Chapter 35 1. Chen Jitang and Zhou Enlai's secret messenger

Thirty miles west of Ruijin City, there is a place surrounded by towering trees and rocky mountains. This is Meikeng. Meihang was originally a little-known, isolated and poor village. In the summer of 1934, it became more and more glorious. It should not be underestimated. In July 1934, Kong Hechong, inspector of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, and Yang Yuebin, head of the General Mobilization Department of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, defected to the enemy one after another.Based on the information provided by Kong and Yang, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the air fleet at Nanchang Airport to dispatch the fleet to bomb the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the headquarters of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission centered on Ruijin Shazhouba one after another.

When the Party Central Committee and the Military Commission learned that Kong and Yang had defected, they immediately issued orders to evacuate and hide and build air-raid shelters. Although the bombs dropped by enemy planes had a low hit rate, they still caused some damage and posed a serious threat to normal work order: a corner of the auditorium where the "Second Soviet University" was opened was damaged; A 500-pound bomb also fell at a distance of 100 meters.Although it didn't explode, it made people sweat. Therefore, the central government decided to immediately withdraw all central government agencies from Shazhouba and move them to Meikeng District, 30 miles west of Shazhouba.

After the central government moved to Meikeng, Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian, etc. were stationed in Yunshishan, Gaowei Township, Meikeng; Bogu, etc., were stationed in Ma Daokou, Meigang Township; Under the Yanbei hall in Kengtianxin Township. One day in late September, a stranger came to the Military Commission Zhou Enlai and Zhu De's garrison.He was completely different from the Red Army officers and soldiers who went in and out on weekdays. From head to toe, he looked like a businessman: a long gown of fine texture, a unique top hat, and shiny leather shoes. The visitor did not greet any staff or officers, and walked straight into Zhou Enlai's house, accompanied by Li Kenong, director of the Red Army Security Bureau.

After a while, Li Kenong came out of the house and conveyed an order from Zhou Enlai to the staff officers of the War Bureau, the Confidential Bureau and the soldiers of the guard who were watching curiously: No one is allowed to enter unless there is an emergency. The headquarters of the Military Commission was originally a strict and mysterious "forbidden zone".Today, the arrival of this mysterious guest adds to the mystery of this "forbidden zone". Zhou Enlai stood in front of the window, staring at the distant mountains. "Director Zhou." Someone called out, interrupting his thoughts.

"Director Zhou" is the respectful and customary name of Zhou Enlai by Huangpu students.Zhou Enlai was once the director of the Political Department of the Whampoa Military Academy, and he was loved by the students, so "Whampoa students" have always been called him so affectionately. Zhou Enlai has a strong memory.As soon as I saw this person, I remembered that I had contact with him in Ruijin.At that time, Chen Jitang was recommended by the brother-in-law of Luo Binghui, the commander of the Ninth Red Army Corps who was doing business in Guangdong, and sent him to have tentative talks with the Red Army.

"It's a pleasure to meet you! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Zhou Enlai said politely, holding the "stranger"'s hand. Then, the "stranger" lifted up his gown, took out a confidential letter from his underwear pocket, and presented it to Zhou Enlai with both hands. Zhou Enlai received the letter, first invited the guests to sit down, and then began to read. The letter was written by Chen Jitang. Before the messenger left, Chen Jitang was very cautious and summoned him alone.Chen Jitang explained the task face to face, and repeatedly told him: "Be careful on the way, trust me, and don't miss the slightest thing. The letter must be handed over to Zhou Enlai in person, and return as soon as possible."

The letter said: I plan to send Chief of Staff Yang Youmin, Huang Zhiwen, and Huang Renhuan as negotiators. You'd better send He Changgong, Commander of the Guangdong-Jiangxi Provincial Military Area Command, as your general representative to negotiate. The content of the letter was exactly what Zhou Enlai thought. The Fifth Anti-"Encirclement and Suppression" Campaign In the past year, the Central Soviet Area has repeatedly lost cities and territories, countless soldiers have shed blood on the fertile fields, and the red capital of Ruijin has also been under heavy siege.Right now, apart from the relatively calm situation on the southern front, tensions are becoming more and more tense on the east, west, and north fronts.How to retreat the enemy, how to break through the siege, can we use the party's united front policy and strategy, take advantage of the contradiction between Chen and Jiang, and find a breakthrough on the southern front?In the past few days, Zhou Enlai has been thinking about this problem all the time.

After reading the letter, Zhou Enlai hurriedly told the guards: "Quick, hurry up and invite Boss Zhu!" Coincidentally, as soon as Zhou Enlai finished speaking, Zhu De's answering voice came from outside the door: "Report to Vice Chairman Zhou, Zhu De came uninvited." With a strong Sichuan accent, he was humorous and hearty. "Zhu De! The long-known commander-in-chief of the Red Army!" The stranger's eyes lit up. Unable to wait for Zhou Enlai's introduction, the "stranger" went forward "presumptuously" and held Zhu De's hand with both hands: "Long admiration! Long admiration!" His face was full of admiration.

"Who is this--" Before Zhu De could ask, Zhou Enlai hurriedly closed the door, then turned to Zhu De and said in a low voice, "The envoy of peace was sent by Chen Jitang." "Welcome! Welcome!" Zhu De also said enthusiastically, shaking the "stranger"'s hand. After some courtesies, the two sides exchanged views candidly on the specific issues and main contents of the negotiations, and discussed the current situation and anti-Chiang measures.Zhu De also personally wrote to Chen Jitang.Hand in the "stranger" to return to his life. Who is this mysterious "Messenger of Peace"?Since the meetings and conversations at that time were conducted in extreme secrecy, it is difficult to verify them now.

Nearly fifty years later, people only found his surname Li from "Zhu De's Selected Works". To this day, his real name, surname and military rank are still a "mystery". Zhou Enlai and Zhu De, who sent away Chen Jitang's envoys, seemed to feel more at ease from the worry and boredom they had been feeling for the past few days.Zhou and Zhu agreed to talk about Chen Jitang and Bogu and Li De. In May, the secretariat meeting decided that Bo Gu, Li De, and Zhou Enlai would form a "three-person group" to be responsible for all the work of the Red Army's strategic transfer.Such a major issue cannot be justified in principle without going through the two decision makers Bogu and Li De.

Chen Jitang, born in Fangcheng, Guangdong, styled Bonan.He joined the League in his early years.He served as company commander, battalion commander, regiment commander, and brigade commander in the Guangdong Army. In 1925, he served as the division commander of the 11th Division of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. After 1928, he served as the commander of the Fourth Army of the Guangdong Army.After that, he followed Chiang Kai-shek for a long time, charged forward and fought in battle until he fled to Taiwan with Chiang in 1950, and died of a sudden illness in 1954. However, the most powerful "Nantian King" among the Cantonese warlords was by no means a docile, nodding pawn under Commander-in-Chief Chiang. The "Southern Heavenly King" and Commander-in-Chief Chiang shared beds with different dreams, and sometimes even turned against each other and fought each other. In the spring of 1929, Chen Jitang served as the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army.After repelling the invasion of Zhang Fakui and the Guangxi Allied Forces, they unified the whole province of Guangdong, occupied Wuzhou, and controlled the only throat leading to Haikou in Guangxi. With the military victory, Chen Jitang rapidly expanded his army in a very short period of time, expanding the original one division to five divisions.At the same time, it also controlled the Air Force and Marine Corps in Guangdong. In the summer of 1930, Jiang, Feng, and Yan fought in the Central Plains.Chen Jitang reciprocated, and ordered his subordinates Jiang Guangnai and Cai Tingkai to lead two divisions into the Jinpu line to help Chiang Kai-shek and fight against Yan Xishan's troops.Chen Jitang's men dispatched surprise troops to conquer Jinan.Soon, he went out to the Ping-Han line again and fought against Feng Yuxiang's troops.As a result, Feng Jun was defeated. After the war ended, Chen Jitang's subordinates all drove to Jiangxi to fight the Red Army.It can be said that they have made great contributions to conquering from east to west.In order to win over Chen Jitang and enable him to contain Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi of the Guangxi faction for him, Chiang Kai-shek appointed the central government to allocate all Guangdong tax revenue to Chen Jitang for military expenses.Guangdong is an affluent area with abundant tax sources. Together with the part allocated under the provincial income item, it amounts to 4.3 million per month. Adding the tax from Wuzhou in Guangxi, Chen Jitang can earn more than 5 million.According to the regulations at the time, the military expenditure of each division was 300,000, but Chen only needed 1.5 million for five divisions, and the remaining excess funds were as much as 3.5 million, which was enough for Chen to support ten more divisions! In February 1931, Chiang Kai-shek detained Hu Hanmin in Tangshan, Nanjing.When the news reached Guangzhou, the military and political circles were shocked.Within a few days, Chiang Kai-shek sent an "explanatory telegram" from Nanjing, saying: "Mr. Hu insisted on the non-discussion of the National Assembly and the agreement of the law, which may cause endless disputes within the party. On the evening of the 28th, we discussed it in detail with Mr. Hu. Disagreement, I want to resign from my job and hold various positions, and I want to choose a place to live quietly. Thank you for seeing the guests, so I will temporarily live in Tangshan today. I heard rumors that I was detained, but I feel it is not true." Same fate, imprisoned in Tangshan.Chen Jitang and others were all furious and indignant. Hu Hanmin and Li Jishen originally had a teacher-student friendship, but the generals of the Guangdong Army, including most of the powerful figures such as Chen Jitang, were mostly in Li Zhi's old department, so their feelings were naturally impulsive.In addition, Gu Yingfen, the leader of the Hu faction, jumped up and down, fanned the flames, and soon, Guangzhou and other places set off an anti-Chiang upsurge.Chen Jitang's generals all advocated the use of troops to intervene in politics.When the provincial chairman Chen Mingshu went out, Gu Yingfen, Huang Jusu and others persuaded Chen Jitang. On April 30, Deng Zeru, Lin Sen, Xiao Chengfu, and Gu Yingfen, the four Central Supervisory Committee members of the Kuomintang, issued the "Proposal to Impeach Chiang Kai-shek" by telegram. On May 3, Chen Jitang was the first to issue a response call. For a while, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Zhang Fakui, Tang Shengzhi and others also sent a response call.Sun Ke went south in the name of mediating disputes between Ning and Guangdong. After arriving in Hong Kong, he joined Wang Jingwei and arrived in Guangzhou one after another. On the 27th, an extraordinary meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang was organized in Guangzhou, and the National Government Organization Outline was adopted. Sixteen people including Wang Jingwei, Sun Ke, Tang Shaoyi, Gu Yingfen, Chen Jitang, Li Zongren, Li Liejun, and Tang Shengzhi were promoted as members of the National Government, and the National Government was established. On the 28th, a declaration was issued and a final telegram was sent to Chiang Kai-shek to retire within 24 hours.Later, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to step down on December 15th. This is the famous "Ningyue Split" in modern Chinese history. Chiang Kai-shek hated this former ally.Chen Jitang has already "resisted the courts in different courts", but later he was simply non-toxic and husband-established the "Southwest Executive Department of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang", the "Southwest Political Affairs Committee of the National Government", and the "Southwest Military Commission Branch", with the principle of "equal power and divided governance" Under the guise, the self-respect of the soldiers and the separatist regime of the warlords turned Guangdong into a semi-independent state.Chen Jitang's wishful thinking is: to control these institutions, maintain the territory of Guangdong, and occupy the throne of "Southern Heavenly King" forever. Chen Jitang is such a separatist warlord who dominates one side, a figure that cannot be taken lightly in Chinese politics! Chen Jitang was also very afraid of Chiang Kai-shek's fortune.Chen Zizhi knew that he was by no means Chiang's opponent in terms of political, military, and economic strength. He also knew that he was capricious towards Chiang, from supporting Chiang to opposing Chiang to "resisting the court." Chiang would never let him go easily.Chen Jitang has always maintained a high degree of vigilance against Jiang and adopted an indifferent attitude.In the fifth "encirclement and suppression", although Chiang Kai-shek tied him to a chariot and awarded him the title of commander-in-chief of the Southern Route Army, Chen Jitang was very contradictory about the encirclement and suppression of the Red Army. On the one hand, he knew that because of the Fujian-Jiangxi Red Army holding back Chiang Kai-shek's main force and cutting off Chiang Kai-shek's way of attacking Guangdong from Jiangxi, Guangdong was able to settle down for a while.For him, the existence of the Red Army in southern Jiangxi and northern Guangdong was his best strength and barrier against Chiang Kai-shek.Moreover, the Red Army is brave and good at fighting, and its tactics are flexible. Fighting against it will not have good results. If one is not careful, the Guangdong territory may be destroyed.So he didn't want to work for Jiang and waste his strength. On the other hand, Chen Jitang did not dare to offend Chiang Kai-shek too much.Chiang Kai-shek has a large army in his hands and is in charge of the Kuomintang central organization. His political, economic, and military power are far above him.Therefore, he had no choice but to play tricks on Jiang.On the surface, he was "obedient" and "obedient" to Chiang, and even when Jiang's army captured Guangchang, the northern gate of the Soviet area, he also attacked Junmenling, a military center in the south of the Red Army. Bargaining chips.And secretly sent a batch of ammunition, even medicine, salt, cloth, etc. to the Red Army as a gesture of "friendliness" to the Red Army. In the spring of 1934, the Fujian government collapsed, and the 19th Route Army was quickly defeated. Li Yutang's Third Division, the direct line of Chiang Kai-shek, immediately moved to the border of southern Fujian, posing a threat to Guangdong.Chen Jitang was shocked when he heard this, and had to show further respect to Chiang Kai-shek.At this time, Chiang Kai-shek took a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, he used the tax exemption method of Guangdong sugar to oppress him, and on the other hand, he threatened further military affairs, and put on a posture of sending troops to Guangdong.Under Jiang's coercion and lure, Chen Jitang had no choice but to bow his head and ears to Jiang. He added Li Yangjing's column, the second column of the Guangdong Army, and launched an attack on Junmenling, an important town on the southern front of the Red Army. When Chen Jitang attacked Junmen Ridge, he still kept a hand.Fearing that after the deployment of troops stationed in eastern Guangdong, Chiang Kai-shek's descendants would take advantage of the false surprise attack, he signaled Li Yangjing to exaggerate the number of Red Army troops stationed in Xunwu and Yunmenling areas, and falsely reported to Chiang.The Red Army in Xunwu and Menling had about 4,000 people (including local armed forces), but Li Yangjing falsely reported that there were more than 10,000 people.At the same time, the fifth division of the second army was added to join the second column, which was called strengthening front-line operations, but in fact it was to strengthen the troops in eastern Guangdong to prevent Jiang's surprise attack.Especially when Chen Jitang fully saw that Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to force the Red Army into Guangdong and kill two birds with one stone in the deployment of troops was more urgent. With Chen Jitang's secret letter, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De confidently walked to Li De's residence 500 meters away. Li De's residence is a fairly spacious private house, built in the late Qing Dynasty, although it is very old, it is also stylish and comfortable.Li De is teaching his wife Xiao Yuehua to bake German bread. Zhou Enlai and Zhu De explained their intentions, but Li De laughed out loud: "Negotiate with Chen Jitang? Cooperate with warlords?" In his eyes, this is simply like a fantasy, it is incredible.Warlords are warlords, they are vicious enemies, and they can only talk to them with guns, cannons, and bayonets. How can we join hands with them? Li De shrugged, spread his hands, and made a mocking gesture. It is difficult for a foreigner who does not even understand Chinese to understand China's complicated political psychology and unique traditional concepts.Zhou Enlai and Zhu De saw that the consultant didn't understand and didn't explain much, so they got up and left, and went to Bogu's residence. Zhou Enlai briefly introduced some of the contact with Chen Jitang and the latest developments of Chen Jitang expressed in the letter carried by the envoy. Bo Gu just listened quietly, his face remained unresponsive.From the bottom of his heart, Bo Gu didn't have any hope of negotiating with Chen Jitang.Isn't the Fujian government a year ago bigger than Chen Jitang's banner?What was the outcome?Didn't he answer his own words: the centrists, the third party, are worse than Chiang Kai-shek!Apart from empty shouts against imperialism and warlords, bureaucrats, gentry and landlords, there is no real action against imperialism and warlords, bureaucrats and landlords. All their actions are nothing but tricks by some counter-revolutionary Kuomintang leaders and politicians trying to use new methods to deceive the people.that is it! "I also wrote a letter to Chen Jitang." Seeing that the general secretary was silent, Zhu De was a little anxious. "In the letter, apart from explaining Chen's interests and analyzing the current situation, he also put forward five conditions to him." Then, Zhu De came to Bo Gu in an orderly manner: "First, the two sides stop combat operations. Second, immediately resume free trade between the two sides. Third, purchase arms on behalf of others. Fourth, start the anti-Chiang political campaign immediately..." After listening patiently, Bo Gu said calmly, "Chen Jitang, isn't he also a warlord? Commander-in-Chief, we have learned lessons when dealing with warlords." Obviously, Bogu refers to the Fujian government, the 19th Route Army. "Comrade Bogu, we have learned from the failure of the Fujian government." Zhou Enlai said earnestly and excitedly: "The lesson is that we did not provide strong military assistance. If our army intercepted and prevented Chiang Kai-shek's direct troops from entering Fujian in time, the Fujian government would not Falling so quickly. Remembering the past is the guide of the future. We have lost an ally, and this ally cannot be lost again." Zhou Enlai continued: "Chen Jitang supported the three conditions put forward by the Commander-in-Chief and Mao Zedong in June this year, that is to say, he supported 'conclude an armistice and an anti-Japanese alliance', he supported 'the Chinese will not fight the Chinese', and he supported 'immediately announce the severance of diplomatic relations with Japan'. In addition, judging from the recent telegrams sent back by Comrade Xiang Ying from the southern Jiangxi and Guangdong-Jiangxi front lines, Chen Jitang is able to fulfill his promise. According to my analysis, the five conditions proposed by Commander-in-Chief Zhu can also be fulfilled." "Good Alright, alright." Bogu waved his hand.In his view, the withdrawal from the Central Soviet Area had already been approved by the Comintern, and it was only a matter of time before he left. Discussing the issue of cooperating with a small warlord seemed like a fuss. Bogu said: "Enlai, I will leave it to you to negotiate with Chen Jitang! You and the commander-in-chief are in charge." Although the top leaders Bogu and Li De expressed doubts about Chen Jitang and were not interested in the peace talks with Chen, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De attached great importance to it. Under the personal guidance of Zhou Enlai and Zhu De, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and the Red Army Headquarters began careful planning and preparation for the peace talks.