Glorious Footprint 丨Jinggangshan: Igniting the Enlightening Lamp of the Chinese Revolution

Source: Learning Times

Author: Ren Wei

(February 2016) On the morning of the 2nd, Xi Jinping visited the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery. In the mourning hall of the memorial hall, he presented flower baskets and bowed three times to the revolutionary martyrs. In the exhibition room and the Hall of Loyalty, Xi Jinping gazed at the photos of the founding fathers and revolutionary martyrs, and said affectionately that Jinggang Mountain is a mountain of revolution, a mountain of battle, a mountain of heroes, a mountain of glory, and every time he comes to commemorate the revolutionary martyrs, his thoughts are baptized and his soul is touched. Looking back on the glorious years of the past, we must express our high respect to the revolutionary martyrs, we will always miss them, remember them, and inherit their red genes.

Leaving the Martyrs' Cemetery, Xi Jinping came to the group of revolutionary sites of the Octagonal Tower in Jinggangshan. He inspected the former sites of the Fengshi and the First Congress of the CPC Xianggan-Gansu Border, and visited the former residence of Comrade Mao Zedong, Comrade Zhu De, and the former site of the Soldiers' Committee in the Octagonal Tower. Mao Zedong wrote two brilliant works here, "Why China's Red Regime Can Exist" and "The Struggle at Jinggangshan". Xi Jinping listened to the explanation and asked for relevant details. He said: Feeling the scene of Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu leading the struggle at Jinggangshan at that time was really deeply educated and encouraged.

At the old site of Qunshende Bookstore, Xi Jinping visited the descendants of 6 revolutionary martyrs and representatives of advanced figures, including two national moral models Gong Quanzhen and Mao Binghua, who are 93 years old and 87 years old, respectively. Xi Jinping shook hands with everyone one by one, sat down and talked cordially, learned about their families and living conditions, and expressed his condolences to them and through them to the old revolutionaries, old Red Army and advanced model figures in all aspects of the country. Xi Jinping pointed out that the Chinese nation is a nation that admires heroes, achieves heroes, and heroes are born, and heroic feelings are also needed in peacetime. For all heroic and exemplary figures who have made dedication and sacrifices for the party, the country, and the people, we must carry forward their spirit, draw strength from them, and work together to fight tenaciously, arduously, and unremittingly for the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xi Jinping pointed out that Jinggangshan is the cradle of the Chinese revolution. The most precious wealth left to us during the Jinggangshan period is the Spirit of Jinggangshan that spans time and space. Today, in light of the conditions of the new era, we must persist in firmly and persistently pursuing ideals, seeking truth from facts, blazing new trails, working hard to overcome difficulties, and relying on the masses to seek victory, so that the spirit of Jinggangshan will radiate the light of the new era. Every party member and cadre, especially leading cadres at all levels, must regard their ideals and convictions as a lamp to illuminate the road ahead and a rudder for quasi-course, and transform them into the persistent pursuit of the goal of struggle, the unremitting enterprising work of their own work, the firm adherence to noble sentiments, and the courage to take responsibility for difficulties and obstacles; they must proceed from reality in everything, emancipate their minds, forge ahead in a pioneering spirit, and be good at using reform ideas and methods to solve various problems in the course of advancement; they must maintain the true color of arduous struggle, not lose the traditional virtues of being diligent and thrifty, and not lose the noble ethics of honesty and honesty in performing official duties. We must be in the forefront of everything, do solid work, and resolutely stand up to the sky where we should be on top at critical moments; we must conscientiously practice the party's purpose and strive to enhance our ability and level of propagating the masses, organizing the masses, and serving the masses.

—People's Daily, February 4, 2016

In the history of the Chinese revolution, Jinggangshan is known as the "cradle of the Chinese revolution", Zhu De called it "the first mountain in the world", and Peng Zhen called it "the cornerstone of the People's Republic of China". Today, let us recount the formation and development of the Jinggangshan revolutionary base area and recall the glory days.

(i)

On September 9, 1927, the Autumn Harvest Uprising broke out, but it soon ended in defeat due to the enemy's outnumbered. On September 19, Mao Zedong presided over the Wenjia City Conference and decided to abandon the attack on Changsha and move to the shonan area where the enemy's strength was weak. However, the march was very difficult, and the troops were ambushed by a strong enemy when they reached Pingxiang County, Jiangxi Province, and the commander-in-chief of the rebel army, Lu Deming, was killed. At that time, many commanders and fighters were depressed and confused, and some even left the unit without authorization.

In order to overcome the severe situation, on September 29, 1927, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army arrived at Sanwan Village in Yongxin, Jiangxi. Here, Mao Zedong carried out the famous "Three Bays Reorganization" of the troops. The main contents are threefold: First, we should reorganize the troops from one division to one regiment; second, we should determine that "branches should be built on companies" and exercise the party's leadership over the army; and third, we should set up soldiers' committees and implement the army's democratic system. On the whole, these measures ensure the party's absolute leadership over the army and lay the foundation for political army building. After the reorganization of the three bays, the morale of the whole army was boosted.

From the evening of October 3 to 5, 1927, the Committee of Former Enemies held an enlarged meeting in the ancient city, known as the "Ancient City Conference". The meeting focused on the establishment of a revolutionary base area in the middle of the Luoxiao Mountains, and with the exception of a few participants, mao zedong was unanimously agreed. In this regard, He Changgong recalled: "The reorganization from the Three Bays to the Ancient City Conference has solved some major problems in army building and construction base areas. The first rural revolutionary base areas and a new type of people's army were created, igniting the spark of 'armed division of workers and peasants'. ”

In mid-October, Mao Zedong saw the Kuomintang newspaper at Shuikou in Shuikou, Yuxian County, learned that the main force of the Nanchang Uprising had failed in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, and heard that the workers' and peasants' movement in Changsha and Shonan had not risen, so he "gave up the idea of preparing to retreat to Shonan and strengthened his idea of establishing a revolutionary base area in the middle of the Luoxiao Mountains." On October 27, the rebel forces arrived at Ciping. In early November, Mao Zedong led his troops back to Maoping and "began to create the Jinggangshan base area with Ninggang as the base camp." At this point, the Xianggan border autumn harvest uprising troops completed the turning point of "attracting troops to Jinggang", began the struggle of armed division of workers and peasants, and embarked on the road of exploring the encirclement of the cities and the armed seizure of power in the Chinese revolutionary countryside.

(ii)

In 1927, the Guangdong-Guangdong War broke out, the Hunan warlord troops were transferred, and Mao Zedong seized the favorable opportunity to lead his troops to capture the county seat of Chaling. On November 28 of the same year, the Workers' and Peasants' And Soldiers' Government of Chaling County was established, which was the first red regime on the border between Xianggan and Gansu. Government personnel are composed of representatives elected by the workers, peasants, and soldiers, with Tan Zhenlin as the workers' representative, Li Bingrong as the peasants' representative, Chen Shiyu as the soldier's representative, and Tan Zhenlin as the chairman of the workers' and peasants' and soldiers' government. Although this regime existed for only one month, it provided valuable experience for the subsequent construction of Soviet power.

In January 1928, in order to solve the problem of military supplies, Mao Zedong led his troops from the city of Tong, captured the county seat of Suichuan, and on January 24, the Suichuan County Workers' and Peasants' And Soldiers' Government was established. Mao Zedong personally guided the promulgation of the administrative outline, a total of 30 contents, involving political, military, cultural, land, production and people's livelihood and other aspects of policies, the blueprint for the construction of political power in the Jinggangshan revolutionary base area was presented for the first time.

The revolutionary spark ignited by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army on the border of Hunan and Gansu caused panic among the Kuomintang. In early February 1928, Zhu Peide, chairman of the Kuomintang Jiangxi Province, ordered Yang Ruxuan's troops stationed in Ji'an to launch the first "offensive" on Jinggangshan. On February 18, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army won a great victory in Ninggang New City and broke the enemy's attack. On February 21, the Ninggang County Workers' and Peasants' and Soldiers' Government was established, and the chairman wen genzong. In late February, under the guidance of Mao Zedong and after discussion and discussion by the Former Committee, it was decided to demarcate ciping, Wujing, Baiyinhu and other places in the JinggangShan District at the junction of Yongxin and Suichuan to form a workers', peasants' and soldiers' government in the Xinsui Border Special Region. By February 1928, Mao Zedong had successfully established the Xianggan border base area with Jinggangshan as the support and the Soviet governments of the three counties of Chaling, Suichuan, and Ninggang as the political center. The establishment of the Red Regime in the three counties marked the initial formation of the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area.

In early 1928, the Hunan Provincial Party Committee instructed Mao Zedong to lead his troops to Shonan to plan the Shonan Rebellion. The so-called Shonan Rebellion was mainly initiated by Zhu De leading the remnants of the Nanchang Uprising. The Shonan rebellion was relatively smooth at first, and helped the local armed forces to develop rapidly and rapidly. In order to preserve the living forces, on March 29, 1928, Zhu De led his troops to move to Jinggangshan. At about the same time, Mao Zedong concentrated the first and second regiments of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army in the city of Lynching to prepare for the reception. On March 30, Mao Zedong led the first regiment to guidong county. On the afternoon of the 31st, Mao Zedong presided over a meeting of workers, peasants, and soldiers in Guidong County at the Wanshou Palace in Guidong County, and established the Guidong County Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers Government, chairman Of which Chen Qi was chairman. On April 21, the Second Regiment of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army led by He Changgong met with the main force of Zhu De's troops at Chudu. On 24 July, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Chen Yi, Wang Erzhuo, and others met at the "Longjiang Academy" in Ninggang City, and immediately convened a meeting and decided to unite the two departments to establish the Fourth Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. On May 4, the two armies held a victory rally division in the city square and officially announced the establishment of the Fourth Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. The Fourth Army directly administered four regiments, namely the Twenty-eighth Regiment composed of the remnants of the Nanchang Rebel Army, the Twenty-ninth Regiment composed of the Xiangnan Yizhang Peasant Army, the Thirty-first Regiment composed of the Autumn Harvest Uprising troops on the border of Xianggan and Gansu, and the Thirty-second Regiment composed of Yuan and Wang troops. At this point, the strength of Jinggangshan's strength increased from more than 1,000 to more than 6,000, of which the main forces were the 28th regiment and the 31st regiment. The establishment of the Jinggangshan Hui division and the Red Fourth Army created a new situation in the Jinggangshan revolutionary base area.

After the Zhumao Red Army joined the division, it greatly enhanced the military strength of the Jinggangshan base area, but it also aroused the hatred of the enemy troops in Xianggan and Gansu provinces. In late April 1928, Yang Ruxuan, commander of the 27th Division of the Gansu Enemy, led the entire division to pounce on Jinggangshan and launched the second "offensive and suppression". Mao Zedong and Zhu De convened a meeting of the Military Commission of the Fourth Red Army to discuss operational policies. Finally, the discussion and decision were made: avoid the enemy's main force, attack the flanks, attack the east and the west, and concentrate forces to annihilate the enemy all the way. After the meeting, Zhu De, Chen Yi, and Wang Erzhu led the 28th and 29th Regiments to take the lead in attacking the enemy's 81st Regiment; Mao Zedong and He Tingying led the 31st Regiment to qixiling at the junction of Ninggang and Yongxin to block the enemy's 79th Regiment.

At the end of April, Zhou Tiren, commander of the enemy's 81st Regiment, believed that he was well-equipped and eager to win, and sent a battalion from Nashan to Huang'ao, while he himself led a large group of men and horses to advance towards the Wudou River. At this time, Wang Erzhuo led the 28th Regiment to happen to encounter the enemy at Huang'ao. The Twenty-eighth Regiment was a Nanchang uprising force, and after hundreds of battles, it was not a problem to fight an enemy battalion, but Zhu De let the Twenty-eighth Regiment swing a false shot and retreat to Xiaoxingzhou, and then sent the Twenty-ninth Regiment to quietly rush to Huang'ao and surround the enemy regiment. Under the fierce offensive of the Twenty-ninth Regiment, the enemy army was confused and finally broke up and fled. The Red Fourth Army occupied Yongxin City for the first time.

On May 20, the first congress of the Communist Party of China on the Xianggan-Gansu Border was held at the Xie's Shrine in Maoping, and the highest leading organ of the Xianggan-Gansu Border Party, the Xianggan-Gansu Border Special Committee, was elected, with Mao Zedong as secretary. In order to unify the leadership of the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Soviet Governments in the border counties, at the end of May, Mao Zedong convened the First Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers of the Xianggan Border Counties in Maoping, Ninggang, to elect the Executive Committee of the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Congress on the Xianggan Border and to establish the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Soviet Government on the Xianggan Border. The border government administers 6 county governments, including Chaling, Suichuan, Ninggang, Yongxin, and the subsequent establishment of Lianxian and Lianhua. At this point, the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area was formally established.

(iii)

The struggle and construction on JinggangShan were carried out almost simultaneously, that is, armed struggle was combined with the construction of base areas. In April 1928, when the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army occupied Yongxin County for the first time, Mao Zedong sent effective cadres from the army to Xiaojiang District, the Southeast Special Zone, and the Northwest Special Zone to guide the work.

On July 4, 1928, Mao Zedong's report to the Hunan Provincial Party Committee further elaborated on the significance of consolidating the base areas. He pointed out: Establishing and consolidating base areas is by no means a conservative concept. Mao Zedong not only put forward the protracted nature of the revolutionary struggle, but also emphasized the close integration of armed struggle, agrarian revolution and base area construction. In the process of this combination, as far as construction is concerned, Mao Zedong paid the most attention to the peasants. For the revolution can succeed only by awakening the peasants, who are most concerned with the question of land. Therefore, the construction of the Jinggangshan period is concentrated in the exploration of land issues.

Mao Zedong's exploration of the land issue can be roughly divided into two stages: First, October 1927 to February 1928 was the preparatory stage. At this stage, the main thing is to crack down on local tycoons, divide up floating wealth, and mobilize the masses. At the same time, investigations and studies were carried out to clarify the rural land situation. At that time, Mao Zedong personally conducted an investigation of Ninggang and Yongxin counties precisely to find out the situation in the countryside. Second, March 1928 to July 1928 was the stage of the agrarian revolution. In March 1928, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army went to shatian in Eastern Guidong to insert cards and divide the fields to carry out pilot work. Subsequently, Ninggang also began to divide the fields. On May 20, the first party congress on the Border of Hunan and Gansu was held to comprehensively sum up the experience of land struggle.

In October 1928, the Second Congress of the Xianggan Border Party was held and the Jinggangshan Land Law was promulgated. The "Jinggangshan Land Law" affirms the peasants' land rights in the form of law, and the vast number of poor peasants, from the living fact of the land distribution, see clearly that the Red Army is indeed fighting for their interests, and fully support the development of the Red Army and the base areas from all aspects. This is the social basis for the existence and development of the Jinggangshan revolutionary base area.

While mobilizing the peasants to divide the land, the Red Fourth Army also resisted the enemy's attacks again and again. In mid-June 1928, Zhu Peide, chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Government, with Yang Chisheng, commander of the Ninth Division, as the commander-in-chief, led 3 regiments of the Ninth Division, plus 2 regiments of yang Ruxuan's 27th Division, which had failed miserably, to launch the fourth "offensive and suppression" against the Revolutionary Base Area of Jinggangshan. On June 23, the Red Army won a great victory at Longyuankou, annihilating 1 regiment of the enemy, destroying 2 regiments, surrendering more than 1,000 guns, and occupying the county seat of Yongxin for the third time.

After the great victory of Longyuankou, the Jinggangshan revolutionary base area was expanded to three counties of Ninggang, Yongxin, and Lianhua, a small part of Ji'an and Anfu counties, the northern part of Suichuan County, and the southeast of Suixian County, with an area of more than 7,200 square kilometers and a total of more than 500,000 people. In the words of Mao Zedong in The Struggle at Jinggangshan, "it was the heyday of the border."

On June 30, Mao Zedong presided over a joint meeting of the CPC Border Special Committee, the Red Fourth Military Commission, and the Yongxin County CPC Committee in Yongxin County, at which it was decided that "the four armies should continue to carry out in-depth mass work in the border counties of Xianggan and Gansu and build consolidated base areas."

In early July, the Xianggan enemy army launched the first "meeting suppression" against the Jinggangshan revolutionary base area. After study, it was decided that Mao Zedong led the Thirty-first Regiment to Yongxin to block the Gansu enemy, and Zhu De led the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Regiments to attack the Xiang enemy. On July 17, the Red Army captured The County. The soldiers of the Twenty-ninth Regiment had a serious sense of locality, and demanded to go to Shonan under the pretext that the Hunan Provincial Party Committee had instructions to go to Shonan. Zhu De and Chen Yi repeatedly dissuaded them to no avail. On the 24th, the troops arrived in Chenzhou, the battle was won first and then lost, and the main force of the Twenty-ninth Regiment almost collapsed. This invasion of Shonan not only caused the Red Army to lose half of its numbers, but also caused the border counties to fail one after another, resulting in a tragic "August defeat."

In late August, the xianggan enemy army took advantage of the emptiness of the Jinggangshan army and launched another "meeting suppression". The remaining troops were in the Yellow Ocean Boundary, winning more with less and successfully blocking the enemy. In September, Mao Zedong returned to Jinggangshan and learned of the victory in the Battle of Huangyangjie. Compose a song to express joy. Namely " Xijiangyue Jinggangshan ":

The flag is in sight at the bottom of the mountain, and the drums and horns at the top of the mountain are heard. The enemy was besieged for thousands of times, and I stood still. Barriers have long been tightened, and more united in will. The cannons on the Huangyang Boundary roared, reporting that the enemy was at night.

After the main Red Army of Zhu Mao returned to Jinggangshan, it immediately launched a counter-offensive to retake the lost ground. On September 13, 1928, the county seat of Suichuan was conquered; in October, the ambush at Aotou'an near Maoping was successful, annihilating 1 battalion of the enemy and retaking the county seat of Ninggang; then, annihilating 1 battalion of the enemy at Longyuankou and occupying the county seat of Yongxin for the fourth time. At this point, the Jinggangshan revolutionary base area was restored to "the southern foothills of Jinggangshan in Suichuan in the south, to the border of Lotus in the north, including ninggang county, Suichuan, Yixian and Yongxin, and a whole piece of narrow length from north to south."

In November 1928, Mao Zedong received a letter from the Central Committee, and according to the instructions of the Central Committee, the Committee for Former Enemies of the Red Fourth Army of the CPC Central Committee was established, with Mao Zedong as secretary. The former committee was in charge of the Border Special Committee and the Military Commission of the Fourth Red Army. In early December, Peng Dehuai, Teng Daiyuan and others led about 1,000 people of the Fifth Red Army to Jinggangshan to meet the Red Fourth Army. At this point, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Peng Dehuai will eventually gather in one place.

The Jinggangshan struggle for more than a year has accumulated rich experience for the Chinese revolution. Mao Zedong wrote two important works here, "Why China's Red Regime Can Exist" and "The Struggle at Jinggangshan". This not only answers the question of "how long can the red flag be fought in the end" in theory and practice, but also points out the general principle for winning the victory of the revolution, that is, to strategically follow the line of encircling the cities from the countryside; militarily adhere to the principle of "the enemy advances and we retreat, the enemy garrisons us to disturb, the enemy is tired and we fight, and the enemy retreats and we pursue"; and in construction, we combine armed struggle with agrarian revolution. Just as Mao Zedong said: Armed struggle is the main form of the Chinese revolution, and without revolutionary armed struggle, it is impossible to carry out an effective agrarian revolution and develop revolutionary base areas; without an agrarian revolution, the Red Army's war cannot gain the support of the masses, and the revolutionary base areas cannot be consolidated and developed; without the construction of revolutionary base areas, armed struggle will not have the support of the rear, and the achievements of the agrarian revolution will not be maintained. This is the main experience of the xianggan-gansu border struggle, and in fact it is the enlightening light of the entire Chinese revolution, illuminating the future direction of the Chinese revolution.