On October 10, 1911, the Wuchang New Army suddenly launched an armed uprising, and the Xinhai Revolution broke out. The city of Changsha, not far from Wuchang, was shaken strongly, and the situation became extremely tense, and the governor of Hunan immediately declared martial law for the whole city.
The revolutionaries did not cease their activities. One day, a revolutionary party propagandist, with the permission of the principal of the Xiangxiang Middle School in the province, came to the school to give an exciting speech. He introduced the course of the Wuchang uprising and the situation in the three towns of Wuhan, and encouraged everyone to take immediate action to rescue the Hubei rebel army from Rong for the sake of the country and the revolution. Seven or eight students stood up on the spot to support his ideas, strongly attacking the Qing government and advocating the overthrow of Manchu rule and the establishment of the Republic of China.
Mao Zedong was also very excited, and he spent four or five days planning his future, determined to join the revolutionary army. So he consulted with several classmates and said: "The Wuchang uprising was successful, but it was still far from the victory of the revolution." I think that the revolution cannot be spoken of by words alone, but by practical action. What kind of practical actions should we use to help the Hubei rebel army? I've already thought about it, go as a soldier! ”
"Soldier?" The students all looked at Mao Zedong with wide eyes.
Mao Zedong said firmly: "Yes! soldier. Go to Hubei to become a revolutionary army! At present, the situation in the three towns of Wuhan is very critical, and Yuan Shikai's Beiyang troops have gone south in two ways and adopted encirclement tactics in an attempt to clamp down on Wuhan. The revolutionaries are weak in strength, and the difficulties must not be small. Since we want revolution, we cannot speak the vernacular with our bare hands. Just shouting slogans cannot overthrow Emperor Xuantong. If you want revolution, you must go to the battlefield, and you must do it with real swords and guns! At his instigation, 4 classmates decided to join him in throwing their pens from Rong to Hankou.
On October 22, Mao Zedong left the city from Xiaowumen and walked towards Xiecaoping. He came to the gate of the barracks and was stopped by the guards, who pointed to the "no passage" sign hanging at the door and told him, "You can't go in, go back quickly!" We are about to revolt. You see, the bullets have been reissued. Mao Zedong was shocked, so he had to turn around and return to the city, and before he could take a few steps, he heard a sudden rush of whistles in the barracks, and when he looked back, the heavily armed soldiers were assembling urgently on the playground.
He did not dare to stay for a long time, quickly left, and when he reached the Jingwu Gate, he saw that the city gate had been closed, so he had to walk forward along the moat, and when he reached the gate of Yunyang, he saw that the city gate here was also closed. At this time, Mao Zedong did not know that the riots in Changsha to cooperate with the operations of the new army had already taken place, and all the city gates were occupied by the rioters.
Mao Zedong could not enter the city, so he had to run up to Liufangling and stand on a high ground to watch. Not long after, the crackling gunshots continued, and the rebels outside the city pounced on the Yunyang Gate. The receivers inside the city opened the gates, and the new troops outside the city rushed in. In this way, the New Army of Hunan, under the leadership of Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin, captured the Patrol Gate and raised the white cloth banner with the character "Han". The Changsha uprising was successful.
Mao Zedong returned to the school with great interest and saw that the school also hung a white flag with Chinese characters and several soldiers standing at the door.
Late on the night of October 22, under the leadership of Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin, the rebel army established the "Hunan Military Government of the Republic of China". Jiao Dafeng served as the governor, and Chen Zuoxin served as the deputy governor. There was a joyful atmosphere in Changsha. Many students threw themselves into the rebel army. Soon, a student army was organized, but Mao Zedong did not like this student army, and he thought that the composition of the student army was too mixed. He decided to join the regular army because the soldiers in the regular army were from poor people in society, and he was willing to fight with these people.
At the end of October, Mao Zedong joined two of his classmates in the rebel army. He was incorporated into the left team of the 1st Battalion of the 25th Mixed Association of the Hunan New Army and served as a private. Soon he made friends with the platoon commander and most of the soldiers. Among these friends, Mao Zedong's favorites were a miner and a blacksmith from Hunan. Because he has the culture to write things and can help others write letters, everyone thinks he is very knowledgeable and admires him for having "university questions".
Mao Zedong seriously received military training in the new army, while studying current affairs and some social issues. He paid 7 yuan a month, except for 2 yuan for food and a little splash, most of the rest was used to buy newspapers. After each day's exercises, he sat down to read the newspaper and became a good reader in the barracks.
Mao Zedong bought left-wing newspapers and regarded them as his greatest treasures. For the first time, he saw for the first time in the Xiangjiang News, which advocated revolution and was discussing socialism, that a Hunan man who had studied in Japan had founded a "socialist" party. This was the first time Mao Zedong came into contact with the new term "socialism." He also read some pamphlets written by Jiang Kanghu on socialism and its principles. From this he developed a keen interest in the question of socialism. He enthusiastically wrote letters to his former classmates, introducing them to the attractive new concept of socialism, and at the same time discussing "socialism" with the soldiers. The revolutionary situation at this time is changing dramatically.
In February 1912, Yuan Shikai, with the support of imperialism, used revolutionary means to scare the Qing government, forcing the Qing government to cancel the imperial cabinet, and he became the prime minister of the cabinet and organized the cabinet. He also played with the hand of "pulling" and lured the upper echelons of the revolutionary party; at the same time, he used the hand of "fighting" to directly threaten the revolutionaries with counter-revolutionary force.
In the spring of 1912, just as the Hunan New Army was preparing to take action against the Qing government and against Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, the provisional president of the Republic of China in Nanjing, reached a compromise agreement with Yuan Shikai and resigned as provisional president. Almost at the same time, the Manchu Qing imperial family accepted Yuan Shikai's preferential treatment, and Puyi abdicated. In March 1912, Yuan Shikai was inaugurated as the provisional president in Beijing.
At this time, Mao Zedong thought that the revolution was over, so he decided to quit the army and continue his studies. The company commander, platoon commander, and good friends urged him to stay, and he refused to be retained by his commanders and comrades-in-arms. At first, he became a soldier because he thought that the army would play an important role in the revolution; now he thinks that the army is no longer the vanguard of the times, so he does not linger on the life of the army at all, and resolutely leaves the barracks and ends his military career for half a year.