Everyone knows that during the Northern Expedition era, there was a unit in the revolutionary army with the strongest combat power and the greatest achievements, the Independent Regiment. The leader of this unit was Comrade Ye Ting.

In the winter of 1925, Comrade Ye Ting was appointed as the commander of the Independent Regiment of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. The Independent Regiment was established in Zhaoqing under the leadership and organization of the Communist Party of China. The regiment was composed of new recruits, and most of the officers above the company level were Communist Party members. Comrade Ye Ting devoted all his energy to training the troops, so in a very short time, he trained an elite force.

People only know that the first Northern Expedition began in July 1926, but in May, Comrade Ye Ting's unit had already set out. At that time, the army of Tang Shengzhi was in a critical situation under attack from the Beiyang warlords in Hunan, and the Independent Regiment was dispatched as the advance team of the Northern Expedition. After setting out, they received urgent telegrams from Tang Shengzhi along the way. Comrade Ye Ting personally led the Independent Regiment, marching in the scorching heat. At that time, the entire regiment had only one white horse for the sick to ride, while he walked like a soldier.

On June 2, they arrived at the city of Anren. After arriving, Colonel Zhang of Tang Shengzhi's troops told Comrade Ye Ting that the enemy had occupied Youxian with four regiments and intended to attack Anren. On the 3rd, Comrade Ye Ting was to lead his troops to the front line, but Colonel Zhang said that his second battalion (led by Battalion Commander Wang Dongyuan) was on guard in Lutian, and the enemy would not attack today, insisting that Comrade Ye Ting and the officers above the company level stay for a banquet. Comrade Ye Ting, being cautious, sent the second battalion to assist Wang Dongyuan's battalion in guarding. That night, before dinner was finished, they received a report from the second battalion commander: Wang Dongyuan's battalion had collapsed, the enemy occupied Lutian, and the battalion had already engaged the enemy. After considering, Comrade Ye Ting decided to set out immediately. After discussing the situation on the map with everyone, he said to me: "You lead the third company, reconnaissance team, and stretcher team (armed) as the left wing, I will lead the first battalion (lacking the third company), machine gun company, special forces company, communication team, and third battalion as the right wing. We will attack at dawn tomorrow, and by noon, you must reach this village to meet me." He pointed to a village north of Lutian (Sangtian) on the map.

Then he said, "We are the armed force of the people and the advance team of the Northern Expedition. We not only represent the Guangdong revolutionary army but also the Communist Party of China. This is our first battle, and we must win!" His mobilization slogan gave everyone immense strength.

Before dawn, we began the attack. After a fierce battle, the enemy was completely defeated. Around eleven o'clock, I met him in the designated village. While we were transporting enemy weapons and dealing with prisoners, we suddenly received a report from the commander of the fourth company of the first battalion, Lu Deming, saying that he had led the entire company to pursue the enemy to the south bank of Youxian, where the enemy was in chaos, and the floating bridge was under our control. Without orders, Company Commander Lu pursued on his own, and Comrade Ye Ting highly praised Lu's mobility and immediately led the troops to set out. After occupying Youxian, he took the officers to survey the terrain and roads and arranged the positions. After returning to the regiment headquarters, he paced back and forth in thought and ordered the floating bridge to be removed, informing the entire regiment that if the enemy attacked, they could only advance and not retreat.

The enemy originally intended to send Xie Wenbing to lead four regiments and Tang Fushan to lead two regiments to attack Tang Shengzhi's flank before the Guangdong Northern Expedition army set out, cutting off Tang's communication line with Guangdong to undermine Tang's army. However, they did not expect Comrade Ye Ting's troops to arrive so quickly. This victorious battle rescued Tang Shengzhi's army from danger, stabilized the situation in Hunan, and consolidated the foundation of the Northern Expedition. Afterwards, Tang Shengzhi sent a telegram to Comrade Ye Ting, which included the words, "It made the enemy tremble... not only consolidating Xiangdong but also stabilizing the situation, all thanks to your efforts..." Tang also ordered the execution of Wang Dongyuan, who had retreated, to demonstrate his strict military discipline. Comrade Ye Ting telegraphed Tang to protect Wang, and he was spared from death.

The Independent Regiment, undefeated in a hundred battles.

In July, the Guangdong Northern Expedition army officially set out, and the Independent Regiment was assigned to the command of Zhang Fakui, the commander of the 12th Division of the Fourth Army. They then launched an attack on Qufeng and Liling, with the Independent Regiment taking the lead in the frontal assault. Comrade Ye Ting sent the first battalion to cross the river at Dou Tian to attack the enemy's flank. During the advance, they encountered over two thousand enemy troops attempting to outflank us, defeated them, and pursued the enemy, with the Independent Regiment being the first to occupy Liling city.

In August, the 12th Division attacked Pingjiang city. The enemy commander, Lu Jun, was known as a skilled general in Wu Peifu's army, and his troops were all elite from Wu's faction. They built strong fortifications in the area of Lusu Mountain at the southern end of Pingjiang city and buried landmines everywhere. Lu Jun boasted that Pingjiang city was an impregnable fortress.

Our army's attack method was to have the 35th Regiment feign an attack in the front, the 36th Regiment to outflank, while the Independent Regiment surrounded from the right. With farmers guiding the way, when the Independent Regiment and the 36th Regiment circled down to Pingjiang city, Lu Jun was still playing mahjong at the command post. The Independent Regiment then attacked from behind the enemy, engaging in countless hand-to-hand combats, completely annihilating the enemy, and Lu Jun committed suicide.

After occupying Pingjiang city, the Independent Regiment continued to advance as the vanguard, occupying Zhonghuopu station through forced marches, cutting off the enemy's retreat route towards Yuezhou on the Guangdong-Han road. They then launched an attack on Ting Siqiao. Six regiments of the Fourth Army attacked this perilous position, but after a day and night of fighting, there was no significant progress. Later, the Independent Regiment was ordered to attack from the right flank, causing the enemy to retreat across the board.

After the battle of Ting Siqiao, under the leadership of Comrade Ye Ting, the Independent Regiment pursued the enemy to Xianning. When they reached the south bank of Xianning, they were blocked by water, with only one railway bridge available for crossing, making the situation even more perilous than at Ting Siqiao. Comrade Ye Ting saw that although the enemy was numerous, they were in great disarray, so after consulting with the battalion commanders, he decided to send the second battalion to charge across the bridge, covered by two heavy machine guns. These hundreds of brave soldiers charged forward, and although many fell into the river dead or wounded, they continued to fight hand-to-hand with the enemy, ultimately defeating the enemy guarding the bridge. At this moment, Comrade Ye Ting personally led the troops across and defeated the enemy defending the city, occupying the entire city.

When Comrade Ye Ting entered the enemy's command post, the phone was still ringing. When he picked it up, it was a call from He Shengqiao, saying that Wu Peifu had arrived at He Shengqiao and was inquiring about the situation at Ting Siqiao. They still did not know that our army had already occupied Xianning city, which shows the speed of the troops led by Comrade Ye Ting.

From this, it can also be seen that if Comrade Ye Ting had not acted independently at that time, pursuing (Zhang Fakuai had previously ordered the independent regiment not to pursue beyond fifteen miles from Tingsiqiao) and attacking Xianning, waiting for Wu Peifu to bring reinforcements to Xianning and using the natural defenses to hold on, the situation of the battle would have changed in unknown ways. This was acknowledged by Chen Keyu, the commander of the Fourth Army at that time. Three days later, the Fourth Army attacked Heshengqiao again, with the independent regiment responsible for the railway and the attack on its right side. When the independent regiment broke through the enemy's position and had advanced quite far into the depth, the rear troops had not yet caught up. Due to the aggressive forward attack, some residual enemies were left behind and not cleared out, and Comrade Ye Ting was thus subjected to fire from enemies on all sides. At this time, he also received a report from the Second Battalion stating that the battalion commander had been seriously injured and that they were fighting hard against the enemy on all sides. The Fifth Company had suffered heavy casualties near Wu Peifu's command position and requested reinforcements. At this point, Comrade Ye Ting only had one company left, and the situation was extremely critical. However, Comrade Ye Ting remained calm and composed at this time. After a moment of thoughtful consideration, he said to me: "You go to the front to command the Second Battalion and the First Battalion, and resolutely attack Wu Peifu's command position. Now we can only find a way forward; there is no way to the left, right, or behind. After the fierce attack of my brave soldiers, we finally occupied Wu Peifu's command position. Then, Comrade Ye Ting commanded the troops to continue attacking Heshengqiao. Under his strong command and the valiant attack of the entire regiment, tens of thousands of enemies collapsed, truly like a mountain collapsing. After Wu Peifu retreated to the town of Heshengqiao, he even beheaded a brigade commander and hung the head in the street, but it could not save his defeat. When we entered the street, the blood from that brigade commander's head was still dripping.

On September 5, the revolutionary army led by Ye Ting's independent regiment reached the foot of Wuchang city.

At the beginning of the siege, various divisions of the Fourth Army and the Second Division of the First Army selected brave teams to scale the city. The independent regiment also designated the First Battalion as the brave team, responsible for the task of scaling the city between the East Gate and Tongxiang Gate. In the battle to scale the city, many of the brave teams from other divisions did not reach the city wall and stopped. Only the First Battalion of the independent regiment reached the city wall and set up four ladders. However, due to the enemy's stubborn resistance, most of the soldiers who climbed the city were heroically sacrificed, and several fierce charges failed to breach the defenses. At this time, an incident occurred: around four or five o'clock on the sixth, Chen Keyu suddenly called Ye Ting from the Hongshan military headquarters, saying that according to a report from the Second Division (Division Commander Liu Zhi), their troops had entered the city before dawn and urged Comrade Ye Ting to quickly lead the entire regiment into the city. Upon hearing this, Ye Ting immediately led the Second and Third Battalions and the special detachment to advance towards the East Gate. However, when they reached the vicinity of the city, they vaguely saw that the enemy was still guarding the city. While in doubt, they received a report from the First Battalion Commander Cao Yuan, which stated: "Our battalion has suffered heavy casualties, with only a dozen men left, but revolutionary soldiers advance without retreat; please advise on how to proceed." The report was signed by Cao Yuan, but the last stroke of the character 'Yuan' was drawn long. It turned out that when he finished writing this report, he was shot in the head and sacrificed. At this point, Comrade Ye Ting realized that the report of the Second Division entering the city was false. He immediately went to the military headquarters to ascertain the truth: it turned out that the Second Division estimated that Ye Ting's independent regiment would definitely attack the city, so they fabricated the claim that they had entered the city before dawn to take credit for the first attack. Comrade Ye Ting was extremely angry about this matter and later proposed to the commander of the Fourth Army: "Since departing from Guangdong until now, they (referring to Liu Zhi's division) have never seen the enemy, nor have the enemy ever seen them. Their behavior not only constitutes the crime of fabricating military information but also the blame of harming comrades, and they must be severely punished."

After the failure to scale the city, the independent regiment returned to Nanhu to undertake the siege task. Comrade Ye Ting planned day and night on how to attack the city, and he came up with a method: tunnel attack. He found an armored train, reinforced it with steel plates and sandbags near Nanhu, and moved it to the vicinity of Tongxiang Gate to cover the workers' tunnel operations. However, this plan was quickly discovered by the enemy, who immediately concentrated firepower at Tongxiang Gate to cover over two thousand people who rushed out to destroy the tunnel. But the enemy ultimately did not succeed; after a fierce battle, under Comrade Ye Ting's command, the enemy was driven back in a very embarrassed manner. On October 10, the general assault on Wuchang city began, and the independent regiment finally used ladders to scale the city near Tongxiang Gate and occupied She Mountain. Wuchang city was thus finally captured. After the independent regiment entered the city and cleared out the enemy, they gathered at She Mountain. After stationing, the troops never entered civilian houses and never conducted "search operations"; their strict discipline was praised by the people. Therefore, when the revolutionary army occupied Wuhan, the people of Hubei and Hunan gave the independent regiment an honorable title: "Iron Army." This is the origin of the title "Iron Army."

Why did Ye Ting's troops become the "Iron Army"?

Why did the independent regiment receive the title of "Iron Army"? Why did it achieve such great military accomplishments in the Northern Expedition? In the winter of 1926, after the revolutionary army occupied Wuhan, Comrade Ye Ting once summarized the combat experience of the Northern Expedition at a meeting of the independent regiment's cadres. At the meeting, he said: "Why were we able to achieve such great military accomplishments? One main reason is that the independent regiment is the army of the Communist Party. Because of the Communist Party, we could become the Iron Army. If there were no such strong Communist Party organization within our regiment, and no exemplary role of Communist Party members, then whether we could win in any battle would be a big question. If we were not a Communist Party army, would anyone call us the Iron Army? I think not."

The second reason why the independent regiment was able to achieve victory in every battle is that this team has a strong leader—Comrade Ye Ting. However, regarding this point, Comrade Ye Ting is extremely humble. After each victory, he attributed the credit to the Party, the cadres, and the soldiers. He often said to everyone: "The achievements are earned by everyone's hard work." "Every battle we fight is thanks to you. I deeply feel that after I give an order in each battle, I follow all of you. For example, the occupation of Youxian was commanded by Comrade Lu Deming, the commander of the Fourth Company, and the final stage of the battle at Heshengqiao was commanded by the Second Battalion, not me commanding them."

The third reason why the independent regiment became the Iron Army is that throughout the Northern Expedition, it always maintained its independent and autonomous characteristics. Since the establishment of the independent regiment and its change to the Seventy-Third Regiment, although it was nominally under the Fourth Army, the personnel transfers and appointments of this regiment were decided by the Communist Party, not by the army commander or division commander, although it also went through the division commander and army commander in form. This insistence on the principle of independence and autonomy must be attributed to Comrade Ye Ting's unwavering fighting spirit. This independence under the leadership of the Party later almost became legitimate.

We must affirmatively say: due to this independence, the independent regiment can always maintain and exert its combat effectiveness, uphold its position of serving the people, and always receive the support of the people, becoming an iron army. For example, from the battle of Lutan to the occupation of Wuhan, more than sixty cadres at the level of platoon and above in the regiment were killed or wounded, and more than twelve hundred soldiers were affected. If it were not for the Communist Party sending people to supplement, it would not be possible to maintain combat effectiveness. Without the backbone of Communist Party members, it would be impossible to have a high level of combat will. If there were no support from the people, with people participating in the army everywhere, and the independent establishment of new recruit companies, new recruit battalions, and special detachments, it would also be impossible to maintain and conduct such intense and continuous battles. Once, Zhang Faku said to Comrade Ye Ting: "Your independent regiment is really 'independent'." Comrade Ye Ting immediately replied: "Yes, it is precisely because of this independence that we can now sit in Wuchang and talk!"

Indeed, it is precisely because of this independence that this team can increasingly move towards the people day by day, becoming the foundation of what would later be the Fourth Army of the Red Army.

(Excerpt from "Memoirs of Comrade Ye Ting". Originally published in "Biographies of Martyrs of the Communist Party of China". When included in this book, the author made corrections, and the title was added by the editor.)

"Materials on the Nanchang Uprising"