Chapter 47 47. The old gentleman on the Long March in a sedan chair

At the beginning of February 1936, the Second and Sixth Army Corps of the Red Army marched from the east of Guizhou to the west of Guizhou.The Second and Sixth Army Corps of the Red Army quickly crossed the Yachi River and occupied the two counties of Qianxi and Dading. The next target was Bijie County. Hearing the news that the Red Army was going to attack Bijie, Mo Xiong, the commissioner of the Kuomintang in Bijie County, panicked all of a sudden, and he hurriedly did two things.The first thing is to mobilize the gentlemen and landlords in the county to prepare for escape.When he went to the home of Zhou Suyuan, the most prestigious gentleman in the area, he was flatly rejected by the 57-year-old gentleman: "I didn't harm the village, and I don't have much property, so don't leave." He also advised Mo Xiong, " If you want to leave, just withdraw, don’t make things difficult for the Red Army.”

The second thing Mo Xiong did was to recruit security, and let Xi Daming, the Green Forest Armed Forces, take the lead in order to prevent the Red Army from entering the city.In the past few months, the troops of Mo Xiong's two regiments have been attacking the Green Forest Armed Forces led by Xi Daming. Apart from being dragged dizzy, they didn't take advantage of it.Seeing that the Red Army was approaching the city, Mo Xiong had no choice but to change his strategy, and sent someone to appease Xi Daming, and gave Xi Daming a letter of appointment as "Commander Qingxiang".What Mo Xiong didn't expect was that Xi Daming had already established contact with Deng Zhige, the leader of the CCP's Guizhou underground party organization, and the two became friends.After Xi Daming read Mo Xiong's "Recruitment" letter, he immediately invited Deng Zhige to discuss.Deng Zhige told Xi Daming: "This is killing two birds with one stone! After defeating the Red Army, he will deal with you again, with vicious intentions!" Xi Daming suddenly realized.Deng Zhige suggested that Xi Daming might as well use his tricks and take this opportunity to teach Mo Xiong a good lesson.According to Deng Zhige's plan, Xi Daming reached an agreement with Mo Xiong, and took the opportunity to ask Mo Xiong for 10 boxes of bullets and 2,000 yuan.Then Xi Daming took the lead as an excuse to occupy the two most important military locations, one is the pass between Dading and Bijie-Toubu Bridge, and the other is the commanding height on the outskirts of Bijie-Huju Mountain.Deng Zhige immediately sent someone to Dading County to deliver letters to the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps. On February 9, Wang Zhen and Xia Xi led the Red Sixth Army Corps and the Red Sixteenth Division into Bijie.When he arrived at the fortress of Toubu Bridge, Xi Daming showed the red felt worn by the Yi people, walked out of the defense line to meet the Red Army in person, and led the Red Army to go straight to Bijie City.Only then did Mo Xiong wake up like a dream, and realized that the situation was not good, so he hurriedly led his troops to abandon the city and flee.In this way, the Red Army occupied Bijie without firing a single shot, captured Mo Xiong's younger brother and the enemy's chief of staff alive, and seized all military supplies and a jeep.So far, the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps have occupied the entire Guizhou, Da, and Bi areas.

After the Red Army entered Bijie, they attacked the local tyrants and distributed the floating wealth, with great momentum.Some Red Army soldiers who fought against local tyrants came to a luxurious mansion in the city, which was the home of Zhou Suyuan, a former Qing tribute student.To the surprise of these Red Army soldiers, although the house is spacious, there are not many belongings. There is no floating wealth to confiscate, but there are many books in the study.The Red Army soldier opened the books on the table, and saw circles inside, and there were many annotations.The Red Army soldiers asked: "What do you do, landlord?" Zhou Suyuan pointed to the book and replied calmly: "Look, I am studying this." The Ministry reported to Wang Zhen and Xia Xi.Wang Zhen and Xia Xi rushed to Zhou Suyuan's house immediately, and they were surprised to find that many of the books in it were Marx's works.They didn't expect that in such a remote place as Bijie, there would be such a person studying Marx's works so hard, and this person turned out to be an old man in a long gown with a long gray beard.

Wang Zhen and Xia Xi asked Zhou Suyuan why he didn’t run away and why he read Marx’s books. Zhou Suyuan replied: “I have studied Marxism for ten years. I think what Marx said is right, and I believe in Marxism. You Communist Party and the Red Army are talking about Marxism. I don’t need to leave.” Wang Zhen and others said to him, “It’s good for you to study Marxism. Now our Communist Party’s policy is to resist Japan and oppose Chiang Kai-shek. Do you agree or not?” Zhou Suyuan replied simply: “Yes, Totally agree!" The more they talked, the more speculative they became, as if Yu Boya met Zhong Ziqi and hated seeing each other late.During the conversation, Wang Zhen and others learned that Zhou Suyuan, also known as Zhou Peiyi, was born on July 7, 1879. He was a Gongsheng student in the late Qing Dynasty. "Qian Bao". In 1911, Zhou Suyuan participated in the 1911 Revolution and was one of the leaders of the 1911 Revolution in Guizhou.After the overthrow of the Qing government, he served as the executive premier of the Privy Council of the Guizhou military government, the secretary-general of the Guizhou Qianjun Command, and the director of government affairs of the Guizhou Provincial Office. In 1925, due to dissatisfaction with the infighting in the officialdom and the stupid and brutal warlords, Zhou Suyuan left the political and military circles, returned to her hometown in Bijie to live in seclusion, and began to study Marxism-Leninism works.

Soon, the Sichuan-Yunnan-Guizhou Provincial Revolutionary Committee established in Dading County moved to Bijie.The Red Second and Sixth Army Corps decided to set up the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army on the basis of guerrillas in various places.He Long, Xiao Ke, Wang Zhen and others made a special trip to visit and invited Zhou Suyuan, who was nearly sixty years old, to be the commander of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army. Mr. Zhou accepted the appointment happily and set up the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army headquarters in his home.With his reputation, Zhou Suyuan ran around, raised food and money from various sources, and actively expanded this armed force.Soon, an Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army with three detachments was established. Deng Zhige was the chief of staff, Xi Daming was the commander of the first detachment, Zhou Zhifu was the commander of the second detachment, and Ruan Junchen was the commander of the third detachment.

Chiang Kai-shek and He Yingqin had heard of Zhou Suyuan's name early on, and were very annoyed by this matter.In order to cover up his ugliness, He Yingqin urgently called Guiyang: "The villager Zhou Peiyi, whose name is Suyuan, was captured by bandits in Bijie recently. Please find out and try to rescue him." He ordered Gu Zhutong and Wu Zhongxin to try to "rescue". At the same time, Zhou Suyuan also vigorously called on local youths to join the Red Army.The "expanding red" work of the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps has achieved remarkable results in the Guizhou, Da, and Bi areas.In just over 20 days, more than 5,000 people joined the Red Army.

In order to divide the Kuomintang army, Zhou Suyuan used his acquaintance with Long Yun, the chairman of Yunnan Province, and Sun Du, the commander of the Kuomintang column, to write letters to the two, telling them: Chiang Kai-shek sent the "Central Army" into Yunnan and Guizhou to fight the Red Army. Fighting the Red Army, the Red Army is not easy to fight. If you fight, you will lose both sides. When the "Central Army" comes, will Yunnan still belong to you? !I hope you will learn the lesson of false ways to destroy Guo.Long Yun and Sun Du had to consider what Zhou Suyuan said in this letter. As a result, they stood still in Weining and Zhaotong.

On February 27, 1936, Wang Zhen and Xia Xi found Zhou Suyuan and Deng Zhige and told them that the Red Army was going to make a strategic shift and asked them to lead the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army to retreat together.Since the first and third detachments had already gone out for action, they only retreated with the second detachment. On March 2, when the Sixth Red Army Corps entered Qixing Pass in Hezhang County, a cadre came to report to Xia Xi and Zhou Suyuan: Xi Daming's troops did not want to leave their hometown and transfer with the Red Army.Zhou Suyuan said to Xia Xi: "The guns and ammunition of Xi Daming's tribe were bought by thousands of local Yi farmers. They are used to fight against local bullies and bandits and protect the homes of the Yi people. If Xi Daming takes all the armed forces away, they will Therefore, it is expected that some of them are unwilling to leave.” Xia Xi still didn’t know what to do, thinking that Xi Daming was going to “rebel” and “run away”, and he thought that he, as the political leader of the Sixth Army of the Red Army, wanted to “run away”. The director of the department has the responsibility to do a good job in Xi Daming's ideological work, so he hurriedly took three soldiers to find Xi Daming.On the way, they had to ford a river.Although the river is only seventy or eighty meters wide, it is deep and fast.Just as they were wading to the middle of the river, two people suddenly appeared on the opposite hillside.The guards shouted at the two men, but the two men remained silent.Seeing that the two men were acting suspiciously, the guards fired warning shots into the air, and the two men immediately fled without a trace.Xia Xi and the others were worried that there was an ambush on the opposite side, so they turned back.Unexpectedly, a torrent rushed over, and Xia Xi was sucked into the whirlpool, and Xia Xi drowned as a result.After Zhou Suyuan learned the news of Xia Xi's sacrifice, she was very sad and said, "Why didn't I persuade him?!"

As Zhou Suyuan analyzed, Xi Daming's refusal to leave Bijie was not for "rebellion" and "escape".Xia Xi didn't know it until he died. Prior to this, Wang Zhen, the political commissar of the Sixth Red Army, and others had approved Xi Daming's troops to stay in the area and persist in the armed struggle.After the Red Army left, Xi Daming's troops once recaptured Zhezhuang, Yingpan and other places.However, under the joint encirclement and suppression by the Kuomintang warlords and local landlords, Xi Daming fought until he ran out of ammunition and food, and was unfortunately arrested. He was killed by the Kuomintang in the Bijie University Field in October 1936.

Shortly after leaving Bijie, the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army led by Zhou Suyuan was incorporated into the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps. Deng Zhige was transferred to the Red Sixth Army Corps as a combat staff officer, and Zhou Suyuan became an important member of the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps.Considering that Zhou Suyuan was nearly 60 years old and tired from traveling on the road, He Long, Wang Zhen and others were worried that Zhou Suyuan's health would not be able to bear it, so they asked Deng Zhige to explain: "Comrade Zhou Suyuan is so old, and his health is not good, so it is difficult to march. Will you talk to him and ask him to go to Hong Kong to become a rich man and do united front work for the party. If he is willing to go, we can give him some gold and silver dollars from local tyrants and build a house in Hong Kong to live in.” Deng Zhige worried that Zhou Suyuan would have a misunderstanding.Wang Zhen said to him: "That's why we decided to let you talk. You have known him for a long time, and he will fully trust you." Next, Deng Zhige went to Zhou Suyuan to take He Long and other leaders' The intention was conveyed to him.Zhou Suyuan said that he refused to leave the Red Army team. He said seriously: "I have been groping in the dark society for nearly 60 years, bumping into walls everywhere, and now I joined the Red Army to find the light. This is the most glorious moment in my life. Please tell the chiefs that I, Zhou Suyuan, will die in the Red Army even if I die!" Deng Zhige told He Long exactly what he said, and He Long admired Zhou Suyuan's revolutionary enthusiasm very much. He slapped his thigh and said excitedly: "Okay, I admire such people! Even with 18 people, I will carry them on the Long March." Zhou Suyuan was not good at riding horses, so He Long specially arranged for a group of Red Army soldiers to carry the sedan chair for him.At first, Mr. Zhou refused to sit in a sedan chair, and insisted on walking by himself, but he was getting old, and he was out of breath after walking for a long time.Wang Zhen seized the opportunity and said to him: "Commander Zhou, you should sit in the sedan chair! You can sit for a while, and walk for a while!" Zhou Suyuan worried that if this continues, it will affect the speed of the march, so he sat in the sedan chair.So Zhou Suyuan became "an old gentleman on the Long March in a sedan chair".

After Zhou Suyuan arrived in northern Shaanxi with the Second and Sixth Army Corps of the Red Army, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai learned of his deeds, specially met Zhou Suyuan, and praised him as "our very kind and respectable friend and revolutionary comrade".