Wujiang Is also known as Qianjiang River, the width of the river is about 200 meters, the water is turbulent, the cliffs on both sides of the river are very steep, from southwest to northeast, Guizhou is divided into north and south, and it is also a natural barrier south of Zunyi and Tongzi, known as "Wujiang Natural Danger".
In 1934, Yang Chengwu was appointed as the political commissar of the 4th Regiment of the Second Division of the First Red Army, only 20 years old, but at this time he was already an "old man" who had been trained by guns and bullets for 5 years. On the last day of the year, Yang Chengwu and Geng Biao (then political commissar of the Red 4th Regiment) led their troops to the south bank of the Wu river.
At this time, the Central Red Army was intercepted by the Guizhou warlord Wang Jialie in front of it, and the 2nd Corps of the Kuomintang Xue Yue behind it was tightly held on. The superior instructed: "First arrive in Qianbei and seize Zun (Yi) and Tong (Zi)..." If you want to reach Qianbei, you must cross the Wujiang River, but the enemy troops on both sides of the Wujiang River are stationed tightly, and with the equipment of the Red Army at that time, it is not easy to cross the river.
Whether or not the forced crossing of the Wujiang River can be successful will directly determine the life and death of the Central Red Army.
On the first day of 1935, Yang Chengwu and Geng Biao personally disguised themselves to reconnoiter the riverside, cleverly conducted fire reconnaissance, and together with the division commander, they set a preliminary battle plan: attacking the east and west, pretending to attack the ferry road, and mainly attacking the trail upstream of the ferry.
On January 2, the Red 4 Regiment organized 18 brave swimmers to prepare for a strong crossing. Although the first 8 warriors crossed the river, the cable used to build the pontoon bridge could not be pulled across the river. Therefore, the bamboo raft could only be used to force the crossing, and the bamboo raft was overturned in the river by the enemy's dense firepower. The first forced crossing was fruitless.
Yang Chengwu and Geng Biao and others decided to change to night smuggling, and the cover of night can reduce the casualties caused by shooting. That night, using bamboo rafts as tools, the Red Army smuggled in three groups. However, the first and third batch of bamboo rafts were swept away by the rapids and failed to cross the river, and the second batch of bamboo rafts led by Mao Zhenhua, commander of the 3rd Company, lost contact. The second crossing of the river was also unsuccessful.
At this time, the Central Military Commission heard that it was unfavorable to cross the river, and sent an engineer battalion to the riverside, which was under the command of the Red 4 regiment. After receiving reinforcements, on January 3, Yang Chengwu and Geng Biao immediately organized more than 60 bamboo rafts to cross the river at the same time from the upper reaches of the enemy's weak garrison. Unexpectedly, this time the river crossing was supported by a fire support on the other side of the river, and it turned out to be Mao Zhenhua's advance team, who lost contact during the second crossing of the river.
However, the main force crossing the river had just arrived on the opposite bank, that is, it was strongly attacked by the enemy reserve. The Red Army that crossed the river fought and retreated, and gradually retreated to the riverside, and the situation was extremely critical!
Just at this moment, several explosions suddenly sounded behind the enemy army, and the enemy army was in chaos, and the main force crossing the river immediately seized the fighter plane, counterattacked, and crushed the enemy reserve in one fell swoop. The troops that followed them also immediately launched a fierce offensive, like an iron fist smashing the wujiang tianjian occupied by the enemy to pieces.
It was later learned that the blast behind the enemy was the only remaining artillery battery of the Red Army, and the last five shells.
After the Central Red Army forcibly crossed the Wu River, it occupied Zunyi. Next, the Zunyi Conference was successfully held, reversing the fate of the Party and the Red Army.