Under his leadership, the Red Army is divided into left and right armies. The left army was led by the Red Army General Command (Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, General Political Commissar Zhang and Chief of Staff Liu Bocheng), while the right army was led by the enemy headquarters in front of the Red Army (Commander-in-Chief Xu, Political Commissar Chen Changhao and Chief of Staff Ye Jianying).
The Maughai meeting established that the right army was the main force to open the northern passage, and the left army was close to the right army. However, Reng Zhang insisted on going south, and at the same time constantly generated electricity for the former enemy headquarters, trying to make the advantages of going south and the disadvantages of going north.
Chen Changhao, the political commissar of the Right Army, also agreed to go north at the Maughai meeting, but later changed his mind under the influence of a telegram.
Chen Changhao is one of the "Troika" (Zhang, Chen and Xu) in Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Sichuan and Shaanxi Soviet Area. He has made important contributions in history, but one of his characteristics or shortcomings is also very obvious: indecision, timidity and lack of opinion. This shortcoming is not only a major reason for the "split" of the Red Army, but also an important reason for the failure of the marked army.
Chen Changhao changed his mind and agreed to go south. Commander-in-Chief Xu changed his mind because he didn't want to see the Red Army split.
Xu Shuai recalled in his memoirs that after Chen Changhao changed his mind, X personally went to his residence for advice, which was actually to let him make a statement. Xu Shuai replied, "Since the two armies met, it is not appropriate to separate. I'm afraid it's not good that the Fourth Army is divided into two halves. " X "seeing my attitude, I didn't say anything else, telling me to go to bed early."
It is this decision that makes Xu Shuai "regret for life."
As Chen Changhao and Xu both agreed to go south, the Central Committee decided to go north by Red 1 and 3 Army Corps alone. They secretly marched in the dark without informing Chen, Xu and others. The next day, the following people came to report that Ye Jianying's chief of staff was missing and the Central Red Army left overnight.
At that time, the whole former enemy headquarters was in a daze and confused atmosphere. Xu Shuai "stunned, sitting on the bed board, unable to speak for half an hour."
At this time, the front called and said that the Central Red Army had left, but some people warned them and asked them if they wanted to fight. For this obvious answer, Chen Changhao hesitated again. Finally, he asked Xu Shuai's opinion. Xu Shuai said: "How does the Red Army fight the Red Army?" You can't fight anyway! "
Xu Shuai was resolute, and Chen Changhao agreed with Xu Shuai's decision, thus avoiding a tragedy.
The Central Red Army went north alone, which was a great blow to Xu Shuai. Therefore, he "couldn't help crying secretly" and even moved the idea of "taking a guard and riding behind the central government".
It is said that his cooperation with Zhang and Chen in these years is not pleasant, and there are differences and quarrels from time to time. Xu Shuai said frankly that Chen Changhao has a high prestige in the army. He can't move the team unless he nods. Besides, he watched the Red Fourth Army develop from small to large. "It's hard for me to accept being split in half and going our separate ways, both intellectually and emotionally." Xu Shuai said, "This may be my weakness ..."
Before the first and fourth armies joined forces, Xu Shuai agreed to the policy of going north. However, due to his own difficulties and honest personality, Xu Shuai failed to work hard for this, and even "made a mistake of lifelong shame."
When Xu Shuai reflected on this matter in his later years, he wrote: "Because my level was not high at that time, I didn't look at the problem from the height of principle and strategy." I hope the Central Committee can convince Zhang. "If it really doesn't work, I'd rather wait, or I'll go south together." "The result fell."
Xu Shuai's reflection is sincere and profound, and we should not be too harsh.
After he stayed, he united with Mr. Zhu, Liu Shuai and other comrades, which played an important role in promoting the final northward movement of the Red Fourth Front Army. Moreover, since the southward movement of troops has become an irretrievable fact, even if we disagree with Zhang's separatist regime, we should try our best to find vitality for the troops and give full play to their commanding role, which is also a manifestation of loving the Red Army.
After the Red Fourth Front Army and some Red Army comrades went south, they suffered a series of sacrifices, especially the Battle of Baizhang, which lost nearly 10,000 people. In addition, the weather was unusually cold that winter, and it snowed once every ten years, which caused great losses to the troops and made it more and more difficult to supply them. As a result, people are more and more aware of the mistakes of the southbound route.
At this time, () returned from the Soviet Union, bringing instructions from * * * production international, so Zhang became a "loner" and was finally forced to agree to go north but so do dungans.
On the way to the north, Zhang Zeng shed tears in public and said, "I'm going to die. I'm going to jail in northern Shaanxi ... ". It can be seen that Zhang knows that he is guilty.
And Chen Changhao also carried a heavy ideological burden, which led Chen Changhao to be more hesitant when commanding the marked army. In order to "whitewash ourselves, jump from one extreme to the other", that is, jump from the extreme that supports Zhang's split to all important, blind obedience, asking for instructions and timid extremes. When things happen, I only listen to orders, but I will never act arbitrarily and I will not take any responsibility.
It should be said that the marked army lost precious opportunities again and again, and finally almost all the troops were wiped out, and Comrade Chen Changhao was to blame.
After the defeat of the marked army, Chen Changhao and Xu Shuai returned to Yan 'an together. On the way, he met a fellow villager and decided to "rest for a few more days before leaving". Xu Shuai set foot on his way home alone, went through hardships and hardships along the way, and finally returned to Yan 'an. Even though the journey was difficult, Xu Shuai still kept the travel expenses (more than a dozen gold rings) given to him by the organization and refused to spend them casually. His resolute character is touching.
After arriving in Yan 'an, Comrade Zhang Wentian severely criticized Xu Shuai, but Xu Shuai didn't speak. He felt that since the marked army had lost the battle, "it should be criticized, dismissed and beheaded." But X comforted him: "If you stay in the green hills, you are not afraid of running out of firewood. Where there are chickens, there are eggs. " This moved Xu Shuai.
On the other hand, Chen Changhao was seriously ill in his hometown, and then returned to his hometown in Hubei to recuperate. It was not until some time after the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression that he returned to Yan 'an.