On August 5, 1933, the International Division of the Young Communist Party was established in Jiangxi, and Zhou Enlai personally presented the flag. After the flag-awarding ceremony, the Young Communist International Division immediately threw itself into training.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, General Yang Chengwu recalled this period of history: "The Weapons of the International Division of the Young Communist Party are very poor, there are very few rifles, basically mainly earth guns and shotguns, and some people are armed with large knives and darts. ”
Indeed, after the establishment of the International Division of the Young Communist Party, in order to enter the battle as soon as possible, it soon began to train in practical combat subjects such as military discipline, shooting, assassination, and bomb dropping.
Due to the shortage of equipment, most of these red teenagers can only train with their own darts.
But General Yang Chengwu also said: "It is precisely because this team has joined the main force of the Red Army that we have formed such a powerful fighting force." ”
After the training continued for a while, the newly formed unit began to prepare for the battlefield, and only then did they finally wait for a batch of guns and ammunition supported by the Red Third Army, followed by intense fire training such as shooting and bomb dropping.
In September 1933, the International Division of the Young Communist Party received instructions from its superiors to immediately go to the front line of the Fifth "Anti-Encirclement and Suppression" and cooperate with the Red Third and Fifth Armies into battle.
Zhang Aiping, then deputy chief of the Central General Headquarters of the Vanguard of the Chinese Soviet Young Communist Party, and successively served as vice premier of the State Council and minister of national defense after the founding of the People's Republic of China, personally wrote a "Song of the Expedition of the International Division of the Young Communist Party" for this unit that he had devoted great efforts to.
“...... Holding high the glorious banner of the Young Communist International, he resolutely and bravely armed himself to the front. Be a heroic and invincible red combatant, the last drop of blood for the new China..."
This is the song that the teenagers sang as they embarked on their journey, and it seemed to hint at their fate.
After leaving Guangchang, the training station, the International Division of the Young Communists arrived in Nakou, Northern Fujian, via Jianning and Taining, and it was late September, where they collided head-on with a company of the vanguard of the Thirty-sixth Brigade of the Nationalist Twelfth Division.
Nakou is more than 30 kilometers away from Shaowu County, and to the south is Futun Creek, which is a major granary and transit point in Shaowu, where many merchants do grain, timber and mountain goods business.
Zhou Zhiqun, commander of the Thirty-sixth Brigade, deployed a reinforced company here, built a half-moon earthen wall outside the camp, and also laid out eight stone bunkers.
After entering the outskirts of Nakou, Chen Guang quickly arranged for troops to surround the Nakou garrison and the checkpoints of the nearby Lotus Mountain. He and Xiao Hua personally observed the deployment of the Nationalist army, decided to be on the safe side, and then divided a battalion to form a pocket array, and after the arrangement was completed, the Young Communist International Division decisively launched a full-line attack, and their first battle began.
Due to limited ammunition, on average each soldier had only 10 rounds of ammunition. After several rounds of shooting, the small warriors broke through the enemy's siege gate and rushed into the position to start a white-knife battle.
According to the prior arrangement, they faced the previous enemy with two people, one interfering and the other killing the enemy. After a few hours of fierce fighting, the International Division of the Young Communists annihilated more than three hundred enemy troops, and then attacked the tightly trapped Lotus Mountain checkpoint, where more than a hundred enemy troops were stationed.
Although the terrain of the checkpoint was dangerous, and there were still several bunkers on the hillside that relied on each other, the first victorious division under the command of Chen Guang and Xiao Hua quickly solved the already panicked defenders with the threat of a fierce tiger descending the mountain.
This battle not only sharpened the young warriors who had just entered the battlefield, stimulated their confidence in victory, injected soul into the new army, and unexpectedly captured a large number of urgently needed weapons and a granary.
The warriors joyfully carried the spoils of war and marched into the county seat of Nakou with heroic steps. Later, Xiao Hua recalled this: "... The warriors are very happy, and the mountain songs and the marching songs have been swaying in the procession, echoing in the mountains, and the bustle is incomparable..."
After entering the city, the two men placed their headquarters in the Jiangxi Guild Hall and publicized the policies and discipline of the Red Army in the city. Only the wounded and sick were allowed to sleep in houses with the consent of their fellow villagers, and the other soldiers were allowed to sleep on the street.
This kind of military discipline gave the masses a new understanding of our party and our army, and they were also very distressed about these half-grown teenagers, and they took the initiative to invite them into the house to rest at night, but the soldiers strictly observed discipline and politely refused kindness. Through these actions, the International Division of the Young Communist Party won the heartfelt support of the masses in the local area.
After winning the battle, the happy Headquarters of the Red Army quickly sent congratulatory messages in the name of Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, General Political Commissar Zhou Enlai, and Political Department Director Yang Shangkun, in which they praised them for "winning consecutive victories" and saying that this was their "first test of the iron fist."
This congratulatory message greatly boosted the fighting spirit of the officers and men of the whole division, and after a brief repair, they this time, with sufficient ammunition and supplies, marched eastward to cross the Futun Creek and pointed their swords at Fujian Province.
Here, they will cooperate with the Eastern Army of the Red Army (formed with the Red Third Army as the main force) with Peng Dehuai as the commander to retake the provincial capital of Lichuan. The troops that have matured this time are about to encounter more and greater tests.