Scenes 61 to 70

Mao and Zhang Zhizhong talk about the country’s situation. Zhang says that he dedicated his whole to Jiang Jieshi, but the longer Jiang was president the less he listened to other opinions. Mao argues that not all leaders in the world are like this. Zhang applauds Mao’s open-mindedness and wants to make a few suggestions: he thinks China, being between the US and the Soviet Union, should remain neutral. Mao answers he will write an essay on this question to explain his stance. Zhang politely says that he looks forward to learn from this essay, but Mao says that this essay is not “to learn from”, but to be “discussed”. Zhou Enlai then enters the room and tells Zhang Zhizhong that the plane with his family has safely landed. [Obviously, the Communists had been quicker in getting the families out than the GMD secret service in taking them as hostages]. Zhang, who did not know that the Communists would take care of his family, is overwhelmed with gratitude.

1949/4/26: The People’s Liberation Army is welcomed by the people of Nanjing. The soldiers start to hand out rice to the people. Qi Zhenyun (齐振云) stands on a wagon and shouts that they are going to give rice to the poor people, but only to them. Chen Yi (陈毅) and Deng Xiaoping (邓小平) pass by. Chen calls Qi Zhenyun’s name and asks how he decides to whom to give rice. Qi answers that he simply looks at the people’s faces and clothes! Chen Yi then introduces Qi to Deng Xiaoping. Deng asks Qi if he had taken the words he had shouted from the novel “Outlaws of the margin”. Qi admits that in fact he had picked them up. Chen, noticing Qi’s wounded head, asks Qi whether he has been injured again in battle, calling him a hero, and Qi proudly answers he has.
Deng Xiaoping then hands Qi the booklet “Regulations for the City” which advises the CCP soldiers how to behave after the capture of Nanjing, and asks whether he has studied it. Qi hands the booklet back and says that he has received it already, but that he is unable to read. Chen is angry since Qi thus acts at his own will without sticking to the regulations obligatory to follow. He tells Qi to go back to the unit immediately to criticise himself, and that he is not allowed to go out for 10 days. Qi, surprised by this harsh reaction, asks for lenience, since Chairman Mao even smoked his cigarettes (cf. scene 29). Deng, though, replies that if Mao knew about this, the punishment would be even harder.

Several prostitutes try to get hold of a soldier. They all want to invite “the gentleman”, but the rather helpless soldier shouts he does not want to be called “gentleman” but “comrade”. Another prostitute joins them and the soldier tries to escape the women by climbing on an army truck. He finally shoots in the air and the women run away screaming. Immediately, another soldiers comes over and orders the soldier to report to Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping. Deng remarks that this kind of people, i.e. the prostitutes, is not easy to deal with. Chen then reprimands the soldier for deliberately shooting in the air.

Liu Bocheng, Song Renqiong (宋任穷) and other cadres smoke in front of a bus while the driver looks after it. Liu says he is going to be the new mayor of Nanjing and wants to drive up directly to the President’s official residence.

1949/4/28: The bus enters Nanjing city through the city gate. Children are playing football. When they see the bus, they follow it making a lot of noise. The subtitle adds: Liu Bocheng is going to be mayor of Nanjing and head of the military commission, Song Renqiong is going to be his deputy.

The square is crowded with military trucks and marching troupes. The bus arrives and a soldiers orders it to stop. Liu Bocheng, Song Renqiong and other cadres get off the bus and the driver asks whether he gets rice or money as payment. A guard says, that it does not matter, as he can have whatever he likes. The driver asks, where he could get his payment and the guard answers: in the town hall. When the drivers asks where the town hall is, the guard answers that there is none today, but tomorrow there will be one!

Liu Bocheng wants to enter the building to visit Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping. A soldier explains that it is Nanjing’s new mayor Liu Bocheng, but the guard does not believe him and blocks their way. Liu says if the guard refuses to let him in, he will shout out loudly for Deng and Chen. As he starts shouting, Deng and Chen arrive. They greet each other and Liu tells Chen that the guard did not want to let him in. Chen criticises the guard. Liu, though, says Chen should praise the guard for doing a good job. Chen then asks Liu to enter the building as the new mayor and adds that it would be bad style for the new mayor to not have a look at Jiang Jieshi’s office.

A soldier runs along the very long hallway. Chen ironically shouts as a “report” to Jiang that the “bandits” have arrived. In Jiang’s office upstairs, they try out sitting at Jiang’s desk where the calendar still shows April 22nd. Noticing Jiang’s precious brushes, Liu asks Chen to write a poem, but Chen replies he does not have leisure for doing such things! A secretary enters the room and reads out a telegram: the 10th division has occupied Suzhou, and Tan Zhenlin (谭震林) has concentrated six units in the mountain region of Guangde (广德). Now, Shanghai is going to be attacked.

In the hallway in front of Jiang’s office, Deng asks a young soldier why the red carpet has been cut and is missing. The soldier answers that the guards use it to sleep on. Deng is furious about the soldiers.

Chen Yi, Deng Xiaoping and Liu Bocheng walk through the garden which is occupied by soldiers who camp here. Everything is very chaotic, pieces of red carpet are laying around, horses are there as well, and dirt is all over the place. Chen orders the army to leave the President’s official residence immediately. Furthermore, everything has to be cleaned up. Deng suggests that the army needs to learn to behave and improve.

Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi and Ren Bishi sit together and discuss the situation. Mao approves of Deng Xiaoping’s and Chen Yi’s “Regulations for the City”. In fact, since Zhou tells them that the American ambassador in Nanjing had been molested by some overenthusiastic Communists, Mao is annoyed and points out the importance of keeping the regulations. Ren Bishi warns that to become too proud is in fact dangerous. Mao then approves also of Chen Yi’s and Deng’s suggestions for taking Shanghai by force. Liu Shaoqi applauds Chen’s and Deng’s emphasis on the improvement of the cadres, and Zhu De adds news on the recent successes made on the battlefield: Datong and Hangzhou have been “liberated”. Zhou, in turn, states that GMD chief negotiator Zhang Zhizhong has been stripped of all responsibilities by the GMD, whereupon Mao orders to now “look after” him.

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