Of the 3 commanders of the Western Route Army, only 1 of them survived, and the 1st led his troops to the northeast and became a lieutenant general
In October 1936, the three main forces of the Red Army met in Huining, Gansu, marking the end of the victory of the Long March. At that time, the conditions of the Red Army were backward, and if it wanted to continue the revolution, it was necessary to obtain the assistance of the Soviet Union, so our party decided to form the Western Route Army and cross the Yellow River in the west.
The Central Military Commission decided to occupy Ningxia and Gannan and connect them to Xinjiang, which would open up the Soviet Union's aid channels. Subsequently, three corps were drawn from the Red Army, Dong Zhentang's 5th Army, Sun Yuqing's 9th Army, and Cheng Shicai's 30th Army.
In the Hexi Corridor, the Western Route Army and the Majia Army encountered each other head-on and launched a fierce battle, because our army was fighting alone, and finally it was outnumbered, and almost the entire army was destroyed.
During the battle, Dong Zhentang and Sun Yuqing were all killed, and only Cheng Shi was lucky to escape. Today we will tell his story. In 1930, at the age of 18, Cheng Shicai joined the Red Army and joined the Party at the age of 19, and his revolutionary qualifications were not too late.
After becoming the Red Army, Cheng Shicai took the lead in every battle, was brave and fierce, and made many battle achievements, so his position was promoted quickly. Xu Xiangqian was his superior, and he was also greatly praised.
During the Red Army period, Cheng Shicai fought with the famous generals Hu Zongnan and Wei Lihuang of the Nationalist Army, although he was wounded, his life was not a big problem, so his combat experience was very rich.
In October 1932, the Red Fourth Front jumped out of the encirclement of the Kuomintang and prepared to move to Hanzhong. Cheng Shicai's 33rd Regiment of the Red 11th Division was the vanguard of the Red Fourth Front, and under his leadership, the troops successfully crossed the Qinling Mountains and reached the Hanzhong Plain.
Subsequently, the Red Fourth Front crossed the Han River south into Sichuan, and after entering Sichuan, Cheng Shicai commanded the 33rd Regiment to capture Desheng Mountain, and while resting while carrying out revolutionary activities, it quickly won the support of the common people, and established Soviet power in less than a month.
Old Chiang kai-shek certainly would not let go of the Red Army easily, and the Sichuan warlords did not want to be puppets, so they told Old Chiang that the Sichuan Army would deal with the Red Army by itself. Old Chiang kai-shek also did not want to tear his face with the Sichuan army, so he appointed Tian Songyao as the "inspector of bandit suppression" in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Border Region, and prepared to let the Sichuan army and the Red Army fight to the death.
The warlord is not stupid, his main purpose is to save himself, so he does not care when fighting. The Red Army's base areas had just been established, and in order to keep the base areas, the Red Army fought with all its might, causing great losses to the Sichuan Army.
Cheng Shicai led his troops to sneak up on the Sichuan army at night, and the 33rd Regiment was awarded the honorary banner of "Attacking like a Tiger Regiment", which disturbed the chickens and dogs of the Sichuan Army, and relying on the accumulated battle achievements, his superiors appointed him as the acting commander of the 39th Army, and he was the acting commander until the Time of the Western Route Army.
After the Zunyi Conference, the Red Fourth Front was ordered to cross the Jialing River in the west so that the Red Army could cross the river north. Cheng Shicai's 30th Army was the main force in crossing the river, and he made full use of the power of the masses, built more than 50 warships, and organized troops to carry out cross-river combat training.
At the same time, Cheng Shicai let the reconnaissance personnel collect intelligence from the enemy and finally crossed the Jialing River smoothly. After the formation of the Western Route Army, Cheng Shicai's 30th Army was also transferred, and due to its isolation and helplessness, it failed miserably in the Hexi Corridor.
In the face of ma jiajun, the three commanders were all pioneers, Dong Zhentang and Sun Yuqing died heroically, cheng Shicai was also injured, and finally experienced hardships and finally fled back to Yan'an.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Cheng Shicai entered the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University and the Central Party School to study, and then served as the president of the Kang University branch and the deputy director of the fourth department of the Yan'an Central Party School, so he did not make many achievements in the War of Resistance.
After Japan's surrender, Cheng Shicai was the first to arrive at Shanhaiguan with his troops, established a base area, developed revolutionary armed forces, and made great contributions to our army's seizure of the northeast and the final liberation of the three eastern provinces.
After the founding of New China, Cheng Shicai entered the Nanjing Military Academy for further study, and was later appointed by the chairman as the first deputy commander of the Public Security Army, and he was responsible for the daily practical work of the Public Security Army. In accordance with his seniority and military achievements, he became a founding lieutenant general in the first major award.