Political Commissar Yang Chengwu immediately poured a big bowl of wine for everyone, and the warriors drank it all. With the order of the regiment commander Geng Biao, the warriors jumped onto the bamboo rafts and headed towards the other side.

Introduction

In January 1935, next to the cold wind of Wujiang , 8 Red Army warriors with naked upper bodies were ready to die in the face of the rapids. The warriors led by

said firmly: "In order to complete the task, let alone cold wind and ice water, they must break through even the rain of bullets!" political commissar Yang Chengwu immediately poured a big bowl of wine for everyone, and the warriors drank it all. With the order of the regiment commander Geng Biao, the warriors jumped onto the bamboo rafts and headed towards the other side.

It turns out that the warriors who led the team were named Mao Zhenhua.

Picture | Mao Zhenhua (stills)

He was the number one hero who forced the Wujiang River in to , and he was also a brave hero who cleverly captured Lazikou. He was deeply favored by all the leaders of our army.

When other soldiers of the same age were still accumulating combat experience, Mao Zhenhua had long been the independent combat hero, and made amazing achievements many times on the way to Long March .

With his efforts, our army on the Long March was able to continuously crush Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to destroy the Red Army, and also opened up a new situation for the revolutionary plan. Unfortunately, his life was forever frozen at the age of 25.

Back then, Mao Zhenhua was the "our hero" mentioned by Deng Gong and a role model for everyone in the Red Army to follow. To talk about how powerful he was on the battlefield, what is the reason for his death so young?

1. A young soldier who is dedicated to serving the country

1910, Mao Zhenhua was born in Hunan. After joining the Eighth Route Army, he served as the guard of Marshal He Long and participated in the Nanchang Uprising . He was very popular in the army at a young age for his good marksmanship.

Although the troops were disbanded after the uprising, Mao Zhenhua could only disguise himself as the common people and go home to avoid the limelight. When the Red Army attacked Changsha in 1930, he immediately found the large army and then started the revolutionary journey again.

At first, he was just an ordinary soldier in the Red Army, but he performed well in many battles, and his superiors attached more and more importance to him. Until the beginning of the Long March, Mao Zhenhua was already an excellent backbone in the army.

At this moment, the Red Army encountered an unprecedented test. Once the decision was wrong, it was very likely that it would be the fate of annihilation of the entire army. In the midst of internal and external difficulties, Mao Zhenhua used his outstanding combat talents again and again.

2. Tensions before forcing the crossing of the Wujiang River

The autumn of 1934 was full of haze and rain. The originally prosperous Jiangxi Soviet Red regime has gradually shown a prairie fire. Under the wrong guidance of Wang Ming's "left" adventurism, the Red Army suffered a serious failure in the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression".

On October 10, more than 80,000 soldiers of the First Red Army had to embark on the Long March. More than a month later, they were once again surrounded and intercepted by the Kuomintang army on the Hunan-Guangxi border, and their troops were sharply reduced to 30,000.

pic | The fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression"

Fortunately, our party timely adopted Chairman Mao's suggestion of "avoiding the real and going to the virtual", and gave up going to Xiangxi and the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps and plans to go to northern Guizhou.

At the end of December, when our soldiers came to the Wujiang River, the crisis-ridden situation did not change at all. Li Deshang, who had just experienced the battle of Xiangjiang River, was still scared, and he lost confidence in the plan to break through Wujiang to Zunyi .

It is undeniable that these two Red Army leaders have brought our army into a desperate situation. At this moment, the key "Monkey Field Contest" kicked off. At the meeting of the Central Political Bureau held by our army at Houchang Town , Chairman Mao and Bo Gu, Li De and others started a verbal battle, which also made everyone realize the significance of forcing the crossing of the Wujiang River at this time.

As the Chairman said back then: "The natural danger can be overcome, but the strong enemy is difficult to deal with. Military power and strategy should avoid the real and make the weak. We do not need to use 30,000 people to drill Chiang Kai-shek's 200,000 iron barrel formation, but to pierce the weak Guizhou enemy in the north like a sword, so as to break the enemy's encirclement and turn danger into a barrage.

Introduction

In January 1935, next to the cold wind of Wujiang , 8 Red Army warriors with naked upper bodies were ready to die in the face of the rapids. The warriors led by

said firmly: "In order to complete the task, let alone cold wind and ice water, they must break through even the rain of bullets!" political commissar Yang Chengwu immediately poured a big bowl of wine for everyone, and the warriors drank it all. With the order of the regiment commander Geng Biao, the warriors jumped onto the bamboo rafts and headed towards the other side.

It turns out that the warriors who led the team were named Mao Zhenhua.

Picture | Mao Zhenhua (stills)

He was the number one hero who forced the Wujiang River in to , and he was also a brave hero who cleverly captured Lazikou. He was deeply favored by all the leaders of our army.

When other soldiers of the same age were still accumulating combat experience, Mao Zhenhua had long been the independent combat hero, and made amazing achievements many times on the way to Long March .

With his efforts, our army on the Long March was able to continuously crush Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to destroy the Red Army, and also opened up a new situation for the revolutionary plan. Unfortunately, his life was forever frozen at the age of 25.

Back then, Mao Zhenhua was the "our hero" mentioned by Deng Gong and a role model for everyone in the Red Army to follow. To talk about how powerful he was on the battlefield, what is the reason for his death so young?

1. A young soldier who is dedicated to serving the country

1910, Mao Zhenhua was born in Hunan. After joining the Eighth Route Army, he served as the guard of Marshal He Long and participated in the Nanchang Uprising . He was very popular in the army at a young age for his good marksmanship.

Although the troops were disbanded after the uprising, Mao Zhenhua could only disguise himself as the common people and go home to avoid the limelight. When the Red Army attacked Changsha in 1930, he immediately found the large army and then started the revolutionary journey again.

At first, he was just an ordinary soldier in the Red Army, but he performed well in many battles, and his superiors attached more and more importance to him. Until the beginning of the Long March, Mao Zhenhua was already an excellent backbone in the army.

At this moment, the Red Army encountered an unprecedented test. Once the decision was wrong, it was very likely that it would be the fate of annihilation of the entire army. In the midst of internal and external difficulties, Mao Zhenhua used his outstanding combat talents again and again.

2. Tensions before forcing the crossing of the Wujiang River

The autumn of 1934 was full of haze and rain. The originally prosperous Jiangxi Soviet Red regime has gradually shown a prairie fire. Under the wrong guidance of Wang Ming's "left" adventurism, the Red Army suffered a serious failure in the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression".

On October 10, more than 80,000 soldiers of the First Red Army had to embark on the Long March. More than a month later, they were once again surrounded and intercepted by the Kuomintang army on the Hunan-Guangxi border, and their troops were sharply reduced to 30,000.

pic | The fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression"

Fortunately, our party timely adopted Chairman Mao's suggestion of "avoiding the real and going to the virtual", and gave up going to Xiangxi and the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps and plans to go to northern Guizhou.

At the end of December, when our soldiers came to the Wujiang River, the crisis-ridden situation did not change at all. Li Deshang, who had just experienced the battle of Xiangjiang River, was still scared, and he lost confidence in the plan to break through Wujiang to Zunyi .

It is undeniable that these two Red Army leaders have brought our army into a desperate situation. At this moment, the key "Monkey Field Contest" kicked off. At the meeting of the Central Political Bureau held by our army at Houchang Town , Chairman Mao and Bo Gu, Li De and others started a verbal battle, which also made everyone realize the significance of forcing the crossing of the Wujiang River at this time.

As the Chairman said back then: "The natural danger can be overcome, but the strong enemy is difficult to deal with. Military power and strategy should avoid the real and make the weak. We do not need to use 30,000 people to drill Chiang Kai-shek's 200,000 iron barrel formation, but to pierce the weak Guizhou enemy in the north like a sword, so as to break the enemy's encirclement and turn danger into a barrage."

Finally, the whole army determined the strategic deployment of breaking through the Wujiang natural danger and entering Zunyi. At this time, the problem facing the soldiers was how to successfully cross the river and break through the enemy defense line on the north bank. Mao Zhenhua showed his skills in the subsequent forced cruising.

3. The suicide squad made great contributions to the ferry

1935 New Year's Day, Geng Biao, the commander of our vanguard regiment, led his troops to the Jiangjiehe Ferry to inspect the terrain. The rolling river water in front of him and the cliffs on both sides of the shore were daunting. The most important thing is that each The ships at the ferry were controlled by the Kuomintang army. They also deployed heavy troops on the north shore, opening their bloody mouths and waiting for our army to come to the door.

This time the vanguard regiment was responsible for the most difficult middle-road ferry mission, and Mao Zhenhua was the company commander of the 3rd Company of the Pioneer regiment.

Geng Biao learned from the local fellow villagers that there was a mountain path 500 meters upstream of the ferry where they were about to attack. There was a tiger cave barely walking next to it. The enemy army only had a platoon of defense here. The enemy's regiment headquarters was still 1 kilometer away, which was an excellent breakout location.

Picture | Wujiang Natural Hazard

Geng Biao immediately formulated a combat strategy, feint attacking the ferry, and secretly attacking the Tiger Cave. Although our army only had dozens of bamboo rafts helped by the people at this time, many poor boatmen expressed their willingness to act as ferrymen. The people of the Pioneer Regiment immediately increased their confidence in forcing the Wujiang River.

Just when the Pioneer Regiment arrived at the ferry, the 1st Battalion launched a forced ferry mission to attack the Tiger Cave. The plan was that after successfully crossing the river, the soldiers needed to lurk on the shore and stay hidden, and then launch a sneak attack on the enemy until dawn.

The Wujiang River is cold and windy in the late night, with the biting river water and huge waves. The more than 10 soldiers who first tried to cross the river were washed away on the way and disappeared.

Geng Biao was extremely anxious at this time. He also realized that it would be a fantasy for soldiers with poor water quality to cross the river in such a harsh water environment. On the other hand, Mao Zhenhua came to him and volunteered.

"Captain, I have liked swimming in the river since I was a child, and I have learned a lot of boating skills from my father. I am not afraid of wind and waves. I will leave this task to me! "

Geng Biao saw that his beloved general was determined to win, and Lianlian expressed his approval: "Okay! The fighter is chosen by you, and I am here waiting for the signal that you will arrive on the other side of the shore in victory! "

At this time, Mao Zhenhua was less than 25 years old. He immediately found a correspondent and three light machine gunners. Several people boarded the bamboo raft and set off a speed of life and death with the turbulent river.

Not long after, Mao Zhenhua supported the bamboo raft and arrived at the north shore smoothly. After getting ashore, everyone came to a small cave to hide, and sent a signal to the regiment headquarters on the south shore with a faint flame. The soldiers on both sides of the strait got in touch, and the whole army was waiting for the decisive battle after dawn. That night, the team led by Mao Zhenhua hid in the cave and shivered. Because the small cave was extremely wet, the five people could only sit bent their knees and depend on each other to keep warm, and even couldn't sleep for a while. Everyone looked at the stars in the sky in silence, looking forward to the sky. Ming.

dawn, and with the flashing flash of flashing flashes on the south bank, Mao Zhenhua and his group received a signal of preparation.

Picture | Forcing crossing the Wujiang River

Just as they were circling around and climbing halfway up the mountain, coming to the enemy post behind. Seeing 18 comrades on the other side carrying weapons and equipment to start crossing the river, Mao Zhenhua led a team to attack the enemy post to cover the team crossing the river.

Ironically, in the enemy post at this time, a platoon of soldiers were still sleeping in. Such a surprise attack immediately made them panic, and some even widened their eyes and shouted: "The magic weapon is here! " shot and grenades attacked, and the enemy post was wiped out.

When the enemy's Jiang defense commander Lin Xiusheng learned of the battle situation ahead, he hurriedly sent three regiments to strengthen the defense. At this time, the seemingly incomplete middle crossing of our army had been torn apart by Mao Zhenhua. After

, the 2nd Division of the Red Army, which had not yet crossed the river, blocked the enemy reinforcements with dense artillery fire on the south bank, giving our army's successful crossing sufficient time to occupy the favorable terrain to launch a counterattack. At the same time, a platoon of our army's troops continued to carry out crossing under cover.On the steep mountain path on the north bank of

, it is difficult to expand the scale of the battle. Our soldiers saw a stone wall on the left that could climb up. Mao Zhenhua quickly cooperated with his comrades who had just completed the forced cruising to occupy a commanding height of the stone peak in front of the enemy's right.

From then on, the vanguard regiment launched a frontal charge with the enemy, and more bamboo rafts were forced to cross the south bank, and one company after another successfully arrived at the north bank. Mao Zhenhua was already well aware of the terrain here, and he commanded his successfully landed comrades to fight with the enemy effectively.

Perhaps I never thought that our army would create such a miracle of crossing the Wujiang River. The enemy soldiers who were still vicious yesterday were all like deflated balls at this time, and the defense lines were defeated one after another.

This is the powerful general in the hands of the Jiang family dynasty. Some cried and shouted to their parents, some fled with their guns, and some knelt down and begged for mercy. Our army won the victory of crossing the Wujiang River with an unstoppable attitude.

This situation is just as Zhang Yunyi, deputy chief of staff of the Military Commission, encouraged the soldiers before the war: "Commissioner Mao said that we must pay attention to the Guizhou army in front of Wang Jialie, and we must despise them! It is because the enemy is guarding by danger, and this battle is indeed difficult to fight; it is because the 'double gun soldiers' in front of us who cannot do without smoke guns can't help but fight!"

Picture | Commander who forced to cross the Wujiang River

After that, the 3rd Battalion of the Pioneer Regiment cooperated with engineer company to build a floating bridge. The leader of the cadre regiment Chen Geng led the way and led the soldiers for 36 hours to build an artificial floating bridge in the Wujiang River.

When the chairman stepped onto the floating bridge to cross the river, he couldn't help but stomped hard, and praised him repeatedly: "It's amazing, it's amazing!"

After this battle, the whole army knew the name Mao Zhenhua, especially when he broke through the river in the middle, it was his efforts that made the situation of the battle turn in an instant.

After our army successfully conquered Zunyi, the Chairman specially awarded Mao Zhenhua an Red Star Medal . Mr. Deng also wrote an article for this, calling Mao Zhenhua "our hero"! After the Zunyi Conference

After 9 months of difficult advance, the Red Army walked out of Songfan grassland. At the same time, another arduous combat mission fell on Mao Zhenhua's shoulders, that is, to conquer Lazikou, the key aisui in Gansu.

4. The natural barrier of Lazikou is desperate

On September 10, 1935, the Chairman led more than 8,000 Red Army heroes to the north alone and came to the Russian community to hold an enlarged meeting of the Politburo. When discussing strategies for response, everyone focused their discussion on attacking the natural danger Lazikou.

In the view of the Chairman: "If you don't capture the natural danger Lazikou, the Red Army will be very passive in military and political generals!"

On September 13, the Party Central Committee led the Shaanxi-Gansu Detachment from the Russian border, and along the east bank of Bailongjiang, traitorous enemies all the way, and arrived at Lazikou at the foot of Minshan on the 16th.

The magical Lazikou natural chasm is in front of you. This is an important pass in the Minshan Mountains and the gateway to Gannan from northwest Sichuan. It is about 30 meters wide and is surrounded by mountains and steep ridges. The terrain is extremely dangerous.

A narrow ravine is sandwiched between cliffs and cliffs. There is also a river flowing down at the pass, and a wooden bridge spans it. This is the only passage through Lazikou, which is extremely dangerous.

At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek, who repeatedly blocked our army's strength, once again equipped two divisions of troops in Minxian and Lazikou area, hoping to block our army's way through such natural danger.

Picture | Lazikou Tianqian

Chairman looked at the natural terrain of Lazikou and thought about the tests of Wujiang, Jinsha River, , snow mountains, grasslands and other tests that our army had broken through in the past. He knew very well that this time was another inevitable tough battle for our army, but he also had confidence that the soldiers who had overcome all obstacles along the way could continue to create miracles.

In this way, the Chairman issued an order to the entire army: "Take Lazikou within two days!"

On the afternoon of September 16, the Lazikou Battle officially started, and our army launched five fierce attacks. However, the terrain of Lazikou was too steep and effective attacks were always difficult to carry out. Another problem that cannot be ignored is that the enemy built a bunker at the bridgehead, which was completely built based on the terrain advantages of Lazikou, which was definitely easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Seeing that this battle is very likely to become an unfinished task, Mao Zhenhua once again volunteered to fight, and how did he create a miracle?

5. "Shocks from Heaven" help reverse the situation

At that time, Mao Zhenhua had been promoted to the commander of the 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the Pioneer Regiment. Seeing his comrades rushing to Lazikou again and again, they were easily repelled by the enemy bunkers, the Pioneer Regiment with rich combat experience was also anxious about this.

In fact, in addition to the death order issued by the Chairman above, the soldiers of the entire army were also facing a cruel fact, that is, the enemy troops led by the Kuomintang Hu Zongnan were rushing towards Lazikou. If the pursuers arrived, our army would still not be able to break through this natural barrier, and there would be no room for maneuver when fighting with the pursuers. Wang Kaixiang, the leader of the Pioneer Regiment, held an emergency meeting to explain to the soldiers of the regiment that the severe situation of the Lazikou attack was explained to the soldiers of the regiment, because our army did not have heavy firepower support such as mortar at that time. Even if the soldiers continued to project grenades at the enemy bunkers, the passive offensive state could not be changed. While working together, Mao Zhenhua stood up and put forward his own opinions through his previous observation of the terrain and his understanding of the enemy camp.

Picture | Mao Zhenhua (stills)

"Report! According to reconnaissance, the enemy's bunker has no roof cover, and there is no one to defend the cliff behind. We have a team of people who detour the cliff from behind and throw grenades from above. We will definitely be able to remove the bunker at one time!"

Mao Zhenhua's suggestion made Wang Kaixiang's eyes lit up. You must know that the bunker built by the enemy at that time did only consider the terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. It originated from the cliff behind, so the role of the bunker top cover was ignored. In addition, the enemy also gathered all its forces in the front of the battle with our army, and there was no deployment of troops on both sides. A strategic arrangement like

may be a provocation, and it also proves that the enemy is confident that our army will not come back from other parts of the cliff, and can only try to win the battle through frontal attacks.

But they still underestimated the combat effectiveness of our army. In other words, the Kuomintang army, the "double spear soldiers", had never seen our soldiers' determination to win in the face of difficulties and obstacles!

Mao Zhenhua's suggestions sound really attractive, but Wang Kaixiang also knew that if he wanted the commando to climb up from a cliff of 70 or 80 meters, without the support of excellent equipment, he wanted to do it as if he had reached the sky.

Although Mao Zhenhua said that he would complete the task even if he fought to the death, Wang Kaixiang still did not dare to agree easily until an Miao soldier named Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan stood up and whispered: "Captain, let me do it!"

It turned out that this young soldier has been collecting herbs in the mountains since he was a child. It is always common for climbing mountains and climbing cliffs. He was the advance force of the roundabout attack troops, and the rock climbing problem was solved.

In this way, our army formulated a new combat plan, and the troops were divided into two groups to launch a Lazikou battle:

First, Yang Chengwu, the political commissar of the Pioneer Regiment, led the 6th Company to conduct a night attack from the front, trying to seize the wooden bridge. If the goal was not achieved, we would launch a continuous attack on the enemy bunkers to achieve the purpose of dismantling the enemy's will, consuming the enemy's ammunition, and causing the enemy's panic.

Second, the leader of the Pioneer Regiment Wang Kaixiang led the 1st and 2nd Company to quietly detour to the right side of Lazikou, and then gradually touched the rear of the enemy bunker through the rock climbing cliff.

pic | Lazikou Battle

In this way, the geographical advantage previously occupied by the enemy bunkers will instantly become a disadvantage, and our soldiers can easily remove it by bombing with grenades.

In such a crisis, our army could not even find a bundle of strong ropes. Mao Zhenhua once again became wise. The soldiers untied their leggings one after another, and a rope that condensed the steel will of millions of soldiers emerged.

Taking advantage of the night and carrying ropes, the young soldiers in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan climbed up the steep wall with a long pole with iron hooks, and then tied the rope to the trunk of the cliff. The soldiers at the foot of the mountain climbed up the cliff one by one.

Not long after, two signal flares rose from the enemy bunker halfway up the mountain. White means the 1st and 2nd companies are successful in detour, and red means the general attack begins.

When the light of the signal flare sprinkled on the enemy's face, looking at the Red Army soldiers above their heads, everyone was suddenly distracted. At this moment, our soldiers were like divine weapons falling from the sky, and grenades hit the enemy's bunker like a pouring rain. These "double spear soldiers" immediately became scared and threw down their guns to escape.

After more than five hours of fierce fighting, Lazikou was captured by our army, completely exceeding the enemy's expectations. It was Mao Zhenhua who proposed such a wise combat plan. It is undeniable that after forcing the crossing of the Wujiang River, he made great contributions to our army.

If you want to talk about how hard our army fought in this battle back then, it can be seen from the feelings of Peng Dehuai, the commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu Detachment: "I don't know how we heroes climbed up the cliff and threw grenades!"

Behind this emotion, it was because Peng Dehuai witnessed that a 50-meter cliff road in front of Lazikou was covered with grenades and wooden handles.

The victory of the Lazikou Battle means that our army successfully overcomes the last natural danger in the Long March, and Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to destroy our army with the help of favorable terrain was completely destroyed.

Picture | Lazikou Victory

Our army walked out of the Minshan Mountains ushered in a new life, which also made the Kuomintang army realize that even if our army fought to the point where only one soldier was left, it was still their invincible existence!

Mao Zhenhua once again made great contributions to the entire army. Just as he was full of confidence and continued to move forward, unfortunately he fell from the sky. Why did such a dazzling new star in our army fall?

6. The hero died in vain, and the star fell

When our army entered Gansu, it broke free from the encirclement and blockade of the Kuomintang army and marched quickly to the northwest.

At that time, the company led by Mao Zhenhua was still the advance force of our army. When they came to Hongde City, Huan County along the way, they were accidentally attacked by local militia and landlords at a place where they were.

As the leader of advance team , Mao Zhenhua still rushed to the front in such a small battle. Unfortunately, during the battle between the two sides, he was unfortunately shot in the face and died on the spot. He was only 25 years old.

When the political commissar Yang Chengwu heard the news, he stepped forward and hugged Mao Zhenhua tightly. His body was still warm, as if he was just injured and fainted. But everyone had to face the fact that our army's well-deserved combat hero left forever...

5 days later, our army, who arrived in Wuqi Town, officially ended the long Long March test, and everyone cheered. When he was excited, Yang Chengwu couldn't help crying loudly. He felt unwilling to accept Mao Zhenhua's fall on the eve of his victory, and also felt sorry for our army's loss of such a powerful general. As he said: "We lost a tiger general!"

Conclusion

If Mao Zhenhua had not suffered the catastrophe of that year and had always fought on the front line of our army, what would happen? You might as well look at the good generals who were similar to his age, qualifications and military positions.

Once upon a time, General Liang Xingchu, the famous "Long Live Army" commander on the Korean battlefield, was only a commander of our reconnaissance company during the Long March. Mao Zhenhua's military achievements and talents back then were not inferior to him. In 1955, Liang Xingchu was awarded the rank of founding lieutenant general. It is conceivable that if Mao Zhenhua could fight to this point, he would be destined to be the well-deserved leader of our army.

pic | Founding Lieutenant General Liang Xingchu

After all, if Mao Zhenhua made his military achievements only rely on courage and fearlessness, how could he get the high attention of our army leaders? His extraordinary lies in the coexistence of wisdom and courage, and he lives to death in desperate situations!

In fact, on the Long March that year, Mao Zhenhua made far more than forced crossing the Wujiang River and cleverly seizing Lazikou. Unfortunately, more stories about him can no longer be found in historical materials today.

rushes over the Wujiang River and the steep Lazikou. The sound of fighting in the past is still in my ears. The heroes are still guarding the hard-earned country in the sky. I hope that Mao Zhenhua and the heroes will smile in the sky...