After the Shawo Conference in August 1935, the Red First and Fourth Fronts decided to continue the Long March north. The troops were about to cross the meadows, and one of the biggest problems was the lack of food, so they had to think of ways to raise food in the nearby areas.
On this day, Xiao Yongzheng, chief of the grain and straw section of the Supply Department of the 30th Army of the Red Fourth Front (who became a founding major general in 1955), found Lin Boqu, director of the General Supply Department, approved 600,000 kilograms of grain strips, and took a grain delivery team with more than 2,000 people and hundreds of mules and horses to Jijiazhai to collect grain.
Unexpectedly, when he arrived at Jijiazhai, Zhang Lingbin (a lieutenant general in 1955), who was responsible for distributing grain, told Xiao Yongzheng that the grain raised by the General Supply Department had long been distributed.
Xiao Yongzheng thought he was joking, so he said, "What then?" We can't get food, and you'll entertain us two thousand Marcos! ”
Zhang Lingbin looked at the mighty grain delivery team and started to worry, so he had to say: "I will arrange a place for you to live first, and slowly think of a way." ”
However, they all knew that the troops who were raising grain had already obtained all the grain that could be raised in the surrounding areas, almost to the point of exhaustion, and it was impossible to raise hundreds of thousands of catties of grain needed by the Thirty Army.
The biggest problem now is that the Thirty Army has so many men and horses, and it can't last for a few days without food. In this way, the entire army will not be able to advance the long march any longer, and this problem is too serious!
Xiao Yongzheng was impatient, but there was nothing he could do, so he had to obey Zhang Lingbin's arrangement and lead the people to live in a large local toast house.
The main building of the residence is divided into four floors, the upper floor is the prayer hall, the upper three floors are inhabited by family members, slaves and livestock, and the side building also houses the dormitories of officials and soldiers.
When Toshi heard the wind, he had already fled, and the extremely spacious and magnificent house was empty.
Xiao Yongzheng took more than 2,000 cadres and fighters of the grain transport brigade to live in this big mansion, but he had not yet filled the large and small rooms inside.
Because they could not receive food, everyone did not even eat dinner, so they went to rest.
Xiao Yongzheng did not care to rest immediately, in order to confirm that there were no safety hazards left in this toast house, he took two warriors and checked around with torches.
When the three of them walked to a room deep on the ground floor of the main building, a soldier suddenly said in surprise, "Look at the section chief, there is a dark, eerie hole there!" ”
Xiao Yongzheng looked at it, and it turned out that there was a partial collapse between the stone floor and the wall, forming a large gap, and the inside was pitch black and bottomless, and there was an indescribable sense of gloom.
The little soldier said worriedly, "Chief, here... There's nothing scary about it, right? How could I panic? ”
Xiao Yongzheng was also a little chilled, but he thought: This is the territory of the big toast, in case something dangerous is hidden in this hole, then more than two thousand people in our grain delivery team will be in trouble.
"There's nothing to be afraid of! Go down and have a look! Pretending not to be afraid at all, he said to the little warrior, "I am guarding here, and you will bring someone to find a few ladders and a few torches to prepare to explore the hole." ”
After the preparations were ready, Xiao Yong was lighting torches and stepping on the spliced ladder, leading the way down, about a few inches deep before reaching the end.
At this time they found a dome made of stone, the bottom of which was paved with wooden planks, like the laneway of an ancient tomb.
One of the soldiers hesitated and said, "Chief, forget it, don't take any more risks, there are only dead people buried here..."
"Dead people have nothing to fear!" Thank you for being a soldier of the Red Army! Another warrior teased.
Xiao Yongzheng ignored them, but his nose inhaled hard, and he suddenly looked happy: "You smell carefully, what is the smell in this?" ”
"It's the smell of food! It is the smell of grain! Some shouted excitedly, and others cheered up. Red Army soldiers who had been starving for long periods of time seemed particularly sensitive to the smell of food.
"Yes, there may be surprises in this!" Xiao Yongzheng waved his hand, "Go, go inside and see what is going on!" ”
A small warrior rushed to the front, saw the things piled up in the depths of the alleyway, and exclaimed, "Wow, there are so many things piled up here!" ”
Everyone raised their torches and looked at the scene in front of them with ecstasy--only a large piece of golden yellow stuff on the ground was piled up like a mountain, and when they looked closer, it was all barley (that is, barley) with full grains!
Several of the warriors could no longer suppress the ecstasy in their hearts and rolled excitedly on the wheat pile.
Xiao Yongzheng was so happy that he could not speak, and he was relieved for an instant: There are so many "treasures", and the biggest problem of the troops crossing the grass has finally been solved!
Then something unexpected happened, and there was a cellar behind the wheat pile, and the contents were eye-opening: whole pieces of butter and cured pork, whole pieces of lamb, bacon, and a considerable amount of cloth. There were also a dozen large iron pots stacked in the corner, and the largest pot had no problem boiling a whole cow.
The crowd was pleasantly surprised and praised the big toastmaster for sending a large amount of supplies to the Red Army, although he had run away.
Xiao Yongzheng looked at so much meat, grain and cloth, but he sighed and said, "Just one toast hides so many good things, so it can be seen that the oppression here is really too serious!" ”
What is touching is that although the meat in front of them has become a hill, and the cadres and soldiers of the grain delivery team have been in a state of half-starvation for many days, they have only picked up a few cartons of wheat and cooked a pot of barley rice in a large pot to fill their hunger.
This is because everyone knows that the conditions in the snowy mountains and grasslands are extremely difficult, and it is not easy for the troops to raise grain, and to keep more grain is to add more strength to the long march of the troops!
The next day, Xiao Yongzheng reported this major unexpected harvest to Zhang Lingbin, and only transported a batch of grain, meat, and cloth needed by the Thirty Army, and handed over all the extra to the General Supply Department.
It can be said that the cellar "treasure" that Xiao Yongzheng and others inadvertently discovered made important contributions to the Long March of the Red Fourth Front.
Note: The content described in this article is a real person and a real thing, and Major General Xiao Yongzheng personally wrote an article recalling this matter.