Chapter 56: The Red 18th Regiment Serves as the Vanguard, Capturing Anshunchang and the Luding Bridge

"Personally, I feel that Comrade Long Wencheng's suggestion has a certain merit."

As he spoke, he pointed to the somewhat crude map. "Moreover, I believe the enemy will not actually dismantle the iron chains on the Luding Bridge. At most, they will remove the wooden planks."

With that, he proceeded to explain his analysis.

The reason was actually quite simple: the Dadu River had only this single iron-chain bridge. The people on both banks, rich or poor alike, depended entirely on this bridge to visit relatives and conduct business.

Warlord Liu Wenhui's troop movements also relied upon it.

The Red Army was, after all, merely passing through. However, the local populace, and even warlords and landlords like Liu Wenhui, needed this iron-chain bridge to connect the two banks of the Dadu River indefinitely.

Besides, destroying something is easy, but rebuilding it is difficult. Back in the Kangxi Emperor's era, countless silver taels had been spent to construct this iron-chain bridge.

Liu Wenhui lacked the capability to blow up the bridge and then build a new one in its place.

Furthermore, it was only necessary to remove the wooden planks, leaving behind thirteen bare iron chains spanning the river. Once several machine guns were set up on the opposite bank, anyone daring to climb across the chains would be met with direct fire and sweeping gunfire. Who could possibly crawl across?

Since the benefit was the same, they would naturally choose the lowest-cost execution plan; otherwise, once the Red Army left, Liu Wenhui would be left staring at a severed iron-chain bridge with tears of regret.

Following this thorough analysis, Long Wencheng felt an even greater surge of admiration.

He possessed the advantage of hindsight, knowing the full cause and effect, but Commander Da didn't. Even so, the Commander was able to analyze the whole situation with such profound insight—truly formidable.

The most crucial point was that the Commander had never formally attended a military academy. His mastery of warfare was learned essentially from historical texts and military treatises; he was a military cultivator of the untamed, grassroots path.

This speech finally persuaded everyone. Nevertheless, the final decision remained that the main force would cross the river at Anshunchang, while simultaneously dispatching the main force of the 1st Red Division northward along the Dadu River to find a way to seize the Luding Bridge.

If they could capture the Luding Bridge and ensure the bridge deck was functional, the main force would directly march north and cross the river via the Luding Bridge.

In addition, a detachment would be sent toward Ganluo and Hanyuan to masquerade as the main force, misleading the enemy's pursuing troops into believing they intended to cross the river from the Hanyuan direction.

Having made these arrangements, he delivered a concluding speech to summarize the meeting:

"To attack is to defend; to advance is to retreat; to face the front is to face the flank; to take the straight road is to take the winding road.

Things in this world do not shift according to your will. When you want something to happen immediately, it somehow cannot be accomplished. Yet once you have made a full circle and returned, the matter is unexpectedly achieved."

Long Wencheng recorded these words in his notebook.

Following this meeting, Long Wencheng continued to advance as the vanguard. Upon reaching Anshunchang, he headed directly north toward the Luding Bridge.

The main force would attempt to cross the river in the vicinity of Anshunchang.

Once everything was arranged and without a moment for any unit to rest, Long Wencheng returned to Dechang County, hurriedly rallied his troops, and marched all the way toward Anshunchang on the Dadu River.

After packing and organizing their supplies, Long Wencheng's horse-and-mule-transported army marched northward at a blistering pace of a hundred *li* a day.

Along the route, they encountered virtually no resistance. Upon learning that Dechang, Huili, and Xichang had all been lost, Liu Wenhui decisively ordered all his troops to retreat to the northern bank of the Dadu River.

Subsequently, he issued orders to scuttle and burn all boats on both banks.

Long Wencheng led his troops onward toward Anshunchang.

His forces had fully adopted horse-and-mule logistics. Even though their carried baggage almost rivaled that of the entire Central Column, their marching speed was by no means slow.

The route required passing through Mianning County and the Yi ethnic region, making the journey difficult.

This difficulty did not stem from poor road conditions—after all, they had traversed far worse paths—but rather from the local warlords' long-standing discriminatory policies against ethnic minorities, which had created persistent tension between the local Yi and Han populations.

Historically, when the Red Army reached Mianning County, the local magistrate had fled overnight with his bucket in hand.

As a result, while passing through the Yi residential area, that magistrate was finished off by local Yi compatriots, suggesting he had likely spent a great deal of time bullying the local Yi people in ordinary times.

Therefore, upon successfully occupying Mianning County, and to avoid unnecessary conflict, Long Wencheng gathered everyone for a brainstorming discussion.

"How about just giving them money directly?"

Wen Sung's family was in business, so the method he thought of was the simplest and crudest.

"After all, money makes the ghost push the mill."

Yet this proposal was directly rejected by Long Wencheng.

The reason was simple: a relationship built on money could also be destroyed by money.

There was a historical precedent: Prince of Yi Shi Dakai had previously adopted the method of paying for passage with money to successfully pass through the Yi residential area.

As a result, the enemy forces pursuing them used the exact same method, offering the Yi people even more money so they would turn around and encircle Prince of Yi Shi Dakai's rear.

Following that, these enemies and the Yi people jointly besieged Shi Dakai, leading to the Prince of Yi's defeat at Anshunchang.

Yang Gang slammed the table and declared:

"Then we just fight our way through."

This remark drew sideways glances from everyone present.

Time was of the essence. It wasn't a matter of whether they could win a fight; however, if a genuine battle broke out, not only would it waste precious time, but the Central Army hot on their heels was pursuing relentlessly, with their vanguard forces having already crossed the Jinsha River and capable of catching up at any moment.

How much time could the 5th Red Army Corps, responsible for the rear-guard defense, buy them to deal with these tribes in the Yi region?

Furthermore, the locals were familiar with the terrain, making it effortless to wage guerrilla warfare against the Red Army. It would most likely degenerate into a messy entanglement. Not only would they suffer casualties and lose personnel, but the Central Army would also close the gap in pursuit—definitely the worst of all possible strategies.

"There... there is another way."

This time, the speaker was Lin Que. He sat quietly in the corner of the room, raising his hand timidly.

Long Wencheng cast his gaze over, smiling warmly:

"Comrade Lin Que, don't be nervous. Speak your mind."

Only then did Lin Que take a deep breath, puff out his chest, and say:

"Before I enlisted as a soldier, didn't I traffic horses around Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan? So I frequently went to these Yi and Tibetan areas to acquire horses. Going back and forth, I got to know quite a few people.

I've been to this Yi area ahead. It's mainly controlled by two families: the Luohong family and the Guji family. My relationship with the chieftains of both families is fairly decent. If I go negotiate and communicate with them, maybe this matter can be done."

After listening to Lin Que, Long Wencheng realized he had picked up a precious treasure back in Guiyang.

"Comrade Lin Que, then I'll leave this matter in your hands. If it truly doesn't work out, we'll think of another way then."

Lin Que nodded heavily, accepting the assignment, and set off early the next morning for the territory of the Luohong family.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Long Wencheng and his party in Mianning County finally welcomed Lin Que's return with a group of people.

He brought back news: a meeting had been arranged by the shore of Yihai Lake with Xiao Yeda, chieftain of the Guji family. However, the exact outcome of the negotiations would depend entirely on Long Wencheng's capability.