Chapter 51 Fighting wars, raising funds, publicizing the masses

"Fighting wars, raising funds, and publicizing the masses" are the three major tasks Mao Zedong put forward for the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army during the Jinggangshan period. They reflect the nature of the people's army and the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly. Not long after the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants arrived in Jinggangshan, Mao Zedong put forward the slogan that "the army is both a combat team and a work team".From now on, whenever the Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army arrived at a place and after each battle, it would be dispersed in squads and groups to various villages to mobilize the masses to fight local tyrants, divide the land, and establish peasant associations.In the Ningkang, Yongxin, Suichuan, and Chaling areas, the red political power was gradually established and the revolutionary base areas developed in this way.However, the three major tasks of "fighting wars, raising funds, and publicizing the masses" were formally proposed after the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army attacked Chaling County for the second time.

On November 18, 1927, the First Regiment of the First Division of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, led by regiment leader Chen Hao and party representative Wan Xixian, captured Chaling County for the second time. The workers and peasants of Chaling were overjoyed and warmly received this team that fought for the poor. Some came to visit from the villages dozens of miles away, and some actively raised food and vegetables to provide supplies for the troops.Even the merchants, local tyrants and evil gentry in the cities and towns courted them. However, after the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants entered the city, except for the appointment of a new county magistrate, everything remained the same. Han Changjian, Chief of Staff Xu Shu, Chief of the First Battalion Huang Ziji and others were even more indulged in debauchery. They did not do mass work themselves, nor did they let the troops do mass work.

Party representative Wan Xixian was extremely indignant at what Chen Hao and his gang did after entering the city.In order to stop their erroneous and vicious development, while writing to Mao Zedong to ask for instructions on how to establish political power, they also reported the various behaviors of Chen Hao and his gang. After Mao Zedong received the letter, he felt the seriousness of the problem, and immediately wrote back instructions: "The new regime cannot follow the Kuomintang. It is necessary to establish a government of workers, peasants and soldiers, and mobilize the masses to fight."

According to Mao Zedong's instructions, Wan Xi first convened a meeting with the leaders of the Chaling County Party Committee, the Federation of Trade Unions, the county farmers' association, and the party representatives of the army companies, read out Mao Zedong's letter, and re-discussed the issue of Chaling County.After consultation, it was decided to form the Chaling County Workers, Peasants and Soldiers Government, and unanimously elected Tan Zhenlin, chairman of the County Federation of Trade Unions who was a printing worker, as the chairman of the Chaling County Workers, Peasants and Soldiers Government.

On November 28, the first red political power in Jinggangshan - the Chaling County Workers, Peasants and Soldiers Government was established. Chen Hao and his group, who were severely criticized by Mao Zedong, were dissatisfied. On the one hand, they held a grudge against Wan Xixian and tried every means to reject the correct opinions of Wan Xixian and other comrades. . On December 26, the Wu Shang Department of the Eighth Army of the Kuomintang gathered reactionary armed door-to-door regiments from several counties in Hunan and launched a fierce attack on Chaling County.Under the command of Wan Xixian and others and the support and cooperation of people from all walks of life in Chaling County, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army launched a heroic and fierce battle with the enemy.

But in the end, due to the disparity in the strength of the enemy and ourselves, the battle situation became more and more unfavorable to the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.Wan Xi first advocated leading his troops to retreat.However, Chen Hao, who had secretly colluded with the Dingying Department of the 13th Army of the Kuomintang, disregarded the strong opposition of Wan Xixian and others, put forward the slogan of "last stand", ordered the demolition of the pontoon bridge on the east gate of the city, and cut off the return of the workers' and peasants' revolutionary army to Jinggangshan. retreat, claiming to fight a defensive battle in Chaling.

Coincidentally, Zhang Ziqing's battalion, which had been separated from the main force when Dafen was attacked, rushed to Chaling from eastern Guangxi at this time to defend against the enemy together.At the critical moment when the workers' and peasants' revolutionary army was about to run out of ammunition, Chen Hao, frightened by the power of Zhang Ziqing and others, had no choice but to agree to the retreat of the troops, but on the pretext that the pontoon bridge had been demolished and they could not travel eastward, so they had to withdraw southward.Its purpose is to seek refuge in Fang Dingying's department.

On the morning of December 27, the troops arrived at Hukouwei, south of Chaling City. Here, should the troops go east to Jinggangshan, or go south to Lingxian and Guangxi?Wan Xixian, Zhang Ziqing and others started a heated argument with Chen Hao and his gang.Wan Xixian insisted on leading his troops east to Jinggangshan and returned to Chairman Mao; Chen Hao and his gang insisted on leading their troops southward under the guise of taking down Ling County and further expanding their political influence. The debate went on for hours and the opinions were deadlocked.Chen Hao, who jumped over the wall in a hurry, had no choice but to show the posture of the regiment leader and force the troops to withdraw southward.

"A soldier's duty is to obey orders."The commanders and fighters of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were frightened by the order of the regiment commander, so they had no choice but to march south.But the speed of progress is very slow.Not far from the lake mouth, the team conveyed the order "Commissioner Mao is here, and the troops immediately return to the lake mouth to camp" from the back to the front. It turned out that Mao Zedong, who had always been worried about the workers' and peasants' revolutionary army living in Chaling, got the news from the KMT newspaper that the Hunan enemy was aggressively attacking Chaling.

On December 25, he set off from Maoping with more than 20 people, drove dozens of miles of mountain roads, and arrived at Zhongyao Village three or four miles away from Chaling City in the evening of the next day.Because they didn't know the situation in the city, they hurriedly called the red guards to investigate.Soon, the Red Guards came back and reported that the pontoon bridge on the East Gate River had been demolished, and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had retreated southward. Mao Zedong decided to chase the troops south overnight.With the help of the masses, Mao Zedong and his party arrived at Hukouwei on the afternoon of the 27th.Knowing that the troops were heading towards Ling County, he felt that the situation was urgent, so he immediately ordered the guards to catch up with the troops and convey his orders.

After receiving Mao Zedong's order, the troops quickly returned to Hukou. Mao Zedong held an emergency meeting of cadres above the company overnight.At the meeting, it was revealed that Chen Hao and others colluded with Fang Dingying's department to attempt to betray the revolution, and discussed and determined the direction of action of the troops. On the morning of December 28, Mao Zedong held a meeting of all commanders and fighters of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army in a rice field east of Hukouwei, announced the crimes of Chen Hao and his gang, arrested the gang of traitors, and announced that Zhang Ziqing would act as the head of the regiment. After the meeting, Mao Zedong led the workers' and peasants' revolutionary army back to Jinggangshan. On the 29th, a meeting of commanders and fighters of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was held on the sandbar in Long City, Ninggang, and four traitors including Chen Hao were executed.This was the first anti-counterrevolutionary struggle successfully led by Mao Zedong within our party and our army, clearing out a small group of counter-revolutionaries hidden in the party and army. "The young Red Army encountered an extremely serious crisis At that time, Commissar Mao saved the young Red Army and saved the revolution.” It was at this meeting to deal with Chen Hao's gang of traitors that Mao Zedong summed up the experience and lessons of the attack on Chaling, and announced for the first time the "three major tasks" of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.He said: Throughout the history of China, officers and soldiers have been riding on the heads of the common people. Now the common people see us with a pleasant face, as if seeing the emperor's favor.We are a revolutionary army of workers and peasants, it is not enough just to have a good attitude towards the masses. Each of us is a fighter and a propagandist, not only to fight, but also to publicize our ideas to the masses, organize the masses, and arm the masses.At this point, he paused, then stretched out his hands, and stretched the fingers of his left hand one by one with his right hand, announcing one by one the "three major tasks" of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army: first, to fight and destroy the enemy; First, beat local tyrants and raise funds; third, propagate the masses, organize the masses, arm the masses, and help the masses establish a revolutionary regime. In the "Hukou incident", four traitors were dealt with, and three major missions were announced. The traitors were dealt with, and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was saved at a critical juncture; the three major tasks were announced, and the boundaries between the people's army and all old-style armies were completely drawn. For the commanders and fighters of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, it is not uncommon for defectors to appear in the army; however, Mao Zedong proposed from this that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army has three major tasks, but they have never heard of it, which is really new! Think about it seriously, but it is not unreasonable. In October 1927, after the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants settled down in Maoping, they sent two companies through Ling County to Anren to fight local tyrants.This time the operation was quite fruitful, confiscating a lot of property of the local tyrants.It stands to reason that these resources should be distributed to the poor to mobilize the masses to make revolution.But they have studied for a long time, and no one knows what to do. They just consider how to distribute these resources to all soldiers fairly and reasonably. As a result, the troops were brought to an open space, and the mixed formations of soldiers from the two companies stood on one side of the wall, while the other side of the wall was piled with pre-arranged assets.After everything was ready, they shouted: "The first one of the third team goes out", "The last one of the second-to-last team goes out"... just like that, they distributed a lot of money. This kind of "green forest" approach is extremely disproportionate to the title of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.At that time, the officers and soldiers of the revolutionary army did not realize this, and thought that the officers and soldiers were equal, and everyone shared equally. This was the revolution.It can be seen that before Mao Zedong proposed the "three major tasks", they wanted to make a revolution but did not know how to make a revolution. Now, Mao Zedong proposed the "Three Major Tasks" to the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants, and the cadres and soldiers had a new understanding of the meaning of revolution, and realized that in addition to fighting to destroy the enemy, they also had to do mass work and help the masses establish a revolutionary regime; To raise food and fund, solve the economic needs by yourself, you can't rely entirely on the local government. The commanders and fighters of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were refreshed. After that, Mao Zedong repeatedly asked the Red Army commanders and fighters: Everyone must be able to fight, everyone must be able to do the work of publicizing the masses, and everyone must be able to do the work of organizing the masses.Every Red Army soldier is not only a combatant, but also a propagandist and organizer. In January 1928, after the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants conquered Suichuan, it immediately divided into three groups to Yutian, Caolin, Dakeng and other places to mobilize the masses and carry out guerrilla activities to attack local tyrants and raise funds.This operation has gained good experience in mass work.From then on, whenever the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army conquered a place, it put mass work at the top of the list. In May of the same year, after the two armies of Zhu and Mao joined forces to form the Fourth Red Army, Mao Zedong once again emphasized the tasks of the revolutionary army when mobilizing the troops for combat.Xiao Ke, who listened to Mao Zedong's report at that time, recalled decades later: The team gathered on a verdant hillside, and Chairman Mao stood on a high bluestone slab and spoke to us.He said: The Red Army is a revolutionary team.In addition to fighting and destroying the enemy, our revolutionary army must do four things well in a place.First, conquer the local tyrants to divide the land and establish peasant associations; second, establish Red Guards, insurgents, and guerrillas; Well, it’s called the “Egyptian government”; fourth, establish an organization of the Communist Party to lead the peasant associations, guerrillas and the government. After the Red Army captured Yongxin for the first time, according to Mao Zedong's instructions, it sent some cadres and soldiers to go deep into the masses to carry out propaganda and mobilization work.The Red Thirty-two Regiment left two companies and an independent battalion dedicated to local work.Zeng Zhi, the wife of Cai Xiemin, who was the party representative of the 32nd regiment of the Fourth Red Army at the time, recalled: "The cadres working in our agency and the soldiers of the company are combined together. Three to five people are formed into a group, and each person divides the work and disperses. Activities. During the day, they covertly visit the poor in the homes of the masses, do propaganda, and organize the masses. At night, they sneak up on the enemy, firing a few shots here and there. Sometimes the enemy often comes out to harass them. When they come, the people in the village, The Red Guards and cadres withdrew to the mountains. The enemy generally did not dare to stay in the village for a long time. If he wanted to stay, he would not have peace at night. The local cadres knew the terrain well, and at night they climbed to their gates, threw a grenade, and fired a few shots. They even set off firecrackers in foreign iron barrels, making the enemy dizzy and afraid to come out easily. This is how we contain the enemy and do the work of establishing political power.” Not only after occupying a place, but also during the march, Mao Zedong also asked the troops to do a good job in mass work.He specially designed a questionnaire for the army commanders and fighters, the content is the situation along the march every day: including where they passed, the number of miles marched, the condition of the road, whether it is a road, a small road, or a stone road, mountains, trees, rivers, bridges conditions, the conditions of the land on both sides along the road, the size of the area, what is planted in the field, whether it is paddy field or dry land, the situation of the village, how many people are there, whether the houses are earthen or tile-roofed, whether there are bunkers, the orientation of the village, whether it is against the mountains and the water Or plains, distances between villages, etc., and other dynamics seen along the way.Through this kind of investigation, a good foundation has been laid for carrying out mass work in the future. According to Mao Zedong's instructions, the Red Army commanders went to the homes of ordinary people to visit the poor and ask the poor as soon as they arrived at the camp, and publicized the purpose of the Red Army, the three major disciplines, and the six points of attention.Zeng Zhi recalled: "If the troops camped there for three days, our work would be even more involved. First, the troops would have to rest and educate, clean up their internal affairs and have a rest; to investigate the situation of the local tyrants, evil gentry, and poor and hired peasants. At that time, we had to raise funds along the way. We first investigated clearly and found out which landlord was the richest and the worst. If we know which big landlords have food, we will do a series of visits to the poor, do a good job of mobilization, and then open warehouses to help the poor....In any place where we live for a few days, we will hold a mass meeting and publicize it. During the meeting, we observed the performance of the masses in the venue below, and found out the activists among the poor and hired peasants. For those poor and hired peasants who were really active, we secretly organized poor and hired peasants for them. Three or five of them formed a secret organization. , in effect planting the fire.” In December 1929, in the "Gutian Conference Resolution" passed by the Ninth Congress of the Fourth Red Army, Mao Zedong summed up the experience of the struggle in Jinggangshan, further elaborated theoretically on the three major tasks of the Red Army of Workers and Peasants, and clearly stated: "China The Red Army is an armed group that performs revolutionary political tasks. Especially now, the Red Army is by no means simply fighting. In addition to fighting to destroy the enemy's military power, it also has the responsibility of propagating the masses, organizing the masses, arming the masses, and helping the masses establish a revolutionary regime. So that the organization of the Communist Party and other major tasks." With the development of the revolutionary war situation, the specific content of the three major tasks of the people's army has changed.For example, in the War of Resistance Against Japan, in order to adapt to the new struggle situation, Mao Zedong changed the fundraising from local tyrants to production; in the later period of the War of Liberation, facing the situation of imminent national victory, Mao Zedong changed the task of the production team to a work team.But no matter how it changes, the basic content of the three major tasks has continued. In April 1945, the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China passed the "Resolution on Certain Historical Issues", calling the "three major tasks" the "trinity" tasks of the Red Army. It is precisely because Mao Zedong emphasized the three major tasks in the army for a long time, and created a series of methods to implement these three tasks in practice, so that the people's army can form a new style that the previous army did not have.