On the evening of March 30, the main force of the Red Seventh Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, which had ended the Battle of Tianshui, began to return east in the starry night.

The cavalry regiment led the way with torches, followed by the 11th Division and the fire units directly under the corps on horseback, and finally the three main divisions of the 12th Division, the 13th Division and the One Division. The long procession of torches stretched for more than ten miles, winding along the avenues in the Qinling Mountains.

Upon learning of the triumphant rendezvous of the Seventh Army Corps, the Red Army work teams along the road organized the masses to support the front, and in every large village or town, there were masses waiting for them to boil hot tea and rice. So the morale of the fighters was high and the march was fast.

With the help of local political axes and work teams, and with the support of the masses, logistical problems and the problem of the wounded were easily solved, and the incident of militia groups and ordinary people in Hunan and Guangxi during the Red Army's Long March vied with each other to intercept and kill small Red Army units, stragglers, and wounded. Therefore, along the way, Liu Yimin basically fired all the guns, and met all the demands of the various task forces for the support of the troops and the arming of the militia. Le along the way of the work team and militia, competing to help the troops transport the baggage, one district after another.

At noon on April 1, the corps headquarters of the Red Seventh Army Corps led the 12th Division, the 13th Division, and the Only Division to Baoji.

After marching day and night, the troops had reached their limit, and Liu Yimin had no choice but to order camping.

Qian Zhuangfei and He Xinghua ignored their fatigue and hurriedly set up the antenna and let the radio station start.

Liu Yimin first reported to the headquarters that the main force of the Seventh Army Corps had arrived in Baoji, and had ordered the 11th Division and the heavy firepower units of the regiment on horseback to quickly return eastward. Then ask Hong Chaoyuan and Zhang Hongtao about the battle situation.

Hong Chaoyuan reported that after 30 and 31 days of blocking and delay, the main force of the Central Army had arrived outside Tongguan on the evening of 31 July, and that the enemy launched a strong attack on Tongguan in the early morning of the morning, and repelled three large-scale attacks by the enemy in the morning alone. The Red 25th Army held on to the Xiaoqinling Mountains, and the enemy attacking troops were also discovered, and the Red 25th Army was resisting under the command of Xu Haidong. The former commander of Tongguan was determined to hold out at Tongguan until this evening, and then withdraw from Tongguan and seek an opportunity to annihilate the enemy. In addition, the local task forces have organized the militia and are ready to cover the masses and attack the enemy, and cooperate with the main forces to fight.

Zhang Hongtao reported that the Third Division and the main force of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi fought a counterattack at Longmendu on the night of 30 July, crushing the enemy's vanguard force across the river and forcing the enemy to retreat to the ferry. However, due to the heavy artillery fire of the enemy, our troops were not able to drive the enemy down the Yellow River. On the morning of the 31st, the main force of the Jin Sui army crossed the Yellow River, the enemy army in the direction of Ji County captured Ji County, and the enemy army captured Hancheng in the direction of Longmen Crossing. On the evening of the 31st, the enemy divided and advanced to Xi'an, and our small units and militia actively attacked and harassed, but the results were not great. At present, the main force of our army has retreated to the front line of Chengcheng and is using the terrain to block the attack. The enemy's strength was abundant, the artillery fire was fierce, and the casualties of our troops increased, and it was estimated that we would have to evacuate after holding out in Chengcheng until dark.

Liu Yimin was anxious and wandered around the corps headquarters.

Luo Ronghuan's eyes were red, and he was also pacing in the legion headquarters.

Several leaders and staff officers of the corps knew that Tongguan was in danger, and it was impossible for the Dusan Division to block the Jin Sui army, so no one spoke, waiting for the corps commander and political commissar to make a decision.

The atmosphere in the corps headquarters was very tense, and only the pacing of Liu Yimin and Luo Ronghuan gently knocked on the nerves of the cadres.

After a long time, Liu Yimin stopped pacing and shouted loudly: "Zhu Zhexiao, record the order!" ”

Zhu Zhexiao, deputy director of the General Staff Office, stood up in response and shouted, "Yes!" ”

Liu Yimin said: "Order:

1. Zhang Hongtao and Liu Zhidan led the 3rd Division and the 27th Red Army to abandon the blockade on the Chengcheng line this night and let the enemy advance in the direction of Xi'an. The troops immediately moved to Hancheng in concealment, and launched an attack on the enemy defending Longmen Ferry at night tomorrow and tomorrow. Causing the situation of closing the door and beating the dog.

2. Hong Chaoyuan and Hu Xuerong led the main force of the 2nd Division to evacuate Tongguan this night, leaving the 1st Battalion to monitor the enemy at Tongguan and hold out until dawn to evacuate. The main force of the 2nd Division withdrew to Huayin to set up defenses, and took the initiative to defend on the Huayin line, and must hold on until the night of 2 days, and then retreat to Huaxian. Weinan was the last position of the retreat. Wu Huanxian and Xu Haidong commanded the Red 25th Army, mobile combat, not stubbornly defending, not resisting, and containing the sluggish enemy.

3. Li Lingfeng, a special operations brigade in Jinzhong, led Zhao Yonggang's 2nd Squadron and Zhao Zhiyu's 3rd Squadron to take immediate action, with the first target bank and the second target Tongpu Railway. If the gold bars and silver dollars cannot be taken away, they can be buried on the spot and taken later. Wang Laohu's 1st squadron, which was in Luoyang, immediately blew up the Luoyang airfield. After completing their mission, the two special combat teams quickly withdrew to Xi'an.

Fourth, order Gao Yuan and Huangsu to speed up the march, and be sure to rush back to Xi'an tomorrow night, where they can rest and recuperate their troops and restore their combat strength.

Fifth, Tongguan is in danger, and the second and third divisions are bleeding and dying all the time. The 12th Division, the 13th Division, and the Only Division placed the wounded in Baoji, and the field hospitals of each division were left with personnel to be responsible for treatment, and the whole army was lightly armed, leaving all the baggage and captured materials except for their own weapons and ammunition, and set off on time at 7 p.m., marching forcibly all the way, and must rush back to Xi'an on the afternoon of 3 April.

6. The cadres of the corps headquarters, divisions, and regiments were all sent to the company, and the soldiers were mobilized to overcome fatigue, carry forward the spirit of not being afraid of hardship and tiredness, and rush back to Xi'an to destroy the enemy.

7. Order all work teams in Baoji and Xianyang to mobilize and requisition mules and horses from the villagers to transport troops. Wu Zheng was ordered to immediately mobilize all the cars and carriages in Xi'an to concentrate in the direction of Zhouzhi to receive the troops. ”

After Zhu Zhexiao recorded the order and repeated it, Liu Yimin signed it and handed it to Luo Ronghuan to sign.

After Luo Ronghuan saw it, he also signed immediately.

Liu Yimin looked at Luo Ronghuan, sighed, and said: "Political commissar, it's not that I want to disobey the orders of the central government, it's that the situation is forcing people and I have to do this." ”

Luo Ronghuan said: "At a critical moment of survival, how can you be a mother-in-law? If the central government punishes, I will carry it with you! ”

The two looked at each other and smiled, and then camped to rest.

The ancient city of Pingyao in the hinterland of Jinzhong is lively.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, a group of Jin Sui troops arrived at the gate of the city. As soon as the soldiers of the security regiment defending the city were about to be interrogated, they were slapped twice by the company commander of the Jin Sui army.

The bewildered soldiers of the security regiment finally understood that this group of soldiers was ordered by Commander-in-Chief Yang Aiyuan to find the county magistrate and the head of the security regiment and ask them to lead the way.

The soldiers of the security regiment were just about to say that they were still going to stand guard, but they crackled and received several slaps. The soldiers of the security regiment who were hurt finally understood that this group of Qiu Ba was not easy to mess with, and it was better to lead the way obediently.

Pingyao is an ancient city and the birthplace of Shanxi ticket number. Being a county magistrate, a finance chief, a police chief, a security chief, and a tax bureau chief here is all fat.

At this time, the bustling Pingyao City is very lively.

Under the leadership of the soldiers of the security regiment, this group of Jin Sui troops soon arrived at the security regiment, knocked the sentries standing guard at the door and tied them up, and then arrested the head of the security regiment. Soon, all the soldiers of the security regiment were assembled. In the face of the black machine guns and submachine guns, the soldiers of the security regiment obediently took prisoners, and the Jin Suijun tied up the soldiers of the security regiment, stuffed socks on their mouths, locked them in the barracks and locked them.

There were too many people, and the soldiers of the Jin Sui Army were busy for two hours before they were done.

After packing up the security regiment, the soldiers of the Jin Sui Army went to the police station again. There are few police officers, and it will be done quickly.

The soldiers of the security regiment who led the way, looking at Jin Suijun's style, were already so frightened that they urinated on their crotch. But the soldiers of the Jin Suijun did not let him go, let him continue to lead the way, arrested all the officials such as the county magistrate, the director of the finance bureau, and the director of the tax bureau, and released the [***] people in the prison.

It was not until the evening that this group of Jin Suijun escorted the county magistrate, the director of the tax bureau, the chief of the finance department, the head of the security regiment, and the chief of the police to be shot outside the city gate on charges of embezzling public funds, preying on the common people, violating the military orders of the commander-in-chief Yang Aiyuan, and delaying the delivery of war materials to the front line. Under the jubilant eyes of the residents of Pingyao, this group of Jin Suijun rode in 12 cars seized in Pingyao, carrying carts full of medicines, weapons and ammunition, gold bars, and silver dollars, and left Pingyao County and disappeared into the night.

At night, many Pingyao residents couldn't sleep, and lay on their beds talking about Yang Aiyuan's commander-in-chief's discernment, and finally shot these villains. It wasn't until dawn that there was a violent explosion on the Tongpu Railway, which woke people up, this thing is too weird, I'm afraid it wasn't Commander-in-Chief Yang Aiyuan who did it, those few officials, which one has nothing to do with him and Chairman Yan? Counting on Yang Aiyuan to kill these corrupt officials, isn't that a conspiracy with the tiger?

The people of Pingyao guessed reasonably, this was indeed not the Jin Suijun, but the team led by Li Lingfeng, Zhao Yonggang, and Zhao Zhiyu. On this night of spring breeze and sultry night, on the orders of Liu Yimin, Li Lingfeng made a move in Jinzhong, knocked out Yan Xishan's Shanxi Bank branch in Pingyao, put forward all the tax and silver of the Pingyao County Finance Bureau and the Taxation Bureau, and the deposits of several corrupt officials in the bank and ticket number, and seized all the medicines and medical equipment in the Pingyao West Pharmacy, and then swaggered out of Pingyao County, blew up several small bridges on the railway, and paralyzed the Tongpu Railway.

When Sun Chu's road guards arrived at the end of the explosion, they only picked up a few leaflets, which said that Yan Xishan would tell him to perish if he did not withdraw his army. The soldiers of the road guard army did not dare to slack off, and reported it to Sun Chu, and Sun Chu directly reported to Yan Xishan.

That night, Luoyang Airport was devastated and the oil depot and ammunition depot exploded one after another, and more than 20 planes parked at the airport were completely burned.

It turned out that after Wang Laohu arrived in Luoyang, after observation, he found that the airport guards were heavily guarded, and there was no chance at all. In desperation, they had to dig tunnels and enter the oil depot and ammunition depot. After Liu Yimin's order to blow up the airfield was issued, Wang Laohu commanded several soldiers to pass through the tunnel and plant electric explosives at the ammunition depot and oil depot.

The bombing of the Luoyang airfield, the bombing of the Tongpu railway, and the attack on Pingyao City made Chiang Kai-shek and Yan Xishan gasp, and they did not know what kind of opponent they had encountered.

Chiang Kai-shek was shocked, and sent a telegram overnight, urging Xue Yue to speed up the march, seize Xining and Lanzhou as soon as possible, and appoint Ma Hongbin as chairman of Ningxia Province to ensure the safety of Ningxia. He also sent a telegram to Jiang Dingwen, asking him why his 200,000-strong army couldn't even take a small Tongguan, and asked Jiang Dingwen to go to the front line of Tongguan to command, and be sure to take Tongguan and occupy Weinan.

As soon as Yan Xishan got up on the morning of 2 April, he received a report of the bombing of the Tongpu Railway and the attack on Pingyao County. As soon as the Pingyao side reported that all the deposits of the Pingyao branch of the Shanxi Bank had been withdrawn, Yan Xishan fell to the ground as soon as his eyes were dark.

At 7 o'clock in the morning, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong, and Chen Cheng drove to Xi'an, made an appointment with Zhou Enlai, and lodged a strong protest with Zhou Enlai.

Zhang Qun was too angry, his face turned red, and he was gone, and he yelled at Zhou Enlai: "You [***] treacherously blew up Luoyang Airport and blew up the Tongpu Railway." You must be held accountable for your actions, and you must be held accountable for the expansion of the civil war! ”

Zhou Enlai asked Zhang Qun to pour water for them and politely invited them to sit down.

Zhang Qun said: "Mr. Enlai, I have always respected you as a person in the past, and I think you are a gentleman who must do what he says and does what he does. I didn't expect you to treat the good things we talked about as child's play. From now on, I'm going to take a fresh look at you [***] people. I think you've gone too far, like a robber! ”

Zhou Enlai was also a little angry, so he retorted: "Mr. Yue Jun, didn't you hear the sound of heavy artillery in the direction of Tongguan?" Do you know that when you fire a shell, you may take away the lives of a few or even a dozen of our young soldiers! You should fight us, and when we fight back, we will be treacherous and robbers. What kind of logic are you? ”

A few people said goodbye unhappily.

After returning to Huaqingchi, Zhang Zhizhong said to Zhang Qun: "Yue Jun, do you want to report to Nanjing, I estimate that the main force of Liu Yimin's Red Seventh Army may return to Xi'an today and tomorrow, that guy is a warmonger, and he is full of wit, brave and decisive." I am worried that one of our army or the Jin Sui army will be his key target. The commission should be reminded that if there is a truce, the war will be stopped immediately, and if it is to be fought, it will be fought steadily, and Liu Yimin must not be taken advantage of. After all, soldier training is not easy! ”

Chen Cheng thought for a while and said, "I estimate that Liu Yimin's first wave of blows must be the Jin Suijun. If our army can't join forces with the Jin Sui army, then the Jin Sui army is probably not Liu Yimin's opponent. If something goes wrong with the Jin Sui army, Shanxi will be in trouble. I suggest that a report be sent to the commission immediately, so that the Jin Sui army can speed up its attack and quickly move closer to our army. Otherwise, let them return to Hancheng immediately, and they can withdraw to Shanxi at any time. ”

Zhang Qun said: "We sent a separate telegram to the chairman of the committee to explain our views. Let's do it now, as soon as possible. ”

When Yang Aiyuan got up in the morning, he received a report from the front that the Red Army blocking troops on the front line in Chengcheng had suddenly disengaged with us, and then he received a telegram from Taiyuan that a small Red Army unit had blown up the Tongpu Railway.

Yang Aiyuan thought to himself, the red bandits were jumping over the wall in a hurry, afraid that our army would attack Xi'an, so they went to Shanxi to make trouble, and when Xi'an was taken, they caught [***] and Zhu De, and then settled accounts with them. However, the question of where the red bandits who were blocked in person is worth exploring. Don't make it like Ma Bufang and Ma Hongkui, stealing chickens instead of losing a handful of rice, really to [***] said, the army is moving westward, Shanxi is empty, if you fall into the encirclement of the Red Army, then Shanxi?

Yang Aiyuan, who was vigilant, ordered the troops to stop advancing, sent a report to Yan Xishan, and suggested that the troops postpone their march to Xi'an, establish a defensive line on the spot, and wait for the Central Army to conquer Tongguan and observe the battle between the Central Army and the Red Army.

Yan Xishan quickly called back, asking Yang Aiyuan to stop advancing and be ready to withdraw to Shanxi at any time.

Yang Aiyuan received a call back from Yan Xishan, knowing that the old man had figured it out, he was also frightened, and he probably didn't want to be the executive dean. As a result, Yang Aiyuan ordered the 32nd Army, which had crossed the river from Ji County, to stop moving south and hold on to the spot. Ordered the 33rd Army to retreat to Hancheng and continue to collect and build ferries at Longmendu. All units of the 34th Army were ordered to shrink their troops and make preparations for holding on.

Jiang Dingwen, who rushed to the front line of Tongguan, urged the troops to attack the city early in the morning.

The elite tactical level of the Central Army was very different from that of the Ma Jiajun, first preparing for artillery fire, and then a small force to test the attack, after being beaten back, Jiang Dingwen immediately found that the defenders' firepower was thin, and the number of people did not seem to be large.

Jiang Dingwen ordered a concentrated heavy artillery bombardment of a city gate, blowing up a gap, and then waved a large army to attack on all fronts, trying to take Tongguan in one fell swoop.

The shelling lasted for 10 minutes and completely destroyed the south gate of Tongguan City.

Jiang Dingwen gave an order, and the army swarmed up. Strangely, the defenders in the city did not move, and when the soldiers of the Central Army poured into the south gate, an earth-shattering explosion was heard, covering all the soldiers of the Central Army who entered the south gate in dust. Many lucky soldiers were also thrown high and experienced what it was like to walk through the clouds.

The sound of the explosion at the south gate shocked the Central Army, and the soldiers and officers stopped and looked at Tongguan City blankly.

Jiang Dingwen was furious and ordered the artillery to open fire again, blowing up all the city gates.

After the shelling, the majestic towers of Tongguan City were destroyed, and the soldiers of the Central Army entered the city tremblingly.

When Jiang Dingwen entered the city, he found that the city was empty, even the common people had withdrawn, and not a single corpse of the Red Army was missing, as if they had all been taken away. However, I finally won Tongguan, and I can give an account to the commission.

Jiang Dingwen triumphantly ordered to send a report to the commission: "Nanjing." Chairman Chiang: Our army occupied Tongguan on the morning of April 2, and the Red bandits were vulnerable and abandoned the city and fled. Our army will take advantage of the victory to pursue and annihilate the red bandits. Jiang Dingwen. April 2, 24th year of the Republic of China. ”

After receiving Jiang Dingwen's telegram, Chiang Kai-shek finally breathed a sigh of relief, if the 200,000 army could not take a Tongguan, it would really be a joke.

However, Chiang Kai-shek was not carried away. He knew that the defenders of Tongguan were just Liu Yimin's blocking and delaying troops, and holding on to Tongguan was probably to win time for Liu Yiming to rush back. Now it's time to compete with Liu Yimin, if he can rush back to capture Xi'an with his main force, it would be good. Even if you can't seize Xi'an, you can also seize Weinan. As long as it is occupied, Chiang Kai-shek believes that no matter how powerful Liu Yimin is, it may not be so easy to take it back from the hands of the heavy army group of the Central Army.

Just as he was about to send a telegram to encourage Jiang Dingwen and ask him to continue his efforts, the telegrams of Zhang Qun, Zhang Zhizhong, and Chen Cheng came, and after reading the telegrams, Chiang Kai-shek remembered the strategy he and Yang Yongtai had set. At the beginning, Yang Yongtai said that the goal of the attack at Tongguan was to mobilize Liu Yiming's cooking force to return to help, not to occupy Xi'an and Weinan. If Jiang Dingwen's army is put in for the sake of Xi'an and Weinan, it will be all over.

Chiang Kai-shek, who calmed down, thought about it for a while and realized that he was dizzy from the destruction of Luoyang Airport. After thinking about it, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Chiang Dingwen and actively marched to the Weinan front, but was ready to withdraw to the original defense line at any time. We must seek stability and protect the retreat route. When the main force of Liu Yimin's Seventh Army returned to Xi'an, it was the order for our army to retreat.

After sending a telegram to Jiang Dingwen, Chiang Kai-shek hesitated, but still sent a telegram to Yan Xishan, reminding him not to enter the red bandit ambush circle, and to let the troops fight steadily.

Chiang Dingwen and Yan Xishan were both cunning people, and when they received Chiang Kai-shek's telegram, they immediately knew that the chairman was ready to withdraw his troops. Jiang Dingwen immediately ordered the troops to stop advancing and rest and hold on to the front line of Tongguan. The baggage was withdrawn to Henan first. Yan Xishan immediately telegraphed Yang Aiyuan. The whole army retreated to the front line of Hanseong and was ready to cross the river and retreat at any time. It's just that the two of them don't understand why Chairman Jiang is so anticlimactic, is he really scared by Liu Yimin?

On the afternoon of April 2, the cavalry regiment, which had been marching rapidly, was the first to gallop into Xi'an. The citizens of Xi'an, who experienced the tragedy of Liu Zhenhua's siege of Xi'an, and were disturbed by the bad news of the Tongguan War and the entry of the Jin Sui army into Shaanxi, finally let go of their hearts when they saw the heroic Red Seventh Army return to the division. Many citizens poured into the streets, crying and shouting, to welcome the Red Army soldiers. The young man took the reins of the warriors' horses and sent the heroes back to the barracks.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, the Red 11th Division and the troops directly under the corps arrived in Xi'an. The streets of Xi'an suddenly fell into a carnival, and the citizens seemed to have a backbone, feeling that the dark clouds in the sky were about to blow away soon. People spontaneously organized, twisted Yangge, played gongs and drums, and the whole city was filled with laughter.

At 9 o'clock in the evening, the 3rd Red Reading Division and the 27th Red Army launched a fierce attack on the defenders of Longmen Ferry, and after two hours of fierce fighting, they completely annihilated a regiment of the Jin Sui Army guarding the ferry.

The defenders of the Jin Sui army on the other side of the river watched the defenders on the west bank being annihilated, but they could not be reinforced, so they hurriedly reported to Yang Aiyuan and Yan Xishan.

As soon as Yan Xishan heard the report, he said: "This Red Army wants to leave all 100,000 people of Yang Aiyuan in Shaanxi!" He hurriedly ordered Yang Aiyuan to recapture the ferry, and the whole army withdrew to Shanxi to hold the Yellow River defense line.

Yang Aiyuan was shocked, and he didn't care that the 34th Army had just withdrawn to Hancheng and needed to rest, so he immediately ordered the 33rd Army to go out and recapture the ferry. The 34th Army was ordered to finish the rest and camp, follow behind the 33rd Army, and support the 33rd Army in capturing the ferry. The 32nd Army of the North Road was ordered to retreat to Ji County overnight, and Ming said that it must return to Shanxi.

(To be continued)