In February 1973, General Wang Shusheng was diagnosed with esophageal cancer at Beijing 301 Hospital.
In the last days of his life, what the general remembered was still about the past of the West Route Army period.
One of the things is to find a life-saving benefactor.
Picture | General Wang Shusheng and his wife Yang Ju
After the meeting in Shiwo that year, the Western Route Army decided to divide the remaining troops into three detachments. Among them, the deputy commander-in-chief Wang Shusheng led more than 700 people composed of the Red Ninth Army to wander deep in the Qilian Mountains. Because it was too difficult, only a few people walked out of the Qilian Mountains and returned to Yan'an.
That is, on the way back to Yan'an, General Wang Shusheng was fortunate to receive the care of three villagers, so he still missed it many years later.
Until his death, he held his wife's hand and told me:
"Without these three people helping, I can't live now. Have you found these three saviors? After I die, you must continue to look for the whereabouts of your saviors."
Fortunately, as the reportage "Life and Death Tengger" was adapted into a script and made into a movie, the nephew of General Wang Shusheng's savior Yu Xueren was found, and finally confirmed that Yu Zhanhai from Xuanhebao, Zhongwei County, was the general's savior.
There is another thing that Wang Shusheng said to Marshal Xu Xiangqian who came to visit.
"...I would have argued with Sun Yuqing at that time..."
And what General Wang Shusheng said was a tragic battle between the Western Route Army and the Ma Family Army in Gulang .
West Route Army's Western Expedition
1 In October 1936, the central government decided to launch the Ningxia Campaign in accordance with the plan formulated in advance, ordering part of the Red Fourth Front Army to cross the Yellow River first, and control the ferry of the Wufo Temple, and move towards the Zhongwei and Dingyuan Camp, and cooperate with the Red First Front Army to fight.
In the next month, the Red 9th Army, the Red 30th Army, and the Red 5th Army, a total of more than 21,800 troops crossed the Yellow River one after another.
Picture | Member of the Military and Political Committee of the West Route Army
Unfortunately, due to changes in the enemy situation, the Ningxia battle plan and the later prepared sea battle plan were not implemented smoothly. Also, because of the repeated changes in the orders of the Central Military Commission, the Red Fourth Front Army failed to completely cross the river in accordance with the prior plan.
A part of the Red Fourth Front Army, which had crossed the Yellow River, was completely blocked in Hexi, so that later the army went deeper and fell into the siege of the superior enemy.
On November 10, 1936, the central government ordered the Red Army that had crossed the river to form the Western Route Army.
is a unified leadership, and the Central Committee approved the establishment of the Western Route Army Military and Political Committee. The members include Chen Changhao, Xu Xiangqian, Zeng Chuanliu, Li Te , Li Zhuoran (the above five are members of the Standing Committee), Xiong Guobing, Yang Keming , Wang Shusheng, Li Xiannian, Chen Haisong, and Zheng Yizhai. Among them, Chen Changhao is the chairman of the Military and Political Committee and Xu Xiang is the former vice chairman.
Although the Western Route Army has a complete organization of three armies, the overall strength is insufficient and the equipment is poor. Even due to insufficient preparations for food, ammunition and medicine, there are also many wounded and sick people in the army.
The Red Thirty Army is the best preserved army in combat effectiveness. It has more than 7,000 people in six regiments, 3,200 guns, and an average of 25 bullets per gun. During the subsequent battles of the Western Route Army, the Red 30th Army has always served as the main force of the Western Route Army.
is the second Red Ninth Army, with more than 6,000 people under its jurisdiction, more than 2,500 guns, and an average of 15 bullets per gun.
The worst is the Red Fifth Army, with more than 3,000 people in 4 regiments and more than 1,000 guns, with an average of 5 bullets per gun.
There is also a cavalry division with a total of 200 men and 200 guns, with an average of 25 bullets per gun.
Just a little bit of military strength is basically not an advantage compared to the Ma family army that has been entrenched in the northwest for many years.
The Ningma of Gansu and Qinghai is the Ningma of the brothers of Ma Buqing and Ma Bufang . It has more than 30,000 regular troops and more than 100,000 local militia.
Picture | General Wang Shusheng
For Ma Bufang, who ruled the northwest for many years, he was mainly worried about two aspects. One is worried that the Red Army will go deep into Hexi Corridor , enter Qinghai, and squeeze out his living space. The other is worried that Chiang Kai-shek will go deep into his territory in the name of "suppressing the Communist Party". So after the Western Route Army crossed the Yellow River, Ma Bufang immediately appointed his brother Ma Yuanhai as the commander-in-chief of the front enemy, led two cavalry brigades to launch an offensive against the Red Army along a mountain.
Although the Western Route Army was at an overall disadvantage in terms of equipment, it still caused significant damage to the Ma family army in the battle.
After the Western Route Army crossed the Yellow River, it had already established its foothold in the villages and Wufo Temples of Yishan, and playing cards. It is said that in order to resist the jurisdiction of his younger brother Ma Bufang, the enemy chief Ma Buqing took the initiative to contact our army and negotiated to retreat to Liangzhou and give up the territory. However, because the sent representative was shot dead by Ma Bufang on the way, the negotiations were fruitless.
Although the Western Route Army stabilized its position in Yishan area, it is undeniable that the local environment is too harsh and there is little water and food, especially water shortage. Because Yishan area produces salt, the water is salty, and the more you drink it, the more thirsty it becomes. After fighting for several days, the soldiers were hungry and thirsty and their lips were dry and cracked.
Red Four General Command (that was not renamed the West Route Army at that time) called the Central Committee:
"The army is located in sparsely populated areas, with food shortage and salty water, and it is inconvenient for the large army to stop for a long time. It is recommended that if the main force cannot cross the river quickly, the Hexi troops will first march towards Dajing , Gulang, Pingfan and Liangzhou."
1, the Central Military Commission replied:
pic | West Route of the West Expedition
In fact, the Central Military Commission was cautious at the beginning of the movements of the West Route Army, especially the "Ping (Fan) Da (Jing) Gu (Lang) Liang (Zhou) Battle Plan proposed by the West Route Army later. After all, the Ma family army has strong military strength. If it goes rashly, it may indeed cause significant losses.
However, due to Zhang Guotao's influence, the Hexi troops failed to deeply understand the meaning of the Central Committee. Instead, on November 6, they proposed to abandon the crossing of the river point of the Wufo Temple and advance towards Dajing, Pingfan, Gulang and Liangzhou (i.e. "Ping (Pan) Da (Jing) Gu (Lang) Liang (Zhou) Battle Plan").
Gulang Battle
On November 11, after the Central Military Commission instructed the Hexi troops to rename the Western Route Army, the Red 30th Army had already taken the lead in setting off. After defeating the enemy's blockade along the way, they successfully arrived in Dajing. The Red Fifth Army followed to Tumen Fort and then headed west.
At that time, most of the main forces of the Ma family army were attracted by the Red Ninth Army in the Gulang area, so the two armies did not encounter too many obstacles along the way, and they also took advantage of the slightest movement to mobilize mass support the Red Army to fight in the local area.
According to people at that time, the Red Army strictly enforced discipline in Tumen, and considering the need to stop the civil war and unanimously resist Japan, all captured enemy troops in their hands were released. Under the powerful political offensive of our army, the enemy engineer battalion commander Ma Youming led his troops to surrender. When the Red Army was stationed in Tumen, more than 200 people participated in the Red Army.
But compared with the Red 30th Army and the Red Fifth Army, the Red Ninth Army is much more difficult.
When the Red 30th Army marched into Dajing, the left-wing Red Ninth Army also advanced to the Ganchaiwa area.
pic|Ma Bufang
Ganchaiwa area can also be seen from the name. The terrain is high on all sides and low in the middle, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. After the Red Ninth Army occupied Ganchaiwa Village on November 9, Ma Yuanhai, the commander-in-chief of the enemy in the enemy, immediately gathered more than 10,000 people from the Ma Biao Cavalry Brigade, the 2nd Ma Yuanhai Cavalry Brigade, the Ma Lu Terminal of the 5th Cavalry Division, the Han Qilu Terminal of the 2nd Brigade, the Ma Quanyi Terminal of the 600th Regiment of the 300th Brigade of the 100th Division, and the militias of Huzhu, Ledu and other counties, launched a fierce attack on the Red Ninth Army.
Although the Red Ninth Army as a whole is the main force behind the Red Thirty Army in the Western Route Army, due to the fierce battles over the past few days, the materials obtained were not much supplementary. After the battle, the Red Ninth Army suffered a great loss. During the fierce battle, the Kuomintang even sent several planes to assist the battle.
At the critical moment, the commander of the army, Sun Yuqing and political commissar Chen Haisong led all the personnel of the headquarters and the transportation team to the position together, which firmly blocked the enemy.
Although the Red Ninth Army successfully repelled the enemy, it suffered more than 200 casualties. Liu Pei, chief of the First Division of the Military Department, was basically an intellectual. He rushed to the position at the critical moment of fierce fighting. Unfortunately, he was shot in the head and died heroically. Many seriously injured people stayed at the homes of ordinary people because they were difficult to follow the army to march westward. Later, the Red Ninth Army left the village, and the enemy counterattacked for a second time, killing all the Red Army wounded people who were left at the homes of fellow villagers to recuperate.
The battle in Ganchaiwa area was the first battle that the Western Route Army suffered a great loss since crossing the river.
On the evening of November 11, the Red Ninth Army used the 27th Division as the rear guard to block the pursuers of the Ma family army, and the rest of the main forces advanced towards Hengliangshan.
After clarifying the central order, the Western Route Army decided to continue to penetrate westward.
On November 13, the Red Ninth Army attacked Gulang with a regiment of troops, and the defending enemy fled. In order to cover up the Red Thirty Army, the Red Thirty Army continued to march westward. After the main force of the Red Ninth Army entered the city, it firmly attracted the main force of the Ma family army.
Ma Bufang was extremely furious when he learned about Gulang's loss and immediately instructed Ma Yuanhai:
"Regain Gulang back within a time limit, at all costs."
Ma Bufang was not nervous. Gulang County is located in the Hexi Corridor, with a dangerous terrain. In ancient times, it was known as the "Tiger and Wolf Pass". The north and south sides of the city are high mountains, which are the commanding heights for defending Gulang. There is only a narrow path in the east of the city, and the west of the city is flat, which can lead to Liangzhou directly.
On November 15, after Sun Yuqing, the commander of the Red Ninth Army and Chen Haisong, political commissar, entered Gulang, immediately set out to arrange city defense. In addition to guarding the commanding heights of Gulang north and south, the main 25th Division guarding the southwest of Gulang and the 27th Division guarding the northeast of the city.
As an outstanding general in the Red Army, Sun Yuqing had no problem with Gu Lang's overall defense, and it can even be said that he was even better.
Sun Yuqing decided to take a break in Gulang and let the troops have a good rest.
At that time, Wang Shusheng, as the leader of the teaching regiment, was leading the team to follow the Red Ninth Army. Although he had no opinion on the arrangement of city defense, considering that he was deeply trapped in the enemy's territory at this moment, he reminded him:
"The troops should be asked to strengthen the fortifications overnight to prevent the enemy from launching raids."
Although Wang Shusheng was also appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army at that time, the actual command of the Red Ninth Army was in the hands of Sun Yuqing.
Sun Yuqing thought the army was too tired during this period and should have some rest. Although he adopted Wang Shusheng's opinion, he did not think that the Ma family army could catch up in such a short time, and he was a little negligent in his mentality.
Unexpectedly, in the early morning of November 16, Ma Yuanhai rushed over with nearly 20,000 troops and horses.
Although our army is far higher than the Ma family army in terms of will, it is helpless to be at a disadvantage in terms of military strength and equipment. Once the battle begins, the two sides are immediately in a stalemate.
Under the cover of aircraft and cannons, the Ma family army launched a fierce attack on our position. The Red Ninth Army caught off guard and fought fiercely with the superior forces. The commanding heights south of the city were successively captured by the superior enemies, so the main force had to retreat into the city to make key defenses.
Ko Gulang County is already low-lying, which is not conducive to defense at all. In addition, the city wall has been disrepaired and has been seriously damaged. The overall situation is extremely unfavorable to the Red Ninth Army.
On November 17, after seizing the commanding heights of Gulang, the Ma family army launched a fierce attack on the city wall. The Ma family army gathered six mountain cannons less than ten meters away from the city wall, and suddenly made an eight or nine-meter hole in the city wall.
The Ma family army poured into the city from both sides of the east and west, and began to wield sabre slaughter, and then the infantry blockbuster followed.
Figure | Schematic diagram of the Red Ninth Army in Gulang
The Red Ninth Army had only two main forces, and it was arranged on the high ground on the north and south sides of the city before the war. There were only non-combatants from the military command, supply department and logistics department in the city. Facing the Ma family army rushing into the city, they had almost no power to fight back. Many of the Red Ninth Army personnel and some wounded and sick were killed by the enemy before they could react.
At the critical moment, the army commander Sun Yuqing cooperated with the troops to launch a fierce battle against the enemy. Political commissar Chen Haisong led the only combat-capable transportation team in the city to fight to the death to block the Ma family army rushing into the city.
In the hand-to-hand combat, cook picked up the kitchen knife, and the female workers in the bedding factory also picked up scissors and threw them into the battle. After using up the wooden sticks and stones, they used up fists and teeth...
Fortunately, the 27th Division, which was defending the highlands in the north of the city, learned that the enemy had broken through the city defense, immediately sent reinforcements, and then drove the Ma family army who rushed into the city out.
Gulang Battle Although the Red Ninth Army killed more than 2,000 enemies, it also suffered more than 2,000 casualties, among which the casualties of cadres above the platoon were particularly tragic. According to post-war statistics, the Red Ninth Army Chief of Staff Chen Bozhi , the 25th Division Commander Wang Haiqing , and the 27th Division Political Commissar Yi Hanwen and other cadres died heroically in the battle.
According to the article "Bloody Battle with Hexi Corridor - Fierce Battle with Hexi" in Qinghai Party History Network, it is said:
"There is a cadre named Jiang Qihua, the former cadre of the front army of , fought bravely and died in street fighting."
On November 18, the enemy attacked the city with all his strength. The Red Ninth Army was defeated and had to choose to retreat. With the support of reinforcements, the Red Ninth Army retreated to 42 Lipu.
Picture | Gulang County Town Border Wall Trench Site
Wang Shusheng evacuated with the Red Ninth Army and returned to the headquarters. He was silent for a long time. In Gulang's battle, the casualties of the Red Ninth Army were really tragic, especially in the later street fighting stage. Although he was not the commander in this battle, as a general of the Western Route Army, he was very sad.
More importantly, after entering Gulang on November 19, the Ma family army launched bloody revenge, not only killing the Red Army soldiers who remained in the city before they could withdraw, but also slaughtering the people in the city, burning, killing, looting, and doing all kinds of evil.
The Red Ninth Army suffered huge casualties in this battle and did not recover later. More importantly, after the Red Ninth Army broke through to Yongchang , Chen Changhao retreated Sun Yuqing and Chen Haisong, who were fighting bloody, to the deputy commander-in-chief Wang Shusheng also served as the commander of the Red Ninth Army.
As the war between the West Route Army continued to fail, after the commander of the Red Fifth Army Dong Zhentang was killed, Sun Yuqing was ordered to temporarily take over the position of commander of the Red Fifth Army.
In early March 1937, after the Shiwo Conference, Sun Yuqing followed the right detachment led by Wang Shusheng to fight northwest guerrilla warfare along the Qilian Mountains, but was separated halfway. After Sun Yuqing was captured by the Ma family army, he remained steadfast and unyielding until he was killed and died at the age of 28.
"A piece of land is blood, a soldier is fire"
Wang Shusheng was bleeding all the way, leading his troops to the Qilian Mountains, and later returned to Yan'an alone.After Chairman Mao learned about the situation of the Western Route Army, he comforted Wang Shusheng:
"Comrade Shusheng, you have endured hardships, and your self-criticism spirit of courage to take responsibility is something every Red Army officer and soldier should learn! The failure of the Western Route Army cannot be borne by you."
pic | General Wang Shusheng
Afterwards, Chairman Mao arranged for Wang Shusheng to study in the third phase of the Yan'an Anti-Japanese University. In April 1938, Wang Shusheng became the deputy commander and acting commander of the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region.
Although many years have passed and Wang Shusheng has led his troops to win many victories, he has always remembered the miserable defeat of the Western Route Army in the Hexi Corridor.
After all, too many people have been sacrificed in this battle.
In January 1954, the Central Committee decided to prepare for the establishment of the General Ordnance Department, and the founding general Wang Shusheng was dispatched to prepare for the establishment of the General Ordnance Department of the Military Commission. A year later, the General Ordnance Department of the Military Commission was renamed General Ordnance Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army , and Wang Shusheng was transferred to the position of deputy director of the General Ordnance Department in March 1955.
The Central Military Commission was preparing to establish the General Ordnance Department to accelerate the modernization of the People's Liberation Army of China, especially in researching and improving equipment.
Wang Shusheng received an order to serve as the Minister of the General Ordnance Department. As a general who had experienced many battles, he naturally knew the importance of this job.
In the past, in the war years, Wang Shusheng personally led the soldiers to make a batch of earth guns, earth guns, , but even so, our army still lacks guns and cannons.
The Western Route Army fought bloody battles in the Hexi Corridor, but the reason why they suffered a crushing defeat was because of the lack of guns and cannons. If the Red Army had been slightly better at that time, or had several mountain cannons, the results might have been very different later.
The Western Route Army fought bloody battles in the deserted Gobi Desert until it fought one soldier and one soldier. It was always a pain for Wang Shusheng, who was once the deputy commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army.
When Wang Shusheng was seriously ill in his later years, facing Xu Xiangqian who came to visit, he talked about Gu Lang's battle and said with great pain:
"From the command point of view, this battle is inappropriate! Gu Lang's city wall is broken and the terrain is low, which is indeed unfavorable to defense; but if we guard the commanding heights outside the city, we first block the enemy, and then set a second line of defense in the city, the situation will be much better. But we ignored these and the enemy seized the heights outside the city by the enemy. It's like a mountain pressing down on the top, there's nothing we can do. At that time, I would have insisted on competing with Sun Yuqing."
Picture|In 1965, Wang Shusheng and his wife took a photo with Xu Xiangqian and his wife
To be honest, after the Battle of Gulang, the Western Route Army summed up experience and lessons, believing that the main reason for the failure of Gulang's battle was paralysis and underestimation of the enemy, fighting to the death, improper command, and not organizing a breakthrough as soon as possible. But General Wang Shusheng felt guilty from beginning to end.
