Li Zhimin12 Wu Zhili disguised himself as a woman, burned incense to worship the gods, and outwitted the landlords and tyrants

Skillfully attack Huichang City

In September 1931, after smashing the enemy's third counterrevolutionary "encirclement and suppression," the Third Red Army Corps carried out a short-term rest and recuperation in the Lefeng area of Yudu County, northwest of Huichang, reorganized its troops, abolished the number of the Red Eighth Army, and merged its troops into the Red Fifth Army: Our Red Sixth Division was renamed the Red Second Division, Guo Bingsheng was still the division commander, Peng Xuefeng was still the political commissar, and the numbers of the fifth, sixth, and seventh regiments under it remained unchanged. After the reorganization, regiment commander Long Changhan and I were ordered to lead the Seventh Red Regiment to the Anyuan area to carry out mass work and consolidate and develop the new revolutionary base area.

In late October, the Kuomintang troops besieging our central Soviet region were forced to retreat to the two lines from Ji'an to Ganzhou and from Ningdu to Guangchang and switch to the defensive. The poor peasants rejoiced, and many young and middle-aged peasants enthusiastically joined the Red Army; However, the landlords and gentry were intimidated by the prestige of our army, and they fled to the county seat or to other places with their families and small families, and led their Jingwei regiments to flee to other places, and stubbornly resisted.

At the beginning of November, the 3rd Red Army Corps ordered the 3rd Red Division, which was operating in the Xunwu and Huichang areas, to attack Huichang City, to eliminate the local tyrants who had fled into Huichang City from Ruijin, Yudu, Ningdu, Xingguo, Shicheng, and other areas, and to dig out the poisonous roots of the reactionary forces in this area.

However, the city of Huichang was relatively strong, and the local tyrants and bandits entrenched in the city were constantly supported by the air of the Kuomintang army, so they became more stubborn, and built fortifications to defend to the death, and the Red Third Division failed to overcome it for more than 20 days, and the Red Ninth Regiment, which mainly attacked the south gate, suffered heavy casualties.

On 26 July, the commander of the Red Fifth Army ordered the Red Second Division to send our Red Seventh Regiment to quickly reinforce Huichang and take over the South Gate from the Red Ninth Regiment.

At that time, our Red Seventh Regiment was doing mass work in the Anyuan area, which was nearly 100 miles away from Huichang City, and after receiving the order, I and Commander Long Changhan immediately urgently assembled our troops and rushed to Huichang overnight.

At dawn on 27 July, after a rapid march of nearly 100 miles all night, we rushed to the south gate of Huichang City on time to take over the siege task of the Ninth Red Regiment, but the commanders and fighters of the Ninth Red Regiment were still making preparations for the siege of the city, waiting for the division's engineer company to dig a tunnel and blast the city wall to attack the city again.

I have long been known for the stubborn fighting style of the Ninth Red Regiment, which has fought many beautiful battles in the past, but this time when we encountered the hard nail of Huichang, although the casualties were heavy, the morale was still very strong, and this fighting spirit greatly encouraged the commanders and fighters of our Red Seventh Regiment, and everyone assured the comrades-in-arms of the Ninth Regiment in unison: "You can go with confidence, we will definitely capture Huichang City and avenge the martyrs who sacrificed their lives!"

Commander Long and I approached the city wall to observe, and from the analysis of the battle situation after many days of fierce fighting, although the brother troops had not yet conquered the city, the casualties of the defending enemy were also very large, and it was already the end of the strong crossbow.

When our Red Seventh Regiment was preparing to attack the city, it suddenly heard a loud "boom" on the ground, and then I saw a pillar of fire and smoke rising into the sky at the enemy's southern gate, and a big gap was blown open in the enemy's city wall, and most of the city tower was also shaken and collapsed. It turned out that on the evening of 26 July, the engineer company of the 3rd Red Division dug through the tunnel, and the blasting was successful at dawn today.

"Oh no, the walls have been blown down!" Cries and shouts came from the enemy's half-collapsed towers, and the defenders were thrown into complete confusion.

This is a good time to launch a political offensive against the enemy. I immediately organized the fighters to shout:

"Brothers of the White Army, your walls have collapsed, and there is only one way to die if you continue to resist stubbornly!"

"You have been surrounded, surrender quickly, surrender and shoot without killing!"

When the defenders saw that the city wall had been broken and that the reinforcements of the Red Army had arrived, the army's morale was shaken and they did not dare to resist any longer, and the gunfire on the city tower gradually became thinner.

Taking advantage of the moment when the enemy's firepower weakened, Commander Long and I personally led our troops to attack the city through the gap in the city wall in one go, seized the guns of the remnants of the enemy on the half-collapsed city tower, and took advantage of the victory to expand the results of the battle, and advanced into the streets and alleys of the city, ending the battle in only two or three hours. After more than 20 days of siege of Huichang City, the city finally won victory, annihilating more than 800 defenders, killing Ouyang Lin, the commander-in-chief of the Jing bandits, and capturing alive Shi Chenghan, the county magistrate of the Kuomintang. This battle made me realize the power of combining political offensive with assault.

After conquering Huichang City, the Red Fifth Army successively conquered the two county towns of Xunwu and Anyuan, further mobilized the masses, established political power, organized local armed forces, and expanded the Red Army. At this time, our Red Seventh Regiment was ordered to be stationed in Luotianwei in Huichang County to continue mass work.

Before we were stationed in Luotianwei, several large local tyrants had already fled to a lonely mountain more than 20 miles west of Luotianwei under the escort of their families, and secretly instructed the dogs to go down the mountain to inquire about the news, threatening the masses and making it difficult for us to carry out our work.

This mountain where the landlord and the tyrant are entrenched is a bare isolated stone mountain, about two or three hundred meters high, there is a temple on the top of the mountain, there are people who go up the mountain to worship the gods on weekdays, the incense is very strong, and the landlord and tyrant hide in the temple.

The east, south, and north sides of this mountain are all precipices and cliffs, and cannot be climbed, only the west side has a winding sheep intestine path that can lead to the top of the mountain, but it is necessary to pass through a small suspension bridge to enter the earthen enclosure in front of the temple, and the landlord and local tyrant rely on this dangerous terrain to build a fortress at the head of the suspension bridge, and use a few guns to guard the mountain road and the suspension bridge.

On the second day after we were stationed in the polder, we sent a reconnaissance platoon commander with a few scouts to touch the mountain in the dark, but the enemy sentries usually put away the drawbridge and put it down when they saw their own people. The reconnaissance platoon commander could not pass and had to return.

Together with Regiment Commander Long Changhan and Deputy Regiment Commander Wu Zhili, I went to the bottom of the mountain to observe the terrain, and everyone believed that if we attacked head-on with troops, we would definitely cause heavy casualties. Wu Zhili, deputy head of the regiment, volunteered to organize the surprise attack.

One day in early December, Wu Zhili disguised himself as an old woman, and seven or eight young people, including scout Long Feihu, dressed up as little girls. Carrying bamboo baskets containing incense, candles, paper money, and offerings, and hiding pistols and lemon grenades in their waists, they walked up the mountain as if a village girl had gone to a temple to make incense.

Wu Zhili was born as an old scout, he was not tall, his thin figure, his dark face, and his imitation of the old woman's walking posture, dressed up as an old woman is really vivid. Long Feihu and other scouts were all selected teenagers who were 14 or 5 years old with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, and who were smart and witty.

As the scouts climbed to the top of the hill and approached the drawbridge, the enemy sentries shouted, "What for?"

Wu Zhili stepped forward unhurriedly and replied: "Uncle Cousin, the grandson of the family is sick, come and ask the Buddha for blessing!"

"What about them?" The enemy sentry shouted again.

The scouts deliberately replied, some of them said: "The village is haunted and restless, go up the mountain to worship the gods to keep safe"; Some said, "Ask the Buddha to bring blessings and longevity to the elderly!"

The enemy sentries didn't mind much when they saw that the people were old women and little girls, and lowered the drawbridge to let "them" pass.

Wu Zhili and the scouts crossed the suspension bridge, pretended to be religious, bowed their heads and walked straight to the temple, but their eyes quietly glanced around, and saw that most of the landlords and local tyrants, their families, and family members were basking in the sun on the dirt lawn at the entrance of the temple. When they entered the temple gate, they put the prepared offerings such as chicken, meat, and fruits on the incense table and burned the incense.

Wu Zhili knelt on the straw mat in front of the incense table with three sticks of incense in his hand, prostrating and praying while observing the movements around him; Some of the scouts burned incense and candles, and some burned paper money, but they were all outwardly pious, but their attention was focused on Wu Zhili, the deputy commander of the regiment, waiting for his orders.

Wu Zhili saw that there were only seven or eight family members stumbling back and forth in the temple, and he looked at them curiously as they made incense, and there were several rifles on the wall, and bullet pouches were hung on the muzzles. After observing it clearly, he motioned for everyone to get ready to start.

When Wu Zhili saw that the scouts were ready, he immediately took out his pistol and shouted at the enemy in the temple: "Don't move, raise your hands." We are the Red Army, whoever dares to move will be killed! At the same time, the scouts showed their pistols and grenades. Three scouts, according to the pre-battle division of labor, rushed out of the temple gate with their guns raised, pointed their guns at the backs of the enemy sentries, and took their guns.

The landlords and tyrants were unprepared for this sudden attack, and they were all stunned. When they realized that it was the Red Army they feared the most that was standing in front of them, they collapsed to the ground, kowtowed like pounding garlic, and shouted, "The Red Army Lord spares his life, the Red Army Lord spares his life!" ”

Wu Zhi immediately gathered all the captives in the temple, about thirty or forty people, and warned them to sit honestly and not to talk or move. At this time, some scouts temporarily unloaded the guns of the eight or nine rifles they had captured and wrapped them in flower turbans to prevent the enemy from making a commotion and seizing the guns. Some scouts hurriedly ran to the side of the suspension bridge and sent out a signal to the bottom of the mountain with flower turbans. The receiving troops who were in ambush at the foot of the mountain heard the news and hurried up the mountain. The big family happily escorted the captives and returned to Luotianwei triumphantly with a lot of captured property.

I listened to Wu Zhili's report on the situation of outwitting the landlords and tyrants, and I greatly admired their wit and bravery, and on the same day I wrote a simple report to Political Commissar Peng Xuefeng, asking the division commander to give him praise.

The next day, on the basis of my report, Political Commissar Peng wrote a report entitled "Men Disguised as Women, Burned Incense to Worship the Gods, and Outwitted the Landlords and Local Tyrants" in the "Onslaught Daily" run by the Political and Political Department, publicizing the deeds of Wu Zhili and the scouts. This report produced a very good response in the whole division.

A few days later, Political Commissar Peng Xuefeng came to inspect the work of our Seventh Regiment and met a cadre of our regiment swaggering around the streets in the streets of Luotianwei wearing a tweed suit that had been paid by local tyrants.

After arriving at the regiment headquarters, they criticized the leaders of our regiment for not strictly enforcing the discipline of "returning all seizures to the public" and for strictly enforcing the military appearance and discipline, not educating the troops enough, and not managing them strictly. I immediately made a review, humbly accepted the criticism, and asked Political Commissar Peng to speak at a meeting of the cadres of the whole regiment to educate the cadres of the whole regiment again.

The next day, after Political Commissar Peng returned to the division headquarters, he wrote a critical draft entitled "Strange Costumes, Owned by the Seventh Regiment" in the "Onslaught Daily," using the example of our Seventh Regiment to educate the commanders and fighters of the whole division and avoid repeating similar mistakes.

After returning to Luotianwei that day, seven or eight scouts, including Long Feihu, who were dressed as village girls in the battle to outwit landlords and local tyrants, saw that the seized silver bowls and silver chopsticks were very delicately carved and decorated, and felt particularly amused. I didn't expect that the silver bowl and chopsticks would be hot and hot to eat, and it would be difficult to eat, so I was angry and stepped on it and put it in the baggage, preparing to have the opportunity to exchange the silver for things in the future. When they heard that Political Commissar Peng had criticized the cadres for not returning them to work, and that they had published them in the newspaper, they were so frightened that they hurriedly made a review and handed over the silver bowls and chopsticks.

Political Commissar Peng Xuefeng's use of newspapers to praise and criticize these two things inspired me greatly, and since then, when I have done political work, I have attached more importance to giving play to the role of newspapers, using them as a powerful tool for propagating advanced models, criticizing shortcomings and mistakes, summing up and exchanging experiences, and guiding all work.

Battle of Ganzhou

On 9 January 1932, the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which was dominated by "leftist" erroneous leaders, saw that after the victory of the third anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, the central Soviet region was rapidly expanding and the situation was very good, and it was even more blindly optimistic.

In accordance with the spirit of this resolution, on 10 January, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission (CMC) issued a military instruction to capture Ganzhou.

The instruction stipulates: The Red Third Army Corps and the Red Fourth Army are the main combat armies; The main combat army was to attack the city with the Second Division of the Red Third Army Corps and the Red Seventh Army, and Peng Dehuai was the commander-in-chief of the former enemy.

Ganzhou is the central city of southern Gansu, located in the upper reaches of the Ganjiang River, surrounded by water on three sides, the city wall is strong and up to two zhang, easy to defend and difficult to attack, commonly known as "Iron Ganzhou". The enemy stationed in Ganzhou was the 67th and 68th regiments and an independent regiment under the jurisdiction of the Ma Kun Division of the 34th Brigade of the 12th Kuomintang Division, with about 3,000 men; In addition, more than 10,000 guns were fired by the landlords' armed forces who fled to Ganzhou City in 17 counties in southern Jiangxi and the reactionary armed forces such as the Ganzhou "Merchant and People's Self-Defense Regiment" and the "City Defense Office." After the units of our Red Third Army surrounded the city of Ganzhou on 3 February, the enemy destroyed the fortifications outside the city and raised troops into the city to wait for reinforcements.

Beginning on 5 February, we followed the instructions of the corps for a week of siege preparations and political mobilization. At that time, we were all very young and lacked the ability to objectively analyze the situation of the struggle in the whole country, and when we heard the slogan of attacking the big cities and seizing the first victory in several provinces, we were also heartily excited, and we held various meetings of party members and activists for several days.

In the course of political mobilization, he also talked about the excellent revolutionary situation after the third "encirclement and suppression" of the Kuomintang counterrevolution, talked about the important strategic position of Ganzhou City, and loudly proposed that "Ganzhou City must be captured and a base for the central authorities to command the revolutionary struggle throughout the country." "The fighting spirit of the troops was very high, and they were actively preparing for the siege.

The siege began on 13 February, and the Red Seventh Army blasted for the first time, blasting a gap in the gate of Yuecheng, the east gate of Ganzhou, and immediately launched a charge, but was blocked by enemy fire from the pillboxes and drum towers on both sides of the east gate, and failed to penetrate.

On 17 February, the Red Seventh Army blasted and attacked the city for the second time, and the blasting point was selected on the left side of the gate of Yuecheng, the east gate of Ganzhou. In order to quickly rush into the city after the successful blasting of the Red Seventh Army, the headquarters of the Red Third Army organized an assault team of about 200 people to ambush at the foot of the city wall in advance.

During this period, our Second Red Division actively excavated tunnels at the south gate, preparing to dig the tunnels close to the city gate to bury explosives and blast them, but the south gate was low and the water level was high.

One night, our troops organized an assault team to climb the city by ladders, but the enemy used the horizontal wall fortifications built on the city to resist, forming a crossfire to flank the left and right, and the assault team suffered heavy casualties and failed to gain a firm foothold, and the follow-up troops could not go up, so they had to retreat.

Because the enemy has strong fortifications and strong troops, our army has been attacking the city after a month of continuous blasting and siege, and the commanders and fighters have fought bloody battles, but they have not been able to overcome them again and again.

At the end of February, more than 20,000 troops of the enemy's Chen Cheng and Luo Zhuoying rushed to the aid of Ganzhou, and four regiments of their vanguard had set up pontoon bridges outside the north gate and smuggled into the city. The defenders of Ganzhou dug four tunnels leading to the outside of the city in an attempt to wait for the opportunity to attack, attack our army inside and outside, and annihilate our army under the city of Ganzhou.

At 2 o'clock in the morning of 7 March, when the enemy defending Ganzhou saw that the time had come, the 68th Regiment of the 34th Brigade of Ma Kun attacked us from the tunnels of the east gate and the small south gate of the city. A regiment of Luo Zhuoying's 11th Division attacked from the southwest gate tunnel; The main force of the enemy's 11th Division advanced along the Zhangjiang River from the South Gate to the position of our Third Army Corps, forming a situation of internal and external flanking attacks, and the situation was very grim, and our troops were forced to withdraw from the battle. The division commander ordered our Red Seventh Regiment to serve as a rearguard and block the attack at the south gate.

The airfield outside the South Gate is the only way for our army's 1st Red Division to retreat eastward in attack on the West Gate, and if our 7th Red Regiment cannot effectively block the enemy, the retreat route of the 1st Division will be in danger of being cut off. Fortunately, in the early days of the siege, when our Red Seventh Regiment was on guard and sending reinforcements, it set up a blocking position outside the south gate and prepared to annihilate the enemy who was reinforcing Ganzhou.

As soon as our troops occupied their positions, the enemy concentrated several times our forces and frantically rushed to our positions with a clamor like locusts. However, the enemy was in an open area, all under the control of our firepower, and our fighters, relying on favorable terrain and blocking positions, inflicted great casualties on the enemy and repelled several enemy attacks.

Unexpectedly, the enemy regrouped, relied on the strength of the outnumbered people, and with the support of heavy artillery fire, concentrated his forces to break through the position on the east side of our front line, and Commander Long was forced to lead his troops to retreat. At this time, the smoke of gunpowder was billowing from the position, and it was difficult to see the scenery clearly from a few meters away, and the troops on the east and west sides of us had lost contact.

At this critical moment, I tried my best to remain calm and composed, and on the one hand, I gathered my troops a little and prepared to support the counterattack on the eastern position, and on the other hand, I sent a few scouts to get in touch with Commander Long, agreed on a trumpet signal, and while the enemy's foothold was not stable, I immediately organized a counterattack, recaptured the forward position with grenades, bayonets, and rifle butts, and once again defeated the enemy, thus completing the task of covering the eastward retreat of the first division.

Just as Regiment Commander Long and I were about to lead the Red Seventh Regiment to withdraw from our position, Peng Xuefeng, the division's political commissar, rushed to our position and asked us to reinforce the small south gate on the east side as soon as possible to relieve the siege of the Red Fifth Regiment.

It turned out that at dawn on the 7th, the enemy defending the city of Ganzhou attacked through tunnels and besieged the Red Fifth Regiment guarding the small south gate on its positions outside the city, and the enemy inside and outside the city flanked the Red Fifth Regiment on both sides. The commanders and fighters of the 5th Red Regiment fought fiercely for more than five hours, repelled many enemy attacks, and killed and wounded a large number of enemies, but they also suffered heavy casualties and still failed to break through.

Political Commissar Peng knew that our regiment was very tired from the frequent battles for several days, and that the task of serving as the rear guard and blocking this morning was even more arduous, and the troops suffered many casualties, but at this time there was no good way to relieve the siege of the Fifth Regiment, so he asked me and Commander Long with concern: "Are there any difficulties?"

I understood that Political Commissar Peng's question was a sign of concern and condolences for our troops, and I thought to myself: The fraternal troops are in danger, so how can we not send reinforcements?

He resolutely replied: "It is our responsibility to reinforce our fraternal troops, and we must overcome even the greatest difficulties!"

At this time, I found that Political Commissar Peng was carrying a 20-round shell gun, and our 20-round shell gun had run out of bullets, and I wanted to ask him for a few bullets, but I was too embarrassed to ask him for bullets on this battlefield where ammunition was urgently needed.

Political Commissar Peng happily took out two rows of shell gun bullets from the leather bullet box that the guards carried for him and handed them to me.

I have admired the heroic and fearless spirit of Political Commissar Peng who braved the rain of bullets and bullets to direct the battle on the front line, and I was even more moved by the selfless spirit of giving me 20 rounds of ammunition at this moment of fierce fighting.

Saving soldiers is like fighting fire, and there can be no slackness. Regimental Commander Long and I immediately led the team along the mountain road east with Political Commissar Peng and went straight to the small south gate. When I arrived at the small south gate, I met Zhang Pingkai, the political commissar of the Red Fifth Regiment, and he told me that they had just repelled another enemy attack, and now the enemy was organizing a new attack. In accordance with Political Commissar Peng's instructions, I asked the Fifth Regiment to quickly withdraw eastward, and our Seventh Regiment to cover it.

When the enemy saw the five regiments retreating eastward, they immediately pounced. We approached the enemy, and suddenly there was a burst of blows, inflicting great casualties on the enemy, but some of them had already broken through into our forward positions. In anger, our fighters raised their bayonets again, fought and tore the enemy hand-to-hand, and finally drove the enemy down and consolidated their positions.

When Political Commissar Peng saw that the Fifth Regiment had withdrawn, he ordered us to withdraw while fighting. The enemy relied on their large numbers and good weapons, and clung to us. Fortunately, the 15th Army of the Red Fifth Army arrived at this time and fought back violently, crushing the enemy; The broadsword team took advantage of the victory and cooperated with the troops to rush and kill. They all went into battle shirtless, flying with cold and shining swords, shouting "kill" with our invincible and invincible heroic spirit, slashing left and right, killing the enemy calling their father and mother, and holding their heads and running around. When we looked back at this very happy battle scene, we all cheered, "Well done the Broadsword!"

The 15th Red Army pursued the fleeing enemy and pursued it straight to the south gate of Ganzhou City, where it destroyed the enemy and captured many prisoners, so that the 5th and 7th Red Regiments were safely evacuated and moved to the Jiangkou area of Ganxian County to join the regiment and rest and replenish on the spot.

Soon after our Red Third Army withdrew from Ganzhou, it moved westward and prepared to attack Chongyi, Shangyou and other county seats.

One morning, when our army was marching to Sanxiwei at Shuikou, Nanxiong, it was suddenly attacked by four regiments of the Cantonese Army reinforced by the enemy in Ganzhou. The head of the corps was afraid of being dragged by the enemy and did not want to entangle with the enemy, so as not to fall into passivity, so he ordered our Red Seventh Regiment and Red Fifth Regiment to block the Cantonese army and cover the rapid transfer of the whole corps.

This is an arduous task, because one regiment of the enemy army has 16,700 men in more than a dozen companies, while our regiment has only five companies of 7,800 men, and there is a huge disparity in strength, but our army has a strong guarantee for political work and high morale, and the commanders and fighters of the two regiments worked together to fight the enemy in a bloody and bitter battle for the whole day, repelling many attacks of the enemy, large and small, and the positions remained immovable. When we had completed the task of blocking and withdrawing from our positions, the two regiments alternated cover with each other, fighting and withdrawing at the same time.

At this time, I led two guard companies of the 7th Red Regiment and Zhang Pingkai led a guard company of the 5th Red Regiment to cover the rear of the regiment.

In this blocking battle to cover the transfer of the corps, our two regiments, especially the guard company, suffered heavy casualties, and in order to cover the evacuation of our regiment, only 13 comrades remained in the whole company without being wounded. Of the two rearguard companies I led, there were only about 50 people left.

Judging from the two blocking battles at the South Gate of Ganzhou and Sanxiwei in Nanxiong, the spirit of fighting side by side and supporting each other of the two fraternal units of our Red Sixth Regiment and the Red Fifth Regiment truly embodies the style of our Red Army commanders and fighters in keeping the overall situation in mind and uniting and cooperating.

However, in the Battle of Ganzhou, despite the enemy's strong city and abundant troops, he persisted in attacking the fortified fortified position for 33 days, and then passively withdrew from the siege after suffering heavy casualties.