the Xi'an Incident, although General Zhang Xueliang was detained by the untrustworthy Old Chiang, the Northeast Army also disintegrated and eventually was reorganized and sent to the front lines of the War of Resistance. As a result, General Yang Hucheng was also forced to abandon his troops and go abroad for further study.
The threat of civil war was lifted, and the KMT and CPC began to engage in fierce battles at the negotiating table. Although the Western Expedition of the Fourth Red Army had failed, resulting in the loss of over 20,000 troops, Zhang Guotao had been thoroughly defeated by Chairman Mao in terms of military strength and political power. However, due to Gao Gang's disturbance in southern Shaanxi, Chiang Kai-shek no longer had the extreme confidence that came with a string of victories. If the Communist Party was willing, it could unite with the remnants of the Northwestern Army and Northeastern Army, almost controlling the entire province of Shaanxi, or even the entire Northwest, and then contact the Soviet Union to counterbalance the KMT Central Committee. This would threaten Sichuan, Hubei, Shanxi, and other provinces, once again forming a separatist force that would give Chiang Kai-shek headaches!
Pan Hannian, who was negotiating with Chen Lifu on the reorganization of the Red Army, witnessed Chiang's changing attitude towards his nephew and uncle in one day. The number of Red Army troops that could be preserved also rose from 3,000 at first to 30,000.
However, after General Wang Yi-zhe, the commander of the 67th Army of the Northeastern Army, was shot and killed by the young faction of the Northeastern Army on February 2nd, the original Red Army, Northeastern Army, and Northwestern Army, which were once united as the Northwestern Allied Army, also began to disintegrate. After Old Chiang had a bargaining chip, he didn't want to make any more concessions. On February 8th, Song Xi-lian's 36th Division marched into Tongguan, and the Red 15th Corps in Weinan, as well as Gao Quan-zhong's Shaannan Anti-Japanese Army (temporarily named externally, still referred to internally as the Red Army's 74th Division), with over 20,000 troops, were facing off against each other.
Anti-tank trenches perpendicular to the highway were almost bottomless, with sharply cut wooden stakes deeply inserted into the mud, blocking the pace of the Nationalist soldiers' attack. In the biting cold wind, a murderous aura was emitted.
This is only one of the most basic defense lines that the Nationalist Party has seen, and the killer move is to build a riverbank defense line along the Zero River and Xihe River. On the frozen riverbank, a three-meter-high earth wall was built, and due to the severe cold in winter, wooden blocks were used as molds, and ice water was repeatedly reinforced to make the dam so solid. And under these earth walls, countless light and heavy machine gun firing holes are scattered. And behind the two river defense lines is a large number of fortresses. The fortresses of Gaoquan are not the kind built by Old Chiang with bricks, stones, steel, or concrete. Not only are there many types and shapes, but they are also built according to the terrain, leaning against the mountains and conforming to the landforms. Mainly, there are plum blossom forts, cylinder forts, earth forts, and hidden forts, and other styles are also common.
But most of them were made of rammed earth with glutinous rice juice, in the shape of a tortoise shell, supported by logs, and supplemented by thick ice blocks poured on top and around, with deep trenches dug around the fort, and sharp wooden mines inserted to block the enemy's approach. The forts, which had almost become permanent works, were also able to provide mutual fire support, good shooting fields of view, and trenches for infantry maneuvering defense.
Wrapped in a thick military coat, Song Xilian originally didn't want to come and see what kind of things these country bumpkins had managed to dig up from the ground. After all, back when the Central Red Army had German advisors, they were still defeated by the Nationalist Party's German-equipped divisions in trench warfare, let alone these country bumpkins who had never even seen a city before.
Like a sharp knife, the cold wind mixed with heavy snow fell down, pattering on Song Hui's face, so piercingly painful. The blurred vision, the biting cold wind did not make Song Hui have any wavering at all. Even the surrounding staff officers were greatly surprised, knowing that Commander Song was from Huangpu First Period, who had made a great name in the Eastern Expedition, Northern Expedition, and even the 128 Shanghai War of Resistance. The principal also liked him very much. Surprised, they did not dare to make any noise to interrupt their superior's observation of the enemy situation. The blurry mirror surface inside the artillery glasses made them miss the excellent performance of the Zeiss binoculars. The silent crowd looked at each other, savoring the biting cold wind that had seeped into the bunker.
Dongzi's hands, with the help of his entourage, put on a pair of leather gloves. The staff behind him also helped his respected commander to put on his woolen military coat that was about to fall off. As Song Hui looked at him walking out of the narrow underground bunker, the crowd following closely behind him felt the biting cold wind of northern Shaanxi in winter as soon as they left the bunker, and couldn't help but let out a yawn.
The frozen ground was hard as iron, and the snow crunched underfoot. The scattered footprints in the snow were blurry. The armored vehicles that had followed the army were already covered with a thick layer of white. Suddenly, Song Shilong fell to the ground, and with great difficulty, he stood up again, his bloody hand clutching a sharp shell fragment! With the help of the soldiers, Song Xian looked at the hastily covered crater in shock - it was clear that someone had deliberately done this, and judging from the shell casing, it was a 75mm mountain gun!
"Principal, this time our department encountered a communist bandit that is not an ordinary mob! The solid and perfect trench works, the large number of solid fortresses, and the obvious traces of 75 mountain cannons that have been test-fired, indicate that the bandit army has already brought modern warfare technology to a perfect level! Their equipment is also very modernized! At least their trench warfare tactics can be compared with those of the German army during World War I! Even if we want to break through the enemy's defense line, at least 100,000 people are needed, and more than 40,000 casualties will be incurred, as well as a large amount of heavy artillery and ammunition consumption. This also depends on the Northeast Army and Northwest Army in Xi'an City not coming to support this bandit army! Principal, be cautious!"
Chiang Kai-shek, who had not yet prepared to make such a great sacrifice, looked at the long telegram that had just been delivered by the confidential department and couldn't help but frown tightly. He would never have suspected Song Xilian's intentions! His beloved generals were fierce warriors who could defeat even the Japanese. However, Gao Gang's actions allowed him to quickly resolve the Northeastern Army, thereby thoroughly foiling the Communist Party's plans at the negotiating table for the time being. If he waited until March or April, who knew whether the Red Army, which was extremely skilled in political work, would be able to thoroughly "redify" the tens of thousands of soldiers from the Northeastern and Northwestern Armies within a short month!
Chiang Kai-shek, who was deeply grieved, had to agree to the Central Government's plan to reorganize the 3rd Division and the 12th Regiment of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Security Command into a one-million-man force. Chiang Kai-shek, who was still in pain, deliberately assigned the numbers 115, 120, and 129, which were originally used by the Northeast Army but had been abolished due to their annihilation by the Red Army, to the Red Army for reorganization. However, Chiang Kai-shek also specifically proposed that although the Red Army's military pay was treated as a national defense army, it would be provided by Yang Hucheng's troops first!
The main body has been settled, and the remaining are just peripheral issues. However, Old Chiang would not let the Communist Party off easily on these issues, dragging his feet from March to the July 7th Incident and the outbreak of the War of Resistance. Even with the front lines under pressure, Old Chiang still followed his original plan, trying to wear down the Communist Party until they surrendered. With the arrival of Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, and Ye Jianying in Nanjing on August 9, 1937, and the intense fighting on the front lines of the War of Resistance, Old Chiang reluctantly agreed to change plans, including the reorganization plan for the guerrilla forces in the seven provinces and fourteen districts of southern China, and the formalization of the status of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and the sixteen counties of southern Shaanxi.
However, when he learned that the more than 10,000 people under Gao Quan's command were not mentioned in the reorganization list and would be reorganized into a security brigade or an independent regiment, Old Chiang had a clever idea and was unusually generous for a while. He proactively requested to reorganize Gao Quan's troops into a 7,000-strong independent brigade directly under the Central Government, with the Central Government providing guns, ammunition, supplies, and treatment equal to those of the Central Army, including the military salary and benefits for Gao Quan, who was only 18 years old at the time. Old Chiang even prepared to generously give him a lieutenant general's rank! (The same as Ye Shuai! Old Chiang had ulterior motives!)
Following the Red Army's tradition, the sugar-coated cannonball was eaten and the cannonball was thrown back. The glorious promotion of Gao Quan to Major General! Even the 100,000 yuan military pay sent by Old Chiang in secret and the 50,000 yuan learning fee for those fortifications set up by Gao Quan were all swallowed up by this scoundrel!
The atrocities of the high-ranking officials are not limited to this. This guy, who is carrying a lieutenant general's signboard and leading thousands of bodyguards into Xi'an ancient city, suddenly bought up all the cloth, grain, and medicine in Xi'an, leaving nothing behind. Moreover, he set up recruitment stalls at the gates of various universities, high schools, and technical schools, and then brazenly absorbed these intellectuals into his own ranks. Not to mention the veteran soldiers in the Northeast Army Hospital, this guy even opened stalls at the gates of the Northeast Army and Central Army, flaunting his power.
Two days later, this villainous guy led a mighty army of over 2,000 students, 700-800 workers and nearly 2,000 Northeast Army veterans out of Xi'an.
"This is the commander of the 74th Division of the bandit army, Gao Quan?!" The commander of the Nationalist 115 Brigade, Wu Anguo, who had repeatedly been defeated by Gao Quan, stood quietly on the city wall of Xi'an, looking at Gao Quan's arrogant appearance through binoculars as he robbed and then left. The behavior was like that of a bandit, and the performance was unbearable to look at, making it difficult for Sun Liren's younger brother, a graduate of West Point in the United States, to understand how he could be defeated by such a person!
In August 1937, the Red Army began to reorganize. The 115th Division was formed from the First Corps of the First Front Army, the Fifteenth Corps and the 74th Regiment of the Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Area. Commander Lin Biao, Deputy Commander Nie Rongzhen, Chief of Staff Zhou Kun, Director of the Political Department Luo Ronghuan, Deputy Director Xiao Hua. Under its jurisdiction were the 343rd Brigade, reorganized from the Second and Fourth Regiments of the First Corps, with Brigade Commander Chen Guang, Deputy Brigade Commander Zhou Jianping, commanding the 685th Regiment and the 686th Regiment; The 344th Brigade was reorganized from the Fifteenth Corps, with Brigade Commander Xu Haidong, commanding the 687th Regiment and the 688th Regiment. Also under its jurisdiction were the Independent Regiment, the Instructional Battalion, the Cavalry Battalion, the Artillery Battalion, and the Logistics Battalion. The entire division had approximately 15,500 people.
The 120th Division was formed from the Second Army Corps, Sixth Army Corps, Thirty-second Army and Northwest Red Army's Twenty-seventh Army, Twenty-eighth Army, Independent First Division, Second Division, Chi Water Guard Regiment and a part of the direct troops under the Red Army Headquarters. The division commander was He Long, deputy division commanders were Xiao Ke, chief of staff Zhou Shidi, director of the Political Department Gao Xiang, deputy director Gan Qi. Under its jurisdiction were the 358th Brigade, formed from the Second Army Corps and Twenty-eighth Army, brigade commander Zhang Zongxun, deputy brigade commander Li Jiquan, under which were the 715th Regiment, 716th Regiment; The 359th Brigade was formed from the Sixth Army Corps and Thirty-second Army etc., brigade commander Chen Bojun, deputy brigade commander Wang Zhen, under which were the 717th Regiment, 718th Regiment. Also under its jurisdiction were the Instructional Regiment, Special Task Regiment, Cavalry Regiment, Artillery Regiment, Engineer Regiment and Logistics Regiment. The entire division had approximately 14,000 people.
The 129th Division was formed from the Fourth Army, Thirty-first Army and the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Armies of the Northwestern Red Army, as well as the First, Second, Third and Fourth Independent Regiments and the Fifteenth Cavalry Regiment. The division commander was Liu Bocheng, deputy commanders were Xu Xiangqian, chief of staff Nie Rongzhen, director of the political department Zhang Hao, and deputy director Song Renqiong. Under its command were the 385th Brigade, formed from the Fourth Army of the Fourth Front Red Army, with brigade commander Wang Hongkun, deputy commander Wang Weizhong, commanding the 769th and 770th Regiments; the 386th Brigade, formed from the Thirty-first Army of the Fourth Front Red Army, with brigade commander Chen Geng, deputy commander Chen Zaidao, commanding the 771st and 772nd Regiments. The division also had a training regiment, special task battalion, cavalry battalion, engineer battalion and logistics battalion, totaling around 13,000 personnel.
The entire Gaoquan Department was reorganized into the 116th Division and Wu'an became a brother department!
The 116th Division's commander was Zhang Mingxian, political commissar Yang Huanmin and director of the Political Department Wu Dongsheng.
Under its jurisdiction are the 348th and 349th Regiments, with a total of 9,000 troops (6,000 old soldiers and 2,000 Northeast Army veterans). There is also one logistics regiment (1,000 student soldiers, i.e. supplementary regiment). It also has a training battalion, special operations battalion, artillery battalion, engineer battalion, reconnaissance battalion, and medical detachment.
A total of over 11,000 people.
Another Shaanbei Security Command Department, security team civilian team armed, more than 11,000 people.
Southern Shaanxi border area, seven county governments, Bao'an Corps and Min Tuan and other armed forces of more than 5,000 people.
The Eighth Route Army Headquarters and its directly affiliated troops had more than 3,000 people. The whole army had about 57,000 people. At this time, the Communist Party of China's armed forces reached a total of over 700,000 people.
To strengthen the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China over the Eighth Route Army, the CPC Central Committee made a decision on August 29: under the leadership of the Military Commission of the Central Revolutionary Government, a Front Military Commission Branch was established, abbreviated as the Front Military Branch, later renamed the North China Military Branch. It consisted of nine members, including Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Ren Bishi, Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, He Long, Guan Xiangying, Liu Bocheng and Zhang Hao, with Zhu De and Peng Dehuai as secretary and deputy secretary respectively.
Under the leadership of the Front Military Branch, each division of the Eighth Route Army established a military-political committee responsible for leading the military-political work of the entire division. The 115th Division's military-political committee consisted of Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, Luo Ronghuan, Zhou Kun and Xiao Hua, with Lin Biao as secretary; the 120th Division's military-political committee consisted of He Long, Guan Xiangying, Xiao Ke, Gan Siqi and Wang Zhen, with He Long as secretary; the 129th Division's military-political committee consisted of Liu Bocheng, Zhang Hao, Xu Xiangqian, Chen Geng and Wang Hongkun, with Liu Bocheng as secretary.
After the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, in accordance with the organizational structure of the Nationalist army, the system of political commissars was once abolished and the Political Department was changed to a Political Training Section, thereby lowering the status of political work and affecting the construction of the troops to some extent. In order to strengthen leadership over the political work of the troops, the Commander-in-Chief of the Eighth Route Army Zhu De, Deputy Commander Peng Dehuai, and Director of the Political Department Ren Bishi issued an order on October 24, 1937: The Central Committee of the Communist Party decided to restore the system of political commissars and political organs in the army. Independent regiments and brigades above the regimental level established political commissars, each division set up a political department, and each brigade and regiment set up a political section. Nie Rongzhen, Guan Xiangying, and Zhang Hao were respectively appointed as political commissars of the 115th Division, 120th Division, and 129th Division. Brigade- and regiment-level units also appointed political commissars.
After the Red Army was reorganized, the number of people did not decrease, but the level of organization was greatly reduced. The original three field armies were changed to three divisions, and most of the Red Army cadres had to be demoted. Many high-ranking generals "officer downgraded by three levels", the commander-in-chief of the field army became a division commander, the corps commander became a brigade commander, and the army commander became a regimental commander.
For example, the original Independent First Division and Shaanxi North Independent Regiment were reorganized into the 120th Division's Special Service Battalion, the 29th Army was reorganized into the 129th Division's Special Service Battalion, and the 30th Army was reorganized into the 129th Division's Artillery Battalion.
Many field army leaders were reassigned as division-level cadres in the Eighth Route Army. For example, He Long, commander-in-chief of the Second Field Army, became the commander of the 120th Division, Xiao Ke, deputy commander-in-chief of the Second Field Army, became the deputy commander of the 120th Division, Zhou Shidi, chief of staff of the Second Field Army, became the chief of staff of the 120th Division, and Gan Siqi, director of the Political Department of the Second Field Army, became the deputy director of the Political Department of the 120th Division's Political Training Office.
Many Red Army corps leaders were reassigned as brigade-level cadres in the Eighth Route Army. For example, Xu Haidong, commander of the 15th Corps, became the commander of the 115th Division's 344th Brigade, Chen Bojun, commander of the 6th Corps, became the commander of the 120th Division's 359th Brigade, and Wang Zhen, political commissar of the 2nd Corps, became the deputy commander of the 359th Brigade.
More Red Army division and regiment leaders were reassigned as battalion-level cadres in the Eighth Route Army. For example, Yang Dezhi, commander of the 1st Division's 2nd Regiment, became the commander of the 115th Division's 343rd Brigade's 685th Battalion, Deng Hua, political commissar of the 1st Division's 2nd Regiment, became the director of the Political Training Office of the 685th Battalion, Li Tianyou, commander of the 1st Division's 4th Regiment, became the commander of the 115th Division's 343rd Brigade's 686th Battalion, Yang Yong, political commissar of the 1st Division's 4th Regiment, became the deputy commander of the 686th Battalion, Han Xianchu, commander of the 15th Corps' 78th Division, became the deputy commander of the 115th Division's 344th Brigade's 688th Battalion, Yang Chengwu, commander and political commissar of the 1st Division's 1st Regiment, became the commander of the 115th Division's Independent Battalion, Song Shilun, commander of the 28th Army, became the commander of the 120th Division's 358th Brigade's 716th Battalion, Peng Shaohui, chief of staff of the 6th Corps, became the commander of the 120th Division's Training Battalion, Chen Xilian, commander of the 4th Army's 10th Division, became the commander of the 129th Division's 385th Brigade's 769th Battalion.
Many company and platoon-level cadres had to start over as soldiers.
After the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, high-ranking Kuomintang generals such as Chiang Kai-shek, Chairman of the Military Affairs Commission, Yan Xishan, Vice-Chairman of the Military Affairs Commission and Commander-in-Chief of the Second War Zone, Li Zongren, Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth War Zone, Bai Chongxi, Deputy Chief of Staff, Jiang Dingwen, Acting Director of the Xi'an Branch, and Fu Zuoyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Seventh Army Group, sent congratulatory telegrams to Zhu De and Peng Dehuai, the commanders of the Eighth Route Army.
5,000 words, 3,500 characters, and 1,500 pieces of information. These materials were searched for a long time! What do you think is the best way to train Haoguangquan? With so many Northeastern Army veterans, university students, and technical workers! HOHO
