Chapter 8 〇 Zhou Enlai was in Wuhan in the early days of the Seventh Anti-Japanese War

After the realization of the second Kuomintang-Communist cooperation, in order to continue to promote the cooperation between the two parties and consolidate and develop the anti-Japanese national united front, in December 1937, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee decided to form a delegation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Zhou Enlai and others to carry out anti-Japanese national unity in Wuhan. Work on the front line to promote the realization of the all-out war of resistance of the whole people.At the same time, it was decided to establish the Yangtze River Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to lead the party work in the southern provinces.

During the period when Comrade Zhou Enlai was working and fighting in the Kuomintang-ruled areas, as an entourage, I first went to Xi'an, then went to Wuhan, Chongqing, Nanjing, and returned to Yan'an at the end of 1946. I worked by his side for 10 years. Comrade Zhou Enlai's spirit of unremitting struggle for national liberation and the cause of communism has always deeply educated and moved me. On December 18, 1937, Zhou Enlai, Deng Yingchao, and Wang Ming arrived in Wuhan, and the Yangtze River Bureau was formally established. Wang Ming was the secretary, Zhou Enlai was the deputy secretary, and Qin Bangxian, Xiang Ying, Ye Jianying, Dong Biwu, Lin Boqu, etc. were members.Comrade Zhou Enlai met with Chiang Kai-shek together with Wang Ming and Qin Bangxian on the third day after arriving in Wuhan, that is, on December 21, and held talks on the relationship between the two parties, the expansion of the National Political Council, the formulation of a common program, and the publication of "Xinhua Daily" and other issues .During the talks, Chiang Kai-shek pretended to be a gesture and said a lot of good things, thinking that our side "what we talked about is very good, we should act accordingly, the future will improve, and my thoughts are nothing more than that." , victory is certain.”Knowing that Wang Ming had a close relationship with the Communist International, Chiang Kai-shek asked Wang Ming to stay in Wuhan to help with his work in order to win aid from the Soviet Union.But on the most important issue of the relationship between the two parties, there was no good result.At that time, Comrade Enlai proposed three alternative forms of organization: 1. Restoring the form of the 13th year of the Republic of China (Republic of China), changing the Kuomintang to the National Revolutionary Alliance, and other parties also participated; 2. Formulating a common program and establishing a common committee; 3. Maintain the status quo, that is, the form of consultation in case of emergency.Our party wants to strive for the first two forms, because it can strengthen the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, expand the anti-Japanese national united front, and benefit the war of resistance.But Chiang Kai-shek did not sincerely cooperate with our party, negating the first two forms, and only agreed to the third form, which is to handle the relationship between the two parties through temporary consultations.The Kuomintang has also made some improvements, such as inviting Communists to work in individual departments and organizations.Although this kind of low-level cooperation does not satisfy us, the relationship between the two parties has indeed improved.

In January 1938, the Military Commission of the Kuomintang Government resumed the Political Department. Chiang Kai-shek appointed Chen Cheng as Minister, Huang Qixiang as Deputy Minister, and Comrade Enlai as Deputy Minister.Comrade Enlai handled this matter very well. On the one hand, according to the "Draft Decision on the Communist Party's Participation in the Government" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, CCP members generally do not participate in this kind of work, so he politely declined to Chiang Kai-shek; The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed: When Chiang Kai-shek adopts a cooperative attitude, he "generally adopts a sponsorship position and should cooperate openly and sincerely with the Kuomintang." In mid-January, Chiang Kai-shek insisted that Comrade Enlai take office, and he asked the Central Committee for instructions again, explaining that "if he refuses to do so repeatedly, Chiang Kai-shek will think that the Communist Party has no intention of helping, and the strength of opposing collaborators will be strengthened."At the same time, he also felt that although he and Chen Cheng met each other in the ten-year civil war, both he and Huang Qixiang advocated the resistance to Japan, so they could put aside their past differences and cooperate conditionally.With the consent of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Comrade Enlai finally became the Deputy Minister of the Political Department.

At that time, the Kuomintang relied on the regular army to fight the war, and was weak in propaganda and organizational work to mobilize the masses to participate in the all-out war of resistance. The Political Department of the Military Committee should do something in this regard.Comrade Enlai is in charge of the third hall of the Political Department.The Third Hall is in charge of propaganda. This is our advantage, and we can do many things that the Kuomintang cannot do. Therefore, he spent a lot of time and energy on preparing for the establishment of the Third Hall and organizing a united front team in the cultural circles. In order to mobilize Guo Moruo Served as the head of the Third Office, in order to influence and drive patriots in the cultural circles to join the War of Resistance and to draw closer to the Communist Party of China. Comrade Enlai and Comrade Guo Moruo had a heart-to-heart discussion, and rejected the Kuomintang's request to send a backbone of secret agents to control the Third Office, so he accepted this task .The third hall has invited Yang Hansheng, Tian Han, Hu Yuzhi, Du Guoxiang, Feng Naichao and other well-known figures in the ideological and cultural circles to participate in the work.Under the leadership of Comrade Enlai, the Third Hall played an important role in promoting the anti-Japanese war propaganda and promoting the development of the anti-Japanese national united front.

Propaganda work needs more people from cultural circles, and it is impossible for the three halls to invite them all, so Comrade Enlai instructed Yang Hansheng and other comrades to initiate the organization of the All-China Association of Literary and Art Circles Against the Enemy.He also visited Feng Yuxiang, vice chairman of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, and asked him to support the "Cultural Association".Before and after the establishment of the Three Halls, film, drama, art, and music associations were established one after another, using literature and art as weapons to mobilize the people and attack the enemy.Activities with greater influence, such as the establishment of 10 drama teams, 4 anti-enemy propaganda teams, and children's theater troupes, performed in frontline troops, rural areas, and factories, which played a role in boosting morale and mobilizing the masses to participate in the War of Resistance.The street play "Put Down Your Whip" performed by well-known actors Jin Shan and Wang Ying played a very good educational role for the people.According to Comrade Enlai's instructions, they toured around Nanyang and mobilized many overseas Chinese to actively support the motherland's war of resistance.The movie "Eight Ye Hundred Heroes" filmed by Yuan Muzhi, Chen Boer, etc. is also very vivid and moving.Comrade Zhou Enlai and Sister Deng personally went to the film studio where the films were made. Comrade Enlai encouraged them to work hard and make good films under difficult conditions.Later Yuan Muzhi and Chen Boer were sent to Yan'an by Comrade Enlai.Comrade Enlai also formulated plans and action routes for the theater teams to go to the front lines of various theaters. The activities of the "Cultural Association" and various associations were vigorous and down-to-earth. They united cultural people with different political opinions and hobbies under the banner of the Anti-Japanese War, expanded the foundation of the united front, and made many people lean towards the Communist Party.

On the first anniversary of the Anti-Japanese War, the donation campaign held in Santing was a very effective and influential campaign.When Comrade Guo Moruo expressed to Chen Cheng that he wanted to hold this event, Chen Cheng asserted that it would fail, and failure would bring bad influence.The facts are completely contrary to Chen Cheng's assertion. The people of Wuhan responded positively. In just 5 days, people from all walks of life donated cash and materials worth 1 million yuan, including workers, farmers, students, businessmen, as well as refugees and beggars.Comrade Enlai donated his one-month salary of 240 yuan as the deputy minister of the Political Department.Our comrades from the Eighth Route Army Office of the Yangtze River Bureau and the "Xinhua Daily" bureau also participated in the donation.The donation campaign has been carried out enthusiastically in many cities in China. Changsha, Guangzhou, and Chongqing have taken action one after another, and have achieved very good results.

Comrade Enlai attached great importance to the propaganda work in newspapers and periodicals.Xinhua Daily, a newspaper under the direct leadership of the Yangtze River Bureau at that time, was launched in January 1938. It issued more than 10,000 copies in February, and more than 50,000 copies in April and May. This was considered a big market in old China.Comrade Enlai once wrote an inscription for the newspaper: "Persist in the long-term war of resistance and strive for final victory", which is consistent with Comrade Mao Zedong's thoughts on protracted war. "Xinhua Daily" played a very good role in propagating our party's anti-Japanese proposition, reporting the brilliant achievements of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and promoting the anti-Japanese and national salvation movement in the Kuomintang-controlled areas.In addition, the weekly "Mass" weekly, an organ of the Party Central Committee, needs to be reprinted in Wuhan and Guangzhou for wide distribution.At that time, there were more than 40 kinds of publications published in Wuhan, most of which were edited and published by our party leaders or under the influence of our party.These newspapers and other anti-Japanese and national salvation propaganda work, on the one hand, mobilized the masses to join the ranks of the anti-Japanese war. Many young people even embarked on the road of revolution and joined the Communist Party.On the other hand, it contained the Kuomintang's tendency to surrender.Comrade Enlai once pointed out: In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek "failed to speculate, and did not dare to surrender. He was forced by the power of the Eighth Route Army and the people to fight a protracted war, and he had to show a little political progress."Propaganda work played an important role in the formation of people's power.Propagating the Anti-Japanese War also made the party's prestige among the masses higher and higher.The vigorous anti-Japanese and national salvation propaganda activities developed in Wuhan also promoted the anti-Japanese and national salvation activities in Chongqing, Changsha, Guangzhou and other places.

Comrade Enlai was very concerned about some anti-Japanese and national salvation groups organized and led by the Yangtze River Bureau in Wuhan and other places.Not long after the Anti-Japanese War began, people from all walks of life, especially patriotic young intellectuals, were influenced by the establishment of the Pioneers in Peking after the "12.9" Movement, and established the Southern "Youth National Salvation Corps" in Wuhan. . In February 1938, the Yangtze River Bureau and the Youth Committee of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee established the "China Youth National Salvation Association". .These organizations have contributed to the youth movement.In order to mobilize workers to actively participate in the War of Resistance, some party members and activists were sent to work in factories, and established and developed party and trade union organizations.Comrade Enlai also instructed the Yangtze River Bureau Working Committee to invite Zhu Xuefan, head of the China Labor Association, to organize the "Preparatory Meeting of the Chinese Workers' Anti-Japanese War Federation".The preparatory meeting put forward nine programs such as unifying the national workers' wartime organizations, uniting the world's labor groups, and mobilizing workers to participate in the war of resistance.Due to the obstruction of the Kuomintang, the plan was not realized, but the cooperation with the Labor Association this time also had a positive effect. It won over many trade union organizations controlled by the Kuomintang, and also promoted the continued cooperation between Zhu Xuefan and our party.It was the extensive anti-Japanese national salvation movement that made Wuhan and many cities in southern China active.At that time, people reported that from the failure of the Great Revolution to the ten-year civil war, the white terror in Wuhan was serious, but now it is full of vitality, "a dead city has been revived again."How much painstaking effort Zhou Enlai has poured into this place!At that time, Comrade Enlai often worked in the Political Department of Wuchang or did united front work in person during the day, and took a ferry across the river to Hankou Yangtze River Bureau at night to handle telegrams until late at night.I took the minutes of the meetings, which lasted late into the night, and I was so exhausted that I took down scribbles I couldn't recognize myself the next day.It was often early in the morning when I took the last draft of the telegram from his desk.Things were very busy at that time, and the comrades of the Yangtze River Bureau had to queue up to find Comrade Enlai to handle the work, and they often talked late at night.I remember one time when Comrade Li Kenong, Secretary-General of the Yangtze River Bureau, arranged to be at the end, and it was already dawn when he finished talking with Comrade Enlai about work.Comrade Enlai worked fifteen or sixteen hours a day, but he was always in high spirits, and all comrades admired him deeply.

Liaison with various democratic parties, patriots, and military and political personnel of the Kuomintang was an important task of our party during the Yangtze River Bureau period.Comrade Enlai, Mr. Dong and Ye Jianying did most of these tasks in person or under their leadership. Comrade Enlai, in addition to personally meeting people from all parties at the Eighth Route Army Office, also often met with Shen Junru, Shi Liang, Zou Taofen, Li Gongpu, Zhang Junmai, and Zuo Shunsheng at the Hankou Central Bank to introduce them to the situation of the Kuomintang-Communist negotiations and discuss their views on the current situation. .We established friendships with some democratic parties and people without party affiliation, mainly during the Yangtze River Bureau period, which had a profound impact on the work in Chongqing period and later.

Comrade Enlai also did a lot of work for the upper-level figures of the Kuomintang and local power factions.Feng Yuxiang has been in contact with us for a long time. Comrade Enlai and Dong Lao once exchanged views with him on current situation issues.Mr. Feng sympathized with and supported us. He set up a printing factory in Hankou, printed "The Complete Works of Lenin" and "On Protracted War" by Mao Zedong, and donated a large number of books to the Yan'an Library.Everyone knows that the Taierzhuang victory was commanded by Li Zongren, the commander-in-chief of the fifth war zone at that time. Comrade Enlai once played a role, which is little known.Before the outbreak of this battle, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Bai Chongxi to lead a group of staff officers to Xuzhou to assist Li Zongren in commanding the battle.Before departure, Bai Chongxi met with Comrades Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying to exchange views on the operational policy of this campaign.Comrade Enlai put forward the policy of combining mobile warfare and positional warfare based on the situation of the enemy and ourselves and the geographical situation in Xuzhou, and said that our army will cooperate closely.During the Battle of Xuzhou, Comrade Enlai suggested to the central government to instruct the Zhang Yunyi Department of the Third Detachment of the New Fourth Army to strengthen its activities in the southern section of Jinpu Road, and cooperate with the Li Pinxian Group of the Guangxi Faction to contain the enemy from Nanjing to go north for reinforcements.The 338th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army contained the Japanese troops going southward in the northern section of Jinpu Road. This relieved the pressure on the Kuomintang troops on the Xuzhou battlefield and allowed them to gather troops around Taierzhuang to fight the enemy for a decisive battle.Our cooperation played a certain role in the victory of the Battle of Taierzhuang.

The local faction of the Kuomintang has conflicts with Chiang Kai-shek. They participated in the War of Resistance and were afraid of being eaten by Chiang Kai-shek.We use this opportunity to send people to these units to carry out united front work, and there are many such things.For example, Zhang Youyu was sent to serve as an important post in the troops of Cheng Qian, the commander of the first theater.When Huang Shaohong of the Guangxi family became the chairman of Zhejiang Province of the Kuomintang government, he met Comrade Enlai in Wuhan and asked to send someone to help him work.Comrade Enlai transferred a group of Communist Party members and progressive young people to Zhejiang. These people were trusted by Huang Shaohong and became the backbone of the provincial and county political work teams.For Deng Xihou of the Sichuan Army, Long Yun and Zhang Chong of the Yunnan Army, Comrade Enlai also attached great importance to their work. In March 1938, when Deng Xihou came to Wuhan, Comrade Enlai sincerely proposed to him that the Sichuan Army should cooperate with the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army.Deng Xihou accepted this suggestion, and his troops were stationed in Laohekou, next to the New Fourth Army station, and often supported the New Fourth Army with guns and ammunition.The Yangtze River Bureau also sent Comrade Xue Zizheng to the 184th Division of the Yunnan Army as the secretary of the division commander Zhang Yunpeng, and was later promoted to chief of staff.And through Zhang Yunpeng to do the work of Long Yun and Lu Han.During the Anti-Japanese War, Kunming had a democratic atmosphere and could accommodate the activities of Communist Party members and progressive people.During the War of Liberation, Long Yun, Lu Han, Cheng Qian, and Deng Xihou all got rid of the reactionary camp and went to the people. This has a lot to do with the work of our party, especially Comrade Enlai, for many years. Comrade Enlai has always attached great importance to the work of the international anti-fascist united front.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the foreign policies of Britain, the United States and other countries were unfavorable to China.Because the Japanese invaders occupied Shanghai and Nanjing and went deep into the hinterland of China, directly threatening their interests in China, they changed their attitude towards China's War of Resistance and expressed their willingness to cooperate with the Chinese government.Comrade Enlai, as a representative of the Communist Party of China, cooperated with the Kuomintang government in diplomatic activities. In the spring of 1938, he met with the ambassadors of Britain and the United States to China in Wuhan, affirming that their countries had turned to aid China in some aspects, and at the same time pointed out that some countries still adopted the policy of "non-interference" and "appeasement" and even attempted to Engaging in "Oriental Munich" has the danger of luring the Kuomintang authorities to surrender and compromise with Japan.When U.S. President Roosevelt called on the nation to raise $1 million to relieve China's difficulties, Comrade Enlai met with U.S. Consul General Davis in Wuhan, expressing appreciation and gratitude to the U.S. government for such actions, hoping to further strengthen Sino-U.S. friendship.Comrade Enlai and Bogu met with American Bishop Logan Roots in the "Eighth Office" and took pictures, and the influence has been passed down to his descendants. During this period, Comrade Zhou Enlai also got in touch with some international friends who came to China to support China's war of resistance.For example, Rewi Alley of New Zealand, American writer Snow, and Dutch film artist Evans left a deep impression on them. During the period of the Yangtze River Bureau, Comrade Enlai also attached great importance to party building.During the ten-year civil war, the Kuomintang practiced white terror, and Wang Ming pursued the "left" line. Most of the secret organizations of the party in the white areas were destroyed. At this time, they were faced with the problem of restoration and reconstruction. In March 1938, the Central Committee issued the "Resolution on the Recruitment of a Large Number of Party Members", and the Yangtze River Bureau immediately issued the "Notice on the Restoration of Organizational Relations".Comrades Zhou Enlai, Dong Biwu and Qin Bangxian have done a lot in this regard.Since the Kuomintang does not allow our party to organize public activities, this was carried out under secret conditions and in the struggle against the Kuomintang secret agents. In September and October 1938, the first-level organizations of the provincial party committees in the southern provinces were restored, including Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu (including Shanghai), Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and other provinces. , also restored a number of municipal committees, special committees and county committees.From the beginning of 1938 to the beginning of 1939, the development of party members was also very fast. Here are just two provinces as examples. Hubei has grown from more than 20 to more than 3,300; Henan has grown from more than 460 to more than 8,000.Comrades Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai attached great importance to the reconstruction of the Shanghai party organization, and they talked with Comrade Liu Xiao respectively.Comrade Enlai emphasized: Shanghai should establish a solid party organization, and the preserved organization should not be taken over by the original team, but its relationship should be confirmed after individual examination; the rebuilt Shanghai underground party members must be politically reliable , and shade conditions.According to this instruction, Liu Xiao restored the party organizations at all levels, and then established the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee. The Yangtze River Bureau also attached great importance to the ideological construction of the party organization. At the beginning of 1938, it instructed the provincial party committees to set up training courses for party members and cadres.Comrade Dong Biwu personally led the Hubei Provincial Party Committee to hold party training classes in Wuhan and Huang'an.Various provinces also hold party training classes in different ways. During the Wuhan period, there is another incident that needs to be mentioned is the struggle between Comrade Enlai and Zhang Guotao. In April 1938, Zhang Guotao, who repeatedly violated the resolutions of the Central Committee and set up a separate "Central Committee" during the Long March of the Red Army, escaped from the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region by taking the opportunity of participating in the sweeping of the Huangling Mausoleum, and defected to the KMT. .When the news came, Comrade Enlai was shocked and angry.In order to try to save it, I immediately discussed it with Li Kenong, the secretary-general of the Yangtze River Bureau, and asked him to take me, Qiu Nanzhang, and Wu Kejian to the train station to pick him up, and politely invite him to the office to discuss face to face.We waited for three trains, and finally got Zhang. Li Kenong invited him to the office to discuss with Comrade Zhou Enlai and others face to face.Although Zhou Enlai, Wang Ming, and Bogu patiently persuaded him and proposed several plans for him to stay in the party, Zhang Guotao was still obsessed with his obsession, and finally joined the Kuomintang secret service and became a shameful traitor.The Yangtze River Bureau had no choice but to report these situations to the Central Committee, and the Central Committee decided to expel him from the party.After this incident, Comrade Enlai introduced in detail Zhang Guotao's development from vicious expansion of individualism to rebellion against the party at the meeting of the Party members of the Yangtze River Bureau, and educated all party members to raise their ideological awareness, consciously abide by party discipline, and fight for communism to the end , gave everyone a very vivid party class. Because Wang Ming believed in the Kuomintang too much, praised Chiang Kai-shek, put forward the so-called right-leaning erroneous ideas of "everything is subject to the Anti-Japanese War" and "everything goes through the united front", and abandoned the policy of our party's independence in the united front, which affected the work of the Yangtze River Bureau to some extent. For example, after the fall of Xuzhou, the central government instructed to mobilize cadres and young people to mobilize the masses behind enemy lines and develop guerrilla warfare, but implementation was not effective in some places.However, because Zhou Enlai, Bo Gu, Dong Biwu, Ye Jianying and comrades of the provincial committees implemented the correct line of the central committee and resisted Wang Ming's mistakes, no major harm was caused. In September 1938, the Central Committee held the Sixth (Enlarged) Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee and informed Wang Ming, Zhou Enlai, Qin Bangxian, and Xu Teli to attend the meeting, and I followed them back to Yan'an.We left Wuhan by train to Xi'an on September 29, then transferred to Yan'an by car.Zhou Enlai and other comrades received a warm welcome in Yan'an.Before the Sixth Plenary Session, a Politburo meeting was held, and Comrade Zhou Enlai made a work report. On September 29, the Sixth Central Committee (Expanded) Plenary Session began.At that time, the Japanese invaders were stepping up their attack on Wuhan. The Kuomintang was under the armed attack of the Japanese invaders and political inducement to surrender, the pro-Japanese faction stepped up their activities, and Chiang Kai-shek also showed wavering.In order to consolidate the anti-Japanese national united front based on the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, smash the conspiracy of the Japanese invaders and pro-Japanese factions, and win Chiang Kai-shek to persist in the protracted war of resistance, the central government decided that Comrade Mao Zedong wrote a personal letter to Chiang Kai-shek on September 29, pointing out the future of the war of resistance It is bright, "The long-term unity of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party will surely support a long-term war. Although the enemy is fierce, he will eventually fail." It was decided that after Comrade Enlai attended the opening of the plenary session, he would bring this letter to Xi'an and fly to Wuhan to meet Chiang Kai-shek.Comrade Enlai rushed back to Wuhan in early October, and immediately handed Chairman Mao's letter to Chiang Kai-shek, and verbally stated our party's opinions on strengthening the cooperation between the two parties and persisting in a protracted war.At the same time, Comrade Enlai also personally directed the transfer of personnel and materials from the Yangtze River Bureau, the Eighth Route Army Office, and the "Xinhua Daily". From the 7th to the 9th, "Xinhua Daily" continuously published his long editorial "On the Current Situation of the War of Resistance Against Japan". Until the evening of the 24th, he was still working at the "Xinhua Daily" office. Leaving Wuhan by car, at this time, the sound of Japanese artillery had already pushed into the urban area. After Comrade Enlai left Wuhan, he passed through Changsha, Nanyue, Hengyang, Guilin and other places. He lost no time in putting forward pertinent suggestions to the Kuomintang authorities such as Chiang Kai-shek, Bai Chongxi, Zhang Zhizhong, and Li Jishen to strengthen the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and persist in the protracted war of resistance.Zhang Zhizhong was criticized by all parties after the fire in Changsha, but he received Enlai's enthusiastic help, which made him unforgettable all his life. In early December 1938, Comrade Enlai and Comrade Ye Jianying went from Guilin to Chongqing. According to the decision of the Party Central Committee, he served as Secretary of the Southern Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.During the period of the Southern Bureau, Comrade Enlai made more brilliant achievements.