There are three people in the photo, namely Zhang Yunyi, Premier Zhou and Kong Shiquan. Behind the photo, Premier Zhou wrote eight words in his hand - "Laoshan is in danger, only four people remain."

After the Xi'an Incident, General Zhang Xueliang sent a telegram to Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou for advice. The content of the telegram is:

"We are trying our best to plan for the Chinese nation and the future of the anti-Japanese war. We have detained Chiang (Jieshi) now, forcing him to release patriots and reorganize the coalition government. What are your opinions? Recover quickly."

After receiving the telegram, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou immediately convened a senior general of our party and convened an emergency consultation meeting. In the end, everyone unifies their opinions. For the sake of national and national justice, we decided to put aside the benefits of the one-party and send a delegation headed by Premier Zhou from Yan'an to Xi'an to deal with the civil war crisis, thus starting the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

On the morning of April 25, 1937, a truck left the south gate of Yan'an. This truck was given by international friends and is considered the most advanced means of transportation in Yan'an. The passenger seat of the truck was Premier Zhou. His purpose of this trip was to establish an office of the Eighth Route Army in Xi'an.

The famous generals Zhang Yunyi and Kong Shiquan were sitting in the truck's carriage, and Premier Zhou's adjutant Chen Youcai , guard soldiers, reporters, etc. There were 25 people sitting on the truck.

Since the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China was just started, the struggle environment between the enemy and us was still very complicated. In order to ensure the safety of Premier Zhou and his group, their trip was top secret, and only Chairman Mao and other few people knew their movements. But doing a good job of confidentiality does not mean absolute safety.

Laoshan is not far from Yan'an. This place belongs to the remnant of Huanglong Mountain in northern Shaanxi. The mountains are undulating, the trees are lush, and the mountains are steep. It has been a must-fight place for military strategists since ancient times.

As early as the Qing Dynasty, the official army encircled and suppressed local tribes and uprising, but it was ambushed in Laoshan, killing and injured more than 1,000 people, and the Qing soldiers fled in a panic. During the Republic of China period, Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army was ordered to attack the Red Fifteenth Army, but was ambushed by the Red Army in Laoshan, killing and injuring the entire two regiments of troops.

Through these two ambush battles, you can see how dangerous the terrain of Laoshan is. If someone ambushed Premier Zhou in Laoshan, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Laoshan was in danger, and only four people remained. The truck that Premier was riding in 2 weeks first came to Sanshilipu, which was a checkpoint established by the Northwest Security Bureau, which was regarded as a bridgehead for Yan'an's defense, because further south was the territory ruled by the Kuomintang.

As long as you leave the 32-liter shop, Premier Zhou and his group will enter National Territory .For the soldiers in the car, most of them left the border area and Yan'an for the first time, and they also shouldered the important task of protecting the Prime Minister, so the soldiers seemed a little nervous.

Chen Youcai, who was in charge of Premier Zhou's security work, saw this and said to the soldiers with a smile:

"You can chat freely. You can talk about whatever you want. Don't be too nervous. I will stay in front of the carriage to keep a lookout for you."

After Chen Youcai said this, the soldiers also began to chat softly. However, not long after the vehicle was driving, there was a sudden "bang" sound. As the Prime Minister's personal secretary, Chen Youcai reacted immediately. He asked the comrades beside him vigilantly:

"Did you hear anything?"

The comrades nodded quickly and said:

"It feels like a sheep herder is cracking a big whip."

Chen Youcai was a little confused. In this deep mountain and old forest, who would come to herd the sheep? Before Chen Youcai could figure it out, a rain of bullets came over, and a crackling sound immediately sounded from the huge body of the truck. Chen Youcai said angrily:

"Oh no! There is an ambush!"

The ambushers were obviously well prepared. Their first attack not only killed the driver, but also blew out the car's tires. Premier Zhou, who was used to seeing strong winds and waves, immediately jumped out of the car and looked for cover to fight back. Zhang Yunyi in the

carriage quickly ordered Chen Youcai to lead the guard soldiers to cover Premier Zhou's retreat, while he and Chen Guoqiao led a small team to stay to stop the enemy.

However, it is very difficult to break out of the dangerous situation of Laoshan. The enemy not only occupies a favorable location, but also has an advantage in weapons. Although our soldiers are experienced in many battles, after all, they only have short guns and no heavy weapons. After several breakthroughs, they suffered very serious injuries. Even Chen Youcai was unfortunately injured.

The Eighth Route Army soldier

looked at the bloody hole on his thigh. Chen Youcai couldn't help but frowned. Before he could care about the wounds on his body, Chen Youcai ordered the soldiers Chen Xianren, Xiang Sanguang, Cao Hongdu, and Liu Jiuzhou to cover Premier Zhou's breakout to the right. Although

was seriously injured, Chen Youcai still keenly discovered that the enemy only blocked the front, back and left sides, and there was no enemy figure on the mountain on the right. After giving the order, Chen Youcai commanded the remaining soldiers to stop the enemy.

What is unexpected is that when Premier Zhou broke through to the right, the enemy's firepower did not attack them. Instead, all the firepower was concentrated on Chen Youcai. What was the reason for this?

Before Premier Zhou set off, Chen Youcai made a suggestion and asked to exchange clothes with Premier Zhou. Premier Zhou usually wears casual clothes and looks very approachable, while Chen Youcai usually wears military uniforms. Just in case, Chen Youcai asked the Prime Minister to change into military uniforms while he put on casual clothes. Unexpectedly, this "change of clothes" had a miraculous effect.

After being ambushed, Chen Youcai began to imitate Premier Zhou's accent to direct the battle. Coupled with his clothes, the ambushing enemies thought he was the target.

Seeing the enemy firing all the bullets at him, Chen Youcai was not afraid, but laughed happily. He knew that he had to die today, but his death was worth it!

Under the fierce attack of the enemy, Chen Youcai and other guards died heroically. After the ambushing enemy found a business card with the words "Zhou Enlai" printed on Chen Youcai, they brutally stabbed his body!

In this encounter, only four people, Premier Zhou, Zhang Yunyi, Kong Shiquan, and Liu Jiuzhou, escaped, and the rest of the entourage died heroically!

Who is the murderer?

After Premier Zhou returned to the Sanlipu Checkpoint, he immediately reported the news of his assassination to Yan'an. The news was like a bomb, completely shocking everyone. Huang Lin, who was then the head of the Central Guard Corps, picked up his submachine gun without saying a word and headed straight for Sansanlipu with two security squads.

Before leaving, Chairman Mao said to him directly:

"Don't have any worries, and we must save Enlai no matter what."

Huang Lin and the soldiers ran all the way to Sansanlipu. After seeing Premier Zhou, they were completely relieved. Premier Zhou also made personnel arrangements based on the situation. He first asked two soldiers to return to Yan'an to report that they were safe, and the remaining soldiers had to go to Laoshan to see if there were any surviving soldiers.

However, when Huang Lin and his men arrived at Laoshan, the enemy had already disappeared. All that was left were the bullet-riddled truck and the remains of the soldiers.

Premier Zhou then ordered people to transport the remains of the soldiers back to Yan'an and bury them in Yan'an Pagoda Cemetery. Just when everyone was feeling sad for their dead comrades, a question arose in many people's minds:

Premier Zhou is one of the core members of our party. This trip is strictly confidential. Who actually assassinated him on the way? Is it a Japanese spy? Or the Kuomintang reactionaries? Or what about the surrounding bandits?

Based on the on-site investigation of Laoshan, the Yan'an Security Bureau came up with a guess-the people who ambushed Premier Zhou were most likely a group of bandits!

Because the ambushers only took away the belongings and weapons carried by the soldiers, those priceless documents were thrown aside as if they were discarded. If it were Japanese spies or Kuomintang reactionaries, they would definitely take away these confidential documents.

Now that there is an investigation direction, it is very easy to detect the case. The Security Bureau immediately handed over the investigation task to Xie Ziqun, the head of the Border Security Investigation Department.

After investigation and visits, Xie Ziqun quickly arrested the biggest suspect-the bandit leader Li Qingwu who was entrenched in Jinpenling. During his interrogation, Li Qingwu also truthfully explained the entire process of ambushing Premier Zhou.

So how did the bandit Li Qingwu know the whereabouts of Premier Zhou? During the interrogation process, a man named Feng Changdou surfaced. Feng Changdou was an informant placed in Yan'an for the purpose of exploring our military's intelligence.

When Feng Changdou informed the bandit Li Qingwu about Premier Zhou's trip, Li Qingwu seemed extremely excited. He knew that no matter whether the assassination of Premier Zhou was successful or not, Yan'an would not let them go, but he just wanted to give it a try. He wanted to gain wealth and wealth in danger. After all, as long as the ambush was successful, he would not only become famous, but he could also be promoted to an official position with Chiang Kai-shek!

Conclusion

No matter what the purpose of the bandit Li Qingwu was to assassinate Premier Zhou, their behavior is unjust and unacceptable! Although Li Qingwu, Feng Changdou and others were executed on the spot in the end, the soldiers who died to protect Premier Zhou died in vain at the hands of the rogue bandits, which is really infuriating.

On June 9, 1973, Premier Zhou accompanied foreign guests to visit Yan'an. When talking about the danger, he said:

"I have encountered many dangers in my life, but this time is the most dangerous!"

When he wanted to visit the graves of Chen Youcai and others, he learned that the cemetery had been destroyed by the Kuomintang during the Liberation War. The damage could no longer be found. He immediately ordered to search carefully and said sadly:

"Comrade Chen Youcai died bravely. We should invite them to the Martyrs Cemetery and erect a monument for them!"

In June 1985, Ganquan County erected a stone monument for the soldiers where the battle had taken place.