Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 34: Propaganda Team

  Zhuang Jihua actually admires the current Guangzhou citizens, the war machine has started, but the Guangzhou citizens are still living their lives according to their own trajectory, without any visible impact from the war; after 9/11 in the previous life, the hysteria that permeated the entire US and the calmness of the current Guangzhou citizens form a stark contrast. Perhaps this is the difference in attitude towards war between people who have lived in peace for a long time and those who have lived in war for a long time. The former has an instinctive fear of war, while the latter regards war as part of life and has already learned how to cope with it.

  Chen Gang and Gong Xiuhua quickly caught up with Pan Huiqin and Jin Huishu, the bespectacled young man who had just shouted at them was also there. Several people occasionally raised their arms and shouted slogans in the procession, after walking a few steps like this, Gong Xiuhua finally couldn't bear it anymore.

  "Chen, what do you think of Zhuang Jihua's plan? Can Li Zhilong make it work?"

  "I'm a hundred percent sure, but I think there's at least an 80% chance. He wants you to find Li Zhi Long." Chen Gang said as he raised his hand. "His real intention is for you to find Director Zhou, the same Director Zhou from the political department who spoke at today's meeting."

  "Then will Director Zhou agree to our participation in the battle?"

  "Join the battle? You haven't received any training, no one dares to agree. Didn't the Cultural Revolution say let you organize a propaganda team? I think doing propaganda, mobilizing the masses, and boosting morale is also good, it's also participating in the Eastern Expedition."

  It seems that the procession can be accepted, and after turning a corner, they shouted slogans for a while, and it seemed that everyone felt a bit tired, and there was a brief silence in the crowd. Li Zhilong and Glasses somehow walked to Chen Gang's side, and the three girls gathered together again. The current situation is that Glasses are on the far left, followed by Li Zhilong, Chen Gang, then Gong Xiu Hua, Pan Huiqin, and Jin Huishu, with six people walking in a row.

  "Just now I forgot to ask Wenge, why didn't he join our union?" Li Zhilong suddenly said to Chen Gang.

  "This thing puzzles me, if it wasn't for Jin's classmate just now," said Chen Gong, looking around and seeing that the three girls hadn't noticed, he lowered his voice and said: "Excuse me, I also want to ask him."

  "This Cultural Revolution fellow is hard to fathom; sometimes he seems to approve of our Party's platform, and at other times he appears to oppose it."

  "That's counter-revolutionary, we must resolutely struggle against such people." Suddenly hearing someone oppose the Party's views, Glasses interrupted.

  "Zhèng dé, bù néng zhè me yì jiàn de kàn, nǐ bù liǎo jiě wén gé, qí shí zhè qīng nián jūn rén lián hé huì gāng kāi shǐ shí jiù shì wén gé hé wū shān zài gǎo, zhǐ shì qù nián dǐ wén gé chū le diǎn shì, tā jiù méi yòu chā shǒu le. Shuō jù shí huà, ruò wú wén gé, zhè qīng jūn huì kǒng pà méi zhè me kuài jiàn lì qǐ lái."

  Translation:

  "Zheng De, you can't look at it so simply. You don't understand the Cultural Revolution. In fact, when this Youth Military Alliance was first established, it was actually the Cultural Revolution and Wu Shan who were behind it. It's just that last year, something happened with the Cultural Revolution, and he didn't intervene again. To be honest, if there wasn't a Cultural Revolution, this Youth Military Alliance might not have been established so quickly."

  "Right, Zhengde, you've always boasted about your exceptional debating skills. When will you see the eloquence of the Cultural Revolution and realize that there are mountains beyond mountains?" Chen Gong took over Li Zhilong's topic to praise Zhu Jihua's eloquence. Zhengde was Eye Glasses' pen name, his real name was Li Haoyi, a student at Sun Yat-sen University's School of Liberal Arts, known in school for his sharp tongue and frequent publications in "New Youth" and "Guide". He is now a member of the Communist Youth League.

  "Is he that formidable?" Li Hao couldn't help but feel a little skeptical. His articles were often praised by his superiors, and in the various debates and speeches organized by the organization, he frequently left his opponents at a loss for words, evoking waves of applause from the audience. Recently, he had published several articles in "New Youth" and "Guide", refuting Gai's counter-revolutionary views. Just as he was preparing to engage in a fierce debate with Gai, he suddenly stopped hearing from him after publishing that article. Gai refused to respond, so Li Hao turned his attention to Xie Chi, a right-wing member of the Nationalist Party.

  "I heard that the one who was rebuked is from your Whampoa Military Academy? Last time I wrote a few articles criticizing him, unexpectedly this coward didn't dare to respond. Do you know who he is?" Li Hao asked.

  "Is it in La Jeunesse? And isn't your pen name Qifang?" Chen Gong asked.

  "Right, have you guys read it? How did it feel?"

  "Not bad, well written." Li Zhilong said calmly. As soon as he heard Li Haoyi mention Gai Zhi, he exchanged a glance with Chen Gong, and the two of them tacitly understood that Gai Zhi was a nobody. However, Li Zhilong felt that Li Haoyi's articles were not more insightful than Yu Shadu's.

  "I've read Gai Zhi's article, and my father said some of his views are good." Unexpectedly, Gong Xiu Hua spoke up for Gai Zhi.

  "What views?" Chen Gong asked.

  "For example, establishing a national government, constitution, and equal two-party system. Under the national government, implementing rule of law is stronger than ruling by party."

  "Your father is a capitalist, Shuhua. Be careful, how can you use the perspective of a capitalist to explain the proletarian revolution?" Li Hao reminded Gong Shuhua with dissatisfaction.

  "Shouldn't both parties be equal and not considered bourgeois?" Pan Huiqin asked in confusion, she had also read the revised article.

  "So, the change that was made with ulterior motives is a deliberate trap to lure us into giving up on mobilizing the workers and peasants for revolution." Li Hao felt that these people had not seen through Chang's plot, so he needed to help them.

  "The purpose of the revision is to make us abandon the worker-peasant revolution and turn to a parliamentary revolution, letting us carry out revolution within the circle defined by the bourgeoisie. His goal is to serve the bourgeoisie and strike at the worker-peasant movement." Li Haowei explained to them.

  By this time, Li Zhilong and Chen Gang felt that this Li Hao was indeed a man of real talent and learning, not just boasting.

  "It seems like you're right." Gong Xiu Hua thought for a moment and accepted Li Hao Yi's point of view.

  Li Hao said with some complacency: "Comrade Borodin, the chief adviser, has said that Zhang Renjie is a counter-revolutionary worse than the rightists. You should expel him from the Whampoa Military Academy and build a revolutionary Whampoa. We should also confiscate all the land of the landlords and distribute it to the peasants; we should confiscate the factories of the capitalists and hand them over to the workers. Xiuhua, at that time your family's factory will also be confiscated, you must take a correct attitude."

  "Alright, I agree, I have two hands to support myself." Gong Xiu Hua said with a smile.

  After a period of rest, the procession began shouting slogans again and the march entered a new phase.

  After the parade, Gong Xiu Hua took Pan Hui Qin and Jin Hui Shu to form the Eastern Expedition Propaganda Team. The girls were very efficient and managed to gather 500-600 people from the Women's Normal School and Girls' School in just one day. After Li Hao Yi reported back to the Guangdong University Party organization, they also thought it was a good idea and began to promote the formation of the Eastern Expedition Propaganda Team in various universities in Guangdong, gathering nearly 1,000 people.

  The letter requesting to join the war effort was handed over to Director Zhou of the Political Department through Li Zhi Long. Director Zhou was torn, on one hand happy about the students' revolutionary enthusiasm, but on the other hand worried that the number of people was too large. The entire Whampoa Military Academy had only 3,000 people participating in the Eastern Expedition, and the propaganda team alone had 1,500-1,600 people, which was definitely not feasible.

  Therefore, Director Zhou worked with the Guangdong District Committee to persuade the students, and eventually approved 300 of them to participate in the Eastern Expedition Propaganda Team. Li Hao Yi, Gong Xiu Hua, Pan Hui Qin, and Jin Hui Shu were all selected. On the 25th, the Eastern Expedition Propaganda Team gathered at the Whampoa Military Academy for training.

  On January 26, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the formation of a student battalion composed of students from the first and second classes of the Whampoa Military Academy, which together with the First and Second Instructional Regiments formed the Whampoa Garrison, to participate in the Eastern Expedition.

  On January 29, the Whampoa Military Academy held an Eastern Expedition oath-taking rally. Chiang Kai-shek announced the Revolutionary Army's Collective Responsibility Law, which stipulated: If one squad retreats, kill the squad leader; if one platoon retreats, kill the platoon leader; if one company retreats, kill the company commander; if one battalion retreats, kill the battalion commander; if one regiment retreats, kill the regimental commander. If the entire regiment retreats and the regimental commander is killed, kill all the battalion commanders; if the entire battalion retreats and the battalion commander is killed, kill all the company commanders; if the entire company retreats and the company commander is killed, kill all the platoon leaders; if the entire platoon retreats and the platoon leader is killed, kill all the squad leaders. If the entire squad retreats and the squad leader is killed, execute all soldiers.

  At the same time, Chiang announced the establishment of a military law office, appointing Political Department Director Zhou E as its head. The stern voice of Chiang Kai-shek sent shivers down the spines of all the officers present at the rally.

  On January 30, the Huangpu School Army set out from Huangpu Island and converged on Humen and Dongguan by land and water. On the 31st, the Guangdong Army's Zhang Mingda Division and Xu Ji Brigade set out from Yandang and advanced towards Shilong.

  On February 1st, Chiang Kai-shek issued an order to attack Dongguan from Humen. On the same day, Li Zhilong, a special officer of the Political Department, led the Eastern Expedition Propaganda Team to depart from Humen.

  Character Li Hao provided by book friend Jiao Chuang Ling Yu, thank you for the confusion. There are still several characters in this book, hoping to fight enthusiastically provide.

  (Also asking for votes)