May 14, 1992 was the last day of Nie Rongzhen, the last Marshal of the Republic.When the last evening of his life came, the two old secretaries came to the marshal's bed as usual.After watching the TV news, the last question the Marshal asked his secretary was: "Will the documents and telegrams from the Nanchang Uprising and the Red Army period be included in (Nie Rongzhen's) military anthology?" The secretary replied: "It's all taken in." The marshal asked again: "When will it be published?" "The comrades in the publishing house said that it will be published before the Army Day this year. Please rest assured."

"That's good." A satisfied smile appeared on the marshal's face.It seemed that he had finished everything he wanted to do and left everything he wanted to leave to this world. At 10 o'clock, he fell asleep.It's just that there was no usual snoring or heartbeat, and he lay quietly without snoring or saying a word. A century old man is gone.Why did he still care about the Nanchang Uprising at the last moment of his life? "August 1" is a topic for the dying; it is also a topic for the "victims".Nanchang was on fire, and half the sky became red.Ten years later, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated to resist Japan together.Chiang Kai-shek asked He Long, the commander of the 120th Division, at the meeting of the generals of the Second Theater: "How is the equipment of the troops now?"

He Long pulled out a long pipe from his mouth and said: "The equipment is very poor! The guns are all bald (referring to no bayonets). We are outside the Great Wall, the weather is very cold, officers and soldiers have no fur coats, no fur hats, There are very few bullets." Chiang Kai-shek nodded: "Oh, there are many difficulties." After a while, he suddenly changed the subject and asked He Long: "In the 16th year of the Republic of China, why did you join the Communist Party's Nanchang uprising instead of being a good army commander?" He Long replied bluntly: "I have different political views from the Chairman!"

Chiang Kai-shek was at a loss for words.It seems that the Nanchang riots are not light in Chiang Kai-shek's mind. When the storm of the Cultural Revolution swept across the country, the "first batch of questions" that the "special task force" attacked He Long happened in 1927. They were afraid that He Long would have a bad temper, so they dared not ask questions face to face, but asked questions "back to back". He Long was asked to answer: "What conspiracy did you do during the Nanchang Uprising? You must truthfully explain your crimes." After reading the paper full of questions, He Long threw it on the table and shouted angrily: "What the hell, how can such a thing happen!"

For several days, his heart was on fire, he smoked a lot, talked very little, and walked up and down the room from time to time.Sometimes he sat down suddenly, opened his notebook, and kept writing the word "wronged" on it with a brush.He wrote the word "injustice" very forcefully, and the last stroke was thin and long, as if he wanted to poke a hole in the sky. After calming down, he thought that as long as he explained the ins and outs of everything clearly, the Central Committee and Mao Zedong could understand the truth.He began to recall the process of participating in the Nanchang Uprising, including every detail, he said, and asked his wife Xue Ming to record it.However, when people finally regarded this great insurgent as a hero again, the hero's bones had already been ashes, and nothing was heard.

When Zhou Enlai, the most important leader of the uprising, came to the mourning hall of He Long, no one would forget the scene of him bowing in front of the statue of He Long seven times in a row because of his inability to protect He Long. Zhou Enlai, known for his wit and eloquence, who has experienced countless situations, can't make a sentence, but just calls Xue Ming's name. What kind of grief is this? Of course, Zhou Enlai should be most concerned about the topic of the Nanchang Uprising.But what he talked about the most was not the meaning of the uprising, but the lessons of failure.Why did Zhou Enlai "frequently and repeatedly talk about" the mistakes in the Nanchang Uprising?

Unfortunately, the resounding word "August 1" once became a psychological obstacle for the conspirators.When Lin Biao was not yet a smash hit, and when he and General Luo Ruiqing had not turned against each other, he once confided in his heart: "Our prestige is not enough? Because we are not the leaders of the Nanchang riots!" This constitutes the tragedy of many people.Before Lin Biao exploded, the slogan of denying everything and overthrowing everything had become a fashion.As long as things that are not led by Mao Zedong and Lin Biao will be suspected, the Nanchang Uprising is naturally inevitable.So there was a call to use "September 9th as the Army Day"; there was a precedent for foreign envoys not to arrange to visit the August 1st Uprising Memorial Hall when they arrived in Nanchang, on the grounds that "the memorial hall is under renovation."Garcia, Cuba's charge d'affaires in China, received such a courtesy.What surprised him even more was that in Jinggangshan, he was told that in 1928, Lin Biao led part of the Nanchang Uprising troops to Jinggangshan to join Mao Zedong.On the eve of leaving Jiangxi, Garcia frankly stated: "When explaining comrades, do not mention the history of the Nanchang Uprising and Zhu De's visit to Jinggangshan. It may be easy for Chinese people to not mention it, but it is not easy for foreigners. Do you want to not mention historical facts?" , should be mentioned.In fact, Chinese people with a little bit of historical knowledge are not easy to understand; the price of madness is ignorance.Zhou Enlai, who received a briefing on foreign affairs, reported the matter to Mao Zedong.Mao Zedong maintained the "August 1st".

On the evening of April 23, 1971, the eve of Garcia's resignation and return to China, Zhou Enlai met him at the Great Hall of the People, welcomed him at the entrance of the Fujian Hall, and took a group photo with him.At this time, Zhou Enlai had already noticed Mao Zedong's "dislike" towards Lin Biao, so at the beginning of the conversation with Garcia, he explained: "You proposed that after the Nanchang Uprising, Comrade Zhu De should lead the team to Jinggangshan to join the Autumn Harvest Uprising team led by Chairman Mao. This view is completely correct. This is also the thought of Comrade Mao Zedong. I told Comrade Mao Zedong your opinion, and he said that your opinion is correct, and he asked us to tell the exhibition hall to correct it. Garcia said happily nod.

Zhou Enlai cherished this opportunity to reiterate Mao Zedong's own attitude on this matter: "The pattern of the flag of the Chinese People's Liberation Army is the word "August 1". Chairman Mao worked together. I couldn’t choose any pattern. Comrade Mao Zedong said, why choose another one? Just write the word “August 1” and it is a pattern. I said that the success of the Red Army began in Jinggangshan, The August 1st Uprising was a failure. I am afraid that the word "August 1st" may not be appropriate. Chairman Mao said, no, the August 1st Uprising fired the first shot at the Kuomintang reactionaries, and the Autumn Harvest Uprising came after the August 1st Uprising."

As we all know, Zhou Enlai did not strive for credit for himself at any time, and his personal fame and benefits were like floating clouds. But under the circumstances at that time, it was really commendable to be able to justify the name of the August 1st Nanchang Uprising.He introduced the facts of the year in detail: "Comrade Mao Zedong participated in the 'August 7th Conference' and took part of the armed peasants and workers, and the guard group that had not yet caught up to participate in the August 1st Uprising, and formed a worker-peasant-soldier armed force and went to Jinggangshan. , established a base, and stood firm. The time was after the August 1st Uprising. Although the direction of the August 1st Uprising was right, the policy was wrong. The city advocated and relied on foreign aid. These are two fundamental mistakes. This mistake was made by me, the Nanchang Uprising At that time, I was the secretary of the Front Enemy Committee. Many people from the early days of our party participated in the August 1 Uprising, including Zhu De, Lin Biao, Chen Yi, He Long, Liu Bocheng, Nie Rongzhen, Ye Ting, Guo Moruo, Qing Daiying, and Dong Biwu, the oldest, also participated. There were Li Lisan and Zhang Guotao. At that time, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was in Wuhan, and we pulled the army from Wuhan to Nanchang, holding high the banner of opposing the Kuomintang, so most of the members of the Central Committee participated. This is a major event for the party, and it cannot be ignored just because of the failure. "

Because of Lin Biao's conspiratorial activities, most of the veterans had a hard time.In particular, He Long, Zhu De, and Chen Yi, who participated in the August 1st Uprising and were in positions above Lin Biao at the time, have been brought to the brink of life and death. Zhou Enlai took this opportunity to clarify the truth: "During the Nanchang Uprising, there were two armies, one belonged to He Long and the other belonged to Ye Ting. Ye Ting led an independent regiment to defeat Wuhan during the Northern Expedition. Lin Biao was in this regiment at that time. Platoon leader. In 1927, when we were fighting outside Shantou, we left a part of the army led by Zhu De to contain the Kuomintang army. Lin Biao was the company commander in the regiment, and Comrade Chen Yi was the branch secretary in the regiment. Zhu De's troops did not participate in the Shantou battle, and were not affected Loss. He led some of the preserved troops to northern Guangdong and southern Hunan, and finally arrived at Jinggangshan in the spring of 1928 to join Comrade Mao Zedong’s troops. This is the meeting of the two troops. Party representative. Therefore, since 1928, the Chinese reactionary newspapers have always said "Zhu Mao", and these two names have been linked together. Comrade Mao Zedong said that no matter how many mistakes this comrade made in the political line, he led an army to It was a great achievement to go to Jinggangshan, and many cadres were retained. Therefore, this incident is always written in history.” Speaking of this, Zhou Enlai said to Garcia quite emotionally: "Comrade Zhu De is old. He is 85 years old. He is in poor health and has more rest time. He did not participate in this campaign. Our Red Guards looked up his history and said that he I made mistakes and opposed Comrade Mao Zedong, so I put up big-character posters in Zhongnanhai, saying that he was the 'Black Commander'. Chairman Mao stood up and spoke out. You young people don't understand history. This is wrong. Comrade Zhu De is still the 'Red Commander' ', although he made mistakes, we have always fought together until now, so the party's "Ninth National Congress" still elected him to the Politburo. It was correct to go to Jinggang Mountains. The Nanchang Uprising failed and made mistakes. Two comparisons It seems that the revolutionary line led by Mao Zedong is correct. This is your opinion. Mao Zedong appreciates your opinion very much, and it is in line with his thinking.” It has been a long time since Zhou Enlai talked about the Nanchang Uprising so heartily.Although he was not yet able to protect all the victims, he still had to be cautious, and he had to rely on Mao Zedong's support everywhere.However, Lin Biao's speech before the explosion gave the people who survived the uprising a new life. Among the generals of the Republic, not a few participated in the Nanchang Uprising.In 1955 alone, six people were awarded the rank of Marshal: Zhu De, He Long, Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, Nie Rongzhen, Lin Biao (Marshal Ye Jianying, who played an important role in the uprising, has not been counted); there are 4 generals: Su Yu, Chen Geng, Zhang Yunyi, Xu Guangda; among the generals were Xiao Ke, Yang Zhicheng, Zhou Shidi, Chen Qihan, Zhao Erlu and so on.It is rare even in the history of world wars that a riot can produce so many generals.This is not counting the national leaders who were qualified to stand on the Tiananmen Gate to wave to the people after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and the leaders of the uprising back then: Zhou Enlai, Lin Boqu, Wu Yuzhang, Xu Teli, Li Lisan, Guo Moruo, Tan Pingshan. The most interesting thing is that at the time of the founding ceremony, those who stood on the famous palace wall were not only the participants of the uprising, but also the "suppressors" of the uprising, such as Cheng Qian, Li Jishen, Tang Shengzhi, Huang Shaohong, etc. They were in the hostile camp of the Nanchang Uprising, and many contests were fought between the insurgents and them.When history finally recognized this uprising, the "besiegers" of these uprisings also chose to uprising at another historical juncture.The difference is that one was when the Great Revolution failed, and the other was when the People’s War of Liberation was victorious. Their uprising turned their history from negative to positive.Whether it is the earliest enlightened person or the later enlightened person like them, they are also heroes and the builders of the new China. The vicissitudes of life, how much change the world has gone through. Therefore, sometimes I think, looking back on the performances of these insurgents who were once enemies but eventually became friends, on the same historical stage, is it a pity or a pleasure? Standing in front of the long list of heroes, I pay tribute to these generals who have walked a long way with the Republic; and in my heart, I still have a higher respect, that is, to those who have never tasted the new A fruit of China, the heroic souls who died early before receiving a medal from the Republic, wrote their epics piously, and recorded their names.They are Ye Ting, Hui Daiying, Peng Pai, Guo Liang, Fang Weixia, Zhou Yiqun, Li Shuoxun, Wang Erzhuo, He Wenxuan, He Jinzhai, Peng Yuchen and so on. Time has spanned 70 years.We did not have the opportunity to participate in or witness the uprising, we do not have the power to grasp all aspects of the uprising, and it is not necessary to describe all its details, but we have an obligation to pursue and think about the uprising.Seek it for inspiration today and for tomorrow.It's like a generation.I've always had a fascination with all the characters and little-known details of the uprising.I even put the Nanchang Uprising led by Zhou Enlai on August 1st; the Autumn Harvest Uprising led by Mao Zedong on September 9th, and the days of their deaths happened to be the reciprocal days of the uprising (Zhou Enlai died on January 8th, Mao Zedong died on 9th September 9) have been pondered.I hope I don't become a fatalist, but it's hard to take back my admiration for the rebels.So I wrote down all my thoughts and doubts about the uprising on paper. The first thing I pay attention to is those who played a key role in all aspects of the riot—whether they are star-studded generals in the future, or a handful of loess hidden under the weeds on the hillside; The fragments that have been endured, felt, and embodied, and they are preserved for people who are as interested as me to comment.