Chapter 4 Rescue

  Look at the "bus"???? The office of the Military Department's Staff Headquarters, Chief of Staff Lai Chuanzhu was leaning on the table looking at the "Enemy Situation Summary" compiled and printed by the three sections of this department. Yuan Guoping and Zhou Zikun rushed in, the guard handed over the tea water and turned to leave, lightly closing the door. After sitting down, they didn't even bother to drink tea, Yuan Guoping said in a low voice: There's something that needs to be discussed. I'll tell you the situation first, you guys give me an idea.

  Last year, the Red Army guerrilla troops went down the mountain to reorganize, and in Minzhong Putian and Minnan Zhangpu, there were cases of deception, encirclement, forced disarmament, arrest, and killing of our military personnel. In response to the conspiracy of the Kuomintang reactionaries, the Central Committee clearly instructed that the southern guerrilla zones are the strategic strongholds of the southern revolutionary movement in the future, and each guerrilla zone will require development in the future, leaving one-third of its armed forces, not absolutely concentrated.

  Before Xiang Ying left for Yan'an, a military division meeting was held to study and decide to start from Southern Anhui, sending out three batches of elite personnel directly under the leadership of the Southern Anhui Special Committee, secretly establishing or restoring worker-peasant armed base areas. The meeting assigned Yuan and Zhou to be responsible for selecting personnel and implementing this plan, with Lin Buxin, Secretary of the Southern Anhui Special Committee, assisting. Due to the involvement of the Anti-Japanese United Front and relations with the Third War Zone, Xiang Ying repeatedly emphasized the need for absolute secrecy, limiting it to only the military department heads knowing.

  Because Ye Shouzhong was the temporary party branch secretary of the Yan'an cadres going south, Zhou Zikun had a lot of work contact with him along the way and felt that he was clever and reliable. Therefore, when selecting candidates, Zhou Zikun first recommended Ye Shouzhong, and Yuan Guoping thought it was okay, then Xu Changsheng, Chen Wu, and others were also included in the list of the first batch of dispatched personnel. But unexpectedly, just as Yuan and Zhou were about to talk to Ye Shouzhong and others, announce the decision of the Military Commission on the eve of the previous day, Ye Shouzhong and three others suddenly left without saying goodbye, escaped quickly, and were soon caught back, and it was said that they would be subject to military law. The two were shocked and angry, put down their work in a hurry, and rushed to attend the trial as observers, wanting to understand the truth of the matter personally.

  Yuan Guoping said, feeling thirsty, and picked up his teacup to take a big gulp of water. Zhou Zikun continued: Lai Chief also needs to participate in the implementation of the Military Division's decision. Let's not talk about the selection of personnel for now. The pursuit of Ye Shouzhi was ordered by Commander Ye, I sent someone to carry it out, and heard that they even opened fire, almost injuring people, things have become a bit troublesome. Old Yuan, what do you think of Ye Shouzhi now?

  Yuan Guoping habitually adjusted the frame of his glasses and said after a moment of contemplation: Based on my usual observations and understanding of Ye Shouzhi, especially after listening to the interrogation conversation just now, I can confirm that he is not a deserter. He simply has opinions about the arrangement of his duties being too low and is dissatisfied, so he ran away in a huff. This is serious individualism and a serious violation of military discipline, and must be handled seriously.

  Lai Chuanzhu interjected: What attitude does Ye Junlong have?

  Zhou Zikun said: Ye Junlong is very angry and says that he is a deserter who should be dealt with by military law.

  Yuan Guoping sighed: This might just be anger talking, but when handling cadres, we must be cautious. In these extraordinary times, if the punishment is too severe, it will be unfair to Ye Shouzhi himself and irresponsible, and it will also have a negative impact on other cadres. I'll go talk to Ye Junlong about this now, you all think of a solution.

  Yuan Guoping said as he stood up to leave. Zhou Zikun grabbed him and said: If the conversation goes well, then that's good, but if it doesn't...

  Lai Chuanzhu continued his sentence: Then we'll send a telegram to ask for Comrade Xiang Ying's instructions.

  Yuan Guoping smiled: Alright, let's do that.

  Two section chiefs of the military law department held back their anger and reported the results of the interrogation to Secretary General Li Yixiang, director of the military law department, highlighting Ye Shouzhi's various evasions and bad attitude. Director Li carefully reviewed the interrogation records, frowning and saying: There is no evidence to prove that Ye Shouzhi betrayed and defected. Your questioning method has a problem, forcing him to confess to a crime, he can't help but be anxious. No need to interrogate again, you go to the special operations camp to understand Ye Shouzhi's usual behavior, use evidence to speak.

  Yuan Guoping walked into Ye Junlong's office, and Li Yi had just sat down, without discussing the main topic. Ye Ting saw Yuan Guoping arrive, stood up to greet him: "You're just in time, you're in charge of personnel, I was thinking of hearing your views on Ye Shouzhi's issue." Yuan Guoping smiled and replied: "General, you're being polite." At the same time, he also nodded at Li Yi, as a greeting.

  Li Yixiang's report was brief and to the point, his conclusion simple: from our investigation and interrogation of Ye Shouzhi, it appears that he had absconded without permission due to dissatisfaction with his assigned duties in the New Fourth Army and a desire to return to work in the Eighth Route Army. Ye Ting looked at Li Yixiang for a moment before asking, "Is that all?" Then turning to Yuan Guoping, he asked, "What do you think?" Yuan Guoping replied, "I agree with Director Li's conclusion."

  Yeh T'ing shook his head and said: "You are just discussing the matter, but you haven't seen the danger of it. The New Fourth Army has just been concentrated and reorganized, with personnel from various mountain strongholds, and the guerrilla habits are severe. Many cadres still have a resistant attitude towards wearing Nationalist army uniforms. To quickly sort out the troops and set off for the anti-Japanese front line as soon as possible, it is necessary to unify military orders and strictly enforce discipline." Yeh T'ing's tone became even more serious: "What is Yeh First trying to do? Not thinking about how to lead the troops well, but instead daydreaming all day, and secretly taking people to escape. If this were on the battlefield, I would have executed military discipline long ago. Saying that they want to return to the Eighth Route Army is just an excuse. Is the New Fourth Army not a party army? Doesn't it fight against Japan and the devils?" At this point, Yeh T'ing seemed to have touched a painful spot in his heart, and his face suddenly turned gloomy, the atmosphere in the room becoming heavy.

  Yuan Guoping whispered that it was not good, and immediately said: Please calm down, General Ye. General Ye's military discipline is strict, rewards and punishments are clear, we feel the same way and support him. However, I must speak frankly, Ye Shouzhi violated military discipline, made a serious mistake, had a bad influence, and should be seriously dealt with, but the crime is not punishable by death. Why not spare his life and let him make amends? Li Yiyou interjected: During the trial, Ye Shouzhi has shown signs of remorse and said he was willing to accept any organizational treatment. As long as he can truly recognize his mistakes, I think we can give him a chance to redeem himself through meritorious service. The Red Army has had lessons in this regard before.

  Their attitude was very clear, and their opinions were surprisingly consistent. This made Ye Ting feel a bit rash, and after calming down, his thoughts became more active. Beheading the vanguard to warn the others was an unavoidable move, but it hadn't come to that step yet. Although Ye had been a Red Army division commander and had experienced the Long March, he was still under thirty years old and tended to be impulsive in his actions. Hadn't he himself been the same when he was young? After the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising, he couldn't bear the unjust criticism from the Communist International and left for Europe in a huff.

  Ye Ting thought of this, and his anger dissipated by half. He said to the two: "Did Ye Shouzheng really admit his mistake? Dealing with cadres is not a trivial matter, and Vice Commander Xiang is not at home. Let's do it like this, we can make a decision with just a few of us plus Deputy Chief of Staff Zhou. Now bring Ye Shouzheng over, I want to hear what he has to say."