Northwest Years 西北岁月 Episode 24

Intelligence came from Xi'an that the Kuomintang army was equipped with high-power radio detection equipment and had entered northern Shaanxi. The central government required all radio stations to remain silent and only receive but not send. Xi Zhongxun came up with a plan and did the opposite. They took a high-power radio and went directly to Ansai with the troops, sending signals as they went along the way, giving the enemy the illusion that the main force had indeed arrived in Ansai.

Peng Dehuai adopted the suggestions of Xi Zhongxun and others, and led the Northwest Field Army to make full use of the terrain and mass advantages and decided to ambush in the Qinghuabian area. On the other hand, Wei Hai and Wei Daming discovered the signal of the radio station, which was located in Ansai, so they believed it and immediately sent intelligence to report to Hu Zongnan.

After Hu Zongnan learned about it, he ordered Pei Changhui to lead the front command post to Yan'an to supervise the battle, and let Dong Zhao lead five reorganized brigades to advance rapidly to Ansai, etc., and made detailed arrangements. Peng Dehuai also received Hu Zongnan's deployment in time and ordered the troops to arrive at the designated location to assemble before dusk on the 22nd and make all preparations to ambush the enemy.

Li Jiyun, commander of the 31st Brigade, led his troops to Qinghuabian Ansai, but he stopped at Guamao Village and did not enter the ambush circle. Others were worried that they would be punished by Hu Zongnan for moving too slowly. Li Jiyun believed that the top priority was safety and sent people to scout ahead.

Later, Li Jiyun's troops forcibly collected food in Guamao Village, which was resisted by the people. Without preparing dry food, they settled down in the village. Xi Zhongxun thought that his soldiers had been ambushing in the mountains for two days and one night, not to mention that it was freezing cold now, so he suggested to withdraw and have a good rest first, and then took the masses to comfort the front-line soldiers and sent hot ginger soup and food.

The soldiers had not seen the enemy for a long time, and they were worried that the news would leak out and the Kuomintang army would see through the ambush circle. Xi Zhongxun comforted everyone not to be anxious and wait patiently. As long as they could withstand the ice and snow, they would definitely be able to wait for the enemy. The soldiers were deeply inspired by Xi Zhongxun's words and said that no matter how long they waited, as long as the enemy dared to come, they would never retreat half a step.

On the other side, the KMT soldiers wanted to light a fire to keep warm but were scolded by their superiors, and the only biscuits on their bodies were snatched away by others. Fortunately, an elder brother who had a good relationship with him took him to rest nearby and shared a can of canned meat with him. The little soldier lamented that he thought he could have enough food as a soldier, but he ended up being a starving ghost.

Soon, Hu Zongnan sent a telegram to Li Jiyun again, ordering them to advance northward according to the plan and quickly occupy Qinghuabian, otherwise they would be punished for shrinking back. Li Jiyun and others had no choice but to accept the order, report their current position to Hu Zongnan, set out again the next day, and finally entered the ambush circle.

On March 23, 1947, the Qinghuabian Battle started. After the 31st Brigade of the KMT Army entered the ambush circle, it was quickly annihilated by the Northwest Field Army before it could wait for support from the rear, and the enemy brigade commander Li Jiyun was captured. This battle was the first victory of the Communist Army after withdrawing from Yan'an, which hit the enemy's arrogance and inspired all the soldiers and civilians in the border area.

On the other hand, Hu Zongnan led his troops into the empty city of Yan'an and checked the room where Mao Zedong lived. Seeing such difficult conditions, he mocked them for sleeping on straw and tasting gall to become Goujian. Mao Zedong left a note for Hu Zongnan in the room, saying that Hu Zongnan was in a dilemma when he arrived in Yan'an. Seeing this, Hu Zongnan said bluntly that if Mao Zedong was caught, Mao Zedong would become a joke in history from then on. If he could not be caught, he, Hu Zongnan, would be the joke on this note.

Later, Hu Zongnan learned that the 31st Brigade was defeated, and ordered to immediately block the news and never spread it, and let the troops march on the mountain ridge in the future to avoid being ambushed. At the same time, Xi Zhongxun was quietly educating the prisoners. Some young soldiers were dissatisfied with giving the prisoners white flour buns, but were later enlightened by Xi Zhongxun's words and understood what it meant to win the hearts of the people.