Zhang Tailei (1898-1927, a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu), as the backbone of students in Tianjin, participated in the May Fourth Movement in 1919 and established contacts with Li Dazhao. In the spring of 1920, Vyjingsky, a representative of the Comintern, came to China to consult with Li Dazhao, and Zhang Tailei served as an interpreter. In October of the same year, Zhang Tailei joined the early organization of the Communist Party in Beijing.
In the spring of 1921, at the behest of Li Dazhao, Zhang Tailei went to Moscow to serve as the secretary of the China Section of the Far East Secretariat of the Communist International. In April 1927, Zhang Tailei was appointed secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, and later became one of the five members of the Standing Committee of the Provisional Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. On August 7, Zhang Tailei attended an emergency meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Hankou (the 1987 Conference) and was elected as an alternate member of the Politburo. After the meeting, he took the initiative to invite Miao to Guangzhou to launch an uprising.
When the Guangdong-Guangdong War broke out, the warlord Zhang Fakui transferred the main force of the Guangdong army out of Guangzhou to block the gui army's attack. On November 26, Zhang Tailei returned to Guangzhou from Hong Kong and decided to take advantage of the weak troops in Guangzhou to organize the Fourth Army Instruction Regiment and the First Guard Regiment, as well as the Workers' and Peasants' Red Guards, to hold an armed uprising in advance.
At 3:30 a.m. on December 11, the Guangzhou Uprising, which shocked China and foreign countries, broke out. Under the command of Zhang Tailei, Ye Ting, and others, more than 5,000 people launched attacks on various points in Guangzhou, occupying most of the urban areas on the north bank of the Pearl River. At 6:00 a.m., Zhang Tailei announced in the former Public Security Bureau building: "The Guangzhou Soviet Government has been established!" Zhang Tailei served as the acting chairman.
At noon on December 12, the Cantonese army rushed in the direction of the rebel army headquarters, and Zhang Tailei and the comintern representative Newman rushed to the Great North Gate by car to direct the battle. When the car reached Hui'ai West Road, a group of people dressed in plain clothes and holding guns suddenly appeared. "Protect the representatives of the Comintern!" Zhang Tailei shouted and returned fire with the guards. During the melee, Zhang Tailei was shot three times in the head and chest, and fell into the carriage, and he instructed his comrades-in-arms: "We must fight the enemy to the end and complete the tasks assigned by the party!" ”
Zhang Tailei used his youth and blood to practice his vow of "willing to turn into thunder that shattered the old world". He was the first member of the Central Committee and a member of the Politburo in the history of the CCP to die on the front line of battle. Qu Qiubai wrote an article entitled "Tribute to Comrade Zhang Tailei": "When he died, he still hoped that his blood would be the fountain of the victory of the Chinese Soviet Revolution!" ”
