Chapter 11 1. The black land that must be contested

In Mao Zedong's mind, the battlefield of the strategic decisive battle was the Central Plains or the Northeast. In the end, he placed the first and most important chess piece on the black soil of the Northeast. The Northeast at that time was very different from the Northeast today.Although the white mountains and black waters remain unchanged, the Sanjiang Plain is still a black land stretching as far as the eye can see. The Northeast region has been under the control of local warlords in the Northeast since the Revolution of 1911. Although the blue sky and white sun flag of the Kuomintang government floated over the Northeast after Zhang Xueliang announced the "change of flags", the Kuomintang government did nothing in the Northeast. The world of local forces represented by Zhang Xueliang.Japanese imperialism has been expanding its power in the Northeast since the Russo-Japanese War. They stationed troops in the Northeast, cultivated land, opened mines, set up factories, and did business. under control. After the "September 18th" Incident in 1931, the Japanese imperialists invaded and occupied the three northeastern provinces by force, established a puppet regime of the puppet "Manchukuo", and turned the northeast into a Japanese imperialist colony.Since the "September 18th" Incident, the anti-Japanese forces led by our party, mainly the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, have fought against the Japanese invaders for 14 years.

On August 8, 1945, according to the "Yalta Agreement" signed by the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom in February 1945, the Soviet Union will participate in the war against Japan and send troops to Northeast China two to three months after the German fascist surrender "(Regarding this agreement, the Soviet Union said that it must abide by the agreement between the three countries and keep it secret, so it has not informed the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Ping, whose real name is Peter Bafinovich Vladimilov, was in charge of the intelligence group and radio station in Zaoyuan, Yan'an), and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. In the early hours of the 9th, the Soviet Red Army crossed the Sino-Soviet border and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese Kwantung Army in the northeast.After the bombardment of heavy artillery and the bombing of aircraft, the tank group drove straight in.Under the command of Marshal Malinovsky, Marshal Metzlekov, and General Pulkayev, the three red armies quickly entered the northeast.General Yamada Otosan, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Kwantung Army, led the headquarters personnel to flee south. On August 6 and 9, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. On August 10, the Japanese government sent a begging note to the governments of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and China, announcing that it was ready to accept the announcement of Japan's unconditional surrender at the Potsdam Conference. On August 15, Emperor Hirohito of Japan read the "Edict of the End of the War" on the radio, announcing unconditional surrender to the world.

The good news of Japan's surrender made the people of the whole country rejoice, and the soldiers and civilians in Yan'an cheered and celebrated for three days. However, the leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China are busy day and night while cheering victory with everyone.Mao Zedong moved his office to a small auditorium and worked on a large table tennis table. This is because the Soviet Union did not notify the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China of such a major event as the Soviet Union sending troops to the Northeast. Our Party knew nothing about it in advance, and our Party Central Committee heard this important news through radio.In the face of this major turning point, we must seize every minute and make various emergency arrangements. On the afternoon of August 9, the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Yangjialing.Mao Zedong said at the meeting: "We have made preparations in Suiyuan, Chahar, Rehe, and Liaoning." On the 11th, Mao Zedong drafted for the Central Committee the "Decision on Our Party's Tasks after Japan's Surrender" and said: Our army "This battle will be extremely fierce" with the Kuomintang army to "compete for the fruits of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War".Within two days of August 10th and 11th, the Central Military Commission issued seven orders drafted by Zhou Enlai and issued in the name of Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, ordering our military units to immediately take over the Japanese-occupied areas and regain lost ground.The second order of the Central Military Commission stated:

(1) The former Lu Zhengcao Division of the Northeast Army marched from Shanxi and Suiyuan to Chahar and Rehe; (2) the former Zhang Xuesi Division of the Northeast Army moved from Hebei and Chahar to Rehe, (3) The former Wanyi Division of the Northeast Army marched to Liaoning from Shandong and Hebei; Orders from the Central Military Commission were also issued to He Long in Jinsui and Nie Rongzhen in Jinchaji respectively, ordering them to "move northward."In short, the goal is all to the northeast, to Suiyuan, Rehe, Chahar, Liaoning and Jilin, where Mao Zedong said at the meeting on August 9 that we are "all prepared".

It is very obvious that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has placed the Northeast in the most important position in this "extremely fierce battle".Why do you want to do this? First, as mentioned earlier, the Japanese invaders had already surrendered in Northeast China at this time; the Kuomintang, regardless of whether it was the party, the government, the army, the police, or the special forces, had never had any foundation here. In a vacuum.Whoever can enter the Northeast first and get the support of the people will be able to occupy the Northeast first. Second, the Northeast at this time is temporarily under the control of the Soviet army.The Soviet Union may hand over power to the Kuomintang government according to the "Yalta Agreement", but the Soviet Union will never agree to allow the U.S. military to enter the Northeast with the Kuomintang, and it is impossible for the Kuomintang army to be separated from the military power of the United States. Therefore, in the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union , As long as we are ahead of the Kuomintang army and create a fait accompli, it is impossible for the Soviet Union to hand over all of the Northeast to the Kuomintang.

Third, the Northeast had the most industrial resources and the best industrial foundation in the country at that time. Anshan, the capital of steel, Benxi, the capital of iron, and Fushun, the capital of coal, had already formed a climate at that time.Machinery industry and chemical industry are also in the leading position in the country.According to statistics in 1943, the Northeast produced 93% of the country's steel, 87.7% of its iron, 49.5% of its coal, and 78.2% of its electricity.The Northeast also has the densest railway network and road network in the country, accounting for about half of the country.

These have an irreplaceable role in our next step in the national liberation war. Fourth, to the north of the northeast is the Soviet Union, to the west is Mongolia, to the southeast is North Korea, and to the south is the sea.The east, west, and north directions are all beneficial to our development. Although the attitude of the Soviet Union was not very friendly to us at that time, at least they would not shoot us in the back.What we have to deal with is only the Kuomintang army in the south.However, during the War of Resistance Against Japan, in order to preserve his strength, Chiang Kai-shek withdrew his main military force in the southwest region. There were basically no troops in North China. It would not take ten and a half months for him to transport the army from the southwest to the northeast.That is, when the Kuomintang army arrives in the northeast and our army competes with them, we will still be safe in the east, west, and north directions.

Fifth, our party has long had anti-Japanese armed forces in the Northeast, and there are vast liberated areas in North and East China. If the Northeast is in our hands, the entire North will be half of our territory.Even if Chiang Kai-shek is obsessed with his obsession and really wants to provoke a civil war across the country, the situation is still in our favor. This is the main reason why the Central Committee of our Party took the struggle for the Northeast as the biggest event after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan in spite of its busy schedule.Moreover, the central government has already seen the domestic development situation after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and the decision that our party must develop to the northeast after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War has long been determined by the central government.At the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong had clearly stated the task of fighting for the Northeast.He said:

The four northeastern provinces are extremely important and may be under our leadership.With the four northeastern provinces, we have the basis for victory. We need to prepare 20 to 30 brigades, leave the military area, and go to the northeast in the future. The Northeast is very important. Judging from the development of our Party and the recent and future prospects of the Chinese revolution, the Northeast is especially important.As long as we have the Northeast, the Chinese revolution will have a solid foundation.Now our foundation is not solid, because economically our base areas are still handicraft industries, there is no large-scale industry, no heavy industry, and they are not geographically connected.

At this time, on the line of the Great Wall from Shanhaiguan to Zhangbei, our army had already deployed Li Yunchang, Lu Zhengcao, Zhang Xuesi and other troops.And among them, Lu, Zhang, and Wan Yi from Shandong were all former generals of the Northeast Army, and Zhang Xuesi was Zhang Xueliang's younger brother.These are the forces that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has already prepared to open up the Northeast. Under the comprehensive deployment and specific arrangements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, our army's battle for the Northeast was carried out intensely and orderly.