In June 1936, Edgar Snow conducted a four-month interview in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.
During this trip, Snow not only came into contact with the lives of ordinary Red Army and people in the border areas, but also interviewed a large number of CPC leaders and Red Army generals such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Peng Dehuai. After returning to Beiping, he wrote several reports on the experience of northern Shaanxi for The British and French newspapers, and published them together as "The Red Star Shines on China", which reported in detail to the world the real situation of the CCP and the Red Army.
When Snow came to Yan'an for an interview, Marshal Zhu De commanded the battle on the front line, so Snow had never met Marshal Zhu De, but he still portrayed the image of Marshal Zhu De as approachable, simple and democratic. Snow writes: "His loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party is well known ... He enjoyed walking around the barracks, sitting with the soldiers, telling stories, training with them... Any soldier could tell the commander-in-chief all the real thing directly, and during the Long March he lent his horse to his tired brother and walked a long way without showing any tiredness.
Everyone spoke highly of Mr. Zhu Delao's leadership and personal character: "His army endured the siege and invasion of the entire harsh winter in the ice and snow of Tibet. There is no other food other than yak, but they can still stick to it, all thanks to the leader's personal charisma and the rare spirit of inspiring subordinates to be loyal and sacrifice for the cause. ”
Nime Wells was Snow's wife and aide, and she was also a brilliant journalist. In May 1937, overcoming many difficulties, he visited the revolutionary base area in northern Shaanxi again after her husband and met Mr. Zhu Delao himself. After seeing Mr. Judd in person, she found that he himself was the complete opposite of this photo. He was steady and easy-going, especially his humility. As for the appearance of Old Mr. Zhu De, she described it this way: "General Zhu's body is not high, very strong and burly. The most conspicuous thing is that the transparent brown eyes seem to contain infinite maturity and stability... General Zhu, in his fifties, has gray hair. The veteran spent at least half of his time in actual combat. The deep wrinkles on his face seem to portray the tragic history of all the battles in China. His eyes were always full of sadness and seriousness, but when he smiled, his face rekindled with a look of great happiness. ”
Wells had this impression: "In his heart, he was a rare figure in China, a humanitarian; he was such a warrior that he believed that war was not a merit, but a means to end suffering." It is even rarer in China. There is no doubt that he was a generous and affectionate man.
On 20 May 1937, Marshal Judd presented Wells with an autobiography that briefly reviewed his half-life experience and answered some of Wells's questions about personal questions. He replied to his question about his family property: "It is not true that I have tens of millions of riches. Although I have some property in Yunnan, it is not much, and my wife has a little. When I was forced to leave Yunnan in 1921, Tang Jiyao had already confiscated my property. ”
Marshal Judd said: "He was very envious of two Germans, Paul. Feng. Hindenburg and Albert. Kasselring. But he also believed that "Napoleon was a very good general among the old generals." In the recent history of France, "the success of the peasant volunteers in the French Revolution greatly inspired me." I know that Chinese farmers will one day fight for freedom and independence. ”
Mr. Zhu Delao is the leader of the masses, the commander-in-chief of China, not an authority. His nature and habits were democratic.
Regarding mr. Zhu De's influence on the Red Army, Wells commented: "The Red Army is a very young new army in the context of ancient Chinese history that can move towards the future. General Zhu De is the embodiment of perseverance and the bridge between old and new history. ”
This appraisal not only combined with the life of Mr. Zhu Delao, but also affirmed Mr. Zhu Lao's status as the "spiritual leader" of the Red Army.
Author: Xiao Wei
Source: China Organization Personnel News Synthesis