Chapter 8 The Eighth Anti-Chiang Anti-Japanese Mutiny Lost a Good Opportunity and Fallen into Siege

In March 1933, the Red Army in the Central Soviet Area successfully crushed Chiang Kai-shek's fourth "encirclement and suppression".Before the smoke cleared, Chiang Kai-shek began to dispatch troops and generals again, planning the fifth "encirclement and suppression". In a small conference room at the headquarters of the 19th Route Army of the Kuomintang stationed in Fujian, the top leaders of the 19th Route Army, Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai, and Cai Tingkai, sat facing each other. Their faces were full of anxiety. They had been having a secret meeting for two hours.

After the Songhu Defense War, Chiang Kai-shek transferred the 19th Route Army to Fujian in order to implement his policy of "resisting the outside world first", and fought several battles with the 3rd Army Corps, the main force of the Red Army, but all ended in failure.At this time, the morale of the whole army was low. Chen Mingshu stood in front of the window irritably, smoking one cigarette after another.Two wounded soldiers in the hospital were yelling something, and a female nurse was explaining something to the wounded soldier. Chen Mingshu couldn't hear what the two wounded soldiers were yelling, so he didn't want to read any more, turned around and shouted loudly at Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai and others. Said: This battle cannot be fought, I have never fought such a battle.

Jiang Guangnai breathed a sigh of relief, and said sadly: The key is that we lost the morale we had during the Songhu defense war. Chen Mingshu pinched off the cigarette butt, and said angrily: No more fighting, no more fighting this battle. Cai Tingkai asked tentatively: Make peace with the Red Army? Chen Mingshu came over, held Jiang Guangnai with one hand, and Cai Tingkai with the other, and said in a low voice: "I've made up my mind, it's up to the two brothers." Cai Tingkai thought for a while, looked at the two and said: This is a good move. Jiang Guangnai also said: I agree, it is too useless to fight the Red Army. If we start a war with the Japanese, I will not make peace even if only one soldier is left.

That's it.Chen Mingshu patted the shoulders of the two of them. After the matter was settled, several people let out a sigh of relief.They vaguely heard the rumble of guns and the shouts of all the officers and soldiers in the Songhu defense battle, and deep in their hearts, there was another wave of excitement lingering around them. Cai Tingkai's eyes were red, and he sighed and said: When the country is destroyed and the family is destroyed, when is the day of peace! After hearing Cai Tingkai's exclamation, the other two did not speak. They were staring at the map of China on the wall.During the defense of Songhu, they took a deep breath and vowed to live and die with the mountains and rivers. In those days, they visited all the troops participating in the war, and they did not hear a single complaint.But since the troops were transferred to Fujian under the order of Chiang Kai-shek, the previously high-spirited troops disappeared. They walked dejectedly to the battlefield of "encircling and suppressing" the Red Army, and finally returned in a disastrous defeat.Among the soldiers, there were more scolders and deserters.Such a troop made them feel sad after seeing it.

In the conference room of the Red Army headquarters in Ruijin, the highest "three-person group" is also in a meeting.In front of Bo Gu was a letter sent by Peng Dehuai asking for negotiations from the 19th Route Army. At this time, Bogu seemed very excited. He flicked the letter with his fingers from time to time, adjusted his glasses on his nose, and said: The 19th Route Army is a centrist, and the centrist is our most dangerous enemy.When we are strong, they will negotiate with us; when we fail, they will leave us. Li De stood in front of the map with his hands behind his back. His eyes stayed on Fuzhou. It was the 3rd Army led by Peng Dehuai who was fighting the 19th Route Army.Since the fourth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, the 19th Route Army has suffered several defeats from the 3rd Army. At this time, the 19th Route Army withdrew all its troops to the vicinity of Fuzhou.Li De smiled at Fuzhou on the map, and he turned to Bogu and Zhou Enlai: They are scared.

Bogu went on: We're going to eat it. Li De didn't speak, but still smiled so confidently. Zhou Enlai didn't speak all the time. He stroked the teacup on the table and thought about a question. What he thought was: Is the 19th Route Army a centrist? Even if it is a centrist, it should not fight for it?If the 19th Route Army agrees to lay down their arms and jointly deal with Chiang Kai-shek, it will undoubtedly be beneficial to the Red Army; if it joins hands with the 19th Route Army to deal with Chiang Kai-shek's "encirclement and suppression", the Chiang Army will be in a situation where the enemy is on the back, and then the "encirclement and suppression" will be self-defeating up.

Thinking of this, Zhou Enlai raised his head, looked at Li De and Bogu and said slowly: If the 19th Route Army can really join us in fighting against Chiang Kai-shek and Japan, it will be beneficial to us. Bogu waved his hand impatiently and said: I think the 19th Route Army is unreliable. Zhou Enlai: Although the 19th Route Army represents the interests of the national bourgeoisie, the upper petty bourgeoisie, the rich peasants and small landlords in the countryside, we should see the contradictions between them and Chiang Kai-shek. When they were transferred to fight the civil war, Chiang Kai-shek distrusted them politically and blocked them economically, so they had anti-Chiang sentiments.I think it is entirely possible to work with us at a time like this.

Bogu was in deep thought, but he didn't continue Zhou Enlai's topic. He thought for a while, raised his head, and said to Li De: Enlai's words are also reasonable. Even if the 19th Route Army is unreliable, we agree to negotiate with them to ease the situation. No harm to us either. Li De was still looking at the map.At this time, he was thinking about things other than the 19th Route Army. He wanted to build a strong fortress around the Soviet area, and turn the Soviet area into an iron barrel to compete with Chiang Kai-shek's troops. He even imagined Chiang Kai-shek in front of his "short assault" Thinking of the scene of helplessness and defeat, he laughed again.

He didn't hear what Bogu said just now. At this moment, he turned around, looked at Bogu and said: What did you just say? Bogu repeated what he said just now. Li De thought for a while and said: Since there is no harm, let's talk about it.After a pause, he added: Since the 19th Route Army took the initiative to negotiate with us, let them come to Ruijin. Zhou Enlai let out a long breath. Bogu said to Zhou Enlai again: Enlai, you can arrange the details of the negotiation. Zhou Enlai tentatively said: I think it is more appropriate to let Pan Hannian talk on our behalf. Bogu pushed his glasses and nodded.

Li De waved his hand impatiently and said: I think this matter is settled like this. At this time, Li De's mind was not on the 19th Route Army. He wanted to convene a meeting of the army commanders to lay out his fortress plan. He has no interest in the outcome of the negotiations with the 19th Route Army. He has to fight if the negotiation succeeds or fails. He doesn't care about one more 19th Route Army or one less 19th Route Army.He was eager to verify how his "short assault" could hit the enemy more violently. In late October 1933, the 19th Route Army sent Xu Minghong to Ruijin as the plenipotentiary representative of the Fujian government and the 19th Route Army.Pan Hannian received Xu Minghong as a plenipotentiary representative of the Provisional Government of the Soviet Republic and the Red Army of Workers and Peasants.

At that time, the fifth counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression" had already begun. After the encounter at Xunkou, the enemy's 36th Division in Lichuan came to reinforce them and held back part of the 3rd and 5th Corps. Zhang Xilong, the commander of the 4th Division, and Wu Gaoqun, the commander of the 15th Division, were sacrificed.Liu Bocheng, chief of staff of the Red Army, and Li De had a tactical dispute.Liu Bocheng suggested that the 3rd Army be transferred eastward and concentrate its forces to find a breakthrough, while Li De believed that the troops should be divided into multiple routes to defeat each.Liu Bocheng was quite critical of Li De's tactics, and Bo Gu stood firmly by Li De's side, supporting Li De's point of view. Liu Bocheng had no choice but to sigh, and whipped his horse away. Facts have proved that Li De's tactics were wrong, which made the Red Army unfavorable in the first battle of the fifth counter "encirclement and suppression", not only sacrificed two division commanders, but also lost thousands of people. After Xu Minghong came to Ruijin, Mao Zedong and Zhu De met with Xu Minghong and accompanied Chen Gongpei many times, and expressed their willingness to cooperate with the 19th Route Army in the fight against Japan and Chiang Kai-shek. With the efforts of Mao Zedong, Zhu De and others, the two sides initialed the "Preliminary Agreement on Anti-Japanese and Anti-Chiang" on October 26, which included that the armies of the two sides would no longer attack each other, turn their guns around, agree to foreign exchanges, and conduct mutual business. The 19th Route Army and Fujian Provincial Government representative Xu Minghong and others left Ruijin and returned to Fuzhou. According to the agreement reached by the two sides in the first meeting, on November 27, the Soviet government sent Zhang Yunyi and Fang Fang, a representative of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, to Tingzhou for negotiations. Communications were held on the cooperation between the two parties. At this time, the 19th Route Army had announced the establishment of the Fujian People's Government and openly broke with Chiang Kai-shek.On the one hand, Chiang Kai-shek sent troops to step up the construction of blockhouses and temporarily surrounded the northern part of the Soviet area, and on the other hand, he dispatched his main force to advance to northern Fujian. He wanted to eat up the 19th Route Army to solve the hidden danger behind it. At the frontline headquarters of the 19th Route Army, General Cai Tingkai has been looking at the position with a telescope for a long time - a few kilometers ahead, the Situ Fei Brigade of the 19th Route Army has been fighting with a whole division and two regiments of Chiang Kai-shek for two days and nights up.The sound of cannons and killing continued. Cai Tingkai saw through the binoculars that the flag of Situ Fei's brigade had been flying on the main position.Chiang Kai-shek's troops rushed to the position several times, but were beaten down by Situ Fei's brigade.Cai Tingkai knew very well about Situ Fei’s brigade. This is the trump card unit of the 19th Route Army and the symbol of the 19th Route Army. The victory of the Songhu defense battle has made great contributions.At this time, Situ Fei's brigade held back the strength of one division and two regiments of Chiang Kai-shek. At this time, Cai Tingkai's palms were sweating, and his hand holding the binoculars was trembling. He saw almost a company of Situ Fei's brigade launch a counter-charge. More than 100 people rushed towards Jiang's army, fighting hand-to-hand at the front of the position. , Seeing Jiang Jun retreating, at this time, Jiang Jun's artillery fired over, and a company of troops, together with Jiang Jun who had not had time to withdraw, were buried in the sea of ​​​​fire.Cai Tingkai knew that after the artillery fire, not many people would survive, so he couldn't bear to watch it again.He put down the binoculars, and at some point, tears had blurred his vision. This veteran general did not remember when he shed tears.During the defense of Songhu, the scene was no less relaxed than this time. At that time, his heart was full of tragedy, and there was a strong national sentiment surging in every soldier, but now it is quite different. kill each other. The phone rang several times in a row, but he didn't answer it. Later, a combat staff officer reached out to answer it. The call was from Chen Mingshu from the Fuzhou General Headquarters.The combat staff officer held the phone in front of his eyes. He calmed down and answered the phone. Chen Mingshu said on the phone: Ting Kai, how are you doing there?Anxiety and anxiety were revealed in the tone.Cai Tingkai answered with a choked voice: Situ Fei's brigade is almost exhausted, why is there no movement from the main force of the Red Army? There was obvious dissatisfaction in Chen Mingshu's tone: We have sent people to urge us several times, but we haven't seen any movement from them. Guangnai is also suffering from enemies on the Eastern Front. I don't know how long they will delay. Cai Tingkai lowered his voice and said: Brother Mingshu, I think we need to be careful, at this time, only we can save ourselves. Chen Mingshu also heaved a long sigh on the other end of the phone. Cai Tingkai heard the sigh, and he heard the roar of the plane, and several bombers rumbled overhead, heading towards Fuzhou.It has been three days since Chiang Kai-shek ordered the troops to besiege the forward positions of the 19th Route Army, and at the same time sent the air force to bomb Fuzhou, making the 19th Route Army trapped internally and externally.He said loudly to Chen Mingshu: Brother Mingshu, this battle is not easy! Chen Mingshu gritted his teeth and said: Ting Kai, we have no way out, we have to fight if we fight, or we have to fight if we don't.After speaking, he hung up the phone. Cai Tingkai was in a daze while holding the phone. Peng Dehuai, the commander of the 3rd Army, whipped his horse and galloped towards Ruijin. Behind him was a combat staff officer and a guard. The three horses were already sweating, but Peng Dehuai still felt that the horses were running slowly. The 19th Route Army fought bitterly with Jiang's army in the area of ​​Fuzhou, and the northern line of the Soviet area was temporarily empty. Jiang's army only left a few divisions here, guarding Guangze, Shaowu, Shunchang and other places, and each division was more than 20 kilometers apart.Peng Dehuai felt that this was a good opportunity to send troops, so he sent several telegrams requesting Li De to let the troops attack.Li De either ignored it, or instructed to wait for the opportunity. Seeing that the 19th Route Army was about to be unable to withstand Chiang Kai-shek's siege, Peng Dehuai saw that the opportunity was losing little by little, and he couldn't wait any longer. He wanted to meet Li De and persuade him to give the order to attack.Peng Dehuai was simmering with fire in his heart, he wished he could fly to Ruijin with his wings. When Peng Dehuai broke into the Red Army headquarters, Li De was facing the map and meditating.Peng Dehuai took off his hat, threw it on the table, and immediately asked: Why didn't you attack? Li De glanced at Peng Dehuai, but didn't speak. He waved his hand and asked the guard to pour Peng Dehuai a glass of water.Peng Dehuai didn't even look at the glass of water, turned his head to Bogu and said: Such an opportunity is rare, as long as we concentrate our forces to attack, we will definitely eat him one division at a time. Bo Gu glanced at Li De, and said slowly: Let the 19th Route Army and Chiang Kai-shek bite, they are internal conflicts, today we rescued the 19th Route Army, maybe tomorrow they will turn their heads to bite us. Peng Dehuai grabbed the hat. He wanted to yell and curse a few times, but finally he held back his anger and said: Even if we don't save the 19th Route Army, we can't delay the opportunity of the war.Are you not afraid that after the collapse of the 19th Route Army, Chiang Kai-shek will turn around and bite us again? At this time Li De came over and interjected: The 19th Route Army is more dangerous than Chiang Kai-shek. They are opportunists and we cannot help them. Long before Peng Dehuai came to Ruijin, both Mao Zedong and Zhu De wrote letters to Li De and Bogu, advocating an attack, seizing the opportunity to attack Jiang's back.Facing such pressure, Li De sent a report to the headquarters of the International Front in Shanghai, and the answer he received was: no attack. Peng Dehuai felt that he was completely disappointed. He put on his hat, took a hard look at Li De, slammed the door and walked out. Once he went out, he couldn't help it anymore, and he cursed: Bastard, fool!He grabbed the reins of the horse handed over by the guard and flew onto the horse.He raised the whip in his hand and whipped it towards the horse... Just after Peng Dehuai left, the translator sent another urgent call from the 19th Route Army.They once again asked the Red Army to attack and cooperate with the operation. Looking at the urgent telegram, Bogu frowned and said: It's really annoying that they keep rushing. Li De picked up the telegram and looked at it, walked to the map again, turned around after a while and said: It may be beneficial to us if we can get some troops from the 19th Route Army to come over at this time. Bogu immediately understood Li De's meaning: You mean, we will not send troops, but we can send a representative there! Because this time was different from the last negotiation with representatives of the 19th Route Army in Ruijin, Bo Gu and Li De decided to send Zhang Yunyi to Fuzhou after research.The reason why Bogu chose Zhang Yunyi to go to Fuzhou was not only because he was from Guangdong, but more importantly, he was the deputy chief of staff of the Red Army and the deputy chief of staff of the Red Army. He had contacts with the 19th Route Army during the Great Revolution. When Bogu approached Zhang Yunyi and talked about his trip to Fuzhou, Bogu repeatedly emphasized: the 19th Route Army is at a disadvantage now, and it is best to get some troops to come over at this time. Zhang Yunyi asked puzzledly: Then when will our Red Army dispatch troops? Bogu hesitated for a moment, pondered for a while and said: Li De and I have already discussed this matter, let's have a look. Zhang Yunyi asked anxiously: What if they ask? Bogu waved his hands irritably and said: You just say that the 3rd Army will go to rescue them immediately. Looking at Bo Gu's back, Zhang Yunyi seemed to understand, but also seemed to understand nothing.He nodded and shook his head again. The streets of Fuzhou are full of people fleeing in a hurry, crying for their fathers and mothers on the pier, dignitaries, wealthy gentry and politicians have boarded the ship to flee.Chiang Kai-shek's planes would appear in the sky from time to time and drop bombs on Fuzhou City. A long area of ​​houses has become a ruin, and houses that were bombed and burned can be seen everywhere. From time to time, the 19th Route Army gathered troops in Fuzhou City. They were not going to the front line but moving. Zhang Yunyi met with Li Jishen who moved to the basement for air defense.At this time, Li Jishen looked tired, and the moment he saw Zhang Yunyi, there were two lights of hope in his eyes.He held Zhang Yunyi's hand and asked anxiously: Where is your army and how many people are here? Looking at Li Jishen's hopeful face, Zhang Yunyi didn't know how to answer for a while, he didn't want to deceive Li Jishen. Li Jishen let go of Zhang Yunyi's hand in disappointment, shook his head and sighed: I know you are sitting on a mountain watching tigers fight, no one can save us. Li Jishen sat down on the chair. Zhang Yunyi remembered Bogu's confession when he left Ruijin, and hurriedly said: Our 3rd Army has already set off, and I don't know where it is now.I can send a telegram to Ruijin, and I hope you can tell me the situation ahead. Li Ji put his hands on his forehead and said heartily: You send troops now, maybe we can still save us, we are really against Chiang Kai-shek and against Japan! Zhang Yunyi sat opposite Li Jishen, he wanted to comfort Li Jishen with words, but at this moment, could he be comforted with words?Maybe Li De and Bogu have changed their minds, and maybe the 3rd Army is really on the way at this time.Soon, Zhang Yunyi realized that this was just his fantasy. Li Jishen murmured: Our Situ Fei brigade has been wiped out, and Ting Kai is still holding on ahead. I really can't imagine what the result will be. Zhang Yunyi did not see Chen Mingshu, nor Jiang Guangnai, and only Cai Tingkai was left in the front line to command the battle.He realized something, the scene on the street had given him this premonition.The other two may have gone to Hong Kong to arrange their escape. At this time, Zhang Yunyi was very anxious. He really hoped that the Red Army could send troops at this time to bite Chiang Kai-shek in the back. Even if the 19th Route Army could not be rescued, it would be beneficial to eliminate Chiang Kai-shek's vital forces and ease Chiang Kai-shek's "encirclement and suppression" of the Soviet area. That night, Zhang Yunyi drafted a telegram and asked the translator who was traveling with him to send it back. Zhang Yunyi explained his thoughts in the telegram.After the telegram was sent, he looked forward to Ruijin's reply, but he didn't hear a reply for three days.During these three days, Li Jishen came to ask about the increase of troops every day, and he could only comfort Li Jishen with words.Li Jishen would bring him news of the deaths of soldiers in front every day. Hearing the news, Zhang Yunyi felt an indescribable feeling in his heart for a moment. He didn't know whether he was sad for the 19th Route Army or the Red Army. Hearing the sound of bombs exploding on the street, Zhang Yunyi was in a state of confusion.After a while, he asked the translator to ask about Ruijin's news, but Ruijin still didn't give a clear answer. On the third night, Zhang Yunyi was pacing anxiously in the room when the door was knocked open suddenly. Cai Tingkai stood in front of him with his face covered in dust, and Zhang Yunyi looked at him in surprise. Cai Tingkai suddenly looked up and laughed, and when he stopped laughing, his face was covered with tears.He suddenly covered his face and wept, and finally choked up and said: The 19th Route Army is over, everything is over. Zhang Yunyi took Cai Tingkai's hand and comforted him: "Brother Tingkai, even if our troops can't make it, as long as we keep our vitality, things may turn around. The first step can be retreated to Quanzhou, and the second step can be retreated to Zhangzhou. It's really not possible. There is still such a large Soviet area behind us. If Chiang Kai-shek retreats to our Soviet area, no matter how powerful he is, there is nothing we can do. Cai Tingkai stared blankly at Zhang Yunyi, and he said dreamily: It's late, it's really late, our troops are ready to retreat.After a pause, he said again: "Why don't you Red Army talk about credibility? We had a good talk with you in Ruijin, but why didn't you help us? We are really fighting against Jiang!" Cai Tingkai's tears flowed down again. Zhang Yunyi was speechless, he didn't know what to explain to General Cai Tingkai. Cai Tingkai stood up, looked straight at Zhang Yunyi and said: We are going to retreat to the camp field. If it still fails, we will continue to retreat south. Zhang Yunyi said sadly: Is there no better way? Cai Tingkai shook his head. Zhang Kaiyi sighed, not sure if it was for the 19th Route Army or the Red Army. Then Fuzhou was in chaos. Soldiers withdrawn from the front line were all over the streets. They beat anyone they saw, scolded anyone they saw, and robbed whatever they saw. For a while, the streets and alleys of Fuzhou were in chaos.Chiang Kai-shek's plane still lost no time to come over Fuzhou and bombed indiscriminately.Those soldiers who retreated to Fuzhou had nowhere to vent, so they blindly shot into the sky and kept shooting. Explosions and gunshots rang out, gunpowder smoke was everywhere, and it was a mess. Li Jishen flew to Hong Kong the day before Cai Tingkai came back. Cai Tingkai hasn't shown up since saying goodbye to Zhang Yunyi that night, busy with his withdrawal plan. Zhang Yunyi has not waited for news from Ruijin, and he feels that there is no need to wait any longer at this moment.He didn't say goodbye to anyone, and he didn't need to say goodbye, so he took the translator and left Fuzhou in the dark. Within a few days, the 19th Route Army crossed the Wulong River and retreated to Putian.While Chiang Kai-shek sent troops to pursue, he sent troops into Fuzhou. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was camping in Nanchang, and he smiled triumphantly after hearing the phone call from Victory. The betrayal of the 19th Route Army, when he first heard the news, it was as if someone had stabbed him in the back.Soong Meiling was standing beside him at this moment.He looked at Soong Meiling solicitingly and said: I want to eat up the 19th Route Army, or the fifth encirclement and suppression campaign will be destroyed in one go. Soong Meiling pretended to be relaxed and said: Darling, this is nothing special. A small 19th Route Army will not be more difficult to deal with than Feng and Yan's coalition forces, right? If they join forces with the Communist bandits, it will be difficult to clean up. What Chiang Kai-shek said made Song Meiling lose her mind for a while.She kept making the sign of the sign of the cross across her chest. Chiang Kai-shek quickly cheered up in his anger. He gritted his teeth and said: I want to go to Fuzhou to supervise the battle. The soldiers are precious and fast. I want to wipe them out completely. Then I will accompany you.Song Meiling grabbed Chiang Kai-shek's hand.Chiang Kai-shek did not speak, but looked deeply at Song Meiling. After they arrived in Fuzhou (Linchuan), they lived in a manor in the countryside.Due to the arrival of Chiang Kai-shek, the 13th Division of the Fuzhou garrison was busy. For the safety of Chiang Kai-shek and his party, they patrolled day and night, kept vigilant, and were in a state of battle. One night, just as Fang Jing, commander of the 294th Brigade of the 98th Division, took an armored vehicle to go to the front line for inspection. When he came back and passed Fuzhou, he had a misunderstanding with the night patrol troops of the 13th Division, and the two sides fought. Chiang Kai-shek didn't know the truth, and thought that the 19th Route Army or the Red Army had attacked Fuzhou. He telegraphed the troops to come for reinforcements, and at the same time sent the 13th Division to find out the news.The result was a misunderstanding, which made Chiang Kai-shek a false alarm and made Song Meiling seriously ill. After the turmoil of the 19th Route Army, Chiang Kai-shek secretly rejoiced.He was pleasantly surprised that the Red Army did not send troops during the mutiny of the 19th Route Army. If that was the case, perhaps he would not be sitting so peacefully in the spacious office of the Nanchang camp at this time.In the next step, he will concentrate all his energy and troops on the fifth "encirclement and suppression".Looking at the enlarged map of the Soviet area, he stretched his right index finger towards Guangchang...