Chapter 30 30. Can two rivers merge into a giant current?

On June 25, 1935, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and others met Zhang Guotao at Lianghekou.Coincidentally, the mouth of the two rivers is located at the confluence of the two rivers.One is a river coming down from the big snow mountain in the east - Hongqiao Mountain, which is called Hongqiao River locally, and the other is a river coming down from Mengbi Mountain, a big snow mountain in the north, which is called Mengbi River locally.The two rivers meet here to form a triangular oasis full of wildflowers, on which the town of Lianghekou sits.The town is not big, only dozens of families, a short street with only three or five shops.Looking at the whole town, the most conspicuous thing is the Guandi Temple located in the middle of the street.A large screen wall, a not-too-small hall, with a bell tower and a drum tower on both sides, and a small Guanyin Pavilion on the hillside behind. Zhou Enlai and Zhu De lived in the house on the left hillside. Mao Zedong live in the temple.This big temple is the address of Lianghekou meeting.Now the Guandi Temple has caught fire and collapsed, and the main building has been destroyed, leaving only the rear stables.

After the First Red Army and the Fourth Front Army join forces, people look forward to a bright future for the Red Army after the meeting, just like the wild flowers blooming everywhere on this oasis;One hopes that the two rivers will merge into one giant current, but things are not that simple.Zhang Guotao still insisted on going south.Later, in 1936, before the main forces of the three major Red Army joined forces, Mao Zedong asked Zhou Enlai, "The location must be chosen well. The place name of Lianghekou is not good. We finally parted ways with Zhang Guotao there-Lianghekou!" When Zhou Enlai told him to choose the place for the meeting When he was in Huining, Gansu, Mao Zedong smiled happily: "It's a good place, Huining, Huining, the Red Army joins forces, and China is peaceful." This is a later story.

After the first and fourth Red Army joined forces in Maogong, the total strength of the Red Army reached more than 100,000, with concentrated strength and high morale.At that time, the whole country was on the eve of a revolutionary climax.Japanese imperialism intensified its invasion of my country, penetrating into North China from the Northeast, and the national crisis became increasingly serious.The Chiang Kai-shek government adhered to the reactionary policies of civil war, dictatorship, and treason, and signed a series of agreements with the Japanese invaders that humiliated the country (such as the "Tanggu Agreement", "Homei Agreement", etc.), which aroused strong dissatisfaction and resistance from the people of the whole country. "The mountains and rains are about to come and the wind is full of buildings", a new upsurge of the nationwide anti-Japanese democratic movement is coming.In this new situation, what strategic approach should the Red Army adopt?On this key issue, the Party Central Committee represented by Mao Zedong had serious differences with Zhang Guotao, the leader of the Fourth Red Front Army.go north?Going south?Should the Red Army go north to Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu to establish a new base area to meet the national anti-Japanese upsurge, or go south to develop the Sichuan-Kangzhou area and stay away from the anti-Japanese front line?

In order to eliminate the differences in the strategic policy after the first and fourth armies joined forces, further unify the understanding, and realize the policy of uniting and going north, on June 26, 1935, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an enlarged meeting of the Politburo in Lianghekou, Maogong County. This is The famous Lianghekou meeting in history.Attending the meeting were Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Wang Jiaxiang, Zhang Wentian, Bogu, Zhang Guotao, Liu Shaoqi, Kai Feng, Deng Fa, Liu Bocheng, Li Fuchun, Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, Peng Dehuai, Lin Boqu and others.

At the meeting, Zhou Enlai made a report on behalf of the Central Committee. He stroked his long beard and unfolded the outline he had prepared in advance, with a serious, solemn and unhurried expression.He analyzed the current situation and expounded on issues of strategic policy, strategic actions and war command.He pointed out that before the meeting of the First and Fourth Front Army of the Red Army, the First Front Army of the Red Army decided to go northward on the east bank of the Minjiang River, and the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army decided to go west to Maogong and develop towards Xikang.The two strategic approaches are different.When deciding where to create a new Soviet area, first of all it must be conducive to our operations, and secondly it must be conducive to the elimination of Chiang Kai-shek's main force.Therefore, in terms of region selection, it should be: a place with a large area and good mobility; a place with good conditions for the masses and a large Han population; a place with relatively good economic conditions that can provide for the Red Army's supplies.In addition, he analyzed the enemy's situation.He pointed out that Chiang Kai-shek's direct troops would increase their troops to the Xikang area, which would gradually push the Red Army to the grasslands, and the Red Army would have no way out.At present, the most ideal area is the Sichuan-Shaanxi-Gansu region.This area has a wide area, broad roads, a large population, and rich products, which are conducive to the development of the Red Army.He clearly pointed out that it is impossible to develop to the south; the enemy has 130 regiments to the east across the Minjiang River, and it is impossible to develop; to the west is the prairie; at present, only the north is the only way out.1. After the reunion of the Fourth Front Army, the new strategic policy is to concentrate the main force to attack northward, first to capture Songpan and fight against the enemy Hu Zongnan, and to establish the Sichuan-Shaanxi-Gansu Revolutionary Base north of Minshan Mountain.Zhou Enlai emphasized that the command of the two front armies should be centralized, and the command power should be concentrated in the Military Commission. This is the highest principle.

Zhang Guotao has been listening to Zhou Enlai's speech with a proud expression. When he heard that the command power should be centralized and unified, and that it should be centralized in the Military Commission, and that this is the "highest principle", his face immediately sank, and he hummed softly in his nose. One sound.Realizing that he had lost his composure, he checked that everyone hadn't noticed, and immediately put on a smile on his face.In fact, Zhang Guotao was very restless and full of thoughts. When he got back his thoughts, Zhou Enlai had already finished his report.

The meeting had heated discussions on the Red Army's course of action.At this time, everyone's eyes were focused on Zhang Guotao.He coughed twice and began to speak.Zhang Guotao's speeches have always been slow, as if to show that he is a person of great status.His speech was not as eloquent and talented as Bo Gu, nor as witty and humorous as Mao Zedong, nor as well-organized and accurate as Zhou Enlai, nor as simple and friendly as Zhu De, with a strong earthy flavor.His words sound flat and sleepy, without passion or flash of thought, and he only likes to express his meaning in rigid political terms.He slowly spent most of the time describing the actions and victories achieved by the Fourth Front Army before the reunion, and then posed various difficulties. To put it bluntly, he did not agree to go north.He believes that there are snow-capped mountains and grasslands in the north, the climate is severe, and the movement is unfavorable. The long-distance march will cause a large reduction in the number of troops; there are more than 20 regiments in the south of Hu Zong in the north.He advocated relying on the Maogong area, avoiding the southern part of Hu Zong, first attacking Chengdu in the south, and then developing towards Chuankang.

Zhang Guotao's speech immediately made the atmosphere of the meeting tense.Seeing this situation, Mao Zedong got up and said: Base areas can only be established during the offensive, and cannot retreat and escape.He was not in favor of attacking Chengdu in the south, as this would force the Red Army to retreat to Xikang, and the Xikang area has a small population and cannot support the Red Army.Zhang Guotao originally believed that the Central Red Army had strong soldiers and horses. He once publicized that the Central Red Army had "300,000" people.When he learned that there were less than 20,000 people left in the Central Red Army's long-distance campaign, he didn't take Mao Zedong's speech seriously.Mao Zedong saw through Zhang Guotao's psychology, and he reasoned patiently and sincerely, convincing others with reasoning.He did not directly criticize Zhang Guotao in his speech, and titles such as "Guo Tao" and "Comrade Guo Tao" continued to appear in his speech.

After Mao Zedong spoke, the atmosphere eased slightly.Peng Dehuai, Lin Biao, Bo Gu, Wang Jiaxiang, Deng Fa, Zhu De, Liu Bocheng, Nie Rongzhen, Kai Feng, Liu Shaoqi, and Luo Fu made speeches in turn, unanimously agreeing with the report made by Zhou Enlai on behalf of the Party Central Committee and the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, and supporting the two armies going north to create the Sichuan-Shaanxi-Gansu Revolution Base area, the strategic policy of developing to Gannan first.The key to realizing this strategic policy is to seize Songpan and attack Hu enemies.They opposed the idea of ​​retreat to avoid the struggle.They also emphasized the importance of the unified command of the two armies to achieve the strategic direction.

No one agreed with Zhang Guotao's opinion at the meeting, and in the end he had no choice but to express his agreement to go north. The Lianghekou Conference correctly analyzed the current situation, put forward and passed the strategic policy of establishing the Sichuan-Shanxi-Gansu Revolutionary Base Area, negated Zhang Guotao's erroneous claims, and laid an important foundation for realizing the party's strategic mission of going north to resist Japan and leading the nation's struggle against Japan .History has witnessed everything, and later history has proved the correct decision of Lianghekou.