Zhang Yunyi's Silent Feat in Nanchang Uprising

Li Binghong's Oil Painting Nanchang Uprising

My father, Zhang Yunyi, is the oldest and most qualified of the ten general of the Chinese people's Liberation Army. He secretly joined the Chinese League in 1909 at the age of 17. From participating in the bourgeois democratic revolution led by Sun Yat-sen to participating in the Communist Party of China, he became a conscious communist; from participating in the Anti-Qing Uprising, the Eastern Expedition, and the Northern Expedition, to participating in the Agrarian Revolutionary War, the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the War of Liberation, he experienced the Chinese Revolution The whole process of the war. Because of his qualifications and prestige in the Kuomintang and the National Revolutionary Army, he was able to play an important role in the Nanchang Uprising under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

 

In 1925, his father served as chief of staff of the independent brigade of the Guangdong army and chief of the brigade of the Guangdong army for the founding of the people's Republic of China. He took part in two eastern expeditions against Chen Jiongming. Later, he led his troops to calm down the rebellion of Liu Zhenhuan, a warlord of the Guangxi system, and Yang Ximin of the Yunnan army. The two Eastern Expeditions and the overthrow of the reactionary warlords were both victorious with the cooperation of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the masses of workers and peasants in Guangzhou joined forces with the revolutionary army to win.

In early 1926, after the Guangdong National Government basically unified Guangdong, his father, as the chief of staff of the 12th Division of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, accompanied the division commander Zhang Fakui to Hainan Island. His father left his poor hometown in Wenchang, Hainan at the age of 14 and became an officer at the age of 34. He donated money to support his alma mater, Changfa Primary School, allowing all children in the village to attend school free of charge. He set up literacy classes for women and promoted the elimination of feudal superstition, which was praised by his hometown fathers and villagers.

After the consolidation of the Guangdong Revolutionary Base, on July 9, 1926, the National Revolutionary Army launched the Northern Expedition to eliminate the Beiyang warlords supported by imperialism and realize the independence, freedom, democracy and unity of the Chinese nation. The Northern Expedition Army is composed of the fourth, seventh and eighth armies of the National Revolutionary Army, with a total of more than 40000 people. The troops of the Fourth Army participating in the Northern Expedition were mainly the 10th Division, the 12th Division and the Ye Ting Independent Regiment. The 12th Division was ordered to return from Hainan, and Zhang Yunyi served as the division's chief of staff to accompany the northern expedition. Division commander Zhang Fakui led two regiments to fight in the war, and one regiment stayed behind. The Ye Ting Independent Regiment was mostly under the command of the 12th Division when it fought.

At that time, as the chief of staff, after entering the war zone, his father constantly offered advice and suggestions to Division Commander Zhang Fakui according to the changes in the enemy situation, and worked out a combat plan in line with the reality of the battlefield, thus ensuring the victory of the battle. Tingsi Bridge and He Sheng Bridge are the gateway to Wuhan and the military center. The terrain is dangerous and easy to defend and difficult to attack. Beiyang warlord Wu Peifu defended with tens of thousands of troops and personally supervised the battle. He also hacked many deserters to death with a team of big swords. However, he was still unable to save the defeat, so he fled to Wuhan by train.

In several major battles in Hunan and Hubei, my father actively participated in military aircraft, gave advice, assisted Zhang Fakui in command, dispatched troops, and adjusted offensive plans. In the battle to attack Wuchang City, my father arrived with the division headquarters to command the siege 1000 meters from the city wall. By October 10, the two regiments of the Fourth Army and the Ye Ting Independent Regiment participating in the Northern Expedition, with the cooperation of the Eighth Army, captured Wuchang City. In four months, my father's Fourth Army made immortal contributions to the victory of the Northern Expedition. The reputation of the "Iron Army" of the Fourth Army is well-known throughout the world.

　

 

Secretly joining the Communist Party

 

As a commander of the "Iron Army", my father made important contributions to the victory of the war. In Wuhan in November 1926, his father secretly joined the Communist Party of China through the introduction of Wang Zhiren and Liao Ganwu. Since then, he has changed from a bourgeois democrat to a conscious communist fighter. After his father joined the party, in order to facilitate his work, he did a lot of work for the party in the Northern Expedition.

Many years later, when my father reviewed this period of history, he said to us: "When I joined the party, I was already very old (34 years old), my position in the army was not low, and my salary was quite high. I joined the party for the liberation of the working people". During the Cultural Revolution, the slogan "Down with Kuomintang warlord Zhang Yunyi" appeared at the most prosperous Xidan intersection in Beijing. My father was ill and hospitalized. He called Yuanhe and me to his bed and said to us seriously: "You should understand that I joined the League in 1909 because I yearned for the national democratic revolution led by Sun Yat-sen. In 1912, the League was reorganized into the Kuomintang, and I became a member of the Kuomintang. Later, he participated in the ninth and tenth armed uprisings led by Sun Yat-sen, which was the Revolution of 1911. From 1926 to 1927, he participated in the Northern Expedition and served as a brigade commander and division chief of staff in the National Revolutionary Army. He was a major general. In the old army, I gradually saw the counter-revolutionary nature of the Kuomintang. The warlords fought for personal gain, and only the Communist Party fought for the liberation of the toiling masses. After joining the party, I have always been loyal to the communist belief, obeying the party's command in all actions, and never doing anything against the party and the people. You two must keep in mind that no matter how people with ulterior motives slander me, you should not believe it. "Father's heartfelt advice has always been engraved in our hearts.

 

In June 1927, the Wuhan Kuomintang authorities decided to form a government guard regiment (that is, the guard regiment of the second Front Army), and all parties were very concerned about who would be the head of the regiment. The CPC organization proposed to let Lu Deming, chief of staff of the 73rd regiment of the 25th division and a member of the Communist Party, take the post, but Zhang Fakui did not agree, because Lu Deming was not from Guangdong and could not let the power fall by the side. the cpc organization gave the task of persuading zhang fakui to his father.

Father and Zhang Fakui were both classmates of the Guangdong Army Primary School and Cantonese. They worked in the Guangdong Army and the National Revolutionary Army for a long time. As a subordinate of Zhang Fakui in the Northern Expedition, his father did his best to help Zhang Fakui command the battle and won many battles, so the two had a good relationship. Zhang Fakui trusted his father very much and did not know that he was a member of the Communist Party. He could still listen to his father's words.

His father told Zhang Fakui that although Lu Deming was from Sichuan, he graduated from the second phase of Huangpu Military Academy. He was once the company commander, battalion commander and chief of staff of Ye Ting's independent regiment. He was a good leader in leading troops. It is now the time to employ people, and it can be said that "a thousand troops are easy to obtain, but a general is hard to find", and such a brave, courageous and scheming military cadre is the best candidate for the post of head of the guard regiment. If he is not appointed only because he is not Cantonese, he will be easily handled by others. After repeated recommendations from his father, Zhang Fakui finally appointed Lu Deming, a member of the Communist Party, as the head of the guard regiment. It was precisely this meticulous arrangement of my father that not only reduced the losses of the revolutionary ranks, but also strengthened their strength. At the critical moment of white terror, Lu Deming led the guard regiment to cover a large number of Communist Party members and revolutionary masses. During the Nanchang Uprising, Lu Deming led a delegation eastward to participate in the uprising. After learning that the uprising troops had moved south on August 3, he moved to Hunan and participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising led by Mao Zedong.

 

With the victory of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek, commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, became more and more popular. He attributed all the credit to himself and dominated the fruits of the success of the revolution. He discarded the three major policies of "uniting with Russia, uniting with the Communist Party, and helping farmers and workers" proposed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. He unabashedly kicked away his former allies and frantically searched and slaughtered Communist Party members, leftists of the Kuomintang and revolutionary masses of workers and peasants. The contradictions within the National Government and the National Revolutionary Army were sharply manifested. It set off a counter-revolutionary countercurrent against the "separation of the Communist Party" and the "Qing Communist Party" in cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Three days after the "April 12" incident, the "April 15" Qing incident occurred in Guangzhou, and large-scale arrests and massacres of Communist Party members began. On July 15, Wang Jingwei held a meeting of the Communist Party and officially announced that he broke with the Communist Party and openly betrayed the revolution. The vigorous revolution failed.

In this situation, in mid-July, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a meeting in Wuhan and made a categorically decision to launch the Nanchang Uprising under the leadership of Zhou Enlai. The Nanchang Uprising was decided at the grim moment of the failure of the Great Revolution, and it was a great feat to save the Chinese revolution under extremely critical circumstances. Comrade Zhou Enlai said: "The Kuomintang and the Communist Party are divided. We have no other way but an uprising".

At that time, the armies that the Chinese Communist Party could control and influence were mainly concentrated in the Second Front Army of the National Revolutionary Army under the commander of Zhang Fakui: the Fourth Army, the Eleventh Army and the 20th Army. Ye Ting served as the commander of the 24th Division of the 11th Army; his father served as the chief of staff of the 25th Division of the Fourth Army; Zhou Shi served as the 73rd head of the 25th Division, and Li Shuoxun served as the representative of the 73rd Regiment; He Long served as the commander of the 20th Army; Zhu De served as the head of the Third Army's Officer Training Corps and Director of Nanchang Public Security Bureau. There are many Communists in the Second Front Army, and most of them are the backbone.

 

Cover the 25th Division to participate in the Nanchang Uprising

 

In mid-July, my father was ordered to lead the 25th Division to garrison in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province. He covertly assisted the party organization of the 25th Division in various preparations for the Nanchang Uprising. He proposed to division commander Li Hanhun to take advantage of the battle gap to pull the 25th Division out to fight in the wild (field training). After Li agreed, he took the troops to MaHuiling between Jiujiang and Nanchang to cover the actions of the uprising troops.

In late July, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish the Nanchang Uprising Former Enemy Committee, with Zhou Enlai as the secretary; and established the former enemy Military Commission, with Nie Rongzhen as the secretary. Zhou Enlai ordered Nie Rongzhen to go to Jiujiang as soon as possible: inform our comrades to understand the intentions of the central government and prepare for the uprising. But when to attack, to listen to the central orders.

Nie Rongzhen had a secret conversation with his father by the Yangtze River: "According to the instructions of the Communist International, the Central Committee was reorganized, Chen Duxiu was suspended, and the Provisional Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee was established. And decided to hold an armed uprising in Nanchang, armed against the massacre of reactionaries. "Nie Rongzhen asked about the 25th Division, and his father said confidently:" Zhou Shidi and I have firmly mastered the three battalions of the 73rd Regiment, the 75th Regiment and the 74th Regiment Machine Gun Company. Zhou Shidi is an old party member who graduated from Huangpu Phase I in 1924. He is a brave and resourceful comrade. You can rest assured that he will pull the team to Nanchang to participate in the uprising and ensure that there is nothing wrong."

 

On August 1, the Nanchang Uprising broke out. When his father met Zhou Shidi in Mahuiling, he said to him, "Go back to the regimental headquarters to join the uprising..." Before he finished speaking, Li Hanhun sent someone to find Zhou Shidi. Under the secret cover of his father, Zhou Shidi pulled the team out of the position with the name of fighting in the wild. The next day, more than 3000 people from two regiments of the 25th Division of the Fourth Army rushed to Nanchang to participate in the uprising. This is a very strong fighting team. Zhou Enlai said happily when he saw Zhou Shidi: "The operation was a success! I didn't expect it to go so smoothly, pulling most of the 25th division out."

Since his father did not expose his party membership and had a special relationship with Zhang Fakui, according to the arrangement of the Communist Party of China, he continued to stay in the second front army to fight for Zhang Fakui. Under the leadership of the party, my father was doing a major task that others could not replace in obscurity.

The Communist Party of China used armed struggle to oppose the slaughter policy of the Kuomintang reactionaries. After going through hardships, it finally opened up a new situation in the Chinese revolution. The People's Army under the leadership of the Communist Party of China was born in the Nanchang Uprising.

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October 16, 2017 Source: Hainan Daily