Former Commanders of the New Fourth Army - Political Commissar Rao Shushi (8)

The new fourth army units preparing for a breakthrough during the Anhui Incident

On January 4, more than 9,000 people of the New Fourth Army and its subordinate southern Anhui troops were reorganized into a three-way column, and in the evening, they carried out a military operation of bypassing Maolin and crossing the river to northern Jiangsu via southern Jiangsu in the east. Rao Shushi was incorporated into the second column and moved with the direct subordinate units of the military headquarters. At that time, due to the rain and slippery road, the pontoon bridge was interrupted, and the troops arrived in Maolin on the afternoon of the 5th. On the evening of the 6th, he continued to move, and was blocked by the Kuomintang army. At noon on the 7th, the three columns of the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui province repelled the Kuomintang troops to intercept the attack, the first column passed through Qiuling, the second column out of Piling to reach the outskirts of Xingtan, and the third column occupied Gaoling and marched towards Xingtan. At this time, the retreat route of the New Fourth Army had been cut off, but Xingtan was only defended by the strength of one regiment of the 40th Division of the Kuomintang Army. Therefore, the only way out for the New Fourth Army is to quickly open the star pool and tear through the encirclement. At 3 p.m. on the 7th, the military department held a meeting at the Baihu Pit between Piling and Xingtan, and differences arose between the leaders of the military department on the issue of whether to attack Xingtan by force. The meeting was as usual without informing Rao Shushi to attend, and by the time he learned the news and asked about the location of the meeting, he rushed to observe the meeting, and the meeting had been held for more than 3 hours. Commander Ye Ting's opinion was that he would rather sacrifice some troops than rush out of Xingtan, while Xiang Ying resolutely opposed hard fighting on the grounds of preserving troops, so he argued for more than 3 hours. In the end, Xiang Ying decided to turn the whole army back from Xingtan and break through to Taiping in the direction of Gaoling. However, they mistakenly took Lianling, and the troops turned around for a day, and the order was chaotic, so they had to turn back to Litancang to camp. On the 8th, Xiang Ying held an emergency meeting of the military department in Litancang to study countermeasures, and this time did not notify Rao Shushi to participate. When Rao Shushi found out, he couldn't bear it, entered the venue, and questioned Xiang Ying, saying, I want to know your plan, and I believe that your actions have no secrets to me. I am a member of the Military Branch, and I want to participate in your discussions, and I may have some opinions to contribute, because your actions have exceeded common sense.

In the second half of the night of the same day, after receiving a secret telegram from Gu Zhutong, commander of the Kuomintang Third Theater of Operations, who had been deciphered by the confidential office, to Shangguan Yunxiang ordering him to launch a general offensive against the entire line of the New Fourth Army on the 9th, Xiang Ying gave up his leadership responsibility and led more than a dozen people to bid farewell and try to choose a road to break through. Upon learning of this, Ye Ting told Rao Shushi that the creators of the so-called New Fourth Army had all gone, and politically I could not explain it. I'm angry! Under these circumstances, Rao Shushi stepped forward and summoned the leading cadres of the army's direct subordinate unit and the second column to a meeting, disclosed their identities to the cadres attending the meeting, and tried their best to encourage the military commander Ye To stand up and clean up the mess. After dawn, Ye Ting and Rao Shushi gathered to teach the general brigade and the army's direct subordinate units to speak, and Ye Ting said solemnly and firmly: "Comrades, our New Fourth Army is a revolutionary unit, and for the sake of resisting Japan and for the sake of the people, we will go to the soup and fight the fire. The Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek was despicable and shameless, and instead of fighting devils, they came to prevent us from crossing the Yangtze River in the north. In the current situation, we cannot bear the pain of giving play to the role of your backbone. At this critical juncture when everyone is dedicated to the revolution, let us shed our last drop of blood for the revolution, for the proletariat. Ye Ting said with particular indignation: "Comrades, if I escape from the battle, you can shoot me at any time!" "The morale of the troops was immediately high and their morale was high.

At this time, the command post of the 144th Division of the Kuomintang Army was already stationed at Yangshan Bridge in Maolin, and a large number of reinforcements were sent to attack Gaotan, and the 3rd Regiment of the 2nd Column of the New Fourth Army defending Gaotan was blocked by danger, and the battle was very fierce. Ye Ting immediately dispatched the general brigade to reinforce the third regiment for combat. At the same time, the military radio station had also been set up, and Ye Ting and Rao Shushi jointly sent a telegram to the Yan'an Party Central Committee and the Central Plains Bureau in Yancheng, northern Jiangsu, to report on the difficult situation at that time: "On this (9th) day, we are advancing northward, and we are being surrounded again, and now we are concentrating all our strength to fight fiercely with the enemy, and we plan to break through the north in batches tonight. Xiang Ying, GuoPing, and Zi Kun led a small group of armed forces this morning without telling them, and the direction of action was unknown. I will keep it to the end for the safety of all. Liu Shaoqi, secretary of the Central Plains Bureau, first received the telegram and immediately sent a telegram to Ye Ting and Rao Shushi: "Xiang, Yuan ... Leaving the army without telling the truth was very improper, that is, in the past they also had many improper handling points, violating the instructions of the central authorities, resulting in the current difficult situation. I hope that you will give your strong support, save the crisis, go all out to break through southern Jiangsu, and directly order the two detachments to respond. At the same time, Liu Shaoqi also sent a telegram to Ye Ting, Rao Shushi, and the responsible persons of various departments of the New Fourth Army in Southern Anhui Province, announcing the decision of the Party Central Committee on "merging the Southeast Bureau into the Central Plains Bureau and unifying the work of the Party and the troops in all the war zones in Jiangnan under the leadership of the Central Plains Bureau," stressing instructions to them: "Comrade Xiang Ying and Comrades Yuan and Tuesday heard that they had left the troops, causing the party leadership of the Jiangnan Party to lose its center. I hope that you will convey to all Party members that they will completely obey the command of Commander Ye jun and Comrade Rao Shushi, member of the Southeast Bureau and The Army Branch, in order to break the encirclement of the diehards and successfully transfer to the south and north of the Soviet Union. On the same day, Liu Shaoqi sent another telegram to Yan'an, suggesting that the CPC Central Committee "explicitly order the removal of Xiang Xiang, and make Xiao Yao (i.e., Rao Shushi - Editor's Note) politically responsible and Ye military responsible, in order to save the crisis," emphatically pointing out that "in any case, Xiang can no longer be allowed to continue to be responsible, and it is better to remove Him one day early."

Ye Ting and Rao Shushi were ordered to set up a command post on snake mountain on the high ground north of the Xu Family Ancestral Hall in Gaotan, and issued various orders accurately and in a timely manner. After a day of fierce fighting on the 9th, the stubborn 144th Division was finally repelled. By dusk, Ye Ting and Rao Shushi led the Third Regiment, the Teaching Corps, and the army's subordinate units to shake off the enemy of Maolin and march northeast, preparing to cross the Qingyi River to Gufeng between Jing County and Dingjiadu, and then cross the river north from Tongling and Fanchang. Later, due to the continuous attack and harassment of the Kuomintang troops along the way, the melee only traveled more than 20 miles a night, making the original plan impossible to realize, so the whole army entered the Stone Well Pit on the morning of the 10th. Ye Ting and Rao Shushi jointly sent a telegram to Liu Shaoqi and to Yan'an: "Supporting the four-day self-defense battle is now on the verge of extinction, and all the cadres are ready to die." Please immediately consider the facts, whether the central authorities or Chongqing can make representations to Chiang Kai-shek to immediately stop the attack on Xiangwan and ensure the safe relocation of the New Fourth Army to the north of the river and release all arrested military personnel in accordance with the original proposal. On the afternoon of the 10th, Xiang Ying and Yuan Guoping returned to the military headquarters because they could not break through. Xiang Ying realized the mistake of leaving the team without authorization, so he telegraphed Liu Shaoqi to the central government: "Today I have returned to the team. The day before yesterday, the breakthrough was blocked, the troops were surrounded in the mountains, there is a great possibility of being wiped out, temporarily shaken, trying to lead the squad through the trail out ... By the ninth day, it didn't feel right... This action was very bad, pending punishment by the central authorities. I am determined to live and die with the troops. ”

On 11 November, Rao Shushi made a separate telegram to the Party Central Committee in his personal name to reflect on the problems of the New Fourth Army and the differences with Xiang Ying: "Since my arrival, there has been an unprecedented debate with Xiang on the issue of development, but for the sake of cadre unity and planning, I have adopted an attitude of patience since then," "It was entirely possible for our army to cross the river from Anhui a month ago, but it was only Xiang's hesitation and hesitation to obstruct it," "Although I am one of the members of the Southeast Bureau and the military branch, I am completely unwilling to participate in this military plan and all meetings, and it is really chilling until I leave without saying goodbye." Finally, He expressed his determination to the Party Central Committee: "I sacrificed for the revolution, which is exactly my original intention. However, in case of misfortune this time, he will not be blinded by death, and he will not be ashamed to bear the heavy responsibility entrusted by the central authorities. On the same day, Rao Shushi also sent a joint telegram to the CPC Central Committee with Ye Ting and Xiang Ying to report on the current enemy situation in southern Anhui and the New Fourth Army's policy of "shortening the defensive line, strengthening fortifications, clamping the majority with a minority, controlling the strength of more than one regiment, choosing weaknesses, and making surprise attacks." Soon after, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Wang Jiaxiang sent a telegram from Yan'an to Liu Shaoqi, Rao, and all comrades, pointing out: "The leadership of Xiyi and Xiaoyao is completely correct, and I hope that the whole party and the whole army will obey the command of Ye and Yao and carry out the task of moving north." Although your environment is difficult, it is possible to preserve the backbone by means of guerrilla means and reach southern Jiangsu. ”