Chapter 47: Deep Cultivation and the Prairie Fire

Chapter 47: Deep Cultivation and the Prairie Fire

The gunfire and cheers over Wuqi Town had faded, but the storm that swept away the old world was only just beginning to spread to every remote corner. The thunderous might of the public trial was like a boulder cast into stagnant water, sending ripples rapidly spreading across all the surrounding villages and towns.

In the regimental headquarters, Wang Lin and Wang Guangdao did not indulge in the joy of their initial victory for long. On the table lay more detailed maps of each village, population distribution charts, and preliminary reports on the state of the land drawn up by Zhang Hongtu's reconnaissance company.

"Comrade Guangdao, our prestige has been established, and trust has begun to take root; next comes the meticulous work," Wang Lin said, pointing at the map. "We cannot simply stay in the town and issue orders. We must plant our feet in the field ridges and take our work right to the villagers' kangs."

"Indeed," Wang Guangdao agreed wholeheartedly. "Establishing political power and mobilizing the masses—this is fundamental. I suggest we immediately establish the Wuqi Town Soviet Government Preparatory Committee, with you and me at the helm, and recruit the activists who dared to step forward and voice their grievances at the public trial, as well as the cadres in our ranks who understand policy and have patience. First, we build the framework and set the rules."

"Agreed," Wang Lin nodded. "At the same time, let us form armed work teams. Using cadres drawn from the security company and the logistics battalion as our core, supplemented by the reconnaissance company soldiers responsible for security and intelligence, and integrating medics, writers, and clerks, we will form mixed units. Each work team will be responsible for a specific sector, and their tasks are threefold: propaganda, organization, and land distribution!"

Orders were swiftly issued. The selected soldiers were quickly assembled; not only did they carry rifles, but their chests were also stuffed with mimeographed brochures on Soviet land policy and registration forms, while medics shouldered medicine boxes and clerks carried brushes, ink, and thick notebooks. Wang Guangdao personally gave them a pep talk:

"Comrades! Your trip down there is not about fighting battles, but it is more complex than fighting battles! Every single one of you is a spark scattered by our Red Army! You must explain the Party's policies clearly, organize the masses, and distribute the land fairly! Remember, we are going to help our fellow villagers turn things around and emancipate themselves, not to act as masters! Anyone who puts on airs, throws their weight around, or even takes a single needle or thread from the villagers, don't expect me, Wang Guangdao, to show any mercy!"

The work teams set off with high morale, flowing like streams into the loess ravines surrounding Wuqi Town.

The work did not go smoothly. Despite the deterrent effect of the public trial, centuries of fear and doubt could not be erased overnight.

In a small village in Erlong Township, the work team led by Lao Zhou, deputy platoon leader of the security company, ran into trouble. Although the villagers enthusiastically welcomed them into their homes for a drink of water, whenever the topic turned to distributing the land of the local landlord Zhao Baichuan (who had already been executed) and electing a village Soviet chairman, everyone's eyes would dart about evasively, mumbling excuses that they "didn't know how to do such things," or lowering their heads to smoke in silence.

Lao Zhou was a fierce warrior who wouldn't blink an eye when charging into battle, but at this moment he was sweating profusely, feeling that this was even harder than storming a mountain peak. The team's newly arrived young clerk—a student soldier who had walked all the way from Jiangxi—grew hoarse reading policy documents aloud, while the villagers listened with blank expressions.

When the news reached the regimental headquarters, Wang Lin simply smiled upon hearing it: "Tell Lao Zhou not to be impatient. It is normal for the masses to have misgivings. Don't just hold meetings at the village entrance; go door to door and chat with the villagers on their kangs. Help them fetch water, chop firewood, and repair houses; have the medic examine the elderly and the children. If they won't speak, you must show them through your actions first! Also, go find 'Old Man Ma,' the sheep herder who was the first to dare speak with us, and have him take the lead!"

Lao Zhou followed the instructions. The work team members stopped rushing to hold meetings and instead rolled up their sleeves to help the villagers with their chores. The medic cured several children in the village of their coughs, and the young clerk helped several households clear up muddled accounts that had remained unsettled for years. Sincerity finally slowly melted the hard ice. That sheep herder named Old Man Ma, encouraged by the work team, was the first to stand up and speak: "The Red Army are good people! What is there to be afraid of? We've been poor for generations, and now the Red Army is backing us up. If we don't dare to straighten our backs ourselves, who could we ever face with a clear conscience?"

The effect of "using role models to lead the way" was tremendous. With the first one came the second, the third... The village Soviet election meeting was finally successfully convened, and Old Man Ma was elected as the first village Soviet chairman. Although he was illiterate, he had the comrades of the work team assisting him behind the scenes.

The land distribution work was even more tedious. Work team members wielded tape measures, measuring ridge by ridge, registering and cataloging everything. According to the principles formulated by the regimental headquarters: priority was given to landless and land-poor hired peasants; middle peasants' land remained untouched; rich peasants' surplus land was expropriated; and landlords' land was entirely confiscated. They drove wooden stakes into the edges of the fields, detailing how many mou each plot was and to which family it had been assigned.

Disputes were inevitable. Brothers and sisters-in-law quarreled over boundary lines, and some complained that the land allocated to them was remote and barren... The work team members had to transform themselves into "judges," mediating patiently and adhering to policy in an effort to achieve fairness. Wang Lin specifically emphasized: "Land distribution must not only be fast, but above all, fair. Only fairness can appease the people's hearts!"

Meanwhile, the Wuqi Town Soviet Government was officially proclaimed. The founding assembly was extraordinarily lively, with representatives elected from various townships and villages (mostly newly emerging activists like Old Man Ma) gathering in the open space of the town. Political Commissar Wang Guangdao delivered a passionate speech, elaborating on the duties of the Soviet government and its blueprint for future development. The assembly elected the executive committee of the Soviet government, with Wang Guangdao serving concurrently as chairman (in the interim), while several local activists and Red Army cadres were appointed as committee members. The government established various departments for land, grain, military affairs, civil affairs, and more; although rudimentary, it marked the inception of a brand-new apparatus of political power.

Under the auspices of the work teams and the village Soviets, the confiscated land, grain, livestock, and farm tools were distributed during boisterous mass assemblies. Seeing wooden stakes bearing their own family names planted in the fields they could now call their own, and looking at the seeds and farming implements allotted to them, many honest, submissive peasants trembled with emotion, kneeling on the ground to kiss the loess soil.

"Long live the Red Army!"
"Long live the Soviets!"

Cheers straight from the bottom of their hearts resounded time and again across different villages. These cheers were deeper and more enduring than those at the public trial, because they stemmed from the sincere devotion of people who had gained tangible benefits.

Under the cover of night, the lights in the regimental headquarters were still burning. Listening to the work reports sent back by various work teams, Wang Lin wore a gratified smile. He said to Wang Guangdao, "Old partner, do you see? These sparks have finally been ignited. Next, we must make this fire burn even brighter and guard against wind and rain."

Wang Guangdao nodded and handed over a newly drafted document: "This is the work plan for the next phase. The focus is on consolidating political power, recruiting Party members, organizing the Red Guards and Children's Corps, and stepping up preparations for spring plowing after the New Year."

"Good!" Wang Lin took the plan, his gaze sharp and bright. "Foundations must be tamped down hammer blow by hammer blow like this!"

Outside the window, the night in Wuqi Town remained cold, but on the kangs of thousands of households, people no longer spoke of fear and hunger, but of "our own land" and "good prospects." The sparks of revolution had been ignited across this thick loess land and were forming an unstoppable prairie fire.

At that moment, a hurried and joyful sound of footsteps echoed in the courtyard. The confidential courier practically ran into the regimental headquarters, his face beaming with irrepressible excitement, clutching a sheet of telegram paper in his hand.

"Regimental Commander! Political Commissar! Urgent telegram! From the Central Committee! Tremendous, wonderful news!" The courier's voice trembled slightly with excitement.

Wang Lin and Wang Guangdao stood up simultaneously. Wang Lin snatched the telegram and scanned it rapidly by the dim light of the oil lamp.

The telegram was a bulletin from the Northwest Military Commission, radiating joy and heroism between every line:

"...Our Central Red Army and the 15th Red Army Corps have successfully effected a junction near Ganquan! All comrades are in high spirits! Subsequently, our allied forces laid an ambush at Zhiluo Town in Fuxian County, wiping out the Kuomintang Northeast Army's 109th Division in one fell swoop, heavily damaging a regiment of the 106th Division, killing, wounding, and capturing over six,000 enemy troops including Division Commander Niu Yuanfeng, and seizing countless rifles and ammunition... This battle thoroughly crushed the enemy's third 'encirclement and suppression' campaign against our Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Area. The edge of the Northeast Army has been blunted, the overall situation in northern Shaanxi is secured, and the revolutionary base area is ushering in a new phase of unprecedented consolidation! We hope all units will share in the good news, press on with redoubled efforts, consolidate the rear, and support the front..."

"Wonderful! Well fought! Hahaha!" After reading it, Wang Lin slammed his hand onto the desk and burst into hearty laughter, his exhaustion of many days seemingly swept away in an instant. "The battle of Zhiluo Town was fought brilliantly! Now, our home in northern Shaanxi is thoroughly secure!"

Wang Guangdao took the telegram, read it carefully, and a radiant smile also appeared on his face, his eyes even moistening slightly. "Splendid! We've finally joined forces! And we've won such a major victory! Now, our backbone in the rear is even stiffer! The pressure on the Chairman and the Central Committee can be eased considerably as well."

Amidst his excitement, Wang Lin immediately instructed the courier: "Quickly, make several copies of this telegram! Send the security platoon's best horses at top speed to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Battalion, and Lao Li's 4th Battalion to the south! Let all our brothers rejoice! Tell them, the main force has won a major victory in the south, and we in the rear must not fall behind either! Have them bring this joyous news to every work team and the newly established village Soviets!"

"Yes!" the courier shouted loudly, saluting, and turned to run out swiftly. Soon, several fast horses charged out of Wuqi Town, carrying the victory dispatch—enough to make every Red Army soldier's blood boil—into the cold night in all directions.

Wang Lin walked to the doorway, pushed open the door, and looked at the dark, distant mountain ranges, as if he could hear the bugle of victory echoing from afar. He took a deep breath of the crisp, cold air and said to Wang Guangdao beside him, "Guangdao, did you hear that? This is the sound of the overall situation being secured. Our Independent Regiment must rest even less; we must seize this momentum to build our Wuqi base area into an iron bastion! So the Central Committee can rest easy!"

Wang Guangdao nodded heavily. "Indeed! Good news is the best mobilization order. I dare say, tomorrow when the comrades in all battalions and teams hear this news, their work drive will surge another thirty feet!"

The two smiled at each other; the stone in their hearts had dropped, but the responsibility on their shoulders felt even clearer and more glorious. The victory at the front injected the strongest confidence and motivation into the work at the rear. The sparks of Wuqi Town would surely burn even more fiercely, inspired by this victory dispatch.

{Historical Aside: In early November 1935, after the Central Red Army joined forces with the 15th Red Army Corps, the Military Commission decided to launch an annihilation battle at Zhiluo Town (located within present-day Fuxian County, Shaanxi Province). From November 21 to 24, the Red Army surrounded and annihilated the Northeast Army's 109th Division, capturing over 5,300 enemy troops and killing more than 1,000 men, including enemy Division Commander Niu Yuanfeng. The victory of this campaign thoroughly crushed the enemy's third "encirclement and suppression" campaign against the Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Area, accelerated the division within the Kuomintang camp, exerted a profound influence on the subsequent Xi'an Incident and the formation of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, and opened up a new situation for the Party Central Committee to establish its base in the Northwest.}