The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Chen Tianheng: "General Zhu, after this counter-encirclement and suppression campaign, the Third Army may become a field corps like the First and Fourth Armies, and the same goes for the Second Army. There are some soldiers and NCOs in the army who previously joined but are reluctant to travel far. I'm afraid we need to do more ideological work on these officers and soldiers."

Zhu De: "The Political Department has a lot of work to do. But I will also get involved and do ideological work for the officers and soldiers.

Ye Ting: "What if, after we have done our work, these officers and soldiers are still reluctant to fight across the country?"

Chen Tianheng: "If they simply don't want to fight far away but still identify with the People's Army, we can transfer them to local units, which are now the Self-Defense Corps. As the Self-Defense Corps upgrades, a new local unit similar to the Third Army will emerge. This is how we develop in stages, with each base gradually 'growing' its own unit."

Silver Letter Day

"Report, call from Guangzhou, forwarding military intelligence.

On the fourth day of Chen Tianheng's stay in Ganzhou, the Guangzhou General Staff sent the latest domestic military intelligence.

"Huangan and Macheng Uprisings.

Chen Tianheng: "Today is only November 16th, the time hasn't come yet. What's going on?"

The General Staff's telegram briefly described the causes and consequences of the Huangan and Macheng uprisings.

Because the scheduled time of the uprising was late November, the northbound detachment of the Second Army had just been formed and had not yet crossed the river.

The main reason for the Huangma uprising was the peasants' resistance to taxes.

After the autumn harvest, the land tax and taxes were paid. Due to the enormous economic pressure brought by the suppression of the Communists, the areas under the control of the Nanjing government added additional taxes. The land tax and taxes on the farmers in Hubei were already heavy, and with these additional taxes, spontaneous riots in the Huangma area quickly spread.

Starting from early November, anti-tax conflicts occurred throughout Huangma. After assessing the situation and weighing the pros and cons, the local party organizations decided that the grassroots party organizations should immediately intervene and fully support the spontaneous peasant uprising, which developed into the Huangma Uprising.

Chen Tianheng: "I'm afraid we need to arrange a ship immediately to send the northbound detachment to Hubei, Henan and Anhui.

Zhu De: "Will the Huangma Uprising delay the start of Chiang Kai-shek's encirclement and suppression campaign?"

Chen Tianheng: "The troops Chiang Kai-shek prepared for the encirclement and suppression campaign were mainly located in Hunan and Jiangxi, and had little connection with the area north of the Yangtze River. Chiang's encirclement and suppression campaign would not only not be delayed, but might even be slightly advanced."

Ye Ting said, "Wouldn't the Huangma Uprising be a bad thing?" "No, it's a good thing," Chen Tianheng said. "If they had sent troops ahead of time, they wouldn't have been so well prepared."

Chapter 147: Making a Small Profit from the Counter-Encirclement and Suppression

The peasant movement in Huangan and Macheng began in early 1926. At that time, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party established a party organization in Macheng, which then secretly established peasant associations in several other places to launch the peasant movement.

In September 1926, the Northern Expedition captured Wuchang, and the peasant association movement shifted from secrecy to openness. In December, with the relocation of the Guangdong District Committee to Wuhan, the new Wuhan District Committee implemented the "Revolutionary Axis" plan, increasing the armed forces of the peasant associations in Huangan and Macheng and expelling the Kuomintang leftists from the associations.

In February and March 1927, a series of disputes between the Communist International and the Shanghai Central Committee and the Wuhan District Committee developed into a split. At this time, the party organizations in Huangan and Macheng were also confused. However, Dong Biwu rushed to Huangan from Wuhan and bridged the disputes between the international faction and the local faction in the local party organization, which prevented the Huangan party organization and the peasant self-defense army from splitting.

In the summer of 1927, when the Communist Party was being purged throughout the country, the Party organizations in Huangan and Macheng also suffered a certain degree of damage. The county party committees evacuated the two county towns and hid in the countryside (renamed the county special committee).

However, in September, Xiong Zhenyi, the chief instructor of the Macheng County Peasant Self-Defense Army, defected, reducing the army's original strength of over 700 to just over 100. In Huangan, the Peasant Self-Defense Army clashed with local bandits. The bandits, secretly supported by the Nationalist government troops in Wuhan, dispatched over 400 men to attack the Peasant Self-Defense Army camp, inflicting heavy losses on the army, reducing its strength from 600 to just over 70.

By early November, the peasant self-defense forces in the two counties were still recovering, and both county committees felt that the time was not yet ripe to launch an uprising, and that they should wait for the base area south of the Yangtze River to send a northbound column across the river for support.

However, riots broke out among farmers in Huangan and Macheng to protest against donations and taxes. The situation was not waiting for anyone. If you did not resist at this time... you might lose the support of the farmers because in everyone's eyes, you were not there to help when something happened.

On November 15, the peasant self-defense forces of the two counties announced an uprising under the leadership of the party organization and established the Guangzhou United Government East Hubei Special District, which was under the jurisdiction of Huangan and Macheng counties.

At this time, the party's strength in the Huangmo Ma area consisted of 270+240 peasant self-defense forces, and the members of the two county farmers' associations who revolted had more than 300 guns, of which 110 were black powder muskets.

However, with such a small force, a small military miracle was created. In the early morning of November 16, the Huangan County Self-Defense Force took advantage of the dark and windy night and, with the help of nearby farmers and small vendors in the city, they set up ladders to climb the city wall, broke into the city, wiped out the county guard and captured the county magistrate alive. More than 200 self-defense forces actually captured the county town with only one casualty.

After the news broke, the Kuomintang's Hubei Provincial Government immediately exploded and demanded that the army be sent in to suppress the rebellion. Li Zongren looked at the military deployment around Wuhan and quickly ordered the 35th Army to send a division to attack Huangan and Macheng in two directions.

This was the latest news the Guangzhou Coalition Government had received. Chiang Kai-shek's troops, dispatched to suppress the rebellion, were expected to arrive in Huangan the next day and in Macheng the day after, but the progress of the fighting was unknown. Neither the county committees nor the peasant self-defense forces in either county had radio stations, so it would take at least 48 hours for any news to reach Guangzhou.

Now we can only hope that Dong Biwu, secretary of the Hubei East Special District, and Liu Guanglie and Pan Zhongru, commanders of the Self-Defense Army, can assess the situation and decide when to fight and when to retreat, rather than forcing a fight. As long as the armed forces of these two counties can leave behind some seeds, the construction of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Revolutionary Base Area will have made a good start.

Guangzhou.

"Director Ye, is western Guangdong's defense really secure?"

Chen Tianheng returned to Guangzhou, and Ye Jianying also returned to Guangzhou from Yunfu.

"Unless the Guangxi clique rushes to build a few ironclad ships," Ye Jianying said, "if they go down the Xijiang River, I will be able to destroy all their ships before they reach Yunfu.

The Xijiang River, the largest tributary of the Pearl River, flows from Guangxi through Wuzhou into Guangdong. Deqing and Yunfu counties are two key points guarding the Xijiang River waterway.

However, the Xijiang waterway is relatively easy to blockade. The Pearl River has abundant water, but it lacks the reputation of a "golden waterway" like the Yangtze River. This is primarily due to the rugged terrain of the Xijiang basin and the winding river. This not only increases the waterway distance (two cities 100 kilometers apart require 200 kilometers of waterway, while the relatively straight Yangtze River is only about 150 kilometers), but also forces ships to navigate the Xijiang River at low speeds and with caution. This makes it very easy to blockade, and a few Maxim guns can easily stop it.

Instead of taking the water route, walk ashore... No way, there are no roads in many places.

Chen Tianheng: "So, the 20th Division can still set aside two regiments as the general reserve for this anti-encirclement and suppression campaign.

Ye Jianying: "One regiment is enough to block the Pearl River. The total reserve is two regiments of the 20th Division, plus the Kulun...Kulun Independent Regiment."

Jianying. Ah, it's Commander Chen, right? Hello, Commander Chen.

Chen Tianheng: "Who is this...?"

"Xiao Zeng," Ye Jianying said, "is from the Whampoa Military Academy Wuhan Branch. I was sent to Guangzhou in March. Originally, the organization arranged for me to work in Huizhou, but later the situation became bad, so I have been hiding in the Whampoa Military Academy on Changzhou Island.

Chen Tianheng nodded: "Hello, Mrs. Zeng.

The last time they met, Director Ye was accompanied by Feng Hua, a nurse from the hospital. Now it was her. If they didn't see each other often in the future, Chen Tianheng might have to ask "Who is this?" every time.

Ye Jianying: "Some time ago, I reached an agreement with the Guangzhou Machinery Workers' Union. The Guangzhou Machinery Workers' Union will not interfere with the recruitment of workers by the Shijing Arsenal and the Guangdong Second Arsenal in the future. We only need to abide by the labor contract and maintain the minimum wage. Overtime is allowed, but the salary must be increased. The Guangzhou Federation of Trade Unions also expressed the same position.

Chen Tianheng: "All the leaders of the Machinery Union believe in anarchism.

Ye Jianying: "That's right. They are all anarchists. Liu Shixin and Huang Haiming talked to us about it. In addition, there is a leader of the Machinery Union, Huo Luzan, who abandoned the position of vice chairman to someone else and fled to Hong Kong."

Chen Tianheng: “Have we suppressed the Machinery Union?

"No. Why would such an organization suppress him? Huo Luzan's lover is Dai Xiaoxue."

Chen Tianheng: "...If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about this person.

Zhongti County

The combination of Anren and Trotskyists is pretty good.

"Chief of Staff Liu, the General Staff Headquarters is the highest commanding body for this campaign. General military orders will be issued by you; only major decisions require contact with members of the Military Commission.

The 1st Division of the 1st Army is already in Shaoguan, and the 2nd and 3rd Divisions are about to set out from Guangzhou. Chen Tianheng will still lead the 1st Army in this battle. After entering the battlefield, he will coordinate and command the operations in southern Hunan, which is the western front.

Of the current Military Commission members, Chen Tianheng and Mao Runzhi were both fighting outside, while Chen Duxiu and Deng Yanda were in Guangzhou. If there were any "major decisions" requiring a collective decision by the Military Commission, telegrams would naturally be sent to Chen Tianheng and Mao Runzhi.

"Commissioner Chen, I will obey your instructions. Normally, I issue direct military orders for military deployments.

Chen Tianheng: "Yes, this is called 'the general is in the army, and the commander does not interfere'.

Liu Bocheng...

Chen Tianheng: "Chief of Staff Liu, the Second Army is on the flank. Do you really intend to let him stay there and wait for the opportunity to move?

Liu Bocheng: "Yes, we can't just defend against encirclement and suppression. We need flexible defense, deep defense, and three-dimensional defense. Can't we make a small profit while defending?"

Chapter 148: How about the Kuomintang adopting a dual-president system?

The highest-level commander of this counter-encirclement and suppression campaign was Liu Bocheng.

The Democratic Alliance Army (though Guangzhou residents still prefer to call it the Revolutionary Army) currently has no commander-in-chief. The Military Commission is the overall commander of the army, assisted by the four members of the Military Commission's Secretariat. The General Staff, answering to the Military Commission, is the highest authority for managing and mobilizing troops. Its Chief of Staff is Liu Bocheng.

During the period when the First Army was stationed in Guangzhou, the personnel of the General Staff and the First Army Staff were often used together. As the First Army went on the expedition, the two staffs were separated.

Chen Tianheng chose to personally command the First Army and the armed forces in southern Hunan because he had been trying to manage and command the troops from the level of the General Staff during this period. As a result, Chen Tianheng found that... his operations were nothing amazing.

Of course, there wouldn't be any rudimentary mistakes, but it was just a matter of following the rules. It would have been better to hand over the General Staff to Liu Bocheng and lead the First Army himself. Within a battlefield measuring dozens of kilometers, Chen Tianheng was confident that he and the First Army could "sweep away thousands of enemies like a swirling carpet."

"Chiang's army has begun its attack! Commissioner Chen, your prediction was spot on! During the Huangma Uprising, Chiang's army launched its attack well in advance.

Liu Bocheng summarized the intelligence from various bases, and Chiang Kai-shek's large-scale encirclement and suppression campaign had indeed started ahead of schedule.

Chen Tianheng: "Because if he doesn't launch the attack in advance, the Nanjing government might call off the encirclement and suppression campaign amidst overwhelming protests. What about the route and main direction of the attack?"

"The offensive route was different from what we had previously predicted. In the Jiangxi direction, Chiang Kai-shek's 19th, 20th, and 25th Divisions attacked from Fuzhou to Ganzhou, which was predicted correctly. However, Chiang Kai-shek's army did not launch a second offensive in the Ji'an direction, but instead entered the rural areas on the Hunan-Jiangxi border.

"Of the troops in Nanchang and Jiujiang, the Second Army launched an attack on Xiushui, and the Third Army launched an attack on Shanggao and Wanzai."

On the Changsha-Wuhan front, the 11th Army launched from Yueyang to attack Tongcheng, likely coordinating with the 2nd Army from Jiangxi to attack Xiushui from both sides. The 5th Army launched from Pingxiang, heading towards Wanzai County. Chiang Kai-shek's two fronts coordinated their efforts, intending to encircle and suppress the rural bases along the Hunan-Jiangxi border.

Our predictions regarding Hengyang were largely correct. The 7th, 8th, and 37th Armies had already left Hengyang and were engaging our peasant self-defense corps in southern Hengyang. This clearly indicated their route to Chenzhou and northern Guangdong. Incidentally, Zhang Gan's 18th Army remained stationed within Hengyang.

Chen Tianheng: "The two armies actually cooperated in combat. This must have been the work of Bai Chongxi.

Liu Bocheng: "It can only be him. Now, we are facing an unfavorable outcome from the very beginning. The Hunan-Jiangxi Revolutionary Base, from Xinyu-Yichun in the north to Xiushui in the south, this entire rural area may be swept by Chiang Kai-shek's army."

Chen Tianheng: "But there is also a good thing. We have left the Hunan-Jiangxi border empty because the two divisions of our Second Army there have set off smoothly. Now all three divisions of the Second Army have arrived in Chaling and Anren, which are the flanks and rear of the Chenzhou Campaign.

Liu Bocheng: "It can only be said that this is the result of good and bad offsetting each other.

Bai Chongxi's encirclement and suppression strategy was that invading Guangdong was only one of the objectives; quelling the "bandit problem" in the three major areas of the Hunan-Jiangxi border, southern Jiangxi, and southern Hunan was also a campaign goal. Quelling the rural bandit problem even took priority over invading Guangdong. Bai Chongxi believed that Guangzhou could not be captured in a single encirclement and suppression campaign, and that quelling the rural bandit problem was easier and more effective.

In the Jiangxi direction, according to Chiang Kai-shek's previous intention, three armies formed a group and attacked Ganzhou. In the Hunan direction, there were also three armies, but Bai Chongxi was familiar with the combat style of the old Guangxi army. These three armies did not form a complete group, nor did they move in a single direction. Instead, they spread out in a front with a certain width and advanced towards Chenzhou.

The 7th, 8th, and 37th Armies participated in the attack on Chenzhou. The 7th and 37th Armies were authentic Guangxi troops composed of people from Guangxi, while the 8th Army was Tang Shengzhi's army that was annexed by the Guangxi clique. The 18th Army, which was the rear guard of these three armies, was also the Hunan Army that was annexed by the Guangxi clique. The commanders and chief officers of these two armies were replaced by people from the Guangxi clique, and many of the middle-level officers were also replaced, but the soldiers were mainly Hunan soldiers.

In the direction of Hunan and Hubei, Chiang Kai-shek's army also had the 4th and 11th Cantonese Armies, but not only had these two armies lost their hometowns, the two Cantonese armies wandering outside were also fighting among themselves, which gave Li Zongren a headache, so he had to let them attack the rural areas on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi.

As Chiang Kai-shek announced the start of the bandit suppression campaign and military orders from the headquarters were issued one after another, the public pressure on the Nanjing government reached its peak.

By now, the national media knew that the campaign had cost a staggering 30 million silver dollars, a sum borrowed from various sources. However, Chiang Kai-shek had already launched an offensive against the base, and now that the campaign had begun, it was no longer easy to stop.

Compared with the protests and opposition from the national media and intellectual circles, the military leaders of the Nanjing government were relatively consistent and basically supported taking military action against the "Chen Deng bandit gang" in Guangdong.

Li Zongren directly brought out his old troops to join the war. Feng Yuxiang sent a telegram of support and transferred two armies of his own National Army to Henan and northern Hubei as a reserve force to suppress the Communists. Of course, the military expenses were paid by Chiang Kai-shek.

Zhang Zuolin did not send troops yet, but Zhang Zuolin's Northeast Arsenal supplied a large amount of arms, including guns, artillery and ammunition.

At this time, Zhang Zuolin was in Shanghai, drinking and chatting with Chiang Kai-shek.

When Zhang Zuolin arrived in Shanghai, he also met his eldest son, whom he had not seen for half a year.

"From now on, all of China is under the flag of the Blue Sky, White Sun! I said that the five-color flag of the Beiyang government was ugly. It looked like a rainbow hanging on the flag, all colorful and not serious at all, haha!"

Zhang Zuolin was very relaxed and talked freely. Chiang Kai-shek nodded slightly, which of course only meant that he was listening.

"Our Party has now essentially completed the unification of the country, marking a significant turning point in modern China. However, the unified nation still lacks one province. Once Guangdong is unified, we can stand before the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and assure the late Premier that our Party and our army have reunited the country."

Zhang Zuohan said, “Guangdong is actually just one province.

Besides, Guangdong is also flying the Blue Sky, White Sun flag now.

Chiang Kai-shek's expression changed slightly: "They are a pseudo-regime, flying the blue sky and white sun flag, and practicing the perverse doctrines of communism.

Zhang Zuolin: "That's right. I don't like the Communists either. Brother Jieshi, since you and I are sworn brothers, I might as well make a suggestion here. After the Communist army defeats the Guangdong bandits and unifies the country, my son could take over as the governor of Guangdong. My son may make mistakes in battle, but he is actually quite good at governing the local areas.

Chiang Kai-shek said: "The position of Vice Speaker of the National Assembly is the deputy of the highest power center of the country. If you don't do this and go to Guangdong to be a nominal governor, it would be a waste of your talent.

"I, Zhang, am a figurehead Vice Chairman of the Nationalist Government, so why is my son also a figurehead? Is that appropriate? Actually, there's no need for a figurehead position. Give him a real job."

Zhang Zuolin continued to talk nonsense with Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Kai-shek played Tai Chi and refused to give Zhang Zuolin any substantial promises. Zhang Zuolin could see that Chiang Kai-shek didn't want to give anything, but Zhang Zuolin still didn't give in.

In the previous unification negotiations, Zhang Zuolin retained his old territory in the three northeastern provinces. The Nanjing government basically did not change anything except asking the three northeastern provinces to change to the blue sky and Japanese flag.

In North China, Zhang Zuolin could not have 100% control over Peking and Tianjin, but he allowed the Fengtian clique to station a troop in each of them to "ensure that my business in Peking and Tianjin continues to make money."

Of the 3000 million yuan in military funds raised by Chiang Kai-shek this time, 500 million yuan was directly transferred into Zhang Zuolin's pocket and turned into weapons and ammunition.

Zhang Zuolin was generally satisfied with this condition, but Chiang Kai-shek had a backup plan. In September, the Northeast changed its flag, and in October, Chiang Kai-shek invited Wu Peifu out of the concession and appointed him as a senior councilor of the Nanjing National Government.

Wu Peifu, who had stepped down, still had considerable reputation in the northern region, which curbed Zhang Zuolin's potential possibility of extending his influence to North China.

Zhang Zuolin also had a backup plan. After Chiang Kai-shek unfroze Wu Peifu, Zhang Zuolin unfroze Sun Chuanfang.

Zhang Zuolin established a Jiangnan Political and Economic Research Institute in Beijing and appointed Sun Chuanfang, the former commander-in-chief of the Five Provinces Allied Forces, as the director of the institute.

Sun Chuanfang was defeated less than two years after he became the commander-in-chief of the Five Provinces Allied Forces, and he did not have the opportunity to do the abstract work of a warlord in Jiangnan. In order to suppress the Communists, Chiang Kai-shek plundered Jiangsu and Zhejiang quite harshly. Many people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang missed Sun Chuanfang.

This subtle balance of power, both overt and covert, between Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Zuolin came into being in this way.

"I heard that the group in Guangzhou are now running a coalition government of the Republic of China that is practicing a 'dual-chairman system'.

Zhang Zuolin continued to find something to talk about.

"No, no, the Cantonese bandits... no one can command the whole country, no one can command the people, so they found Soong Ching Ling to be the chairman, and used her as a pretext, thinking that their pseudo-regime can represent the former prime minister. These are all nonsense and absurd actions.

"No," Zhang Zuolin shook his head. "In Guangzhou, the prime minister system is implemented. The chairman does not take charge of affairs. The ones in charge are Chen Duxiu and Deng Yanda.

Chiang Kai-shek: "Haha. This combination is even more ridiculous.

Zhang Zuolin: "But I find it very inspiring. It seems that there is no conflict between these two people and their two parties. Brother Zhongzheng, I think we can also implement a 'dual-head system'.

Chiang Kai-shek: "...81 Japanese forces

"Of course, here, the Chairman of the National Government doesn't take charge of things either. The one who takes charge is the President of the Kuomintang. We in the Kuomintang should also have a 'dual president', the two of us. What do you think?"

Shaoguan.