A thrilling encounter between Zhu De and Rucheng

In mid-November 1927, after Zhu De received Fan Shisheng's letter, he consulted with Chen Yi, Wang Erzhuo, and others, and for the survival and development of the troops, the rebel army party organization decided to accept Fan's suggestion and cooperate with them. However, on the way to Rucheng, Hunan Province, there were many fierce and few auspicious, and the comrades were very worried about Zhu De's safety. However, in order to save the rebel army and prevent the fire from being extinguished, Zhu De disregarded the persuasion of Chen Yi, Wang Erzhuo and others and decided to go personally. On November 18, Zhu De and dozens of people went to Rucheng to meet zeng Yuewei, commander of the Forty-seventh Division. When passing through Haotou Market, a thrilling scene occurred.

Zhu Dehaotou was in distress to thank the former site of the blacksmith shop

Zhu Dehaotou's experience in distress is briefly recorded in the "Zhu De's Annals" and "Zhu De's Biography" compiled by the Central Literature Research Office. Through visiting the masses and conducting on-site research, the author learned some unknown details of this incident in that year.

In the middle of the night, Zhu De led his troops to escape from danger

On November 18, 1927, Zhu De led the combat staff officers Wang Haiqing and Huang Yishu and fifty or sixty young student soldiers selected from the teaching team, led by Ye Yufan and He Yuesheng, the leaders of the Rucheng Peasant Army, and set out from Shangbao to Rucheng. Shangbao is more than 80 miles away from Rucheng, and in the middle is the steep Monkey Ancient Pass and Monkey Eshan Mountain, and there is a band of bandits on the mountain, the leader of which is Zhu Yinu, the brother-in-law of He Qilang, the leader of rucheng Xuanfu Regiment. When the troops passed through this mountain, Zhu Yinu led the bandits to follow them. When Zhu De and the others arrived at Haotouwei, it was late in the day and they had to camp in Haotou. Before camping, Jude deployed and designated a meeting point in the event of an emergency. Jude and the guards lived in the Xie Blacksmith Shop. In the middle of the night, the gunfire was loud, and more than 200 bandits surrounded the entire Haotou Wei tightly and shouted, "Catch Zhu De, don't let him run!" "Catch Jude and reward!"

Awakened by the sound of gunfire, the warriors immediately raised their guns and threw themselves into battle, taking advantage of the night to rush out of the bandit encirclement and run to the designated emergency meeting place.

Zhu De was startled and looked out the window, and the bandits had already surrounded Xie Blacksmith Shop. It was too late to rush out, he had a clever move, turned to the kitchen, picked up a scarf and tied it around his waist, just fastened the paw belt, the door was smashed open, and Zhu Yinu rushed in with the bandits. A bandit pounced on Zhu De, who brandished a pistol and asked menacingly, "What are you?" Jude replied alertly, "I am the head of the gang." Zhu Yinu saw that Zhu De was dressed in a torn military uniform, his feet were wearing rotten straw shoes, and his black face was bearded and stubble, just like a gangster, he believed it to be true, and said sharply: "Where is your commander-in-chief Zhu?" Jude pointed to the house behind him and said, "He's over there." ”

Zhu Yinu, who was earnest in his work, listened, threw Zhu De aside, and ran in the direction that Zhu De was pointing. Zhu De took the opportunity to open the window and jump out, and Zhu De's guards took advantage of the enemy's lack of preparation and shot Zhu Yinu to death.

Wang Haiqing, the staff officer who broke out first, saw that Zhu De had not yet come out, and feared an accident, so he immediately gathered his team to prepare for the rescue. At this time, Jude and the guards arrived, and a stone in the hearts of the soldiers fell to the ground. After counting the number of people, it was found that there were 4 fewer fighters, Zhu De asked to lead the team back to meet, on the way met three fighters, only to learn that a fighter named Huang Zhizhong died during the breakthrough.

The soldiers were extremely angry and demanded that the bandits be severely punished, the people be eliminated, and Huang Zhizhong avenged. Zhu De then deployed the battle, and Wang Haiqing led a part of the warriors to ambush on both sides of the bandits' way back to the mountain, preparing for an ambush; he himself led some of the fighters around the small hill behind to attack. When the bandits came, Zhu De gave an order to "fight", and the bullets suddenly shot like raindrops. The bandits panicked and scurried around, the warriors rushed up, the bandits desperately fled, escaped not far, and were ambushed by Wang Haiqing. In this battle, the bandit leader Zhu Yinu and more than 10 bandits were killed, and 10 bandits were captured. After dawn, Zhu De led the team to continue to march towards Rucheng.

Why did Zhu Yinu know that it was Zhu De who was staying overnight? It turned out that in the Gannan area, Notices of Chiang Kai-shek's reward for zhu De's arrest could be seen everywhere. When Zhu De set off from Shangbao to pass through Haotou Cowboy Pond, he leaked the news and was known to the township mayor He Zengzhi. He Zengzhi wrote a secret letter and sent it to He Qilang's garrison, and He Qilang sent his brother-in-law Zhu Yinu to lead his men to arrest him.

The soldiers divided into two ways and swam into Qingding to help each other

After dawn, Zhu De led his troops to advance in two directions, one way from the main road to Huamuqiao, to meet the rest of the troops at Shexi; Zhu De took 13 people to another road, from the Songtong Mountain behind Haotou Wei to the pit. Zhu De and his party came along the river to Shangshui pass village and walked into the villagers to swim into the Qing family. You Jinqing was smoking a cigarette at home, and when he saw Zhu De's face full of dust and dew, he got up and asked.

Zhu De said, "Old watch, we are from Haotou Wei and are already hungry. You Jinqing said, "Okay, I'll go cook." Then Jude asked, "What's your name?" "My name is You Jinqing." "How can we get out of danger, do you have a way?"

You Jinqing said, "Only change your clothes." After Zhu De and the soldiers had breakfast, You Jinqing found some old clothes for the soldiers to change in several households. In order not to reveal his whereabouts, Zhu De inquired in the opposite direction: "Where should I go in the direction of Wenying and Guting in Jiangxi?" You Jinqing said: "From Shexi, Gaoyuan, Jilong, and hot water to Wenying." ”

Before leaving, Zhu De said to You Jinqing: "Fellow countryman, my name is Zhu De, and if the revolution succeeds in the future, I will repay your old man well." Saying that, Zhu De gave You Jinqing a raincoat, a flashlight, a round shovel, and a postcard as a souvenir, and at the same time stuffed the money for the meal to You Jinqing. You Jinqing refused to accept it, saying: "Rough tea and light rice in the countryside are not worth giving money." You Jinqing not only did not want to collect money for food, but also brought Zhu De a journey for them.

Exhausted, Ye Hanming escorted him

Zhu De and his party arrived at Shexi and then to Yongfeng, everyone was tired, hungry, and tired, so they found the "Yongfeng Shop" on the side of the road to stop. This is a small shop that makes wine and sells tofu, and the owner is named Ye Hanming. Ye Hanming saw several people in civilian clothes and straw shoes come to the store, speaking with foreign accents. Ye Hanming guessed that they were soldiers who had lost the battle, and he warmly received Zhu De and his party and cooked them tea and rice. While chatting, the boss noticed that Judd was walking with a limp. Guard Zhu De told Ye Hanming that the "boss" had been rushing for several days, and his feet were blistered by grass shoes. It turned out that when Haotou was in distress, Zhu De's horse was frightened and ran away, and Zhu De could only walk all the way.

The guard said to Ye Hanming: "I'm really sorry, we were robbed on the road, ate your meal, but didn't give you money, write an IOU to you, I'm really sorry!" Ye Hanming didn't know the words, but he also accepted the IOU and smiled and said, "Okay, it's not easy for you to go out." In this year, the soldiers were in chaos, and they were robbed of their money, but they did not lose their lives. I heard that there was a gun battle in Haotouwei last night, and a Zhu commander from Jiangxi was almost killed by He Zengzhi and He Qilang. When Zhu De heard Ye Hanming say this, he told him the truth: "We are from Jiangxi, and we must repay your care for us." In the future, when the revolution succeeds, you may have difficulties and may go to me. We still have an urgent task, and we have to rush to Rucheng. "Are you?" "I'm Jude." "Commander Zhu, my name is Ye Hanming." If you need any help, please don't be rude. ”

From "Yongfengdian" to the county seat, there are more than 20 miles of rugged mountain roads. The guard then said to Ye Hanming, "Boss Ye, our Commander Zhu's foot is badly injured, and we still have to rush to the county seat on time, can you find a way for us to find two caravans?" ”

Ye Hanming replied, "This is a good thing to say." He found two professional caravans under yongfeng Xitangtang. Ye Hanming was a very famous "great benevolent person" in haotou, Yongfeng, and Tuqiao, and in order to ensure the safety of Zhu De and his party, he generously gave each caravan 5 silver dollars, accompanied him, and personally sent Zhu De to the county seat. Halfway up the Huangshaling Mountains, a warrior who had been wounded in the battle of Haotou suddenly fainted. Zhu De told the warrior to come to the car and walk on his own, but the warrior said nothing.

Ye Hanming was surprised and touched by Zhu De's concern for his subordinates—he had never seen such a high official treat his subordinates. Taking advantage of the gap between everyone's rest, Ye Hanming quietly went to the nearby Qingcao Village and hired two more people, brought a pair of palanquins, and let the wounded soldier sit. Ye Hanming followed Zhu De all the way to Jinjiang before saying goodbye to each other. At the time of parting, in order to thank Ye Hanming for his help, Zhu De asked his subordinates to take out a bayonet and a scrapped gun handle and give it to Ye Hanming as a souvenir.