The Jialing River in March is windy and cold.Although the soft wind in early spring blows green silk across the river, what is left on the surface of the Haosen River is still cold and lonely. On the side of the ferry at the foot of Tazi Mountain between the south of Cangxi City and Jianzhong in northern Sichuan, and in the Pingba of the canyon far away, there are simple work sheds everywhere.Newly cut cedar trees and green bar trees are used to prop up pieces of torn brown tarpaulins, and some wooden shelves are covered with bark or thatch.People hurried to and fro in and out of the sheds, carrying heavy sticks and planks.In the deep, dark blue jungle, there were suddenly "jingling", "pingping bang bang" and hammering sounds here and there.

In the morning, Zhang Guotao, chairman of the Military Committee of the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army, came to construction site No. 1 from the general headquarters full of thoughts, to check the shipbuilding situation of the troops.Because Zhang Guotao is a fat man with big ears, and he walked quickly and turned over several mountains, his fair face was already sweating and he was out of breath.So he had to unbutton his cotton coat, take off his military cap, and hold it in his hands.But the capable Xu Xiangqian didn't grow angry, and his face didn't change, as if he came here for a walk.

Zhang Guotao saw freshly cut timber piled up everywhere on the No. 1 construction site, some of which had been sawn into pieces of wood, exuding a strong smell of pines and cypresses.The reddish-brown cliffs are piled up with countless scraps of copper and iron.He knew that it was for smelting nails for shipbuilding.What is the law?Where to get so many much-needed nails?It can only be forged by the hands of the Red Army. Zhang Guotao and Xu Xiangqian walked towards the cliff, wanting to see what these scraps of iron are.Maybe you can find a "treasure" or two.Zhang Guotao frowned and looked at it with his fat white hands. He saw a few broken pots and one or two huge dead clocks.He paid attention to identifying the incomplete inscriptions on an abandoned bell. He found that it was forged during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and it was a bell kept in a Lingguan temple 40 miles away from Langzhong.He thought to himself, if it weren't for the imminent crossing of the river, cultural relics and antiques like this would never be destroyed, and should be left to future generations to verify.But now that ships are going to be built, they don't care about so much. They have to be crushed and put into the "furnace" of molten iron for smelting.

However, what iron furnace is there in this remote mountain?Zhang Guotao raised his flabby eyes to look at the platform under the cliff, and saw a deep pit there, which was obviously dug out by the Red Army.Several female Red Army soldiers are throwing wood into the pit.Because the freshly cut mountain firewood has a lot of water, it burns with a "crackling" sound, like setting off a string of firecrackers that suddenly sound and stop.The thick smoke from the wet wood smoked the female Red Army to tears, her red and black face was blurred, and the mountain wind blew the smoke away. From a distance, there seemed to be a few red mountain flowers blooming in the faint blue smoke. The tea, especially the red five stars on the anise gray cloth military cap, twinkle and twinkle, extremely bright.

After a while, a few young and strong soldiers came over, saw Zhang Guotao and Xu Xiangqian, and shouted all the time, looking very friendly: "Chairman Zhang! Commander Xu!" "Yeah!" Zhang Guotao nodded and said with a smile: "In twenty days, can your construction site produce thirty boats?" "No reason! Chairman Zhang, to tell you the truth, we haven't closed our eyes for three days. 'Sleepy' has long been driven to the Jialing River to feed fish and shrimp." The energetic soldier replied with a smile. "Okay!" Zhang Guotao nodded in satisfaction.Then he asked:

"What is your specific task?" "Break copper and rotten iron to smelt iron." A big warrior replied immediately. "Hey - what a pity this clock!" Zhang Guotao let out a long sigh. As they talked, these warriors swung their hammers and hammer heads, striking them with clang and clang, and from time to time, a few dazzling gold stars jumped out from under the raised hammer heads. Zhang Guotao and Xu Xiangqian wandered around the shipbuilding site.After a while they got into the messy construction site, and after a while they came to the dam where the big saw was pulled, and saw that the soldiers were all busy working.One by one, they took off their cotton coats and were working with bare heads.Zhang Guotao said to Xu Xiangqian with satisfaction while walking:

"It seems that crossing the river next month will not be a problem." "In order to support the army on the one hand, the commanders and fighters are very energetic." Xu Xiangqian responded casually. Zhang Guotao said with emotion: "It's not to cope with the army on the one hand, and we will not abandon the Soviet area in northern Sichuan. I received a call from them the month before last, saying that they were going to sneak across the Yangtze River, and they wanted us to cooperate with them and fight together. I don't know how they are doing? I heard that they are in the border area between Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan and The Kuomintang troops are going around in circles, their whereabouts are erratic, and their direction is uncertain. Liu Xiang's troops are setting up defenses along the Yangtze River to prevent the smuggling of the first army. Whether they can successfully smuggle? It seems that it is still a question. If they don't have this power, we don't want to rush Abandon the Soviet area in northern Sichuan."

Xu Xiangqian thought about it and said: "The Central Committee and the Military Commission called on January 22 to infer that they must cross the river." At this time, three old men wearing green cloth long gowns, white cloth belts around their waists, and white cloth handkerchiefs on their heads walked slowly from the path beyond the woods, carrying thick yellow bamboo tubes.As they walked, they chatted loudly and vigorously, and quickly approached Zhang Guotao and Xu Qianqian. Xu Xiangqian asked in a half-baked Sichuan dialect: "Grandpa, you carry such a heavy thing and leave the house? Go to the place where you are going?"

An old man stroked his chest-length beard and said loudly: "We don't go anywhere else, but come to your Red Army." Zhang Guotao clapped his hands and said: "welcome!" Another dark-faced observer looked Zhang Guotao up and down, saw that he was dressed neatly, and his skin was fair. He thought he might be a high-ranking official, so he tentatively asked: "I think you, Comrade Red Army, may be a leader." Xu Xiangqian immediately said to the old people: "This is Comrade Zhang Guotao, our chairman." The chest-length bearded old man stretched out his thumb and said joyfully:

"Hi! The famous Chairman Zhang, who doesn't know about the Northern Sichuan Soviet? Who doesn't know? It's our luck to meet you in this corner today." Zhang Guotao said to the old people with a smile: "Grandpa, it's not spring yet, and the weather is a bit cold, what are you doing here?" "What do you want to do? It's not for you. I heard that the Red Army needs tung oil for shipbuilding, so I brought all my lamps and put them in this section of bamboo." The tall old man said impatiently. The dark-faced old man struggled to shake the bamboo tube in his hand and said loudly:

"This is also the tung oil that I use to light the lamps at home. I brought it all to support the Red Army. How can a ship be successful without tung oil? It's not a bad thing to go into the water, it's a ghost." The bearded Zhetou put the bamboo tube in his hand on the ground, kept swinging his limp arms, and said deeply: "In order to marry Miss Sun, my family bought a lot of tung oil in the county to paint the dowry. I heard that the Red Army needed it. The township Soviet called for support for the Red Army. I brought them all." Zhang Guotao and Xu Xiangqian were moved by the dedication of the simple old peasants in the Northern Sichuan Soviet Area to the Red Army and the revolution, and they raised a layer of lofty respect for the people of the Northern Sichuan Soviet Area in their hearts.Zhang Guotao held the hands of the old people tightly and said: "On behalf of the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army, I thank you and the people of the Soviet Area in Northern Sichuan!" Xu Xiangqian immediately said to the three old men: "The tung oil you donated to the Red Army is stored here, don't send it to the construction site, we will carry it to you." The three old men clasped their hands and said in unison: "Then thank you." Xu Xiangqian said kindly to the old people: "Come with us to the headquarters for a break and have lunch before leaving." The tall old man waved his hand: "No need, we still have something to do at home, you're welcome." The dark-faced old man said: "The Red Army and the people are a family." Zhang Guotao and Xu Xiangqian sent the three old people away, carrying bamboo tubes filled with tung oil in their hands, and walked slowly towards the construction site, feeling very disturbed. After Zhang Guotao inspected the No. 1 shipbuilding site, he and Xu Xiangqian went around the No. 2 and No. 3 construction sites together with his special agent Xiao Jin, and returned to the headquarters in the evening. The general headquarters of the Red Fourth Front Army is located in a large ancestral hall in the county seat.The ancestral hall is all inlaid and decorated with large pieces of blue bricks, which is simple and dignified, with a bit of momentum.The roof is gable-style, and the cornices at the four corners are slightly raised.The ancestral hall is surrounded by tall stone walls inlaid with bluestone, and there is a stone archway outside the stone wall.Many slogans of the Red Army were chiseled with steel drills on the bluestone wall, and the handwriting was thick and solemn.There is a couplet chiseled on both sides of the stone archway: Zhang Guotao lives in a wing room in the second courtyard of the ancestral hall.He dragged his tired legs into his living room, feeling rather sleepy all over, and not feeling well in his heart. The red fourth front army's plan to cross the Jialing River westward was deployed by Zhang Guotao himself.He personally participated in the research and approval of every ferry that could cross the river, and finally selected the ferry in the area near Cangxi County.However, in this area, the river is wide and the water is deep, and the current is turbulent. There are mostly cliffs on both sides, and it is not easy to climb.Deng Xihou and Tian Songyao of the Sichuan Army were heavily guarded and fortified.At the military conference where this point was selected as the river crossing point, most of the senior generals of the Fourth Front Army opposed it, thinking that this crossing point was too dangerous, with few advantages and many disadvantages, so it might not work.Only Zhang Guotao strongly agrees, thinking that this place has the best conditions.The reason is that the enemy will never suspect that the Red Army will cross the river here, and the Red Army can take advantage of the enemy's negligence and paralysis, and succeed in one fell swoop.This is Zhang Guotao's use of the "empty city strategy" in the Three Kingdoms in the opposite direction, and it is a military action he took boldly.Although this plan was opposed by his subordinates, he did not take it seriously and insisted on implementing it. After Zhang Guotao took advantage of the enemy's rebellious psychology to make this extraordinary choice, he still felt faintly uneasy in his heart.He thought that if something unexpected happens, such as the ship cannot be built on time, or the quality of the ship's repair is not good, all efforts will fall short.At that time, it was a trivial matter to be ridiculed by the robes, but the loss of the troops was indeed a major event.So he was uneasy, and asked Xu Xiangqian to inspect the shipbuilding site early this morning. Xu Mian encouraged the officers and soldiers to work hard to complete the task so as not to miss the important military aircraft. In order to cross the Jialing River westward, as early as mid-February, the headquarters of the Fourth Front Army made serious preparations, and held a meeting for the establishment of a sailor company in Wangcang to strengthen training in rowing, pushing boats, and floating water.The sailor company consists of 4 platoons, 16 squads and 260 people, all of whom are selected from various armies.At the same time, a boat union was established to build and repair ships for the sailor company.Then started training in Donghe in Wangcang.It was severe winter, the wind was biting, and there was a thin layer of ice floating on the river.The soldiers braved the severe cold to break the ice to practice flotation. Two people actually froze to death, but the training continued without stopping. The water training seems to be basically ok, the problem now is shipbuilding.Zhang Guotao personally arranged for Yu Tianyun, commander of the 30th Army, and Li Xiannian, political commissar, to inspect and supervise the shipbuilding site for political mobilization.It is estimated that the time for crossing the river is approaching day by day, and Zhang Guotao is unavoidably anxious since he has not yet built a boat. Zhang Guotao clearly remembers that in late January, the Fourth Front Army launched the Guang (Yuan) Zhao (Hua) Campaign, preparing to annihilate Ding Delong's brigade. At that time, I suddenly received calls from the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and the Central Revolutionary Military Commission.The message said: "In order to choose good conditions and strive for greater development plans, it is decided that our field army (Central Red Army) will transfer to western Sichuan and plan to cross the river from the upper reaches of Shanghai. If there is no obstacle, we can cross the river north in about mid-February. The Fourth Front Army and the Field Army take advantage of the fact that the Chiang Kai-shek enemy has not completely entered Sichuan to carry out the "encirclement and suppression" campaign, and closely coordinate operations. In order to defeat the Sichuan enemy first, we suggest that you should use mass armed forces and independent regiments to actively move to the east to contain the Liu (Xiang) enemy. To concentrate the main force of the Red Army to attack the western front, it is advisable to gather troops quickly, complete preparations for the attack, and attack west of the Jialing River in the near future.” Ten days before receiving this call, when the Fourth Army was stationed in Ning and Qiang, Zhang Guotao received a telegram from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, saying that the Political Bureau of the Central Committee had convened a meeting in Zunyi, Guizhou. The political line was correct, but the military line made serious mistakes, mainly because the Central Red Army misused the slogan of defending the Soviet area in the Jiangxi Soviet area, adopted a conservative military defense strategy, and abandoned the fine tradition of guerrilla warfare, thus incurring military defeat .In addition, the telegram also told the Fourth Front Army that the Political Bureau of the Central Committee had elected Mao Zedong as a member of the Standing Committee. In fact, Zhang Guotao's decision to cross the Jialing River westward by the Fourth Front Army was not entirely out of support for the First Front Army.As early as October of the first year, when the First Army broke away from the Jiangxi base area and moved westward for only a few days, the Fourth Front Army learned of this important information.Zhang Guotao was shocked, and immediately held a meeting of senior cadres to analyze the reason why the army on the one hand lost the Soviet area and went west suddenly.Because of this major military action by the First Front Army, the Fourth Front Army was not telegraphed in advance.Zhang Guotao intercepted it directly from the enemy's materials.At the meeting, the senior cadres agreed that on the one hand, the westward march of the army was a military action that had to be taken under the pressure of the enemy, and it was a strategic retreat.And Zhang Guotao was further worried about whether the army on the one hand could stop the enemy's pursuit on the way to retreat.I thought to myself, on the one hand, there are so many cadres in the army, and almost all the important members of the Communist Party are gathered in them, why can't they crush the enemy's "encirclement and suppression"?On the one hand, the inability of the army to gain a foothold in Jiangxi should be said to be a serious blow to the Soviet movement.Can the Soviet movement succeed in China?There is still a big question mark!It seems that the political line of the Chinese Communist Party needs to be carefully considered.Zhang Guotao began to ponder this issue after learning the news that the first army had broken through the encirclement and marched west.So, if the Fourth Front Army is always squatting in one place, not actively developing outwards, and is always dealing with the enemy's "encirclement and suppression", in the long run, will it be as passive as the Front Army, and will end up chewing the same bitter fruit as the Front Army?However, it is indeed difficult for the Fourth Front Army to develop on the spot.Because the quality of the guns and ammunition of the Fourth Front Army is getting lower and lower. Although there are 50,000 troops, there are less than 20,000 guns that can actually fight.If you fight against Chiang Kai-shek's direct troops, you can capture better ammunition to supplement yourself.In addition, after years of wars in the Northern Sichuan Soviet Area, food and other material resources are scarce, and they are no longer suitable for the survival of 50,000 troops. If they want to develop, they have to change their plans. Therefore, after Zhang Guotao received a telegram from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China asking the Fourth Front Army to cross the Jialing River westward to support the First Front Army, he further strengthened his plan to withdraw from the Northern Sichuan Soviet Area.Because the result of doing so is to actively cooperate with the army on the one hand and respect the opinions of the central government, which is a manifestation of obeying the dispatch of the central government.At the same time, it is also one's own needs, and it cannot but be said to be a perfect solution to kill two birds with one stone. But once he made the decision to evacuate from northern Sichuan, Zhang Guotao inevitably hesitated. At the beginning of 1933, the bustling Shanghai was full of ghosts and ghosts. In the concession, spies were inquiring about activities everywhere, and the Kuomintang spies were running rampant in the foreign market.The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was troubled by Wang Ming's wrong line, and Gu Shunzhang and Xiang Zhongfa, who held the core secrets of the Central Committee, were arrested and rebelled successively. They could not stay in Shanghai and had to move to the Jiangxi Soviet Area. to work.As a member of the CCP delegation to the Communist International, Zhang Guotao had just returned from Soviet Russia and volunteered to go to the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Soviet areas.He thought that he was quite familiar with the situation in this area in the past, and the Central Plains was so good that it was convenient for him to gallop freely.If we start from Hubei, Henan and Anhui, and then develop northward, in order to control a wider area north of the river, this will make him even more fascinated.Because since he joined the revolution, he has always been at odds with the party's principles and policies on some major issues of principle of the CCP. For example, the CCP cooperated with the Kuomintang for the first time. , he obstructed again.He considers himself a "minority" of the CCP and has been criticized by the CCP and the Third International as a representative of opportunism.In addition, he likes to form small sects in the party, so he has been criticized repeatedly.But he is always brooding, disapproving of criticism from the central government and the international community, and sometimes thinks he has been wronged.Therefore, the Communist International believed that it was necessary to help and educate him well, so it transferred Zhang Guotao to Moscow.The result of this is also to allow the leaders of the CCP to let go of their work and avoid Zhang Guotao's interference.Zhang Guotao and his wife Yang Zilie lived in Soviet Russia for six years. They escaped the cruel class struggle in the country and lived in a foreign land. In the end, it was not so peaceful. Qu Qiubai, the head of the delegation to the Communist International, had conflicts, and had many disagreements with the head of the Chinese Department of the Eastern Department of the Communist International.He always evaded or quibbled about the mistakes he had made in the country in front of the relevant responsible persons of the Communist International.He always thought that he was "smart", and he was right; the fault was also certain leaders of the CCP, the Communist International, or Stalin himself.At this time, Li Lisan, whom he opposed, just stepped down, and the leadership of the CCP was being held by some young people who had returned from Russia. He, a veteran Communist, should go back and "clean up" the "remnants" of the CCP.So Stalin issued him a pass after an inspection by the international leadership. After Zhang Guotao returned to China, he was not appreciated by the international community and raised to the position of leader of the Communist Party of China. What the international community trusted was a dogmatic young man like Wang Ming.He saw that the Central Committee did not have his seat, so when the Central Committee moved from Shanghai to the Jiangxi Soviet Area to distribute other senior cadres to the Soviet Areas, he offered to go to Hubei, Henan, and Anhui. He decided to do a lot of work there and create a world. Come again with Central Theory. In mid-March 1931, Zhang Guotao came to the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area as Secretary of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Central Bureau and Chairman of the Military Commission. Shen Zemin and Chen Changhao also came with him.From then on, Zhang Guotao began his 5-year guerrilla career. In the Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and Anhui Soviet areas, a group of Red Army generals such as Zeng Zhongsheng used to lead the struggle there.Not long after Zhang Guotao, the "Imperial Envoy", arrived, under the pretext of purging the "Li San Line" and "purge", a group of important cadres such as Zeng Zhongsheng and Xu Jishen were removed from their posts, investigated and dealt with, and beheaded.Zeng Zhongsheng was originally a member of the Central Bureau of Hubei, Henan and Anhui, the vice chairman of the Revolutionary Committee, and the political commissar of the Four Fronts Army. He was also repeatedly demoted and dismissed because of Zhang Guotao's exclusion and blows.Xu Jishen, chairman of the Western Anhui Branch of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Military Commission and commander of the 12th Division of the Fourth Army, was killed. In the face of Chiang Kai-shek's fourth large-scale attack, the Red Fourth Army finally withdrew from this bloody land and had to make a journey of thousands of miles to develop the new Soviet area in northern Sichuan. Zhang Guotao, Xu Xiangqian, and Chen Changhao led the Fourth Red Army to Bashanshushui, and everything had to start from scratch.Finally, a new Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area was opened up. Shortly after the Fourth Front Army entered Sichuan at the end of 1932, Zhang Guotao and Xu Qianqian led the Fourth Front Army to adopt an effective policy of active defense. Liu Xiang's "six-way siege" and the major victory of annihilating more than 10,000 enemies made the Sichuan-Shanxi Soviet Area unprecedentedly expanded.It starts from Chengkou in the east, reaches Jialing River in the west, reaches Yingshan and Quxian in the south, and ends in Zhenba, Xixiang, and Ningqiang in southern Shaanxi in the north, with a total area of ​​more than 42,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 4 million. There are 23 counties and a City of Soviet power.At this time, the Red Fourth Front Army had grown from four divisions and more than 15,000 people when it entered Sichuan to four armies and more than 80,000 people. From the establishment of the Hubei-Yuhan-Anhui Soviet Area to the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area, the Fourth Front Army has grown from small to large, and from weak to strong, Zhang Guotao has devoted a lot of effort and talent.No matter whether it is intrigue, attacking and framing, fighting openly or secretly, doing what you want, giving orders, being vicious, sweet talk, caring for your subordinates, being hypocritical, pretending to be wrong, or acting arbitrarily Whether it's forming a clique, making double-edged swords, secretly crossing the front line, fighting openly, using the rudder according to the wind, individual struggle, and teamwork, Zhang Guotao finally learned a set of ways to organize and lead a huge armed force. special skill.He is proud of owning this huge army, he is proud of holding this important armed force, and he is proud of controlling this huge army.History has finally lived up to his five years of painstaking efforts.Of course, Xu Xiangqian's achievements as another leader of the Red Fourth Front Army cannot be denied. It should be said that he is on par with Zhang Guotao. Today, when the Fourth Red Army was about to withdraw from the Soviet area in northern Sichuan where Zhang Guotao was fighting, he couldn't help but feel a little melancholy.In particular, meeting a few old people who delivered tung oil at the No. 1 shipbuilding site brought up his various memories and thoughts about the Northern Sichuan Soviet in the past two years, and aroused his nostalgia and commemoration.The flesh-and-blood relationship between the Fourth Front Army and the people of northern Sichuan made him nostalgic for this land, and now he will move to a new place.Where will the new base be built?How to develop it?How to fight?How did the Soviet movement develop?Can the current plan to cross the river be realized?All kinds of thoughts came one after another. When Zhang Guotao was thinking about things like this, Chen Changhao walked in. Chen Changhao is about the same height as Zhang Guotao, but he is not as fat as Zhang Guotao.The face is well-defined and looks very lean.Zhang Guotao said to Chen Changhao: "Chang Hao, am I going to find you?" "Chairman Zhang, what's the matter?" "During the day, Xiangqian and I went to the shipbuilding site to see that the soldiers and workers were very enthusiastic. Crossing the river next month, it seems that there is no problem. You must pay close attention to the training of crossing, that is the key. The advance battalion crosses the river If it succeeds, there will be hope for the whole army.” Chen Changhao replied: "Yu Tianyun and Li Xiannian are working hard on this aspect. The advance battalion of the 263rd Regiment of the 18th Division of the Thirty Soldiers is intensely carrying out water training, crossing the river exercises, and further proficiency in water skills. The soldiers are generally in a good mood , hoping to cross the river as soon as possible." "Chang Hao, what do you think about the strategic policy after crossing the river?" Chen Changhao replied without thinking: "Isn't this issue already held by the Military Commission twice, and a special study has been done, with the goal of supporting the army on the one hand?" Zhang Guotao continued with sly eyes flashing: "Actually, supporting the army on the one hand can be said to be a slogan, or it can be said to be a strategic action." Chen Changhao was a little confused: "how do I say this?" Zhang Guotao said with confidence: "Cooperating with the central government is where the righteousness lies. It is of great benefit to mobilize the whole army. On the one hand, when the army is in danger, we have to try to cooperate with it. But on the other hand, the army is full of talents, and the generals are like clouds. After losing the battle, I don’t know how they did it? From now on, what is our future? Good or bad is hard to tell!” "Yes, we still have to fight hard in the future. The tasks of the Fourth Front Army are quite arduous." Zhang Guotao said worriedly: "Where is the army on the one hand now? What is the situation? It is unknown. How to support them is also unknown." Chen Changhao said: "Of course, only the camera works." Zhang Guotao went on to say: "After we crossed the river, we completely entered the new area. In my opinion, we can only decide our policies according to our own situation, and we can no longer copy the methods of the Soviets." Chen Changhao didn't answer, as if he was thinking about Zhang Guotao's words. Zhang Guotao then said with emotion: "You and Zemin, the three of us, went from Shanghai to the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Soviet regions, and now it has been exactly 4 years. In the past 4 years, I seem to have had a nightmare. Zemin was martyred in the nightmare. It can be said that the revolution has come to an end. Leave behind us who will die, and continue to struggle. In the past three or four years, you have cooperated with me well, without your support, the Fourth Front Army would not have this situation." "It's not that you are a good leader." "Those who fought together in Hubei, Henan, Anhui, those who sacrificed, those who defected to the enemy, and those who died of illness, there are not many old comrades. People like you who have studied systematically in Moscow have theories, combat experience, and There are even fewer people with leadership skills. The burden of the Fourth Front Army will be placed on your shoulders from now on.” "Chairman Zhang, you are a veteran of the party and have rich experience in struggle. The commanders and fighters of the Fourth Front Army all support you and respect you as the commander in chief. My level is low and I have not been your assistant well. You need more advice." Chen Changhao complimented talking. Zhang Guotao shook his head: "Actually, I know that not all the cadres of the Fourth Front Army support me. For example, Zeng Zhongsheng is a leader of the opposition. How is he now?" "Zeng Zhongsheng has been dissatisfied since the eradication of counter-revolutionaries. Especially after the chairman of his military branch was withdrawn, he has even more opinions. He often hangs out with like-minded people and attacks our current policies." Zhang Guotao patted the table angrily: "Zeng Zhongsheng is a complete counter-revolutionary! He must be guarded, and he must not be allowed to talk or act indiscriminately, disturbing the morale of the army." Chen Changhao immediately followed Zhang Guotao's words: "I came here today because of Zeng Zhongsheng." "What's up!" "Zeng Zhongsheng came to me in the afternoon and said he wanted to see you, and asked you to arrange a time as soon as possible." "Do you want to overturn the case!" Zhang Guotao said sullenly, "Now tell him to come right away and see what he has to say?" "Okay!" Chen Changhao exited the room and disappeared into the night. After Chen Changhao left, Zhang Guotao paced up and down the room with his hands behind his back, thinking about how to deal with Zeng Zhongsheng's "counterattack". After a while, Chen Changhao led Zeng Zhongsheng to the headquarters and walked into the wing where Zhang Guotao lived. Under the light of the lantern on the table, Zeng Zhongsheng's face looked sallow and bloodless, his eyes were dull and his spirit was listless.In a year or two, Zhang Guotao tortured a general of the Fourth Front Army into such a state. Zhang Guotao forced a smile on his face and said to Zeng Zhongsheng: "Comrade Zhongsheng, haven't you been in good health lately? Seeing that your complexion is not good, you should pay more attention!" Zeng Zhongsheng glanced at Zhang Guotao and said: "Comrade Guotao, when will I resume my work?" Zhang Guotao said with "concern": "Just rest when you are not in good health! Let's talk about it when you are in good health." Zeng Zhongsheng held back his anger and said loudly: "I don't need your concern. You are cutting people with a soft knife. It doesn't look powerful, but it is actually very powerful." Zhang Guotao opened his eyes wide and glared at Zeng Zhongsheng: "Don't spitting blood, it's polite enough for your surname Zeng." "You're polite? You haven't killed me yet!" Zhang Guotao raised his voice and said: "You made so many mistakes in your middle life, and you haven't corrected them yet, how do you work?" Zeng Zhongsheng asked Zhang Guotao angrily: "Excuse me, Chairman Zhang, what mistakes did I, Zeng Zhongsheng, make? I want to listen carefully." Zhang Guotao pointed to Zeng Zhongsheng and said: "You carry out Li Lisan's line; you are a fart on counter-revolutionaries like Xu Jishen; you still have many words and deeds against the party." Zeng Zhongsheng retorted: "Li Lisan is the person in charge of the Party Central Committee. He is at fault. How do I know? That is a matter for the entire Party, not my invention by Zeng Zhongsheng. As for Xu Jishen, it was you, Zhang Guotao, who killed him. Xu Jishen is not at fault." "Bang!" Zhang Guotao slammed the table and said, "Shut up! You are still complaining about the counter-revolutionary. Just based on this alone, you can be shot!" "You dare! The Fourth Front Army is not the world of Zhang Guotao alone; it is not an army of Zhang Guotao alone. You can arrest people and kill people at will! Full of warlordism!" The room was full of gunpowder, and Chen Changhao saw that something was wrong, so he immediately tried to persuade him: "Speak well, don't make noise, okay?" Zhang Guotao turned to Chen Changhao and said: "Changhao, you know this. Xu Jishen is a full-fledged counter-revolutionary. You discovered and reported this counter-revolutionary case. What is wrong with Zeng's talk today? I don't know what his intention is?" Zeng Zhongsheng said: "In my opinion, Xu Jishen is so bold in engaging in counter-revolutionary activities because you have protected and reused Xu Jishen. Today you, Zeng Zhongsheng, wanted to overturn the case for Xu Jishen, but you couldn't! Do you still want to hear about Xu Jishen's counter-revolutionary crimes? If you are not bored, I repeat." Zhang Guotao picked up the cup on the table, took a sip of tea and continued: "Staff Officer Wu of Xu Jishen's division is a 'reorganization faction' hidden inside us, a Kuomintang agent. During the eradication of counter-revolutionaries the year before last, two letters to the enemy and a communication code were found in his briefcase. The letter contained Most of his words and sentences were written in this code. Xu Jishen knew what he did. The main task of this counter-revolutionary was to contact Xu Jishen to surrender to the White Army, wait for the opportunity, and prepare to drag out a unit. This is not a counter-revolutionary Behavior, or what? Changhao only found out about this when he reported it to me." Chen Changhao nodded aside. Zeng Zhong said angrily to Zhang Guotao: "What you said just now is completely a false case, and it is becoming clearer now." "Huh?" Zhang Guotao widened his eyes angrily. "Actually, it's not that you, Zhang Guotao, don't know that you will take the opportunity to punish people, and you will kill those who disagree with you one by one." Chen Changhao tried his best to dissuade Zeng Zhongsheng from the side: "Don't say that, our anti-revolutionary work is affirmed by the central government." Zeng Zhongsheng denied it and said: "But there are many problems, and many comrades were killed by mistake! Master Xu is one of them. The counter-revolutionary case of Xu Jishen mentioned by Chairman Zhang just now is actually a conspiracy of the enemy. We fell into the trick of the enemy. The enemy borrowed our sword to kill his own Comrade, I don’t know about the so-called Staff Officer Wu you mentioned. I only know that a spy chief named Zeng Kuoqing sent a person named Zhong Meiqiao to Yingshan to find Xu Jishen based on his relationship with a classmate of the Whampoa Military Academy. , carrying a letter falsely claiming that Commander Xu has colluded with the enemy and expressing welcome to Commander Xu's surrender. This spy surnamed Zhong was arrested by the political department of the 12th Division as soon as he arrived at Yingshan. Commander Xu was open and aboveboard, including the person and the letter Send it to the Military Headquarters of the Fourth Army. Commander Xu Xiangqian and I immediately interrogated the spy, thinking that it was a conspiracy of the enemy. So he sent the letter and the opinion of the military department to the Central Sub-bureau of Hubei, Henan and Anhui for processing. You, Chairman Zhang, don’t care about indiscriminate , did not respect the opinions of the military department, and actually killed Commander Xu. I have always been dissatisfied with this matter. You said that I shielded Xu Jishen, and that I had many anti-party words and deeds, and they should be persecuted. The enemy used the method of sending letters to sow discord The conspiracy to sabotage the Red Army did not only happen to Xu Jishen, but Liu Zhi, a member of the Kuomintang, also sent a letter to Chairman Zhang, saying that the person sent by Chairman Zhang had arrived, and there were such words in the letter He said that it is a great fortune for the future of the Chinese nation that Chairman Zhang is willing to do that. Please do it as soon as possible. After seeing it, Comrade Shen Zemin laughed it off, thinking that it was obviously a trick by the enemy to provoke us to doubt ourselves. Comrade Zemin did not take Chairman Zhang Treat it as a counter-revolutionary. Why did Zeng Kuanqing send a letter of the same nature to Xu Jishen, but it became a counter-revolutionary evidence?" Zhang Guotao scratched his head in anger, paced up and down the room, not daring to look at Zeng Zhongsheng. Zeng Zhongsheng didn't finish his words, and went on to say: "Chairman Zhang, how long are you going to put me under house arrest? If this continues, I will report it to the central government." Zhang Guotao cast a sideways glance at Zeng Zhongsheng: "You are quite courageous, dare to tell me. I know you are dissatisfied with the withdrawal of the chairman of the military branch, dissatisfied with the withdrawal of your military political commissar, and you have long held a grudge. Let me tell you, I, Zhang Guotao, did not make a mistake, but you, Zeng Zhongsheng, made a mistake , the central government will not support you." Zeng Zhongsheng's eyes were red, and he said loudly with tears in his eyes: "Then let's wait and see!" After speaking, he left the wing angrily. After Zeng Zhongsheng left, Zhang Guotao paced up and down the room restlessly with his hands behind his back.Chen Changhao also felt uneasy, and stood at the square table with his eyebrows frowned, not speaking. Zhang Guotao walked around for a while, then stopped and said to Chen Changhao: "Zeng Zhong was angry and arrogant. Immediately imprison him and keep him under surveillance to prevent any accidents. Especially after rejoining the First Army in the future, we must prevent him from getting close to the Central Committee and prevent him from reporting to the Central Committee. If it is really unfavorable to stay, just like That's it." Zhang Guotao swung his right hand and made a chopping motion. Chen Changhao stared at Zhang Guotao with wide eyes knowingly, and did not speak for a long time.