Volume 1: Red Star Over China Chapter 69: By the Banks of the Wu River (Part 2)

  After the plane flew away, Liu Yimin judged that the enemy plane would not come again in the short term. After all, the loss was unprecedented for the air force at that time. The psychological shock to the airmen needed time to digest.

  Liu Yimin and Cai Zhong discussed and decided to cancel the troops' camping, hurry up and cross the river. After arriving at the north bank of Wujing River, they would arrange for camping again. The radio station was ordered to send a telegram to the Central Military Commission: "The vanguard regiment of our department has arrived at Huidongchang Ferry on the Wujing River and shot down 9 enemy planes. We are determined to cross the entire division over the Wujing River today." Liu also ordered Zhao Jie to lead a battalion to quickly cross the river, contact the troops left behind by the three military teams of the Fifth Military Team, and arrange for them to send people to guide and arrange the camping problem.

  The guards received orders from various departments. They immediately took action and rushed quickly to the ferry terminal.

  Xue Yue, who was far away in Yushan, received a telegram from the headquarters. It told him that according to air reconnaissance, the Red Bandits had signs of crossing the Wujiang River to the north. He was ordered to quickly reorganize his troops and continue advancing towards Guiyang. The commanders of the 59th and 93rd divisions were ordered to return to Nanjing to rebuild their units. The 90th and 13th divisions would replenish their personnel locally after occupying Guiyang. The necessary weapons and ammunition would be coordinated by Xue Yue, with any shortages made up for by the Central Army's follow-up troops rushing from Jiangxi.

  Telegram ends with special instructions. According to reliable intelligence, in Qingxi Town and Yangping Town, they are fighting against the Central Guard Regiment of the Red Bandits, not the main force of Zhu Mao's Red Bandits. The bandit leader is Liu Yimin. This bandit is tactically flexible, sinister and cunning. They had ambushed three regiments of He Jian's troops at Xiaoshuixikou and fled to Wujing River. At dawn today, they shot down nine of our air force planes. From now on, when fighting against the Reds, we must pay extra attention to this bandit's movements to avoid repeating the mistakes of Qingxi Town and Yangping Town.

  Xue Yue's face was covered in cold sweat. The commander-in-chief was thousands of miles away, yet he knew more than Xue did himself. After being toyed with for half a day, the Red Bandits, who only had the strength of one division, managed to devour over 30,000 of his own men. How humiliating! It's really humiliating! If I had known that the Red Bandits only had one division, wouldn't my own elite troops of 100,000 have been enough to make them flee in all directions?

  Xue Yue was again moved to tears. He had not expected that the situation of the 59th and 93rd Divisions being completely annihilated would be known by Commander-in-Chief Chiang so quickly. And yet, Commander-in-Chief Chiang did not blame him. Instead, he allowed the two division commanders to return to Nanjing to reorganize their troops. Even the issue of replenishing the 90th and 93rd Divisions was arranged. Such a broad-minded leader is truly worthy of my loyalty unto death!

  After arranging for Han Ying and Tang Yunshan to return to Nanjing, Xue Yue convened a military meeting in Yushui City. He decided that the entire army would advance towards Guiyang, first controlling the Guizhou government. After the Central Army arrived in Guizhou from Jiangxi, they would then mobilize the main force to march north and pursue the Red Bandits.

  Then. On the morning of December 26, Xue Yue's vanguard set out from Yushan along the Xiang-Qian highway towards Zhenyuan. After resting in Zhenyuan, they planned to quickly advance on Guiyang. However, this time Xue Yue had learned his lesson. He dispatched all his cavalry to carry out reconnaissance and search missions. The main force then concentrated into a single unit, advancing along the highway in dense formation. The distance between units was very small. From the air, it looked like a large snake slithering below. To say nothing of Liu Yimin's troops having already withdrawn, even if they were still here, there would be no way to attack them.

  Across from the Bayi Stadium, defending the ferry terminal was a battalion of the 101st Regiment of the 34th Division of the Red Fifth Army. Just now when enemy planes came to attack, all the soldiers dispersed and hid. While worrying that the floating bridge wouldn't be kept safe, they saw the Guards troops who had rushed over from the opposite bank start firing at the air. The soldiers were a bit worried - could the light machine guns really shoot down the planes? Later, they saw Liu Yimin standing alone on the south bank, holding his gun ready to fire at the air. Many soldiers' hearts rose to their throats, afraid that enemy planes would hit Liu Yimin.

  The warriors of the 101st Brigade basically all knew Liu Yimin. From the new breakout, Liu Yimin led the spearhead company and spearhead battalion to walk in the front. However, after the battle of Gulingtou and the battle of Xiangjiang River, he was with the 3rd Division. Such a legendary figure, it's impossible not to know him. Moreover, there were more than 100 soldiers from the 34th Division's spearhead company in the Central Guard Division!

  Actually, since Liu Yimin joined the Red Army after crossing over, the closest Red Army unit to him was still the 3rd Division. Although the original 10th Regiment belonged to the 3rd Corps, Liu Yimin himself was a new recruit of the 3rd Corps and had not fought alongside the troops of the 3rd Corps before. Except for Commander Peng, who had a natural sense of closeness due to historical reasons, he was unfamiliar with the leaders of other divisions in the 3rd Corps.

  So, seeing Liu Yimin shoot down the enemy plane, all the soldiers of the 1st Battalion were boiling. When the enemy plane came again for the second time, Liu Yimin ordered the machine gunners of the 1st Company and the Guard Company to form a machine gun ambush and successfully attacked the enemy plane. The battalion commander Zhang Feng immediately ordered the signal corps to report to Commander Chen Shuxiang. "Liu Lianchang is back! Commander Liu and his men are back!" The vanguard of the Guards Division had already arrived on the other side of the Wujiang River, shooting down nine enemy planes. The soldiers couldn't care about covering themselves anymore, running from the top of the mountain to the riverbank, shouting Liu Yimin's name and the names of old comrades like Wang Dahu. Soon they merged with the 1st Company who had crossed the pontoon bridge.

  Zhang Feng also ran down with the soldiers. At a glance, most of the officers were from the 1st Battalion of the Guard Regiment or the Sharp Knife Company of the 34th Division, or the old 18th Regiment that was rescued at Gulingtou. The emotions suddenly rose up. Together with the soldiers, they hugged and shook hands with the soldiers of the 1st Battalion. Even punching each other in the chest, they were affectionate to the extreme.

  When Zhao Jie and Wang Da Hu found Zhang Feng to discuss the accommodation problem after crossing the river, Zhang Feng only knew that the original platoon leader of the 100th regiment had become the battalion commander of the guard division. After asking other cadres and soldiers from the original spearhead company, he learned that these soldiers were now at least squad leaders. The original platoon leaders and squad leaders of the spearhead company are now all battalion and company cadres. In his heart, he sighed that winning troops are indeed promoted quickly.

  Zhao Jie and Wang Da Hu led the soldiers with Zhang Feng and others to Xin Kou. The Hui Long Chang ferry terminal temporarily quieted down.

  At this time, Liu Yimin and Cai Zhong arrived at a boatman's home in Duhekou.

  Since crossing over, Liu Yimin has been in the midst of marching and waging war. He rarely directly interacted with poor commoners. His feelings about the lives of ordinary people at that time were not very deep.

  This is where the boatman's family lives. Only then did I understand what was meant by the evil old society.

  In the thatched hut of a black hole, two people were curled up on the bed against the wall. Upon inquiry, it was found to be the wife and daughter of the boatman. Liu Yimin thought they were sick in bed, so he told the boatman to let the Red Army doctor take a look when the main force arrived. The boatman was embarrassed and told Liu Yimin that his wife and daughter were not ill, but had no cotton-padded jackets to wear, so they lay on the bed.

  Liu Yimin could not have imagined that the stories written in books would come alive before his eyes. It felt a bit unreal. He asked, "Fellow villager, you make money every day by ferrying people across the river. Why don't you buy warm clothes for your wife and daughter?"

  The boatman said: "The officer may not know. We can make some money by ferrying people across. But Hou Zhi has stationed a row of soldiers here and there are also tax collectors who come to collect money every day. Sometimes

  They're just looking for excuses to fine us. They've taken away all the little money we made. What's left is barely enough to buy some food, let alone warm clothing."

  Liu Yimin asked again: "Hou Ziduan is already finished. We will pay you to ferry us Red Army soldiers, why don't you buy clothes yet?"

  "The boatman said, 'Don't mention it. The Red Army passed by here a few days ago. They really gave us money. I was thinking of buying some cloth and cotton in Yuqing City to make winter clothes for my wife and children. Who knew that halfway through, I encountered the self-defense team hiding in the mountains? Not only did they take away our money, but they also beat me up, saying I was a traitor and wanted to shoot me dead. Luckily, I'm familiar with the road, so I ran halfway. Otherwise, I'd probably be dead.'"

  Liu Yimin thought that there was really no way. The Red Army was relocating and it was impossible to suppress the bandits and establish a regime here. These self-defense teams hid again, and they really couldn't do anything about them. So he instructed the soldiers to leave some warm clothes and dry rations for the boatmen's families.

  Holding the cotton-padded jacket and dry rations given by the warriors, the boatman shouted "Red Army Bodhisattva" and immediately knelt down in front of Liu Yimin. Liu Yimin hastily pulled him up and patiently told him that the Red Army is a team of poor people, fighting for the poor, and does not allow kneeling or kowtowing.

  When a civilian went out, the boatman asked the Red Army Bodhisattva when they could kill these damned bandit soldiers.

  Liu Yimin thought for a moment and said: "It may take a very long time. But as long as the poor people of the world unite, they will definitely be able to defeat these robbers!"

  Out of the boat house, Liu Yimin's mood suddenly cleared up. The idea that had been lingering in his subconscious mind, wondering if eliminating too many would weaken the power to resist war in the future, was swept away. Chiang Kai-shek's reactionary regime and his reactionary army deserved to be overthrown and eliminated. A regime that made people live so miserably didn't have any reason to exist. He just let the soldiers give some dry food and a few pieces of clothing to the boat workers. The boat worker shouted "Red Army Bodhisattva". It shows that ordinary people are cursing Chiang Kai-shek to death, which is not excessive at all. Having figured out this point, Yimin couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  Cai didn't know what Liu was thinking in his heart. He thought that the teacher had seen the miserable situation of the boatman's family and was stimulated. So he comforted Liu, saying: "The situation is like this all over China. If people can eat their fill and wear warm clothes, who would want to join the Red Army? You haven't even seen people eating each other yet. I reckon you'll faint when you do."

  Liu Yimin was choked for half a day before blurting out: "Chiang deserves to die!"

  Two people returned to the ferry terminal when one group after another had already boarded. The soldiers had begun crossing the river.

  Liu Jian reported: "He Xinghua intercepted a telegram from Xue Yue. Xue Yue's troops departed from Yuping this morning and are rushing to Zhenyuan, with the goal of taking Guiyang."

  After finishing the report, Liu Jian said: "Master, shall we find a place to deal with him again?"

  Liu Yimin shook his head: "There is no opportunity now. It's not always possible to launch a surprise attack."

  "If I'm right, Xue Yue must have led his troops in a tight group this time. We can't budge them."

  Liu Jian hastily said: "Are we just going to let them off scot-free?"

  Liu Yimin looked up at the sky and said slowly, "Don't worry. We have plenty of time and opportunities. They can't run to heaven. Our current task is to lead the troops to Zunyi for rest and reorganization. Xue Yue will find us to take revenge. He won't give up easily. If he knows we only have one division, he'll keep an eye on us all the time. Let's wait until we finish our reorganization..."

  Liu Jianli angrily said: "It serves those white dogs right!"

  Tsai Chung-wen asked where the troops directly under his command had reached. Liu Chien-ping replied that they were just behind, not far away. The artillery regiment was a bit further away. The logistics regiment had not yet arrived at the county seat.

  Liu Yimin told Cai Zhong to follow Liu and leave first. Cai Zhong shook his head and said, "I'm not leaving. I want to stay and watch you. If the enemy planes come again, I won't let you show off again. Others can't take care of you, I'm worried!"

  Liu Yimin smiled and said: "Commissar, you can rest assured and leave. The enemy planes won't come!"

  Cai Zhong said: "You can say whatever you want. I won't leave."

  Liu Jian hastily asked what was going on. Cai Zhong briefly told Liu Yimin about the story of shooting down two enemy planes. Liu Jian's eyes widened in shock upon hearing it. It's even more incredible than the stories told by storytellers! Our division commander is really too amazing! He hurriedly pulled Liu Yimin to ask how he did it.

  Liu Yimin said: "Actually, there's nothing to it. When the enemy plane dives towards me, it's a straight diagonal line. I can even see the pilot's face clearly. Shooting him down is just a matter of course. As for organizing machine guns and deploying anti-aircraft defenses, the key is to calculate the direction and lead time of the enemy planes accurately. This is also one of the topics we will cover in this training session. When the time comes, I will explain it in detail."

  Liu Jian said: "You'd better tell me first. I feel very profound."

  Cai Zhong looked at Liu Jianli's anxious appearance and said to him, "What are you in a hurry for? The instructor has already said that this is a training subject. Can't you, as the chief of staff, learn from it? Hurry up, the troops have almost finished."

  Liu Jianli hastily saluted his superior and said, "I'll see you on the north bank of the Wu River." Then he hurriedly left.

  It wasn't until the afternoon that Wu Zeng's logistics unit arrived at the crossing. At this time, the artillery regiment, heavy machine gun regiment, engineer regiment, cavalry regiment and divisional troops had already crossed the river. Behind them, Li Qing led the third echelon of the 5th, 6th and 7th regiments to follow up. For a while, the Huidongchang crossing was bustling with people shouting and horses neighing.

  The big truck definitely can't get through. Wu Zheng let the logistics team's soldiers unload the weapons, ammunition and other supplies from the big truck. Sent away the car money. Arranged for the requisitioned trucks to return to Zhenyuan. Then he found Liu Yimin Cai Zhong. Asked what to do with so many supplies?

  Liu Yimin said one word: "Endure!"

  He was the first to walk over and shoulder two boxes of shells and walked onto the pontoon bridge.

  Tsai Chung-ye also shouldered a box of shells and followed onto the pontoon bridge.

  Li Qingyi ordered the cadres and soldiers of the 456th regiment to transport supplies across the pontoon bridge.

  After crossing the pontoon bridge, Liu Yimin saw that it was impossible to move all the materials at once. He ordered Li Qing to lead the soldiers in carrying the supplies up the mountain and returned to ask Wu Zheng to organize the unorganized prisoners of war to transport the supplies.

  It wasn't until the supplies had been transported that it was almost dark. The rear guard of the Third Regiment also arrived. Liu Yimin ordered the Third Regiment to hurry up and cross the river.

  After the three troops passed by, Liu Yimin and Cai Zhongcai led the first guard company to step onto the pontoon bridge and cross the Wujiang River.

  Liu Yimin climbed the steep mountain road along the Wujing River for ten miles. When he reached the top of the mountain, it was already pitch black. From a distance, he saw several teams carrying torches rushing towards the guard team's torch-carrying team.

  Tsai said: "I estimate that the leaders of the three military units and nine military units have arrived".

  Liu Yimin

  "Let's go and greet them!"

  Two people rode horses and hurried forward.

  Arrived at the front. Liu Yimin was startled. The welcoming formation is too luxurious! Peng Zong can be recognized at a glance. The thin and small one next to him should be the army corps commander. The sturdy and solid one next to him doesn't know who it is, but looking at Chen Shuxiang standing behind him, he understands that it must be Dong Junzhang of the 5th Army Corps. Since several main force commanders have arrived, the one next to them doesn't need to think about it, it's just Luo Binghui, commander of the 9th Army Corps.

  Liu Yimin hastily dismounted and walked quickly forward to salute and report: "Comrades-in-Command, Liu Yimin, Commander of the Central Guard Regiment of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, reports to you. My unit has been ordered to proceed to Zunyi for reorganization and training. We have now crossed the Wu River with all our troops. Please give us instructions!"

  Several army corps commanders returned the salute. Before Cai Zhong stepped forward to introduce, Peng Zong spoke up: "No need for formalities. Let me introduce him. This is the commander of the First Army Corps."

  A soldier saluted loudly: "Comrade Lin Jianzhang!"

  Returned the courtesy and said: "You're pretty good. You've fought out the prestige of the Red Army!"

  "This is General Dong Zhentang of the Fifth Army Corps."

  Liu Yimin gave another crisp salute and said: "Comrade Dong Jun, Commander!"

  Before General Peng could continue, Luo Binghui stepped forward. A pair of large hands tightly grasped Liu Yimin's hand and said: "I am Luo Binghui of the 9th Army Corps. You little scoundrel! How dare you fabricate that I was captured by Tao Guang? Speak up! How will this account be settled?"

  Liu Yimin burst out laughing: "That's because your reputation is too great. How can Liu Jianxu be hooked without borrowing your prestige?"

  Luo Binghui burst out laughing. He said repeatedly, "Good, good, good! You're really something, Liu Yimin! If we don't get drunk tonight, it would be a waste of your praise!"

  The commander said: "Everyone has arrived. Let's go to Qingkou. Don't mention drinking here, we've had enough of the wind!"

  Everyone who saw him became so humorous. Mr. Peng said: "Let's go. I'll be the host tonight. Let me treat you all to a drink."

  A group of people mounted their horses and rushed towards the mouth of the reeds.

  On the road. Liu Yimin and Chen Shuxiang walked side by side. Chen Shuxiang took a look at Liu Yimin and said, "Amazing! I didn't misjudge you."

  It should be said that in this world, the first people to get close to Liu Yimin were Wang Dahai, Chen Shuxiang and Cheng Cuilin. So when Liu Yimin heard Chen Shuxiang's words, his tears almost fell down. It is worth noting that before crossing over, Liu Yimin was a doctoral student at school and had a unique martial arts skill, with strong independence. However, he was still a student who hadn't left the school gate yet, and in his parents' eyes, he was still a precious child. He often heard his parents' caring voices. After crossing over, he was fighting for survival every day, and suddenly hearing the words of care from people close to him naturally moved him emotionally.

  Liu Yimin held back tears. Half a day later, he said: "Is the leader's body good? Is Comrade Cheng also good?"

  Shu Xiang smiled and said: "It's all good! Since you joined the Red Army, we've been winning every battle. It's hard to be in a bad mood!"

  Laughing and talking, they arrived at Jingkou.

  Liu Jianli, Zhao Jie, Wang Dahu and Zhang Feng have already arrived here. The division's barracks have been arranged. Seeing so many leaders coming, they are busy moving tables and chairs.

  Several regimental commanders sat down, and without saying a word, they all asked the guards to bring out Maotai liquor. Liu Jian saw this and hastily ordered the cook to prepare some dishes to go with the wine. He also told Wang Dahai to go to a restaurant on Jingkou Street to order some more dishes. Before long, they had managed to gather together a whole table of food.

  Zong said: "We were originally going to hold a meeting in Zunyi. But then we heard the news that the Guards Division had won and was withdrawing. I said the Guards Division, which is part of the three armies, should come to welcome you. None of them have met you before, so they all wanted to come. There was no way out, so I reported it to the Military Commission. As soon as I thought about reporting it to the Military Commission, they agreed. It's just right. Tomorrow, you can go with us to attend the meeting in Zunyi."

  ”

  "Let's not talk about anything else for now. First, tell me how you made up your mind to take the Hunan No. 16 train?"

  Liu Yimin hastily stood up and said: "Reporting to Commander Lin Jun."

  Before he could finish his sentence, someone said: "Sit down and talk. It's just among us. No need to report anything!"

  Luo Binghui directly pulled Liu Yimin down to sit: "Colonel Lin said it's not necessary to report. Just speak directly. We're all eager to listen."

  Liu Yimin said: "After sending away the main force, I thought that in order to complete the task of blocking and delaying the enemy given by the Military Commission, we can only take the initiative to attack and cannot defend passively. So, among the several routes pursuing our army, the Xiang Army is the most frantic and arrogant. They must think that our army has no power to fight back. When marching, they will not be as vigilant as usual. Therefore, I set the target of the strike on the Xiang Army. Considering that the Xiang Army knows that our army suddenly turned around, they will rush to pursue us in a hurry. So, I set the ambush point at Xiao Shui, which is relatively far from the passage. It's not very far from the starting point of the Xiang Army, and they won't be careful. When we arrived at Xiao Shui, it was indeed a good battlefield for an ambush. A highway is attached to the cliff, and on this side of the road is a mountain forest, within 100 meters, which is convenient for our army to hide and launch firepower. So I decided to fight. The rest of you know what happened later. We all won. All of you are high-ranking officials in the Red Army, so I won't say more."

  Nodded: "Not bad. The decision is correct, and the timing is also good. Later, a series of plans were implemented. Indeed, not bad! Unfortunately, this time Qingxi Town let Xue Yue escape. If our main force was all there at that time, I estimate Xue Yue would have been finished."

  Liu Yimin said: "The key is that our intelligence and reconnaissance still have gaps. We can only judge the general direction of the enemy's march. Can't accurately grasp the time of the enemy's action. Besides, our army is not suitable for a big battle at present. The troops urgently need rest. The Central Revolutionary Military Commission will not take the risk of colliding with Xue Yue's main force."

  Dong Zhentang said: "Let's rest for a while. Let the troops recover their energy. We can deal with Xue Yue later. Come, let's have a drink first!"

  After drinking a cup, General Peng spoke up: "My 18th Regiment was taken away by you. Now the regimental commander of the 18th Regiment, Zeng Chunjian, has recovered from his injuries. I'm thinking of rebuilding the 18th Regiment. The backbone is there with me. As for personnel and equipment, we can only rely on the support of the Guard Division."

  Before Liu Yimin could speak, he said: "Commander Peng Jun, when we came, Vice Chairman Zhou and Old General Zhu said that the four military divisions would be divided equally. You can't ask for more than your share."

  Liu Yimin only then realized why several army corps commanders had rushed to welcome him for a whole day. They had come so far just to greet him. It turned out that it wasn't his face that was important, but the captives and weapons and ammunition in his hands that were impressive.

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