94 years ago today, on December 14, 1931 (November 6, 1931, the 26th Route Army of the Kuomintang revolted in Ningdu, Jiangxi Province. Mao Zedong took a group photo with participants in the Ningdu Uprising in Yan 'an in 1937. On December 14, 1931, more than 17000 people from the 26th Route Army of the Kuomintang, under the leadership of Zhao Bosheng, a Communist Party member and chief of staff, and Dong Zhentang, commander of the 73rd Brigade, participated in the Ningdu Uprising in Jiangxi Province and joined the Red Army. This was an important and successful uprising during the Second Revolutionary Civil War. The 26th Route Army was originally part of the Northwest Army. Chiang Kai-shek's direct line regarded the 26th Route Army as a miscellaneous army. In April 1931, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 200,000 troops and divided them into four routes to carry out the second "encirclement and suppression" campaign against the Central Soviet Area. The 26th Route Army is one of them. When Chiang Kai-shek launched the third "encirclement and suppression" campaign against the Central Soviet Area in July, he ordered the 26th Route Army to march into Ningdu, surrounded by the Red Army, to play a supporting role. The only way to retreat north to Nanchang was blocked by Chiang Kai-shek's direct line Zhu Shaoliang's troops, forcing the 26th Route Army to engage in a "battle against the water." The 26th Route Army was trapped in Ningdu and was in danger of being wiped out by the Red Army as it advanced; Retreat was not tolerated by Chiang Kai-shek's military orders, and he was in a dilemma and fell into a desperate situation. Pay is not guaranteed, and life in the troops is extremely difficult. The vast number of officers and soldiers did not adapt to the southern climate and did not adapt to the local conditions. The epidemic was prevalent, and many people died of the disease. Soldiers of the 26th Route Army witnessed the implementation of the agrarian revolution in the revolutionary base areas, the lives of workers and peasants were improved, and the officers and soldiers of the Red Army were equal. Through the sharp contrast, war-weariness grew, and the centrifugal force against Chiang increased. The Communist Party of China seized the anti-Chiang sentiment of the 26th Route Army and actively carried out propaganda and agitation to promote the early maturity of the uprising situation. In order to control the entire army, in October, with the approval of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chief of Staff Zhao Bosheng was recruited to join the party. After Zhao Bosheng joined the party, he successively won over Dong Zhentang, commander of the 73rd Brigade, Ji Zhentong, commander of the 74th Brigade, and Huang Zhongyue, commander of the 1st Regiment of the brigade, to turn to the revolution and work with them to reorganize the army and launch a new wave of training. While preparations for the uprising were in full swing, the secret liaison office of the Nanchang Party was suddenly destroyed. The list of leaders of the Party organization of the 26th Route Army, and the political and organizational resolutions of the Party organization on the activities of the 26th Route Army fell into the hands of the enemy. On December 5, Chiang Kai-shek's Nanchang camp issued a secret telegram ordering the 26th Route Army General Command to strictly arrest three Communist Party members, Liu Zhenya, Yuan Hancheng and Wang Mingwu. Chiang Kai-shek's plane issued a warrant on Ningdu for Chiang Kai-shek to thoroughly investigate the "reactionary elements" in the army. The situation is very urgent. The Special Branch discussed with Zhao Bosheng and decided that Zhao Bosheng, as chief of staff, would reply to Nanchang to "follow orders" and sent Yuan Hancheng to the Central Soviet Area to report to the Military Commission for instructions. Yuan Hancheng came to Yeping, Ruijin, and reported to Chairman Mao Zedong, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and Chief of Staff Ye Jianying the 26th Route Army's preparations for the uprising in Ningdu. The Central Military Commission decided to use its best efforts to win the uprising of all the 26th Route Army. After the uprising, the troops were reorganized into the 16th Army of the China Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, and the uprising time was set for December 13. The Central Military Commission sent Zuo Quan, Liu Bojian, and Wang Jiaxiang to carry radio stations to liaise and command in Guhou, the seat of the Soviet in Pengpai County, eighty miles south of Ningdu, and sent the Fourth Red Army to coordinate with them. Subsequently, based on the new situation, the Central Military Commission decided to change the time of the uprising from December 13 to 14. After the uprising, the number of the troops was changed to the Fifth Corps of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army of China. Ji Zhentong and Dong Zhentang served as the chief of staff, and Zhao Bosheng still served as the chief of staff. It has three armies under its jurisdiction. Dong Zhentang and Zhao Bosheng are concurrently commanders of the 13th Army and 14th Army respectively, and Huang Zhongyue is appointed commander of the 15th Army. On the afternoon of December 14, 1931, Zhao Bosheng and Ji Zhentong issued an order: At 4 o'clock, the 2nd Regiment of the 74th Brigade took over the 1st Regiment to take over the task of defending the city. The Student Soldiers Company of the 73rd Brigade, the Special Service Platoon of the 1st Regiment of the 74th Brigade, and the Special Service Battalion of the General Command Command Control the Division Headquarters Radio Station of the 25th Division, the Radio Station of the General Command Station and Chiang Kai-shek's Special Service Radio Station respectively. Liu Zhenya sent people to guard all key departments in Ningdu and the main traffic routes leading to the Soviet area. The 1st Regiment and 1st Battalion of the 74th Brigade surrounded the headquarters of Li Songkun of the 25th Division, and the 3rd Battalion surrounded the headquarters of the General Command. At 6 p.m., Zhao Bosheng, in the name of Chief of Staff,"hosted a banquet" for all officers above the regiment at the General Command of the 26th Route Army upstairs in the Catholic Church. Only Li Songkun did not attend. Some people from the 1st Regiment of the 74th Brigade downstairs hosted the accompanying guards and surrendered their guns at the beginning of the "banquet". When the uprising soldiers rushed upstairs, one of the soldiers 'gun accidentally went off, causing chaos upstairs. Zhao Bosheng seized the opportunity to call on everyone to revolt, join the Red Army, and return to the north to fight against Japan. Most of the officers present agreed, and a few diehards were arrested on the spot. Zhao Bosheng ordered three shots to be fired, announcing the entire army's uprising. Gunshots rang out everywhere in Ningdu City, and all departments acted according to the scheduled plan. Progress was smooth. Only Li Songkun, the commander of the 25th Division, escaped over the wall and took away a regiment of troops from outside the city. The uprising achieved its greatest success at a very small price, and more than 17000 people from two divisions of the 26th Route Army abandoned the darkness and surrendered to the light. On the morning of the 15th, the uprising troops gathered at the foot of Baota Mountain on the bank of the Meijiang River southeast of Ningdu City. Then, with the 73rd Brigade as the vanguard, they headed directly to the Soviet Area. They were warmly welcomed by representatives of the Central Military Commission such as Zuoquan and Liu Bojian in Guhou. That night, the uprising declaration was broadcast to the whole country through radio, solemnly announcing that the 26th Route Army would break away from the Kuomintang army and join the Red Army. On the 16th, Liu Bojian, on behalf of the Chinese Soviet Government and the Central Military Commission, read out the decision to grant the uprising troops the title of the Fifth Corps of the China Workers and Peasants Red Army and the appointment of corps cadres. In order to change this old army into a new type of people's army, the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission sent a group of outstanding cadres to work in the army: Xiao Jinguang was appointed political commissar of the army, Liu Bojian was appointed director of the political department of the army, and Chen Bojun was appointed chief of staff of the army. All armies, divisions, and regiments are equipped with political commissars and political work cadres. In late February 1932, after training, the Fifth Army participated in the battle against Ganzhou. The Ningdu Uprising broke out at a critical moment when the civil war was tense, foreign aggression was serious, and the nation was in danger. This uprising severely dealt a blow to Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "first stabilizing the interior to resist foreign forces", weakened the Kuomintang's "suppression of the Communists" force, strengthened the Red Army, and inspired the enthusiasm of the people across the country to fight Chiang and resist Japan.