Chapter 43 History has played a cruel joke, or a deliberate mockery

Zhou Enlai set off from Shanghai to Moscow on March 3, 1930, to report the situation to the Comintern and discuss the Chinese revolution.His passport was obtained through the connection of the underground party and the application of the Universal Chinese Student Association in Shanghai.The passport is real, and the name used is "Zhou Guansheng". The photo is his own, but it looks like it and doesn't look like it on purpose.He arrived in Europe by ship in April, and then went to Moscow by land.When passing through Germany, he was invited by the "Red Flag" of the German Communist Party to write an editorial entitled "Written Before the First Congress of the Chinese Soviet", signed by "Chen Guang" (transliteration).The article states:

"Peasant guerrilla warfare (war) and agrarian revolution are the main features of today's Chinese revolution." This is a new and extremely important conclusion drawn from the practice of the "Sixth National Congress" of the Communist Party of China more than a year later.After it was published, many readers asked the newspaper about who the author was, and the "Red Flag Daily" replied publicly: "The author of this worth-reading article is a leading member of the Political Bureau of our Chinese fraternal party." "The article is vivid and specific. It vividly shows the picture of the great upsurge of the Chinese revolution."

After Zhou Enlai left the country, important changes took place in China and within the CCP. In May 1930, the unprecedented scale of the Central Plains War between Chiang Kai-shek, Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang was in full swing. The two sides had more than one million troops in the front line, and the rear was empty.This situation provided a favorable opportunity for the development of the armed forces of workers and peasants under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. There were more than a dozen official Red Army armies across the country, together with local armed forces, a total of more than 100,000 troops, and opened up more than a dozen rural revolutionary base areas. The foreign military adviser hired by Chiang Kai-shek jokingly called it: China's "snow leopard skin":

In southern Jiangxi and western Fujian, the First Red Army led by Mao Zedong and Zhu De, with nearly 20,000 people, galloped for hundreds of miles, forming a relatively solid revolutionary base (that is, the Central Soviet Area). In the border areas of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi, the Red Army led by Peng Dehuai and Teng Daiyuan has two armies under its jurisdiction, forming an armed force with more than 15,000 people. In the western part of Hunan and Hubei, the Second Red Army led by He Long and Zhou Yiqun established a revolutionary base with 10,000 troops between the Yangtze River and the Han River.

In the Hubei, Henan and Anhui regions, the First Red Army led by Xu Jishen and Xu Xiangqian established a red area with 10,000 troops and more than 20 counties. In northeastern Jiangxi, more than 2,000 Red Army and Workers' and Peasants' Red Guards led by Fang Zhimin and Shao Shiping formed a red area with more than a dozen counties. In the Youjiang area of ​​Guangxi, the Seventh Red Army led by Deng Xiaoping and Zhang Yunyi had nearly 10,000 people, and established revolutionary bases in eleven counties in Youjiang. In addition, in central Jiangsu, in eastern Guangdong, in areas such as the Shaanxi-Gansu border and northern Shaanxi, revolutionary bases and red regimes of varying sizes were established.

At this favorable time and the rapid growth of the revolutionary armed forces, some people in the CCP grew arrogance, and the "Left" trend of thought that had not been completely eliminated began to rise again. The "Left" trend represented by Li Lisan Adventurism developed viciously at this time. During Zhou Enlai’s visit to Moscow, Xiang Zhongfa, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, relied on Li Lisan, who was then a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo and Minister of Propaganda, Li Lisan played a major decision-making role in the Politburo.

On June 11, 1930, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held a meeting, which was chaired by Xiang Zhongfa and led by Li Lisan, and passed the "Resolution on Current Political Tasks--The New Revolutionary Upsurge and the Development of a Province or Several Provinces" drafted by Li Lisan. First to win".The resolution emphasizes: "Under the national revolutionary climax, the revolution can win first in one or several important provinces and regions (according to the current situation, the objective conditions are more mature in the nearby provinces and regions centered on Wuhan). In the new Under the situation that the revolutionary climax is getting closer, it has become the general policy of the party's current strategy to prepare for the victory of one or several provinces first and establish a national revolutionary regime." The resolution also declared: China is the weakest link in the chain of imperialist world domination , is the place where the spark of world revolution is most likely to erupt.Therefore, at a time when the crisis of the world revolution has become serious, the Chinese revolution may break out first, set off a great revolution all over the world, and have the possibility of the final class decisive battle in the world.

Based on this "left" risk-taking route, the central government formulated a set of national armed uprising plans centered on Wuhan, and ordered the national Red Army to attack the central cities: the Red Army attacked Wuhan; the Red Army attacked Nanchang and Jiujiang, and Seize the whole of Jiangxi; the Second Red Army cooperated to attack Wuhan and Changsha; the First Red Army cut off the Jinghan Road to advance to Wuhan; the Tenth Red Army attacked Jiujiang; Yangtze River" adventure plan. At the same time, plans for general strikes and armed uprisings in major cities in the White Areas were also formulated.For comrades in the party who hold different opinions, the Lisan Central Committee labeled them as "conciliators", "liquidators", and "rightist forces" to carry out cruel struggles and mercilessly attack them.Yun Daiying, He Mengxiong, Lin Yunan and other comrades were excluded from the Central Committee and given punishments such as revocation, demotion, and expulsion from the party because they opposed adventurism.

In order to effectively ensure the implementation of the general strategy of Li San's adventurism, the central government sent many special commissioners to the Soviet areas and the Red Army to command and supervise.The representative sent to the Seventh Red Army in Guangxi was Deng Gang.Due to the inconvenient secret communication between Shanghai and Moscow, Zhou Enlai, who was far away in Moscow, did not fully understand all the changes that had taken place in the party. On July 5, Zhou Enlai attended the 16th Congress of the Communist Party of China and delivered a report on "The New Upsurge of the Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of China".He said: "The nature of the Chinese revolution is a bourgeois civil rights revolution." "This civil rights revolution can only be completely completed under the leadership of the proletariat by uniting with the peasants."

On July 16, he made a report on "The Characteristics of the New Upsurge of the Chinese Revolution and the Central Task of the Party" at the Political Committee of the Communist International.He said: "The development of the Chinese revolution is uneven because of the disunity of the national political economy." "The new upsurge of the Chinese revolution is in the process of maturity, and the situation of a direct national revolution has not yet been formed." Obviously, these conclusions of Zhou Enlai are correct. On a certain day around late July, Stalin met with Zhou Enlai and had an hour-long talk with him.

Stalin: It seems that the new upsurge of the Chinese labor movement has arisen only against the background of the Peasant War. Zhou Enlai: The Chinese revolution is actually mainly a peasant revolution.To win the revolution, millions of poor peasants must first be liberated. Stalin: China is different from the Soviet Union. China is a poor and backward agricultural country. It is necessary to mobilize the peasants and form a revolutionary army with peasants as the main body. Zhou Enlai: At present, what makes the Chinese revolution more developed is the deepening of the peasant agrarian revolution. The Chinese workers and peasants not only have their Soviet power, but also have the workers' and peasants' armed forces fighting for this power. Stalin: How many Red Army troops does the CCP currently have? Zhou Enlai: One hundred thousand Red Army and tens of thousands of guerrillas. Stalin: Well, from this point of view, the Chinese Red Army has developed rapidly in the past two years, and the issue of the Red Army should be given priority over the issue of the Chinese revolution. Zhou Enlai: Our development strategy and work focus are gradually shifting to this aspect. What a comforting thing this is!Stalin, the mentor of world revolution, paid great attention to China.At this time, Stalin was already different from his view in 1928 that the CCP should engage in labor movements and urban riots. The fact that the Chinese Red Army has grown stronger in the countryside for more than a year made this mentor think more objectively and fairly that "the issue of the Red Army should be placed on the The question of the Chinese revolution comes first." At this time, in China, the Lisan Central Committee has vigorously implemented the "Left" adventurous decision in all Soviet areas across the country. On July 16, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a letter to the Presidium of the Communist International in the name of Xiang Zhongfa, declaring: "We have decided to organize a soldier riot in Nanjing, and at the same time organize a general strike in Shanghai, and strive for the first victory of the armed riot in Wuhan and the establishment of a Soviet regime throughout the country." "The international mobilization of branches in various countries is required to actively carry out the protection of the Chinese revolutionary movement, especially (especially) the active assistance of the Communist Party of China, and send a large number of political and military personnel to step up guidance and work." The Communist International called the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China according to Stalin's instructions, thinking that the armed forces of the Communist Party of China were still too weak, and did not agree to arrange the riots in Wuhan, Nanjing, and the Shanghai General League. This undoubtedly poured cold water on the Lisan Central Committee! From August 1st to 3rd, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a Politburo meeting to discuss the general situation in the country and the call from the Communist International. Li Lisan was the first to speak: "After watching the telegram last night, I felt that the international calls did not know the situation of the development of the Chinese revolution. Comrade Enlai should bear this responsibility. Comrade Enlai's report to the international must have failed to explain the general trend of the development of the revolution. , thus ignoring this rapid development internationally." Li Lisan emphasized: "If we mechanically carry out the International's instructions, superficially loyal to the incoming call from the International, but actually relax the current critical moment of the revolution, we will be disloyal to the revolution, and to be disloyal to the revolution is to be disloyal to the International." The participants agreed with Li Lisan's opinion. Xiang Ying, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, said: "It's not that the international doesn't understand the general trend, but that it doesn't understand the speed of the revolution. This should be blamed on the people who went to Moscow to be right-leaning and conservative." Wen Yucheng, head of the League Central Committee who attended the meeting, said: "Comrade Enlai will come back, and there will be a fierce debate and struggle. We must point out his political responsibility in the international arena." In his conclusion, Xiang Zhong said: "Comrades in the Political (Political) Bureau should resolutely implement the party's line in the same spirit. Politically and organizationally, he has exposed his danger of leaning to the right, and he should bear serious responsibility. After the political problem is resolved, he will be transferred to the Northern Bureau!" On August 6, the General Action Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was established. At the meeting, Li Lisan made a report on "The Current Political Situation and the Party's Tasks in Preparing for Armed Riots." The offensive line, our strategy must also promote the decisive battle of the international proletariat against imperialism!" The General Action Committee issued an order to mobilize the Red Army 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and other armies to advance to Wuhan, Changsha and other cities, and asked the Southern Bureau to quickly dispatch the Red 7th Army to attack Liuzhou and Guilin, with a view to organizing them in Guangzhou. riot. At the same time, after studying the resolution of the CCP on June 11, the Comintern thought it was wrong, and asked Zhou Enlai and Qu Qiubai, who had stayed in Moscow after the Sixth National Congress, to go back and correct it. Zhou Enlai left Moscow, first took a train to Dalian, and then took a ship to Shanghai on August 19. As soon as they met, Li Lisan and Xiang Zhongfa couldn't wait to question him. Zhou Enlai did not get angry, but finally persuaded them with patient reasoning and specific analysis. From August 22 to 24, the Central Committee held a Politburo meeting. Zhou Enlai conveyed the spirit of the international instructions, criticized Li Lisan's mistakes, and emphasized the great practical and historical significance of establishing and developing rural revolutionary base areas and the Red Army. He pointed out: "Now is the process of the revolutionary upsurge becoming more and more mature. Although many Soviets have overthrown the feudal rule of the countryside, there is no direct revolutionary situation in the whole country." He said: "Where is the most suitable place in China to establish a Soviet base? Southwest Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong, etc., not only have a large Soviet area, but also have a party foundation and a broad masses. Why do we do this strategically? This is because in many of these areas not only are the enemy's weakest places, but there are armed forces led by the party, which the party has consolidated to develop towards the central cities." He said: "The base areas are by no means separatist and conservative, but to stand firm and develop vigorously step by step." He especially emphasized: "Building a politically determined Red Army with full combat effectiveness is the first-class task under the special conditions in China today." On August 26, Qu Qiubai also arrived in Shanghai. At this time, Li Lisan's adventurism had caused heavy losses to the revolution, and the Red Army's two attacks on Changsha failed.Qu Qiubai persuaded Li Lisan with the painful lessons of the "Left" putschism mistakes he made when he presided over the work of the Central Committee from November 1927 to April 1928, which caused serious damage and loss to the party and revolutionary forces.Li Lisan was deeply moved by Qu Qiubai's courage and open-mindedness in not blaming mistakes, admitting mistakes and correcting mistakes. With the help of Zhou Enlai and Qu Qiubai, Li Lisan admitted his mistake and made a profound self-criticism at the Politburo meeting (25 years later, Li Lisan made a deep reflection and self-blame at the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of China), and soon He was transferred from the central government to study in the Soviet Union.Served as the representative of the Communist Party of China to the Communist International, engaged in the Chinese translation of the works of Marx, Lenin and Stalin.He was elected as a member of the Central Committee at the "Seventh National Congress" of the party and served as the vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.After liberation, he served as a member of the Central People's Government, a member of the Government Administration Council, and Minister of Labor.Later, he served successively as Deputy Minister of the Central Ministry of Industry and Communications, and Secretary of the North China Bureau Secretariat of the Communist Party of China. During the "Cultural Revolution", he was accused of being a "secret agent" and imprisoned for criticism. In 1980, the Party Central Committee rehabilitated him and restored his reputation. From September 24 to 28, 1930, the enlarged meeting of the Third Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held secretly in a temporarily rented foreign house on Matthurst Road, Shanghai.At this plenary meeting, the "Left" errors of Li Lisan and others were criticized, the risky actions of organizing the national general uprising and concentrating the national Red Army to attack the central cities were stopped, and the losses caused by "Left" adventurism were promptly reduced. This meeting is indeed a crucial meeting for the Chinese revolution. The mountains are high and the roads are far away, and the news is isolated. The Seventh Red Army located in the southwestern border area has no knowledge of the Third Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee held by the Central Committee and the important changes in the central strategic policy.Even two months after the central government corrected Li Lisan's "Left" adventurism mistakes, the "imperial envoy" Deng Gang dispatched by the central government still communicated to the Seventh Red Army according to the spirit of the Central Committee's resolution in June, and the front committee of the Seventh Red Army still followed the Central Committee's 6 The month's resolution and the Central Committee's instructions to the Red Seventh Army to complete the mission they shouldered. The Seventh Red Army set off.More than 7,000 Red Army athletes were full of pride, held high the red flag, and set off mightily and majestically. They don't know that what lies ahead of them will be a tragic and tragic journey full of dangers and hardships. They don't know how many dangerous situations and desperate struggles of powerful enemies they will encounter during their journey of thousands of miles. Is this a cruel joke that history has played on them, or is it a deliberate mockery? No!History is history, and no one can rewrite it.