In October 1930 and April 1931, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 100,000 and 200,000 troops respectively to "encircle and suppress" the Red Army in the central base areas.
However, these two meticulously planned "encirclement and suppression" were both defeated by the Red Army, and Chiang Kai-shek's army not only lost soldiers and lost everything, but also allowed the Red Army to capture a lot of guns and ammunition, and also to be tempered and grown in the war, and the tactical quality of the Red Army cadres was also greatly improved.
Xu Yangang, commander of the Ninth Division of the Third Army of the Red First Army, was a very intelligent commander. After the second victory against "encirclement and suppression," he concluded that the enemy would not give up and should make better preparations for future battles, so he asked the troops to step up their training.
This morning, he suddenly said to the division staff officer Geng Biao: "Give you a new task." ”
"What task?"
"Take the secret agent to the river and practice building a bridge."
Geng Biao was puzzled: "Why did the division commander suddenly think of letting us build a bridge?" ”
"Future wars will become more and more complicated, we can't dig wells in the face of thirst, we must plan ahead." He turned around, pointed to the military map on the wall, and said, "You see, the rivers in Jiangxi are dense, and our army has fought across the river from the enemy many times before, but the experience of the troops in building bridges is not enough, so we must strengthen this shortcoming as soon as possible." ”
Geng Biao suddenly realized, "Oh! I have understood that if the troops can complete the bridge building in a short period of time, it will greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of our army! ”
"That's right, so you were sent to arrest this matter yourself!"
"But..." Geng Biao scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "I don't know how to build bridges either?" ”
"I have a book here that contains knowledge about building bridges, and you can use it to learn." Xu Yangang said as he handed him a copy of Engineering.
Geng Biao took the book in his hand and turned it over, his face suddenly turned red, and he said a little embarrassedly: "This book... It's quite professional, but there are some calculation formulas in it, I... I really don't understand..."
It is no wonder that Geng Biao came from a poor background, had not read any books, and worked as a child laborer in a lead and zinc mine in Shuikou Mountain, Hunan Province, at the age of 13. He always charged forward and fearless in battle, but if he wanted to read and write, it would be difficult for him.
"Haha, learn and do it!" Xu Yangang smiled and said, "If you don't understand, you ask me, but you can't give up because you don't understand." You can take this opportunity to learn a little more cultural knowledge, and you will definitely use it in the future! ”
"Got it! I'll do it right away! Geng Biao gladly took the order and left.
Although Geng Biao's education level was limited at that time, this attitude of accepting challenges allowed him to grow up quickly and laid the foundation for him to become a politician, diplomat, and military figure in New China.
Under the guidance of Xu Yangang, Geng Biao referred to the content of bridge building in "Engineering", coupled with many consulting and shameless questions, and finally groped to build a bridge.
Of course, the bridge only uses simple and easy-to-take materials such as door panels, trees, bamboo, and rattan, and there is no particularly complex engineering technology, but for the commanders and fighters of the Red Ninth Division, this is a breakthrough after all.
Interestingly, not long after they learned to build bridges, they had an unexpected harvest.
On this day, Geng Biao took a platoon of the special agent company to the river and just built a pontoon bridge, planning to study how to improve the bridge construction technology by the way. Unexpectedly, when they were having a heated discussion, a soldier suddenly rushed to report: "Counselor Geng, there is an enemy coming from the west!" ”
"Oh? How many enemies are there? Geng Biao asked.
"There were about 20 of them, as if they were escorting something. There were several porters in front of him, each carrying two baskets, and the contents seemed to be quite heavy. ”
"Just in time, ready for battle!"
At the order of Geng Biao, the warriors immediately dispersed and hid on the east side of the bridge.
Not long after, a group of people appeared on the west side of the bridge, in front of them were eight porters, each carrying a heavy load of things, and the flat burden was creaked. Behind them were more than twenty Kuomintang soldiers, carrying guns on their shoulders and cigarettes in their mouths, cursing and grinning at the porters in front of them as they walked.
They walked to the pontoon bridge, and one of the porters said in surprise, "Boss, are we going the wrong way?" ”
"Fuck! What's the fuss? A Kuomintang officer huddled in front of him and scolded.
"We passed by here this morning, there is no bridge at all, it is a river crossed by boat. How can a bridge pop up for no reason now? ”
When the porter said this, the enemy officer also felt inexplicable: "Fuck! Are you going the wrong way? Watch out for Lao Tzu killing you! ”
At this time, geng biao gave an order, and the soldiers quickly rushed from the bridge with their guns, shouting in their mouths: "You are surrounded, surrender immediately, surrender your guns and do not kill!" ”
As soon as the Red Army emerged, the Kuomintang soldiers fled in a hurry, and the eight porters could not understand the situation and fled in fright.
The warriors were about to pursue the enemy, and Geng Biao said, "Forget it, poor Kou Cao, let's first check what good things the enemy has left us." ”
The warriors walked over and looked at it, and they were overjoyed--it turned out that the eight-carton baskets thrown down by the porters were all white flowers and shiny silver dollars (also called "Guangyang" at that time).
In one of the picks, a "gift list" written on red paper was also turned out, and it turned out that these silver dollars were all "big gifts" given to the Kuomintang army by local local tycoons and inferior gentry (it was later confirmed that in fact, these money were requested by the Kuomintang on their own initiative).
When Geng Biao asked the soldiers to carry the eight quintals of silver yuan back to the division headquarters to report, the division commander Xu Yangang also felt incredible: "I didn't expect you to build a pontoon bridge, but effortlessly, you got a big gift from the enemy and solved the urgent need for the troops, which is really unexpected!" ”
Geng Biao smiled and said, "The seizure of silver dollars is just a matter of taking the 'yang' by the hand and learning the bridge building technology, so that we can really become strong!" ”
Xu Yangang laughed: "Haha, you are a good staff officer, and your consciousness is getting higher and higher!" ”