Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 23: A Storm Brews (Part 1)

  In the deafening slogans, Cao Yuan walked to the front of the whole regiment again. He looked at the excited soldiers in front of him and thought that the Cultural Revolution was not wrong after all. This bad thing had turned into a good one, and the soldiers finally started to wake up and were no longer numb as before. He decided to continue his efforts.

  "Comrades, the company commander just said it well. Imperialism, warlords and landlord millionaires are the three big mountains weighing on us, if we don't overthrow them, we can't live a good life. We didn't understand before why we toiled all year round but couldn't eat our fill; why we spun yarn all year round but couldn't wear warm clothes. Meanwhile those landlords and warlords idle about every day, eating till they're stuffed with delicacies, wearing silk and satin till it's piled up to the ceiling. Is this fair?"

  "That's unfair!" The soldiers shouted loudly.

  "No, it's not fair. In the past they had guns, armies, police and power to maintain their rule, oppress us, rob our food, seize our land, force us to sell our sons and daughters; now we also have guns, we are also an army, we want to fight against them, take back our food, take back our land, drive imperialism out of China, overthrow warlords like Chen Jiongming and Wu Peifu, let us grasp the power in our own hands. Let our parents and relatives no longer starve, no longer suffer from cold. Isn't that right?"

  "Right."

  "So what should we do now? Strengthen our training, only by mastering our skills can we kill more enemies on the battlefield and overthrow the three big mountains that are pressing down on us."

  …

  After Cao Yuan finished speaking, Zhuang Jihua asked the soldiers to speak again. He didn't expect that the first one to come forward was actually Wu Ziniu. Wu Ziniu stood in front of the troops and explained why he joined the army. In fact, his family wasn't poor, they had about 20 mu of good land, but a landlord from a neighboring village took advantage of having a son who was a battalion commander in Zhao Heng's Hunan Army to forcibly occupy their land. His father couldn't bear it and went to the county government to file a lawsuit, but as a result, he was framed by the landlord and the county magistrate and killed. His mother also hanged herself. He stomped his foot and ran to Guangdong to join the Guangdong Army. He dreamed of going back to find that landlord and settle accounts. The usually rough and bold Wu Ziniu gritted his teeth and wept in front of the troops, making everyone's heart ache.

  Then Wang Xiaoshan, Hua Chun and other class leaders also came forward to talk about their own military history. Through these people's narratives, Zhuang Jihua finally had some understanding of the source of soldiers in this era.

  Soldiers of this era are either bankrupt farmers or bankrupt handicraftsmen; but without exception, they all joined the army because they couldn't make a living. The thoughts of these farmers are simple: military pay and revenge; nine out of ten. Zhuang Jihua sighed in his heart, why the old predecessors could not defeat them, this is the reason.

  Zhuang Jihua did not know that he had unknowingly completed a primary three-investigations and rectification movement, the entire trial meeting did not end until dinner time.

  Zhuang Jihua finally announced that Han Sheng and Zhao Hanjie (he explained that Zhao Gou Dan had changed his name to Zhao Hanjie) would be confined for three days. Then Zhuang Jihua sternly said that if anyone else ran away, they would be severely punished without leniency.

  That night, Cao Yuan excitedly told Zhuang Jihua that the meeting had gone too well, the soldiers were mobilized, and he wanted to strike while the iron was hot, further expounding on revolutionary principles to them and raising their awareness.

  Zhuang Jihua smiled and nodded in agreement, while also reminding him that revolutionary principles should not be too grand or too distant. The soldiers were mostly illiterate, so if you spoke too much or too far, they wouldn't understand. If it was related to their personal interests, then they would understand.

  Hu Zongnan, Du Yuming and Song Xilian also came to Lian's department to chat, but Hu Zongnan was slightly dissatisfied with Cao Yuan's opportunistic promotion of the GCD's program. Several officers were very excited and didn't mind this small matter. Zhuang Jihua convened a thought work conference in response, and also invited clerk Li Anguo to attend the meeting. At the meeting, Zhuang Jihua pointed out that ideological work cannot be accomplished by relying on one meeting or one speech, ideological work must be implemented in daily work, training, study, and life, and attention should be paid from details; he took learning characters as an example, you can start with San Zi Jing, or recognize Three People's Principles, Imperialism; the former is simply recognizing characters, while the latter is recognizing characters while accepting revolutionary principles. Training is also the same, for example, a 10-kilometer run, telling soldiers that the warlord is in front, if we catch up, we can eliminate them, if not, they will continue to oppress us. Subsequent shooting, stabbing and so on are similar.

  After the meeting, Hu Zongnan joked: "Wen Ge, how is your brain growing? These ideas come out one after another. Let's take a look and see what else is inside."

  Zhuang Jihua said half-jokingly: "There are too many things in my mind, if I were to pour them all out, you'd be scared to death, it's better to keep some of them."

  However, the desertion incident must be reported. Zhuang Jihua wrote about the cause and effect of this desertion incident, as well as his handling method and result, preparing to send someone to deliver it to Regiment Commander Wang Jun, but Hu Zongnan stopped him. Hu Zongnan told Zhuang Jihua that he had to go to the regiment headquarters in person to explain to the regiment commander and the party representative, because in fact, when dealing with deserters, the company only has the right to suggest, not the power to dispose of them. You were emotional at the time and took action, which is nothing, but if you don't go to the regiment and team in person to explain, just sending a document, what will the regiment commander think?

  Hu Zongnan's reminder was very timely, and Zhuang Jihua's mind suddenly cleared up. Hu Zongnan was not wrong, the company only had the right to suggest and execute, but no disposal decision-making power; according to procedure, after capturing deserters, the company would report to the battalion with suggestions for handling, which would play a significant role; the battalion would investigate after receiving the company's report, then report to the regiment, the regiment would make decisions based on the situation, and then follow the battalion and company procedures, finally executing in the company.

  Zhuang Jihua has actually overstepped his authority, what he needs to do now is get the superior authorities to retroactively acknowledge it. Simply sending a report would make the superiors feel disrespected, they might either add punishment or give him trouble in the future; neither of which he wants.

  After careful consideration, Zhuang Jihua took out the report again and looked at it carefully, feeling that it was not suitable, so he rewrote a new report. The main content of the report analyzed the reasons for the soldiers' escape and how to use this incident to carry out ideological education throughout the company, thereby enhancing the soldiers' awareness. At the same time, an assessment was made on the help of enhanced soldier awareness after training. Finally, a request was made to the higher authorities to approve their own handling, and then self-criticism was made for their own ultra vires behavior.

  Zhuang Jihua read his own report again and again, feeling very satisfied. He thought that the superiors should agree with his approach, so he packed up and went to the camp headquarters. However, he didn't expect that his arrogance had gone too far, and those who were waiting for him to make a mistake in secret finally got their chance.