CHAPTER III
BIRTH OF AN ARMY
也许是冶陶地处偏僻山区的缘故，所以司令部的官员们具有别处所没有的安全感吧。且不管原因何在，将军们和行政大员们倒确是如同普通土兵和农民一样，随意在街上走动，根本不需护卫。虽然大部分时间，他们都在开各种会议忙得不可开交，然而在闲暇时，也可看到他们坐在石头城墙上，俯瞰山乡池水，与老乡们促膝闲谈。正是这些身着粗布军服、不拘礼仪的人们，也正是在这太行山区，指挥过八年的抗日战争。正是他们创建了晋冀鲁豫边区，这是当前与蒋介石军队进行战斗的一个主要战场。我意识到，在今后的几个星期内，可能就在这里决定战争的胜负。我决心尽量多了解一些这里的情况。
Perhaps the seclusion of Yehtao in the mountains gave the officials in the headquarters a sense of security they might not have had elsewhere. But whatever the cause, there was no denying that generals and governors moved about like any common soldier or peasant, completely carefree and unguarded. Although most of the time they were extremely busy holding conferences, at more leisurely moments they could be seen sitting on the stone wall overlooking the village pond and chatting with some peasant. Yet these informaMfficers dressed so poorly in cottoncloth uniform, were the same men that had directed a war against the Japanese for eight years from these self-same Taihang Mountains. And it was they who had founded the Shansi-Hopei-Shantung-Honan Border Region which was now carrying on one of the main fights against Chiang Kai-shek. Realizing that in the weeks to come, the fate of the war might well depend on this area, I determined to find out as much as I could about it.
我想要探询其中的究竟，这并非仅仅是出于一个记者的好奇之心。同时，我自己也很想了解共产党是如何在敌后生存的。一九三七年八月，北平失陷之后，我曾偷越日军防线，经历一段相当冒险的旅程，来到当时正在华北集结待命的蒋介石军队的驻地。一九三七年整个夏季，我跟着蒋介石军队一路后撤，退出华北平原，越过了山西的崇山峻岭。在通过山西的一次可怕的败退中，我目睹了蒋介石军队濒临彻底崩溃的惨景——士兵们弃械而散，军官们置部下于不顾，利用一切能抢到手的交通工具，向后方逃窜。当时看来，中国似乎已经抵挡不住了，整个华北似乎都已放弃给敌人了。蒋介石军队已被全部逐出华北，那里的一切有组织的抵抗似乎都已堰旗熄鼓。然而，正当我跟随着蒋军逃离华北之际，共产党人已开始插入敌后。当时我还曾以为，中国军队是不可能在敌后活动的。
共产党人究竟是怎样生存下来的呢？
我觉得，这不仅是绝好的新闻报道题材，而且必有一番可歌可泣的人类业绩。从这里也可以找到为什么共产主义今天能够在中国获得如此巨大胜利的答案。从华北人民在敌后艰苦卓绝的斗争中，人们可以得到许多启示，预料谁将赢得中国这场战争的胜利，是共产党人呢还是蒋介石。我还认为，从这几年的历史中，可以吸取许多教训：政治和军事的，以及人情上的和哲学上的。
It was more than a reporter's normal curiosity that made me inquire into these events; I also had a personal interest in finding out how the Reds had lived behind the Japanese lines. In August 1937, after the Japanese captured Peiping, I had sneaked through their lines and after a somewhat adventurous journey joined the troops of Chiang Kai-shek then gathering in North China to do battle. All through the summer of 1937 I had retreated with Chiang's soldiers both across the North China Plain and through the mountains of Shansi. In one terrible retreat through Shansi I had seen the armies of Chiang almost completely collapse, soldiers throw away their weapons and officers grab all available transportation, abandon their troops and rush to the rear. At that time, it had seemed as if China could not possibly resist and as if North China had been completely abandoned into the hands of the enemy. Chiang's soldiers had been driven from the area, and all organized resistance in the north seemed at an end. Yet even while Chiang's troops and I were fleeing the north, the Communists were infiltrating into position behind the Japanese lines where it had appeared to me no Chinese soldiers could possibly operate.
How had they survived?
It seemed to me that here was not only a great story, but a profound human experience. Here also was the answer to the riddle of why Communism was having such great successes in China today. From the epic fight of the people of North China behind the Japanese lines, one also could gain many clues as to who was going to win the war in China - the Communists or Chiang Kai-shek. Finally, it seemed to me that in the history of these years there were many lessons to be learned, not only political and military, but human and philosophic, as well.
一提起政治委员这个字眼，许多美国人便为之色变，眼前立刻会浮现一个执掌了芸芸众生生杀予夺大权的冷酷无情的政客或宗教审判官的形像。一个俄国或者欧洲的政治委员是怎样一副尊容，我不得而知，也许确如人们描述的那样，是一类可怕的人物。但藩一波却是一位面颊红润，态度和蔼，三十几岁的青年，总是面带笑容，头脑十分冷静。我在冶陶期间，与他相处很熟。
我曾向他提过几个很笼统的问题，如：“什么是边区？它是怎样建立起来的？请谈谈它的历史情况。”以这些简单的问题为梗概，他侃侃而谈，谈了三天，内容十分广阔，涉及游击战、饥荒、共产党以及政府的组成等等。他滔滔不绝，从不查阅笔记，只是偶而喝一口茶。给人印像最深刻的是，他讲得那样有条不紊，顺理成章。
链接：关于薄一波
The word commissar to most Americans is a frightening one, conjuring up, as it does, the picture of a ruthless politician, perhaps an inquisitor, with the power of life and death over the mere mortals under him. What a Russian or a European commissar is like, I have no idea; he may be as frightening a personage as everyone says, but Commissar Po, whom I got to know rather well during my stay in Yehtao was a pink-cheeked young man in his late thirties, with a very insouciant manner and an ever-ready smile. He also had a very well organized mind. I had submitted a few very general questions to him such as: "What is the Border Region? How was it formed? What is its history?" On the basis of this very simple outline, he talked for three days, covering such a variety of subjects as guerrilla warfare, famine, the Communist party and the formation of government, without reference to notes, without pausing for breath, except for an occasional cup of tea and, most impressive of all, putting everythingin its proper order and context.
一九四七年一月下旬一个寒冷的日子，我坐在薄政委住宅中的一张舒适的太师椅上。这座房屋易用石头砌成的，地板也是用石块铺的，房间里有窗帘和西式桌椅，大概是一座被征用的地主的宅邸。坐在我旁边的是一位名叫李棣华的中年人，他是共产党领导机关的秘书，在我与薄一波正式谈话时，由他担任译员。
李棣华原是燕京大学的学生，抗日战争爆发后不久就跑到解放区来了。我猜想他还不是一个共产党员，当我就此问他时，他有点不高兴地回答说：“如果你问我是不是一个共产党员，我回答你，我还不是；如果你问我是否想要成为一个共产党员，我回答你：但愿我够得上共产党员的条件。”
来到解放区以后，在物色译员方面，我本会遇到许多麻烦。但李先生的确是担任这项工作的理想人选，因为他也是山西人，能听懂薄一波的山西口音。而对我来说，薄的口音简直太难懂了。这一点的好处非同小可，因为从外省来的译员都听不懂薄一波的山西口音。
一连几天，我们三人围坐在薄一波房间里的一小盆炭火旁。我写着写着，就困倦得简直要睡着了，而薄一波却始终精神饱满，毫无倦意。
I never did get to ask him about his personal life, because shortly after my arrival, the civil war was to erupt in a rather violent way and both he and I became a little too busy to delve into more personal matters. I did hear vague stories that at one time he had been a writer, that he had been arrested and imprisoned by the Kuomintang more than once and that he had a great personal following among many professors in Kuomintang universities. Of none of these things can I speak for sure. Suffice it to say that I found him entertaining, obliging, clear minded and possessing an extremely even temper which was somewhat of a legend among some of the hotter-hearted members of the Border Region staff.
On a cold day, late in January 1947, I sat in a comfortable, plush
chair in Commissar Po's residence. This residence was built of stone and
had stone floors, curtains and foreign-style chairs and tables so that
it probably was a former landlord's house, requisitioned by the government.
Seated next to me was Li Teh-hua, a middle-aged secretary to the headquarters
Communist party who acted as my interpreter in formal interviews with
Po.
Li was a former Yenching University student who had run over to the
Liberated Areas shortly after the Japanese war. I don't think he was Communist,
because when I asked him about it, he replied in a somewhat huffy manner,
"If you mean am I a member of the Communist party, the answer is
no; but if you mean would I like to be a member, I have to answer that
I only wish I were worthy."
I was to have a great deal of interpreter trouble in the Liberated
Areas, but Mr. Li was ideal for this particular job because, being a native
of Shansi, he could understand the Shansi accents of Po, whose language
I found quite atrocious. This was more of an advantage than it sounds,
for many interpreters from other parts of the country could not understand
Po's Shansi speech.
During the several days that followed, Pa, Li and I huddled in Po's
room over the small charcoal fire - and I wrote until I was ready to fall
asleep, but Po seemed as fresh as when we had begun.
“你该知道，”当我们坐定之后，他说，“这一地区的自然环境对我们有利。我们边区位于华北的中心，面积二十多万平方公里。只要看看地图，你就会发现，这一地区是个很有利的战略整体。它的形态像一个四方盒子，下边是黄河，上边是正太铁路和石德公路，左边是同蒲铁路，右边是津浦铁路。
“为了便于管理，我们把这一区域划分为五个行政区，下辖二十四个专区，每个专区都有平行的军事和行政机关。下面又分一百二十六个（这个数字常有变动）县政府和自卫大队。
“边区一半是中国最大的华北平原，或称黄河平原，另一半是太行和太岳山区。
“这些山区地处要冲，虎视华北平原。不论是对本地军阀还是入侵的外寇，这里历来是兵家必争之地。山脉蜿蜒三千多公里，横亘中国直至西藏。正如谚语所说：‘重门叠户，里山外山’。”
在此我想冒昧地打断一下薄的谈话，仅就这些山脉补充几句。美国那些干涉主义者以为，只需为蒋介石提供十亿美元，就能征服共产党。他们根本就不知道这些山脉的险峻。我和薄一波身处其中的山岭，属于雄伟的昆仑山脉的一系，源起印度边境，跨越整个中国，直抵日本群岛。这些山脉在军事上意义极为重大。不妨设想一个旅行者从接近苏联边境处入山，可以沿着山路穿越数省，渡过黄河、长江，跨过西藏这个世界屋脊，最后到达印度，在漫长的四千八百多公里的旅程中，几乎不涉平地。
山里自成局面，对于一支穷困之师，这里是理想的藏身之所。只要守住险关隘道，便可纵横来去，更能随时下山袭击不备之敌。要想完全控制这一片祟山峻岭，远非人世间的军队力所能及，这倒是值得那些以为出动几师美军就能替蒋介石征服中国的美国议员们好好想一想；可是（防御者）只要控制这些山脉的一小部分，就往往能发生举足轻重的作用。
"You must know," he said, when we had made ourselves comfortable, "that the natural situation in this region favors us. This Border Region covers an area of two million square kilometers in the heart of North China. If you will look at a map you will see that it has a good strategic unity. It is shaped something like a four-sided box, the bottom of which is the Yellow River, the top of which is the Chengtai Railway and the Shihchiachuang-Techow highway, the left side of which is the Tungpu Railway and the right side, the Tientsin-Pukow Railway.
"For the purposes of administration we have divided the area into five military and government districts. Under these districts are twenty-four subdistricts each with parallel military and government organizations. And under these are 126 (the number constantly changes) county governments and self-defense corps.
"Half of this area contains the biggest plain in China; namely the North China or Yellow River Plain. The other half - the Taihang and Taiyueh area - is all mountains.
"These mountains are of tremendous importance. Native militarists and invading barbarians have always tried to control them, for they dominate the plain. They are continuous and stretch for two thousand miles across China to Tibet. A proverb says: 'Door after door; gate after gate; mountains on the outside; mountains on the inside.'"
If I may rudely interrupt Po at this point, I would like to add a
few words about these mountains, the significance of which was never observed
by American interventionists who thought that all one had to do to conquer
the Communists was to send Chiang Kai-shek a billion United States dollars.
The mountains in which Po and I were now sitting were part of the great
Kunlun system that extends from the borders of India, across all of China
and peters out on the islands of Japan. The military implications of these
mountains are staggering. Conceivably, a traveler entering the mountains
near the borders of the USSR could journey on hilly trails through a score
of provinces, cross the Yellow and the Yangtze rivers and, passing over
the roof of the world in Tibet, finally reach India, three thousand miles
away, hardly ever descending onto flat ground.
A world in themselves, these mountains offer an ideal hiding place for
a hard-pressed army. More than that, if an army controls the passes, it
can march up and down their length and debouch almost at will onto the
plains against an unsuspecting enemy. To control these mountains completely,
of course, is bejond the capacity of any army in the world - a fact that
some United States congressmen who think to conquer China for Chiang kai-shek
with a few divisions of American troops might do well to ponder. However,
a control only of a small section of the mountains can often be of extreme
importance.
“刚才我所讲的，只是我们边区的大致情况。华北人民和八路军，就是在这里打了八年的抗日战争。如果需要的话，我们还准备与国民党再打他二十年。
“至于我们是怎样求得生存的，这可以归纳为三个主要原因。首先，边区据有冀南平原这一中国最大的产棉区，全国百分之三十六的棉花就出产在这一地区，因此人人不愁没衣穿。
“其次，太行和太岳山区小麦、小米和高梁丰产有余。同时还有丰富的煤、铁和硫磺等有用的矿产，足够目前的需要。
“另外，这里还有一亿多亩耕地。养活三千万人口，其中大部分居住在农村。边区最大的城市是济宁，有十四万人口。此外还有八、九个四、五万人口的城市。
“边区人口分为两大类型， 山里人和平原人。山里人也就是山西人，外号‘牛皮灯笼’，意思是说，外面黑，心里亮。二千年来，他们一向以勤奋俭朴，吃苦耐劳而著称。从外表看来，他们胆小怕事，温顺腼腆。过去外地人都瞧不起他们，轻蔑地称他们为‘老西’。
“其实他们一点也不胆小。他们擅长经商，极有远见，遇事不是光图眼前一两年，而是为一辈子着想。自明朝以来五百年间，山西帮控制了中国各地的钱庄银号。孔祥熙博士便是当今的一个代表。
“八年的抗日游击战争使他们发生了很大的变化，他们不仅勤奋俭朴，而且外表和内心都变得骁勇强悍了。
“第二种类型的人是冀南、山东和河南一带的平原人。他们与山里人截然不同，体格健壮，勇猛好斗。他们的历史是一部流血斗争、起义反抗的历史。二千年来，他们前仆后继地起来反抗本国和外国的压迫者。有一句古话说：‘揭竿而起’。还有句古语是：‘临危不惧，巧于为战，宁死不屈’。用这几句话来刻画他们是十分贴切的。他们随时准备拿起木棒、石块以及其它任何武器起来造反，推翻官府。
“过去他们起来造反，大多出于一种复仇的义气，而缺乏远大的目标。由于他们天性勇猛，并具有争取独立的精神，要发动他们起来抗日并不困难，但要把他们组织起来却远非易事。所以我们还得教导他们，光会杀敌是不够的。在八年的岁月里，我们不仅教他们打仗，这一点他们并不外行，并且教他们如何打得有成效。还教他们在夺取了农村的政权后，如何去巩固它。
“由于具备了以上这些条件——地处战略要冲、自给自足的经济以及三千万英勇善战的人民，整个内战的胜败就将取决于我们这个边区及其侧翼鲁东地区的形势变化。
“如果我们能阻止蒋介石入侵这一地区，那么我们就能在内蒙和东北建立根据地，从而具有一个安全的大后方。即使蒋介石像日本人那样打进来，我们撤入坚不可摧的太行和太岳山区，照样能维护晋冀鲁豫边区的独立。”
“谢天谢地。”我瞟了薄一波一眼。他又重复了一遍：“谢天谢地，自然环境对我们有利。平原和山区可以互为利用，平原为山区生产小麦，山区则为平原提供其所缺少的产品，同时拱卫平原的安全。”
"What I have just told you is a brief description of our Border Region. It is here that the people of North China and the 8th Route Army fought the Japanese for eight years and are preparing to fight the Kuomintang for twenty years, if necessary.
"How can we exist?
"There are three big factors. First, the Border Region has, in the plains of southern Hopei, the largest cotton-producing area in the country. Here grows 36 per cent of all China's cotton. So everyone has enough clothes.
"Secondly, in the Taihang and Taiyueh mountains, there is a surplus of wheat, millet and kaoliang; there is coal, iron and sulfur, useful and abundant enough for present needs.
"Finally, there are seventeen million square acres of cultivated
land supporting thirty million people. Most all of these people live in
villages. The biggest city the Border Region controls is Tsining with
a population of 140,000. In addition there are eight or nine cities of
between forty and fifty thousand people.
"These people are of two kinds: the mountaineers and the plainsmen.
The mountain people, or the Shansi type, are known as Cow Skin Lanterns,
meaning that outside they are dark but inside, bright. For the past two
thousand years, their chief characteristics have been frugality, diligence
and a capacity to bear hardship. From their outside appearance, they are
not bold, but soft, shrinking and timid. In the past, the rest of China
has looked down on them, contemptuously calling them 'old West.?'
"In reality, however, these people are far from timid. They are
skillful in business and exceptionally far sighted. They do not make plans
for one or two years, but for their whole lives. Since the Ming dynasty,
for the last five hundred years, Shansi businessmen have controlled banking
through many parts of China, and Dr. H. H. Kung is only one of the most
recent examples.
"Eight years of war and a guerrilla struggle against the Japanese
however has changed these people so that they have become not only frugal,
but brave and tough outside, as well as inside.
"The second type of people - the plainsmen of southern Hopei, Shantung
and Honan provinces - are of a different order entirely, being healthy
and robust in physique and brave and warlike in spirit. Their history
has been one of bloodshed and revolt and for the past two thousand years
they have always risen against national and alien oppressors to fight
for their independence. A proverb says: 'Picks up a stick, then fights.'
Another one says: 'Brave in danger; skillful in fighting; never enslaved.'
These words accurately describe these people; for they have always been
ready to seize a club or stone or any weapon at hand to knock down the
officials and raise a people's rebellion.
"In the past, however, these people revolted mostly out of a spirit
of revenge and without much purpose. Because of their natural bravery
and their spirit of independence, it was easy to get them to rise against
the Japanese, but much more difficult to make them organize. We had to
teach them that to kill was not enough. During eight years we were able
to show them not only how to fight, which they already knew pretty well,
but how to fight effectively, and how to retain power once they had taken
it in their villages.
"Because of all these things - strategic location, self-sufficient
economy and thirty million tough people - what happens to our Border Region
and to the one on our flank in eastern Shantung will probably determine
the fate of the whole civil war.
"If we can stop Chiang from getting through here, then we can build
up bases in Inner Mongolia and Manchuria and thus have a great and safe
rear area. But even if Chiang breaks through here, as did the Japanese,
we can still maintain the independence of the Shansi-Hopei-Shantung-Honan
Border Region by retiring into the impenetrable mountains of the Taiyueh
and Taihang ranges.
"Thanks to God," and Po repeated the expression as I looked
askance at him, "Thanks to God, the natural situation favors us.
The plains and mountains can be used together. The plains produce wheat
for the mountains; and the mountains produce what the plains lack and
protect them."