Chapter 8 Zhou Enlai's First Taste of Victory

On March 2, Shanghai was already in a state of anarchy, and Sun Chuanfang's coalition army and Zhang Zongchang's Lu army alternated between old and new.The Northern Expedition Army sent troops from five routes to attack the two divisions of Sun and Zhang.At the same time, attack Shanghai in three ways: first, attack Songjiang; second, outflank Suzhou from Yixing; third, capture Pudong from Ningbo. On this day, the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai District Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a strong message: The time for the Shanghai revolution has come!Get ready for a big strike, a big riot!

On the same day, Chen Duxiu, who had gotten rid of his illness, was still sullen in pain as usual. He proposed at the special committee meeting: In order to speed up preparations, the 6th (Sunday) should be set as the preparation strike period. Action is an impromptu decision. The military is ready for an uprising. On March 5, the Special Committee focused on the timing of the uprising. Zhou Enlai reported: "All aspects of action have been prepared. The forces are concentrated in Zhabei, divided into five districts, the east of Yinxiang Port Management Target Field, above Yangshupu Management Target Road, the fifth district of Zhabei Management Huzhou Club, etc., and the fourth area of ​​Xiaoshadu Management District, to prevent the police station from coming from Megan Road. All those who participated in the uprising must seize arms at any time and anywhere, and carry out campaigns to sabotage the railway.”

"In your opinion, where should the commander be?" Chen Duxiu asked. "It should be divided into Nanshi and Zhabei." "Let's determine who is in charge of each district." Proposed by Chen Duxiu, the special committee decided that Zhao Shiyan and Gu Shunzhang would be in charge of Zhabei, and Zhou Enlai and Xu Meikun would be in charge of Nanshi.If Nanshi is not important, Zhou Enlai transferred to Zhabei, Xu Meikun and Lu Zhen stayed in Nanshi.Another 3 people in Pudong are in charge. The timing of the uprising was still determined by Chen Duxiu. At first he proposed: "Not too early." There are two criteria: one is that there are no troops stationed in Shanghai; Longhua.

Zhou Enlai disagreed. He argued: "If Songjiang is captured, it must be moved, because Bi Shucheng will never defend Shanghai again. If Suzhou is captured, it must be moved, because he cannot hold on to Shanghai, and at the same time, some of his troops must be crumble." Chen Duxiu thought for a while, but he didn't have much confidence, so he agreed with Zhou Enlai's opinion and said: "First, if Songjiang is captured; second, if Suzhou is captured by the Northern Expedition; To retreat to Suzhou, as long as there is one of these three conditions, it will be decided to act."

At the meeting, the command organization of the uprising was discussed, and it was decided that the entire operation would be commanded by the secret service meeting, and Luo Yinong, Zhou Enlai, Wang Shouhua, and Chen Duxiu would be in charge in case of emergency. The meeting also decided that Niu Yongjian should still be actively sought, hoping that he would agree to the workers' armed uprising. On the same day, Luo Yinong went to find Niu Yongjian.Luo Yinong is tall, lively, eloquent, and has the ability to win people over. When he met Niu Yongjian, he exchanged pleasantries and then politely suggested that the workers' riot was to welcome the arrival of the Northern Expeditionary Army. At this time, the urban area is most likely to be chaotic. , It is inevitable that there will be no one who takes advantage of the fire.In order to prevent looting, the workers are very much needed to provide security. The workers' emotions are very high now, and I think it is inconvenient to suppress this.

Niu Yongjian was silent for a while, and finally said: "Since you said that the strike is to welcome the Northern Expeditionary Army, maintain law and order in Shanghai, and prevent robbery, then agree with the workers to hold a general strike." Of course, Niu Yongjian has Niu Yongjian's abacus.While the Northern Expeditionary Army was marching towards Shanghai, negotiations between Niu Yongjian of the Kuomintang and Bi Shucheng, commander of the Bohai Fleet of the Lu Army, were also going on.Niu Yongjian tried to persuade Bi Shucheng to surrender to the National Revolutionary Army.For this reason, the Northern Expeditionary Army's advance to Shanghai was very slow.The schedule of the uprising was approaching day by day, but the Northern Expeditionary Army was still crawling around Shanghai.

Chen Duxiu was also on fire.At the political branch meeting on March 10, he couldn't bear his temper, and directly proposed to Niu Yongjian: "You must urge the Northern Expeditionary Army to attack Songjiang, Suzhou, and Changzhou more aggressively, otherwise the Lu Army Defense Department will be completely secret or retreat safely. , Nanjing will become stronger and difficult to deal with.” "I'm actively working, but this matter can't be rushed, and haste makes waste." Niu Yongjian said his own considerations, "It takes money to open up relationships."

Chen Duxiu got a glimpse of Niu Yongjian's depths, and said bluntly: "If Shanghai is captured, not only can a lot of military expenses be raised, which can be used for the front line, but also have a huge impact on the world and strengthen the momentum of the revolution!" Niu Yongjian's heart skipped a beat, "world influence"?Or the general secretary of the Communist Party with great foresight.He was silent again, and his silence was a sign of approval. In mid-March, while the Northern Expedition Army conquered Yixing and Liyang, it began to march towards Shanghai and approached Songjiang.

In order to promote the early arrival of the favorable situation, the party focused on mobilizing the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway workers, and established the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway Federation of Trade Unions on March 12. On the 13th, more than 1,800 workers from the Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Hangzhou railways went on strike. They also destroyed the Shanghai-Nanjing railway from Changzhou to Nanjing, leaving the enemy isolated without reinforcements. The UNSCOM deployed the uprising and identified the head of the military command.This uprising is still a strike first and then an uprising.At the same time as the workers mobilized, other strata have also mobilized.On March 12, the general trade union of shop assistants decided to go on strike.On the 20th, the Shanghai Merchants Association set up a temporary executive committee and decided to welcome the National Revolutionary Army, support the revolutionary government, and lead the merchants to hang flags and close for a day.The Student Union is also cooperating.

The enemy is empty, and the workers' enthusiasm is high. The time has come to launch an armed uprising and overthrow the reactionary rule of the warlords. At 8 o'clock in the morning on March 19, the presidium of the Shanghai District Committee held an emergency meeting. As soon as the meeting started, Zhou Enlai reported: "Last night's news, the battle of Songjiang, Yixing has indeed captured. Bi Shucheng may be defeated, and at the same time, he may temporarily oppress us Possibly. So if you strike today and do nothing, you will be oppressed.” Luo Yinong asked, "What's your opinion?"

Zhou Enlai: "I think everything is ready today. If there is news of Bi's army retreating before 12 o'clock, I will order a strike and act tonight." The district committee members all nodded. That night, the leading body of the uprising made a decision: it decided to act in concert the day after tomorrow (21st). On the evening of the 20th, the Northern Expedition entered Xinlonghua, a suburb of Shanghai.The conditions for an uprising were ripe. At 9 a.m. on the 21st, the Standing Committee of the Executive Committee of the Shanghai Citizens Representative Conference held an emergency meeting, and decided that the chairman of the meeting, Wang Shouhua, would announce that the strike, class strike, and market strike of the general alliance would be implemented at 12 noon on March 21 in response to the party and army's campaign against the feudal warlords. General attack under the remnant forces. At that time, the enemy forces in Shanghai consisted of 2,000 policemen and about 3,000 Zhilu troops.In terms of the uprising force, there were about 3,000 worker pickets, of which 150 were armed. At 12:00 noon on March 21, the general strike was realized on time. According to Zhou Enlai's advance regulations, the sirens of several large factories in the surrounding suburbs blew at the same time.Of the 1.25 million workers in Shanghai, 800,000 took part in the strike.The strikers flocked to the streets according to the plan, rushed to the designated place to gather within an hour, and then carried out simultaneous, everywhere, and sudden attacks on the enemy.In the seven areas outside the concession, the uprising began with a small number of armed workers in front and the masses behind.The continuous sound of guns and guns intertwined with the passionate slogans of the masses, shaking the whole of Shanghai.After students from more than 20 schools including Fudan, Jinan, Tongwen, Nanyang, Guanghua, and Shanghai University went on strike, more than 1,270 students organized 254 propaganda teams to carry out large-scale demonstrations in Nanshi, Zhabei, Jiangwan, Wuyu, and the public concessions. publicity at scale.Some students also took part in the battle directly. Zhou Enlai and Zhao Shiyan were in charge of commanding at the front.The front-line headquarters is located in the Staff Hospital of the Commercial Press at the south of the Yokohama Bridge on Baoshan Road (the Yokohama Bridge is a small bridge under a road and is built on the Sewage River. The staff hospital is still a hospital now). Early that morning, Zhou Enlai and Zhao Shiyan came to the headquarters together. (I have never seen a photo of Zhou Enlai during this period.) According to the memories of those present at the time, Zhou Enlai was wearing a gray cloth cotton robe, a peaked cap, a dark gray scarf, suit pants and black leather shoes. The image of an underground worker.He was in the west wing of the headquarters, because he was busy, but he didn't appear nervous.There was a big map of downtown Shanghai on the table. Zhao Shiyan and him bent down from time to time, pointing and discussing.The door of the room was pushed open from time to time, and the liaison officers who came in from outside were asking for instructions and reporting, and all of them were in a hurry. "Shiyan, you are watching here, I will go to the scene to have a look." A car was parked outside the door, and Zhou Enlai got in it, commuting to and from the railway station, the Oriental Library, and the Commercial Press to direct the battle. The next day, Zhou Enlai went to the front to inspect the fortifications, and carried wood with the pickets to repair the fortifications.Suddenly, a shell fell nearby, and Zhou Enlai instinctively lay down on the spot. The huge air wave created by the shell splashed pieces of wood and plaster on the ground onto him.After calming down, he stood up, checked that there were no casualties around, brushed off the dirt on his body, and went to lift the log he had just put down. A picket became anxious: "Commander-in-chief, this is the front line, and your command position is not here." He wanted Zhou Enlai to avoid dangerous areas. Zhou Enlai smiled lightly: "How can the commander not come? Aren't you also very dangerous?" Although there were some casualties, the uprising progressed smoothly. By the afternoon of the 22nd, seeing that the situation was over, Bi Shucheng quietly changed into casual clothes and fled into the concession.The remnants of the enemy's troops were demoralized and nearly crumbled. At 5 o'clock, according to the emergency notice issued by the general headquarters, the workers' pickets from Hudong, Huxi, and Zhabei were divided into three groups to gather at the intersection of Qiujiang Road and Baoshan.When the teams reunited, Zhou Enlai found a high ground at the three-fork intersection and spoke with his voice open.After he talked about the situation in which the enemies in each district were wiped out one after another, he went on to say: Now more than 2,000 enemies are concentrated here, they are surrounded, and they cannot escape!They can't take the train either, because the locomotive left early.If you want to go out from Wu Yukou, you can't do it, because we have also dealt with the enemies of Tiantong Temple.He issued an order to all the pickets to launch a general attack, demanding that the North Station be captured before 6 o'clock and the battle ended.The morale of the pickets from all walks of life was high, and they immediately launched a fierce attack on the North Station. At 6 o'clock, the enemy's last stronghold, the North Railway Station, was captured. On the same day, the Shanghai People's Congress elected the Shanghai Special City Provisional Municipal Government, which consisted of communists Luo Yinong, Wang Shouhua, and others, as well as Niu Yongjian, Yang Xingfo, Yu Qiaqing, and Wang Xiaolai. After 30 hours of continuous fighting, the Shanghai workers' third armed uprising finally won a brilliant victory. However, victory is so quickly a new step for the conspirators.