In 1937, the Northern Shaanxi Division marked the victorious end of the Red Army's Long March, and the revolution entered a new stage. However, at this critical juncture, an undercurrent creeps in and out of the overall unity. Liu Shimo, deputy commander of the Red Fourth Front Army, committed suicide in the dormitory, but fortunately he got away with it. After the news of this incident, northern Shaanxi fell into panic, and people had their own opinions. If the situation is allowed to escalate, unity will inevitably be shaken even more. ** Realizing the gravity of the situation, he decisively ordered the correction of the deviation and had in-depth conversations with numerous people, which finally stabilized the situation. Why did Liu Shimo choose to commit suicide?What are the causes and consequences of this incident?
Liu Shimo, born in Jinzhai, Anhui Province in 1910, joined the revolution at the age of 17, led the peasant congregation to participate in the Shangnan Uprising at the age of 19, and embarked on the road of the Red Army. He started as a soldier and made many achievements, and by 1933 he had become the deputy commander of the Red Fourth Army. Such a young and outstanding general should have been reused after the Long March reached northern Shaanxi, but he was frustrated by the involvement of Zhang, the leader of the Red Fourth Front Army. After Mao Gong joined the division, the Red Army and the Red Fourth Front Army were combined into the Left Route Army and the Right Route Army to go north together. However, the Zhang clan tried to gain more power by force, which led to a rift between the two armies.
After discovering a secret telegram, the Red Army went north alone overnight, while Zhang led his troops south, and when he arrived at Zhuo Mujie, he openly declared that he was "independent", and his behavior was extremely arrogant. However, he did not receive the support of the Comintern in the south, and eventually changed his erroneous ideas and went north to join the **. Initially, the cadres of the Red Fourth Front Army were not greatly affected, but when the news of the defeat of the Western Route Army in the Hexi Corridor reached Yan'an in 1937, everyone was saddened by the heavy losses suffered by the revolutionary forces. It can be said that all this was caused by Zhang, so people from the Politburo to all levels of units began to criticize Zhang's rightism. Many incidents were difficult to contain, and as the crowd became angry, criticism began to spread not only to Zhang himself, but to the entire Red Fourth Front.
Many high-ranking cadres of the Red Fourth Front Army often attended "study meetings" and were severely criticized. At a meeting of the Political Department, a Kang Da instructor was extremely disrespectful to the generals of the Red Fourth Front Army, aiming to criticize the Zhang line. He accused most of them of being bandits, warlords, and being bought by the Zhang family. Such accusations made the criticized cadres feel very indignant. It was clear that the Zhang family had made a mistake, but they had to be criticized as a "bandit" and "warlord", which was unacceptable to them. Xu Shiyou and Liu Shimo's reactions were particularly violent, and their mood swings were extremely high. Xu Shiyou argued with his comrades many times, but because of his lack of strength, he was finally so angry that he was admitted to the hospital. Liu Shimo decided to die, couldn't sleep that night, and finally decided to commit suicide.
He said to his comrades-in-arms beside him: "You are optimistic, Lao Tzu will continue the revolution in the next life!"Then he picked up his pistol and shot him in the chest. Fortunately, the bullet did not hit the heart, but the lung. The others immediately rushed him to the hospital**. When Liu Shimo woke up, his first words were: "It's fucking unlucky, even Marx won't take me in!".Xu Shiyou and Liu Shimo both live in the same hospital, and the more they communicate privately, the stronger the dissatisfaction. This situation has attracted the attention of the outside world, but people are not clear about the specific situation, and all kinds of rumors have spread everywhere, which has intensified the already anxious mood of the cadres of the Red Fourth Front Army. Xu Shiyou was worried that this situation would continue, so he decided to leave.
He did not betray the revolution, but just wanted to contact the people of the former Red Fourth Front Army and go to Bashan to find Liu Zicai to fight guerrillas. In just a few days, more than 30 people, including five cadres at the army level, six cadres at the division level, more than 20 cadres at the regimental level, and two cadres at the battalion level, decided to participate. However, the night before their move, Wang Jian'an, a political cadre, realized that it was very dangerous to do so, and that it was essentially tantamount to breaking away from the organization, so he wanted to quit. However, Xu Shiyou firmly believes that this will reveal secrets, so he firmly opposes it. After some consideration, Wang Jian'an secretly reported the incident to his superiors. That night, Mr. Lin, the principal of Kang University, led the personnel into the school and arrested them one by one according to the list provided by Wang Jian'an.
The question of how to deal with such a large number of senior cadres has become a thorny problem, because it may trigger a centrifugation of the two major fronts. ** After learning of the incident, he said that the criticism of Zhang was too amplified and that his personal mistakes should not affect the entire team, and then ordered corrections. It has been suggested that the mastermind of this incident should be dealt with seriously to prevent others from following suit. ** Rejected their suggestion, but he then had a conversation with Xu Shiyou. In this deep conversation, Xu Shiyou knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, and finally became a staunch follower of ***. Although Liu Shimo was later sentenced to one year in prison, Xu Shiyou was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, and Hong Xuezhi, ** Chong, and Zhan Daokui were sentenced to eight and six months in prison, respectively, they were not actually held for long.
Liu Shimo's health was not completely ** after regaining his freedom, so he asked the organization to return to his hometown to recuperate. At that time, the reactionaries took control of Jinzhai and tried to arrest him several times after learning about him. But because of his experience, he can always turn evil into good fortune. Later, the New Fourth Army arrived and expanded its ranks, and Liu Shimo then joined the New Fourth Army and served as the commander of the independent 2nd Regiment at the Jiangbei Command Jinpu Road East Joint Defense Command. During the War of Liberation, Liu Shimo followed the troops into the northeast, and successively served as the commander of the 1st Army Division of the Jiliao Military Region, the commander of the 2nd Security Brigade, and the commander of the 20th Division of the 7th Column of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army. However, he suffered a gunshot wound during his journey south, resulting in a severe attack of lung disease.
In order not to burden the organization, he left the team again without making any requests. In 1950, Wang Hongkun, deputy commander of the Hubei Military Region, met Liu Shimo when he was leaving the restaurant. The two had a deep relationship during the Red Army period, and the moment they met, they were full of emotion. Wang Hongkun noticed that Liu Shimo kept coughing and his clothes were very shabby, so he accompanied him back home. Once there, Wang Hongkun found Liu Shimo's children, the youngest being 8 months old, crammed into a room, all skinny and lacking diapers. At the same time, Liu Shimo's medicine is about to run out. Seeing this situation, Wang Hongkun asked Liu Shimo why he didn't go to him and other former comrades and comrades-in-arms.
Liu Shimo replied: "You are very busy, and the country is also very difficult, and I can go through it if I am quite strong." These words made Wang Hongkun feel heartbroken, and he wrote to *** after he went back, with the help of these people, Liu Shimo's life finally improved. Unfortunately, in 1952, Liu Shimeme died of illness. Originally, he could have had a better life according to his qualifications, but unfortunately his character was too stubborn.