Chapter 43 (2) Wade across the vast grass

This large grassland stretching across hundreds of miles is rarely visited by people.The dark green tall grass stretches as far as the eye can see, and beneath the tall grass is a swamp.The climate on the meadow is changeable. Sometimes it is foggy and the sky is dark; sometimes the cold wind blows and the temperature drops suddenly;There is no way to find a way on the grass, but if you are not careful when walking, once you get stuck in the mud, you will never be able to pull it out again.Zhang Guotao bargained with the central government due to "unified military command" and "organizational issues", and he delayed sending troops to attack Songpan, which made the Red Army lose the good opportunity to capture Songpan and open the northward passage, so he had to detour thousands of miles and walk northward through such grassland.

In order to pass through this large grassland that has never been walked by any army in history, the headquarters of the Right Route Army designated Ye Jianying as the advance commander of the grassland, and the fourth regiment of the Red First Army was the advance regiment.They found a 60-year-old Tibetan Tongsi as a guide, scouting the way ahead, and inserting road signs for the large troops behind. Chen Geng volunteered to serve as the stretcher captain for Zhou Enlai.Yang Lisan, head of the military depot and political commissar, also came to carry a stretcher for Zhou Enlai.There are swamps and mires along the way, and the water is silty black, exuding a rancid smell.They wore straw sandals on their feet, and their feet were scratched by grass roots within a short distance. They stepped on the muddy water soaked from the old rotten grass, and soon became red, swollen and festered.

In the early morning, the fog above the head was gloomy and misty, making it difficult to distinguish the north, south, south, east, and even the road signs inserted by the advance team.Some soldiers fell into the mire in order to find the road sign, and after struggling a few times, they were swallowed by the bottomless mire.On the black muddy water, military caps floated up.Many mules and horses carrying equipment also stepped into the swamp by mistake, and even the mules and horses sank into the swamp with their equipment, and disappeared without a trace as if swallowed by the devil.The troops advanced slowly, walking for a whole morning, turning around in the grass beside the swamp, before moving a few miles.At noon, a gust of wind blew away from the sky, blowing away the fog and revealing the haze in the sky.The sky suddenly became clear, and the sun broke through the clouds, casting a ray of warm sunshine on the grass.The stretcher team took advantage of the fine weather to rush on their way without taking time to rest.Lying on a stretcher, Zhou Enlai looked up and saw Chen Geng and Yang Lisan with worn shoulders, sweating profusely, panting, staggering and crawling on the muddy path, feeling very uncomfortable.

"You have been walking all morning, take a rest before leaving." Zhou Enlai turned over with difficulty and said to Chen Geng and the others. Chen Geng said: "It's rare that God is so gracious, we need to hurry up." Zhou Enlai said, "You are too tired, your health will break down if you continue like this!" Chen Geng said: "If you want to talk about being tired, how can we be as tired as you! Compared with you, what are the few drops of sweat we shed?" Zhou Enlai sighed, and his tone was full of pleading: "Just listen to me, stop and rest for a few minutes!"

Yang Lisan said: "General Political Commissar, we will resolutely obey your orders, and we will disobey Luo just for this order!" Zhou Enlai sighed again, pretending to be angry and said, "Why don't you even listen to me!" Chen Geng smiled and jokingly said: "I am your stretcher captain now, and you are in my charge! You, the head of the Military Commission, have to listen to me, the stretcher captain!" Tears welled up in Zhou Enlai's eyes, and he was so grateful that he couldn't speak anymore.Chen Geng is a first-term student of the Whampoa Military Academy, and he is also the favorite student of Chiang Kai-shek and Zhou Enlai. Chiang Kai-shek once wanted to keep him by his side, but he joined the Communist Party and followed Zhou Enlai with all his heart.During the Eastern Expedition against Chen Jiongming, a division led by Chiang Kai-shek was defeated by Chen's troops. When Chen Bing approached step by step, Chiang Kai-shek raised his gun in despair and wanted to commit suicide.At this time, Zhou Enlai remembered this incident, called Chen Geng over, held his hand tightly, and said, "You saved Chiang Kai-shek's life during the Eastern Expedition, and now you are going to save mine!"

Chen Geng said with a wry smile: "At that time, if I had known that our Principal Jiang would treat us like this in the future, I would never have taken such a big risk to save him." Zhou Enlai said, "You can't say that. You were right to save him." Chen Geng said: "In these years, how many comrades has he killed! He sent hundreds of thousands of troops to encircle us, and how many of our comrades have shed blood and died! Right now, he is still driving us to this deserted grassland! I am right to save him La?" Zhou Enlai said: "One day, he will regret everything he has done, and come to negotiate peace with us again to realize the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party?"

Chen Geng said: "Director Zhou, it is still possible for him to negotiate peace with us. Is it possible for the KMT and the Communist Party to achieve cooperation?" Zhou Enlai: "The Kuomintang and the Communist Party have cooperated for the first time, why can't there be a second time!" Chen Geng thought for a while, and said with admiration: "Director Zhou, you are so far-sighted, and you are still thinking about this kind of thing at this time! If you didn't say it, I would never have thought of it." Yang Lisan interjected: "So, he is the head of our Military Commission, and you are just our stretcher captain!"

Zhou Enlai said, "Xiao Yang, what you said is wrong. He, the captain of the stretcher, has great power now, and I will be in charge of him!" Everyone laughed.With such a smile, fatigue, hunger, and pain also disappeared. Taking advantage of the clear weather, they walked for more than ten miles along the road that the advance group had walked.When they reached a relatively high slope, they stopped to rest.At this time, the sky was dark again, the sky was dark, and the temperature dropped sharply.Just now he was drenched in sweat, but now he was so cold that he was shivering.They found some hay, lit a fire, and gathered together to keep warm.While warming the fire, they poured the water from the kettle into the washbasin, and after boiling, each of them drank a little.The water in the grass is poisonous, and people cannot drink it.The dry food I brought was small, but after a few days of walking, there was not much left.They boiled what little wheat noodles they had and gave them to Zhou Enlai, while they chewed barley to satisfy their hunger.

Just as we were about to hit the road, a storm came.The wind was blowing so hard that it rattled the clothes.The rain also came fiercely, and it fell into a torrential downpour.Chen Geng, Yang Lisan and the others covered Zhou Enlai's stretcher with a torn tarpaulin.The tarpaulin was too thin to withstand the cold wind and rain.Zhou Enlai was lying on a stretcher, shivering from the cold.At this time, several people rushed up, and one of the tall officers took off his coir raincoat, covered Zhou Enlai, and stood in the rain with Chen Geng and the others talking.After the storm subsided for a while, Zhou Enlai recognized that the officer who took off his coir raincoat and covered him up was Xiao Jinguang.He called Xiao Jinguang over and held Xiao Jinguang's hand tightly, feeling grateful and guilty in his heart.

During the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" war in the Central Soviet Area, Li De and Bogu attributed the responsibility for the fall of Lichuan to Xiao Jinguang, then commander and political commissar of the Fujian-Jiangxi Military Region, called him "retreat and escapeism", ordered him to be arrested, and decided to Struggles were launched within the party and the army to oppose the so-called negative line represented by Xiao Jinguang.On January 6 last year, Zhou Enlai attended the public trial of Xiao Jinguang in Ruijin, and was appointed as the public prosecutor by the Central Bureau of the Communist Party of China.The public trial conference sentenced Xiao Jinguang to five years in prison and expulsion from the party and military.A month later, Xiao Jinguang was released and went to the Red Army University as a tactical teacher.After the Central Red Army broke through and moved, Xiao Jinguang was assigned to the cadre regiment and served as the captain.On the last day of last year, in order to organize the Red Army to rush across the Wujiang River, Zhou Enlai sent Xiao Jinguang to lead a team to the Jiangjie River to assist the engineering company in solving the equipment needed for the pontoon bridge.After the Red Army reoccupied Zunyi this year, Zhou Enlai talked to Xiao Jinguang on March 2, pointing out that the treatment of him was purely a "Left" error, and announced the restoration of his party and military membership.Because Deng Ping, chief of staff of the Red Army Corps, died in the battle of Loushanguan, Zhou Enlai sent Xiao Jinguang to the Red Army Corps as chief of staff.Even so, Zhou Enlai still feels deeply guilty for his involvement in the wrong handling of Xiao Jinguang.

Xiao Jinguang sat down beside Zhou Enlai, and asked with concern: "General Political Commissar, are you feeling better?" "I can only ask for the grace of Marx's spirit in heaven for my illness!" Zhou Enlai, who was weak and frail, still seemed open-minded when he said this. "Oh, it's just at this time that I can't move, causing you so much trouble!..." Xiao Jinguang said: "General Political Commissar, don't say that. The central government handed you over to our armed forces. This is the trust in our armed forces, and it is also the glory of our armed forces!" Zhou Enlai shook his head sadly.He suddenly remembered something and asked Xiao Jinguang: "How is the army marching now?" "I'm just about to report to you." Xiao Jinguang said, "Our storage team has buried more than 100 corpses of comrades who died in the First Army along the way, and has taken in nearly 300 comrades who were left behind. The comrades who were left behind were all because of Hunger and sickness." Zhou Enlai's heart sank, and he sighed heavily.He thought for a while, and said to Xiao Jinguang: "In my name, send a report to Comrades Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen, asking them to pay special attention to improving the supplies of the troops, and to find ways to get the troops out of fatigue and regain their strength as soon as possible." Xiao Jinguang took out his notebook and quickly wrote down the telegram dictated by Zhou Enlai with a piece of pencil. Zhou Enlai finished dictating the telegram, thought for a while, and then ordered Xiao Jinguang: "You tell the storage team to take care of the comrades who are left behind. As for comrades with injuries, no matter how serious their injuries are, you can't leave any of them behind. " They are on their way again.Going down the slope, we walked around a few large swamps, and saw a few trees on a small slope in front of us. Under the trees, there were several people sitting together, discussing something with the map.Chen Geng recognized that it was Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai, and carried the stretcher over. Mao Zedong was very relieved to see that Zhou Enlai's spirit was slightly better than a few days ago.Although Zhou Enlai's condition could not be said to have improved, he couldn't wait to discuss the current situation with him.In the past month when Zhou Enlai fell ill, the situation took a turn for the worse. In order to unite Zhang Guotao and lead the four armies to go north, the central government made the maximum concession. First, Zhou Enlai gave way to Zhang Guotao, and then Mao Zedong also withdrew from the work of the Military Commission, and the military command power was handed over to Zhang Guotao It's on hand.However, Zhang Guotao was still not satisfied. After the plan for the Songpan Campaign was aborted, the central government had to change its plan and develop towards the Xiahe River Basin.On August 3, the Red Army Headquarters formulated the "Xiatao Battle Plan".The plan pointed out: "Capture Aba, quickly enter the Xiahe River Basin northward, assault the right side of the enemy's encirclement line, and press the enemy eastward, in order to develop the situation in the Taohe River Basin." To implement this plan, on the 10th of the same month, the Red Army's former enemy commander The Ministry issued the "Right Army Action Plan".In order to go northward safely and smoothly, the Right Route Army decided to divide into three echelons to advance northward, and advance to Banyou with two powerful advance regiments to reconnaissance, occupy the Banyou, Salu, and Baozuo areas, control them with the main force, and cover the left The main force of the Route Army went northward; a feint attack was made to the south of Hu Zong, the Jiang army in Songpan, in order to attract the main force of Hu's army to the vicinity of Songpan City.On the 13th, the former enemy general headquarters telegraphed Zhang Guotao's action plan for the Right Route Army.However, Zhang Guotao led the left army not only did not go north, but instead confronted the Central Committee's plan to go north, saying that it would send troops to the south to attack Fubian and Lifan Jiang's army.After attending the Shawo meeting, he returned to Maoergai and held a meeting of cadres above the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army, proposing to go westward and occupy the remote areas of Qinghai and Gansu through Aba instead of going north and east through Aba. In response to Zhang Guotao's proposition, the central government sent a telegram to Zhang Guotao on the 15th: "No matter how we calculate it in terms of terrain, climate, enemy situation, or food, we must immediately advance from Banyou to Xiahe with the main force, and the left army and the first army should all respond. The operation will start today... Food is available in the north of Banyou, so the main forces of the first and fourth fronts should go to the right, and only one unit will be sent out from Aba on the left to cover the rear and move forward. ... At present, we should concentrate on going north, and it is absolutely inappropriate to send troops to fight back against the enemies of Fubian and Lifan." When Zhang Guotao ignored the central government's patient persuasion, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held a meeting in Maoergai on the 20th, with the purpose of Overcome Zhang Guotao's new obstruction and realize the long-decided northbound strategic policy.Zhou Enlai did not attend the meeting due to his serious illness.At the meeting, Chen Changhao proposed that the right army should not act until the left army arrived in Banyou.The meeting decided that the left army would follow the right army.On the 24th, the central government telegraphed this decision to Zhang Guotao, emphasizing that the main force of the Red Army would go out from the east bank of the Tao River to attack eastward and take over the vast areas of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.Order the right army to go out of Hadapu, and the left army to go out of Heiwa and Banyou quickly. It is definitely not suitable to go out of Qinghai, so as not to lose the opportunity. After Zhou Enlai listened to Mao Zedong's recent situation, he was very upset.He said: "I thought he would be satisfied with the military power handed over to him. Alas, we underestimated him on this point!" Mao Zedong said: "I expected that he would push for an inch and keep bargaining with us, but I didn't expect him to have such a big appetite, he is simply insatiable! Moreover, he will be so impatient!" Zhou Enlai said: "Fortunately, we have a hand in him. He has not seized all the power of the central government! He has seized the power of the Military Commission, but he can't do whatever he wants. There is a central government on top of his head. Now, he is eyeing the power of the central government again. !" Mao Zedong said: "The military power is in his hands, and now he is so majestic! We must obey him absolutely! We want to go north, and he wants to go south." Zhou Enlai: "The central government's policy of going north cannot be changed. Our compromise with Zhang Guotao has come to an end here, and we can't give in half a step. If we insist on going south, we are opposing the central government's policy of going north. This is a big mistake! We must let Zhang Guotao understand this. a little." Mao Zedong said: "You and I coincide with each other. Right now, the urgent question is how to persuade Zhang Guotao. On this point, we must be benevolent and righteous. It is not only for him alone, but also for uniting the entire Fourth Front Army!" Zhou Enlai sighed and said, "It should be my job to convince him, but at this time I fell ill! Alas..." With a sad expression on his face, Mao Zedong said: "Among us, you are the only one who can talk with him on an equal footing. He is also more polite to you. Now, we all hope day and night for your speedy recovery!" Zhou Enlai looked at Mao Zedong gratefully, and said: "You trust me so much, I feel very uneasy. I really wish I could get up once I gritted my teeth!" Mao Zedong held Zhou Enlai's hand tightly, and said sincerely: "Get well first, and don't think too much about it. Your recovery is not your personal matter, but the blessing of the whole party and the army!"