Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen The Rise of Mao Zedong

The Long March is an epic, and the changes of the years and the differences in ideology cannot make it lose its color. Mao gave the peasants what they wanted most: "land and an opportunity to settle accounts with the landlords who oppressed them for so many years." In 1934, Chiang Kai-shek drove the Communists out of their strongholds in the south and launched a "national revival" movement. He thought he had defeated the Communist Party once and for all.He hopes his "New Life Movement" will "win the peace" as he won the war. But he didn't win the war, he just drove the Communists out; and his policy of "national rejuvenation" fell into disrepair because it didn't attract popular attention.

By mid-1933, Chiang Kai-shek had fought the Communist Party for six years.As a soldier, he encountered constant setbacks.He has launched four "encirclement campaigns" against the Communist Soviet areas - each victory has been regional. His determination has grown and it can be measured in numbers.In the first "encirclement and suppression" from December 1930 to January 1931, he mobilized 100,000 troops; in the second "encirclement and suppression" from May to June 1931, he mobilized 200,000 combat troops; The first campaign was from July to October 1931, and 300,000 troops were dispatched; the fourth "encirclement and suppression" campaign was from April to October 1933, and this time almost 500,000 soldiers were dispatched; the fifth "encirclement and suppression" Beginning in October 1933—almost immediately after the end of the fourth "encirclement and suppression campaign"—Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 900,000 troops, 400,000 of whom immediately went into action.

In comparison, the Red Army had a little more troops than estimated, but the two sides were vastly different in terms of weapons. The Jiangxi Red Army, under frontal attack, mobilized about 180,000 men, to which another 200,000 guerrillas and Red Guards could be added.But these 380,000 people had less than 100,000 guns, insufficient supplies of grenades and equipment, and no heavy artillery. Chiang Kai-shek's 400,000 combat troops have heavy weapons and a modern air force with nearly 400 aircraft.The Red Army managed to capture a few planes and even captured a few experienced pilots, but they had no gasoline supplies and no maintenance personnel, so the Communists had no bombers.

Chiang Kai-shek's combat deployment was formulated according to his need for victory and his urgent mood.Chiang initiated the fifth "encirclement and suppression campaign" not only because six years of defeat had become intolerable to him, but also because of a new urgency—because Chiang Kai-shek now believed that a decisive battle between China and Japan was inevitable. Chiang Kai-shek relied on German military advisers for several years. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Chiang Kai-shek invited a well-known German strategist, General Seckett, to China. It was this Seekert who devised the strategy for the fifth "encirclement and suppression".In order to help Chiang Kai-shek, he took over the post of German adviser who was originally stationed in China.Hitler obviously thought it was beneficial for him to work in China, because in early 1934, shortly after he returned to Germany, Hitler sent him to China as the head of the German military advisory group.

It is worth noting that in these early years—about seven years before Berlin—and the extension of the Roman axis to Tokyo—the Nazis clearly supported Chiang Kai-shek's policy of eliminating the domestic Communists first and leaving the Japanese unhindered . Sektor's strategy sounds good, but it's expensive. Under his guidance, Chiang Kai-shek built hundreds of miles of roads.Small fortifications are everywhere on the concrete encirclement outside the Soviet area.Edgar Snow called it "a kind of Great Wall . . . that gradually grows in".The Kuomintang troops took tanks and armored vehicles, and under the cover of aircraft and artillery fire, they advanced hundreds of yards at a time on the periphery of Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Guangzhou, and Guangxi.Then, they went to build new fortifications.The firm encirclement keeps tightening.

The war was fought hard and brutal at first, and the Kuomintang won two victories on the border between Fujian and Jiangxi, repelling the resistance of the Red Army.Under the heavy bombardment of artillery fire, the Communists lost 70,000 to 100,000 people, and the army dispersed into the mountains.Then the Nineteenth Route Army started an uprising in Fujian, and there was a few weeks of calm.Mao Zedong lost the opportunity to join forces with the Fujian army, so he had to withdraw with his men to a new temporary base in southern Jiangxi.As the "encirclement and suppression" campaign progressed, the KMT killed all captured Red Army leaders.A brutal economic blockade cut off trade between the Soviet area and neighboring provinces.It is not known how many people died of famine, but Edgar Snow quoted figures admitted by the "KMT itself" as saying: "In the war launched against the Jiangxi Soviet Area, about 1 million people died of famine and war." He also quoted In the words of Zhou Enlai: "The Red Army suffered more than 60,000 casualties."

In May 1934, seven months into the war, Chiang Kai-shek was determined to put all his eggs in one basket.At that time, Jiang Baili, a prominent Chinese strategist and former headmaster of the Baoding Army School, had a great influence on Chiang Kai-shek. He convinced Chiang Kai-shek that the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war was imminent. Both he and Chiang Kai-shek believed that once war broke out, what they would face would be a protracted one. Under Chiang Kai-shek's behest, Jiang Baili formulated a national defense plan, preparing the mountainous Hunan Province as the center of preparations for war, and Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, would become the main air base.Then, Chiang Kai-shek continued to "encircle and suppress" the Communist Party.

In the end Chiang Kai-shek thought he had achieved "total victory."When the war went on for nearly a year, the leaders of the Communist Party held an emergency meeting in Ruijin, the hinterland of the Jiangxi Soviet Area. Mao Zedong, who had been ill and had a high fever, had recovered by this time and attended the meeting held on October 2.Also attending the meeting were Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and Peng Dehuai. The meeting made a major decision: the Red Army will abandon Jiangxi. After the meeting, the Reds moved with incredible speed. On October 16, 1934, after less than two weeks of preparation, the Long March began.

About 100,000 people participated in the Long March, including men, women and children.The factories of the Red Army were dismantled and the machinery carried away by mules and donkeys.Things the Red Army carried included silver coins, rifles, machine guns, and ammunition.Among the women who participated in the Long March were Mao Zedong's pregnant wife and Zhu De's wife. The KMT had no idea what was going on.The vanguard of the Red Army attacked and occupied the Nationalist fortifications in Hunan and Guangdong.With the retreat of the Kuomintang local army, the roads to the west and south were opened.

The Long March is an epic, and the changes of the years and the differences in ideology cannot make it lose its color. Indeed, it is not the only "expedition" in history, and there are even such precedents in Chinese history.Guillaume, a French historian who studies the CCP, cited other similar events in modern Chinese history. Still, the Long March is exciting.It revived the Red Army after a severe trauma and turned Mao Zedong against Chiang Kai-shek many years later. There was no shortage of good propagandists about the Long March of 1934, and Edgar Snow was more zealous than anyone in establishing Mao and the Communists as land reformers and heroes, writing:

The Long March was full of adventure, pursuit and discovery, human courage and cowardice, fantasy and triumph, suffering, sacrifice and loyalty, the unquenchable enthusiasm and hope of thousands of young people, and the amazing revolutionary optimism like a fire same burning.They do not acknowledge any failures brought about by man and nature - all these qualities and more that can only be found in Odyssey expedition stories, but are unparalleled in modern society. Mao Zedong recorded the journey of this hero in a poem: The Red Army is not afraid of the difficulty of the expedition, and the thousands of rivers and mountains are just waiting for leisure. Wuling meanders with fine waves, and Wumeng walks with majestic Niwan. The sandy water is warm against the clouds and the cliffs, but the iron cables across the Dadu Bridge are cold. I like the snow a thousand miles away in Minshan Mountain, and the three armies are all happy after passing. The Red Army of the Long March fought all the way and suffered great losses.They buried guns, ammunition and silver along the way.In front of them is the widest river and the highest mountain in Asia, but they keep going forward.A year later, Mao Zedong led more than 20,000 soldiers and entourages to Shaanxi Province in Northwest China.In Shaanxi, they joined up with 10,000 Communist guerrillas.These guerrillas have established their own independent Soviet regime in Shaanxi.The Jiangxi Red Army's Long March spanned 6,000 miles. Although Mao Zedong and the Red Army preserved their strength, for Chiang Kai-shek, the fifth "encirclement and suppression" campaign could not but be regarded as a victory—although it was not a complete victory, it made the Communist Party no longer a powerful armed force within a few years strength. Chiang steadfastly carried out the strategic plan formulated by the German advisers.Before the Red Army's unexpected breakout in October 1934, the KMT imposed an effective economic blockade, depriving the Communists of guns and ammunition.The economic blockade aggravated the Red Army's difficulties, while the Kuomintang army's safety factor was relatively improved, and the Red Army's lack of understanding of the enemy's activities. For the first time, Chiang Kai-shek was established as the leader of the Kuomintang, with the result that the local warlords had to deal with the Communists harder than in the past. Not only that, the two most important warlords, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, were busy rebuilding Guangxi after the war, so that Chiang would no longer have any worries in the war.Chiang thought he knew everything well, but he did not foresee that the Communist Party would suddenly decide to abandon the Soviet area for transfer. For nearly seven years, up to early 1934, Chiang Kai-shek had been trying to use purely military means against the Communists.His method was "blockade" and "encirclement and suppression". It seems that he did not understand that Mao Zedong did not rely entirely on organization and iron means to win over the masses.In fact, he would never admit that Mao Zedong in Jiangxi gave the peasants what they wanted most: "land and a chance to settle accounts with the landlords who oppressed them for many years." When Chiang Kai-shek started the "New Life Movement" in 1934, he did not do that, and did not even consciously compete with the Communists for the peasants. His point of view is simple and primitive: to transform the whole people by restoring Confucianism. But he also absorbed Christian ideas and fascism. Approved biographers attribute Chiang's claim to a relatively insignificant accident. During the Fujian campaign, when he moved his headquarters back to Nanchang, he saw a boy under ten smoking in the street. Chiang Kai-shek was shocked. He got out of the car, asked to see the parents of the child, and criticized them for indulging himself. child. Before long, according to Holrington Tang, "a dramatic campaign against youth smoking" began, a habit Chiang believed was keeping the Chinese backward.What they need is a new norm of behavior. Whether or not the smoking boy was willing to provide the torch that lit the New Life Movement, around the time this happened—late 1933 or early 1934—Chiang Kai-shek addressed a meeting of Blue Shirt leaders about it . He said that the Chinese are weak, they are selfish, undisciplined, and immoral.He told the leaders of the Blue Shirts: "Our revolutionary spirit must be instilled in the people of the whole country to make them believe in us". On February 19, 1934, at a mass meeting of 50,000 people held in Nanchang, Chiang Kai-shek officially launched the "New Life Movement".At the meeting, he told the story of the smoking boy.He called everyone's attention to Germany.Although Germany was defeated in the Great War, they recovered quickly.They no longer pay the war reparations imposed on them by the victorious Entente, and now they are working to abolish the unequal treaties imposed on them by the Great Powers. And what about China?Compared with the Germans, the Chinese still suffer the shame of unequal treaties.Germany is not the only role model for the Chinese. The Japanese with Spartan discipline also set an example for the Chinese to learn from. Chiang was enthusiastic about his morality, advocating the codes of conduct established by Confucianism and other Chinese sages many centuries ago, and he advised people to pay special attention to four of them: Li, the standard way of thinking; Yi, the correct way of doing things principle, integrity, a clear awareness of things, especially in personal and political life to be honest and honest; shame, a sense of moral honor. The slogan of the "New Life Movement" actually integrated these Confucian values ​​into one: when translated into English, etiquette, righteousness, honesty and shame mean "politeness, fairness, honesty, and sense of self-esteem."Although Chiang was waging a military war, with his usual speed and energy he assembled batches of 200 students, put them through training, and then sent them to give lectures on "New Life" to the public.In Nanjing alone, 13 lecture stations were established, where the leaders of the "New Life Movement" gave speeches to large audiences every day.Many pamphlets were also printed and civic or religious groups were mobilized to distribute them as widely as possible.To complement these few values, eight principles were formulated to guide the people: 1. Treat yesterday as death and today as new life, let us abandon the shame of yesterday and build a new nation. 2. Let us shoulder the important task of national rejuvenation. 3. We must observe discipline and maintain integrity, honesty and integrity. 4. Our food, clothing, housing and transportation should be simple, regular, plain and tidy. 5. We must face difficulties consciously and work hard for thrift. 6. We must have proper knowledge and integrity as citizens. 7. Our actions must be bold, quick and decisive. 8. We must do what we promise, even if we don't promise to do something. Jiang was not satisfied with the above four value standards and eight principles, and he announced 95 guidelines for daily behavior.He "taught" the Chinese to dress quickly, to stand up straight, and not to talk while eating. Chiang claimed: "If we want to have a new life rooted in propriety, righteousness and shame, we must start by not spitting anywhere." He also said: "If we want to revive the nation. revenge, then we don't need to talk about guns, but we must first talk about washing our faces with cold water. " It is interesting to compare the licensed Kuomintang writings on the "New Life Movement" with what is now known to have happened. For example, Holrington Tang and others did not mention the "Blue Shirts", because any recognition of the existence of this fascist organization would damage the carefully constructed image of Chiang as a guardian of "democracy" And a well-deserved recipient of American aid. The job of promoting the "New Life Movement" was ostensibly given to the "Youth Christian Union"—an unreasonable choice, since it meant asking a Christian organization to spread Confucian ideas.But in fact, there is nothing incompatible between propriety, righteousness, honesty, and Christianity. Chiang himself is a Confucian traditionalist who has accepted Christian thought.In a philosophical sense, there is nothing un-Chinese about this mix.And the "Blue Shirts Club" did play an important role in the movement. Based on the evidence gathered by Luther E. Eastman, this approach does not now appear to be contradictory.Chiang emphasized the ancient moral standards, the "eighty-five principles" and the "ninety-five guidelines" were one thing, but there was another definite ultimate goal hidden in his mind. On one occasion, he asked a rhetorical question and answered himself: What is the "New Life Movement" I advocate?In short, he said, it consisted in the total militarization of the life of the inhabitants of the country, so that they would develop courage and speed, stamina for pain and hard work, and above all, the habit and ability to act in unison so that they could serve the country at all times. make sacrifices. In December 1933, five months before the New Life Movement began, Chiang had explained that the militarization of society was one of the three basic elements of fascism (the other two being the principle of state supremacy and loyalty to the leadership).He could not have made the comparison unconsciously.However, Westerners' description of this movement is more objective. On March 11, 1934, the "New Life Movement" officially started in Nanchang.At that time, a mass rally was held. According to rough statistics, there were 100,000 participants, representing 142 organizations.Accompanied by the Governor of Jiangxi Province and the Minister of Education, Chiang Kai-shek appeared at the meeting in neat clothes. When he was about to speak on the stage, he saw a scruffy young man taking pictures from different angles. Jiang pointed at the unfortunate photographer and said, "Look at that man! He is a typical one. For this kind of person Say, the maxims of the movement—order, cleanliness, etc.—are meaningless.” The photographer hastily left the venue.Nanchang was the first city to benefit from the "New Life Movement".A week after that rally, thousands paraded through the streets holding aloft colorful dragons and glittering pagodas with inspiring signs: "Don't spit. Hygiene prevents disease. Eliminate flies and rats, which spread Disease. Eating, drinking, prostitution and gambling are prohibited." In the capital, Nanjing, Premier Wang Jingwei presided over an opening ceremony on March 17.There are similar activities in Beiping, Guangzhou and other cities.Wang Jingwei also designated Confucius' birthday on August 27 as China's National Day, and held grand commemorative activities-at this time, Wang Jiang still maintained the same in political life. On November 30, they jointly delivered a speech to the whole country, calling for the protection of China's cultural relics and historical relics, and they also announced the establishment of the "Central Historical and Cultural Relics Protection Committee".This is also part of the "new life". There is one strange but little-known thing about the New Life Movement. Yan Baohang, the first secretary-general of the "New Life Movement", was an underground member of the Chinese Communist Party. He was for a time the English secretary of Marshal Zhang Xueliang. He was ostensibly a devout Christian, but when the People's Republic of China was founded, he served as the head of the foreign minister's office. During World War II, when the Nationalist government was in Chongqing, Yan Baohang's role in the "New Life Movement" was often ridiculed, but he always listed the following reasons for failure: 1. Chinese people hate others telling them what is right and what is wrong. 2. Branches of the "New Life Movement" have never received support from the local government. 3. The police have become the supervisors of people's actions, which has caused widespread dissatisfaction among the people. 4. The gist of the "New Life Movement" was not convincingly accepted by the common people, and they didn't even understand what it was all about. 5. Most senior officials did not take the significance of the "New Life Movement" seriously, and they only paid lip service to Chiang Kai-shek. Some people have vividly recalled how ordinary people took advantage of the loopholes of the "New Life Movement".For example, when eight people eat in a restaurant, they can't order more than four dishes and one soup, but the restaurant uses a large plate to serve two dishes, and the restaurant prohibits alcohol, so they put the wine on the plate. in the teapot.People use this to trick overseers—most of them Boy Scouts. A general Han Fuju did an interesting thing that was famous at that time.Speaking at a mass meeting in Jinan, he said: "I wholeheartedly support the Chairman's 'New Life Movement'."But I think there is one thing that is very nerve-wracking. If everyone walks on the left, who walks on the right?Besides, it would be too crowded on the left side! " Jiang used the "New Life Movement" to launch an anti-drug campaign.The movement began in 1928, but was mired in bureaucratic slack.As chairman of the Military Commission, Chiang launched a campaign to ban opium in Jiangxi and other areas where the Communists were "suppressed". He ordered the execution of those who manufactured, traded, and transported opium, and granted similar powers to police officers in the Beijing area.Nationalists and government officials who smoked opium were given three years to quit smoking.There is also a Drug Rehabilitation Association.Many detoxification methods followed. As of 1937, those still involved in opium traffic, even if they were accomplices, were shot, their property confiscated, and after three years, drug addicts found guilty received mandatory treatment and then served five years in prison.Officers who do not receive treatment within the voluntary treatment period are subject to the death penalty. On May 25, 1935, the national government decided to hand over all the powers of smoking ban to Chiang Kai-shek, so Chiang got a new official position - "Director of Smoking Ban".At least it's a job that satisfies the brutal side of his personality. On September 24, 1935, the relevant committee of the League of Nations in Geneva pointed out the remarkable achievements of China's anti-drug campaign. On the same day, in Chengdu, Chiang set January 1, 1936, as a new deadline for voluntary registration of drug addicts, and announced that those who disobeyed would be severely punished. On New Year's Day in 1936, he announced the prohibition of opium production in Jiangsu, Anhui, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Yunnan and other provinces. From February 1st to 3rd, he convened an anti-drug conference in Nanjing, announcing that he would eradicate drug addicts and traffickers within six years. However, "six years" is impossible. Before this deadline, the Japanese have already decided to conquer China. Generally speaking, the anti-drug movement that originated from the "New Life Movement" achieved greater achievements than the former itself.While Mao Zedong promised to liberate the peasantry and sweep away a thousand years of traditional oppression, and while young intellectuals were drawn to the allure of revolution, Chiang Kai-shek turned a deaf ear to Confucian values ​​and Christian Puritanism. In the eyes of the people and intellectuals, these preachings from the past represent the interests of the local tyrants, evil gentry and commercial middle class.The movement just brushed past those suffering people without touching them in any way. In the autumn of 1934, when the Communist Party broke out from Jiangxi and started the Long March, Chiang and his wife took a plane to travel around the country.The advent of the airplane made this "meet the people" event possible for the first time.Due to time and space constraints, successive Chinese rulers and celebrities could not expect to visit every province in the Chinese Empire. However, Chiang Kai-shek had no such plan at the beginning, he was just impulsive, hoping to take a short-term trip by plane.Accompanied by Marshal Zhang Xueliang, who had just returned from a trip to Europe, the Jiangs flew to Luoyang to visit a newly established military academy.Why not visit Xi'an?Zhang Xueliang suggested.So Jiang unintentionally came to this place where he was detained two years later.Then there is the desire to travel to more places.By the end of the trip, they had traveled 5,000 miles and visited 10 provinces in North and Northwest China. For people in more remote areas, at that time, the arrival of a leader — especially by air — breaks the monotony of their lives.Other leaders of modern society—perhaps first of all de Gaulle—had reveled in the cheers of the people, and drew strength from witnessing their welcome.This kind of thing is already a reality for the Chiang couple. Having tasted the sweetness of "fame", they became more and more dissatisfied.At this time, travel is no longer a temporary impulse, but a systematic plan.Their next target is the western and southern provinces.Politically speaking, the trip to the west is the most important in the whole itinerary, because China is still a country ruled by warlords.In places such as Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan in the southwest, feudal warlords ruled undisturbed even though people were still talking about the "unification" of China, a problem compounded by the entry of the Jiangxi Communist Party. In Guizhou, for example, the Red Army wiped out five divisions of the local warlords in four months, captured their garrison in Zunyi and replenished their strength by 20,000 men.Breaking through Chiang's blockade, the Red Army swooped south into the southern border province of Yunnan in May 1935.At this time, the Jiangs were living in Kunming.It is reported that the Red Army was only 10 miles away from Kunming, and the Yunnan warlord Long Yun hurriedly stepped up reinforcements to Kunming, while Chiang had already withdrawn on the railway line built by the French.They soon discovered that it was nothing more than a diversionary operation by a small Red Army.The brigade of the Red Army traveled day and night, traveling 85 miles a day, to Zhouping Fort located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.Dressed in Kuomintang uniforms, they took the place with ease, and then the entire Red Army crossed the river into Sichuan.After crossing the river, they destroyed all the ships captured from the Kuomintang army. The trip of Chiang Kai-shek and his wife was no longer a public relations exercise. He and his wife flew to Sichuan, hoping to intercept the Red Army at the Dadu River. The decisive battle took place in a canyon, where the river was rushing fast, and the banks were surrounded by cliffs and cliffs. An engineer surnamed Liu built a pontoon bridge with iron cables, which is also known as "Luding Bridge".When the Red Army arrived, they found that half of the boards that had been tied to the chains had been removed.Still, barefoot, the Red Army soldiers wobbled across the bridge and hurled hand grenades at the Nationalist troops on the opposite bank.Finally they crossed the Luding Bridge and opened the gate to western Sichuan. This was Chiang's last chance to intercept the Red Army.From then on, the Red Army was more troubled by mountains and other natural obstacles than by the Kuomintang. Despite these setbacks, Chiang's trip to the west was useful because it enabled him to "cleanse" and "discipline" local governments in Sichuan and elsewhere. He did not expect that a few years later he would be forced to move the "capital" of the Kuomintang from Nanjing to Chongqing in Sichuan-if he hadn't had the "cleansing" during his trip to the west, such a move might not have been possible.