Chapter 41: Long Wencheng Advances on Guiyang, the Red Army Crosses the Chishui River Four Times

According to rough estimates, Long Wencheng’s Red 18th Regiment, a force of just over four thousand men, was equipped with more than seven hundred mules and horses. Such an enormous quantity of pack animals meant that soldiers could carry only their personal gear and weapons without the burden of extra supplies. Most importantly, these mules, horses, and carts significantly increased their marching speed, allowing many soldiers to ride rather than walk. In addition, he maintained a cavalry company for battlefield reconnaissance.

Beyond these military supplies, Long discovered a generous stock of cigarettes—a rare luxury, especially for the tobacco-starved soldiers of the Red Army. There were two cases of "Old Knife" brand cigarettes. While it seemed like a lot, it wouldn't even amount to two cigarettes per man if distributed among the troops. Consequently, the cigarettes were placed under centralized management, with two packs allocated per platoon. Nicotine was hardly a healthy habit, but there were times when it served as a vital pick-me-up to recharge the body.

Wen Song, thick-skinned as he was, pestered Tian Lixin, who was in charge of logistics, for a long time before finally securing half a pack. He beamed with joy; the cigarettes he had bought in Kaili had long since run out, and his cravings were at their peak. The most miserable one was Qi Delong, who was in the midst of quitting smoking and had to chew on a small wooden stick to satisfy his urge. Yet, Yang Gang, Peng Hongsen, and the others would constantly taunt him by waving cigarettes in front of his face. This would infuriate Qi, who would curse, "Damn your mothers, you bunch of rascals!" drawing roars of laughter from his mischievous comrades.

A few days later, Lin Tong sent word from Guiyang: "The Guiyang garrison is hollowed out, with only one regiment of fewer than a thousand men stationed there." This report was highly reliable, as Lin Tong had been monitoring the barracks from the outside, counting the soldiers row by row during their morning drills. Furthermore, the camps that previously housed several divisions in Guiyang had long been vacated, with those troops diverted to the Gulin region to encircle the Central Red Army. It was clear that Long Wencheng now possessed the strength to take Guiyang directly.

"Let’s attack, Commander! Opportunity knocks but once," urged Yang Gang, who was the most impatient. The thought of assaulting Guiyang—the provincial capital of Guizhou—thrilled him. If they could capture such a major city, the spoils from the local warlords would be immense. The others echoed his sentiment, arguing that they should immediately march east and launch a fierce assault on Guiyang. However, Wen Song noticed that Long Wencheng, who usually favored bold, unconventional tactics, was uncharacteristically silent.

Wen Song had wanted to chime in, but he held back, sensing that things were not as simple as they appeared and that Long had deeper considerations. Long Wencheng certainly wanted to attack Guiyang—he wanted to do it right now. But he was well aware that it was not the time. If they pressured Guiyang now, Chiang Kai-shek would undoubtedly call for reinforcements. At this stage, the Central Column had not yet broken free from the enemy’s encirclement. If they attacked now, the Central Army would pull units back to defend the capital, disrupting the final phase of the Central Red Army’s strategy by prematurely drawing the enemy back and cutting off the route for the Red Army to bypass Guiyang and head west into Yunnan.

In Long’s view, the optimal time to strike Guiyang was not now, but when the Central Red Army crossed the Chishui River for the fourth time and reached the Wujiang River. "Order the troops to assemble and stand by to move out," Long commanded. The men noticed that while he ordered them to move, he did not explicitly state they were attacking Guiyang. Yet, no one dared to ask further; they knew that once they were on the move, the attack on Guiyang was inevitable—it was only a matter of when.

The men cheered, spending the night packing their gear. At daybreak the next morning, the grand force of four thousand men, led by Long Wencheng, marched toward the western suburbs of Guiyang. Simultaneously, Lin Tong and his men set out under the cover of night, crossing the Wujiang River on horseback to enter the Yaxi area. Once they located the main force of the Central Column, they were to return immediately to report.

As they neared Guiyang, Long ordered the troops to conceal themselves in the forests of the western suburbs, forbidding any attacks or exposure of their position without his express orders. He waited for news from Lin Tong. While Long was maneuvering to pressure Guiyang, hundreds of thousands of Nationalist troops in the Gulin region were still scouring the rugged mountains and dense forests in search of the main Red Army force. Xue Yue looked at the summary from the signals department, his expression laced with confusion. "This makes no sense. The radio is active in the Gulin area, so how can they be missing? Have they all hidden in the deep mountains and refused to come out?" Beside him, Wu Qiwei mused, "Perhaps... the radio signal is a decoy?"

While the two commanders hesitated, unsure of the Central Column’s intentions, the main force of the Red Army had already crossed the Chishui River for the fourth time at the Taipingdu, Jiuxikou, and Erlangtan crossings. The main force then swung south, while the Red 9th Army Corps remained north of the Wujiang River to distract and confuse the enemy. The main force conducted a forced march day and night, closing in on the Wujiang. Across the river lay Guiyang.

The Red Army’s "Second Bureau"—the intelligence department specializing in intercepting and decrypting enemy radio communications—had already intercepted intelligence confirming that Guiyang was weakly defended and that the Nationalist leadership was currently within the city. It was the vast amount of intelligence provided by the "Second Bureau" that allowed the Red Army to have an intimate understanding of the enemy’s deployments and adjustments. This was the prerequisite for the miraculous feat of the "Four Crossings of the Chishui"—intelligence support. Without it, no one could truly possess the "heavenly eye" to observe the entire battlefield.

By the time the Central Red Army arrived at the banks of the Wujiang, Lin Tong had ridden day and night to find Long Wencheng, who was hidden in the western suburbs of Guiyang. "The Central Red Army has crossed the Chishui and is moving rapidly south, Commander. Just as you said, the Central Column is indeed heading toward Guiyang." Lin Tong felt as if his commander possessed clairvoyance; otherwise, how could he have known the Central Column would cross the Chishui again and head south from Yaxi? Regardless, the news Lin Tong brought solidified Long Wencheng’s resolve to attack.

That night, a torrential rain fell. The Nationalist defense along the Wujiang was held by only a single security regiment. In their view, the Red Army was still in the Gulin area, west of the Chishui, and could not possibly be near the Wujiang. Though called a regiment, it consisted of only five hundred men, most of whom were undisciplined, ineffective rabble. That night, in the wooden huts along the riverbank, the security soldiers were not patrolling in the rain but were huddled inside, smoking and playing cards in a haze of smoke.

In the rainy night, on the surface of the Wujiang River, transport boats quietly approached the shore. Red Army assault troops, clad in rain capes and armed with submachine guns, landed and immediately split into four detachments, charging toward the riverside barracks of the security regiment.