The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

"Tuk Tuk Tuk"

The door opened and it was Zhou Enlai.

"Enlai, it's so late..." Chen Duxiu had just said half a sentence when he smelled the strong smell of gunpowder on Zhou Enlai. "Did you shoot? Isn't the situation particularly dangerous?"

"There was a little trouble, but it's been resolved." Zhou Enlai pulled a letter from his jacket pocket:

"Secretary Chen, Gu Shunzhang's letter.

"Tuk Tuk Tuk"

Qian Zhuangfei went upstairs.

"Hello."

"This is a supplier of my company." Chen Duxiu said to Zhou Enlai.

Zhou Enlai evaded the question, and Qian Zhuangfei handed the sealed letter to Chen Duxiu: "Chen Tianheng has received the news.

“1. The Second Army’s Party representative system had nothing to do with the Nanking Looting; they did not incite soldiers to loot or launch attacks against foreigners.

"2. At the end of January, the Party representatives of the Second Army received instructions from their superiors to publicize the invasion of China by British and French imperialism among the soldiers and to foster hatred against British colonists. This letter of instruction was taken back from Li Fuchun by Chen Geng and Jiang Xianyun of the 25th Division of the Fourth Army and kept for safekeeping."

Chapter 57, Breakup Letter

The content of the letter from the Communist International obtained from Gu Shunzhang's residence was somewhat different from the details of "anti-British actions" that Gu Shunzhang had included in the agenda of the last meeting.

No wonder Gu Shunzhang lost contact and protested violently when Zhou Enlai came to ask for the letter.

anti.

Gu Shunzhang said at the meeting that the instructions of the Communist International were: to call on citizens to initiate practical actions against the concessions, to launch a parade in the concessions with the participation of workers' pickets, and to attack the entry and exit ports between the concessions and the Chinese area.

Chen Duxiu, however, dismissed this directive as inappropriate. The Northern Expedition was about to reach Shanghai, and the Party organization and the workers' armed forces should primarily target the warlord Li Baozhang's forces. It would be inappropriate to expand the struggle to include foreign troops stationed in the concessions. At the meeting, most of the responsible comrades of the Special Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee agreed with Chen Duxiu's views, and the matter was temporarily shelved.

Ugh

So what were the real instructions of the Communist International in that letter?

The Communist International instructed that in addition to marching and attacking the concessions, the special committee would lead an elite armed team of workers to sneak into the concessions with guns and launch terrorist attacks on the British, French and American troops stationed in the concessions.

No wonder Gu Shunzhang hid the Comintern's letter and passed on a fake imperial edict. The armed march to attack the port could have been led by a group of workers and students, but the Comintern's instructions were for Gu Shunzhang and several other members of the Special Committee to personally carry their weapons. The British and French troops in the concession were a guard of honor, and the Maxim, Hatch, and Browning figures in front of the barracks were figurines?

I'm so scared, I'd better change it a little bit, don't let me die.

Li Dazhao arrived in Shanghai at noon the next day.

"Shou Chang started from Beijing, took the Jinpu Road to Pukou, then changed to a ferry, and then took the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway in Nanjing. It was two days of non-stop work, and it was very tiring.

Li Dazhao was in a hurry to leave Beijing, so he bought whatever tickets were available at the train station. He ended up buying a seat ticket from Beijing to Nanjing. "Zhongfu, but you don't look much better than me.

Chen Duxiu: "I received news from two channels last night and couldn't sleep after reading them.

Li Dazhao: "When I arrived in Shanghai this time, I wanted to take a look at the troops of the First Division.

4maa

"This Suzhou Creek marks the boundary between the Concession and the Chinese Concession. The Chinese Concession is just across the street. Do you see that unfinished four-story brick building? The owner ran out of money, so construction stopped mid-construction. Now it's being rented by the First Division as a training ground."

At the northern edge of the International Settlement, Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu each held a telescope and looked out at the First Division training ground outside the concession.

Li Dazhao: "Is this the uniform of the Northern Expedition Army? Why is it grass green? I don't think it has a wide-brimmed hat.

Chen Duxiu: "This is a scout from the First Division's reconnaissance battalion. A unit, such as a division, has many other specialized soldiers in addition to infantry and artillery. The reconnaissance battalion wears green uniforms to facilitate concealment in the wild, after all, they are responsible for reconnaissance.

"Let me see. There are people on the roof. Oh my! How did the soldier on the roof fall down? Why didn't he fall down again?

Chen Duxiu: "Let me take a look"

The distance was about three or four hundred meters, and it was difficult for the two men to distinguish the rope on the scout during the rappelling. They only felt that the scout was falling down and stopped halfway.

"Ah, that soldier was firing into the building. He fired a dozen or so shots, then slid down again. Two more soldiers came down from the roof. ... He was very skilled, and he flipped over and got back into the building.

Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao watched for a long time from the rooftop of the concession.

Li Dazhao had learned of Chen Tianheng's unit the previous year, but he hadn't intervened in its specific arrangements. His knowledge of the First Division came from newspaper reports of its victories. Even in Beiyang-controlled territories, reports on the battlefront and the Northern Expedition's capabilities were readily available. Even Zhang Zuolin knew that the First Division had vanquished everyone it encountered on its journey.

"The attitude within the Kuomintang is now delicate. After the punishment of the Xishan Conference Group, a 'new right' has emerged, surrounding Chiang Kai-shek. Meanwhile, in Wuhan, Wang Jingwei's attitude is erratic, fluctuating between left and right. Sometimes he says the Three Principles of the People are socialism, and sometimes he says the late Premier's Sun Yue Declaration must be adhered to and that China's social system cannot follow the path of the Soviet Union. The views of the Kuomintang leftists surrounding Wang Jingwei are quite divergent.

“Therefore, our party was in a very delicate position during the Northern Expedition and the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

"Now, the information we have increasingly indicates that the Communist International has been issuing direct orders to China and some of our Party's lower-level organizations and even lower-level organizations, and the purpose of these orders is questionable.

A special meeting of the Executive Committee of the Central Political Bureau (Central Committee) was held at Chen Duxiu's residence. This was not a formal Politburo meeting attended by two-thirds of the Executive Committee members. Only five of them attended: Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Cai Hesen, Xiang Ying, and Tan Pingshan; the remaining four were working in other places.

"Britain and France have always been very wary of the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army, fearing that the Northern Expedition would damage Britain's interests in China. In the past, Britain has also put a lot of obstacles in the way. In 1925, they gave money to Chen Jiongming, but it was limited to the scope of secret sabotage. If these two provocations of the Communist International were successful, the National Government and Britain and the entire West would be completely opposed. In that case, even if the National Government succeeded in the Northern Expedition and unified China, what could it do afterwards? It would only be able to choose one side over the other, because it would be enemies with Britain, France and the United States." Tan Pingshan pointed out the purpose behind this series of instructions from the Communist International.

Li Dazhao: "Did the Soviet Union support the Chinese revolution out of international friendship among the proletariat, as stated in the declaration when the Communist International was founded, or was it out of the interests of the Soviet Union itself? I think it was a combination of both.

Cai Hesen: "My view is that the support for China was impure, but as many people say, there is no free lunch in the world. The Soviet Union wanted to get something from China, and we also wanted to get something from the Soviet Union. Without the assistance provided by the Soviet Union, our national revolution and our Northern Expedition would not have been successful.

Chen Duxiu: "The question is, what does the Soviet Union really want from China? If the Soviet Union only wants the security of its eastern borders, that's fine. But Japan wants to establish a 'New Mongolia' in Manchuria and Mongolia, integrating its vast land and population into the industrialized Japanese state, and sweeping across Asia and Europe like the Mongol Empire did. The Soviet Union must prevent this Japanese idea and protect its own Far East. If this is what the Soviet Union wants, then our goals are the same, and we don't want to be swept away by Japan. But if the Soviet Union wants more, then it's worth discussing. Should we continue to stand with the Soviet Union and the Communist International? If we continue to stand with the Communist International, will we be condemned by the whole country or even abandoned?"

Xiang Ying: "Secretary Chen, I think we are overemphasizing nationalism now. Nationalism is contrary to the ultimate goal of communism. Take this matter as an example. I think the Communist International is doing the right thing.

Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, and Tan Pingshan:?!

...Yes. Let me finish. If the Nationalist government succeeded in the Northern Expedition, unified China, and established a bourgeois Chinese government, and if this bourgeois government had good relations with Western countries like Britain, the United States, and France, how would we overthrow it? It's difficult, isn't it? Only by making the contradictions between this bourgeois government and the West irreconcilable can its power be minimized, and only then will our revolution to overthrow it have a chance of success.

Cai Hesen shook his head: "Comrade Xiang Ying, this is a bit too much. The proletarian revolution must be carried out, but during the revolution, it is not necessary to mess up the interests of the nation."

Li Dazhao: "Comrade Xiang Ying, a few years ago my views were similar to yours, but now I'm rethinking everything. The current directive from the Communist International is to intensify contradictions. This directive is not intended to intensify the contradictions between China's bourgeois government and Britain and France. In fact, it will intensify the contradictions between citizens. If these contradictions are intensified, then even if our revolution succeeds in overthrowing the bourgeois regime and establishing our own country, the contradictions between China and the West will be doubly irreconcilable. At that time, can our regime still be maintained?"

Xiang Ying: "We have the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union and the socialist camp will be the greatest support for our future red regime. Moreover, Comrade Cai, I don't think Britain and France will be safe by then. The world proletarian revolution is a whole. If the Soviet revolution succeeds, the Chinese revolution will soon succeed, and the proletariat in Britain and France will also launch revolutions. We should not think that only the Chinese and Soviet revolutions will succeed in the future, while Britain, France, and the United States will still be ironclad capitalist societies."

Tan Pingshan: "What if, I mean what if, the Chinese revolution succeeds and capitalist countries like Britain and France are still not finished? Will you still focus on the people, life, and construction? How many artillery batteries will you build along the coast?

Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.

First Division Headquarters.

Chen Tianheng convened a meeting of party representatives, staff and other core party group members in the First Division.

"Comrades, General Secretary Chen Duxiu recently convened a special meeting of the Political Bureau to discuss the current situation, including the domestic situation and the situation of the Communist International in China.

“However, due to limited conditions, the CMC cannot convene a CMC meeting… However, the decisions of the General Secretary and the Politburo are the decisions of the Party, and the military is under the leadership of the Party.

"The Central Committee, in the name of the entire Party, issued a statement to the Communist International, demanding that the Communist International retract its previous directives and refrain from issuing directives to lower-level Party organizations that were not signed by the Party Central Committee. At the same time, the Central Committee reiterated the discipline of provincial Party committees and lower-level Party branches, urging them to obey the Party Central Committee in everything and that all instructions, including those from the Communist International, must be approved by the Party Central Committee.

"Of course, this didn't change anything for the First Division. The Communist International never issued any instructions to us because it was completely unaware of our existence. ... Now we need to talk about the political work of the First Division. We need to carry out political propaganda among ordinary party members and soldiers.

Yuan Zhongxian: "Indeed, the situation is slowly changing. The Political Department will convene a meeting of Party representatives from all regiments and battalions to determine the tone of political work."

Chen Tianheng: "Representative Yuan, it is also important to note that the existence of the First Division's Party organization must continue to be concealed.

"Yes.

4B3

Huangpu River Wharf.

8 am.

The three days of meetings and group discussions seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. After the special meeting of the Politburo, the Central Committee issued a very serious statement to the Communist International, but considering the doubts of the majority of comrades, the Central Committee did not break away from the Communist International.

"We are considered to be okay," Li Dadao said. "According to the Constitution of the Communist International, the CCP is a subordinate branch of the Communist International. Now that a subordinate branch has issued a formal statement to its superiors in such a formal and even harsh tone, it is really a reversal.

Chen Duxiu smiled bitterly: "This is the only solution. We really don't want to withdraw from the Communist International now, but there are some issues of principle that we must argue with the International. This is not a subordinate challenging a superior, but for the future of the Chinese revolution, for the future of China, we have no choice but to do so.

The ship has docked and the pier is being built.

He could not take the train on the return trip because Zhang Zuolin announced military control of the Jinpu Railway. It was very likely that the Fengtian Army assembled in Tianjin would march south from the Jinpu Railway, so Li Dazhao could only take a boat.

"Secretary Chen, Secretary Li.

Zhou Enlai appeared at the dock.

"I don't know whether the Comintern has sent a telegram to the Central Committee, but you two had better read today's morning paper."

The morning paper handed to Chen Duxiu had just been published and still smelled of ink.

The front page, but not the headline. At the very bottom is a report titled:

The Communist International announced the removal of Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Chapter 58: Separation in February

"Chen Tianheng, is your great prediction accurate?

"Looking at the current situation, your First Division could tear through the warlords all the way to Beijing in 1927.

Chen Ying's telegram.

In addition to the business matters, Chen Ying added this sentence.

Chen Tianheng saw this and added a sentence on the draft paper for the call back:

"As accurate as the little prophecy. Pay attention to the newspaper recently.

Chen Ying's telegram mentioned several things.

The first was a collective fundraising effort by Hong Kong's five largest Chinese businessmen to support the National Revolutionary Army's Northern Expedition. Four members of the second generation of the Li family, the wealthiest Chinese businessman, jointly donated one million silver dollars. Pawnshop magnate Li Youquan contributed 500,000 yuan. Chen Ying, the second-largest Chinese businessman in Hong Kong by apparent wealth, donated 550,000 yuan.

This money was donated to the Nationalist Government, but it was only a small amount compared to the additional expenses of the First Division.

The second thing is that the American business/finance/stock market really began to soar at the end of 1926, which brought about an investment boom in old Europe. There are also a lot of people in Hong Kong picking up money with sacks. Chen Ying asked how long this trend can last.

The third thing is that Baozhilin is making money, but Feihong Pharmaceutical, which develops Western medicine, is still burning money, having invested more than 10 yuan last year.

Chen Tianheng called back and offered a few simple "guidance." Just be aware of the donation; Chen Tianheng wouldn't care. It was a small sum, anyway. Feihong Pharmaceutical had been prepared to continue spending money for 27 years, even more. If you needed to purchase any equipment, don't hesitate.

The US investment boom ended with the stock market crash of 1929, which is also a good reminder. This reminder is the "small prophecy" of Chen Tianheng mentioned above, about business.

As for the great prophecy...

On the table in front of Chen Tianheng was also today's morning newspaper: "The Communist International announced that Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, was dismissed from his post."

The newspapers in Hong Kong won’t be late either. Chen Ying will be able to see the news in the newspapers tomorrow at the latest.

aa

Huangpu River Wharf.

After seeing today's morning paper, Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu immediately turned around and returned home, forgetting to return their boat tickets.

"The newspapers have reported this, which means the Communist International's decision was not made today or yesterday, but at least the day before yesterday," Li Dazhao said. "Why didn't they inform us?

Chen Duxiu: "They must have only notified the Guangdong District Committee, and perhaps the Hubei District Committee as well. But we, the International Committee, didn't notify them. Chen Yannian, did you also keep the news from your father?"

Li Dazhao: "That's not necessarily true. Don't blame Chen Yannian too much. He may have to abide by international discipline, unless..."

Chen Duxiu: "Unless we insist on continuing the Shanghai party organization.

Li Dazhao: “That’s what I was thinking.

Chen Duxiu: "The Party must convene a special meeting of the Central Committee members of the Fourth National Congress and convene the Fifth National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Li Dazhao: "This is necessary. However, after our meeting notice is sent out, how many committee members will attend? If the Fifth National Congress is held, how many representatives can the national party organizations elect?

Chen Duxiu: "In July 1921, thirteen of us met at Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing to announce the founding of the Party. These thirteen people represented more than fifty Party members nationwide. Haven't we made it this far? The current situation is certainly not worse than it was in 1921."

French Concession.

"Comrade Duxiu, I'm afraid we...will still have to obey the instructions of the Communist International.

Chen Duxiu expressed his thoughts to the Central Committee members who were still in Shanghai, and Xiang Ying was the first to express his disagreement.

“The Communist International is a party alliance composed of communist parties from all over the world. Withdrawing from this alliance means that the party is no longer a communist party.

Chen Duxiu: "Is this an alliance? Is the Communist International an alliance? No, if it is a revolutionary alliance composed of Communist parties in various countries, then the various parties under the alliance should be independent and autonomous. It is not that the Communist International has the right to directly designate the leader of a country's Communist Party. This should be democratically elected by the members of the Communist Parties of various countries! Since the Communist International is not an alliance, but an institution, an organization with clear superiors and subordinates, then our withdrawal from the Communist International does not mean that we are no longer a communist party. We are just withdrawing from this international organization.

Xiang Ying: "Even so, the Communist International includes the Communist and Workers' Parties of more than a dozen countries. It has the strongest revolutionary force and the richest revolutionary experience. If we break away from it, how can we carry out our work in the future?"

Chen Duxiu: "After a while, some comrades will be notified to gather here. They will know how to carry out their work in the future. Their methods of carrying out their work may be different from those of the Communist International.

"Secretary Duxiu.

Peng Shuzhi was an alternate executive member (Central Committee member) of the Fourth National Congress and had just arrived in Shanghai today. He learned the news when he arrived in Shanghai and therefore advised Chen Duxiu:

"Comrade Secretary, we left the Communist International, but the Communist International did not leave China."

Chen Duxiu: "I know that when the Communist International dismissed me from my post, they must have appointed a new General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, perhaps Chen Yannian.

Peng Shuzhi: "If you insist on holding the Fifth Congress, then there will be two Communist Parties in China. Moreover, the Communist International's Communist Party will control all resources, including funds, weapons and ammunition for the National Revolutionary Army's Northern Expedition."