The First Battle of Xinwei was of great significance to the overall situation of the Red Army's rush to cross the Xiangjiang River, first of all, the Red Fifth Division and the Red Sixth Division, which were strong in combat power, were undoubtedly a huge supplement to the Red Army, which was seriously short of troops and major generals, and with the Young Communist Division sitting in Xinwei, the road for the Gui Army to pursue the Central Red Army to the west was almost blocked, which greatly reduced the pressure on the Red Army to rush across the Xiangjiang River. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Returning to the headquarters of the Wenshi Division, the political commissar immediately handed Zhang Cheng a telegram from the Central Revolutionary Military Commission: Demanding that the International Division of the Young Communist Party must be firmly nailed to Xinwei for three days to intercept the pursuit of the Kuomintang troops from all walks of life.

After reading the telegram, Zhang Cheng said to the political commissar: "Holding back the enemy for three days is no problem for the Young Communist International Division, which is now strong and strong. The column of the Central Military Commission began to cross the river today, and it is expected to be completed in one day tomorrow. It's just that there are still many combat units on the east bank, and there are 30,000 people in our Young Communist Division alone, as well as so many baggage and artillery, and the situation is not very optimistic with only a narrow ferry crossing, bombed by enemy planes, and pursued by the Kuomintang armies from all walks of life! ”

"How's that to be?" The commissar hurriedly asked.

Zhang Cheng smiled confidently: "There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, it's not a big deal, it's almost December, it is the dry season of the Xiangjiang River, and many rivers in the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River can be trekked on foot, and the water depth is not more than one meter." We can find a few more ferries that we can trek took, and then divide our troops into several ways to cross the river at a time. Moreover, two methods can be used at the same time: the engineer battalion will erect a pontoon bridge in a relatively deep place to allow heavier materials to cross the bridge, and the rest of the troops can cross the river on foot, and they can cross the Xiangjiang River in a few hours at most. ”

The political commissar breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and he said lightly: "It seems that Xiangjiang is not an insurmountable barrier for the strong and strong International Division of the Young Communist Party!" ”

Zhang Cheng shook his head, and then said cautiously: "That can't be too optimistic, although it is simple to cross the Xiangjiang River, we lack time." Moreover, the Kuomintang is dispatching troops, and the Cantonese and Gui armies are also rushing here, and if we cannot cross the river in time, it is very likely that we will become the enemy's urn and have no way to escape. ”

"However, the central authorities have ordered us to be the general rearguard of crossing the river, and we must wait for other combat troops to cross the river before we can cross the river. The commissar was distressed again.

Zhang Cheng nodded and said: "Yes, now the first army and the third army are still blocking the enemy in the area of Jieshou and Jiaoshanpu, judging from the battle report, the casualties of the two major army corps are extremely heavy at present, and in the face of several times the enemy's superior forces and the air attack of enemy aircraft, I think it can only be supported until December 1, and the Phoenix Mouth Ferry will be forced to close." ”

"And what about the other troops?" The commissar asked worriedly.

Zhang Cheng smiled and said confidently: "Before dusk, I asked the battalion commander Li Yunqiang of the reconnaissance regiment to lead his troops to carry a radio station and go to Xing'an County and other places to find a new ferry. It is estimated that there will be good news coming back tomorrow afternoon. When the time came, we immediately sent an engineer battalion to the place of crossing the river and built a pontoon bridge. As for the other combat units that have not yet crossed the river, we can send search teams along the way to guide them to join up with our division and cross the river together. ”

"Haha, it's really the clever Master Zhang, everything has been calculated by you in advance, you are taking one step and counting three steps, Zhuge Liang is not as good as you." The commissar praised with a smile.

Zhang Cheng was also a little proud of this, but all this could only be done with the advantage of his historical prophet, which was not a clever calculation, and it was far worse than Zhuge Liang. Thinking of this, Zhang Cheng quickly pinched off the little pride in his heart and regained his composure.

"Political commissar, time is running out, the crossing of the river is imminent, and our division needs to hold a meeting immediately to make arrangements for crossing the river."

"Good! I immediately informed the relevant personnel of the ministries to hold a meeting. ”

About 20 minutes later, members of the division's party committee and heads of divisional departments came to attend the meeting.

Zhang Cheng went straight to the point and first made relevant arrangements for preparing to rush across the Xiangjiang River: "1. All combat units should make up for the full number of personnel, carry weapons, equipment, and ammunition in strict accordance with regulations, and strictly prohibit overweight personal belongings.

2. The comrades of the logistics department will continue to be responsible for all the necessary war materials, such as grabbing branches, ammunition, medicines, dry rations, clothing, and salt, and each person will carry the amount of dry food for 10 days, and some unimportant items must be buried and disposed of.

3. The combat troops of our division withdrew from Wenshi, the waterwheel, and the whole division assembled in Xinwei.

Fourth, the whole reconnaissance regiment made an attack to reconnoiter the situation from Xinwei to the Xiangjiang crossing, and any abnormal movement of the enemy must be reported immediately. ”

After Zhang Cheng made the arrangements, Feng Wenbin, director of the Political Department, asked for instructions on how to deal with the prisoners.

Zhang Cheng asked: "Have any of the 8,000 people captured by our division in Dayou Township voluntarily joined our army?" ”

Feng Wenbin said: "Although our Red Army lost the base area in the Soviet area, our division has successively defeated the Central Army, the Guangdong Army, the Hunan Army, and the Gui Army along the way, and these achievements have greatly shocked the captured people, and the officers and soldiers of our army are unanimous, and the soldiers are cordial and kind to them, and there is no discrimination and scolding them, so that many people are deeply moved, and at present, there are 5,000 people who have voluntarily joined our army. ”

Zhang Cheng was overjoyed when he heard this, and another 5,000 people had completed the work of converting prisoners, and the combat troops of the Young Communist Division had reached nearly 30,000, which was a great supplement to the Red Army, which was currently seriously short of soldiers and major generals.

Zhang Cheng said happily: "The soldiers of the Central Army have high tactical literacy and strong physique, and they do not need to practice more to form a strong combat effectiveness once they join our army. ”

Feng Wenbin said: "Yes, but what should we do with the 4,000 Central Army, 3,000 Gui Army and 3,000 Hunan Army that we have newly captured, and whether they will be released in accordance with the regulations." ”

Zhang Cheng shook his head and said, "You can't let it all go, you have to treat it separately and differently." The Central Army is relatively stubborn, and once they are released, it is very likely that they will take up arms and fight us again, so they will be forced to work for reform according to the precedent, and act as a civilian husband to transport materials for our division; The Hunan army captures and hates our Workers' and Peasants' Party, and if they are released, they will continue to oppose us like the Central Army, so let's deal with them in the same way as the Central Army; As for the Gui Army, he has little hatred for us, and he also has correspondence with our division, and at present, our division is still in the territory of the Gui Army, so it is not appropriate to make too much trouble with the Gui Army, we will let the Gui Army go, show our sincerity to the Gui Army, and presumably the Gui Army will not embarrass us again in the future. ”

Then Feng Shaojie, the head of the logistics department, gave a brief report on the main items seized and asked what to do with the heavy artillery that could not be taken away.

Zhang Cheng said: "Secretly sell those heavy artillery that can't be taken away to the Gui army, exchange mules and horses with them, salt, those heavy artillery are all Krupp cannons bought by the Kuomintang from Germany, presumably the Gui army also doesn't have them, it should be able to sell for a big price." ”

Subsequently, Tian Fangfang, director of the field hospital, reported on the situation of the field hospital, reported that the hospital was extremely short of stretchers, and asked the division headquarters whether it would give priority to solving the problem.

Zhang Cheng asked, "How many wounded and sick people need to use stretchers?" ”

"There are 352 people who need to be stretched, and these days of long travel, the soldiers continue to fall ill, especially the malaria situation is more serious." Tian Fangfang replied.

Zhang Cheng said: "Most of the malaria is caused by eating raw water, and the troops must be strictly stipulated, and the soldiers can only drink boiled water, and it is strictly forbidden to drink raw water." The stretcher is not too much or too little, the engineer battalion must build 800 stretchers by tomorrow afternoon, Lin Jianjian, I will transfer 2,000 people to you to use, no problem, right? ”

Lin Jianshe said: "Resolutely complete the task. ”

"Good." Zhang Cheng said to Tian Fangfang again: "I will hand over 1,000 people to your command, and the three of them will be responsible for a stretcher and take turns to rest." In addition, a company of guards will be placed under your command to keep an eye on the people, and you must ensure that not a single wounded person is left behind. ”

"Yes! Mission completion guaranteed! Tian Fangfang replied firmly.

Finally, the commissar stood up and mobilized with his characteristic contagion: "Comrades! The current campaign to rush across the Xiangjiang River has a bearing on the life and death of our party and the Red Army, and the column of the Central Military Commission only began to cross the river this morning, and it will take one day to complete the crossing. The rest of the combat units, in order to cover the crossing of the river by the CMC column, stubbornly blocked the enemy at the head of the boundary and at the foot of the mountain, and suffered heavy casualties. At present, the KMT's more than 300,000-strong troops have come up from all directions, and the situation is very grim. Therefore, our whole division must obey the command of Division Commander Zhang, obey the order, unite as one, protect the central force to cross the Xiangjiang River, and completely highlight the encirclement! Do you have the confidence to complete the task? ”

"Yes!" All the cadres roared in unison.