Author: Mo Guyan
On November 12, 1935, the Battle of Tianlu ended, and the Red Fourth Front annihilated more than 5,000 enemy troops in ten days, threatening the Chengdu Plain and shaking the enemy army.
In a brief telegram, he sternly rebuked Ni Zhiliang, chief of staff of the Front Army, Xu Shiyou, political commissar of the 4th Army, and Cheng Shicai, commander of the 30th Army, saying that they did not pursue the enemy when the enemy army was defeated and retreated, missed a once-in-a-lifetime fighter plane, and were "blind in the real military and criminal in the revolution." He also said that if the military plane is delayed again, "it will be punished with military discipline."
Unlike Chen Changhao, who is as fiery as fire and habitually scolds people in Hubei dialect, Xu Xiangqian is not angry with himself, rarely loses his temper with his subordinates, and scolds his subordinates like this, I am afraid that this time in his life, it can be seen to what extent the pain has reached.
Xu Xiangqian, commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Front
Among the four people who were scolded, Xu Shiyou was not the first time he had been named. In the Battle of Suichongdanmao, which had previously defeated Liu Wenhui and Yang Sen's 7 brigades, Chen Changhao, political commissar of the Red Fourth Front, unceremoniously criticized the Mistake of the Red Fourth Army in not pursuing and named Xu Shiyou. At that time, Xu Shiyou considered that the troops had been fighting hard for days and were extremely tired, so he asked for instructions to rest for a day, which led to the escape of 4 regiments of the Sichuan Army of Appeasement and Chonghua, and a battle of annihilation was turned into a rout.
Chen Changhao analyzed that in addition to the objective reasons why the Red Army did not pursue after defeating the enemy, the main reason was that it was subjectively satisfied with small victories, or was concerned about casualties, and did not understand the principle that "it is better to break one finger than to hurt its ten fingers."
In the ensuing Battle of Tian (Quan) Lu (Shan), Xu Xiangqian made up his mind to fight the war of annihilation, targeting two ace divisions of the Sichuan Army, Guo Xunqi's "Model Division" and Yang Guozhen's "Teaching Mentor", of which the task of fighting the "Model Division" was given to the Red 4th Army, which was the most capable of attacking the stronghold. At the beginning of the battle, the battle was well fought, Xu Shiyou organized a commando team to detour and encircle, and then asked Wang Jinshan to take the whole city with people disguised as the Sichuan Army. As a result, just after they defeated a brigade of the Model Division, they made the old mistake of not pursuing, allowing Guo Xunqi's entire division to escape the disaster.
Guo Xunqi's "model division" is not only the number one trump card of Liu Xiang, the king of Sichuan, but also the spiritual pillar of the entire Sichuan army. This division posed a great threat to the Red Army in the Battle of Tucheng at the beginning of the year, which directly led to the bankruptcy of the Red Army's plan to cross the Yangtze River in the north, and had to cross the Chishui River in the west to avoid the enemy's attack. The reason why Xu Xiangqian wanted to make up his mind to completely annihilate the division was to completely shock the Sichuan army mentally, and at the same time cause a huge gap in the enemy's defense line. Taking a step back, even if the division could not be completely annihilated, as long as it could be severely damaged and forced to withdraw from the Sichuan Army's battle sequence, it would also be of great help to the upcoming Battle of Baizhangguan.
Because of this, Xu Xiangqian was furious at letting go of the model division. Later facts also proved that in the Battle of Baizhangguan, Guo Xunqi led the model division to defend Heizhu Pass, so that the Red Fourth Front Army could not open the situation, which was also one of the important reasons for the Red Army's defeat in this battle.
Monument to the Battle of Baizhangguan
In the Battle of Baizhangguan, the Red Fourth Front used 20 regiments against 80 regiments of the Sichuan Army, which shows the extent to which the light enemy has reached. At this time, the Sichuan army is no longer what it used to be, and in order to defend the Chengdu Plain, it will not hesitate to pay blood, not to mention the help of aircraft, and the defeat of the Red Army is already reasonable. Xu Xiangqian frankly admitted in his memoirs many years later that the reason for the defeat in this battle was not only the mistake of the southward strategy, but also related to his own command mistakes, that is, "the mouth was too big", "the concentration of troops was not enough", and "the battlefield selection was improper". He also pointed out that the red fourth front is almost all workers and peasant cadres, and its advantages are brave in combat and firm in faith, and its disadvantage is poor tactical level. This problem was evident in several campaigns after the Four Fronts marched south.
The troops suffered heavy losses, and the impatience and anger of the officers and men also grew. The Red 4th Army was the starting force of the Red Fourth Front, and after going south, it suffered the greatest losses, leaving only 4,000 or 5,000 people in the whole army. Commander Xu Shiyou went to the headquarters of the Front Army to inquire about the next task, and Chen Changhao replied impatiently: "When there is action, it is natural to issue orders and ask so many questions about what to do!" ”
In his later years, Xu Shiyou
Xu Shiyou, who was already holding his stomach, became angry and asked, "Staying in this ghost place all day, not fighting, and not leaving, how do you command?" ”
The young and vigorous Chen Changhao, who was the second most important person in the Red Fourth Front after Chairman Zhang, was in charge of the power of life and death, and no one was afraid, and now someone actually confronted him in the face, and in a fit of anger, he broke out and scolded: "Do you xu monks command?" The Battle of Tianquan let go of the opportunity not to chase, your long eyes are blind? ”
Xu Shiyou also went out and scolded Chen Changhao back: "You are not blind, why did you only put one regiment in the Battle of the Gorge?" Great Young Master Style! ”
The Battle of Xiakou in the Battle of Baizhangguan was the pain of Xu Shiyou's life. At that time, it was 6 divisions of Xue Yue's department of Jiang Jun's family who pressed up from the direction of Xingjing, and Chen Changhao personally went to the Red 4th Army to command the defensive operation. The gorge is the throat key, and as for how to keep it, Chen Changhao and Xu Shiyou have different opinions. Xu Shiyou believed that Xue Yue was a strong enemy and must put on 5 regiments, and the worst was to put on 3 regiments, otherwise it would not be blocked. Chen Changhao insisted that Xue Yue was steady in using troops and would not make a desperate bet, so the Red Army's defense should be deep, and it was not possible to put all the troops on the line, and it was enough to put a regiment in the front.
Chen Changhao
Xu Shiyou had no choice but to put the 35th Regiment up, and as a result, Xue Yue suddenly transferred 9 regiments, and the 35th Regiment was washed away, with 2/3 of the casualties of the whole regiment, and the regimental commander and political commissar were all sacrificed. The gorge was lost, the Red 4th Army had to retreat, Xue Yue's 6 divisions pressed up, and the Red Army's defeat was decided.
Xu Shiyou was bitter about the defeat in this battle for a lifetime, and decades later said in his memoirs that being killed by the enemy at once was a strange shame and humiliation that was unique in his military career, and the lesson was extremely profound. He believed that the reason for the failure was precisely the "style of a great young master" of "a responsible comrade of the front army."
Xu Shiyou paid the price for his impulses, and he was removed from his post as commander and assigned to the newly formed cavalry unit. Xu Xiangqian said in his memoirs that the cavalry unit was a division, and Xu Shiyou went to be the commander of the division. In this way, he was demoted one level. However, Xu Shiyou's own memoirs say that it was a cavalry column, and his position was "commander".
Young Xu Shiyou
To be fair, Chen Changhao, who was born as an intellectual, is vigorous in his work, calm and decisive in his decision-making, and never drags mud and water, which is completely different from those dogmatists who are full of classical theories. Although he was in charge of political work, Xu Xiangqian commented that he was "not a layman in military affairs, and did not have the so-called "style of a great young master."
As for the defeat in the Battle of the Gorge, it was actually an inevitability under the general situation in which the enemy was strong and we were weak. Chen Changhao emphasized defense in depth, and there was nothing wrong with retaining sufficient reserves in his hands. As for fighting according to Xu Shiyou's deployment, will he definitely be able to block Xue Yue? History did not give him the opportunity to prove it. But it is also unfair to blame Chen Changhao for his mistakes in decision-making.
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