Chapter 60: The Great Victory at Qingxi Town (Three)

  The Northern Name City Zunyi, located in the Bo Hui Zhang Gongguan on the east side of the Pipa Bridge, Mao Ze, Zhu De, Bo Gu, Zhang Wentian, Wang Jiaxiang, Chen Yun and several other Political Bureau members gathered together.

  Due to the appearance of Liu Yimin, the tunnel meeting was relatively successful and had become the de facto commander of the Red Army. After transferring troops to Guizhou, the Red Army achieved a string of victories. The call within the party and the Red Army units to summarize the experience and lessons of the five encirclement campaigns was very high, prompting Bo Gu and others to have some recognition of the harm caused by their own mistakes. The ideological understanding that led to the intense struggle at the Zunyi Conference had some unity, and the contradictions were relatively eased. Therefore, after the Red Army occupied Zunyi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Zhang Wentian, Wang Jiaxiang and others' proposal to convene a Central Committee meeting quickly received a response from everyone.

  After discussion by several people, it was decided that, apart from the Central Committee members who were to accompany the army on its march, a few leaders of the main military units would be invited to attend. Bogu would represent the Central Committee and make the main report, while Zhou Enlai would give a supplementary report.

  It is proposed that Comrade Liu Yimin, Commander of the Central Guard Regiment, be invited to attend. Old Zhu immediately supported this.

  Bo Gu thought for a moment and said: "This Liu Yimin is indeed good, his words on the way made me think all the way, it's really profound! I agree."

  He was ordered to notify Liu Yimin to lead his troops across the Wu River after the battle and attend a meeting.

  Liu Bocheng reported: "Liu Yimin and the others have already implemented radio silence, temporarily unable to contact them, estimated that they have entered combat readiness."

  Wang Jiaxiang worriedly said: "That's the elite of the Central Army, a full eight divisions, I don't know how many people from the Guard Division will come back this time."

  Puffing on his cigarette, his gaze had already drifted into the distance.

  Zhang Wentian said: "Old Mao, I don't understand military affairs, but using one division to collide with eight divisions, isn't that too risky?"

  Zhou Enlai said: "Comrade Luo Fu, I believe Liu Yimin will not fight without confidence. He won't engage in a fierce battle with the enemy, but will seize opportunities to gain an advantage and then retreat. This Liu Yimin has never been defeated in any major or minor battles since joining the Red Army. I believe he will still bring us pleasant surprises."

  Director Zhu said: "Worrying is useless. Wanting to withdraw is impossible now. Since the Central Revolutionary Military Commission has agreed on his battle plan, let him take charge freely. Although the overall strength is uneven, but being prepared against the unprepared, attacking their vanguard first should be no problem. I remember Comrade Chen Yun saying that the equipment of the Guard Division is much better than the main force. Each regiment has two mortars. I think this time Xue Yue will probably cry."

  "Flinging the cigarette butt away: "It's up to us. Xue Yue isn't some kind of three-headed, six-armed monster. If he doesn't suffer a bit, he won't know the Red Army is invincible. However, still order the troops controlling the crossing to prepare for reception. The Third Army Corps approaches Wujingkou, and the Ninth Army Corps approaches Wujing Crossing from Suiyang and Meitan. Be prepared to cross the river and fight at any time. Reception and escort Comrade Enlai, Zhu De, and Bo Gu."

  Bo Gu said: "I don't understand military affairs. You decide."

  Zhou Enlai had no objection. He said: "Please give orders, Old Zhu!"

  At this time, in Zhenyuan Qingxi Town, the Central Guard Regiment was making tense pre-war preparations.

  An engineer company set up four ropes on the Wuyang River. The top two are for handrails, and the bottom two are fixed pontoons.

  Fortunately, there was a dock here, with ships, which were arranged horizontally and connected with ropes. After laying wooden boards on them, it was done. So the pontoon bridge was built quickly, and the artillery regiment and the heavy machine gun regiment including the mules carrying heavy weapons crossed the river quickly. Before leaving, Liu Jian also asked Luo Yan for a few scouts and found two guides to explore the road from the other side of the river to Yangping Town.

  Wu Zheng led the logistics department's Yang Wei, Ling Kun, Chen Zivu, Li Zongrui, and Tang Xingying to organize a stretcher team in the town. At first, the locals were all hiding in their homes and didn't dare come out. A few people went door-to-door shouting slogans and doing work. Later, when they saw that the Red Army was paying for the requisitioned boats and wooden boards, the crowd finally opened their doors. Fortunately, there were many workers here, and organizing a stretcher team wasn't difficult. Everyone cut down bamboo from the middle, and two pieces of bamboo could make two stretchers. Tang Xingying's mouth corners were all smiling, and Chen Zivu joked that if the division commander under Xue Yue saw Tang Xingying, they would probably surrender without fighting.

  When the Artillery Regiment established its position on the other side of the river, it left behind forty soldiers led by Ding Zhuodong, deputy instructor of the Artillery Regiment.

  Ding Zuodong is a Shandong native. At the age of 17, he was conscripted into the army and promoted to squad leader due to his meritorious service. Later, he went to Guangzhou Huangpu Military Academy to study artillery science. After the Nanchang Uprising broke out, he interrupted his studies and joined the Red Army in the Soviet area. At the beginning of the Long March, he served as the commander of the Artillery Battalion of the Military Commission. During the battle against the Fifth Red Army at Xinhuang, Ding Zuodong was injured by a shell fired by the Guangxi army and left behind at the battlefield hospital in Xinhuang, where he was rescued by Liu Yimin. Due to his minor injury, during the reorganization at the Xiangjiang River, he joined the 18th Regiment. This man has a long face shaped like a melon, with a full forehead, small eyes, wearing glasses with a frame number of 400, a straight nose bridge, slightly thick lips, and two sunken cheeks, making him look somewhat thin and pale. Wearing casual clothes, many people would think he is a school teacher.

  Yesterday afternoon, when the artillery regiment commander Li Chang and Zeng Zhao were tinkering with a gasoline barrel, he arrived on the scene. After asking Li Chang, he learned that it was the division commander who had ordered the development of new weapons. Ding Zhuodong studied artillery and was very interested in improving cannons. As soon as he heard about it, he became enthusiastic. The three of them tinkered for an entire afternoon and finally succeeded in creating something. They pulled it out to the outskirts of the city to test it, but damn, everything worked except that the distance was too short. Li Chang then handed Liu Yimin over

  Said one side, Zeng Zhao and Ding Zhuodong pondered for a moment and understood that it was because T was too small. This made things easier, increasing the amount of gunpowder would do the trick. They tried again twice, both times very satisfactory. Then they selected 40 soldiers to operate the trial, and soon the soldiers grasped it. Now, today they brought it up.

  Ding Zhuodong led the soldiers to dig a pit in a forest 100 meters away from the highway, lined up more than a dozen gasoline barrels in a row, and set up a bracket. Then they cut down trees and bamboos that blocked the line of sight, using branches for camouflage.

  The infantrymen behind did not know what to do with these oil barrels, and they were in the way of their view. They asked them to move away. Ding Zuodong said mysteriously: "Wait until you open it, you will know how powerful these guys are. This is a new weapon developed by Engineer Zeng under the guidance of our division commander. We just succeeded in testing it this afternoon."

  Thus, our army's thunderbolt cannon, which would shake the enemy's gallbladder in later generations, made its grand debut 13 years ahead of schedule.

  He Mingliang led the three companies of engineers along the mountain path for more than two hours before reaching the highway on the east side of Yangping Town. Seeing that time was running out, he ordered Company Commander Hu Zijun to hurry up. The soldiers shoveled away the snow and put it aside, digging a large pit every 30 meters, bundling several packets of explosives together, connecting them with detonating cords, covering them with wooden boards, and then piling stones on top, padding with soil, and tamping down firmly. He Mingliang and Hu Zijun inspected each pit one by one, feeling that it was safe to walk on top before letting the soldiers cover it with snow and sweep it flat with branches and bamboo shoots. After checking that everything was ready, He Mingliang led the soldiers to bury the electric wires and retreat to the forest on the mountain slope to wait for the enemy's arrival.

  Li Lingfeng led the second and third squads of the sniper company to the mountain behind Qingxi Town. He estimated that the enemy's vanguard was two divisions, and there would be at least two or more search teams, so he divided the troops into three small teams. He himself led two classes to ambush in the easternmost part, which is close to the direction of the enemy's approach. The second squad leader Zhao Zhiyu led two classes to ambush in the middle, and the third squad leader Wang Lao Hu led two classes to ambush in the west. The combat sequence was set as follows: Wang Lao Hu's team would take action first. If the number of people in the enemy's first search team was large, Zhao Zhiyu should support Wang Lao Hu in time. They must capture live enemies and clarify the enemy's communication method. Still feeling uneasy, he arranged for He Shan, the fourth squad leader who was good at digging traps, to lead soldiers to set up traps on the mountain road.

  At 11:30, Luo Yan reported that the vanguard scouts had found the enemy searching [towards Qingxi Town]. Luo Yan further reported that there were two branches of enemy search parties, which had passed through Yangping Town and were advancing towards Qingxi Town along the mountain ridge.

  Liu Yimin immediately ordered the whole regiment to conceal itself and ordered Li Lingfeng to prepare for battle.

  Luo Yang reported that the enemy vanguard regiment passed through Yangping Town. Luo Yang reported that the main force of two enemy divisions arrived in Yangping Town.

  Zhao Yonggang was a new warrior who had just joined the Red Army. At that time, he was locked in prison for failing to assassinate the county magistrate of Tongdao County. After being rescued by the Red Army, out of gratitude, he enlisted in the Red Army. Li Qingyi, who was responsible for expanding the Red Army, asked and found out that Zhao Yonggang was a complex Jianghu Hanzi with a flying knife technique, so he recommended him to the sniper company. When Liu Yimin came to inspect the training situation at the sniper company, he found that not only did Zhao Yonggang use his flying knives well, but his short gun shooting skills were also high, and he was particularly skilled in close combat. He pointed out a few moves of combat techniques to Zhao Yonggang, broadening his horizons. Now, he is hiding with squad leader Wang Lao Hu on the mountain behind Qingxi Town, staring intently at the direction where the enemy search party may come from, without blinking an eye.

  Zhao Yonggang and his comrades-in-arms were very skilled at ambushes, taking advantage of the dense trees and bamboo to sweep away the snow from their hiding spots, then covering themselves with branches and bamboo tips, making it difficult for people to spot them even when walking right in front of them.

  The enemy finally appeared, about 30 people, with an officer leading the team. It seems that the enemy is very cunning, and they stop every now and then to observe the surroundings of the mountain top and the highway below, as well as the movements in the town. Seeing that the enemy has finally walked to a place 10 meters in front of him, if he takes another step forward, it will be the trap set by He Shan. Zhao Yong quietly took out his flying knife.

  The captain of the 59th Brigade's search team, Zhang Hu, was a scout by origin. His long years of war had cultivated his habit of being extremely cautious every time he went on a mission. This morning at 8 o'clock when they left Yushan County, the brigade commander personally called him over and repeatedly instructed him to be careful, not to miss any clues, no matter how small, and to signal if there was any problem, and never again make the same mistake as the Xiang Army did. Therefore, all along the way, he was very serious, preferring to move a bit slower rather than overlook any suspicious point.

  Look, we've already arrived at Qingxi Town. Standing on the mountain head, observing carefully for a while, everything in the town seems normal. The binoculars show that all the shops are open, and the steel mill's smoke is still rising continuously. Zhang Hu then stopped to signal, notifying the 93rd Division's search team and his own division's vanguard company to advance.

  Just finished the signal, was about to lead the brothers to continue forward, when a brother beside him fell into a trap. Zhang Hu went up to take a look, damn it, really unlucky, originally it was a hunter's trap, estimated to be prepared for hunting big animals like black bears, inside were inserted sharpened bamboo sticks, piercing that unlucky egg thoroughly.

  "Brothers, keep your eyes wide open and watch the road carefully, don't get yourselves lost again."

  The brothers gathered around, took a cold breath, and one of them spoke up: "Captain, there's no sign of anything, let's head down the mountain and take the main road. Weren't we told that the Red Bandits are in Zunyi? We can't scare ourselves. If we keep going like this, I'm afraid we'll send our brothers to the gates of hell before we even catch a glimpse of the Red Bandits."

  "Shut your mother's fart! Stop spouting nonsense and shaking the morale of the troops, or I'll kill you! The commander has given orders that after this mission is completed, we will be rewarded according to our merits. You have a grudge against Dayang, don't you?"

  The brother who was speaking stopped talking and the other brothers also didn't say much anymore.

  "Brothers, when we arrive at the county town of Zhenyuan, I'll treat you to a feast. That place is a famous pleasure ground on the Hunan-Guizhou border, with plenty of wine to drink and meat to eat as much as you want. As for women... heh heh, that's something you brothers will have to pay for yourselves!"

  The brothers' emotions are up, haha, and they start talking dirty.

  Zhang Hu saw his words take effect and immediately put on a stern face: "Shut up, you're not allowed to speak. Get out!"

  He had only taken two steps when he felt a white light in front of his eyes, and hastily lowered his head. It was too late, the flying knife accurately inserted into his throat.

  Zhang Hu came just in time to let out an "ah" and fell to the ground.

  The soldiers who were about to come out saw the captain collapse to the ground and thought they had encountered another hunter's trap, so they rushed over to check. A few alert ones saw that there was still a flying knife stuck in the captain's neck and immediately shouted: "Enemy attack, scatter quickly!"

  Unfortunately, it was too late. Wang Lao Hu led two squads of soldiers to charge up like a whirlwind. These were all skilled fighters, no one used guns, basically they used bayonets and knives. All that could be heard was the sound of "pu pu qi qi", more than 30 enemies fell in an instant, half of them were knocked down.

  A soldier raised his gun and pulled the bolt, he was fast, but the flying knife was faster. Before he could open the bolt, the flying knife had already been inserted into his chest. He looked at the flying knife, relaxed his hand, and the gun fell to the ground, and he also lay down immediately.

  The other soldiers looked at this group of people with a ferocious and sinister appearance, and obediently raised their hands.

  The same scene was reenacted at Li Lingfeng's place 20 minutes later. The only difference was that the surrendered enemy had increased a bit.

  Receiving the signal from the search team, the vanguard of the enemy was unscrupulous and quickly arrived at Qingxi Town along the highway.

  Everything is normal in the town. Seeing them coming, the residents fled in all directions. The enemy company commander thought to himself, after all, it's a remote area, they came and didn't even know how to organize a welcome. Forget it! Don't bother with these petty people. He turned around and ordered the signal soldier: "Report to headquarters, my vanguard company has entered and occupied Qingxi Town, everything is normal."

  After finishing speaking, he didn't care if the reporter was done or not, and led a group of soldiers to a restaurant, sat down, opened his mouth and shouted: "Boss, bring a pot of hot tea, I've walked for a whole road, it's exhausting."

  The shopkeeper's wife nodded and went to make tea. The enemy commander looked up and saw, wow, this small shop is not bad, the boss's daughter is really beautiful. She looks like she's only 16 or 17 years old, tall and slender, with curved eyebrows and eyes as pure as spring water. What a pity that I have a mission, otherwise I would definitely pick this flower. Since it can't be done in reality, just satisfying my mouth and hand cravings will do.

  The enemy commander walked up to the little girl in three strides, saying "Whose daughter is so pretty? Can't find a husband for her? Let me take a look. Tomorrow I'll find an official to be your mistress, and you can eat and drink well." His hand reached out to touch the girl's face.

  Before his hand had even fallen, the enemy company commander's eyes widened in shock, and he raised his hands, taking a step back. The little girl who had been standing there with her head bowed just moments before suddenly produced a small handgun from nowhere, its muzzle trained squarely on the commander's forehead.

  The enemy commander retreated while thinking, it's over, I've encountered the Red Bandits. I said why this small restaurant would have such a beautiful little girl, it turns out that the Red Bandits set up an ambush and cheated themselves. Behind him, he didn't see his comrades taking action, probably because they were the same as him. Damn it, just sent a safety telegram to the commander, and then something happened on this side. This is still the first battalion's fault, actually being so easily dealt with by the Red Bandits, it's humiliating, I'm not convinced! Probably the search party's guys ended up like me too, who let them send normal signals, letting me and my comrades be deceived?

  Actually, the enemy company commander didn't lose out at all. The ones who designed this plan were Wu Zheng, Chief of Staff Zhang Yicheng and Second Guard Regiment Commander Zhang Hongtao, while Tang Xingying disguised herself as a little girl. These people are all big shots! So, many years later, when this company commander bragged to others, he would always say you guys count for nothing, think about it, back in the day old man was even captured by Wu Zheng, Zhang Yicheng, Zhang Hongtao and Tang Xingying's design. That guy, does an ordinary person have that kind of luck? It's still because old man is awesome!

  Actually, at this time, every shop in Qingxi Town was run by cadres and soldiers of the Second Regiment. The enemy company commander would not dare to enter a small restaurant, and even if he went to other shops, he would be captured. He just couldn't see Tang Xingyan, the most beautiful female soldier of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army Central Guard Regiment.

  After the enemy's vanguard was dealt with, the 4th Battalion of the 2nd Regiment quickly set up a blocking position at Qingxi Town entrance, relying on the terrain. The two mortars and heavy machine guns of the original fire support company under the 4th Battalion were also deployed in place. The 5th and 6th Battalions and affiliated units were all deployed on the mountain slope beside the highway at the town entrance. Everything was ready, Zhang Hongtao climbed behind a stone wall at the town entrance, holding binoculars to observe the highway, muttering to himself "Come on, come on, Central Army, come and get served!"

  Finally, the enemy's main force appeared in the telescope. Zhang Hongtao immediately turned around and ordered the communication officer: "Notify everyone, I don't fire, no one is allowed to fire!"

  Everyone, book friends, use your monthly tickets to support Liu Yimin, use your monthly tickets to raise the red star! Thank you, thank you, thank you very much!