Chapter 59 The day of arrival in Fuzhou

Cai Tingkai's defection was nothing less than a blow to Zhou Enlai, and a serious blow to the morale of all the leaders of the rebel army and even the troops.A whole division is a quarter of the strength of the rebel army. Some people have already realized that the evacuation was too hasty: if they leave a few days later, maybe Lu Deming's Central Guard Regiment, the Wuhan Military Academy's guard regiment, two regiments of the Sixth Army, one regiment of the 26th Division, one regiment of the 12th Division, and one regiment of the 12th Division. The Gendarmerie Battalion, Artillery Battalion, and Teaching Battalion of the Second Front Army, as well as a regiment formed by the Shuikou Workers’ Armed, Ping, and Liu Volunteer Army led by Mao Zedong, and a division formed by the Hubei and Southern Hubei Agricultural Army will all arrive; The number of rebel troops is about the same as that of the original rebel army, which means that the total number of rebel troops will expand to more than 50,000.At the same time, the leaders of the rebel army may have time to screen out the impure elements in the rebel team, replace some regiment cadres; do some in-depth mobilization, maybe, just like when the rebel army waded across the river and stirred up Only after all the people and horses have passed, and after a long period of precipitation, can the bottom be seen clearly and the fish and dragons be separated.

Zhou Enlai blamed himself for this: "This incident was completely caused by my carelessness, and I will take full responsibility. I will request punishment from the Revolutionary Committee and resign." Tan Pingshan came over and inserted himself between Zhou Enlai and Zhang Guotao.Three people, two "big beards", but Tan Pingshan's beard already has white light.He comforted Zhou Enlai: "Things are already like this. We can't tie him into a husband and wife, and we can't hold him back. Fortunately, his whereabouts of Cai Tingkai don't seem to be going to hit us in reverse. It's good for him to leave, and he will be clean when he leaves!"

Zhou Enlai was quite sad: "In this way, our foundation in the Tenth Division has been completely destroyed." Zhang Guotao's feet were swollen, and he was restless: "We believe too much that Cai Ting is wrong." With his hands behind his back, he recalled the cause of the incident: on the night of the Nanchang riots, Cai's teachers were all stationed near Nanchang, and Cai himself was coming from Jiujiang. Nanchang didn't arrive until August 1st. Zhou Enlai, Ye Ting and Zhang Guotao met at Ye Ting's division.When Cai Chu arrived at Ye Ting's division, he looked a little flustered probably because he had not participated in the conspiracy of the riot. Zhang Guotao didn't say much because he didn't know Cai well.

Only Enlai told him a big truth, and Ye Ting, as an old comrade-in-arms, said to him from the side: Just do it like this!After Cai bowed his head and hesitated for a moment, he expressed his willingness to obey orders.After this scene, most members of the Revolutionary Committee and the Staff Group were a little worried about Cai, and advocated that capable personnel should be sent to control the Tenth Division.Zhou Enlai alone thought that Cai should not be distrusted. But when Zhang Guotao heard Zhou En's self-reproach, he swallowed his complaints and said in another way: "Now the matter has come to this point, and it is irreparable. It seems that, just as Chairman Tan said, he dragged the team to the east. Let’s go, he has no intention of becoming an enemy of us. Since he has different intentions, even if he went to the Dongjiang River with us, wouldn’t it be worse to sabotage the situation at a critical moment? We are obviously too careless in handling this matter. We should It is regarded as a serious lesson. If this matter is made public, it will shake the morale of the army. It is better not to make it public. In this emergency period, you should not be discouraged. Don't say such things as taking the blame and resigning. Get on with it."

Zhou Enlai moved to the side of the road and watched the team pass by: He Long and Ye Ting's two troops walked together, each marching in a single file, because only this formation can pass through the rugged path in South China.The team got longer and longer, with a mile in front and back.Zhou Enlai worried that this kind of formation would be difficult to dispatch and command, and it would be even more difficult to form a battle formation in case of encountering an enemy.Where the road is slightly wider, 2 to 3 people can walk side by side, but the soldiers are not good at marching in such a formation, they always walk together.Moreover, after walking for 5 miles and 10 miles, the road narrowed again, and it was difficult for the two of them to walk side by side.

Ye survived. He usually doesn't like to talk, but now he is even more silent. He didn't speak, and Zhou Enlai also understood his thoughts: "You don't have to be too sad. If you say that most of the responsibility lies with me, I didn't pay attention to the warnings of my comrades. I always felt that I should trust them, and it caused future troubles." Ye Ting looked up at the sun, then lowered his head and let out a sigh. Zhou Enlai: "Hurry up now and screen all the division and regimental commanders of the Eleventh Army. Unreliable elements must be adjusted, and such things will never happen again."

On the same day, the Eleventh Army replaced two regiment leaders. There is a big sun in the sky, but Zhou Enlai's face is occasionally clouded.The bad news that has already appeared has made him anxious; in the future, he also feels that it will not be easy. He is used to following the instructions of the central government, but at this moment the actual leadership of the central government does not know where he is. He is eager to get timely guidance, but there is none.What I have traveled is a tortuous road; the road ahead is still a bumpy road. On August 7, the main force arrived in Fuzhou.

Fuzhou is Linchuan.It is an ancient city located on the banks of the Fuhe River, where great politicians like Wang Anshi came out; but its population is small, only 20,000 to 30,000. This is where Zhu De was ordered to suppress the bandits.He led the detachment to arrive, booked rooms for the large troops, and arranged camping places.The CPC County Committee in Fuzhou has done a lot of work, set up a tea station, a propaganda team, a transportation team, and called on party and league members to follow the army to march south.But Zhu De was also in a bad mood.Because many of the so-called Ninth Army he led were recruited from the local area for expansion, and they were often drawn by various ministries to lead the way and go out on business.There are also quite a few other people who ask him for food, food and transport teams. How can the three or four hundred people under his command be enough to allocate?He is a person who can endure hardships, and these difficulties are only for Zhou En who has just arrived.He always regards his party referrals as "leaders".He did not hide his frown when he "complained" to Zhou Enlai, and he hoped that Zhou Enlai would add some people to him.

Zhou Enlai told him that although he had only walked for 3 days on this journey, he had lost nearly one-third of his strength. How could he replenish soldiers? Liu Bocheng also sent a report: "According to statistics, the number of people who escaped and died of illness has already More than 4,000, and almost half of the ammunition was lost, and almost all the mortars were lost. The cannons of the 20th Army were also lost. There were also some undisciplined Ruffs who fired guns on the road. I heard that there were also people who caught common people's chickens. " He Long, who was resting on the rock, knocked on his pipe and blew on it with his mouth, and then answered: "I have already ordered him to be shot."

There is a widely circulated joke here: It is said that there is a secretary in the Sixth Regiment who chases the common people's chickens in the middle of the night, clucking and clucking, and the fellow villagers shout behind them.The chicken flew into a yard, and the chief secretary chased him into the yard, and was about to catch the chicken, when a man came out of the house and ordered him not to catch it.The chief of staff refused to listen, and asked instead: "Which part are you? How dare you meddle in my business!" The person who came out of the house said: "I am the commander-in-chief!" The chicken catcher panicked and ran away from the door.The fellow who followed the chicken cried: "Boss, you have to be the master of the people!" This cry, coupled with the chief's unreasonableness, made He Long angry, and he ordered the guards: "Send him to the Military Law Office and shoot him!" !” This matter spread among fellow villagers.It also spread among the troops.

According to He Long himself, it seems that it is not a fiction.It's just that the plot doesn't necessarily mean it's just a chicken, or being met by He Long. Zhou Enlai asked Liu Bocheng to call a meeting of the staff group.Zhou Yiqun was still full of dissatisfaction with the ills exposed by taking the small road, and he asked He Long to bring his own opinion: "Take this ghost road, you can't even find a civilian husband, with one shoulder carrying a gun and the other carrying grain, how can you fight? Let's go on the road!" But at the meeting, He Long didn't say much about the difficulties.Having suffered several times, he doesn't take these difficulties very seriously.What he was afraid of was that he would not be able to restrain his troops, and incidents such as catching chickens would happen again.Because even when he was the "King of the Mountain", he had the simplest purpose of eradicating the rich and helping the poor, and fighting injustice for the poor. What he hated the most was ripping off the common people. No less than "breaking ground on the tiger's head", he will never be polite. It was Li Lisan who talked a lot, and his voice was loud: "No, no, is it okay to go on like this? It's too hot, the burden on the soldiers is too heavy, and procrastination will drag you down." Ye Ting was also worried: "Supplies can't come. They can't eat, and sometimes they can't even drink water. Some soldiers just scoop water from the ditch on the side of the road to drink. As a result, they have diarrhea and high fever, causing a large number of non-combat casualties." Tan Pingshan added: "The propaganda of the reactionaries is too powerful, saying that we are communists and wives, and the common people are scared to flee!" Zhou Enlai: "It would be great if we could be as enthusiastic as the people in Linchuan along the way. The key is the work of the local party organization and our propaganda work." Zhang Guotao has seized the time to burn his feet, and his fatigue seems to have eased a lot. His complaints are even greater: "In this eastern Jiangxi region, our local work is too weak, and the army lacks cash to purchase food and necessities. The original local government, They have already fled under Zhu Peide's order. These ordinary people are afraid of military disasters. If they hide, hide, who else will they find to work? What new regime will be established? Military discipline will naturally degenerate, and if this continues, difficulties will arise increasing day by day." Li Lisan is still more optimistic: "Don't be afraid of walking. It's getting closer and closer to Guangdong, and it will be good if you have someone to support you." Zhang Guotao glanced at Li Lisan dissatisfied.That seems to mean, if I were as thin as a bamboo pole like you, I wouldn't be afraid to walk. Don't you also complain that it's too hot and the burden is too heavy? ! Listening to Zhou Enlai's speech, he and Liu Bocheng studied the map on their knees, looking for the villages around Fuzhou.This day is August 7th.