In the history of the Anti-Japanese War of the New Fourth Army, Ye Ting was a highly controversial figure. He had a fierce conflict with Xiang Ying, the deputy commander of the army, over his identity.
In order to resolve the conflict between Ye and Xiang, Zhou Gong personally went to the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui to convey instructions from Yan'an, and asked Xiang Ying, secretary of the Southeast Bureau, to respect Ye Ting's opinions and give him due military command.
In the Southern Anhui Incident, because of the lack of decisiveness in decision-making, the New Fourth Army painfully lost the opportunity to replace defense with offense and survive in a desperate situation. In the end, the ammunition and food were exhausted, and under the repeated pleas of Secretary Rao, Ye Ting had to rely on his special identity to go down the mountain to negotiate in order to save the whole army.
Xiang Ying made a report at the conference].
Since it was a pre-battle negotiation between the two armies, it could not be seized privately. However, Lao Jiang did not talk about this reason. He slandered the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui as a "rebel army" and used this as an excuse to detain Ye Ting, who had come down to negotiate in a prison cell in Shangrao Li Village.
Ye Ting, who was in prison, was very concerned about the soldiers who had not yet broken out, and in the cell he repeatedly called Lao Jiang, saying that he did not want to steal his life, and was willing to die for his subordinates.
Regarding Ye Ting's true temperament, Lao Jiang Ting likes it. However, Lao Jiang's liking was just playing a card, and he wanted to take advantage of Ye Ting's unhappiness in the cooperation between the New Fourth Army and Ye Xiang to pull him to his side.
Ye Ting's departure in anger after the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising, as well as the later Gao Jingting incident, did not hide from Lao Jiang's eyes. He wants to use these things to render Yan'an "intolerant".
On January 3, 1942, Ye Ting was transferred from Shangrao to Chongqing, where he was secretly guarded by the military commander.
Lao Jiang Su knew that Chen Cheng and Ye Ting were on good terms, so he entrusted He Yingqin to send a letter to Chen Cheng on January 15, saying, "I invited my brother to visit Ye Ting, and during the visit, I used my brother's relationship to induce Ye Ting to sincerely repent, issue a confession, and sever relations with Yan'an."
Chen Cheng knew Lao Jiang's intentions, but it was also very difficult to persuade Ye Ting to "repent and reform". As Ye Ting's old friend, Chen Cheng is also extremely guilty. Because he mobilized Ye Ting to fight against Japan, and now he is being detained by Lao Jiang in the name of a rebel, it is difficult to open this mouth in person.
Xiang Ying, Zhou Gong, Ye Ting].
Before meeting Ye Ting, Chen Cheng took Zhou out and discussed Ye Ting's writing, "** This matter." Chen Cheng said that he was also very sad that Ye Ting was imprisoned by Gu Zhutong in Shangrao in the Third War Zone, and was very dissatisfied with Lao Jiang's excessive demands, saying that this matter should be separated from political affairs, and it was too unreasonable to ask Ye Ting to write ***.
After all, Ye Ting came to resist Japan with full of enthusiasm, and his appointment as the commander of the New Fourth Army was also a great favor to Lao Jiang. In the reorganization of the Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces, Lao Chiang gave a New Fourth Army name and wanted Xue Yue to be the commander of this army. Under the resolute opposition of Yan'an, Lao Jiang had no choice but to choose another person.
Just when Lao Jiang was worried about the candidate, Chen Cheng recommended Ye Ting and thought that Ye Ting was a candidate acceptable to both parties. First, the reason why Yan'an opposed Xue Yue as the commander of the New Fourth Army was that he did not want to hand over his army to othersThe second is that although Ye Ting has been out of Yan'an for many years, after all, he was once their person, and he is more comfortable to use. The third is that Ye Ting is the commander of the New Fourth Army, which can be accepted by Yan'an;If the commission uses favors to influence him and alienates his relationship with Yan'an, the New Fourth Army will sooner or later die for us.
After several trade-offs, Lao Chiang adopted Chen Cheng's suggestion and put an end to a problem he had in the reorganization of the Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces.
The former site of Ye Ting's prison cell in Li Village, Baotou Township, Shangrao County].
Secretly imprisoning an iron-blooded anti-Japanese general is unreasonable. Lao Jiang treated Ye Ting like this by crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, and Chen Cheng was extremely disgusted in his heart. So in front of Duke Zhou, Chen Cheng said that he was willing to unite several generals to protect the leaves together.
Compared with Chen Cheng, Zhou Gong understands Ye Ting's temperament better. He told Chen Cheng that if he wanted Ye to write *** Ye Ting would rather die than do it, even Yan'an would strongly oppose it. Lao Jiang asked Ye to write *** is sabotaging the cooperative anti-Japanese front, and it is a stupid thing to do the pain of relatives and the happiness of enemies.
After finding out Zhou Gong's attitude, Chen Cheng had a deep conversation with Ye Ting for a night, and euphemistically said what Lao Jiang meant. After hearing this, Ye Ting flatly refused, and asked Chen Cheng to arrange a meeting with Zhou Gong. Ye Ting knew that only Duke Zhou could explain and listen to the grievances and grievances between him and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
However, Chen Cheng did not dare to arrange a meeting between Ye Ting and Zhou Gong privately. After waiting for many days, he didn't wait for Zhou Gong's meeting. While in prison, Ye Ting was so anxious that he wrote a letter to "Brother Ning" on January 28, expressing his eagerness to meet with Zhou Gong. The letter said that the younger brother must ask Zhou Gong for all future affairs. The letter also mentioned Ye Ting's niece and Kai Feng, and instructed the couple to convey the meaning of the letter to Zhou Gong. Kaifeng's wife, Liao Yiguang, is the daughter of Ye Ting's cousin, and once assisted Zhou Gong in the Chongqing Southern Bureau.
On August 4, 1942, Ye Ting's wife Li Xiuwen arrived in Chongqing to visit the prison. Neither husband nor wife would have imagined that they would meet in a prison cell, Ye Ting once again told Li Xiuwen that only Zhou Gong and Chen Cheng could help him in his affairs, and he would discuss with them more in case of trouble.
In order to save Ye Ting from prison through his wife's route, Li Xiuwen called Chen Cheng, who was far away in Enshi, and asked him to follow Song Meiling's path. On August 12, Chen Cheng replied to Li Xiuwen, saying that he would help Brother Xiyi.
At 10 o'clock in the evening of December 3, 1942, Chen Cheng stayed alone after a military meeting at Lao Chiang's office. Seeing this, Lao Jiang asked Chen Cheng what else he had to talk aboutTaking advantage of this opportunity, Chen Cheng submitted Ye Ting's letter requesting the restoration of his freedom, saying that instead of imprisoning Ye Ting in the military command and provoking rumors outside, it was better for him to be guarded by his Sixth War Zone, and in view of my friendly relationship with Ye Ting, no one else could say anything.
Chen Cheng] After listening to Chen Cheng's words, Lao Jiang casually wrote down his handwritten edict, "Permission to be sent to the Sixth War Zone to inspect Keye." Zhongzheng".
After getting this edict from Lao Jiang, Chen Cheng was afraid that Lao Jiang's order would change overnight and the night would be long and dreamy, so he sent his henchmen to Dai Li's Military Command Bureau overnight to take Ye Ting to the Tongde warship anchored by the river, and prepared to sail to Enshi on the 4th. In order to contact the forces of Yan'an to save Ye together, Chen Cheng invited Zhou Gong and Guo Moruo to secretly board the ship and meet with Ye Ting and his wife.
After being imprisoned by Lao Jiang for more than 2 years, Ye Ting confided in Zhou Gong with grievances, asking Zhou Gong to take full authority to handle all his future affairs in Chongqing and Yan'an, hoping that Yan'an could understand the contradictions between him and Xiang Ying, as well as his departure during his work in the New Fourth Army, and restore his organizational identity regardless of previous suspicions.
Zhou Gong's private meeting with Ye Ting on Chen Cheng's Tongde warship should be reported to Yan'an in a timely manner according to the organizational principles of the Yan'an side. But somehow, in the biography of Zhou Gong and the chronology compiled by our side, there is not a single word of record about this.
Although the private meeting between Zhou Gong and Ye Ting was arranged by Chen Cheng to be extremely confidential, he could not hide it from Dai Li's eyes. In the report submitted to Lao Jiang on December 4, Dai Li said that Ye Ting was handed over to the Sixth War Zone for inspection under the instructions of the Jun Zuo. After Ye went to the Tongde chakra that Chief Chen had taken, Zhou Gong was notified by Chief Chen to meet Ye.
Zhou Gong has always been a person with a strong sense of organization. There is no mention in his chronology that Chen Cheng privately arranged for him to meet with Ye Ting and talk all nightIs it the need for secrecy, or is the matter questionable?
However, the report submitted to Lao Jiang by Dai Li, the head of the military command, is conclusive, so Chen Cheng arranged for Zhou Gong and Ye Ting to meet privately, and why it was not recorded in the "** Biography" and his chronology can only become a historical mystery.
(Joining author: Hu Xianda).