Chapter 7 Chapter Seven Northern Expedition

Chiang Kai-shek stated in his diary that he disliked politics, writing: "Politics makes a man live like a dog... Where is morality? Where is friendship?" But it soon became apparent that he was a "progressive" very Fast newbie. In the long history of China, the National Revolutionary Army is a new type of army.Confident and buoyed by their large and swift victories, they continued to grow in size as they marched northward. If a unified China had ever emerged amidst the most chaotic transformations in history, the Northern Expedition would have been necessary. Chiang Kai-shek was very confident that no matter what the situation was, he would be able to lead the new revolutionary army to victory.

However, communists, especially the Soviets, were not as optimistic as he was. In theory, this skepticism is well founded. Between Chiang and his military objectives stood the five great warlords, three of whom were mentioned in the previous chapter, namely Wu Peifu, Zhang Zuolin, and Feng Yuxiang. Wu Peifu was stationed far away, and was once defeated by Feng's overturning methods. At the beginning of 1926, he made a comeback from the Hubei base and occupied Henan.The areas he controls are Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou, and the army is about 250,000.Zhang Zuolin was the most powerful of the northern warlords at that time.He controlled Shandong, Manzhouli, Rehe, Chahar and Hebei, and his army is estimated to be around 300,000 to 500,000.

Sun Chuanfang controlled East China from Shanghai to Nanchang, Jiangxi with an army of 200,000. He straddles the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangxi. The other two are the powerful and striking Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan.After driving Wu Peifu away, Feng increased his troops to around 275,000.However, because he overextended and exposed his flanks to Yan's influence, Yan seemed to want to form an alliance with Zhang at the time.At that time, the provinces controlled by Feng were Shanxi, Gansu, Suiyuan (now Inner Mongolia), and Chahar.Therefore, he qualifies to be regarded as the "Warlord of the Northwest" (even though he has been referred to as the "Warlord of the Northeast" countless times).

On January 1, 1926, Feng suddenly announced that he would retire and set off on a long-distance trip, with the final destination being Moscow.There he hoped to secure provisions for his unit, which was called the National Army or the People's Army.When he had been gone for several months, his subordinate commanders withdrew the part of the force exposed to Yan's influence and pulled the force to the southern entrance of the Great Wall within fifty miles of Beijing. Yan is different from ordinary warlords.The average warlord is predatory, destructive, and self-serving.Yan, on the other hand, is best known as a "modern" or "social" warlord.He opened schools, promoted sanitation, banned opium, built roads and bridges, and employed various schemes to clear, irrigate, and improve farming.

Barbara Tuchman writes: "Beside him sat a Cambridge-educated Chinese secretary. He entertained his guests in foreign style, with rose, silver, and pomegranate crystal glasses, and napkins artfully Folded into shapes of roses, birds and pagodas, after meals, attendants carry colorful lanterns hung from tall pillars to escort guests through the moonlit gardens." Both Feng and Yan were afraid of being attacked by Chiang Kai-shek, and they expressed their participation in the National Revolution. The total number of warlord troops was no less than 750,000. Compared with the powerful warlords, at the beginning of 1926, Jiang's army did not exceed 85,000 people, organized into 6 divisions.

In theory, this is not enough.But it was impossible to wait until the day when his army could outnumber his opponents.Jiang gave himself six months.In the process of planning and training, military issues sometimes seem to take a back seat to political issues. The "Second National Congress" of the Kuomintang was held in Guangdong from January 1 to 19 under the auspices of Wang Jingwei.The meeting decided to use Sun Yat-sen's will as the permanent foundation of the Kuomintang. Announcing Sun Yat-sen's spirit in heaven will always be the party's beacon. Thirty-six new members of the Executive Committee were elected from among the 258 delegates, seven of whom were Communists.

Mao Zedong was one of them, and he was in charge of the propaganda work of the Kuomintang.In addition, Chen Duxiu, one of the founders of the CCP, is in charge of the party affairs of the Kuomintang in Guangdong.Chiang Kai-shek was also elected as executive member.At the meeting, Chiang reported on his military plan—a plan with only 85,000 troops.In this army, only 60,000 people are equipped with guns.In addition, there are 6,000 military cadets who can be mobilized when necessary. On February 1, 1926, Chiang was appointed commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army. It was probably from this time that Chiang believed that the Communists were secretly working against him.At the meeting, the Communists raised no objection to his military plans, and Borodin even supported them.After the meeting, however, Borodin was suddenly recalled.During his absence, someone else was in charge of the Soviet Military Advisory Group.

Around this time, leaflets appeared in Guangdong depicting Chiang Kai-shek as a new warlord and attacking the Northern Expedition.Jiang suspected that the Soviets were planning behind the scenes. He wrote in his diary: "I have been honest with them and they have been deceitful. Do not work with them." Under these circumstances, in order to narrow the target, Chiang Kai-shek decided to resign from the post he had originally chosen but had not yet taken.He announced on February 8 that he would not resign as Commander-in-Chief of the National Revolutionary Army, and the next day he visited Wang Jingwei and offered to resign from his position in the Military Council and as Commander-in-Chief of the Guangdong Garrison.Wang listened calmly, neither accepting nor rejecting.Chiang Kai-shek felt that he would soon come into conflict with this real opponent of the current leader of the Kuomintang and the National Revolution.

Jiang was still conflicted about whether to make the Northern Expedition.Wang Jingwei remained silent.In the end Jiang showed his cards, and on February 27 he said to Wang: "If you do not accept my resignation, please ask the Russians to leave." Wang still did not respond. On March 8 Jiang returned to Wang's office and said: "The real power to lead the national revolution should not fall into the hands of the Russians; even liaison with the Third International should draw some kind of line. We must not lose our right to decide." The above conversation was recorded by Chiang Kai-shek about 30 years after the incident.

The whole thing unfolded so disturbingly that Jiang often lost sleep over it. On February 28, he wrote in his diary: He had a slightly calmer day, and for the first time in many days a peaceful night of mind.About this time there were two unsuccessful attempts to kill Chiang. For current and future use, he began to collect the personal files of those potential opponents and conspirators in Canton, and established an effective secret agency to monitor suspicious persons from all sides. Regarding the issue of Jiang's resignation, Wang still reserved his opinion.However, he began to tell the young man veiledly to leave Guangdong while the situation was good, as staying there might put his life in danger.Although Chiang was in a good position at the time, if he had stayed any longer, he might have been assassinated.If he leaves, he is again liable for AWOL.Worse, he discovered that the Soviets had learned of his dealings with Wang Jingwei, from which he believed Wang was colluding with the Soviets.

Then came the "March 20 Incident" ("Zhongshan Ship Incident"). Jiang claimed that the arrival of the Zhongshan ship to Huangpu was "a conspiracy of the Communist Party", and he declared martial law in the name of the Guangdong Garrison Commander. On his orders, 25 Communist Party members were arrested or placed under close surveillance, including Zhou Enlai. At 3 a.m. on March 20, 1926, more arrests were made in Guangdong. After the "Shamian Incident" on June 20, 1925, the armed picket team of the Provincial and Hong Kong Strike Committee led by the Communist Party established to support the general strike was also disarmed this time.The army was stationed in the Federation of Trade Unions and the Zhongshan ship, and the Soviet adviser was placed under house arrest. Completely unprepared, Chiang's surprise attack on the Communists was devastating.Neither the CCP nor the Russians were aware of it in advance.Two months after Feng Yuxiang arrived in Moscow, someone told him that when Jiang visited the Soviet Union earlier, he gave the impression that he was more leftist and revolutionary than other Chinese people the Russians had seen. Surprised the Russians and the Chinese in Moscow."They couldn't imagine what happened," Feng wrote. Quite suddenly, Wang admitted defeat in this indirect power struggle in a characteristically Chinese way.As a diabetic, he was tired of the tension. On the 21st, Jiang tried to write to him, but he didn't know where to start.Chiang wrote in his diary: "I don't want to be hypocritical to my friend, and I can't pour out my heart to him, so it's hard to write." On the 22nd, Wang presided over a political committee meeting. At the meeting, he approved Jiang's actions with such enthusiasm that Jiang felt strange. . The next day, Wang disappeared, ostensibly for medical treatment.Later, Wang stated the truth of the matter in a letter to a friend: "I have been suspected and hated, so I no longer want to take political responsibility." In May, shortly after Hu Hanmin returned from Russia, Wang Jingwei went to to France, where he remained for some time.Jiang apologized to him and asked him to return home, but Wang was deeply hurt, humiliated, and unforgivable, and stayed there silently. In this way, Chiang became the overwhelmingly dominant figure in the Kuomintang.Of his opponents, one is dead, another is adrift under suspicion, and a third will also be expelled. Chiang once stated in his diary that he did not like politics, writing: "Politics makes a man live like a dog... Where's the morality? Where's the friendship?" But it soon became apparent that he was a "progressive" novice in the art of politics. The Right sees hope in Chiang's attack on the Russians and the CCP.However, Chiang's letter to his students shattered such hopes, writing: "Mr. Sun believes that the inclusion of the Communist Party is our revolutionary principle. I also believe that if the Communist Party is not included, the revolutionary front cannot be united." .” He warned the right that he still believed the “Xishan Conference” was a mistake. The occurrence of the incident showed that Chiang had been an anti-Communist since his visit to the Soviet Union. But Chiang himself was careful not to mention these incidents when describing these events, so that he could not explain his contradictory behavior.Judging from the situation at the time, if Chiang was to be the leader of the National Revolution, and his northern opponents depended on other forces for their work, then he still needed the help of the Soviet Union.Therefore, Chiang could not completely fall out with the Communist Party and the Russians at that time. In addition, Hu Hanmin, the leader of the Right, was about to return from Russia, and Chiang, who had seized the leadership from the Left, would not hand it over to the Right.In fact, when Hu Hanmin returned to Guangdong from Russia in May, he was not assigned any duties. He stayed in Guangdong for a few days before going to Shanghai. After Chiang took the repressive action, he said he wanted to improve "relations with the Communist Party." On April 29, Borodin returned to Guangdong and had several meetings with Chiang. On May 15, Chiang Kai-shek held an emergency meeting of the Central Executive Committee.He presided over the meeting for the first time, and in a tense atmosphere a new rule limiting the Communists within the party was passed, to which Borodin raised no objection. Chiang magnified his victories with great sophistication, and he even expressed his "concession" by disbanding the "Sun Wen Society".However, the Communist Party lost many seats. Mao lost his position in the Propaganda Department (allowing him to remain as head of the Peasant Lecture Institute, where he continued to train peasant agitators who would later defeat Chiang Kai-shek), and two other Communist Party members were dismissed from key positions. In early April, Chiang presented a detailed plan for the Northern Expedition to the Kuomintang. On June 5, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army. Before and after, he was also elected as the chairman of the Central Executive Committee and the Chairman of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, and served as the Minister of the Central Organization Department and the Military Department of the Kuomintang. On July 1, the Military Council issued a mobilization order. On the 9th, the revolutionary army held an oath meeting and approved a declaration on the purpose of the Northern Expedition, which read: "Build an independent country on the basis of the 'Three People's Principles'; protect the interests of the country and the people." When all these things were settled and the Northern Expedition had actually begun, there was a wave of opposition.The general strike in Guangdong got out of hand.Daily violent clashes between worker pickets and the police resulted in the resignation of police officers.Chiang took action, sending troops to reinforce police patrols and secret agents to spy on agitators. Thus, some noteworthy situations emerged.The chamber of commerce seemed no longer willing to pay the taxes used to finance the Northern Expedition, and Chiang convinced the merchants that their best interests would be served through the payment.And the total amount of this sum is 500,000 yuan.The merchants finally paid, and the strikers realized that the only contribution they could make to the Northern Expedition was to contribute 4,000 coolies, and they did. Although Chiang was not on the front line, the revolutionary army was victorious and occupied Changsha in one fell swoop on July 12, 1926.Chiang finally left Guangdong on July 27 to take command of his army.By the time his new army entered the fight, its total had grown from 85,000 to about 100,000, with troops from Guangxi and Hunan joining Chiang's ranks. According to the suggestion of the Soviet Union, political commissars were sent at all levels to promote the "Three People's Principles" to every soldier, which undoubtedly included Marxism-Leninism. These soldiers recognize what they are fighting for, which gives them an added advantage over the warlord's armies.He could take severe disciplinary measures if his troops were in a mood swing.Any officer who deserted, regardless of his rank, was shot immediately; if the commander of a regiment was killed while his men stood, all the division commanders of that regiment were executed.This discipline also applies to lower units.Undoubtedly, such severe measures have inspired the revolutionary fighting spirit. However, it was unlikely that Chiang would endear himself to his subordinates in the first place.Also, in private, he was not universally loved.The troops under his own direct command are full on time and better equipped than other troops.The rest of the troops were unhappy with his discrimination, but the victory came so quickly that there was little need for harsh discipline.At the same time, the conditions of the troops have generally improved. This is a thoroughly politically armed force, each regiment has Kuomintang institutions and party members, and all have received military training and have absolute authority over other officers.Financial accounts are also open to everyone to prevent extortion and corruption. Although the warlord's troops outnumbered the revolutionaries ten to one, were well equipped and accustomed to the local conditions, they were disunited, brutish, and prone to mutiny. In the long history of China, the National Revolutionary Army is a new type of army.Confident and buoyed by their large and swift victories, they continued to grow in ranks as they continued to march north. The most difficult battle with Wu Peifu's army was the battle of Wuchang, one of the three towns in Wuhan. Due to the strong walls of Wuchang and the desperate situation of the enemy, it was not captured until October 7. Captured Nanchang on November 8. Before long, the number of revolutionary troops increased to 264,000.Because of their discipline, they are beloved and famous.They were in stark contrast to the armies of the warlords.The latter requisitioned houses every time they arrived in a city, forced local businessmen to pay for the army for 2 to 3 months, and recruited local labor without authorization, while the Northern Expedition Army camped in temples and public buildings, paid living expenses, and distributed them Military pay, and do not arrest strong men. On September 16, the Christian commander-in-chief Feng Yuxiang returned from Mongolia and Russia and joined the crusade against Wu Peifu and Zhang Zuolin.By the end of 1926, the revolutionary army controlled Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi.In the second climax of the Northern Expedition, the Northern Expedition took Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Jiang's hometown, on Feb. 17, 1927. Shanghai was captured on March 22, and Nanjing was captured on the 24th.So far, the revolutionary army has controlled the Yangtze River Basin and 10 provinces in South and Central China. That spring, however, the fighting ground to a halt for about a year, and the reason for that was politics.Datang Chinese School Scanner