Three Bay Reorganization: An Important Beginning of Building a New Type of People's Army

On August 1, 2017, President Xi pointed out in his speech at the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army: "The fundamental principles and systems of the party's absolute leadership over the army originated from the Nanchang Uprising, was based on the reorganization of Sanwan, and was finalized. The Gutian Conference is a political characteristic and fundamental advantage that the People's Army is completely different from all old armies." As an important beginning of building a new type of people's army led by the proletariat, the Sanwan reorganization led by Mao Zedong himself has a special position in the history of revolution. In the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, an oil lamp and an inkstone used by Mao Zedong in Sanwan Village are displayed, as a silent witness to tell the historical decision at a critical moment.
On August 1, 1927, the Nanchang Uprising, the first shot of armed resistance against the Kuomintang reactionaries was officially fired. On the 6th day after the uprising, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an emergency meeting in Hankou, Hubei, that is, the August 7th meeting, to determine the policy of implementing the agrarian revolution and armed uprising. At the meeting, Mao Zedong proposed that the autumn harvest riots must have military affairs. The party must pay great attention to military issues. It is important to know that political power is obtained from the barrel of a gun ". The meeting elected the Provisional Political Bureau of the Central Committee headed by Qu Qiubai, and the young Mao Zedong was elected as an alternate member of the Political Bureau.
Before the division of labor in the Provisional Political Bureau of the Central Committee, when seeking Mao Zedong's opinions on going to work in the central government in Shanghai, he said that he did not want to live in high-rise buildings in big cities, but would like to go to the countryside and make friends in the mountains. Subsequently, at the first meeting of the Provisional Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on August 9, Rominaz, the representative of the Communist International, finally decided that Mao Zedong and Peng Gongda would return to Hunan to convey the spirit of the August 7th Conference and be fully responsible for the reorganization of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee.
After arriving in Hunan, Mao Zedong actively carried out rural surveys and consulted farmers. In August, the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, combined with the opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held many discussions and formulated a plan for the riot. In early September, Mao Zedong, as a special commissioner of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee's Autumn Harvest Uprising, held a military meeting of the Hunan-Jiangxi Border Autumn Harvest Uprising in Zhangjiawan, and formally formed the Hunan Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China with the main leaders of the road armies as members and Mao Zedong as the secretary. The former enemy committee unified leadership of the Hunan-Jiangxi border autumn harvest uprising.
At the same time, it was decided to openly play the Communist Party's own banner and formally form the 1st Division of the 1st Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, with Division Commander Yu Sa-du, Deputy Division Commander Yu Gaimin and Chief of Staff Zhong Wenzhang under its jurisdiction. The plan was initially drawn up for the uprising troops to attack Changsha in three routes: the first route (2nd regiment) attacked Pingxiang and Liling and surrounded Changsha. The second route (1st regiment) attacked Pingjiang from Xiushui, and launched Pingjiang farmers in the county riot, seize Pingjiang and then push to Changsha; The third road (3rd regiment) attacked Liuyang from bronze drums and launched Liuyang farmers to riot in the four villages, approaching Changsha. As Mao Zedong said in the "Autumn Harvest Uprising on the Xijiang River": "The army is called the workers' and peasants' revolution, and the flag is the sickle and the axe. ...... The autumn harvest season is dusk and sorrow, and a thunderbolt riots."
According to the time plan of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, on September 9, the autumn harvest uprising broke out on the border between Hunan and Jiangxi. The 1st Regiment and the 1st Division of the 1st Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army announced an uprising in Xiushui County, Jiangxi Province. On September 10, the troops stationed in Tonggu were reorganized into the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Division of the 1st Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. In response to the call of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, they immediately armed the uprising. Lu Deming, who served as the head of the guard regiment of the General Command of the Second Front Army of the National Revolutionary Army, returned to the division headquarters of the uprising army from Wuhan and served as the commander-in-chief of the uprising troops. From September 11 to 15, the three regiments of the 1st Division of the 1st Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army on the Hunan-Jiangxi border attacked Pingjiang and Liuyang respectively and suffered certain setbacks. Although Changsha County and Liling, Pingjiang, Zhuzhou, Liuyang and other places all had peasant uprisings of different scales to cooperate with the rebel army, they did not form the expected momentum and the Changsha riot was postponed.
Under such circumstances, Mao Zedong made a decisive decision and ordered all ministries to withdraw from the battle immediately and transfer to Liuyang Wenjia City for concentration. On September 19, the 1st, 3rd and 2nd regiments of the Autumn Harvest Uprising troops met in Wenjia City, Liuyang, and held a meeting of the former enemy committee. After fierce debate, with the support of commander-in-chief Lu Deming and others, Mao Zedong passed Mao Zedong's proposal to abandon the attack on Changsha. He decided to turn to the rural and mountainous areas where the enemy's ruling power was weak to seek a foothold in order to preserve strength and develop. This has also become a new starting point from attacking big cities to marching into the countryside.
Since the revolutionary army of workers and peasants transferred from Wenjia City, it has moved south along the Luoxiao Mountains to Pingxiang and Lianhua in Jiangxi Province. The revolutionary army was attacked by the Kuomintang army in Luxi, Pingxiang, Jiangxi, and its commander-in-chief, Lu Deming, died. All the way, the battle is frequent, the number of wounded is increasing, there are some people left behind. There are still some officers in the army who have the old army habit of beating and scolding soldiers. Some officers are afraid of hardship and leave the army to find their own way out. There are also a few soldiers who are afraid of hardship and fatigue and leave the army on their own. In addition, the natural conditions are difficult, malaria is prevalent in the army, the number of patients is increasing, and some of the wounded and sick cannot die on the way due to lack of medical treatment. Some regiments and battalions have already had more officers and fewer soldiers, and more guns and fewer people. According to the memory of the founding general Chen Shiju, each person can even carry two or three guns.
On September 29, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was stationed in Sanwan Village, Yongxin County, from Lianhua County. At this time, the army had less than 1,000 people. It was also in this small village that in just a few days, Mao Zedong led the far-reaching Sanwan adaptation. But at the beginning of the garrison, because the local people did not understand the workers' and peasants' revolutionary army, many people hid in the mountains one after another. Mao Zedong arranged for all units to immediately go up the mountain to shout and publicize to the masses. Only then did they return to the village one after another. That night, Mao Zedong presided over an enlarged meeting of the former enemy Committee of the Communist Party of China, which made an important decision to reorganize the army.
The first content of the adaptation is to rectify the organization. In the process of adaptation, the principle of voluntariness was adopted: those who are willing to continue to participate in the revolution will stay, those who do not want to stay will be allowed to leave the team, and those who want to leave will be issued with certificates and travel expenses. Many people who were negative and pessimistic and evaded the struggle left the army, but the ranks were more pure and stable. The army was downsized from one division to one regiment, called the 1st regiment of the 1st division of the 1st army of the workers' and peasants' revolutionary army, with a total of 6 companies in the 1st and 3rd battalions. In addition, special service companies, health teams and supply teams were organized, and the remaining cadres were organized into a separate officer team. Although the reorganized regiment has only more than 700 people, more than 700 long and short guns, and 2 machine guns, the grassroots companies have also been enriched, and their combat effectiveness has not decreased but increased.
The key to the reorganization is to strengthen the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party over the troops. Establish Communist Party organizations at all levels of the army: branches are built on companies, squads and platoons set up groups, battalions and regiments set up party committees, and the party's former enemy committees uniformly lead the entire army. At the same time, a new party representative system was introduced. The secretary of the party organization shall serve as the party representative at the same level, responsible for party affairs, political work and mass work, and jointly manage and command the troops with the military chief. The establishment and improvement of Communist Party organizations at all levels, especially the establishment of company party branches, has enabled the troops to have a strong fighting fortress, promoted the vanguard and exemplary role of party members, and enhanced the cohesion of the troops.
At the same time, a democratic system in which officers and soldiers are equal is implemented. In the army, the privileges of officers are abolished, officers are not allowed to beat or scold soldiers, and officers and soldiers are politically equal. Soldiers' committees composed of representatives of soldiers shall be established at all levels above the company level to participate in the administrative and economic management of the army and have the right to supervise the officers. The establishment of the democratic system has established a new type of relationship between officers and soldiers as class brothers, effectively consolidated the army and improved its combat effectiveness.
On September 30, Mao Zedong announced the decision to reorganize the army to all commanders and fighters in Fengshuping, Sanwan, and made a mobilization speech. He said: "He Long started with two kitchen knives, and now he has a soldier with him. We have two battalions, are we afraid that we can't do it? You are all out of the uprising, one can be an enemy with ten, and ten can be a hundred." He also encouraged everyone that without setbacks and failures, there would be no success. After the reorganization of Sanwan, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had a high morale and a new mental outlook. It can be seen from a letter written by a company commander to his wife in October: "I march and fight every day, and my money is useless and I don't wear clothes, but my spirit is very happy. It is much better than when I lived a beautiful life in the past, because it is free and will never be oppressed by anyone. Comrades are united."
After the reorganization of Sanwan, the party's organizational and leadership capabilities were greatly enhanced, the troops were disciplined, went south to Jinggang, mobilized the masses, contacted the agricultural army, and carried out revolutionary activities, creating conditions for the establishment of revolutionary base areas. Looking back at Sanwan Village, one side of the inkstone witnessed the birth of important documents, reflecting the vision of the great leader. An oil lamp has witnessed the convening of key meetings and the formulation of far-reaching decisions. The light it emits not only illuminates the desk, breaks through the stormy era, illuminates the way forward for the Chinese revolution, but also inspires future generations to move forward in the direction of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Source: Learning Times