Chapter 32 A farewell message to the graduates of Shanbei Public School [1]

(March 3, 1938) classmates: Shangong is a microcosm of the whole of China.The students come from different places, different occupations and different classes, but they share the same tendency, that is, the tendency to build a new China.You are progressive elements and those who created a new China.Therefore, Shan Gong represents the united front of the whole of China and is a microcosm of China's progress. Once upon a time there was a Whampoa [2], where there was a kind of vigor, and this kind of vigor also represented a kind of tendency.Huangpu is the same as Shangong, the students come from various places, and they are distributed to various places.The Whampoa at that time was to overthrow the warlords and imperialism, and it was the epitome of China's progress at that time.The direction of our Shaanxi government is to overthrow Japanese imperialism and establish a new China, and we must stick to this direction.Anyone who violates this direction is violating the purpose of Shanxi Gong. We students should help each other and supervise each other.

Today, if the enemy is going to attack Wuhan, Xi'an, Changsha, Nanchang and other places, China will encounter unavoidable difficulties. It is very possible that some people will waver in the face of these difficulties.When the students graduated, it was like being thrown into the river. Some of them might be swept away by the tide, but most of them were able to overcome the tide, move in the general direction, and achieve the intended purpose.Going in this direction requires a firm will and the spirit of not being afraid to sacrifice everything in the hard and arduous struggle. The current situation is different from the past. There are three united fronts in the world—the international one, the Chinese one, and the domestic one in Japan—that can defeat Japanese imperialism. It will change the situation, and China will definitely go in a new direction.

A comrade from Wuhan said: "There is now a formula for our War of Resistance outside, which is 'Since the Lu Revolution[3], China will definitely win the final victory'." This sentence is correct, but there is still a paragraph in the middle, This article is about how to win.This question is very important, we should answer it, and we should write the article in the middle section well. Things are constantly changing, and it is impossible to describe all future events today. Such a requirement is almost like utopian socialism.We do not approve of utopias fabricated out of thin air, but this is not the case when looking at things scientifically.From the old China to the new China, how to get to the law? The specific content cannot be fully described today, but the general direction can be pointed out.The long-term nature of the Chinese revolution is determined by the course of historical changes.Based on the experience of the past six months, we can say the following two sentences: "Victory after defeat, turning weak into strong." This is the future of our long-term war of resistance.In the past half a year, China has made a lot of progress. We have resisted Japan, cooperated with the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, united with the Soviet Union, started to have freedom of speech, and began to have political work in the army.What track is this journey on? We replied: "It is on a difficult and difficult track." If Wuhan and Xi'an are lost, the large area will be in the hands of Japan, and the small area will be in our hands. So is that the end? No, it never will be.China's geographical conditions are different from those of Spain. Spain's land is too small and there are not many places to go. When the thirty-five strategies are used up, the thirty-six strategies are useless, so they adopt the strategy of sticking to Madrid; China is different, we can go, There are many places, and it is very difficult for the Japanese imperialists to occupy the whole of China.China's territory is as large as seventeen or eight Frances, and its population is as large as several Frances. If most of China's land is occupied by Japan (which may be the case), we still have a solution, because we have two deadly enemies. The area-inside line and outside line, these are the two combat areas.The inner line is Yun, Gui, Sichuan, and Hunan, which are generally under the jurisdiction of the central government, and the outer line is the front of the large land occupied by Japan.We must work hard to win the future of the anti-Japanese national united front based on the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, improve political and military conditions, create a new Chinese army, cooperate with aircraft and artillery, and attack internally and externally. Only in this way can the devils be driven out of the whole of China.To achieve this goal, there will be many difficulties. For example, if Wuhan falls, there will be problems of wavering and compromise and doubts about whether the war of resistance should continue. Such problems may occur in the front and rear.At that time, a party with a long-term vision is needed to judge the trend of the situation.

Let us now examine the history of the Kuomintang.The Kuomintang has experienced many failures and successes in history, and the history is difficult and tortuous.The Revolution of 1911 failed, and the Kuomintang was reorganized to achieve a new situation in the Great Revolution; as a result of the Northern Expedition, the KMT and the Communist Party separated, and the interests were obtained by feudal forces and imperialism.We believe that the Kuomintang is more likely to continue the war of resistance, because there is no way out for surrender.The Communist Party has no such problem, and has always been resolute in the war of resistance, and the majority of the people are also opposed to surrender.Now many people think back to the situation during the Northern Expedition, and hope that the Kuomintang, the Communist Party, and the people will all advocate the war of resistance to the end.

The fall of Wuhan - this trend is possible.You all have to run down the "mountain" to encounter this kind of situation.Once Wuhan falls, the situation will definitely be very bad, and peacemakers will definitely come out; however, we are very sure of overcoming this difficulty. In addition to our domestic persistence in the war of resistance, we must also add favorable international conditions.Although Germany openly helped Japan, recognized the "Manchukuo" and refused to sell arms to China, and the attitude of the British cabinet has also changed, this is only one side of the current situation; the people of the world, especially the Soviet Union, represent the general direction of the world. , will come to encourage and assist China.The Soviet Union will definitely help China, and one day the Soviet Union will be Japan's direct opponent.America will do it too.All these make us believe that Japan must not be able to swallow China.Which year's "Tengu" swallowed the moon? This is one of them.Second, even if it is swallowed, it will not be long. This judgment is based on the analysis of China and international conditions.Japan is not strong enough, and it cannot sustain itself for a long time.It can be concluded from this that the general direction of China's resistance against Japan must be victory.

Now our general policy is to defend Wuhan and Xi'an. The method is to prepare to retreat, but we must consume the enemy and buy time.Fight to defend Wuhan and Xi'an, even if you fail, it doesn't matter.We have already shown that it is possible to win from the inside out.This is one aspect.On the other hand, the area occupied by the enemy is a large area, so we can start "articles" in small areas nearby. Ministry, if Wuhan does not guard, there are many places where "articles" can be made. A young man wrote from Changsha and said: "China will perish. If Wuhan is lost, a large area will be destroyed. What else can I do?" I said, we students from the Northern Shaanxi Public School must have a way to go out, and the way is to paint " Tofu block", draw "tofu block" near the main road.At the edge of the "tofu block", we have no choice for the time being, because it is a big road and a big city, which is occupied by the Japanese troops with superior weapons.Japan has won the quick battle of the cities and the main roads, and also the protracted battle of the villages and small roads.For example, when Yan'an in northern Shaanxi is occupied, we will fight a protracted war in other small areas, countless villages, and countless small roads.Japan can win the quick battle in the cities, but we can win the protracted battle in the countryside.This time you will work in two parts after graduation, one part will develop the democracy movement work in the rear, and the other part will go to the "tofu block".Some people may be afraid to paint "tofu cubes", but if we cite the example of Nie Rongzhen[4], we will not be afraid.Nie Rongzhen created a large team of 25,000 people in Wutai Mountain (not counting those who are not out of production).We must tell this example to the people in the occupied or to-be-occupied areas of the country, so that they can see the way and the way out for resisting Japan.We resolutely reject the statement that there is no solution in the occupied regions, and in this regard we can also relate a great deal to the experience of the ten-year civil war.

There are many unsatisfactory aspects of Shaanxi Public School. We don't care about taking classes according to chapter by chapter like other schools, but care about learning a style and a direction.The principals and teaching staff of Shanxi Gong have all come out of hard and difficult struggles, so you can learn a direction in Shanxi—the political direction, and at the same time you can learn a style—the work style. You are to go and work wherever the enemy occupies.The shape of the word "Tian" in Shanxi means that the enemy has surrounded us from several main roads; conversely, we have occupied many "tofu blocks" near the main roads, and we have surrounded the enemy.From an international perspective, although Japan surrounded China, the world's anti-fascist countries also surrounded Japan.The Sino-Japanese war will not end in a few days. The KMT and the Communist Party are not strong now, and Japan is stronger than us. If the united front had not been broken ten years ago, the situation today would not be the same. This also stipulates The protracted nature and persistence of the Sino-Japanese War.The same is true of international conditions. The time for the people of the world to fight against aggression and seek liberation is approaching.China is not isolated, but is connected with the struggle of the people of the world for liberation.The world is indivisible, the revolution is indivisible, and victory is also indivisible. If this continues, China's victory is unquestionable.Comrade Stalin said: The construction of socialism can be completed in one country, but world capitalism exists and surrounds the Soviet Union. Therefore, the final victory of socialism must be won by the struggle of the world proletariat and the people of the colonies.

China's unity + world aid + Japan's domestic difficulties = China's victory.This formula makes sense.Of course, the slogan of self-reliance is correct, but it is also important to note that China cannot be isolated. Students should work harder after graduation.On the one hand, don't be lazy, this opportunistic tendency is undesirable, we should work actively and work hard.On the other hand, we must also oppose acute diseases, and the mentality of winning in one day must also be eradicated. For today's difficulties, we must solve problems based on fundamental principles combined with actual conditions.For example, the Xi'an Incident, if not resolved peacefully and caused civil war, would give counter-revolutionaries an opportunity.When you go out to work, you must solve problems based on this principle.Another example is to go out to organize guerrillas, and the provincial government wants to hand over the guns of the guerrillas, so our principle is not to fight, so as not to give Japan an opportunity to take advantage of.The best example of this is the Eighth Route Army.Some people want the Communist Party to withdraw from the Eighth Route Army. This is absolutism and cannot be tolerated. The united front is relative, and the Communist Party must maintain its relative independence in the united front.

In short, our principle is revolutionary, but it is concrete, not abstract, and must be combined with the actual situation to solve the problem.That's it for today's parting words.You have mainly learned the direction, principles and style here.After graduation, no matter in the front or rear, inside or outside, we must work hard to create countless large and small anti-Japanese base areas, from the establishment of Mount Wutai in Shanxi to the establishment of Mount Wutai in China, and strive for the final victory. Published based on the transcript of the speech kept by the Central Archives.

-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is Mao Zedong's speech to the graduates of the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth teams of Yan'an Shanbei Public School. [2] Whampoa, referring to the Whampoa Military Academy, was established in Whampoa, Guangzhou in 1924 by Sun Yat-sen with the help of the Communist Party of China and the Soviet Union.The Communist Party of China successively sent Zhou Enlai, Yun Daiying, Xiao Chunv, Xiong Xiong, Nie Rongzhen, etc. to work in the school, and many members of the Communist Party and the Communist Youth League were among the students.

[3] Lu Bian refers to the Lugouqiao Incident, also known as the July 7th Incident.On July 7, 1937, the Japanese army attacked the Chinese garrison at Marco Polo Bridge in the southwest of Beiping.Driven by the people's anti-Japanese upsurge across the country and under the influence of the Communist Party of China's anti-Japanese advocacy, the Chinese garrison rose up to resist.The Chinese people's heroic eight-year war of resistance began from then on. [4] Nie Rongzhen, then commander and political commissar of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region of the Eighth Route Army.