Chapter 24 August 7th meeting

Professor Chen was swept into the dustbin of history. In 1936, when Mao Zedong mentioned that he had suffered heavy losses in cooperation with the Kuomintang, he severely criticized Chen Duxiu, but he did not blame Stalin, who was the greater culprit. Mao Zedong's evaluation of the two representatives of the Communist International was also quite harsh. "Borodin stood a little bit to the right of Chen Duxiu." The fact is true, and Borodin trusted the Kuomintang even longer.Regarding Luo Yi, an Indian who had played a certain role since 1925, Mao Zedong’s attitude was not gentle: “He stood a little to the left of Chen Duxiu and Borodin, but he was just standing.” [48] That's a fair assessment.Of course, Luo Yi's fierce rhetoric will not help Moscow, which only cares about its own interests, to guide the Chinese revolution thousands of miles away. *

* If Roy's recollections are to be believed, both he and Borodin found Mao to be an incredible figure: "I first met Mao in Hankou. It was just after midnight and we were having a lively discussion in the Politburo. Borodin was there too, sitting beside me. A tall man walked in, calm and haughty. His face was dark and broad, with long straight hair brushed back from his high forehead. 'Mao Zedong.' Bao Rodin whispered to me. He didn't pay attention to me, and he didn't pay attention to the weighty Borodin. We two foreigners looked at each other, and Borodin whispered to me again: "This man is difficult to deal with, a typical Chinese.'” Roy in New Republic, 9/3/51.

In retrospect, Mao Zedong said that the Kuomintang "is an empty house waiting for people to live in it", while the Communists "reluctantly moved to this empty house like a new girl on a sedan chair, but they still have no determination to be the owner of this empty house." . Mao turned to the left, and like all other Chinese communists in the post-Chen Duxiu era, he turned to the barrel of a gun.Unlike most people, he completely abandoned the Kuomintang in the end, "the flag of the Kuomintang really cannot be fought" [49].When he was preparing for the Autumn Harvest Uprising, there was such a sentence in a letter he wrote from Changsha to the Communist Party headquarters. [50]

He still holds radical views on land issues. The rise and fall of uprisings and riots is like setting off a lot of firecrackers.Mao Zedong did not do better than others, not only because Mao Zedong's new leftist views had not yet formed a whole (he was obsessed with the KMT for too long, and the Peasant Army could not create miracles overnight), but also Because Qu Qiubai's leftist views are also vacillating. Qu Qiubai wanted to start in the cities, Mao Zedong still believed that the center of gravity of the Chinese revolution was in the countryside; Qu Qiubai believed that the wave of mass riots would strengthen the left, and Mao Zedong was planning to seize power at the barrel of a gun through organized action.At that time, he and Qu Qiubai were inseparable.

The dice were rolled.Mao Zedong launched his Autumn Harvest Rebellion.One night, he held a meeting on the outskirts of Changsha to make arrangements.He devised his own new flag -- much to the chagrin of the party center -- with an axe, sickle, and five stars.Through all his old connections all over Hunan, he staged an uprising attempting to finally capture Changsha. According to Mao Zedong's request, the first military flag of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was designed and made by He Changgong and others.The red background symbolizes the revolution, the stars represent the Communist Party of China, and the sickle and ax represent the masses of workers and peasants, indicating that this army is independently led by the Communist Party of China.

Mao Zedong occupied Dongmen City on the Jiangxi border, and won several small victories, but soon lost again and again.Things got messy.Mao Zedong's troops were mobs, and some even fought each other later.After the summer of repression, the mass base of the revolution was weakened. (Since May, three-quarters of the more than 20,000 members of the Hunan Communist Party have been killed.) Looking at the trade unions and schools he had established before, and the few people he met except those who died and fled, Mao Zedong seemed to have done something. a nightmare. In 1925-1926, when the mass movement was at its height, the Communist Party was very cautious.By mid-1927, the Communist Party was bursting with radical sparks as popular enthusiasm waned.For the socialist revolution in China in the 20th century, the first step was a tragedy.

The chaos at the Communist Party headquarters continued.Mao Zedong debated with the Party Central Committee throughout his uprising.The central government believed that Mao Zedong was too enthusiastic about the army and did not trust the masses.When things turned bad, his troops were again accused of "asking for trouble". In his reply, Mao Zedong accused the central government of "the contradictory policy of ignoring the military and hoping for a mass armed uprising", which led to a lack of close coordination and a lack of support from outside Hunan for the uprising. In the end, instead of Changsha being captured, Mao Zedong was captured.

While going to Hengyang[51] to recruit miners to join his army, Mao was captured by an armed militia of landlords.The militia was ordered to take Mao Zedong to the headquarters for execution.When approaching the courtyard, Mao Zedong calmly and tactfully thought of a way to escape.He first used the money he borrowed from others to try to bribe the escorting soldiers to get out, but this strategy was obviously useless. When he was nearly 200 yards away from the yard, Mao Zedong decided to run away quickly.He was now light and agile.He dodged flying bullets and ran to hide in a patch of tall grass by the pond.

The regiments caught up, and they forced the villagers to search the grass.Mao Zedong curled up quietly on the ground, secretly holding a glimmer of hope.There were times when the regiments got so close to him that he could even touch them.He felt hopeless, he thought they had seen him. The falling night covered him, and the pursuers stopped their search and left for supper. All night, Mao Zedong stumbled through the hills and bushes.He was barefoot because the soldiers escorting him had taken his shoes, partly out of greed, but also out of the superstition that a dead man who doesn't have shoes doesn't turn into a ghost to avenge his murderer.

Mao Zedong, exhausted and bruised all over his body, lost his way.Later, he meets a farmer who promises to help him.Mao Zedong began to shine brightly, and he still had the seven yuan left over from bribing others. He used the money to eat and bought two things that were most needed at the lowest ebb of the Chinese revolution: shoes and an umbrella. Mao Zedong caught up with the waiting troops again.But the Autumn Harvest Uprising failed.At this time, the relationship between Mao Zedong and the Central Committee deteriorated further.He believed that he should have his own actions, so he refused to attack Changsha.To him it seemed like a foolish move to strike a stone with a pebble.

After the August 7th Conference, Mao Zedong returned to Hunan to lead the Autumn Harvest Uprising on the border between Hunan and Jiangxi.This is a group photo of Mao Zedong with some comrades who participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Yan'an.The one on the right is He Zizhen. (May 9, 1937) Mao lost his leadership position again, he was kicked out of the Central Committee, and even the Hunan branch of the Communist Party kicked him out of the leadership. Mao Zedong had no way of knowing the information that those ignorant bureaucrats were dissatisfied with him. He had turned his back on the city and all established organizations.As October winds blew away the midsummer heat, Mao Zedong led 1,000 of his despondent survivors to a deserted place on Hunan's eastern border. He intends to go his own way with the barrel of a gun. After the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan and Jiangxi in September 1927, Mao Zedong led the workers' and peasants' revolutionary army to march on Jinggangshan (oil painting).He Kongde, Chen Yuxian, Gao Hong and Gao Quan