In the summer of 1934, under the leadership of the regimental commander Luo Binghui and political commissar Cai Shufan, the Red Ninth Army marched east to the central Fujian region, which was the famous "Eastern Front Operation" in military history.
On July 30, the troops fought a battle with the defending enemy in a small town called Zhanghu ban in Nanping, Minzhong Province, and it did not take much effort to eliminate two companies of the enemy security regiment.
There is a legendary figure named Lu Xingbang in the local area, who is also one of the key targets of the Red Army's plan to eliminate.
This person was originally an ordinary peasant in Youxi County, because he was framed by the landlord for seeking trouble, he killed the landlord in anger, fled into the mountains and became a bandit, specializing in robbing his family.
This bandit armed force grew stronger and stronger, and was incorporated by the Guangdong Protector Military Government, and Lu Xingbang first became the regimental commander and then was constantly promoted.
In 1931, in order to encircle and suppress the Red Army, the Nanjing side appointed Lu Xingbang as the commander of the newly organized Second Division, with the rank of lieutenant general.
Before Luo Binghui led the Red Ninth Army into Zhanghusaka, Lu Xingbang heard a little wind and fled in fright overnight.
Just when the Red Army soldiers were regretting that they had not captured Lu Xingbang, the local people told them an important message: there was a large-scale arsenal in the local area, which was secretly built by Lu Xingbang to make weapons and ammunition for its reactionary forces.
Luo Binghui was overjoyed, and sent people under the leadership of the masses to find the secret arsenal early in the morning.
Unexpectedly, the weapons and bullets of the arsenal had long been transported by Lu Xingbang's men, and the entire warehouse was empty, which could not help but disappoint everyone.
Just as they were about to leave, a small warrior suddenly ran over and said, "There is a cave on the mountain wall over there, and the entrance to the cave is locked." ”
The crowd ran to take a look, and sure enough, there was a more hidden opening. They smashed the lock on the door with all their hands and feet, and found that the inside of the hole was pitch black.
The little warrior was about to light a torch to see what was going on inside, but Luo Binghui, who had heard the news, quickly stopped him: "Don't light a fire!" ”
Under the astonished gaze of everyone, Luo Binghui took a little dirt from the mouth of the cave with his fingers and put it in front of his nose and sniffed it: "Bring fire in and it will be over, it may be gunpowder inside!" ”
"Huh?" The crowd let out a cry of surprise and blamed the little warrior for being too reckless.
Fortunately, it wasn't long before it was dark, and when the people entered the cave, they found that there was a lot of space inside, and countless wooden boxes were stacked.
When I opened these boxes, the contents were all gunpowder, as Luo Binghui said, and it was high-quality black gunpowder (gunpowder is not only black, but also yellow, red, white and other colors), and everyone was overjoyed.
After counting, it was learned that there were more than 4,000 boxes of gunpowder found by accident, and the soldiers of the entire legion cheered for it.
It should be known that at that time, the Red Army was extremely short of weapons and ammunition, so it was always inferior in firepower to fight with the regular army of the Kuomintang. In addition to being captured on the battlefield, the Red Army's arsenal in the Soviet zone was also able to make some weapons and ammunition on its own, but gunpowder was one of the most difficult raw materials to obtain.
Because it was difficult to get enough black gunpowder, the Red Army arsenal could only replace it with white materiel, but the lethality of the bullets thus created was greatly reduced.
It can be said that the more than 4,000 boxes of black gunpowder left by Lu Xingbang were a great gift to the Red Army.
Luo Binghui immediately reported this good news to the central authorities and was quickly instructed to find a way to transport these more than 4,000 boxes of gunpowder to the Soviet zone as soon as possible, and then process them into bullets, so as to enhance the combat effectiveness of our army.
After studying the Ninth Red Army, the commander of the Red Ninth Army immediately ordered the recruitment of many carpenters in the local area, and assisted the engineer company in making a large number of wooden boxes for the use of gunpowder (some of the original wooden boxes have decayed).
After loading the gunpowder, the regimental commanders immediately arranged for the troops to transport them to the Soviet zone.
This was an extremely arduous task, because under the encirclement and blockade of the Kuomintang, it was impossible for the Red Army to use vehicles, boats and other means of transportation, and even mules and horses were extremely limited, and they could only be transported by manpower.
The solution given by Luo Binghui was extremely simple and practical—the entire Red Ninth Army, including himself, was fully involved in the task of transporting gunpowder, and each person was given 20 to 30 kilograms of gunpowder, packed in wooden boxes, or shouldered or carried on the march.
If weapons, luggage, etc. are included, the items carried by each Red Army commander and fighter weigh 50 to 60 kilograms. Considering the long way to go, this is really a big problem.
But the Red Army is strong here - no matter how much difficulty it faces, the soldiers are fearless, and they can always overcome all problems with their indestructible and indomitable willpower.
Although the weather was very hot, from the regimental commander Luo Binghui and the political commissar Cai Shufan to cadres at all levels, from ordinary soldiers to grooms and cooks, everyone carried a pair of burdens and kept moving forward with laughter.
Along the way, they overcame the scorching sun, overcame the muddy and slippery road surface after the rain, climbed over the mountains, waded through the rivers, and struggled towards the Soviet area.
Luo Binghui was a well-known big fat man, but he never engaged in specialization, like an ordinary warrior, carrying dozens of pounds of burden to rush to the road, but giving the war horse to the wounded and sick to ride. In order to boost morale, he often sang mountain songs and military songs, so that the legions always maintained a high morale.
After a month's long journey, the Red Ninth Army finally arrived at Gutian in the Soviet Zone and handed over the more than 4,000 boxes of gunpowder to the military station set up by the Central Military Commission there. Later, these batches of gunpowder were made into bullets, which had an important impact on the development and growth of the Red Army.