#Looking at China—50,000 Miles on Foot and Cycling# The Red Ninth Army Corps, one of the main forces of the Central Red Army, was a newly established army on the eve of the Long March. It played the role of rear or flank cover for the entire army during the Long March.

Faith - Chapter 36: The Lizhou Conference formally proposed the term "Long March" for the first time

The 9th Red Army Corps pretended to be the main force to cover the 1st, 3rd, 5th Red Army Corps and the Central Column passing through Panshui Town when crossing the Wujiang River

The place where Chairman Mao commanded the army to cross the Jinsha River

#Looking at China - 50,000 miles on foot and cycling# One of the main forces of the Central Red Army , the Red Ninth Army was a newly established army on the eve of the Long March. It played the role of rear or flank cover for the entire army during the Long March. Zunyi Conference , because Cai Shufan, the political commissar of the Red Ninth Army Corps, was injured in his arm (later became a one-armed general), Mao Zedong transferred He Changgong, who had been following him since the Autumn Harvest Uprising, to serve as the political commissar of the Red Ninth Army Corps. At the critical moment when the Central Red Army crossed the Wujiang River for the second time, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission ordered the Red Ninth Army Corps to pretend to be the main force to cover the Red Army's 1st, 3rd, and 5th Army Corps and the Central Column to cross the Wujiang River south. However, by the time the Red Army 1st, 3rd, and 5th Army Corps and the Central Column crossed the Wujiang River, the Red Ninth Army Corps had no time to cross the Wujiang River (the national army surrounded them, and the rear troops of the Red Army had destroyed the pontoon bridge) and stayed on the north bank of the Wujiang River.

After annihilating more than 300 enemies, capturing more than 1,800 prisoners, and seizing more than 1,000 guns, the Ninth Red Army Corps followed the instructions of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and continued the Long March to Bijie and Dafang via Panshui, Jinsha and other places.

In late April 1935, the Ninth Red Army Corps left northern Guizhou and headed for the Sichuan-Yunnan border. On April 29, they successfully captured Xuanwei City without firing a shot. The Ninth Red Army distributed a large amount of Xuanwei ham and grain seized, which was famous both at home and abroad, to the poor people. Then, the Ninth Red Army captured Dongchuan County, held a public trial meeting of tens of thousands of people in the county, executed Yang Maozhang, the mayor of Dongchuan County, who was deeply hated by the people, and distributed the confiscated grain, salt, and cloth to the poor people. The political influence of the Communist Party and the Red Army was rapidly expanding on the Sichuan-Yunnan border. The poor people also welcomed and supported the Red Army. They prepared a large amount of grain, pork and vegetables for the Red Army. Women helped the Red Army soldiers sew and wash clothes and make cloth and straw shoes. In just one week, the Red Ninth Army raised more than 100,000 yuan, and more than 1,500 people joined the Red Ninth Army.

html On May 6, the Ninth Red Army Corps successfully crossed the Jinsha River from the northwest of Dongchuan and south of Menggu. On May 21, it joined the Central Red Army in Lizhou, ending nearly two months of separate marches and operations. It successfully completed the tasks assigned by the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, contained and eliminated a large number of enemy troops, and effectively cooperated with the main operations of the Central Red Army. Zhou Enlai affectionately praised the Ninth Red Army as the "strategic cavalry" in the Long March.

Some Western scholars who have studied the Long March said: The Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army are the greatest practitioners of travel in the world. They marched and fought in the most difficult environment, but they were always full of faith in victory. The natural scenery also gave them full enthusiasm, optimism, and longing for a better future. From October 1934 to October 1935, the Long March of the First Front Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the Central Military Commission column lasted for one year. Chairman Mao Zedong said that it took 367 days, one year and two days.

The Long March of the Central Red Army was not a march route of a long snake formation, but a sedan-carrying march, front, rear, center, left and right, plus gongs and drums-style guerrilla movements (the Ninth Red Army Corps was responsible for covering the main force), so the Red Army's It is difficult to identify the specific villages that the Long March passed through, and due to the circumstances at that time, the special operations forces basically did not leave complete written records of the villages they passed through. However, after decades of research and research on the Red Army’s Long March, it has been found that the Red Army marched in a large area. According to what I learned from my visits thirty years ago and now, the Central Red Army numbered more than 30,000 people along the Long March. The older fellow said that the Red Army passed through all over the mountains and took three days to finish.

Today I saw the article "The Central Red Army's Long March Through Southwest Guizhou" mentioned the Jiangguanling Iron Cable Bridge in Beipan. Regarding the Iron Cable Bridge, all we know is the story of the Red Army flying to capture the Luding Bridge. In fact, the Red Army captured many iron cable bridges during the Long March. On April 17, 1935, the Second Battalion of the Red Army's Advance Regiment was ordered to rush to Guanling (Huajiang) overnight to engage in a fierce battle with the enemy troops guarding the iron cable bridge. This was another example of seizing the iron cable bridge. In this battle to seize the bridge, Zhang Aiping led his troops to successfully control the iron cable bridge, cutting off the east-west traffic connection on the Beipanjiang River and ensuring the smooth passage of the Central Red Army through Zhenfeng County.

Hengduan Mountain, the road is difficult to travel

☆ Excerpt from "Long March Suite". Xiao Hua

- Hengduan Mountain, the road is difficult to travel. The sky is like fire and the water is like silver. Relatives bring water to quench their thirst, and soldiers and civilians live together as a family. In Hengduan Mountain, the road is difficult to travel. The enemy has heavy troops and is pressing down on the Guizhou border. A warrior walks the world with his feet, and he crosses Chishui four times and surprises his troops. The Wujiang River was dangerous and difficult to cross, and the troops came to Guiyang and forced them to Kunming. The enemy abandoned his armor and pipes, and our army took advantage of the victory to rush forward. When a tiger leaves the mountain and attacks the golden sands, Chairman Mao's use of troops is truly astonishing.

On May 12, 1935, after the Central Red Army crossed the Jinsha River, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held an enlarged meeting in a place called the Iron Factory on the outskirts of Huili County, Sichuan Province. The meeting was chaired by Mao Zedong. Participating in the meeting were Zhu De, Chen Yun, Zhou Enlai, Zhang Wentian, Bogu , Wang Jiaxiang, Deng Fa, html Kaifeng , Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, Peng Dehuai, Yang Shangkun, and Comintern military adviser Li De, etc.

Restored picture of the meeting site of the Huili Council - the Red Army Long March passed the Huili Memorial Hall

Council meeting

Zhang Wentian made a report on the situation at the meeting and made self-criticism. Mao Zedong summarized the Red Army's victory in crossing Chishui four times and crossing the Jinsha River, and clarified the correct thinking on the movement strategy. He criticized Lin Biao's opinion of "taking a bow" and his letter to the Central Committee of Three asking Peng Dehuai to serve as commander of the former enemy. Mao Zedong said angrily: "You are a baby, what do you know!?" Peng Dehuai also criticized Lin Biao and said: "The leadership was changed at the Zunyi Conference, and it is inappropriate to propose changing the command of the former enemy at this time; it is even more inappropriate to mention me specifically." This meeting summarized the experience of large-scale mobile warfare in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou since the Zunyi Conference, and discussed the Red Army's action plan for entering the Sichuan-Kang area after crossing the Jinsha River. It decided to immediately move northward, rush to cross the Dadu River, and move closer to the Red Fourth Front Army in northern Sichuan. It was decided to form an advance force composed of two soldiers from Sichuan, with Liu Bocheng as the commander and Nie Rongzhen as the political commissar, to clear the way for the Red Army to move north.

Today is a Monday. According to the regulations of the International Memorial Hall, except for holidays, the memorial hall is closed every Monday and is not open to the public. However, due to my time and itinerary, even if it falls on a Monday, visiting the memorial hall is still part of the plan. The leaders of the Red Army Long March Huili Memorial Hall were very understanding and warmly received me. They opened the museum for me to visit alone and signed and stamped it. Thank you sincerely, I will persevere!

In May 1935, Chairman Mao lived in a farmer's home on the outskirts of Huili City.

This photo of Mao Zedong in May 1935 on the outskirts of Huili City in Sichuan Province is the first photo of Chairman Mao during the Long March that I have seen so far. It is so precious! I watched for a long time. Chairman Mao left poems during the Red Army's Long March. I have never seen Chairman Mao on the Long March (photo). He looked so confident, with a cigarette between his left fingers. The person is not the description of Mao Zedong who was emaciated and riddled with illness as recorded in the Long March book, but the demeanor of a great Chinese man with high spirits! It’s so precious. I want to ask which military photographer captured this moment.

Cycling to the memorial site of the Congregational Conference

was another great discovery! Thirty years ago, was on foot to investigate the history of the Chinese Revolution. I passed through Miyi County in Sichuan Province and found that all the historical materials of the Red Army's Long March did not record that the Red Army's Long March passed through Miyi . However, I walked all the way down to earth and always felt that the Red Army should have passed through Miyi County . Thirty years later, when I entered Miyi from Huili, my nephew Wu Qiu came to pick me up on the road (China Youth Publishing House published "One Man's Long March" in 2005. In the book, I narrated a passage about celebrating the New Year at my eldest cousin's house in Miyi County during the Spring Festival in 1988). He told me that their Panxi Business Network-Miyi Online "Rural Discovery Column Group" was helping Nanchang Village to explore tourism cultural resources, promote villagers to get rich, and build a new countryside. So, I told him that I found from the "Central Red Army Crossing Liangshan Schematic" that the Red Army's Long March should have passed through Miyi.When he heard this, he said excitedly that he had heard a friend named Wei Zongyin say that in 1935, when the Red Army passed through Nanchang Village and passed by the local Ma family, the owner of the Ma family helped the Red Army.

Wei Zongyin introduced to the reporter of Panzhihua City TV: At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the Red Army troops came from Huili, that is, they came down from the pole underground on the top of Longzu Mountain.

So, the research on the Red Army's Long March passing through Miyi began. With the help of Comrade Luo You, secretary of the Party branch of Nanchang Village, we went to Nanchang Village and found the son and relatives of the Ma family who were the accountants of the Ma family. The historical curtain of the Central Red Army's Long March through Miyi began.

It turns out that when the Red Army passed through Miyi, Miyi was affiliated to Huili Prefecture (there was no word Miyi in 1935). Miyi County was established in 1952 and was divided from Huili. Therefore, there are only records of the Red Army's Long March passing through Huili in history. Through two days of on-the-spot investigation and interviews, I learned that Nanchang Village on the Anning River was historically the ancient Silk Road, the East Fourth Road of the Ancient Tea Horse Road from Xichang to Yunnan, and the march route of the Central Red Army Military Commission column from Huili to the Dadu River.

The Ancient Silk Road

A fellow villager said: Teams of Red Army soldiers leading their horses smoothly marched along Dongsi Road toward Dechang.

According to descendants of the Ma family, their parents once told them that the Red Army reconnaissance team (dressed as beggars) first came to make peace with the Ma family. The Ma family received them warmly, sent food and bacon, and stayed overnight. The next day, the Red Army scouts used the radio to report to the rear headquarters that the Ma family agreed to borrow the road. At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the Red Army troops came down from the pole underground on the top of Longzu Mountain. Teams of Red Army soldiers leading their horses smoothly marched along Dongsi Road toward Dechang... The leader of the Red Army also gave the Ma family a gift, saying it was two boxes of bullets. This is a major discovery that fills the historical gap that there was no Red Army Long March in Miyi County, Panzhihua City. What is even more gratifying is that this Red Army Long March Road is relatively well preserved. It is undoubtedly a timely help and the icing on the cake for carrying forward the spirit of the Long March, inheriting red culture, carrying out red tourism, rural revitalization strategies, and conducting patriotism education.

Descendants of the Ma family said that their parents once told them that a Red Army reconnaissance team (dressed as beggars) first came to make peace with the Ma family.

In 1990, the Party History Office of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China gave me a book called "The Red Army's Long March in Sichuan". The book records the history of the Red Army's Long March through Sichuan and the collected historical documents. I remember reading that after the Central Red Army crossed the Jinsha River from Jiaoping, Yunnan and entered Sichuan, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission issued several orders, notifying all departments of the Red Army to strictly keep secrets. Among them were the following regulations: pay attention to concealment, no slogans, shouting slogans, resting in hiding during the day, marching at night, etc. Through interviews and discussions with over 70-year-old villagers in Nanchang Village, what they told their fathers about the Red Army passing through here verified the details of the night march required in the book "The Red Army's Long March in Sichuan": "The Red Army troops came from Yakou on the Huili side, and the ones in front went down to the present Nanchang Village Committee. The one above was still on the top of the mountain, and the whole valley was illuminated by torches. The next day, a young man named Huang asked to join the Red Army and go with the team. He went home and told his parents that his wife was about to give birth and they did not allow him to go. "There was also a young man who asked to join the Red Army. The Red Army said he was too young..."

This is a schematic diagram of the Central Red Army crossing Liangshan and heading north that I took at the "Huili Red Army Long March Memorial Hall". Legend: Red is the Red Army, blue is the name of the country (Republican) Party Army. The map shows: In May 1935, the Central Red Army marched north from Huili to Liangshan in three directions. In the picture, marching on the side of the Anning River is the Central Column of the Red Army. Marching in the middle is the Third Red Army Corps led by Peng Dehuai and Yang Shangkun. The Red Army in the direction of Eyuba is not marked with numbers. The other side of the Jinsha River, that is, in the direction of Qiaojia, is the Ninth Red Army Corps led by Luo Binghui and He Changgong.

Schematic diagram of the Central Red Army crossing Liangshan Mountain and heading north

This schematic diagram of the Central Red Army crossing Liangshan Mountain and heading north is on the current National Highway 108 (there was no road in 1935 ) was marching by the Third Red Army Corps (Liu Bocheng and Nie Rongzhen led the advance team of the First Red Army Corps, which was already moving rapidly towards Xichang). The central column, namely Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Wang Jiaxiang and others, took a road by the Anning River next to National Highway 108.Look at the map again, the Kuomintang Pursuit and Suppression Army (Central Army), blue →, they are following the Red Army's central column. (Later, on the way, I informed Director Li of the Party History Office of Ximiyi County on WeChat: Xiao Feng, in his "Long March Diary", wrote down a passage: Departing on the sunny morning of May 11th, passing through Moxi Camp and Dingjiu Street to camp in the Taipingchang and Yimen areas, a journey of 70 miles. The Military Commission column was in Binggu, north of Huili, and our first legion directly affiliated team was stationed in Yimen. Note: Binggu is now Binggu Town, Miyi County).

Reference: In the spring of 1966, Marshal Peng Dehuai once again embarked on the Long March as the third deputy director of the Third Front Construction Committee. When Peng Dehuai came to Nonongping in Panzhihua, he was pleasantly surprised to find that Panzhihua is a mysterious cornucopia. From September 1940 when Chang Longqing, a student of geologist Li Siguang, led a caravan into the mountains for prospecting to the national geological survey at that time, it was shown that the reserves of vanadium-titanium magnetite were extremely rich, among which titanium and vanadium resource reserves ranked first in the country and even the world. This is a treasure land waiting to be developed.

Xu Chi, Secretary of the Panzhihua Special Economic Zone Party Committee and Commander-in-Chief of Construction, held Peng Dehuai's hand tightly: "Mr. Peng, your visit to Panzhihua this time has greatly promoted our work. When you return, please pay more attention to the external environment of the construction of our Panzhihua Steel Plant."

Peng Dehuai said repeatedly: "This is the place where our Red Army passed during the Long March, and today it is us again How can I forget the place where we are engaged in construction and war preparations for the country? After I return, I will report to the construction committee and strive to open the Chengdu-Kunming Railway and Guiyang-Kunming Railway as soon as possible so that the long-standing traffic problems for you will be solved as soon as possible. At the same time, the construction of Liupanshui Coal Mine must be accelerated, so that Liupanshui can provide you with coal as soon as possible to speed up the construction of Panzhihua Iron and Steel Plant." 11 from "People's Daily Online. Party History Channel".

Reference: June 3, 2013 "Panzhihua Daily" Yanbian today: According to this newspaper (Reporter Li Gang, Special Correspondent Fan Jinsi) Recently, during the cultural relics census in Xinjiu Township in Yanbian County, a batch of movable cultural relics from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and the Red Army's Long March period were discovered. Red Army cultural relics: On May 18, 1935, the militia group of the Eighth District of Huili County reported on preventing the Red Army from blocking the Red Army in Jiudaogou of Mengliangba; 14 telegrams from Zhu De, Chairman of the Central Military Commission; 17 military telegrams from Chiang Kai-shek and the Sichuan-Yunnan Kuomintang; and other documents and materials such as the memoirs of central leaders such as Chen Yun, Song Renqiong, and Wu Yunfu. (Note: In 1913, Huili Prefecture was changed to a county, and in 1935 it was affiliated to the 18th Administrative Supervision District of Sichuan Province. Miyi County was then part of Huili County, which was called Miyi Sub-County; Panzhihua City, formerly known as Shang and Xiaba Village, was named "Panzhihua Village" because there was an ancient and tall Panzhihua tree at the entrance of the village. In 1935, when the Central Red Army's Long March passed by, it was the No. 1 village in Sichuan Province. Territory of the 18th Administrative Supervision District. )

Reference material: "From Jinsha River to Dadu River" by Li Yimeng, then section chief of the Propaganda Department of the General Political Department of the Central Red Army and instructor of the Cadre Corps during the Long March: starting from Huili to Mianning, it was a total of eight nights of night march, covering a distance of 525 miles, all going straight up the left bank of the Anning River. The Anning River originates from Xiaoxiangling, flows into the Yalong River in the south, and then flows into the Jinsha River. It is this eight to nine hundred mile river basin that forms a flat and fertile valley. The towns along the river include Dianshaguan, Mosa Shoying, Jinchuanqiao, Huangshuitang, Lizhou and Lugu. They are all places with a population of hundreds of households. Although you can't see much when passing through at night, the smoothness of Sanhe concrete streets and the neat arrangement of pavements indicate that the trade situation should not be bad. Most of the residents had fled, and at night, the streets were so quiet that you could hear falling leaves. But some people also do some midnight business, selling glutinous rice balls and flour pancakes.

Li Yimeng’s words above fully prove that Chairman Mao, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, Vice Chairman Zhou Enlai and other central leaders entered Dechang County through Miyi County.

Gaode map search

Gaode map search: Route map of the Central Red Army’s Central Revolutionary Military Commission column from Tiechang Village in Huili County to Binggu Town in Miyi County in mid-May 1935

On May 19, 1935, Mao Zedong and other Red Army leaders lived in the Bianjia Siheyuan in Tuguanzhuang, Lizhou. On May 21, the famous Lizhou Conference was held in the Bianjia Temple in Tuguanzhuang, Lizhou, where the march route to the north to resist Japan was determined, and the term "Long March" was formally proposed for the first time.After the meeting, the Central Military Commission issued an "urgent" rerouting order at 18:00 on the 21st to determine the route of the Long March northward.

Red Army Long March Lizhou Conference Site Signage

Lizhou Conference Site

Bianjia Red Army Residence

After the Lizhou Conference, the word "Long March" with great historical significance began to appear in the Red Army's documents and propaganda slogans.