What were the important battles in the Long March?

The important battles in the Long March include: the bloody Xiangjiang River, the fourth crossing of Chishui River, the forced crossing of the Dadu River, the flying capture of Luding Bridge, the Battle of Jialing River, the Battle of Baozuo, the Battle of Lazikou, and the Battle of Zhiluo Town.

The Bloody Xiangjiang River

From November 25 to December 1, 1934, the Central Red Army fought a bloody battle with the enemy on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River south of Quanzhou (now Quanzhou County, Guangxi). The Battle of Xiangjiang River was a major battle carefully planned by Chiang Kai-shek, and it was also the first fierce battle experienced by the Red Army in the Long March. Chiang Kai-shek invested nearly 300,000 troops in his direct line troops and local warlord troops in Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in an attempt to completely annihilate our Central Red Army in the area east of the Xiangjiang River. There was such a huge disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves, and the wrong decisions of the "Left" leaders caused the Red Army to be completely passive. Under this dangerous situation, the Red Army still broke through the Xiangjiang River. However, it was a bloody battle that brought huge losses to the Red Army. The Red Army dropped from more than 86,000 men when it started the Long March to more than 30,000.

The Fourth Crossing of Chishui ★

The Fourth Crossing of Chishui was a decisive battle personally commanded by Mao Zedong after the Zunyi Conference. From January 29 to March 22, 1935, Mao Zedong used his unique great strategic vision to flexibly command the Red Army of more than 30,000 people, dealing with enemies 10 times his own superiority, galloping thousands of miles from east to west, and traveling back and forth several times from north to south. From south to north, from the east and from the west, he repeatedly used surprise troops to mobilize the enemy, creating a miracle of the weak defeating the strong. During the fourth crossing of Chishui, the Red Army conducted more than 40 battles, large and small, and annihilated more than 18,000 enemies. The Central Red Army has since reversed its passive situation since the Long March and gained the initiative in strategic shifts. The fourth crossing of Chishui was Mao Zedong's "proud stroke" in his military career.

Forcibly crossing the Dadu River ★

On May 21, 1935, the Central Red Army divided the left and right routes from the Lugu area of ??Mianning and advanced northward. On May 24, the First Regiment of the 1st Red Division, the advance team of the Central Red Army, attacked Anshun Field (in Shimian County, Sichuan) at night, annihilated two companies defending the enemy and captured a ferry. On May 25, 17 warriors from the Second Company of the First Battalion of the Red Regiment, led by company commander Xiong Shanglin, took a wooden boat to overcome the rapids and waves, broke through the enemy's fire net, and forcibly crossed the Dadu River. The Red Army fought its way out from the place where Shi Dakai's entire army was wiped out by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Although not all the Red Army troops crossed the river from here, this heroic feat shocked the enemy and created favorable conditions for the Red Army to move north along both banks of the Dadu River to attack the Luding Bridge and defend the enemy. It was of great significance to the Red Army's victory in the entire Dadu River Campaign. .

Flying to capture the Luding Bridge ★

The east bridge of the Luding Bridge is connected to Luding City and is defended by the main force of the 38th Regiment of the Sichuan Army. Before the Red Army arrived, the defenders had removed the wooden planks on the iron cable bridge, leaving only 13 iron cable chains hanging on the Dadu River. The situation was very dangerous. On May 29, 1935, 22 heroes from the 1st Battalion and 2nd Company of the 4th Red Regiment, the leading force of the Red Army's left column, under the leadership of company commander Liao Dazhu, braved enemy firepower and climbed the suspended iron cables to attack the east bridge head and successfully occupied the bridge. The follow-up troops of the Red Army followed up, quickly defeated an enemy regiment, and occupied Luding Bridge. The main force of the Central Red Army crossed the Dadu River from Luding Bridge. In this way, Chiang Kai-shek's dream of making the Central Red Army "the second in Shidakai" was completely shattered.

Battle of Jialing River

From March 28 to April 21, 1935, the Fourth Red Army launched and successfully carried out the battle of forcibly crossing the Jialing River in northern Sichuan. The Red Fourth Front Army wiped out more than 10,000 enemies. Nine county towns were conquered one after another. In this cross-river battle, the width of the river that the Red Army forcibly crossed, the large number of people who crossed it, and the great results achieved were unprecedented in the history of the Fourth Red Army's warfare and rare in the entire history of the Red Army's warfare. This battle disrupted Chiang Kai-shek's strategic deployment and coordinated the combat operations of the Central Red Army.

Baozuo Battle

After the First and Fourth Red Front armies joined forces, they determined the strategic policy of the two armies to march north together and establish base areas in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. The Shangxia Baozhai east of Banyou is located in the northern part of Songpan County, Sichuan Province. The terrain is difficult and it is stuck on the only way for the Red Army to enter Gannan. On August 29, 1935, the Red Thirty Army launched an attack on the enemy defenders at Shang Bao Zuo. On August 31, they captured Shang Bao Zuo. At the same time, the First Division of the Fourth Army also attacked the enemy defenders at Qiuji Temple. In this battle, most of the enemy defenders and enemy reinforcements in the 49th Division in the Baozuo area were annihilated. More than 5,000 enemy soldiers were killed, injured, and captured. More than 50 machine guns and more than 1,500 long and short guns were seized. The victory of the Baozuo Battle cleared the obstacles for the Red Army to move north and opened the door to march to Gannan.

Battle of Lazikou

Lazikou is located in Diebu County, Gansu Province. It is an important pass from Sichuan to Gansu and is known as a natural danger. There are cliffs on both sides of Lazikou, and in the middle is a deep and fast-flowing Lazi River. There is a wooden bridge on the river, which is the only way to enter Lazikou. The enemy deployed two battalions of troops to defend here and tightly blocked the Red Army's road to the north. On September 17, 1935, the Fourth Regiment of the Second Division of the First Army of the Red Army captured the Lazikou natural barrier, broke through the enemy's blockade, and shattered the enemy's plan to trap the Red Army in the grassland.

The Battle of Zhiluo Town

In early November 1935, after the Central Red Army and the 15th Red Army joined forces, Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai decided to launch a battle in Zhiluo Town (in today's Fuxian County, Shaanxi Province). War of annihilation. From November 21st to 24th, the Red Army encircled and annihilated the 109th Division of the Northeast Army, capturing more than 5,300 enemy soldiers and killing more than 1,000 people under the enemy division commander Niu Yuanfeng. The victory of this battle completely shattered the enemy's third "encirclement and suppression" campaign against the Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Area, accelerated the division of the Kuomintang camp, had an important impact on the subsequent Xi'an Incident and the formation of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, and laid the foundation for the Party Central Committee. A new situation has opened up in the Northwest.