The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Actually, Chen Tianheng's original score was 5. However, the two students who took the Advanced Campaign also scored 5.

Internship at the Institute of Advanced Staff is not something you have to do every day. Chen Tianheng is Shaposhnikov's internship assistant, but Shaposhnikov's main job is the commander of the Moscow Military District, and he only appears at the Institute of Advanced Staff once every one or two weeks.

The Institute of Advanced Staff was like a staff department divided into several staff divisions. Now the institute was silent, and every staff officer and teacher of the Frunze Academy inside had a serious expression and was busy with their own work.

There were maps on the desks and walls, and even more on the desks were rolls of documents and reports, all of which were badly read. Chen Tianheng also noticed that almost everyone had a slide rule, set square, and compass on their desks.

Some staff officers completed the work at hand and submitted it to their superiors. Without shouting anything, they just stood up, packed up their things, and then walked out to deliver the results of their work.

"Calculations on the organization of artillery operations of the Baranovichi Army?

Chen Tianheng checked the work schedule at hand and asked the officers who came to submit their work results.

"yes.

Chen Tianheng opened the document bag handed to him by the staff officer. It was a plan on how to deploy multiple artillery divisions to cover the enemy with salvos in the suburbs of a Belarusian city.

This plan was probably part of the envisaged battle near Baranovichi, which was part of a series of defensive battles around how to defend Minsk.

Chen Tianheng took the plan, which Shaposhnikov wanted to read when he returned to his office.

After waiting a while, Chen Tianheng packed a bag of documents, and another of Shaposhnikov's assistants also received a bag. At 5 pm, all the staff members voluntarily left work, just like office workers leaving on their own.

Chen Tianheng: “Dinner is at…

Shaposhnikov: “The cafeteria, everyone.

The bored Shaposhnikov ate in the cafeteria by himself, and his officers also went to the cafeteria on their own initiative.

Because Shaposhnikov asked them to come to the office at 7 o'clock in the evening to work overtime.

Since we have to work overtime, drinking alcohol at dinner is prohibited.

Then, Shaposhnikov, who had ordered the ban on alcohol, slipped away after dinner. Now, in the institute's large office, there were only a bunch of office workers, along with Chen Tianheng, about twenty people, working overtime in silence.

"Tear"

Chen Tianheng took out a piece of chocolate, tore open the package and put it into his mouth

Soon, the large office was filled with the sweet aroma of milk and cocoa beans.

"Chocolate. Made in Switzerland. I happened to have enough for today. Come, share it with everyone."

The lifeless office suddenly came alive. Small squares of chocolate were tossed between the desks. Soon, each staff officer had a chocolate bar in his hand. Each Big-Nosed Ivan peeled off the wrapper and ate it. The sweet aroma of cocoa beans grew stronger in the air, and the staff officers couldn't stop chatting.

So this is chocolate. I had only read about it in books before.

Chen Tianheng: "Ivan, your textbooks don't contain any information about chocolate, do they?

“You guessed it right.

Chen Tianheng: "I had a similar experience. When I was little I always thought cheese was the most amazing foreign food in the world, until I actually ate it.

“Haha” “Why, isn’t cheese a good food?

Chen Tianheng: "But I used to imagine cheese was just condensed milk. I didn't expect it to be fermented! Chinese people rarely eat milk and dairy products. Usually, the only animal foods in our diet are meat and eggs."

Chocolate was a rare commodity in the daily lives of Soviet people in the 20s.

This is not the post-war period, especially not the Brezhnev era, and even for officials enjoying rationing, chocolate is not on the list of daily goods available.

The staff officers started talking, and the divergent topics covered everything, including work, life, and the customs and habits of their hometowns. The noise lasted until almost 10 o'clock, and then Chen Tianheng quickly asked everyone to finish their work for the day.

Kremlin.

After more than two months in the Soviet Union, Chen Tianheng finally got a date with Stalin and had a face-to-face meeting with him.

Chen Tianheng did not come alone. He Cheng, a doctoral student in medicine at the Moscow State University Medical School, was also there.

Many of the Guangzhou government officials who studied in the Soviet Union were majoring in science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine. He Cheng graduated from Peking University Medical School in 1926 and traveled south to join the Northern Expedition, serving as a military doctor in the Fourth Army. He returned to the Soviet Union for further studies at the end of last year.

"Hello, Comrade General Secretary.

Chen Tianheng extended his hand, and Stalin, who walked into the reception room, shook hands with Chen Tianheng: "Chen, China's most outstanding young general, may not be limited to youth. I have seen your name in the documents.

Then Stalin shook hands with He Cheng again.

The Chinese revolution's phased victory is worth congratulating. The current Guangzhou regime in China is somewhere between Turkey and the Soviet Union, but it must be pointed out that even the success of the Turkish Revolution represented a tremendous advancement for society in the Middle East. The progressive nature of the Turkish Revolution is unquestionable.

Stalin talked about the Chinese revolution.

"Chen, what are your thoughts and comments on the Frunze Military Academy?"

Chen Tianheng: “The cafeteria is terrible.

Stalin burst into laughter. "The gray beast from the Military Academy, ha ha ha ha, it's still a gray beast, but with some metal plates on its chest. Have you met Dean Robert?"

Chen Tianheng: "I met him once, but the one I interact with more often is Comrade Shaposhnikov.

"Comrade Shaposhnikov is a loyal soldier," Stalin said, "and a good teacher. By assisting him, you can learn many good qualities from him.

Chen Tianheng: “Yes, I can learn a lot from being his assistant.

Stalin was scheduled to meet with Chen Tianheng and He Cheng for half an hour, but in fact, forty minutes had passed and the three of them and their secretary were still chatting in the reception room.

In other words, a student of the advanced command class of the Frunze Military Academy, a division commander of the Red Army, in Kazan, his wife and children don’t have their own house?”

Chen Tianheng: "Yes. This is the result of a conversation between me and my classmates."

"Stalin nodded, picked up his pipe and stuffed it with tobacco: "What about other regions, I mean, Minsk.

Chen Tianheng: "I met the comrade from Minsk, but we didn't discuss the housing supply issue in Minsk. Do you want me to ask him?"

Stalin: "Of course. Because recently the Minsk Party Committee and the Statistics Bureau gave two different statements.

"I'll get this sorted out within two weeks, Comrade General Secretary.

Chapter 5: Gu Shunzhang’s New Boss

Two weeks later, Chen Tianheng told Stalin about the situation of his classmates in Minsk.

"I emphasize once again that Comrade Petrov's wife is not a Minsk resident. She and her children live on a farm 50 kilometers from Minsk. Therefore, the Petrov family obtained this information indirectly by asking friends and classmates.

This sentence was said before Chen Tianheng began his formal report and was repeated after the report was completed.

Stalin: “That is very good indeed. Indirect information, yes, but indirect information is also very valuable and can be a useful supplement to the information in official documents.

Stalin had considered this matter because the Minsk factory workers complained that they had been recruited for the factory expansion but had no housing. However, Stalin read the official documents written by the cadres and decided that when the factory was built, dormitories and apartments should be built to match the number of workers.

When the angry workers went to Moscow to complain, they complained that only high-end apartments were built for the factory director and management, while the workers' dormitories were neglected.

The Petrovs, as peasants, learned that—

The factory built workers' dormitories, but the staff dormitories were very simple and narrow. Workers refused to move in, or refused to allow a second person to live in a single 10-square-meter dormitory.

These Soviet workers are expensive....no.

Petrov and his wife also spoke of this matter in a tone of great sympathy for the workers, because compared with the spacious housing space in the countryside, it was too painful for a 10-square-meter box house to become a home for two workers.

After discussing the housing issues of the new factories in Minsk, Stalin changed the subject, and Chen Tianheng did not continue to talk about Soviet internal affairs.

It is not known whether Stalin has established his own information acquisition agency, but he would not use a Chinese comrade as a spy in the Soviet Union. The last time he asked Chen Tianheng to help inquire about it, it was probably just a spur of the moment decision.

"You've been in Frunze for a month and a half, and you've become acquainted with all the students who enrolled in the last six months, and almost all the instructors as well. What exactly do you want to do, Chinese comrade?"

Stalin still smiled and stared at Chen Tianheng.

"I was looking for the best officers among my classmates, or the most talented military men, such as Suvorov, Kutuzov, Bagration, and Brusilov. This is how I interacted with my classmates when I was a student at the Whampoa Military Academy."

Stalin: "I know you did this in the Chinese military academy. And, perhaps you can also have the same vision among the Soviets. But then what?

Chen Tianheng: "The Chinese revolution is still going on. We need to expand the army to achieve victory in the national revolution. To expand the army, we need more officers. As the revolutionary situation develops, the main shortage in the future will be middle and senior staff officers.

"The Red Army officers who were able to enter the advanced command class of the Frunze Military Academy and who were able to rise to prominence in the Red Army and become division and brigade commanders, in themselves, prove that they are outstanding individuals within the Red Army. We have spent a great deal of effort to select and train these individuals, and each one of them is a precious asset to the Red Army.

Chen Tianheng laughed and spread his hands: "Comrade General Secretary Stalin, I did not say to poach all of your students.

Stalin: "Well, just take Suvorov away and return the others to me.

Stalin and Chen Tianheng exchanged rounds, and although they were debating, Stalin was in a very relaxed mood.

Stalin noticed that Chen Tianheng had a wide circle of friends at the Frunze Military Academy. Chen Tianheng admitted it on the spot and shamelessly said that he was looking for someone.

This comrade says whatever is on his mind...

Now, the cadres of all ranks in the Soviet Politburo and the Central Committee either spoke in a sarcastic tone, were unreasonable, or even slammed the table. The meeting hall was filled with the flashing of swords and the open and covert attacks outside.

There were several Politburo meetings where members united to pressure Stalin. Had Kirov not unleashed his full force, Stalin might have been unable to withstand the venomous attacks of so many members. The atmosphere during the conversation with Chen Tianheng was completely different; it wasn't "House of Cards time," so he naturally felt relaxed.

Stalin: "If the Chinese Party and comrades have such a need when the revolutionary war enters a certain stage in the future, we will assign some middle and senior officers to assist you, just like Comrade Blucher. Of course, it is just a dispatch model similar to Blucher's, not someone like Blucher.

Chen Tianheng: "General Galen did a lot of work for the construction of China's first revolutionary army, some of which was even decisive. He just couldn't resist the conspirators like Chiang Kai-shek.

Stalin: "It is part of his job to identify and crush conspiracies. In short, we will not send out another Blucher in the short term. ... Before discussing the military talents of the officers of the Frunze Military Academy, we must first make it clear that no new ideologically wavering people can appear among them. Trotsky, we can no longer call him a comrade, his ideas have misled many people in the party and the army.

Chen Tianheng: "Trotsky's theories are very persuasive, but they will never work.

"Strong persuasiveness means great destructive power.

Stalin put down his pipe: "You may not know this yet, but Trotsky is in China now."

Leon Trotsky had been expelled from the Party at the end of the previous year. In January, while Chen Tianheng was on his way to the Soviet Union, Stalin decided to exile Trotsky to Almaty, Kazakhstan. However, the departure date was leaked before the exile, and a large number of Trotsky's supporters gathered at the train station to bid farewell to Trotsky and stage a demonstration. The exile plan had to be postponed for a day, and the departure was changed to a secret one.

Trotsky arrived in Alma-Ata and immediately drafted a detailed statement of his political principles to be submitted to the Sixth Congress of the Communist International, which was scheduled to be held in June of that year - the Communist International where he had more supporters.

So Trotsky could no longer stay in the Soviet Union and was expelled from the country in March.

Trotsky was a key leader of the Soviet Communist Party and the Soviet Army, and the main military commander of the Soviet invasion of Poland. Therefore, no European country except Turkey was willing to issue a visa to Trotsky. After considering the two options of Turkey and China, Trotsky made a decision:

Travel to China.

Trotsky was escorted from Almaty to Vladivostok, and then boarded a ship from Vladivostok, accompanied by only two followers. His first stop was Shanghai, China.

Yes, he was still reluctant to go to Guangzhou because there was also a Soviet consulate in Guangzhou.

Trotsky decided to live in the Shanghai Concession for a while, continue to write articles to expound his theories, and write his autobiography.

"You were once under the leadership of the Communist International but were subsequently expelled from the Chinese Communist Party?

Trotsky looked at the Chinese in front of him with curiosity.

Gu Shunzhang nodded and said in his not-so-fluent Russian: "Yes, I was a member of the Shanghai Special Committee of the Military Department of the Chinese Communist Party and the deputy secretary of the Shanghai District Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. I learned Russian when I was working with people from the Communist International.

Trotsky: "And you understand the theory of permanent revolution?

Gu Shunzhang: "Uh... Tian Cenan:

Trotsky saw that Gu Shunzhang did not quite understand these profound theories, so he patted him on the shoulder and said: "It doesn't matter. The founder of the theory of permanent revolution is in front of you. You will have enough time to understand it in the future. I need someone who is familiar with Shanghai to be my assistant. You are very familiar with Shanghai and obviously not a member of the Soviet system, so I hope you can be my assistant.

Trotsky then lived a secluded life in the Shanghai International Settlement, writing articles and autobiography, sometimes not showing up for several days at a time.

Whenever someone who looked like a Russian passed by his window, Trotsky would get extremely nervous. Although Gu Shunzhang told him that he knew these people, that they were all White Russians who had been driven out of the Soviet Union after the October Revolution and were struggling to make a living in Shanghai, Trotsky was still very nervous.

In March 1850, Marx and Engels first proposed in their Address to the Communist League from the Central Committee that the battle cry of the German working class should be 'permanent revolution.' Socialism is the proclamation of permanent revolution."

In addition to writing books, Trotsky also served as Gu Shunzhang's teacher and explained his own theories to him.

“Permanent revolution, in the sense that Marx gave to this concept, means the intolerance of any form of class rule, whether it be the class rule of the former bourgeois state or the new ruling class that arises in the victorious state after the first victory of the revolution.

If the proletarian vanguard degenerates into a new ruling class, or bureaucracy, then in the socialist state established by the victory of the proletariat’s revolutionary war, the working class will be forced to launch a new struggle to force the bureaucracy to debureaucratize.

"The latter's tombstone will bear the following epitaph: 'Here lies the theory of the victory of socialism in one country'."

“At the same time, the longer the Soviet Union remained surrounded by capitalism, the more its social structure degenerated. The inevitable outcome of prolonged isolation was the restoration of capitalism.

“Socialism cannot be built in one country; continuous revolution means both a new struggle to debureaucratize the bureaucracy and the necessity for the socialist country that first achieves victory to launch a world revolution.

"Teacher Tuo," Gu Shunzhang asked, "then, according to your theory, the democratic coalition government in Guangzhou should also carry out continuous revolution?"

Trotsky: "No, the Canton coalition government has not yet defeated the bourgeoisie. Only after this victory will it be faced with the inevitable choice of permanent revolution."

Gu Shunzhang listened to Trotsky's theories of permanent revolution and world revolution with a vague understanding. Trotsky patiently expounded on them, even switching to spoken Russian to express some profound philosophical and political terms so that Gu Shunzhang could understand them.

Of course, the main reason why Gu Shunzhang was willing to stay with Trotsky was that Trotsky offered him a high salary - Trotsky had previously accumulated huge royalties from writing books and articles.

However, today his assistant went out to the stock market to exchange stocks and withdraw cash. He was supposed to return at 12 noon, but it is now 12:30 and he has not returned yet.

At 12:40, there were three long knocks, two short knocks, and one long knock on the apartment door. Gu Shunzhang subconsciously shuddered, and his muscles tensed.

He unbolted the door and swiftly ducked into a dark corner. As expected, a revolver thrust its way in, followed by a hand holding a gun, and then a Russian. Gu Shunzhang's Browning 1910 rifle fired, dispatching the intruders. Those outside the door, hearing the gunshots, knew the occupants were on guard, and immediately two pistols fired indiscriminately into the house.

Gu Shunzhang ignored the assassin's random shooting, rushed into the study of the apartment, and jumped out of the window into the Suzhou River with Trotsky in his arms.

Puff!…Puff!”

Trotsky climbed ashore in a panic, spitting out the dirty water in his mouth: "Shanghai is too dangerous. These remnants of the White Bandit Army are willing to be hired as killers by anyone for money.