The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Yang Du: "China must first realize communism. After communism has developed for several years, everyone will abandon it and enter capitalism.

Chen Duxiu: "Pfft...

Yang Du: "For this reason, I solemnly apply to join the Communist Party of China and help China achieve communism.

Chen Duxiu: "No! This is absolutely impossible!

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha"

Chen Duxiu was furious, while Yang Du burst into laughter, as if he had regained the confidence of the Hunanese tycoon who had dominated the court twenty years ago: "Zhongfu, let me join the party! I can help you!"

"No, no! You are victorious!"

Anqing.

The Fourth Army left earlier than the First Army. When Chen Tianheng arrived at Pukou to cross the river, the Fourth Army's fleet had already docked in Anqing.

After landing, the Fourth Army was faced with a task that had to be completed:

Eliminate all Communists from the military.

This was the order from Chairman Wang in Wuhan, but Army Commander Zhang Fakui was unwilling to do so.

Only after the Fourth Army, which participated in the Northern Expedition, split and multiplied into the Fourth Army and the 11th Army, did Zhang Fakui get the position of commander of the Fourth Army.

At this time, all that was left for Zhang Fakui was the 12th Division, the only unit of the old Fourth Army. It was Ye Ting who expanded his independent regiment into the 25th Division, and then transferred some key officers from the 25th Division to the 24th Division. Only then did the current Fourth Army take shape.

Was Ye Ting a Communist? Although Ye Ting himself never admitted it, everyone knew he was. It wasn't just speculation; some lax officials in the Wuhan Party Central Committee and the Wuhan District Committee of the Communist Party of China had even said so themselves, though everyone pretended not to care.

It can be said that it was Ye Ting's personal ability and charisma, coupled with the high-quality officer team of Ye Ting's Independent Regiment, that assisted Zhang Fakui in reorganizing the Fourth Army, and in subsequent battles, it demonstrated an overall combat effectiveness that was no less than that of the old Fourth Army.

If Ye Ting left, it would be like Zhang Fakui had lost two arms.

"Xiyi, this matter has a great impact on you and me as well.

Zhang Fakui said awkwardly, "Actually, I don't want you and your men to leave. Absolutely not. We've been doing just fine with the Fourth Army before. Even though you're a Communist, we train together, we fight together. There's no need to divide us into the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, right?"

Ye Ting: "Commander Zhang, that is indeed the case. I have a great time working with Commander Zhang."

Zhang Fakui: "Xiyi, the higher-ups said that besides leaving the army, you can also declare your resignation from the Party. What are your thoughts on this?"

"Commander Zhang, I joined the Communist Party of China not on impulse but after a long period of careful consideration. Since joining the party, whether I have fought on the battlefield or traveled across China, what I have seen and heard has proved that my original choice was not wrong." Ye Ting said to Zhang Fakui: "Don't make it difficult for me.

Zhang Fakui: "Well, here's what I think, Xiyi. Later, I'll send a report to the higher-ups, saying that all Communist Party members in the Fourth Army have already quit the Party. But whether you've actually quit or haven't, or don't intend to quit at all, I won't care. How do you do that?"

Chapter 82: Chiang Kai-shek is furious

"Comrade Ye Ting:"

"You and all Communist Party members of the 25th and 24th Divisions of the Fourth Army are requested to submit a leave request to the Fourth Army and leave Anqing as soon as possible to report to Wuhan."

“Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, March 28.

The liaison officer handed the secret letter to Ye Ting. After Ye Ting read it, the liaison officer added: "The Military Department has organized workers and peasants' armed forces around Wuhan. After the Communist Party members of the Fourth Army arrive in Wuhan, they will be added to the workers and peasants' armed forces to form a revolutionary army."

Ye Ting: "How many people are there in the armed workers and peasants of Hubei?"

"There are already more than 10,000 people. The Communist International will soon send a batch of arms, and after these more than 10,000 people receive guns and ammunition, they will be further expanded."

Ye Ting: "I understand. I will gather the main cadres of the Fourth Army to prepare for this matter.

After sending the liaison officer away, Ye Ting called a meeting with the staff and regimental commanders of the 25th Division. After the instructions from the Wuhan Central Committee brought by the liaison officer were mentioned at the meeting, Ye Ting remained silent.

Zuo Quan: "This is extremely dangerous, I don't think it's feasible.

"The 25th Division now has over 300 Party members, and the 24th Division has over 80. This is a force of 400 people. There is no way to hide on the way from Anqing to Wuhan. Not only can we not hide, we have no fighting capacity. They are all people drawn from various units. There are many commanders, Party representatives and staff officers, but few core soldiers. We are not organized. We may not be able to obtain weapons and ammunition when we set out. If someone is unfavorable to us and ambushes us along the way, our team will be in danger of being wiped out.

Chen Geng: "If we all follow the instructions of the Military Department and ask for leave, the most likely outcome is that we will take a Yangtze River passenger ship to Wuhan. If we can ambush two field guns on the river bank, the backbone of our ace division of the ace iron army will be wiped out.

Jiang Xianyun: "Yes, we cannot leave the 25th Division, and at the same time, we will not quit the Party.

Ye Ting said nothing at the 25th Division Command Headquarters, listening to the officers' discussion below, with his hands behind his back looking at the map.

Zuo Quan: "Commander, if we withdraw from the Fourth Army, the Party representatives of other armies will surely do the same. They must have received instructions from the Military Department. In this way, the Party will have no influence within the National Revolutionary Army...

Chen Geng, Jiang Xianyun, and Zhou Shidi: "Yes, yes.

Ye Ting: "But we are party members and should obey the instructions of our superiors. Disobeying orders is not the style of the Communist Party.

Jiang Xianyun: "We don't know whether the so-called Hubei Workers' and Peasants' Armed Forces around Wuhan are a mob. Division Commander, the Communist International is currently ordering us to obey the instructions of the National Government and leave the military and political front. But this instruction only asks us to compromise and does not provide a clear struggle plan. You see, they only ask us to report to the Hubei Workers' and Peasants' Armed Forces, and they didn't even tell us what we were going to do when we arrived in Wuhan and led the Hubei Workers' and Peasants' Armed Forces.

Zuo Quan: "General Secretary Chen Duxiu's intention is to have the Communist Party members in the Northern Expedition Army remain where they are and to argue their case with their unit commanders. Division Commander, we can skip the negotiation process in the Fourth Army. Didn't Commander Zhang Fakui say he could help us find a way to remain in the Fourth Army?"

Ye Ting: "General Secretary Chen Duxiu is... the former General Secretary, and now it is General Secretary Chen Yannian. We should obey the instructions of the Wuhan Central Committee, or more precisely, the Military Department of the Wuhan Central Committee. However, I do have to say that this decision has a strong tendency towards capitulationism.

Jiang Xianyun: "So... Commander?

Ye Ting: "The meeting is adjourned."

Hexiang City

The confused officers dispersed.

Ye Ting did not miss his meal. He went to the bank of the Yangtze River and stayed there alone, gazing at it from dusk till dark.

Chen Geng, Jiang Xianyun, Zuo Quan, Zhou Shidi, Cai Shenxi, Liu Chouxi and others were also accompanying Ye Ting to watch the Yangtze River. Of course, all of these people kept a distance of more than 30 meters from Ye Ting, leaving Ye Ting alone.

"Chen Tianheng said that Commander Ye is trustworthy, so I think the commander will eventually come to Old Chen's side," said Jiang Xianyun.

Zuo Quan: "Besides, Old Chen and Little Chen did not split the party into two parties. They were just two factions within the party formed due to different political views.

Jiang Xianyun: "I think we can be considered localists and internationalists. The current policies of the internationalists are clearly problematic. If we follow their approach, we will completely destroy the foundation that we and the Party have built in the military."

Zuo Quan: "The division commander knows the danger, so he is hesitant.

"How about," Chen Geng took a bite of the bun, "we go up and try to persuade him?"

Zuo Quan: "We've already said everything we need to say at the headquarters meeting. We're just waiting for the division commander to make his decision."

Chen Geng: "I bet the division commander will insist on staying in the Fourth Army. What about you?"

Zuo Quan, Zhou Shidi and Jiang Xianyun nodded, but then shook their heads to indicate that they would not follow.

It was already dark, the only lights on the riverbank dimming in the darkness. After waiting for a long time, a Yangtze River passenger ship arrived from upstream, the lights on its bow bobbing with the waves.

Ye Ting watched the passenger ship go from upstream to downstream, and then watched it disappear from sight. Having made up his mind, Ye Ting turned around and strode to the front of the people behind him:

"We wrote back to the Military Department, saying that the Communists in the 25th and 24th Divisions had been placed under house arrest by Zhang Fakui, and that we were trying to find a way to escape.

The expressions on their faces changed from anxiety to joy, and Zhou Shidi even whispered "Yeah".

Ye Ting: "After writing it, give it to the liaison officer to deliver. The liaison officer must do a good job and convince him to stand on our side. You, Chen Geng, will write the letter."

"Yes, yes, yes," Chen Geng said, "I am the most suitable person to write the letter. Just say that all the party members of the 25th Division except me are under house arrest. I also had a lot of trouble finding the stationery to write this letter.

Ye Ting nodded. Then, with a heavy heart, he said to the others, "The road ahead for the revolution will be very difficult."

"Commander, we all know this.

Ye Ting: "If you feel that you can't bear the difficult road ahead, you can leave now and go to Nanjing to find Chen Tianheng, the leader of your war research association. He will definitely treat you well.

Chen Geng, Jiang Xianyun, Zuo Quan, Zhou Shidi, Cai Shenxi... stood there in a daze.

Zhou Shidi's face flushed red but he didn't say anything. He just kept winking at Jiang Xianyun.

Jiang Xianyun couldn't make the decision alone and looked at Chen Geng.

Chen Geng's face was fixed in a position of being neither amused nor sad for a long time. Seeing Jiang Xianyun's eyes asking for his opinion, Chen Geng hesitated for a moment and shook his head.

Jiang Xianyun: "No, the 1st Division is the 1st Division, and the 25th Division is the 25th Division. From now on, they are the Kuomintang and we are the Communist Party. That's it."

Shanghai.

"Humph!"

"If you don't remove the roots, what's the point?

"We must not only stop the activities of the Communist International and the Communist Party, but also investigate their treasonous activities! If we don't arrest a group of people who disrupted the Northern Expedition and disrupted the countryside to serve as a warning to others, how can we prevent China from becoming communist?"

Chiang Kai-shek was furious.

The resolution issued by the Third Plenary Session of the Second Central Committee was reported by domestic and foreign newspapers as the "KMT Resolution to Purge the Communists". Many journalists also referred to it as the "Resolution to Put Away the Bows After the Birds Are Killed" because the KMT purged the Communists after the decisive battle of the Northern Expedition.

But Chiang Kai-shek was strongly opposed to this resolution because he believed that the cleansing was not thorough enough.

The Communist International was banned from operating in China, but Borodin was not expelled and remained in Wuhan. Wang Jingwei even suggested that if the Soviet Union simply acknowledged the continued validity of the Sun-Yue Declaration, Borodin could be promoted to Soviet Ambassador to the Republic of China.

The Communist Party of China was also banned from public activities, but Chiang Kai-shek and the right-wingers' proposals to liquidate the Communist rebellion, liquidate rural land reform, and arrest Communists and Kuomintang leftists who committed murders were temporarily suppressed by Wang Jingwei.

Wang Jingwei even said that if the Chen Duxiu faction, into which the Communist Party had split, really broke away from the Communist International as stated in the declaration and was not controlled by foreign forces, then he would be willing to have dialogue and negotiations with Chen Duxiu.

This made Chiang Kai-shek furious.

Deng Zeru said: "Commander-in-Chief, although Wang Jingwei was politically vacillating and his purge of the Communists was not thorough, the purge in Wuhan ordered all Communist Party members in the Northern Expedition armies to withdraw from the army. All armies complied with the order, which is extremely beneficial to us. Previously, we thought that only Xia Douyin and Yang Sen would support us around Wuhan. Now, it's not just these two armies, but all of them."

Li Jishen stated: "Chen Shuming of the Guangdong Army is currently serving as the commander of the Wuhan Garrison. His 11th Army is a legacy of the Iron Army, highly combat-capable, and trustworthy. Zhang Fakui stated that he has resolved the internal Communist Party issues. Within the Hunan Army, Tang Shengzhi, He Jian, Cheng Qian, and Tan Yankai all support the commander-in-chief. He Jian's parents were in the countryside, and were arrested and paraded through the streets by the peasants. On the Guangxi clique side, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi also stand with us in our fight against communism."

Chiang Kai-shek: "Very good. I'll leave the affairs of Guangdong to Ren Chao and your New Fourth Army.

After the Northern Expedition began, the Fourth Army marched north, but some troops were left behind in Guangdong. Li Jishen was appointed acting commander of the remaining Fourth Army. The Fourth Army was split and expanded in Wuhan into the Fourth Army and the 11th Army. The remaining Fourth Army in Guangdong was renamed the New Fourth Army, with Li Jishen as commander of the New Fourth Army.

Zhang Jingjiang: "The Northern Expedition Army now has fifty armies. Each unit is stationed far apart, making it difficult to coordinate food and military pay. Therefore, the Commander-in-Chief has decided to establish several Route Armies across the country to command the armies and local regiments in their respective regions. It is planned to establish the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army in Guangdong. At that time, I will serve as the commander of the Eighth Route Army and concurrently the commander of the New Fourth Army."

Li Jishen nodded and said: "This military reform is very good.

Li Jishen chatted a few more words and then took his leave to return to his post as King of Guangdong. He Yingqin and Chen Jicheng came in.

"The armed workers in Shanghai are weak; let the 17th Army handle them," Chiang Kai-shek said. "Jingzhi, the First Army's main task is to deal with the peasant associations in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. There are fewer peasant associations in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but those in Jiangxi are completely lawless and have a large number of Communists. They can't be stopped without killing a few to warn the rest."

He Yingqin: "The 22nd Division of the First Army is far away in Suxian, and the 1st and 2nd Divisions are in Nanjing. However, there is no need to mobilize the 1st and 2nd Divisions right now. The 3rd, 14th, and 21st Divisions should be enough to pacify the rural areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. Otherwise, how about transferring the 20th Division from Guangzhou?"

Chiang Kai-shek shook his head and said, "I have to use the 20th Division to watch Li Renchao. The 1st and 2nd Divisions will watch the 17th Army in Shanghai. Wu Min, you went to observe the 1st Division. What are your impressions?"

Chen Jicheng: "The First Division is indeed a formidable force, unrivaled domestically. But Captain, are there really no Communists within the First Division?"

Chiang Kai-shek said: "Last April, the First Army split from the Communist Party. All the divisions asked their Communist Party members to leave. At that time, the First Regiment of the First Division still had Jiang Xianyun and Chen Geng, who were also my favorite students, but they were Communist Party members. I asked Chen Tianheng to persuade them, but they refused to leave the Communist Party, so they had to go to the Fourth Army. Both of them left with great pain, which shows that the First Army is now extremely pure.

"Well, it's like this," Chen Jicheng hesitated for a moment and said, "In addition to a lot of training, the First Division also attaches great importance to political education. When I was observing the First Division, I saw a company holding a political education meeting.

He Yingqin: "We are the Party in charge of the army, so political education is essential. Not holding political education meetings would be the army being lazy. So, could it be that the First Division's political education meeting was teaching Marxism?"

"No, no, no, that's not the case," Chen Jicheng said. "Their political education will emphasize that the revolutionary army is a revolutionary army based on the Three Principles of the People, coming from the people and serving the people."

He Yingqin: "There's nothing wrong with that, right, Principal?"

"Yes, the Three Principles of the People are the foundation of the Party, the State, and the Army."

Chiang Kai-shek said this, but one of his hands touched his jaw and he couldn't help but pick at the dead skin on his chin with his fingers.

Chapter 83: Reorganization of the Farmers' Cooperatives into Collective Farms

Chen Jicheng, who was a keen observer, reported to Chiang Kai-shek that the First Division attached great importance to educating soldiers on the Three Principles of the People, which made Chiang Kai-shek a little embarrassed and uneasy.

It wasn't just Chiang Kai-shek's reaction that was odd; Chen Jicheng's formal reporting of the matter itself was also odd. Both felt it was a bit unusual, but both remained reluctant to speak out.

...That’s it.”

Zhang Jingjiang noticed that Chiang Kai-shek was somewhat embarrassed and uneasy, so he started the conversation: "The Commander-in-Chief and Commander He may not know this, but we in the business community all know it. Chen Tianheng has a cousin, Chen Ying, who is one of the five largest Chinese businessmen in Hong Kong. You may not be familiar with Chen Ying, but you should know the Yongping Company, which was founded by Chen Ying.

"Oh," Chiang Kai-shek nodded. "Years ago, the five largest Chinese merchants in Hong Kong jointly donated money to support the Northern Expedition, and the Yongping Company was one of them. However, the owner of Yongping did not accept the invitation to come to Shanghai during the Spring Festival."

Zhang Jingjiang: "They had a very good relationship. In addition to funding the Northern Expedition, my cousin also provided a huge amount of money to support Chen Tianheng's troops. The First Division could only buy guns, ammunition, and other utensils, clothing, shoes and socks, all of which were high-end. Chen Tianheng even bought himself 30 American trucks in Shanghai.

"Haha, I know something too," He Yingqin said. "When Chen Tianheng's First Division was stationed in Shanghai, they bought a lot of military supplies from the garrison inventory in the concession, such as French flat lunch boxes and British leather goods. Chen Tianheng was happy to buy, and the garrison in the concession was also happy to sell. When I was still at the Whampoa Military Academy, I knew that Chen Tianheng admired European powers, I mean Western European military tactics. Now he has troops to lead in battle and a rich sister, it's really what he wanted.

Zhang Jingjiang: "That's right. He comes from a wealthy family, and he admires the military of Britain, the United States, France, and Germany. It's impossible for him to be on the side of the Communist Party.

He Yingqin and Zhang Jingjiang responded one after another, and in short, they expressed that they did not think there was anything wrong with Chen Tianheng.

Chen Jicheng was observant, but he had to control his intensity when expressing doubts in front of Chiang Kai-shek, otherwise he would be suspected of being "jealous of his colleagues" - he was the commander of the 22nd Division and Chen Tianheng was the commander of the 1st Division.

The people present finally summarized several points about Chen Tianheng:

1. Chen Tianheng is not a Communist (√)

2. He led his troops to fight like a rich young man playing real-life wargame (V)

3. Chen Tianheng's Belief in the Three Principles of the People (V)

4. Chen Tianheng was infinitely loyal to his leader, Chiang Kai-shek (x)

This was the situation. That was why Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Jicheng felt a sense of unease: if a person truly believed in the Three Principles of the People, they would not be infinitely loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, because true belief requires thinking with the brain.

But Chen Tianheng was the top student among the Whampoa Military Academy students, possessing unparalleled charisma. He achieved remarkable military success during the Eastern and Northern Expeditions, earning him national acclaim. Chiang Kai-shek met with Chen Tianheng numerous times, and he never disappointed him.