Chapter Five: Decision

  "Let's talk about our family background." Chen Haisong wiped his mouth and said to everyone.

  "Reporting to the Political Commissar, our current troop strength is 623 people. In the last battle, we lost 7 men and have 460 combat-effective personnel, with 163 wounded."

  There are 3 mortars, 20 shells, 6 light machine guns, more than 4,000 bullets, 700 rifles, 8,000 rounds of ammunition, 50 shotguns, and 2,000 rounds of ammunition. More than 500 hand grenades.

  There were also over 1,000 cavalry sabers and 1,500 short daggers captured. 6,000 yuan was collected, as well as over 400 pieces of gold and silver jewelry. A total of 178 prisoners were taken." Zhang Zhenyu reported.

  "It's okay, can support one or two battles."

  "What's everyone planning to do next?"

  "Let's rest for a night and return to Shahe Town tomorrow to join forces with the military."

  "Does everyone think so?" Seeing everyone nodding silently, Chen Haisong picked up the enemy's document on the table and waved it, saying:

  "Comrades, the current situation is extremely critical. The enemy has grasped our weak points and deployed in a long line, taking advantage of their superior forces and the mobility of their cavalry to implement a strategy of divide and conquer, defeating us one by one."

  Our troops are far apart, with a shortage of radio stations, and cannot report to each other. Even if we know the enemy's situation, reinforcements in the wild will be surrounded and destroyed by the enemy.

  On January 1, Dong Junzhong led the main force of the Fifth Army with 3,000 men to occupy Gaotai. The enemy mobilized more than 20,000 people on the 15th to besiege and attack Gaotai, taking advantage of their numerical superiority to encircle our Ninth Army and Thirtieth Army.

  Our army didn't know about the siege of Gaotai until the 21st, and sent a cavalry division to rescue it. Halfway through, they were surrounded by the enemy, and Division Commander Dong and Political Commissar Qin sacrificed themselves, with the troops being dispersed.

  The high platform was lost on the 21st, and all of them, including General Dong, Director Yang, and Commander Ye of the 13th Division, were sacrificed.

  The day before yesterday, the enemy launched an attack on Linze, where the logistics organs of the Western Route Army and the Fifth Army were stationed, with almost no combat effectiveness.

  The 14th Division Commander Guo Xishan defected to the enemy again, and Huang Chaoguang, the political commissar of the Fifth Army, asked for help through radio. We arrived here and rescued several hundred people, including Huang Zheng, the head of the department, who broke out at night.

  "I reckon that Shaherbaao will also be surrounded and attacked by the enemy's heavy troops at this moment. If we go back now, I'm afraid it will be of no use, and instead, our entire army will be annihilated."

  "Are we just going to watch as the Ninth Army is annihilated?" Wang Da-yong exclaimed excitedly.

  Chen Haisong looked at everyone's distorted expression due to indignation and sadness, patted Wang Dayong's shoulder, and said in a low voice: "Shahebao is closer to Nijiaoying. If Vice Commander-in-Chief Wang and his men choose to break through, they will soon meet with the headquarters and the 30th Army. There are still 13,400 people there, relying on the village stronghold, and the enemy cannot do anything for the time being."

  His tone changed, and he said loudly: "What I'm worried about now is the future. In a place as big as Nie's family camp, more than 10,000 people are trapped inside. The more they fight, the fewer people there will be. Without replenishment of food and ammunition, even drinking water may become a problem. How long can they hold on?"

  "We must break through, we have over 10,000 people, huddled together, fighting our way back, it's better than starving to death." Shi Junfu said anxiously.

  "I think we should break through to the west and fight our way to Xinjiang, where we can get Soviet assistance." Zhang Zhenyu also expressed his own views.

  Several people argued with each other, expressing their concerns about the situation and ways to resolve it.

  "Alright, alright." Chen Haisong coughed twice, and everyone quieted down.

  "Has everyone thought about it, in the cold winter, with insufficient clothing and food, without ammunition, in the face of the enemy's superior forces, how far can we break through, how to ensure personnel safety, how to maintain combat effectiveness. It's better to rely on village strongholds like now, solid defense, restrict cavalry advantages, wait slowly for the change of situation." Everyone nodded helplessly.

  "Can the situation be turned around?" Sun Fei asked.

  The situation must be fundamentally changed, that is, the Ma bandit army should stop fighting. The Ma bandit army itself will not take the initiative to stop, because if they don't fight, Chiang Kai-shek will send the Central Army to Hexi to fight, and Ma Bufang doesn't want us to stay here, nor does he want the Central Army to occupy his territory, so he has to fight with a hard head.

  We can only think of a way out from outside. Firstly, the central government and Chiang Kai-shek reached an agreement to stop the civil war and ordered the Ma family army to withdraw their troops, and we retreated.

  "Chiang Kai-shek wouldn't do that, he'd rather see our two families destroy each other so he can reap the benefits. That's just what Wang Jialie is like." Sun Fei shook his head in disagreement.

  "Secondly, the central government sends a strong support force with a large amount of food and ammunition to lift the siege, or attack Lanzhou and Xining, surround Wei to rescue Zhao, and relieve our predicament."

  Seeing everyone's expectant gaze, he said "But how many troops would have to be sent, how much material consumed, can Yan'an afford it?"

  After Chiang Kai-shek returned to Nanjing, he immediately put Zhang Xueliang under house arrest and dispatched 400,000 troops to prepare for a military solution against the Northeast Army and Northwest Army. Then they would surround and suppress our base area. The Red Army had fought its way through thousands of miles and finally found a place to settle down; how could we lightly give it up? Even if we gave it up, where else could we go?

  So, the central government is under tremendous pressure at this moment, with only 40,000 troops in hand, and they definitely can't afford to take care of us here." Everyone couldn't help but sigh and lament.

  "Don't lose heart, everyone, there's still a way to make the bandits think they can't win."

  "What are you fighting for?" "Food, grass and ammunition;" "How does the army fight?" "Carry out the combat plan of the superior."

  "What did you think of it?" "Ambush the baggage train." "Blow up the enemy's ammunition depot." "Raid the enemy headquarters."

  "Very well, there are many ways to break the passive situation and change the situation. As long as we abandon the rigid and conservative defensive tactics, find the enemy's weak link, play our mobile and flexible tactical advantages, and actively insert a knife in the enemy's soft ribs, we will certainly force the bandits to think that they cannot fight."

  "Commissar, what's the plan?" "Commissar, give the order!" "As long as we can rescue the troops, I, Wang Dajun, will brave the knife mountain and fire sea!"

  "Everyone, don't be in a hurry, take a look at this notice." He handed a piece of paper to Zhang Zhenyu.

  Zhang Zhenyu read from the lantern: "I ordered Ma Zhan to lead the troops, taking advantage of the chaos at night, and launched a fierce pursuit. We killed over 100 bandits, captured dozens, and sent the captives to be imprisoned in Ganzhou City."

  Han Qi led the troops to Changyuan, where they ambushed and defeated the bandits. The defense of Ganzhou City was entrusted to Ma Quanyi's brigade, which also handled the treatment of wounded soldiers, transportation of wounded soldiers, burial of fallen officers and men, and transportation of military supplies to the front lines.

  "Is the political commissar going to attack Zhangye? Zhangye is indeed worth attacking, as all the supplies from Qinghai and Lanzhou are stockpiled there. But precisely because it's so important, the defenses must be very strong. In the past, the 3,000-strong Red Fifth Army couldn't do it, can our 600 men succeed?" Zhang Zhenyu asked skeptically after reacting.

  A frontal assault is definitely not feasible. At first, the enemy discovered our plan and made early defenses, with one brigade of Han Qigong inside the city and three cavalry regiments outside the city. The attack was very hasty and there were no heavy weapons, facing a strong city without any strategy, so we had to go around the west side, being charged by the cavalry in a rather disheveled manner.

  But it seems everyone has forgotten that we are the Fourth Route Army, we are our own people, sending wounded soldiers, sending prisoners of war, receiving ammunition and food supplies, there are many reasons.

  The enemy focused all their attention on Nijiayang, Zhangye was already a big rear base and would not be easily attacked. Even King Han Qi of Zhangye led his troops to conquer, Ma Quanyi only managed the logistics supplies.

  As long as we make reasonable arrangements, we can successfully disguise ourselves and infiltrate Zhangyecity to carry out a surprise attack. Inside, there is only one regiment of Ma Quanyi, which has to take care of receiving and transporting, treating wounded soldiers, and managing prisoners of war. The personnel are scattered, making it easy to divide and surround.

  "As long as we control the four gates, launch a surprise attack on Ma Zhongyi's headquarters, then slowly eliminate the remaining enemies, rescue more than 2,000 captured comrades, and expand our forces. The seemingly solid city defense will also be breached. The enemy's ammunition and food supplies will be under our control."

  "Alright, let's launch a disguised surprise attack."

  "There is something that needs to be done now, it's very important!" "We don't have enough personnel and with the wounded, we only have more than 600 people, and those who can fight are only over 400. It's hard to control the situation. Just now, when I was chatting with the sentry in the village, I learned that this afternoon, Ma Fei's cavalry division will return from Linzei with many of our captured comrades."

  "Their base is just two miles northeast of us in Dujiabao. Now they must be celebrating, the defense will be very lax, we need to sneak into their lair, eliminate them and rescue our comrades. With just a thousand people, we can control Zhangye City."

  Seeing no dissent, Chen Haisong said in a deep voice: "Order: Each company will immediately rest and assemble at 2 am to set off. The first and second companies of the Guard Battalion will follow me into the camp with daggers and sabers, trying not to use guns."

  The third company brought machine guns, rifles and mortars, and established a defensive position one mile outside the village, facing Linze direction, paying attention to keeping warm and avoiding firelight.

  "Zhang Ying-chang led a squad of guards to stay behind and guard the house, take care of the wounded, keep an eye on the captives, and strictly defend the gate."

  "Yes."