Chapter 13 The Thirteenth Chapter Depressed King Chiang Kai-shek

The time came to 1933, and the Northeast Army had all withdrawn to the pass. On January 11, the Japanese military department issued a statement: Rehe is also the territory of our "Manchukuo". You, Zhang Xueliang, had better withdraw Tang Yulin's garrison from Rehe, or we would send troops to take it by ourselves. The Japanese are no longer satisfied with the land outside the customs, they want to enter the customs! If Zhang Xueliang didn't rise up and fight back at this time, then he was not a man.Fortunately, he was unable to retreat, and he rose up. He told the people of the whole country that he could no longer bear it, and he wanted to fight for survival and stick to Jehol!

Unfortunately, by the time he rose to prominence, he had already lost his prestige.The Japanese took over the Northeast, and Zhang Xueliang didn't even have a gesture of resistance.Zhang Xueliang, who had very low political intelligence, didn't understand—even if he couldn't beat the Japanese, he still had to show resistance, otherwise his subordinates would say that the boss was too useless, and his prestige would be lost in the long run.Sure enough, Zhang Xueliang vowed to defend Rehe to the death, but the general Tang Yulin had already abandoned the city and fled. Zhang Xueliang became a laughing stock among the Chinese population.

At this time Chiang Kai-shek spoke: Brother, you can't do it, let He Yingqin take over North China affairs from you!Zhang Xueliang can only say yes.After He Yingqin came up, he prepared with two hands: one hand to resist the war, and the other hand to negotiate peace.In his words, this is called peace. As a result, the Chinese army fought fierce battles with the Japanese army for two months at Xifengkou and Gubeikou of the Great Wall, known as the "Great Wall Anti-Japanese War" in history. Among the troops participating in the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, the one with the worst equipment was Song Zheyuan's 29th Army, Feng Yuxiang's former subordinate.This army reorganized from the former Northwest Army after the Central Plains War, because of the lack of weapons and ammunition, had no choice but to have the "ancient magic weapon"-machete, and re-practiced the "Breaking Front Eight Swords".When human warfare has already entered the age of firearms, this army fighting with a big knife looks so tragic and different.But they relied on such backward weapons and equipment to win the battle at Xifengkou in the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, killing 800 enemies, which shocked the world for a while.

Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" commented: Since the Meiji Emperor built the army, the imperial army's reputation has been lost outside Xifeng's mouth, and it has suffered an insult that has not been seen in 60 years. After this battle, the 29th Army Commander Song Zheyuan, Gao Can and the all-rounder Xiao Zhenying, as well as important generals Tong Linge, Zhao Dengyu, Zhang Zizhong, Feng Zhian, etc. became famous all over the world. However, the Central Army that killed the most enemies in the Great Wall War was the Central Army that fought in the Gubeikou area, especially the 25th Division led by Guan Linzheng, a student of the first phase of Huangpu.From the Eastern Expedition to the Northern Expedition, from the Central Plains War to the "Suppression of the Communist Party", Guan Linzheng grew up all the way, and now he is a leader among Huangpu students.He is famous for his steady, accurate and ruthless use of troops, and he is good at rapid attacks. His troops are called "Thousand Li Horses", and he himself is called "Guan Fist".It's fine for me to be good, but the generals under him--Whampoa elites Du Yuming, Zheng Dongguo, and Dai Anlan can also be alone.Therefore, he was able to win more than he lost in the confrontation with the famous Chinese Communist generals Lin Biao, Xu Xiangqian, Chen Geng, etc., and he was able to fight bloody battles with the Eighth Division of the Japanese Army for several days and nights when the Northeast Army Wang Yizhe was retreating.

Because of the overall strength of the country, even though most of the Chinese soldiers were very brave, the entire Great Wall War ended in failure. But the blood of soldiers was not shed in vain! After the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, "there must be a war between China and Japan" gradually became the consensus of the Chinese people. This is the origin of "stop the civil war and unify the outside world." Previously, most people believed that the Japanese ambitions were limited to the Northeast. The Great Wall Anti-Japanese War further highlighted the cowardice of the Northeast Army, and there was a lot of public opinion at home and abroad.Amid the scolding from all over the country, Zhang Xueliang felt like a thorn in his back.

At this time, everyone began to appeal again: Please invite Chairman Wang to return to China to take charge.Wang Jingwei said: It is fine for me to go back, Zhang Xueliang must resign to thank the world.Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to find Zhang Xueliang: Hanqing, look... Before Chiang Kai-shek finished speaking, Zhang Xueliang said: Don't be embarrassed, brother, I will resign. Immediately, Zhang Xueliang, already skinny and extremely depressed, was electrified and went to the field to investigate in Europe to avoid the limelight, and by the way completed the great cause of drug rehabilitation in an unfamiliar environment, striving for a comeback.

After that, Wang Jingwei returned to China to take charge, Chiang Kai-shek led the army, and the two cooperated again.But at this time, Wang Jingwei had completed his transformation, from an angry youth-like main combat faction to a main peace faction. Although the Japanese are well-known, Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek agreed that the domestic warlords are divided and the industrial base is weak, so it is impossible to fight Japan with all their strength. Therefore, the current China must endure and try its best to delay the war. Delay, the later the delay, the more conducive to China's accumulation of strength.In the eyes of these two, there are no more than two ways to accumulate strength.One is to develop the economy and industry, and enhance the strength of the war; the other is to "suppress" the Communist Party in order to seek peace at home while fighting against the outside world, and concentrate all resources to resist the war.

After the failure of the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek signed the "Tanggu Agreement" with the Japanese based on the above considerations, stipulating that Pingjin, North China was a demilitarized zone, and the Japanese army was allowed to inspect the area. The legitimacy of China has also lost part of the sovereignty of North China. After the "Tanggu Agreement" was signed, Chairman Wang and Chairman Jiang were often scolded.To say that the democratic atmosphere at that time was not bad, not only ordinary people, but also generals of the national army such as Chen Mingshu and Cai Tingkai publicly scolded their supreme leaders.

But at the same time, Feng Yuxiang's image has become more glorious. After the failure of the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, "General with Thousand Faces" Feng Yuxiang stood up and established a private armed force - the Chahar Anti-Japanese Allied Army, which fought against the Japanese army mainly composed of traitors (pseudo-army) in Duolun. The result surprised people all over the country—Feng Yuxiang actually won! Maybe everyone had a bad impression of Feng Yuxiang in the past, but seeing his firm anti-Japanese stance, it is estimated that most people will change their views on him, and feel that Feng Yuxiang also has a side worthy of admiration.It is true that Feng Yuxiang may not be a qualified politician, and even his continuous defection has made people doubt his military integrity.But just because in the face of national justice, as a local warlord with little strength left, he dared to stand up and fight, so he can tell the whole world with a clear face-I am a qualified Chinese!

However, Feng Yuxiang's act of going it alone violated the "forbearance" policy of the Nanjing National Government, so this army did not receive any effective support, and it did not last long before disbanding.Among the core generals of this anti-Japanese army was a man named Ji Hongchang. Yes, he was the Ji Hongchang who "feigned surrender" to Chiang Kai-shek in the Central Plains War.However, Ji Hongchang did not die at the hands of the Japanese, but was executed by the Nanjing government because Ji Hongchang joined the Chinese Communist Party, which Wang and Jiang could not tolerate.

In 1934, when Feng Yuxiang, who was fighting against Japan, was struggling, Zhang Xueliang, who was not fighting against Japan, had returned from Europe. Zhang Xueliang gained a lot from this nine-month trip to Europe.Not only did he successfully quit drug addiction, but he also added a few fires to the melting pot of ideological revolution. Young Master Zhang went to Europe this time, and the person who entertained him was Ciano, the Italian Minister to China.Ciano is not only his good buddy, but also the son-in-law of Italian Prime Minister Mussolini.Therefore, Young Master Zhang received the official courtesy from Italy and was received by Mussolini, which gave him a lot of face.Even though he went to Paris, London, and Berlin many times to "gather folklore" and was even received by Hitler, he returned to Italy to quietly feel the crisis of national subjugation brought to him by the strong atmosphere of preparations for war in Europe, and to think about it with great concentration. How to use the fascism of powerful Germany and Italy to save China.It seems that even Mussolini was moved by Young Master Zhang's learning attitude, and when he was about to return to China, he awarded him the medal of honor - the Italian Cross. After returning to China, Zhang Xueliang faced a very severe employment situation.If Rehe is not lost, then Zhang Xueliang's words will still have some weight.After all, Rehe is the gateway to North China. Just looking at this, Boss Jiang will give him some face.In the end, Rehe was still lost in the hands of the Northeast Army. When it comes to this point, how to support his army depends entirely on Chiang Kai-shek's face. Then again, at the beginning, Chairman Jiang still had great expectations for Zhang Xueliang, whose physical condition improved and his mind was armed with fascism, and he arranged two very important jobs for him one after another—the suppression of bandits in Hubei, Henan, and Anhui. Commander-in-Chief and Director of Wuchang Camp, but the cruel result disappointed Chairman Jiang very much. In fact, after experiencing the baptism of fascism in Europe, Zhang Xueliang has achieved a high degree of ideological understanding with the boss Chiang Kai-shek: to resist Japan, but "to fight against the outside world must be peaceful."Before going to war with the Red Army, he mobilized the Northeast Army involved in the "suppression of the Communist Party" in this way: In China, which may "subjugate the country and wipe out the species", the first problem is "safety inside". Only with a sound and unified government can we fight against foreign countries and talk about regaining lost ground.And Annei's most important job is to eliminate the red bandits (Bi Wanwen's "Collected Works of Zhang Xueliang")... But the problem is that the combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army is far from keeping up with the ideological "progress" of the boss Zhang Xueliang, and has been undercut in the confrontation with the Red Army.Under such circumstances, Chiang Kai-shek had to re-arrange Zhang Xueliang's job as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northwest "Bandit Suppression" Command.Chiang Kai-shek transferred Zhang Xueliang to the northwest (Shaanxi and Gansu areas) for the following two reasons. The first reason is to check and balance Yang Hucheng's 17th Route Army and the Northwest "Majia Army". "Majiajun" refers to the Muslim armed forces of Ma Bufang and others. They took advantage of Feng Yuxiang's disastrous defeat in the Central Plains War and took over part of Feng Yuxiang's territory.Chiang Kai-shek was worried that Yang Hucheng and Ma Jiajun would become big, so he had to find someone to check and balance them.Chairman Jiang has always been good at this method of provoking warlords to fight among themselves. The second reason is also the most important reason - "suppression of bandits", allowing Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army to deal with the seemingly weaker Northwest Soviet Area, where there is the Northwest Red Army led by Liu Zhidan, a fourth-year student of Whampoa, and others. Chairman Jiang naturally would not put all his hopes of "suppressing bandits" on Zhang Xueliang, he had already started to do it himself. In mid-1932, Chiang Kai-shek came to Wuhan and organized the "Bandit Suppression Headquarters in the Three Provinces of Hubei, Henan, and Anhui" to personally "encircle and suppress" the Hubei, Henan, Anhui Soviet Area and the Red Fourth Front Army led by Zhang Guotao. In Wuhan, Chiang Kai-shek received a good gift - a clever plan related to "communist suppression".This ingenious plan was written in an article called "The Book of Ten Thousand Words on Political "Communist Suppression"" by later generations. The author of the article was Yang Yongtai, its chief adviser. In order to make it easier for everyone to understand this boring "Book of Ten Thousand Words", its content is here transformed into a situational dialogue. It is said that Yang Yongtai sensitively detected the heart disease of the protagonist Chairman Chiang—after the failure of "communist suppression", he worked tirelessly, scratched his head, and came up with a terrifying plan... Yang Yongtai analyzed to Chiang Kai-shek who was sitting upright: How many Communists have we killed since "April 12", but why do we keep killing them repeatedly?Now our Kuomintang has mastered the main wealth and manpower of the country. It can command millions of troops, but it can't even wipe out hundreds of thousands of Red Army. Why?Therefore, the problem of the Communist Party is not a military problem, but a political problem, an economic problem, and a social problem. It is impossible to eliminate the Communist Party by military alone. Yang Yongtai took a peek at Chiang Kai-shek's face and found that Chiang Kai-shek was not unhappy.So he went on to say: The reason why our previous three "suppression of communism" failed was that we regarded the Red Army as the same army as the Beiyang warlords.In fact, the Red Army is by no means a mob, but a true party army that is not afraid of death, appeasement, gratitude, and power.Therefore, a new strategy must be adopted in order to "suppress bandits". Since the Red Army started from politics, we will also "suppress bandits" politically, with three points in military and seven points in politics!Give back to him in the same way! Seeing Chiang Kai-shek's thoughtful expression, Yang Yongtai made persistent efforts.He said: The key to the so-called seven-point politics is to separate the Communist Party from the people.I have a few unsophisticated suggestions: One, from top to bottom.Clarify the administration of officials, and never tolerate local tyrants who are corrupt and pervert the law and run amok in the countryside, so that the people in the Soviet area can see the determination and sincerity of the national government. Second, from the bottom up.Unite the middle peasants and poor peasants, strengthen relief efforts, and find ways to improve the living standards of the people in the Soviet area. As long as the people have enough food and clothing, they don’t care whether you are the Kuomintang or the Communist Party! Third, between the original provincial and county levels of government in the "bandit suppression area", add a level of "administrative inspector's office" to strengthen social control. Fourth, implement the "Baojia System".Although our Republic of China was influenced by the Western political concept of "individual" as the unit of social organization, and abolished this system that had been in use since Wang Anshi in the Northern Song Dynasty, we can restore it in the "bandit suppression area".For example, the ten households are the Jia, and the ten Jia are the guarantors. Those who are "bandits" and "bandits" are involved in the "bandit" situation, and they jointly guarantee each household and sit together.One family is out of the Communist Party, or is related to the Communist Party, and the other families in Baojia all follow suit! Through these methods, the common people in the Soviet area were gradually separated from the Communist Party and were not controlled by the Communist Party. After explaining the seven-point politics, Yang Yongtai continued to talk: the so-called three-point military is to suppress and appease the Communist Party with heavy troops to "encircle and suppress" the Communist Party, so as not to leave any future troubles, but at the same time give leniency and a way out to the Communist generals who voted over. His eyes are like lightning, vicious enough!This man is really talented. Some people say that history is rewritten by the people.In fact, an important decision made by an important historical figure at a critical moment may also rewrite history. Chiang Kai-shek followed good example and faithfully implemented Yang Yongtai's design, and immediately achieved results in the "encirclement and suppression" of the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Soviet areas. Zhang Guotao obviously did not expect Chiang Kai-shek's level to improve so quickly.Under Chiang Kai-shek's political and military double attacks, he was in a hurry, lost his position, and retreated westward to the Sichuan-Shanxi border. Yang Yongtai, who made great contributions to the "communist suppression", was rewarded by Chiang Kai-shek.This reward is related to a suggestion of Yang Yongtai. The Office of the Administrative Inspectorate suggested by Yang Yongtai was indeed established by Chiang Kai-shek, but it was not approved by Wang Jingwei, nor was it approved by the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan, so it was considered an illegal product.In fact, those who have objections to this "administrative inspector's office" also have a lot of people related to personnel rights, such as the CC department. However, in the war years, the military was more powerful than the sky, and Chiang Kai-shek said that he must do it, and he must do it.Under Yang Yongtai's instigation, Chiang Kai-shek transferred the human rights and administrative power of the "Administrative Inspector's Office" in more than ten provinces to Yang Yongtai's name.In this way, Yang Yongtai and his Political Science Department reaped a lot of benefits, but at the same time they offended the powerful CC Department, the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan. After defeating Zhang Guotao, the time came to 1933. Chairman Jiang decided to strike while the iron was hot. He wanted to personally command the fourth "suppression of the Communist Party" and "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Area. So on January 30, 1933, the same day Hitler formed his cabinet, he came to Nanchang again for camping. Before the war, Chiang Kai-shek posed a difficult problem to his super adviser Yang Yongtai: how to solve the situation of Nanchang's overstaffed organization, overstaffed and inefficient work? Yang Yongtai’s reputation as the first counselor of the Republic of China is not for nothing. He stepped on the shoulders of the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, carried out a certain degree of reform and innovation in the military aircraft department, and "produced" the ultimate solution - the legendary attendant room . Although the attendant's room has been rendered dark and mysterious by history, it is essentially the highest decision-making body of the party, government, and military, and an institution that wholeheartedly serves Chairman Jiang's dictatorship.To put it simply, the attendant's room is three offices, a chief guard's room, and a counselor's room. The first servant is in charge of military and intelligence affairs, and a big spy leader like Dai Li has to accept the leadership of the first servant. The second office of the servants mainly deals with party affairs, even the party headquarters controlled by Chen Lifu and others have to be managed by the second office of the servants. Chen Bulei, known as the "leader's gallantry" of the Kuomintang, was once the head of the second office . The Third Office is responsible for personnel assessment, and manages the inspection and appointment of cadres across the country. The chief guard's room is responsible for protecting the security of Jiang's family, which is equivalent to the "royal guard". The Counselor's Office studies domestic and foreign affairs, and is actually a think tank. Its status is somewhat similar to that of the Academy of Social Sciences today. Since the establishment of the attendant's office, a thoughtful organization that can be used as a hand, Generalissimo Jiang's affairs are often done in one go, and the efficiency has been greatly improved.But just when Chiang Kai-shek's "bandit suppression" work was going so smoothly, there was a bad news that drove him crazy-Fujian was reversed. Chiang Kai-shek couldn't help but looked up to the sky and sighed: the Central Plains War finally put down the three largest opposition groups in the country, and finally freed up his hands to deal with the increasingly powerful CCP.I thought the CCP was just a bunch of "bandits" and the army would be wiped out as soon as it arrived, but I didn't expect that the three consecutive "encirclement and suppression" campaigns failed.While preparing for the fourth "encirclement and suppression campaign", "September 18th" happened, and later "January 28th".Now that the fourth "encirclement and suppression campaign" has just started off well, Fujian has turned against it again.The good situation that once appeared after the Central Plains War immediately disappeared.God, why can't you give me more time? ! Everyone generally only knows the "Xi'an Incident" that kidnapped Generalissimo Chiang to fight against Japan, but in fact, the first to eat crabs was not Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, but the 19th Route Army. When Chiang Kai-shek went to Jiangxi to "suppress bandits" as commander-in-chief, he appointed Chen Mingshu, who had been getting along well with him, as deputy commander-in-chief, and led the 19th Route Army into Fujian to cooperate with "suppressing bandits". What Chiang Kai-shek didn't expect was that after Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai, and Cai Tingkai arrived in Fujian, instead of "suppressing" a single Red Army, they established a united front with the Red Army in private to "unite the Communist Party against Chiang Kai-shek and resist Japan."Because these three dear friends did not agree that "to fight against the outside world, we must first secure the inside", and the signing of the "Tanggu Agreement" made them feel that the supreme leader of the army, Generalissimo Jiang, was too soft to lead China to resist Japan. Instead of wasting resources on "suppressing bandits" and fighting civil wars, it is better to form a group to fight against Japan! On November 20, 1933, Li Jishen, who was not in harmony with Chiang Kai-shek, was established by these three people in Fuzhou, which was known as the "Fujian Incident" in history. At that time, most of the warlords in China were just talking about fighting against Japan, and they were still counting money in their hands, but these four people were different.Although it cannot be completely denied that they have the idea of ​​​​separating one side, it is certain that their main purpose is to coerce Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan in an alternative form-if you do not resist Japan, we will fight against Japan ourselves! Chiang Kai-shek's first reaction after receiving the news was very fierce, and he gave the other party the most severe disciplinary action—expulsion of these people from the party, which is exactly the same as the way the Republic deals with cadres who violate discipline today.Chiang Kai-shek's second reaction was also quite sharp. The elite troops who were transferred to Songhu to deal with the Japanese Marine Corps during the Anti-Japanese War "encircled and suppressed" the new government.The gap in strength was too great, and Generalissimo Jiang's army captured Fuzhou in two months. Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai and Li Jishen fled to Hong Kong.However, these four did not sink there, but continued to shine for the revolution. They established the "Chinese Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee" (that is, the "Min Revolution", one of the eight major democratic parties in our republic today) to participate in and discuss state affairs.These four passionate men all served in the government of the Republic after 1949.Among them, Chen Mingshu has the most character. During the "Cultural Revolution", he actually criticized Mao Zedong for "engaging in personality cult" and "engaging in the Great Leap Forward".Later, when he heard the news of the successful nuclear test of the Republic, he was so excited that he had a heart attack and died. The bosses of the Nineteenth Route Army ran away, but the middle and lower ranks could not.The Nineteenth Route Army was reorganized, and all officers above the company level were dismissed. Most of the new officers were from the Huangpu Department. After pacifying Fujian, Chiang Kai-shek could finally concentrate on "suppressing the communists". The first four "encirclement and suppression" failed, Chiang Kai-shek has not been convinced, he thinks so: 1. In the first three "encirclement and suppression campaigns", the elite of the central army did not dispatch, nor did he personally command, the defeats were mainly fought by the local warlords, not his defeat. 2. In the fourth "encirclement and suppression campaign", he once commanded the national army to take down the Hubei, Henan and Anhui bases, which gave him the confidence to eliminate the Jiangxi Central Soviet Area. In Chiang Kai-shek's view, the fifth "encirclement and suppression" is imperative.Under such circumstances, the National Army has learned from the previous failures and adjusted its strategy: First, stop underestimating the enemy and treat the Red Army as a strong opponent. Second, do not seek quick victory, fight slowly, step by step, and fight a protracted war of attrition. Third, the implementation of rent reduction and interest rate reduction in the Soviet area, known as the "Twenty-Five Rent Reduction" in history.That is to say, landlords are allowed to rent out land for farmers to cultivate, but the rent must be reduced by 25% on the original basis.Chiang Kai-shek also organized rural cooperatives, sent doctors and medicines, and implemented relief... In short, he used the Communist Party as his teacher to transform the psychology of the people. Fourth, implement the Baojia system in the Soviet area and increase the control over the society.It is Kang Ze's "Range Squad" of the Blue Shirts Club who is responsible for implementing the Baojia system. The first two are military, so that the Red Army can no longer use the strategy of "luting the enemy to go deep and defeat them one by one".In other words, the Red Army was forced to lose its local advantage and could only choose to fight recklessly. Chiang Kai-shek said: "The bandit area" is only five hundred miles away. We advance two miles every day, and it will be flattened in less than a year.If the communist army harassed our army by attacking east and west, we didn't care. We just need to strengthen our own fortifications and do our own things. Therefore, the strategy adopted by the national army this time is: concentrate superior forces to capture one place, and do not rush to continue to use troops after success, but to garrison closely with deep trenches and high fortifications. When the next place is captured, one place must be stabilized, and then push down.If things go on like this, there is no need to occupy the entire territory. As long as half of the territory is occupied, the Soviet area will be in chaos and unsustainable.After all, the Soviet area is small and populated, and there is no rear, so it is impossible to fight such a war of attrition. As for the latter two strategies, they were obviously born out of Yang Yongtai's political tactics, and they played a very important role in disintegrating the red regime and hitting the morale of the Red Army.Because for the common people, the policy of "25% Rent Reduction" is not as good as not paying 25% of the rent, but it is still sweeter. It is worse than dividing the land of the landlords today. It is cost-effective to let the landlord snatch it back, not to mention other economic subsidies. In this way, how should the Soviet area without strategic depth deal with it?The answer is, there is no way. The fifth "encirclement and suppression" and counter-"encirclement and suppression" campaign began. Chiang Kai-shek personally commanded the fifth "encirclement and suppression campaign." There were 500,000 troops attacking the Jiangxi Central Soviet Area alone, not counting the air force support. It can be said that he was determined to win.But how many people are there in the Central Red Army of the Jiangxi Soviet Area?Including the local armed forces carrying spears and knives and hoes, there are only more than 100,000 people in total. Faced with the step-by-step and layer-by-layer advancement of the central elite with the Whampoa faction as the main force of the National Army, the leaders of the CPC Central Committee - the spokespersons of the Communist International Bogu and Li De decided: fight recklessly and defend according to danger. Reckless fighting is obviously not the solution, after all, the difference in strength is too far. This "encirclement and suppression" and counter-"encirclement and suppression" campaign lasted from the end of September 1933 to the beginning of October 1934. It lasted for one year and ended in the failure of the Red Army. This result illustrates two problems: first, the national army is correct in adhering to the established long-term attrition strategy, and sometimes the most secure victory can be obtained with the most stupid method; second, the Red Army can indeed fight, facing five times its own, The enemy with superior equipment can persist for a year, not just any army can do it. But the question is, what should the Red Army do if it has lost its base?The answer is strategic shift, to continue the revolution in another place. However, Xiang Ying, Chen Yi, Qu Qiubai and other cadres were retained and led a small number of people to cover the retreat of the large troops.They did not expect that this cover would completely lose contact with the Central Committee and the Central Red Army, and they would lead these people to deal with the cold wind and rain independently. On the evening of October 10, 1934, 86,000 people from all the organs of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the five main armies of the Red Army set off from Ruijin, Yudu and other areas in Jiangxi to break through to the west.Because the west is Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan and other provinces, all of which are separatist spheres of influence of warlords, the Red Army can take advantage of the conflicts between Chiang Kai-shek and local warlords to survive in the cracks. In fact, the idea of ​​the Red Army was in the hands of Generalissimo Jiang. The slight difference was that he preferred to push the Red Army to Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, rather than Guizhou and Sichuan.Because Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian are close to the sea, it is beneficial to push the Red Army to a dead end. After the Nanchang Uprising, He Long and Ye Ting's troops were defeated in Chaoshan, Guangdong in this way. Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek can also borrow a knife to kill people, and let Liangguang fight the Red Army first. If the Red Army wins and enters Liangguang, he will stand up and say that he will "suppress bandits" for Liangguang, and Liangguang will be his; if Liangguang wins, the Red Army will be destroyed. Liangguang will also be exhausted, and he will stand up to deal with the aftermath, and Liangguang is still his. However, in order to achieve this goal, Chiang Kai-shek had to block the Red Army on the front line of the Xiangjiang River, forcing the Red Army to go southeast instead of westward. Therefore, for the Red Army, life and death are tied to the front line of the Xiangjiang River. The east side of the line is death, the west side is life, and the sea and the sky are open! The decisive battle is on the Xiangjiang River! On the banks of the Xiangjiang River, the five regiments of the Red Army were surrounded by the national army several times larger than their own, and the worst battle in the history of the Communist Party started... After this battle, the Xiangjiang River was blood-stained, and floating corpses were everywhere on the river.Of the 86,000 Red Army soldiers when they set off, only about 30,000 remained. Standing on the bank of the river, Mao Zedong couldn't believe it. This is the Xiangjiang River that he sang about, "the river is full of water, hundreds of boats compete for the flow, eagles strike the sky, fish fly in the shallow bottom"? Lin Biao, who had never changed his color before the Taishan collapse, also burst into tears when he withdrew from the position. A general army will lose its combat effectiveness if it loses one-third of its personnel, but the Battle of Xiangjiang caused the Red Army to reduce its personnel by more than 60%. Can this army survive?can! The Red Army's large reduction in personnel is also beneficial. The team is more mobile and flexible, and it gradually gets rid of the pursuit of the national army.Going all the way west, I came to a place called Zunyi in Guizhou.Everyone knows that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an enlarged meeting of the Politburo here, known as the "Zunyi Meeting" in history. The most important decision of this meeting was to affirm Mao Zedong's military strategic proposition and establish Mao Zedong's leading position in the Red Army. After regaining power, Mao Zedong's strategic and tactical guiding ideology can be simplified into ten words: fight if you win, and leave if you don't win.Ever since, there were crossing Chishui four times, crossing the Jinsha River skillfully, forcibly crossing the Dadu River, flying over the Luding Bridge, climbing snow-capped mountains and crossing grasslands. These stories are familiar to everyone, so I won’t say much here. Where should the Red Army go after crossing the grass?The answer is to go to northern Shaanxi. First of all, northern Shaanxi is relatively poor, and the poorer the place, the better the mass base, and it is easier to start work. Secondly, there is the Red Army in northern Shaanxi. The 15th Red Army led by Liu Zhidan, Xu Haidong and others has more than 7,000 members in northern Shaanxi.Liu Zhidan and Lin Biao were classmates in the fourth period of Whampoa, while Xu Haidong was born in the famous "Iron Army" - the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and was one of the leaders of the Huangma Uprising. In the end, the Red Army in northern Shaanxi was actually "encircled and suppressed" by the national army, but the main force in "encircling and suppressing" them was the Northeast Army that had lost its blood.The Northeast Army almost fled to the pass without firing a single shot. Not to mention the scolding and contempt of the whole country, and their own conscience, they were not very interested in "encircling and suppressing" the Red Army. With these good conditions, why not go? At the beginning of November 1935, in Ganquan County, Shaanxi Province, Mao Zedong led about 7,000 remnants to join forces with the Northern Shaanxi Red Army, and the Central Red Army's one-year 25,000-mile long march came to an end. To conclude this chapter, I quote a poem by Chairman Mao and his elders: