The Founding of an Army

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1

For thousands of years China was

a first class world power.

Why has China declined

to such a degree?

Because we, the Chinese people, have been asleep.

Down with the military government!

No disarming! No surrender!

Protect the Shanghai worker's movement!

Down with the warlords!

Down with the military government!

No disarming! No surrender!

Protect the Shanghai worker's movement!

Down with the warlords!

Down with the military government!

No disarming! No surrender!

Protect the Shanghai worker's movement!

Down with the warlords!

Down with the military government!

No disarming! No surrender!

Move! This is a peaceful demonstration!

What are you doing?

Why would you shoot at us?

This is a peaceful demonstration!

Ready,

fire!

Director Zhou!

Si Li!

Am I, Zhou Enlai, being the target?

No way.

The situation is not safe.

My brother said your safety must be guaranteed.

This way.

Where is Mr. Du?

He has been waiting a long time for you inside.

I'm three minutes early.

The worker's militia was sent by the trade association.

Today the workers have guns.

Tomorrow the peasants will want guns too.

What good is the army?

The worker's uprising overthrew

the Beiyang government in Shanghai

and should be credited for the revolution!

I am a soldier

and it is my duty to obey commands.

Was the command from Wang Jingwei?

No.

Then from whom?

I will say it one more time.

Apologize to us

and return the worker's militia's guns.

These are our two basic conditions.

This speech,

I'm afraid, shouldn't come from me.

Then who on earth should it come from?

Some things must be stated clearly!

You can't become president

of the Shangai Labor Union anymore.

Come and work for me

and I'll give you a few bars of gold every month

to feed your family.

You should know well

what kind of man I am.

I do. I do know.

You got rid of the Beiyang government in Shanghai

with just a few battered rifles.

Your whole life is ahead of you

and your potential is limitless.

Please wait.

This is what you get

for harboring the worker's militia!

Wang Shouhua,

I have the utmost respect for you.

So please, you must take this cup of wine.

First, a toast to your good self.

Second, a toast to your faith.

Third, a toast to your perseverance.

Chop them up!

You commie! Write something now!

I asked you to write something!

I, Zhou Enlai, am never leery of my friends.

Si Lie...

You can stop now; it's not too late.

I have no authority or influence here.

Back when you sent your brother

to the Huangpu Military Academy,

we recited Dr. Sun Yat-sen's admonition together.

Do you remember?

The Three Principles of the People.

"Our aim shall be:

To found a free land,

World peace, be our stand.

Lead on, comrades,

Vanguards ye are.

Hold fast your aim,

By sun and star."

You wept then.

But less than 3 years later

you've turned your back on your beliefs.

Toppling the foreign powers in China,

uniting the entire country,

and rebuilding the republic.

These are the lifelong ideals of Dr. Sun.

But you've turned your gun on your brother

before the Northern Expedition has even finished.

That was not my intention at all.

I've told you. I am a soldier

and I follow orders.

Orders from whom?

The Nationalist Government in Wuhan,

the Beiyang Government in Beiping

or the Nanjing Military Government

Chiang Kai-shek wants to found?

Three governments in one country

and you say the country's not splitting?

You still say it's not a betrayal to Dr. Sun?

Chairman Wang Jingwei

and General Secretary Chen Duxiu

issued a joint statement calling for strength,

unity, and cooperation.

Si Lie,

you're being used as cannon fodder by careerists!

When the circumstances change,

have you thought about how things

will end for you?

Please enlighten me, Mr. Zhou.

I have served with Commander-in-Chief Chiang

for several years.

I know a thing or two about him.

When Wuhan began

to bring those responsible to account,

would he have helped you escape?

Mr. Zhou,

there was no way around

offending you today.

When I see you again,

I will offer you my sincerest apology.

Dismissed!

Thank you for your advice.

Sir.

"Take down the military dictatorship.

"Chiang Kai-shek Orders to Dismiss

the Political Departments in the Armies.

"Revolution has yet to succeed;

Comrades must still exert themselves."

Commander-in-Chief, express telegram from Beijing.

Read it

Zhang Zuolin arrested Li Dazhao

in the Russian Embassy

and he's asking what should be done about him.

Well, he certainly knows

how to shift responsibility

by asking my opinion.

What did he say?

"Li Dazhao

is the leader of the Northern Branch of KMT.

He lives in the capital in secret

and colludes with foreigners.

He's now caught in the act.

What should be done with him?"

Send Zhang a telegram and say

the Party is being purged

and the suspect is no longer a member

of the Nationalist Party.

As his case relates to foreign affairs,

it's recommended he be tried soon

and then executed

to avoid further ado.

If we keep this up,

the revolution will be wiped out

and the Communist Party will be destroyed.

We have to show our cards

and voice the most rigorous protest.

I ought to write articles

and expose the true colors

of that bastard Chiang Kai-shek.

Soldier boy...

New here?

You look like a baby.

I'm clearly older than you.

I was born in the Year of the Goat.

So was I.

Which month?

December.

I'm August.

Call me big brother.

Like hell I will.

What are you talking about?

This would be suicidal.

Wang Jingwei doesn't know what to do.

Wuhan

has a storm on the horizon.

Let us hear Comrade Chen Duxiu's opinion.

The forces amassed by the workers

and peasants over the years

were slaughtered by more than half

on a single day.

As the Party's general secretary,

I feel the most pain.

The Communist Party

and the Nationalist Party had an agreement

to form a united front

in the revolution together.

But Chiang Kai-shek now uses

the weapons supplied by the Comintern

to slaughter us.

We have to arm ourselves

and fight this aggression.

Indeed we must fight.

Our blood must not be shed in vain.

Confronting the enemy head on

puts us at a disadvantage.

But giving them free reign

is out of the question.

We have only one option:

Hand over our weapons immediately.

Our weapons?

Why give them our weapons?

Be quiet!

Why give them our weapons?

Because we don't have a lot of guns

to hand over in the first place.

Since we hardly have any guns already,

what's the harm in handing them all over?

Once we give them up

we become like sheep

that anyone could slaughter at will.

Wang Jingwei and his Wuhan government

are sympathetic to communists

and the revolution.

If all the armed workers and peasants

in this country

handed over all their weapons,

Chiang Kai-shek would have no excuse to harm us

and Wang Jingwei would try his best to help us.

China faces a crisis

and our hope should continue to rest in...

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