Chapter 122 Speech at the First Meeting of the National Defense Council

(October 18, 1954) opening speech Some of the people present at the meeting today were unknown to us in the past. We only heard their names but never met.It is conceivable that people who did not know each other in the past can sit together for a National Defense Committee meeting today.Today is the time when the enemy is at hand. The enemy is very powerful. They surround us and threaten us. We should unite.Those present here today include the backbone of the People's Liberation Army, those who are well-known in society, and those who have experience in military work in the past. They all connect with the masses in various ways and can play a role in realizing our common goal.

The U.S. imperialist aggressive bloc is very dissatisfied with us and hates us.The traitorous Chiang Kai-shek clique, the running dog of U.S. imperialism, is still entrenched in Taiwan, and the National War of Liberation has not yet been completed or won in Taiwan. The national defense task of our country is huge.Besides industrial problems, there are also problems of army building and warfare.Army building and combat are related to all aspects.Our current combat mission is to liberate Taiwan, and our future combat mission is to defend against imperialist aggression.There are many problems in various aspects in the construction of the army, such as the military service system. Now a document has been issued. Please give your comments. Some documents have not yet been issued.Our army needs to be improved, its organization and equipment must be improved, and its training must be improved, and the training of the army is related to the national military training.

The future tasks of the National Defense Committee are: unite, train our army and people, and gradually build a modernized revolutionary army.Apart from the Soviet Army, we want to build the second powerful modern revolutionary army in the world.Now we have a plan for our economic construction, a plan for our cultural construction, and a plan for our military construction, so that we can step by step achieve our goal of building a powerful modern revolutionary army.This is the goal of the people, the goal enshrined in the Constitution. the speech In my opinion, the modernization of the Chinese military can be divided into three stages.

The first generation was the new army formed in the late Qing Dynasty[1].The new army has thirty-six towns, that is, thirty-six divisions.Quite a few of those present today have joined the army, including those from the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer Academy; from the Yunnan Military Academy, our Vice Chairman Zhu De is from the Yunnan Military Academy; from the Hunan Military Academy; and from the Baoding Military Academy Yes, member Tang Shengzhi [2] is from Baoding Military Academy.This new army and the revolutionary party established by Sun Yat-sen completed the task of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty on the basis of the support of the people, but later it became corrupted, broke away from the people, and fell apart. despised by the people.

The second generation is the Whampoa Army [3].It used to be a revolutionary army that overthrew the aforementioned army.Among those present today, many people, Communists and non-Communists, have all seen and experienced it with their own eyes.I also once recruited students for the first batch of Whampoa Military Academy in Shanghai. The address is No. 44, Huanlong Road, Shanghai.Premier Zhou Enlai was the director of the Political Department of the Whampoa Military Academy at that time.The National Revolutionary Army with the Whampoa Army as the backbone initially formed eight armies. Huang Qixiang and Cai Tingkai[4] belonged to the Fourth Army, Cheng Qian and Li Minghao[5] belonged to the Sixth Army, and Tang Shengzhi belonged to the Eighth Army.The Huangpu Army also received the support of the people, and the Northern Expedition was in full swing, but it also had a shortcoming, that is, it was separated from the people.The Communist Party made a mistake at that time, that is, it did not want the army, but only sent party representatives in the army.Later, when Chiang Kai-shek expelled the party representatives and purged the party, the only army under the direct control of the Communist Party was Ye Ting's [6] independent regiment.After the Nanchang Uprising, the army led by the Party turned into a guerrilla force, and this guerrilla force fought for twenty-two years.

The current Chinese People's Liberation Army is the third generation.The predecessor of the People's Liberation Army was the Red Army. These three generations represent the three stages of the modern Chinese army.If China wants to make a military history, it is enough to write about the progress of these three eras. Our army, first of all, is a guerrilla unit, later it became more regular, and now it is better, but strictly speaking, it is still far from modernization, so we must study hard.After the appearance of atomic weapons, the strategy, tactics and equipment of the army have undergone great changes, but we do not understand this aspect at all.

From a historical point of view, our goal of building an army can be achieved, and our cause is promising.Our military is far from being modern, but defeated US imperialism in North Korea.At the end of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek joined forces with imperialism, and soon the KMT and the Communist Party split, and the Northern Expeditionary Army changed direction, so we did it alone.The world belongs to Chiang Kai-shek, we only have a few bad guns, but our struggle represents the direction of the people, we were able to gather guerrillas, formed legions and front armies, and then carried out a 25,000-mile long march.The 25,000-mile long march is not easy. Suppose we drill a hole in the earth here, and drill it out of the United States, which happens to be a little over 12,500 kilometers.At the end of the Long March, not many of our troops were left.On the one hand, it was because Chiang Kai-shek beat us, and on the other hand, it was because we made mistakes in politics and military affairs that we were forced to make a big move.When I arrived in Zunyi, I made self-criticism and corrected my mistakes.

After Japan surrendered in 1945, our Eighth Route Army, New Fourth Army and guerrillas had a total of 1.2 million men.Before the negotiations in Chongqing, Chiang Kai-shek asked us to discuss the state affairs. The state affairs are the state affairs of the whole country.In fact, when he arrived in Chongqing, Chiang Kai-shek was unprepared. He just called a few people to discuss it temporarily, and they dispatched troops while talking.A few of us also discussed in Chongqing.As the old saying goes, when water comes to cover it, soldiers come to block it.We also sent troops, as long as we beat Chiang Kai-shek harder, the easier it was to talk.It was at this time that member Gao Shuxun[7] revolted.By the winter of 1948, the situation was almost the same, and by the spring of 1949, the situation was settled.Now let's do the math. The basic condition for us to win is that we represent the hope and direction of the people.After Japan surrendered, people all over the country hoped to rest, even if it was two or three years.As a result, I only rested for one year, but even during this year, I fought a lot of battles.

The hope of the people, the direction that the people need, and our own various efforts, in the past, the Northern Expedition was possible, the whole of China could be liberated, and the construction of the country could be started.In the future, on the basis of the support of the people and with our efforts, we will surely be able to defeat imperialist aggression and liberate Taiwan, and we will certainly be able to build a modern revolutionary army. We are not good enough in industry, agriculture, culture, and military affairs. The imperialists estimate that you have only a few things, so they come to bully us.They said, "How many atomic bombs do you have?" But they miscalculated one of our estimates, that is, China's current potential power will be amazing in the future.

China is a big country and needs a strong land, sea and air force.Our country has such a long coastline, we must build a strong navy.People all over the country wanted us to have an air force, and in the beginning we only had a small air force, as seen in the Tiananmen parade.In 1954, our country produced an airplane by itself. Since Pangu opened the world, and the Three Emperors and Five Emperors have come to the present, this is an earth-shattering event, although it is only a trainer airplane. China is a huge country, but its industry is not as good as that of the Netherlands and Belgium, and its automobile manufacturing is not as good as that of Denmark.There is a common saying, "Be a man with your tail between your legs." To be a man is to be a man. Why can't we just cock our tails? The reason is simple. We can't make tanks, cars, large-caliber cannons, and tractors now, so it's better to tuck our tails.I hope that you will work hard while taking care of your health. One is to continue working, and the other is to take a look at the planes, tanks, artillery, and tractors we will build in the future.

For our common goal, we should come up with some tricks to make the country look like it.Can it be done? Yes, as long as we have confidence.All of us cadres must work hard. Today, the National Defense Commission has people from all walks of life and people with experience in different eras. They are inspired by patriotism and aim for a common goal. This is very valuable.Many people here are seniors. When you [8] were the division commander, I was still a soldier.One thing we are good about is that what we do is known to all the people.In the past, people had to guess what Chiang Kai-shek's opinion was, and it changed after a period of time.There is no need to guess for us now, our direction is the direction of the people, which is enshrined in the Constitution.Now I often hear people say that we need to find out the bottom line. What is the bottom line? The constitution is the bottom line.The bottom line of the Communist Party is to develop all useful factors and destroy hindering factors.The useful factors are constructive forces, including various intellectuals, generals and soldiers from the old army.Many of the generals of the Communist Party also came from the old army. For example, Vice Chairman He Long[9] was the envoy of Xiangxi.No one is born a communist.A person does not have any mission at birth, and the mother does not want him to be a soldier or a general after giving birth to a son. This is caused by social and historical conditions. Our navy is still just a budding state.Last year I was on a warship, from Hankou to Nanjing, and watched the torpedo boat exercise in Nanjing. The navy soldiers were all young people between the ages of 19 and 23. When I saw them, I forgot that we were old.I also saw Lin Zun[10] at that time, you have become gentlemen.We must have engineers in the construction industry, and professors in running schools, and we must unite with them. We cannot do without them.Of course, there are no newcomers.It's not okay to cut off history, as if we started everything from scratch, this kind of view is wrong. Published based on the transcript of the speech kept by the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Refers to the new type of army that the Qing government modeled on the military system of Western capitalist countries after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894. [2] Tang Shengzhi (1889-1970), a native of Dong'an, Hunan.He participated in the Revolution of 1911 and the Anti-Yuan Huguo War. In 1923, he served as the commander of the Fourth Division of the Hunan Army.During the Northern Expedition in 1926, he served as the commander of the Eighth Army of the National Revolutionary Army and the commander-in-chief of the front enemy in the middle of the Northern Expedition Army.In 1954, he served as a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and a member of the National Defense Committee. [3] The Whampoa Army refers to the National Revolutionary Army organized by the Guangdong Revolutionary Government in 1925, with the Whampoa Military Academy as the main force. By June 1926, it had developed into eight armies. [4] Huang Qixiang (1898-1970), a native of Meixian County, Guangdong Province, was the head of the 36th Regiment of the 12th Division of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army during the Northern Expedition in 1926. He served as a member of the National Defense Committee and a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for four years.Cai Tingkai (1892-1968), a native of Luoding, Guangdong, was the head of the 28th Regiment of the 10th Division of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army during the Northern Expedition in 1926. Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission, Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. [5] Cheng Qian, was the commander of the Sixth Army of the National Revolutionary Army during the Northern Expedition in 1926, and the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the vice chairman of the National Defense Committee in 1954.Li Minghao (1897-1980), a native of Liling, Hunan, served as the head of the 54th Regiment of the 17th Division of the Sixth Army of the National Revolutionary Army during the Northern Expedition in 1926. Member of the National Defense Committee. [6] Ye Ting (1896-1946), a native of Huiyang, Guangdong.In the early period of the Northern Expedition, he served as the head of the Independent Regiment of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. [7] Gao Shuxun (1898-1972), a native of Yanshan, Hebei.In October 1945, he led an army and a column to revolt in Handan.At the time of the uprising, he was the deputy commander of the 11th Theater of the Kuomintang Army and the commander of the New Eighth Army.In 1954, he served as a member of the National Defense Commission. [8] Refers to Cheng Qian. [9] He Long, during the Northern Expedition in 1926, successively served as the commander of the Sixth Division of the Eighth Army of the National Revolutionary Army and the guard envoy of Xiangxi, the commander of the First Division of the Ninth Army, and the commander of the Independent Fifteenth Division.In 1954, he served as the vice-chairman of the National Defense Commission. [10] Lin Zun (1905-1979), a native of Fuzhou, Fujian.Former commander of the Second Fleet of the Kuomintang Navy.On April 23, 1949, he led an uprising of 25 ships under his command and joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army.In 1954, he served as a member of the National Defense Commission.