Chapter 24 Ye Jianying at the crossroads

At this time, a well-reputed general in the National Revolutionary Army resolutely chose the Communist Party, which was at a low ebb.Just like this choice, he later played a key role in many crises of the Chinese revolution. He has a famous name: Ye Jianying. Ye Jianying is from Meixian, Guangdong.According to the genealogy records of Ye's ancestral hall, Ye Jianying's ancestors were Han people who migrated from the Central Plains to the south during the Song Dynasty, the so-called "Hakkas". When he was a teenager, Ye Jianying wandered in Nanyang and practiced martial arts in Yunnan. Later, he followed Sun Yat-sen, defected to the Guangdong Army, and joined the Kuomintang in the spring of 1920.When the Whampoa Military Academy was being prepared, his teacher Wang Bailing in the martial arts hall thought highly of him and transferred him to be his assistant. He was later officially appointed as the deputy director of the professor department.The director of the professor department was Wang Boling. He also gradually realized that Ye Jianying had a close relationship with Liao Zhongkai, Deng Yanda and other leftists of the Kuomintang and some Communists. He had repeatedly warned Ye not to be too enthusiastic about politics.Ye Jianying ignored it. She once wanted to study in the Soviet Union and formally applied to the party organization to join the Communist Party of China.After receiving Ye Jianying's application, the CCP organization sent Xiong Xiong to have a conversation with him, but there was no reply after the conversation.Later, he learned the reason: At that time, most members of the CCP organization believed that Ye Jianying could be recruited into the party, but a few members suggested that Ye Jianying was a senior officer in Chiang Kai-shek's direct line of troops, and he needed to be cautious and take a longer test. The matter was shelved.Ye Jianying was not discouraged, and was still actively fighting for it.Because of Ye Jianying's bravery and good command, after the Northern Expedition began, Chiang Kai-shek transferred Ye Jianying as the chief of staff of the General Reserve Command.In the two attacks on Nanchang, Wang Boling, the commander of the first division, and Wang Jun, the acting commander, did not listen to Ye Jianying's advice, and they both suffered defeat.The Whampoa students who participated in the battle were full of resentment and complained to Chiang Kai-shek one after another.Nanchang was not occupied until the third attack.Because Wang Boling fled the battle, Ye Jianying led the headquarters of the general reserve team and stationed in Nanchang with the first division.The Battle of Nanchang took all the power of nine oxen and two tigers, which made Chiang Kai-shek deeply feel that his direct line troops had serious problems.He reprimanded the chiefs of the first and second divisions, scolded Wang Boling and Wang Jun for "not being a soldier at all", and proposed to punish and dismiss the two kings.He heard that the two kings did not listen to Ye Jianying's advice in the Battle of Nanchang, resulting in repeated defeats, so he specially summoned Xu Ye Jianying to meet with his sword.When Chiang Kai-shek saw Ye Jianying, he first praised Ye Jianying, and then showed his trump card for this summoning, saying: "Now the first division has no command, I think you can go to the first division as the commander!"

Ye Jianying was not mentally prepared at all.He thought that the first division was Chiang’s direct descendant, and some officers were arrogant and difficult to control, and had a difficult relationship with the second king, and he still couldn’t see Chiang Kai-shek’s face clearly, so he politely declined and said, “Thank you, principal, for your kindness, but I’m not in good health. Great, let’s talk about it after the war, I would like to continue to be the chief of staff.” Chiang Kai-shek believed it, and immediately ordered the military medical officer to see Ye Jianying.The military medical officer inspected it seriously for a long time, but he was not sure what the disease was.Ye Jianying held back her laugh: "I haven't had breakfast yet, and when you get checked and diagnosed, I'm going to starve to death."

The military medical officer had no choice but to prescribe a random medicine.Ye Jianying knew a little bit of Chinese medicine, looked at the prescriptions, and found that they were some "peaceful medicines", so she asked the guards to fry a few doses and eat them, and she took care of things. In the Battle of Nanchang, the Northern Dynasty Army captured hundreds of Sun Chuanfang's officers and tens of thousands of soldiers.In order to expand his strength, Chiang Kai-shek decided to form a new army from the Jiangxi army, and appointed Ye Jianying as the acting commander of the second division of the new army.It was inconvenient for Ye to refuse, so he had to accept the order and lead the troops to Ji'an.

At that time, Ye Jianying was only in her early 30s. She was tall, with a fair face, not fat, and she didn't wear military uniform much. She often wore a Chinese tunic suit.He is handsome and imposing.Each of his guards carried 20-gun shell-guns.But he is amiable and has no official airs. Soon, Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12" counter-revolutionary coup in Shanghai, and Jiangxi soon fell into white terror.The reactionaries in Ji'an also imposed martial law throughout the city, closed down revolutionary organizations such as trade unions, peasant associations, student unions, and newspapers, forcibly escorted the leaders of the leftists of the Kuomintang and revolutionary groups out of the country, and confiscated the weapons of the self-defense team of the County Agricultural Association.Communists were forced to go underground.

Ye Jianying, who was looking for, was suddenly pushed to a crossroads by reality: It was easy for him to stay in Jiang's team, serve Jiang, get promoted and make a fortune.Chiang Kai-shek appreciated Ye Jianying very much.He not only valued Ye Jianying's young, promising and outstanding talent, but more importantly, because this Confucian general who was born in Guangdong had followed and defended Sun Yat-sen, and had some influence in the Guangdong area and the Guangdong army.He wanted to pull Ye over so that he could use his prestige and talent to win over people's hearts, and it would not be a problem to control Nanyue in the future.

The other road was twinkling and hazy, and it was difficult for him to tell where it was.But there is one thing, he is clear in his heart: this must be a road full of hardships and a new start.And it is the road to the dawn that has hope. Fifty years later, Ye Jianying once talked to an interviewer about her feelings at that time: "After the separation of Ning and Han, Chiang Kai-shek said that Hankou was counter-revolutionary, and Wuhan said that Chiang Kai-shek was counter-revolutionary. There were two quarrels. I didn't have much doubt about Wuhan. But Chiang Kai-shek was still the commander-in-chief. Who did I follow? At that time, no one came, and there was no telegram. I just read the newspaper by myself, closed the door, and thought about it for a few days. After participating in the revolution, I became a division commander. At that time, the division commander had an income of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan per month. 20,000 to 30,000 yuan was a lot, and 200,000 to 300,000 yuan in 10 months. To be fair, being a division commander for two or three years was a million dollars. Rich man. If it’s just for personal reasons, if you go with Chiang Kai-shek, at least you can become a high-ranking official. However, Chiang Kai-shek massacred workers and masses in Shanghai, and became a complete counter-revolutionary! One revolution, one counter-revolution, the front is very clear. Participate in the revolution , or counter-revolution? After thinking about it, only the revolution has a way out. So I made up my mind to send telegrams across the country to oppose Chiang. One-sided, Wuhan.”

Ye Jianying made up her mind, and talked about her plan with a few good military officers around her: electrify the whole country and openly oppose Chiang.Then convened a meeting of the officers of the whole division, and told everyone clearly: Those who are willing to revolution support the Wuhan government to stay; those who support Chiang Kai-shek and want to go to Nanjing, please feel free.Ye Jianying's move shocked the political and military circles at that time.Chen Keyu, the former deputy commander of the Fourth Army, reported the matter to Chiang Kai-shek: "Mr. Ye turned against us!"Chen Keyu reported again: "Mr. Ye is really against us!" Chiang Kai-shek tilted his head and said, "Okay, I see, you can go down." Still skeptical.

At this time, the rightist officers of the Ji'an Second Division and members of the "Sun Wen Doctrine Society" colluded with the local rightist forces and prepared to make trouble.Ye Jianying and the leftist officers discussed urgently and secretly, and decided that the Second Division would hold an armed riot, and pull the troops northward to defect to the Wuhan Nationalist Government. Ji'an's reactionary forces seemed to be aware of it, and stepped up their actions.They pointed their finger at Ye Jianying. As a result, Ye Jianying could no longer stand in Ji'an.He decided to contact Wuhan first.Before leaving, several officers and division staff who were close to them set up a banquet in the back garden of the division headquarters in the name of congratulating the division commander on his birthday. During the banquet, they discussed military aircraft.Some regiment leaders were eager to make trouble, and said to Ye Jianying: "Master, let's do it quickly!" Several officers put on makeup when they set out on the road, and set off separately.As soon as he left, the leftist officers of the Second Division set up a provisional Revolutionary Military Committee and sent a telegram on May 6 to discuss Chiang.As soon as the telegram was sent out, it was met with fierce opposition from the rightist officers. For a while, the two sides were at war with each other, and the Second Division fell into a state of splitting.Seeing that the situation was not good, the Provisional Revolutionary Military Committee staged a riot in Wuhan on the night of the 13th, arresting reactionary officers and controlling the troops with lightning speed.

However, due to lack of experience and lack of support, this riot was quickly surrounded and disarmed by the troops of Yang Zhuxuan and Yang Ruxuan of Zhu Peide's Third Army. When the news reached Chiang Kai-shek, he remembered Chen Keyu's words and was very annoyed. He immediately ordered his subordinates to draft a letter to the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, requesting that Ye Jianying be expelled from the party and be wanted. Besides, when Ye Jianying arrived in Wuhan, what he heard and saw was not the revolutionary government he had imagined.Don't say that the government itself is "embarrassed on all sides", even in Wuhan, there is also a shortage of rice, salt, oil, coal, and unemployed workers everywhere.Facing the messy reality, Ye Jianying once again fell into confusion.After he stayed, he went to report to the Minister of Military Affairs, Tan Yankai.He reported to Tan Yankai the status quo of the new second division and Ji'an, and asked for firearms and food.How did he know that Tan Yankai had secretly flirted with Chiang Kai-shek as early as he was an old speculator, how could he be willing to support the second division against Chiang Kai-shek?He advised Ye Jianying to stay in Wuhan temporarily and see how the situation develops.

Ye Jianying had to stay at Chaoyang Hotel in Wuchang.Chaoyang Hotel is run by Cantonese, and guests from Cantonese often visit and stay there.Coincidentally, when he was restless, he met Li Shi'an, a fellow from Mei County.Li was a secret Communist Party member and met Ye Jianying when he was in Guangzhou. Ye Jianying was the magistrate of Meixian County during the first Eastern Expedition in 1925. Li Shian also taught at Ye Jianying's alma mater in Meixian County. The two established a friendship.Li also got acquainted with Zhou Enlai who went to Meixian on the Eastern Expedition. In February 1927, Li Shian left Meixian for Shanghai, where he met Zhou Enlai again.Later, he transferred to Wuhan and worked as the chief secretary of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. He used this public identity as a cover to engage in underground party work.When I met Ye Jianying this time, the two had a long talk all night, and they both had a feeling of encountering an old friend in a foreign land.After Ye Jianying stayed idle for a few days, someone from the Ministry of Military Affairs informed him to attend the National Assembly held by the Wuhan government. The meeting was presided over by Tan Yankai to discuss the situation and future after the split between Ning and Han.

At the meeting, Ye Jianying also talked about her own views: "Some people say that I am a direct descendant of Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang treats me well. Chiang Kai-shek gave me a 'slap' (authority), and I use this 'slap' to beat Lao Jiang. This is not human. I'm sorry Lao Jiang. Actually, I'm not sorry for him. He killed so many people in Shanghai, how can I still follow him?" At this meeting, He Long, the commander of the 15th Independent Division, also made impassioned remarks against Chiang.This was the first meeting between Ye Jianying and He Long, and both of them were deeply impressed. Ye Jianying still wants to go back to Ji'an.When passing through Nanchang, I saw Zhu De, the head of the military officer education group. At the anti-Jiang meeting, Ye Jianying couldn’t help opening up the chatterbox again: “Someone asked me what I wanted to do against Chiang? I said that I didn’t want to fight against Chiang. I just wanted a revolution. The guns of our revolution must be aimed at the counter-revolutionaries. Chiang Kai-shek himself ran to our guns, and he called himself a counter-revolutionary, and he was looking for it. I oppose Chiang Kai-shek not because of any personal grievances, but because he is a counter-revolutionary. We just want to crusade against the revolution" "Okay, you speak well." Zhu De praised Ye Jianying on the spot. Ye Jianying later found out that the situation in Ji'an was still turbulent, so she had to return to Wuhan from Nanchang.In his distress and hesitation, his old acquaintance Zhang Fakui was full of ambition and was looking for talents everywhere. When he heard that Ye Jianying had arrived in Wuhan, he invited him to come to the Military Headquarters of the Fourth Army and stay with him to work.Soon he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Fourth Army.There are many communists in the Fourth Army, which has an influence on Ye Jianying.But the situation is complicated, some open communists he is not familiar with, and many familiar ones are hidden, making it difficult to find for a while.Even if the party is found, can he absorb a senior officer like Chiang Kai-shek who was once a direct descendant of Chiang Kai-shek?It turned out that it was because of this reason that the matter of joining the party was put on hold. Can it be fulfilled if it is brought up again now?He became confused and often woke up at night. In fact, he didn't know much about it. Under the influence of "Left" ideology at that time, there were two "hats" that prevented him from joining the party. In addition to "the direct line officer of the Kuomintang", there was another one, which was a "member of the Sun Wen Doctrine Society".This "society" is opposed to the leftist organization "Young Soldiers Federation". Many right-wing Whampoa teachers and students, including Wang Bailing, have participated. "People look at it and don't pay attention to his party membership requirements.He went to the Communist Party member Li Shi'an, and poured out all his desire to join the party and the setbacks and distress he had encountered on this issue in the past few years.Li Shi'an knew about Ye Jianying's past and his present through members of the Fourth Army, so he readily agreed.Li Shi'an, an old party member, of course knows the rules of the party.Even if a senior Kuomintang military officer like Ye Jianying had sent a telegram against Chiang, there might be twists and turns if he wanted to discuss his membership in the party at the grassroots level. So, with Ye Jianying's expectation, he secretly found Zhou Enlai. After listening to Li Shian's report, Zhou Enlai recalled his contact with Ye Jianying when he was in the Whampoa Military Academy, and said frankly: "I know his background, it is good, and we should welcome him." Just like that, a few days later, In early July 1927, when the revolutionary situation in Wuhan took a turn for the worse, on the eve of Wang Jingwei's "separation of the Communist Party", with the consent of Zhou Enlai, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China approved the admission of Ye Jianying, a special party member.For the sake of confidentiality and special work needs, Zhou Enlai asked him not to contact other party members directly, and only let him keep in touch with a few party members such as Li Shian.