1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

"It's me, Comrade Xu Shiyou. I'm Ulanhu. You can also call me Yunze by my Chinese name. I'm here by order of Comrade Li Desheng, Chairman of the Military Commission of the Red Army's Northward Anti-Japanese Corps, to serve as the political commissar of the Inner Mongolia Cavalry Division."

Ulanfu stepped forward, shook hands with Xu Shiyou, and used this opportunity to help the soldiers escape. He then handed over his credentials and exchanged a few simple greetings. Without introducing himself, he asked directly:

"What are you doing?"

"us.."

After finding out the reason, Ulanhu realized that he had misunderstood Xu Shiyou, but he was also at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

It turned out that after yesterday's incident, Xu Shiyou's new cavalry division had dozens of deserters and an almost equal number of soldiers maliciously destroying their newly issued uniforms!

When Xu Shiyou received this news in the morning, he was stunned at first. He thought he was back in the Special Forces training, and that he had misheard Instructor Ma throwing firecrackers into the barracks at night. Then he flew into a rage:

No, you have shit in your head? Did you feed all the food yesterday to the dogs? Did I kill your father or fuck your mother?

I just went through all the trouble to give you guys a bath, change your clothes, and feed you yesterday, and today... no, last night, this is how you repay us?!

Xu Shiyou couldn't figure out what these taciturn people were thinking, but Ulanhu, who was born into a Mongolian family and grew up in a tribe, had a vague understanding of something.

After greeting Xu Shiyou, Ulanhu walked up to the captured deserter, asked him questions in fluent Mongolian for a while, and quickly found out the reason.

"What? They feel they can't repay our kindness, so they're running away?"

After learning the answer, Xu Shiyou and a group of CCP cadres were even more confused. What was the logic behind this?

Are these guys just talking nonsense to fool us? Ulanfu sighed:

"It's true. Because you gave them too much and didn't explain clearly what you wanted them to do, they thought about it all night and felt that it could only be you asking them to do something that would go against Changshengtian. They were terrified;"

"But they didn't dare to resist or hurt you. The only thing they could think of was to run away, as far away as possible, so that you wouldn't be able to see these lowly creatures and pollute your eyes. That way, they could repay the kindness of the meal."

After being stunned by this strange logic for a moment, Xu Shiyou asked again, "What about destroying clothes?"

"I think it's for similar reasons. They probably thought that if they ruined such precious clothes, you would be furious and kill them. By killing them, the favor of the meal would be repaid."

Later I asked and found out that it was true.

To be honest, Xu Shiyou couldn't figure out this logic that normal people couldn't understand, but at least he understood one thing:

Working in ethnic minority areas is indeed difficult. Without careful research and cooperation from local cadres, it is easy to fall into traps.

Just like what the instructor said, we can't be too hasty...

Xu Shiyou waved his hand, had the deserter taken away first, and then took the initiative to shake Ulanhu's hand:

"Comrade Political Commissar, we're so glad to finally have you here. We were waiting for you to come and help with the ideological and political work of the comrades in the Cavalry Division! If you had come yesterday, we wouldn't have made this mistake."

"Comrade Division Commander and all the other comrades are so polite. In my opinion, you have done a very good job in political work. There is not much that I need to improve."

Ulanfu said sincerely and modestly in northern Chinese:

"As long as you comrades stay in Inner Mongolia for a while longer and understand the living conditions of the people here, such small mistakes will surely not happen again."

After a few words, the unfamiliarity between the two sides disappeared and everyone introduced themselves to each other.

Xu Shiyou goes without saying. Ulanhu, now 26, was introduced to Li Dazhao and communism in 1923 and joined the Communist Youth League. Two years later, he joined the Communist Party of China and went to Moscow Sun Yat-sen University in the same year for further studies.

By the way, during his study in the Soviet Union, he met many people, including Wu Hao, Wu Xiuquan, etc., and together with Deng Xixian and Fu Zhong, he persuaded a roommate who often stole snacks from Ulanhu's hometown to join the party.

Well, this roommate is Chinese, his Russian name is Nikolay, and his father is just the chairman of the Kuomintang Military Commission.

Four years later, Ulanhu returned to China and worked in the Ximeng region, organizing and mobilizing troops. He also infiltrated the ranks of the Mongolian princes, including Prince De. However, he lost contact with the Party Central Committee after Wang Ruofei, a special commissioner of the Northwest Special Committee, was arrested.

This time, after learning that Li Desheng led his troops north, defeated Jing Yuexiu and occupied Yulin, he quickly contacted Wang Ruofei who had just been rescued, and then he was sent here because he was proficient in Mongolian, Chinese and Russian.

Everyone had a mission to accomplish, so without further ado, they immediately got to the point:

"Comrade Political Commissar, what do you think? Should we start educating the soldiers right away?"

"You mean the grievance meeting?" Ulanfu shook his head.

"I think it's best not to. I've systematically reviewed the experience summary shared by the Party Central Committee. It's an extremely ingenious approach, but I don't think it's suitable here for now, at least not for this group of people."

"why?"

"Let's not even talk about whether this will lead to a violent conflict with the Mongolian princes and nobles with whom we've just established good relations. At this grievance meeting, the common people must first know, or at least vaguely realize, that they are suffering."

Ulanfu pointed at the soldiers in the distance who appeared to be cleaner and tidier on the surface, but whose expressions and eyes were still numb:

"But if they don't even know they are human, how can you let them know what suffering is?"

This statement caused another silence.

Most people here are from Hubei and Anhui. I thought I had it hard enough, but I didn't expect...

Later, some of these people went to Tibet and found out that the people there lived even harder than the Mongolian people.

"So what do you think we should do?"

"Let's put traditional political work aside for now and tell the soldiers that we provide them with good food, clothing, and water in order to build a strong army, so they must obey our orders completely."

"First, we'll get to know them, gain their trust, and make them understand that they're human beings just like us. Then, we'll slowly teach them the principles of life and the problems of this world..."

After calling together the political and military cadres for discussion, Xu Shiyou adopted the suggestion put forward by Ulanhu.

Sure enough, after severely punishing the soldiers who made mistakes (locking them up in a small dark room for a day without food) and announcing the "real purpose" of the Red Army, the other soldiers were obviously much more relaxed.

Ulanhu and other cadres who knew Mongolian randomly talked to dozens of people, verified their initial guess, and officially determined the "operation method."

For the next two weeks, the Cavalry Division cadres did not mention anything about political and ideological work. They just ate and lived with the soldiers as before.

While teaching them basic life skills such as washing face, brushing teeth, cooking, and hygiene, as well as basic military skills such as left and right, standing at attention, standing in formation, and listening to orders;

At the same time, he asked them about things he didn't know or didn't understand well, such as riding horses, raising horses, finding his way on the grassland, hiding in shackles, and changing direction on horseback.

Gradually, some local soldiers began to change. At least under half-force and half-induction, they dared to stand up straight and look at the Red Army cadres.

Although I still dodge and evade from time to time, it is much better than kneeling down and burying my head in the ground as soon as I meet someone like I did in the beginning.

Because the soldiers discovered some problems that no one needed to know: Why do the officers eat and dress the same as us?

Why are the officers so kind and never hit us? Why do they ask our names? Why do they pat me on the shoulder and smile? Why are they not as good at riding horses as I am? Why do the officers also have things they don't know? Why do they even learn how to speak like us? Why do they cover me with a blanket when I sleep at night? Why...

As the news of the quarantined soldiers returning to their units and the recovery of the cholera-stricken soldiers they brought with them spread rapidly, more and more people held similar ideas.

When they were lying under the hooves of their masters, they could sense from their clothing, food, and daily interactions that they were different from their masters: the masters were noble, and they were lowly.

But now, surrounded by a group of people who were almost identical except for their appearance, body language, and other aspects, they gradually developed an idea that would have been considered rebellious and punishable by death in the past, but would still drive Xu Shiyou crazy if he knew about it:

Sirs, could it be that you were once slaves like us? Sirs, perhaps you also went from being slaves to becoming "sarcastically superiors"?

Because, there has always been a legend on the grasslands that as long as a slave is loyal to the Khan, fights hard, and accumulates enough merits, he or she may become a general!

Isn’t Mu Huali a typical example?!

Yes, this is the most daring idea these poor people have ever had in their lives. Anything more would be completely beyond their imagination.

Finally, after being injured during a training exercise and being bandaged by the "chief" himself, a soldier who knew a little northern Chinese asked tremblingly:

"Sir..."

"I've already told you that my last name is Wen. You have to call me company commander. We in the Red Army are not allowed to call each other sir."

"Company...Company Commander." "Hmm? Go ahead."

"Were you...a slave before?" "Hmm...hmm?"

After understanding the reason, Wen Yucheng was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "What slave? I...eh?"

etc?

This seems like an entry point for political and ideological work?

After chatting for a few minutes and learning from the soldiers that many soldiers in the Cavalry Division thought the same way, Wen Yucheng quickly reported the matter to the battalion commander Wang Jinshan, then to the regiment commander Chen Xilian, and finally to Xu Shiyou and Ulanhu.

"Fuck! Damn it! You still think that?"

Xu Shiyou was indeed mad, but Ulanhu nodded thoughtfully:

"Comrade Xiao Wen and the other young people have made good suggestions. Approaching this approach from this perspective may be a more effective solution."

"Hmm? You mean? Proclaiming that we were also born slaves?"

"Weren't we slaves before we knew about communism?"

After another round of discussion, he submitted this new propaganda method and his own comprehensive considerations to the Corps Headquarters, and received Li Desheng's approval:

"Lu Xun once said, 'There are only two eras in Chinese history: one in which slavery was secure, and one in which slavery was impossible... We are all slaves, and we must fight to overthrow this slave system!'"

Xu Wu and his men boldly began their action. First, they told all the soldiers:

That's right, it's just as you think. The entire Inner Mongolia Cavalry Division, from the division commander Xu Shiyou to the political commissar Ulanhu and the regimental commanders, battalion commanders, company commanders, and even Li Desheng, who was even higher up, were all of "slave" origin. The Red Army was a "slave corps"!

After this statement was spread, some politically insensitive cadres raised objections, but were severely criticized, and even verbal and physical conflicts broke out:

Why, the Red Army isn't an army of poor people?

Are the poor not slaves? Are the slaves not the poor?

You don't think you're superior to us just because you have a few bucks at home, do you?

Damn it!

That's not what I meant!

Not to mention the quarrels and fights that followed, in short, these words immediately boosted the morale of the entire cavalry division.

what!

I see, no wonder the officers are so kind to us! Because we are all slaves!

It turns out that we are all the same! A sense of familiarity suddenly came over me.

Soldiers who dared to speak a few more words to their "superiors" began to emerge one after another, because the first psychological barrier had been removed.

Since we are all slaves, no one is nobler than anyone else;

Since they were all slaves, it was normal for them to eat and wear the same things.

Since we are all slaves and the superior is kind, why should I be afraid?

As a result, the cadres smoothly and seamlessly switched from "slaves" to "poor people", and planted the seed of "I am a human being" in the soldiers' hearts.

With this problem solved, the soldiers naturally thought of the second level:

Since we are all slaves, why are they the commanders while I am just a soldier?

Since slaves can be leaders, can I be one? The answer is clear, no need to ask, you know, yes.

Otherwise, how did the officers rise from slaves to officers? So, we enter the third level:

What should I do to become a "commander" like a company commander, battalion commander, regiment commander, or division commander?

In the time of Genghis Khan, the only way was to "kill, kill, kill" like Mu Huali did;

But the soldiers of the cavalry division were told that if they wanted to become a "chief", there was only one way.

Try your best to liberate more slaves/poor people! Let all the poor people in the world no longer suffer! Let there be no slaves in this world! Liberation?

Suffering? World?

Obviously, these words, whether spoken in Chinese or Mongolian, were very difficult to understand for the former slaves who had just joined the Red Army.

But this group of people has a very good characteristic - if they don’t understand, they will just listen obediently.

Anyway, we should follow the advice of the superiors who were born as slaves like us but became superiors. It will definitely be the right thing to do!

Therefore, with the support of good nutrition and medical conditions, the training of the cavalry division soldiers became more diligent and meticulous, and they also kept in mind the military discipline requirements such as the "Three Disciplines and Eight Provisions".

With "predecessors" leading the way, they learn very quickly.

After further integration, the political cadres divided themselves and the soldiers into groups according to their language skills and began to engage in routine casual conversations.

However, unlike in the Central Plains, the cadres did not ask about the soldiers' family situations or what hardships they had suffered, because the situations were different.

No matter how miserable the peasants in the Central Plains were, they still had a "home" and knew that someone was bullying them. When pushed to the limit, they would even pick up a knife and kill the landlord's entire family.

But this group of people have no concept of "home" in their hearts at all, and they don't even know that they are suffering. Instead, they think that this is their due and obediently devote everything, even their lives, to the leaders above them.

Therefore, the cadres mainly talked about what they or their companions had experienced in the past, what they had encountered, how miserable they had been, and how good their lives were now, etc.

Then, the soldiers gradually discovered: Huh?

Why does it feel like, Commander... No, I can't call you Commander now, I have to call you Comrade... The things you're experiencing are so similar to what we're experiencing?

Being whipped? We got whipped too! Being insulted and beaten? We got whipped too!

Being spat on, forced to drink urine and eat feces? We've experienced that too!