Xiliang Mountain fired the "first shot of the battle of crossing the river" and 1,500 warriors died in the battlefield.



  Sixty years ago, Xu Shishan was the second battalion commander of the 270th Regiment, 90th Division, 30th Army, 9th Corps of the Third Field Army. He followed his head Zhu Muping to send troops to Xiliang Mountain. The battle of Xiliang Mountain started the "first shot of the battle of crossing the river". In the battle, more than 1,500 soldiers died in the battlefield, including the 37-year-old head Zhu Muping …


  "hide!" "Bang!" "Colonel! Colonel! You wake up … "


  "Go-go-"On the morning of March 13th, in the home of 87-year-old general Xu Shishan, time and space seemed to go back to the Battle of Xiliang Mountain in Hexian County 60 years ago. At some point, the old general suddenly stood up from the sofa, with his hands in the shape of guns, shouting and running forward …


  From guerrillas to field armies


  In the five months before the battle of crossing the river, my identity has changed four times in a row, which has never happened before; However, in the process of this rapid transformation, we have realized the transformation from guerrillas to local armed forces until we become the regular army of 270 regiments in 90 divisions of 30 armies, and at the same time, we have achieved the tragic and brilliant resume of our regiment crossing the river.


  In November 1948, just two months after I was transferred from the secretary of Qianji District Committee to the chief of staff of Shuyang Independent Regiment, I suddenly received an order from my superior, and my independent regiment was reorganized with Guanyun Independent Regiment to form the 4th Regiment of the 6th Army Division of Subei Military Region. After the adaptation, the original Shuyang Independent Regiment became the 4th Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, and I became the battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion.


  At this time, I met my head Zhu Muping, a handsome man with a tall and loud voice. From Shuyang to Guanyun, I heard many magical stories about him. Some said he was an intellectual, some said he was a lonely hero, and some said he was both civil and military.


  What kind of strange man is Zhu Muping?


  Before I could perceive and understand it slowly, the Yuntai Mountain War in Lianyungang started, and the 4th Regiment was transferred from Guanyun, which was the first battle after the formation of the 4th Regiment. According to the deployment of the military division, the 2nd Battalion of 4th Regiment is responsible for the main attack of Yuntai Mountain War. Perhaps considering that I had never led troops to fight in a big battle before, Zhu Muping volunteered to take the 2nd Battalion personally and let me stay in the regimental headquarters.


  But what I didn’t expect was that some soldiers in the second battalion suddenly became emotional when the war was about to start. I rushed to the front line, only after asking did I know that these Shuyang children would prefer me to lead the attack. They’ve been following me since the guerrilla period. The sudden situation made Zhu Muping a little embarrassed. After urgent consultations, Zhu Muping and I were finally allowed to command together, and the mood of the soldiers suddenly rose.


  The attack began in Nancheng, and the peasant children of the second battalion, who were guerrillas, rushed forward with soil shovel and fried bobbin, screaming and screaming. The attack soon rushed to an open field in front of Yuntai Mountain, where there was no barrier to cover. The enemy troops stood in the fortifications on Yuntai Mountain and shot from above. The roaring bullets made the soldiers lift their heads, and the shells exploded in dense attack formations, and several people were overturned with one shell.


  "This won’t do!" I was in a hurry and called the company commander and platoon leader to make a new deployment.


  The adjusted formation is no longer as dense as it was at first, but changed into a three-thirds formation. The soldiers are divided into three groups, and the groups are separated, avoiding the shells falling from the air and making a quick detour down the mountain. The troops finally rushed to the foot of the mountain, which was the dead corner of enemy fire. According to the original plan, the soldiers will take a short rest here, gather the team and carry out the next wave of attacks.


  But at this time, the explosion of "dong, dong" suddenly came from the top of the head, and the blown-up gravel and debris mixed with weeds slipped down the mountain, smashing the soldiers’ faces. This is the mountain gun of the military division that fired at the enemy on the mountain. The strength of the soldiers rushed up. "Go-"I don’t know which soldier took the lead and rushed to the mountain with a gun. "Tick-tock, tick-tock-"The bugle also sounded. "Kill-"The 2nd battalion shouted and rushed up the hill. Hundreds of screaming soldiers were crushed to the mountainside, and the enemy couldn’t carry it anymore and began to turn and run away. The 2nd Battalion rushed to the top of the mountain in one breath, and pursued the victory, crushing the defeated enemy into a ravine. Ten minutes later, an enemy soldier raised a white flag and they finally surrendered.


  The officers and men of the 2nd Battalion have been hitting the seaside of Lianyungang. These soldiers in Shuyang have never seen the sea! They jumped and shouted on the beach, picked up stones and threw them into the sea. The people in Lianyungang sent gifts to the troops, and the soldiers saw fish as big as a small wooden boat for the first time in their lives. This fish has not been eaten by a company.


  In this battle, the Sixth Army Division wiped out more than 3,000 enemies, and groups of prisoners were taken to Xuzhou. When the officers and men of the 2nd Battalion saw the captured hills of Type 38 rifles, they all threw away their ground-breaking guns and went up to grab them. Those prisoners are still unconvinced, and they look down on the way we rob guns, saying that they lost to these hillbillies.


  After the victory of Yuntai Mountain, the 2nd Battalion returned to the station of Guanyun 4th Regiment. A month later, the 4th Regiment was renamed the Secret Service Corps. On February 3, 1949, the Independent Regiment of Suqian County was upgraded to a battalion to supplement the Special Service Regiment, making its organizational system complete. After the Spring Festival in 1949, the Secret Service Corps was reorganized and became the last organizational group of the 30th Army of the 3rd Field Army of the China People’s Liberation Army, namely the 90th Division, with three battalions under its jurisdiction. The original Guanyun Independent Regiment, Shuyang Independent Regiment and Suqian Independent Regiment became the first, second and third battalions respectively. Zhu Muping continued to be the head of the team, and my identity changed again, from the battalion commander of the second battalion to the instructor of the second battalion.


  Move to Chaimi River in Shuyang to rest.


  After being reorganized into a field army, my 270th regiment left Guanyun and moved to Pingdun on the bank of Chaimi River in Shuyang for rest. This rare short break gave me a better understanding of my head Zhu Muping.


  On the second day after being reorganized into the 270 th Regiment, the troops left Guanyun County and moved to the flat pier on the bank of Chaimi River in Shuyang for rest, and were formally organized into the main regiment of the 30 th Army. Due to the insufficient strength of the 270 th regiment, the superior has transferred some personnel from the East China Sea, Xinyi and other local armed forces to supplement. At the same time, formally determine the task of crossing the river south to liberate all China. The slogan "Go across the Yangtze River and capture Chiang Kai-shek alive" often resounds through the troops and floats to the fields with the wind.


  Only then did I understand the meaning behind the four changes in five months. It turned out that the superior leaders had planned to prevent our guerrillas from becoming field troops one step at a time, so they were divided into multiple steps.


  After becoming a field army, Zhu Muping, the head of the team, became more and more busy, often going out for meetings and organizing soldiers’ training. Although we are in the same group, Zhu Muping and I don’t meet much and know each other very little. In the Yuntai Mountain War, he left me the impression that he was courageous, brave and not afraid of sacrifice. At that time, some soldiers secretly gave him a nickname "rash fellow" behind his back. During the rest of the army, with the increase of contact opportunities with each other, I learned a lot about my colonel’s experience and filled me with high respect for him.


  Zhu Muping took part in the revolution as early as 1932, when he was only 20 years old and was still a young student in Xiangshuikou Middle School. Because an underground party member was arrested and gave up the list, Zhu Muping had to avoid Shanghai. In Shanghai, he served as the secretary of the street league branch, promoting revolution among unemployed workers in the name of doing small business. In mid-January 1934, Zhu Muping was arrested. But the enemy didn’t know his true identity, and after several tortures, he got nothing, so he had to be sentenced to one year and three months as a suspect. After he was released from prison, Zhu Muping’s brother-in-law took him back to his hometown in Lianshui.


  Zhu Muping’s military struggle career began in Lianshui. "We don’t have the feudal power of landlords. They have guns. We can’t do without guns. If there are bad guys, we must use guns." Zhu Muping began to unite the youth of the village, and concentrated the local steel guns to prevent bandits, forming the first local armed forces. In 1936, he also took advantage of the opportunity of the Kuomintang to recruit instructors to train able-bodied men, and went to Bailugou as an instructor for several months to study military affairs. In 1939, Lianshui was occupied by the Japanese army, and Zhu Muping formally set up a team and set up a guerrilla group, which later became one of the three old foundations of the 270 th Regiment.


  In War of Resistance against Japan, he served as the district head and battalion chief of Lianshui Ma Duo, in charge of military affairs. Zhu Muping often moves at night, and comes and goes at night with only one or two guards. He is often used to wearing a dark gray robe, tying his waist with a belt, putting a gun in his clothes and leaving. When encountering enemies, spies and secret agents, Zhu Muping showed no mercy and was shot on the spot.


  At that time, what the people in Lianshui hated most was Shao Xiaoxi, the captain of the pseudo-self-defense. Zhu Muping and others decided to make an example of this traitor. In the late spring of 1939, Shao Xiaoxi appeared on the streets of Lianshui, watching while walking, and grabbing at the things on the street stalls. When he left the sentry at the gate of the city for more than 70 meters, Zhu Muping quietly appeared behind him, and two shots were fired, and Shao Xiaoxi was killed on the spot.


  Although he has done underground work, led guerrillas to fight some battles and went deep into the den to exterminate traitors, Zhu Muping still feels that he has never fought a big battle. Whenever there was a big or small battle, he volunteered to his superiors and led the team to battle. On the battlefield, he never took the command in the town, but took the lead and charged in the bullets.


  Before the end of the rest of the troops, Zhu Muping took time to go to Huaiyin to visit some old comrades-in-arms in the military division. When saying goodbye to every comrade-in-arms, he left a word of "Goodbye in Jiangnan" to his comrades-in-arms with a cheerful expression. No one expected that this turned out to be a farewell speech with his comrades-in-arms.