Chapter 4 Zhou Enlai flew back to Yan'an to discuss the "Central Prompt Case"

On the same day, or July 22, Zhou Enlai, who was far away in Chongqing, flew to Yan'an, and he brought the National Government's "Central Prompt Case"-a document restricting and anti-communist. The so-called "Central Prompt Case" refers to the so-called "Central Prompt Case" proposed by the Kuomintang on July 16, 1940.The main contents are: cancel the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and replace it with the Northern Shaanxi Administrative District Office, which will be under the leadership of the Shaanxi Provincial Government; downsize the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and limit their defense areas.

With the development of the situation, the Kuomintang set off a new anti-communist upsurge.The Central Committee of the Kuomintang promoted the drafting of anti-communist measures by all localities and party, government and military agencies, which inevitably intensified the tension between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, which was already full of friction, and quickly began to develop to the point of military conflict.In areas where the Kuomintang has a military advantage, the Kuomintang's method of preventing and restricting communism is naturally easy to work, and the Communist Party will inevitably suffer losses.For example, in Pingjiang and Queshan, there were only a small number of New Fourth Army units left behind, and they were besieged by the local forces of the Kuomintang, which inevitably caused heavy casualties.In an area where the forces of both sides are evenly matched, the result of the confrontation can only be a compromise solution, a compromise solution.For example, Zhenyuan and Ning counties on the Longdong side of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region were originally areas of dual power. The Zhenyuan Commissioner's Office appointed by the Kuomintang followed the instructions of the superior to "automatically restore power", "absolutely tough and not back down", and instructed the security forces "Searching for troublemakers everywhere", arrested 6 staff members of the 385th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, intending to force the Eighth Route Army away, which resulted in retaliation from the 385th Brigade.You arrest my people and I arrest yours, which finally triggered a military conflict. The Kuomintang Zhenyuan county magistrate, commissioner and security brigade were all driven out of Zhenyuan county.At the same time, the same situation also occurred in neighboring Ning County.Based on this, Mao Zedong clearly proposed to "take a tough attitude" and insisted that the five counties of Zhenyuan, Ningxian, and Qingyang should all be under the jurisdiction of the border area. Or we can only compromise with each other and admit that everything has been restored to the original state.

Zhou Enlai wrote to Chiang Kai-shek on June 3, 1939, stating: Recently, frictions have intensified in various places. "Taking into account the reasons, local immaturity and abnormal behavior are certainly the proximate cause of the accident. The announcement of the party's activities has really stimulated the local government greatly. Because of this, frictions are becoming more and more common in various places. There are armed conflicts, some CCP members are assassinated, some are arrested, and some are called traitors. What’s more, most of the books and newspapers he published were banned, most of the groups he joined were closed, his friends and friends were suspected, and his work was restricted. He thought that this could prevent the Communist Party Such activities can narrow the scope of the border area. However, the more pressure we rely on, the less it will be able to convince people, and the more difficult it will be to achieve the desired effect.”

At the beginning of 1940, high-level cadres of the Kuomintang wrote to Chiang, clearly stating that the Japanese pirates, Wang Ni, and the CCP were all our enemies. It is even more difficult to deal with than Wowang... Assuming that the power of the CCP continues to expand and conflicts continue to occur in various places, especially because the scope of the CCP’s activities is unlimited, I can neither eliminate it nor adjust and use it. It is only ineffective to prevent it. The so-called “friction against friction” means that over time, it will proliferate everywhere, neutralize our resistance force, disrupt our social order, shake our political foundation, not only forge opportunities for the enemy, but also cause international misunderstanding, and lead to a diplomatic deadlock In view of the current situation, it seems that we should use the method of defeating each one to draw a clear line of combat between the Kuomintang and the Communist armies. The Hebei-Chahar Theater will be handed over to the CCP, and Zhu Peng will be appointed as the deputy commander in chief. Go to the north, and express that they are only allowed to develop in the four eastern provinces, and are not allowed to enter or leave the south. In the south of the Yellow River, especially the Yangtze River Basin, there is no room for the slightest politeness, and all activists of the CCP are banned and wiped out, so as to ensure the control of the Kuomintang. If the situation changes, the following effects can be expected: avoid the mixed state of the CCP troops and the national army, and strengthen its own lineup; turn the CCP to its front and directly conflict with Japanese pirates and puppet organizations; eliminate the CCP forces in South China; win the War of Resistance After that, I can deal with the CCP alone according to the request of the people of North China, and take advantage of the extreme turmoil in the four eastern provinces to recover all the lost land.Based on this, they proposed: "At present, we should first establish a plan to eliminate the CCP forces south of the Yellow River." On the condition that the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army are fully transferred to the theater, Zhu Peng was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Hebei-Chahar Theater and the provincial capital of the Hebei-Chahar Province. Chairman, "Those who refuse to accept the transfer will be regarded as thieves and bandits and will be wiped out."

After entering 1940, the military friction between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party has become intense.The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has made unprecedented achievements through nearly a year of anti-friction struggle. "The stubborn forces in Northwest Shanxi have all been wiped out, (Hebei) Shi (Yousan) and Gao (Shuxun) have been defeated, and the remnants have retreated to Heze in Shandong. Zhu Huaibing's headquarters was wiped out, and Lu (Zhong Lin) and Zhu (Huai Bing) retreated to (Henan) Hui County", "in North China, especially in the north of the Fenli Highway, Baitun Highway, Changzhi, Cixian, and Daming Lines , we have an absolute advantage, and the two sides in Shandong are still confronting each other, but the number of counties in which we have political power has reached 40 counties."Therefore, the Chinese Communist Party formulated a new development goal, which was to "integrate the entire North China to southern Anhui and Jiangnan into a democratic anti-Japanese base area, put it under the management of the progressive forces of the Communist Party, and at the same time greatly develop central and eastern Hubei, so as to integrate with the whole country. work together."And we must strive to achieve the goal of expanding the army by one million in the shortest possible time.While carrying out the military struggle, the party still has to work hard to win over the middle forces, especially to win over 2 million friendly troops to oppose the "suppression of the communists", at least negatively towards the "suppression of the communists".

The call for military anti-communism in the Kuomintang is getting louder, and Chiang Kai-shek is obviously eager to try.In his diary, he expressed his confidence that since the Japanese offensive had stopped, he already possessed the strength to "resist the Japanese and suppress the Communists, and we can do both."Of course, he understands that at this time, it is "inappropriate to completely break up" the Communist Party, but to "take the defensive first" and "partial struggle."Therefore, Chiang did not agree to launch a large-scale "communist suppression" war, but preferred the tactics of defeating each other.Considering that the North China Eighth Route Army had already occupied a fairly dominant position and the Kuomintang could hardly do anything behind the enemy lines, Chiang was actually most concerned about Central China at this time.He was highly alert to the situation where the CCP army entered Shandong and began to turn to the enemy's rear in central China.Knowing that the New Fourth Army has been broken up into parts, "quickly complete the guerrilla bases in various places, the Qianshan Qingmoguan area in the north of the Jiangxi, the Yongcheng Xiayi area in the Henan-Shandong-Anhui border area, Maoshan in the south and a camera to occupy Tianmu Mountain as the base in western Zhejiang. "The plan" is to strictly order subordinates: "Strict attention should be paid to the actions of the New Fourth Army and other communist parties in the third theater. If they violate the rules, they should be merciless and severely punished."As for the drafting of the "Guidelines for Clearing the Alien Army in the Huaihe River Basin and South of Longhai Road" by the Military Command, he just disagreed with the mobilization of the Li Pinxian and Han Deqin groups to move in and out of the east of Huainan Road and south of Hongze Lake In the area, Li Xianzhou Army (1st Cavalry Division) and Han Deqin's troops entered and exited the area north of the Huaihe River, oppressing the CCP troops in the area to the south of the river or destroying them at will, which is called "using this kind of formal combat However, large-scale campaigns and suppressions will be difficult to achieve. Political work should be the main focus, and most of the regular army’s special training units should be attached to them. Only in this way can campaigns be effective.”Chiang Kai-shek's opinion is to fight steadily, defeat each one, and strive to succeed in local suppression.Therefore, on the one hand, he asked the third war zone to force the Jiangbei troops of the New Fourth Army to return to the south of the Yangtze River, and on the other hand, he secretly ordered Li Pinxian, Han Deqin and others to select elite troops to clean up both sides of Huainan Road and Meng (city), Guo (yang), Su (county), and Yong (city). The CCP army and its organizations at all levels in the nearby areas quickly moved in and out of the nearby areas in the north and south of Hongze Lake, and worked together to suppress the CCP army to the south of the river, or wipe it out in one fell swoop.

After May 1940, the top leaders of the Kuomintang gradually reached a consensus on how to fundamentally resolve the friction and conflict between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the work of demarcation negotiations began to be put on the agenda.According to the plan drawn up by the Kuomintang, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army should "all enter the Jicha region north of the old Yellow River (from Jiexiu, Pingyao, Taigu, Changzhi in Shanxi, Handan and Guantao in Hebei, to the north of Qihe in Shandong)" The two provinces and the northeast of Shanxi and the border areas of Hebei and Shandong". On July 16, with Chiang's approval, the Kuomintang negotiators formally drafted the "Central Prompt Proposal", and it was delivered to the CCP negotiator Zhou Enlai on July 21.

On this day, He Yingqin held a document in both hands and said to Zhou Enlai: "After the Seventh Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee of the Kuomintang, our Central Committee proposed a "Central Prompt" on the issue of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Please read it before we can negotiate." Zhou Enlai He took the document and asked seriously: "Is it an order that must be executed, or is there a questionable reminder?" He Yingqin replied: "I think it basically belongs to the former." Zhou Enlai then said: "Then wait until I review your party After the "Central Prompt", report to the Central Committee and have a clear instruction before holding talks!" Zhou Enlai put away the KMT's "Central Prompt", then frowned, closed his eyes slightly, and entered into the deepest meditation.He knew very well that the Communist Party not only had to fight to the death with the Japanese, but also faced the suppression of the Kuomintang.Faced with the KMT's proposal, Zhou Enlai was very cautious. The fact that the KMT and the Communist Party cooperated for the first time told him that he must maintain his independence when cooperating with the KMT.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China does not object to the method of military demarcation, but it cannot accept the narrow area of ​​the two provinces of Hebei and Chahar, and proposes that the five provinces of North China must be the combat areas of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army.Chiang Kai-shek rejected this at all, and even Zhou Enlai suggested that only Shandong and Suiyuan should be added as part of the CCP's war zone, and the guerrilla forces in various places should remain in place to fight. Chiang also said that there was no room for accommodation.He claimed: "If the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army cannot reach the north bank of the Yellow River, all problems will not be solved."

In the eyes of the KMT, "The Communist Party has expanded from 30,000 to 500,000 in three years, and it will be more than 1 million in a year or two. At that time, there is still a way for the Kuomintang to survive?" Especially with the Communist Party's military strength in Central China in 1940 In October, Han Deqin, the most important Kuomintang army in northern Jiangsu, was defeated by Chen Yi's New Fourth Army in Huangqiao Town. The general became even more restless.