After the Xi'an Incident, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party held consultations on the reorganization of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and the two sides held many important negotiations in Xi'an, Hangzhou, Lushan, Nanjing, and other places, but never made substantial progress.
The contradictions between the two sides were concentrated in the fact that the Communist Party of China proposed a plan for the reorganization of four armies and four commanders, while chiang kai-shek of the Kuomintang insisted on giving only three divisions to the establishment, and the difference between the two was very large, and the negotiation fell into a stalemate.
A few months later, the Japanese invaders advanced into North China, and for the sake of the country's overall anti-Japanese situation, the Communist Party of China could only agree to Chiang Kai-shek's idea, abolish the post of one military commander, change the other three military commanders into division commanders, and quickly send them to the front to participate in the war.
So, who is this removed commander? How did this negotiation come to an end?
Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army
The anti-Japanese front was initially formed
In 1931, when the "918 Incident" broke out, Japan invaded and occupied china's three northeastern provinces, plunging the Chinese nation into an important moment of life and death, and the national contradiction rose to the main contradiction in China.
At that time, however, Chiang Kai-shek disregarded the great national righteousness, set the national policy of "foreign countries must first be at home," and gave priority to carrying out encirclement and suppression operations against the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
In 1935, the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army lost the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" operation, tens of thousands of Red Army troops embarked on the road of the Long March, which lasted more than two years, and the soldiers of the Red Army crossed 14 provinces, 18 mountains, 24 major rivers, walked meadows, turned over snowy mountains, walked 25,000 miles, arrived at the revolutionary base area in northern Shaanxi, and met the victorious division of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi.
Long
At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek transferred the Northeast Army to Shaanxi and Gansu, and joined forces with Yang Hucheng of the Northwest Army to continue to launch encirclement and suppression operations against the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
After a period of fighting, General Zhang Xueliang, the leader of the Northeast Army, and General Yang Hucheng, the general of the Northwest Army, gradually understood our party's policy and persuaded Chiang Kai-shek to stop the civil war and unite with the Chinese Communists to resist Japan.
However, no matter how the two men persuaded, Chiang Kai-shek was unwilling to accept it, but instead reprimanded the two men for fearing the enemy and avoiding war, completely betraying the trust of the Nationalist Government.
Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng
In December of the same year, Chiang Kai-shek personally went to Xi'an to oversee the army and forced Zhang and Yang to launch the sixth "encirclement and suppression" operation, Zhang Xueliang objected to his face, and once again put forward a demand to stop the civil war and unanimously resist Japan.
Seeing that the hard persuasion was unsuccessful, the two generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng were also a little anxious, and after careful consultation, the two decided to launch a military advisory in the early morning of December 12 to force Chiang Kai-shek to unite with the Communists to resist Japan, which is the origin of the famous "Xi'an Incident".
After the incident, the Communist Party of China immediately expressed its support for the two generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, and sent Zhou Enlai and others to Xi'an to peacefully resolve the matter.
Chiang Kai-shek
Under the threat of death, Chiang Kai-shek no longer adhered to the policy of "foreign countries must first be at home", but instead accepted the six conditions of the CCP, promising to abandon the civil war and actively organize the United Communists to resist Japan.
On February 10, 1937, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China publicly called the National Government and put forward "five demands." That is, to stop the civil war and to unite with the outside world. Freedom of expression, assembly and editorial action is guaranteed, and all political prisoners are released. A meeting of representatives of various democratic parties was convened to concentrate the talented people of the whole country and jointly save the country. All preparations for the war against Japan were completed quickly. Improve people's living standards.
Five requirements, four guarantees
At the same time, if the Kuomintang is willing to make these five demands a national policy, the Chinese Communist Party has also put forward four guarantees. That is, to ensure the cessation of the overthrow of the National Government by force, the change of the name of the Workers' and Peasants' Government to the Government of the Republic of China special administrative regions, the renaming of the Red Army to the National Revolutionary Army, the implementation of a thorough democratic system in the special administrative regions, and the cessation of the policy of confiscating the land of the landlords.
The Nationalist Government also agreed to this, but when it came to specific troop reorganizations, the two sides still maintained a consultative attitude.
Red Army reorganization negotiations
The troops were reorganized and consulted many times
In mid-February, CPC deputies Zhou Enlai, Bogu, Ye Jianying, and others arrived in Xi'an to complete a meeting with Kuomintang deputies Gu Zhutong, Zhang Chong, and others, and opened the first contact between the two sides on the issue of the reorganization of the Red Army.
First of all, the CPC deputies proposed: "The Red Army should be managed as the First Route Army, and a general headquarters should be set up with two commanders-in-chief, Zhu De as the commander-in-chief and Peng Dehuai as the deputy commander-in-chief, and the subordinate units should be organized into four corps, twelve divisions, thirty-six brigades, and one hundred and eight regiments." ”
As for the commanders of the four armies, our party also proposed Lin Biao, He Long, Liu Bocheng, and Xu Xiangqian, all of whom are well-known meritorious generals of our army.
Lin Biao
Lin Biao once abandoned his pen and was admitted to the fourth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, followed the Party Central Committee to participate in the Nanchang Uprising, the Shonan Uprising, and the Battle of Jinggangshan, and after the end of the Long March, Lin Biao became the commander of the Red First Army and served as the president of the Chinese Anti-Japanese Red Army University.
He Long was the commander of the Twentieth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, in the Northern Expedition War, the faith was changed from the Three People's Principles to communism, after Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12" counter-revolutionary coup, He Long unswervingly sided with the Communist Party of China, led his troops to participate in the Nanchang Uprising, joined the Communist Party of China, and successively served as the commander of the Red Second Army and the commander-in-chief of the Red Second Front.
Liu Bocheng
Liu Bocheng was the first person of the Communist Party of China to be appointed as a commander in the National Revolutionary Army; he organized the Nanchang Uprising together with Zhou Enlai, He Long, Ye Ting, Zhu De, and others; he served for a long time as chief of staff of our Party's Committee of Former Enemies; he went to the Moscow Higher Infantry Academy and the Frunze Military Academy in the Soviet Union for further study; after returning to China, he served for a long time as chief of staff of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army; he commanded the troops to cross the Chishui River four times, enter Zunyi twice, and complete the Long March Division.
Xu Xiangqian successively served as the chief of staff of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the commander of the Red Fourth Front, opened up the revolutionary base areas in Sichuan and Shaanxi, and resisted the six-way encirclement and suppression operation of the Kuomintang's more than 200,000 troops.
Gu Zhutong
Whether judging from their personal qualifications or their command ability, these four people are all high-ranking command talents who are one of the best in the world, and the four military establishments of our party are also completely reasonable requirements.
However, Gu Zhutong, a representative of the Kuomintang, said: "According to Chairman Chiang Kai-shek's plan for the war of resistance, the Red Army can only be reorganized into two divisions, four brigades, and eight regiments at most; no army can be set up above the division, nor can it set up a command center; all operations are under the command of the central authorities, and the eight regiments have a total of fifteen thousand people. ”
After listening to these remarks, the deputies of our Party were completely stunned; judging from the above arrangements, it is obvious that the other side has no sincerity in negotiating and is completely a posture of forced acceptance to face our Party.
Zhou Enlai
Due to the huge differences in the two sides in terms of organization, the first day of negotiations could only be hastily concluded, and both sides said that they would pass the content of the negotiations to the leaders in the rear and modify the specific adaptation plan.
When the time came the next morning, Zhou Enlai said as soon as he came up: "The number of personnel proposed by your party yesterday is really too small, and the allocation of officers is completely unreasonable; we have already reported to Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and other leaders in Yan'an; for the sake of the overall situation of the anti-Japanese resistance, our side is willing to make concessions, changing the original four armies into four divisions, twelve brigades, and twenty-four regiments, totaling 70,000 people; the division commanders are still Lin Biao, He Long, Liu Bocheng, and Xu Xiangqian; there must be a general commander above the division, and officers at all levels must be selected by Yan'an." ”
Gu Zhutong
In this regard, Gu Zhutong responded: "Our side adheres to the original opinion, and can only give the establishment of two divisions, nor does it set up a general headquarters in a unified manner. ”
Hearing this, Zhou Enlai said angrily: "Does Chairman Jiang really think that we are sure to eat us, that we have regressed, and why are you not willing to give in at all?" ”
Gu Zhutong smiled bitterly: "Brother Enlai, unless we are unwilling to give in, this is all for the sake of the overall situation of the anti-Japanese resistance, I hope you can forgive, if you have to adhere to your plan, then we can only give up the reorganization of the Red Army." At this point, under the stalemate between the two sides, the next day's negotiations will not be concluded.
Chairman Mao
Afterwards, the CPC delegation once again reflected the matter to Chairman Mao in Yan'an, and Chairman Mao instructed: "We must not be too hasty in the negotiations, and we should not have too much hope for Chiang Kai-shek; the greater the hope, the more disappointment there will be, and the negotiations can be more flexible; as long as Chiang Kai-shek agrees to reorganize the Red Army and actively organize anti-Japanese matters, that will be our first victory." ”
At the same time, Zhou Enlai and others also held consultations, holding that the current situation is no longer the period of the Xi'an Incident, Chiang Kai-shek is not threatened by death, we cannot force him to accept our plan, as long as they agree to the reorganization, the specific establishment and strength of the issue, in the future we can completely find a way to develop, can not always dwell on this issue, prolong the change of time, will also affect the overall situation of the anti-Japanese resistance.
Chiang Kai-shek
Repeated changes, eventually into adaptation
On March 8, 1937, the Communist Party of China again chose to make concessions, the Kuomintang side also increased the size of a division, the two sides finally reached an agreement in negotiations, the Red Army was reorganized into three divisions, six brigades, twelve regiments plus an index of engineers, artillery, heavy troops, a total of more than 45,000 people, and summarized the negotiations into stripes, sent to Nanjing for Chiang Kai-shek's approval.
However, just as this agreement was about to be signed, Chiang Kai-shek once again changed his mind, renewing his demand for the Reorganization of the Red Army into two divisions, and that there be no general headquarters above the division, and that all officers should be rearranged in Nanjing.
Lushan talks
The CPC delegation also felt very helpless about Chiang Kai-shek's capriciousness. Zhou Enlai personally went to Hangzhou to negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek, and under the constant lobbying of the neutral understanding of the various parties, Chiang Kai-shek also made a compromise, promising that the Red Army should be reorganized into three divisions totaling 45,000 people, with a general headquarters above the division, and commanders at all levels would be appointed by Yan'an, but the commander-in-chief must be appointed by Chiang Kai-shek.
In June of the same year, Zhou Enlai and others were again invited to Lushan for negotiations, and Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei-ling, Song Ziwen, Zhang Chong, and other kuomintang members appeared one after another.
Chairman Mao and Zhu De
However, the Kuomintang once again raised an opposing view to the originally agreed general command headquarters and the issue of appointing officers at all levels, demanding that there should be no general headquarters at or above the division headquarters, that all deputy posts of each division be appointed by the National Government, that political training offices should be set up at or above the regimental level, and that the Kuomintang should be responsible for the army's political work.
In addition, Chiang Kai-shek also demanded that Mao Zedong and Zhu De must leave the army and break away from the Chinese Communist Party.
The CPC delegation resolutely opposes this, and although we have always adhered to the anti-Japanese national united front, this does not mean that we have given up the independence of the CPC.
The July 7 Incident
Zhou Enlai severely refuted Chiang Kai-shek's plan, and Chiang Kai-shek also refused to adapt it, and the negotiations between the two sides once again reached an impasse.
On June 25, 1937, the Communist Party of China took the initiative to begin the reorganization, and due to Chiang Kai-shek's repeated difficulties, the leaders of the Communist Party of China also lost confidence in the Kuomintang and planned to completely break away from the Kuomintang and organize anti-Japanese affairs on their own. But soon after, a sudden incident broke our Party's plan in an instant, and the reorganization of the Red Army was started again.
In 1937, when the "July 7 Incident" broke out and the Japanese army began to invade Chinese mainland in an all-round way, the generals of the Chinese Red Army collectively sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, demanding a general mobilization to defend the Pingjin region in northern China, recover the lost territory, and counterattack northeast China.
Letter of appointment for adaptation
A week later, Zhou Enlai and other CPC delegations went to Lushan again to negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek, but Chiang Kai-shek still did not care about the interests of the nation and insisted on weakening the strength of the Red Army, resulting in the failure of the Second Lushan Negotiations.
In early August, the Nationalist forces lost one after another in northern China, the Pingjin region completely fell, and the Songhu battlefield in the south fell into an unfavorable situation, and it was only at this time that Chiang Kai-shek once again invited the Chinese Communist Party to discuss reorganization.
On August 15, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Ye Jianying and others went to Nanjing to participate in the negotiations, and the two parties negotiated around the initial reorganization plan, and finally decided on the plan of reorganizing the main force of the Red Army into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, which had three divisions, two brigades per division, and two regiments per brigade, with a total strength of 45,000 people.
Eighth route army
Ten days later, Mao Zedong, chairman of the Revolutionary Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, issued the "Order of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission on the Reorganization of the Red Army into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army," changing the general headquarters of the former enemy of the Red Army to the general headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, with Zhu De as the general commander, Peng Dehuai as the deputy commander-in-chief, Ye Jianying as the chief of staff, and Zuo Quan as the deputy chief of staff.
As for Lin Biao, commander of the 115th Division under the Eighth Route Army, Nie Rongzhen, deputy division commander, He Long, commander of the 120th Division, Xiao Ke, deputy division commander, Liu Bocheng, commander of the 129th Division, and Xu Xiangqian, deputy division commander.
After the reorganization, the officers at all levels of the Red Army generally declined, and many senior generals were demoted to the third level, with the former commander-in-chief of the front army as the division commander, the former regiment commander as the brigade commander, and the former army commander as the regimental commander.
General Xu Xiangqian
Among them, General Xu Xiangqian, who was originally qualified to serve as the commander of the First Division, was also forced to become the deputy commander of the 129th Division due to insufficient staffing. Although his position was demoted, Xu Xiangqian still did not forget his original intention and participated in the War of Resistance Against Japan without complaint.
In September of the same year, Xu Xiangqian, together with Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, created the Jinji-Hebei Yu Anti-Japanese Base Area in the Taihang Mountains area, rapidly developed the anti-Japanese armed forces, and successively won a series of medium-to-medium victories such as Phoenix Mountain, Changshengkou, and Shentouling, which seriously dealt a blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army and made great contributions to China's War of Resistance Against Japan.