Roaming through the Xiongguan Pass, embarking on a journey of iron and blood. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the 21st Army Group, the collection of essays compiled by the political department of the army, "Dawn Journey," includes the "Anhui Sentiment of the 21st Army" written by the Crossing of the Yangtze River Campaign Memorial Hall. The full text is now excerpted for everyone to appreciate.

It is well known that the 21st Group Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army is subordinate to the Lanzhou Military Region, and the military headquarters is located in Baoji, Shaanxi Province, an important town in western China. Anhui, located 1300 kilometers away, is situated in the central eastern part of China. Is there a connection between these two? This article will focus on the Anhui complex of the 21st Army and explore the military soul of the 21st Army.

1、 During the period of the Land Revolution - 'The Red Flag will always be planted in the Dabie Mountains'

Mao Zedong once highly praised the Red 28th Army (predecessor of the 21st Army) for its "great achievements and remarkable achievements". It was under Mao Zedong's deep encouragement that our soldiers sacrificed their lives and worked tirelessly, composing countless heroic hymns.

On February 3, 1935, Gao Jingting, then Secretary of the Northeastern Hubei Provincial Committee, reorganized the Red 28th Army according to instructions from higher authorities. Faced with the dire situation of being isolated from the central news and surrounded by heavy pressure, they remained loyal and steadfast in their mission, relying on a "directive letter" left by the central authorities during the transfer to persist in the struggle behind enemy lines. As Gao Jingting said at the founding ceremony, "As long as we wholeheartedly follow the Communist Party, we will definitely be able to plant the red flag in the Dabie Mountains forever

From then on, the soldiers of the Red 28th Army fought alone in Hubei, Henan, and Anhui provinces, with no food and supplies at home and no reinforcements from abroad. They fought to save the fire with nine deaths and a lifetime, and independently persisted in carrying out a three-year guerrilla war in the Dabie Mountains. With less than 2000 troops, they restrained more than 170000 Nationalist soldiers and established red political power in 45 counties, effectively supporting the strategic shift of the main Red Army. In July 1937, when Mao Zedong learned about the situation of the Red 28th Army in Hubei, Henan, and Anhui provinces, he repeatedly said, "Good news! Good news! It seems that Mr. Jiang has forced us to form an unbreakable team again!" and highly praised, "The Red 28th Army has achieved great results and is remarkable

The short sentence 'Very accomplished and remarkable' is full of Mao Zedong's affirmation of this Red Army unit's impressive record of winning with fewer soldiers, as well as his affirmation of the revolutionary belief in daring to fight and winning, and more importantly, his affirmation of the loyalty of the iron core to the Party. It was under Mao Zedong's deep encouragement that countless officers and soldiers sacrificed their lives and fought bravely: communication officer Zhang Quangui was seriously injured and captured, severely tortured by the enemy, bitten off his tongue to keep a secret, and was brutally skinned to death by the enemy at the age of only 18; First level combat hero Liu Zhengchang suffered nine serious injuries and was almost buried as a fallen martyr once. Before fully recovering, he entered a new battle; Wu Wenbao, the founder of the Hubei Henan Anhui Border Region, was a father and son in the same army, a loyal and unwavering hero.

2、 During the War of Resistance Against Japan - 'Creating Multiple Ones'

1. First shot

The first shot of the New Fourth Army's resistance against Japan was fired.

The Red 28th Army (predecessor of the 21st Army), which persisted in guerrilla warfare for three years in the Dabie Mountains, under the leadership of Gao Jingting, resolutely implemented the Party Central Committee's policy of establishing the widest anti Japanese national united front and made a decisive decision to initiate ceasefire negotiations with the local authorities of the Kuomintang.

In order to combat the arrogance of the Japanese army, rectify the "Japanese phobia" of the Kuomintang army, and boost morale and morale, in 1938, the commander of the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army, Gao Jingting, led his troops eastward and arrived in Wuwei, Chaohu and other places in Anhui in April and May. In response to the Japanese sweep, on May 12th, Gao Jingting led his troops to ambush at the mouth of the Jiangjia River in Chaohu, killing more than 20 Japanese soldiers in just 20 minutes, with no casualties in the New Fourth Army. This battle fired the first shot of the New Fourth Army's battle against Japan. This battle dealt a blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army, boosted our anti Japanese morale, and won the strong support of the people.

2. A newspaper

The soldiers of the guerrilla detachment, holding guns in one hand and pens in the other to spread the truth, gradually developed into a fine tradition of "valuing literature and martial arts".

In September 1938, Peng Xuefeng, known as a Confucian general and then the commander and political commissar of the New Fourth Army Guerrilla Detachment (predecessor of a certain division of the 21st Army), founded the "Dawn Daily" in the anti Japanese democratic base in Huaibei, Anhui. Peng Xuefeng wrote in the inaugural article "Dawn News - Our Good Friend" of "Dawn News": "Dawn" represents vitality, hope, revolution, courage, enterprising, progress, and potential, and victory is coming. Soldiers are about to set off and attack the enemy at dawn. Heroes are about to rise up and dance to the sound of the rooster at dawn. Dawn urges us to struggle, and dawn brings light

In the autumn of 1939, Mao Zedong, who was far away in Yan'an, was invited by Peng Xuefeng to write the six characters "Persist in Guerrilla War" specifically for the "Dawn Daily". In a letter to Peng Xuefeng, he said, "I have seen several issues of the newspaper and it is well run. I wish comrades to continue to work hard and make better achievements." The "Dawn Daily" has also become an important window for promoting revolutionary truth and the style of our army soldiers. The number and scope of newspaper circulation have been increasing. Starting from 300 issues, it was distributed to Yan'an, Chongqing, Xi'an, and North China, and was praised by well-known figures in the newspaper industry such as Fan Changjiang. It even reached more than 10 countries including India, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Canada, and participated in the World Newspaper Expo held in Paris, France in 1943.

With the revolutionary sentiment of "one pen is worth three thousand Mauser guns", the vast number of officers and soldiers actively promoted the Party's policies and Mao Zedong's strategic thinking. Peng Xuefeng's "Dawn Daily", "Dawn Theater Troupe", and "Cavalry Regiment" have also become the source of the spiritual culture of the 21st Army, forming the "Dawn" cultural brand.

3、 During the Liberation War - 'A Million Heroes Crossing the River'

In Anhui, he participated in the final battle to overthrow the Jiang family dynasty - the Crossing of the Yangtze River Campaign, laying the foundation for the birth of New China.

On April 15, 1949, the delegations of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China drafted the "Domestic Peace Agreement (Final Amendment)" and agreed to sign it on April 20, but the Nationalist government in Nanjing refused to sign it. In accordance with the order of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, the General Front Committee of the PLA issued the order to cross the river from now on.

The three divisions of the 21st Army were ordered to move south from Shandong to Hefei, Anhui on January 15, 1949, as a force brigade of the Zhonglu Assault Group, preparing to cross the river. Under the command of Commander Teng Haiqing, Political Commissar Kang Zhiqiang, and Chief of Staff Wu Yongxiang, meticulous reconnaissance was organized before the war, and cross river exercises were carried out well. The troops disguised themselves and approached the banks of the Yangtze River on March 14th, after more than two months of preparation. On the evening of April 20th, the crossing of the river was launched at Guichi and Tonglingdu in Anhui Province, with the 61st and 63rd divisions as assault teams and the 62nd division as a reserve team. On the evening of April 20, 1949, according to the planned deployment, the crossing of the river operation was launched. Under the cover of strong artillery fire, the Nationalist army, warships, and river defense artillery intercepted the ship and crossed over 200 miles of the river from Guichi to Tongling in Anhui, and quickly captured Jiangxinzhou such as Jiyuzhou. Subsequently, they quickly advanced from Guangde, Anhui to south of the Wuxing line towards Hangzhou. The 21st Army was the first to liberate Hangzhou, stabilizing social order in a timely manner and ensuring the peace of the people.

In fact, the bond between the 21st Army and Anhui is not limited to this, for example, the first commander Teng Haiqing was from Jinzhai, Anhui. Time passes, when the glorious legend of the 21st Army in Anhui fades into pages of yellowed history, when the former glory is swallowed up by the tide of history one by one, what remains are the monuments forged by your faith.