Ye Ting Independent Regiment Party Branch: The First Party Branch Established in the Army

The Ye Ting Independent Regiment was a regular army directly led by the Communist Party of China during the First Civil Revolutionary War. During the Northern Expedition, the Independent Regiment served as the vanguard of the march. After winning the victory of Tingsi Bridge and Hesheng Bridge, it fought all the way and was invincible. It won the title of "Iron Army" for the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army and gained a national reputation. However, what is little known is that the first branch established by our party in the army is the branch of the Ye Ting Independent Regiment.
The establishment of a CPC branch for the first time in a regular army is the germ of the basic principle of the Party's command of the gun. During the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China, Zhou Enlai and Chen Yannian, leaders of the Guangdong and Guangxi District Committee of the Communist Party of China, deeply realized the importance of mastering the army through a series of revolutionary wars such as smashing the rebellion of the Guangzhou Business Group and two Eastern Expeditions Chen Jiongming. In order to strengthen the party's leadership over military work, the Guangdong and Guangxi District Committee of the Communist Party of China established a military committee (later changed to the Military Department) in the winter of 1924, and Zhou Enlai was appointed secretary of the military committee.
In June 1924, the Guangzhou workers under the leadership of the Communist Party of China organized the Corps Army. In October of the same year, during the rebellion of the Pingding Commercial Group, 200 students from the Second Peasant Training Institute formed the Peasant Self-Defense Army. These workers' armed pickets and peasant self-defense forces formed during the Great Revolution are irregular forces led by our Party. On November 21, 1925, the Guangdong-Guangxi District Committee of the Communist Party of China, with the consent of Li Jishen, commander of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, formed the 34th Regiment of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army in Zhaoqing, Guangdong. The whole regiment is about 2100 people, with the Marshal's armored motorcade and some personnel transferred from the Huangpu military Academy as the backbone, with Ye Ting as the head and Zhou Shidi as the chief of staff, and a party branch was set up at the beginning of the founding of the regiment. At the beginning of the next year, the regiment was renamed the Independent Regiment, which was the famous Ye Ting Independent Regiment. The Party branch is directly led by the CPC Guangdong and Guangxi District Committee and the Military Commission. "Ask for instructions and report to Comrade Zhou Enlai, and when Zhou Enlai is not in Guangzhou, he will directly find Comrade Chen Yannian". The CPC Guangdong and Guangxi District Committee is responsible for the transfer, appointment and removal of cadres and the replenishment of personnel. this is a regular army under the direct leadership of the cpc.
Prior to this, in the autumn of 1924, the Huangpu Military Academy established a secret party organization, the Huangpu Special Branch of the Communist Party of China. this branch is not a grass-roots organization in the regular army under the direct control of the party, but a party branch first established in the military academy system. In December 1924, Zhou Enlai and Chen Yannian, leaders of the Guangdong and Guangxi District Committee of the Communist Party of China, set up a CPC group in Guangzhou, but the party group was not a first-class party organization. Therefore, the Party branch of the Ye Ting Independent Regiment is the first party organization established by our party in the regular army. Zhou Shidi once talked about the party's leadership over the independent group: the party branch set up a secretary's meeting (branch committee), whose members include Ye Ting, Zhou Shidi, Dong Lang, etc., and the branch secretary Wu Juyan. At the beginning of the party branch, there were about 20 party members, with 6 party groups, namely one regiment, one for each of the 3 battalions, and 2 directly affiliated teams. The Party branch of the Ye Ting Independent Regiment is the sprout of the basic principle of the Party's command of the gun.
The party branch of the independent regiment leads the army building by strengthening political construction, which is the embryonic form of political army building. At the beginning of the establishment of the independent regiment, the Guangdong and Guangxi District Committee of the Communist Party of China instructed: strengthen military and political training and quickly cultivate into the most reliable revolutionary army with strong combat effectiveness. The independent regiment conducted rigorous military and political training during its garrison in Zhaoqing. Ye Ting personally taught the soldiers and asked to learn to sing the songs of "International Song" and "Young Pioneers. The soldiers are in a high mood for training, and the training of officers and soldiers of the regiment can be seen everywhere in Zhaoqing's South School Yard, Qixingyan and Dinghu Mountain.
Since the Chinese Communists have not yet had the experience of building a new revolutionary army on their own, and the sources of cadres and soldiers are complex, various ideas have begun to be exposed in the newly formed army. The party branch promptly reported these issues to the Guangdong-Guangxi District Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the leaders of the district committee issued four instructions to the independent regiment: First, unity can have combat effectiveness. The party's leadership must be strengthened and the party's principle of democratic centralism must be observed. Party group meetings are held once a week to do a good job of criticism and self-criticism. The second is to pay attention to the development of the party's organization, and to recruit qualified cadres into the party. Third, strengthen the political education of the troops and strictly prohibit beating and cursing. Fourth, corruption is strictly prohibited, and the company's officers and soldiers should have the same food. The party branch officers of the Independent Regiment will carry out ideological and political education in accordance with these four instructions and explore political strengthening of army building. Liu Guanglie, a corrupt company commander, was removed from his post, Xue Yangzong, a platoon leader who beat and scolded soldiers, was expelled, and the management system of the army was reformed. We have absorbed a number of cadres and soldiers, such as Zhou Zikun, who have performed well, into the Party and purified the ranks. A political education outline has been compiled for reporting false names and places of origin, teaching soldiers: the independent regiment is a revolutionary army, unlike the old army, which works for the interests of the people and protects the interests of the people; joining the revolutionary army is to participate in the revolution, which is the most glorious, and should not use false names and places of origin; if they die for the revolution, their families will also receive pension from the revolutionary government. Through the efforts and guidance of the party and League members, the soldiers who originally reported fake soldiers changed their minds and took the initiative to fill in their real names and places of origin.
The party branch of the independent regiment has solved the problem of political orientation and created unprecedented political work. The soldiers were not only taught to shoot, but also told who they were shooting for, and their consciousness was greatly improved. By recruiting platoon cadres and active soldiers to join the party organization in the work and struggle, the number of party members has gradually grown to more than 120, and the leadership of the Independent League party has been strengthened.
The party branch of the independent regiment has strengthened the construction of the style of the army and cultivated the spiritual core of the iron general style. The independent regiment party branch officers will attach great importance to the formation of a good style of work in the army. The system of "three exercises and two lectures" in general troops was changed to "four exercises and three lectures" ("four exercises": one morning exercise, one military drill in the morning and one in the afternoon, and one military gymnastics at dusk. "Three lectures": one political or military lesson in the morning and one in the afternoon, and one in the evening) to strengthen military training. In addition, troops are often pulled to dangerous places such as Qixingyan Juxing Bridge and Pearl Trail to conduct mountain offensive and defensive drills to cultivate the tenacious character and excellent combat skills of officers and soldiers.
Zhaoqing is the throat of western Guangdong. There are many merchants and troops stationed in the downtown area. The unhealthy social atmosphere has influenced the officers and soldiers. In order to put an end to the misconduct of officers and soldiers, Ye Ting organized a military and police inspection team, and served as the captain himself. Whether it is the military discipline of the officers and soldiers of the regiment, or the smuggling of friendly forces for profit, extortion, and oppression of the masses, all Illegal acts will be strictly investigated. By cutting off the bad habit of employing the feudal army, military discipline was strictly enforced, the relationship between the army and the people was strengthened, and the foundation of the iron style of the independent regiment was laid. Deng yancun, chief of staff of the Fourth Army of the national revolutionary army, once summed up the reasons for the victory of the independent regiment: "because the members of the regiment, mainly the Communist Party members as the backbone, have the revolutionary thought of anti imperialism and anti feudalism and strong fighting will, they implement the strict discipline of the revolutionary army, such as" no ravage, no payment, and fair trade ", so they have won the warm support and support of the masses."
As the first branch of the party in the regular army, the party branch of the Ye Ting Independent Regiment effectively ensured that the Independent Regiment became a revolutionary army directly led by our party, and made a useful exploration for the Chinese Communist Party to create a proletarian revolutionary army.

Source: Learning Times