Chapter 76 Quicksand - the meaning of a place name

It's not fatalism, and I don't know if the leaders of the rebel army frowned at the place name when they arrived at Liusha Town in Puning County, feeling some kind of ominous premonition.Anyway, when we chanted this place name again today, our hearts were full of melancholy: Is this a coincidence of history, or a trick of fate?Write a symbolic place name on the last station of the rebel army! The uprising troops arrived in Quicksand one after another on October 3. Zhou En came earlier, and four soldiers took turns carrying the stretcher.Zhou Enlai was lying on a stretcher, covered with a blanket, feeling hot and cold at times.According to Guo Moruo, "the complexion looks green".He Long and Ye Ting arrived later.

The Revolutionary Committee decided to hold a meeting here.The meeting place was chosen in a church beside the road. The church has been in disrepair for many years, with a sharp shape and a blunt posture.It can only be judged that it is a church from the cross and stained glass in the sky.The meeting room is located in the long and narrow side hall of the church, with a wooden rectangular table in the middle and wooden chairs around it. Zhou Enlai was helped off the stretcher and slowly sat down at the table.Try to raise your voice and report to everyone.He was reviewing the reasons for the defeat: "Why did we lose the battle in Tangkeng after Ruijin and Huichang Lianjie? The first is that our tactics were wrong, our intelligence was too negligent, and we underestimated the enemy too much. We have already fought When we reached Yunmenling, we should chase after them, and fight from Jiaoling and Meixian, so as not to give the defeated Huang Shaohong and Qian Dajun a chance to rectify. We did not do this, but we turned back from Yunmenling and detoured Changting and Shanghang , Dapu and entered Chaoshan. In this way, our two divisions with the strongest combat power had to be separated, leaving one division to guard at Sanheba. In the end, the enemy got a condescending situation and concentrated their forces to defeat each of us. .”

The guard gave Zhou Enlai a cup of tea and a few biscuits.Zhou Enlai took a short rest and continued: "Secondly, during the march, the political work of the army was slack. The work of the people did not keep up. Not only did they fail to mobilize the people, but they also made many mistakes. For example, after entering Shantou, in order to maintain the order, two workers were shot dead, which aroused the resentment of the masses, so some people said that we are Chiang Kai-shek’s third army, this kind of influence is very bad..." The disease had made Zhou Enlai very weak. He didn't want to talk about the past, and the topic turned directly to the present: "We have received an order from the Central Committee. We Communists will no longer fight under the banner of the Kuomintang, and we will work alone under the banner of the Soviet Union." That is to say, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang actually no longer exists." Zhou Enlai's tone was a bit bitter.His long beard, gloomy eyes, and tight lips all reveal a deep sense of weight.Although those who listened to the speech had already anticipated the more dangerous next step, especially the leftists of the Kuomintang in the team, they were unwilling to accept the reality of "separation" at this time.

The venue fell silent, and the air froze.There is no time to discuss. Zhou Enlai announced: "The armed personnel should be collected and rectified as much as possible, retreat to Hailufeng, and carry out long-term revolutionary struggles in the future. Unarmed personnel are willing to stay, and those who do not want to stay will disperse on the spot. A number of local peasant association members have already been identified. Guide, retreat to Haikou respectively, and then go to Hong Kong or Shanghai separately." Zhang Shushi, Chairman of the Party Affairs Committee, stated: "That's fine, let's do it this way."

Ye Ting still did not advocate going to Hailufeng: "Hailufeng already had enemies, and at the same time, after we got there, we were attacked by enemies from Guangzhou and Tangkeng, and it was a small place, and we were fighting with our backs. , the terrain is very unfavorable." Nie Rongzhen also agreed with Ye Ting's opinion: "The 25th Division may be isolated, and the 24th Division suffered heavy casualties. The Tangkeng battle was not won, and it will be difficult to continue fighting." Zhou Enlai supported and said: "Comrade He Long's 20th Army has already advanced towards Hailufeng."

After Zhou Enlai finished, for some reason, everyone's eyes turned to He Long.Perhaps because he is always open-minded and extremely optimistic, his opinion is a kind of confidence.But He Long remained silent, smoking a cigarette sullenly, his face extremely gloomy and dark. While we were discussing it, we got a report that the two divisions of the 20th Army walking ahead had disarmed.The news was like a bolt from the blue, causing the entire venue to discuss a lot. The one who couldn't hold back was He Long. He slapped his pipe on the table and said loudly: "I was betrayed by my own family and dragged down the revolution. I'm sorry everyone."

Ye Ting still maintained his usual high-pitched tone, and said very simply: "If we have a group of people, nothing will be a problem. At this point, we can only be bandits (fighting guerrillas), what else is there to say!" These words inadvertently stimulated He Long. He stood up suddenly and shouted loudly: "But I am unwilling! I will do it to the end. Let me go back to Xiangxi, and I will make a comeback!" At 2:00 p.m., just as the arrangement was finished and the church was about to leave, a scout rushed to report: On the hill outside the village, there were enemy soldiers appearing!Ye Ting drew his pistol, commanded the personnel to withdraw from the church, and let the guards back.

Zhou Enlai hadn't left yet, and he still had some urgent discussions with Li Lisan and Zhang Guotao.He said to them, "Leave the army and sneak back to Shanghai." Li Lisan asked: "What about you?" Zhou Enlai: "I am still moving with the troops, and I will take care of the cameras along the way. Except for those who should stay, they will all be sent to Hong Kong and Shanghai." Seeing Zhou Enlai's illness, Zhang Guotao felt a little sympathetic: "How is your illness? If you are sick, you should leave the army first and let me stay to replace your work. How is the frontline situation?"

Zhou Enlai didn't mean to change the plan: "My illness doesn't matter, I can sustain it." He waved his hand and said anxiously: "I can't leave the army, I'm going to Hailufeng, and raise the Soviet flag! Let’s go! We can’t discuss any more, it’s too late. The front line is very bad, and there’s no way of knowing how many teams are left.” Zhou Enlai was still on the stretcher, and Li Lisan and Zhang Guotao also left the church and went their separate ways. The enemy came suddenly, the troops withdrawn from the 24th Division were mixed with the members of the Revolutionary Committee, and the various units had not had time to evacuate. There is no way to adjust the machine gun. With the barrel, I can't find the gun mount. It's a mess.The people behind blindly followed the people in front, and it was said that they were going to camp in Yunluo—the names of the places in this area are really weird, and they always carry some kind of symbol.

They were collected one after another at the head of the village, and there were about 1 battalion of armed personnel.The 1 battalion was divided into two parts, one part was in the rear, and the other part was charging. Ye Ting led the team to compete for the southwest mountain that must pass.Walking in the middle was a huge mass of unarmed men, more than the 1st Battalion.There are men and women evacuated from Wuhan, Nanchang, Shanghai, Changsha and other cities, plus a lot of servants and porters. Taking the Political Department alone as an example, there are several porters carrying silver dollars.On the night of leaving Shantou, the Finance Department asked all the units to collect the money. Everyone was afraid of being burdened and didn't want to buy foreign goods. Only the Political Department volunteered and picked up several boxes of "Yuan Datou".

Walking out of the quicksand in a mighty way, the team marched towards the mountains lying southwest.The mountain is quite high with lush forests.From here to the foot of the mountain, there is a vast field, and some of the late rice has not been harvested.There are about 20 families in Tianchou, forming a small village by itself.It was already dusk, and the gunshots from behind gradually faded away.Walking on the small road in Tianchouzhong, facing the cool wind blowing down from the mountains, people's melancholy mood gradually subsided, and someone hummed "The Internationale" softly. At this moment, there were a few crisp gunshots ahead.These few shots disrupted the unsuspecting marching team.Especially the porters, they left their burdens and ran around, as did their duties, and the leftists of the Kuomintang in long gowns also ran around.The troops in the rear were rushing forward, trying to rush up to meet them, but they were stopped by the chaotic team.Seeing this situation, Zhou Enlai sat up from the stretcher to direct, divided the responsibilities of each part of the staff, stipulated how to contact and communicate, and stabilized the team.He was suffering from a high fever of 40°C. Almost all those with guns were sent out, leaving only an unarmed contingent.The sky gradually darkened, and the mountains towering in front of it looked gloomy like a huge man-eating monster.Everyone felt anxious, and there was no guide. They only knew that the way was to climb over a gap in the mountain. It was dark.Zhou Enlai became anxious, and he asked everyone to form a team and venture forward.Some people still didn't move, and he became even more anxious: "If you don't take risks, you have to sit and wait!" The team was organized again.At this moment, amidst the silence, several sporadic and extremely sharp gunshots rang out from behind not very far away.This was even more surprising than the previous one. Zhou Enlai looked back, but couldn't see anything in the darkness.The young guards of the staff group were very alert, and immediately turned around and fell on the ground, returning fire with their shell guns.Guo Moruo and other Chinese soldiers also followed their example and hid themselves under the tombstones.A row of guns shot past, but the opponent fell silent.It is not clear whether it is the enemy or our own people who have retreated from Tangkeng.Without thinking too much, taking advantage of the silence of the gunfire, they got up from under the tombstone and hurriedly evacuated.Now the team is in disarray.