Chapter 70 "Tragic decision"

The long-distance march and the lack of timely instructions from the central government made Zhou Enlai look a little melancholy.His thick beard, glossy and fine, concealed his sharp cheekbones. When he arrived in Changting on the 5th, he sent a second letter to the central government, which read: On August 5th, he sent Hanzhi’s report in Nanchang, do you want to read it?Since then it has been impossible to deliver the message.Most of the reports in the newspaper are rumors, and brothers and others have no way to win their trust.Zhou Enlai also reported to the Central Committee the combat situation after leaving Nanchang: "In the two battles of Zongruijin and Huichang, our army suffered nearly a thousand officers and soldiers, and the bullet consumption was also high. Originally marching along the way, due to the rugged mountain roads and difficulties in providing supplies, we fell behind and fled seriously ill. There are a lot of soldiers, and after these two battles, although I have won the enemy, the lack of soldiers and ammunition has become the biggest difficulty in the life of Empress Ushiomei."

Zhou Enlai put forward several urgent matters to the central government: 1. If our army has acquired Chaoshan, it is hoped that a competent person from Shanghai will be sent to join it. 2. After the revolutionary (revolutionary committee) committee arrives in Shantou, it shall act in the name of the national government, and there is a lack of diplomatic personnel. Please send Tai Lei to preside over it. 3. Insufficient bullets and machine guns, please call to know that XX can pack the goods in other places. Once Shantou is captured, it will be shipped to Shantou within 10 days. 4. Supplementation of soldiers requires a lot of recruitment fees. Please borrow 400,000 Hong Kong or Shanghai tickets from ××. If you can borrow this money, please concentrate on Shanghai first.

5. If Shantou is captured, please send competent personnel, especially military personnel, to work. 6. Wangdian Zhiyue Provincial Party Committee called on Dongjiang Chaoshan workers and peasants to respond to everything in order to consolidate the workers and peasants' regime and its armed forces. 7. Chen Baofu, the person who went there, has already sent the capital to and from Sichuan, and I hope that I will send him a reply letter to bring it. After the report was written, Zhou Enlai ordered his secretary Chen Baofu to disguise himself as a businessman and immediately set off for Shanghai to deliver the confidential document written in potion to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.But there has been no response so far (I learned later that the letter was delivered to the Central Committee after about half a month's turning point).

On September 12, Zhou Enlai and Peng Pai led a group of people along the Tingjiang River to Shanghang first.Not long after we arrived, Luo Ming, the Propaganda Director of the Fujian Provisional Provincial Party Committee, opened the door and walked in as soon as he sat down to take a sip of water.They met each other in Guangzhou and Shanghai and knew each other.Zhou Enlai met an acquaintance in a foreign country, called his name, and happily asked him to talk about the situation, especially whether the central government had any instructions to convey. Luo Ming shook his head.He only saw the news of the Nanchang Uprising from the newspapers in early August, but he did not receive official news and instructions from Shanghai for a long time. It was not until August 19 that he received the definite news that the Nanchang Uprising troops had advanced to the south of Jiangxi.At this time, the provincial party committee held a meeting and decided to send him to contact the rebel army to see how the rebel army's strategy was.If you want to go to the countryside, ask them to leave some of their troops in western Fujian, because the peasant movement in western Fujian still has some foundations. At the beginning of September, he ran to the outside of Shanghang City, and found a village on the road leading to Tingzhou to wait.When the regiment brought by Zhou Enlai arrived, he went to the city to find Zhou Enlai.He told Zhou Enlai that Lan Yutian, an indigenous warlord originally stationed in Shanghang City, claimed to have a division, but in fact he did not reach it. He heard the news a few days ago and ran to Wuping.There are party organizations and peasant associations in Shanghang, Yongding, and Longyan.

Zhou Enlai nodded, talked briefly about the situation along the way, and said to Luo Ming: "I was planning to go south from Meixian County. After winning the battle in Ruijin, I suddenly turned to the west of Fujian because of the enemy's tight defense. The troops will arrive later. Now The goal is to march towards Chaoshan and Hailufeng. I think you can stay here to support the troops behind, okay? You can take on the tasks of raising food, solving transportation, and collecting intelligence. You see, when we arrive, we will look everywhere. Not the party organization, only a few progressive people to help."

"The people here don't know the situation, so they don't dare to come out. They are afraid of Lafu, because the reactionaries have ruled for a long time, and they don't understand the policies of the Communist Party, so they don't even dare to open the door. We can do work on these." Luo Ming suggested, " I can stay, can I leave some troops behind?" Zhou Enlai said: "We have planned to concentrate our forces on Chaoshan and Hailufeng, so we can't keep troops in western Fujian. If you want guns, you can keep some troops behind. It's not enough to keep some troops. There are still some wounded and sick, please let us know." You try to keep them."

Luo Ming followed suit one by one.Later, the workers and peasants came out one after another to clean up the grain and transport it to the city.When the insurgents set off, they volunteered to lead the way and help transport them. They were sent to one township for dozens of miles, and then to the next township, all the way to Guangdong.But no one in the rebel army was willing to stay, not even the sick or injured, and this made Luo Ming anxious.Originally, he wanted to keep a few people, even those with minor injuries and illnesses, could serve as the backbone for developing the armed forces in the future, but they couldn't keep any of them. They put some medicine on the wounds, said thank you, and left on a boat .At that time, the belief in going back to Guangdong was too strong.

In Shanghang, an important topic among the leaders was still the land revolution policy.This issue has been discussed all the way, and the most debated. Zhang Guotao, who thought he didn't have much right to speak, was reticent along the way, and he was also in a bad mood during meetings.But now we are discussing the main item of the Agricultural and Industrial Committee, so he has to speak.He said: "Since 200 mu is equivalent to no limit, and if there is no standard, there will be no regulations. The slogan of 'confiscating land' will violate the interests of the petty bourgeoisie. At this stage, we should protect small landlords. So I think we can Change the slogan of 'Confiscation of Land' to 'Confiscation of Land of Landlords Over 50 Mu', what do you think?"

He was answered by dissenting voices: "50 mu? There are quite a few farmers with 50 mu of land. Isn't this the fight between the poor and the poor?" "You can use other policies to win over small landlords. Those with less than 50 mu will be exploited." "Comparing those with 50 mu of land with those with 200 mu of land, what policy is there?" Yun Daiying was the most objectionable: "We say that we distribute land to unemployed peasants and soldiers, but the land has already been cultivated, and after confiscation, the original tenants Cultivate, where are the fields distributed to unemployed peasants and soldiers?"

Zhang Guotao was also annoyed: "I didn't want to mention it, but you insisted on me mentioning it. You all objected to what I proposed. What do you think should be done?" Someone suggested: "It's better to confiscate all the land. After the small landlords' land is confiscated, the state can issue a bond with interest and non-repayment of the principal, or other methods. Otherwise, the peasants will not be liberated." Zhang Guotao's plan was not approved, and it was decided to "confiscate the land so that the tillers can have their fields." The next day, the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a detailed political platform for the land revolution, which stipulated that the land of landlords with more than 30 to 50 mu should be confiscated, and the land of other people who depended on Tian Zu for their livelihoods would not be confiscated.This platform has been publicized everywhere.So Zhang Guotao caught the reason, found Zhou Enlai, and asked him to hold a meeting of the former committee to discuss it again. Seeing that the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee said so, the committee members stopped talking, and Zhang Guotao's proposal was passed in silence.This program of only confiscating the land of large landlords with more than 50 mu is obviously an incomplete agrarian revolution program. In the case of very few large landlords in the south, it retains the land rent exploitation of a large number of small and medium landlords. Participation in the anti-feudal struggle played a negative role.

Peng Pai from Hailufeng always had his own opinion on this point. Every time he held a meeting, he opposed the opinions of Tan Pingshan and Zhang Guotao, and this time was no exception.He did not hide this point when he talked with Luo Ming: "The rebel army did not carry out the agrarian revolution and did not distribute land along the way. Of course, it was due to the limitation of marching quickly, but the main thing was not a matter of time, but Zhang Guotao and Tan Pingshan did not want to do it. .” Those few days were around the Mid-Autumn Festival.Looking up at the bright moon, the mood of the generals of the rebel army is complicated.Zhou Enlai paid attention to this.When the committee members were in a meeting, he asked Zhu De: "How about trying to get some moon cakes, and you can have dinner at your military headquarters?" "Yes." Zhu De agreed and went to make arrangements.When the important officials arrived at the headquarters of the Ninth Army one after another, Zhu De was already standing at the door to greet them respectfully.The dining room is also decorated with lights and festoons, and a few big Eight Immortals tables are placed with many snacks and fruits. He Long was a little gloomy, he just smoked and didn't speak. Knowing what was on his mind, Zhou Enlai asked, "Has Head He been buried?" He Long nodded. He Wenxuan, the commander of the 4th Regiment of the 20th Army who was seriously injured in the Battle of Rentian, was so seriously injured that he died on the boat coming to Shanghang.When they arrived in Shanghang, the body was parked in the Lin Family Ancestral Hall in Dongmen. Zhou Enlai arranged a memorial service, which was presided over by He Long.The coffin stayed in the Lin Family Ancestral Hall for two days, and the monks and nuns were invited to recite scriptures.Later, he was buried in the West School Field outside the West Gate.The funeral ceremony was very grand, and there was a military band to see him off. He Wenxuan was He Long's younger brother, who was brave and good at fighting, and was only in his 20s when he died.Sitting under the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, He Long felt very uneasy.Zhou Enlai raised his wine glass and proposed: "Look up at the bright moon, and bow your head to think about your old friends. Let us sacrifice a glass of wine to those comrades who died heroically in the battle!" He spilled the wine in the glass on the ground, and the rest of the people followed suit. Done.After the three rounds, people's mood improved. Zhou Enlai also talked more: "I have an idea. After arriving in Shantou, the designation and designation of our army must be changed." People stopped chewing and looked at Zhou Enlai. "Our army is no longer called the National Revolutionary Army, but the "Chinese Revolutionary Army". The commander-in-chief of the "Chinese Revolutionary Army" is still held by Comrade He Long. It will be temporarily organized into four armies: the original Twentieth Army will be reorganized It became the First Army of the Chinese Revolutionary Army, with He Long serving as the commander; the Eleventh Army was changed to the Second Army, and Ye Ting was appointed as the commander; the Ninth Army was transferred from the 20th Army, and it was changed to the Third Army, with Zhu De as the commander. The commander of the army; the Fujian civilian army and a part of the army incorporated after arriving in Guangdong were organized into the fourth army, and Liu Bocheng was the commander of the army." He Long and Zhu De both agreed with this plan and raised their glasses to wish the revolution a success: "Come on, let's toast to the 'Chinese Revolutionary Army'!" Yun Daiying drank some wine, his cheeks blushed, and he was also very excited: "After arriving in Guangzhou, we should start preparing for the third National Congress of the Kuomintang." Ji Gong, He Long's Soviet advisor, couldn't understand why the Chinese soldiers were talking so happily about it.After he asked Yun Daiying of the Ming Dynasty, he shook his head: "I advocate that all our troops should be temporarily stationed in Xitingzhou, Shanghang, and Yongding in Fujian. This place is so rich and economically self-sufficient. We are more than one After months of hard marching, there should be a considerable period of recuperation here, and the replenishment of the army is especially necessary." A circle of people around the table began to shake their heads at his thoughts. Yun Daiying asked: "The masses here have not been fully mobilized. Are you afraid of being surrounded by the enemy if you stay here?" The Soviet adviser said: "I roughly calculated that we can add five divisions of the new army here. The method is to incorporate the civilian army in western Fujian and try our best to develop the armed forces of the people. After the strength is strengthened, we will drive into Guangdong." He Long, Ye Ting and almost all military generals disagreed with the Soviet adviser's statement.Because they determined one thing, that is: conquering Guangzhou is not a problem! Ji Gong was rather disappointed, and said something blunt: "If this goes on, I'm afraid it will be difficult to even win Guangzhou!" No one thought much of what he said, even when he was stern.Because no one adopted his various suggestions along the way.Many people still remember his suggestion to take the path at the beginning of the march, and they think his suggestion is unreasonable.Strange to say, the proposals that were rejected by the rebel army over and over again were confirmed to be correct one by one afterwards, including the proposal to temporarily station in western Fujian this time. Zhou Enlai convened the Front Enemy Committee in Changting to conduct another detailed discussion on the plan to capture Dongjiang.There are two opinions at the meeting. Zhou Enlai and Ye Ting advocated that the main force should take Meixian from Sanheba via Songkou, then take Huizhou via Xingning Wuhua, and take Chaoshan with a small force (at most two regiments).They think there are two advantages to doing this. One is that the enemy troops in Chaoshan are empty and the terrain is not dangerous to defend. They are expected to win without fighting; The attack on Huizhou was too slow, giving the enemy time to concentrate their forces and seize a powerful terrain. Another opinion is mainly He Long and Liu Bocheng, who advocated taking Chaoshan with the main force, leaving a small part of the troops at Sanheba to monitor the enemy in Meixian, and then going to Xingning and Wuhua via Jieyang to attack Huizhou and occupy Guangzhou.They are mainly worried that the enemy will stick to Chaoshan, and if they can't take it quickly, it will be difficult to obtain international assistance. Due to the insistence of the Soviet adviser Ji Gong, and the general officer's desire for a place to rest after a long march, many people agree with this proposition, so the meeting decided to adopt the latter plan.This hasty decision hastened the failure of the rebel army. More than 20 years later, Chen Yi called this decision a "tragic decision".This is because: "This month gave the counter-revolutionaries plenty of time. Qian Dajun supplemented it, Huang Shaohong got a chance to breathe, and the Guangxi faction and Zhang Fakui also united, so they were able to calmly gather strong troops in the Chaoshan area. If Sanheba does not divide troops. We have a total of 15 regiments, while the Guangxi clique and Chen Jitang can only gather 17 regiments. The strength is similar. Our combat effectiveness is stronger than theirs, and we will definitely be able to defeat them. Once Sanheba divides troops, the counter-revolutionaries will use money. Contain Zhu (German) and Zhou (Shidi) and concentrate on dealing with Ye He." But history becomes history because it has already happened, and history can only tell the future. That’s why Chen Yi said a passage almost 40 years after the Nanchang Uprising, which was called: “It’s a lie to know hundreds of years before and hundreds of years later. I was only 26 years old in 1927, a child!” That year, the party was only 6 years old.