General Wang Yixun
Recall the experience of the Independent Third Division of the Red Army in southeastern Hubei
Wang Yixun
In March 1931, I, together with Wang Zhongdong and Wang Yihe, members of the Communist Party of the same village, responded to the call of the local Party and the Soviet government and joined the Independent Third Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (referred to as the Red Third Division for short). At that time, I was assigned to the second platoon of the seventh company of the second battalion of the Ninth Regiment. The Ninth Regiment was the main force of the Red Third Division, with 3 battalions, 3 companies per battalion (later expanded to 4 companies), 3 platoons per company, and the regiment's direct subordinate units were organic artillery companies, special agent companies, and stretcher companies. Shortly after arriving at the unit, my superiors sent me to line up the flag. From then on, I followed the troops and began a revolutionary fighting career.
The Independent Third Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was a local main Force red army in the revolutionary base areas of southeastern Hubei. It was organized on the basis of the local armed forces that developed and grew during the first anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggle in Xiang'egan, and was founded in February 1931. It has since been adapted twice and rebuilt twice. In the more than three years of arduous struggle against "encirclement and suppression" in the Southeast Hubei Soviet Region, it has always adhered to the party's leadership, adhered to the party's principle of army building and operational principles, and continuously developed and expanded in the course of the struggle. The heroic battle of the Third Red Division not only played an important role in cooperating with the main force of the Xiang'e-Gansu Soviet Region, the Red Sixteenth Army, in crushing the enemy's "encirclement and suppression," but also established an immortal meritorious service for consolidating and expanding the Southeast Hubei Soviet Region. As a veteran soldier of the Third Red Division and a first-hand witness to the anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggle in the Soviet Union, I always feel the responsibility to recount this arduous and glorious battle course, to provide people with a little empirical evidence for understanding the history of the heroic struggle of the Red Army in southeast Hubei, and to use this as a memorial to those comrades who heroically sacrificed their comrades-in-arms.
I. The First Construction of the Third Red Division and the Second and Third Anti-"Encirclement and Suppression" Campaigns
In February 1931, the Independent Third Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was formally formed in Longgang, Yangxin County, Hubei Province, and was directly under the command of the Southeast Hubei Special Committee. Guo Ziming served as the commander of the division, Ye Jinbo served as the political commissar, and there were more than 2,000 people in the division and more than 1,000 long and short guns. Since its founding, this revolutionary armed force has been actively engaged in the struggle against the "encirclement and suppression" of the Kuomintang reactionaries and in the defense of Soviet power.
In February 1931, in order to cooperate with Chiang Kai-shek's second "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Region, the enemy launched an attack on the Soviet Region in southeastern Hubei. The tactic adopted by the enemy was to concentrate forces and advance gradually in order to cope with the scattered guerrilla attacks of the Red Army, in an attempt to occupy the Soviet zone and destroy the Red Army in one fell swoop. Its troop deployment was as follows: Guo Rudong of the 26th Division of the Kuomintang Army attacked Sanxikou in the Yangxinsu District, and Xie Bin's troops of the newly organized 10th Division attacked the Tongshan Su District. The Edongnan Special Committee (reorganized into the Edong-Dong special committee in August 1931) immediately made military arrangements in accordance with the enemy's situation: the first part of the Red Third Division cooperated with the local armed forces to attack the frontal enemy and defend the Soviet area; some of it scattered to yangxin Jinlong and Fufeng districts to carry out guerrilla struggle behind enemy lines, and at the same time ordered the Red Third Division to contact the Red Sixteenth Army, which was repairing water, so as to coordinate operations. It was decided to adopt the tactic of "concentrating forces, attacking enemy weaknesses, and then breaking through individually". At the end of June, the Red Third Division decided to eliminate xie bin's troops stationed in Xikengtan, Tongshan County, with the cooperation of the first part of the Red Sixteenth Army. The Red Third Division rushed from Longgang and Yanxia to Tongshan Dafa in the night of the stars, and held an oath-taking meeting in Dafa. In the evening, the Ninth Regiment set out from Dafa, marched all night on the muddy road, approached Xikengtan at dawn to defend the enemy, and quickly completed the combat deployment: the first and second battalions of the regiment attacked the enemy from three sides, southeast, south and north, and the three battalions served as guards to prevent enemy reinforcements. After the battle began, the troops launched a fierce attack on the defending enemy, and after several rushes, the battle ended at about 9 a.m., completely annihilating a battalion of the enemy's Xie Binbu and surrendering more than 100 guns. Xie Binbu was hit by this blow, and the county seat was shrunk, and the Soviet area around Tongshan was restored.
In the battle of Xikengtan, the Red Third Division fought very bravely and tenaciously, and achieved no small victory. However, due to the large number of new ingredients added, the lack of proficiency in tactical maneuvers, and the heavy casualties of the troops, Wang Zhongdong and Wang Yihe, who joined the army with me, were all honorably sacrificed in this battle. After the war, in light of the problems existing in the operation, the troops summed up and reorganized training in the Yangxinzhen area, strengthened basic tactical training such as combat formations and the use of terrain and features, and after more than a month of reorganization and training, the military quality of the troops was greatly improved.
In July 1931, the Seventh Division of the Red Sixteenth Army came to southeast Hubei to jointly attack the Hudang Department of the 3rd Regiment of the 26th Division of the Nationalist Army in Mushigang with the Red 3rd Division, and the Hu enemy resisted and waited for help with danger, and we launched several charges, but because the enemy fortifications were strong and the firepower was concentrated, we failed to break through the enemy's defense line. Therefore, the Third Red Division and the Seventh Division of the Red Sixteenth Army jointly held a military meeting to discuss countermeasures, and launched a discussion among all the soldiers, and finally decided to use the tactic of encircling points to provide reinforcements. After the battle began, the Seventh Division of the Red Sixteenth Army attacked Mushigang with great fanfare, and the Red Third Division set up an ambush on Yuling Mountain, the main road from Yangxin County to Mushigang, to ambush the enemy reinforcements. As our army expected, shortly after the battle began, a battalion of the enemy garrison in Yangxin County rushed to the aid of Mushigang, and when the enemy reinforcements marched to Yuling Mountain, our ambush army rose up, the enemy's entire battalion was annihilated, and the battalion commander was killed. After that, the Red Third Division, together with the Seventh Division of the Red Sixteenth Army, took advantage of the victory to launch a fierce attack on the defenders of Mushigang, and after fierce fighting, by July 14, all of Hudang's troops were destroyed. In the battles of Yuling Mountain and Mushigang, more than 1,000 enemy soldiers were annihilated, more than 800 rifles, more than 800 heavy machine guns, 10 mortars, and more than 300 enemy were captured, dealing a heavy blow to the enemy who invaded the Soviet region of southeastern Hubei. At this point, the enemy's second "encirclement and suppression" of the Soviet area in southeastern Hubei was crushed. After the war, the broad masses of workers and peasants rejoiced, slaughtered pigs and sheep to comfort the children and soldiers of labor, and the poor young and middle-aged peasants enthusiastically joined the Red Army. Subsequently, our Ninth Regiment was ordered to go to the Red Garden in Ruichang County, Jiangxi Province, to strike at the landlord's earthen enclosure, eliminate the reactionary landlords' armed forces, and carry out the work in the Soviet zone.
The second counter-revolutionary "encirclement and suppression" of the enemy was crushed at the time when Chiang Kai-shek was carrying out the third "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Region. In the initial stage of this "encirclement and suppression, because the Japanese Kou launched the September 18 Incident, the whole country set off a climax of anti-Japanese resistance against Chiang Kai-shek, and in addition, Li Zongren and others within the Kuomintang took advantage of this situation to oppose Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorial rule, thus forming a favorable opportunity for the Red Army in the Soviet Union to struggle against "encirclement and suppression." In southeastern Hubei, the enemy basically took a defensive position against the Soviet zone, and its troop deployment was: Xie Bin's division was stationed in Tongcheng and Tongshan, and Guo Yandong's division was stationed in Yangxin and Daye. In response to the above situation, the Xiang'egan Provincial Party Committee (established in July 1931) issued a timely emergency circular, asking party organizations at all levels and the Red Army to step up the expansion of the Red Army, take the initiative to attack the enemy, eliminate the landlords' armed forces, and consolidate and restore the Soviet zone. In accordance with the instructions of the provincial party committee, the Third Red Division adopted a proactive offensive posture and acted quickly.
In September, a battalion of Xie Bin's department stationed in Tongshan occupied the town of Dafa in our Soviet District. The Red Third Division decided to destroy this enemy. After receiving the order, the Ninth Regiment set out from Yangxin Town, marched through the night, and arrived in Dafa in the early morning of the next day. There is a hill on the east side of Dafa Town called Pig Head Mountain, the south of the mountain is close to the Fushui River, the terrain is dangerous, there is a company of enemy defenders in the temple on the mountain, the superior arranged one battalion and three battalions to attack the town from the northwest, our second battalion forcibly occupied the commanding heights of Pig Head Mountain from north to south, and the Tongshan Independent Battalion waded through the Fushui River from the south to cooperate with our battalion to attack Pig Head Mountain. After the battle began, our battalion launched a strong attack on the defending enemy of Pig Head Mountain under the cover of firepower, and the Tongshan Independent Battalion also launched an attack on the defending enemy on the hill from the south, and after several hours of fierce fighting, it captured the top of the mountain. The Tongshan Independent Battalion fought very bravely in coordinated combat. After we occupied Pig Head Mountain, we immediately cooperated with the first and third battalions to quickly eliminate all the defenders in the town. In this battle, the enemy completely annihilated a whole battalion, captured a lot of weapons and ammunition, and our army recovered the Dafa Soviet area with small casualties. In December, in order to carry out the work of the Puxi Su District, the Red Third Division ordered the Ninth Regiment to eliminate the enemies in Puxi Xindian. At that time, Xindian only had one company of Yuan Yingbu of the Kuomintang army stationed in Xindian, and the Ninth Regiment set out from the Jiuxi area of Tongshan County in the evening, marched nearly 100 kilometers through Baidun, rushed to attack the enemy of Xindian by night, ended the battle before dawn, completely annihilated the enemy of Xindian, and surrendered dozens of guns. Immediately the troops turned back to the area around Daye Yinzu to rest. A week later, preparations for the battle of Xiaojipu began. Xiaojipu is located in the southeast of Daye, and there is a battalion of the Kuomintang army Guo Rudong stationed in the town, and there is a small Jipu Mountain in the south of the town, which is condescending and is a natural barrier for Xiaojipu, stationed with a platoon of the enemy. Baishapu, 15 kilometers southeast of Xiaojipu, was garrisoned with an enemy regimental headquarters and a battalion. On the day of departure, we ate dinner early, set off from Yin Zu at dusk, crossed the Seven Peaks Mountains, marched all night, and arrived at Xiaojipu at dawn the next day. Our army adopted the tactic of encircling points to provide reinforcements, the first and third battalions were responsible for encircling and annihilating xiaojipu to defend the enemy, and the second battalion and local armed forces to which I belonged were ambushed in the hills and woods two or three kilometers away from Xiaojipu, preparing to block and eliminate the additional enemy coming from the direction of Baishapu. After the three battalions launched an onslaught from the south to face the defenders of Xiaoji Mountain, after several charge and kill, they occupied the commanding heights of Xiaoji Mountain before dawn, and then cooperated with a battalion to launch an attack on the defending enemy in the town. The enemy of Xiaojipu was quickly wiped out under the siege of our first and third battalions. However, most of them were stationed in the town and stubbornly resisted, waiting for reinforcements. At about 10:00 a.m., about a battalion of enemies from Baishapu Reinforcement Xiaojipu came to the ambush position of our second battalion, and when it was only 20 meters away from us, the charge horn sounded, and suddenly the shouts of killing resounded throughout the valley, and the enemy of reinforcements was suddenly and violently hit by me, holding their heads and rats, and the soldiers pursued the enemy closely. With the exception of a few who fled back to Baishapu, most of the rest were wiped out. At about 2 p.m., the enemy of Xiaojipu was also completely annihilated by our army. In the Battle of Xiaojipu, our army won a great victory, and this was the first time that Guo Yandong's troops had suffered such a heavy blow since they invaded and occupied the Yangxinsu District. After the war, our army's fighting spirit was high, and the masses of the people smiled happily and beat gongs and drums to celebrate victory.
The victories in the above-mentioned operations not only smashed the enemy's third "encirclement and suppression" of the revolutionary base areas in southeast Hubei, but also restored and developed the Soviet zone in southeast Hubei, which stretched for more than 50 kilometers, rapidly developed the revolutionary armed forces, and consolidated and expanded the base areas in southeast Hubei as never before. In the autumn of 1931, in accordance with the needs of the development of the situation of the revolutionary struggle, in order to strengthen the strength of the main Red Army, the first enlarged meeting of the Executive Committee of the Xiang'egan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to organize the Red Third Division into the Ninth Regiment of the Ninth Division of the Sixteenth Red Army. Accordingly, in January 1932, the Red Third Division, except for a few military and political cadres (except for a part of the machine artillery company of our Ninth Regiment), was reorganized into the Ninth Regiment of the Ninth Division of the Red Sixteenth Army. Guo Ziming was transferred to the chief of staff of the Red Sixteenth Army. I was also incorporated into the Red Sixteenth Army with the troops and served as an instructor of the Seventh Company of the Ninth Regiment.
II. Re-establishment of the Third Red Division and the Fourth and Fifth Anti-"Encirclement and Suppression" Campaigns
After the Red Third Division was incorporated into the Red Sixteenth Army, in order to strengthen the local armed forces in southeast Hubei, the Edong Provincial Committee (abolished in January 1932, the Edong Provincial Special Committee was abolished, and the Edong Provincial Committee and the Puxi Central County Committee were established) decided to organize the local guerrilla units into a guard regiment, with jurisdiction over 4 battalions, each battalion equipped with 2 companies with rifles, and a company equipped with shuttle darts and homemade bombs. In April 1932, the Edong Provincial Committee held an enlarged meeting and made a decision on consolidating and expanding the work of the Red Army, pointing out: Expanding and consolidating the work of the Red Army is the first and most important task of the Edong Party at present, and the recent continuous victory and expansion of the Red Sixteenth Army and the Guard Regiment to supplement the new recruits and cadres of the Red Army has become an extremely urgent need. It was decided to reorganize the Guard Regiment into the new Independent Third Division of the Red Army. On May 8, the celebration meeting for the establishment of the New Red Third Division was held in Yangxinlonggang. Zhang Tao served as the division commander, Ye Jinbo as the political commissar, Dong Youcai as the deputy political commissar, Zhang Xiangming as the director of the political department, and Tong Youjun as the chief of staff. It administers the Seventh Regiment, the Eighth Regiment, the Ninth Regiment and a directly subordinate machine gun company. Lu Xuerong, commander of the Seventh Regiment, Shu Jindi, political commissar; Cai Bangrong, commander of the Eighth Regiment, Jiang Zhide, political commissar; Xia Peiheng, commander of the Ninth Regiment, and Tan Zhifu, political commissar. Each regiment has 4 companies, more than 3,000 people in the whole division, and more than 2,000 long and short guns. In just 10 months since the Red Third Division was incorporated into the Red Sixteenth Army in January 1932, the new Red Third Division was revived, and the workers and peasants in southeastern Hubei were all rejoicing and warmly celebrating.
As soon as the New Red Third Division was established, the Kuomintang reactionaries launched the fourth "encirclement and suppression" campaign, adopting a group offensive, building a fortress, taking it step by step as a battalion, gradually advancing, occupying one piece and consolidating one piece, in an attempt to completely eliminate the Red Army by means of encroachment. Its troop deployment was: Guo Rudong's 26th Division was stationed in Yangxin and Daye, Xie Binxin's 10th Division was stationed in Tongcheng, Chongyang, and Yuan Ying's troops were stationed in Puxi, attacking from the north and south to the Southeast Hubei Soviet Region. In order to smash the enemy's fourth "encirclement and suppression," the Third Red Division resolutely implemented the active defensive policy and flexible and mobile strategy and tactics put forward by the Edongdong Provincial Committee (in June 1932, the Edong Provincial Committee and the Puzhi Central County Committee were abolished, and the Edongnan Provincial Committee was established), adopted the tactics of concentrating forces, avoiding real attacks, attacking the enemy's weakness, and breaking through each one, striving to fight a quick decisive battle, a war of annihilation, and destroying the enemy in the movement. At the same time, we should sort out the finances, store grain, and strengthen the training of new recruits on the one hand while fighting, so as to win the battle. In early July 1932, the Red Third Division and the Red Sixteenth Army joined forces and decided to jointly attack tongshan county. The county seat of Tongshan County was facing the river in front of it, and the mountain was behind it, the situation was dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there was a regiment of the enemy Xie Bin's department and hundreds of local security forces stationed in the city at that time. On the night of the 9th, our army launched an attack on the county seat of Tongshan county, and ambushed the main road from Tongshan to Xianning with a regiment to cut off the enemy's retreat. Under my fierce attack, the enemy army collapsed, fled to Weining, and then ambushed me, and all were annihilated. A total of more than 700 enemy personnel were killed, more than 900 enemy officers and men were captured, more than 1,000 rifles and 4 machine guns were captured. In this battle, I was wounded, and because of my serious injuries, I was sent to Yanxia to recuperate, which was my first injury since joining the Red Army. After recovering from my wounds, I returned to the Red Third Division as an instructor of the machine gun company, and the company commander at that time was Liu Qingshan and the secretary of the branch, Wang Keming. After the Battle of Tongshan, the troops rested for a while near Tongshan City and returned to Longgang to prepare to attack the henglu in Wuning, Jiangxi. At that time, a regiment of the enemy's regular army was stationed on the cross road, and a strong fortification was built. On July 29, after the battle began, our army launched several attacks, all because the enemy stubbornly insisted, and the reinforcements increased, the battle lasted for a day and could not be captured, so we had to withdraw from the battle and rest in the area of Hengshitan in Tongshan. In this battle, the troops suffered heavy casualties, and the main reasons were: first, the enemy's fortifications were strong; second, the enemy's reinforcements were not cut off; third, the medical conditions of the troops were poor, it was autumn, malaria was prevalent, and the combat effectiveness was weakened.
At the end of September, the Kuomintang army mobilized the New Seventh Brigade, the Thirty-seventh Brigade, the Thirty-sixth Division, the Hubei Security Division, and other units to launch a large-scale attack on Longgang, the center of the revolutionary base area in southeast Hubei. On October 4, Longgang was occupied by the enemy, after which the Red Third Division moved to fight behind enemy lines. During this period, the Red Third Division successively won several victories in Yanxia Senjiapu, Hongxiayuan, Keyuan, Prince Temple, and Guanbu Bridge. In November, the Red Third Division once again launched an attack on Pig Head Mountain, which was a great victory. On March 18, 1933, on the orders of our superiors, our division arrived in Wanzaigao Village, Jiangxi Province, and concentrated its operations with the Red Army of the whole province to cooperate with the anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggle in the Central Soviet Region. In April, the enemy Peng Weiren's troops invaded and occupied Baishui in the hinterland of the Xiang'e-Gansu Region, threatening Xiaoyuan, the seat of the provincial party committee. On April 8, the battle began at Zhumu Bridge, the Red 3rd Division and the Red 16th Army took turns to attack the enemy, and the Red 16th Army took the task of blocking the attack, when it was raining heavily and the battle was extremely hard. After a day and a night of fierce fighting, more than 600 enemy troops were annihilated and 3 heavy machine guns were captured. In the Battle of Zhumuqiao, our army suffered heavy casualties. At the end of May, the Third Red Division turned back to the Soviet area in southeast hubei and joined forces with the guerrillas and red guards in southeastErn Hubei to attack the enemy stationed at Yanglin Bridge in Xianning, annihilating the enemy in one fell swoop. Later, it attacked another battalion of enemies at Guanbu Bridge in Xianning, but was unable to capture it because the enemy sent reinforcements of ironclad vehicles. In July, the Red Third Division marched east into Yangxin and Daye, and with the cooperation of local guerrillas, fought a large battle with a regiment of the enemy Xu Yuanquan's department at lime pots, severely damaging the enemy army. At this point, the enemy's fourth "encirclement" of southeast Hubei was finally crushed under the vigorous counterattack of the military and people in the Soviet area.
In October 1933, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 500,000 troops to launch the fifth counter-revolutionary "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Region, and at the same time, He Jian, commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang "Suppression of the Communists" Western Road Army, also mobilized two columns and three brigades to "encircle and suppress" the Xiang'e-Gansu Area. In this "encirclement and suppression," the enemy adopted the strategy of "three points of military and seven points of politics." Politically, the armor protection system and the "joint sitting method" were strictly enforced; economically, the Soviet zone was strictly sealed; and militarily, a new strategy of protracted war and "fortress doctrine" was adopted. He Jian, commander-in-chief of the "Suppression of the Communists" Western Route Army, set up a "Western Route Army Headquarters Camp" in Pingxiang, and Chen Ji commanded the various units of the Third Column to attack the Soviet region in southeastern Hubei. In the face of the enemy's new strategy and heavy offensive, the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China pursued military adventurism, put forward the erroneous policy of "keeping the enemy out of the country", and demanded that the Red Army defeat the enemy outside the Soviet zone and win the victory of the Soviets in all of China. In November 1933, the Southeast Hubei Provincial Committee held an enlarged meeting of the Executive Committee at Tongshan Shimen to convey instructions from the central government to the provincial party committee and deploy the southeastern Hubei region to crush the enemy's fifth "encirclement and suppression" struggle. Under the influence of "Left" military adventurism, the meeting decided to concentrate the Red Third Division and local armed forces to attack the enemy stationed in Yangxin, restore the Soviet areas occupied by the enemy in Longgang, Yanxia, Mushigang, and other places, and then develop to Ruichang and Wuning to cooperate with the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggle in the Central Soviet Region. At the end of the year, the Red Third Division concentrated in Chongyang and planned to "fight back to Longgang for the New Year". Soon, the Red Sixteenth Division (reorganized into the Red Sixteenth Division in June 1933) arrived in southeastern Hubei, so the two divisions decided to jointly attack the enemy Guo Yandong's troops at Tongshan and Yanxia, but because the two departments did not cooperate well, the plan to ambush the enemy failed, the enemy reinforced from Longgang, and the Red Third Division suffered heavy losses. After the defeat in the Battle of Yanxia, the Red Third Division carried out a rest and replenishment, at that time the Red Third Division had 3 small regiments, and the division's direct subordinate units had heavy machine gun companies and special agent companies. Soon, the General Headquarters of Xiang'egan Province (established in the summer of 1931) decided that the Red Third Division, hebei division (independent first division), Ganbei division (independent second division) and local Red Guards, totaling 7,000 or 8,000 people, attackEdugang, restored the Mushigang Su area, and then directly approached Longgang and advanced into Wuning and Ruichang. At that time, the enemy stationed in Mushigang was Li Zongjian's newly organized Seventh Brigade of the Kuomintang, with a total of 3 regiments, and its main force was stationed in Mushigang, and its troops were stationed in the surrounding Areas of He Zishu and Hu Tianfa, establishing tactical support points to facilitate mutual coordination in wartime. After the battle began, our army concentrated its superior forces to attack Mushigang, and the battle went very smoothly; after a day of fierce fighting, it destroyed hundreds of enemy battalions and local reactionary armed forces, destroyed 13 enemy forts, captured 700 to 800 enemy soldiers, captured more than 1,000 long and short guns, and restored the Soviet area around Mushigang, which was the first victory won in the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign in the Soviet region of southeastErdong.com.
After the war, the morale of the troops was very high, and they rested in Hutianfa for 7 days, and then returned to Huangshapu according to the same route, and when the troops marched to Wang Wenyi, they were ambushed by Guo Rudong's troops. Because they did not understand the enemy's situation, it was already dusk, there was the sound of enemy gunfire everywhere, the troops were a little panicked, so they broke through in the direction of the Four Corners Mountain to the south, and during the breakthrough, because it was dark, they could not find a way, and many soldiers hid in the stone caves and grass on the mountain. The next day, when the enemy searched the mountain, most of the fighters were captured by the enemy. In this battle, except for the integrity of our machine gun company after the breakthrough, the rest of the troops suffered heavy losses. Looking back at the lesson of the defeat of this battle, the main thing is that after the victory in the battle of Mushigang, the troops paralyzed the light enemy, and at that time, without understanding the enemy's situation, they should not return from the same road during the day; in addition, at the critical juncture when the troops were ambushed, the commander panicked and left his post without authorization, causing the troops to lose control and cause the battle to lose. However, at that time, the Southeast Hubei Defense Bureau arrested the commander-in-chief Ye Jinbo as a counter-revolutionary, saying that the defeat in this battle was caused by Ye Jinbo colluding with the enemy and killing him, which was also wrong (after liberation, the Hubei provincial government had rehabilitated Ye Jinbo).
Wang Wenyi lost the battle, two-thirds of the whole division. In early February 1934, the remaining 1,000 people were divided into three parts, one was transferred to the Longhu Ruisu District and merged with the Longhu Rui Guerrilla Brigade to form the Longhu Rui Independent Regiment; one was transferred to Tongshan after the breakthrough and formed the Red Seventh Regiment with Yang Xicheng as the regimental commander; and some were incorporated into the Forty-sixth Regiment of the Red Sixteenth Division, and I was the instructor of the Fifth Company of the Regiment.
3. Three Red Third Divisions
In March 1934, in order to smash the enemy's "encirclement and suppression", the Cpc's Edongnan Provincial Committee decided to dispatch some guerrilla units on the basis of the Red Seventh Regiment to re-establish the Red Third Division in Lengshuiping, Tongshan County, the garrison of the Edong-Hubei Provincial Committee, and subordinate to the First Combat Sub-district of the Xiang'e-Gansu Military Region. Division commander Yang Xicheng, political commissar Wang Yingquan (one said Dong Youcai), and political department director Li Caiting. There are more than 2,000 people in the division. After the red third division was re-established, it actively carried out guerrilla warfare, and in order to defend the Soviet regime, it fought hard with the Red Sixteenth Division and local guerrilla forces in southeastErn Hubei, and coordinated with the Forty-seventh Regiment of the Red Sixteenth Division to carry out battles such as Sangxia Bridge.
In October, due to the repeated defeats of the Red Sixteenth Division, only one regiment remained, and the Xiang'egan Provincial Party Committee decided to merge the Red Third Division and the Red Sixteenth Division into the Red Sixteenth Division. The Red Sixteenth Division had jurisdiction over the Forty-sixth Regiment and the Forty-eighth Regiment. The 3rd Red Division was organized into the 46th Regiment of the 16th Red Division. After that, the Red Third Division was never rebuilt, and the revolutionary struggle in southeast Hubei entered a period of arduous three-year guerrilla warfare. In the anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggle that lasted for more than three years, the Third Red Division fought hundreds of battles, large and small, resisted enemies several times large and small, and made great contributions to defending the Soviet region in southeastern Hubei and defending the Red Soviet regime.
Looking back on this period of the city struggle, I deeply feel that the main reason why the Third Red Division was able to achieve such brilliant results in the environment of arduous revolutionary struggle was to ensure the party's absolute leadership over the revolutionary armed forces. At that time, the party organization of the Third Red Division was very sound, with party groups in squads and platoons, even branches, and party committees in divisions and regiments, and all major issues were decided by the party committees. The system of political commissars (party deputies) has been implemented, the "Regulations on Political Work" have been implemented, and at the same time, divisions and regiments have set up political work organs, the Political Department, which is responsible for the political education and transmission of the troops. The Party also established the Youth League and the Lenin Room in the troops, and the Youth League conducted appropriate education among the vast number of soldiers through the regimental group. Lenin's room has a literacy group, a poster group, etc., to cooperate with the work of the Party and to carry out ideological and political education for soldiers. Due to the strengthening of the political and ideological work of the troops, the vast majority of the party and regiment members of the Third Red Division can play an exemplary and leading role in the troops. The army implements a democratic system, establishes a soldiers' committee, plays a role in managing and supervising the troops, and has a very harmonious internal relationship between officers and soldiers, thus forming a strong, united, and combat-effective collective. At the same time, in addition to fighting wars and training, the Third Red Division also paid special attention to doing mass work, and everywhere the troops went, they must earnestly give the masses practical benefits and help the masses to fight the local tyrants and divide up the land, which is deeply supported and loved by the masses of the people. At that time, a song was widely circulated among the Red Army and the masses of the people:
The discipline of the Red Army is really strict,
Departures and camps,
Remember everywhere,
The borrowed goods should be returned,
Damage is to be compensated for silver,
Poop to find a toilet,
Don't do it carelessly,
Fight the local tycoons to return to justice.
Buy and sell fairly,
Each warrior pays attention to the execution.
This Song of the Red Army fully shows that our Red Army is an armed force of the people themselves, and that the relationship between the military and the people is inseparable from flesh and blood. In order to ensure that the troops won the battle in the front, they divided the red army's families well, divided the land, and practiced preferential care instead of farming. Wherever the troops went, the villagers let the house deliver grass and door panels, and the women organized themselves to help the commanders and fighters wash and mend their shirts. When the troops marched, tea stations were set up along the way in the Soviet area, bowls of tea were delivered to the hands of commanders and fighters, and fan teams were organized in the summer, and fans were given to the soldiers along the way. This touching scene of supporting the army is the source of strength that inspires the soldiers of our Red Army to heroically kill the enemy.
Reflecting on some of the reasons for the defeat in the struggle in the Soviet Union during this period, there are objective reasons as well as our subjective mistakes. Objectively speaking, at that time, due to the support of imperialism, the domestic reactionary forces were still very strong, and the enemy's weapons and equipment were much better than ours. Subjectively, the "Left" line dominated the party and the army, and the Party organization in southeast Hubei, in accordance with the instructions of the provincial party committee, repeatedly demanded against the Third Red Division to seize the central city in order to win the first victory in Xiang'egan Province. In this way, Mao Zedong's tactical ideas of concentrating superior forces, choosing their weaknesses, and breaking through each other were abolished on the issue of red army operations. In the face of those well-equipped and fortified enemies, we should not fight hard and cause some undue casualties and losses to the troops. In addition, at that time, the purge and repression in the SoutheastErn Soviet Region were expanded, the Security Bureau acted independently, did not carry out work under the strict leadership of the party, engaged in coercion, confession, and letters, and mistakenly killed many leading cadres and the backbone of the struggle against the enemy, so that everyone in the leading cadres endangered themselves and caused great confusion in people's psychology. (October 1991) (This article is selected from the Compilation and Review Committee of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Historical Materials Series, "Memories of the Red Army's Anti-Encirclement and Suppression" Historical Materials" compiled by the Committee of the People's Liberation Army)