Chapter 54: Wu Jiang Flees by Boat (Part 1)

  On December 20, 1934, in the afternoon, the 34th Division of the Red Fifth Army Corps arrived near Yuqing County.

  The scout reported that there were no troops stationed in Yuqing City, only militia.

  Chen Shuxiang ordered the 101st Regiment to immediately occupy the county seat, while the 100th Regiment bypassed the county seat and directly attacked the Wujiang Ferry, with the Division Headquarters and 102nd Regiment following up.

  Hou Zidao is a person from Tongzi, graduated from Guizhou Lecture Martial Hall, and like Wang Jialie, he is one of the core figures of the Tongzi system. Since Wang Jialie drove Mao Guangsheng down from the chairman's seat of Guizhou Province, Hou Zidao has been opposing Wang Jialie all along. After repeated struggles, Hou Zidao formed a situation where he occupied northern Guizhou. The current Hou Zidao holds three positions: deputy commander of the 25th Army, commander of the Instructional Brigade, and commander of the Sichuan-South Border Defense. In addition to the regular Guizhou army under the Instructional Brigade, he also has several county militias and local armed forces.

  Before the Red Army entered Liping, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Wang Jialie's Guizhou army to deploy along the Jinping and Liping lines. However, Wang Jialie had already instructed Hou Zongliang's troops to prepare to intercept the Communist army. But Wang Jialie's order not only failed to take effect on Hou Zongliang but also made him worried that Wang Jialie would use the Red Army to eliminate him. In fact, Wang Jialie did have such intentions. Therefore, when Wang Jialie issued an urgent order to Hou Zongliang on the evening of the 17th to deploy troops along the Huangping and Shibing lines to intercept the Red Army and defend the Wujiang defense line after the Red Army occupied Jianhe, Hou Zongliang did not take it seriously.

  Until the 19th, when the Red Army occupied Huangping and Shibi, Hou Zizhen began to worry that the Red Army might be thinking of occupying his old nest in northern Guizhou. He hastily dispatched troops to defend the Wujiang River and prepared to concentrate on defending the three ferry crossings at Chashan Pass, Jiangjiehe, and Hui Longchang.

  Hou Zitang's troops had been stationed in northern Guizhou for a long time, occupying the geographical advantage, and should have quickly marched towards Wujiang, but in reality, it was not that simple. Hou Zitang's troops had never fought against the Red Army, nor had they clashed with the Central Army, Sichuan Army, Hunan Army, or Guangxi Army; the only troops they had ever engaged with were Wang Jialie's troops, and they fundamentally did not know that they were actually just a local security force. Moreover, many soldiers had been long-term opium smokers. As a result, their combat effectiveness was extremely low. When they heard that they would be going to defend Wujiang, the officers and soldiers were all slow to react, with most of them first getting over their addiction before setting out. Hou Zitang ordered the 3rd Brigade under Lin Xiusheng to go defend Wujiang at 1 pm, but by noon, only one regiment had left Zunyi.

  By evening, Hou Zizhen finally learned that Lin Biao had left Zunyi in the afternoon to rush to Wujiang. Just as he was about to pick up the phone to scold Lin Xiansheng, he received a report that the main force of the Red Army's First and Third Corps had occupied Fuquan and Kaiyang. Then, there were reports from undercover agents in Guiyang saying that Wang Jialie had retreated back to Guiyang and ordered several local security regiments to concentrate in Guiyang. It was said that urgent telegrams for help had been sent to Chiang Kai-shek and the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Hunan. Hou Zizhen's anxiety suddenly subsided, thinking to himself: I knew the Red Bandits wouldn't come to northern Guizhou; Wujiang is safe after all?

  Soon after, the department reported that Wang Jiaxiang's main force of 15 regiments was rushing from Tongren to Guiyang and had already passed through Renhuai.

  Hou Zizheng became even more convinced that the Red Army's main force would besiege Guiyang, otherwise why would Wang Jialie let his troops rush to Guiyang day and night without stopping?

  So, until the morning of the 20th, Hou Zhanchang asked Lin Xiusheng's department where they had arrived. When Lin Xiusheng reported that all routes were advancing quickly and were about 70 miles away from the Wujiang River, Hou Zhanchang stopped asking where they had actually arrived. He didn't consider whether Lin Xiusheng's words were trustworthy or not, but just instructed him to speed up before hanging up the phone.

  At noon, Hou Ziduan gathered a few old brothers to drink wine. As they drank, they talked about the situation in Guizhou. Hou Ziduan held his wine cup and told his brothers with certainty: "The Wujiang River is known as a natural barrier. Not to mention the defeat of the Red Bandits after the Xiangjiang Battle, even if it were Chairman Chiang, without consulting him, the well-equipped Central Army would not be able to cross the Wujiang River! This northern Guizhou is fundamentally under the control of the Tongzi system, and I, Hou Ziduan, am the one who has been here for a long time. Whoever comes here to cause trouble must first look at the natural barrier of the Wujiang River and see if they agree or disagree with our instructor brothers!"

  These words were spoken with great vigor and enthusiasm. Several older brothers listened with relish and drank heartily.

  There was an old brother who drank and joked. He said: "If the Red Bandits really attacked Guiyang, Chairman Wang would be in a good position!"

  Another person immediately said: "What Chairman Wang, that is our traitor from Tongzi system. It's best to let the Red Bandits catch this guy Wang Jiale. We support Vice-Chairman Hou, no, it should be Chairman Hou taking office. At that time, Commander-in-chief will directly take Guizhou. We will divide our troops to guard the brotherly region and protect Chairman Hou to become a happy and free King of Guizhou."

  Hou's eyes lit up when he heard this. He said repeatedly: "I don't dare to accept it, I don't dare to accept it. Old brothers are showing me too much favor."

  The atmosphere at the wine table became more and more intense. Guessing fists and drawing lots, loud voices and profanity. It's as if no one knows what day it is today.

  Historically, when the Red Army forced its way across the Wu River, it was done in three routes. Among them, the Right Column's 1st Division and 9th Division crossed the Wu River from the Hui Long Chang ferry near Yuqing County's Ji Kou, almost without encountering any fighting, as the defending Guizhou Army's 8th Regiment under Wan Shi-yong collapsed at first contact; The Left Column's Red 3rd Division also crossed the Wu River from the Cha Shan Guan ferry, without encountering any fighting, as the enemy retreated upon seeing the arrival of the Red Army, thinking it was a heavenly army descending from the sky. Only the Central Route's 1st Division's 2nd Regiment encountered fierce fighting at the Jiang Jie He ferry. The reason for this fierce battle was that Li De and Bo Gu once again proposed advancing towards western Hunan, advocating not to cross the Wu River, which led to the Central Committee having to convene a meeting at Hou Kou to resolve the issue of the route of advance, thus delaying their progress and giving Hou's troops time to build fortifications. Even so, under the cover of fire from the Red 4th Regiment, Hou's defending troops retreated quickly upon seeing the Red Army cross the river on bamboo rafts and landing ashore to attack.

  Now, the 34th Division of the Red Fifth Army rushed to Huidongchang Ferry, 11 days ahead of the Red Army's historic crossing of the Wujiang River. Not to mention that Hou Zizheng did not expect it, Wang Jialie and Chiang Kai-shek also did not expect it, their eyes were all focused on Guiyang. So, there was no garrison on the Wujiang line, and Lin Xiusheng's brigade was still some distance away from Huidong Ferry. In this way, when the commander of the 100th Regiment of the 3rd Division, Han Wei, led his troops to arrive at the ferry in the evening, the ferry was still operating normally.

  Han Wei ordered the troops to control the ferry and the boats. Upon seeing the situation, Han Wei was overjoyed to see that there were 5 ferries at the crossing point. After asking the boatman, he learned that this was a necessary route from Yuqing to Meitan, with many travelers passing through, so there were more boats available.

  Han Wei then asked the boatman if he was willing to ferry the Red Army across the river. The boatman replied, "Are you going to fight against Hou Zongliang? If so, we will not charge you any money and will ferry you for free."

  At this time, Han Wei only knew the name of Hou Ziduan. After inquiring about the situation of Hou Ziduan's troops, he arranged for the vanguard company to cross the river immediately. After crossing the river, they quickly controlled the key point of Jingkou and covered the main force to cross the river. He also immediately dispatched a communication officer to report the situation at the crossing point and the situation of Hou Ziduan's troops to the division headquarters.

  Chen Shuxiang ordered the main force to advance quickly to the ferry terminal after receiving the report and reported it to the army.

  Upon receiving the telegram of the successful flight of the Fifth Army Corps across the Wujiang River, **, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De burst into hearty laughter, exclaiming that heaven was helping the Red Army. They immediately ordered the main force of the Fifth Army Corps to leave a detachment to control the crossing point, utilizing the ferry boats to build a floating bridge across the river. The main force was divided into two routes: the 13th Division quickly advanced westward along the northern bank of the Wujiang River, seizing the Jiangjiehe and Chashan Pass crossings, covering the main force's crossing; the 34th Division searched forward towards Zunyi, annihilating the Guizhou army's river defense troops coming from Zunyi at any time. The Ninth Army Corps was ordered to rapidly advance towards Huidongdukou, quickly crossing the river. After crossing the river, they immediately marched northward to seize Meitan, and after succeeding, advanced to attack Suining. The Fifth Army Corps detachment controlling the crossing point had the task of monitoring enemy movements on the southern bank of the Wujiang River.

  Then, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission ordered Liu Bocheng, the Chief of Staff, to lead the Second Division and the Cadre Brigade to speed up their actions, quickly rush to the Jiangjie River crossing, and strive to cross the Wujiang River before the enemy's river defense troops arrived. Take Zunyi directly. The Red First Army Corps' 1st and 15th Divisions, which had already entered Kaiyang, were ordered to march north to the Chashan Pass crossing, and after crossing the Wujiang River, they would advance on Zunyi. The Red Third Army Corps, which was in the territory of Fuquan, was ordered to abandon its occupation of Fuquan, quickly move north, and cross the river along the route of the 1st and 15th Divisions of the First Army Corps.

  At 5 o'clock on the morning of May 21, when the Red Ninth Army arrived at Huidong, the Red Fifth Army had already crossed the Wujiang River.

  Luo Binghui took a look and saw that a pontoon bridge had been set up on the Wujing River. With the help of torches, Luo Binghui saw that the pontoon bridge was made by tying five boats together with bamboo, and the entire surface of the bridge was covered with bamboo. Two ropes were stretched across the river to secure the bridge, and the turbulent waters of the Wujing River churned and roared beneath it as they flowed northeast.

  Even if Luo Binghui was knowledgeable and experienced, he couldn't help but admire the meticulous thinking of the Wu army's engineers. Building a floating bridge was one thing, but pulling up ropes on both sides made it much safer.

  The vanguard had already contacted the 101st Regiment of the 34th Division of the Fifth Army guarding the crossing, and Luo Binghui waved his hand and led the way onto the pontoon bridge. Behind him, the various units of the Ninth Army crossed the river in sequence.

  After crossing the river, Luo Binghui asked the regiment commander who was left to guard the ferry when he saw him: "Whose idea was it to build this pontoon bridge?"

  The battalion commander of the 101st Regiment reported that it was the idea of Comrade Su Daqing, the regimental commander, who said that when they were crossing the Xiangjiang River at the beginning, Comrade Liu Yimin had told Commander Su how to build a floating bridge. Unfortunately, there were no wooden boards here, but bamboo was abundant, and they could only make do with local materials.

  Luo Binghui thought to himself: This Liu Yimin is really a talent, not only is he good at fighting, but also at doing earthwork. If there's an opportunity, I must get to know this Red Army hero better, and it would be best if I could get him drunk and let him tell me all about where he learned so many clever ideas!

  Looking back at the steep cliffs on both sides of the Wujing River, and listening to the surging sound of the Wujing River water, Luo Binghui sighed in his heart. The so-called Wujing Tianxia was actually trampled underfoot like this! Unbelievable, really unbelievable!

  After crossing the river, the Red Ninth Army Corps rested in place and set out northward at dawn to complete the task of capturing Meitan.