Chapter 10 (2) Mao Zedong lost his military power for the second time

From October 3 to 8, 1932, in an old ancestral hall in Xiaoyuan, Ningdu, the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area of ​​the Communist Party of China held a meeting of all members. As stated in the telegram from the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area to Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Wang Jiaxiang on September 29, this meeting was to deal a merciless blow to all viewpoints that departed from principles.Ren Bishi, Xiang Ying, Gu Zuolin, Deng Fa and other rear members of the Central Bureau accused Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Wang Jiaxiang and other front leaders of the Central Bureau of underestimating the victory of the revolution, panicking and wavering at the enemy's large-scale offensive, and losing confidence in victory. Waiting for the enemy to attack is a dangerous Rightist view.They believe that the military leaders in the front have a central concept of preparation, and Mao Zedong showed it the most.Therefore, Mao Zedong was pushed to the dock and became the main target of criticism.

The meeting was first presided over by Ren Bishi, acting secretary of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area.When the meeting started, Zhou Enlai was still making arrangements on the front line.When he rushed to Xiaoyuan to preside over the meeting, the sharp internal conflicts had reached a fever pitch.The leaders in the front and the leaders in the rear disagree with each other, and their faces are red-faced.Seeing that the meeting was about to reach a deadlock. Listening to the emotional speeches of the participants, Zhou Enlai was worried.Because some people have suggested that Mao Zedong's right-wing tendency is serious, and it is not appropriate to continue to command operations in the front, and he should be recalled to the rear to be responsible for the work of the central government.Once this meeting goes awry, if the front leaders and the rear leaders quarrel, it will definitely be the front leaders who will suffer.The views of the members of the Provisional Central Committee as far away as Shanghai and the rear members of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area were basically the same.However, if we completely obeyed the ideas of the members of the Provisional Central Committee and the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area and blindly implemented the offensive line, it would be impossible to win the battle.

Zhou Enlai judged the situation and expressed his acceptance of the criticism from the comrades in the rear, and admitted that the comrades in the front had the concept of centering on preparation.The central telegram quickly broke one side, and the comrades in front began to disagree, because they tended to wait. In this regard, Mao Zedong has raised many opinions.But the comrades in the rear should not attribute all the shortcomings of the comrades in the front to Mao Zedong alone.Comrades from the rear criticized Zhou Enlai as a cover for Mao Zedong, pointing out that Mao Zedong's rightist ideas were not formed in a day or two, and also mentioned the attack on Ganzhou.

Zhou Enlai argued that the battle of Ganzhou was not fought well in the end, Mao Zedong did not agree to fight Ganzhou, and after the battle, he failed to fight the battle. How can Mao Zedong be blamed? They retorted that the failure of the Ganzhou campaign was due to the influence of Mao Zedong's right-leaning ideas.Before the battle was fought, the leaders inside the Central Bureau, especially those at the front, had already lost confidence in the prospect of victory. Could this be the way to win the war? Zhou Enlai said that Comrade Fang's accusations were unreasonable and serious.Mao Zedong did not agree to attack Ganzhou because he believed that the time was not ripe.His analysis of the enemy's situation at that time was still in line with the actual situation.

Comrade Fang insisted on his own opinion, saying that the Provisional Central Committee was very dissatisfied with the failure of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area to win Ganzhou.The inability to win Ganzhou completely disrupted the strategic deployment of the Provisional Central Committee to link the Central Soviet Area and the Hunan-Jiangxi Soviet Area into one. This is not a matter of victory or defeat in an isolated battle. Seeing that the comrades in the rear made a big fuss about the Ganzhou campaign, Zhou Enlai hurriedly stopped him, pointing out that there is no need to pursue responsibility for the attack on Ganzhou. If responsibility must be pursued, he will bear the main responsibility.

Comrade Fang said that he defended Mao Zedong in this way, which was actually a kind of conciliatoryism.It is required that he must stand on the standpoint of struggle and look at problems from an anti-inclination point of view.To do otherwise would be to blur the lines of the struggle already unfolding. Seeing that Zhou Enlai was in dispute with the leaders in the rear, Mao Zedong stood up and said.He was talking, smoking, and coughing.His long hair was disheveled and his complexion was pale. He was obviously sick.He spoke a little weakly.He said that if the comrades in the front have a concept of preparation as the center, then the culprit is him.

In recent years, he and Comrade Zhu De have been used to fighting guerrilla warfare.Guerrilla warfare really centers on waiting.The comrades in the rear didn't let Mao Zedong finish his sentence, so he interrupted him, saying that he was not admitting a mistake, but was promoting your right-leaning views.This attitude of admitting mistakes is not convincing, and they are increasingly distrusting him.Because he did not recognize and understand his own mistakes enough, it would be easy for him to make mistakes if he continued to command operations in the front, which was unacceptable to comrades in the rear.

Zhou Enlai patiently convinced the comrades in the rear that Mao Zedong had made mistakes and he should be helped to correct them instead of using such a rough method against him.In the past few years, Mao Zedong has been commanding operations at the front, and it can be said that he has accumulated a wealth of war experience.Having Mao Tse-tung at the front will do more good than harm to the war.Comrades in the rear, please give more consideration to this point. Wang Jiaxiang said that Mao Zedong was the general political commissar of the front army, and I disagreed with his transfer to the rear.Zhu De also disagreed with Comrade Mao Zedong leaving the front.

Comrades from the rear have asked for a vote on this question.The participants looked at each other in blank dismay for a moment.Everyone turned their attention to Zhou Enlai. Zhou Enlai showed a distressed expression on his face, and buried his head in thought.Once the issue of Mao Zedong's fate is put to a vote, the rear faction will definitely have the upper hand. After a while of hard thinking, he proposed two options for everyone to choose.First, he was responsible for presiding over the war, and Mao Zedong stayed at the front to assist; second, Mao Zedong was responsible for presiding over the war, and he was responsible for supervising the implementation of the action policy.Both of these plans were designed to keep Mao Zedong at the front.The participants looked at each other in silence again, and no one made a sound for a while.The comrades in the rear stated that they disagreed with Mao Zedong staying in the front.

Seeing that the general situation was over, Mao Zedong expressed annoyance that he was not in good health, and asked the Central Bureau for sick leave to go back to the rear to recuperate.All responsibility for presiding over the war rests with Zhou Enlai. After the meeting, when Zhou Enlai and Zhu De came to Mao Zedong's residence, Mao Zedong's guards had already packed their luggage and were ready to go on the road.He was going to Changting, Fujian, where his wife, He Zizhen, was giving birth at the Gospel Hospital in Changting.He will also go there to recuperate. Mao Zedong looked melancholy, still smoking and coughing non-stop.This is the second time he has lost his military power.The last time, that is, the "Zhu Mao Controversy" four years ago, the absolute great democracy forced him to take command and leave the leadership position of the Red Army.Not long after, due to Zhou Enlai's upholding justice, he soon resumed his original post.This time, can the scene from four years ago be repeated?

"Enlai, this time I asked you to be wronged for me." Mao Zedong said apologetically. "It is you who are really wronged." Zhou Enlai's tone was also full of apology. "I couldn't keep you in the front, I felt very uncomfortable. The cooperation between you and me on the battlefield has only just begun!" "Don't blame yourself like this." Mao Zedong shook his head and said, "You have already suffered for me. Others can't see it. I, Mao Zedong, still understand it very well." "The situation is so serious. I didn't expect it!" Zhou Enlai still blamed himself. It's so bad. Oh, it's my fault!" Mao Zedong patted Zhou Enlai on the shoulder and said: "They are here for me. They have long since disliked me, and they must tell me to get out!" Zhou Enlai was in a heavy heart and didn't know how to comfort Mao Zedong.He worked with Mao Zedong for only a few months. Although the time was short, the cooperation was pleasant and the results were brilliant.How he needed such cooperation!However, due to the intensification of internal conflicts, this cooperation was forcibly dismantled.Despite his great efforts to keep him at the front, at the risk of being accused of conciliatoryism as a cover for Mao Zedong's mistakes, it was irreparable.He was heartbroken for this. He has been in charge of the actual work of the Party Central Committee for a long time. He has always been known for his strict self-discipline, and his strong principles are unparalleled. This has long been known in the Party.Regarding the decision of the organization, he has a different attitude from Mao Zedong.Mao Zedong offered his opinion on every decision, trying to make his own views prevail.He occasionally expresses opposition to the party's decision, and when the party's decision is passed by a majority and forms a resolution, even if he has objections, he can only reserve his opinion, faithfully implement the party's decision, and has never resisted.This time, he did the same when it came to Mao Zedong's fate. He and Zhu De have been sending Mao Zedong out of Ningdu.Autumn is here, the weeds on the hillside are beginning to wither, and the leaves are beginning to fall with the autumn wind. When we parted, Zhou Enlai held Mao Zedong's hand tightly and couldn't bear to let go for a long time.He didn't know how much to say in his heart, but he didn't know what to say.So far, what else can I say?It was Mao Zedong who spoke first.He said: "I, Mao Zedong, will be there whenever I need it." "Take care of your health!" Zhou Enlai said, "We will lead troops to fight together!" Mao Zedong held Zhu De's hand, with a helpless and sad expression on his face, and said: "Old man, people say that Zhu De cannot be separated!" "I hope this separation is short-lived," Zhu De said. "I hope so..." Mao Zedong murmured. During the Ningdu meeting, the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China far away in Shanghai also held a meeting of the Standing Committee, mainly discussing the issue of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area.Bo Gu criticized: "I am firmly opposed to the view of decentralization of work. Here, Mao Zedong expressed his consistent views. At the same time, Wu Hao could not fight against his correct line and his own authority. He said that he had no choice but exposed The weakness of a reconciliation leading to surrender. Mao Zedong's view is conservative and retreat." At the same time, he emphasized: "I think we should fight resolutely, but I don't necessarily name Mao Zedong, but actively fight against his tendency within the party. This is because it is necessary to estimate the prestige of Mao Zedong in the Red Army in the Soviet area." Luo Fu said: "Zedong can be transferred back to the rear to do Soviet work." The meeting decided to call the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area immediately. When the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area received the telegram, the Ningdu meeting had ended and Mao Zedong had left Ningdu for Changting.The members of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area who stayed in Ningdu continued to hold meetings. According to the spirit of the call from the interim Central Committee, it was decided that Mao Zedong would return to the rear to preside over the work of the Soviet, and Zhou Enlai would act as the general political commissar of the Red Army. After the Ningdu meeting, members of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area called the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, complaining that Zhou Enlai "did not give clear criticism to Mao Zedong's mistakes, but instead explained the cover for him in some places."To think that he is "conciliatory in the struggle is to blur the lines of the struggle that has been waged." Zhou Enlai immediately called the Provisional Central Committee, explaining: "During the meeting, I adopted a moderate attitude towards Comrade Mao Zedong's criticism...in addition, I corrected the excessive criticism of comrades in the rear." On October 12, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission issued a circular: "Comrade Mao Zedong, the first front army and political commissar of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, temporarily returned to the central government to preside over all work for the needs of the work of the Soviet. .” On the 14th, the "Red Front Army Construction, Lebanon, and Thailand Campaign Plan" released by the Red Front Army still included three signatures at the end: "Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, Chief Political Commissar Mao Zedong, and Acting Chief Political Commissar Zhou Enlai." The words "Please read it if you have it" are marked to show respect for Mao Zedong.It was not until the 26th that the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China far away in Shanghai announced that Zhou Enlai would also serve as the general political commissar of the Red Army.