Chapter 44 wise decision

After the Xi'an Incident, faced with a situation where high-level central officials called for Jiang's trial and removal of Chiang to be investigated and divided, on December 13, Zhang Wentian presided over an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to discuss the policy for handling the Xi'an Incident. Mao Zedong was the first to speak at the meeting. He affirmed that the nature of this incident was revolutionary and anti-Japanese, and that it was friendly to us.He believes: "This incident is revolutionary, it is anti-Japanese and anti-traitor. Its actions and programs are all positive." "We should clearly express our support for this incident." "We should take Xi'an as the center and the northwest as the anti-Japanese front to influence and lead the country, control Nanjing, and take the northwest as the anti-Japanese front to influence the whole country and form the center of the anti-Japanese front." He emphasized: "Our political slogan: call The National Salvation Congress. Other slogans are subordinate.” Mao Zedong concluded: “Now we are in a new stage of historical events, with many roads ahead and many difficulties. In order to win over the masses, we do not speak easily about the Xi’an Incident. We It is not to oppose Chiang directly, but to specifically point out Chiang Kai-shek’s personal mistakes, and not to parallel anti-Chiang and resist Japan. The banner of resisting Japan and aiding Sui should be highlighted.”

Next, Zhou Enlai made a speech, proposing to prevent Japan from taking advantage of this opportunity to turn Nanjing into a puppet government. Therefore, we should not oppose Nanjing politically, and we must win over the Whampoa faction, the cc faction, the elder faction, and the European and American faction, such as Lin Sen, Song Ziwen, Kong Xiangxi, Feng Yuxiang.Isolate He Yingqin and other pro-Japanese factions.It is also necessary to mobilize the masses in depth, consolidate the three anti-Japanese forces in the northwest, and turn Xi'an into the anti-Japanese center.Zhou Enlai also proposed: "We must be prepared to fight militarily, but we must not oppose Nanjing politically, and we must take the leading role in practical work." , there must be proper organization of work.”

Qin Bangxian also made a speech at the meeting, basically agreeing with the speeches of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. Zhang Guotao spoke fiercely at the meeting: "In the sense of the Xi'an incident, the first is to resist Japan, and the second is to oppose Chiang." Zhang Wentian's speech was relatively late. He expressed different views on the opinions of "trial Jiang", "removal of Jiang", and "centering on Xi'an" to establish "a substantive government".He believes that it is inappropriate to advocate the establishment of a substantive "government" with Xi'an as the center, take the northwest as the anti-Japanese front line, and lead the whole country to resist Japan, as well as the views of trial and elimination of Chiang.For this reason, he said: "We will not adopt the policy of confrontation with Nanjing, we will not organize confrontation with Nanjing, we will hold Xi'an very tightly, mobilize the masses, and threaten Nanjing.", "Try to strive for the orthodoxy of the Nanjing government, and unite with non-Chiang system teams ""Our policy: transfer the local anti-Japanese united front to the national anti-Japanese united front."

According to the study of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, there may be two futures for the development of the incident. One future is that the launch of this incident will cause a new and larger-scale civil war, weaken the national anti-Japanese forces, and instead delay the launch of the national anti-Japanese war. The aggression created favorable conditions.Another prospect is that if this incident can be resolved peacefully, the civil war of "suppressing communism" will end, and the anti-Japanese national united front will be formed as soon as possible, so that the entire nation's anti-Japanese war can be realized as soon as possible. This is what the people of the whole country and the international peace front hope hopefully.

On December 14, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Zhang Guotao, and the heads of all aspects of the Red Army jointly called Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, and proposed the course of action after the Xi'an Incident: Immediately announced the formation of the Northwest Anti-Japanese and Aid Suizhou United Army, with Zhang Xueliang as the commander-in-chief, and the Northeast Army, the Seventeenth Route Army, and the Red Army respectively organized into three group armies; Unite, fight decisively with the enemy, and defeat each other.The first priority at present is to consolidate the interior and defeat the enemy. On the 15th, the "Message to the Nationalist Government Regarding the Xi'an Incident" signed by 15 Red Army generals asked him to "distinguish himself from the Jiang family", "distinguish himself from the pro-Japanese faction", "remove the Jiang family and hand over to the people of the country to judge."

After the outbreak of the Xi'an Incident, domestic and foreign reactions were strong and complicated.He Yingqin, Minister of Military and Political Affairs of the Nanjing Government, and other pro-Japanese factions advocated the crusade against Zhang and Yang; the pro-British and American faction headed by Soong Ziwen and Song Meiling advocated a peaceful settlement and the preservation of Chiang Kai-shek; the local powerful factions were worried about triggering a larger civil war, and most of them did not support Zhang and Yang, almost unanimously Demand the restoration of Chiang's freedom.Japan, on the other hand, tried its best to provoke China to expand its civil war, and gloated at its misfortune to plot greater aggression.Britain and the United States strived to maintain Chiang's rule and cooperated with the Communist Party against Japan.

The Soviet Union's attitude towards the Xi'an Incident was very clear: on the night of the 14th, Dimitrov received a report from Deng Fa, and his first reaction was that the incident could only "benefit" to Japan.Stalin was very shocked. He asked Dimitrov in a questioning tone whether he had "acquiesced" in the Xi'an Incident. On December 16, the Executive Committee of the Communist International sent a telegram to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The tone was quite strong: Regardless of Zhang Xueliang’s motives, his actions could only objectively harm the Chinese people’s ability to gather forces to build an anti-Japanese united front and encourage Japan’s aggression against China. .The two largest Soviet newspapers, "Izvestia" and "Pravda", both published important editorials, explaining that the Soviet Union had nothing to do with the Xi'an Incident, and condemning Zhang Xueliang for being instigated by Japan to create an incident that harmed the Anti-Japanese United Front.

Consider that Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng are eager to ask the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to come and send a plane to pick them up.As a result, more than a thousand soldiers and civilians from Zhidan County repaired the airstrip on the open ground of Liushuping, and stopped after only half a day.The reason is that the platform is soft and the plane cannot land, and even if it lands, it cannot take off.The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to send Zhou Enlai and others to go to Yan'an on horseback on December 15th, and then arrived in Xi'an by Zhang Xueliang's plane.

Due to the suddenness of the incident, we don't know much about the reaction of the outside world, and no one can come up with mature opinions. There are differences of opinions on how to deal with it. Therefore, we telegraphed the matter to the Communist International and listened to opinions and instructions. On December 16, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China received a telegram from the Communist International, but it was a set of garbled characters. Zhou Enlai led a total of 18 people including Luo Ruiqing, Du Liqing (that is, Xu Jianguo), Zhang Zihua, Tong Xiaopeng, and ran on horseback on the snowy mountain road.After staying in Ansai for one night, they rushed to the north gate of Yan'an on the evening of the 16th.The local guerrillas told them that they heard the sound of the plane in the afternoon.

Everyone guessed that Zhang Xueliang might have sent them to pick them up, but because they didn't receive them, they flew back again. In the early morning of the 17th, there was the sound of rumbling planes in the sky.Zhou Enlai immediately wrote a note, asking Zhang Zihua to enter the city as a visitor from Nanjing to negotiate with the county magistrate of Yan'an, and then he was able to rush to the airport smoothly.This plane was Zhang Xueliang's special plane, and Liu Ding was specially sent to pick up Zhou Enlai at random.Due to limited air space, only 9 members of the delegation took the first flight to Xi'an.On the plane, Liu Ding reported to Zhou Enlai: When Zhang Xueliang detained Chiang Kai-shek, he made it clear to the executors that he would arrest those who were alive, protect Chiang, support him in the war of resistance, and urge him to resist the war.

At 3:00 p.m., the nine-member delegation arrived in Xi'an.At around 6 pm, Zhou Enlai arrived at Zhang Xueliang's mansion.After the Xi’an Incident, Zhang Xueliang eagerly looked forward to Zhou Enlai’s arrival, and once said with great expectation: “When he comes, everything will be solved.” For this reason, Zhang Xueliang arranged Zhou Enlai and his entourage to live in the east building of his mansion. . Before departure from Zhidan, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was not very clear about the specific situation in Xi'an, and many issues had to wait for Zhou En to come to Xi'an to further clarify the situation.The handling of Chiang Kai-shek and various difficult and complex issues must be dealt with by Zhou En after he came to Xi'an.Facing the intricate and ever-changing political situation, Zhou Enlai shouldered a formidable burden, and many things needed to be decided immediately. The night after Zhou En arrived in Xi'an, the conversation with Zhang Xueliang continued until late at night. Zhang Xueliang first described Chiang Kai-shek's performance after being detained, the dynamics in Nanjing and his reactions from various aspects.The key issue that needs to be dealt with most urgently at present is how to deal with Chiang Kai-shek.Zhang Xueliang believes that, according to his personal opinion, it is now the most possible to fight for Jiang's resistance to Japan.As long as Chiang agrees to stop the civil war and unite in the resistance against Japan, Chiang should be released and supported as the leader of the national resistance against Japan. Zhou Enlai immediately expressed his agreement with Zhang Xueliang's view, thinking that the Xi'an Incident was a major event that shook the world.The arrest of Jiang this time was by surprise, and Jiang's strength is still there when he is not prepared.Considering all aspects, the handling of Chiang Kai-shek needs to be extremely cautious.Then, it analyzes two completely different prospects: if Chiang Kai-shek can be persuaded to stop the civil war and unite in resisting Japan, China will be saved from being destroyed by the Japanese invaders and a better future will be achieved; His killing will not only fail to stop the civil war, but will also make China's future worse.It is necessary to try to persuade Chiang Kai-shek that as long as he agrees to stop the civil war and unite in resisting Japan, he can release Chiang Kai-shek.Chiang Kai-shek actually ruled most of China, forcing him to embark on the road of resistance against Japan, and supported him as the leader of the national resistance against Japan, which was conducive to launching a comprehensive resistance against Japan. And agreed with Zhang Xueliang on five conditions for negotiating with Song Ziwen.1. Stop the civil war, and all the Central Army will leave Tongguan.2. Order the whole country to aid Suizui in resisting Japan.3. Song Ziwen was responsible for the establishment of the Nanjing Transitional Government and the elimination of all pro-Japanese factions.Fourth, the establishment of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces.5. Release political prisoners, realize democracy, arm the masses, and hold national salvation conferences. That night, in Zhou Enlai’s telegram to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he reported what he had learned after he arrived in Xi’an. Regarding Chiang Kai-shek’s handling, “it is okay to promise to keep Chiang safe, but it is stated that if Nanjing soldiers start a civil war, there is no hope for Chiang Kai-shek’s safety.” .This approach was approved by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. On the 18th, after calmly analyzing the situation, the main leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China comprehensively weighed the overall situation in the country and called the Kuomintang, pointing out that "if your party wants to rescue Chiang, it will definitely not be effective by mobilizing a large army to attack Zhang and Yang."Call on the Kuomintang to implement the following measures immediately: 1. Convene the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Congress of all parties, factions, all walks of life and all armies across the country, decide to fight against Japan, organize a national defense government, and an anti-Japanese coalition army; The anti-Japanese demands of the Northeast Army and the 17th Route Army; 3. Stop all civil wars and unite to resist Japan; 4. Open the people's anti-Japanese national salvation movement, implement the democratic rights of speech, assembly, and association, and release all political prisoners and Shanghai patriotic leaders; 5. Realize Dr. Sun Yat-sen's three major policies.At the same time, it also stated: "If your party can realize the above-mentioned urgent demands of the people of the whole country, not only will the country and the nation be saved, but Jiang's safety and freedom will not be a problem." On December 19, Zhang Wentian presided over an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee to discuss again the policy for resolving the Xi'an Incident.This meeting is different from the meeting on the 13th. It was held after the leaders of the Party Central Committee agreed and made a "peaceful mediation" decision.Mao Zedong made a report at the meeting that the incident "can further promote the division between anti-Japanese and pro-Japanese, and expand the anti-Japanese war"; "We should win and help Xi'an, organize the front, fight against crusaders, oppose civil war, and demand peace. To win the victory." Mao Zedong also analyzed the future after the "Xi'an Incident", "There are six kinds of forces that may end the civil war, one is the Red Army, the other is the Northeast Army, the third is the friendly forces in Xi'an, the fourth is the people, and the fifth is the internal forces of Nanjing." The sixth is international aid. The six anti-civil war forces should be united to end the civil war and turn the civil war into a war of resistance against Japan. The meeting also produced two important documents.One document is "The Central Government of the Chinese Soviet and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Telegram on the Xi'an Incident" written and published by Mao Zedong. status, changed the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Congress to a peace conference, and officially suggested that it be convened by Nanjing.Calling Chiang Kai-shek "Mr." obviously gave up "trial Chiang".This is the official symbol of the CPC Central Committee's strategy to resolve the "Xi'an Incident" peacefully. Another document was written by Zhang Wentian and issued within the CCP, "Central Instructions Concerning the Xi'an Incident and Our Tasks". The "Instructions" systematically analyzed the background, causes, significance and prospects of the "Xi'an Incident" to the whole party, and stipulated the basic policy and party tasks for solving the "Xi'an Incident", which became our party's program for peacefully resolving the incident. It was not until December 20 that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China received a clear telegram from the Comintern, and its opinions were basically consistent with the decisions independently made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.It shows that the ability of the Chinese Communist Party to manage complex situations is more mature.