Among the ten founding generals of the Republic, Xu Haidong was probably the most legendary, and Chairman Mao praised him as "a man of great merit to the revolution."
In the Long March, the Red Twenty-fifth Army created five miracles: it was small in age; its number did not decrease but increased; the lone army made fewer responses; it created the Eyu-Shaanxi guerrilla base area; and made great contributions to the Chinese revolution.
Among them, "making great contributions to the Chinese revolution" included attracting the Kuomintang army and alleviating the military pressure of the main Red Army, and also creating conditions for the CPC Central Committee and the main Red Army to "settle down in northern Shaanxi."
And the most emotional and incredible thing is that the "young" of the Red 25 Army is how young? In the article "The Long March of the Twenty-fifth Army of the Chinese Red Army", there is such a report:
"The majority of the combatants in this army are only thirteen to eighteen years old. A large proportion of them are only sixteen or seventeen-year-olds, and some are even younger. ”
How effective can a group of dolls with an average age of sixteen or seventeen have? Many people have this idea, such as Ma Hongbin of Ma Jiajun.
Ma Peiqing, commander of the cavalry regiment of Ma Hongbin's army, said that the Red Twenty-fifth Army was a "juvenile baby soldier." Ma Hongbin tried to imagine that eagles could destroy these "baby soldiers" of the Red Twenty-fifth Army like an eagle catching a chicken, but although the Red Twenty-fifth Army was a unit known as a "baby soldier," the commanders and fighters of the Red Twenty-fifth Army were young in age, but their combat effectiveness was not small.
Ma Hongbin fought with the Red Twenty-fifth Army several times, and not only did he not get a bargain, but he himself almost became a prisoner of the Red Twenty-fifth Army.
The combat effectiveness of the Red Twenty-fifth Army has been tested by practice, and the Red Twenty-fifth Army has won victories with tenacious combat effectiveness and strong perseverance in the fierce battles of Dushu Town, Yujiahe Battle, Sipo Village Battle, Banqiao Town Battle, and so on.
The brilliant results of the Battle of sanjiaosi in total annihilation of one battalion of the enemy, the rush to jingziguan, the annihilation of Yuanjiagoukou and the total annihilation of the First Brigade of Shaanxi Garrison are even more powerful proof of the combat effectiveness of the Red Twenty-fifth Army.
The age of the soldiers is small, so the leading members of the team should be "mature", but in fact, not only the average age of the soldiers is very small, but the average age of the leading members of the Red Twenty-fifth Army is also very small. Li Guang, who served as the secretary of the Communist Youth League committee of the Red Twenty-fifth Army during the Long March, recalled:
"At that time, most of the regimental and battalion cadres were in their early twenties, and we were all familiar with Comrades Han Xianchu, Liu Zhen, and Chen Xianrui, who were originally three comrades-in-arms in a class, and they were all hairy boys in their twenties during the Long March.
It can be seen from this that it is not impossible to say that the Red Twenty-fifth Army is a "baby soldier", so why is the "age" of the Red Twenty-fifth Army so young?
The main reason for the small average age of the commanders and fighters of the Red Twenty-fifth Army is that most of the soldiers of the Red Twenty-fifth Army are the children or orphans of the Red Fourth Front.
The third issue of the seventh volume of the Comintern introduced this "children's army", saying that the commanders and fighters of this army were mostly "orphans of those who died in battle" and "the children of the commanders and fighters of the Red Army who accompanied the Red Fourth Front army to Sichuan on an expedition."
In 1932, the Red Fourth Front withdrew from the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Region and went to Sichuan-Shaanxi, and many of the soldiers' orphans were left in the Eyu-Shaanxi Su District. These children were incorporated into the Red Twenty-fifth Army at a slightly older age.
The average age of the Red Twenty-fifth Army's replenishment in southern Shaanxi was also very small. Many of the supplementary soldiers during this period were children left over from the Red Fourth Front's passage through southern Shaanxi, and these "red soldiers" also affected the young people around them.
According to historical records, when the Red Fourth Front entered The River through Shaanxi in 1932, there were many children left in Shangluo Counties. By 1935, the children were fifteen or sixteen years old, and naturally joined the Red Twenty-fifth Army.
In addition, these young people left behind by the Red Fourth Front got to know many young people and did a lot of propaganda work in peacetime, so these young people also joined the Red Twenty-fifth Army.
The Regular Political Work and Military Training of the Red Twenty-Fifth Army transformed the disadvantages of young age into the advantages of learning, and greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Red Twenty-fifth Army.
Why is such a group of "baby soldiers" so highly effective? Two reasons:
First, there is a strong combination of political work and training
The Red Twenty-fifth Army has always focused on political work and military training, and younger age makes learning easier. Instructions calling for strengthening political work and military training can often be seen in the resolutions of the Provincial Party Committee of Eyu-Anhui (Eyu-Shaanxi Provincial Committee).
For example, on December 10, 1934, the Red Twenty-fifth Army had just arrived at Yujiahe in Luonan, and held a meeting of the provincial party committee to discuss the next step of the task, and its resolution emphasized that "first of all, it is necessary to strengthen the Red Twenty-fifth Army, establish a political work system, and effectively establish the work of the Political Department." Strengthen the work of company instructors and train military cadres with great force."
On May 19, 1935, the meeting of the Eyu-Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee once again stressed: "Stepping up political and military training in the Red Army... In particular, the work of educating new recruits should be concrete and practical.
This emphasis on political work and military training, coupled with the rejuvenation of soldiers and cadres of the Red Twenty-fifth Army, is one of the reasons why it has become a team with strong combat effectiveness under the joint action of the two.
The leadership ability of Wu Huanxian, Xu Haidong, and others is another important factor in the brilliant achievements of the Red Twenty-fifth Army.
In several battles during the Long March of the Red Twenty-fifth Army, Wu Huanxian and Xu Haidong were always able to stabilize their positions in time, turn the tide, and finally repel the enemy army.
In several major strategic decisions of the Red Twenty-fifth Army, Cheng Zihua and other leaders were always able to make correct decisions. Wu Huanxian's leadership skills were vividly demonstrated in the Battle of Dushu Town. The Battle of Dushu Town was a crucial battle in the Long March of the Red Twenty-fifth Army.
On the way from the Tongbai Mountains to the Funiu Mountains, the Red Twenty-fifth Army passed through dushu Town, Fangcheng County, and encountered the 115th Brigade and cavalry regiment of the Nationalist 40th Army. On that day, the cold suddenly arrived, the wind and rain were mixed, and they were surrounded by the enemy on both sides, and the situation was very unfavorable to the Red Twenty-fifth Army.
A red army chief of staff cowered and instigated the troops to flee for their lives, and many soldiers were shaken. At this moment, Wu Huan, who was then the political commissar of the Red Twenty-fifth Army, took the lead and shouted loudly: "Comrades, rush up to resist the enemy!" This is an existential juncture, and we must not retreat! Communists come with me! ”
Lead your troops into enemy positions and engage in a fierce white-knife battle with the enemy. In the end, it withstood the enemy's attack, avoided the catastrophe, and saved this heroic force.
Another thrilling battle was the Battle of Yujiahe. After the Red Twenty-fifth Army entered the Yujia River in southern Shaanxi, it convened the Eighteenth Standing Committee Meeting to study the issue of creating a new base area in the Eyu-Shaanxi Border Region.
Suddenly, the Sixtieth Division of the Nationalist Army sneaked in. The soldiers of the Red Twenty-fifth Army were exhausted due to the long march, and the enemy's sneak attack caught the soldiers off guard, and the battlefield situation was very unfavorable. During the battle, Xu Haidong was shot through the bottom of his left eye and flew out of the back of his neck. Cheng Zihua was also seriously injured.
Wu Huanxian was not afraid of danger, commanded Ruoding, and led the soldiers to fight back heroically and fight to the death. After more than 20 repeated charge kills, the enemy was finally crushed.
Xu Haidong is known as "Xu Tiger", who can fight and can fight wars, which makes the enemy feel frightened. Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, who had been fighting the Red Twenty-Fifth Army for a long time, recognized Xu Haidong's command ability very much.
During the "Xi'an Incident," they even named Xu Haidong in charge of the defense of Xi'an, in order to prevent the pro-Japanese armed forces within the Kuomintang from attacking Xi'an.
Xu Haidong was good at setting ambushes, was a pioneer, and was an outstanding general, and was awarded the rank of general in 1955. Wang Mingqin, commander of the Fourth Regiment of the Forty-second Division of the Kuomintang Seventeenth Route Army, said of the Red Twenty-fifth Army:
"In the area around Nanshan, the red twenty-fifth army was besieged in the east of Xuhai, and in less than March, the three brigades of Tang Sitong, Zhang Feisheng, and Zhang Hanmin were destroyed, and the four regiments led by Liu Yanbiao lost more than half. Xu Bu was invincible, and the military might was greatly enhanced. Our army is tired of war, and our soldiers have no fighting spirit; the commanders are discouraged and afraid of being overthrown. ”
Under the leadership of Wu Huanxian, the soul of the army, and Xu Haidong, the tiger general, the "baby soldier" of the Red Twenty-fifth Army, showed super combat effectiveness.
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