In October 1928, former Kuomintang officers Bi Zhanyun and Zhang Wei led a team to revolt and defected to the Red Army.
It was quite a sensation at the time. In 1962, when Zhu De visited the Jinggangshan Museum, he also mentioned: "From Jinggangshan, there are two people who have played a great role, and you missed it. Bi Zhanyun led a battalion of Yan Zhongru's troops to revolt, and another battalion revolted. After descending the mountain, they were organized into two columns. From then on, there were many uprisings in the Kuomintang army from squad to platoon. These uprisings and insurrections show that the previous military work was done very well. ”
Bi Zhanyun, a native of Guang'an County, Sichuan, was born in a poor peasant family, and was originally from the Xiang Chengjie Department of the Sichuan Army, and was later transferred to the command of the Yan Zhongru Brigade of the Eighth Army of the Hunan Warlord Tang Shengzhi's Department, and was stationed in Shatian, Guidong. Bi Zhanyun participated in the Northern Expedition and had a certain understanding of the Communist Party and the Red Army. After Bi Zhanyun's unit was reorganized, he was disliked by the Hunan army, and his battalion was reorganized into a company, with the battalion commander demoted to company commander, and all company commanders demoted to platoon commanders. In addition, there are many Sichuan people in the department, and the squad leader and above are all Sichuanese, and Zhu De and Chen Yi have influence in the Sichuan army. The officers and men wanted to find a way out, and they were unwilling to work for the Kuomintang reactionaries in the Hunan army.
In August 1928, when Zhu De led his troops from southern Hunan to return to Jinggangshan, he met this unit in Guidong. Bi Zhanyun dealt with it passively and did not make up his mind to fight, but as a result, Zhu Debu left safely. Later, at the junction of Guidong and Yuxian, the two armies fought each other from time to time. On one occasion, the Red Army captured some prisoners of Bi Zhanyun's troops in a battle, and the Red Army not only did not beat or scold, but also killed a pig to entertain them, and after being educated, let their former soldiers go back with their guns. After these people returned, they became volunteer propagandists of the Red Army, and they all said that the Red Army was good. Some also persuaded others to turn against the water and join the Red Army.
Although Bi Zhanyun suffered greatly from the warlords' "big fish eating small fish," he suddenly pulled his troops to the side of the Red Army, and he was still looking ahead and looking backwards and making indecisive moves. At this time, Zhu De and Chen Yi wrote to him to do work, urging him to understand the great righteousness, revolt at an early date, and abandon the old and seek the new. On October 26, Bi Zhanyun led 126 people to revolt in Guidong, and Mao Zedong and Zhu De sent Chen Yi to Tanghu in Suichuan to welcome them to Jinggang Mountain. Soon, the unit was reorganized into a special battalion of the Red Fourth Army, and Bi Zhanyun was appointed as the battalion commander.
Zhang Wei, a native of Yunnan, participated in the Northern Expedition in his early years and knew something about the Communist Party. The unit originally belonged to the 21st Army of Zhu Peide's division of the Jiangxi Kuomintang Army, and was stationed in Yuanzhou City, Jiangxi. Zhang Wei was mentally depressed in the Kuomintang army, liked to gamble, and lost all the salaries of the officers and men of the battalion at one time. When the regiment commander learned about this, he was punished by dismissal from his post and investigation, so he was depressed every day and often went to the hotel to borrow wine to relieve his boredom. After Xie Zhenguo of the Lianhua County CPC Committee learned about this incident, Xie Zhenguo did his job and persuaded him to revolt and join the Red Army. Forced by circumstances and influenced by Zhu De's early years in the Yunnan army, Zhang Wei led the entire battalion of officers and soldiers to declare an uprising in Yuanzhou City at the end of October. After hearing the news, the Kuomintang army came to chase after them, and Zhang Wei led his troops to fight fiercely with them, and finally led 96 men and guns to join the Lotus Independent Regiment. Soon, the unit was reorganized into an independent battalion of the Red Fourth Army, with Zhang Wei as the battalion commander.
After joining the Red Army, these two Kuomintang troops went to Ninggang New Town in November to participate in the winter training of the Red Fourth Army. Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Chen Yi were very concerned about them, and often went to them to understand the situation and conduct political education.
One morning, the sky was drizzling and snowflakes. Mao Zedong went to the special service camp to visit the cadres and soldiers. He went to a fire in the middle, sat down with the soldiers, stretched out his hand to make a fire, and asked, "Don't you plant every day?" Aren't you tired when you get up early every day and get dark? Didn't you beat a lot of food? Why didn't I eat it? Where does the food go?"
Seeing that everyone did not speak, Mao Zedong asked again: "The poor people plough the fields day and night, and they are still hungry and cold. And the landlord Lao Cai didn't do anything with a hookah, but they couldn't eat and wear. Why is that? ”
Most of these fighters came from poor peasant backgrounds, and their ancestors had been too bound by traditional concepts for generations, and some people could not help sighing: "What a miserable life!" The voice was not loud, but it was heard by Mao Zedong. He glanced at the soldier cordially, and then said loudly to everyone: "The old rich family has been so good for generations? The 'life' of all of us for generations is so bitter? What gods of heaven, the god of the hearth, the god of the land, and the god of wealth, don't you still burn incense to them on the first and fifteenth day of the month? Why did they all offend? …… ”
When everyone heard this, they all laughed, and Mao Zedong laughed too. He asked one question after another: "Did you grow the grain?"
"Yes!" Many fighters replied in unison.
"Did you grow cotton?"
"Yes!" The fighters were louder.
"That's right, you don't get for what you don't get, you don't get for what you don't get, that's exploitation! That's why we need revolution, fight local tyrants, and divide the land. Mao Zedong continued, "Some people say that their 'eight characters' are not good. What's wrong with the 'eight characters', because people have guns in their hands! In some places, local tyrants were beaten and land was divided, and the 'lives' of the poor families were suddenly improved. Because the poor people in that place had guns in their hands, the poor people turned over. If you want to have a good year and have something to eat, you must pick up the gun and make a revolution! Down with the Kuomintang, down with the reactionaries, down with the reactionary warlords, down with the local tyrants and shoddy gentry, and plant the red flag of our axe and sickle all over China...... ”
These words touched the hearts of the warriors. Huang Lianqiu, who was present at the time, later recalled: "Commissar Mao has spoken the heartfelt words of our poor people for many years! This was the first class education class that Commissar Mao gave us in Jinggangshan 50 years ago, and it was also the basic lesson for being a revolutionary fighter. ”
However, there is, after all, much arduous concrete work to be done to transform the insurrectionary forces into a genuine workers' and peasants' Red Army. Mao Zedong handed over this task to He Changgong and said to him: "In the past, when you were running a peasant self-defense army in the Dongting Lake area, you reformed the armed bandits of the lake, and after the Autumn Harvest Uprising went to Jinggangshan, you reformed Wang Zuo's troops and accumulated experience. It's up to you to complete this mission. ”
He Changgong was a little worried: "It's not easy to do." Wang Zuo's troops were green forest heroes who had been 'forced to go to Liangshan,' and they had a good foundation and were easy to reform. Although most of these two units came from working people's families, most of them were tainted with many old habits in the old army, especially opium smoking and gambling, and many of them became 'double-spearmen.' I don't have the experience to change them from old to new, from white to red, so I really don't have much certainty. ”
Mao Zedong said with a smile: "Difficulty is natural, everything is difficult at the beginning, but we still have to find a way to transform the insurrectionary troops." ”
A few days later, Mao Zedong and Chen Yi came to the training camp of the rebel troops. As soon as they met, He Changgong cried out: "Do you want these 'soldiers'?" I still say the same thing: it's hard to transform. ”
After hearing this, Mao Zedong said solemnly: "Why not? People are dressed up and sent to the door, and the uprising is a righteous act, so it's not good if you don't want it. Don't be negative, but actively transform, if the transformation is not good, it proves that we are not capable...... ”
But how exactly to transform it? He Changgong suggested: "This gang of 'smokers' will detain them for 20 days, and the smoking guns will be handed over." ”
"Is that okay? That shows that we are no different from the Kuomintang. Whether to persuade or to subdue, two ways, two futures. Mao Zedong thought for a moment and said, "You should be the director of the smoking cessation center, and you should start by quitting smoking, so that they can understand the essential differences between the Red Army and the White Army, fundamentally raise their consciousness, and change their stance and world outlook." ”
Chen Yi said: "Yes." For those who smoke big cigarettes, they can also adopt the method of 'stealing beams and changing pillars', get more tobacco leaves, and gradually replace them. At the same time, there are more cultural and sports activities, and there are more activities in this area, and there are fewer people who want to smoke. ”
According to the instructions of Mao Zedong and Chen Yi, He Changgong started the transformation work. The first paragraph was fine, but after a few days, many people became addicted to smoking, crying and shouting. Some people who were addicted to cigarettes even ran to He Changgong and begged bitterly: "Let me smoke a big cigarette, and I will not be wronged if I die." He Changgong said: "To die is to die a glorious death." Die for the people, although you still live, and you can't die with the infamy of being a 'smoker.' Now I feel bitter, but when I become a real Red Army soldier and are welcomed by the people, I will feel sweet. This difficulty must be overcome!"
At the same time, he particularly strengthened ideological and political education to raise the understanding of whether or not to smoke big cigarettes to the point of view of the difference between the Red Army and the Kuomintang army, so that they could understand that the people's army could not defeat the enemy as long as it had steel guns in its hands, no suicidal smoking guns, and opium guns. In this way, the Lucky Star Chinese Restaurant weathered and the rain dripped into the soil, so that everyone's hearts suddenly opened up and the air for quitting smoking became thicker. Everyone supervised each other and helped each other, and the work of quitting smoking was very effective. As a result, other bad habits have gradually decreased.
In this way, under the care and instructions of Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Chen Yi, these two insurrectionary forces were finally transformed into real people's troops, and Bi Zhanyun and Zhang Wei also became commanders of the Red Army who were capable of fighting well. Later, Zhang Wei died heroically on the way down the mountain of the Red Fourth Army to open up the revolutionary base in southern Jiangxi. Bi Zhanyun grew up to become a senior commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955, and served as deputy commander of the Wuhan Military Region. He Changgong said: "After the liberation of the whole country, Bi Zhanyun and I reunited in Beijing after a long absence, and we looked back on the past with great emotion, and he was very grateful to the party for educating them and enabling them to march on the road of revolution. ”