In the memorial hall of the Ruijin Central Revolutionary Base in Jiangxi Province, there is a copper bullet only 3 centimeters long, which comes from the earthen wall of the Dabaidi battle site. This mediocre bullet is known by countless people as a bullet representing victory, and has been identified as a national first-class cultural relic. In 1929, in a col called Dabaidi in Ruijin, the Red Fourth Army annihilated most of the 15th Brigade of the Kuomintang Army with the tactics of pocket formation, achieved the first great victory from Jinggangshan to southern Jiangnan, and opened the prelude to the creation of the Central Soviet Region.
On January 14, 1929, in order to break the Kuomintang army's third "meeting and suppression" of the Jinggangshan revolutionary base area, Mao Zedong and Zhu De led more than 3,600 people from the main force of the Red Fourth Army to leave Jinggangshan and fight in southern Jiangnan. Along the way, the Red Fourth Army was repeatedly in danger under the heavy pursuit and attack of the enemy. Mao Zedong later reported to the Central Committee: "The main reason why we left Jinggangshan on January 14 was that there was no way out for the economy...... He made contact with the pursuers three times, but he fought and retreated. On 1 February, we stopped for a day at Luofuzhang, on the border of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi provinces, and all along the way were places where there was no party and no masses. ”
On February 8, the Red Fourth Army arrived at the Xiwu Stone Ridge in Ruijin City, and immediately sent a small detachment to break into the city to reconnoiter the enemy's situation. He Zizhen took advantage of the emptiness of the enemy in the city and came to the post office in Ruijin City to collect a large number of newspapers. By reading the newspaper, Mao Zedong analyzed that the enemy in pursuit of the Red Fourth Army at this time was the two regiments of Liu Shiyi's division of the 15th Brigade of the Kuomintang Army. Liu Shiyi's troops were defeated by the Red Fourth Army in Suichuan, and the fighting tenacity was insufficient. By reading the newspapers to find out the enemy's situation, it was extremely advantageous to make a strategic plan for the subsequent battle of Dabaidi. In this regard, Mao Zedong once recalled: "When I was on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi, due to the blockade of the enemy, I could not see the newspaper for two or three months...... When I went to Ruijin and saw He Jian's organ newspaper Changsha "Republic of China Daily", it was really a blue sky and a joy that was indescribable. ”
On February 9, the Red Fourth Army entered Dabai Land through Huangbai and stayed there that night. Dabaidi is located in the north of Ruijin, 30 kilometers away from the city, known as the "North Gate of Ruijin". From the pass, Mazi to Dabaidi, it is a north-south canyon with a length of about 6 kilometers. The mountains on both sides are high and densely forested, and a winding path goes around the valley floor and leads directly to Ningdu, which is an excellent place for ambushes. Therefore, Mao Zedong and Zhu De keenly seized the fighter plane, and immediately held a meeting of cadres above the platoon level of the Red Fourth Army at the Wangjia Ancestral Hall in Dabaidi, deployed Dabaidi to fight, and decided to use the favorable terrain of Dabaidi to "fight to the death" with Liu Shiyi's troops. The specific deployment is as follows: the second battalion of the Red 28th Regiment is the outpost, lures the enemy into the ambush circle on the enemy's approach, and occupies favorable terrain near Xingkeng (that is, the former village) to block the enemy's advance and cover the deployment of the main force; The first battalion made a detour from the right flank to the enemy's flank, cutting off the enemy's retreat and forming a pocket shape throughout the position; The 3rd Battalion occupied a position on the high ground east of Niuliao Pit and assumed the task of frontal blocking. The Red 31st Regiment and the Special Service Battalion of the Army Department were tasked with flanking the enemy's left flank. Independent battalions and directly subordinate units are reserve units and act with the military headquarters.
On the 10th, all units of the Red Fourth Army entered their designated positions in accordance with the strategic deployment and were ready for battle. At 2 p.m. on February 10, the vanguard of the 15th Brigade of Liu Shiyi, who was chasing the enemy, came into contact with the 2nd Battalion of the Red 28th Regiment, and the battle began. The 2nd Battalion feigned defeat and lured a large force of the enemy into a preset ambush circle. Subsequently, they relied on favorable terrain to block the enemy's advance. That night, the Red Army tightened the ambush circle and confronted the enemy. On the 11th, the 3rd Battalion of the Red 28th Regiment detoured back to Chatinggu on the south side of Xingkeng, annihilated the enemy's headquarters, and cut off the enemy's retreat. At about 9 o'clock in the morning, the enemy all got into the pockets of the Red Army. Suddenly, the Red Army pounced on the enemy with the overwhelming force of Mount Tai, and at noon, won the battle of Dabaidi. The Red Fourth Army annihilated most of the two regiments of Liu Shiyi's brigade, killed and wounded more than 300 enemies, captured more than 800 of its regiment commanders Xiao Zhiping, Zhong Huan and below, and surrendered more than 800 guns.
The battle of Dabaidi was a key battle to survive in a desperate situation, and it was the first great victory of the Red Fourth Army in advancing into southern Jiangxi under Jinggangshan, which boosted morale, greatly boosted military prestige, and enabled the Red Fourth Army to turn from passive to active, which had a far-reaching impact on the victory and development of the Red Fourth Army in the future, and opened the prelude to opening up the central revolutionary base area. Chen Yi pointed out in his "Report on the History and Situation of the Zhu Mao Army" to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China: "It was to make the last throw of our army after repeated defeats and defeat a strong enemy. When the officers and men were exhausted from ammunition, they struggled with the enemy in a pool of blood with branches, stones, and empty guns, and won the final victory, which was the most honorable war since the founding of the Red Army. ”
In addition to the thrilling battles, there is also a historical episode. When the Red Fourth Army arrived at Dabaidi, the villagers had taken refuge because they did not know much about the Red Army. At this time, it was the Chinese New Year's Eve, and the Red Fourth Army was short of food and clothing, hungry and tired on continuous marches, and in order to supply the troops, the Red Army first borrowed food items from the villagers and left IOUs promising to return them. In mid-May 1929, the Red Fourth Army returned to Dabaidi, fulfilled its promise, and repaid the Red Army's expenses for borrowing grain, rice, and materials from the masses before the battle of Dabaidi with silver dollars. Song Yuhe recalled in "The Situation Before and After the Battle of Dabaidi": "Because it was still very difficult for us to provide for the battle of Dabaidi, we also borrowed a lot of food from the local Lao Jiu at that time...... Mao Zedong personally presided over a mass meeting in Dabaidiwei. Meetings first, money later. They reported themselves, how much they reported, how much they sent, and a total of 3,500 yuan was distributed. The Red Fourth Army's actions of keeping its word and borrowing grain to repay the loan won the support of the masses.
Since the Red Army won the battle of Dabaidi, it has been waving red flags all the way. From October 1930 to September 1931, the Red Army won three successive victories in the anti-"encirclement and suppression" war, and the revolutionary base areas in southern Jiangxi and western Fujian were connected together, formally forming a central revolutionary base area with Ruijin as the center. In the summer of 1933, Mao Zedong, then chairman of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic, came to Dabaidi again, wrote this popular poem "Bodhisattva Barbarian: Dabaidi": "Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue, purple, who holds the color practice and dances in the air?" After the rain, the sun is back to the sun, and the mountains are bursting with blue. Back then, the fierce battle was urgent, and the village wall in front of the bullet hole. Decorate this Guanshan, and it looks better today. This is also the only one of the 11 poems written by Mao Zedong in the Central Soviet District that describes a battle. This shows the importance of the victory in the battle of Dabaidi, as well as the heavy weight in Mao Zedong's heart.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order to protect, manage and utilize the revolutionary cultural relics and heritage of the Central Soviet District, the staff of the Ruijin Revolutionary Memorial Hall came to Dabai to carry out the investigation of the revolutionary sites. Unexpectedly, the staff found a bullet that had penetrated into the brick in the earthen wall. Since then, this bullet has been collected and exhibited by the Memorial Hall of Ruijin Central Revolutionary Base, telling the story of turning defeat into victory to the world in the way of "witnessing".
(Author's Affiliation: Jiangxi Ruijin Central Revolutionary Base Memorial Hall)