On September 22, 1945, the Second Column of the New Fourth Army in Eastern Zhejiang was planning to march to the Japanese pseudo-stronghold behind enemy lines, and the main force was gathered outside Ningbo.
The order to attack Ningbo had just been issued, and commander He Kexi and political commissar Tan Qilong suddenly received an urgent telegram from the Headquarters of the New Fourth Army, ordering the Eastern Zhejiang Column to evacuate all its personnel from Zhejiang within seven days.
After Reading the telegram, He Kexi and Tan Qilong both felt that all this had come too suddenly!
Although they are extremely reluctant in their hearts, they are soberly aware that the northern withdrawal is a major strategic decision of the Party Central Committee and must be resolutely and unconditionally implemented.
He and Tan immediately summoned a meeting of the main cadres of the column and decided that all the party, government, and army of more than 15,000 people would cross the sea in three groups from Linshan, Guanhaiwei, and Guyaopu, cross the Hangzhou Bay, land at Pupu near Haiyan, and pass through Qingpu to Changshu.
Although the plan for crossing the sea has been formulated, how easy is it to implement it?
Of the more than 15,000 men, except for the three regiments and regiments stationed in Ningbo City, the more than 7,000 troops were scattered within the five counties like sesame seeds. To assemble and pull out the highly dispersed troops, every minute and second of the seven days is as precious as gold for them.
Moreover, it is even more difficult to get more than four hundred boats in seven days.
Other questions do not need to be said, what to do? They decided to do everything in their power to complete the task to the letter.
In order to get the boats, from the Zhoushan Islands in the east to the Cao'e River in the west, they secretly and openly searched and mobilized civilian boats, those with tents, poles, large, and small, as long as they could go to sea, the Central China Bureau also sent ships from Jiaodong and Northern Jiangsu.
Seven days had not arrived, and four hundred ships were fully prepared.
On October 1, 15,000 people gathered in Guyaopu and were ready to go.
At dawn, just as the ships were arriving at the designated location one after another, he Kexi was preparing to lead his troops to set off by boat, when suddenly several crisp gunshots came from the northwest direction of the town of Pupu.
At this critical moment, there was the sound of gunfire, which was not strange!
The scouts sent by He Kexi quickly returned to report that a large number of Kuomintang troops were coming, and it was not clear how many troops there were, only that the black pressure was pressing down on a large area.
He Kexi was unfazed, calmly and calmly commanded the troops to immediately organize fire blockades and prepare to meet the incoming enemy.
Just as he was about to dispatch his troops and deploy for battle, another scout came to report that the Hidden Horse Mountain and Fanzi Mountain, which the troops must pass through to the north, had been occupied by the enemy.
That is to say, the enemy has formed a pinch attack trend facing our army from the north and the south, and the situation is extremely critical!
In the face of this sudden situation, He Kexi, who had experienced hundreds of battles, could not help but frown and lock his brows, thinking hard about ways to break the enemy.
At this time, a peasant of about half a hundred years old came and said that he had sent a letter to Commander He on the orders of Chen Shizhang, commander of the Twenty-fifth Army of the Nationalist Army.
He Kexi opened the letter and looked at it, it turned out to be An "ultimatum" under Chen Shizhang, demanding that the New Fourth Army surrender before 12 noon.
He Kexi read the letter, pondered for a moment, and suddenly thought of a brilliant plan.
He also wrote a letter to the farmer, asking him to send it to Chen Shizhang.
When Chen Shizhang looked at it, He Kexi claimed in the letter that this was the third batch of troops withdrawing from the north, most of which were wounded and sick, and had no combat effectiveness. It is now agreed to negotiate with Commander Chen at two o'clock in the afternoon.
After reading this letter, Chen Shizhang laughed and said, "The person who knows the current affairs is Junjie, it seems that He Kexi is still a little self-aware!" ”
He immediately ordered the troops to be ready to accept the surrender of the New Fourth Army at two o'clock in the afternoon.
When his officers and men heard that the New Fourth Army was ready to surrender, they were all elated and danced. In particular, the defenders at Hidden Horse Mountain and Fanzi Mountain relaxed their guard, and even laughed and played, and they were all overjoyed.
At exactly two o'clock in the afternoon, the Officers and Men of the Kuomintang began to shout when they saw that the agreed time for surrender had arrived.
Not long after, I saw a group of wounded and sick members of the New Fourth Army slowly walking out from the north of the town of Weipu, with bandages tied to their heads, bodies, or feet, looking very depressed.
"Haha, the New Fourth Army also has today!" They have come to surrender! The Nationalist defenders at Hidden Horse Mountain and Fanzi Mountain suddenly came to their senses and shouted loudly.
Chen Shizhang heard the report of the chief of the Operations Division that the New Fourth Army had come out and surrendered, and he was in a hurry to order the victory to "Chief Gu" (Gu Zhutong).
Just when the officers and men of the Kuomintang were all overwhelmed by the good news that "the New Fourth Army has come to surrender," suddenly from The Hidden Horse Mountain and fan mountain came the earth-shaking sound of gunfire, grenade explosions, and shouts of killing!
It turned out that those New Fourth Army soldiers who came to "surrender" were not wounded or sick at all, but soldiers of the New Fourth Army!
As soon as they approached the Kuomintang position, they pulled out the guns and ammunition hidden in their bodies and launched an onslaught on the enemy!
Immediately afterward, teams of the New Fourth Army roared out of the city.
Chen Shizhang only then returned to his senses, realized that he had been caught in He Kexi's deceitful surrender plan, and immediately organized a counterattack. However, because his officers and men relaxed their guard and were not prepared for battle at all, they were suddenly attacked by the New Fourth Army, and suffered heavy casualties.
Soon, the two mountains originally controlled by Chen Shizhangbu were occupied by the New Fourth Army, thus opening a breakthrough.
That night, He Kexi led his troops to break out of the siege under the cover of night, and finally successfully reached northern Jiangsu and completed the task of retreating north.
The generals joked one after another that Chen Shizhang was so confused that he sent a letter of persuasion when our army was in a desperate crisis, which allowed our army to break through the siege.