Chapter 3 Three, the way out

Although Zhao Bosheng was the chief of staff of the 26th Route Army, he didn't have many troops in his hands. There were only a few units directly under the general headquarters, such as the special agent battalion, the supply battalion, the engineering battalion, and the artillery battalion.It is very difficult to make big moves. Only a group of brigade and regiment leaders who hold real power can make a difference.Therefore, he and the party organization have studied many times, and decided that he himself will be the job of his friend, Dong Zhentang, commander of the 73rd Brigade. Dong's brigade headquarters is in the city, and it only takes more than ten minutes to ride there.In the evening, Zhao Bosheng walked to the 73rd Brigade as usual.Because he was a regular visitor, the guard at the door saluted and whispered, "Sir, our brigade commander is sick and lying in his room."

"Oh! Then I came in time." Zhao Bosheng went straight to the back room after speaking. Dong Zhentang was lying on the bed with a pale face, when he saw Zhao Bosheng coming in, he forced himself to sit up.Zhao stepped forward to support him, and asked with concern: "Brother Shao Zhong, why are you so ill?" "Chief of staff, you don't know, my brigade commander has been like this since he withdrew from Huzuiling!" Guard Gao Zhizhong said with a sob. Zhao Bosheng nodded, knowing what was in his mind, and said with a smile: "Shao Zhong (Dong's character), in my eyes, you are a man of iron, you are invulnerable to all poisons."

"Enfu! Now that the Japanese imperialists have occupied the three provinces in the Northeast, you and I are revolutionary soldiers with guns in our hands, but we cannot serve the country. Why doesn't Chiang Kai-shek let us resist Japan! If this continues, we will all become sinners of the nation! I I don’t want to fight this civil war. It’s not a big deal to go away, but I can’t bear to leave these brothers! Now everyone has no fighting spirit and is tired of fighting and homesick. How long will the remaining bones and blood of our Northwest Army consume?” Dong Zhentang said sadly.

Zhao Bosheng held Dong Zhentang's hand and said sincerely: "What you said is reasonable, you and I are like brothers, we will discuss and explore the future together, no matter what the situation is, we must unite, twist into one rope, and work together. Dry!" Dong Zhentang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately sat up from the bed. He was very moved when he saw Zhao Bosheng confiding in himself, and said firmly, "I don't know anything else. I can listen to the chief of staff of the 73rd Brigade. We have been with him for many years." Old man, do whatever you see fit!"

A few days later, Zhao Bosheng came to the 73rd Brigade again. Dong Zhentang recovered from his illness, and he greeted Zhao Bosheng into the room energetically.Zhao Bosheng asked tentatively: "Chiang Kai-shek has issued an order to attack again. It seems that we will start fighting soon. How is the situation of your 73rd Brigade?" Dong Zhentang didn't answer directly, but asked the staff next to him to tell him that this staff was Liu Zhenya, and Liu took the opportunity to say a lot of complaints.Afterwards Zhao Bosheng said: "Look, can we beat the Red Army like this? Do you still have the courage?"

Dong Zhentang smiled lightly, and then said: "There are four problems at present, first: we have no source of troops, and we cannot get replenishment for reduced personnel; second: we only get 60% of the food and salary, and living supplies cannot be guaranteed; third: insufficient weapons and ammunition ;Fourth: The morale of the army is slackened. In my opinion, it is over if it is fought, or it is over if it is not fought. I can't make up my mind what to do now." After listening to Dong Zhentang's words, Zhao Bosheng felt that the time was not yet ripe for confessing his sincerity, so he asked, "Old Dong, what do you think of our whereabouts? Do you have some knowledge of the situation of the Red Army?"

Dong Zhentang said truthfully: "I have heard about the situation of the Red Army. What we heard and saw is completely different from what the Kuomintang propaganda." Zhao Bosheng continued: "That's right. I once tried some officers and soldiers who were captured and released by the Red Army. Some slogans over there made people reflect. For example: soldiers don't beat soldiers, poor people don't beat poor people, turn their guns , unanimously resisting Japan, beating local tyrants, dividing land, etc. In the past, it was said that the Red Army caught one and killed one. They have all been released. How do you explain this matter, can it be convincing?"

Dong Zhentang kept nodding his head as he listened, and Zhao Bosheng took the opportunity to ask: "Is there anyone released from your brigade? Is there anyone in contact with the Communist Party?" This is a very serious topic. Although Dong Zhentang and Zhao Bosheng are fellow villagers and classmates, and have been friends for many years, they are both senior generals of the Kuomintang after all.Especially at that time, people were unpredictable, and it was not uncommon for people to forget righteousness for profit.Dong Zhentang hesitated for a long time, finally made up his mind, crossed the river by feeling the stones, and then replied casually: "I can't say who has contact with the Communist Party. He was released from captives. There is a company commander who is currently being detained by the guard company. He I stayed in the Soviet area for more than 20 days."

Zhao Bosheng felt that this person should come out and talk about it, and use his mouth to publicize the situation of the Red Army and the Soviet area, and face Dong's work from the side.So he said: "Can you ask him to come and talk about the situation of the Communist Party, and what did the Communist Party talk to him about?" Dong Zhentang asked someone to bring the company commander in, and Zhao Bosheng asked, "How long have you been arrested by the Communist Party?" The company commander replied: "It took more than 20 days from arrest to release." "How did they treat you? What did they say to you?"

The company commander was very nervous and didn't dare to answer right away, so he turned his gaze to Dong Zhentang, as if he was asking for the brigade commander's opinion.Zhao Bosheng noticed this subtle movement, but remained calm.Dong Zhentang had already interrogated him, and felt that there was no need to hide it from Zhao Bosheng, so he said to the company commander: "Don't be nervous, you can answer whatever the chief of staff asks, and tell the truth!" In order to dispel his worries, Zhao Bosheng also said at the side: "You can say what others say, and I don't blame you."

The company commander was relieved immediately, and then he said a lot: "...the man treats me very well. He doesn't beat or scold me. He eats the same food as him. The chief of the Red Army who escorted us said: Those who want to come back come back, and those who don't want to come back You can be a member of the Red Army. I am willing to come back, and they gave me two Guangyang back." Zhao Bosheng asked again: "In the past 20 days, how many words have you said?" "They said... that we have fought against Chiang Kai-shek for so long and killed so many people, and now we are here to fight for Chiang Kai-shek and fight the Red Army. They tell us to stop doing it, join them and fight back to the north. They treat the common people They are friendly, and the officers and soldiers in the army are equal. They also said: If we want to survive, we must unite with the Red Army and work together..." When the company commander was taken down by the guards, Zhao Bosheng ordered not to embarrass him. Then he asked Dong Zhentang: "Shao Zhong, what do you think should be done with this company commander?" "We lost the battle, and he was captured. The Communist Party refused to kill him, but he took the initiative to bring him back. Do you think we can kill him? I think we can restore his freedom!" Dong Zhentang said. Zhao Bosheng said: "Yes! Not only must his freedom be restored, but his post must also be restored!" After speaking, the two looked at each other and smiled. "Shao Zhong, what do you think should be done about the situation he just mentioned?" Zhao Bosheng tentatively asked. Dong Zhentang took off his hat and smiled, then said: "Brother, you are not interrogating my company commander, I see, you are interrogating me!" Zhao Bosheng also smiled, and said sincerely: "Brother Shaozhong, how many years have we been together, don't you know me? Is that kind of person?" In order to dispel Dong's worries, he first put forward his own opinion: "We are discussing Regarding the future whereabouts of the army, I think it is necessary to speak out clearly, and I have nothing to shy away from. Now that the anti-Chiang sentiment in the army is rising day by day, the entire army is like a powder keg, which is about to explode!" Dong Zhentang went on to say: "Frankly speaking, there is no way out for following Lao Jiang! The whereabouts of the troops is a big problem! I still say that, no matter what happens, my 73rd brigade will listen to you!" ... On this day, Zhao Bosheng did not return to the headquarters. He had a long talk with Dong Zhentang all night long, and even called for supper in the middle of the night. The two even drank some wine. The 79th Brigade of the 27th Division was stationed outside the city of Ningdu. Xiong Botao (a member of the Communist Party), the deputy company commander of the 3rd Battalion and 9th Company of the 2nd Regiment of the brigade, was also actively working.While the company commander was away, he called the entire company to roll call. According to the official opening of the Northwest Army for many years, Xiong Botao asked in front of the queue: "Brothers have worked hard!" The soldiers replied in unison: "Serve the revolution!" Xiong Botao then asked: "Brothers! Are your answers just now correct? Are we serving the revolution now?" After a moment of silence, a squad leader shouted angrily in the queue: "No!" "You're right!" Xiong Botao said, "We are now working our lives for the warlords and traitors to beat up our brothers—the Red Army! The Japanese devils have occupied our three eastern provinces, where tens of millions of compatriots live the lives of subjugated slaves, but Chiang Kai-shek blocked us with tens of thousands of troops, forbidding us to resist the Japanese, and forced us to die in Ningdu. Since arriving in Ningdu, thousands of our brothers who have lived and died together have died. If we continue to be trapped, we still have a way out ?" The team began to stir up, some shouted and sighed, and some squatted on the ground and shed sad tears. Xiong Botao raised his arms and shouted: "We can't go on like this! We must unite closely and find our own way..." Xiong Botao's speech was extremely inspiring. Since then, the company has discussed with each other, how to find a way, and so on.Some quietly came to ask him: "Is there any way? Deputy company commander." Xiong Botao said: "There is a way! Soon, everyone will follow the command then." The Ninth Company was launched one by one, and several other companies of the Third Battalion were quickly affected.These company commanders and company deputies are basically Xiong Botao's classmates, and they also came to look for him. Although they didn't say it clearly, they all said that they would serve as soldiers wherever they went, so don't forget to inform them and act together. Zhao Bosheng paid great attention to the ideological work of soldiers and lower-ranking officers while doing the work of middle and upper-ranking officers.Once, when he assembled the troops of the General Command to give a speech, he hung a large map in front of the stage, and all the places occupied by the Japanese invaders were circled with red pens.Pointing to the map, he said: "The Japanese invaders are pressing every step of the way, and Chiang Kai-shek is retreating every step of the way. If this continues, we will all be in danger of becoming subjugated slaves! If we patriotic soldiers want to save China from peril, we must go to the front line of the Anti-Japanese War! Our fathers and elders The folks are all in the north, we must have the courage to get rid of all dark forces, break through all obstacles, and rescue them!" These words tantamount to adding fuel to the fire, which greatly aroused the soldiers' anti-Chiang sentiment and anti-Japanese enthusiasm. At the beginning of December, Wang Chao was ordered to go to Shanghai to report to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. When passing by the Nanchang joint, he did not expect that the joint site had been destroyed and became the KMT's detective agency. The list of leaders of the party organizations in the Route Army was handed over to the Kuomintang authorities.Fortunately, he discovered something suspicious during the conversation, and only handed over the names of Liu Zhenya, Yuan Xuezu, and Wang Ming.Chiang Kai-shek got this information while camping in Nanchang, and immediately sent an urgent telegram to the general headquarters of the 26th Route Army: ordering the general headquarters to arrest Liu Zhenya, Yuan Xuezu, and Wang Ming, five or three members of the Communist Party, and send them to the camp at night for punishment. Fortunately, this telegram fell into the hands of Luo Yaping, a member of the Communist Party of China, the translation director of the General Headquarters at the first time. Luo Yaping took the telegram and hurriedly found Liu Zhenya, the secretary of the special branch. After reading it, Liu Zhenya immediately asked Luo Yaping to go back to the general headquarters to guard the radio station in order to deal with sudden emergencies.Then he quickly went to discuss with Zhao Bosheng with Yuan Xuezu.Zhao Bosheng was already in power at this time, and he just dealt with the matter of arresting people. In the name of the chief of staff, he immediately replied to Nanchang with a telegram of "follow the order and act immediately" to stabilize the situation in Nanchang. Then the three sat down to discuss the matter carefully, and Yuan Xuezu calmly said, holding the telegram in his hand: "From this telegram, it only affects me, Liu Zhenya, and Wang Ming. I don't think Wang Chao intends to betray us." If he had intentionally betrayed the party organization, there would be no such telegram. For Chiang Kai-shek, the most valuable person is Comrade Zhao Bosheng, and the king is the first to capture the thief." Liu Zhenya said: "I agree with your point of view. Regardless of whether Wang Chao has defected or not, at least this incident has reminded us that the situation has reached the point of no delay. I suggest that Comrade Zhao Bosheng immediately talk to Dong Zhentang, commander of the 73rd Brigade, and see him. What is the reaction! Then decide the next course of action." Zhao Bosheng nodded and said, "Okay! Dong Zhentang is my best friend for many years. I know him well. The 73rd Brigade is the unit he brought out by himself. I think it's time for a showdown with him!"