Scenes 51 to 60
More and more Communist soldiers reach the southern bank of the Yangzi River. A soldier hands the commanding general a telegram.
A secretary tells Zhou Enlai that the plane to fly the GMD negotiators back to Shanghai has arrived. Zhou is worried, pointing to the fate of “the other Zhang” [meaning Zhang Xueliang, who had to “pay” for forcing Jiang Jieshi with the Xi’an Incident in 1936 into the Second United Front with the Communists, with long-term house arrest] and orders the underground Communists in Shanghai to be informed to protect the delegates’ family members.
Jiang Jieshi and his grandson Jiang Xiaowen/Ailun (孝文/爱伦) sit in a garden pavilion and play chess. The scene is covered in mist which emphasizes the mystic surroundings. The grandson wonders why Jiang is doing a blunder on the chess field. Jiang, somewhat distracted, admits to have lost the game, and then asks which poems Ailun has recently learned by heart. Ailun starts to recite a poem of Li Yu (李煜), the ill-fated ruler over the short-lived Southern Tang state in 10th century China who mused after his defeat and capture by the Song dynasty over his failure! Ailun’s father Jiang Jingguo comes over and nervously sends Ailun away. Then Jingguo wants to tell his father the news that the Communists managed to break through the defence line of the Nationalist troupes along the Yangzi River, but Jiang already knew and thinks that this is due only to his not being in command himself. Jingguo also tells his father that Li Xiangnan killed himself which Jiang applauds as a sign of commitment.
Mao sits at his desk and writes. When Zhou Enlai enters, he hands him a piece about the soldiers’ finally crossing the Yangzi River which he has just written, to have it published. Zhou tells Mao that Jiang Jieshi travelled to Hangzhou to meet Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi. Li and Bai wanted to negotiate with Jiang to give up Shanghai and Nanjing and rather defend the South West of China. Mao comments that obviously everybody has its own plans then. Zhou adds that Jiang offered to support Li in every way, should he hold on to Nanjing. But Mao adds with irony that he hopes Li’s dreams of holding Nanjing will not be destroyed by the shells of the Communists soon.
Li Zongren is laying on the bed when the phone rings. He answers the call and says he is still in town. Li wonders why the speaker is so nervous, but than he recognises that it is commander-in-chief Tang Enbo. Then he hangs up the phone.
Tang Enbo, commander Zhang Yaoming (张跃明) and others escort Li Zongren to the airport. The plane takes off, makes two circles and then disappears. Zhang Yaoming explains that Jiang Jieshi’s plane just made one circle when he left, so Li Zongren wants to make two. The subtitle adds: Li Zongren went back to his home, then emigrated via Hong Kong to New York and finally in 1965 returned to Beijing.
1949/4/23: the People’s Liberation Army has captured Nanjing and the President’s official residence. Cheering soldiers stand on the roof and in front of the building. The soldiers on the roof tear down the flag of the Republic of China and throw it on the floor.
Mao sits in a garden pavilion; the trees are green, birds sing and the sun shines. Zhu De comes over and tells Mao that parts of the Nationalist navy deserted to their side. Mao smiles and says that now they even have their own navy. Then he suggests to open a central committee for the navy with Zhang Aijun (张爱军) as first chairman and Ming Zhen as second chairman. Zhu agrees and adds that Liu Bocheng (刘伯承) shall carry out this task.
Commanders Gu Zhutong (顾祝同), Tang Enbo, Gui Yongqing (桂永清), Zhou Zhirou (周至柔) and other high-ranking generals sit around a table. Young head of the Strategic Office Cai Wenzhi (蔡文治) stands up and states that it is a mistake to defend already isolated Shanghai. They have lost Nanjing, and Shanghai is now surrounded by Communist troupes. The only “open possibility” is to jump into the sea at their back! He also accuses the other generals of not believing him, although he predicted every move of the PLA correctly. The discussion leads into a debate on principles about who has to follow whose order. Finally Tang Enbo takes out Jiang Jieshi’s personal secret order to give the highest priority to the transfer of 300 million dollars in gold and silver from Shanghai to Taiwan. To guarantee this, the whole army has to be concentrated in Shanghai to defend her. Tang Enbo and Chen Liang (陈良) are personally responsible for this. All are shocked and finally understand why Tang stubbornly refused to give up Shanghai. Only when the money transfer will be finished, they are supposed to retreat to Guangzhou in the South.
Jiang Jieshi asks Tang Enbo why he disclosed his secret order during the meeting and if he plans to compare himself to Cao Cao (曹操), whose son Cao Pei (曹胚) overthrew the last Han dynasty emperor Xiandi (汉献帝) in the early 3rd century . Tang, being afraid of Jiang, tells him he does not want to become a Cao Cao but rather, as Jiang suggested, a Zeng Guofan (曾国藩) [a model Neo-Confucian official of the mid 19th century]. Jiang, though, replies that Tang will never be like Zeng but adds that he still believes in him. Tang promises not to disappoint Jiang and leaves the room.
Mao Renfeng (毛人凤), head of the secret service, then tells Jiang that Li Zongren returned to his home Guilin. Jiangs asks if there is the possibility that he had any connections to the CCP. If he should move towards the Communists or plan to build up his own reign, he should be eliminated. Jiang also asks about Yu Youren (于右人), one of the old grand intellectuals of the GMD. Mao Renfeng answers that he “controls” him. Jiang is pleased, because he thinks it is good for the image of the GMD to keep also various important intellectuals. He names quite a few, most importantly Zhang Lan (张澜) and Luo Longji (罗隆基), and adds that they should be kept and not killed. Thereupon, Mao Renfeng suddenly asks for a break. Jiang wonders and asks why. Mao Renfeng argues he has to make a call, but Jiang orders him to make the call in his presence. Mao Renfeng then calls the police in Shanghai and asks for Mao Sen (毛森). The latter answers the phone and Mao Renfeng tells him to postpone “that business”, but since Mao Sen obviously did not understand which business he was talking about he has to name the “business” as “that with Zhang Lan, Luo Longji and so on”. After Mao Renfeng has hung up the phone, Jiang remarks that if he had talked about these people later, they would have already been killed [by his over-zealous secret service]! Then he adds that the families of Zhang Zhizhong and Shao Lizi (both of whom are still in Beiping after the failed negotiations) must be prevented to fly north. [Thus, he plans to take the families of his negotiators as hostages].
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