Chapter 2 Yu Zuobai and Li Mingrui are in charge of Guangxi and secretly invite "masters" to help

Yes, in this Jiang-Gui war, the central figures who caused the defeat of the Guangxi army were Yu Zuobai and Li Mingrui of the Guangxi faction. So, what kind of characters are Yu and Li? Yu Zuobai, a native of Beiliu County, Guangxi, and Li Zongren were classmates of Lu Primary School.He once participated in the Yuan Huguo Army in Guangdong, and served as a staff officer and company commander.After the two Guangdong-Guangxi Wars, the Guangdong Army occupied Guangxi, and Li Zongren accepted the incorporation of the Guangdong Department and became the third commander of the Guangdong-Guangxi Frontier Defense Force.Yu Zuobai served as the first commander under Li Zongren, with two battalions under his jurisdiction.

While Yu Zuobai was organized into the Guangdong Army with Li Zongren, he secretly developed his own strength in Guangxi.Later, Chen Jiongming, the leader of the Cantonese Army, conspired to betray Sun Yat-sen, and withdrew the Cantonese Army from Guangxi in order to concentrate its forces.However, Li Zongren, who was brave and hard-working, took advantage of the situation and announced that he would leave the Cantonese faction, reorganized himself as the "Second Route of Guangxi Autonomous Army", and proclaimed himself the commander. While Li Zongren was developing the power of the Guangxi faction in Guangxi, Huang Shaohong and Bai Chongxi, the former commanders of the Guangdong Army, joined forces with Yu Zuobai to unanimously decide to leave Li Zongren and follow Sun Yat-sen to carry out the national revolution. In June 1925, Sun Yat-sen appointed Huang Shaohong as the "Commander-in-Chief of the Guangxi Thieves Army", and Yu Zuobai as the head of the first regiment.In the war of Sun Yat-sen's National Revolutionary Army's unification of Guangxi, Yu Zuobai was able to fight well, and was promoted to the commander of the Third Route Army. ——It is precisely because of these actions of Yu that Li Zongren regards them as "rebellious and immoral", which made the relationship between the two of them a rift. The reunification of Guangdong and Guangxi in 1926 coincided with the climax of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.Li Zongren was appointed as the commander of the Seventh Army of the National Revolutionary Army, Huang Shaohong was the party representative, and Huang Rikui, a member of the Communist Party, was the director of the Political Department.However, Yu Zuobai, who originally had military power, became the principal of the Guangxi branch of the Central Military Political School and the director of the Agricultural and Industrial Department of the Guangxi Provincial Government. In fact, he was deprived of military power. ——This is of course the result of Li Zongren's dissatisfaction with Yu Zuobai and his secret manipulation.

Huang Shaohong, who was in charge of Guangxi in 1927, cited various crimes against Yu Zuobai for assisting the Communist Party in supporting the workers' and peasants' movement when he was the head of the Agriculture and Industry Department during the "April 12" Qing Dynasty, and expelled him from the Kuomintang party.Yu Zuobai couldn't get a foothold in Guangxi, so he had to avoid Hong Kong, and became a leisure apartment, waiting for an opportunity to make a comeback. ——He pinned this hope on Li Mingrui, who was still serving as the commander of the First Division of the Fourth Army of the Guangxi Clique.

Li Mingrui is Yu Zuobai's aunt and cousin. He was educated by his uncle (Yu Zuobai's father) since he was a child. Later, he was introduced by Yu Zuobai to study in Class A of the first phase of the Dian Army Lecture Hall in Shaozhou, Guangdong. After graduation, he has been working under Yu Zuobai's command. Head, head of the group and so on.He is young and bold, brave and good at fighting. He has repeatedly made military exploits in the unification of Guangdong and Guangxi, and enjoys the reputation of "the reincarnated Zhao Zilong" in the Guangxi army. In July 1926, Li Zongren's National Revolutionary Seventh Army was ordered to make a northern expedition.Li Mingrui, then commander of the Second Brigade, bravely served as the main offensive force of the Seventh Army.He cooperated closely with Ye Ting's independent regiment, captured Changsha, captured Xianning, captured Hesheng Bridge, the last line of defense in Wuhan, and then advanced into Jiangxi. In less than three months, he won three battles and three victories.Finally, in the Battle of Longtan near Nanjing, he took the lead and led his troops to brave the fierce artillery fire of the British Empire warships. utter failure.From then on, Li Mingrui became a well-known "Tiger General" in the Northern Expedition.

For a meritorious minister like Li Mingrui, he should have been rewarded more, but because he was Yu Zuobai's cousin, Li Zongren and Huang Shaohong were wary of him and secretly guarded against him.After Li Zongren took command of Wuhan, although he promoted Li Mingrui to the division commander, he ordered Li Mingrui's right-hand assistants to be dismissed. This actually weakened Li Mingrui's strength, and he was in arrears with military expenses, making the officers and soldiers extremely miserable.However, Li Zongren and Huang Shaohong rewarded Hu Zongduo and Tao Jun, who were highly employed military officers from Hubei, with official titles and rewards.When the Jianggui battle began, Li Zongren said that he had "very trust" in Li Mingrui, and handed over the power of command to him. His intention was to let his troops take the lead in fighting against Jiang's army.At the same time, Li Zongren secretly ordered Xia Wei and others to monitor Li Mingrui. If there is any misconduct, they will be taken down quickly and Xia Wei will replace him.

This contradiction within the Guangxi Clan has long been known to Chiang Kai-shek.Chiang Kai-shek, who is known for his sophisticated city and scheming skills, took the opportunity to come up with a trick: to overthrow Li, Bai, and Huang, the "Three Heroes of the Guangxi Clan", Yu Zuobai and Li Mingrui must be used. The days when Yu Zuobai was an apartment was unbearably lonely.He was trapped in a secluded apartment, pacing and turning in circles day after day.He has broken three swords for practicing kung fu that his friends gave him.Sometimes I pour wine to the sky, and sometimes I sigh with a swipe of a pen to vent my depression: Qiongshui is sloppy and cold, and I listen to the mournful songs of the strong men.Zigui also knew that he hated him so much, how could he wish to be separated from his old friend forever!Don't cry clear tears and often cry blood, who will be with me, drunk on the bright moon?

The opportunity finally came——on a warm spring morning, an "uninvited guest" in a long robe and top hat came to visit. The person who came was Zheng Jiemin, a well-known senior Kuomintang agent, a fourth-year student of Whampoa, and the current aide-de-camp to Chiang Kai-shek. Zheng Jiemin was sent by Chiang Kai-shek to come to Hong Kong to invite Yu Zuobai out of the mountain.Zheng brought a check of 2 million yuan from Chiang Kai-shek to Yu Zuobai and a letter of commission for Yu Zuobai to be the commander-in-chief of the navy, army and air force, asking him to leave Hong Kong immediately and go to Wuhan to instigate his cousin Li Mingrui to defect to Chiang Kai-shek.As long as the success is complete, Yu Zuobai and Li Mingrui will be in charge of Guangxi, and the Guangxi army will be composed of Yu and Li.

Faced with Chiang Kai-shek's promises, Yu Zuobai couldn't help but be moved: If you have money to spend, you have an official job, you can avenge your old hatred, return to Guangxi, and realize your great wish of making a comeback. God help me! Of course, Yu Zuobai also knew that Chiang Kai-shek wanted to use the Yu brothers to get rid of Li Zongren's powerful Guangxi faction, and he didn't particularly favor the Yu brothers.But using Chiang Kai-shek to get rid of Li Zongren and Huang Shaohong is still a godsend opportunity for them. Yu Zuobai accepted the check and letter of appointment.Yu Zuobai secretly went to Wuhan.Zheng Jiemin also changed his name and surname accordingly, and joined Li Mingrui's Department as the director of the political department: firstly, to supervise and monitor Yu and Li's defection, and secondly, to direct the Jiang's secret agents who had infiltrated into Wuhan to make internal arrangements.

This conspiracy carefully planned by Chiang Kai-shek progressed very quickly and smoothly, and Li Zongren and other senior members of the Guangxi family were unaware of it. On the day when the Jiang-Gui war broke out, the Jiang army aggressively attacked the Guangxi faction across the board.Seeing that the time had come, Li Mingrui suddenly declared independence and led his troops out of the battle. ——This move seemed to have pulled out one of the main tendons of the Gui army, causing the Gui army to be defeated across the board, and Jiang Jun easily captured Wuhan. After the defection was successful, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Li Mingrui as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army of the rebel army (the commander-in-chief was Chen Jitang).Li Mingrui led an army of 30,000 troops to the south, and returned to Guangxi via Guangdong.

The blue sky is beautiful, the willows are green and the flowers are red, the grass is green and the wind is light, and the mountains and rivers are picturesque Throughout the ages, how many literati, scholars and officials have been intoxicated by the beautiful mountains and rivers!Yu Zuobai, who once lived in seclusion, is back!Li Mingrui, who has fought several times in the north and south, is back again! On Yongjiang Yangguan Wharf, soldiers lined up with guns, and people from all walks of life, including industry, agriculture, business, and education, lined the streets to welcome them; along the streets and alleys, colorful flags fluttered, firecrackers blared, and shengxiao, gongs, and drums played endlessly.The warmth of the atmosphere, the grandeur of the scene, and the enthusiasm of the crowd were beyond the imagination of the two brothers.Two years ago, when the Gui army set off for the Northern Expedition, the brothers drank a bitter farewell wine in Nanning. Today they reunited in their old place, and they were deeply moved.

The great success of Daogui made Chiang Kai-shek look at them with admiration, that is, fulfilled the promise of Yu and Li to take charge of Guangxi.Two majestic appointment letters flew in: Yu Zuobai and Li Mingrui took charge of the military and political power in Guangxi, but the situation is not optimistic: Over the years, Li, Bai, and Huang formed the Guangxi clique and fought against Chiang Kai-shek.Financial deficit, industrial depression, difficulty in raising military expenditures, and many economic difficulties.Only less than one-third of the two million yuan military salary promised by Lao Jiang was paid, and the remaining part was exempted from the national tax paid by Guangxi to make up for the vacancy.What is even more troublesome is that although the troops left by the original Huang Shaohong accepted the reorganization, they did not accept the restraint of Yu and Li. For this reason, the two cousins ​​racked their brains. Yu Zuobai: This is really "not being in charge of a family, you don't know how much money you need, and you don't know how difficult it is to be in politics unless you are an official"! Li Mingrui: Lao Jiang is unreliable!Lao Jiang instigated our brothers to defeat Li, Bai, and Huang. Who knows when and who he will use to beat us?Lao Jiang held an invisible blood knife. Yu Zuobai: Lao Jiang's behavior is "Sima Zhao's heart, which is well known to passers-by."He is insidious, cunning, and full of tricks. How can he allow others to snore on the side of his couch?Lao Jiang is absolutely untrustworthy, Lao Gui is the sworn enemy! Li Mingrui: My brother's original intention is to first defeat Gui, and then oppose Jiang! Yu Zuobai: Relying solely on us to oppose Chiang Kai-shek, we are alone and weak! Li Mingrui: What's your opinion, cousin? Yu Zuobai: Right now we need to do a few practical things for the folks in Guangxi to stabilize the situation.As for the future, alas, whichever mountain you go to is that mountain. Li Mingrui: It is better to find another way as soon as possible instead of saying that one mountain is one mountain. Yu Zuobai: Brother, please explain clearly. Li Mingrui: Take the road of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party advocated by the founding father, and secretly invite "experts" to help.How about being an official appointed by Lao Jiang in the open, and joining forces with the Communist Party in secret? Yu Zuobai: It is better to be cautious in words and deeds.In cooperating with the Communist Party, I mean "relying on" rather than "following". Asking them to help us govern Guangxi and secure our territory is not to follow them.Wouldn't that put everything under their command and control?We have the final say on matters in Guangxi! Li Mingrui: Whether it is "relying on" or "following", only by joining hands with the Communist Party can we achieve our goals. Yu Zuobai: Good!Then get them here as soon as possible. Yu and Li are not strangers to the Communist Party.During the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Yu Zuobai supported Sun Yat-sen's three major policies of "uniting with Russia, uniting with the Communist Party, and supporting farmers and workers", supported the movement of workers, peasants and students, and became a leftist figure in the Guangxi Clan of the Kuomintang.When he served as the director of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Industry, he also held a peasant movement workshop and spoke highly of Wei Baqun, the peasant leader of Donglan. After the "April 1.2" incident, Huang Shaohong expelled him from the Kuomintang party on suspicion of being a communist party, forcing him to avoid Hong Kong.As it happened, during Yu Zuobai's stay in Hong Kong, he had many contacts with senior CCP cadres Yun Daiying and Li Lisan in Hong Kong, and joined the Chinese Revolutionary Action Committee, a peripheral organization of the CCP in Hong Kong.He also provided a radio station to the CCP through his younger brother Yu Zuoyu.Yu Zuobai has no grievances against the Communist Party, and has always had a good impression of it.But as for going with the Communist Party, he was still reluctant for a while.He thought that going with the Communist Party meant that everything had to be under the command of the Communist Party, so why should he, the chairman of the provincial government, do anything?Li Mingrui, on the other hand, is upright by nature, quick-witted and forthright, and leans towards revolution.When participating in the Northern Expedition, a group of Communist Party members such as Huang Sunkui and Jiang Zuwu served in certain important positions in his army. During the "April 12" purge of the party, he reluctantly sent away all the Communist Party members.When discussing with his cousin about the strategy of governing Guangxi, the reason why he clearly advocated asking the Communist Party to help him was because he had already been "reddened" by a secret Communist Party member around him--this person was Yu Zuoyu, Yu Zuobai's younger brother. What a coincidence!Yu Zuoyu once studied in the Yantang Lecture Hall of the French Guardian Army in Guangzhou. During the Northern Expedition, he served as the commander of the third regiment under the jurisdiction of Li Mingrui's brigade.After the failure of the Great Revolution, he joined the Communist Party of China in Hong Kong in October 1927, and participated in the Guangzhou Uprising led by Ye Ting and Zhang Tailei in December of the same year.After the failure of the uprising, he was sent back to Guangxi to engage in underground work and served as secretary of the Beiliu County Committee of the Communist Party of China. In the spring of 1929, he was ordered to go to Li Mingrui's department to engage in military transportation.In instigating the two elder brothers to rebel against Jiang, his role cannot be replaced by others. When Yu Zuobai and Li Mingrui expressed their invitation to the CCP to work together in Guangxi, Yu Zuoyu was obliged to leave for Hong Kong immediately, contacted the CCP’s Southern Bureau in Hong Kong, and hoped that the CCP’s leadership would send someone to Guangxi as soon as possible. Therefore, there is a book to show a thrilling, tragic and magnificent historical drama that took place in the land of Bagui: In the life-and-death struggle between light and darkness, new life and corruption, a mysterious figure named Deng Bin and his companions mediate among various political factions with their literary and martial arts strategies, great wisdom and courage, strategizing and playing games. The enemy is in the palm of the hand, spreading the fire of revolutionary armed forces, and the prestige of the Seventh Red Army and the Eighth Red Army of the Chinese Workers and Peasants shocked Guangxi, and finally the thunder of the Baise and Longzhou riots!Then he moved thousands of miles away, went through hardships, broke through the enemy's siege and interception, and finally arrived at the Soviet Area of ​​the Communist Party of China to join the Red Army of Zhu and Mao...