The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Chen Tianheng: "That's right. France's prosthetics industry is world-class right now... You lead a large team, over 300 people."

Mao Runzhi: "Chen Tianheng, these are just armed members of the peasant associations from two nearby counties. They have nothing else to do and can be summoned to Nanchang. If the revolutionary army recruits soldiers on the Hunan-Jiangxi border, it can easily recruit 20,000 to 30,000 men."

Chapter 95: Repairing Relations with the Communist International? No

"Declaration of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China to the Revolutionary Masses of China and the World"

China has now entered a new situation. In this situation, imperialism and its agents have passed from a period of passive and covert assistance to the counter-revolutionary forces to a period of active attacks on the Chinese revolution and direct and indirect blows against all national liberation movements.

"They, whether in Nanjing or Wuhan, have stolen the banner of the Kuomintang, distorted and falsely claimed the content of the revolutionary Three Principles of the People. In fact, they have become the embodiment of the old forces, tools of the warlords, and enemies of the people.

"The Kuomintang's program of action is expressed in the Three Principles of the People written by Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

The true meaning of the Three Principles of the People is this: Nationalism is about opposing imperialism and ensuring the freedom and independence of the Chinese nation; Democracy is about overthrowing the feudal privileged class and all reactionary forces where the minority oppresses the majority, so that the majority of the people can establish a government of the common people themselves; and People's Livelihood is about overthrowing the economic system where the minority exploits the majority, pulling China out of the hell of poverty and misery, and ensuring that all that the working people produce belongs to the working people. This is the criterion for the actions and struggles of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and his followers, and it is also the hope of the majority of the people.

….The responsibilities of this association are: “to declare the crimes of the pseudo-Party Central Committees in Nanjing and Wuhan, to suspend by revolutionary means the powers entrusted to them by the Second Congress, and to temporarily exercise the function of revolutionary guidance.”

"Song Qingling, Deng Yanda, Yu Youren, and Chen Youren"

"Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao"

This declaration is also known as the Nanchang Declaration.

Deng Yanda arrived in Nanchang on April 27, becoming the only senior official from the Kuomintang left to appear in Nanchang.

Song Qingling and her secretary Chen Youren were unable to move freely. As the descendants of the late Prime Minister, they were surrounded by people whenever they went out. Yu Youren was in Shaanxi.

Deng Yanda almost reached Shaanxi. As a wanted "KMT collaborator" (a leftist), he evacuated Wuhan to Feng Yuxiang's territory, which temporarily accommodated the Communists. On April 20, he had already left Zhengzhou and was about to pass Tongguan when news of the capture of Nanchang by the 4st and 25th Divisions finally reached him.

Deng Yanda turned around and went back to Wuhan. Along the way, he threw away his suit and military uniform, changed into old Changshan clothes, disguised himself as a small vendor, and finally arrived in Nanchang.

Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao arrived in Nanchang on April 26. Both were on a Yangtze River freighter, hidden in the bottom hold, and could only go to the deck for fresh air at night.

Yangtze River freighters are not large ships with complex cabins. The highest clear height of the bottom cabin is 1.5 meters.

According to the OTL's historical narrative, Chen Duxiu appears to have had little to do with the Nanchang Uprising and the period preceding it—he was marginalized during that period. This wasn't just because he was marginalized at the Fifth Congress in Wuhan; even before that, the Communist International had already been directly "vertically" leading the CCP's major central departments.

In addition, from the end of 26 to the beginning of 27, Chen Duxiu of OTL had actually been calling for a tough stance against the KMT's new right wing.

"General Secretary Chen."

Chen Tianheng saluted, "Commissioner Zhou Enlai is waiting for you in the conference room.

City Thank You

Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao arrived at the conference room immediately after getting off the boat. Zhou Enlai and Mao Runzhi had already arrived.

"General Secretary Chen, at the Central Committee in Wuhan, I was responsible for the telegraph code work for international liaison," Zhou Enlai said. "Therefore, every telegram sent by the Communist International to the Central Committee in Wuhan was decrypted by me or by my group comrades..."

Zhou Enlai talked about the process of the Communist International telegram being intercepted by Wuhan.

Too.

In March, Wang Jingwei's Wuhan Nationalist Government announced its purge of the Communists, dealing a heavy blow to the Eastern Branch of the Communist International. The Communist International considered Wang Jingwei to be absolutely reliable and left-leaning. Now, this absolutely reliable KMT chairman turned against the Communists?

Therefore, at the end of March, the Communist International issued instructions stating that Chen Duxiu was still the secretary of the Communist International's Chinese branch; the central agency in Wuhan must obey the orders of the Shanghai Central Committee; the plan formulated by the Wuhan Military Department was wrong and must be terminated (in fact, it was later "terminated" by Chiang Kai-shek); a new code book was sent to Shanghai to reactivate the Communist International radio station in Shanghai.

After this instruction was received by the Communications Department of the Military Department in Wuhan, there was no further follow-up.

"There are some things in this directive from the Communist International that I would like to clarify," Zhou Enlai said. "It says that the erroneous plan formulated by the Wuhan Military Department was not actually formulated by the Wuhan Military Department. The Communist International sent a general request, and the Wuhan Military Department then detailed it.

Mao Runzhi: "Because Wang Jingwei was an ally and very close to the Communist Party, the two sides were intertwined, so they attacked Wang Jingwei first and established the Guangzhou-Wuhan Soviet Axis. What a trick! Not only did they push the centrists to the enemy side, they also pushed their allies over to the enemy side."

Chen Tianheng: "Moreover, when the Comintern sent this directive to China, Wang Jingwei was already on guard. Even if the Military Department really took such action, it would not be able to get rid of Wang Jingwei."

Chen Duxiu: "I also do not approve of the Communist International reinstating me, because fundamentally, I no longer approve of this procedure. The Chinese Communist Party, and indeed other Communist parties around the world, are the same. Leaders are elected by the party's national representatives, not appointed by the Communist International. We neither accept their decision to remove nor approve their decision to reinstate a leader."

Li Dazhao: "My guess is that this order was issued because the work of the Communist International had caught the attention of those in the Soviet Union. Most likely, Stalin inquired about the International's work in China. Comrade Duxiu, although we do not approve of the Communist International's 21-point system of direct command of the Communist Parties of various countries, now is an opportunity to repair our relationship with the Communist International."

Chen Duxiu: “I disagree.

Mao Runzhi: "I disagree."

Zhou Enlai: “I suggest not to completely repair it, but to repair some of the relations with the international community.

Chen Tianheng: “No, there is no need to repair relations with the international community, but to establish relations with the Soviet Union.

This was originally a small meeting for Zhou Enlai to explain the situation to Chen Duxiu, which was expected to last one hour, but it ended up lasting from two in the afternoon to nine in the evening.

At nine o'clock, the door of the conference room reopened, which meant that the meeting had finally completed the vote, but the debate among the five people was still to come.

"Establishing relations with the Soviet Union means contacting the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ultimately, the people we deal with are still Soviets and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Is there a big difference?"

Li Dazhao spread his hands.

Chen Tianheng: "Secretary Li, there's a huge difference. This means we are a national entity, or rather a local political entity occupying a region, developing relations with another national entity. This is what the Soviet Foreign Ministry did. They were able to establish diplomatic relations with Britain, France, the United States, and Germany, exchanging embassies, and the same was true with the Republic of China. So there's reason to do the same with us. Of course, if this is the case, we need to build our own diplomatic team, and it may take some time to explore before we can get on the right track.

Zhou Enlai: "To be honest, the Soviet Union itself probably has no experience in establishing diplomatic relations with another communist country. Both sides will be exploring."

Chen Duxiu: "You mean, the Soviet Union might treat us as a capitalist country?"

Zhou Enlai: “If the Soviet Union does not know how to deal with a communist country, it will first apply the template of dealing with capitalist countries.

Li Dazhao: "Comrades, I think we should discuss another matter first: we cannot call ourselves a country now, nor do we even have the right to say that we are a separatist regime, ah, the armed separatist regime of workers and peasants that Mao Zedong talked about."

Mao Runzhi: "Things are done by people, and roads are forged by people. We have now re-established our alliance with the left wing of the Kuomintang and have our own revolutionary army. Although we still face various difficulties, with these two foundations, we will always succeed in the end.

Li Dazhao: "Military issues are the key.

Chen Tianheng: "As long as we formulate an objective and feasible overall military strategy and do not act rashly, I believe we can ultimately achieve this goal.

Shanghai.

Two weeks ago, the Northern Expedition Army/National Revolutionary Army Headquarters issued a telegram ordering "pursuit of Ye Ting's rebellion."

Three days ago, a military order was issued to "hunt down the rebellion of Chen Tianheng and Ye Ting's troops."

When the second military order was issued, the whole country was in an uproar.

Previously, it was just rumors that were spreading like wildfire, but the telegram from headquarters officially confirmed this terrible thing:

"Sword of Revolution" - The First Division of the First Army of the Northern Expedition has rebelled!

Or he rebelled together with Ye Ting's Iron Army!

The number of telegrams sent and received by various military leaders suddenly increased, but Chiang Kai-shek himself did not show up while everyone in the headquarters was busy.

Not only did he not show up, he didn't even speak out. He locked himself in a room in a Shanghai hotel and didn't see anyone.

Bai Chongxi: "Commander-in-Chief..."

"Sleeping in!"

Bai Chongxi: "Commander-in-Chief, Nanchang has issued a telegram declaring...

"I don't want to know!"

Bai Chongxi: "Then Commander-in-Chief, you must come out and give orders to the troops. We have issued orders to the 8th, 19th, and 26th Armies, but their commanders are all making excuses and refusing to advance. You must come out and personally resolve the issue!"

Ten minutes later, Chiang Kai-shek opened the door angrily.

Bai Chongxi: "Commander-in-Chief, the Eighth Army replied that it is currently focused on suppressing the Communist bandits in Hunan and Hubei and is unable to muster troops to march to Nanchang to quell the rebellion. The 19th and 26th Armies gave similar responses, stating that they are temporarily unable to march due to unpaid wages.

Chiang Kai-shek: "Jiansheng, why don't you transfer your Guangxi Seventh Army to Nanchang to quell the rebellion?"

"Commander-in-Chief, the Seventh Army must garrison the southern end of the Jinpu Road to maintain military deterrence against the north. Without the Seventh Army on the Jinpu Road, the Fengtian clique's promised October flag change cannot be guaranteed."

Chiang Kai-shek: "What if the Fengtian clique doesn't change its flag? The Communist rebellion is our biggest threat!"

Bai Chongxi said: "Commander-in-Chief, the Northern Expedition consists of three major armies: the First, Fourth, and Seventh Armies. The First and Fourth Armies are currently awaiting reorganization and are temporarily unable to fight. This leaves only the Seventh Army. If anything were to happen to the Seventh Army, the Fengtian clique would inevitably change its stance, further increasing the threat to our revolutionary army. The Fengtian clique would then divert attention not just to the Seventh Army, but to five or even six armies."

"Enough! Enough! If you are afraid of the First Division, afraid of Chen Tianheng, then I will let the Fengtian Army encircle and suppress Nanchang!

Chapter 96: Guangzhou, or local development

Chiang Kai-shek asked Zhang Zuolin to join him in suppressing the communists in the Nanchang Uprising. Zhang Zuolin responded:

"Damn it, I'm busy purging the Communist Party in the north and have no soldiers.

Long before the North-South Peace Talks, Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Zuolin had secretly contacted and reached a consensus on anti-communism. While purging the Communist Party in various places in the south, Zhang Zuolin also arrested Communists in the areas under his control. However, the Fengtian Army was not used to arrest Communists in the areas under Zhang Zuolin's control.

To put it bluntly, Zhang Zuolin did not want to confront the First and Fourth Armies of the uprising.

beat.

"Marshal Zhang. The Empire of Japan believes that the Fengtian Army and the Chiang Kai-shek Army need to join forces to jointly respond to the communist attack.

Kikuchi Takeshi said loudly behind Zhang Zuolin.

Zhang Zuolin: "Why? Last month, you, the Great Japanese Empire, were against the North-South peace talks, and acted as if you were going to kill me if I wanted to negotiate. Why have you changed your mind recently?"

"We oppose peace talks between the North and the South because the Southern Revolutionary Government is rife with communist elements. Negotiating with the Southern Revolutionary Government will only fuel the flames of communism in China. Chiang Kai-shek has already eliminated communism in the South, and communism has been eradicated from the Southern Revolutionary Government. The uprising army that declared its opposition to Chiang in Nanchang is the communist force that needs to be taken seriously."

Takeo Kikuchi had a blank expression on his face.

Zhang Zuolin: "Let Chiang Kai-shek handle the affairs of the South. I no longer wish to get involved in the affairs of Jiangnan."

Kikuchi Takeo: "This is a Chinese matter. You should be aware that the last military crisis in Manchuria has just passed. On that occasion, it was the South that attacked the North. If Chiang Kai-shek fails to deal with the communist forces in Nanchang, and is instead dealt with, the communist forces that occupy all of South China will still launch a northern expedition. You will face a new round of fierce attacks that are no less intense than the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army. Our cooperative relationship with you and the interests of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria will also be seriously damaged."

Zhang Zuolin: "Haha."

"You must still remember the recent Battle of Xuzhou and Bengbu. Among the armies of the Northern Expedition, the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the 1st Army, the 4th Army, and the 7th Army were exceptionally effective. Now, communist forces have captured two of these divisions.

Zhang Zuolin: "So I didn't fight the First and Fourth Armies in Xuzhou and Bengbu. Why do you want me to fight them now?"

Kikuchi Takeo: "Our advisory group can provide your army with more comprehensive, completely Japanese-style training and development.

"Okay, let's talk about it after training."

"Before that, my personal suggestion," Kikuchi Takeo said, "was to sell arms produced in the Northeast Arsenal to Chiang Kai-shek's government.

Zhang Zuolin: "This is a method that can be considered, but..."

Kikuchi Takeo: "The quantity and quality of the arms sold are up to you, Marshal Zhang.

Nanchang.

"Nanchang is a typical agricultural regional center city in China.

Chen Yun, who rushed to Nanchang with Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, made a report on the economic situation in Nanchang.

Rice from the Ganjiang River's alluvial plain, tea and other local specialties from Jiangxi Province, and fish from Poyang Lake were distributed through this area, forming a regional center. The city was built on the trade of agricultural products, and the city also brought together the tertiary industry of the agricultural era to supply consumption for traveling merchants. This was also the basic industry of Nanchang until 1927.

"In other words, Nanchang City has no arms industry, nor any large-scale manufacturing industry. To develop arms here, one must start from scratch, starting with the most basic machinery and equipment and the training of industrial workers."

On the other hand, in modern times, Nanchang and Jiangxi's economy as a whole declined due to multiple blows such as war, warlordism, and heavy taxation. In 1926, Jiangxi's annual fiscal revenue was 820 million silver yuan, while its expenditure was 770 million silver yuan, resulting in a fiscal surplus of 50 silver yuan, which was entirely taken away by the Northern Expedition Army.

"It must also be noted that if we implement land reform in the countryside and implement a significant reduction in rent and interest, the Jiangxi fiscal surplus of 50 silver yuan will turn into a deficit of 30 to 40 silver yuan.

"If, while implementing land reform, we also implement support policies for industry and commerce, lowering taxes so that businesses can improve workers' wages, Jiangxi's fiscal deficit will surge from 30 yuan to more than 200 million yuan.

"Furthermore, if we are besieged on three or even four sides by the Kuomintang reactionaries at the same time, we will face a situation where fiscal revenue will be greatly reduced while fiscal expenditure will increase sharply..."

Chen Duxiu was already able to understand financial figures relatively quickly. After Chen Yun finished speaking, he quickly grasped the key point:

"It seems that Nanchang is not a place that provides financial resources. This is not Shanghai. The revolutionary army cannot stay in Nanchang forever. This is beyond doubt."

Li Dazhao: "China is poor everywhere now.

Chen Yun: "Yes, we in Nanchang cannot count on Wuhan or Nanjing to provide us with financial subsidies.

Deng Yanda: "I heard that there was a resolution within your party that if the uprising succeeded, the army and organs should be quickly transferred to Chaozhou and Shantou. These coastal cities offer more convenient conditions for obtaining international assistance. Although you now advocate a clear break with the Communist International and no longer accept its direct leadership, given the current situation, international assistance is still indispensable. Otherwise, we cannot sustain it for long."

Li Dazhao: "Indeed, we issued a declaration in Nanchang and established a basic political structure, but we cannot stay here forever. We must make a strategic shift to Chaoshan."

“No, I don’t agree.

The big shot Mao Runzhi made a statement.

"I believe that establishing a base centered in Chaoshan will be extremely detrimental to the development of the Chinese revolution in the long run."

4 volumes of Hechang Xie

When Chen Tianheng returned to Nanchang from Yongxiu County, the debate in the Revolutionary Committee continued.

Mao Runzhi's opinion was: if possible, capture Guangzhou and make Guangzhou the center of the armed separatist regime of workers and peasants; if it is impossible to capture Guangzhou, then do not fight towards the seaside, and it is better to establish the Hunan-Jiangxi base there than in Chaoshan.

Chen Tianheng: "I agree with Secretary Mao on this point. The industrial base in Chaoshan, especially modern manufacturing, is similar to that of Nanchang, practically zero. We can't conjure up an arsenal in a year or two. Furthermore, the agricultural conditions in Chaoshan are even worse than those in the Ganjiang Plain."

Li Dazhao: "Shantou has a port where ocean-going ships can dock, and we can receive weapons and ammunition from the Soviet Union. The area surrounding Chaoshan is mountainous, and the terrain facing Fujian and Jiangxi is particularly rugged, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. Using Chaoshan as a base would be relatively easy to defend."

"If the revolution can only continue if we obtain Soviet weapons and ammunition, then we lack independence from the Soviet Union and the Communist International. It is true that the Soviet Union does not lack arms, it is just that the military factories can only produce a few days or more, but we cannot sustain it without Soviet arms support. This is a fact.

Chen Tianheng added: "We understand this, the Soviet Union understands this, and the people of the whole country understand this.