In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek bravely staged the April 12 counter-revolutionary coup against opposition within the Kuomintang, targeting members who collaborated with the Communist Party. He quickly launched a large-scale manhunt and made one of the Communist Party leaders, ***, his primary target. Despite the fact that the situation in Shanghai was already extremely tense, ** went desperately to negotiate with the Kuomintang, only to be detained. Previously, ** led the third armed uprising of the workers' movement in Shanghai and liberated Shanghai, but Chiang Kai-shek reversed himself, did not recognize the people's power in Shanghai, used various means to restrict and cancel workers' pickets, and planned counter-revolutionary actions.
Although the KMT and the CCP are still cooperating, they are still patient, hoping to resolve the contradictions and misunderstandings between the two sides through negotiations. However, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the troops of Zhou Fengqi of the 26th Army, which had surrendered to Sun Chuanfang, to be transferred to Shanghai, and appointed Bai Chongxi, Zhou Fengqi and others as commanders of the martial law command, and issued martial law decrees with the aim of disrupting the deployment of the Communists in Shanghai, while quickly consolidating their own power and striking at the Communists. In the face of this situation, a series of measures were taken, and the General Labor Union and the pickets issued a series of statements severely condemning Chiang Kai-shek's actions and demanding that night patrols be strengthened and that they be ready to deal with unexpected incidents at any time.
On April 11, 1927, ** received a letter from Si Lie, commander of the 2nd Division of the 26th Army, requesting him and the workers' picket Gu Shunzhang to go to the division headquarters to discuss important matters. Although the situation in Shanghai was very serious at that time, and the KMT and the CCP were still close comrades-in-arms on the surface, the senior leaders were already aware of the potential crisis, especially the situation in Shanghai on the front line, and they had already felt it. Despite the fact that everyone in Command was against *** going, believing that it must be a trap and a great risk, he decided to take the risk.
** Faced with a dilemma: If he did not participate in the talks, the KMT would take the opportunity to accuse the Communists of undermining KMT-CCP cooperation;If you attend the talks, you may be able to express your sincerity for continued cooperation and protect the image of the Communist Party. After much deliberation, ** finally decided to go in person. Considering that Si Lie is the teacher of his younger brother Si Li, it is believed that Si Lie is unlikely to do it easily. Despite the opposition of the crowd, he remained determined to go to the headquarters of Siree's division. After arriving at the division headquarters, the guards immediately searched their bodies, and then received *** Si Lie said with a smile: "This is the rule, please don't be surprised by Brother Enlai."
Politely replied: "It's okay, as long as it solves the problem." At first, Si Lie was very polite, saying that he summoned *** to solve the current problem and did not want to clash with the Communist Party. However, he then referred to the problems with the local pickets and the armed forces, saying that he was on orders and therefore could not compromise on the situation. In fact, Si Lie was stalling for time, because although he could not directly act against the commander-in-chief of the Shanghai side, if he delayed the situation, it would have an impact on the command of the Shanghai side, thus promoting the "unimpeded flow" of counterrevolutionary activities.
At first, he was not clear about Slie's intentions and thought that he might also be acting on orders, so he patiently expounded his views, pointed out the importance of the current workers' movement, and stressed that the workers were the main force of the revolution and that mobilizing the revolutionary enthusiasm of the workers would help in the future struggle against the warlords. However, Si Lie's real purpose was obviously not to solve the problem, and after listening to ***'s speech, he just responded and did not reveal his thoughts. At this moment, there was a sudden burst of gunfire, and ** immediately realized: "This is the transfer of the tiger from the mountain, something happened outside."
** Hurriedly stood up and wanted to leave, only to find that with a wave of his hand, five or six armed guards suddenly appeared in the room. **'s face instantly became solemn: "What the hell do you want to do?".Si Lie explained, "The situation is urgent, and I am here to protect Mr. Enlai's safety. * immediately stated: "There's trouble outside, I have to go back and deal with it immediately." Si Lie smiled and persuaded: "Don't worry, it's still safe now, wait until dawn before leaving." * immediately understood Si Lie's intentions, and said sternly, "Are you planning to hold a Hongmen banquet?"Was this carefully planned in advance?
Realizing that the situation was difficult to hide, Si Lie said frankly: "It is dangerous for the workers to carry firearms, and they should concentrate on their work in the factory." * With angry eyes, he stood up suddenly, flipped over the items on the table, and shouted to Si Lie: "You have openly betrayed the revolution and abandoned the 'Three People's Principles' and the 'Three Major Policies'?"It will not end well for you to do so. *'s actions really frightened Si Lie, he didn't expect *** to be so calm and righteous in front of the guards. Soon, Zhao Shu, the party representative of the 26th Army, arrived, severely reprimanded Si Lie, and demanded his immediate release
Seeing the momentum, Si Lie knew that he couldn't delay any longer, so he had to order the guards to release ***, so ** was able to leave safely. In fact, Luo Yinong, the party representative of the 26th Army, found the workers' pickets after *** left, informed them of possible danger, and then informed Si Lie through Zhao Shu, so that *** was able to get out in danger.