The beacon of youth

In the second half of [-] A.D., the Second Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army swept across the entire Southwest with a sweeping force.

Its main force, the Eighteenth Army, pointed directly at the last snow-covered plateau on the mainland that had not yet been liberated-Tibet.

The supreme ruler of Tibet, Daza Regent, transferred ten of the seventeen Tibetan troops to the front line of Qamdo in a vain attempt to take advantage of the dangerous terrain to resist and block the People's Liberation Army in the area of ​​the Jinsha River.

For this reason, the Tibetan high-level government frequently mobilized troops, destroyed roads and bridges, built fortifications and planted landmines, and deployed heavy troops on key passes to prevent what they called the Red Han people from entering Tibet, so as to continue their cruel rule of slavery.

Tibetan high-level officials also believe that although the Tibetan army is not as strong as the Japanese, the PLA may not be able to take advantage of fighting in Tibetan areas. If the Chinese army wants to come from Xinjiang, there are the Karakorum Mountains and the Qilian Mountains. It will cause great difficulties for them. There are also militias of the leaders of various sects and tribes there, and they will not let the army of the Communist Party pass smoothly.

If the Communist Army wants to come from Qinghai, the Tanggula Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains will make it impossible for the Communist Army to return, because no army in history has ever been able to pose a threat to Tibet from this direction, and it will not now.

Therefore, if the communist army wanted to enter Tibet, they had to go along the Kangzang area. As long as the Tibetan army could hold the Jinsha River and defend Qamdo, it would be able to block the throat channel for the communist army to enter Tibet.

Therefore, the small Qamdo area has become the focus of both the Tibetan Army and the People's Liberation Army. The Tibetan Army wants to defend Qamdo and prevent the People's Liberation Army from entering Tibet. Use Qamdo as a springboard to liberate the whole of Tibet.

August.The death of Geda Living Buddha, the representative of the People's Liberation Army who went to Qamdo for peace talks (the intelligence of the enemy Ministry of Industry, was done by British spies), also strengthened the determination of the Military Commission to launch the Qamdo Campaign. Therefore, the main force of the Tibetan army must be annihilated in one fell swoop, and the independent ambitions of the high-ranking Tibetan rulers must be dispelled.

Under the orders of the Second Field and the Southwest Military Region, the Eighteenth Army of the People's Liberation Army was actively preparing to enter Tibet, but encountered great difficulties in specific issues.

The first reason why the troops have not moved is the food problem.The People's Liberation Army's attack speed is very fast, but the backward logistics system has hindered it. The entire army has tens of thousands of horses, and food is a big burden, according to the latest situation sent back.The soldiers of the Eighteenth Army were already digging wild vegetables and catching field mice to satisfy their hunger, in order to quickly supply the Eighteenth Army with food.The superior thought of many ways.One of them is to build an airport in Qamdo, the gateway of Tibet, to carry out air transportation by plane.

The second reason is similar to the difficulties encountered by Yiye troops when they suppressed bandits in Xinjiang. Although the weapons and equipment and personnel quality of the Tibetan army are not very good, they also have their strengths. The vast majority of the Tibetan army are cavalry, mobile The speed is faster than Erye's troops.The head office of the Southwest Military Region considered the problem, once the battle started, what should the Tibetan army do if they couldn't fight, and how to make the infantry catch up with the cavalry.

The third difficulty is the plateau problem.At an altitude of more than 3000 meters, the oxygen content in the air will gradually decrease, and people will experience the so-called altitude sickness. In this regard, there is a gap between soldiers in the inland and Tibetan soldiers who are used to living in plateau areas.

In order to create an opportunity for the [-]th Army of the Second Field to completely wipe out the enemy, the superior decided to call a unit of the First Field to quickly move behind the enemy's buttocks, intercept the enemy's retreat after the Battle of Qamdo, and then Gather and annihilate the main force of the Chamdo defenders, paving the way for the peaceful liberation of Tibet. This unit selected by the superiors to block the enemy's buttocks is an independent brigade under the No. [-] Corps of the First Field Army of the People's Liberation Army, which is marching rapidly. A well-known heroic force in the Northwest.

In August, Zhang Guohua, commander of the 300th Army, the main force of the People's Liberation Army's campaign, proposed at a meeting of the Southwest Military Region to study the Battle of Qamdo that if the road from Ganzi to Ya'an could be opened by the end of August, 5000 vehicles and 9 troops could be concentrated west of Shanghai. All the dry food, winter clothes, and fuel needed for a single yak can be transported. In September and October, 10 million catties of grain will be transported to Ganzi by car and a large number of horse-drawn carts. Then the Battle of Qamdo can be launched in October. The launch time will be postponed.

It can be seen from this that how much war depends on logistics. It is no exaggeration to say that without effective logistics as a guarantee, there is no hope of winning a war. This is the natural law of war. No matter who violates it, they will suffer Big pain.

The content of the meeting of the Southwest Military Region was reported to the Central Committee, and several questions raised by the Central Committee to the Southwest Military Region were:

First, whether the road from Ganzi to Qamdo can be built and opened to traffic according to the advancing speed of the troops.Second, whether Qamdo can build an airport and whether it is suitable for aircraft airdrops.Third, how many troops are needed to attack Qamdo, whether to use a division of the [-]th Army, or to dispatch all the main forces of the army, and whether the required supplies are sufficient.

When the [-]th Army was actively preparing for the Battle of Qamdo, the leaders of the Tibetan army guarding Qamdo still had a sense of luck. They believed that as time went by and the temperature dropped, the golden season for entering Tibetan areas had passed. Wanting to march into Tibet will have to be a matter of the coming year. The situation in the world is changing day by day, and who knows what the coming year will be like.

The outbreak of the Korean War made them ecstatic, and the continuous expansion of the war situation made the high-ranking rulers in Tibet feel that the attention of the People's Liberation Army is now on the northeast frontier defense, which is too far away from them. Huan, the march into Tibet is still powerless.

At this time, a troop of the People's Liberation Army, which was considered powerless by the leaders of the Tibetan army, was marching rapidly. The troops of tens of thousands of people all marched in the form of motorized infantry. Heavy artillery, tanks, and trucks stirred up billowing smoke and dust. Lie opened a distance of more than ten kilometers, full of murderous intent, and headed straight to the Tibetan area.

Needless to say, this troop that walks with a sense of bullying is exactly the independent brigade of the Second Army of the People's Liberation Army transferred from Xinjiang. It has fought countless tough and vicious battles.

The first echelon at the forefront of the entire army is Li Jiangguo's [-]st Infantry Battalion. After the Independent Brigade completed the task of suppressing bandits, the Fifth Army Cavalry Battalion and a cavalry platoon (combat heroes, horse and wooden platoon) assigned by their superiors ) have been rebuilt, so the current organizational system of the whole brigade has returned to the previous scale of ten battalions.

The reason why the first battalion is the first echelon of the whole army is because Li Yong and Wang Chengde believe that among all the commanders above the independent brigade and battalion, the first battalion commander Li Jiangguo is the one with the most clever mind and the most flexible command method One, it would be more reassuring for both of them to let the [-]st Battalion lead the way ahead.

In order to allow the troops to pass through quickly, Li Yong assigned the engineering company directly under the brigade headquarters to the first battalion, and at the same time asked the reconnaissance battalion to arrange a platoon as a vanguard and place it at the front of the main force. In this way, the first battalion commander Li Jiang The strength in Guo's hands reached an infantry battalion, an engineering company and a reconnaissance platoon. Li Yong felt that with such a lineup, it would be enough to deal with unexpected problems.

The task is not easy, Li Yong, as the leader of the brigade, feels heavy in his heart, but the soldiers don't worry about it. They naturally think that we have the brigade leader to lead us, so there are still tasks that cannot be completed?Impossible, this was the case before, and it is still the case now.

Therefore, the marching queue kept laughing and laughing, because all marched by car, the soldiers were full of physical strength and energy, and bursts of singing rang out from time to time in the murderous marching queue.

First Battalion Commander Li Jiangguo Niu, don't look at him as a battalion commander, but he is in charge of a small two thousand troops, and their fighting power is ridiculously strong.

The second son of Changning in the reconnaissance platoon came back and reported to him that Hami was ahead, whether the troops should continue marching or camp in place.

Li Jiangguo directly used the walkie-talkie to call through the channel of the brigade headquarters. The forward had arrived in Hami and asked the troops how to march.

It was getting dark, and the brigade commander Li Yong ordered the troops to camp on the spot.

Time flies, and in less than a year, the Independent Brigade came to Hami again. The difference is that when they came, they came to liberate Xinjiang. They also met Yao Lebosi, the leader of the bandit. After he retired, Yao Lebosi escaped by chance, but all the bandits under him were arrested, and Hami also had a new people's government.

Even if you leave Hami, you have left Xinjiang. All the fighting history of the Independent Brigade has come to an end. The scene of fighting with Xinjiang bandits is like a movie. Li Yong’s mind is constantly flashing. , the wounded who stayed in Yiwu, the boundless desert, and the horse that made great contributions, people will never forget it.

Li Yong shook his head vigorously. He didn't want to think about it anymore. The mission of the troops changed, and the difficulties would increase accordingly. Marching into Tibet was a brand new stage. How to perform would depend on the performance of him and the soldiers.

Political commissar Wang Chengde and Li Yong stood together. Old Wang looked at the Hami city not far in front of him, and said to Li Yong:

"Dayong, when we came here, we didn't even enter the city because of the urgent military affairs. Now that we have plenty of time, you can bring a few people into the city to take a look. I'll stay here."

"No, I'll talk about it later when I have a chance. The soldiers didn't go. What am I going to the city as a brigade commander? To see the western scenery? I don't have that leisurely mind. Let's think about the marching plan after dinner."

In order not to disturb the local soldiers and civilians, the troops camped not far from the city. Early the next morning, the troops continued to set off without talking all the way. Because of the road conditions, the marching speed was only more than 30 kilometers.

In the afternoon, the troops set off from Hami and walked another [-] to [-] kilometers. The front reconnaissance platoon reported that they had arrived at Xingxing Gorge. (To be continued..)