The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

At Fuzhou, another entrance to the Ganjiang Plain, the 19th Division of the 7th Army was doing the same thing.

The troops of the two divisions drove out the militia security teams in the villages and towns and supported the armed forces of the peasant associations until they stopped three or four kilometers outside the Nanchang defense line.

Chiang Kai-shek's troops in Nanchang were bewildered but dared not move. The Second Sui District had few troops left. Previously, the Seventh Army had defended the city, but at Li Zongren's repeated requests, the Gui 7th Army had been transferred to the First Sui District in Wuhan in January 1931. In the entire city of Nanchang, no army dared to leave the city for a field battle.

“The Guangzhou Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China declares:”

"Starting from August 31st, the areas south of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, and north of Fengcheng and Fuzhou, will implement rural democratic self-government to quickly repair farmland, water conservancy, and transportation facilities damaged by the floods and resume production."

"Starting from September 2, the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government will establish a Huaihe River Disaster Relief Material Transfer Center in Lu'an County, Anhui Province."

“No armed forces or armed groups shall obstruct or interfere with the arrangements of the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government.”

Chapter 86: The Sword is Unsheathed Again

Lu'an County, Anhui Province.

1931年9月2日，革命军第6军16师在瓢泼大雨中进入六安城，原在此驻军的蒋军31军66师不战而退。

After entering the city, the 16th Division immediately took control of Lu'an's gates, roads, and checkpoints, maintaining public security and setting up camp. The division headquarters borrowed a building from the 66th Division, set up a radio antenna, and immediately contacted the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Military Region headquarters in Yingshan.

"Our unit has taken control of Lu'an. The number of disaster victims in the city has exceeded our previous estimates. These refugees have come from Anhui, northern Jiangsu, and other places. Over 5,000 people have flooded into the county town of 30,000, and as many as 2,000 are begging on the streets. Our division is setting up tents to provide shelter for the victims, but the county town has little food in stock, only enough to last 7-10 days. Please request assistance from the military district as soon as possible."

Xu Haidong, commander of the 16th Division, inspected the county seat.

Lu'an wasn't a particularly hard-hit area, which is why so many refugees walked dozens, even hundreds, of kilometers to reach it. Those with relatives stayed with them, while those without slept on the streets. The problem was that by September, northern Anhui was still receiving heavy rain, and these refugees huddled together under the eaves of dilapidated temples, Taoist temples, and even private homes to sleep every night. A combination of rain and wind would leave men, women, and children drenched on the ground.

"Report! The military region has replied! A large amount of relief food is being transported from Anqing and Lujiang to Lu'an, carried by the International Red Cross and hired escort teams. The first batch will arrive in Lu'an on September 9th or 10th."

Xu Haidong: "There's still time. But the relief food team is being escorted by a hired team? That's unreliable, isn't it?"

"Anqing and Lujiang are both under Nanjing's control, and can only be escorted by members of the Red Cross."

Xu Haidong: "We have already advanced into Nanjing's controlled area and occupied the county seat... The division's reconnaissance battalion, have them depart tomorrow morning and establish outposts in Lujiang and Shucheng to ensure the Red Cross's food supplies reach Lu'an safely."

"Yes! Commander, if the reconnaissance battalion encounters looting by Chiang Kai-shek's troops or bandits stealing food during the escort, will we start a war?"

"If they dare to come and steal food, we will attack them," Xu Haidong said. "The General Staff has issued authorization to open fire."

Guangzhou.

When issuing the marching order, the General Staff authorized all units to counterattack on the spot if they encountered an armed attack. In fact, when the General Staff ordered the garrisons in Fengcheng, Fuzhou, and Miluo Town to increase their combat readiness last month, frontline unit commanders knew what was likely to happen.

"The 16th Division occupied Lu'an. The Chiang Kai-shek Army's 66th Division voluntarily vacated the county seat. According to rumors circulating in the county seat, it was the 31st Army Commander Xue Yue who ordered the 66th Division to evacuate."

Chen Tianheng: "Xue Yue did a good job this time."

Zhou Shidi: "Chiang Kai-shek's ineffective disaster relief efforts have drawn nationwide condemnation and criticism. So far, he's only issued directives and telegrams, saying things like 'Appeal for Suppression of Rebellion and Disaster Relief' and 'Natural disasters are beyond human control.' If he obstructs or even starts a war when our army leaves our base to provide disaster relief, then it won't just be condemnation, but a nationwide march demanding his resignation."

Chen Tianheng: "We need to send another telegram to the Hubei, Henan, and Anhui regions to remind them that our army has entered Lu'an County and has no intention of withdrawing. Have the 16th Division, while assisting with disaster relief, also take time to inspect Lu'an's defenses and establish a defensive system."

Lu'an is not a mountainous area, but a plain outside the Dabie Mountains. Moreover, Lu'an is only 70 kilometers away from Hefei.

This is also the reason why this place serves as a distribution point for disaster relief supplies: food, medicine and other supplies are distributed from here to the Red Cross's transport team, which can then go a short distance to Hefei and connect to various transportation lines to deliver these supplies to the disaster area.

"The 9th Division called to report that they have surveyed and selected the forward headquarters location near Xiangtang."

Chen Tianheng looked at the map and saw that Xiangtang was 15 kilometers south of Nanchang City and only 5 kilometers away from the first trench of the so-called Nanchang city-county defense system.

Zhou Shidi: "This forward command post could be hit by the Nanchang Defense Zone's field artillery. Should we place a regiment of the 9th Division here?"

Chen Tianheng: "The forward command post is the headquarters of the 27th Regiment of the 9th Division, but the 27th Regiment will not be concentrated here. Instead, they will be dispersed within a 5-kilometer radius. When constructing the permanent fortifications for the command post, pay attention to defense against artillery fire. The regimental headquarters will not be stationed until all the anti-artillery fortifications are completed. Besides, we have backup."

Huang Wei: "During the previous armed offensive on the Ganjiang Plain, the Second Sui District of Nanchang offered no resistance at all."

The General Staff Operations Department replied to Fengcheng and agreed to the location of the 9th Division's forward command post.

More than two years after the second anti-encirclement and suppression campaign in 1929, the revolutionary army's sword was unsheathed again.

Although the opponent retreated as soon as the sword was drawn out and no blood was seen on the blade, the gleaming cold edge still scared many people.

The citizens of Lu'an, the disaster victims and the disaster relief agency personnel discovered that the revolutionary army stationed in the city had completed the change of uniforms.

The division's light weapons were uniformly armed with Type 38 rifles, all brand new and shiny. The auxiliary troops also had Type 38 carbines, and each infantry squad had a QJQ-30 light machine gun, also shiny new.

After taking over Lu'an City, citizens could see soldiers in revolutionary army uniforms running around every day, some supervising disaster relief work, some carrying weapons, and some strengthening fortifications.

原先66师在这里修的战壕、碉堡、瞭望塔之类的东西，16师接管之后更成体系化、更完善了。所有战壕都增设了排水设施,在战壕之间16师还挖了许多大大小小的平底坑，坑中是一门82毫米或100毫米迫击炮,黑洞洞的炮口指向防线外。

Many people know that Guangdong's arsenals are very powerful now. But the troops in Lu'an are from the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area. How could they fully re-equip the troops in the isolated base area?

"The Red Cross thanks the Guangzhou troops for their decisive advance into the north. We are also very grateful to Guangzhou for providing the aircraft."

A few days ago, Todd Gelmer, a member of the International Red Cross, took a plane from Guangzhou to Yingshan, and then flew several sorties based in Yingshan, witnessing the disaster in Gaoyou Lake and Hongze Lake from the air.

"But this flood is just shocking."

"From the air, I saw a large, shining body of water, like a huge lake. However, the pilot told me that this was not a lake, but a flood from Gaoyou Lake, which had completely submerged the entire farmland."

“南京政府的统计数字说,在高邮湖决堤事件中有15万人死亡，100万人流离失所。整个苏北因水灾而成为难民的人数多达170万。这只是水灾的一个局部地区。估计在这场水灾中,直接死亡人数超过40万0，接下来因为疫病和饥饿而死的人数会超过100万。”

"The floods will also have long-term impacts. They will severely damage agriculture in the Huaihe River basin because agricultural infrastructure has been largely destroyed. Agricultural output in northern Jiangsu, northern Anhui, and southeastern Henan may not fully recover for several years."

"Mr. General, perhaps your revolutionary army and the coalition government should reconsider."

Chen Tianheng: "What are you considering?"

“What I’m about to say doesn’t represent the Red Cross or my country,” Gelmer said. “It’s just my personal opinion.”

"More than a decade ago, I worked in China for a period of time, in Tianjin and North China. I visited many places there and met many foreigners in Tianjin. Many of them, like me, had also visited many cities and rural areas in North China."

"A major in the US Army told me that after taking up his post in Tianjin and taking a short road trip, he realized that China, especially northern China, was facing not only a serious social crisis, but also a serious agricultural crisis, and even an ecological crisis."

"He said the most incredible thing was that he could hardly see a single tree in North China, a tree growing in the wild, ownerless land. There were no trees, no fuel, a lack of arable land, the water conservancy projects were being destroyed, and there was no animal power. There were only people. Endless people, and they were basically starving because the land could no longer provide enough grain for the people on it."

"He said frankly that he saw a civilization on the road to decline in Tianjin."

"China's northern region is a huge negative asset. Your government... maybe should give it up."

Gailmer spoke at length. Chen Tianheng wanted to guess who this American major was, but it seemed unnecessary.

"Mr. Gailmer, we are all aware of the situation you describe. There are also many members of the revolutionary army who come from the north, and everyone knows what their hometowns are like. But this will not change our determination, because this is the ultimate goal of the revolution."

"Whether it was the Communist Party or the Kuomintang in the coalition government, the most basic revolutionary ideal was 'saving the nation.' China is a community of more than 400 million people, made up of its citizens, united by shared history and cultural values."

"We want to save this country, not 'redefine' it. The north is too poor, so forget it, we won't save it. If we are always flexible in redefining, then we should simply define Guangzhou and a nearby area as our revolutionary targets, excluding northern Guangdong. Then, perhaps within a few years, we can say that we have achieved our goal of saving the country."

"But northerners are also Chinese. Four hundred and fifty million of us form a community that cannot be separated. This is something that cannot be circumvented."

"Our struggle is to ensure that these 450 million people have the basic right to survival and basic human rights, so that the entire nation can escape danger and move towards modernization."

Gailmer: "Well... during the four years the coalition government has been operating in Guangzhou, it has shown upward momentum in many areas. But I must warn you that if you expand to the north, you will find it difficult to maintain this upward momentum."

"Chen Tianheng."

"That... Yang Du, do you still remember him?" Chen Duxiu called Chen Tianheng.

"Of course I do, General Secretary. I remember him very well. By the way, you must have had a very deep impression of him as well."

"Yes, yes," Chen Duxiu said, "I was deeply impressed."

"But Yang Du, um, he's in the hospital now. He might be dying. Should we go check on him?"

Chapter 87: Something is wrong with this world

In September 1931, the life of Yang Du, a remarkable figure in the late Qing Dynasty, was nearing its end.

After the establishment of the coalition government, Yang Du lived in Guangzhou. He wrote books and articles for newspapers and magazines, and discussed ideas with Chen Duxiu, Feng Youlan, Zhao Yuanren, and others. Sometimes he also went to Sun Yat-sen University to discuss ideas with lecturers, students, and many others.

Slightly different from the original history, Chen Duxiu never allowed Yang Du to join the party.

However, Yang Du was not so insistent on this. After all, he had spent three years in seclusion after Yuan Shikai's failed attempt to become emperor, a typical Buddhist. At debates at Sun Yat-sen University, people often questioned Yang Du about his past instigation of Yuan Shikai's emperorship. Yang Du simply smiled and did not offer any defense.

In any case, Yang Du did not have to hide from place to place in the last three years of his life. Instead, he stayed safely in his residence in Guangzhou, recalling his life, laughing at the sky, and laughing at himself. His life was quite comfortable.

As he got off the bus at Union Hospital, Chen Tianheng recalled the jaw-dropping words Yang Du had whispered to him, and sweat immediately broke out on his forehead. He then looked at Chen Duxiu, whose face had a similar expression.

Both of them had their defenses broken by Yang Du.

"Mr. Yang." "Xizi, I'm here to see you." "Ah, General Secretary Chen. General Manager Chen. Please take a seat."

Yang Du was lying on the hospital bed, speaking slowly and weakly, but his words were clear.

"Yang Xizi, you are truly a remarkable person. I truly admire you," Chen Duxiu said, shaking Yang Du's hand. "That statement in Shanghai was like a deafening thunderclap. I didn't believe it at the time and desperately denied it in my heart. It wasn't until Trotsky wrote down his doctrine in its entirety in a book that I read it thoroughly, and then I realized that you and he saw the same thing, but each chose a different perspective."

"Well, I'm here to tell you that we intend to prevent this future. We may not succeed, as the future is unpredictable, and this is a task that will take more than a generation to accomplish, but we will work towards that goal."

"Because we're planning to do these things, I'm no longer keeping your words to myself. I can finally talk to you openly."

Yang Du smiled and said, "Zhongfu, you said something very well. The future is not static."

Chen Duxiu: "Yes, yes, everything depends on human effort."

"Actually, I don't think I can be compared to Trotsky," Yang Du said, turning to the topic of Trotsky. "Zhongfu, I was really apprehensive when you said that just now. I was already over 40 when I came into contact with Marxist-Leninist theory, and I wasn't well-versed in Western learning, especially philosophy. Therefore, my understanding of Marx's theory is still superficial. Trotsky is different. In terms of theory, he is far superior to me."

"His theories and his reasoning are impeccable. I didn't use the word 'almost impeccable,' I just meant impeccable. All his reasoning is rigorous and irrefutable."

Chen Duxiu: "But his theory proposes a solution that is not actually feasible. We cannot continue along this path."

Yang Du: "Take a math problem. If you perform every step correctly and calculate every step perfectly, but the result is that Zhang San is walking towards you at a speed of 400 miles per second, what will you do after seeing the answer?"

Chen Duxiu: “Uh…”

A smile appeared on Yang Du's face again: "Zhongfu, this is something you still don't want to face up to."

Chen Duxiu and Chen Tianheng: ...

"I, I, I," Chen Duxiu stood up and said, "I'll go to the doctor to see your treatment plan."

Chen Duxiu left the ward in a hurry.

Yang Du: "So, whether it was the Russian Communist Party or the Soviet Communist Party, when they opposed Trotsky, they just cursed him in the streets, sometimes even resorting to moral blackmail, and never engaged in debate. Stalin himself never wrote a theoretical work to respond to Trotsky's theories."

Chen Tianheng: "Actually, Stalin knew all this."

"Of course he knew. What he did was try to quietly cover up these loopholes and get around them. But Trotsky said, 'The system operates entirely on this loophole, it cannot be circumvented, it must be developed and expanded.' This is where Stalin got stuck."

Chen Tianheng: "A few months ago, I went to inspect the Xinfengjiang Hydropower Station dam construction site. I was driving down a mountain road and stopped at a fork in the road. I saw a large sign in front of me. It showed a picture of a wrecked truck and the words 'Lessons from the Past' written in large letters."

"Whoever painted this scene, regardless of his purpose, should have his place in history."

Yang Du: "You never took that fork in the road, but drove directly into another one."

Chen Tianheng: “Yes.”

Yang Du chuckled a few times and closed his eyes to rest. After a while, he opened his eyes again:

“There’s something wrong with this world.”

Chen Tianheng: “…the undertaking we are undertaking is unprecedented and cannot be judged or predicted using conventional wisdom.”

"What I'm saying is," Yang Du looked at Chen Tianheng, "something's wrong with you."

Chen Tianheng stood up and looked at the medicine left by the doctor on the bedside table, the IV bottle, and the medical equipment.

Yang Du: "When Chiang Kai-shek was purging the Communists, he had the entire nation's military, while the Communists only had two hidden cards."

"When the regime was first established, it only controlled Guangdong Province and the mountainous areas of Hunan and Jiangxi, while Chiang Kai-shek controlled almost the entire China."

"This should be a situation where a skilled fighter struggles to hold off a pack of wolves. With the army pressing in, even if you try to hold on, you'll ultimately be defeated. Unless you concentrate all available men and resources, exhaust all available resources, eliminate any doubts and opposition, and with the utmost mobilization and unwavering unity of thought, risk everything on resisting Chiang Kai-shek, you might be able to hold your ground."

"But what has become of it now? Chiang Kai-shek's two encirclement and suppression campaigns were met with repeated defeats. When his army was approaching, Guangzhou was bustling with traffic, commerce was booming, and all sorts of heresies and heresies were exposed in the ivory tower. Oh, I am also a member of this heresy."

"The world shouldn't be like this. This isn't right." Chen Tianheng: "…" (Continue to read the prescription)

Yang Du: "But perhaps it is precisely because of this that you can frankly acknowledge the existence of such heresy in Trotsky's doctrine and think and judge it calmly and methodically. Stalin could not do this."

Chen Tianheng: "Mr. Yang, I just did what a military commander should do. We cannot fail, the Guangzhou United Government cannot fail, and our only base cannot fail. I also set the same requirement for myself."

"I don't quite understand what's going on next. Huh—" Yang Du sighed, "But it doesn't matter. I'm about to become history."

Chen Tianheng: "Mr. Yang, your condition isn't too serious. You will recover. General Secretary Chen and I would like to hear more of your insights. These insights...are simply not available elsewhere."

"I know the extent of my illness myself. My views... (I'm a little ashamed to say) are not based on the thinking of a single person."

Chen Tianheng: "Oh?"

"It was in 1918. I was living in seclusion in a Buddhist temple, no longer wanting to get involved in politics. A student named Ren, who claimed to be a junior, came to visit me. We talked for several days in the temple, and we talked a lot."

"I had a lot of free time at the time, and the Russian Revolution had just taken place the year before, so I was reading the books of Marx and Engels. This junior also talked to me a lot about Marx, Engels, Lenin, and so on, and we also talked about and envisioned the future of the Soviet Union."

Chen Tianheng: "Mr. Yang, these insights of yours...were developed through discussions with this junior student?"

Yang Du: "More than that. Ninety percent of what I learned was from this student." Chen Tianheng: "What's this student's name? Where can I find him?"