In October 1934, the Red Army's fifth anti-encirclement and suppression campaign failed due to the erroneous line of adventurism pursued by Bogu, the leader of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at the time, and Li De, the military adviser of the Communist International. In order to get rid of the encirclement and blockade of the Kuomintang army, the main force of the central Red Army was forced to carry out a strategic transfer and carry out the Long March.
In November 1935, more than 3,000 people of the Eighteenth Division of the Red Army were ordered to stay in the Xiang'echuanqian base area and cover the main long march of the Red Second and Sixth Armies. In two months, the Red Eighteenth Division moved to four provinces and fifteen counties, traveled nearly 4,000 miles, fought a bloody battle alone, pinned down more than 100,000 Kuomintang troops, and successfully covered the smooth Long March of the main forces of the Red Army.
First, he was ordered to successfully jump out of the encirclement
In October 1934, in order to cover the Long March of the Central Red Army. He Long led the Red Second and Sixth Armies to successfully advance into western Hunan province, took the initiative to launch an attack on the Kuomintang troops, and successfully created the Xiang'echuanqian base area. However, Chiang Kai-shek quickly mobilized the strength of 130 regiments of Sun Lianzhong and six columns, totaling more than 100,000 people, and launched a large-scale "encirclement and suppression" against the newly created Xiang'echuanqian base area.
In order to preserve the flames of the revolution, in order to preserve the enemy's outnumber, He Long decided to lead the main force of the Red Second and Sixth Armies on the Long March on November 4.
In the case of a large number of pursuing troops in the rear, He Long decided to leave the Red Eighteenth Division to hold the base area, confuse and contain the enemy, in order to cover the transfer of the main force.
The Red Eighteenth Division was an old unit in the Red Second and Sixth Armies that could fight in battle, and the division commander was Zhang Zhengkun, a tiger general whom He Long relied on and loved most. Entrusting Zhang Zhengkun with the heavy responsibility of containing the enemy, He Long was very relieved.
Zhang Zhengkun, commander of the Red Eighteenth Division
The Red Eighteenth Division administers the Fifty-third Regiment and the Fifty-second Regiment, plus the division's direct organs, and the total strength of the division is more than 3,000 people.
As soon as the Red Second and Sixth Armies were transferred, more than 100,000 Kuomintang troops rushed like a tidal wave to Xiang'echuanqian and trapped the Red Eighteenth Division in the Ciyantang area in the northeast of Longshan County, Hunan Province, and surrounded them.
Zhang Zhengkun was not in a hurry, and led the commanders and fighters of the whole division to make full use of the densely forested terrain of the mountains, skillfully maneuvered with the enemy, and used flexible and mobile guerrilla tactics to play a "game" of hide-and-seek with the enemy.
Although the Kuomintang army is numerous in number, there are many internal factions, no one obeys anyone, and the command system is not unified, and it is like a scattered sand. This gave the Red Eighteenth Division the opportunity to break through, and Zhang Zhengkun made full use of the enemy's weaknesses, coupled with his great familiarity with the mountainous terrain of the base area, led the commanders and fighters of the whole division to circle with the enemy for four days and four nights, and cleverly found the gap in the enemy's encirclement circle and successfully broke through under the eyes of the enemy.
Second, in the four provinces, the two regimental commanders sacrificed one after another, spelling out a bloody road
After the successful breakthrough, Zhang Zhengkun led the Eighteenth Division all the way to the northeast. On the way, the Red Eighteenth Division was successively surrounded and blocked by enemies several times larger than itself. Zhang Zhengkun did not dare to love the battle, and led his troops to fight and retreat.
When the troops retreated to chenjiahe town in Sangzhi County, Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, the Red Eighteenth Division received a telegram that the Red Second and Sixth Armies had successfully transferred to Guizhou, and Zhang Zhengkun's long-hanging heart fell to the ground. The main force of the Red Army broke through smoothly, and with no worries in mind, Zhang Zhengkun decided to lead the troops to give it a go, kill a bloody road, and chase after the large troops.
On November 16, the Red Eighteenth Division began to break through in the direction of Guizhou. However, along the way, there were all the Kuomintang troops, waiting in a solemn position for the arrival of the Red Eighteenth Division.
Zhang Zhengkun led the Red Eighteenth Division not to dare to take the main road, and specialized in dense forests and mountain roads. By December 21, after a bitter battle, the Red Eighteenth Division had successfully broken through the last Kuomintang army line on the border of Xiang'e and arrived in Laifeng County, Hubei Province.
At this time, the Red Eighteenth Division had already lost most of its weight, leaving only more than a thousand people.
Just when Zhang Zhengkun was preparing to lead his troops westward into Sichuan and then to Guizhou to look for large troops, he received a telegram from the Red Second and Sixth Armies in time: on the necessary road to Sichuan in the west, the enemy has set up heavy troops. After some deliberation, Zhang Zhengkun decided to lead his troops to change the route of the march and detour to the west.
On December 23, during a roundabout march, the Red Eighteenth Division was surrounded and blocked by the Hubei Security Regiment. After continuous marching and fighting, the Red Eighteenth Division at this time was already exhausted, coupled with excessive ammunition consumption, almost ran out of ammunition.
Zhang Zhengkun did not make a hard touch, and as soon as the enemy and we made contact, he led the soldiers to retreat quickly. During the retreat, Liu Feng, chief of staff of the division and commander of the Fifty-third Regiment, was unfortunately killed. The troops were seriously reduced, and in order to facilitate command, Zhang Zhengkun decided to cancel the number of the Fifty-second Regiment, and the remaining soldiers were unified into the Fifty-third Regiment, because the former Commander of the Fifty-second Regiment, Fan Xiaozhu, was the commander of the Fifty-third Regiment.
However, on the way to continue the westward transfer of troops, they were blocked by the kuomintang Huang Baitao's Forty-first Division. In the fierce battle, Fan Xiaozhu, the commander of the Fifty-third Regiment, was heroically sacrificed.
In four days, the Red Eighteenth Division sacrificed two regimental commanders, and the losses were very large, which showed the fierceness of the battle.
On January 1, 1936, the Red Eighteenth Division, which was fighting alone, finally arrived at the junction of Hubei and Sichuan, the Tangyan River, the first major tributary of the Wujiang River.
After a bloody battle, the Red Eighteenth Division successfully crossed the river and successfully entered the territory of Sichuan. On January 11, the Red Eighteenth Division finally met with the Red Second and Sixth Armies in Tongren Jiangkou County, Guizhou Province.
Xiao Ke and Wang Zhen personally greeted them twenty miles away and welcomed the triumphant return of the heroic Red Eighteenth Division. Wang Zhen sighed, "The Red Eighteenth Division is a heroic unit that cannot be dragged down and defeated!" ”
At this time, the Red Eighteenth Division had only one battalion of troops left, about 600 people.
From November 4, 1935 to January 11, 1936, more than 3,000 men of the Red Eighteenth Division were ordered to stay in the Xiang'echuanqian base area to cover the main long march of the Red Second and Sixth Armies, and the lone army fought bloodily for more than two months, moving to four provinces and fifteen counties, traveling nearly 4,000 Miles, containing more than 100,000 Kuomintang troops, successfully covering the smooth march of the main forces of the Red Second and Sixth Armies, and creating another miracle in the history of our army.
In 1939, Zhang Zhengkun served as the chief of staff of the first detachment of the New Fourth Army, assisting Chen Yi in commanding a series of battles such as Shuiyang Hengshan, Gongqiaomen, Dongwan, Yanling, and Yuntai Mountain. In 1940, Zhang Zhengkun served as the commander of the third detachment of the New Fourth Army, leading the troops to fight with the Japanese army in a bloody and bitter battle, and repeatedly made miraculous achievements and outstanding merits.
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However, what is sad is that Zhang Zhengkun did not sacrifice himself on the battlefield, but was finally captured with wounds in the Anhui Incident, and later killed by the Kuomintang reactionaries in the Shangrao concentration camp, and was the captured senior commander of the New Fourth Army after the commander Ye Ting in the Anhui Incident, and also the top commander of the New Fourth Army who was killed.
The hero is gone, the hero lives on, immortal!
[Adhere to the original, do not forget the original heart, remember the history, taste life, welcome attention, common progress】