▲Young Marshal Zhang Xueliang
In the spring of 1934, Zhang Xueliang, a young marshal who had just returned from a visit to Europe, was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the "suppression of bandits" in the three provinces of Eyu and Anhui, leading all the units of the Northeast Army to participate in the encirclement and suppression of the Red Army; in April of the following year, in order to eliminate the main force of the Red Army that was about to arrive in northern Shaanxi on the long march, Chiang Kai-shek set up a northwestern "suppression general" in Xi'an, and still appointed Zhang Xueliang as deputy commander-in-chief.
▲The Red Army of the Long March arrived at the Shaanxi-Gansu base area
The Northeast Army lost the first battle with the Red Army
Among these northeastern army units, He Zhuguo's 57th Army can be described as the number one main force, with a total of 5 divisions under the jurisdiction of Shen Ke's 106th Division, Jiang Huairen's 108th Division, Niu Yuanfeng's 109th Division, Dong Yingbin's 111th Division, and Chang Jingwu's 120th Division, with a total strength of about 40,000 people. Although it has been out of the northeast for four years, the army is still well-equipped, and all regiments are equipped with mortar companies and flat-firing artillery companies, each battalion is equipped with heavy machine gun companies, and each platoon is equipped with at least 3 machine guns.
However, the Japanese who invaded and occupied the three eastern provinces did not fight, but came to encircle and suppress the Anti-Japanese Red Army in the north, and the officers and men of the Northeast Army generally did not have high enthusiasm. In October 1935, the 67th Army, another main force of the Northeast Army, sent the 110th Division from Yan'an to rescue the besieged city of Ganquan, but as a result, it was ambushed in the area of Laoshan, and the entire army was destroyed in only 6 hours, and the division commander He Lizhong was also seriously wounded and killed; the news came that the morale of the various units of the Northeast Army was even lower.
▲Niu Yuanfeng stills
The logistics supervisor wanted to show it well
However, Ganquan City still had to be rescued, and the task was soon handed over to the head of the 57th Army stationed in Taibai Town (taibai Town, Heshui County, Qingyang City, Gansu Province), because the commander He Zhuguo was ordered to organize and train the cavalry army, so the post of commander was temporarily represented by Dong Yingbin, commander of the 111th Division Only Niu Yuanfeng, commander of the 109th Division, disagreed, and insisted that it pass through the Red Army-controlled areas such as Zhiluo Town and Zhang Cunyi and go directly north to rescue them.
Niu Yuanfeng also ridiculed the people present: "So timid, what a battle!" I am not afraid of 1 division, what are you 4 divisions afraid of? In order to show that he was not playing tricks, Niu also took the initiative to ask for help, willing to lead the 109th Division as the vanguard of the whole army, and first took the town of Zhiluo. It seems unreasonable for Niu Yuanfeng to be so heroic, because although he was at least a general and a division commander, he had never fought at all, had been working in the logistics department, and had served as the commander of the Northeast Army for many years; but what everyone did not know was that Niu Yuanfeng had just joined the Lushan Officers' Training Corps, where Chiang Kai-shek was personally the regimental commander, and his mind was full of the reactionary idea that "outside the country must be first at home," and he was anxious to make meritorious performances.
▲ Situation map of the Battle of Zhiluo Town
The entire army inside and outside the town of Zhiluo was destroyed
In addition, Niu Yuanfeng had his own little nine-nine in mind, although he knew that The town of Zhiluo belonged to the Shaanxi-Gansu base area of the Red Army, but the town was less than a hundred miles away from the county seat of Heshui County, where the main force of the 57th Army was stationed, and it was located on the road from Heshui to Shaanxi County, so the main force of the Red Army would not be stationed, let alone ambushed; but after passing through the town of Zhiluo, it would go deep into the Shaanxi-Gansu base area, and it would be more dangerous than one stop, and if he took the town of Zhiluo first, then the future Zhang Cunyi and Yanxian would not need to lead the 109th Division to battle.
At dawn on 20 November, the 109th Division took the lead, and although there were sporadic battles along the way, they were not very intense, and the troops reached the area around the town of Zhiluo at noon that day. Here is a village and town with 200 residents, there are endless tushan mountains on both the north and south sides, sandwiched between a narrow and long gourd river valley, the 109th Division can only form a long snake array, winding along the south bank of the Hulu River; despite the dangerous terrain, Niu Yuanfeng is still full of confidence in his own judgment, and before entering the town, he asked the staff to report to the Xi'an headquarters and the military headquarters, and ordered the troops to rest on the spot.
▲Oil painting "Battle of Zhiluo Town"
In the early morning of the next day, the Red Army suddenly crossed the tushan mountains on both the north and south sides, and a fierce attack, annihilated most of the 2 regiments of the 109th Division outside the town, and besieged the town of Zhiluo. Niu Yuanfeng and his troops held out until the night of the 23rd, ran out of food, and could only lead the troops to break through, but they were quickly chased and destroyed by the Red Army, and Niu Yuanfeng was also killed. In this battle, the Red Army captured more than 5,300 people, captured more than 3,500 long and short guns, 176 light machine guns, 8 mortars, and 220,000 rounds of ammunition.