Fu Jinkui rode a mule, Li Changlin rode a donkey, and Snow rode a horse to meet He Long... The Fu Jinkui mentioned in Snow's book was Hu Jinkui, who later became the united front work minister; Li Changlin was a famous commander and later deputy commander of the Xinjiang Military Region
Snow's horse, pitifully thin, waddled dangerously, and Li Changlin smiled and said, "Comrade, you are sitting in a good saddle, but what is under the saddle?"
Snow said, "How do you fight on such a dog-like horse?" Are the horses of your Red Army cavalry like this?"
"Nope! No! We use such bad horses in the rear, and the front line has an invincible cavalry! We all put the best supplies to our Red Army soldiers! Comrade, if you want a good horse, please go to the front!"
"But, Li Changlin, why don't you go to the front line?" Are you also broken?"
"Am I broken? Never! However, it is easier to use one less good man on the front than to use one less good horse!"
Along the way, Snow learned that although Li Changlin was young, he had been born more than a dozen times and died.
Snow saw in the Red Army that there was something that made people suffer and win, that became a matter of the whole, that some force made all men equal, and really forgot about the self... Snow didn't understand something like this, but he felt it...
Li Changlin was a native of Hunan, under the leadership of Deng Fa, and later became the leader of the guerrillas. In 1925, the Kuomintang had ordered him and a propaganda team to do a very heavy job—to meet the "bandit leader" He Long, to persuade He Long to join the National Revolution—and the Kuomintang attached great importance to He Long.
Li Changlin told Snow: "At that time, He Long's troops were not bandits. He Long's father was the leader of the Brotherhood. He Long inherited his father, and his reputation was known throughout Hunan Province when he was young. Hunan people have many stories about his bravery in his youth.
"He Long's father was a military attaché of the Qing Dynasty. One day, he took He Long to a banquet. Dad Kwahe Dragon has the guts. One of the guests who wanted to try it out "slammed" under the table and fired a shot. It is said that He Long did not even blink his eyes.
Speaking of which, it is necessary to know what kind of organization the Brotherhood is - the Brotherhood is one of the secret folk gangs in the late Qing Dynasty. Most of the participants were handicraft workers, bankrupt farmers, veterans and homeless people. All branches of the Yangtze River Basin are located, so they are quite powerful.
"The first time I (Li Changlin) met him, he was a provincial soldier. He ruled over the inevitable route of opium from Yunnan to Hankou, and he collected tobacco taxes and did not disturb the people. His men were disciplined. No opium allowed...
But it is a habit to pay homage to customers in opium. So, at that time, smoking guns and opium were put on the kang, and we talked about the kang...
"The leader of our propaganda team is Zhou Yiqun, who is related to He Long
Note: Zhou Yiqun was named one of the 100 heroic and exemplary figures who made outstanding contributions to the founding of New China, and his sacrifice was very early.
Li Changlin's team talked with He Long for three weeks. Let He Long understand the significance of the revolution (Sun Yat-sen), He Long considered it in detail and consulted with his subordinates before deciding to join the Kuomintang (Zhou Yiqun mentioned above was a Communist Party at this time).
"I (Li Changlin) set up a school in He Long's army —although it was a Kuomintang school, most of the propagandists were communists, and many of the students later became mainstays.
Li Changlin said that it was not until the Nanchang Uprising that He Long joined the Chinese Communist Party.
At that time, Tang Shengzhi and He Jian began the "peasant massacre", and the warlords not only killed the communists, but also killed countless peasant association leaders, workers and students... He Long resolutely transformed into the Chinese Communist Party. He Long sympathized with the poor, and the massacre provoked his anger.
He Jian was "the most barbaric and cruel one (Yang Kaihui's brothers and sisters both died because of him)," Li Changlin said, "I don't know how many people he killed, at least tens of thousands." In my hometown of Liuyang County, in two months of 1927, he killed more than 20,000 peasants, students and workers... In Liling County, he also killed 15,000 people. ”
Snow asked Li Changlin: How did he escape?
Li Changlin pulled open his blue cloth short shirt and pointed to a long scar, smiled and said, "You see, I didn't completely escape!"
After the Nanchang Uprising, He Long's army and Zhu De advanced toward Shantou. They lost again... Returning to the mainland, He Long withdrew to Hong Kong. Later, he sneaked to Shanghai and returned to Hunan in disguise.
"It is said that He Long built up the Su district in Hunan with a knife.
In the spring of 1928, He Long warmed up in the countryside and started a secret discussion with the brothers of the Brotherhood of Elders, and it happened that the grain collectors of the county government arrived. He personally killed the grain collectors and disarmed their guards, so that he could arm himself and form an army. ”
He Long's reputation in the Brotherhood of elders is well known throughout the country. It is said that he could go to any village with his bare hands, inform the Brotherhood of Elders, and form an army. He is proficient in the secret language of the door. And the eloquence is excellent, Li Changlin said with a smile, can say that the dead are alive."
When He Long's Red Second Front retreated in 1935, it was said that there were 40,000 rifles. The Long March was more arduous than the main force in Jiangxi. Many people froze to death, starved to death...
He Long's attraction and momentum were very large, his subordinate Ning Yuan died on the road, unwilling to leave halfway, and there were many people in the Long March to supplement his ranks.
He arrived in Tibet to unite with Zhu De, and there were only about 20,000 people left, most of them barefoot and barefoot, exhausted...
Snow asked, "What kind of person is He Long?"
Li Changlin: "He is big and powerful, as strong as a tiger."
Although he is more than 50 years old, he is still energetic and healthy. He never felt tired. It is said that during the Long March, he carried many wounded soldiers. Like the soldiers, he never made a special, and he did not care about anything but horses. He loves horses. Once, he got a very beloved, very beautiful horse. That robbed the enemy, he desperately pursued, and finally recaptured!
"He has a big temper, but he is very humble. Discipline was never broken. Criticism is often demanded and advice is followed. His sister was very much like him—what a great woman. She once personally led the Red Army in battle, carrying wounded soldiers on their backs. The same is true of He Long's wife..."
He Long's jealousy and hatred have become legendary. He Jian's massacre "made more peasants defect to He long." It is said that as long as the landlords and gentry heard the news that He Long was still two hundred miles away from them, even if they were protected by the army, they would rush to escape first--He Long moved too quickly, too famous...
During the Long March, He Long detained a Swiss priest, Bao Shiha, and sentenced him to 18 months for leaking information about the red army's movement to the Kuomintang... Boschha's sentence had not yet been completed, so he set out with the army.
After the completion of his sentence, Bao Shiha regained his freedom, and He Long gave him travel expenses to Yunnan. Strangely enough, Bao Shiha had no complaints about He Long. Bo Shiha once said: "If the peasants knew what kind of people the Communist Party really was, no one would run away..."