"Dadu Bridge crossed the iron cable cold." Chairman Mao described in "The Seven Laws of the Long March" the magnificent history of the Red Army's flying capture of the Luding Bridge during the Long March.
Fly to capture the Luding Bridge oil painting
How dangerous is the flying capture of Luding Bridge? If the Red Army could not take the Luding Bridge as soon as possible, there were only two roads left for the Red Army:
1. The 20,000 Red Army fought a decisive battle with more than 100,000 Nationalist troops at Anshun Field, which was very difficult;
2. The Red Army entered Xikang to the west, and xikang province at that time was now eastern Tibet, with an average altitude of more than 3,000 meters, and the land was sparsely populated, less than one person per square kilometer, and 20,000 Red Army troops were entering a desperate situation here.
Any of the above points are very small for the Red Army,
Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the capture of the Luding Bridge laid a solid foundation for the victory of the Long March.
What kind of bridge is Luding Bridge? What's so special about it?
Luding Bridge, built in the 44th year of Kangxi (1705 AD), a total length of 103.67 meters, 3 meters wide, composed of 13 parallel bowl mouth thick chains, 9 bottom chains paved with wooden planks to form a bridge deck, 4 as handrails, handrails and bottom chains are connected with small iron chains, under the bridge is the rushing Dadu River, the rushing river lapping at the reef on the opposite bank, issuing a thunderous roar.
Luding Bridge
On the night of May 24, 1935, the Red Army captured Anshun Field, and Chiang Kai-shek was furious. He was quite dissatisfied with the current situation and personally flew to Chengdu, ordering Liu Wenhui and Yang Sen and other Sichuan troops to intercept the Red Army.
At the same time, he ordered the 100,000 reinforcements of xue yuebu of the central army to march in a hurry, catch up with the Red Army within 3 days, and be sure to wipe out the Red Army at the Dadu River.
Chiang Kai-shek attempted to trap 20,000 Red Army troops on the banks of the Dadu River as the second Shi Dakai.
72 years ago, Shi Dakai, the general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was also surrounded and blocked by the Qing army, trapped in front of this Dadu River, with no way to escape, and finally tens of thousands of Taiping troops were completely destroyed!
Chiang Kai-shek's attempt obviously failed, and after the Red Army occupied Anshun Field, it searched for all the ships that could be crossed at the first time.
After a day of searching, the Red Army found only a few small boats, which could not meet the needs of the 20,000 Red Army to cross the river.
Red Army soldiers
With the ships of the time to cross the sea, it would take at least 1 month for the 20,000 Red Army to cross the river, and Xue Yue's 100,000 troops would arrive at Anshun field in a few days. In the front, there was Liu Wenhui's Sichuan army, and then there were Xue Wenyue's 100,000 pursuing troops, and the situation was very critical.
On the morning of May 28, Mao Zedong and Zhu De urgently ordered Lin Biao to take the Luding Bridge on May 29 to open a passage for the Central Red Army to cross the river, and Lin Biao entrusted this glorious and arduous task to the Red Fourth Regiment.
However, at this time, although the Red Fourth Regiment had already marched 80 miles, it was still 240 miles away from Luding Bridge, which meant that it was necessary to rush 240 miles a day and a night.
What is the concept of driving 240 miles a day and a night? Walking 10 miles an hour means you can't eat or rest.
You know, it was raining heavily in the sky at that time, and it was all mountain roads, which was simply an impossible task.
Chairman Mao
But if it did not reach the Luding Bridge before the enemy's reinforcements, the Red Army would face great danger.
After receiving the order, the Red Fourth Regiment threw away all unnecessary equipment and marched in a hurry, and finally on May 29, they overcame many difficulties to reach the Luding Bridge before the enemy reinforcements.
However, Liu Wenhui's troops on the opposite side had already removed the wooden planks of the bridge deck above, and people were walking on the iron cables, and the river under their feet was like a waterfall, and ordinary people could not pass through at all.
In the morning, the Red Fourth Regiment seized the south bank bridgehead and began to build a position to prepare to capture the Luding Bridge. At noon, the Red Fourth Regiment held an operational meeting and organized a 22-man bridge-grabbing commando team led by company commander Liao Dazhu and instructor Wang Haiyun.
At 4 p.m., the Red Fourth Regiment launched an offensive, and 22 iron-clad warriors braved the enemy's gunfire and bullets to climb on the slippery iron cables, while the soldiers who followed behind paved the bridge with wooden planks. In addition, the Red Fourth Regiment used all its firepower to attack the enemy's firepower and cover the 22 warriors.
After 2 hours of fighting, the Red Fourth Regiment occupied Luding Bridge and took control of Luding City.
Liu Wenhui's forces fled Luding. The Red Army won the victory of flying over the Luding Bridge under extremely difficult conditions, creating conditions for the main force of the 20,000 Central Red Army to cross the Dadu River.
The question is, why didn't Liu Wenhui's department directly blow up the bridge, but only dismantle the wooden planks on the Luding Bridge? Wouldn't it be easier if you just blew up the bridge? It can be said that it did not take a single soldier to trap the Red Army on the opposite side of the big river.
In fact, Liu Wenhui is not stupid, of course he understands this truth, blowing up the Luding Bridge is the most direct way, the reason why there is no blowing up the bridge is mainly for the following reasons:
First, Liu Wenhui's careful thinking: he did not want to fight with the Red Army here
Didn't Liu Wenhui disobey Chiang Kai-shek's orders by not fighting the Red Army? Why wouldn't he want to fight his enemies?
The reason is very simple, we all know that although the Kuomintang army led by Chiang Kai-shek looks united on the surface, in fact it is pregnant with ghosts and has different thoughts.
Some warlords who were divided in various places, such as Liu Wenhui in Sichuan, Li Zongren in Guangxi, Bai Chongxi, and other warlords, ostensibly obeyed Chiang Kai-shek's Nanjing Nationalist Government, but in fact wanted to divide up territory and occupy the mountains as kings.
Liu Wenhui
What they thought about every day was not how to help Chiang Kai-shek encircle and suppress the Red Army, but how to expand their territory and protect their territory from being occupied by other warlords.
These local warlords were particularly aware that the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, led by the Communist Party, only wanted to "borrow the road to go north" and did not really want to stay and compete with them for territory.
They can superficially make a show to encircle and suppress the Red Army, but if they really can't fight it, they will let the Red Army pass.
Therefore, Liu Wenhui did not want the Red Army to stay there and fight with him for a long time, or even occupy his territory, so he had never thought about blowing up the entire Luding Bridge.
Liu Wenhui knew very well that once the Luding Bridge was blown up, the Red Army troops would have no way out, so the remaining Red Army could only fight Liu Wenhui to the death, which was not what Liu Wenhui wanted to see, so he would not blow up the Luding Bridge.
Second, the Sichuan army was worried that Chiang Kai-shek's other concubines would come here to compete for territory
We know that in addition to Liu Wenhui's troops resisting the Red Army, Chiang Kai-shek also mobilized 100,000 Central Troops to come to reinforcements, with the purpose of completely eliminating the strength of the Red Army and making the Red Army the second "Shi Dakai".
Shi Dakai
As the saying goes, it is easy to please God and it is difficult to send God, and after these central armies come, what if they don't leave.
If the Luding Bridge was bombed and the Red Army was surrounded and suppressed by 100,000 troops, the final result might also be that the Central Army took the opportunity to absorb the local warlords and took Liu Wenhui's Sichuan land for itself.
So didn't Liu Wenhui lose his wife and fold the soldiers?
When resisting the Red Army, he lost his troops and lost his generals, and after the Red Army was encircled and suppressed, his own territory was occupied by the Central Army, and Liu Wenhui would not engage in such a loss-making business.
Therefore, on the surface, the Red Army is the enemy of the Sichuan Army. Secretly, however, Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army was the most feared "enemy" of these local warlords, and it was also the focus of their embankments.
What they feared most was that Chiang Kai-shek, in the name of encircling and suppressing the Red Army, took the opportunity to send the Central Army into their territory, and finally assigned all these territories to the Central Army, and all the belongings accumulated by the Sichuan Army over the years were destroyed.
In fact, the red army's harm was far less than Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army. With this kind of thinking, they will be greatly discounted when carrying out Chiang Kai-shek's orders.
When the Red Army was surrounded and blocked, they only made a show and did not contribute to the work. At critical moments, they will give the Red Army a "net", as long as the Red Army leaves its territory quickly.
In this way, the Central Army will not stay to occupy the territory of the Sichuan Army, and the Sichuan Army itself can also find excuses to escape, such as the Red Army's firepower is too fierce, or the reinforcements have not arrived in time.
The Sichuan army was worried that Chiang Kai-shek's concubines would come to fight for territory, so of course they would not blow up the Luding Bridge to completely cut off the Red Army's rear road.
Third, after blowing up the bridge, it will arouse public indignation and is not conducive to Liu Wenhui's rule in Sichuan
You know, the Luding Bridge was built during the Kangxi Dynasty, and it can be said that a lot of energy and money was spent to build this bridge. In the past hundred years, this bridge has provided a lot of convenience for everyone's life and trade.
There are many business contacts involved, and many businessmen are counting on this bridge to do business, which is an important hub for exchanges between Han and Tibet.
Luding Bridge iron lock
If the bridge is blown up, it will be equivalent to cutting off the financial road of thousands of people, which will arouse public anger and is not conducive to Liu Wenhui's rule in Sichuan.
This section of the Dadu River Luding Bridge, also known as Lushui, originally did not have a bridge, and during the Kangxi Dynasty, this bridge was erected and became the main commercial and trade transportation route from Sichuan to Tibet.
Liu Wenhui was the "master" of the bridge at that time, and through the iron bridge, trade between Sichuan and Tibet had to pay money.
As the saying goes, this tree is planted by me, this road is opened by me, if you want to pass by here, leave money to buy the road, these are all white flowers and silver, all into Liu Wenhui's pocket.
This iron bridge was his own cash cow, how could he be willing to blow up this bridge?
Fourth, the Sichuan Army did not expect the Red Army to advance so fast and have such strong combat effectiveness
According to common sense, the bridge plate was removed, leaving only 13 iron cables, and there was strong fire and machine gun fire on the opposite shore. The general army wants to pass through here, and the possibility is very small. It can be said that the warriors charging above is equivalent to a living target.
Therefore, the Sichuan army believed that as long as the bridge board was withdrawn, it would be enough to overwhelm the Red Army, and the Red Army would never reach the opposite side through the only iron cable.
However, the heroic Red Army still completed this impossible task, and the capture of luding bridge became a miracle in the history of war.
Even if it is impossible to eliminate the Red Army, it is possible to delay the advance of the Red Army for a while, delay them for a few days, and when the reinforcements of the Central Army arrive, the possibility of the Red Army breaking through will be very small.
But the Red Army completed the battle in less than a few hours, and with the strong fire cover of our positions, the 22 warriors successfully broke through.
There was Chiang Kai-shek's death order on it, and if Chiang Kai-shek really forced Liu Wenhui to blow up the bridge, maybe he would also carry it out. But he would not take this step unless he had to.
However, Chiang Kai-shek's order was only to encircle and suppress the Red Army there, and Liu Wenhui believed that the Red Army could not pass at all, and that the task of encircling and suppressing the Red Army could be completed by demolishing the bridge, but the Red Army's actions were too unexpected.
Another reason is that the Red Army traveled too fast, and the Red Army marched 240 miles overnight, which is a miracle in the history of war.
The Sichuan army simply did not have time to carry out the relevant preparations for the bombing of the bridge. Blowing up the bridge is not simply putting explosives on the bridge, before blowing up the bridge, it is necessary to examine the important fulcrum of the entire bridge, and it is necessary to set the burst point, which is quite time-consuming.
Before these preparations were ready, the vanguard of the Red Army had already arrived. It is said that the fortifications of the Sichuan Army were also built in a hurry, the soldiers were expensive and fast, and the surprise of the Red Army also disrupted the preparations of the Sichuan Army.
Fifth, there is indeed an order to blow up the bridge, but I just want to blow up the bridge after the reinforcement self-defense regiment crosses the river
There is also a saying that at that time, the superiors demanded that the Luding Bridge be blown up, but there was a requirement that the bridge should be blown up after a self-defense regiment responsible for encircling and suppressing the Red Army crossed the river.
The Sichuan army did not dare to completely disobey the orders of its superiors, so it thought of a compromise plan, only to remove the wooden planks on the bridge, and not to blow up the entire Luding Bridge.
Fly over the Luding Bridge
You know, if the entire Luding Bridge is destroyed, the friendly troops who come to reinforcements will not be able to cross the river. But just remove the planks, and when the friendly troops arrive, they can reload the planks and quickly pass through.
If they encounter the Red Army, what awaits them is also a powerful fire attack on the opposite bank, and the Red Army wants to cross the river through 13 iron cables, which is nothing more than a fantasy.
But what people did not expect was that the Red Army broke out of its amazing combat effectiveness at a critical moment. The 22 warriors of the Red Fourth Regiment charged in groups again and again, breaking the psychological defenses of the defenders on the other side.
At this time, the defenders thought of blowing up the bridge, but it was too late, and the Red Army was already about to rush over. They had to throw oil on the rope and set fire to it, but twenty warriors (two warriors sacrificed) also rushed over.
In the end, the soldiers of the Red Fourth Regiment broke through the enemy's defense with blood and lives, and tens of thousands of Red Army troops were able to cross the river smoothly.
Fly to capture the Luding Bridge Monument
The Red Army completely smashed the reactionaries' encirclement and suppression plan and preserved its own living forces, and Chiang Kai-shek's illusion of making the Red Army Shi Dakai's second was completely shattered.
The capture of the Luding Bridge was a very legendary battle of the Red Army, which was of great strategic significance to the victory of the Long March and won valuable time for the transfer of the main force.
In this epic battle, the soldiers of the Red Army fought bloodily, not afraid of life and death. Crossing the Dadu River in the shortest possible time, if this battle is not successful, the Red Army soldiers will suffer even greater losses.