Chapter 4 Chapter 3 The Conflict Has Been Seen

The relationship between Zhang Guotao and Mao Zedong can be traced back to the "May 4th" Movement period. The city of Beijing in the early years of the Republic of China was a bizarre world.The Forbidden City and the majestic and resplendent palaces of Zhongnanhai show the royal style of the year.Although the Qing court has been bombarded by the cannons of the Revolution of 1911, the former Qing elders gathered in front of the Shenwu Gate on the first and fifteenth day of each month, wearing court uniforms and red hats to pay homage to the abdicated Emperor Xuantong, with long braids behind them. , showing stubborn conservatism.Dongjiaomin Lane to the south of the Forbidden City is once again dominated by foreigners.Foreign soldiers carrying foreign guns looked arrogant in front of the Chinese.The Presidential Palace, the State Council, and the National Assembly, which bear the signs of the Republic of China, although the personnel who enter and exit may be in suits, leather shoes, or robes, they still retain the customs of the Qing Dynasty.The semi-colonial and semi-feudal characteristics of old China can be seen in miniature everywhere in Beijing.

In contrast, Peking University, which is located on the beach, shows a youthful vitality.Since Mr. Cai Yuanpei took office as the president, he has recruited a group of the best scholars with the policy of inclusiveness and academic freedom.Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu advocated the theory of socialism, and together with Lu Xun, Hu Shi, Qian Xuantong and others initiated the New Culture Movement, which made Peking University famous all over the world and attracted progressive young people across the country.Both Zhang Guotao and Mao Zedong came here admiringly from the far south. Zhang Guotao was born in a family of eunuchs in Pingxiang, Jiangxi.Several generations of ancestors were scholars, and they embarked on official careers through imperial examinations.The generous land rent income gave him a good life and the opportunity to study.In middle school, Zhang Guotao, like most of his classmates, developed a strong patriotism under the impact of the trend of the times.Once in Shanghai, he got acquainted with a revolutionary and listened to him tell the legendary story of the 1911 Revolution.In order to realize his ambition, Zhang Guotao was admitted to the Peking University Science and Technology Preparatory Class and came to Beijing in the autumn of 1916.

After entering Peking University, Zhang Guotao quickly became an activist.Chen Duxiu, dean of liberal arts, and Li Dazhao, director of the library, are his most admired teachers.Under their influence, Zhang Guotao accepted the theory of socialism.Although he was still very naive at the time, Zhang Guotao took saving the country and revolution as his mission.He first organized a national magazine with Xu Deheng and others, and then organized a civilian education meeting with Luo Zhanglong and Deng Zhongxia.Busy social activities made Zhang Guotao transfer from the classroom to the library, where he sometimes consulted with Mr. Li Dazhao, and sometimes talked with his classmates.Perhaps he didn't realize that at the librarian's desk in the corner of the room, a tall and tall young man from Hunan was listening to them with great interest. This young man was Mao Zedong.

Mao Zedong came to Peking University from another road.He was born in an ordinary peasant family. Due to the isolation of his hometown, he spent his initial life in private schools and farmland.It was not until the age of 18 that he had the opportunity to enter a regular primary school and receive a new type of education.Mao Zedong eagerly absorbed new knowledge, traveled from Xiangtan to Changsha, and graduated from Hunan No. 1 Normal School.Under the guidance of his teacher Yang Changji, he, Cai Hesen, He Shuheng and others organized the Xinmin Society to explore the truth and seek development opportunities. In August 1918, he came to Beijing with Cai Hesen, Xiao Zisheng and more than 20 classmates from Hunan to apply for a work-study program in France.Because of lack of money, Mao Zedong and his friends lived a poor life in Beijing.Eight people squeezed into a Datong shop and ate the cheapest meal, but the expenses in Beijing made Mao Zedong's money increasingly difficult.It is impossible to fill my belly and study. Fortunately, Mr. Yang Changji was teaching at Peking University at this time, introduced Mao Zedong to Li Dazhao, and worked as an assistant in the library of Peking University.

Although this job gave Mao Zedong the opportunity to get in touch with more books and people, but after all, he was too wronged.His monthly salary is only 8 yuan, which is less than one-twentieth of that of great professors such as Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu.Salary is also a symbol of status. In the eyes of Peking teachers and students, Mao Zedong was just a small employee.Except for Li Dazhao who sometimes talked to him, few people paid attention to him.This dealt a blow to Mao Zedong's self-esteem.Until he became the leader of the Communist Party of China, he told Snow about his experience at Peking University in a bleak tone: "I am in a low position, and no one cares about me. One of my tasks is to register the people who read the newspaper. names, but for most of them, I, a living person, does not exist. From these people who came to read, I recognized the names of famous leaders of the Enlightenment Movement, such as Fu Sinian, Luo Jialun, etc. They were very interested. I tried to start conversations with them on political and cultural issues, but they were too busy to listen to a librarian speak Southern dialect.” Mao Zedong said to Snow: He knew Zhang Guotao, Zhang At that time, he was a very radical young student.But Zhang did not leave any impression on Mao.It was precisely because of this sense of loss that within half a year, Mao Zedong resigned from his job at Peking University, left Beijing, and returned to his hometown in Hunan.

In July 1921, the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Shanghai.Beijing representative Zhang Guotao and Hunan representative Mao Zedong attended this meeting with great historical significance.Due to the absence of Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, Zhang Guotao was entrusted by them to become the host of this meeting.At that time, his impression of Mao was "he was a relatively active white-faced scholar, wearing a long cloth gown. He had a lot of common sense, but his understanding of Marxism was not much better than that of Wang Jinmei and Deng Enming. In the meeting, no specific proposals were put forward; but he is talkative and argumentative, and he often likes to design traps when chatting with others. If the other party is not paying attention and falls into it, and self-contradictory embarrassment occurs, he will laugh triumphantly ".From the beginning of the founding of the party, Zhang Guotao did not take Mao Zedong seriously.

After the founding of the Communist Party of China, Zhang Guotao has been in the top leadership.He was initially in charge of the labor movement.He once led the "February 7th" strike on the Beijing-Hanzhou Railway and the "May 30th" Movement in Shanghai.During the period of the Great Revolution, he served as Chen Duxiu's representative many times, dealing with the upper echelons of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.On behalf of the CCP, he attended the congresses of communist parties and national revolutionary groups in Far East countries and met Lenin.But he also made repeated mistakes.On the eve of Zhou Enlai and others planning the Nanchang Uprising, he used the name of the representative of the Central Committee to convey international instructions to prevent the riots.After Zhou Enlai and Yun Daiying's strong resistance, he was forced to obey everyone's decision.For this reason, he was severely criticized at the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of China held in Moscow.

But Mao Zedong did not have such a scene. He has always been rooted in the land of China, rooted in the bottom of China - the vast countryside.Starting from Jinggangshan, relying on our own efforts, we will create a central Soviet area.But he has always been ridiculed by those who stayed in the Soviet Union, and he was considered as "Marxism-Leninism cannot emerge from the valley".Since the Shanghai Central Committee moved to the Central Soviet Area, Mao Zedong was repeatedly repelled and attacked, and was finally kicked out by the head of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area at the Ningdu Conference in October 1932.Until the three years before the Zunyi Conference, Mao Zedong spent the pain of depression and loneliness.He once said to the visiting old subordinate Gong Chu with tears: "Now our comrades in Jinggangshan can't eat anymore, so we have to bear it slowly." When Mao Zedong's return to power was a foregone conclusion, Kai Feng said to Mao contemptuously: "What do you know about Marxism-Leninism? At most, you have read "Sun Tzu's Art of War"." Left-leaning dogmatists who beat people with sticks are abhorrent.

Zhang Guotao served as the Secretary of the Central Sub-bureau in the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Soviet Areas in 1931. With the help of Xu Xiangqian and other generals of the Red Fourth Front Army, the revolutionary situation developed rapidly.Someone vividly said that the center of the Chinese revolution at that time was two mountains: one was Jinggang Mountain and the other was Dabie Mountain.The leader of the former is Mao Zedong, and the latter is Zhang Guotao.Although Zhang Guotao has not been in the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Soviet regions for a long time, he is old, eloquent, and has organizational skills.Both of these two Soviet areas had grown to 100,000 Red Army troops.Whether in Hubei, Henan, Anhui, or in Tongnanba, Zhang Guotao always said the same thing.He is used to giving orders and not used to being subordinate to others.Now that he has joined the Central Committee, no one in the party can match Zhang Guotao in terms of seniority.He met Mao Zedong at Lianghekou. Although he respected each other as a guest, he had nothing to talk about.In order to find out the bottom line of the Central Committee, he specifically asked Zhou Enlai: How many people are there in the Central Red Army?Zhou Enlai deliberately said to Duoli: There are 30,000 (actually less than 20,000).Zhang Guotao showed a complacent expression on his face, and said: We have 80,000.From then on, Zhang Guotao's enthusiasm has been greatly reduced.

After the Lianghekou meeting, Zhang Guotao and the Central Condolences Group returned to the headquarters of the Fourth Red Front Army.Arriving at Zagunao Town (now Li County Chengguan), Zhang Guotao found an excuse to leave Liu Bocheng, Li Fuchun, etc. there (the local area is the "Northwest Federal Government" founded by Zhang), and rushed back to Mao County Red Fourth Front Army Headquarters, discuss with Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao. At this time, Xu and Chen, who stayed at the headquarters, were looking forward to Zhang Guotao's return with hope, and listened to the spirit of the central government's instructions on the next strategic move.Xu Xiangqian recalled: "Zhang Guotao met me through the lower east gate on his way back to Mao County from Lianghekou. He didn't want to talk about the meeting with the central leadership and the Lianghekou meeting. He just said that the Central Red Army had a hard journey and the number of staff was greatly reduced. The situation is similar to when we first arrived in Tongnanba. What I am most concerned about is which direction to fight next? He said: The central government’s opinion is to go north to Pingwu and Songpan, hold Gannan, and develop Xutu. I think it is still It’s better to take southwestern Sichuan first, otherwise, after the Lianghekou meeting, food supplies will be difficult.” Xu Xiangqian immediately analyzed the pros and cons of going south and going north to Zhang, and tactfully persuaded Zhang Guotao to go north. "Zhang Guotao pondered for a long time, and finally agreed to attack Songpan first, but still insisted on taking the Qionglai Mountains area in the south."

Chen Changhao recalled: "Zhang Guotao held a Lianghekou meeting earlier, and sent back a telegram. The content of the telegram was that the situation was not good. It may mean that the Central Red Army is not left much, and the thought of usurping the party that has been buried for a long time can be made public. After the meeting, the Central Committee I sent Liu Bocheng and Zhang Guotao back to convey the message, but Zhang Guotao left Liu Bocheng behind on the road, but he came back alone, explaining it entirely from his own point of view, many of which were fabricated by him. Before Zhang Guotao left, I still admired Chairman Mao in my heart , I feel that the Central Red Army has developed greatly. But after Zhang Guotao came back, everything he talked about was aimed at attacking the leadership of the Party Central Committee headed by Chairman Mao and misinterpreting the Zunyi Conference. It seemed that the Central Committee was wrong. , the only proof is that the army collapsed, with only a few thousand people left. And this was used to justify its departure from the Tongnan Basu District (some cadres had objections to leaving at the time). It proved that his leadership was correct, and his strength was preserved. The main force of the Red Army, on the one hand, the army is not good enough. The central government did not talk about the good things at all, but they talked about things that attacked the central government, especially Chairman Mao. The wrong leadership before the Zunyi Conference and the correct leadership of Chairman Mao after the Zunyi Conference Confused. Apart from the fact that my thoughts have something in common with the rightist, the propaganda he came back made me his prisoner. I doubt the leadership of the central government, use the temporary setbacks in the military to prove that there is a problem with the leadership, and use the size of the Red Army to determine whether the leadership is good or not. correct." In just a few days of meetings, why did Zhang Guotao's thoughts change so much?1. The gap in numbers and strength between the Fourth Front Army was indeed one of the reasons for Zhang Guotao’s expansion of ambitions. However, if we simply attribute the great rupture during the Long March to this, we would be oversimplifying the intricate contradictions and struggles within the party. up.It must be pointed out that before the meeting of the First and Fourth Front Armies, Zhang Guotao and the commanders of the Fourth Front Army sincerely hoped that the arrival of the Central Red Army would reverse the unfavorable situation and bring the revolution out of its predicament.Chen Changhao recalled: "Probably in August or September (1934), the leaders at that time knew that the enemy was attacking the Central Soviet Area. After I went to the rear, I often talked about this with Zhang Guotao and Comrade Qianqian. Pay attention to where you hit, and decide your own actions. I really felt a little uneasy and lost my temper. At that time, the Central Red Army had 130,000 people. After so many years, they still left. What should we do? This The idea has never been explained. As a result of the discussion, everyone believed that the Sichuan-Shaanxi (Tongnanba) Soviet area should not be defended. Instead of waiting for the enemy to overwhelm and be forced to withdraw, it is better to withdraw voluntarily. Find a favorable area to preserve strength and wait for the opportunity.” So as a The front army approached Maogong, and the news that it was about to join forces with the fourth front army came, and everyone was extremely excited.Chen Changhao personally wrote a big slogan on the wall: "Celebrate the 300,000 Red Army Great Masters".Xu Xiangqian sneered next to him and said, "How can there be so many Red Army? Are you making good on your propaganda like this?" When Zhang Guotao saw an exhausted and poorly equipped Central Red Army at Lianghekou, his original hope was almost shattered. The tone of conversation has also changed from a worshiper to the host of the shelter. The Lianghekou meeting had just ended, and Zhang Guotao planned to talk to the person in charge of the central government before returning to the Maoxian headquarters.At noon that day, secretary Huang Chao, a young man in his twenties, handed Zhang Guotao a copy of the just-published issue 2 of "Forward", the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.Huang Chao originally studied in Shanghai and was engaged in the underground student movement. In the early 1930s, he was sent to the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Soviet regions by the Shanghai Central Committee.At that time, he was just a young man, but the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China recommended him for an important position.Huang Chao worked as Zhang's secretary at the headquarters of the Fourth Front Army. In January 1933, the Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and Soviet areas carried out large-scale anti-revolutionary campaigns. Huang Chao was suspected by Shen Zemin (Secretary of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee, younger brother of the famous writer Mao Dun) and other leaders as a "third party" and "liquidator", and he was exposed. There are small organized events.In that "left" leaning era, wearing these hats was enough to kill your head.But Zhang Guotao did not doubt Huang Chao, and still trusted him and protected him.Of course Huang Chao was grateful to Zhang Guotao and swore allegiance to the death.This "Forward" was secretly obtained by Huang Chao from the cadres of the First Front Army through his relationship. He told Zhang Guotao: It was circulated internally by the First Front Army, and it was stipulated that the Fourth Front Army should not know about it. Zhang Guotao opened it and saw that there was a long article by Kai Feng, the Propaganda Minister of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China——"Several Issues in the Work of Fanmin".Zhang Guotao is quite familiar with this person.He is from Pingxiang, Jiangxi, and he is a fellow Jiangxi fellow with Zhang Guotao.Kaifeng was originally unknown in the party, but since he went to Moscow, he has been on the rise since returning to China. In 1934, the Central Committee held the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee in Ruijin, Jiangxi Province. With the help of Bo Gu and other factions who stayed in the Soviet Union, Kai Feng became an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Central Propaganda Department.Zhang Guotao looked down patiently. Kaifeng's article first quoted a lot of Lenin and Stalin's theories of national self-determination, and then changed the topic and said: "In the Song, Li and Mao areas we are passing through, Minorities are often in the majority. The form of political power in these areas is not to organize Soviets from the very beginning. In order to include a wider mass, we can organize a kind of temporary revolutionary committee. And the transition from revolutionary committees to Soviet power The period may be longer than in the general area." At the end of the article, a copy of "The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Letter to the Western Fans in Kangzang" is attached.Among them are calls for self-determination of the Kham-Tibetan people to establish a people's revolutionary regime, and freedom of belief and religion.At the end, it is specially noted: "This program is still a draft." Zhang Guotao was furious after reading Kaifeng's article.1. The Fourth Front Army had just assembled, and this article was published in a central publication, obviously criticizing the Northwest Federal Government he had established. The "Northwest Federal Government" was established shortly after Zhang Guotao arrived in Lifan at the end of May 1935.Although Zhang Guotao followed the model of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet government, he set up several departments, courts, and grassroots district and township people's revolutionary governments in the Northwest Federal Government, making the sparrow small but complete.It seems that they want to take root and establish a base in this minority area.But the people in the Fourth Front Army all understand that the Northwest Federal Government is just a form created by Zhang Guotao, an empty shelf.The members of the government are all cadres of the Red Fourth Front Army, neither members of the local party organization nor representatives of ethnic minorities participated.However, Zhang Guotao made great momentum. In the "Proclamation of the Northwest Federal Provisional Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic" No. 1, he stated: "Since the establishment of this government, we have resolutely led the 300,000 athletes of the Fourth Red Army, the 26th Army of the Northern Shaanxi Red Army, The 25th Red Army in southern Shaanxi, the 93rd Red Army in southern Sichuan, and unite and lead the 150 million people in the northwest to cooperate with the 600,000 troops of the Central Red Army to march westward, and implement the following propositions with steel strength." Power merged into his sphere of influence.In the "Northwest Special Region Committee Celebrating the Founding of the Northwest Federal Government", the tone is even stronger: "The erection of this banner unified the leadership of the liberation wars of all the nations in the Northwest, and established the base camp of the Chinese Revolution in the Northwest. The West can recover Tibet, Xikang; in the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai can be reached; in the south, Yunnan and Guizhou can be advanced, so as to integrate with the Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, and Guizhou Soviet regions. Around this banner, there are 600,000 troops from the Central Committee, the 25th Army of the Red Army in southern Shaanxi, and the 25th Red Army in northern Shaanxi. The 26th Red Army, the Second and Sixth Army Corps of Xiao, He Hong, the 93rd Army of the Southern Sichuan Red Army of the Ancient Song Dynasty and Xuyong, countless Muslim riots in Shaanxi and Gansu, the Dachi District of Qiong, the peasant struggle in Anmian, and the Guang'an Revolution In the mutiny area, there were riots by the Fan people of Heishui, Luhua, and Lifan." According to this statement, the central government has also become a part of the Northwest Federation. When the leaders of the central government saw these documents after the meeting, one can imagine their disgust and dissatisfaction.Zhang Guotao did not ask the central government for instructions and established a government without authorization, which is already disorganized and disciplined.What is even more glaring is the "Federation", with whom?With the Central Union?At that time, Mao Zedong and Zhang Guotao were talking about the Northwest Federation. Mao deliberately asked: "I belong to you?" Zhang Guotao also said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "You belong to me." They are already alert to Zhang Guotao's arrogance and ambition. Zhang Guotao responded immediately.Zhang Wentian came to him to discuss matters. Zhang Guotao angrily showed Kaifeng's article to him, and asked him whether the article was written according to the decision of the central government. Feel free to criticize publicly?Zhang Wentian didn't expect such a thing to happen, so he couldn't answer for a while.I had no choice but to comfort Zhang Guotao, saying that the first and fourth front armies urgently need to act together, and it is not appropriate to discuss these controversial issues. One wave is not flat, and another wave rises again.The next day, Bogu came to Zhang Guotao to talk about some issues in the military's political and ideological work, and the two argued again.Zhang Guotao had already learned about the situation of the Zunyi meeting, so he didn't pay attention to Bogu at all.He later recalled the scene at that time and said: "Although he (Bogu) has been the secretary of the Central Committee for more than three years, he has also been criticized by the Zunyi Conference. It seems that he still has not much experience, and his frankness is what is lovely about him. He is A young man in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China likes to play tricks, and he still does not change the air he had at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow. When he speaks, he talks about this comrade and that comrade, fully revealing the atmosphere of Moscow.” He was very impressed by Zhang Guotao’s colloquial words. I am not used to it, thinking that this is the habit of the Kuomintang warlords, which is extremely disproportionate to the Bolshevikization of the CCP.Bogu also talked about some phenomena he observed in the past few days, and believed that there were serious hierarchical concepts and beatings and scolding in the Fourth Red Army, which were all manifestations of remnants of warlords.Although Zhang Guotao explained this, he firmly rejected Bo Gu's criticism. The grievances between Zhang Guotao and Bogu need to be traced back to the relationship between Zhang Guotao and the Communist International. In June 1928, Zhang Guotao and the main leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China were called to Moscow to attend the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China.It was a meeting completely manipulated by the Comintern, or more precisely, by Mif, the Chinese minister of the Comintern.The meeting mainly summed up the lessons of the failure of the Great Revolution and held the relevant leaders accountable.Qu Qiubai and Zhang Guotao were the targets of criticism, and they were labeled as "reckless" and "opportunist" respectively, and were forced to conduct in-depth inspections.Zhang Guotao was dissatisfied, but he didn't dare to resist.He said: "We obey the instructions of the Communist International, and believe that it is the obligation of subordinates to obey their superiors. We believe in the Communist International, and believe that the old revolutionaries of the Communist International are more knowledgeable than us. Whenever our views and the instructions of the Communist International occur When we were on different missions, we always thought that we were just some students. We did not dare to be confident in our own opinions, and believed that the instructions of the Communist International must be far-sighted. Therefore, we sacrificed our own ideas and accommodated the instructions of the Communist International. Even for the Communist International Any instructions given by the international representatives are also regarded as gods, and they are all obeyed. This situation has almost reached the level of superstitious belief in the Communist International, and this is the truth of the situation." After the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Zhou Enlai and Xiang Zhongfa returned to China to preside over the leadership work, while Zhang Guotao, Qu Qiubai, Deng Zhongxia and others stayed in Moscow as the permanent representatives of the Communist Party of China to the Communist International.In fact, Zhang and Qu have false names. In the eyes of others, they are people who have made mistakes and are in a neglected position.At that time, the overlord of the Communist Party of China was Mif, and at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, where he served as the principal, sectarian activities were extremely serious.Mifu was cronyist, and those who followed me prospered, and those who opposed me perished, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the majority of CCP members who stayed in the Soviet Union.Wang Ming (Chen Shaoyu), Bogu (Qin Bangxian) and others who followed Miff are very few.Under the protection of Mif, they appeared as ultra-leftist, they frequently punished people, and they continued to stir up troubles in Sun Yat-sen University. In November 1928, there was a dispute between the university students of CUHK and Wang Ming, Bo Gu and others, and Zhang Guotao went to mediate.In his speech, he believed that these problems could be properly resolved through internal consultations, and he did not approve of the practice of Miff and others beating revolutionary comrades to death with a stick.Bogu jumped out and spoke in Russian, scolding Zhang Guotao as an opportunist, attacking his opportunist stance as a hindrance to the class struggle in CUHK.Zhang Guotao is a veteran of the party, but he was insulted by such a young man, and he couldn't help being furious.Now that Bogu, Kaifeng and others are still in power in the central government, Zhang Guotao will naturally not get close to them. What made Zhang Guotao even more intolerable was that Deng Fa, director of the Central Political Security Bureau, approached him to discuss the establishment of a Security Bureau work system in the Fourth Front Army, and asked Zhang Guotao to introduce security bureau cadres to the Fourth Front Army to establish an independent Political Security Bureau. System, and transfer the security guards in the Fourth Front Army to train him, and then return to his original post.Zhang Guotao was very disgusted. Isn't this going to monitor him and senior cadres of the Fourth Front Army!He flatly rejected Deng Fa's opinion, which was tantamount to telling the central government that the central government must not interfere in the internal affairs of the Fourth Front Army. In fact, not only did the Fourth Front Army have a rigorous and complete Political Security Bureau system, but it was also controlled by Zhang Guotao himself.During Zhang Guotao's tenure as a leader in the Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and Anhui Soviet Areas, in order to establish his personal authority, he did not hesitate to use cruel and ruthless suppression methods to eliminate people who disagreed with him or comrades who he thought might pose a threat to him.The suppression of counter-revolutionaries and indiscriminate killings within the Red Fourth Front Army have reached a very serious level. In April 1931, shortly after Zhang Guotao and Chen Changhao came to the Hubei, Henan and Anhui Soviet Areas, in order to cooperate with the anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggle in the Central Soviet Area, the leaders of the 4th Red Army decided to go south to attack Qichun, Huangmei and other areas.Under the command of Xu Xiangqian, the commander of the 4th Red Army, and Zeng Zhongsheng, the political commissar, the 4th Red Army attacked bravely and won several big victories in a row. A large red area in the center.At this time, Zhang Guotao insisted on the Red Army to attack Qianshan, Taihu Lake, Anqing and other cities along the Yangtze River, linking the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Central Soviet Areas together.Zeng Zhongsheng considered that the attack on Anqing would have to go through the wide white area. Although the 4th Red Army had won some battles, it still did not have the ability to launch a large-scale attack on the central area ruled by the Kuomintang.If you take the risk of attacking, it is possible to exhaust the strength of the Red Army.After careful consideration and discussion with Xu Xiangqian, Xu Jishen, Zhou Weijiong and others, he decided not to implement Zhang Guotao's order, and led the 4th Red Army to continue fighting in Qishui, Huanggang, and Guangji.And wrote a letter to Zhang Guotao explaining the situation. Zhang Guotao was furious when he learned from the rear that Zeng Zhongsheng had not followed his order to fight Anqing.This is because the cadres in Hubei, Henan and Anhui did not take him seriously as a senior official sent by the central government. If this continues, what prestige does Zhang Guotao still have in the Red Army?He immediately wrote a letter to Zeng Zhongsheng and others in the name of the Central Branch of the Soviet Area, accusing them of "openly resisting the orders of the branch" and strictly ordering the troops to "return north immediately and not stay in the slightest."Zeng Zhongsheng was a very principled person who refused to accept Zhang Guotao's patriarchal rule. He held a cadre meeting on the way back from leading the troops.Everyone expressed strong dissatisfaction with Zhang Guotao's order. Zeng Zhongsheng drafted a letter of appeal to the central government and sent it to Shanghai.This time, Zhang Guotao seized the handle. He believed that there were "counter-revolutionaries" in the 4th Red Army, and immediately ordered Zeng Zhongsheng to be removed from his post, and Chen Changhao was appointed as the political commissar of the 4th Red Army to carry out the elimination of counter-revolutionaries.Without waiting for the troops to return to the Soviet area, Chen Changhao began a large-scale arrest, arresting the two division commanders Xu Jishen and Zhou Weijiong successively. At the end of September, the troops arrived in Baiqueyuan, and Zhang Guotao personally presided over the elimination of counter-revolutionaries.The targets of the eradication of counter-revolutionaries were mainly three types of people: one was those who came from the White Army, and all those who came from the uprising, defection, or captives were subject to censorship;For a time, the wind of terror prevailed.Under the command of Zhang Guotao, Chen Changhao and the Director of the Security Bureau, Zhou Chunquan, led the Security Bureau to arrest and interrogate people every day.In order to catch the "AB regiment" and the "reorganization faction", they tortured the revolutionary comrades to extract confessions.More and more people were arrested and killed, forming an expansion of the suppression of counter-revolutionaries.Admiral Wang Jian'an recalled: "During the eradication of counter-revolutionaries, many people were killed. Those with separate heads, those who wore glasses, the AB regiment, the third party, and those from the eating and drinking committee all had to be killed. At that time, intellectuals were said to be unreliable. , Many local cadres were also killed, and those who liked to give advice in the army were killed, and finally they couldn’t find any clerks in the army.” General Commander Xu Xiangqian fought in the front, but his wife Cheng Xunxuan was arrested by the Security Bureau He was tortured to extract a confession and was killed without any charges.Xu Xiangqian couldn't intervene. It wasn't until Yan'an that Xu Xiangqian asked Zhou Chunquan sadly and angrily: "Why did you arrest and kill my wife? What crime did she have?" Zhou replied: "She didn't have any crime. She was arrested at that time to mess with you. materials.” According to insiders back then, the Security Bureau arrested Comrade Cheng Xunxuan and tortured him in order to bring Xu Qianqian down.Unexpectedly, Cheng Xunxuan was beaten to pieces, but he refused to say a word to frame her husband.Seeing that they couldn't explain it, the people from the Security Bureau were afraid that Mr. Xu would come back after the battle to investigate, so they simply killed Cheng Xunxuan. Baiqueyuan suppressed the counter-revolutionaries, and Zhang Guotao used iron fists and massacres to establish his supremacy in the Red Fourth Front Army.But the Red Army and the revolutionary base suffered fatal internal injuries.A large number of loyal Communists and Red Army commanders with high military and cultural qualities were killed.The living are also terrified, not knowing the fate of tomorrow today.Everyone would rather die on the battlefield than be beheaded by their comrades on the charge of "counter-revolution".Even Xu Shiyou, who was born in poverty and fought bravely, felt guilty.He recalled: "At that time, if he said he was anti-Party, it would be a big deal. He dared not speak out when he killed people. Who dared to speak out when he killed people in the name of the central government? Whoever spoke out would be killed immediately." The terror and panic caused by the elimination of counter-revolutionaries greatly weakened the cohesion and combat effectiveness of the Red Army.Soon, when the Kuomintang army carried out the fourth "encirclement and suppression" of the Hubei, Henan, Anhui Soviet Area, the Red Army finally couldn't stand it anymore, and was forced to leave the Hubei, Henan, Anhui Soviet Area and move thousands of miles to the Sichuan-Shanxi Border Area.During the transfer, suspicion and dissatisfaction with Zhang Guotao among the Red Army cadres finally broke out. In early December, after the troops crossed the Qinling Mountains, Zeng Zhongsheng, Kuang Jixun, Yu Dusan, Zhang Qinqiu and other senior cadres were planning to fight against Zhang Guotao's wrong line. On December 7, a meeting of cadres above the division was held in Xiaohekou, and Zeng Zhongsheng submitted a written opinion to Zhang Guotao.Everyone also suggested to stop the transfer and strive to quickly establish new base areas.In the face of everyone's opinions, Zhang Guotao accepted, and appointed Zeng Zhongsheng as the chief of staff of the Northwest Revolutionary Military Committee, and Zhang Qinqiu as the director of the General Political Department of the Front Army.Everyone out of good wishes, Zhang Guotao is the representative of the Central Committee, as long as he admits his mistakes, everyone still supports his leadership.Later facts proved that they were too naive.When Zhang Guotao gained a firm foothold in the Tongnanba area of ​​​​Northern Sichuan, he started killing again. In June 1933, he once again presided over the elimination of counter-revolutionaries, secretly arrested and executed Kuang Jixun, Yu Dusan, Shu Yuzhang and other senior commanders, arrested Zhu Guang and Wang Zhenhua, and fought against Zhang Qinqiu.The Red Fourth Front Army became the world ruled by Zhang Guotao himself. Of course, the elimination of counterrevolutionaries was not Zhang Guotao's personal behavior, but was closely related to Wang Ming's "left" opportunism line, which ruled the central government at that time.Zhang Guotao established his own solid position through the elimination of counter-revolutionaries in the Fourth Front Army.With Zhang Guotao's seniority in the party and the strength of the Fourth Red Army, the Party Central Committee is not taken seriously by him.From his personal character, he is not willing to be inferior to others.Now Mao Zedong and Zhang Guotao, the two most powerful political leaders in the party, have come together.Can they work together?The first meeting between the two rivers has already left the shadow of fighting.Zhang Guotao has already begun to calculate in his heart: now he should be in charge of the highest power of the party and the Red Army.