Volume 1: Red Star Shining Over China Chapter 53: Sweeping Across Southeastern Guizhou (6)

  It seems to add a heavy color to the Red Army's occupation of Huangping, at 2:00 pm, the Central Column, which had just entered Huangping, spread the good news that He Zizhen had given birth to a baby girl.

  Mao Zedong heard the news and named his daughter Li Ying, which is a homophone for "win", meaning that the Red Army was a just army and should win, to commemorate the great victory of Huangping.

  At this time, Mao Zedong was in a great mood. Thinking of He Jian and Bai Chongxi being tightly watched by Liu Yimin's Central Guard Regiment and not daring to come out, and having to release the Red Army prisoners of war, providing silver dollars and weapons and ammunition for the Red Army; thinking again from Tongdao to Liping to Xiangjiang, and then today's great victory, he felt that since the Long March, there had never been a day as enjoyable and refreshing as today! He called out to Hu Banzhang to bring out his pen and ink, and on a piece of xuan paper bought from Huangping, he wrote down the famous work "Three Sixteen-Character Poems":

  Mountain, swift horse whip has not fallen saddle. Astonished turn head, leave heaven three feet three.

  Mountains, overturning seas and rivers, rolling up huge waves. Rushing and urgent, like ten thousand horses galloping in a fierce battle.

  Mountains, piercing the blue sky, their peaks remaining unbroken. The heavens are about to collapse, but they rely on these mountains to prop them up in between.

  After finishing writing, I felt that the strokes of the pen were like a walking dragon and snake, smooth and satisfying. Then I also wrote a small note:

  "Folksong: Above is Skull Mountain, below is Eight Treasure Mountain, three feet three inches from the sky. People passing by must lower their heads, horses passing by must dismount."

  "A gift for Comrade Liu Yimin. Mao Zedong, December 19, 1934, after the Battle of Huangping."

  After finishing, hand it over to Hu Ban Zhang for safekeeping and wait until the Central Guard Regiment reunites, then hand it over to Comrade Liu Yi Min. Then go to the Central Column to visit my wife and daughter.

  Seeing Mao Zedong come in, He Zizhen, who had just given birth to a child, turned her face away, with tears streaming down.

  Mao Zedong first hugged the child. Then he walked in front of He Zizhen's bed, bent down and called out "Zizhen, Zizhen". Only then did He Zizhen turn her face over.

  Mao Zedong said in his thick Hunan accent: "Zizhen, you've worked hard."

  He Zizhen choked and said: "Runze, the child came at the wrong time. But I don't want to give the child away. And I don't know how Mao is doing now. Is he still alive?"

  One sentence stirred up Mao Zedong's melancholy. He thought of the sacrificed Yang Kaihui and his three sons whose whereabouts were unknown. Then he thought of his brother Mao Zetan and youngest son Mao Mao who stayed in Ruijin. And also the soldiers who fell on the banks of Xiangjiang River. For a moment, he was stunned.

  Deng Yingchao and Liu Ying, who lived not far from the Central Column, also followed Mao Zedong in. After hearing He Zizhen's words, they were all very sad. The female comrades had many tears. In a short while, the room was filled with crying sounds. Liu Ying said tearfully: "I am willing to take care of the children together with He Zizhen. Now we have won several victories and conditions are much better. There are also enough mules for us to ride. I firmly disagree with sending the children away again."

  Mao Zedong felt sad and annoyed, so he walked out of the room. As soon as he went out, he saw Xu Teli, Xie Juezai, Lin Boqu, Dong Biwu and others standing in the courtyard outside the room. Mao Zedong quickly stepped forward, just about to shake hands and greet them. His teacher Xu Teli waved his hand and said: "Runze, take him with you! Leave some blood behind! Anqing, Anqing, Longlong, Mao Mao don't know if they can be found or not. You're also getting old, take him with you!"

  Xie Juezhai said with a sigh: "I don't know how many people will be left alive in the Soviet area, I really worry about Uncle Heng and Qiubai. Take the children with us, as long as we fight well, we can find a foothold. If we leave the children behind, it's like handing over their fate to the enemy."

  Thus, Li Ying became the youngest Red Devil in the Red Army's Long March troops. Not like in history, being left behind near Jianhe River and disappearing without a trace.

  Upon receiving the news of Jianhe's fall, Wang Jialie, who was still directing the battle at Machangping, immediately ordered a full retreat of the Guizhou army along the Machangping front line to regroup around Guiyang and set up defensive positions. He also commanded the militia in Fuquan, Anshun, and Bijie areas to concentrate in Guiyang and be reorganized by the garrison troops, ensuring sufficient defense forces for Guiyang. Wang ordered He Zhihong and Bai Huizhang to lead the main force to hasten their return from the west, taking the north bank of the Wujiang River to avoid encountering the Red Bandits and ensure they returned to Guiyang before them. Then he continuously sent telegrams to Chiang Kai-shek, claiming that if no reinforcements were dispatched, he could not be held responsible for ensuring Guiyang's safety.

  Madam Wan also demonstrated her diplomatic skills. Representing the women's and business communities of Guizhou, she sent a telegram to Madame Chiang, urging her to remind Chairman Chiang that under no circumstances could he allow Guiyang to fall into the hands of the Red Bandits. She then separately sent telegrams to the wives of Liu Xiang, Long Yun, He Jian, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, asking them to exert their influence and urge rescue efforts for Guizhou.

  In this situation, Chiang Kai-shek could no longer sit still. On the one hand, he ordered Xue Yue to take swift action and quickly enter Guizhou; on the other hand, he urged Liu Xiang to concentrate his main forces in southern Sichuan and be ready to reinforce northern Guizhou at any time. Fearing that Guiyang might fall, he hastily ordered the Yunnan front to dispatch one or two divisions to reinforce Guiyang quickly; he also ordered Tang Enbo's troops, who were far away in Jiangxi, to transport by water and land simultaneously, rapidly advancing southward into Guizhou as a supporting army for Xue Yue. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek did not care whether He Jian was willing to be a turtle or not, nor did he worry about the intentions of Li and Bai's troops entering Guizhou. While ordering He Jian to guard the Hunan-Guizhou border, the Guangxi army to guard the Guizhou-Guangxi border, and strictly preventing the Red Bandits from turning back eastward and advancing southward, Chiang Kai-shek did not hesitate to address He Jian, Li, and Bai as brothers. He ordered He Jian to let Liu Jianxu lead at least two divisions to follow Xue Yue in pursuit, no matter what; he also ordered the Seventh Army of Guangxi to cooperate with the Guangdong army to march north out of southern Guizhou and deploy defenses along the Dujiangyan line.

  At one time, from Jiangxi to Sichuan and Yunnan, on the railways, water surfaces, and among the mountains, the winds and clouds changed suddenly, and everywhere was filled with an atmosphere of impending war.

  Xue Yue had a military meeting on the 19th and everything was arranged. The plan was to set out on the 20th. As soon as he received the new telegram from the Chairman, he took action without caring whether Liu Jianxu's Hunan army would move or not. He led 8 divisions of the Central Army into Xinhuang, preparing to rush towards Guiyang along the Xiang-Qian highway via Yushan, Zhenyuan and Huangping. The momentum was quite impressive, scaring away the Miao, Yao, Dong and Han people along the way who fled into the deep mountains. The leaders of the Central Army sighed, thinking that this was indeed a remote and backward area where people were ignorant and didn't even know that the Central Army had come to suppress bandits and save the people. It seemed that the Chairman's New Life Movement needed to be promoted nationwide as soon as possible.

  On the evening of the 19th, the Red First Division occupied the old state without firing a single shot. On the morning of the 20th, Mao Zedong and Zhu De, who had just arrived in the old state, received a report from the Red First Division that the Guizhou army had withdrawn its defenses at Ma Changping. Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Zhou Enlai analyzed that this must mean that Guiyang was empty and Wang Jialie had returned to defend it. This meant that there were no enemy forces south of the Wujiang River or east of Guiyang. The enemy's military strength in the Zunyi area must be weak. If they did not take advantage of this, it would be a mistake. Additionally, from radio intercepts, they learned that Chiang Kai-shek was sending a large force to aid Guizhou, so they ordered the Red First Army's Second Division and Cadre Regiment to attack and occupy Rongjiang, advancing towards the Wujiang River, with the Military Commission's vanguard following; the First Army's First Division, Fifteenth Division, and Third Army's divisions took separate routes to raid Fuquan and Kaiyang, creating a fake threat to Guiyang, then turned north and forced their way across the Wujiang River. They ordered the Red Fifth Army and Ninth Army to hurry to the Wujiang River line and cross the river first; they ordered the Central Guard Regiment, which had completed its mission of covering up the enemy's retreat, to take action immediately, advancing from Jingxian to the north along the Leiping, Jianhe, Shiqing, and Yuqing roads, pursuing the main force. If they encountered the enemy's central army main force rushing to block the Wujiang River, they would hide south of the river and wait for an opportunity to launch a mobile attack.

  When he received the telegram, Liu Yimin had already led the entire division into Liping.

  On the 19th, early in the morning, just as the Red Fifth Division occupied the Huangpingjian mountain slope position, Zhang Yicheng, the chief of staff of the 18th Regiment, set out with a reconnaissance company. By evening, Liu Yimin and Cai Zhong led the main force of the Central Guard Regiment, which had completed its reorganization and training. They bid farewell to Jingzhou, carrying torches as they advanced towards Liping.

  After a night march, arrived at Majiatun frontline in Liping. After arranging the sentry, the troops dispersed to rest in place. Around 1 o'clock, Liu Jianliang woke up Liu Yimin and showed him the telegram from the Central Revolutionary Military Commission.

  After reading the telegram, Liu Yimin began to think. From the telegram, it can be seen that the Central Red Army is about to force a crossing of the Wu River, and the great Zunyi Conference will soon be convened. But why doesn't the Red Army take the opportunity to occupy Guiyang? Now Guiyang must be very empty, and Wang Jialie's main force should still be on the road from Tongren to Guiyang. The Central Army is basically on the same parallel line as itself, and the Guangxi and Hunan armies will not temporarily participate in the pursuit and suppression. Only after confirming that its own troops have left the passage and advanced westward will the Guangxi and Hunan armies take action. The Sichuan army is still in southern Sichuan, and even if the Yunnan army takes action, it won't be able to arrive in Guiyang immediately. Is it possible that the Central Army intercepted the enemy's telegram and knew that there had been a major change in the enemy situation? There is such a possibility.

  Is Wang Jialie concentrating his forces to defend Guiyang? He should be. However, even if Wang Jialie is defending, he doesn't have his two main force divisions. With the current strength of Guiyang, it's impossible to stop the Red Army. It's worth noting that due to our arrival, the Red Army's main force suffered fewer casualties in the Xiangjiang Battle, and after crossing the Xiangjiang River, they still had around 47,000 people. Even if there were some losses during the advance towards Tongdao, there should be more than 40,000 people left. Adding the new recruits we sent last time, there should be at least 45,000 people. Furthermore, with the expansion and replenishment of troops from Liping to Jianhe and Huangping, it's likely that they have nearly 50,000 people now, with sufficient food and ammunition. With our own Central Guard Regiment of 9,000 men, taking down Guiyang is a piece of cake.

  Yes, Chairman Mao and the Military Commission leaders must have considered that if they took down Guiyang, it would lead to a counterattack from all sides by the enemy, causing the main force of the Red Army to fall into a passive strategic situation. At that time, it would be difficult for the Red Army to control northern Guizhou and advance southward into Sichuan, let alone join forces with the Fourth Front Army.

  Upon further consideration, there is probably another factor to consider. If the attack on Guiyang does not go smoothly, it will be stuck under the city walls, increasing casualties and once the enemy's central army arrives, it will lose its footing.

  Besides, the Red Army occupied Guiyang and relied on Chairman Mao's brilliant military command art and the bravery of the Red Army soldiers to defeat each enemy reinforcement army one by one, establishing a base in Guizhou. They could only be besieged in a corner. It was basically impossible to break through the heavy blockade of Chiang Kai-shek's National Government. How can we talk about going north to resist Japan? We must know that the Red Army can only gain national recognition and rapid development by uniting with the National Army to resist Japan.

  Liu Yimin, who is familiar with military history, knows that after the Zunyi Conference, there were two main factors affecting the progress of the Long March: Firstly, because the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Red Army could not contact the Central Red Army, the Central Red Army did not know that there was still a red base in northern Shaanxi and could not determine the destination of the Long March. Historically, it was not until September 9, 1935, when Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen occupied Hadapu, Gansu, and learned from captured newspapers that there was a Red Army base in northern Shaanxi. Secondly, after the Zunyi Conference, the Tucheng Battle did not go well, and the Red Army was forced to choose to cross the Chishui River to the west. To shake off the enemy's pursuit, they began to cross the Chishui River four times, and then moved towards the Yunnan-Guizhou border, running many more miles, although they dragged the enemy thin, but also reduced the number of the Central Red Army, which had already suffered heavy losses. It was not until they successfully crossed the Dadu River that they were able to shake off the enemy's pursuit. However, what awaited the brave and victorious Central Red Army was the life-prohibited zone of Snow Mountain Grassland and Zhang Guotao's treacherous forces, which was truly a case of adding insult to injury. In the end, from the 86,000-strong Central Red Army that set out from Yudu, only a few thousand remained when they arrived in northern Shaanxi.

  If I could come up with a plan to tell Chairman Mao, Vice-Chairman Zhou and Commander-in-Chief Zhu that there is a base in northern Shaanxi, wouldn't it be consistent with the slogan of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission's march north to resist Japan? If we can also assist the main force of the Red Army in defeating the Sichuan army and marching directly to northern Shaanxi along the Sichuan province, wouldn't it greatly shorten the Long March and save many lives of Red Army soldiers? If this could really be achieved, no matter what my own outcome is, it would not be in vain for me to have traveled through time once.

  But how to say it and when to say it needs to be carefully grasped.

  It's obvious that if I were to fabricate a story about hearing it before joining the Red Army, not only would it be unconvincing, but it would also raise suspicions and bring unnecessary trouble. However, if the information was obtained from captured enemy documents and newspapers, then there wouldn't be any problem. After the battle at Xiaoshui and Xiguan ended, no relevant information was found in the documents carried by Zhang Liangji and Tao Guang, which suggests that communication was indeed inconvenient and information was blocked at the time. It seems that we can only focus on high-ranking officers of the Central Army, they should have relevant documents, at least clear ones. As long as we interrogate them, everything will be settled.

  Liu Jian could never have imagined. In just a short while, Liu Yimin's mind had already turned a thousand times, and he had come up with so many shocking ideas.

  Liu Yimin fell into deep thought, and Liu Jianliang also didn't speak, standing aside watching Liu Yimin daze off. As he watched, he thought to himself, wondering where his superior had learned such skills from, being able to make the enemy tremble with fear at a young age. Even He Jian, that Red Army's arch-nemesis, couldn't help but obediently hand over millions of silver dollars and so much weaponry and ammunition. If it weren't for him experiencing it personally, he wouldn't have believed it even if he were beaten to death. It was as if someone had said it, and he would have thought it was just a storyteller's nonsense. He recalled the time in Xigou when they traded with the Hunan Army, and how Liu Qingchu was forced to take out all his silver dollars, looking so embarrassed. Liu Jianliang suddenly burst out laughing.

  The laughter startled Liu Yimin, he turned his head to look, and Liu Jian's eyes were staring at him, but the smile and gaze were disconnected. It was clear that he had thought of something ridiculous and couldn't help but laugh. Liu Yimin deliberately teased: "Chief of Staff, did you think of your sister-in-law's charming appearance? Can't help but laugh out loud!"

  Liu Jian suddenly came to his senses and said, "Superior. I am indeed a single man with no wife, still don't know which mother-in-law's house she is in! You quickly say, what do we do, whether the original plan of combat action against Xue Yue's Central Army is cancelled."

  Liu Yimin shook his head: "No, continue executing, after teaching Xue Yue a lesson, we will cross the Wu River and merge with the main force."

  Liu Jianzhi asked again: "Then how can we send a telegram back to the Central Revolutionary Army?"

  Liu Yimin thought for a moment and said: "Report to the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and Chairman Mao, our division has now entered Liping. The plan is to divide the troops into two routes. Two companies of the logistics battalion will transport the silver dollars and some ammunition obtained from He Jian and Bai Chongxi, day and night, along the Xiang River and Huangping, straight to the Wujiang River. Please leave one regiment of the First Army Corps or the Third Army Corps in Jiuzhou to wait, it's best to return to Huangping to meet us. The main force of the division will advance along Liping and Xiang River towards Zhenyuan, determined to hide and wait for opportunities in Zhenyuan, seeking to annihilate the Central Army led by Xue Yue. After succeeding, we will rush across the Wujiang River and meet with the main force in Zunyi."

  Liu Jianbai repeated and was about to leave, when Liu Yimin said: "Send a telegram to Zhang Yitai, after the reconnaissance company enters Zhenyuan, it can be divided into several routes for covert reconnaissance. Don't limit yourself to the intersection of Zhenyuan and Yushan. What if we arrive late and Xue Yue's Central Army has already passed by? The intersections of Zhenyuan with Shibing, Zhenyuan with Shiqian, and Zhenyuan with Yuqing are all key reconnaissance points. Most importantly, conduct detailed reconnaissance around the Hunan-Guizhou Highway to find a suitable battlefield. Got it?"

  Liu Jianliang responded with a sound and left, Liu Yimin turned back to sleep. No way, young people are always lacking in sleep, even if they come from another world, they can't escape this habit.

  Upon receiving Liu Yimin's telegram, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Bo Gu, Zhang Wentian and Wang Jiaxiang had a brief discussion and immediately sent a reply. They ordered the Second Division of the First Army Corps to dispatch two battalions to return quickly to Huangping to escort the rear echelon. They agreed with the combat plan of the Central Guard Regiment, but emphasized the need to grasp the timing and act according to their strength. If the attack succeeded, they should immediately inform the Military Commission of the Central Revolutionary Committee and arrange for troops to provide cover for crossing the river. If the attack did not go smoothly, they should quickly disengage from contact with the enemy and absolutely must not allow the troops to be surrounded by the main force of the enemy's Central Army, waiting until after shaking off the enemy before crossing the river again.

  After receiving the reply from the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, Liu Jianzhang did not immediately wake up Liu Yimin. He waited until after 12 o'clock to wake him up. Liu Yimin read the telegram and thought for a while, feeling that the two companies of the logistics battalion were too weak. If something unexpected happened, it would be over. Therefore, he asked Liu Jianzhang to arrange for the cavalry regiment to bring a radio station to escort the two companies of the logistics battalion to set out immediately, ensuring the safe delivery of the logistics to the Second Division troops. After completing the task, the cavalry regiment took the Huangping-Shizhong road directly to Zhenyuan and merged with the main force. The two companies of the logistics battalion followed the actions of the Second Division troops and returned to their posts after the division's main force arrived in Zunyi.

  Liu Jian busy arranging, Liu Yimin also couldn't sleep, saw wrapped in clothes lying on the mountain slope sleeping soldiers most have woken up, has started to gnaw dry food, Liu Yimin then ordered troops to assemble, immediately set off, rush to Liping County town to eat and rest.

  The road, which had just been empty of people, was soon bustling with activity. More than 9,000 men and horses from the Central Guard Regiment of the Red Army rushed straight to Leping County along the road. There, they would take a short rest before continuing their advance northwest of Leping under the cover of night.