In September 1932, the main force of the Red Fourth Front Army failed to fight the fourth "encirclement and suppression" in the Hubei-Henan border area of the Dabie Mountains, and was forced to give up central towns such as Huang'an county town, Huangpi Hekou, Huang'an Qiliping, Henan Xinji and other central towns, and began to move to southeastern Henan and western Anhui areas, hoping to find fighter opportunities there and then turn the situation around. But unfortunately, although the Red 4th Army , which was transferred to the headquarters, met with the Red 25th Army led by Cai Shenxi, the enemy's strong troops and flexible maneuvers were not only unable to capture the fighter jets and annihilate the enemy, but was once again compressed by the enemy surrounded from all directions to a small space, and its future and destiny were heartbreaking.
In view of the deteriorating environment and the increasingly dangerous situation, the Hubei, Henan and Anhui Branch of the Communist Party of China led by Zhang Guotao was forced to urgently convene the "Yanzihe Conference" to solve the current response measures and future action policies and routes. Whether from the severe situation faced before the meeting, the huge differences and fierce debates during the meeting, the final decision made by the meeting and the consequences, the "Yanzihe Conference" was an extremely important meeting in the history of the development of the Red Fourth Front Army, and its influence was far-reaching. Anyone who wants to understand the history of the development of the Fourth Red Army and any one who wants to summarize the experience and lessons of the Fourth Red Army will definitely not be able to avoid the Yanzihe Conference.
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1. The enemy-to-me situation before the Yanzihe Conference was held
0 Before the Yanzihe Conference was held, the Fourth Red Army had fought hard with the enemy for about 2 months on the battlefield of the fourth "encirclement and suppression".
The fourth "encirclement and suppression" launched by Chiang Kai-shek focuses on the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area in the Dabie Mountains area, and officially began in July 1932. At that time, the main force of the Fourth Red Army was in accordance with the instructions issued by Zhang Guotao at the "Xiadian Conference" to gather the three main divisions of the Hong 10, 11 and 12, the Huang'an Independent Division and the Young Communist International Regiment, and launched the Macheng Battle in a intensive manner. I want to spread the trend of Macheng and connect all the base areas in the Dabie Mountains into a piece.
, Macheng has always been a place where the enemy's heavy army defends, and it will be difficult to capture for a while. Therefore, the Battle of Macheng has become a war of attrition and fatigue. At this moment, the enemy began to officially launch the fourth "encirclement and suppression" from all directions. The first to besiege was the Huoqiu in the northwest Anhui region. Due to Zhang Guotao's macro-decision mistakes, the Fourth Red Army was forced to fight on two fronts: on one side, attacking Macheng in the south, and on the other side, defending Huoqiu in the northwest Anhui region. I wanted both results, but I lost both battles. Macheng did not conquer, but Huo Qiu was lost because of the huge gap in strength between the enemy and us. At this time, the enemy began to attack Huang'an, Hekou, Qiliping and Xinji areas again. The central area of the base began to face tremendous pressure. There was no choice but to remove the siege of Macheng and return to Huang'an to the Xinji front line to defend the central area of the base.
Return to the main force of the Red Fourth Front Army in the central area of the base area. After three fierce battles between Feng Shou Er, Qi Liping and Fu Shanzhai, although he won all three tactical battles, he was unable to break the enemy strategically, and instead was always trapped in the enemy's siege. There was no choice but to spread the main force of the Red Fourth Front Army from central towns such as Huang'an, Qiliping and Xinji one after another. Under the oppression of the enemy, he was forced to move to western Anhui. But the situation in southeastern Henan and western Anhui has also begun to become less optimistic.
The so-called "victory" achieved by the enemy on the western side of the Dabie Mountains, which is the border area of Hubei and Henan, greatly encouraged the arrogance of the enemy in western Anhui. Wang Jun, the commander of the enemy's right-wing army, rebelled against the early days of his retreatment and began to increase the attack from east to west. The Xu Tingyao Column on the north wing of the right road moved the fastest. On the day the main force of the Red Fourth Front Army arrived at Jinjiazhai, Xu Tingyao had begun to break through 智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智智� Because the enemy was progressing very quickly, the headquarters of the Red Army did not grasp the sudden emergence of information on that day. At the combat meeting held in Jinjiazhai, Xu Xiangqian proposed such a combat plan: lead the entire army to go east to attack the reckless Xu Tingyao 4th Division.
So, the Red Army, which had no time to rest, immediately set off Cheng Dongxing, preparing to annihilate Xu Tingyao. As a result, in the east and west Xianghuo Ridge, we suddenly encountered the enemy who had already advanced westward. As soon as the war started, although the Red Army fought bravely and tenaciously, it was difficult to fight quickly for a while. The other enemies rushed to assist after hearing the news, and another encirclement began to form in front of the Red Army. There was no choice but to take the road from north to south. When the main force of the Red Army crossed mountains and ridges and arrived in the Yanzi River area, Jinjiazhai, the core city at the intersection of southeastern Henan and western Anhui bases, was occupied by the enemy Wei Lihuang units.
The Red Army's activity space in western Anhui is even smaller and there is no room for maneuver. Although the situation was already quite dangerous, the situation in the Yanzi River area that had just arrived had not worsened at that time. The troops decided to stop for a while and take a rest and prepare to go south to attack Yingshan . However, when the scout sent to Yingshan to detect the enemy situation came back to report, everyone's hearts suddenly tightened. Information shows that Yingshan City was occupied by the fifth column of the enemy's central route army on September 16, and Luotian City has also been occupied by the enemy, and the enemy has set up multiple blockade lines from south to north. The value of this information is extraordinary. If the Red Army takes Yingshan, it will face fierce battles; if the Red Army stays here, it is likely to be trapped in the enemy's north-south attack again.
Swallow River
2. The time of the Swallow River meeting
The harsh situation is worrying and urging people to make decisions. The troops jumped out of the enemy's encirclement and arrived at Yanzi River. Zhang Guotao could no longer sit still, and other comrades were constantly urging him to hold a meeting to make a decision as soon as possible. Therefore, Zhang Guotao decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity to rest and hold an emergency meeting for discussion. The
meeting started on September 27th. The original plan was to make a decision as soon as possible after some discussion, but unexpectedly it took three days to start and ended until September 30th. Because everyone agreed and the debate was extremely fierce. This meeting is related to the future and destiny of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area and the Red Army. There are indeed many major issues that need to be sorted out and thought about. After a fierce debate, unifying thinking and finding answers will take a process.
Before the meeting, Zhang Guotao was already in a state of confusion and at a loss, and even began to show panic. Due to the urgent military situation, the incident suddenly appeared during the meeting and almost reached the meeting place. It turned out that the 32nd Division of the 3rd Column of the enemy's right-right army had broken through the Red Army's outpost position and was attacking Yanzihe. Xu Xiangqian had to withdraw from the meeting and mobilize the Five-Star County Independent Regiment to deal with this enemy. Under his plan, the regiment commander Guo Lunyi led more than 100 carefully selected suicide squadrons to attack the 32nd Division of Bailianjian at night, killing dozens of his deputy commander and compelling the enemy to flee back to Zhufo Temple in Huoshan. Although this battle was victorious, it undoubtedly intensified the tension in the venue.
3. Participants of the Yanzi River Conference
The Yanzi River Conference is related to the future and destiny of the Red Army and is the highest-level confidential meeting. Therefore, those who attended are destined to be the core figure of the Red Army at that time. For various reasons, there is no unified statement on the list of people attending the meeting so far. However, judging from the various historical materials, it is believed that Zhang Guotao, Shen Zemin, Chen Changhao, Xu Xiangqian, Cai Shenxi, Fang Ying, , , Wang Pingzhang, and others attended the meeting, but there are also information that , Zeng Zhongsheng, , and others also attended the meeting.
In principle, those attending such high-level meetings should at least have the qualifications of alternate members or above of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Branch of the Communist Party of China, but the actual situation does not seem to be the case. The Hubei-Henan-Anhui Branch of the Communist Party of China was established in Xinji on May 12, 1931, with 11 original members. Among them, 8 people were designated by the Central Committee, namely Zhang Guotao, Shen Zemin, Chen Changhao, Zeng Zhongsheng, Kuang Jixun, Shu Chuanxian, Fang Ying and Ke Qingshi (not in office); in addition, 3 people were selected by-elected by-elect from the original local border special team, namely Guo Shushen, Gao Jingting, and Zhou Chunquan . In addition, the Standing Committee decided that Gan Yuanjing and 15 other people would be alternate members of the branch. Zhang Guotao was appointed secretary of the branch and chairman of the Military Commission. The branch is not only the central representative organ, but also the highest leading body of the party organizations in Hubei, Henan and Anhui.In view of the inconvenience of work, the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China was later formed in accordance with the "Resolution of the Central Committee on the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Provincial Committee", with Secretary Shen Zemin, Organization Minister Gao Jingting, Propaganda Minister Cheng Fangwu, and four members of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, including Zhou Chunquan, Zheng Weisan, Wang Youqing (female), Geng Xianyi and others.
However, due to the "punishment of counter-country in Baiqueyuan in October 1931, some branch members have been killed by mistake, and some have already stepped aside. Whether they are branch members or provincial party committee members, some changes have occurred later. Moreover, the war was urgent at that time, and some members were still commanding the battle on the front line, so it was difficult to attend the meeting. Therefore, judging from the actual list of attendees at the Yanzihe meeting, the identity boundaries of the attendees had been broken, mainly the members of the branch, but not all of them. Ru Xu Xiangqian was not a member of the branch at that time, but also attended the meeting. The main reason is that he was the commander-in-chief of the Red Army at that time.
The former site of the meeting
4. The place where the Yanzihe meeting was held
The place where the Yanzihe meeting was called Liangtingao Liulaozhuang by the locals. It was under the jurisdiction of Xi Town, Huoshan County at that time, but now it is under the jurisdiction of Qilinhe Village, Yanzihe Town, Jinzhai County.
Liu Laozhuang
In the eyes of ordinary people, important meetings during the Red Army period are generally held in the Kuanbu courtyard of a certain ancestral hall. However, the place where the Yanzi River Conference was held in an emergency was not the deep and wide courtyard that people imagined, it was just an ordinary house. Judging from the previous reports and pictures taken by Red Net , it even looks a bit shabby and short. This can also indirectly confirm the emergency situation at that time. According to the data, some infrastructure including the memorial hall has been built here, but no specific exterior pictures have been found, and only an internal column display picture can be found.
Yanzi River, although it is now under the jurisdiction of Huoshan County, Anhui Province, before 1933. The famous Liuhuo Uprising was brewing and started first here. At that time, in order to lead the Liuhuo Uprising, the Liuhuo County Committee of the Communist Party of China, led by Shu Chuanxian, set up the command organ in the Dongyue Temple on the southeast side of Wenjiadian Village, Yanzihe Town. The Liuhuo Uprising was the third largest peasant uprising in the Dabie Mountains after the Huangma Uprising and the Shangnan Uprising.
Dongyue Temple
It is worth mentioning that at that time, Yanzihe was still the headquarters of Wuxing County. In March 1932, in order to strengthen the leadership of the five counties and border areas of the Northwest Anhui Special Committee, Hedao District Soviet Union, established the "CCP Five-Star County Committee" and the "Five-Star County Soviet Government" in Yanzihe. The former site of its agency was established in Yanzihe Old Street, with Wu Baocai, chairman of the Soviet Union in Northwest Anhui Province, also serving as the chairman of the "Five-Star County Soviet Union".
5. Overview of the meeting
At the beginning of the Yanzi River meeting, Zhang Guotao showed a panic expression and repeatedly asked everyone "What should I do?" In fact, he had asked everyone many times in private long before the meeting began.
Xu Xiangqian believes that although the enemy Shangguan Yunxiang's 47th and 54th Divisions have occupied Yingshan and Luotian respectively, the Red Army should still go south to Yingshan; if the Red Army attacks all the enemy's 1st Division, they should be sure to win; once Yingshan is occupied, the Red Army can both gain a foothold and receive supplies, and can temporarily find a chance to breathe. He continued: Based on the current military strength, it is very difficult for the Red Army to break the "encirclement and suppression". After occupying Yingshan and getting a breath, they should resolutely get rid of the burden of base area, jump to the outside line cleanly, and go east to the Qianshan and Taihu areas, so as to fight on a wider battlefield and the enemy's rear, so as to mobilize the enemy to leave the Soviet area, and the Red Army wait for an opportunity to fight back to the base area. Chen Changhao clearly expressed his support for Xu Xiangqian's opinion.
However, as local cadres, Shen Zemin and Wang Pingzhang have very different views from those of Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao, and even confrontation with tit. They firmly oppose the Red Army jumping out of the outside line, believing that the Red Army's responsibility is to defend Soviet area . Once the Red Army leaves, the Soviet area will collapse and no longer exist.They also believed that the Red Army still had tens of thousands of troops, so how could they easily admit that they had failed? How could the Red Army ignore the people in the Soviet area? Shen Zemin also said that the main force of the Fourth Front Army had already left the Hubei-Henan border Soviet area. Now the enemy's central army and the right army's main force have basically gathered in western Anhui. The Red Army should take advantage of the empty enemy forces in Hubei-Henan border to return to the Soviet area, regroup, and then recover the base.
Shen Zemin and Wang Pingzhang are completely inconsistent with the views of Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao, and there is no room for reconciliation. They argue repeatedly and confront each other fiercely, and of course no one can convince anyone. To be honest, such a debate will not have any results in itself. Because the positions and starting points of military cadres and local cadres look at problems are different.
meeting fell into silence during the debate, and began a new debate in silence. After a long time, Cai Shenxi, who had been bowing his head and thinking and taciturn, began to speak. Based on supporting Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao that the Red Army should jump out of the outside line to fight, he proposed his own third plan: it is better to go to the Pinghan Railway in the east than to go to the Pinghan Railway in the west than to go to the Qianshan and Taihu Lake. He believed that the development space in the west was wider than that in the east, and there was also the Red Third Army (adapted from Red Second Army ) led by He Long. The terrain conditions were also good, with a certain strategic depth, and a good foundation for the people. More importantly, in a telegram on September 13, the Central Soviet District Branch also instructed the Red Third Army to carry out activities west of Pinghan Road to support the Fourth Front Army.
6. The decision made at the meeting
After repeated debates, the three plans were clearly understood and placed before everyone. The final decision can only be made by Zhang Guotao. Because he is both the representative of the central government and the secretary of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Branch of the Communist Party of China, he is the number one figure leading the revolutionary movement in the Dabie Mountains region.
After long thinking, Zhang Guotao, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly broke the tranquility of the venue and made the final decision: Guo Shushen, Secretary of the West Anhui Road Committee, Liu Shiqi, Commander of the East Road Guerrilla, Xu Haidong, Deputy Commander of the Red 27th Division (renamed from the Fourth Independent Division), and others led a part of the troops and local armed forces to confuse and disturb the enemy's rear in western Anhui and Qian and Tai areas to restrain the enemy. The main force of the Red Army first took Yingshan and then moved to the Huangma Su District.
Regarding the convening of the Yanzi River Conference and the decisions made, I don’t know why. " The War History of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Workers and Peasants’ Red Army " only uses an extremely concise language summary: "On September 27, the troops arrived at Yanzi Lake, and Zhang Guotao convened a meeting and proposed the plan to 'go out of the mountain (mountain) and Tai (hu Lake) to fight guerrilla'. The meeting finally decided to take Yingshan first and then transfer to the Huangma area."
After the meeting, he set out to go south to
After the meeting, he set out to go south to
For this decision, although there are many different interpretations, some even accused Zhang Guotao of blindly commanding and making decisions, but it is really a matter of seeking truth. This decision is a balance and reconciliation compromise plan made based on fully considering the above three different opinions. This not only fully takes into account the emotions and ideas of local cadres such as Shen Zemin and Wang Pingzhang, but also provides imagination space for restoring the base area, and also sets the foreshadowing for the later departure from Pinghan Road and jumping out of the outside line.
7. The movement trend of the Red Army after the Yanzi River Conference
After the meeting, the main force of the Front Army started from the Yanzi River area, headed south through the Xijieling, entered Yingshan territory and turned west. The troops on Shiqiaopu on the west side of Yingshan were divided into two groups. One was led by Zhang Guotao and Cai Shenxi, and led the Red 25th Army to travel west; the other was led by Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao, and led the Red 4th Army to travel west. We met at Xinzhou (now Xinzhou District, Wuhan City) in the west of Huanggang , then turned north, entered the front line of Gaoqiao River and Hekou Town in Huang'an on October 8, and returned to the area where we fought a life-and-death battle with the enemy a month ago, and returned to the core area of the Hubei-Henan border base.
Estuary battle diagram
It was on this day that an encounter that was about to completely change the fate of the Red Fourth Front Army was in the Hekou area not far ahead, quietly waiting for the Red Fourth Front Army coming from afar: the Battle of the Hekou.
