Although Chairman Mao did not come from a military academy, he was able to use his troops to immerse himself in the spirit, and if he was the most wonderful and risky, the hundreds of thousands of troops who had pinned down Hu Zongnan with a small number of troops in northern Shaanxi were absolutely among the best.
In the spring of 1947, chiang kai-shek wanted to occupy Yan'an at all costs, and Mao Zedong decided to take the initiative to withdraw from Yan'an, but still remained in northern Shaanxi to negotiate with the enemy, and many people strongly opposed it. After the central organs of the Communist Party of China withdrew from Yan'an, there were three fierce arguments between Mao Zedong and Ren Bishi. In the most serious case, none of them could convince anyone, and Chairman Mao, in a fit of rage, removed Ren Bishi from his post as commander of the Kunlun Column and made Zhou Enlai act as his deputy, although he later gave him a restoration, but Ren Bishi's upright and courageous character still left a deep impression on posterity.
In 1947, the Kuomintang concentrated hundreds of thousands of troops from Hu Zongnan, Ma Bufang, and other units to launch an offensive, while the Northwest Field Army had only a few tens of thousands. At that time, the balance of forces between the enemy and ourselves was ten to one, and Mao Zedong decided to voluntarily abandon Yan'an. Many comrades inside and outside the party and inside and outside the military cannot figure it out.
Hu Zongnan
Mao Zedong pointed out that Chiang Kai-shek thought that if he occupied Yan'an, he would win, but in fact, as soon as he occupied Yan'an, he would lose everything. Because everyone knows that he destroyed the peace and was unpopular. Mao Zedong also explained: For example, a person, carrying a very heavy burden, which is full of gold and silver treasures, encounters a robber who wants to rob his treasure. If he is reluctant to throw away his baggage temporarily, his hands and feet are very inflexible, and he will not be able to win a fight against the robbers. If he threw away the baggage, he would act flexibly, not only to repel the robber, but also to kill the robber, and finally to save the gold and silver treasure. When we temporarily abandon Yan'an, we are giving up our burdens to the enemy's back, so that we can take the initiative and be more flexible in fighting, so that we can destroy the enemy in large numbers. At a certain time, a counter-offensive will be held, and Yan'an will return to our hands.
The first heated debate
On March 25, 1947, after the central government withdrew from Yan'an, Mao Zedong arrived at Wangjiaping in Zichang County and met Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, and Ren Bishi, who had arrived earlier. In the early morning of the 29th, it was transferred to Zaolinzigou. At the meeting, a fierce debate broke out, comrade Bishi advocated that the Party Central Committee leave northern Shaanxi and move to a safer liberated area, while Chairman Mao resolutely disagreed and repeatedly expounded the necessity and significance of staying in northern Shaanxi.
At the meeting, Mao Zedong said: I cannot go, and the Party Central Committee is better off not leaving. When I am gone and the Party Central Committee is gone, Chiang Kai-shek will throw Hu Zongnan to other battlefields, and other battlefields will increase pressure. I stayed in northern Shaanxi and dragged Hu Zongnan along, and I could win the battle well elsewhere. Mao Zedong also did not agree to adding more troops to northern Shaanxi, saying: We can no longer transfer troops, and in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, there will be hundreds of thousands of troops on both sides of the enemy and us, and the masses can no longer afford it. The masses of the troops will be even more unaffordable.
Ren Bishi was responsible for the safety of the Central Committee and Chairman Mao, and his thoughts and opinions were at odds with Chairman Mao's. Chairman Mao's view of the overall situation is certainly different from that of Ren Bi, so contradictions inevitably occur.
The meeting was disputed for 1 day, and then Chairman Mao said a figurative sentence: The central authorities are like a piece of meat that attracts green-headed flies, and wherever it is placed, it will attract many flies to sting, which can mess up people. The masses in northern Shaanxi have good conditions and good terrain, and we are familiar with it, so we can engage in a strategic combat aspect here to suppress the enemy's strength.
Finally, the meeting decided that Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Ren Bishi would lead a total of 800 personnel from the organs of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission and the guard units to remain in northern Shaanxi. Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, and Dong Biwu crossed the Yellow River to North China. Ye Jianying and Yang Shangkun went to the northwestern region of Jin to take charge of rear work.
The second heated debate
On June 7, Liu Jie, commander of the Nationalist Reorganized 29th Army, led four brigades to pounce on Wangjiawan from the west and south. Tens of thousands of horses drove Chairman Mao and the eight or nine hundred men of the Kunlun column almost to the brink of extinction, and when the two sides were closest, they were only a few hundred meters away, and even their speeches could be heard clearly. At the most critical time, which direction to move, there was once again a fierce debate between Mao Zedong and Ren Bishi. As the commander of the Kunlun Column, Ren Bishi ordered Chairman Mao to cross the Yellow River to Shanxi immediately, but Chairman Mao still did not care, ignored the danger in front of him, and insisted on staying in northern Shaanxi. Neither of them could convince the other, and a stalemate was formed. The procession of eight or nine hundred people stopped on the edge of the Yellow River, and a pair of eyes were fixed on Chairman Mao.
Mao Zedong said that after analyzing the enemy's plan of action, the enemy estimated that Peng Dehuai was far away in Longdong, hundreds of miles away from us, and could not save us, so we had to move east. So he set a trap and tried to drive us east. The enemy from the south wants to stop us in the east, and even if they can't destroy us, they will drive us to the yellow river, and crossing the yellow river is their victory. Mao Zedong said: "Sooner or later, the Yellow River will have to pass, but now is not the time." Now the way east is dead, because this is what the enemy has already calculated, that is, to let us fall into the trap. ”
Ren Bishi said: "The chairman has already made arrangements for the northern Shaanxi war, and he has also commanded the Yellow River. In the end, he even said strongly, "I am the commander of the Kunlun Column, and I am responsible for the safety of the Central Committee and the Chairman, and I demand that Chairman Mao and the Central Organs immediately cross the river and march eastward." Chairman Mao also lost his temper and said loudly: "Well, I am the chairman of the Central Committee, and now I announce that Comrade Ren Bishi will be relieved of his post as commander of the Kunlun Column and replaced by Comrade Zhou Enlai." Zhou Enlai hurried out to hit the round field and said, "You can first go north for a while, and then move to the northwest." ”
As a result, Liu Jie's tens of thousands of troops did indeed chase eastward.
In the evening, the troops marched north up the hill. At this time, the night is as dark as ink, the road is slippery, and it is impossible to ride a horse. The guards and fighters supported them, sometimes carrying Mao's arm up the hill. One by one, they were drenched. A mule on a radio fell down the hill and fell to his death. The warriors went down the hill again to get the radio up the hill.
On June 9, Mao Zedong had just moved to Xiaohe Village in Jingbian County, and reconnaissance planes flew in and circled at low altitudes, and the scouts reported that the enemy was approaching, only 10 miles away. So the troops took the pots and radios they had just put down and immediately moved to the northwest. This was Chairman Mao's distance from the pursuing Kuomintang, one in the ravine, the other on the top of the hill, the Kuomintang army lit a pile of bonfires, and the shouts of people and horses could be clearly heard. Mao Zedong said: "If the enemy goes up the mountain, we will leave immediately, and if the enemy passes through the ditch, we will stay." I reckon the enemy did not spot us and might have to retreat in the afternoon. Sure enough, the next afternoon, the Kuomintang troops turned around and headed south in the direction of the security guards. Mao Zedong opened the map to explain to everyone: "This is at the junction of the Hu Zongnan and Ma Hongkui defense lines. Hu and Ma are fighting with each other, each wanting to preserve their strength and weaken each other, so neither of them wants to come, so we have taken advantage of the loophole. ”
The third heated debate
In August 1947, Mao Zedong led the central authorities to deliberately march during the day, in order to attract Hu Zongnan's troops to continue to "march" with him. When Chiang Kai-shek learned that Mao Zedong was still in northern Shaanxi, he flew to Yan'an on August 7, held a military conference, and ordered that Dong Zhao and Liu Jie should lead the troops and dispatch nine and a half brigades to seize the CENTRAL Organs.
On August 16, Mao Zedong reached the vicinity of Shenquan Fort on the Yellow River, and the Kuomintang pursuing troops were only a dozen kilometers away. At this time, ren Bishi repeatedly persuaded Chairman Mao to cross the river in the east to ensure the safety of the Party Central Committee. Mao Still disagreed, and the two quarreled again. Even Comrade Enlai, who had previously approved of Mao Zedong's stay in northern Shaanxi, came to persuade the chairman, saying: "When the battle is won, we will cross the river again, and the soldiers will not be tired of deception." But Mao Zedong only ordered the Northwest Bureau and the wounded and sick to cross the Yellow River in the east, while insisting on going north along the Yellow River himself.
On August 18, Liu Jie's troops attacked the troops of our central organs in two ways, and most of the Central Guard Regiment stayed on the hill to block the enemy, and the sound of gunfire was clearly audible. The Rushing Jialu River, which was in front of us, blocked our way. Zhou Enlai and Ren Bishi personally commanded the soldiers to build a pontoon bridge, and with the help of local compatriots, the pontoon bridge was erected, but Chairman Mao asked the confidential personnel to transport the radio and documents across the river first, and then he crossed the bridge. Shortly after the people crossed the river, a thunderstorm was raging and the bridge was washed away by the flood.
Mao Zedong fought in northern Shaanxi for 371 days, marched more than 2,000 miles, walked hundreds of villages in 12 counties, and successively changed 37 residences. The geographical environment is extremely difficult and harsh, the living conditions are extremely difficult, often over the mountains, can not eat, sleep. But it was in such an extremely difficult and dangerous environment that Mao Zedong not only fully demonstrated the extraordinary will and perseverance of his extraordinary people, but also revealed unexpected extraordinary boldness and ingenuity. History has once again proved that Chairman Mao's decision-making at that time was very wise and correct, which brought about a fundamental change in the battlefield situation and laid the foundation for the victory of the Chinese revolution.
In late March 1948, Mao Zedong crossed the Yellow River in the east, bid farewell to the people of northern Shaanxi, where he had lived and fought for 13 years, and went to meet this round of radiant asahi.