Chapter 45 Chapter 6 The Foreign Missionaries Forced to March——Boschart

This is a story that was almost lost to history. For decades, everyone only knew that Li De, the military adviser, was famous all over the world as the only foreigner who participated in the Long March.However, there is also a foreigner who lived in the Sixth Army of the Long March for 18 months, but little is known.He is Alfred Buschart, a Swiss-born British missionary. This story was introduced by Mr. Harrison Salisbury, the author of "The Long March - Stories Unheard Before".For a long time, Mr. Salisbury, encouraged by Snow's writing "A Journey to the West", has always wanted to walk along the road traveled by the Red Army's Long March, but he has not been able to do so.It was not until August 1983 that he finally received news from Beijing that the door to the Long March had opened. In 1984, at the age of 76, the famous American reporter came to China to cover stories about the Long March.Regardless of his old age and infirmity, he retreaded on the road of the Red Army's Long March, visited the old Red Army who had traveled 25,000 miles, and carefully collected various materials related to the Long March.After he interviewed General Xiao Ke, the head of the Red Sixth Army Corps, he wrote a question:

"I have another question, about a French missionary (British error, the same below.—Author's Note) and a French provincial map. I read a book on the matter, in which Speaking of a French missionary named Alfred Bousart, he once stayed in your army for 18 months... It is written in the book that he was impressed by the extraordinary ability and strict discipline of the Red Army Very profound.” A letter from Salisbury made the legendary experience of a foreign missionary in the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army clearly appear in Xiao Ke’s memory. As the advance team of the Red Army's Long March, the Red Sixth Army set off from Suichuan, Jiangxi Province on August 7, 1934, and moved thousands of miles. It took more than 50 days and after countless life and death battles, it finally broke through the enemy forces in the three provinces of Hunan, Guangxi, and Guizhou. The encirclement, according to the intention of the central government, is moving towards Qiandong to join the Red Army led by He Long. On October 1, between Shi Bing and Huang Ping in Guizhou, the Red Sixth Army broke through the position of the Qian Army and occupied the old city of Huang Ping, Jiuzhou. A one-square-meter piece of paper was also found in a church in the city. Guizhou province map.Xiao Ke was very happy to receive the report.Because the Red Sixth Army entered Guizhou from Hunan, they had always used the maps in the old Chinese middle school students' textbooks. In the map, there were only provincial capitals, county towns, large towns, large rivers, and large mountains. , The enemy's situation is unknown and brings unnecessary losses to the troops.Xiao Ke urgently ordered someone to bring the map, but when he opened it, he was dumbfounded. It was a map in French!

When Xiao Ke was anxious about this matter, he received another report that he caught several missionaries on the way to the old state and asked how to deal with them.Xiao Ke said without hesitation: "First buckle up." During this period, the Red Army had a bad impression of missionaries, thinking that they were the product of cultural aggression by foreign colonists, and most of them were detectives of imperialism.Therefore, it is understandable that Xiao Ke made this decision. Xiao Ke suddenly thought of the French map, and asked, "Is there anyone among them who understands French?" After understanding, there was a priest named Busart who could speak both French and a little Chinese.

Xiao Ke said happily: "Please hurry up!" At this time, Busart was under escort after a day's march, and he was extremely tired, lying on the bed and trying to sleep.Suddenly someone came to call him, saying that the commander of Xiao Ke's army had invited him.He hurriedly sat up and got dressed, then rushed to a civilian house that was used as the headquarters, and met with General Xiao Ke who had already been waiting there.It was getting late at this time, and the two came to a small square table, opened the map, and began to translate the map with a weak candle.General Xiao Ke pointed to French place names and asked Busart to read them out in Chinese.According to his instructions, Busart spoke out the Chinese names of the mountains, rivers, and villages and towns, and marked them on the map one by one.The candle light flickered with the wind, and the two of them also started a harmonious conversation from being wary of each other.When they finished translating many important place names on the map, it was nearly three o'clock.Xiao Ke later said in his reply to Salisbury: "For me, this is a military activity that cannot be forgotten.... How happy we are to get such a map of Guizhou with a size of one square meter! Although we had a bad impression of the missionary before that, the missionary helped us translate this map, and during the interpretation, he talked while translating, and provided a lot of information, which made me think about the actions of the troops. After the cooperation, the inherent barriers were eliminated a lot. What is especially memorable is that we later moved to the east of Guizhou until we entered the west of Hunan, all relying on this map.” The first meeting See, Shock left a deep impression on Busart.He wrote in his later memoirs that General Xiao Ke, who was only 25 years old, was full of enthusiasm and vitality, and he was a Red Army general full of desire and pursuit.Xiao Ke had a very detailed understanding of the situation in eastern Guizhou, while Boxart provided everything to the best of his knowledge.Xiao Ke was very satisfied with this cooperation, and Busart's help provided a basis for him to decide the direction of future actions, and his view of missionaries gradually changed.

Busart thought his good first impression with Shaw would lead to their release.He was wrong.The next day, Wu Defeng, the head of security of the Sixth Red Army, came to talk to him. Because the direction of the Red Army's actions needed to be kept secret, they could not leave the Red Army for the time being. At the same time, he hoped that they could raise a certain amount of money or medical supplies for the Red Army. At night, they were taken into a house to rest.The Red Army sent everything they had, even the silver dollars.Busart's wife was arranged to sleep on a narrow plank bed, and he himself slept in a southern-style chaise longue, while the soldiers with them slept on the ground.It seemed, Busart thought, that they were being treated favorably.

At this point, Busart officially started his life in the Red Army. Busart was born in 1897.At that time, his parents had emigrated to the UK from Switzerland. In the early 1920s, when he was still a young man, he was sent to China by the church to preach in Zhenyuan, Huangping, and Zunyi in Guizhou, and he was named Bo Fuli in Chinese.I don't know what kind of "ritual" he wants to return. It is said that no coincidence makes a book, and on October 1, the 12th anniversary of his visit to China, he unexpectedly met with troops from the Sixth Red Army. On this day, Busart and his party left Jiuzhou and returned to Zhenyuan.At that time, they already knew that the Red Army was nearby, because they heard that the Red Army had green faces and fangs, and they wanted to have communism and wives. Busart was very scared, and he was extra careful along the way.

At any rate, nothing happened along the way, and the village where we stayed was coming soon, so the nervousness of Busart and his party relaxed a little.Just as they were all secretly rejoicing, suddenly, a group of gunmen came out from the woods behind the hillside and ordered them to stop.Busart was startled, looking at the group of gunmen in colorful clothes and long-hooded hats, thinking, is this the Red Army? Yes, these are the soldiers of the Sixth Red Army led by Ren Bishi, Xiao Ke, and Wang Zhen. Also captured with Busart was another missionary, Anolis Heyman, their wives, and Heyman's children.However, the women and children were soon released.Busart and Heyman were forced to join the Long March.Heyman stayed until November 18, 1935, a total of 413 days; Busart stayed until April 12, 1936, a total of 560 days.

The marching life that Busart first experienced was the eve of the Red Sixth Army's continuous breaking of the enemy's encirclement and suppression, striving to march to the east of Guizhou, and joining forces with the Red Army of the Second Army He Long's division. The degree of tension and hardship can be imagined.Every day, before dawn, the troops began to march, walking for a whole day, and sometimes they did not rest at night.In the Guizhou area, the sky was never clear for three days, and the ground was never three feet flat. Busart walked with the Red Army team on the mountain road with difficulty.The heavy rain is pouring, the night is vast, and the rugged mountain road seems endless.This was indeed miserable for Busart, who was living on the march for the first time.At that time, the Red Army tried to take care of him. His shoes were broken, and some soldiers took off their shoes to wear them for him. When they slept, they always let them sleep on beds made of straw indoors or on the floor of the temple.In Busart's words, this was the best treatment at the time.But he still couldn't stand it.He even worried that the Red Army would kill him suddenly somewhere, or be killed in a battle.Sometimes, he really wanted to die.

One day, after joining forces, the marching teams of the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps meandered along the mountain roads in eastern Guizhou.Busart was also in the procession.At this time, a man on horseback walked past the team.Busart looked up, and saw that the man was strong, mighty, and well-behaved, especially the black beard under the nose, which was particularly eye-catching. "Who is he?" Busart asked in a low voice, "He is He Long." Someone answered casually. Ah, he is He Long.Busart suddenly remembered that a friend of his had had a relationship with He Long.That was when He Long was serving in the army around Mangjiang, and Busart's friend Becker ran a hospital there.When He Long visited the hospital, he praised Becker's career very much.Later, one of He Long's nephews fell ill, and doctors from Becker Hospital cured him.For this, General He Long also wrote a warm thank you letter.

Busart thought that if his friend Becker could persuade General He Long, it might be possible to release them.So he wrote a letter to Becker.Sure enough, Becker did not disappoint Busart, and he sent people to contact him several times with letters.In He Long's headquarters, the representatives received a warm reception, but Becker's request was not fulfilled.He Long smiled and said to Becker's representative: "Don't place your hopes on my old friendship with Mr. Becker. In the new regime, all friendships and even family ties must be subject to the principles of communism." Saudi felt that He Long was no longer the legendary He Long, but a Red Army general with communist ideals and principles.

Busart traveled long distances with the Red Army during the day and camped with the Red Army at night.As the days went by, his observation of the Red Army gradually deepened. He felt that the Red Army paid great attention to study.Everywhere, no matter how long they stay, almost every unit has to choose a larger house as a study place.Even if you can't find it, you will build a simple thatched house by yourself, and hang portraits of Marx and Lenin facing the entrance, where the Red Army officers and soldiers study and carry out other activities.The political education of the Red Army often continued.After the troops camped, meetings were often held, and everyone expressed their views on issues such as why they opposed the Kuomintang and why they wanted to overthrow Japanese imperialism.When the troops are marching, the chiefs must first speak and shout slogans. On the way, individual conversations can be seen at any time.For the newly recruited soldiers, even more efforts have been made. He also paid special attention to the entertainment of the Red Army.Although life is hard and battles are frequent, the troops are in high spirits and often sing.There are many types of lyrics, including "The Internationale", some against Japan's invasion of China, some local folk songs, and even songs advocating hygiene.The games played by the Red Army soldiers often made Bosart laugh uncontrollably, such as "Throwing the Handkerchief", "Pig and Whistle", etc. Although they are not of high artistic level, they can greatly enliven the atmosphere of the army.The Red Army also occasionally acted in disguise, and some of them were of a fairly high level.Once, Busart watched a live newspaper drama performed by the Red Sixth Division near the paper factory in Qianxi County. There were angry shouts of "Down with Chiang Kai-shek" and "Don't be a subjugated slave". The performance attracted a large number of audiences and received very good results, which surprised Busart. Busart was amazed that there was no gambling or opium smoking among the Red Army troops.He thinks that in China, it is incredible to see such a large group of people who do not smoke opium or gamble, because he knows that smoking opium and gambling are chronic diseases of the Kuomintang army, and some officers and soldiers of the local warlord troops are even called For the "two guns" (a rifle, a smoking gun).When he learned that some new soldiers smoked opium before enlisting in the army and quit after enlisting, he felt that this team was extraordinary. The strict discipline of the Red Army troops was witnessed by Busart.Once, they ran into the orchard to defend against air raids.In the golden autumn season, the pumpkin trees are full of fruits. For the hungry Red Army soldiers, these things are really attractive.But Busart found that, except for a few extra glances, none of the soldiers reached out to pick it off. The Red Army's humanitarian captive policy left a deep impression on Busart.He saw with his own eyes that the Red Army doctors treated the wounded and sick of the prisoners, and paid travel expenses to those who were willing to go home.For a while, Busart was locked up with Zhang Zhenhan, Lieutenant General and Division Commander of the Kuomintang Army.Zhang Zhenhan is the commander of the enemy's 41st Division. He once led his troops to "encircle and suppress" the Second Red Army in western Hunan and Hubei.Zhang can say that his hands are covered with the blood of Red Army soldiers.Busart asserted that Zhang Zhenhan must die. However, the Red Army not only did not kill Zhang Zhenhan, but also took out the best medicine to treat his wounds. When he expressed his willingness to serve the Red Army, He Long also arranged for him to serve as an advanced class tactical instructor for cadres above the training camp at the Red Army School.The captive policy of the Red Army, which is full of humanitarian spirit, has conquered tens of thousands of Kuomintang officers and soldiers. As time went by, Busart also found that the officers and soldiers of the army gradually changed their names to him. At first they called him "big nose" and "foreign devil", and later they called him "Pastor Bo". old thin".He was also often called upon to translate foreign newspapers.Sometimes, he was invited to sing for the Red Army, but what he sang was the so-called "hymn" that no one could understand. Through his own observations, Busart came to the conclusion that these people who were called "bandits" or "robbers" by the Kuomintang authorities and Western newspapers were actually people who firmly believed in Marxism and practiced its principles. Another form of Soviet modeled on Soviet Russia. During his stay in the Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou base areas, after gradually understanding the principles and policies of the Communist Party and hearing and seeing the real situation of the Red Army, Busart's mood also changed, and he no longer held a strong hostile attitude. He wrote letters to Shanghai and Nanjing in many ways. and other places to purchase medicines and raise funds for the Red Army. However, this does not mean that he began to support the Communist Party and the Red Army.Busart did not understand the land policy of the Communist Party leading the peasants to "strike the local tyrants and divide the land".He believes that private property is bestowed by God, and the gap between the rich and the poor is also predestined. How can one "deprive the deprived" of it?Especially when some places made "Left" mistakes in land policy and implemented the policy of "landlords do not divide land, rich peasants divide bad land", which violated the interests of middle peasants and religious businessmen. As 1934 drew to a close, Busart and Heyman made a risky escape.However, the people in the base area were loyal to the Red Army and refused to help them.After 5 days, they were captured by the Red Army again.Only then did they realize that in the base area where the Red Army and the people are integrated, even with the protection of God, they cannot escape. On November 19, 1935, the Second and Sixth Army Corps of the Red Army withdrew from the Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou bases and embarked on a long march again.The day before departure, the Red Army released Heyman, and Busart remained in the Red Army ranks.The hardships and hardships of the long journey tormented and tested everyone.Busart noticed that the bag used by the Red Army to pack the military flag was remade from a Christian oil painting. On the oil painting, the star of Bethlehem was faintly visible, which made Busart calm in the face of suffering.Unlike Busart's Star of Christ, the five-pointed star on the military flag, which symbolizes the ideal of communism, guides the Red Army to move forward resolutely and fearlessly. Not too far from Kunming, the Red Army stopped for a while.Here is a small plain, and the field is full of beautiful and small pea flowers, which are particularly eye-catching in the lush greenery.Busart, recovering from a serious illness, felt quite comfortable in the warm spring.At this time, General Xiao Ke and his guards came from not far away.He brought Busart the longed-for good news. "We have decided to treat different foreigners differently in the future." Xiao Ke said to him after asking about his health, "You are a Swiss citizen, we know that Switzerland is not an imperialist country, and it has not signed an unequal agreement with China. Treaty, and there is no concession in China, so we decided to let you go." Busart was surprised and delighted by this sudden news, and couldn't believe his ears. But the gaze of General Xiao Ke in front of him told him that there was no doubt about it.Busart was overjoyed, and he looked forward to this day with great enthusiasm. One afternoon, Xiao Ke hosted a banquet for Busart, and the host and guest had a relaxed and pleasant conversation.Xiao Ke expressed that it was strange that a person as educated by modern civilization as Busart would believe in the existence of God.Xiao Ke said: "You must know that we humans have all evolved from monkeys." Busart told him that the theory of evolution is just a theory, and it is difficult to answer all the questions in the process of human development. At this time, Wang Zhen, a political commissar of the Sixth Red Army Corps, interjected: "When you write an article for the newspaper, remember that we are friends. Look at how well we treat the poor. We act according to principles. The so-called 'bandits' who slander us." After decades of this banquet, General Xiao Ke still feels lingering in his mouth, because there is a main dish of tamales that he made himself. A few days later, Security Minister Wu Defeng hosted another luncheon for him.During the meeting, everyone expressed different opinions on the future of Busart.Xiao Ke said that he had no objection to Busart staying in China after leaving the Red Army, and he could even run a school, as long as he didn't force his students and audience to believe in God. After the banquet, Wu Defeng asked him how much travel expenses he needed.According to the specific situation at the time, Busart proposed that at least 4 yuan be needed.Wu Defeng told the person in charge of the money to give Busart 10 yuan for travel expenses, and also told him how to leave here for Kunming. That night, Busart left the Red Army.When he took out his simple luggage from his residence, he wanted to say goodbye to those Red Army soldiers who had been with him for a long time.However, facing the soldiers who were sleeping, he had no choice but to leave quietly. So far, he has lived in the Red Army for 560 days.This day is April 12, 1936, Sunday, the Christian tradition of Easter. After Busart left the Red Army, he arrived in Kunming not long after. In the spring of Spring City, the scenery is beautiful and the climate is pleasant.Busart did not focus on traveling in the mountains, but immediately set about sorting out his experience in the Red Army.With the help of others, a 288-page memoir was compiled in just three months. In August 1936, when the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps were still on their way to the Long March, this book was published in London, England under the title "The Hand That Restrained". This book written by Busart is the only impression written by an outsider during the Red Army's Long March. It is the first time to introduce the Red Army's Long March to foreign readers from one side.It met western readers 10 months earlier than Snow's "Red Star Over China". More than 50 years have passed, and in 1987, General Shaw, who learned of Busart's whereabouts, sent greetings to this old friend who lived in the suburbs of Manchester, England, and wished him a long and healthy life.Busart also sent a message: Please "convey warm greetings" to General Xiao Ke.