In order to retain the flame of revolution, the Red Army had to carry out a major strategic transfer to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, where the enemy's forces were weak, and this great transfer was called the Long March in history. Hardships and hardships could not frighten the soldiers of the Red Army, and with firm ideals and convictions, they embarked on the road of the Long March.
On the way, it was not only facing the harsh natural conditions such as snowy mountains and grasslands, but also the encirclement and blockade of the Kuomintang troops, and thus staged a scene of touching deeds that could be sung and wept. One of them is the heroic story of a soldier who braved the enemy's gunfire to seize the Luding Bridge on the rolling Dadu River in order to open the passage for victory in the Long March of the Red Army.
In the route of the Red Army's Long March, it was necessary to cross the Dadu River to enter the vast snowy mountains and temporarily get rid of the enemy's pursuit. When the Red Army seized the important strategic stronghold of Xia'anshun Field, the Kuomintang side suddenly felt a lot of crisis, and he knew that the Red Army must cross the Dadu River next. To this end, they urgently telegraphed the Kuomintang generals Zhou Guishan and Liu Wenhui to prevent the Red Army from crossing the river. After receiving the order, Liu Wenhui and Zhou Guishan ordered all the wooden planks on the Luding Bridge to be removed, leaving only 13 cold iron cables, spanning the banks of the Dadu River.
Why did Liu Wenhui and others not choose to blow up the Luding Bridge immediately, but only chose to remove the bridge slab? This is mainly because at that time, Luding Bridge had an extremely important role and significance for the local people. Luding Bridge was built in the 45th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, and with the handwritten character of the Kangxi Emperor, the Luding Bridge, which has been standing on both sides of the strait for many years, is like a link connecting Tibet and Sichuan, and it is the main channel for exchanges between the people of the two places.
At that time, it was a period of confrontation between the two parties, and the "famous" Kuomintang was not welcomed by the people at all, and Liu Wenhui knew that the bombing of the bridge would further aggravate the contradictions with the people, and the time when the people's hearts and minds were turned against him was when the Kuomintang army led by him was defeated and retreated. Therefore, in the end, he only chose to temporarily remove the wooden planks on the chain bridge, rather than immediately blowing up the bridge connected to the hearts of the people.
Underestimating the courage and determination of the Red Army was also one of the reasons why the Kuomintang did not blow up the bridge. At that time, Liu Wenhui had already built a fortification on the Luding Bridge, and the military equipment that should be available was readily available, and after the demolition of the wooden planks, there were only 13 cold iron cables left on the Luding Bridge, and they could not stand on it steadily. Even if the Red Army attacked, Liu Wenhui relied on sufficient preparations in advance, and it was easy to repel the Red Army.
When the Red Army received the order to attack the bridge, a part of the Red Army rushed to the front, using pistol grenades to meet the dense enemy fire, while the rear part of the soldiers were carrying wooden planks and laying the bridge as they advanced. This picture, which seems to be only found in the novel, actually appeared on the road of the Red Army's Long March, braving the enemy's artillery fire, the Red Army arrived on the opposite bank, killed into Luding City, and after more than an hour of fighting, repelled the Kuomintang defenders stationed here.
Time has passed, and many years later, a Kuomintang veteran who once participated in the battle revealed that there was actually a more important reason why they did not remove the planks in the first place. That is, shortly before the arrival of the Red Army, they again received instructions from the Kuomintang top brass that they could blow up the Luding Bridge if necessary, but the Nationalist reinforcements were still delayed at this time. As a result, the defenders here could only make a temporary decision to remove the planks first.
If their reinforcements arrived first, they would rejoin the planks on the bridge to welcome them to cross the bridge smoothly; if the Red Army arrived first, they would certainly be able to repel the Red Army and stop the Red Army from advancing, relying on their excellent equipment. When the Red Army arrived at the Luding Bridge before their reinforcements, the battle that determined the Chinese revolution was also started, and the story of the capture of the Luding Bridge was spread among people's ears ever since.
Coincidentally, Shi Dakai, the general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was chased by the Qing army to this place due to his failure to cross the Dadu River, and the entire army was destroyed. At that time, the Kuomintang wanted to take this opportunity to repeat history, but they forgot the energy and iron will of every Red Army soldier. Moreover, the Red Army on the Long March road will definitely not become the second Shi Dakai!