Chapter 33 Struggle (8)

He doesn't see himself as China's savior, but he has views that often stray from the party line.However, Mao made great efforts and made many concessions in order to remain in the party establishment. In 1929, Mao got malaria.This serious illness lasted for three months, several times hovering between life and death.Jiangxi couldn’t get quinine, so after waiting for a long time, the traffic officers in Shanghai went through a lot of hardships to deliver the medicine (there were two people escorting these precious medicine bottles, one of them was beheaded halfway, and the other finally broke through the barrier card back).

Mao recuperated in a hut in Fujian, which is far from the east of Jiangxi. Dr. Fu, who believed in Christianity, may have saved Mao's life.Doctor Fu Lianzhang was won over by the Red Army to work for the Red Army.In Changting, an English Baptist gave him the Christian name Nelson. The influence of Li Lisan's line was the main problem Mao faced in Jiangxi, which can be seen from Zhu De's actions during Mao's illness.Zhu De seemed to have lost his helmsman, and began to push Li Lisan halfway.When the "mobile guerrilla" shouted the loudest, he also left Ruijin to "mobilize the group".

No one knows how Mao felt when he heard Zhu De's unhelpful compromise.In any case, Zhu De's obedience had little effect.A few months later, he returned to Mao's line. By the end of 1929, Mao was back again, freed from his illness and his disappointment with Zhu De.He was preparing to hold an important meeting in Gutian, a market town in Fujian.Supported on a straw bed in the mountains, he drafted the now-famous "Gutian Meeting Resolution". Mao Xiang was a juggler who tossed several balls into the air at the same time and started a debate with Li Lisan on familiar issues.

He offered strong views on how to run the military, and he deplored the "purely military views" of some.Mao insisted: "The military is a means to accomplish political tasks." In fact, this was a criticism of Zhu De.Some local people loyal to the party center were a problem for Mao.The Gutian meeting was not all smooth sailing, and it was full of power struggles from beginning to end.To win, Mao deftly employed his favorite means, and he turned to order and discipline. The Red Army is no longer a brotherly team like it was in Jinggangshan, and officers and soldiers no longer sit together to discuss political issues.Some officials have a vague understanding of political principles, and even have no political thought at all, yet they are recruited as party members simply because they are officials.Mao criticized this practice, but he sometimes had to let it go.

In the "Gutian Conference Resolution", he mainly emphasized discipline.He criticized "extreme democratization" and "absolute egalitarianism".Officers should be allowed to ride horses, and the headquarters should be allocated a larger house than the company. He came up with a new idea, which was like a slap in the face to Li Lisan and some young international students.One of the signs of a qualified party member should be "must not have the idea of ​​making foreign money".But so many people have gone to study abroad on scholarships, and so many party leaders have gone abroad for gilding.Spending half his time on a trans-Siberian train, he never lost his point.This is fully explained in a letter he wrote to Lin Biao (then a proud young officer).This letter was later titled "A single spark can start a prairie fire".This letter, written in January 1930, not only expressed his firm belief in the future, but also clearly expressed Mao's views on some specific issues.

At this time, Mao was quite optimistic. He believed that the hope of revolution was like "a baby that is about to mature in the womb of a restless mother".Could it be that Mao had begun to agree with Li Lisan's metaphysical climax theory? At this time, both Li and the Central Committee were very pessimistic.Mao blamed them for this, and his reasoning hit harder than his optimism. The struggle changes with the changes of the whole situation, and its ebb and flow is not only related to one's own strength, but also depends on the strength of the enemy.This is a simple and fundamental truth.

At the beginning of 1928, Mao was very cautious, because the warlords had not yet killed each other, so he was very surprised when Shanghai ordered him to attack in multiple directions.By 1930, he had acted boldly.Because at this time Chiang Kai-shek was attacked by two warlords and at the same time the Japanese were putting pressure on China. In March 1930, the bureaucracy of the Comintern delivered an absurd message.The newsletter they published, Imprecorr, featured an obituary for Mao! The obituary said Mao died of tuberculosis and called Mao "the pioneer of the Chinese proletariat"

This gaffe is not the Kremlin's worst blunder on China. With the passing of 1930, Li Lisan, who initially swelled up like a toad, also blew his cowhide to pieces.The bizarre tug-of-war between him and Mao shakes everyone's positions. Ironically, Mao's success in Jiangxi exacerbated relations between him and Li Lisan, although Li Lisan's growing influence for the Red Army was also touched.Zhu Mao's military armed forces (mainly the Fourth Army of the Red Army) were the most powerful armed forces of the leftists in the country at that time.But this fact did not turn Li toward Mao's idea of ​​establishing long-term rural bases.He said establishing power "in the mountains" was purely a "joke".

Regardless, Li did want to use Zhu Mao's army to further his plans to attack several major cities.He took this power very quickly. General Peng captured Changsha, held it for ten days in vain, and was finally driven out.General He Long (whose life soon intertwined with Mao's) was sent to attack Wuhan, but he missed the big city. Mao and Zhu's goal was Nanchang.They occupied the Jiangxi provincial capital for 24 hours* in vain, the workers did not rise up, the Kuomintang did not collapse, and the warlords' army did not suffer much.