1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

"A woman? From what you said, she seems pretty powerful."

"Secretary Zhang, don't underestimate this woman...this Agent Matt. She's truly formidable."

A cadre from the Red Fourth Front Army who attended the "Anti-Corruption Conference" that day said seriously:

"Apart from anything else, her marksmanship is absolutely the best I've ever seen! I heard she's even fought dozens of people and won every time!"

"oh.."

The man didn't care about his subordinate's "bragging" and turned to ask others:

"Boss Xu, what do you think? Is this... Agent Matt really someone sent from the Shanghai Central Committee?"

"I.."

Just as they were about to say something, the man turned his head away and smiled nonchalantly at his subordinates:

"Alright! Since you've praised this person so highly, I'm going to go meet her and see who this woman belongs to!"

With that, he cracked his whip and rode off on his white horse. The guards followed, leaving the remaining few with wry smiles, secretly dissatisfied but helpless. "Zhang Guotao wants to see me?"

UMP45, who was currently instructing Xu Teli and others on how to write simplified Chinese characters and helping He Shuheng and others compile the Criminal Code, was slightly surprised when he heard Wu Hao's words. "Why would he want to see me? I've never met him before."

"It should be..."

Wu Hao lowered his voice slightly: "It should be someone who has participated in the conference before..."

"Oh...I see. Okay, I'll go see him then."

UMP45 readily agreed, but Wu Hao worriedly warned:

"Comrade Shiwu, I must tell you in advance that Comrade Zhang Guotao's character..." "I know, he's rude, overbearing, and patriarchal!"

Seeing that UMP45 had accurately described Zhang Guotao's personality traits, Wu Hao knew that the World Revolutionary Party's investigation into the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area was probably quite thorough, so he kept silent. Honestly, given his personality, he was so "unreserved" to offer a reminder, which was truly an expression of gratitude for UMP45 personally assisting his wife, Deng Yingchao, with her surgery. How could the World Revolutionary Party, so powerful as it was, not even understand Zhang Guotao?

However, just after a few seconds of relaxation, UMP45's next words made Wu Hao's heart tighten again:

"By the way, it's the same as the last time we asked about the soldier who made the mistake. Please gather all the committee members and representatives of the Red Fourth Front Army." "Comrade Ma Shiwu, what are you doing..."

"Well, there are some things I would like to ask Comrade Zhang Guotao."

"

".….."

Wu Hao knew something might be amiss. While instructing all committee members to notify him, he also secretly sent word to the relevant comrades in the National Political Security Bureau and the Guards Corps. Soon, surrounded by leading Party, government, and military officials and representatives from the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area and the Fourth Red Army, Zhang Guotao entered the designated open-air venue. His "star-studded" demeanor made him look less like a leader of a local Soviet area and more like the Secretary of the Central Political Bureau and the Chairman of the Central Government, perhaps even... Upon entering, he burst into laughter and exclaimed:

"Hahahahahaha... the comrades are all here!"

This behavior made many people in the Central Soviet Area frown.

The Shanghai Central Committee once issued a document stating that "the Soviet Area Central Bureau represented the Central Committee in the management and guidance of the Soviet Areas throughout the country, and had jurisdiction over the Jiangxi Provincial Committee, the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi Provincial Committee, the Southeast Hunan Provincial Committee, the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Provincial Committee, and the Northeast Jiangxi Provincial Committee." This document and various requirements show that even if the Soviet Area Central Bureau was not the "superior department" of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area, it was still of a higher rank than it.

Zhang Guotao acted like the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area where he was located was the superior of the Soviet Central Bureau!

Of course, even so, there is nothing anyone can say.

This man began participating in the revolution around 1919, was a delegate to the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China and a member of the Central Bureau. He even served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee last January, and was also a member of the Central Executive Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission. With such high qualifications, who among you here, besides Li Desheng, is qualified to speak out against him?

After entering, he ignored the group of leaders sitting in the front row, greeted this acquaintance, and chatted and laughed with that friend, showing no sense of discipline at all. At this moment, many people even felt that compared to this person, the always "arrogant" Li Desheng seemed not so annoying.

"Haha, Comrade Guo Tao is here? Please take a seat."

Wu Hao, Secretary of the Soviet Central Bureau, welcomed him calmly, seemingly unfazed by the fact his authority had been taken away. He then introduced UMP45 beside him: "Comrade Guo Tao, come here, let me introduce you. This is..."

"Comrade Ma Shiwu, right?"

Before Wu Hao finished his introduction, Zhang Guotao stepped forward and extended his hand:

"Hello, hello. I heard your name when I first came here. Seeing you today, I can see that you are indeed worthy of your reputation!" "Haha, hello, hello."

UMP45 reached out her hand and shook it calmly, but then a cold glint flashed in her eyes.

Apart from herself, few noticed the lustful look in Zhang Guotao's eyes when he looked at her, nor the subtle caresses and tickles he gave her during their handshake. It seems the rumor that "Zhang Guotao was still playing with young women from the art troupe while the war was imminent" was likely true.

Fortunately, at this moment, Zhang Guotao had more important "business" to attend to, so he temporarily "let go" of Ma Shiwu, sat down, and said to everyone:

"When will the meeting be held? Let's quickly elect a new Central Committee and then find a way to get the Communist International's approval! Otherwise, let the Communist International elect a new Central Committee for us."

There’s still a battle to be fought!”

To be honest, Zhang Guotao was very dissatisfied with the Soviet Central Bureau's request to hold the National Party Congress and the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee.

In his opinion, this was totally unnecessary.

Since the Central Committee (Shanghai) is finished, shouldn't he, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee (whose removal wasn't even formally announced), naturally be on the new Politburo? He might still have a shot at the position of General Secretary, but a position like Bo Gu's "Overall Director" should be easily attainable, right?

Zhang Guotao was very confident about this.

Not only does he have a lot of experience, but he's also a "Soviet-educated" person!

With all the members of the CPC Central Committee in Shanghai already dead, if Wang Ming didn't come back, who else could come to power besides him?

The statement “There is still a battle to be fought” is not false.

The Red Fourth Front Army had just won a great victory in the "Shanghuang Campaign" and was preparing to make a final push, planning to attack western Anhui this month. Suddenly, they were forced to suspend their plans due to a meeting notice, which made everyone unhappy. But there was no other way. Considering that the Shanghai Central Committee was gone, all the Soviet areas really needed a new Central Committee to command the overall activities. Therefore, Zhang Guotao came here reluctantly and at the risk of his life.

"..."

These words made the people present in the Central Soviet Area even more dissatisfied. Even Ren Bishi and others who studied in the Soviet Union were very unhappy with Zhang Guotao.

Putting aside the talk of "Let the Communist International choose a Central Committee," what's with this attitude of "I've already been designated General Secretary, so hurry up and vote for me"? Wu Hao remained expressionless and smiled.

"Zhang Wentian, Chen Yun and a few other comrades have not yet arrived in Ruijin..." Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted again:

"Wait! Zhang Wentian? Chen Yun? Weren't they arrested?" "Uh..."

In October of the previous year, Song Kanfu and others who graduated from the Central Radio School of the Soviet Area rushed to the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area to open a radio training class. They had just established a radio station for the Red Fourth Front Army and the base area. Therefore, the Red Fourth Front Army in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area could not directly contact Shanghai like the Central Soviet Area, and Zhang Guotao's news was a little behind.

(Note: The Red Fourth Army's first radio station wasn't completed until February 1932, and it wasn't until May that they established their first contact with the Jiangxi Central Soviet Area, the Hunan-Hubei-West Hubei Soviet Area, and the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet Area—they couldn't directly contact Shanghai.)

"Uh... then he was released again."

Knowing that his explanation was unclear and difficult, Wu Hao decisively gave up his position: "Let the comrades of the World Revolutionary Party explain it to you!"

World Revolutionary Party?

UMP45 stood up with a smile:

"Hello, Comrade Zhang Guotao, I am Ma Shiwu, a member of the World Communist Revolutionary Party."

123 The Cruelty of the Anti-Counterrevolutionary Campaign in Hubei, Henan, and Anhui Provinces? Don’t Laugh at the Black Pigs

This "Special Agent Matt" is indeed not from the Shanghai Central Committee.

Zhang Guotao was not surprised by this news.

He still doesn't know who the people in the Shanghai Central Committee are?

If there was a beauty like Ma Shiwu, she would have been famous long ago. Why would she have waited until today? But what is this "World Communist Revolutionary Party"?

Wait, could this be something like the "Social Democratic Party"? If that's the case, that would be great!

This group of people in the Central Soviet Area have made such a big mistake. Isn't this a good opportunity for me? Thinking of this, Zhang Guotao's face suddenly darkened and he asked:

"Who are you?"

"I've already said it, world communism..."

"I don't care about your world or communism. I just want to ask who you are! Who are your leaders? Where are you active? What is your purpose?" "I can't tell you this for now, but our current identity is just a party that supports your CCP revolution." "Support... us?"

"Yes."

Zhang Guotao was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed out loud, pointing to the sky and accusing Wu Hao and others from the Jiangxi Central Soviet Area:

"Who allowed you to accept assistance from other unknown parties without the approval of the Communist International? You are betraying the Communist International! You are betraying the great Soviet Union!"

".…."

Wu Hao remained silent. Li Desheng wanted to speak, but noticing the faint smile on Ma Shiwu's face, he fell silent as well. Seeing them both silent, General Zhu remained even more silent. Consequently, none of the people from the Central Soviet Area spoke, simply watching in silence.

People with "experience" are always calmer than those without "experience".

They saw that UMP45 was well prepared.

Although Zhang Guotao seemed to enjoy putting accusations on others, in fact, this behavior exposed his passivity, anxiety and embarrassment.

Zhang Guotao, a member of the Central Executive Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, only learned about the huge matter of accepting aid from the World Revolutionary Party after arriving in Ruijin! How can I put this into context?

If only he hadn't been so arrogant;

If only his relationship with other people was a little better;

If the first thing he did after arriving in Ruijin was not to plan to seize power, but to communicate more with other people... he would not have fallen into such a passive situation.

Two minutes later, looking at Zhang Guotao, who had just finished speaking and was beginning to rehydrate, UMP45 asked leisurely, "Are you done? Now that you've finished, can I talk?"

Now, Zhang Guotao realized something was wrong.

So cool.

Whether they were from the Jiangxi Soviet Area (in his eyes, the Central Soviet Area could only be called the "Jiangxi Soviet Area") or members of this so-called "World Revolutionary Party".

Haha... Could this be a "Hongmen Banquet"?

Zhang Guotao had just started to have this worry in his mind, but when he thought of the successive victories he had led the Red Fourth Front Army to and his "huge reputation" within the party, he put this worry aside and snorted coldly: "Okay! You say, I'd like to see, your world communism..."

"Well, originally, I was planning to commend you for your contribution to rectifying the Red Army's military discipline in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area..."

".."

Hearing this, Zhang Guotao raised his chin proudly.

Just like the problems of the Red Army in the Central Soviet Area, the Red Fourth Front Army also had problems with military discipline... No, it should be said that the problems with discipline were much greater. "They were always wearing Red Army badges and showing off their military power everywhere";

"The division chief of staff was smoking opium in his office";

"A member of the Division Committee seduced and raped a woman";

"Officers can do whatever they want with impunity, while soldiers must be severely punished for even the slightest mistake"; "Senior officers demand beautiful women from local authorities as support supplies."...

These are all issues that can be verified, and there are even more that cannot be verified.

In the words of Guo Shuxun, "the lack of discipline and bandit-like behavior of our army (the Red Fourth Front Army) left a deep and bad impression on the general public."

To be fair, impartial and realistic, the repeated large-scale purges and rectifications (even if motivated by selfish motives) initiated by Zhang Guotao after he went to Hubei, Henan and Anhui did change this phenomenon to a certain extent.

Of course, to claim that this change was "subversive," as Zhang Guotao himself wrote in his memoirs, is pure bragging. Because, when Li Zuokui summarized the lessons learned from the subsequent failure of the Western Route Army, he once again mentioned the Red Fourth Front Army's military discipline problems: "...discipline with the masses was very poor. Wherever they passed, they looted all the pigs, sheep, and food. The masses dared to be angry but dared not speak out. They even resorted to burning and killing people."

"Outside the north gate of Yongchang City, all the houses were burned down, and many were also burned near the big village. In the end, the Lama Temple in Kanglong Temple was also burned down, and the rest was as good as it could be..." Indeed, the only difference between the Red Fourth Front Army during this period and the Japanese Army's "Three Alls" policy may be that they "did not kill everyone";

As for the officers and soldiers of the Red Fourth Front Army, they were arrogant and domineering (especially after a series of victories), looking down on others and even bullying other CCP troops. For example, in order to allow their own troops to cross the river, they would set up machine guns to intimidate other friendly troops, and only allow other troops to cross the bridge after all their own troops had crossed.

For example, in order to rest themselves, they arbitrarily drove out other troops who had already lived in civilian houses and made them camp in the wild in the middle of the night;

By the way, the leader of this team that was driven out was named Chen Kui.

(Li Yunlong: Brigade Commander, you have come to this day?)

If we use more precise language to describe the changes before and after the Red Fourth Front Army, it would be that it "changed from a united bandit group" to a "semi-bandit group where Zhang Guotao's words were law." To understand how big the change was in essence, I can only laugh.

But Zhang Guotao didn't think so. He even said cheerfully:

"Haha, it seems you guys are somewhat aware of my contributions!"

"Of course, I know quite a bit."

UMP45 tilted her head, half-smiling.

"For example, from September to November last year, you ordered Dai Jiying and others to kill Xiao Fang, Xu Jishen, Fang Ying, Pan Guifo, Xiong Shouxuan, Zhou Weijiong... thousands of people in Baique Garden, right?" "What!?"

Before Zhang Guotao could answer, Li Desheng, General Zhu and others jumped up first.

Let's not talk about the thousands of people, at least the dozen or so names mentioned above are almost all outstanding officers sent by the Soviet Central Committee or founders of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area!! All... all dead?? ! !

Li Desheng immediately became furious:

"Zhang Guotao! Who gave you the power to kill people at will?"

".….."

Zhang Guotao's face turned dark and he did not answer for a moment.

He secretly presided over this massive purge, and afterward demanded that all participants keep their mouths shut. How could anyone in the Central Soviet Area or even the "World Revolutionary Party" know about it? Apparently, the purge wasn't complete...

However, Zhang Guotao didn't care much about this being known to others, and said coldly:

"So what? It's all..."