The Rocky Road to Revolution

Public servants dare not enter the countryside; on the road they need an army escort. Trade is at a standstill, tax collection is sharply reduced, and alarms follow one on the other. Then look at the army: either planting opium, guarding opium shipments, or protecting travelers for easy profit. Everybody pursues his own interest. Even company or platoon commanders have their families with them; regiment and battalion commanders never meet their troops; they are sloppy and dejected, totally lacking in energy. The division is the brains of an army, but they have no plan to eliminate the bandits. The units do not work together, always avoiding responsibility. The key staff members are without a care in a cloud of opium smoke, glossing over problems and saying all is well, denying the Communists are even a threat. 128 areas. In the Communist areas, the people all follow these bandits. There are Young Pioneers, Red Guards, propaganda teams, support for the wounded, canteens, and teams for washing and mending clothes. 175 the white areas, had attacked the local strongmen, our clothing was quite elegant. We had eaten well; everyone was healthy and fat. We had plenty of ammunition. When we met our brother armies, the Twenty-Sixth and Twenty-Seventh, we thought: “What kind of army is this?” We looked down on them: only a few bullets and wear-ing all kind of clothes. They not only lacked good boots, they had no socks, no uniforms, and they tied a white cloth around their heads. 189