From to 1935 2020

As for looking south...

The Hanzhong Plain in southern Shaanxi is the richest land in Shaanxi!

As long as it wins here, the Red Army will have the most stable granary to raise troops in the three provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia.

-------------------- Chapter 75 The Death of Wang Ming--------------------

Chapter 75 The Death of Wang Ming

"The issue of the Three Horses in the Northwest is first a political issue, and then a military issue. The struggle between the Red Army and the Three Horses in the Northwest will be a long-term struggle! It is extremely dangerous left-leaning adventurism."

At the military meeting on August [-], the Three Horses issue was naturally the focus of discussion.The senior officials of the Central Red Army and military representatives confirmed through the meeting their initial intention to resolve the Three Horses issue in the future: to focus on safety, to fight steadily and steadily, and to prepare for a long-term war.But it is easier to understand for later generations: gain a firm foothold in the Northwest, and then through economic warfare and war of attrition, gradually weaken and erode the potential of the three horses, and then wipe them out when the time is right.

In the direction of northern Shaanxi, from the rest of 1935 to the first half of the spring of next year, the main strategic focus is to gain a firm foothold first, and then gradually and steadily expand the sphere of influence outward. From the north to the south, the Yang Hucheng Northwest Army forms a military pressure.During this period, the main strategic goal of the Red Army in this area was to eliminate the "civilians", landlord armed forces, horse bandits and other scattered forces in this area, establish grassroots organizations in the base areas, and gradually squeeze the forces of the Northwest Army out of the surrounding countryside. .

As for the three horses in the northwest, especially the neighboring "Ningma" forces, they are still huddled in Ningxia and dare not act rashly for the time being, but if they come to invade, they will resolutely attack and eliminate them.

After the discussion at the meeting, the entire northern Shaanxi area was handed over to Peng Shuai for military affairs, and Zhang Wentian presided over internal affairs.Considering the "bearable" power of the local people and the military power faced by northern Shaanxi, the Red Army in this area temporarily only retains [-] troops.

And a large number of main forces of the Red Army are hoarded in the area from Tianshui to Baoji.

During the second half of the August [-] military conference, the Hanzhong issue was discussed.

From Huang Ke's mouth, in the next few years, the entire northwest region will be a "famine year" full of disasters, and the local people will find it very difficult to support themselves.In the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, no matter which warlords were fought, it was nothing more than transferring the pressure of feeding the more than [-] Red Army to the civilians in other impoverished areas.Although the red regime is far superior to these brutal warlords in terms of integrity, developing to the northwest and opening up space is not the best way to solve the food problem.

"The Hanzhong Plain is the key! Hu Zongnan will be able to raise 20 troops in the northwest in the future, mainly relying on the output of the Hanzhong Plain."

PS: Click the well symbol in front to see the map of Hanzhong

Anyone who has read The Three Kingdoms knows that Hanzhong in southern Shaanxi is the starting point for Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei to leave Qishan to attack the Central Plains.

From Hanzhong to Xi'an, there is a large mountain range in between.

Specific channels, from west to east, a total of five

The first is the ancient road that Zhuge Liang seized Tianshui when he came out of Qishan, but was defeated because of the loss of Jieting. If he wanted to counterattack from Tianshui and enter Hanzhong, the route would be Tianshui-Qishan-Longnan (Wudu)-Yangpingguan-Hanzhong , this line.This is also a common passage during the Republic of China. The road condition is good, but the disadvantage is that the route is the farthest.From Tianshui to Hanzhong, the road distance of later generations is nearly [-] kilometers.

The second route is the famous Chencang ancient road. However, due to disrepair and disuse for a long time, this road was repaired during the Republic of China, and its exit is at Dasan Pass in Baoji City.

Chencang Road runs from Baoji, Shaanxi to Hanzhong. It was named after Chencang County was built in the Qin and Han Dynasties. On the north side of the Qinling Mountains, there are Sanguan Pass to control the mountains and rivers, so it is also called Sanguan Road.When Chu and Han were fighting, Liu Bang adopted Han Xin's strategy of "building plank roads openly and crossing Chen Cang secretly". He sent troops from Chen Cang Road, defeated the three kings of Qin in one fell swoop, occupied Guanzhong, and joined Bashu, thus laying the foundation for him to win the world.

The first electrified railway in my country built after the founding of the People’s Republic of China—the Baoji-Fengxian section of the Baocheng Railway, and the main artery connecting the northwest and southwest built during the Republic of China—the Hanzhong-Fengxian section of the Sichuan-Shanxi Highway. road.In the past, Hu Zongnan went in and out of Hanzhong, and he also took this road.

The third route is Baoxie Road. The exit on the Xi’an (Chang’an) side is Xiegu (the place where Cao Cao’s chicken ribs in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the place where Yang Xiu took place), and the exit on the Hanzhong side is called “Baogu”.Baoxie Road is located in the east of Chencang Road, from the mouth of Xieshui Valley in Mei County in the north to Baoshui in the south, so it has this name.

Although the Baoxie Road is closer than the Chencang Road, there is an ancient Qinling Road that is closer than the Baoxie Road, which is the Luogu Road.It is also called Tangluo Road, the side exit of Xi’an (Chang’an) is called Luogu, and the side exit of Hanzhong is called Tanggu. It seems to be not well-known, but in history, when the clock will destroy Shu, it is here and the inclined road. route.

Luogu Road starts from Xiluo Valley in Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province in the north, and ends at Tangshui in the south, so it is also called Tangluo Road, with a total length of 240 kilometers, which is the shortest distance among all ancient roads in Qinling Mountains.

Although the distance of Luogu Road is short, it is extremely difficult to travel this way.It is necessary to pass through several river valleys such as Xiluo River, Heishui River, Yu River, You River, and Tang River, and cross several tall and large peaks in Qinling Mountains, such as Shibapanling Mountains, the main ridge of Qinling Mountains, Xinglong Mountains, and Niuling Mountains between the valleys. The mountains are high, the forests are dense, there are few people, and wild animals are infested, so it is very difficult and dangerous.

The fifth road is also related to the Three Kingdoms, that is, it was proposed by the famous Wei Yan of the Three Kingdoms, and soldiers from Hanzhong came out of the Meridian Road to surprise Chang'an, which is the closest road to Xi'an.But even in modern times, it is still in a semi-developed state.The result of taking the last two roads by force is probably similar to that of the Pao Dang army crossing Savage Mountain.

After the troops left northern Sichuan, the Red Army swept all the way in southern Gansu. When they took over Hu Zongnan's territory, the southern marching route actually began to make strategic preparations for the future attack on Hanzhong.

After taking Tianshui, when the top Red Army leaders here were still holding a military meeting, the Red Army No.30 Army and the Red Fifth Army had already been ordered to go south to capture the middle of the line Tianshui-Qishan-Longnan (Wudu)-Yangpingguan-Hanzhong City.A week later, the vanguard of the [-]th Red Army that entered the pass easily took down Qishan and Longnan (Wudu), which were empty of troops, and then marched towards Yangping Pass.

And half a month later, the main force of the Red Army out of Sichuan had overwhelmed Baoji, and before joining forces with the 25th Red Army marching westward, the Red Army at that time also "handily" snatched the old Chencang Road from Yang Hucheng's department to enter the middle exit of the pass: Dasan Pass .Originally guarding Dashan Pass was the local army in the south of Hu Zong. When they learned that the Red Army had completely wiped out the south of Hu Zong and that the army was coming towards Dashan Pass, the defenders were so frightened that they abandoned the pass and fled south.Then the place was briefly taken over by Yang Hucheng, who knows that within a few days of holding it in his hands, the main force of the Red Army was killed and changed hands again without a fight.

After the Chencang Ancient Road was in hand, the Red Army also sent a partial division southward and began to infiltrate Hanzhong.But it is only to build this mountainous area into a guerrilla zone similar to northern Sichuan.

The main reason why they didn't go southward for [-] kilometers to seize Qishan and Longnan (Wudu) like the Red Thirty Army at the waterline of Tianshui was that Xue Yue and Zhu Peide entered Hanzhong successively during this period.

On the second day after the Red Army wiped out Hu Zongnan's clique, Chang Kaishen, who likes "map work", opened the map and found with horror that the southeast of Gansu, which was originally controlled by Hu Zongnan, that is, Longyou, Longnan (Wudu), and The land of Hanzhong in southern Shaanxi has all become "no soldiers" and no owner's land where people can run around and enclose the land.

The German military adviser beside him also issued a warning at this time. If he did not take immediate action, within 20 days, Hanzhong would be "given away" to the Red Army.

He cursed Hu Zongnan in his heart for being incompetent, for losing me in Longyou and Longnan, and for making me lose Hanzhong again, damn it!In order to fill the gap in power in an emergency, he first transferred the third army of Zhu Peide's Department in Hubei, which is closest to Hanzhong, into Hanzhong.However, the main force of the third army is far away from Hanzhong in southern Shaanxi, and it is too late to come here at this time.

After the Red Army wiped out the southern part of Hu Zong, it took only six days to take Tianshui directly. Four days later, a partial division began to attack Qishan and Longnan (Wudu), and the progress was too fast.

According to the speed of Zhu Peide's third army, it would be cold by the time they arrived in Hanzhong.

Since ancient times, Hanzhong has been a strategically important place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Chang Kaishen knew that this place must not be lost. He took a map and looked left and right, and found that there were two of his troops closest to Hanzhong.

One is the Yang Hucheng Department of Shaanxi. His Northwest Army went south, starting from Baoji, taking the Chencang Ancient Road, and arriving in Hanzhong within ten days. This "not one of our own" motley crew.And when the Red Army is about to reach Shaanxi and then transfer the main force of the Northwest Army, it is tantamount to tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall, which is tantamount to giving the whole of Shaanxi to the Red Army!So this is absolutely impossible.

And the other most realistic and most feasible way is to urgently transfer the Xue Yue tribe who is in the middle of Sichuan, "not able to advance or retreat", embarrassing like a chicken threat, to take the historical "Route of Uncle Liu to seize Hanzhong", and rush into Hanzhong before the main force of the Red Army Before filling the gap left by Hu Zongnan.

However, the transfer of Xue Yue's fifth army meant that the "mixed raw rice" that Chang Kaishen had in his mouth in Sichuan would have to be completely spit out.

At first, Chang Kaishen was resolutely unwilling to agree to this.

He wants Sichuan, and he doesn't want to lose Hanzhong!

However, on August [-]th, when the Red Thirty Army began to retrograde Zhuge Liang’s ancient route to the Central Plains and marched towards Hanzhong, after repeated warnings from the surrounding foreign advisers and others, they learned that the Third Army was still "still slow in Hubei." After the bad news of "climbing slowly", Chang Kaishen reluctantly ordered Xue Yue's troops to rush to help Hanzhong.

At this time, Hanzhong was shocked three times a day.Hearing that the Red Army would go south to Hanzhong, the local powerful landlords were also instigated by the remnants of Hu Zongnan and Chang Kaishen, and urgently rebuilt the First Division. The main body is the public security forces in Tianshui, the deserters from Tianshui, and various local landlord regiments in a mess. To Yangping Pass line.Chang Kaishen didn't expect them to repel the Red Army, but as long as they could last until reinforcements arrived.

From Chengdu to Hanzhong, there is a Sichuan-Shanxi Highway.It happened to be built in 1935 and was completed in June 1936 in history.In fact, it has been repaired for a short period of time.The Fifth Army of Xue Yue's Department, which was already on the march, turned around and rushed to Hanzhong without any delay.

Knowing that Chang Kaishen's central army was about to leave, the local warlords in Sichuan also changed their previous indifference attitude of "not cooperating and not opposing". Farewell Master Wang (God of Plague)", very enthusiastic...

Before the Thirty Red Army captured Yangping Pass and opened the entrance to Hanzhong, Xue Yue's troops arrived in Hanzhong first.At this time, the high-level Red Army was confirming that Xue Yue had successfully rushed to Hanzhong, and when the plan to blitz Hanzhong was aborted.It has also been realized that the strategic situation for seizing Hanzhong is still immature.The [-]th Army was ordered to return to the front line of Qishan in Longnan (Wudu) to form a "confrontation across a dense valley" with Xue Yue's troops, and the situation on the Chencang ancient road was similar.

By September, the strategic situation on both sides had initially stabilized.

Leaving from Hanzhong to enter Shaanxi or Gansu through the Three Kingdoms Ancient Road, the two westernmost roads have become a headache, similar to the strategic dilemma of the Songpan confrontation, on the premise that both sides hold one end.It was difficult for the Red Army to enter Hanzhong, and it was also difficult for the Xue Yue tribe in Hanzhong to enter Shaanxi. Neither side could advance an inch, and whoever attacked first would die first.

At the exit of Chencang Ancient Road, in the area north and west of Dashan Pass, more than 10,000 Red Army troops gathered here.The exit was blocked. At this time, if Chang Kaishen wanted to chase down the Red Army, he could only honestly take the Tongguan-Xi'an line, where he spent the first half of the year hoarding troops and food.Forcibly hoarding [-]+ troops in Hanzhong, and then marching hundreds of miles in the Qinling Mountains, rushing out of Hanzhong and entering Gannan, the fragile supply line here cannot support it at all.

No matter how hard Chang Kaishen was, he had to admit that his long march to suppress the bandits had completely failed.The "Zhu and Mao Two Bandits" who entered the Northwest Central Army's weak force have now entered the sea like a dragon, and a tiger has entered the forest. After breathing, they will soon "begin to grow ferociously" like they did in Jiangxi.

In September, autumn has begun in the north, and after October, it will start to snow and turn cold. At this time, most of the Central Army, the main force of the southerners, will not be able to enter Shaanxi and Gansu in winter wearing summer clothes, even if they are "enthusiastic" to suppress the Communist Party.

After September, Chang Kaishen, while secretly regrouping, dispatching troops and potential generals, while pretending to negotiate peace, had to postpone the plan of "suppressing bandits" to the second year.

Then it was time to negotiate with the "communist bandits" in order to release the waste of the 1st Division and the 49th Division.

One day, Chang Kaishen wrote in his diary:

"Communist bandits, more and more will be suppressed!"

"Years of painstaking efforts, all in one day! Hu Zongnan mistaken me! Wu Chengren mistaken me!"

Baoji is the dividing line of the Red Army in the east of the forces in southern Shaanxi.

Taking Baoji urban area as the dividing line, the Red Army occupied all the favorable terrain of the commanding heights of the mountains in the south and west, and "give up" the plain area from Baoji City to Xi'an to Yang Hucheng.

The cities belonged to the Northwest Army, but most of the countryside and mountainous areas belonged to the Red Army.

Facing the reunion of northern Shaanxi, the total strength has exceeded [-], and the Red Army in the south of Hu Zong has been completely wiped out. Yang Hucheng's defenders in the Baoji team are "dare not to speak out", so they can only be very aggrieved and trapped. Several strategic nodes from Baoji to Xi'an, despite the urging of the chairman, refused to send troops.

Several strategic points around Baoji, Qianyang County in the north, Xinmin Township in the west, Tiantai Mountain in the south, and the exit of Chencang Ancient Road are all under the control of the Red Army at this time.

Attack the Red Army?It is impossible to fight, even if I am killed, I will not take the initiative to provoke it!

Before the arrival of the main force of the Central Red Army, the Northwest Army, which was often pushed to the ground by Liu Zhidan's Northern Shaanxi Red Army in "single-handed battles", would have the guts to provoke the main Red Army, which is dozens of times larger than Liu Zhidan's Red Army.A few years before the Central Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, the price for the Northwest Army to encircle and suppress Liu Zhidan's Red Army was to beat the opponent "more guns than people."

On September 1000th, the Red Army in Baoji voluntarily released a group of prisoners of war to Yang Hucheng, a total of [-] people-this group of prisoners of war, these prisoners of war were basically "auxiliary soldiers" of non-combatant soldiers.As early as after taking Tianshui, the Red Army first released a group of "Ganshan" locals, and Baoji's release of prisoners of war was actually the second wave.

On the day the POWs were released, reporters gathered in Baoji City, many of whom were family members of the 1st Division and the 49th Division who had come all the way, and there were also a large number of "outside reporters", some even came from Shanghai and Beiping , including foreign journalists.

The place where the prisoners of war were released was at the junction of the default "demarcation line" between the Red Army and the Northwest Army outside Baoji City.Here is a dry small river ditch as the boundary, the east of the river belongs to the Northwest Army, and the west of the river belongs to the red army. A simple and casual rope is pulled between the two, and it is regarded as the dividing line of the isolation zone.

Yang Hucheng led his guard company, surrounded by hundreds of reporters, and was looking at the large group of "friendly" prisoners of war wearing Central Army uniforms with extremely complicated expressions.

As an "old warlord" who came up from the bottom, Yang Hucheng knows very well the principle of "stretch and bend".Half a month ago, when the Red Army soldiers were pressing down on the border, he voluntarily withdrew from the strategically important areas outside Baoji to "show goodwill" and at the same time allowed the Red 25th Army to cross the border.Then, in the private and secret exchanges between the two parties, the current "red and white" dividing line was formed.

The Red Army will release the prisoners of war in Baoji, and Yang Hucheng was notified a week ago, and he will make arrangements for them.

The intermediary communication person in charge of the negotiations between the two parties was headed by Ms. Soong Ching Ling, a "famous leftist" from Shanghai and the "mother of the true country".The first division was established in Huangpu, and a large number of key personnel came from Guangdong.Because it is a "student of the Son of Heaven", it is regarded by many senior officials of the Cannon Party as a place of "conglong" to "climb the dragon's gate".

After the Battle of Songpan, the Red Army "passed a message" through Soong Ching Ling's relationship, and her family members naturally followed her by train to Xi'an, and then transferred from Xi'an to Baoji.There are more than 400 family members in this group.

The family members of these senior officials are themselves the foundation of Chang Kaishen's political power.All of them have all kinds of seven aunts and eight aunts. When they connect, they have a very loud voice in the Kuomintang, and the "mother of the country" takes the lead.Even Chang Kaishen could not prevent them from visiting their "family" in Baoji during this period.

In fact, during this period of time, Chang Kaishen was in a state of desperation.Various forces within the party headed by Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin have recently become less honest. They use various methods to say strange things at the Cannon Party meeting, engage in petty tricks, cooperate with leftist forces, and disgust Chang Kaishen in various ways.The various warlords who were finally subdued by him, except for the "honest" righteous brother Zhang Xueliang, all other forces are all ready to move at this time.

"As the chairman of the Republic of China, I am surrounded by a bunch of pig teammates and cheat teammates. Is it easy for me?"

At this time, Chang Kaishen, who had flown from Chengdu to Hanzhong to sit in town, was looking in the direction of Baoji.

The Songpan-Baozuo battle dealt a severe blow to Chang Baldzi far beyond his imagination.Under the demolition of the east wall to make up for the west wall, Sichuan Province, which was about to eat its stomach, was forced to vomit it out.Stretching out to the northwest region, only a small isolated island in Hanzhong is left.

The Red Army publicly released prisoners of war in Baoji, exposing his scars for the second time.He sent a notice to the whole world in advance, all kinds of behind-the-scenes gangsters secretly fueled the flames, and the media hyped it up, causing an uproar. He tried to stop it but couldn't stop it. He could only hide here in the name of guarding Hanzhong and wait for things to cool down again.

It depends on Chang Kaishen making a fool of himself, this time it's not just domestic forces, but also foreign forces.

Among the most enthusiastic people are the Soviet Union and Japan.

Needless to say, the Japanese naturally wished that China's central government would disintegrate and return to the previous situation of chaotic war between warlords. The more embarrassing Chang Kaishen was, the better.

On the Soviet side, it was Comrade Stalin's mentality of revenge and showing off.

After the Battle of Songpan-Baozuo, Liaobyshev soon discovered that Comrade Stalin, who had always had a dark face, suddenly smiled a lot more than before.Not long ago, after he received a telegram from China, he held the telegram and laughed for several seconds more rarely.

Comrade Stalin's mood has improved recently, which is naturally related to the sudden turn of events in the Chinese revolution.More importantly, Comrade Stalin "recovered" some of the "lost" "face" and washed away a lot of "sewage" on his body.

For reasons of confidentiality, in the internal bulletin of the Communist International, "Zhang Guotao is a traitor." The person who exposed this case was the Soviet Union itself, and Comrade Stalin's wise remote command captured the biggest traitor lurking in the Red Army. , this is all his credit.

Secondly, the truth of the reasons for the "continuous failure" of the Chinese revolution in the past has also been found.

It was not the Communist International (Stalin) who had been "rumored" in private outside to command indiscriminately, but some people acted in a self-righteous way, altered telegrams, issued instructions in the name of "Stalin", and falsely preached imperial edicts.These people are traitors, spies, black sheep who have infiltrated the revolutionary ranks, and they have now been caught!

I, Stalin, have been blamed for many years, the blame that should not have been thrown away at last!

The third is the miraculous reversal of the Battle of Baozuo in Songpan. Comrade Stalin finally took revenge on his face swollen by Chang Kaishen after April [-] many years ago.

When the Battle of Baozuo broke out, Stalin was very concerned about the progress there. When he heard the news from China that Wu Hao and Li Runshi had been captured, he was shocked at first. ", and was told that there would be a "reversal of gods" in a few days, and then the "reversal of gods" also happened as scheduled, until Chang Kaishen's face was swollen for many days and he dared not see anyone.

After Stalin got the news of the annihilation of the First Division, he happily drank a large glass of vodka that night.

Out of the mentality of retaliating against Chang Kaishen, Stalin instructed Soviet agents to report more on the matter in the media of various countries.The reverse change was widely publicized as an international joke, and Chang Kaishen's face was directly thrown to the international community. Fortunately, Chang Kaishen's subordinates were afraid that he would be so angry that he would kill someone if he knew about it, so they teamed up to pretend to be stupid and hide it from him. .....

Stalin, who was in a great mood, handed the telegram to Lyobyshev and let him read it, and he said to his secretary: "The content of this telegram must not have been thought up by those old comrades in China. It is very likely That mysterious sea serpent's handwriting."

Lyobyshev asked puzzledly: "Why?"

"Because the content of this telegram is too naughty. Those comrades in China are very serious. It would only be a very young person without much political experience who would come up with such a naughty idea. Judging from the current situation, it is also Only the Sea Serpent would have allowed them to send a telegram like that."

Speaking of this, Stalin's face changed, showing a bit of anger, and then said: "Young people are also young, and some young people join our cause with pure ideals, such as Comrade Sea Snake who sent me important materials Although he is young, he is full of vigor, ability and loyalty to the revolution. I like this kind of young man very much-do you know how I saw that he was a young man? Those Russian reports he gave me, Dare to say, dare to speak, almost turning a corner and telling me, you were tricked by Wang Ming, you were cheated by Mifu, you were cheated like a fool for many years—"

When he said this, Stalin laughed at himself coldly and sighed:

"Only young people, only young people who don't know the heights of heaven and earth, but still have a loyal, pure revolutionary heart, and young people without too many personal ideas, dare to tell the truth to me like this! You know, it's really not easy Yes, Comrade Lyobyshev, I can hear the truth, it is really not easy!"

Stalin's half-happy, half-annoyed state made Lyobyshev's pores stand tight, and he knew it was a sign that he was about to kill someone.