After the meeting on the expansion of the organization, the organizational structure of the Young Column had been initially established, and Zhang Cheng was of course in charge of the subsequent expansion of the Red Army, and handed over the responsibility of the other comrades of the party committee of the column. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In view of the fact that Ding Wei's Second Division was still in the Ganzi area with the Fourth Front Army, Zhang Cheng sent a telegram to Ding Wei and Chen Zhengxiang, informing them of the decision to expand the Second and Fifth Brigades into the Second and Fifth Divisions, and demanding that they immediately grasp the organizational structure and the appointment of cadres, so that they could accept new recruits after the three armies joined forces.

Chen Zhengxiang was naturally overjoyed when he heard that he had become the commander of the Fifth Division, and Ding Wei was also very satisfied with his promotion from division commander to deputy commander of the column, and everyone expressed their resolute obedience to the order and complete the reorganization work as soon as possible.

At the same time, the strong influence of the Young Column in Yulin was finally revealed, and the Young Column erected recruitment flags in Yulin and the surrounding areas of Yulin, and the recruitment office was immediately crowded, and every day thousands of young people came to join the Red Army enthusiastically, and they expressed to the comrades in the recruitment office that they wanted to join the Red Army to defend the fruits of the victory of the revolution.

The work of recruiting and expanding the number of troops is progressing smoothly, and the plan for implementing the Baotou campaign has also begun to be put on the agenda. In fact, as soon as Zhang Cheng returned to Yulin, he had already begun to lay out a plan to capture Baotou.

The Sixth Division stationed in Ordos has also been vigorously preparing for the Battle of Baotou, and the cavalry division has also entered the Ordos steppe, constantly advancing and reconnoitring Baotou.

On July 18, Zhang Cheng led the 1st Division to Ordos, and before he had time to rest, he immediately convened a pre-battle meeting with the commanders of the 1st and 6th Divisions and the Cavalry Division to deploy the battle plan for the Battle of Baotou.

After reconnaissance by the cavalry division, the situation of the Baotou garrison has been clearly ascertained, and the main troops of the Baotou garrison are a cavalry brigade of the Mongolian army and a local security regiment, with a strength of more than 6,000 troops.

Although Shaozong has an absolute advantage in troops, it still needs to go all out, not to mention that the battle of Baotou is a combat mission personally issued by the central government, and it is of great significance to open up the international communication line of the Soviet Union, so Zhang Cheng did not dare to slack off, and arranged three divisions of troops to attack Baotou, wanting to take this important northern town in one fell swoop.

At the pre-war meeting, Chief of Staff Zhang Fengming first gave a briefing on the enemy situation in Baotou, and the political commissar then announced the battle order issued by the Central Military Commission, emphasized the great significance of this campaign to our army, and demanded that all the officers and men of our column resolutely carry out the orders of the central authorities, obey the deployment and command of the leaders, and successfully complete the glorious tasks assigned to our column by the central authorities with a brave and resolute fighting spirit.

In the end, Zhang Cheng made the operational arrangements for this campaign: Zhang Cheng did not participate in the front-line command of the Baotou Campaign, and Li Yunlong served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy. On 24 July, the troops completed their assembly at Dalat Banner, and the special operations brigade crossed the East River at night, controlled the crossing of the East River, and received the main force to cross the Yellow River.

After crossing the river, the main force of the 1st Division quickly surrounded Baotou Town, and immediately launched an attack to annihilate the Baotou garrison as soon as possible. In addition, the Sixth Division and the Cavalry Division responded on the two flanks of the First Division to prevent Suiyuan's reinforcements from rescuing Baotou.

On the evening of 24 July, the main force of the Young Column completed its assembly at Dalat Banner, and after nightfall, the special operations brigade, under the leadership of Zhang Shanhe, the leader of the group, took advantage of the cover of night to swim across and land on the opposite bank.

Only one garrison company was arranged to garrison the ferry on the other side, and it was negligent in peacetime, and the garrison was extremely loose, and the enemy defenders played mahjong and pushed pai gow as soon as it was night, and there was no sense of prevention at all. It took only 30 minutes for the special operations brigade to dismantle the garrison company, and then sent a signal with a flashlight to signal that the main force of the 1st Division could cross the river.

Seeing the signal, Li Yunlong immediately gave the order to cross the river. Immediately, the crossing of the East River boiled, and the soldiers lit torches, illuminating the southeast bank and the river as if it were day.

The officers and men of the 1st Division began to cross the Yellow River north in a swift and orderly manner with dozens of sheepskin rafts that had been prepared long ago. After more than two hours of rushing to cross, the main force of the 1st Division had completed the crossing of the river, and after leaving a company on both sides of the East River to guard the ferry, it immediately pounced on Baotou Town.

It was already 12 o'clock in the evening after crossing the Yellow River, and the Donghe River was still about 20 kilometers away from Baotou Town, and the soldiers of the 1st Division took advantage of our army's characteristics of being good at marching, and arrived at Baotou Town at 3 o'clock in the morning of the next day.

After the special operations brigade had eliminated the enemy's sentry posts, Li Yunlong made a decisive decision and immediately issued a battle order to the troops.

The battle was first fought by the artillery battalion of the 1st Division, and sixty mortars were aimed at the enemy's camp, which was the last dark hour before dawn, the most sleepy time of the day.

Therefore, when the mortar shells fired by the 1st Division bombarded the camp, the completely unsuspecting enemy was blown to pieces in their sleep, and the other soldiers who were lucky enough to dodge the shells thought for a while that there was thunder outside, and it was not until the fire burned their eyebrows that they reacted that the enemy had attacked.

After the artillery battalion carried out five minutes of non-stop rapid artillery bombardment, the 1st Division swooped down on Baotou Town with automatic firearms, and the enemy was unable to organize an effective counterattack in a hurry, and was soon defeated by the 1st Division.

By the time the battle had been carried out, the outcome of the battle had completely lost its suspense, and in the face of the powerful assault capability of the 1st Division, the enemy army had completely lost its ability to resist. Moreover, the special operations brigade first controlled the enemy's horse farm, and the enemy's cavalry unit was like a man losing his arm after losing his horse, and behaved even more unbearable than the infantry unit.

By eight o'clock in the morning, the sound of guns and cannons in Baotou Town had completely subsided, and Li Yunlong quickly reported to Zhangcheng that in this battle, our army had annihilated a total of 5,000 enemy troops, of which more than 1,000 were killed, more than 3,000 were captured, and more than 3,000 horses were captured, while their own casualties were only more than 500, and the results were extremely brilliant.

After the battle, Zhang Cheng immediately led the cadres of the column headquarters into Baotou Town, Zhang Cheng took Baotou in addition to opening up the international communication line, in fact, there was also an important purpose, that is, to take the opportunity to take the Hetao Plain.

The Hetao Plain is an alluvial plain along the Yellow River, consisting of the Yinchuan Plain east of Helan Mountain, the Houtao Plain and the Tumochuan Plain south of Wolf Mountain and Daqing Mountain, with an area of about 25,000 square kilometers. It is a fallen area between the Ordos Plateau and Helan Mountain, Wolf Mountain, and Daqing Mountain.

The Hetao Plain has a flat terrain and good soil quality, and has the advantages of irrigation of the Yellow River. Zhang Cheng designated the Hetao Plain as the grain base of the Yulin Theater.

In addition, Zhang Cheng has coveted the iron ore in Baotou for a long time, and in his vision, Baotou will become a steel industrial base in Shaozong. Therefore, as soon as Zhang Cheng entered Baotou, he immediately led geological experts to look for iron ore areas.