Li Da, Tan Shan, and the Great Breaker Kuomintang Army Death Squad

Source: People's Political Consultative Conference Daily

At the beginning of June 1933, the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent Ren Bishi to Yongxin to serve as the secretary of the Xianggan Provincial Cpc Committee and the political commissar of the Xianggan Military Region. The Red Seventeenth Division, together with the Red Eighteenth Division and the Red Sixteenth Division, which were transferred from the Xianggan base area and downsized from the former Red Eighteenth Army, formed the Sixth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. After the formation of the Red Sixth Army, according to the orders of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, it was transferred to the Yongxin, Lianhua, Ninggang and Chaling areas. At the beginning of the establishment of the Sixth Red Army, there was no separate corps leader, and the leaders of the Seventeenth Division concurrently served as the leaders. Tan Shanhe served as a special commissioner of the Fifty Regiment of the Seventeenth Division of the Sixth Red Army.

In early November 1933, Liu Jianxu, commander of the 1st Column of the Kuomintang Army's Western Route Army, began to attack the Xianggan Soviet Region in order to cooperate with the fifth "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Region by the Kuomintang Army east of the Ganjiang River. Liu Jianxu deployed his 16th Division and the 45th Brigade of the 15th Division as the main attack, and the main force of the 15th Division and the 62nd Division responded on the north and south flanks in an attempt to break through from the center, first capturing Meihua Mountain in Lianhua County, Jiangxi Province, and then advancing to the Yongxin area, the center of the Xianggan Su District. The Sixth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army decided to take advantage of the favorable terrain along meihua mountain line with the coordination of the guard regiment of the Xianggan Military Region and the Chaling Independent Regiment to defend the position and resist the attack of the Kuomintang army.

Beginning at 8 o'clock on the 8th, the Kuomintang troops concentrated the strength of 5 regiments and, under the cover of aircraft artillery, violently attacked the Meihuashan position. The Guard Regiment of the Xianggan Military Region and the Chaling Independent Regiment stubbornly resisted and held their positions. Peng Weiren, commander of the 16th Division of the Kuomintang West Road Army, cobbled together a "death squad" of hundreds of people with a reward of 100 pieces of current ocean per person, and slaughtered pigs and sheep to feast. After Peng Weiren and the daredevils finished drinking the wine and smashing the wine bowl, the daredevils, stimulated by heavy rewards and spirits, all shouted madly, and some even took off their clothes, carried submachine guns, went into battle shirtless, swept around, and stormed the positions of the Fifty Regiments under the cover of aircraft cannons, which was frightening.

Together with Tan Shanhe, Li Da calmly commanded the soldiers to lurk in the scattered trenches and wait for the enemy to rush up. When the enemy rushed to the position only a few tens of meters, Li Da raised his pistol, killed a daredevil, and shouted: "Look, they are so fierce and vicious, aren't they also killed by a single shot?" Comrades, give me a hard beating! Tan Shanhe also shouted, "Comrades! These enemies thought they were really invincible, so we beat the daredevils to see if they were steel and iron bones! ”

The soldiers fired a row of bullets, and because they were too close to aim, they did not need to aim, and a large number of daredevils lay down in front of the position. The other daredevils looked at so many people around them and were also frightened, not knowing whether to advance or retreat. At this time, Li Da jumped up suddenly, and the pistol was waved: "Comrades, rush! Tan Shanhe also boldly jumped out of the fortifications and led the warriors to launch a counter-charge. The chief of staff and the commissioner took the lead, and the soldiers were even more fierce, shouting "Rush! Kill! "Rush towards the enemy. This charge not only wiped out all the hundreds of daredevils that Peng Weiren had gathered with heavy rewards, but also crushed the two enemy regiments that followed the daredevils.

In this battle, nearly 1,800 Kuomintang troops were killed and captured, and the Kuomintang army's attack on the Xianggan Soviet region was repelled. Tan Shanhe participated in the command together next to Li Da, and he greatly admired Li Da's use of soldiers, and Li Da also admired this "Chaling cow" Tan Shanhe who dared to fight a hard battle and was not afraid of death.