In early November 1966, Wang Hongwen established the "General Department of Industry" in Shanghai. After the establishment of the "General Department of Industry", Wang Hongwen asked the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee to recognize its legal status. However, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee believed that the establishment of the "General Department of Industry" violated the regulations of the superiors, so he expressed his opinion that he did not support the "General Department of Industry".
Wang Hongwen was very angry when he learned of the attitude of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, so he led the members of the "General of Industry and Engineering" to go north to file a complaint. Finally, the train stopped at Anting Station, causing the Anting incident that interrupted traffic for more than 30 hours. On November 12, Zhang Chunqiao went to Anting Station and conspired with Wang Hongwen to facilitate the resolution of the Anting incident. Wang Hongwen also led most of the members of the "General Office of the Engineering Department" to return to Shanghai.
However, the "General Office of Industry and Technology" is not a solid piece. Some members insist on going north to file a complaint and refused to return to Shanghai. These people continued to go north from Anting Station because there was no leader and the team was in chaos. When they arrived in Kunshan, they decided to choose a leader. At that time, someone in the team shouted: "Who is a party member? Take the initiative to stand up." A man named Geng Jinzhang stood up. He was indeed a party member, but he was also the only party member of this team, so Geng Jinzhang became the leader of this army.
Geng Jinzhang did not obey Wang Hongwen in the Anting incident. He chose to continue to go north and became the leader of the northbound team. When Geng Jinzhang led his team to Suzhou , Zhang Chunqiao was anxious and went to Suzhou to negotiate with Geng Jinzhang, agreed to Geng Jinzhang's request, and prompted Geng Jinzhang to lead the team back to Shanghai.
Originally, Zhang Chunqiao asked Geng Jinzhang to dissolve the team after returning to Shanghai, but Geng Jinzhang did not want to disband the team. He also named the team "Second Corps to Return to Shanghai", abbreviated as the "Second Corps" and served as the "Commander" of the "Second Corps". The Second Corps belongs to the "General Administration of Industry and Technology" in name, but with the development, the number of people in the "Second Corps" has reached 500,000 or 600,000, which is more than the number of people in the "General Administration of Industry and Technology" base camp.
Wang Hongwen never expected that a small Geng Jinzhang would become his biggest concern. He naturally expressed dissatisfaction with Geng Jinzhang and repeatedly asked Geng Jinzhang to dissolve the "Second Corps". Geng Jinzhang also cherishes this hard-earned power very much, so he naturally will not easily disband the "Second Corps" and he also regards the "Second Corps" as the capital for his struggle with Wang Hongwen.
In this context, Wang Hongwen fired Geng Jinzhang from the "General Office of the Workers" and no longer recognized him as a member of the "General Office of the Workers". On the other hand, Zhang Chunqiao, who had colluded with Wang Hongwen, also intervened in the competition between the two. However, Zhang Chunqiao obviously helped Wang Hongwen. He had asked Geng Jinzhang for interviews many times, demanding that he dissolve the "Second Corps" and obey Wang Hongwen's management.
Geng Jinzhang naturally would not give up his power, but he still recognized Zhang Chunqiao and wanted to form a clique with Zhang Chunqiao, but Zhang Chunqiao looked down on him and helped Wang Hongwen both openly and secretly. After the "January Storm", Zhang Chunqiao gradually grasped the core power of Shanghai, and he also found Geng Jinzhang again, hoping that Geng Jinzhang could dissolve the "Second Corps". If he could dissolve the "Second Corps", Zhang Chunqiao could also make him elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai People's Commune.
After Geng Jinzhang disbanded the "Second Corps", Zhang Chunqiao indeed fulfilled his promise. However, the Shanghai People's Commune is just a temporary organization. In February 1967, the Shanghai Municipal Revolutionary Committee replaced the Shanghai People's Commune, and Geng Jinzhang became the "Waiting Commander". On February 25, Geng Jinzhang received a notice that Wang Hongwen offered to negotiate at the National Cotton 31 Factory. Geng Jinzhang arrived as promised, but did not wait for Wang Hongwen, but waited for a few strong men. Geng Jinzhang was also imprisoned. The "Commander of the Second Corps" who was once regarded as a major concern by Wang Hongwen, eventually became Wang Hongwen's defeated general.
