The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Liao Fangbing and his team carefully buried the cannon, reluctant to use it because it only had 18 shells. Jiang Yuqi ordered his team to dig it out, take the shells, and march across the Yuebei area.

The armed forces first took on Zhao Nianci, the largest local landlord and a businessman in a government-run business. Zhao Nianci's house had a high brick wall, but after two rounds of bombardment from the mountain artillery, a section of it collapsed. The armed forces of the Peasants' and Workers' Union and the armed peasants swarmed over and occupied Zhao Nianci's compound. Although they failed to locate Zhao Nianci himself, they arrested and executed over a dozen members of his family.

After dealing with Zhao Nianzhi, Jiang Yuqi distributed half of the stolen property from the Zhao family to ordinary farmers and half to the armed team members. He then went to another village and used the same method to attack the landlord Liu Bichen there.

But just two days later, the situation at Liu Bichen's house was different from Zhao Nianci's. When Zhao Nianci's family was attacked, they had only five or six servants, while Liu Bichen's family had gathered more than 20 people to guard the house. However, under the bombardment of the 75mm mountain artillery, a large hole also collapsed in Liu Bichen's wall, and armed forces and farmers rushed in.

But as they rushed forward, something unexpected happened. More than 20 gunmen from Liu Bichen's family desperately fired at the breach in the courtyard wall. In the end, although they successfully captured Liu Bichen's courtyard, many farmers and armed team members who had no sense of cover were killed or injured.

Jiang Yuqi used this method to sweep away former landlords within the Yuebei Farmers' and Workers' Association. While these "former landlords" received equal distribution of their land, the Farmers' and Workers' Association allowed them to retain their homes and property, as long as they were not acquired through illegal activities. Jiang Yuqi continued to conquer landlord compounds, reaping rich rewards.

After the action lasted for about three weeks, the armed team and armed peasants prepared to besiege Zhou Laosan, the only remaining landlord in Baiguo Town.

Zhou Laosan's house had no courtyard wall, only a fence outside the yard. However, the main building was a house enclosed on three sides with quite thick walls, so Jiang Yuqi still dragged the mountain cannon over and asked the armed team members to set up the cannon outside the house, aiming and firing directly, ready to take him away with two shots.

What Jiang Yuqi didn't notice was that the four armed men operating the cannon had quietly turned the muzzle 90 degrees, aiming it away from Zhou Laosan's house and towards Jiang Yuqi. When Jiang Yuqi realized the dark muzzle was now trained on him, he was so horrified that he barely moved. With a bang, Jiang Yuqi was killed by the gunpowder from the cannon's muzzle, and the bullet exploded over 4 meters away.

After beating Jiang Yuqi to death, the armed forces and peasants arrested and lynched the main leaders of the Yuebei Collective Farm Association one by one, and the lynchings eventually led to the death penalty. The only survivor, Xu Yangtian, fled Yuebei and reported the incident to Tang Shengzhi's Hunan Provincial Government.

After Xu Yangtian recounted the series of events from January to February 1927, the boatmen who were salvaging in the Junshui River had basically salvaged all the parts of the cannon with the help of magnets.

It was indeed one of the two Huke 75 mountain cannons captured by the First Division in the Jiujiang Campaign in October last year. Because the shells were not compatible with the First Division's mountain artillery battalion and there were no outsiders present when the cannons were captured, Chen Tianheng simply packed them up and gave them to the peasant movement organizations in Hunan. One of the cannons was eventually transferred to the Yuebei Peasants and Workers Association, which wiped out more than a dozen landlords and finally wiped out the entire family of Jiang Yuqi, who had wiped out the landlords.

Chen Tianheng stepped forward and gently patted the mountain cannon that was still covered with mud and water plants, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Luo Qiyuan: "Now I know that the armed members of the peasant association, especially those who wielded the artillery, are now peasants. They were once landlords. We were the landlords who were plotting against us.

Chen Tianheng: "Xu Yangtian. If we go by their previous identities, then this Zhou Laosan you're attacking was a rich peasant five years ago, and only a middle peasant ten years ago. So, your collective farm association actually hired a group of landlord thugs to massacre the peasants, right?"

Luo Qiyuan: "How can Zhou Laosan be called a farmer? He had 150 mu of land before the land reform, and now he lives in such a big house. He is now a landlord.

"We're talking about this again, right? The four farmers who moved the gun to kill Jiang Yuqi, four households, had a total of two acres of land under their names. So these were four poor peasants. Everything they did, including killing Jiang Yuqi, was based on the standpoint of the poor peasant class they belonged to. Comrade Luo Qiyuan,

Chen Tianheng looked at the mountain cannon that had just been taken out of the water. The two wheels of the cannon were smashed by the sledgehammer, and the single-support gun mount was actually slightly bent by the sledgehammer, but the barrel, especially the rifling inside, was not damaged.

"This was originally a Huke 75mm mountain gun, 90% or even 95% new. No warlord in China, and I mean no warlord, would discard such a gun as scrap. Only someone with an immense hatred for this gun and its previous combat record would destroy it in such an unprofessional and furious manner. ... I hope that when the Central Committee holds its on-site work meeting in Hengbei in a few days, Comrade Luo Qiyuan, you will reconsider your words and speech. When it comes to argument, you can't hold your own against me, and you can't hold your own against Mao Runzhi either."

Luo Qiyuan: "Central? On-site work meeting?

Chen Tianheng: "Yes. The central government in Ganzhou set aside a few days to take a detour from southern Jiangxi to come here just because of these things in the central axis area.

Chapter 109: Junshui River Conference

When Chen Tianheng met Peng Dehuai, who had revolted, Peng casually remarked, "It seems your people have messed up the rural areas around here." Now Chen Tianheng knew there was more to this than meets the eye.

To the east of the Yuebei Farmers and Workers Association, just outside the scope of the original Farmers and Workers Association, Chaen Temple also carried out the second land reform. The hometown of Peng Dehuai, the commander of the first battalion of the first regiment, was here. His parents, eldest uncle and second uncle were shot.

Therefore, in Pingjiang, when the decision to revolt was made, Peng Dehuai had a talk with a battalion commander, paid him the two months' salary and the next month's salary out of his own pocket, and let him go.

By the way, the town of Chaensi is now controlled by militia, and is neither under the jurisdiction of the Communist regime nor that of Tang Shengzhi’s Hunan Army.

Mao Runzhi was also conducting investigations in the countryside these days. He went to Hengnan, where he had led a group of peasant associations to evacuate in 1923. This time, Mao Runzhi went to Hengnan and came back looking very bad.

"The local farmers shouted to Secretary Mao, 'Mao Runzhi, you bastard!'" Xia Xi said.

In the local dialect, "cuobazi" means liar.

Guo Liang: "In Yueyang, Changsha, Hengyang, Chenzhou, and even Guangdong, the grassroots governments in these areas are basically out of our control. The farmers have spontaneously formed militias and enclosed land for self-protection. The farmers participating in the militias and militias even include many former armed personnel of the farmers' association.

Mao Runzhi: "After Comrade Duxiu arrives here, we need to discuss these matters clearly.

The mobile central government after the Nanchang Uprising had been in southern Jiangxi. Because the mobile central government had a large number of non-combat personnel and luggage, the original plan was to enter Guangdong directly from southern Jiangxi in the second phase of the campaign to avoid detours. Now the plan must be changed and the troops must go from southern Jiangxi to central and southern Hunan. This can also be regarded as an on-site meeting convened by the Party Central Committee.

"We now mourn the memory of Comrade Liao Fangbing, an outstanding cadre of our Party, a steadfast revolutionary, and one of the founders of the Yuebei Peasants' and Workers' Association. Please observe a three-minute silence."

In midsummer, the Junshui River is covered with lush vegetation on both sides, and the clear water flows quietly.

Chen Duxiu, Mao Runzhi, Chen Wangdao, Cai Hesen and other comrades of the Central Political Bureau, as well as Chen Tianheng, Jiang Xianyun, Chen Geng (these two came to southern Hunan from southern Jiangxi with the mobile central government, and they were also familiar with Liao Fangbing), and Xiang Qi, bowed their heads in silence facing the river.

In an open space by the river, a Shanghai-made Krupp 75mm mountain gun, or rather, its remains, sat. Having been submerged in water for months, the gun was rusted in many places. The serial number on the plate read 0795.

Third, many people held a meeting on the grass around the remains of the mountain cannon.

"We now mourn the death of Comrade Jiang Yuqi, Special Commissioner of the Hunan Provincial Rural Work Department and President of the Yuebei Farmers' Association, who died in the Yuebei peasant uprising.

Cai Hesen: "Hmm?

Chen Duxiu: "Comrade Jiang Yuqi remained a member of our Party until his death. The Party organization never expelled him, nor disciplined him, nor removed him from his positions as special commissioner or chairman. Jiang Yuqi destroyed seven landlord compounds, killed many people, and confiscated thousands of silver dollars and dozens of gold bars. Yet, after his death, all he left behind were a pen, a pocket watch, and a change of clothes. Comrade Jiang Yuqi died in the line of duty, and we must commemorate him."

Mao Runzhi: "Although Yuebei's mass base has been severely damaged, we cannot put all the blame on Jiang Yuqi and comrades like him. If we simply shift the blame like this, then there is no need for us to hold this meeting today.

The enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also known as the "Junshuihe Meeting", was held.

"This vertical line from Wuhan to Guangzhou was previously called the 'Central Axis of Revolution' by the Wuhan Central Committee. Now, the farmers along this Central Axis of Revolution can be described in one word: 'panic'."

Guo Liang introduced his investigation in rural Hunan.

After the second land reform, farmers in areas where equal cultivation and rent reduction had been implemented received land deeds in advance, but the economic benefits they gained were not significant. In areas where land reform had been implemented before, the agricultural unions seized a large amount of landlord wealth. Farmers received some money, but the land under their names was taken over by the unions, which they were actually unwilling to do.

"The landlord's compound wasn't a bank vault. Killing the local landlords and distributing their property among the peasants only gave each household the equivalent of six months to a year's expenses. Doing the math shows this wasn't enough to make every peasant family feel safe. Killing the landlords, however, made the peasants psychologically uneasy. As the Second Land Reform process progressed, their anxiety turned into fear, and ultimately, violent opposition."

"Take, for example, the rural areas near Chenzhou that Xiangqi and I investigated. In one town there, in 1926, large landowner families accounted for 1% of the total population, while small and medium-sized landowners accounted for 4.5%. Of these small and medium-sized landowners, 2% had become what we define as 'landlords' by purchasing land in the past five years. Similarly, among the peasants, 3% had been small and medium-sized landowners five years earlier, but due to their family's economic decline, they gradually sold land to repay debts, returning to poverty and becoming peasants.

"From this ratio, we can also see that 2% of landlords were promoted to landlords, and 3% of landlords returned to poverty. The economy of the entire rural area of ​​Chenzhou was in a continuous decline, but even in the decline, there was still a considerable upward and downward flow between the two classes of landlords and peasants." Not only were landlords and peasants moving between each other, but before we carried out the first land reform, there was also movement between large and medium-sized landlords, and between rich peasants, middle peasants, and poor peasants. If the landless poor peasants have good harvests for several consecutive years and there are no major illnesses or disasters in their families, they will use the money they save to buy some land. Similarly, the middle peasants will want to save money to buy more land to hedge against the risks of family changes and natural disasters. If they buy more land, they will become rich peasants.

"After the first land reform, the farmers' mentality was still like this...

Cai Hesen: "Comrade Guo Liang, are you saying that even if landless peasants were allocated some land during the land reform, their thoughts would still be on buying more land, becoming rich peasants, or even landlords?

Guo Liang: "Yes. Of course, if you investigate and ask farmers under the banner of the Party organization, they may give you the answer you want to hear, but I'm afraid you won't be able to hear what they are thinking in their hearts."

"Therefore, Secretary Cai informed Comrade Guo Liang that there was nothing wrong with the previous decisions of the Central Committee, but the people below did not implement them well." Luo Qiyuan, who was present, said: "Only by eliminating land annexation can we avoid the emergence of new landlords, and the only way to eliminate land annexation is to take the land in the hands of farmers and make it the property of collective farms.

At the enlarged meeting of the Politburo, the debate remained very intense, with sparks flying from time to time.

Both Chen Duxiu and Mao Runzhi believed that comrades from the original Wuhan Central Committee, primarily those involved in the second land reform in the "revolutionary axis," should be allowed to attend the meeting and given a chance to speak. Therefore, Luo Qiyuan, who had been released from prison and was generally considered to be subject to Party disciplinary action, was also present.

General Secretary Chen, comrades, let me first talk about this gun 2

Chen Tianheng spoke and asked everyone to take another look at the useless cannon on the scene.

The two wheels of the mountain gun were smashed, and the sturdy single-leg gun mount was even deformed after being hit by heavy hammers many times. Of course, small accessories such as the sight were also smashed and lost.

This cannon was captured by the First Division on the Jiujiang battlefield. If cannons have spirit rings, then this one's spirit rings are quite complex. It's been used by the Beiyang Army to defeat the Northern Expedition, by the Farmers' Association to defeat seven or eight landlords, large and small, and finally, by sending Jiang Yuqi, the president of the Yuebei Farmers' Association, to his death.

"The Shanghai-made 75mm mountain gun was undoubtedly the main artillery weapon on the Chinese battlefield. Every warlord wanted his troops to have this 75mm mountain gun, and the more the better. However, the rioting peasants tried to destroy the gun instead of seizing it for reuse.

"The First Division captured two 'unregistered' mountain cannons and sent them to Hunan and Jiangxi to support the Farmers' Association. The original intention was to allow the Farmers' Association to have a direct confrontation with the warlords' regular troops, not only by retreating but also by having a chance to fight head-on (although the ammunition was only enough for one attack). Unexpectedly, the cannons were used in these places."

"This mountain cannon is now in tatters, but the farmers didn't realize that destroying the barrel is the only way to completely destroy a cannon. They didn't even use a file to file a notch in the rifling, but simply threw it into the Junshui River. Theoretically, this cannon can be repaired, as long as our repair shop can find a place to open it. However, I think the value of this mountain cannon lies not in repairing it and reusing it. It is now an important souvenir."

"I even think that after victory, when a revolutionary museum is established, it might be placed there in this dilapidated state as a cultural relic."

Whenever we see this broken mountain cannon, we should remind ourselves that it was not the cannon that killed Jiang Yuqi, but the man. Every farmer has a Shanghai-made K-75 mountain cannon in his heart. The tangible mountain cannon can be surrendered, but the intangible mountain cannon in the heart cannot be surrendered.

"In 1923, Jiang Xianyun, Chen Geng, and I arrived here and founded the Yuebei Peasants' and Workers' Association with local comrades including Xiang Qi and Liao Fangbing. After conducting a land and population survey in Yuebei, we all realized that land reform and equal distribution of land only gave farmers a temporary window of respite, but could not completely solve the peasant problem or save the country."

"Equalize land ownership, with each person receiving two mu of paddy fields and one mu of cropland, and producing 500 kilograms of rice and 400 kilograms of sweet potatoes a year. Even if we ban land annexation, will this ensure that farmers remain satisfied with their lives in the future? Are we making a revolution, saving China? Or are we restoring the Confucian ideal of the Three Dynasties Rule?"

"Of course it can't be restored. During the so-called Three Dynasties period, China's population was only 30 million. When the Confucians wrote these words, China's population was 50 million. Now China's population is 450 million. ... The ultimate solution is the industrialization of labor. If industrialization is a book, then land reform is the prequel to the period before industrialization."

The significance of land reform is to ensure that farmers can survive for the next 20 to 30 years. During this period, we will take advantage of rural stability and the abating of social contradictions to develop industry, ensuring that land is no longer China's sole means of production. In time, land may even constitute a small part of the nation's total means of production. This is the path to fundamentally resolving the future and destiny of 450 million people, rather than being satisfied with simply distributing land and thinking that all is well.

the amount

"Chen Tianheng, Chen Tianheng, I just want to ask a question.

Cai Hesen asked: "How can we achieve industrialization in China in 20 to 30 years, or even 30 years?"

Chen Tianheng: "This requires our joint efforts, but I personally believe that it can be done, and no matter how difficult it is, it must be done, because China is running out of time.

Chapter 110: Guard for 5 more days

The world in 1927 was changing rapidly.

That year, 440 million cars were produced in the United States, compared to 400 million the previous year, in 1926. America was becoming a nation on wheels. That same year, the Talbot-Dallac Automobile Company's "Sunny 1000," a racing car with a 900-horsepower engine, set a speed record of 327.97 mph on a test track.

In the United States, members of the Institute of Radio Engineers watched the world's first live television demonstration at the Bell Telephone Building. Wireless broadcasting technology, which had only become practical a few years earlier, had already given rise to 47 wireless broadcasting companies operating more than 70 radio programs.

In Europe, the 5th Solvay Physics Conference sent invitations to Einstein, Bohr, Born, de Broglie, Dirac, Heisenberg, Pauli and Schrödinger, asking these physicists to come to Brussels in two months to bring their latest achievements for a competition.

In Asia, China's neighbor, Japan, has commissioned the 34,000-ton aircraft carrier Akagi, designated the flagship of the 1st Air Fleet. Another large aircraft carrier, the Kaga, also weighing over 30,000 tons, is about to be delivered. Meanwhile, Japan's first subway line, the Tokyo Ginza Line, has just opened.

In China...

The Nationalist Government Splits, and a Struggle for Hegemony Begins Again in China

This is a lengthy article from the New York Times. Author Andrew Hope is one of the journalists who holds a high opinion of the Communist Party. At the time, most journalists and columnists believed that China's Communist Party was merely waging a desperate rebellion, while a small number of pro-Communists believed the two sides were engaged in a struggle for supremacy.

Andrew Hope may not know that the Communist regime is not only at a great disadvantage in military strength (4 armies against 40+10 armies, those 10 being Zhang Zuolin's Fengtian Army), but the top leaders of the party are still sitting together by a small river in central Hunan, next to a broken cannon that woke everyone up, discussing what to do in the future.

Mao Runzhi: "Oh no, it's raining."

The downside to holding outdoor meetings is that if it starts to rain, we have to evacuate. And it's July in Hunan, so a light afternoon shower is commonplace.

The people who had just been sitting on the ground hurriedly packed up their papers, pens and other belongings, ran dozens of steps across the grass, and hid under three big trees by the river.

"We can't impose our own ideas on the peasants. We need to listen to what they say and understand what they're thinking," Chen Duxiu said. Mao Runzhi stated, "Whenever we encounter a problem, we must find a solution based on the problem itself. We can't just look up books and see what the Soviet Union did. Applying methods that aren't suitable to our own situation is like cutting one's feet to fit the shoes."

Chen Tianheng: "After the October Revolution, the Soviet Union's rural land system didn't change much. It wasn't until two years ago that it began implementing the policy of agricultural collectivization, and even this year, collectivization hasn't been achieved nationwide. Previously, the Wuhan Central Committee was probably eager to demonstrate its capabilities. Seeing any new Soviet policy, they immediately copied it and adopted it, without even taking the time to examine whether the Soviet Union's agricultural collectivization policy had any positive or negative effects.

Chen Duxiu looked at the people who had carried out the second land reform in the "revolutionary axis" and were hiding from the rain:

Luo Qiyuan, Xia Mingzhen, and Ruan Xiaoxian, was this the mentality behind their decision?

Luo Qiyuan: "I don't know about this, I just received instructions from Secretary Chen Yannian.

Xia Mingzhen: "Ahem..."

Ruan Xiaoxian: "Ahem... General Secretary Chen, we were too impatient at the time. We received the instructions without carefully analyzing the actual situation. We simply assumed that since the Soviet Union had done it, and since it was the first socialist country, we should follow their lead.

Chen Duxiu: "So, it was Chen Yannian who did the good thing.

The first resolution of the Junshui River Conference was a review and criticism of the previous Wuhan Central Committee’s policy on the “revolutionary central axis”.

While this was likely a poorly thought-out idea by a Soviet/Comintern envoy, the Wuhan Central Committee's archives had been moved with Chen Yannian and his team and are now presumably in Kulun (Ulaanbaatar). Without original documentary evidence, Chen Duxiu could only criticize his own eldest son in his resolution.

In addition to review and criticism, the central government has now reached a consensus that:

The purpose of the land revolution was to use violence to smash the feudal land ownership system, liberate the peasants, and establish a modern rural regime.

But land reform only served to "reset the countdown." Dividing the land allowed China's rural society to postpone its total social collapse, turning the hourglass over again within 30 years.

Within 30 years, we must complete national reunification and complete, or at least fully launch, industrialization. If we fail to do so, as the 30-year timeframe runs out, rural land conflicts, economic difficulties, and various social contradictions are likely to reappear.

This has nothing to do with whether or not rural land is freely traded. Even if all land sales were prohibited, the farmers who acquired land and enjoyed a stable and peaceful life would double the population within thirty years. And as we all know, there's not much new arable land left to develop in the core areas of the eighteen provinces of Han.

"Old Peng, Old Chen. Chief of Staff Liu.

Chen Tianheng returned to Changsha.

Chen Yi: "Comrade Commander-in-Chief, you have been in Hengyang for three days and I thought you would never come back.

Chen Tianheng pointed at Peng Dehuai and said, "My comrades from the Central Committee and I are helping Old Peng resolve the Fifth Army's problems.

Peng Dehuai: "Aren't you holding a Politburo meeting over there? What does that have to do with military affairs?"

Chen Tianheng: "If you don't hold this meeting and solve the problems facing rural Hunan, your Fifth Army will only exist on paper.

Chen Yi's Second Army was expanded from the Sixth Hunan Division Training Battalion and the Whampoa Military Academy Wuhan Branch, drawing its troops from the Hunan-Jiangxi border. Zhu De's Third Army drew its troops from southern Jiangxi. At the current stage, given the current strength of the rural regimes, each of these regions could only support the strength of an army.

The Fifth Army's source of troops is southern Hunan and northern Guangdong. Here... if we don't review and reset rural work, we won't be able to provide troops at all.

Chen Tianheng: "The original plan was for us to stay in Changsha until July 20th, then voluntarily abandon it, with the main force marching south and the local forces returning to the base. Now, in order to give the Central Committee more time to correct the rural work of the revolutionary axis, we will stay in Changsha until July 25th. Chief of Staff Liu, let's readjust our defense plan.

Liu Bocheng: "As of today, July 15th, the enemy in Yueyang has not launched a large-scale attack on our Miluo River defense line. However, the enemy continues to gather heavy troops in the north. Now, north of the Miluo River, in addition to the original two divisions of the 35th Army, one division of the 7th Army, and the 36th Army, there are also Xia Douyin's Independent 14th Division, the 11th Army of the Guangdong Army, and Wang Tianpei's 10th Army. In addition, the 7th Army of the Guangxi Clique has been stationed in Wuhan even after the conflict between the Hunan and Guangxi Cliques was resolved. I am afraid that the Nanjing headquarters will also use the 7th Army in the future.

Chen Tianheng: "The officers and soldiers of the 8th, 35th, and 36th armies of the Hunan Army are stubbornly stubborn. Furthermore, retaking Changsha means they are retaking their home base, and their fighting spirit is strong. We cannot underestimate these three armies just because they have average equipment and were recently formed. Because the Hunan Army is so determined to fight, they are likely to be used in the first round of attack. If this first round weakens our strength, Bai Chongxi will seize the opportunity to bring in the 11th Army and the 7th Army behind them for a decisive battle. We must find a way to decisively defeat the Hunan Army's first wave of attack and inflict huge and permanent losses on Tang Shengzhi.

Liu Bocheng: "If that is the case, then we'd better abandon the Miluo River defense line first.

Wuhan.

"Tang Mengxiao, if the Communist Party feels that there is little hope of defeating Wuhan, they may abandon Wuhan and establish the 'Changsha Commune' instead. I don't think you would want to see such a situation, would you?

Wang Jingwei, Chairman of the National Government, arrived in Wuhan.

Wang Jingwei personally went to the front line and finally settled the conflict between Li Zongren and Tang Shengzhi. Tang Shengzhi's 18th Army was now safe, but under the order of the headquarters, it was transferred from Xianning and sent north of the Yangtze River for reorganization. After dealing with these miscellaneous matters, Wang Jingwei asked Li Zongren and Tang Shengzhi's troops to obey Bai Chongxi and work together to take Changsha, which was occupied by the Communist Army.

Tang Shengzhi shook his head: "Changsha must be recovered, but I don't want the Hunan Army to become a waste of the First Army's ammunition.