Autumn harvest uprising： thunderbolt and red flag roll

Clouds receive summer colors, and leaves move in autumn. On the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the Autumn Harvest Uprising, walking among the bronze drums, Xiushui and Anyuan mountains and rivers on the Hunan-Jiangxi border, you are greeted with a statue commemorating the Autumn Harvest Uprising.

Looking up under the golden autumn sun, the sculpture fluttered the bright red flag of the first division of the First Army of the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army. Looking up, there are two giant hands in the middle of the sculpture, one holding the gun rod upward, representing "political power comes out of the gun rod"; The other holds a burning torch, which means "a single spark can start a prairie fire".

In September, 1927, Mao Zedong personally created a new people’s army under the independent leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on this red land covered with mountains, and launched the first flag of the revolutionary army of workers and peasants with sickles and axes, which opened up a correct revolutionary road for rural areas to encircle cities and seize political power, and ignited the spark of China revolution.

The Autumn Harvest Uprising became an important milestone in China’s revolution.

After the August 7th Meeting, Mao Zedong returned to Hunan as the special commissioner of the Central Committee, formed a new Hunan Provincial Party Committee, and held a meeting in Shenjia Mansion on the outskirts of Changsha to convey the spirit of the August 7th Meeting and study and deploy the autumn harvest uprising.

The German poet Heine once wrote, "Thought goes before action, just as lightning goes before thunder."

Climbing to the top of the Moon Mountain on the Hunan-Jiangxi border and looking at Xiangtan, Mao Zedong’s speech at the Hunan Provincial Party Committee meeting was deafening: We should stop flying the flag of the Kuomintang. We should fly the flag of communist party high … The flag of the Kuomintang has become the flag of the warlord, and only the flag of communist party is the flag of the people … We should "resolutely set up the red flag at once".

95 years ago, at a military meeting held in Zhangjiawan, a remote village in Anyuan, Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province, the Front Committee of the Autumn Harvest Uprising of Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, headed by Mao Zedong, was established to lead the Autumn Harvest Uprising on the Hunan-Jiangxi border in a unified way, and it was decided to form the First Division of the First Army of the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants, and deployed a military plan to revolt in Anyuan, Xiushui and Tonggu at the same time, and then seize Changsha.

The military flag is a solemn symbol of an army. It embodies the soul of an army. What kind of flag should the autumn harvest uprising play?

With a strong historical responsibility and strategic vision, Mao Zedong proposed to abandon the banner of the Kuomintang and play the banner of the Communist Party of China (CPC) leading the armed struggle independently. As a result, the Communist Party of China (CPC) began to become the core force leading the people of China to open up the revolutionary road in China.

On the evening of September 4th, He Changgong, who studied architectural design in Belgium, put forward a design scheme: the red flag symbolizes revolution, and the white five-pointed star symbolizes the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s leadership in the center. The star is inlaid with crossed sickles and axes to represent the close unity of the workers and peasants, and the words "First Division of the First Army of the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army" are written vertically on the flag pants, thus the first military flag in the history of the People’s Army was born. Since then, a brand-new armed force has been added to the political and military arena in China.

The thunderbolt thundered and the red flag rolled. On September 9, 1927, the riot teams in Xiushui, Anyuan and Tonggu took action, and the autumn harvest uprising on the Hunan-Jiangxi border shocked the whole country. On September 9th, the 1st Regiment of the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants set out from Xiushui to attack Changshou in Pingjiang County, Hunan Province. On September 10th, the 2nd Regiment of the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants revolted in Anyuan. On September 11th, the 3rd Regiment of the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants took action in Tonggu under the leadership of Mao Zedong himself.

Mao Zedong wrote "Autumn Harvest Riot in Xijiang Moon" excitedly after the autumn storm that set off a great threat to the enemy on the Hunan-Jiangxi border: "The army is called the workers’ and peasants’ revolution, and the flag is sickle and axe. Don’t stay in the copper repair area, but go straight ahead. Landlords are oppressed, and farmers are all enemies. In the autumn harvest season, the clouds are heavy and there is a riot with a bang. "

A ship that breaks waves needs a helmsman who looks far away. After the autumn harvest uprising broke out, because the enemy was strong and we were weak, the uprising troops were frustrated on the way to attack Changsha, the provincial capital, and the goal of attacking Changsha was not realized. The number of troops was reduced from more than 5,000 to more than 1,500.?

At the critical moment, Mao Zedong sized up the situation and made a decisive decision, and the uprising troops implemented a strategic retreat. On the afternoon of September 15th, Mao Zedong led the 3rd regiment of the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants to temporarily retreat to Tonggu Pai Port.???????

Throughout the years, the reason why the Communist Party of China (CPC) has lived in full bloom and suffering for a hundred years is that, under the guidance of the great spirit of party building, he practiced his initial intention, took on the mission and kept innovating, and wrote an earth-shattering epic in the history of the development of Chinese nation and human civilization.

There is a square table with a small oil lamp in Mao Zedong’s bedroom of Wanshou Palace in Paibu Town. A local old man told me that Lishan, the temple keeper of Wanshou Palace, recalled that during his three days and two nights in Wanshou Palace, Mao Zedong was busy talking with officers and men and members of the front committee during the day. In the evening, Mao Zedong read a book and studied a map under this small oil lamp, and for a long time, he thought hard about the way out for the future of China revolution.

According to the historical records, Mao Zedong had an idea about going up the mountain to make revolution. In mid-June, 1927, when Mao Zedong met with the cadres of Hunan Agricultural Association in Wuhan, he encouraged them to return to Hunan. "Up the mountain, get on the boat by the lake, take up arms and prepare for battle.". After the August 7th meeting, The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), Qu Qiubai, who presided over the work of the Central Committee, asked Mao Zedong for advice and asked him to work in a Shanghai office. Mao Zedong replied, "I don’t want to live in a high-rise building with you. I want to go up the mountain and make friends with greenwood."

Seizing power by armed force is one of the laws of proletarian revolution. Different countries have different specific conditions and take different paths. China is a big agricultural country. The anti-imperialist and anti-feudal proletarian democratic revolution in China is actually a peasant revolution, and the armed struggle is essentially a peasant war under the leadership of the proletariat …

Under the faint oil lamp, Mao Zedong thought that the China Revolution could not copy the experience of armed uprising in Russian central cities, but should take a revolutionary road in line with China’s national conditions. As a result, Mao Zedong’s revolutionary road thought of "encircling cities from rural areas and seizing political power by armed forces" began to sprout.

Just like a ship sailing in stormy waves, not all the crew can understand when the captain clears the fog and points out the correct course. On September 19th, Mao Zedong led the 3rd regiment of the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants to Wenjia City, Liuyang County, Hunan Province. After joining forces with the 1st and 2nd regiments of the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants, he hosted a meeting of the Front Committee in a classroom of Liren School overnight.

At the meeting, Mao Zedong analyzed the situation and thought that the enemy was big and we were small, the enemy was strong and we were weak, and the uprising troops suffered serious setbacks, so it was impossible to capture the central city. Only by changing the plan of attacking Changsha, moving to the countryside where the enemy’s ruling power is weak, mobilizing the peasant masses and persisting in armed struggle can the revolutionary forces be developed.

Where does boldness, courage and confidence come from? From seeking truth from facts, being brave in innovation and taking responsibility. Mao Zedong, with the vision of a great strategist, resolutely proposed to go to the countryside where the enemy’s ruling power is weak and establish revolutionary base areas. Where to? Mao Zedong pointed to the widest part of the Hunan-Jiangxi border on the map of Luoxiao Mountain area, and said with vivid metaphors: The place like eyebrows here is the middle part of Luoxiao Mountain range, which is suitable for our foothold. We’re going there to be the "Mountain King".

Everyone’s eyes moved with Mao Zedong’s fingers on the map, as if they were in the mountains of the vast forest. Jinggangshan, with dangerous terrain, rugged cliffs and lush forests, can retreat and defend, and advance and attack. After listening to Mao Zedong’s thorough analysis of the situation, most people quite agree with Mao Zedong’s idea. There are also some comrades who don’t understand. They think that after a long period of revolution, they have turned to the mountains and become "mountain kings". What kind of revolution is this?

At this critical moment, Mao Zedong said patiently that no dynasty in history ever wiped out the "Mountain King". At that time, the "Mountain King" was without doctrine. Our "mountain king" is communist party’s "mountain king", who has ideas and policies. The "mountain king" can’t compare with us, because we are armed workers and peasants who represent the interests of the people, how can the enemy destroy us … Mao Zedong’s words are simple and profound, and have won the support of most members of the Front Committee.

Decades later, He Changgong recalled that it was at the most dangerous moment of the China Revolution that Comrade Mao Zedong led us to make a strategic shift from the city to the countryside. Since then, the center of China’s revolution has shifted from the city to the countryside, and it has embarked on the road of armed separation of workers and peasants and encircling the city from the countryside. This is the turning point of China’s revolution.

The next morning, the weather was fine, the rising sun shone on Wenjia City, and the playground of Liren School was bathed in golden morning light. More than 1,500 officers and men listened to Mao Zedong’s mobilization speech about troops marching into the countryside: The reactionaries are not terrible. As long as we unite closely and continue to fight bravely, we can finally smash Chiang Kai-shek’s big water tank with small stones, and the victory will definitely belong to us.

Lead troops into the well and open a new road. In October 1927, Mao Zedong led the uprising troops to Jinggangshan, creating the first rural revolutionary base under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

The night before leaving the bronze drum, the moonlight shone on the ground through the cracks in the leaves. Bathed in the soft moonlight, I silently thought: Mao Zedong combined Marxism with China’s national conditions and creatively solved three major problems: what flag to raise, which road to take and what kind of army to build. Since then, the route of "rural encircling cities" in China Revolution has been opened, and the single spark of the autumn harvest uprising troops has finally started a prairie fire, and the China Revolution has opened a brand-new page.

Innocent history, innocent times. Over the past 100 years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has carried forward the great spirit of party building, always "relying on Marxism–Leninism’s truth to eat, relying on seeking truth from facts and relying on science to eat", constantly looking for the right path in line with China’s reality and creating a great historical cause. History is endless, and the spirit is passed down from generation to generation. At the important historical moment when the "two centennials" meet, the great party-building spirit is the inheritance of communist party people’s beliefs in the past 100 years, and it is the source of power for us to forge ahead on the new journey.

(The writer is a senior reporter of Jiangxi Daily. The picture is provided by the author. )