Chapter 56: Bloodstained Yangtze River
Hu Weidong's method of reforming Japanese prisoners of war was even more ruthless than the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army in history. Those who did not answer questions were beheaded, those who refused to eat (generally wounded soldiers) were beheaded, those who refused to work were beheaded, and those who beat and scolded people were also beheaded. Only those with special expertise could be spared. As the political commissar, Mao Zedong pretended not to see it, and others dared not say anything more...
As a result, the number of Japanese prisoners decreased by more than half in just a few days. Hu Weidong didn't regret it; after all, he only needed to have some prisoners, and the quantity was irrelevant. The killing spree started only after the capture, just to select those who were easier to reform. Otherwise, if they killed too many and found that they were all hard bones, it would be a waste of effort. When the Japanese prisoners knew fear, Hu Weidong implemented the Red Army's traditional policy of "leniency towards prisoners," achieving twice the result with half the effort. Later, a considerable number of Japanese prisoners changed their stance under strong political pressure and could at least accept labor reform calmly.
The soldiers were successfully reformed, and the Japanese technicians at Daye Iron Mine were even easier to deal with. Except for a few who were stubborn and were taken out to be executed as a warning, the rest worked diligently for the Red 15th Army. Among them, several technical backbones made significant contributions to China's industrialization, especially the diligent work attitude of Japanese workers (which completely disappeared after the rise of otaku culture at the end of the 20th century). Hu Weidong later repeatedly called on Chinese workers to learn from...
Perhaps it was the previous Red Fifteenth Army's victories in Hangzhou and Nanchang that established its reputation. After the loss of Daye Iron Mine, He Yingqin, who was in charge of commanding all Nationalist troops in Hubei Province, feared that the Red Fifteenth Army would attack Wuhan and suddenly concentrated 200,000 troops there. Moreover, although He Yingqin was weak and incompetent, he had a close relationship with the Japanese and was familiar with indirect artillery fire tactics, so he wouldn't give Hu Weidong an opportunity to exploit. In this situation, He Yingqin used his superior forces to stubbornly defend himself, and the Red Fifteenth Army really couldn't do anything about it.
Hu Weidong's response to this was quite clever. He openly let people collect boats and prepare to cross the river. If He Yingqin sent troops to block them, they would be eliminated; if not, Hu Weidong would lead his army across the river. Given the distance from Wuhan to Dajue, by the time the Nationalist Army arrived at the crossing point on foot, the 15th Red Army would have already reached the opposite bank. After all, this stretch of the Yangtze River was much narrower than downstream...
Several days later, He Yingqin still didn't make a move. Hu Weidong had planned to take advantage of the situation to get rid of this traitor, but he could only reluctantly order him to cross the river. However, he forgot one thing: although He Yingqin was incompetent, his position was high, and not only did the Hubei army receive orders from him, but also the air force followed his dispatch...
When the 15th Army had almost two-thirds of its troops cross the Yangtze River, a large fleet of dozens of planes flew in from the west, and the ships on the river were instantly destroyed. If they were bombed on land, at least they could dodge by lying down, but on the ship, they could only wait for death in despair. Some soldiers who refused to die in vain picked up machine guns or even rifles to shoot at the planes, but it was difficult to cause substantial damage to the National Army planes circling in the sky. At this time, Hu Weidong, who had already arrived on the north bank of the river, had amazing artillery skills, but because he didn't have large-caliber anti-aircraft guns with sufficient range, he could only watch his subordinates being slaughtered and couldn't lend a hand. His heart was like a knife cut, his eyes were wide open, and he shouted loudly, "Come on, come on!"
Although Hu Weidong was anxious, his mind was still clear. At this time, the flight duration and ammunition capacity of aircraft were no match for those in later times. They would have to return soon. If the Red Army soldiers on the river and south bank acted quickly, even if they could only barely withstand this round of air raids, at least they could cross the Yangtze River before the planes came again. As long as they kept their feet on the ground, the threat from the planes wouldn't be so great.
His rational thinking prevented the Red Fifteenth Army from suffering greater losses. When the Nationalist planes arrived again, they found that the Red Army had already crossed the Yangtze River and could only leave in disappointment. They didn't dare to bomb the main force of the Red Fifteenth Army, which was waiting in formation. After all, flying high made it hard to hit the target, while flying low made it easy to be shot down by machine guns and small-caliber anti-aircraft guns. It was much easier and more enjoyable to bomb ships with larger targets and weaker air defenses...
Even so, the 15th Red Army suffered more than 8,000 casualties during the crossing of the Yangtze River, with the vast majority being killed or missing. Once the ships sank, even the best swimmers were swept away by the turbulent river waters and barely survived. Perhaps Hu Weidong's only consolation was that he had allowed non-combat personnel such as experts, technicians, and students, as well as heavy equipment to board the ships first, and they miraculously escaped without any losses...
Seeing the staggering number of casualties and missing persons, Hu Weidong burst into tears for the first time since his journey began. The losses were all elite troops, with over 8,000 men lost, enough to weaken the Red Fifteenth Army's combat effectiveness by 20%. Hu Weidong also realized that he was still far from becoming a qualified commander-in-chief, as the leader of a small unit needed bravery and clever tactics, while the leader of a large army required careful consideration. In this regard, Hu Weidong was still unqualified, and if not for his overwhelming intelligence advantage, the victories he had won since his uprising might have turned out differently. Looking ahead to future battles against Japan, unexpected encounters and surprise attacks by the enemy were unavoidable, and to become a pillar of the resistance war, Hu Weidong still had a long way to go...
Not only Hu Weidong, but also the other two leading cadres of the Red Fifteenth Army were still in their growth period. Perhaps they had richer war experiences than Hu Weidong, but basically, those were just guerrilla warfare experiences. Improving tactical level and especially air defense awareness was urgent. If they could have spoken out to remind him at that time, would Hu Weidong, who didn't understand how formidable the air force was, have made such a low-level mistake?
Hu Weidong is not someone who would swallow his losses and let things go, but considering the current situation of the 15th Red Army, he decided to lead his troops northwards first, because that was the old base area of Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces, the former home of the Fourth Front Red Army and the Twenty-fifth Red Army, and a place whose geographical name would be known to all in later generations - the Dabie Mountains.
He Yingqin, who had boasted of cheap victories, sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, exaggerating the achievements to the extreme, "Tens of thousands of bandits were killed and the river was filled with floating corpses." Such words pleased Chiang Kai-shek greatly, and he immediately appointed He Yingqin as the commander-in-chief of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui border region, fully responsible for pursuing and eliminating the remnants of the Red 15th Army and the "remnant bandits" in the Dabie Mountains. This made He Yingqin suddenly become stupid, letting him lead troops to fight a mobile war with the Red 15th Army, which was not seeking death? But he couldn't say that he had lied earlier, so he could only desperately find excuses to ask Chiang Kai-shek for reinforcements. However, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to take this opportunity to completely eliminate the remaining Red Army forces in Shaanbei and Jiangnan, and there were no extra troops to send to He Yingqin. As a result, more than a month passed unknowingly, and He Yingqin was still staying in Hankou, sitting on the fishing platform, but did not dispatch any troops to pursue the Red Army, while Hu Weidong got the time he needed most...
