At that time, they had to take a sharp turn: a U-turn. "It is easier for a small boat to turn round" but their vehicles were too large and heavy. However, they had to make the turn! Chairman Deng had demanded in the meeting that when they took any action, they should consider the overall picture. In the world of military tactics it was commonplace to sacrifice the part for the sake of the strategic whole.
Such a sharp turn was a serious test for the driver who was at the wheel. No matter how bumpy the trip, as long as the car did not crash, the journey would still be regarded as successful. Notably, the drivers themselves were also subject to a hurricane of change and were consequently feeling unbalanced and off-kilter. The same could not be said for those standing on sidelines. Emotional inertia like theirs is sometimes harder to manage than its physical counterpart.
It ought to be said that up until that point, the Party committee and offices in Kunming had performed well in reducing and reorganizing the army. They had made comprehensive preparations over the past six months to welcome their counterparts from Chengdu, demonstrating their strong sense of integrity. The Party committee of the Kunming Military Region made the decision to strictly control promotions in an attempt to reserve positions for the comrades from Chengdu. This type of "strict control" was sometimes excessive. For example, before June 1 there were twenty-six vacancies in the personnel, political and logistical departments for second level divisional chiefs and deputy chiefs. A proposal submitted for progressively filling these vacancies was never approved. The positions of President of the Military Court and the Controller of Procuratorial work were all still open, and as a result, signing legal documents became an issue. However, the response of the Party committee did not change: They must consider the whole, not the parts. At the same time, Kunming personnel were busy persuading those who were near the age of decommission or retirement to leave in order to free up positions and convincing those who had already retired to move into retirement homes in order to empty out the dormitories. One dormitory building, which could hold fifty families had just finished being constructed. The cadres who lacked housing had been waiting eagerly and expectantly for this moment for a long time. However, the Party committee had determined that all the rooms were to be left empty for the comrades from Chengdu to fill.
Some cadres who should have been promoted lost their chance, and some welfare which should have been available was no longer offered. Senior subordinates including some very promising cadres, were making a significant sacrifice … And their commanders, Zhang Zhixiu and Xie Zhenhua felt deeply indebted.
How should one view their feelings? Should they be praised or blamed? A commander without this kind of reaction was undoubtedly a poor leader; but emotions like theirs always lead to mistakes.
Our leaders seemed to have foreseen this contradiction. So, in the extended meeting of the Central Military Commission, Deng Xiaoping and the other leaders repeatedly reminded the cadres to never forget the overall situation when considering, and dealing with the small issues. For example, since military uniforms throughout the whole armed forces were to be changed, should retired cadres be given new uniforms? From an emotional standpoint, it was no great sacrifice to give a new uniform to our senior cadres who had fought through hails of bullets for the past few decades. Even giving them ten suits each was fine. However, this would be against the rules. Here was the issue: was it more important to appease one's feelings or to obey the rules? All the senior cadres of course understood that it was more important to lay down rules.
"Irregardless of difficulties or reasons to the contrary, we have to think of the overall situation and carry out our instructions." For the senior leaders, this resolution was a fundamental part of their character and beliefs. The decisions made during the meeting of the Party Committee for the Military Regions were in accordance with this spirit, which originated from the extended meeting of the Central Military Commission. These decisions included: firmly implementing the program of reduction and reorganization, not using this plan to gain promotions or spend money, not intruding on public property and not taking advantage of positions in order to interfere with the plan and benefit of your children and colleagues …
Kunming Military Region, with its glorious and proud history of thirty years, now had to write the final, hardest page.
The military regions of Wuhan, Fuzhou and Urumqi, as well as the many repealed soldiers below the level of corps all faced the same problems that plagued Kunming. If they could choose between being repealed and going to fight at the frontline, they would prefer the latter; but history only gave them the option to do the former. They were experiencing an extraordinary stage in history.
