The secret of Daesanping
Ran Kui
Dashanping is located at the junction of Dongxiang Street, Bajiao Town, Xiaba Town and Huangshi Township in Xuanhan County, and is the core area for Wang Weizhou to lead the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army to carry out revolutionary activities. It is closely connected with the surrounding Yunwu Mountain, Heitianchi, Yangliuguan and Tongjia Mountain, the mountains are high and dense, the supplies are abundant, and it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The mass foundation here is good, and the common people sacrifice their lives and death to support the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army.
Daesan Ping
The courtyard of the He family in Hejiagou, Dashan Village, Dongxiang Street, is in disrepair and difficult to repair. If it weren't for the stone monument with the words "Former Site of the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army" standing next to it, people from other places would not have known that a thrilling story had happened here. The owner of the He family's courtyard is He Zhisan, a poor peasant with high ideological awareness, who moved from Xiaoyuan (Huashan Village Group 2) in Bajiao Town. Both of his homes were where Wang Weizhou lived and held meetings, and both were the general headquarters of the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army.
Xuanhan County, Bajiao Town, Huashan Village, Xiaoyuan Chuandong Guerrilla Army Military Headquarters Site
1
Cover Wang Weizhou
In the summer of 1931, Wang Weizhou, who went to Chengdu for a meeting, disguised himself as a woman in Wanxian County (now Wanzhou District, Chongqing City) and got out of danger. The terrain is flat and has a wide view, and there are seven houses in a row. It was here that Wang Weizhou reorganized the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army and held a secret meeting to formulate tactics and guidelines for the struggle against the enemy. Wang Weizhou's pseudonym is Zhou Kexi, and his public identity is Mr. Teaching.
The whole picture of Bajiaochang Town, Xuanhan County
The masses all know that Wang Weizhou's team is a team that robs the rich and helps the poor to fight the world for the poor, and Wang Weizhou is the "backbone" and "great savior" of the toiling masses. At every meeting, twenty or thirty people would gather to listen to Wang Weizhou convey the spirit of his superiors, analyze the current situation, and preach revolutionary principles. He Zhisan's family was busy grinding rice and cooking dinner, and in order to avoid being noticed by the enemy, they poured some water on the stump, and the squeaking sound of the stone grinding was very slight. After the meeting, a delicious meal was quietly prepared.
The eastern Sichuan guerrilla army gained a firm foothold in the Dashanping area, and Wang Weizhou made this area popular, and the reactionary warlords gritted their teeth with hatred. One night, after being told by the bad guys, hundreds of enemy soldiers rushed in three ways, and the sentry immediately reported to Wang Weizhou after discovering it. Wang Weizhou was in danger, put away the documents, and calmly said to He Zhisan: "You should first hide yourself, so as not to be implicated." He Zhisan said: "What am I afraid of, a farmer, living in these years is equivalent to dying and not buried, or you are important." After speaking, He Zhisan asked his son He Zeliang to take Wang Weizhou and others to move safely to Tongjiashan and the furnace factory, and arranged for his family to take out the basket sieve and grid sieve, and sifted the ashes in the meeting room to create a false impression and confuse the enemy.
The enemy surrounded him breathlessly, and not even the figure of the guerrillas was seen. The enemy pounced, seized He Zhisan, and inquired about the whereabouts of Wang Weizhou and the guerrillas. He Zhisan said: "I don't know which one is called Wang Weizhou, nor do I know what a guerrilla army is." Seeing that nothing could be asked, the enemy searched from house to house, arrested more than 100 people one after another, interrogated and examined them one by one, severely beat women and children, and finally arrested He Zhisan, He Baoting, and He Zezhong and sent them back to the army headquarters of Liu Cunhou in Nanba. In the dark and damp black room, the enemy could not be lured with money, so they resorted to cruel punishments such as "pouring spicy water into the nose", "burning eight cylinders of flowers", "monkeys moving piles", and "carrying foreign oil on their backs" (burning red oil barrels, putting burning charcoal in the barrels, and stripping naked clothes to make people carry them), and they were tortured to death, and Wang Weizhou's whereabouts were never revealed. Wang Weizhou asked people to try to rescue him, and after many maneuvers, the upper echelons of Nanba bailed He Zhisan and He Baoting, but He Zezhong was shot dead.
Once, Wang Weizhou was in the house of He Zhisan, when a spy suddenly came outside, posted a notice offering a reward for Wang Weizhou's arrest on the door of the hall and left, and the crowd turned a blind eye to the notice. Wang Weizhou sent people to follow him and found that the spy and several other bad guys had gathered in a shack by the river at night to burn smoke. The guerrillas suddenly attacked, caught all these bad guys, tied them to stones and sank into the river, avenging the death of He Zezhong.
Again, a traitor told him that Wang Weizhou had 20 shell guns and silver in the three houses of He Wei. When the search was fruitless, the enemy arrested He Zeliang's wife, hung her from the roof beams, tortured her, and forced her to hand over her guns, ammunition, and other supplies. She kept a map of Wang Weizhou in her hand, no matter how the enemy tortured, even if she was unconscious for several times, she kept her mouth shut, preferring to die rather than move. Since Xiaoyuan's family has become a key target of the enemy's surveillance, He Zhisan's family moved to Hejiagou, Dashan Village, Dongxiang Street.
The former site of the military headquarters of the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army (Hejiagou, Dashan Village, Dongxiang Street)
Separated from Xiaoyuan Mountain is Wangjiapo (Group 8 of Tonglin Village, Bajiao Town), with an altitude of nearly 700 meters. There is a wealthy family here, whose owner is named Wang Zhongyuan, who lived in his house for a period of time, and his family provided logistical support and cover for the headquarters of the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army. Wang Zebing, 56 years old this year, is the grandson of Wang Zhongyuan, once served as deputy secretary of the village branch, according to him, his family was influenced by the revolution, his eldest father Wang Renfu joined the Red Fourth Army in 1933, died in Linxia County, Gansu Province in 1936, and the second father Wang Renlu followed Wang Weizhou out of the revolution and worked in Chongqing after liberation.
The former site of the military headquarters of the Wangjiapo Chuandong Guerrilla Army in Tonglin Village, Bajiao Town, Xuanhan County
The round water tank used by the Wangjiapo Chuandong guerrilla army in Tonglin Village, Bajiao Town, Xuanhan County
Xuanhan County, Bajiao Town and Tiansheng Town, the junction of the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army's activity - Echeng Zhuhai
The guerrilla army in eastern Sichuan attacked regimental bureaus, annihilated stubborn enemies, beat "committee members," punished traitors, eliminated bullies, and arrested "fat pigs," seeking benefits for the toiling masses and winning the resolute support and heartfelt support of the broad masses. In the face of the enemy's butcher's knife, the masses were unyielding, regarded death as their home, and even did not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of their entire families, young and old, which was a true manifestation of the deep affection for Wang Weizhou and the guerrillas.
2
Build an underground weapons factory
This is Gaojiawan, Group 5, Dashan Village, Dongxiang Street, with a brick and wood structure on the first floor and one bottom of the house in front of you. According to Chen Yuanhan, 80 years old this year, the former secretary of the Dashan Village branch, the house was newly built, and the original house was a courtyard house, which was the location of the underground weapons factory of the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army. The original owner of the house was Li Zhonghan, which became a dilapidated house due to lack of maintenance and was demolished in the 80s of the 20th century.
The former site of the underground weapons factory of the Chuandong Guerrilla Army in Gaojiawan, Dashan Village, Dongxiang Street, Xuanhan County
Guerrilla struggle requires weapons, broadswords and spears are the basic weapons, and agricultural tools are used when the number is insufficient. When the enemy did not build for us, Wang Weizhou decided to build a small weapons factory focusing on repairs and to manufacture simple firearms on his own.
There is a wealthy family named Li Zhonghan in Gaojiawan, more than 10 years ago in order to avoid the harassment of bandits, built a three-sided house, built a hidden wall in the house, the wall dark room has more than 10 square meters, from the upper floor to pry open two horses next to the wall slab can go down, Wang Weizhou decided to build the underground weapons factory there. There is a peasant association member Ren Zewu at the fulcrum of the furnace factory (Yangtian Village, Dongxiang Street), who is a well-known blacksmith with superb casting bird gun skills, and Wang Weizhou mobilized Ren Zewu to be a master.
Ren Zewu borrowed Li Zhonghan's steps to build a large furnace, set up a blacksmith shop, and made hoes and machetes for nearby farmers, added steel to ironware, and slaughtered teeth for sickles. Ren Zewu also built an iron furnace in the dark room of the sandwich wall, repaired farm tools in the eaves during the day, and sent people to stand guard around at night, taking Liu Mingshan, Zhang Boyu, Cui Wenhai, Ren Zhonghe and a few other helpers to hide in the dark room to repair and manufacture guns and bullets.
After the underground weapons factory was started, it was in urgent need of steel, and the guerrilla army allocated more than 100 oceans to Ren Zewu and sent him to Nanba, Kaijiang, Kaixian (now Kaizhou District, Chongqing City), Wanxian and other places to purchase. The purchased steel was not shipped back directly, but was first stored in the store designated by Wang Weizhou, and then sent people to transport it back sporadically without realizing it.
One day in the summer of 1932, Wang Weizhou and more than a dozen other comrades were holding a meeting at this contact point. At noon, Sun Jiulin, who was the squad leader of the Sanhe Regiment and installed by the guerrilla army, ran panting and reported: "The enemy is coming here to 'clear up', I took the initiative to ask to come to reconnoiter the situation, and I will take the lead to release the letter, so you should hide it quickly!" Wang Weizhou calmly instructed everyone to prepare their weapons and quickly enter the dark room of the sandwich wall.
Ren Zewu and the two helpers are still striking iron "Ding Dang, Ding Dang", and the bellows are still "snorting, snorting" non-stop. As soon as the enemy came, the house was surrounded, and a man who looked like an official came to the blacksmith's furnace: "How many of you are striking iron here?" Ren Zewu replied: "Sometimes there are two or three people, but there are more than four or five people who can live." The official asked, "Who owns this house?" Ren Zewu replied: "Li Zhonghan's, we are borrowing a room to hide from the rain and a furnace." At this time, Li Zhonghan was not at home, and the official asked to call him back
After Li Zhonghan returned home, the official asked: "People secretly report that there are bad people coming in and out of this blacksmith shop, and Wang Weizhou often engages in sabotage activities here." Li Zhonghan replied: "I guarantee my life and property, but there is really no such thing." The officer ordered the soldiers to search, and the soldiers rummaged through the boxes and cabinets to search for something of value, and reported that they had found nothing. The official said viciously: "If you can run, you can't run the temple."
When the enemy walked away, Wang Weizhou and others came out of the dark room, Li Zhonghan was surprised and delighted, surprised that there were guests at home, and happy that they were not searched. Ren Zewu introduced: "This is Wang Weizhou, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army, which we often talk about." Wang Weizhou asked Li Zhonghan with a smile: "If you can run, you can't run the temple, what should you do in the future?" Li Zhonghan replied firmly: "The temple is in the people, and the temple is not in the people." Wang Weizhou grabbed Li Zhonghan's hands tightly: "It's a good temple, and no one is there."
The underground weapons factory has successively manufactured more than 10 new guns, bullet guns, and nine guns, repaired more than 30 old guns, and also manufactured hand grenades and earthen cannons. In order to sweep away the anti-communist stubborn fortress of Yang Jicheng, the head of the Sanhe Township Regiment, the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army decided to eradicate it. One starry night, more than 100 guerrillas came from Daeshanping to the other side of the Sanhechang River, lit a homemade wooden cannon (hollowed out of live pine trees and loaded with gunpowder and iron bars) into the street. The regimental soldiers of Sanhe Township and a company of the Kuomintang fled all over the mountains and fields. The guerrillas immediately crossed the river in small boats, and when Yang Jicheng jumped from a house on stilts, the guerrillas aimed at him with a new homemade gun and killed him instantly. For the first time, the homemade weapons of the underground armory factories showed their might, and the partisans rejoiced.
3
Rebellion and repression
The Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army carried out the correct united front policy, treated the armor chiefs, regiment commanders, and gentry in various localities differently according to different situations, and used all the forces at its disposal to serve us. We will resolutely suppress the stubborn bullies and officials and the leading evildoers who insist on anti-communism, actively educate and win over the vacillating middle forces, and do our best to unite and make use of the enlightened gentry.
Wu Zhitai is the leader of the Basho League Bureau, born in a poor family in Bashochang, and relies on his father Wu Honggui to make a living from a small business. Wu Zhitai has loved to fight since he was a child, and he is kind to the masses, and is known as "Wu Goat". Wang Weizhou sent people to do his ideological work, and he joined the Communist Party of China soon after he was instigated. Wu Zhitai used his capacity as the head of the regimental bureau as a cover to propagate the revolution everywhere and support the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army in carrying out activities to fight the rich and help the poor.
The enemy cleared Wang Weizhou many times, and Wu Zhitai and Wu Guihong secretly communicated information and tried their best to protect it in the name of opening teahouses and inns. Once, Wang Weizhou held an emergency meeting of cadres in a courtyard of Tongjiashan, and the enemy suddenly pounced on Tongjiashan. Wu Zhitai immediately sent someone to deliver the letter, and Wang Weizhou and others found robes, hats, and hoes, disguised as peasants who went out to see the water, and mixed in with the masses to get out of danger.
At the junction of Dongxiang Street and Bajiao Town, Xuanhan County, the place of activity of the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army - Tongjia Mountain
The Basho gentry secretly exposed Wu Zhitai, and the Kuomintang arrested him for interrogation, gave him "eight cylinders of flowers", and his back was burned so that the oil was dripping, but he still gritted his teeth and kept it a secret. Since no evidence of Wu Zhitai's collusion was found, he was released on bail through rescue. After the Red Army came to Xuanhan, Wu Zhitai reorganized the regimental training into a guerrilla force. After the establishment of the Red 33rd Army, Wu Zhitai's guerrilla unit was organized into the 298th Regiment of the 99th Division, and he served as the commander.
Tang Ganchen, the head of the Basho Regiment, and his accomplices Qi Yulu and Zhou Wenbo stubbornly adhered to the reactionary stance, threatening to destroy the guerrillas within a month, and the guerrillas executed them. Under the control of Wu Zhitai, the regimental training forces not only did not really confront the guerrillas, but covered the movements of the guerrillas. After the incident, the Xuanhan Regiment Training Bureau sent the first squadron of the county defense regiment to Bajiaochang to "clean up," and Wang Weizhou sent He Zhisan to set up a "figure-eight" stall in front of the enemy's barracks, waiting for an opportunity to win over Liao Kaitai, the leader of the first squadron. In the letter, Wang Weizhou asked Liao Kaitai to secretly go to Tongshuwan for a meeting and conclude an agreement on "mutual non-aggression between the two sides." From then on, whenever the guerrillas encountered the enemy, Liao Kaitai's regimental training squadron fired guns into the sky or grass and trees, bluffing, covering the guerrilla army to fight or move.
On February 25, 1933, the traitor Qin Mingguang (then a member of the Kuomintang County Committee) and Wu Chao, a member of the collection committee, went to Huangshichang to clear the property and withdraw money, and the guerrillas decided to hoe the two of them. That night, detachment commander Ran Nanxuan led more than 10 people straight to the scene, while surrounding the regiment headquarters, threatening the regiment commander Peng Zhengyuan to "not interfere with each other", and on the other hand, he sent people to take advantage of the opportunity of the two committee members to play cards and kill them in one fell swoop. Peng Zhengyuan had already been engaged in ideological and political work by Wang Weizhou, and after the guerrilla army retreated, Peng Zhengyuan ordered the regiment to fire guns to pursue him. The task of hoeing evil was successfully completed, and Peng Zhengyuan did not have to be responsible for the pursuit action, killing two birds with one stone.
The whole picture of Huangshichang Town, Xuanhan County
In June 1933, Ran Rui'an and Chen Shili, cadres of the peasant association, were unfortunately arrested by the Huangshichang regiment training while transmitting information. Wang Weizhou immediately wrote a letter to Peng Zhengyuan, the commander of the Huangshi Regiment, urging him to release the guerrillas. Peng Zhengyuan immediately informed the detachment leader Zhang Yousan: "Report to the officers and soldiers that we have caught local peasants, they are carrying shotguns, not the Communist Party, and they have caught the wrong one, so there is no need to send them to the army." At the same time, he asked Li Anpin, the commander of the armor, to be released on bail, and released two soldiers of the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army.
Li Qingcheng, the commander of the Eighth Regiment, collected more than 200 quintals of rent in Dashanping, opened a pharmacy, and mastered dozens of regimental guns. Wang Weizhou and Ran Nanxuan carried out rebellion work against Li Qingcheng through various connections. Li Qingcheng not only secretly lent the guns of the regimental bureau to the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army, but also gave the rented valley collected in Dashanping to the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army. Under the influence of Li Qingcheng, the first commander He Baoting, the platoon commander Zhang Yunrun, and the gentleman Li Fuan were all inclined to revolution, and some of them joined the peasant association and the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army. Li Qingcheng later took advantage of his brother-in-law's position as a company commander in Liu Cunhou's department to send information to the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army at any time, so that the enemy's movements were grasped by the general headquarters of the eastern Sichuan guerrilla army in less than an hour.
The whole picture of Xiabachang Town, Xuanhan County
Source: Dazhou Daily, June 28, 2024, page 6
Text/Photo: Ran Kui (Director of the Party History Research Office of the Xuanhan County Committee of the Communist Party of China)