Author: Unsentimental
On April 20, 1932, the Red 1st Army conquered Zhangzhou. At 8 a.m., a large number of Red Army troops entered the city in a neat line. Some regiments also gathered the trumpeters together, and while advancing in front of the line, they sounded their trumpets to strengthen the prestige of our army. The chairman, dressed in a Red Army uniform, wearing a straw hat and riding a yellow horse, also entered the city with the team. The next day, the chairman presided over a meeting of the red 1st army division commanders and division political commissars at or above the level in the city to discuss the next step.
The meeting decided that the Red 15th Army would vigorously collect booty near Zhangzhou on the front line from Nanjing to Tianbao, and the Red 3rd and 4th Red Armies would vigorously collect booty near Zhangzhou, search the enemy, focus on searching the enemy's organs, residences, and the residences of landlords and gentry, and at the same time distribute grain to the poor people, expand the influence of the Red Army, and raise funds from landlords and gentry. The chairman particularly stressed: All units must strictly enforce the discipline of entering the city, are not allowed to take non-public goods, and are not allowed to break things at will, and at the same time must be prepared to strike at any time to attack the Fujian and Guangdong armies.
At that time, Zhangzhou was the second largest city in Fujian, and it was one of the few cities of medium size or above that the Red Army captured during the ten-year agrarian revolution. This time, the Red Army entered the city of Zhangzhou, which was a test for the discipline and policy of the troops entering the city. The red army's implementation of discipline in the city of Zhangzhou will have a radiation range far beyond the corner of southern Fujian.
In view of this, the discipline of the Red Army in Zhangzhou was drawn up by the chairman himself. Previously, in 1930, he personally commanded the Red Army to conquer Ji'an and formulated some disciplines and policies for entering the city. In this attack on Zhangzhou, the chairman made further adjustments, enrichments, and refinements based on the experience gained in Ji'an and in light of the specific conditions of the Zhangzhou area. He particularly stressed that after the Red Army entered Zhangzhou, it could fight local tycoons and confiscate enemy property, but it was necessary to protect the general industry and commerce, to let the large and small shops operate as usual, and the Red Army only raised money from them through the Chamber of Commerce.
At that time, except for the propaganda teams that entered the city, except for the propaganda teams that could go to the streets, the task force to investigate the enemy's property and the patrol team that ordered the market, the other troops were concentrated in the designated areas to rest and stand by. Troops outside the city were not allowed to enter the city without a permit signed by the head of the regiment, in order to minimize the disturbance to the lives of the people in the city.
At that time, Mr. Chen Jiageng, a famous overseas Chinese leader in Nanyang, funded the opening of a shop with a large shop in Zhangzhou. According to the policy, the Red Army distributed money to this shop through the Chamber of Commerce. However, the person in charge of the store could not contact Mr. Chen Jiageng, and he did not dare to make the decision, so he overdue the payment. As a result, the Red Army task force sent people into the store, took away the canned goods, rubber shoes and other materials used by the troops with a total price equivalent to the amount of money sent, and issued a receipt to the store, but still let it continue to operate.
During the all-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mr. Chen Jiageng visited Yan'an, and when he talked with the chairman on his knees, he also specifically mentioned this old story. Mr. Chen Jiageng said: "This incident has touched me a lot. If this is replaced by other old troops, it is still light to enter the store and sweep it away, and if it is not good, it will smash the store to demonstrate, kidnap the clerk for ransom. Later, when I learned of this, I did not believe what others said about the Red Army. ”
Of course, although strict discipline in the Red Army is the mainstream, everything cannot be perfect. At that time, when the Red 3rd Army, which had not entered the city, mobilized the masses to fight local tycoons, expand the red, raise grain and raise funds, and do mass work in the Zhangpu area, it did not have a good grasp of the relevant policies. Some of the old money who refused to pay the grain and payment, some impatient Red Army commanders and fighters were directly tied up and tortured. These problems were reflected in Lin Biao, who did not stingy, in fact, it was an attitude of acquiescence and connivance. As the political commissar of the regiment, Nie Rongzhen did not give in at all on the issue of principle, quarreled with Lin Biao, and resolutely advocated correcting deviations. Lin Biao, who knew that he was unreasonable, did not have any stubborn opinions on this issue, and the Red 3 Army was criticized and educated by Nie Rongzhen and rectified in a timely manner, correcting the erroneous tendency of only thinking about raising money and not talking about policy.
In addition, most of the commanders and fighters of the Red Army came from the more remote rural areas of The three provinces of Gansu, Hunan and Fujian, and because they did not have much knowledge, some of them inadvertently violated discipline. Zhangzhou's commerce is relatively developed, there are many overseas Chinese dependents, and people's clothing is much more generous than in the interior. As a result, when they first entered the city, some red army commanders and fighters saw those wearing wool suits, satin robes, holding civilized sticks, and even wearing glasses, and they all thought that they were local tycoons who had fled into the city, so they saw one by one and arrested one by one. Upon hearing the news, the Chairman immediately instructed the troops to conduct a detailed investigation, release all those who had been caught by mistake, and sincerely apologize to the other side, so as to avoid causing a bad impact.
After the liberation of Zhangzhou, the Red Army was elated, but the chairman soberly realized that this area could only be regarded as a new area we had just opened. After all, the Red Army's strength was limited, and it was impossible to occupy such an important city for a long time, so he stipulated that the work policy in this new area was "public propaganda and secret organization". Armed struggle was carried out only in areas where there was originally a certain guerrilla armed base, that is, "with Youxi as the center, expand guerrilla warfare in the five counties of Nanjing, Yunxiao, Pinghe, and Zhangyong, create a local Red Army, and establish the Xiaosu District." In Zhangzhou, on the other hand, grain was distributed only to the poor, and organizations were not openly established, and land was not divided.
Although the Red Army did not carry out a thorough agrarian revolution in Zhangzhou as it did in the Soviet zone, they still won the enthusiastic support of the broad masses through extensive propaganda of policies, mobilizing the masses to beat up local tycoons, abolishing harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and opening granaries to relieve the poor people. In just over a month, a large number of people signed up to join the Red Army, and even 7 monks of Nanshan Temple, inspired by the Red Army, resolutely took off their robes and joined the Red Army. In addition to the regular Red Army, the Red Army also organized a guerrilla group of more than 450 people in the local area. More than 3,000 workers in Zhangzhou have joined secret trade unions and underground organizations.
According to statistics afterwards, the Red Army raised more than 1 million yuan in this place, and also received a large amount of cloth, grain and salt. Most of these urgently needed materials and money in the Soviet area were shipped back to Changting and Ruijin, which solved the difficulties of the Soviet area to a certain extent.
On May 28, the Red 1st Army and the Red 5th Army were ordered to return to Gannan and join the Red 3rd Army. The people of Zhangzhou braved the gentle drizzle to bid farewell, shouting to the Commanders and Fighters of the Red Army who had formed a deep friendship: "You must come back soon!" ”
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