Scenes 31 to 40
Mao is coming to Zhu De’s home who is disputing with his guests Wang Jiaxiang (王稼祥) and Zhu Zhongli (朱仲丽). The couple fled here from Harbin and refuses to sleep on the warm Kang whereas Zhu De and his wife Kang Keqiang (康克清) would accommodate themselves on the floor. Su Yu (粟裕) and Chen Yi (陈毅) come in as well. Chen Yi whom Mao suggests as future mayor of Shanghai, talks about aiming at southwest China first; Su Yu in turn is to come up with some ideas of how to cross the Yangzi.
Nie Fengzhi (聂凤智), commander of the 27th Army, and his men are jumping into the Yangzi to train themselves for the crossing.
Mao’s son Anying tells his father about his girlfriend. Mao first agrees to the marriage but when hearing that the girl is still under eighteen, he withdraws his consent. Mao explains to his son that there are two important laws introduced by the Communists: the first one is the land law; the second one is the marriage law which sets the minimum age of eighteen for girls. Anying is very upset that his father, the chairman of the Party, will not help him. In the end, when his father married Anying’s mother, the latter was not of age as well. Mao, though, scolds him for his insubordination.
From the off, one hears a girl (Mao’s daughter Li Na) ask where and why they are moving. The father’s voice explains: we are going to Beiping, because we have won, and Beiping is bigger and greater than Yan’an. The subtitle adds: 1949/3/25: A military parade at Beiping [by the victorious Communists].
Jiang Jieshi is lying in his bed. A bad dream wakes him up suddenly; because of the noise, Jiang Jingguo and later his Russian wife Faina (将方良) come in. Jiang argues he has seen something strange on his bed, but Jingguo cannot find anything. Afterwards, Jiang and his son are having a conversation on the balcony. They are talking about Mao’s capture of Beiping and the conflicts in the GMD, which according to Jiang are the real reason for their loosing out to the Communists. He specifically complains about Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren who cannot be counted at. Bai Chongxi together with Tang Enbo is supposed to protect the southern side of the Yangzi River, but Jiang is worried that Bai might not be loyal. He therefore plans to have him controlled by others. For Tang Enbo’s staff he personally wants to check, going to Shanghai. Jingguo thinks that because of his official retirement from office, Jiang is not supposed to intervene that way, but Jiang makes clear he still feels the supreme leader and as responsible if things should go wrong.
Several high GMD officers in charge of defending the east part of the Yangzi are gambling. Commander Li Xiangnan (李襄南) has lost already several times and now has to bet on his house when Jiang is suddenly entering. The officers are very embarrassed. Jiang dryly asks who has lost and then sits down to play instead of Li. He wins a lot of money, hands it to Li and comments that he (Li) is bad at gambling, but that he (Jiang) is bad at war. Therefore Jiang obliges his generals to do everything possible to protect the Yangzi area. Ashamed they promise him to fight to the end.
Jiang is carried in a sedan chair up the mountain to a temple in order to let the oracle decide about his future. The monk tells him his fortune is no good and advises him to “move back”. Jingguo wants to cheer up his father by saying that the oracle only fulfils when one believes in it, but Jiang insists on the oracle’s being reliable.
1949/3/29: Zhang Zhizhong as head of the planned peace mission to the [Communist] North, together with an advisor, comes to Jiang Jieshi to ask for instructions. In Nanjing they have already prepared an outline for the negotiations in the North but wish Jiang to opine on it and to back them up in the negotiations with the Communists as well as against their critics in the GMD. When Zhang asks Jiang to publish his views openly, Jiang remains evasive, just wishing him success.
1949/4/1: In the car driving them to the airport, the advisor tells Zhang Zhizhong that Jingguo after their meeting with Jiang has commented on Zhang Zhizhong to be too naïve in going to Beiping. Real chances for peace are nil. Zhang Zhizhong is profoundly shocked by this. After their arrival at the airport, Li Zongren wishes farewell to Zhang Zhizhong who is about to fly off to Beiping for the peace negotiations with the Communists. Many journalists are attending Zhang’s departure, questioning him about his mission. Zhang, though, refuses to comment and only states he is feeling like “standing on thin ice”.
The chief secretary, Deng Xiaoping (邓小平), Liu Bocheng (刘伯承) and other central front committee members are holding a meeting on strategies for their officers. Behind them a map of China is hanging at the wall. They are explaining the war situation in east, middle and west China to the officers who are sitting in front of them on the ground. Su Yu then allocates the different units to their tasks.
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