Re-ascend to Raven Mountain
If the Zunyi Conference to save the crisis is a banner, then the Zunyi Battle is the bright red banner and brilliant chapter of this banner, writing the prologue of the victory poem of the Long March epic.
The main battlefields of the Zunyi Campaign, Honghuagang and Lao Ya Mountain, are the natural barriers in the south of Zunyi City, and have been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times. "Continuation of Zunyi Supplementary Chronicle" contains: "Since Xianfeng Jiayin, they are all easy to make camps, garrison important soldiers, roll up the flag, and draw horns to whimper." In the first year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1862), the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom peasant rebel army Shi Dakai opened the department, guarded this place, and pinned down the Qing soldiers. Honghuagang, Lao Ya Mountain, Biyun Peak line abrupt, steep mountain, in the southwest direction of the old city arc stretches for several 10 kilometers, and the peaks are connected to the flag mountain, Fuhou Mountain and the north of the city across a Xiangjiang River Phoenix Mountain, Xiaolong Mountain, the peaks surround and jointly defend the Zunyi City. After this year's Qingming Festival, at the invitation of my old friend, I once again climbed Honghuagang and Lao Ya Mountain to participate in the red search activity of "Re-walking the Long March Road". The breeze was blowing, the sun was shining dappled light and shadow through the dense branches and leaves of the pines and cypresses, and the pine needles were green and yellow all over the ground.
"Raven Mountain Spokesperson"
This time, it was Cao Xu, who led us to re-take the road of the Long March and visit the battle sites of the Red Army, who was called the "spokesperson of Lao Ya Mountain" by the Chinese military network "National Defense Education". Sixty-three-year-old Cao Xu, stocky and capable, became a member of the Zunyi Historical Research Association and the Zunyi Long March Society after retirement. He has volunteered to receive many inspection units and tourist teams from inside and outside the province who have come to Lao Ya Mountain and Honghuagang Battle Site to study the history of the party, and has revisited Honghuagang and Lao Ya Mountain Battle Site dozens of times rain or shine. Over the years, he has been tireless in searching for information, conducting field investigations, visiting people, writing articles, telling on the spot, and giving special lectures, and he knows the story of the Red Army's Long March Zunyi Campaign. There are three treasures in the black cloth backpack he carries: a mountaineering crutch that can be retracted, a schematic diagram of the "Re-walking the Long March Road" Honghuagang Lao Yashan Experience Tour, and a portrait of Zhong Weijian martyr, which is a must-have for him to spread the red story. His explanation is flesh and blood, vivid and vivid, so that the story of every red relic of the Zunyi Battle is vividly present in the hearts of every condolence investigator.
It was a fierce war back then
After crossing the Honghuagang at an altitude of 1,002 meters, we arrived at the Lanjiabao Pass, where we took a short break and prepared to climb the 1,053-meter-high Raven Mountain. During the break, Cao Xu skillfully opened the schematic diagram of the Honghuagang Lao Yashan Experience Tour from his backpack, and the mountaineering crutches instantly turned into a whip for commentary, and once again began to preach in a colorful manner. The scene of the battle between Honghuagang and Lao Yashan that took place in the trench bunker at the foot of the foot appeared in front of me one after another.
On February 18 and 19, 1935, the Central Red Army crossed Chishui for the second time, attacked Loushan Pass, and took advantage of the victory to capture Zunyi City again. In the early morning of February 28, the Red Third Army immediately built fortifications at the commanding heights of Honghuagang, Lao Ya Mountain, Biyun Peak, and Flag Mountain, which extended from west to south in the old city of Zunyi...... After a desperate battle, the Red Army held the positions of Honghuagang and Lao Yashan, and won a turning point for the victory of the Zunyi Campaign. The Battle of Zunyi was the greatest victory won by the Red Army since the Long March, which dealt a blow to the enemy's arrogance, boosted the morale of the Red Army, and reversed the situation in which the Central Red Army had been militarily passive since the Long March.
Chase the light and move forward
Every year, after the Qingming Festival, the weather begins to get warmer. In the places where the Red Army fought in Honghuagang and Lao Yashan, you can always see groups of people chasing red footprints under the guidance of the red flag from time to time, passing through the mountain roads with peaks and peaks. These ceremonial Long March cultural activities bring participants a dual experience of body and mind, awe and admiration, subtle and unforgettable. The journey we have taken this time is not long, but the mountain road is rugged, and almost all of us are trekking through the ridges and forests, which is full of experience. From the foot of Honghuagang Mountain in the east, through Lao Ya Mountain to Biyun Peak in the west, on the three-kilometer long mountain road, especially on the ridge around the summit of Honghuagang and Lao Ya Mountain, there are still faint trenches, communication trenches and artificial bunkers of different shades and ravines, as well as an obvious forward command bunker and a machine gun position bunker. The site of the battle bullet holes in Lao Ya Mountain is mainly distributed in the bare rocks on the outside of the mountain trail, and the bullet holes are irregularly distributed in a circular shape, with a size of about 5mm and a diameter depth of about 1cm. Beside the trail down the hill out of Lao Ya Mountain, halfway up the mountain shaded by pine needles and shrubs, two bullet holes left by enemy machine gun fire are still clearly visible. In recent years, many descendants of the old Red Army have come to Zunyi to inspect the places where their fathers fought bloodily.
In August 2018, Zhang Xinxia, the son of Zhang Zongxun, the head of the Red Tenth Regiment of the Red Third Army, and accompanying military experts accidentally found such a bullet hole stone at the Red Army battle site in Lao Ya Mountain. According to the bullet hole marks and the analysis of historical facts, this is what was left over from the battle of Lao Ya Mountain. There are 18 bullet holes on this stone, which shows the fierceness of the battle that year.
The red and green are deep
At the exit of Lao Ya Mountain, next to the Guanyin Temple of the Land Dam, there is a red army tomb made of bluestone masonry that is particularly eye-catching. Buried here is an unknown Red Army soldier who died when he was wounded and left behind and passed by the Guanyin Temple. When nearby villagers Liu Mingxi and Li Wenzhong found out, they picked up stones on the spot and buried the martyrs. Over time, the local folk have formed a custom: whenever there are pilgrims and tourists who go to the temple to burn incense, they will pick up a stone and pile up the graves of the martyrs, and pay tribute to the martyrs in a special way. In August 2020, the Lao Yashan Battle Site Volunteer Association, composed of nearby villagers and people from all walks of life, raised its own funds to repair the Red Army Cemetery.
At that time, the Red Army fought in Honghuagang and Laoya Mountain, across a Xiangjiang River and Xiaolong Mountain. Now Xiaolong Mountain is called Red Army Mountain. In 1953, Zunyi City decided to build the Red Army Martyrs Cemetery on Xiaolong Mountain, and the remains of 77 martyrs found at the battlefield site during the Zunyi Battle were successively moved to the mountain, of which the remains of 16 unknown martyrs were found in the battlefield sites of Honghuagang and Laoyashan, and are now stored in the "Qingsong Hall" of the martyrs' cemetery. The remains of most of the martyrs who died in the battles of Raven Mountain and Honghuagang can no longer be found.
As the natural barrier of the old city of Zunyi, the first-line peaks of Honghuagang, Lao Ya Mountain, Biyun Peak and Flag Mountain, after 1949, especially since the reform and opening up, the implementation of mountain closure and afforestation and ecological environment restoration projects has now become the green lung oxygen bar of Zunyi City. Climb the Honghuagang and Lao Ya Mountain, overlook the city, remember the loyal soul, talk and talk, and the green mountains testify, which can't help but remind people of Chairman Mao Zedong's poem "In the fierce war in those years, the village wall in front of the bullet hole, decorating this Guanshan, it looks better today".
The glory of an ancient city is whose glory, the wild goose in the sky is poetic; What is the color of an ancient city, the mountains are like the sea, the sun is like blood. Red thoughts, here the blood is long, and the still water flows deeply; The red light and shadow are repainted from here, spreading the rivers and mountains. All the victorious treks are clinging to the red earth; All the visions of peace are full of green feelings, and red and green have become the brightest background color of this heroic city. The letter of the flower is red, and the green mountains are faintly buried in the bones of the faithful; The legend of the water flow, the grass is dark and green. Honghuagang and Lao Ya Mountain have unique scenery!
Text/Han Zhongzhou
Editor/Qiu Yi
Second Instance/Yao Man
Third Trial/Huang Wei