In the military history of the mainland, guerrillas are a presence that cannot be ignored. They dispersed their mobile operations in enemy-occupied areas, inflicting a certain degree of damage on the enemy and relieving the pressure on the main forces. It can be said that the mainland was able to achieve the final victory because of the merits of the guerrillas. In the southern Sichuan region, there was such a guerrilla group, because it did not receive the order to retreat from its superiors, it had been fighting and fighting with the enemy for 12 years, which shocked the world. So, what kind of guerrilla force is this? Why didn't the superiors give the order to retreat? What is the secret behind this?
The victory of the Anti-Japanese Resistance was inextricably linked to the guerrillas
On February 12, 1935, more than 400 warriors gathered at the head of the Shikanzi River in the Tashi region of Yunnan, coming from all over the world and meeting for a common goal. At this time they were nervous, after all, this team was formed temporarily, even the warriors were temporarily drawn from various teams, and no one knew what kind of task they were on.
Then a middle-aged man with long hair and an octagonal hat hurried to arrive. Although this person's face is full of vegetables and his steps are slightly vain, it looks like it is caused by long-term fatigue and malnutrition. But this could not hide his bright eyes, coupled with the red five stars on the hat, making people feel that he was full of powerful spiritual power. And this person is our beloved Premier Zhou.
Premier Zhou with long hair and an octagonal hat
I saw Premier Zhou stride forward, walk up to the high platform, and give the fighters below a difficult and tragic task. The team that received the task was given a resounding name by the prime minister himself, that is, the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's southern Sichuan guerrillas. And this difficult task was to pretend, which meant that they had to stay alone in the southwest region to attract the attention of the Kuomintang army, so as to achieve the goal of covering the transfer of the main force. Premier Zhou told the fighters that this was only a temporary separation and that they would definitely meet in the future. But what they didn't know was that this time the temporary separation was 12 years, and even by the time they met again, many of the fighters were already buried underground. So why did Premier Zhou give such an order? What really happened?
The forgotten Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army guerrillas in southern Sichuan
Since the late Qing Dynasty, the land of China has been devastated by the great powers, which has also opened the prelude to our century of humiliation. In order to save China, many young people with lofty ideals broke the shackles of traditional thinking, learned advanced Western ideas and technologies, and began to embark on the road of national salvation. With the passage of time, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who went to Japan to study, brought back the ideas of the Three People's Principles and founded the Kuomintang. After the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek staged a coup d'état and became the leader of the Kuomintang.
The main ideology of the Kuomintang: the idea of the Three People's Principles
At the same time, with the success of the October Revolution in the Soviet Union, communist ideas also entered China, and with the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921. With the passage of time, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party continued to grow and develop, but facts have proved that the Kuomintang is not suitable for China's national conditions, and only the Communist Party can lead the sons and daughters of China out of difficulties. In order to curb the development of the Communist Party, the old Chiang Kai-shek issued an order to "suppress the bandits," and since then the two parties have begun a tug-of-war between encirclement and suppression and counter-encirclement and suppression.
In 1921, the First Congress of the Communist Party of China was held, marking the founding of the Communist Party of China
With the failure of the Fifth Anti-Encirclement and Suppression Campaign of the Central Red Army, the main forces of the Red Army and the Party Central Committee were forced to withdraw from the Central Revolutionary Base Areas and began to implement a large-scale strategic transfer, known in history as the "Long March". However, at the beginning of the Long March, because the senior leaders of the CPC, Bogu, Wang Ming, and others, still failed to learn effective experience from the failure of the anti-encirclement and suppression campaign, and adhered to the "Left" dogmatism and escapism, the number of the Central Red Army was reduced from 80,000 to 30,000 after the Battle of the Xiangjiang River.
At the same time, The German military adviser Li De, in spite of the encirclement and suppression of the enemy's 400,000 troops, insisted on going to western Hunan to join the Red Second and Red Sixth Armies, and it seemed that he was about to bring the few remaining main forces of the Red Army into the abyss of annihilation. At this very moment, the great man put forward the strategic idea of avoiding the enemy's sharp edge and shifting to Guizhou and other places where the enemy's strength was weak, and this proposal was quickly supported by most comrades in the Central Military Commission.
The fifth counter-encirclement and suppression failed
Under the leadership of the great man, in January 1935, the Red Army broke through the Wujiang River and entered Zunyi. This tactic of our Communists shocked the Kuomintang. So Old Chiang Kai-shek began to dispatch troops and generals, which were bound to suppress the Central Red Army. At the same time, the Party Central Committee is also holding a major meeting that will determine the life and death of the Communist Party, which is the Zunyi Conference. At this meeting, not only the erroneous ideology was corrected, but also the leadership of the great man was established, but this did not mean that the crisis was gone.
You know, at that time, Lao Jiang sent hundreds of thousands of troops, not only that, there were warlords everywhere at that time. This also meant that the Red Army had to confront not only the Kuomintang army, but also the warlords. Faced with the pressing of the Kuomintang army, the Party Central Committee could only abandon Zunyi, move north, join the Red Fourth Army, and establish a base area in western or northern Sichuan. However, in the Tucheng area at the junction of Sichuan and Qian, it was blocked by the Sichuan army.
Zunyi Conference: The meeting that decides the life and death of our party
Originally, it was thought that the Sichuan army was vulnerable and could fight a quick battle and make a quick decision, so as to cross the river and go north. However, it was precisely the wrong underestimation of the strength of the Sichuan army that made the battle evolve into a hard-hitting battle of attrition, and finally lost. Faced with such a situation, coupled with the fact that the Kuomintang army strengthened the defense along the Yangtze River, the troops could only make an emergency turn. Under the command of the great man, the Red Army began to cross the Chishui River and retake Zunyi. This is the second crossing of the four crossings of the red water.
The reason why there is such a famous battle as the four crossings of chishui is because the Red Army can only make the enemy confused about the true intentions of our army if it constantly changes its position. However, it is not advisable to rely on the main force to confuse the enemy, in case of bumping into the enemy's large troops, it is possible to completely annihilate the army, and if you want to distract the enemy's attention, you must create as many "fog bombs" as possible, let several units act separately, under the banner of the main force, and create the illusion that the main force is blooming everywhere in southern Sichuan, so as to truly confuse the enemy.
The great man led the four crossings of the Red Water
However, after the Battle of xiangjiang, the Red Army suffered heavy losses, and there was no way to divide too many troops. But in the face of the dilemma at that time, I couldn't score and scored. This was an accurate decision made by the great man after analyzing the situation in southern Sichuan. Because southern Sichuan is located in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Fault Zone of the Hengduan Mountains, the mountains are high and deep, and there are many water systems, it is very suitable for guerrilla warfare, and southern Sichuan is located at the junction of Sichuan, Qian, and Yunnan Provinces, which is a three-way zone, and there are still many people living here, who cannot stand the oppression of the Kuomintang and fled here, so this place is very suitable for guerrilla warfare.
The Battle of the Xiangjiang River highlighted the siege
For this reason, even though the main force has been sharply reduced to about 30,000, in order to ensure a smooth northward movement, it is necessary to divide the troops and form guerrilla groups, otherwise the revolution will face the crisis of defeat. It can be said that the establishment of a guerrilla group was a decision by a hero who broke his wrist. The Southern Sichuan Guerrillas were born under such circumstances. However, at that time, the remaining strength of the various legions was not much, and where the guerrillas were drawn from became a big problem. So how did the Party Central Committee finally solve this problem?
The Fifth Company of the Central Protection Bureau was the main force of the guerrillas
The great man decided to start with himself. So he decided to use the Fifth Company of the Central Protection Bureau at his side as the main force of the guerrillas, and then draw manpower from other units to replenish. At that time, the Fifth Company of the Protection Bureau was reduced from more than 300 men to half of its full strength due to the war, so that this team of only more than 100 people became the main force of the guerrillas. Seeing that the great man took the lead in this way, the then commander of the Red Third Army, General Manager Peng, also followed close behind, and immediately decided that the rest of the people were out of the Three Corps, although the Red Third Army also suffered too heavy losses in the war, but General Peng still gritted his teeth and drew out three hundred people to hand over to the great man, and also recommended his general Xu Ce to serve as the political commissar of the guerrillas. Therefore, this guerrilla group of more than 400 people was created and quickly assembled at the head of the Tashi River in southern Sichuan, waiting for orders.
General Peng: Xu Ce
After listening to Premier Zhou's orders, the guerrilla fighters all had a premonition of the seriousness of the mission. But obedience to command is the duty of soldiers, and in order to protect the main force, everything can be abandoned, so in their hearts, the worries about the future are only fleeting, and replaced by soaring revolutionary pride. Since the Central Committee has entrusted such a difficult task, this is a great political honor for itself, and it is also the time when the quality of will is most tested.
Premier Zhou, who gave the order, was also intolerant, but the situation was very critical, and the troops were in urgent need of transfer, so they could only briefly explain the follow-up affairs to several leaders of the guerrillas and return in a hurry. The prime minister once said that after the successful transfer of the main force, the order to return to the army would be issued at the first time. But things far exceeded their imagination, and the order to return to the team was delayed. In this way, the guerrillas embarked on the road to combat. Will their operations go well? What surprises happened to it?
The guerrillas embarked on the path of combat
On February 13, 1935, the guerrillas bid farewell to the Central Red Army. At this time, the team consisted of more than four hundred men, six hundred guns, four heavy machine guns and a radio, and with these equipment began to maneuver with the Kuomintang army. Just as they marched to Lu County, Sichuan, they got a small supplement.
In the local area, there is a Green Forest Armed Forces, and the leader of this armed force is Wang Yitao, who was originally a member of the Communist Party of China, and with the help of the Luxian County Party Committee, he successfully pulled up a team of more than two hundred people. When the guerrillas arrived, Wang Yitao led the troops to join them. As a result, the southern Sichuan guerrillas expanded from more than 400 to more than 600. In this regard, the guerrillas were very grateful to Wang Yitao, plus he was still a local, so the guerrillas appointed him as commander. But what no one expected was that this person had become the culprit who had caused the guerrillas to be severely damaged.
Wang Yitao, who defected and escaped
At first, the guerrilla movement was quite smooth. They always remember that their first task is strategic maneuvering. Therefore, when the main force attacked all the way to the east, they fought westward, and not only that, but whenever they moved, they also set up the banner of the main force, which greatly interfered with the Kuomintang army and made it impossible for them to judge where the main force was located.
At that time, in order to better cover the main force, the southern Sichuan guerrillas divided the team of more than 600 people into five small groups and waged a fierce struggle against the Kuomintang and the Sichuan local garrison at the border of Sichuan and Yunnan. In this way, the main force of the Red Army, under the cover of the guerrillas, quickly withdrew from the southern Sichuan region and began to march towards the Yunnan-Guizhou region. Guerrilla warfare has always been a good way of fighting for our Red Army, so the guerrillas caught the local Kuomintang troops by surprise, coupled with the lax garrison of the Kuomintang troops and the lack of attention to training in peacetime, resulting in gradual defeat and retreat.
The Southern Sichuan guerrillas, forgotten for 12 years
When Old Jiang heard such news, he was dumbfounded. Seeing that the troops fighting his own army were all under the banner of the main force of the Red Army, he knew that there must be an army that confused them. However, they could not solve this problem on their own, because these troops not only opened fire at the same time, but also often used the method of fighting with one shot for one place, so that the Kuomintang army could not accurately judge it. The series of guerrilla operations also confused the Kuomintang generals pursuing the main force, causing him to have deep doubts about himself and believing that the main forces of the Red Army would not withdraw from Sichuan, because they would establish a base here. From this, it is not difficult for us to see how powerful the guerrillas of our army are!
Sichuan Revolutionary Base Area
It was precisely because the Kuomintang army could not make accurate judgments that the southern Sichuan guerrillas were able to successfully survive the enemy's tight encirclement and suppression. Not only that, but they also took advantage of the dizziness of the Kuomintang and the local garrison to achieve many victories, which made the morale of the entire team high and more courageous. With this momentum, this unit of only more than 600 people became famous in the southern Sichuan region, which caused headaches for the Kuomintang army. Compared with the Kuomintang, the leaders of the Party Central Committee such as The Great Man and Premier Zhou were very satisfied with the guerrillas, and under their cover, the main force of the Red Army was successfully transferred and temporarily escaped from the Kuomintang's sphere of influence.
A heroic and fearless guerrilla
Although the guerrillas were heroic, their numbers were too small, and their open display of false flags and deliberately attracting the enemy to pursue them, so that they attracted a large number of enemy sieges, which was tantamount to suicide attacks. But for them, as long as the main force is successfully transferred, it is okay to suffer even more casualties. In this way, under their cover, the main forces of the Red Army achieved brilliant results in crossing the red waters in four ways and completely seized the initiative in the war. But after the main force leaves Sichuan, will the southern Sichuan guerrillas return smoothly? Will the Kuomintang easily let go of this unit that teases them?
Guerrillas waiting for their time
After successfully covering the main force out of Sichuan, the southern Sichuan guerrillas lost contact with the large troops and became a truly lone army. Although the main force left, the order to retreat was not issued, and the more than 600 fighters continued to carry out the heavy responsibilities on their shoulders. They thought they would soon be able to retreat, but what no one expected was that the Kuomintang counterattack would come so quickly and so fiercely that the southern Sichuan guerrillas were in great danger.
After the main force of the Red Army entered Sichuan, Lao Jiang asked the Sichuan local army to besiege and intercept the Red Army, and specially sent a supervisory committee. It should be known that although the Sichuan defenders are a loosely disciplined unit, their combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated. Watching the guerrillas in southern Sichuan bombarding their own turf indiscriminately, how could this not make the Sichuan army resentful. So they gathered several regiments and besieged the guerrillas, vowing to wipe them out.
The Sichuan Army, which should not be underestimated
Although the southern Sichuan guerrillas were heroic, there were only more than 600 people fighting thousands of enemy troops, and it was not easy to win the victory. Faced with the heavy siege of the Sichuan army, all they could do was fight to the death, and it didn't take long for them to suffer heavy casualties. In just one month, the southern Sichuan guerrillas continued to die out under the brutal killing of the Sichuan army, and many generals and fighters died heroically.
The situation continued to deteriorate, and some of the weak-willed members of the guerrillas began to watch and sway. With the sacrifice of some important leading cadres within the ranks, Wang Yitao, as commander, actually defected to the enemy. This made the southern Sichuan guerrillas, who were already in a precarious situation, even more dangerous. After Wang Yitao defected, he took the initiative to give his life to the Kuomintang and led his troops around to hunt down and kill the guerrillas. He used to serve as a commander and told the Kuomintang army one by one about the scope of activities and combat characteristics of the guerrillas, so that the guerrillas were completely exposed to the eyes of the enemy. In this way, under the rebellion of Wang Yitao, the guerrillas in southern Sichuan suffered heavy losses.
The Kuomintang army gathered troops from Sichuan, Qian, and Yunnan provinces to launch an attack on the guerrillas
In July 1935, under the guidance of Wang Yitao, the Kuomintang army gathered the troops of Sichuan, Qian, and Yunnan provinces and launched a siege against the guerrillas in southern Sichuan, in an attempt to sweep them away and completely solve this serious problem. However, even though the Kuomintang army was oppressive and menacing, this did not weaken the responsibility and determination of the guerrilla fighters in southern Sichuan to complete their mission. Even if the road ahead is difficult, they have no intention of retreating, only the determination to go forward, for them, even if they are on the verge of extinction, they will fight until the last moment!
In mid-July, the guerrillas arrived in Weixin County, where they were suddenly surrounded by enemy troops, and Xu Ce and other leaders led their teams to block the enemy. In the fierce battle, the deputy political commissar and chief of staff of the guerrillas were killed one after another. At this critical moment, political commissar Xu Ce took over the heavy burden of command and led the soldiers in a bloody battle with the enemy. In order to break through the siege, he took the initiative to launch an onslaught on the enemy, fought bloodily for about five hours, and was shot by the enemy and fell to the ground. Originally, he still had a chance to survive, but in order not to drag down his teammates around him, he was seriously injured and stuck to the battle line, fighting the enemy, attracting the attention of the enemy, and was finally hacked to death by the enemy's knife.
Revolutionary hero Yu Zehong
Xu Ce's sacrifice cast a shadow over the southern Sichuan guerrillas, who were now in a leaderless situation. At this critical juncture, Yu Zehong, deputy secretary of the Cpc Chuannan Special Committee, stepped forward, shouldered heavy responsibilities, and led the troops to fight. This Yu Zehong, who stepped forward, was once a senior leader of the Party Central Committee, but for various reasons, he returned to his hometown of Sichuan to fight guerrillas.
Under the leadership of Yu Zehong, the guerrillas learned lessons, changed their tactics and tactics, and achieved great results. It also allowed the red army soldiers to regain their morale and become more courageous in the Vietnam War. Under his leadership, the Sichuan army was severely damaged, making the guerrillas famous and shocking the entire southern Sichuan. When the Kuomintang troops discovered that the southern Sichuan guerrillas had such generals, they immediately adopted a strategy of solicitation against Yu Zehong, and they offered Yu Zehong generous and favorable conditions. But as a veteran party member, Yu Zehong is far from Wang Yitao's kind of person who sees money and is greedy for life and afraid of death. In the face of all kinds of favorable and rich conditions, Yu Zehong was indifferent.
The guerrillas engaged in fierce confrontations with the Kuomintang troops
If the solicitation does not work, it is threatened. This was the consistent style of the Kuomintang, and in the face of Yu Zehong's repeated refusals, they brutally killed Yu Zehong's family, but from beginning to end, Yu Zehong was unmoved, insisted on fighting, and launched a fierce counterattack again and again against the Kuomintang troops. However, in a breakout operation, due to the large number of enemies, there was a huge gap between the enemy and ourselves. Yu Zehong's army was outnumbered, and after the fierce battle, Yu Zehong finally died heroically. At this time, the southern Sichuan guerrillas were torn apart by the Kuomintang army, countless fighters were killed, and these unsung heroes fell on that land forever.
After this battle, only 17 people were left in the entire southern Sichuan guerrilla force, and not only that, they were basically in a state of running out of ammunition and food. At this critical juncture, there was one person who stepped forward, and he was Liu Fuchu. With only 17 remaining warriors, he hid in the mountains to make repairs. At this time, the Kuomintang thought that they had completely annihilated this guerrilla force, so they released the news of the destruction of the Red Army in southern Sichuan.
The Red Second and Sixth Red Armies began the Long March
Liu Fuchu led 17 soldiers to recuperate in the mountains, and then in three months the troops were developed to thousands, so that the southern Sichuan guerrilla column was re-established, and thus ushered in their glorious era, if this development trend is followed, it is not certain that the guerrillas will develop into a revolutionary base area. However, as the Red Second and Red Sixth Armies began their long march, the fate of the guerrilla column once again went down a tragic and majestic road. In 1936, the Red Second and Red Sixth Armies in western Hunan also carried out the Long March, and Liu Fuchu had to take another suicide attack to cooperate with the action of the legion in order to contain the enemy. In this way, the southern Sichuan guerrillas were once again active in the sight of the Kuomintang, and in order to completely annihilate this guerrilla group, the Kuomintang ordered the troops of the three provinces of Sichuan, Qian, and Yunnan to once again launch a fierce attack on the southern Sichuan guerrillas. By January 1937, the guerrillas were almost completely wiped out, leaving only a few remnants to move into the underground party.
The remaining members turned into underground parties
In the end, the southern Sichuan guerrillas were preserved by breaking it into pieces. Even if no one knew of their existence, even if they were behind the enemy's rear, they still insisted on waging armed struggle behind enemy lines and carrying out local mass work, until 1947, when the world learned of the existence of this force. From 1935 to 1947, for a full 12 years, the southern Sichuan guerrilla column not only fulfilled the heavy responsibilities entrusted to them organizationally, but also accomplished feats that no one could have imagined. They have been working hard to create revolutionary base areas, create schools, and do many practical things for the people.
To this day, the southern Sichuan guerrillas, the name that represents resilience, have gradually disappeared into the long river of history. Although we cannot remember the names of each of them, we will always remember their contributions to their homeland.