【Study and Education of Party History in Tongbai County Industrial Agglomeration Area】The 5th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army grew from an uprising unit to a red brigade

Wu Dianqing

　　On the day of the Ningdu Uprising of the Kuomintang 26th Route Army, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission decided to award the rebel troops the title of "5th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army". Mao Zedong and Zhu De, in the name of chairman of the Chinese Soviet Republic and chairman of the Revolutionary Military Commission of the Chinese Soviet Republic, respectively, issued a letter of appointment, appointing Ji Zhentong as the commander-in-chief of the 5th Army, Dong Zhentang as deputy commander-in-chief and commander of the 13th Army, Zhao Bosheng as chief of staff of the corps and commander of the 14th Army, and Huang Zhongyue as commander of the 15th Army. At the same time, Wang Jiaxiang, director of the General Political Department, and Liu Bojian, secretary general of the Central Military Commission, were sent to Shicheng, the new assembly area of the 26th Route Army, to meet and resettle the troops. In the following days, the Central Bureau of the Soviet Union and the Central Revolutionary Military Commission held successive meetings to study the integration of the insurrectionary forces.

　　With regard to the principle of reorganization, everyone was completely unanimous in their views: Act in accordance with the spirit of the resolution of the Ninth Congress of the Party of the Fourth Red Army (the resolution of the Gutian Conference), establish the leadership of the Party, and strengthen political and ideological work. Accordingly, it was decided to transfer Liu Bojian, who had worked in the Northwest Army during the Period of the Great Revolution, to the 5th Army as the director of the Political Department, and to report in advance to make preparations for reorganization. At the same time, some cadres who had experience in reforming the old army and who had studied abroad were selected from the schools and units of the Red Army, such as Zuo Quan, Song Renqian, Zhu Liangcai, Cheng Zihua, Zhu Rui, Tang Tianji, Lai Chuanzhu, and so on to work in the 5th Army. However, who will be the political commissar of the 5th Army and will comprehensively lead the reorganization of the rebel forces, everyone will discuss and discuss, and it will not be decided for a while.

　　The main reason for this is that everyone knows that a large part of the upper officers of the 26th Route Army are graduates of the Baoding and NorthwestErn Officers' Schools, and some of them also studied in Japan. The political commissar of the 5th Army must be a man who is not only capable, but also qualified and educated. At the meeting, it was proposed that Xiao Jinguang, who had stayed in the Soviet Union twice and was a representative of the Northern Expeditionary Army during the Great Revolution, should be appointed. Li Fuchun, secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee, solicited the opinions of Mao Zedong, then chairman of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic and in charge of guiding the construction of the 5th Army. Mao Zedong made it clear that this matter was of great importance and that Xiao Jinguang should be sent.

　　On the 18th, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission appointed Xiao Jinguang as the political commissar of the 5th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Xiao Jinguang was well aware of the heavy responsibility, and after taking office, he exchanged ideas with Ji Zhentong, Dong Zhentang and other army leaders overnight, and then organized everyone to study the resolutions of the Gutian Conference and study the reorganization plan. On the 22nd, the reorganization work was carried out in an all-round way. First of all, all the leading cadres selected by the Central Military Commission at and above the regimental level were in place; after Xiao Jinguang took office, he transferred some grass-roots cadres from the troops and successively assigned them to various units of the 5th Army to serve as political work cadres at all levels. After the political work cadres transferred to the 5th Army took up their posts, they carried out their work in an orderly manner in accordance with the political work policy of unity, education, and transformation determined by the party committee of the corps. After careful investigation, the party organization promptly developed some officers and soldiers who were ideologically progressive, had a firm political stance, and who had outstanding performance in the uprising. With the party organization as the core, the ideological and emotional feelings of the officers and men who are united and progressive, the middle, and the influence of the backward have gradually stabilized. Second, soldiers' committees should be set up in units below the company level to allow soldiers to study and decide on their own affairs; all companies should set up economic committees to practice economic democracy and regularly publish accounts; the system of corporal punishment and beating and cursing of soldiers by officers should be completely abolished, and equality between officers and soldiers should be practiced; and the ideological style of the old army, such as plundering the property of the masses and oppressing the common people, should be resolutely corrected. In the process of transformation, party organizations at all levels of the corps have always adhered to the principle of unity, education, and transformation, based themselves on the overall situation of unity, fully respected and trusted the original leaders of the troops, safeguarded their prestige in the troops, and attached great importance to showing concern for the personal lives of officers and men. Third, the Political Department of the Corps organized political training courses to educate officers at and above the regimental level on the nature, purpose, discipline and laws of the Red Army, as well as on the basic theory of communism. In order to enhance the educational effect and deepen the understanding of the Red Army among officers and men, the troops took turns to visit and study the party and government organs, the Red Army schools, and the garrisons of the troops in the Central Soviet Region, so that everyone could personally observe the work and life of the officers and men of the Red Army. During this period, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and others came forward many times to receive them and briefed the officers and men of the uprising on the situation.

　　Through more than a month of education and training, the troops not only have a stable mind, but also have a marked change in their mental outlook. During this period, some of the insurrectionary officers received letters from Kuomintang agents, and some agents also mixed into the troops to do counter-rebellion work. Officers and men were not tempted by fame and fortune, and most of them took the initiative to hand over the counter-letter and report the rebels. Nie Rongzhen, then deputy director of the General Political Department, who went to the 5th Army to guide and inspect the reorganization work, said with satisfaction, "The Red 5Th Army has begun to 'red'!" ”

　　The integration process has not been smooth sailing. At the end of January 1932, a deputy company commander of the 14th Army, under the spell of rumors, took advantage of the fact that he was not prepared to kill the political work cadres in the company and ran away overnight; some battalion and regiment cadres, and even the leaders of individual divisions also talked in groups of three or five about leaving the army. This was something that the Red Army had not encountered before, and Xiao Jinguang immediately went to Ruijin, 30 miles away, to ask for a solution. After explaining the situation, some leaders said that the cadres who took the lead in making trouble should be controlled first, and some proposed to immediately dispatch troops to solve the problem by force. Mao Zedong clearly instructed that in any case, it could not be resolved by force, and things would be worse. We can only use the method of "peeling bamboo shoots" to treat people with different ideas differently; we cannot "cut leeks" and "one size fits all" without distinction.

　　Xiao Jinguang was suddenly enlightened when he heard this, and after he returned, he conveyed it to the leader of the legion as it was. Ji Zhentong announced to the officers and men who made trouble: The Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao have been instructed that the uprising is voluntary and that everyone should stay free. If you want to go, you can go now and pay you for the trip.

　　As a result, most of the people who made a fuss did not leave, and a few left, and after leaving the team, they could not find a way out, and after a period of time, they automatically returned to the unit. The regimental organs fulfilled their promises and warmly held a welcome meeting to welcome them back to the army. After the storm subsided, the corps further strengthened its ideological and political work, recruited a number of comrades who had performed prominently in the "storm" into the party, and selected some officers to study in the Red Army schools. Soon, the original division and regimental structure was broken, and several large units of officers and men were mixed within the scope of the regiment, so that the units of the 5th Army were more united and stable, and military and political training was carried out in an orderly manner.

　　In recognition of the leaders of the Ningdu Uprising, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, in accordance with the decision of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic, awarded comrades Dong Zhentang and Zhao Bosheng the Red Banner medal of the highest honor formulated by the All-Soviet Congress on December 4, 1932.

　　Subsequently, the 5th Army made many achievements in the Battle of Ganzhou, the Battle of Nanxiong Shuikou, the Fourth and Fifth Anti-"Encirclement and Suppression" Battles, and strategic transfers. Zhao Bosheng and Dong Zhentang sacrificed their precious lives for the revolution; Ji Pengfei, Li Da, Huang Zhen, Wang Youping, Yuan Hancheng, Su Jin, and Sun Yi grew into founding generals and made immortal contributions to the independence and liberation of the Chinese nation.