Scenes 71 to 80
1949/5/6: Important figures of Shanghai like dramatist Xia Yan (夏衍), banker Lu Xuzhang (卢緒章) and foreign affairs expert Liu Xiao (刘晓) (all CCP members or sympathisers) have fled the city and now meet Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping who welcome their cooperation. Deng, however, is worried about all those still working in the underground in Shanghai.
The scene is gloomy. Jiang Jieshi and his son Jingguo stand on a small bridge and talk about the defence of Shanghai. Jiang states that Shanghai should be protected very well. Tang Enbo told him that it is fortified a third more than Stalingrad. Jiang asks his son what he thinks, and Jingguo answers that it should not be a problem to defend Shanghai for another six months, but Jiang replies that he demands that they defend Shanghai for another year!
Jiang Jieshi and his grandson Ailun sit in a boat. The scene is gloomy. Ailun asks Jiang where they are heading to. Jiang answers that they will go to the place where he lived when he was a boy. Ailun wonders whether this place or the President’s residence is nicer to live in.
Jiang pays his respect to his deceased mother. The atmosphere is gloomy. Then Jingguo and Ailun bow and finally Jiang’s Russian daughter-in-law whom Jiang looks at with some disdain, bows shortly, though only once.
On a rainy morning, Jiang Jieshi and his family are escorted to the beach in black cars.
A warship is seen from the shore and the music is in minor. Jiang stands on the beach and his
melancholic view reaches the island on the horizon. Then he turns around and looks sadly at the beautiful mountains of
mainland China that he has to leave behind. Finally the rest of his family arrives at the beach. The camera only focuses
on the footprints left behind in the sand that lead to the sea.
The subtitle adds: 1949/5/24 was the last time Jiang Jieshi has seen his native place. 14 hours later the Communists would occupy the area.
Jiang Jieshi and his grandson Ailun play chess. Ailun asks his grandfather where they are heading.
Jiang answers they go to a place very far away.
Ailun wonders whether they will ever come back. Jiang tells him that if he will never come back, then at least Ailun will.
Jiang’s secretary knocks at the door to make a report. When Jiang asks him to read it out, Ailun leaves the room. The news
are about the battle of Shanghai: on the 12th of May, Shanghai was attacked; on the 14th of May, the CCP attacked the front line and
suffered heavy losses; on the 16th of May, the GMD’s 51st and 123rd division gave up; on the 17th of May, there was a fierce battle and Tang Enbo
rearranged the troupes; on the 20th of May, the GMD’s 12th division suffered heavy losses; on the 23rd of May there was another
fierce battle and then the CCP invaded the south of the Suzhou River…
The new headquarters of the Communists in Shanghai are still in a chaos. Nie Fengzhi (聂凤智), the commander, sits with his legs on his desk in a chair and sleeps when Chen Yi and two other soldiers are entering. They wake Nie up and Chen praises Nie’s work. He asks whether there are any problems. Nie says only the water and the power station are not conquered yet. A unit with 8000 GMD soldiers still holds out there, but Chen had ordered the water and power supply not to be stopped which, however, would help put the GMD troupes down. Chen says he knows the one-time teacher of the vice commander Xu Zhao (许照) of those GMD troupes and asks whether the telephone is working. Nie says it is, because the Shanghai telephone company is in the hands of the underground CCP. Thus, Chen plans to arrange for a peaceful settlement with Xu Zhao via the latter’s one-time teacher who shall be called. Thus, Shanghai would be completely “liberated”.
Early morning. Tired soldiers sleep peacefully everywhere. The subtitle adds: on 1949/5/26 Shanghai is completely controlled by Chen Yi. A car drives through the streets and stops in front of a gate. Chen Yi gets off the car and asks the guard which house this is. The guard answers that Madame Sun Yat-sen (Song Qingling) lives here. Chen passes on the order given by Mao and Zhou Enlai that she may not be disturbed by anybody.
Jiang Jieshi listens to the radio, which reports that the People’s Liberation Army has taken over Shanghai. Jiang turns off the radio and says to himself that the defence was no matter of one year or half a year, but not even of 15 days!
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