Chapter 8 Chapter 8: Zhang Guotao Leads His Army to the South——The Treacherous Heart Is Revealed

After Zhang Guotao sent a secret telegram to Chen Changhao on September 9, he was in a restless mood. He wondered what might happen several times, anxiously waiting for Chen's call back, and spent a difficult day. On the 10th, I finally received an urgent telegram from Chen Changhao: "The first and third armies defied the order of the general headquarters to suspend their advance and marched north without permission." The enemy’s security mission was withdrawn without an explanation, which completely exposed some of the garrisons of the Fourth Front Army. When the front finger found out about this, the rear personnel of the First and Third Army regiments told them that this operation was directly ordered by the central government... …

After Zhang Guotao read the telegram, he was as angry as an angry lion and jumped into a rage.He never expected that Mao Zedong and others would do this, so he yelled in the headquarters office alone: ​​"Right opportunism, escapism, not even a little faith, what kind of Bolshevik?" His face was distorted with anger. up. At this moment, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De walked into the office.Zhang Guotao immediately said loudly to him: "Mao Zedong split and led the First Army to leave without permission. Look, this is the telegram just sent by Chen Changhao." After reading the telegram, Zhu De was very surprised and anxious, and he was not mentally prepared at all. .He stood there motionless, looking at the gray sky outside the window, with an expression of extreme pain on his face.

Zhang Guotao was still angry, and vented angrily: "Mao Zedong wiped out the authority of the general headquarters and led troops to split without permission. We have no choice but to act alone and no longer listen to the central government." Commander Zhu was deep and serious. He persuaded Zhang: "On the one hand, after the army enters Gansu, Chiang Kai-shek will not let them go, and they will still encounter great dangers and difficulties. I hope that ordinary comrades will not criticize too much, and the unity of the party should be the most important thing. It’s great to make a big problem into a small one, so as to make up for this rift.” Zhang Guotao didn’t say anything more when he saw Zhu De’s attitude of letting things go.

Zhang Guotao immediately ordered the Fourth Army and Thirty Army of the Red Fourth Front Army left by the Left Army and the Right Army to return to the south and cross the grassland, from Aba, Baozuo, and Banyou to Matang, Matang, and Dajinchuan River Basin respectively. Gather around Songgang and Dangba. The left and right troops crossed the grassland twice, and it was even more difficult. On the way, there was heavy rain. The troops were extremely tired, diseases increased, and there were frequent attrition. Zhang Guotao, in order to shirk responsibility for the split and defend his southward behavior, called the heads of the first and third armies of the Red Front Army on September 12, saying that "the first and third armies going east alone will become an endless escape. There is no time for regret", "If you don't procrastinate to death, you will freeze to death", what to say, "Going south will be the first to redden Sichuan, and this province will eventually be our base. Hope the first and third armies will return soon."

In order to continue to save Zhang Guotao, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China united the four armies to go north, and sent a telegram to Zhang Guotao from the Russian border on September 14: "In order to implement its own strategic policy, the Central Committee once again ordered the General Political Commissar Zhang to immediately lead the left army to attack Banyou and Brazil. Go ahead, don't violate the mistake..." Zhang Guotao threw the telegram away, and said angrily to Huang Chao: "It's unreasonable for me to run away to the north, and let others follow me!" Seeing Zhang angry, Huang Chao watched from the sidelines, even angry I dare not come out, let alone say anything.Zhang Guotao then thought, we can't always exchange telegrams like this, we should hold a meeting and make the matter public, so that I, Zhang Guotao, will do something in the future so that I can explain to everyone.Zhang Guotao made up his mind.

On September 15, Zhang Guotao decided to convene the "Chuankang Provincial Party Committee Enlarged Meeting", which was held in the main hall of the Geerdi Temple in Aba.A banner slogan "oppose Mao, Zhou, Zhang, and Bo to escape to the north" hangs high in the hall, which is very eye-catching.About 100 people attended the meeting. In addition to members of the Provincial Party Committee, Zhang Guotao also mobilized representatives of trade unions, the Communist Youth League, and women cadres to build momentum.He also specifically notified Zhu De and Liu Bocheng that they must attend the meeting, and asked them to sit on the designated benches in the front row, with Xu Xiangqian, Chen Changhao, Huang Chao and other members of the Red Fourth Army sitting on both sides.

The meeting started, and Zhang Guotao made a report first.He angrily told everyone that Mao, Zhou, Zhang, Bo and others led the first and third armies to go northward, split and escaped; He advocated that only going south to attack the enemy and establish the Soviet area is the only correct line of attack; he called on everyone to fight and resolutely oppose the escape policy of Mao Zedong and others. After Zhang Guotao's exaggeration, some people who didn't know the truth, some became angry, some seemed puzzled, and some were frustrated, whispering and whispering, and the order of the meeting began to be a little disturbed.

In order to create enough atmosphere, Zhang Guotao added fuel and vinegar and said loudly: "When Mao Zedong and others fled northward, they set fire to the guns, ammunition, food, and some wounded in the warehouse. What do you call this behavior? And There is no humanitarianism at all...?" At this time, the people became furious, and the commotion venue became chaotic. "Oppose rightist escape!" someone shouted slogans. "Sue Mauro Zhoubo for the escape crime!" Someone raised his fist. "Resolutely follow General Political Commissar Zhang to the south!" Some people also expressed their determination.

Zhang Guotao saw that the fire was coming, glanced at Zhu De and Liu Bocheng, and said to everyone with malicious intentions: "Comrades, if you have any opinions, please speak up!" His words were inflammatory.Some participants pointed the finger at Zhu De: "Commander-in-Chief, you must draw a clear line with Mao Zedong's escape mistake!" "Commander-in-Chief must express his position in public!" state." Zhu De stood up and said with a pleasant face: "The central government's decision to go north to resist Japan is correct. At the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, I raised my hand in favor of going north. I can't go back on my word and oppose the decision of the central government. Since Comrade Mao Zedong and I joined forces in Jinggangshan, people have They are all called 'Zhu Mao', how can 'Zhu' oppose 'Mao'? The Zunyi meeting confirmed that Mao Zedong came to lead the Red Army, and I also agree, Mao Zedong was not wrong."

"You are an old fool, an old rightist, and an old immortal!" Huang Chao was dissatisfied with Zhu De's statement, and even cursed.Unable to hold back, Liu Bocheng stood up and shouted furiously: "Are you holding a party meeting or trying a case?" Huang Chao turned to Liu Bocheng again: "Liu Blind, you oppose and criticize Mao Zedong's separatist behavior, why don't you run away with them? ?” Liu Bocheng lured the target to his side in order to protect Commander Zhu, so that Zhu De would be less besieged. Huang Chao turned around and asked Zhu De: "You said Mao Zedong was right, why did they burn the things in the warehouse?" At this time, Zhu De became angry, and he refuted it righteously: "This is purely a rumor. From Jinggangshan, Mao Zedong advocated Officers and soldiers are equal, and prisoners are treated preferentially. How could they burn their own wounded to death? There is not enough dry food in the grassland, and everyone is mobilized to eat wild vegetables. How can they burn the food? We lack guns and ammunition, let alone burn them. This is a complete rumor!  … ..." Before Zhu De finished speaking, Zhang Guotao said angrily to everyone: "In any case, going north is escapism, and going south is the real offensive line. Go to Chengdu to eat rice!"

"Yes, go to Chengdu to eat rice!" "Support the southward attack route!" There was a lot of slogans in the main hall of Geerdi Temple. Amidst the uproar, Zhang Guotao manipulated and passed the so-called "Aba Conference Resolution", which became important evidence of his anti-Party crimes. In late September, more than 80,000 people, including the Fourth Red Army, the Fifth Army, and the Thirty-Second Army (formerly the Fifth and Ninth Army Corps) who went south, assembled in Matang, Songgang, and Dangzhou in Dajinchuan. Dam, Zhuomu Diao area. After Zhang Guotao directed a farce attacking the Party Central Committee’s northward route in Aba, he still felt that it was not enough. In the name of the General Political Department and the Party Branch of the General Command, he held a series of large-scale meetings such as activist meetings, party and group meetings, and cadre meetings. Meetings, large and small, are aimed at slandering the central government, beating others, and exalting oneself. On October 5, Zhang Guotao pushed his activities against the central government and splitting to its peak.On this day, he convened a meeting attended by forty or fifty senior cadres above the military level in Baike Lama Temple, the largest lama temple in Zhuomu Diao, and made up and acted out a scandal about setting up a new central government. The meeting was presided over by Zhang Guotao, who made a long speech.He first lashed out at the Party Central Committee for not crushing the enemy's fifth "encirclement and suppression campaign." Withdrawing from the Central Soviet Area was a retreat. This was not just a matter of military line, but a "wrong political line."He believed that the rendezvous of the First and Fourth Front Armies terminated this retreat, but the Central Committee refused to admit its mistake and instead blamed the Fourth Front Army.He advocated going south as a strategic counter-offensive to terminate the retreat route and an offensive route.Now the leaders of the central government continue to go north and develop into the "Rightist Escapism Line", which led to the split of the Red Army.He also attacked the leaders of the central government as "bloggers", "Left-leaning phrasing" and so on.Therefore, he concluded that the central government has "lost its prestige" and "lost its qualifications to lead the entire party." These words of Zhang Guotao did not feel sudden to the participants, because everyone had heard them at the Aba Conference and subsequent conferences, large and small.But what Zhang Guotao said next was beyond the expectations of the participants.He said: "The current central government has been dominated by right-leaning opportunists such as Mao, Zhou, Zhang, and Bo, and has lost everyone's credibility. Comrades, why are we still following such a central government? We have every reason to abandon Open the original central government, set up a temporary central government, hold a party congress at an appropriate time, and establish a formal central government..." His words stunned the participants. Chen Changhao, who was with him, was also unprepared and did not express his position immediately.Others, no one wants to start with a gun. Therefore, Zhang Guotao asked in an expectant tone: "What's your opinion on forming a 'temporary central government' immediately?" It was Huang Chao who broke the dullness: "We don't trust the original central government anymore!" Li Te then said: " Since the central government has left us behind, we will no longer run with the central government!" Zhang Guotao nodded in satisfaction, but he wanted to get Zhu De's "key vote" support, so he asked, "Commander-in-chief, what do you think?" Zhu De felt distressed and at a loss, and he said earnestly: "The enemy is facing us, we must talk about unity! The Red Army of the world is one family. The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army is a whole under the leadership of the Party Central Committee. Everyone knows that our 'Zhu Mao' is a member of the whole country and the whole world. We all know it. It is difficult for me, a 'Zhu', to oppose 'Mao'. No matter how big things happen, they are all problems within the Red Army, and Chiang Kai-shek cannot be allowed to watch our excitement." Zhang Guotao was very dissatisfied and inconvenient, so he turned to Liu Bocheng: "Chief of the General Staff, tell me." Liu Bocheng was so worried that he said from the current situation of the Red Army, the enemy's movements, and the future of the revolution, "The Red Army can only unite against the enemy. There is a way out...?" "Okay, okay, who wants you to give a report on political mobilization!" Zhang Guotao interrupted Liu Bocheng dissatisfiedly, and turned to Xu Xiangqian, asking him to make a statement.Xu Xiangqian didn't know the inside story and was in a dilemma, so he had to say "Let me think about it". At this time, Zhang Guotao stopped asking.He took out a long list written in advance and said: "Now I announce the establishment of a provisional central committee, members include Zhang Guotao, Zhu De, Liu Bocheng..." He went on to say: "Mao, Zhou, Zhang, and Bo split the Red Army, refused to implement the decision of the Military Commission and the General Command to go south, announced their expulsion from the party, and ordered them to be wanted. Ye Jianying and Yang Shangkun should be dismissed and investigated. The interim chairman of the Central Committee shall be temporarily appointed by him. .At an appropriate time, formally elect the establishment of the Central Committee and report to the Third International for approval.” The meeting room fell silent again, and the participants were all surprised.Zhang Guotao called his name again: "Commander Zhu, what's your opinion?" "Since you call me commander-in-chief, how can I, the commander-in-chief, oppose the Central Committee? I can't be a member of the Central Committee like you." Zhu De replied calmly. Zhang Guotao turned to Liu Bocheng angrily: "Chief of the General Staff, what's your opinion?" Liu Bocheng was very straightforward: "I'm afraid I'm not worthy to be a member of your Central Committee, I'm not qualified!" "You——you—" Zhang Guotao was unable to speak after hitting two snags.He turned to everyone and announced: "Today, the Provisional Central Committee has been established. Anyway, everyone here is a member of the Central Committee, whether they like it or not...." After the ugly show, the signboard of the "Provisional Central Committee" was hung up.The self-proclaimed "Chairman Zhang" began to exercise his power. On December 5, he called Peng Dehuai and Mao Zedong: "A, here you have published documents in the name of the Party Central Committee, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Central Government, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, the General Command, etc., and have relations with you. B, you should The Northern Bureau of the Party, the Shaanxi-Gansu Government, and the Northern Route Army are not allowed to falsely use the name of the Party Central Committee. C, the names of the First and Fourth Front Armies have been cancelled. D, you should report the regime organization status of the Northern Bureau and the Northern Route Army. for approval.” This telegram is ironclad proof that Zhang Guotao split the party and established a new central government. The last part of Zhang Guotao's "Trilogy" - the establishment of a separate central government has been performed, and his political career is coming to an end.But at this time, he was arrogant and seemed to be invincible. Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and Chief of Staff Liu Bocheng, who are deeply admired and loved by Red Army commanders and fighters, were linked with Zhang Guotao due to historical reasons. It is an extremely severe test for them.But they are worthy of being staunch proletarian revolutionaries and true Bolsheviks. In the face of major issues, they are calm and upholding principles. When it comes to personal gains and losses, they always take the overall situation into consideration and put the interests of the party and the Red Army first. At the Aba meeting, when Zhang Guotao forced Commander-in-Chief Zhu to "admit that Mao Zedong and the others went north to escape", and Huang Chao and others threatened to shoot them if they refused to make a statement, Zhu De raised his head and said with awe-inspiring righteousness: "I repeat, the Central Committee went north to resist Japan. The decision is correct, and I will never object. You can split me in half, and you can also cut off my relationship with Comrade Mao Zedong!" At the Zhuomudiao senior cadre meeting, when Zhang Guotao set up a new central government, he forced Zhu The commander-in-chief replied: "Do you recognize or not the central government we have established?" Zhu De immediately pushed back: "You insist on creating a central government here, and I don't agree. I reserve my opinion according to the provisions of the party constitution. In the name of doing revolutionary work.” Zhu De hit Zhang Guotao again in front of everyone. When Mao Zedong learned of these situations later, he spoke highly of Commander-in-Chief Zhu's achievements in fighting Zhang Guotao, and praised him for "not being humiliated when approaching the big festival", "the measure is as big as the sea, and the will is as firm as steel". Commander-in-chief Zhu did not support Zhang Guotao's opposition to Mao Zedong and the establishment of a separate central government, and was retaliated by Zhang Guotao. Zhang Guotao instigated some lower-level cadres and staff to hold small meetings to besiege Zhu De, abuse and personal attacks.Some people also withdrew the sentry from Zhu De's residence, and his safety was seriously threatened. When spring came, the troops going south had no food, and the army had no food. When Zhang Guotao ate small stoves and drank old wine, Commander-in-Chief Zhu took the initiative to form a wild vegetable committee of more than 20 people to march into the barren mountains and fields, just like Shen Nong tasted hundreds of herbs, to find food for the troops to satisfy their hunger. Life-saving wild vegetables. In order to reduce Zhu De's eyes and ears and helpers, Zhang Guotao transferred Kang Keqing from Zhu De's side and assigned him another job.Kang Keqing considered Zhu De's safety and didn't want to leave.Commander-in-Chief Zhu asked her to rest assured: "I want to do everything possible to unite Zhang Guotao, establish a good relationship with him, and let the entire Fourth Front Army return to the Party Central Committee." He asked Kang Keqing to work in the new unit as soon as possible, "Go and publicize the Party Central Committee to comrades. The correct policy of going north, paying attention to uniting with the comrades around", and encouraged her to "revolution to the end". Liu Bocheng was dismissed by Zhang Guotao as chief of staff because he did not support Zhang Guotao's separatism.The Fifth Army, the 32nd Army of the Red Front Army who followed the Left Army, and some cadres transferred to the Red Fourth Front Army, such as Zeng Risan, Guo Tianmin, Huang Huoqing, Cao Lihuai, Zhang Zongxun, Chen Bojun, etc., also did not support Zhang Guotao. Establishing a new central government was demoted, dismissed, attacked and even persecuted by Zhang Guotao, resulting in serious antagonism.Commander-in-chief Zhu took advantage of various opportunities to do their work, emphasizing unity, smashing Chiang Kai-shek's siege of the Red Army, and going north together in the future to return to the Party Central Committee. Although the enemy is strong and we are weak, the environment is harsh, and Zhang Guotao acted arbitrarily, Commander-in-Chief Zhu always tried his best to advise Zhang Guotao in many battles after going south, commanding carefully, reducing mistakes, and avoiding greater losses to the Red Army.At the same time, he always used facts to reason, made insinuations, and advised Zhang Guotao not to go too far... After Zhang Guotao established the illegal central government, he led his troops to the south and formulated a series of combat plans.For example, the "Suichong Danmao Battle Plan" on October 7, the "Tianlu Mingya Deng Battle Plan" on October 20, etc.The Red Army commanders and fighters of the Fifth and Thirty-second Armies of the Red Fourth Front Army and the Red First Army overcame many difficulties, crossed the canyon, seized key passes, occupied bridges, and crossed rapids by surprise, and first captured Xujing, Danba, and Chong. Hua, Maogong and other places, and then occupied Baoxing, Tianquan, Lushan, approached Qionglai County, defeated more than 6 Sichuan enemy brigades, wiped out more than 3,000 enemies, and our army also suffered heavy casualties. Faced with the situation that our army is approaching Chengdu step by step, Chiang Kai-shek and Sichuan warlord Liu Xiang urgently dispatched the main force Wang Zanxu, Tang Shizun, Fan Shaokun and other troops, together with local enemy troops, a total of more than 80 regiments with more than 200,000 people, deployed in Mingshan and Jiamenguan in the northeast. , Taihechang, and Shibeigang areas, waiting for work with ease, in an attempt to fight our army to the death. When the enemy and the enemy were clearly superior and inferior, and our army was extremely fatigued from continuous combat, Zhang Guotao ignored the changes in the enemy's situation and still ordered the Red Army to attack the famous mountains and Qionglai with all its strength. As a result, our army launched an unprecedentedly fierce bloody battle with the enemy in the Baizhangguan area. Baizhangguan, located in the west of the Sichuan Basin, is an important town in the northeast of Mingshan and southwest of Qionglai.Different from the big and small Jinchuan mountains, this is a plain area with water network, which is easy to attack but difficult to defend. After our army occupied Baizhang on November 16, on the 19th, the enemy mobilized more than 10 brigades. Under the cover of aircraft and artillery, they faced our army's long arc position in the Baizhang area for more than 10 miles from the north, east, and south. Onslaught.The commanders and fighters of the Red Army who stick to the front line have no support on high mountains and no bunkers to stick to. They only fight tenaciously with water nets, ridges and simple fortifications.Some troops ran out of bullets, and fought bayonet with the rushing enemy; some soldiers broke their arms, and bit the fuse with their teeth, rushed into the enemy group and died together with the enemy. The battle was extremely cruel and tragic.After 7 days and nights of hard fighting, although our army killed and injured more than 15,000 enemies, we also suffered more than 10,000 casualties. Many division and regiment commanders died, and our combat effectiveness was greatly weakened. We were forced to withdraw our troops to the northwestern area of ​​Mingshan. After defending, they retreated to Tianquan, Lushan, and Baoxing areas. Tian, ​​Lu, and Bao areas are surrounded by mountains and ravines, sparsely populated, backward in production, and mixed with Tibetan and Han. Our army wants to mobilize the masses and establish a democratic regime in this area, but because the upper-level reactionaries organize reactionary armed forces to oppose the Red Army and coerce the masses not to cooperate with the Red Army, the plan is difficult to realize.The Red Army gathered and inevitably "competed with the people for food". Life was extremely difficult. Coupled with fighting and disease attrition, the strength of the Red Army was weakening day by day. At the same time, the main forces of the Sichuan warlords had concentrated in the Mingshan and Qionglai areas, Xue Yue's two columns were gathering in Ya'an and Tianquan, and Li Baobing's forces were also located in the Kangding and Huding areas.The enemy rushed to repair the bunkers day and night, tightened the blockade, and waited for an opportunity to attack the Red Army on a large scale. The Red Army was in a dilemma in this area.The military is trapped, the political power cannot be established, life is extremely difficult, and the number of troops is decreasing day by day, which fully proves that the Party Central Committee "goes south is a dead end" and "going south to Ya, Ming, Qiong, and Danan, even if they succeed for a while, there is little future." The prophecy is absolutely correct. On January 22, 1936, the Party Central Committee made the "Decision on Comrade Zhang Guotao's Establishment of the Second "Central Committee"", pointing out that he was tantamount to "separating himself from the party and the Chinese revolution".This dealt a fatal blow to Zhang Guotao's fragile psychology.The Party Central Committee asked him to immediately abolish all his "Central Centers", give up all anti-Party activities, and announce the "Decision on Comrade Zhang Guotao's Mistakes" at the Russian Conference in the whole party, so that the comrades in the whole party can further understand the truth of the matter and clearly understand the truth of the matter. Zhang Guotao's anti-party crimes. On January 24, Lin Yuying (Zhang Hao), the CCP’s representative to the Comintern who had returned from the Soviet Union, called Zhang Guotao, pointing out that the Comintern “completely agrees with the political line of the Chinese Party Central Committee” and asked him to abolish the Second “Central Committee” immediately.This is undoubtedly another fatal blow to Zhang Guotao.Under such circumstances, Zhang Guotao was forced to call the Party Central Committee on January 27: "I agree with the central line in principle" and "seek unity within the party." At the beginning of February, Xue Yue concentrated the strength of six divisions and the main force of the Sichuan Army, and began to attack the Red Army on a large scale. Zhang Guotao was helpless when he had a strong enemy in front and no base in the back. He had to admit that it would be disadvantageous for the Red Army to stay in the Chuankang area for a long time. In mid-February, the general headquarters issued the "Kangdaolu Battle Plan", and the Red Army was forced to retreat to the Ganzi area in the north of Xikang, reorganize and train, and wait for the opportunity.The number of Red Army troops going south was reduced from 80,000 to 40,000.Stay in this area until the Second Red Army and the Sixth Army go north to join forces. On June 6, the eve of the reunion of the Second Red Army and the Fourth Front Army, Zhang Guotao was forced to announce the cancellation of the second "Central Committee" he had illegally established, which also heralded the end of his political career.