"The charge of the first legion, the encirclement of the third legion, the sword of the fifth legion" , this is a sentence circulated by Central Red Army back then, vividly summarizing the characteristics of the three main forces. The commanders of the Red 1 and Red 3 Legion became marshals after the founding of the country. Unfortunately, Dong Zhentang, the commander of the Red 5 Legion Legion , died on the road to the Western Expedition.
In the Central Soviet Area and in the Long March of , the Red Fifth Army led by Dong Zhentang was no worse than the Red Fifth Army, and his military capabilities were beyond doubt. So, why did he and the many officers and soldiers of the Red Fifth Army eventually sprinkled blood on the high platform?
. Dong Zhentang, who is good at fighting,
The first beautiful battle between Dong Zhentang and the Red Fifth Army was the Red Third Army that saved General Peng from the city of Ganzhou. On February 23, 1932, the siege troops led by the Red Third Army launched an attack on Ganzhou . Chairman Mao firmly opposed the attack of big cities. Before the battle began, he repeatedly proposed not to attack Ganzhou. Even if he wanted to fight, he should siege the city and attack aid and eliminate the enemy's vitality, rather than attacking the tough.
However, the Central Soviet Area at that time had been controlled by the representatives of Bogu and Comintern , and the Chairman's opinion was not adopted. But the facts prove that Ganzhou is really difficult to fight. Previously, General Peng and others estimated according to known intelligence that the total armed forces in Ganzhou City would not exceed 8,000. As long as the enemy's reinforcements arrived, they could successfully complete the task.
However, the actual armed personnel in Ganzhou City exceeded 18,000, more than twice as many as expected, which led to the failure of Red Army to attack and the enemy was surrounded by anti-siege as soon as the reinforcements arrived.
In his self-report, Mr. Peng said that the situation was critical at that time: failed to attack for a long time, reinforcements arrived, but did not withdraw quickly, and the troops were stationed at the city. They fought for a long time, and their troops were exhausted, resulting in an attack from the enemy.
At this critical moment, the Red Army could not draw out any extra troops, and the actual rulers in the Central Soviet Area had no idea. Chairman Mao, who was forced to run to Donghuashan to "retreat" after receiving a telegram from President Zhu, rushed back to Military Commission as soon as possible. Chairman Mao decided to boldly use Dong Zhentang's Red Fifth Army as a sharp blade to rescue the Red Third Army.
The reason why no one else expected the Red Fifth Army was because the Red Fifth Army was originally a Kuomintang army. It only joined the Red Army after the Ningdu Uprising in December 1931, and was basically reorganized in February 1932. Those in power who stayed in the Soviet Union did not trust the Red Fifth Army.
Chairman Mao’s mind is far broader than those people. He led the guard squad to the front line for consultation. Dong Zhentang commanded the Red Fifth Army to rescue the enemy with all his strength, and even contacted the enemy with his hands and blades many times, and finally rescued the Red Third Army successfully.
The wind is strong and the fire produces real gold. The Red Fifth Legion began to be reused since then, and participated in many tough and evil battles. It is known as the three main forces of the Central Red Army, together with the Red First Legion and the Red Third Legion.
During the Long March, the Red Fifth Army assumed the responsibility of defending. During the bloody battle of Xiangjiang River, the 34th Division under the Red Fifth Army was wiped out, and the number of people was reduced from 12,000 at the time of departure to 5,000.
Moreover, in order to protect themselves, many Kuomintang warlords adopted the method of "not stopping the head, not cutting the waist, only hitting the tail", and the Red Fifth Army behind the charge were particularly heavy all the way.
At that time, there was another saying in the Central Red Army. "One legion fights the vanguard and attacks all the way; behind the Five legion, defending everything is solid." , the importance is self-evident.
2. Forced to separate from the Central Committee
However, after the Central Red Army and the Red Fourth Front Army met, the two troops developed subtleties. Zhang Guotao relied on his strong troops and his ambitions continued to expand.
In order to unite comrades, the Central Red Army made a lot of concessions, and all the corps under its jurisdiction were changed to army. Then the two major frontiers were mixed and divided into two routes to the north. Dong Zhentang's Red 5th Army was incorporated into the left-wing army dominated by the Red Fourth Front Army.
Not long after the two troops separated, Zhang Guotao suddenly overturned the original agreement and wanted to force his troops to go south. Dong Zhentang firmly opposed it after learning about this, but was slapped by Zhang Guotao's confidant Huang Chao.For the sake of the overall situation, Dong Zhentang endured it, but he never gave up on the idea of going to the central government.
After the Zhuomudiao Conference, Zhang Guotao rumored to be "a new one". Liu Bocheng quickly secretly made the "Catch Zhang Plan", hoping to force Zhang Guotao to give up his wrong ideas through unexpected force, and then the entire army went north to search for the Central Committee. Dong Zhentang was the main force in launching the plan. However, President Zhu thought this would make each other more divided, and ultimately did not agree.
After that, Dong Zhentang was forced to follow the Red Fourth Front Army, and Zhang Guotao saw that he only obeyed the Central Committee, so he used various means to attempt to undermine him. Zhang Guotao transferred the backbone of the former Red 5th Army, and then let the 33rd Army of the Red Fourth Front Army be combined with the Red 5th Army. Although it was finally called the Red 5th Army, Dong Zhentang could no longer command the entire army.
At the same time, Zhang Guotao asked his confidant Huang Chao to serve as the political commissar of the Red 5th Army. The principle of our party is " Party commands the gun ", which greatly restricted Dong Zhentang's power, and the ultimate sacrifice of Dong Zhentang also has a lot to do with this appointment.
The Red Fourth Front Army went south to Sichuan Kang and was frustrated, and later embarked on the road to the Western Expedition. Dong Zhentang expressed his opposition again after receiving the order. He immediately wrote to Chairman Mao and General Zhu. It was very difficult to analyze the Western Expedition from a military perspective. The Red Army has fought one after another. This tired army not only has to face the fierce Ma family cavalry, but also the dilemma of unsupplying logistics supplies.
West of the Yellow River Our party has not established a base or has insufficient mass base, so it is almost impossible to rely on local fellow villagers. so I hope the central government can transfer the troops back. After the letter was written, Dong Zhentang handed it to the guard captain Gao Zhizhong and told him to hand it to the central leader. When they parted, he also said: You still bring all the things I gave you in the past. We may still see the above in the future, or we may not see it anymore. If you can't see you, the things you give you will be considered a souvenir for us.
Perhaps Dong Zhentang had already learned the general ending at this time. If he was a little slippery, he could temporarily resist the order of West Route Army for reasons such as physical discomfort and waiting for the central government to be transferred back. But he was a person with strong party spirit, and in the end he advanced with the troops.
Gao Zhizhong did not disappoint Dong Zhentang's expectations. He did find Mr. Zhu, and Mr. Zhu really wanted to transfer Dong Zhentang back, but the embarrassing thing was that the radio station was in the hands of political commissar Huang Chao, and the order could not be conveyed to Dong Zhentang at all.
Then Gao Zhizhong ran back without stopping, but at this time Dong Zhentang had been forced to set off for seven days.
. Reasons for the blood spilling on the high platform
. Although the Red 5th Army was still a military in name, there were only two divisions and four regiments in total, a total of more than 4,000 people. After capturing the high platform, Chen Changhao and Xu Xiangqian ordered the Red 5th Army to defend the high platform, and also allocated a part to enter Linze. The 9th Red Army was stationed in Shahebao, and the 30th Red Army was stationed in the headquarters of Gongwei West Route Army in Nijiayingzi.
After receiving the order, political commissar Huang Chao took away two main groups and radio stations to Linze, which led to Dong Zhentang and the others becoming alone. The arrangement of the headquarters of the West Route Army is very problematic. Gaotai is more than 100 miles from Linze, and both are key locations. Ma's army will definitely send troops to capture it.
The Red 5 army at that time had the least number of ammunition and the Red 9th Army suffered a severe blow in Gulang not long ago, and its combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. This is equivalent to letting two troops with insufficient strength support each other, how can they defend themselves?
Li Xiannian, who was the political commissar of the Red 30th Army at that time, saw the problem and proposed that the 30th Army be stationed between Gaotai and Linze, so that the enemy can respond at any time once it attacks. But Chen Haochang refused. His reason was that if the enemy attacked, the Red 9th Army could support it. Fighting tough battles could increase the morale of the Red 9th Army.
Red 9 Army experienced failure, and some bad aura was filled with. Chen Haochang thought that jade would not become a weapon without being carved, and he had to practice it. However, this undoubtedly increases the danger of the Red 5th Army.
On January 3, 1937, more than 20,000 people from the Ma family launched an attack on Gaotai. Dong Zhentang knew that the number of people was very different, so he asked people to put on makeup and leave the city and asked Huang Chao and the headquarters for help respectively.On the other hand, he ordered the troops to control the two commanding heights outside the city, so as to resist the enemy for seven days. The number of people nearly ten times smaller than that of the number of people can achieve this battle, and Dong Zhentang's ability is unquestionable.
If he had a radio station at this time, it would be more convenient whether he wanted help or broke through. Unfortunately, Dong Zhentang was too strong in party spirit and never made a decision without getting the order. He did make people dig tunnels near the weak north city surrounded by the enemy in advance. There was only a layer of thin soil on it, and you could break through at any time as long as you ordered it.
can fight hard until the 17th, and the letter from political commissar Huang Chao was sent. The above content said that the command of the Western Route Army headquarters is an important stronghold for advancing westward and must be defended to break through.
Dong Zhentang's despair at that moment can be imagined. At that time, all the periphery of the high platform had been lost, and it was only a matter of time before the breakout could be a glimmer of hope, but the order was the case. Dong Zhentang had no choice but to defeat his desire for survival and chose to follow the order.
But Huang Chao's letter was completely nonsense, and the Western Route Army Headquarters was not aware of this matter. On the evening of the 18th, the intelligence agency of the Western Route Army Headquarters deciphered the enemy's telegram. Chen Haochang and Xu Xiangqian realized that the enemy was attacking Gaotai. They were very surprised and hurriedly ordered Li Xiannian to lead the 88th Division of the 30th Army and the headquarters cavalry division to support.
The headquarters cavalry division had just been formed, and there were only more than 500 horses. They first encountered the Ma family cavalry, and the division commander and political commissar were all sacrificed. Fortunately, 88 Division arrived later, defeated the enemy and rescued some comrades.
Li Xiannian interrogated the captives of the Ma family army and learned that Gaotai had fallen, the entire Red Army in the city was wiped out, and Dong Zhentang had also died. Under such circumstances, Li Xiannian did not move forward any further.
General Dong Zhentang's sacrifice is two reasons: , the arrangement of the Western Route Army headquarters was wrong , which Li Xiannian later recalled, and often regretted, saying that if the 30th Army was placed between Gaotai and Linze, there would be no such great losses;
, the second is a series of stupid moves by political commissar Huang Chao, which took away the main group and the radio station, and did not allow the Red 5th Army in the high platform to break through, and never reported the situation, resulting in the leader not knowing the news at all and missing the rescue time. Alas, it’s a pity that General Dong.
I personally respect Dong Zhentang very much. A passage he said during the Long March made me see a true revolutionary. When the Red Army advanced rapidly in the mountainous areas of Guizhou in April 1934, Deng Fa's wife Chen Huiqing was about to give birth. Unfortunately, the enemy had already touched it and the defender Red Fifth Army fought against the enemy.
The Red Fifth Army, which should have been quickly separated, launched on-site defense in order to Chen Huiqing, Dong Zhentang ran over to see Chen Huiqing's situation, and then immediately returned to the position and said: must make a time to have a baby!
The Red Fifth Army held on like this for more than two hours, and suffered considerable casualties. It was not until Chen Huiqing successfully finished giving birth.
Chen Huiqing was very weak at the time and was supported by people along the way. Whenever a soldier passed by her, he would choose to glar at him. Some soldiers were in a state of trouble: Is it worth sacrificing so many people just for a female soldier?
Dong Zhentang was furious when he saw this: Why are you glaring at me! What are we doing revolutionary wars, bloodshed and sacrificed? Isn't it just for the children? For the sake of children's happy life in the future, we should sacrifice no matter how many people we are.
Yes, a generation has suffered for several generations. Alas, it’s a pity that General Dong failed to see the day of the victory of the revolution.
