But from this point on we were again immersed in civil war. At Changshu-ki we found the trade unions existing in a semi-legal condition, the city being under the control of the chief bankers. Here we received our first direct news from the center of revolutionary developments, the Wuhan cities. This was in the form of copy of a manifesto issued by the Hupeh provincial trade union on March 15th, publicly denouncing Chiang Kai Shek as a counter-revolutionist.
Nanchang, our next stop, is a great city, capital of Kiangsi province. Here we had trouble getting contact with the trade unions because actual fighting had been going on around their offices. We found soldiers guarding the trade union premises. Upon reaching the officers in charge we learned that these soldiers were part of the "left wing army." They were protecting the trade unions from the assaults of the "right wing army" and from hired hooligans. The government was completely in the hands of the tools of Chiang Kai Shek. The army garrison was sharply divided into two almost equal divisions; one supported Chiang Kai Shek, the other supporting the left. Between these two armies existed a state of armed truce.
The city Kuomintang, based upon direct contact with the party membership, had elected a complete left wing leadership. This body directed the revolutionary struggle. The provincial Kuomintang, personal appointees of Chiang Kai Shek, controlled the government and directed the counter-revolution. At the moment of our arrival the leaders of the city Kuomintang were directing the struggle from secret headquarters; a printers' strike was being broken by armed force on the part of the reactionaries; the city was under martial law.
We received here the first news of the meeting of the central Kuomintang held in Hankow on March 11th. We learned of the reorganization of the government, the removal of Chiang Kai Shek from his positions of civil and party power, and entrance of the Communists into the government.
The people of Nanchang were seething with revolt against the right wing government. They were only
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