<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track= "3" >, ambush the Eighty-fifth Division</h1>
In the blink of an eye, in July, the mountainous areas of western Hubei entered the hot summer season. At this time, the Red Second and Sixth Armies had been besieging Longshan City for more than a month.
After the Battle of Zhongbao, the Xiang'echuanqian Provincial Party Committee and the Central Military Commission Branch decided to draw out a small number of troops to besiege Longshan, once again creating an opportunity to besiege the city and provide reinforcements, and the main force to rest and recuperate, while undertaking the tasks of mobilizing the masses, expanding troops, and opening up base areas.
During this time, the Xiang'e enemy army repeatedly attacked Longshan, but was repelled by the Red Second and Sixth Armies. However, due to the lack of concentration of reinforcements from the Red Second and Sixth Armies, the casualties were relatively large, especially the wounded and death of some of the third-level commanders of the Sixth Army, which caused great losses to the troops. Among them, in the Battle of Xiaojing, Comrade Li Pu, director of the Propaganda Department of the Political Department of the Regiment, was sacrificed; in the Battle of Zhaotouzhai, Su Jie, commander of the Seventeenth Division, Huang Lin, commander of the Fifty Regiment, and Fang Zhensheng, political commissar of the Fifty Regiment, were sacrificed; Wang Zhen, political commissar of the Regiment, also hung flowers; in the Battle of Hujiagou, Ma Chi, chief of staff of the Seventeenth Division, and Duan Peiqin, political commissar of the Forty-ninth Regiment, were killed; Zhou Renjie, commander of the Fifty-first Regiment, and Liu Feng, political commissar, were wounded.
At the thought of so many casualties of the division commanders, the commanders and fighters were full of anger. One by one, they shook their fists, hoping to fight a few victorious battles, teach the enemy a lesson fiercely, and avenge the casualties of the chiefs and comrades-in-arms.
The opportunity finally came. On August 2, the Seventeenth Division of the Sixth Army received orders to set out from the spot the next morning to go north to cooperate with the Second Army.
When the order reached fifty-one regiments, the regimental commander He Qingji immediately ordered the messenger to inform the battalions to prepare for departure, and told him not to pass on the wrong order. It turned out that it was this small soldier who had joined the army in Jiangxi, and when the troops were ordered to go to Longshan, they conveyed the order of "eat one meal, bring two meals, and the troops open Longshan" into "eat two meals, bring one meal, and the troops open Longshan" became the jokes of cadres and soldiers.
In the early hours of the next day, the troops were fully armed and set off on the dew. Because the Sixth Army was stationed in the area of Xinglongdian, Xieluo, and Maoping, about 30 kilometers away from Shadaogou, it arrived at the designated location in accordance with the unit, and the troops set off earlier. Along the way, Commander He's mood was very uneasy, remembering that when Commander XiaoKe explained his task, he said that this operation was personally commanded by Chief He Long, and that the Seventeenth Division should be involved in the roll call, and it must play the prestige of the troops. Speaking of which, this was also the first battle he led his troops to participate in after he became the regimental commander, so he made up his mind that he must fight this battle well and give the enemy some color to see.
After the troops reached Shadaogou, they received orders from the command, turned southwest, and inserted themselves along the mountain shortcut between Gaoluo and Lijiahe to Livtian to participate in the ambush of the enemy's Eighty-fifth Division.
This move was completely unexpected by Xu Yuanquan, the commander-in-chief of the Hubei Army. Originally, according to the enemy situation at his disposal, Xu Yuanquan, in order to preserve his strength and territory and prevent the Red Army from re-entering western Hubei, disregarded Chiang Kai-shek's order to attack the Red Army from the north and south with the Xiang army, and decided to push his troops to the border of Xiang'e and consolidate the blockade line from Laifeng to Xuan'en. To this end, he had sent a telegram two days ago to the Thirty-fourth Division stationed in Taiping Town, Hefeng County, and the 142nd Brigade of the Forty-eighth Division stationed in Gaoluo to push to Shadaogou; the Eighty-fifth Division, which is now stationed at Xiaoguan in Xuan'en County, drove to Lijiahe on August 3. At the same time, he also ordered the 1st Brigade of the Provisional 4th Brigade stationed in Gaoluo to occupy paddy dams, and the 123rd Brigade of the 41st Division stationed in Laifeng to occupy Lijiahe to cover the advance of the 3 divisions above. After in-depth analysis of the enemy's situation, He Long decided to concentrate his forces and eliminate the enemy's Eighty-fifth Division, which was advancing from Xiaoguan to Lijiahe.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > second, catch turtles in an urn</h1>
He Long first asked the Fourth and Sixth Divisions of the Second Army to arrive at the Shadaogou camp on August 2, which was actually a clever move to attack the west and the east, that is, to give the enemy the illusion that the Red Army was preparing to attack the Thirty-fourth Division and the Forty-eighth Division, paralyzing the enemy.
He Long shook this shot falsely, and indeed Xu Yuanquan was deceived. He immediately ordered the Thirty-fourth and Forty-eighth Divisions to stop advancing and to be on high alert.
Why did He Long target the Eighty-fifth Division? The northern units had good weapons and strong combat effectiveness, and division commander Xie Bin was a ruthless anti-communist veteran who killed many Red Army commanders and fighters and the masses of the people during the "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army in Jiangxi, and his hands were stained with the blood of martyrs. He was arrogant and arrogant, did not take the Red Army in his eyes, according to the soldiers, like a stone in a pit, smelly and hard, but He Long knew that Xie Bin had weaknesses that he could not overcome. He was ordered by Chiang Kai-shek to defend western Hubei, and when he first arrived, the terrain was unfamiliar to the people; his northern soldiers, who could not stand the hot climate in the south, marched and were roasted by the scorching sun, and their sharpness was naturally reduced by more than half. Coupled with the common sense that arrogant soldiers must be defeated, so he chose this paper tiger.
Xie Bin was indeed chosen by He Long. In order not to disobey his orders, he rushed to Lijiahe 3 days ago and chose the nearest route: from Lichuan to Lijiahe via Shangdongping, Chestnut Garden, and Lifutian. The terrain is complex, with narrow and rugged roads, deep valleys and dense forests. Troop reconnaissance, search, and deployment are difficult. In particular, the section from chestnut garden to Livtian passed by the enemy's Eighty-fifth Division is sandwiched between two mountains and a canyon, with high forests on the north side and cliffs on the south side. The valley is about 7 kilometers long, less than half a kilometer wide, and only a dozen meters at its narrowest point. Seeing that Xie Bin was deceived, He Long couldn't help but secretly rejoice: You Xie Bin chose this route, which is a big taboo for soldiers.
On August 2, Xie Bin led his troops to Shangdongping, and when he learned that the main force of the Red Army had entered Shadaogou, he had some concerns and wanted to stop at Shangdongping for a while and wait for the situation to be ascertained before advancing; but on second thought, Xu Yuanquan did not order the Eighty-fifth Division to stop advancing, and if it could not reach Lijiahe on the 3rd, wouldn't he leave a voice. Moreover, the Thirty-fourth and Forty-eighth Divisions were pressing toward Shadaogou and the 123rd Brigade were taking cover on the first line of the Lijia River. So he decided to march to Lijiahe the next day as planned. Xie Bin ordered that the May 1st O Regiment be the vanguard and set off at 5:30 a.m.; the division's direct subordinate unit and the 5O 5th Regiment (missing a battalion) should be their own team, and take a considerable distance to follow up after the vanguard departure; and the 505th Regiment and the 1st Battalion were the rearguards.
Xie Fatzi's hands and feet were all in He Long's hands. When He Long learned that Xie Bin was advancing toward Lijiahe as originally planned, he immediately ordered the Fourth Division and the Sixth Division of the Second Army to depart in the early morning of the 3rd, turn to the southwest, and set up an ambush before the Eighty-fifth Division reached chestnut garden. He also ordered the Seventeenth Division of the Sixth Army to be the second echelon, directly into The Lifefield, and enter the battle.
The Seventeenth Division, on the orders of the command, rushed towards the Valley of Livtian. The warriors followed the mountain path, stepping on the thick dew, brushing away the weeds and thorns, like a steel knife, and inserting it into the enemy's hinterland.
The sun rises, the heat rises from the valley, the mountain village is stuffy like a steamer, the soldiers are sweating one by one, but the speed of the march has not slowed down, and everyone knows in their hearts that the soldiers are fast, and time is victory. Each one was eager to stretch out his wings and fly to the battlefield of killing the enemy.
At about 11 a.m., the 4th and 6th Divisions of the 2nd Red Army arrived at the Liftian Valley.
Arriving at The Liftian dialect, the Fourth and Sixth Divisions of the Red Second Army quickly hid on the hills on both sides of the valley. The Fourth Division was at the southern tip of the valley, pinning its pockets in the mouth, and the Sixth Division was in the northwest, cutting off the enemy's retreat. He Long's headquarters was located at the highest point of the Chestnut Garden. Observed here with a telescope, the entire valley has an unobstructed view. The valley is flanked by mountains and densely wooded. In the valley, a small stream bends and flows out of the mountain. The village by the creek is Livtian. There are dozens of farmhouses, including a few slightly larger houses. He Long thought to himself, as long as Xie Bin burrowed into this pocket, he would become the turtle in the urn.
It was nearly noon, and the enemy finally appeared due to the exposure to the scorching sun and the fatigue of the march, and the enemy was listless one by one, and the procession was marching slowly. Faintly, you can still hear the scolding of the goods. Xie Bin, the commander of the enemy division, was wearing a silk shirt and sitting on a pair of sliders, his brain was sunburned, and his fat body was lying on the slider trembling. He saw the team walking sparsely, the soldiers listless, soaking wet, and he felt greatly annoyed. The enemy chief of staff suggested that they take a short rest in Lifutian, otherwise, the soldiers would have to make a turn, let alone rush to the Lijia River, and it would be very difficult to get out of this ditch. Xie Bin pondered: Resting in the valley is a big taboo for soldiers, and if they are ambushed, they will be completely annihilated. But he thought about it for a moment, and there were no anomalies along the way, and this day was just in time for the chestnut garden market, and the crowds were bustling. According to the reconnaissance report, from the chestnut garden to the line of the Lijia River, no enemy situation was found, the farmers ploughed the fields, the woodcutters cut firewood, the shepherds herded cattle, and half of the red army shadow could not be seen. Thinking of this, Xie Bin patted the bald door with his hand, ordered the troops to rest and cook on the spot, and set off at 2 p.m.
The large troops of the Red Army are interspersed in this area, so why did the enemy not find any clues? It turned out that the mountainous area of western Hubei was the place where the Red Second Army had fought, and had a good mass base. When the local masses learned that the Red Army was coming, they took the initiative and enthusiastically relayed intelligence for the Red Army, blocked the news, covered and cooperated with the Actions of the Red Army, and made Xie Bin a weed and a deaf man, and entered the open pockets of the Red Army.
Third, kill Xie Bin
Seeing that the enemy had fully entered the ambush circle, He Long ordered to open fire. With three crisp signal gunshots, the Fourth Division first opened fire on the first brigade of the enemy's vanguard May 10th Regiment, and then launched a multi-way assault on the regiment. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire and killing in the valley was a cacophony. The enemy who suffered a surprise attack was beaten to the point of dizziness and chaos, making it difficult to assemble for a while. When the enemy was hastily assembled, it had been divided and surrounded by the troops of the Fourth Division, and the soldiers came down like a fierce tiger, pounced on the dying and struggling enemy, and quickly annihilated most of the enemy's May 1st Regiment in the Sanlinggou and Tanjiayan sections, so that the pocket mouth was also firmly pierced.
After the Fourth Division and the enemy rearguard troops fought, Xie Bin, who was resting in the courtyard of the mansion, was greatly shocked. At first, he thought that a small group of Red Army troops or guerrillas had come to harass him, so he pretended to be calm and ordered his subordinates to look at the situation. Later, I found that it was the main force of the Red Army, and I felt that the general situation was not good. For a time, the enemy scavenged in houses, took a shower by the stream, snorted at the roots of walls and in the shade of trees, and ran from place to place, like ants on a hot pot. Xie Bin, while cursing his wife, gathered his troops, and ordered the first battalion and the second battalion of the 55th Regiment and the divisional artillery company to occupy the Bari nuclear heights opposite Anjiapo; the 3rd Battalion of the 55th Regiment and the divisional special service battalion seized the Mojiapo land. Xie Bin tried to form a horn with the two armies, resisted, and waited for rescue. Unexpectedly, however, when the troops seizing Mojiapo were still thirty or forty meters away from the top of the mountain, the troops of the Sixth Division, which were ambushed at the top of the hill, suddenly opened fire, hitting the enemy with a stream of urine, and the Sixth Division took advantage of the situation to pounce on the mountain and launched a fierce battle, annihilating most of the three battalions of the enemy's Fifth Regiment and the special agent company.
The battle began, and the Seventeenth Division had rushed to Livtian, immediately inserted itself from the left wing of the Fourth Division, and entered the battle. Commander He led the Fifty Regiments to brave enemy fire and quickly crossed the valley to prepare to occupy Nanshan. At this time, a remnant of the enemy retreating to Nanshan was stubbornly resisting the mountain. After the commander of the regiment deployed the troops, he ordered the fire cover and launched an attack on the enemy. Hearing the order, the warriors forgot their fatigue and rushed up the hill in one fell swoop, annihilating the enemy and occupying the south mountain.
The battle has been going on for more than 1 hour. The entire Lev Field Valley was filled with gunfire and smoke. The 51st O Regiment and the 3rd Battalion of the 55th Regiment and the DivisionAl Holding Battalion of the enemy's vanguard forces have been annihilated. Xie Bin led the remnants of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 50th Regiment and the divisional artillery company to occupy an earthen fence in the Bali nuclear highlands, build fortifications, and desperately resist. In order to quickly annihilate the enemy, He Long ordered the Second and Sixth Armies to fight together and launch an attack on Tuweizi. After deployment, the Fourth Division of the Second Army and the Seventeenth Division of the Sixth Army encircled the Tuweizi and launched a fierce attack. In an instant, light and heavy machine guns opened fire together, making the enemy unable to lift his head, and with the roar of the charge, the warriors bravely rushed towards the tuweizi. Desperate, Xie Bin resisted while ordering, while shouting on the radio, asking for support. It is said that the Lijia River is only more than ten miles away from the chestnut garden, and the Sand Road Ditch and Laifeng are only twenty or thirty miles, but the enemy at that place is unknown, afraid of taking the initiative to send troops to be ambushed, and has been unwilling to send troops to rescue. Xie Bin scolded while dying, urging the remnants of the defeated soldiers to resist desperately. The knives in the earth enclosure flashed, the sound of killing was tremendous, and the enemies who saw that the general trend had gone laid down their weapons and surrendered. Xie Bin stubbornly resisted in a gutter and was killed on the spot, and this arrogant Kuomintang general finally got the punishment he deserved.
At dusk, the battle was all over. The valley was littered with enemy corpses and discarded military supplies. The enemy's Eighty-fifth Division, except for Huang Dingkui of the May 1st O Regiment, led a platoon of remnants and the leader of the 5th O-5th Regiment led the remnants of two companies and more than 20 people from the special service battalion to escape, and all the rest were annihilated.
In this battle, the Red Second and Sixth Armies annihilated two regiments of the 85th Division of the Kuomintang Army, a special service battalion and a division headquarters, captured more than 1,000 enemy personnel, captured more than 980 short guns, 6 mortars, more than 600 boxes of ammunition, and 60,000 silver dollars. In addition, there are a large number of communication equipment, medical supplies, quilts, utensils, tableware and so on. Under the command of He Long, the Red Second and Sixth Armies won a complete victory, and riding on the sunset of the western sky, the warriors withdrew from the battle with full loot and returned to their garrisons.
On August 8, the Red Second and Sixth Armies defeated 10 regiments of the Tao Guang Column at Basho Village;
In late August, the main forces of the Red Second and Sixth Armies once again waved their eastern fingers and captured towns and large areas such as Shimen, Lixian, Linli, and Jinshi. Over the past few months, the Red First and Sixth Armies have worked closely together, interspersed between the enemy's heavy troops, avoiding the strong and the weak, and waiting for the opportunity to annihilate the enemy. The fighting was mobile and flexible, sound and colorful, and moved freely, and smashing the enemy's "encirclement and suppression" with great pain and happiness not only effectively cooperated with the Long March of the Central Red Army, but also further expanded the influence of the Red Army in the base areas, just as the folk song sang----
Red Army Red Army,
Heavenly Divine Soldier,
Come silently,
Go without a trace,
It's all Scud.
Wind over the mountains and mountains to catch the clouds
However, Chiang Kai-shek was not willing to accept defeat, and in September 1935, he mobilized 130 regiments of troops to once again launch a large-scale "encirclement and suppression" against the Xiang'echuanqian base area. In mid-October 1935, the main red army of the central authorities arrived in northern Shaanxi in victory, and the Second and Sixth Armies decided to break through the Long March in accordance with the instructions of the Party Central Committee in order to seek more favorable development before the arrival of the greater "encirclement and suppression" of the situation and the greater disparity between the enemy and our forces.
On November 4, the Red Second and Sixth Armies held a meeting of cadres at and above the division level in Sangzhi to discuss and deploy issues related to the Long March;
On November 9, the main forces of the Red Second and Sixth Armies set out from Sangzhirui Pagoda to break through the enemy blockade lines of Lishui and Yuanshui and go straight down to Xiangzhong... Embarked on a journey of ten thousand miles north to resist japan.