If there were people who complained at the beginning that they had good behavior and could sneak into the Soldiers Committee, as the activities unfolded and everyone listened to the stories of the people around them, everyone was infected. In fact, in the troubled times like the Republic of China, there was no way.
How many are willing to serve as soldiers? Most of the soldiers are children from poor families. There are also some from wealthy families, but most of them are officers or civilians. It is rare to see a child of a landlord in a grassroots company.
.
You said how poor your family is, I said how miserable my family is, you said you were beaten by the superiors for excuses, and I said I still haven’t received my military pay.
Slowly, the sound of crying replaced the voice of narration. You cried and I cried too, crying about my tragic past, crying about my parents and brothers, crying about my wife and children, and crying about how I had been living in confusion for so many years.
Some people were so excited that they even fainted from crying. Zhao Gang quickly ordered people to stop the grievance meeting and asked everyone to go back to have a meal and rest before coming back.
The next day, the soldiers found that the venue was different again. There was a large wooden board standing on the left and right sides, with "Progress Window" written on one side and "Backward Column" written on the other.
Yang Erqiu asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
Someone next to me said proudly, "Isn't this simple? If you say something good, you should praise it, and if you say something bad, criticize it. I said Niutou, you just listened blankly all day yesterday, and I don't believe you.
It’s not bitter.”
The man with the beard was the one called Niu Tou. He snorted and said, "I'm not bitter! I don't want you to worry about it."
Another person laughed and said, "We Brother Niu used to be the king of the mountain. How can it be bitter to eat spicy food like this?"
After hearing this, Niutou immediately wanted to hit someone, but when he saw the Eighth Route Army around him, he put down his hand angrily.
Zhao Gang walked up at this time and said, "Today we will change the format of our grievance meeting. Yesterday everyone talked about their own grievances. Today we will talk about the wrong things we did."
"What's wrong?" Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
Zhao Gang nodded and said, "What's right and what's wrong? As the ancients said, 'No one is a saint, how can anyone be without fault?' You used to be in the old society and the old army. I believe you were all contaminated to some extent without knowing it."
Bad habits, we have to look in the mirror now to see how bad we are and how many bad things we have done! Don’t be afraid, everyone. Our policy is to forget about past mistakes. What does that mean? In other words, as long as you attend this conference
I have confessed the wrong things I have done. They will be written off in the future. No one can use this as a reason to threaten you again. We will not punish you, but if you do it again in the future! Military discipline in the army is not a joke. Okay, everyone.
You can discuss it with each other. If you have anything you want to say, go to the record officer and tell it. The record officer will write it down and use it as proof for you to look in the mirror."
No one dared to speak, fearing that this was a trap.
Yang Erqiu looked at Zhao Gang, lowered his head and was about to be the first one, but Niutou grabbed him and walked up and said, "Sir, I want to explain."
Zhao Gang immediately applauded and said, "Welcome, welcome, you are not explaining, and we are not interrogating, we are just talking about the wrong things we did in the past, and we just want to not do them again in the future."
Niutou nodded and said, "My name is Niutou. My parents died when I was young. I grew up eating a lot of food. No one cared about my food, so I could only steal and rob. I have also learned how to fight. I am seventeen years old."
When I was traveling, I was caught stealing something. I killed him by mistake and fled to the mountain to become the king of the mountain."
Listening to Niu Tou's story, everyone was fascinated. Although some people knew that Niu Tou was once a bandit, they did not expect that he actually killed someone to get up the mountain. Niu Tou continued, "After being a bandit for a while, I became a soldier.
At the beginning, I was in the Northwest Army, Marshal Feng’s army. Marshal Feng was kind to people, but he had no money, and he himself often became vegetarian..."
Niu Tou talked endlessly, from killing people to being a bandit, to stealing trophies from his comrades, and bullying the common people, he told them all. The soldiers were sometimes angry, sometimes understanding, and sometimes sighed, waiting for Niu Tou to say
When it was finished, Niu Tou also burst into tears.
"Sir, am I hopeless? I know I'm not a good person, but I want to be a good person, and I also want to have a family..." Niutou said in tears.
Zhao Gang sighed, clapped his hands and said, "Comrade Niutou said it well. He wants to be a good person. The old society didn't give you a chance because it was a cannibalistic society. If you don't do bad things, you won't have anything to eat. Now
When you get a chance, it depends on how you reform. Recorder, post Niu Tou’s incident on the progress window so that everyone can see a person’s repentance. Comrade Niu Tou, I hope you will behave well in the future and become a good person again.
A person who is useful to the people and his comrades."
——Five days later
A group of officers got out of the car and walked back to the barracks laughing and joking, chatting as they walked.
"Captain Qian, look at it, I told you everything would be fine, but these red gangsters are really troublesome. There are so many tricks in one test. It took me a whole day just to take the physical test." A strong man smiled.
said.
Battalion Commander Qian nodded and said, "I think the Red Party was planning to pass us through exams at the beginning, so they prepared so many subjects. But then again, the Red Party is also taking exams themselves. Didn't you see those people?"
Well, each of them is also a battalion commander. I heard that those above division commanders are assessed in another place, and now the last democratic assessment is left. Battalion Commander Liu, is there no problem with our battalion?"
Battalion Commander Liu laughed loudly and said, "They are all soldiers led by me. Do you think there is any problem?"
As he said that, the military camp was already in front of him, and suddenly bursts of chanting slogans rushed towards him.
Several people felt something was wrong, and hurriedly walked into the military camp, only to see a high platform that seemed to be performing exercises. There were two large wooden boards on both sides of the high platform, and countless things were densely pasted on the wooden boards. There were people standing next to the high platform, and they all raised their arms.
And call.
"Down with Japanese imperialism! Down with European and American imperialism!!" a person on the high platform shouted.
"Down with Japanese imperialism! Down with European and American imperialism!!" The soldiers under the high platform also shouted, and everyone's eyes were full of fanaticism.
"Down with feudalism, down with bureaucratic capitalism, and let us people be the masters of our own country!" Another roar rang out.
"Down with feudalism, down with bureaucratic capitalism, let us people be the masters of our own country!" the soldiers below also shouted to reporters.
"What are you doing?" Battalion Commander Liu asked in a cold sweat. He suddenly felt that the troops in front of him no longer recognized him.
At this time, Zhao Gang came over and said, "Camp Commander Liu, Commander Qian, hello, our soldiers' democratic assessment will start soon. Come with me."
Although several officers of the Shanxi-Sui Army felt something was wrong, they heard that they still wanted a democratic evaluation, and seeing that the heads had not changed, they felt at ease again, nodded and followed.
Huge boxes were placed one after another, and Zhao Gang stood on the high platform and said, "Comrades, the democratic assessment has begun. I know that many of you do not know the characters, so first each recording officer will tell you which character represents that person, and you can type it yourself.
circle, and then throw it into the box. In the first round, we select the soldier committee of each company, and then vote whether to trust the current squad leader, platoon leader, company commander, and even battalion commander and regiment commander. As long as half of them vote no confidence
, this commander will step down and remove his position. In other words, it is entirely your choice what kind of commander you want and what kind of officer you want. Okay, let’s get started.”
Battalion Commander Liu quickly waved his hand and said, "Political Commissar Zhao, this is inappropriate, isn't it? These are a bunch of idiots who don't know anything, and they don't even know a single person. You still want them to recommend officers? Isn't this a joke? What if they
What should I do if the chosen ones are all scum?”
Zhao Gang chuckled and said, "They all have to fight hard under the chosen ones. The soldiers will not joke around. Moreover, this plan was approved by Chairman Yan and the Military Commission. What? Does Battalion Commander Liu have any opinions?"
Looking at the guard next to him who was already touching his gun, Battalion Commander Liu quickly waved his hand and said, "How can I? Agree, agree, I agree with a hundred people."
The election began. One slip after another was thrown into the box, and the boxes were opened one by one. Under the supervision of literate soldiers, the votes began to be counted. When the soldiers' committee was selected, the officers did not feel much. It was not an election of officers anyway.
But when they saw the soldiers cheering after each person was selected, everyone suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Of course, we should cheer. This is the first time that the soldiers choose the person they want to manage themselves. Although they are not commanders, they will choose commanders later, right? The election of this soldier committee is actually giving the soldiers confidence.
Tell them with facts that their votes are useful and their power is real and reliable. These soldiers will naturally think carefully and weigh what kind of company commander and battalion commander they need.
Niutou suddenly stood up and said, "Everyone, I hope you will choose me to be the company commander!"
Battalion Commander Liu's eyes widened. This careless Niu Tou who only wants to eat, sleep and be with women wants to be a company commander?
Niutou said, "I have done a lot of wrong things, and many comrades have been bullied by me. Although I have already been too humble, I still want to say sorry again. I want to be a company commander not because I want to be an official, but because I want to find opportunities to serve as a member of the company."
Serve everyone and do more for the people. I am stupid and can't speak. I just want to say that I am willing to be the first to rush in a war, the last to retreat, the last to run, the last to eat, and the last to sleep."
As if it was the beginning, one after another people came on stage and said what they wanted to do and how they planned to do it. The officers next to them were dumbfounded. What did this mean? Before they even stepped down, these idiots were about to rebel.
?Everyone is fighting for their own position?
After everyone finished talking, another hour passed, and the officer evaluation began. The nervousness of Battalion Commander Liu and others was clearly visible, and their hands were all sweaty.
"Liu Chang-seok has one vote of distrust" "Liu Chang-seok has one vote of distrust" "Liu Chang-seok has one vote of trust"
Listening to the singing of votes, Camp Commander Liu swore that he had never felt such excitement in his life.
"To sum up, Liu Changshi had more votes of no confidence than votes of confidence, so he lost the election!!!"
"Impossible!!" Battalion Commander Liu yelled at Zhao Gang, "You red party is playing dirty tricks. These are all soldiers led by me. How could you not elect me? Did you change your votes? Huh? I want to report you. I
I want to expose you!!"
Zhao Gang looked at the over 90% no-confidence vote painted on the wall and shook his head and said, "Soldiers, you can tell yourself, do you think this result is true or false?"
All the soldiers looked at each other for a moment and shouted, "Really! Really!"
"Liu Changshi not only likes to beat people, but also often takes women to the military camp to have fun. How can such a commander lead us to fight?"
"Liu Changshi also buried alive two soldiers who disobeyed him. They were our comrades-in-arms. You Liu Changshi can bury them alive today, and you can bury us alive tomorrow. How can we believe you?"
"And if you can fight, forget it. Not only can't fight, but I also know that he and the Japanese are flirting with each other. I once heard him say when he was drunk that he had Japanese friends. Fighting in this world has nothing to do with him.
Relationship, if it weren't for the fact that Chief Yan treats him so well, he would have gone to the Japanese side long ago."
The corners of Liu Changshi's eyes were about to burst, and he shouted quickly, "You are talking nonsense, you are spitting blood!! You...you...Zhao Gang! Is this the democratic evaluation you are talking about? A bunch of idiots choosing commanders? It's simply ridiculous."
The greatest evil in the world! I’m going to see Chief Yan to reason with you!”
Zhao Gang nodded and said, "Of course you can, but someone just accused you of murder and communicating with the Japanese. We also need to go to Commander Yan and ask if this crime is not a crime in the Jinsui Army?"
Liu Changshi's backbone was about to break. Looking at the soldiers around him who dared to glare angrily for the first time, and looking at the smiling Zhao Gang, Liu Changshi understood in his heart that the loyal troops that the Jinsui Army was proud of had already been defeated in this short period of time.
It went up in smoke mid-week.
——Taiyuan
Yan Xishan was surrounded by a group of officers complaining. One said that he had been bullied by the Soldiers Committee, and the other said that he was voted out of office. Anyway, they all said that the Jinsui Army was finished.
Yan Xishan stood up suddenly and shouted, "That's enough!!"
Seeing Yan Xishan getting angry, everyone calmed down.
"What do you call each one? Weeping mourning? Is there a soldier committee only in your army? There are also soldiers' committees in the Red Party troops. They are now reorganizing and electing. Those who can be beaten are on top, and those who cannot be beaten are on the bottom. Since they are all the same
Yes, what do you want me to tell the Red Party?" Yan Xishan stomped his feet and said, "In the final analysis, you are still dissatisfied, aren't you? Look at Fu Zuoyi, Zhang Guangbei, and other officers. Aren't they all doing well? I
I also know that some people who were squad leaders and company commanders were elected to become battalion commanders and regimental commanders. Why didn’t you tell them? Aren’t those people from our Jinsui Army?”
Yan Xishan sat back and said, "That's it for this matter. Besides, this is not the final result. I just ask you to go to the military school to study again. Will there be arrangements after you finish studying? Okay, okay, let's all disperse."
Alright."
Listening to Yan Xishan talking like this, the others left helplessly. Yan Xishan sighed. Of course he knew that this democratic assessment was tricky. He first complained about it and pulled everyone's hearts, and then talked about the dark side of the army.
Then they each exposed it, and after it was done, those who did not participate in the movement became outliers. Except for some with really strong foundations, they all failed. The Jinsui Army that I had worked so hard to manage had almost collapsed in a week.
Even Chiang Kai-shek's reorganizers were not that ruthless.
Yan Xishan thought about it, but he had no choice but to hope that Sun Chu, Fu Zuoyi and others, who were still in high positions as army commanders, could firmly control the army and fight for their own rights and interests.
Since then, the reorganization of Shanxi has completely begun. The establishment of the Soldiers Committee and the emergence of Red Party members in various units have gradually turned the original Shanxi-Sui Army into a trustworthy force.