At the initiative of Sun Guofu, the two parties began their first cooperation. The revolutionary situation has reached a new climax, the workers' and peasants' movement led by our Party has developed in an all-round way, and more importantly, with the help of our Party and the Communist International, the Whampoa Military Academy has been established and the National Revolutionary Army has been created.
Many of the outstanding young people who came from all over the country to apply for military academies joined our party, and driven by revolutionary beliefs, most of them became the backbone of all departments of the National Revolutionary Army, making tremendous contributions to the advance of the Northern Expeditionary Army and the great defeat of the Beiyang warlords. It is a pity that the Kuomintang betrayed its faith and created a counter-revolutionary coup, and members of our Party have left the National Revolutionary Army one after another to lead the people's army to the bright road.
Abandon the pen from the Rong
In 1904, Zeng Shi'e was born in Yiyang, Hunan Province, in a family of scholars. His bookish family has given him a keen interest in poetry since childhood, and has also made him develop a good habit of being diligent and studious. When he was a child, his achievements were good, and at the age of 19, he was successfully admitted to Yiyang Normal College.
Entering a higher education institution, he did not want to put all his youth on professional study, in addition to actively participating in school activities, he also liked to read some progressive books and periodicals and accept the baptism of new ideas. In the second year of school, he also came to Changsha to participate in the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal patriotic student movement.
At that time, he and those like-minded young people went deep into factories and shops to propagate patriotic ideas to them, hoping to get their support as a member of the Chinese nation. Everyone will be touched by these passionate speeches and join the ranks of demonstrations and strikes. This experience has greatly changed his outlook on life.
After the victory of the Northern Expedition in 1926, with the expansion of revolutionary forces into the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, huangpu branches were set up in Wuchang and Changsha at the end of that year. At that time, there were more than 10,000 aspiring young people from all over the country, and only more than 1,000 people were admitted, and Zeng Shi'e could be said to have passed five levels and cut six generals, becoming a new student at the Huangpu Branch.
Participate in the Autumn Harvest Uprising
During his time at the school, Zeng Shi'e joined our party, and after graduation, he joined the guard regiment of the general headquarters of the Second Front Army controlled by our party, which later became the backbone force of the autumn harvest uprising.
Although the rebel army numbered more than 5,000 people, most of them were workers and peasants with no combat experience, and their weapons and equipment were slightly insufficient, and they lost one after another in the initial march. Later, when a meeting was held in Wenjia City to discuss the direction of the troops' advance, the division commander Yu Shandu still insisted on attacking Changsha, which was unrealistic based on the situation of the rebel army at that time.
The chairman judged the situation and proposed to march toward Luo Xiaoshan, where the enemy's forces were weak and could rely on the local masses to establish a revolutionary base area. In the end, because Yu Shandu and others insisted on their own ideas, the two sides argued fiercely. At the critical moment, commander-in-chief Lu Deming, battalion commander Wu Zhonghao, and Zeng Shi'e and others. The correct choice of support for Chairman Mao contributed to the preservation of this revolutionary contingent.
The original 5,000 rebel army, now only a thousand people remained, and on the way to Luoxiao Mountain, they were often attacked by vigilante groups, and there were those who broke away from the team on the way, and when they arrived at Sanwan Village, there were only more than 700 people left.
Seeing that sooner or later the troops would disperse, the Chairman resolved to reorganize the troops. He addressed everyone in public:
"Comrades, what did we come out to do the revolution for, whether it was to promote officials and get rich, of course not, but to fight the world for poor people like us, to create an equal and happy society for the toiling masses, including your relatives, and everyone's sons and daughters, so that they will no longer live that kind of hard life without enough to eat."
"But everyone has their own ambitions, and I don't force everyone, who are willing to follow me to continue the revolution, please stand on the right, I will welcome you with my hands raised; if you want to go home, please stand on the left, everyone will not embarrass you, I will still send you a farewell, just need you to leave your weapons, I will also send you a toll!" 」
After listening to the chairman's words, everyone was enthusiastic in their hearts, and even had confidence in the future of the revolution, Luo Ronghuan, Zeng Shi'e, and others took the lead in coming out and standing on the right side of the chairman, and with them as an example, most of them stood with them. Of course, there were also iron hearts who went home and stood on the left, and the chairman did not renege on his word, took out a small amount of military expenses, and gave each of them two silver dollars as a travel expense.
A famous general of the Red Army
After the reorganization, there are fewer personnel, but everyone is more united, and the combat effectiveness has also risen. After these performances, the chairman had more trust in Zeng Shi'e, and appointed him as the commander of the special agent company, Luo Ronghuan as the representative of the company party, and the deputy company commander was no stranger to everyone, that is, the founding general Zhang Zongxun.
At the beginning of the establishment of the base areas, the revolutionary contingent encountered great difficulties, especially the enemy troops who came to attack. Fortunately, the arrival of the Shonan rebel army led by Zhu Laozong enhanced the strength of the revolutionary contingent and laid the foundation for the defense of the Jinggangshan base area, and soon the whole army was reorganized into the Red Fourth Army, and Zeng Shi'e served as the commander of the third company of the Red Thirty-first Regiment.
From Longyuankou to Huangyangjie, and from Dabaidi to Baisha, every classic battle during the Jinggangshan struggle, as well as the arduous battles in the gannan and western Fujian regions, Zeng Shi'e participated. Although the revolutionary environment was treacherous, he always maintained the spirit of revolutionary optimism, and his positive and self-confidence in the prospects of the revolution also infected everyone around him.
Due to the accumulation of military achievements, his position has also been continuously improved, and in 1930 he was already the commander of the second column of the Red Fourth Army, and it was particularly pointed out that the political commissar of the second column was Luo Ronghuan, and the director of the political department was Luo Ruiqing, all of whom were well-known big figures in our army in the future.
At that time, it was Lin Shuai who was the commander of the Red Fourth Army, who had three columns under him, except for Zeng Shi'e as the commander of the second column, the commander of the first column was Wang Liang, and the commander of the third column was Xiao Ke. Thinking about the contributions of these three people in the early stage of the revolution, as well as Xiao Ke's position and performance in our army after that, it can be said that the reason why the Red Fourth Army was so able to fight and fight, in addition to Lin Shuai's wise command, was also inseparable from these three powerful subordinates, but unfortunately only Xiao Ke lived until after the founding of the country.
Heroes are martyred
Although Zeng Shi'e was already a senior general in the Red Army, when leading the troops to fight, when encountering critical moments, he would also take the lead in the charge and lead the way, although this practice was very dangerous, but it also won the love and trust of the officers and men of the whole division (the second column was renamed the Red 11th Division), because the Red 11th Division could really fight, and gradually it had the title of "Steel Army".
In the summer of 1931, Chiang Kai-shek organized a third "encirclement and suppression" attack, the Red 11th Division was naturally the main force, under the leadership of Zeng Division Commander, successively won the battles of Liangcun, Liantang, huangpi, etc. Later, in the battle of Xingxingwei, he personally led the army to hold the Position of Zhushan Mountain, the enemy also attached great importance to this place, and the two armies began to compete repeatedly.
Later, the enemy sent reinforcements, the situation in our army became more and more dangerous, and even Zeng Shi'e's command post was surrounded by the enemy, and at the critical moment, Zeng Shi'e organized cadres at and above the platoon level to set up a death squad, personally led the charge, and was shot and killed on the storm road, at the age of 27.
Hearing the news of Zeng Shi'e's sacrifice, the chairman was very distressed and called Lin Shuai over to criticize: "How can we let The commander of the Zeng Division charge, if the cadres are all exhausted, how can this revolutionary contingent be brought?" Who's going to direct it? ”
On the road of revolution, the sacrifice of high-ranking generals is not only Zeng Shi'e, but every sacrifice is a pity, and it has also caused our army to lose an excellent general who can fight a good battle, which is a huge loss for our army. Although Zeng Shi'e dedicated himself to the revolution early, the founding heroes of the founding heroes have always remembered the revolutionary deeds of this famous red army general, and as long as they mention him, their evaluation is not low.
The youngest admiral, Admiral Xiao Ke, said that if Zeng Shi'e had not sacrificed, he should have been a marshal. He Changgong also said that even if he was not a marshal, at least he was a general. General Chen Shiyu recalled that the chairman had said that two people were heavier than Taishan, one was Zeng Shi'e, and the other was Zhang Side.
And if we look at the generals who worked with Zeng Shi'e in those years, if he had not sacrificed, his subsequent contribution to the revolution would have been enormous, and if he had participated in the conferring titles, the possibility of conferring the title of general was still quite great.