On November 2, 1936, Kuomintang general Hu Zongnan received an urgent order from Chiang Kai-shek and flew to the Nanjing government overnight. After landing, Hu Zongnan immediately entered Chiang Kai-shek's office with the guards, and immediately learned that the Red Army was about to capture Ningxia.
Chiang Kai-shek said: "The person who led the Red Army in the first march north was actually Zuo Quan, who originally graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, and was an extremely intelligent and agile person when he was studying in school, and he had his own ideas, but he just didn't want to follow us, which really made me sad and hateful!"
Hearing this, Hu Zongnan, who was standing on the side, immediately patted his chest and promised: "Principal, please rest assured, this person is not a problem, we have already prepared a perfect plan." Besides, this man was cultivated by your command in his early years, and since he is so treacherous, then I must teach him a hard lesson on the battlefield!"
Seeing that General Hu Zongnan was so confident, Chiang Kai-shek couldn't help but shake his head and said, "The reason why I specifically called you over to speak is to remind you that you must not underestimate the enemy. I know this Zuo Quan very well, he is not only proficient in the history of the art of war, but also a well-planned and thoughtful person when fighting in battle. He can think of all the details on the battlefield in advance, and will quickly make corresponding deployments and counterattacks. You have to be careful with this person!"
Chiang Kai-shek's words were originally words of heartfelt advice, but Hu Zongnan was very unhappy after hearing them, and even said nonchalantly: "I don't care who he is, I will let him see the truth when he goes to the battlefield! I will teach this ungrateful man a good lesson for the principal, and I will never be afraid of him!"
Seeing Hu Zongnan so disdainful, Chiang Kai-shek couldn't help but be furious and said: "It's not me who strikes you, you can't compare to him in the three, you must fight well in this battle, and you must not be sloppy and underestimate the enemy." ”
As we all know, this Hu Zongnan is also a rare general, and he has also won many victories in the front line of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo War. Originally, he thought that Chiang Kai-shek would call him this time and would definitely entrust him with a heavy task to praise him, but he didn't expect to be so angrily reprimanded and ridiculed.
So Hu Zongnan's face was very ugly on the spot, and Chiang Kai-shek also noticed that he was depressed at this time, so he had to step forward and pat him on the shoulder and said: "I called you this time, not to attack you, but to tell you that the current Red Army is in the period of exhaustion and recuperation, and its combat effectiveness is also the weakest." That's why I tell you to take this opportunity to plan your deployment well in advance, and then fight a few more big victories. To be honest, I have no doubt about your combat ability, and I believe that you can win the battle. But just to be sure, I must not remind you that caution is the best thing to do. ”
Chiang Kai-shek's words of comfort made Hu Zongnan feel much better, and he immediately assured Chiang Kai-shek that he would be able to complete the task of winning the war. In the evening, Chiang Kai-shek said that he wanted to leave Hu Zongnan for dinner, but Hu Zongnan said that the war on the front line was tight, and he would immediately rush back to Xi'an to deploy the war situation.
Soon after, Chiang Kai-shek and others began to implement the overall battle plan, directly mobilizing 30 divisions (100,000 people) to go all out to try to block the Red Army troops east of the Yellow River.
At this time, Hu Zongnan was also full of confidence and high morale, and led the troops of the four armies under his command to encircle and suppress Zuo Quan's troops to the death.
At the beginning, in order to reduce the internal strife and the losses of both sides, Zuo Quan wrote a letter to hope that Hu Zongnan would know the righteousness and abandon the darkness and turn to the light. But unexpectedly, Hu Zongnan thought that Zuo Quan was weak and afraid, and the Red Army at that time was a tired division, and there was no reinforcement, so he couldn't fight him hard, so he wrote a letter begging for mercy.
In fact, under the command and reminder of Chairman Mao, Zuo Quan immediately changed his tactics, and used the tactical method of fighting while walking, specifically finding the weaker parts of the enemy to carry out desperate attacks, and then taking the opportunity to fight piecemeal and make a whole, accumulate small ones to win, and win the battle for the camp step by step.
Sure enough, the enemy's 78th Division was soon ambushed. After a whole day of desperate fighting, our Red Army directly ate two brigades of the enemy's 78th Division. Later, Hu Zongnan learned of the plan, and he had to retreat and flee after losing his troops.
And when the news of the victory of Hu Zongnan, the famous general of the Great War of Left Power, reached Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek was so angry that he almost beat his chest: "I told him a long time ago that none of the three Hu Zongnan can compare to one Left Power, why can't he listen to it! This battle was lost in anger and shamefully!"