Chapter 4 Chapter Three Zunyi Conference

On New Year's Day in 1935, the Red Army forcibly crossed the Wujiang River and won the victory. In the early morning of January 7, the vanguard of the Red Army "raided and occupied Zunyi".All of a sudden, hundreds of thousands of "pursuing and suppressing" enemy troops were left to the east and south of Wujiang River. He Jian, commander of the "Pursuing and Suppressing" Army, led 20 regiments to fight against the Second and Sixth Red Army in Changde, Hunan.The troops of the Sichuan warlord Liu Xiang were placed on the south bank of the Yangtze River.Chiang Kai-shek ordered the Guangdong and Guangxi troops to go north to Zunyi as soon as possible, but Guizhou was not their territory, so they moved slowly and were still stranded in Rongjiang and other places in southern Guizhou.The Qian army was nicknamed the "Double Gun Army" (the Qian army smoked more opium, and the soldiers had two guns: a rifle and a smoking gun).Without hitting, it will collapse at the touch of a finger.At this time, only Chiang Kai-shek's direct descendants Xue Yue's column and Zhou Hunyuan's column were more active in the enemy army, but they were blocked by the Wujiang River and it was difficult to take action quickly.This provided a valuable opportunity for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to hold an enlarged meeting of the Politburo in Zunyi.

The enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held in Zunyi from January 15 to 17, 1935 was a life-and-death turning point in the history of the Chinese Communist Party. As mentioned above, the decision to hold an enlarged Politburo meeting in the Zunyi area was already made at the Liping meeting.Due to the urgent military situation, the Liping Conference was only held for one day on December 18, 1934, which resolved the most pressing issue of strategic direction at that time.There was no time to discuss the various disputes in southern Hunan and the passage, that is, the right and wrong of the military line since the fifth counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression" and the Western Expedition to break out of the encirclement.Therefore, the Liping meeting decided to cross the Wujiang River and reach the Zunyi area before holding an enlarged meeting of the Politburo for discussion.

After the vanguard of the Red Army captured Zunyi on January 7, 1935, the column of the Military Commission entered the city on January 9.Members of the central leadership were immediately busy preparing for this meeting.At that time, Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian, and Wang Jiaxiang, the "Three Members of the Central Team", lived in the official residence of Yi Huaizhi, the brigade commander of the Guizhou Army, in Gusi Lane (now Xingfu Lane) in Xincheng.This is a two-story building with exquisite architecture.Zhang Wentian lives in the west wing downstairs.His upstairs is Mao Zedong's residence.Opposite Mao Zedong, Wang Jiaxiang lives in the upper right front room.After the three of them settled down, they discussed the theme of the upcoming meeting.Zhang Wentian wrote a more detailed outline based on the opinions discussed.

On January 15, 1935, the Zunyi Conference, the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, which decided the fate of the party and the Red Army, was held.Attending the meeting were: members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee (in alphabetical order of surnames) Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Chen Yun, Luo Fu, Zhou Enlai, Bo Gu (Qin Bangxian); alternate members of the Political Bureau Wang Jiaxiang, Deng Fa, Liu Shaoqi, Kai Feng (He Kequan); Liu Bocheng, Li Fuchun, Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, Peng Dehuai, Yang Shangkun, and Li Zhuoran, heads of the headquarters and various legions; Luo Binghui, head of the Ninth Army Corps, and Cai Shufan, political commissar, did not attend the meeting because the troops were serving as guards in the Meitan and Xinglong areas in the northeast.Dong Zhentang, head of the Fifth Army Corps, also did not attend the meeting.Li Zhuoran, political commissar of the Fifth Army Corps, was late for some reason.Peng Dehuai, the head of the three armies, left early due to a combat mission in the middle of the meeting.Li De, the military adviser sent by the Communist International.Also attending the meeting were Deng Xiaoping and Wu Xiuquan.Deng Xiaoping was the secretary-general of the central team at the time, and was in charge of meeting minutes; Wu Xiuquan was Li De's translator.The venue was located at the mansion of Bai Huizhang, Commander of the 2nd Division of the 25th Army of the Kuomintang, at Loqua Bridge in the old town of Zunyi, where the headquarters of the Column of the Military Commission is located.It is a fairly spacious two-story building.The meeting was held in the upper east wing of the mansion.The room is not big, with a long chestnut-colored cedarwood table in the center, surrounded by some wooden chairs, rattan chairs and benches.Bogu sat in the middle of the long table and presided over the meeting.Others sit casually.Nie Rongzhen's foot injury is still not healed, and she goes to meetings every day on a stretcher.Wang Jiaxiang's abdominal wound had not healed, so he could not sit for a long time, so he lay on the rattan couch to attend the meeting.According to Wu Xiuquan: "Historical Turning Point of Life and Death", "Memoirs of Nie Rongzhen" and the investigation of the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall about the conference situation.The 18 wood-edge rattan heart-backed chairs displayed at the venue are not the original ones at that time.It was the middle of winter, and the meeting was held until late at night, and a charcoal brazier was set up in the house to keep warm.

The first issue to be resolved at the Zunyi Conference was "decision and review of the issue of establishing a Soviet base area temporarily centering on northern Guizhou" as decided by the Liping Conference.At that time, the enemy attempted to suppress the Red Army in the areas south of the Yangtze River, east of the Hengjiang River, north and west of the Wujiang River, and then tighten the encirclement to "gather and annihilate them".The urgent task before the Red Army is to jump out of the encirclement circle set by the enemy.Therefore, after the start of the Zunyi meeting, we first discussed the direction of action.The meeting agreed with Liu Bocheng and Nie Rongzhen's proposal, "unanimously decided to change the resolution of the Liping Conference to create a Soviet base area centered on northern Guizhou, and unanimously decided that the Red Army would cross the Yangtze River to establish a Soviet base area in the southwest or northwest of Chengdu." .

The main topic of the Zunyi Conference was "reviewing the experience and lessons learned in military command during the opposition to the five 'encirclement and suppression' campaigns and the Western Expedition".Ditto.First of all, Bo Gu made a summary report on the fifth counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression".When Bogu explained why he could not smash the enemy's fifth "encirclement and suppression" campaign and successfully defend the Soviet area, although he also mentioned some subjective mistakes in command, he never clearly put them in a secondary position. In this he overemphasizes the difficulty of objectivity.Bo Gu believed that the main reasons for the failure of the fifth counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression" were: the reactionary forces were too strong, the enemy directly used 500,000 troops to attack the central Soviet area, and there were also imperialist economic aid and military advisors; the material conditions in the Soviet area were not good The leadership of the broad masses of workers and peasants in the White areas against imperialism and the Kuomintang has not made significant progress in their daily struggles; the development of guerrilla warfare and the disintegration of the White Army are still weak, and the guerrilla warfare around the Soviet areas is not enough;Bogu's analysis is actually using objective reasons to cover up the evil consequences of strategic and tactical mistakes in military leadership.Zhou Enlai, vice chairman of the Military Commission and general political commissar, then made a deputy report: Regarding the military, he did not push the reasons for the failure to the objective, and focused on reviewing and summarizing the military strategy and tactics of the Central Red Army.

After listening to Bo Gu's report and Zhou Enlai's deputy report, Zhang Wentian first got up and made a report against the central leadership's purely military defense line.This report is commonly referred to as a "counter-report".Zhang Wentian listed the facts to show that the failure of the five "encirclement and suppression" campaigns and the heavy losses suffered during the retreat from the Soviet area to the west were mainly due to the fact that Bogu and Li De made a series of serious mistakes in the military, which violated the formation of the Red Army in the long-term combat in the past. basic principles.

When Zhang Wentian made the "counter-report", he had an "outline" in his hand, and he basically spoke according to the "outline".This "outline" is actually a collective creation of the "Central Team of Three", led by Mao Zedong's views, and written by Zhang Wentian.At this moment, what Zhang Wentian said at the meeting carries a lot of weight.Because Zhang Wentian is a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, the secretary of the Secretariat, and the chairman of the People's Committee.At that time, there were four members in the Secretariat of the Central Committee (also known as the Standing Committee): Bo Gu, Luo Fu, Zhou Enlai, and Xiang Ying.Among the participants of the Zunyi Conference, Zhang Wentian's status in the party was second only to Bogu and comparable to Zhou Enlai.He was the first to stand up at the enlarged meeting of the Politburo, and clearly and systematically criticized the wrong military leadership during the fifth counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression" and the Western Expedition, setting the tone for the Zunyi Conference's complete negation of the purely defensive military line.At the same time, Zhang Wentian was the first to stand up and make this "counter-report", which was also a sign of his separation from the "Left" central leadership group and his break with the "Left" erroneous line.

Because so far, the minutes of the Zunyi meeting have not been found.Zhang Wentian's outline and the "counter-report" made according to the outline, the meeting situation after Zhang Wentian made the "counter-report", and the speeches of Mao Zedong, Wang Jiaxiang, etc., although their basic content is included in the "Zunyi Conference Resolution", they have no direct impact. written material.It is very fortunate that in the early 1980s, the Central Party History Collection and Research Department discovered a precious document in the historical archives collected by the Central Archives——Chen Yun’s "Zunyi Politburo Enlarged Meeting Communication Outline" manuscript (below (referred to as "Communication Outline").This important document, written during the march from Weixin to Yaxi in February and March 1935, provided a reliable basis for ascertaining the true situation of the Zunyi Conference.Regarding the overview of the discussions at the Zunyi Conference, the Outline of Communication made the following brief comments:

During the enlarged meeting, Comrade Enlai and other comrades fully agreed with Luo Fu and King Mao’s outline and opinions. Comrade Bogu did not fully admit his mistakes. Comrade Kaifeng disagreed with King Mao Zhang’s opinion. Comrade A completely and firmly disagreed with his criticism. This authoritative review made by Chen Yun back then clearly told people that Zhang Wentian's "counter-report" was drafted after he discussed with Mao Zedong and Wang Jiaxiang. The "outline" of Mao Zedong and the "opinions" expressed by Mao Zedong and Wang Jiaxiang at the meeting were the dominant opinions at the Zunyi meeting, and they were "fully agreed" by Zhou Enlai and other comrades except Bogu, Kaifeng and Li De.In other words, "the outline and opinions of Luo Fu and King Mao" represented the common opinions of the majority comrades of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee and the heads of the various legions.

According to the available historical data, after Zhang Wentian made the "counter-report", the continuation of the meeting is roughly as follows: First, Mao Zedong made a long speech, which lasted for about an hour.The main content of his speech was that military issues must be resolved first.He profoundly analyzed the crux of the wrong military line, and pointed out that the main manifestations of the "passive defense" policy of "Left" adventurism are: conservatism when defending, adventurism when attacking, and escapeism when transferring.He sharply criticized Li De's erroneous military command, saying that he only knew how to talk about soldiers on paper, and he didn't consider whether the soldiers had to walk, eat, or sleep, and he didn't ask whether they were walking on mountains, plains, or rivers, but only knew how to draw them on the map. Playing for a limited time, of course it is not good.Mao Zedong also used the facts of the first, second, third, and fourth victories in the "encirclement and suppression" campaign to refute the point of view that the objective reasons for the failure of the fifth "encirclement and suppression" campaign were justified by the objective reasons that the enemy was strong and we were weak.He pointed out that it was the implementation of the erroneous claims of "Left" adventurism in the military that led to the failure of the fifth counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression" and caused heavy losses to the Red Army during the Long March. The next speaker was Wang Jiaxiang.He unequivocally supported Zhang Wentian's "anti-report" and Mao Zedong's speech, and proposed that Mao Zedong should command the Red Army. Zhu De had always been modest and prudent, and at this meeting, he also vigorously pursued the mistakes of the interim central leadership, condemning them for rejecting Mao Zedong, relying on foreigner Li De, losing their base areas, and sacrificing many lives. The leading comrades of the armies in command at the front all criticized the mistakes of the "Left" military line based on their personal experience, and agreed with Zhang Wentian's counter-report and Mao Zedong's speech.The only exception was Lin Biao, the head of the First Legion.He was a leader in the "Left" error of the fifth campaign against "encirclement and suppression", and Lin Biao had advocated the "short assault" that was criticized at the Zunyi Conference. Zhou Enlai was the head of the Military Commission. In his deputy report, he admitted that the main reason for the failure of the Red Army's fifth campaign against "encirclement and suppression" was the strategic and tactical mistakes of the military leaders, and he took the initiative to take responsibility; at the same time, he criticized Li De and Bogu's mistakes.He expressed "complete agreement" with Zhang Wentian's "counter-report" and Mao and Wang's speeches.He also fully recommended Mao Zedong to command the Red Army.The change in Zhou Enlai's attitude was not accidental.Zhou Enlai once analyzed the reasons for the different attitudes between himself and Bogu at the Zunyi meeting. He said: "...the debate in Liping was particularly fierce. At this time, Li De advocated turning into eastern Guizhou. This is also very wrong. It is to fall into Chiang Kai-shek's The net. Chairman Mao advocated the establishment of the Sichuan-Guizhou base area on the border of Sichuan and Guizhou. I decided to adopt Chairman Mao’s opinion and go westward and cross the Wujiang River along the Erfang Junyuan Road to the north. Li De was furious because of the failure of the argument. Since then, my relationship with Li De has gradually Alienation. I have begun to understand military mistakes. Military command is different from before, accepting Chairman Mao’s opinion, only pointing out the general direction to the front, enabling maneuvers. Therefore, my attitude at the Zunyi meeting was different from that of Bogu.” Bo Gu was one of the main targets of criticism at the meeting, and his attitude was relatively correct.He presided over the meeting, but did not use his power to suppress different opinions, showing a democratic style and an aboveboard attitude.He is not without the spirit of self-criticism, but due to the limitations of his understanding, in his reports and speeches, he "only admitted that there were individual mistakes in the policies of the work in the Soviet area. In military command, there were individual policy mistakes. Mistakes in line and failure to recognize mistakes in military leadership".Chen Yun's "Communication Outline" said that he "did not fully and thoroughly admit his mistakes", which is appropriate. At the enlarged meeting of the Politburo, Kaifeng was the only one who openly opposed "the outlines and opinions of Luo Fu, Mao and Wang".He expressed reservations about the meeting. Li De is completely in the position of being criticized.Everyone else sat around the long table, but he was the only one sitting at the door of the room.He kept smoking.Listening to Wu Xiuquan's translation of the speeches of the participants, he looked very depressed.He said he "completely and categorically disagrees with the criticism of him".During the meeting, he also made a speech to defend the wrong military line, shifting the responsibility to objective reasons and the temporary central government.Li De's bad attitude did not prevent the Chinese Communist Party from independently and correctly criticizing the mistakes of this "big man" sent by the Communist International and drawing decisive conclusions.Of course, after the Zunyi Conference, Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian and other leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China did not affect Li De's role in the Red Army because of his serious mistakes and bad attitude.Li De also reviewed his mistakes in northern Shaanxi, and proposed "please discuss my mistakes internationally and make necessary conclusions."But after he left China, he stubbornly insisted on his mistakes all his life.In his later years, he also wrote books to defend himself, fabricated facts, distorted the Zunyi Conference as a factional struggle, and vented his dissatisfaction with Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian, and Zhou Enlai. The Zunyi meeting summarized and discussed "the experience and lessons learned in military command during the opposition to the five 'encirclement and suppression' campaigns and the Western Expedition".The meeting concluded that Bogut's summary report was "basically incorrect".The meeting held that: "The main reason for not being able to smash the 'encirclement and suppression' is not objective but subjective, that is, we have made the mistake of purely defensive line in military leadership and violated the basic principles of strategy and tactics in China's civil war.".The meeting pointed out: "It is precisely because our party's military command was basically wrong during this period and during the Western Expedition, so in the sense of defending the Soviet area and successfully smashing the five "encirclement and suppression" campaigns, as well as achieving the goal of the Western Expedition Army As far as the destination in western Hunan is concerned, it has not fulfilled its own mission.” This clarified the right and wrong of the Red Army’s strategy and tactics in the fifth anti-encirclement campaign and the first stage of the Long March, and pointed out the mistakes in the military command line.At the same time, the Zunyi meeting clarified the responsibility for serious mistakes in military leadership: "The enlarged meeting pointed out that Comrades A, Bo, and Wednesday made mistakes in military leadership, and Comrades A and Boer should bear the main responsibility." "The Politburo The enlarged meeting specifically pointed out Comrade XX's serious mistakes in this regard. He represented the Central Committee in leading the work of the Military Commission. corrected, and actively supported the development of this error. The enlarged meeting of the Politburo believes that comrades should bear the main responsibility in this regard." "Zunyi Meeting Resolution". ×× refers to Bogu.Waffle, that is, Li De.Now that right and wrong have been distinguished and responsibilities have been clarified, it is inevitable to change the course and change the leadership.Therefore, the enlarged meeting of the Politburo decided: "We must thoroughly correct the mistakes made in the military leadership in the past, and improve the leadership of the Military Commission." "Zunyi Meeting Resolution".For this reason, the Zunyi meeting made the following decisions at the end of January 17: 1. Comrade Mao Zedong was elected as a member of the Standing Committee. 2. Designate Comrade Luo Fu to draft a resolution, entrust the Standing Committee to review it, and send it to the branch for discussion. 3. Proper division of labor among the Standing Committee. 4. The three-member regiment was abolished, and the top military chiefs Zhu and Zhou were still the military commanders, while Comrade Enlai was entrusted by the party to be responsible for the final decision to command the military. The Zunyi Conference elected Mao Zedong as a member of the Standing Committee. Since then, Mao Zedong has entered the leadership core of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.This is a major event in the history of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Red Army. The meeting decided to "make an appropriate division of labor among the Standing Committee" and "designate Comrade Luo Fu to draft the resolution", which means that Bogu will be removed from the position of general secretary of the Party Central Committee and replaced by Luo Fu.According to Yang Shangkun, who attended the Zunyi meeting and was the political commissar of the three armies at the time, recalled: "At the Zunyi meeting, there was a relatively unanimous opinion that Luo Fu would replace Bogu as the general secretary. But Comrade Wen Tian was very modest and repeatedly declined. Comrade Mao Zedong also Said that it would be better for me to join the military command. So this issue was put on hold. After more than 20 days of delay, the Standing Committee of the Central Committee made a decision, and Comrade Wen Tian took up this burden." The meeting's decision on "abolishing the (highest) trio" not only revoked Bo Gu's command of the military, but also formally revoked Li De's command.This is the first time in the history of the relationship between the Communist Party of China and the Communist International.Taking this as a starting point, the Chinese Communist Party began to independently solve the problems of the Chinese revolution. The victory of the Zunyi Conference was the result of the united struggle of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and the leading comrades of the various regiments.In the middle, "Mauro cooperation" played a key role.Mao Zedong affirmed this many times.Mao Zedong said at the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of China on June 10, 1945: "The Zunyi Conference is a key point and has a great impact on the Chinese revolution. However, everyone should know that if there were no Comrades Luo Fu and Wang Jiaxiang from the third If the 'Left' leaning line is divided, it is impossible to hold a good Zunyi meeting. Comrades put good accounts in my name, but they must not be forgotten." In the "Reflection Notes" written by Zhang Wentian during the Yan'an rectification movement, He also commented on the historical significance of the Zunyi Conference, Mao Zedong's achievements and his own contribution.It's just that the evaluation of my contribution is too modest.He said: The Zunyi Conference has the significance of decisive change in the history of our party.Without the Zunyi Conference, the Red Army would have been dispersed under the leadership of Li De and Bo Gu, and the leadership of the Party Central Committee and a large number of cadres would have suffered serious losses.The Zunyi meeting saved the party and the Red Army at an emergency.Second, the Zunyi Conference changed the leadership, and actually started the establishment of the Central Committee with Comrade Mao Zedong as the leadership center.Third, the Zunyi Conference overcame 'Left' opportunism, first in the leadership of the Revolutionary War.Fourth, the dogmatic sects began to split politically and organizationally.The merits of this meeting, of course, belong to Comrade Mao Zedong, and I am only a supporting role. The "Resolution on Certain Historical Issues" stated that the Zunyi Conference "started the new leadership of the Central Committee headed by Comrade Mao Zedong, which is the most historic change in the Chinese Communist Party." The "Resolution on Several Historical Issues Concerning the Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China" stated, "The Zunyi Conference established Mao Zedong's leading position in the Red Army and the Party Central Committee." Such historical evaluation is objective, fair and appropriate.