Chapter 29 7. Grass changes

On August 10, former enemy general commander Xu Xiangqian and general political commissar Chen Changhao jointly issued the "Right Army Action Plan", requiring each unit of the right Red Army to prepare 15 days of food, divide into three echelons, cover alternately, and march on the grassland. On August 15, under the order of Zhu De, the commander-in-chief of the Red Army, and Zhang Guotao, the general political commissar, the first column of the Left Army, the Fifth Army, led by the commander Dong Zhentang, set off from the Zhuokeji area and marched towards Aba.Zhu De, Zhang Guotao and Liu Bocheng, chief of staff of the Red Army, led the Red Army headquarters to follow up with the Left Route Army.

The Fifth Red Army first crossed the two snow-capped mountains of Dagu Mountain and Tuoluogang. After several days of hard marching, they arrived at the Aba area. After a day of rest, the troops continued to march in the vast grassland.When they arrived at the Kaqu River, there was not much food left, and the heavy rain caused the river to swell. When Dong Zhentang led people to survey the terrain and choose a suitable crossing point, a telegram from Zhang Guotao came, ordering the five armies to suspend the river. move. Dong Zhentang wandered anxiously by the river with the telegram in his hand, what should he do?Now as long as you cross the river in front of you, you can walk out of the grassland and join the right army in less than three days.At this moment, he had no choice but to order the troops to camp on the spot, gather edible wild vegetables by the river, tighten their belts and wait.

Early the next morning, Li Pingren, head of the 37th Regiment, hurried over to report that some soldiers had lost their lives by eating poisonous wild vegetables by mistake.Commander Dong felt very sad when he heard this. Later, he told Commander Li: "Now every soldier is a treasure, and we must do our best to bring them all out of the grassland. You collect the grain and use it uniformly, and the wild vegetables must be handled by special personnel. Discrimination is the only way to get rid of the pot, right now is a difficult time, let’s wait a little longer until we get out of the grass!”

After Captain Li left, Dong Zhentang called the guards and ordered his horse to be killed.Everyone was reluctant to do anything to the commander's mount. Dong Zhentang came out after hearing the news, and said patiently: "People are dead, so what's the use of keeping the horses! There are horses when there are people." Seeing that everyone still didn't intend to do anything, Dong Zhentang stepped forward and pulled out the guard's pistol, knocking down the horse with one shot. The horse was obviously not dead yet, and was twitching in pain in a pool of blood. Dong Zhentang turned his back and said slowly: "Give more points to the troops below."

The Right Route Army also began to move under the leadership of the former enemy general headquarters and the central authority.After many hardships and dangers, the Right Route Army finally crossed the grassland and reached the Banyou area on the 26th. On the 31st, I won a private seat again.At this point, the door for the Red Army to go north has been opened. Now it only needs Zhang Guotao to lead the left army to catch up as soon as possible. At this moment, what Zhang Guotao was planning in his heart was not the Party Central Committee's policy of going north. His ultimate goal was to go south and fight against the Party Central Committee. On September 2, there was another downpour of rain, and the Fifth Red Army, the forward of the Left Army, had been stationed by the Kaqu River for many days.Fortunately, the rain stopped early the next morning and the sky cleared up. Zhang Guotao and Zhu De came to the river, and the entourage began to set up tents on the bank.Zhang Guotao hypocritically pointed at the river and said to Zhu De: "Look, Boss Zhu, it rained heavily all night and the river rose very fast. This river cannot pass."

Zhu De didn't answer immediately. He came to the river and observed carefully. He saw that the river was only a hundred meters wide and the current was not too fast. He could pass by on foot, so he turned to Zhang Guotao who was behind and said, "The water is not deep. Give it a try. It should be fine." You can get by!" Zhang Guotao's face sank when he heard this, and he shouted in great displeasure, "You! You just don't believe me, the water is clearly rising, so why try?" Zhu De's guard, Pan Kaiwen, was always dissatisfied with Zhang Guotao's domineering behavior. Seeing that he was yelling at Commander-in-Chief Zhu again, he said cleverly: "I'll try it!" After speaking, he mounted his horse and rushed towards the Kaqu River. Seeing this, Dong Zhentang also ordered his guards to follow on horseback .

The two rode down to the river and reached the opposite bank after a while. Pan Kaiwen waved his hat happily and shouted loudly: "The water is not deep, and we have only reached the belly of the horse. Come here, everyone!" The soldiers of the Fifth Red Army, who had already been anxious by the river, rushed to the river one after another.Zhang Guotao blushed with anger, and shouted again: "None of you are allowed to cross the river without my order!" This roar was like a thunderclap, and the soldiers of the five armies stood by the river in a daze.Set your sights on Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, Chief Political Commissar Zhang Guotao at the time, and their Army Commander Dong Zhentang.The three of them stalemate for a while, Zhang Guotao saw that his goal was achieved, he turned his head and got into the tent behind him.

Zhu De tightened his thick lips, trying to suppress the anger in his heart.Dong Zhentang saw it and felt bad for the boss.Together, the two decided to do Zhang's work again, so they came to Zhang Guotao's tent together.Zhang glanced at the two of them, but said nothing.Zhu De said with a solemn expression: "Comrade Guotao, the decision to go north was decided after several discussions by the Politburo. Now the right army has passed the grassland and is waiting for us in front. As you saw just now, the river is not deep. , It’s not a big problem for the troops to cross the river. Even if they can’t cross the river temporarily, it’s not too late to wait for the water to recede for a few days before crossing.”

Zhang Guotao put his hands on his waist, and said very unhappy: "The river is still rising, I can't take the lives of tens of thousands of people as a joke, I think it's better to turn around first, and go back to the Golden Temple to talk about it!" Zhu De was about to reason with him, but Dong Zhentang said before the boss: "Commissioner General, the soldiers have tried it, and the river is not deep. Besides, the food is almost exhausted. It is not a good idea to go back to the Golden Temple or wait here." The method, can the Five Armies go there first?" Zhang Guotao turned his head and looked at the ignorant and troubled Dong Junchang in front of him. He said with a sneer, "Did I say that there is no way? Now I order you! Lead the five armies to set off immediately and return to Aba!"

"Why don't you cross the river? Go back to Aba!" Dong Zhentang, who has always been upright, obviously wanted to ask what happened. Zhang Guotao had a fierce look in his eyes, and sarcastically gritted his teeth: "I know you have been in the warlord's army for a long time. Don't you have a jargon that says that a soldier takes obeying orders as his bounden duty?" "That's right!" Dong Zhentang was still unyielding after hearing this, and retorted: "Without the commander-in-chief's order, who would dare to retreat! Don't you know? The troops of the warlords only listen to the commander!"

"Bastard!" Huang Chao, Zhang Guotao's secretary, rushed forward viciously, and slapped Commander Dong's face twice.The incident happened suddenly, Dong Zhentang was obviously unprepared, he never expected such despicable behavior in the revolutionary ranks, Dong Zhentang frowned and glared at Huang Chao. Commander Zhu was horrified and shouted angrily: "Huang Chao! How can you treat your comrades like this!" Zhang Guotao didn't comment, turned his head proudly, and continued to pack his luggage. Dong Zhentang didn't fight back, and still stood where he was.After a long time, this burly general of the Red Army said righteously: "Comrade Guotao! You are using Feng Yuxiang's method to deal with us now. Feng Yuxiang has already collapsed. If you do this, you will collapse sooner or later!" After speaking, Dong Zhentang strode out of Zhang Guotao's tent.Commander-in-Chief Zhu followed closely behind and dragged Dong Zhentang to his own tent.At this moment, this strong northern man could no longer restrain his inner anger, and shed two lines of humiliating tears.Commander Zhu was also very sad and held his hand tightly.Commander Dong wiped away his tears and said angrily, "Boss, I have never been humiliated like this in my entire life. If it wasn't for unity and the benefit of the party, I would have given him a good look on the spot!" Zhu De nodded and said affectionately: "Strengthening the unity of the First and Fourth Front Armies is the party's resolution. You are a party member. You and I understand these principles. What you did today is right!" "Now he (Zhang Guotao) insists on bringing the Fourth Front Army back to Aba, and refuses to carry out the order of the Party Central Committee. I will not go with him. I will take the Five Armies to go north alone to join the Party Central Committee." Zhu De shook his head, and said slowly: "Old Dong, you can't rely on a moment's anger! You must take the overall situation into consideration. If you lead the five armies away now, you will bear the responsibility of splitting the left army. At present, our priority is to Going north to resist the Japanese, we must hold our breath, and we must do the work of cooperating with him (Zhang Guotao), and strive for the entire left Red Army to go north, we must bear the humiliation!" Dong Zhentang gritted his teeth and nodded. For the benefit of the party, this tough guy had no choice but to compromise. The next day, Zhang Guotao sent a telegram to the Right Route Army behind the back of Commander-in-Chief Zhu De: When the leaders of the central government read the telegram, they were all filled with righteous indignation.Chen Changhao also found it unreasonable.It doesn’t matter if the Kaqu River swells a little, there is still a shipbuilding team of more than 100 people in the Left Route Army, and the Jialing River has come over!Thinking of this, Chen Changhao vaguely felt that Zhang Guotao was making excuses, and in the end he was thinking about his policy of going south. Chen Changhao chose to remain silent, although he couldn't figure out which one was correct, the Party Central Committee's policy of going north or Zhang Guotao's insistence on going south.But there is one thing, he has his current status (member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, former general political commissar of the enemy, political commissar of the Fourth Red Army) thanks to Zhang Guotao's support.Like all revolutionaries, he was full of passion and firm in his beliefs.It's a pity that under the shadow of Zhang Guotao, he is always just an implementer, not a thinker. Bogu and others lost their temper, and Chen Changhao came to Mao Zedong, who was also silent.Mao Zedong took a deep breath of his cigarette and said slowly: "Chang Hao, you have worked with Comrade Guo Tao for a long time, and you have to do more of his work. Let Lin Biao lead the 1st army to continue to march towards the Russian border, The rest of the troops rest in place and try to get the troops on the left to come over as soon as possible." It was late at night when Chen Changhao returned to the former enemy headquarters.At this moment, he was full of conflicts in his heart, and he didn't know how to implement the instructions of the central government asking him to "find a proper way to change Guotao". On the morning of September 8, he and Xu Qianqian jointly called Zhang Guotao: Lin and Nie Dian: The 1st Division went to Weizang Temple and Langya Temple yesterday. Along the way, there are narrow roads, deep rivers, and rich food. Fans intercept a little, so we can station a soldier at Langya Temple.I am 20 miles from Qiuji Temple, 225 miles from Langya Temple, one day to Luoda, three days to Minzhou, two days to Xigu, Qiuji Temple and Zuzhang Temple are still under siege.What exactly is the overall action?Will the First Army occupy Rhoda quickly?Did the Armed Forces follow suit?Is the enemy fighting fast?fly show.It is really distressing to extend it again... We intend to take the principle of not dispersing the main force, the best policy is to go north quickly on the left, and the worst policy to go south and south on the right.... On the same day, Zhang Guotao also urgently called Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao, asking them to lead the right army to go south.At the same time, Zhan Caifang, political commissar of the 31st Army of the Red Fourth Front Army on the left, was sent by telegram: The two regiments of the 91st Division went through Somo until Maerkang and Zhuo Keji were on standby, and the bridge that had to pass was repaired.Feiling Cai Shufan, the political commissar of the column of the Military Commission, moved the personnel he led to Malkang to stand by.If he refuses to listen, he will be detained and dealt with by telegram. Zhang Guotao started to really do it.Previously, in order not to affect the unity of the two armies and avoid disputes.Dong Zhentang endured the humiliation and led the Fifth Red Army back to Aba.However, he already faintly felt that a fierce inner-party struggle was inevitable. Issues such as the security of the Party Central Committee and the way out of the Red Army bothered him and made him feel deeply uneasy. Facing the increasingly serious situation, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission once again sent a telegram to the leaders of the Left Army: ( On the evening of September 8th, Zhang Guotao insisted on going his own way. In the name of Zhu De and himself, he telegraphed Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao: The two were very embarrassed when they received the telegram. Xu Xiangqian said to him: "Changhao, it is difficult for you and me to decide on such a major matter. Report to the Party Central Committee!" Chen Changhao also agreed to deal with it in this way, and immediately brought the telegram to Brazil, first found Zhang Wentian, Bo Gu, and then went to Zhou Enlai's residence.After seeing the telegram, Zhou found Mao Zedong and Wang Jiaxiang together.In the evening, Xu Xiangqian also came, and everyone held a meeting at Zhou Enlai's residence. Mao Zedong took out a telegram that had been drawn up earlier asking Zhang Guotao to carry out the Central Committee's instructions on the northward march, read it at the meeting, and asked Chen Changhao and Xu Xiangqian to express their views.Chen Changhao agreed with the content of the telegram and suggested that the left and right armies should go north together.However, if it fails, it is also possible to consider going south.Xu Xiangqian fully agreed with the central government's opinion and did not express his position on going south. On the 9th, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China called Zhang Guotao, Zhu De, and Liu Bocheng again, emphasizing that "only going north is the way out."Zhang Guotao's reply was still to continue advocating going south and opposing the idea of ​​going north.It was this telegram that made Chen Changhao change his attitude towards going north.When Chen Changhao took this reply from Zhang Guotao to see Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and others.After Mao Zedong listened to Chen Changhao's opinion, he immediately criticized him. Chen Changhao, who had been criticized, returned to the headquarters. Xu Xiangqian asked him eagerly: "How is it? Does the central government agree with General Political Commissar Zhang?" Chen Changhao replied with a look of frustration: "The central government does not agree to go south at all. Approved me." Xu Xiangqian immediately fell into deep distress when he heard this. What to do, one is the decision of the central government, and the other is the general political commissar of the Red Army and his old boss.Whose orders to follow, whether going north or south, is a major event that determines the future of the Red Army, and he deeply feels that it is difficult to be caught in the middle.But if we continue to fight and wait like this, there will be a lot of problems, and great opportunities will be lost, and the more it drags on, the more troublesome it will be... At the moment, in Zhou Enlai's residence, Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian, Bo Gu and others are also discussing.Mao Zedong sighed: "This Zhang Guotao is a stubborn rock! I don't know when the central government's decision will be implemented." Zhang Wentian had a clear-cut stand, and he said: "We still have to order him to go north, and he cannot be left alone on this issue!" Zhou Enlai was still ill. He lay on the bed and said worriedly: "Chen Changhao also began to hesitate on this issue and wanted to run with Zhang Guotao. Xu Xiangqian's current attitude is not very clear. If this continues, Zhang Guotao relies on the number of guns. Duo, I want the central government to listen to him. He clearly wants to coerce the emperor to order the princes. There is no way out for going south, and it seems that he is going to take risks. We firmly cannot agree with him to continue doing this. After all, this is a major event related to the life and death of the army and the future of the revolution. .” Mao Zedong nodded, took a few puffs of cigarettes, and said firmly: "The current situation is not good. The fifth (fifth army regiment) and the ninth (ninth army regiment) are all in Zhang Guotao's left army. We are only surrounded by Lin Biao and Lin Biao. Among Peng Dehuai's thousands of people, Zhang Guotao knew our strength, so he dared to be so presumptuous. The central government's northward policy cannot be changed. In my opinion, we should call Zhang Guotao to reiterate the central government's northward policy..." On the same day, Zhang Guotao ignored repeated telegrams and advice from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and called Chen Changhao.When this telegram was delivered to the front enemy headquarters of the Right Route Army, Chen Changhao was speaking at the meeting, and the telegram was handed over to Ye Jianying. Mao Zedong's residence 10 miles away.Mao Zedong was very nervous after reading the telegram, and quickly copied the content of the telegram.Then he said to Ye Jianying: "Hurry up and go back first, don't let them find out that you have been here." Ye Jianying left, and Mao Zedong sat quietly in the room alone, but his heart was overwhelmed.The road to the north is a ray of hope for tens of thousands of soldiers of the Red Army. Although it is full of hardships and ups and downs, he firmly believes that only by taking this road can the Red Army and the Chinese revolution be saved.But at this time, holding the excerpted telegram in his hand, Mao Zedong felt a heavy pressure. He did not want to see internal strife within the Red Army, and he did not want to see the revolutionary cause destroyed here. Make every effort to try to save this dangerous situation that is about to be broken, and Zhang Guotao's conspiracy must not be allowed to succeed. After thinking about it, Mao Zedong looked left and right. He thought of Chen Changhao and Xu Xiangqian. He would make the last effort to win them over.Of course, if it doesn't work out, he's also prepared for the last and worst plan - to go first. After full consideration, Mao Zedong came to the former enemy headquarters. After seeing Chen Changhao, he pretended not to know anything about the telegram, and asked calmly: "Has the Left Army crossed the Kaqu River?" Chen Changhao cautiously Said: "No, Comrade Guotao just sent a telegram asking us to go south, Chairman, what do you think we should do?" Mao Zedong looked calm, and asked: "Comrade Changhao, General Political Commissar Zhang called us to go south, and the Central Committee has already replied. I earnestly hope that the Left Route Army will implement the policy of going north, what is your opinion?" Chen Changhao was determined to leave with Zhang Guotao at this time, and after a little silence, he said something that he regretted all his life: "Going south is not necessarily without a way out. Comrade Guotao is the general political commissar. He has the right to decide the direction of action of the left and right Red Army. Therefore, I decided that the right army will go south to join the left army." After hearing this, Mao Zedong sighed deeply. The last ray of hope was shattered, and it would be useless to say more, so he said to Chen Changhao: "Well, I will discuss it with Enlai and other comrades. It's getting late, let's go to bed early! " Leaving Chen Changhao's residence, Mao Zedong passed by Xu Qianqian's room and saw Xu walking in the small courtyard in front of the house. Mao Zedong stopped and stood at the door and asked loudly: "Comrade Qianqian, Comrade Zhang is going south, what's your opinion?" ?” Xu Xiangqian was also troubled by this question at this time. Seeing that the chairman was visiting late at night, he did not dare to answer rashly. After thinking about it for a while, he said to Mao Zedong: "Since the two armies have joined, it is not appropriate to separate again." .If the Fourth Front Army is divided into two halves, I am afraid it will not be good." Seeing that Xu Xiangqian also had the same attitude, Mao Zedong said goodbye and left without wasting any more words. Then, Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian, and Bogu rushed to the Red Army station, held an emergency meeting with Zhou Enlai and Wang Jiaxiang who were recuperating here, and decided to lead the Red Army, the Third Army and the Military Commission column to go northward overnight. In the middle of the night, after thousands of miles of journey, the units of the Red Front Army moved quietly, leaving Banyou, Brazil and other stations without anyone noticing, and broke contact with the troops of the Fourth Front Army.In the early morning of the next day, as soon as Chen Changhao and Xu Xiangqian got up, the guards came to report that Ye Jianying was missing, and the map hanging in the headquarters was also missing.The two were taken aback, and then the troops below called, saying that the Central Red Army had left overnight.When Chen Changhao encountered this incident suddenly, he was very emotional, and immediately said: "We didn't give an order, call them back quickly!" Xu Xiangqian's heart was extremely heavy.After a while, the front troops called again and asked: "The Central Red Army has put a guard on us, should we fight or not?" Chen Changhao asked Xu Xiangqian what to do with the microphone.Xu Xiangqian replied: "There is no reason for the Red Army to fight the Red Army. Tell them to obey the command, and they cannot fight anyway." After hearing this, Chen also felt that it was reasonable, so he gave up the idea of ​​​​sending troops to chase.