Chapter Sixteen Unifying Thoughts
After Hu Weidong confessed the truth, some party members and cadres in the army immediately advised him to join the party. Hu Weidong almost agreed on the spot, but after careful consideration, he decided to wait until he had contact with the Central Committee again before bringing up the matter of joining the party, so as not to be constrained by Wang Ming's leftist ideology which was still prevalent at that time. As for the militia regiment, he wasn't worried about it...
Because at the beginning of the Long March, the Moscow faction in power may have been "purifying the ranks" and left behind comrades who supported the Great Leader's correct route, the proportion of the Moscow faction among the Red Army guerrilla forces that remained in the Central Soviet District to continue fighting is now much lower than that of the Long March Red Army. Moreover, when Hu Weidong accepted party members and old Red Army soldiers, he paid attention to distinguishing them, so although there are not a few party members in the militia regiment, the Moscow faction, which originally had the greatest influence, does not have too much power, and the Great Leader's correct thinking has gradually taken root in the hearts of the people in Hu Weidong's army...
However, considering the mixed nature of the militia team, especially since most of the main force's soldiers came from converted prisoners of war, the army's cohesion was still a problem. When they were winning battle after battle, it was fine, but once they encountered setbacks, internal hidden dangers might suddenly intensify. To strengthen the army's cohesion, Hu Weidong decided to unify the military's ideology first (note 1). His magic trick was one of the traditions of the later PLA - "singing songs". A good military song can not only unify everyone's thoughts in a subtle way but also boost morale and military spirit, which is a win-win situation. For this reason, he shamelessly plagiarized the PLA's future military song "Our Troops March Towards the Sun", and as soon as it was spread, some seemingly inappropriate lyrics caused quite a controversy among cadres, but the grassroots militia members loved it very much. Hu Weidong took the opportunity to transfer those potential opponents out of the army, strengthening his control over the militia team.
Soon, Hu Weidong did it again, and changed the "Internationale", which was extremely sacred in the hearts of many party members (the original version is still used on important occasions, and the modification is for easier singing), replacing it with a new set of lyrics and melody adapted by a later Tang Dynasty band. The reason is that the original version of the "Internationale" contains many European cultural background phrases that most Red Army soldiers simply can't understand, and the lyrics are too long and not easy to remember. At the same time, the original tune is too solemn and lacks passion, far less exciting than the modified rock version, which clearly can better inspire young people's revolutionary enthusiasm...
This time, with the benefit of hindsight, there were far fewer people opposed to it. Moreover, almost 99% of the Red Army soldiers preferred the version revised by Hu Weidong, and many even sang along and resonated with it, recalling their past experiences and bursting into tears. Seeing that public opinion was hard to defy, those who had objections could only withdraw their opinions, while Hu Weidong's prestige was further enhanced...
With this foundation, Hu Weidong was finally able to lead the way in correcting the various leftist errors committed by the Red Army in his troops. Drawing on the experience and lessons of the historical rectification movement, Hu Weidong adopted the principle of "punishing the past and warning the future, treating the disease to save the man" and the method of "criticism and self-criticism". However, he took great pains to prevent mistakes from occurring in the process. Even with those who refused to admit their mistakes, Hu Weidong generally only expelled them from the troops. This approach may not have been so safe, but it protected and attracted a large number of talents, becoming a strong driving force for the development of the troops and the base area.
Taking this as a starting point, Hu Weidong soon launched another attack on the "Sufan" movement of the Red Army era, which made everyone tremble with fear. In fact, he also knew that although many unjust cases were caused in history, these political movements were necessary under such a harsh environment at that time. Otherwise, without the enemy's attack, the internal forces would collapse. The mistake was not the movement itself, but the way it was carried out. Hu Weidong, with the lessons of history as a reference, almost single-handedly selected people who had not been affected by the negative influences to carry out this work, and supplemented them with strict institutional constraints, dividing the powers of investigation, interrogation (including detention), and trial among the Political Examination Office, the Criminal Investigation Department, and the Military Tribunal. As a result, the effects were immediate. After this dual approach, the incorrect struggle method of "cruel struggle and ruthless blow" formed under Stalin's influence was quickly corrected, and provided a good reference for the subsequent party-wide rectification movement.
In the learning activities, the thoughts of all military personnel were unified, and a large number of advanced elements emerged. They actively transformed their subjective world according to the teachings of the great man's thought, growing into politically qualified, militarily strong, and ideologically open-minded people's warriors. The combat effectiveness of the whole army was also improved as a result.
Although the National Army's liaison officer in Xingguo County was captured before he could report the fall of Xingguo to his superiors due to the rapid surrender, the supplies for the Southern Jiangxi front line had not been delivered yet, but it still caught the attention of Luo Zhuoying, deputy commander of the 18th Army who actually acted as the commander-in-chief of the third route of the "bandit suppression" in Northern Jiangxi...
He quickly called the Security Department of Xingguo County, and although the person on the other end of the phone replied that the supplies would be sent immediately, when Luo Zhuoying asked to speak with the head of the Security Department, the other party hesitated and spoke unclearly. Luo Zhuoying suddenly realized something was wrong, and he immediately ordered the troops stationed in Ganzhou, adjacent to Xingguo, to send someone to investigate what had happened...
It turns out that Luo Zhuoying was too confident, thinking that the main force of the Red Army's Jiangxi garrison had been defeated, and the remnants were compressed into a small area in several counties such as Dayu County and Ruijin County, basically becoming a "red bandit" in the rear of the National Army. Therefore, only one security brigade was left to guard, plus a special detachment sent by Kang Ze, with a total strength of nearly 5,000 people, thinking that it was enough to deal with ordinary bandits and small groups of Red Army guerrillas who wandered into neighboring counties. As a result, the wrong person was used, and after Hu Weidong traveled through this space, he pulled out an army out of thin air, taking advantage of the opportunity to swallow up all the materials stored by the National Army in Xingguo County...
Note 1: In traditional thinking, the army should not have its own thoughts. Politicians and ruling classes only need the army to be their violent machine to maintain their rule. However, the people's army is different. Since the "Three Bay Reorganization" (most people only know about "the party commanding the gun" and "branch building in the company", but personally, I think that from a military perspective, the more influential aspects are actually "military-civilian integration", "equality between officers and soldiers", "leniency towards prisoners of war" and military democracy, such as the establishment of soldier committees), they have become a new type of army unprecedented in human history. It is precisely because the people's army has its own thoughts that it can become the most tactically flexible and learning-capable army in world history, constantly learning from wars, becoming stronger with each battle, and being a pillar during disaster relief, protecting the fundamental interests of the Chinese people...
