Mo Xiong and the top-secret intelligence that prompted the Red Army to advance the Long March
Mo Dongliang
Recently, at the invitation of a friend who "re-embarked on the Long March," I wrote an article about how my father, Mo Xiong, sent out the Kuomintang reactionaries' fifth top-secret military plan to "encircle and suppress" the Red Army, which enabled the Red Army to jump out of the enemy's encirclement and start the 25,000-mile Long March in time. I thought about it for two days. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the departure of the Central Red Army's Long March, and we commemorate this day to remember the thousands of Red Army soldiers who died on the Long March. I guess that's just part of the story. The real essence is the lofty faith and the indomitable will and spirit of struggle of the revolutionaries.
In 1930, the Chinese Revolution was at a low ebb. More than 95 percent of the underground organization of the Communist Party of China in the country was destroyed, and the revolutionary armed forces represented by the Red Army could only retreat to a small base area in Jinggangshan, while the ruling clique of Chiang Kai-shek grew unprecedentedly. The newspapers and periodicals in Shanghai were full of positive news about Chiang Kai-shek, as well as a confession of a certain communist after his arrest. No one is optimistic that the Chinese Communist Party will make a comeback. It is precisely at such a moment that the underground party of the Communist Party of China (Special Branch), which has been persisting in the struggle in the heart of the enemy, secretly vigorously carries out united front work. According to the "History of the Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of China's Special Branch": "It was during the few years of living in Shanghai that this old member of the League, who had always been upright and full of a sense of justice, was noticed by our party. The Central Special Branch listed him as an important target for enlistment, and Mo Xiong also intended to work for the Communist Party. In the winter of 1933, after the CCP's investigation of Mo Xiong, Wang Shiying, the head of the Shanghai Special Branch, instructed Yan Xichun to contact Mo Xiong and formally establish a "working relationship" with him of the CCP's intelligence system.
At that time, Mo Xiong made meritorious contributions in the Songhu War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and he made outstanding contributions to the extermination of the salt lords who caused disaster to the people in Huai'an, Jiangsu. Chiang Kai-shek was very optimistic about him, and asked him to lead his troops to "attack" the Red Army in Jiangxi. In other words, Mo Xiong's career is bright, but he has chosen a dangerous path of "self-destruction of his future" and killing himself and ruining his family once exposed. When I was writing my memoirs for my father, I asked him about this question. He replied to me, "The ways are not the same." Although this sentence speaks to his faith, can faith alone make him pay such a big price? In the process of collecting and sorting out his memoirs, the biggest impression I received was that my late father was inspired by the indomitable fighting spirit of the underground party comrades of the Communist Party of China and established the confidence that he would win. Liu Mufo, director of the division's political department, who had followed his father's first crusade to the east, was the representative of the CCP sent by the CCP for the "first KMT-CCP cooperation". At the same time, more than 10 CCP members were sent to the troops. All of them were full of revolutionary spirit, worked brightly, charged forward in battle, and were strong and courageous, all of which left a deep impression on my father. The great victory of the First Crusade was inseparable from the selfless efforts of the Communists. Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution and perverted Sun Yat-sen's three major policies, which made his father deeply hate. He was convinced that under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, even if its strength is still small at the moment, as long as it has the confidence to win and perseverance, it will certainly be able to achieve victory. When Liu Mufo enlightened Mo Xiong, Mo Xiong told him that the Chinese League led by Sun Yat-sen was also very small at that time, but it was victorious in the end. My father said that no matter how bad the environment is in the future, as long as you persist in the struggle, I will unswervingly support you!
After Mo Xiong joined the CCP's hidden front, according to the party's instructions, he tried every means to obtain the Kuomintang's fifth military plan for the "encirclement and suppression" of the central Soviet region, and sought a job in Xue Yue's department. As a result, his father was favored by Yang Yongtai, the secretary general of the Nanchang Suppression Camp, who was relied on by Chiang Kai-shek, and recommended him to Chiang Kai-shek to become the administrative inspector of the Fourth District of Jiangxi and the commander of the security of the Suppression of the Communist Party. Without hesitation, my father immediately returned to Shanghai and asked the party organization to send comrades to set up a platform for him. As a result, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission gave Mo Xiong great trust and sent Lu Zhiying, Xiang Younian, Liu Mufo, and other elite backbone cadres to De'ancheng, Jiangxi Province, to establish an organization that "meets the requirements." From the commander to the chief of staff, director, section chief, and unit chief, all of them are CPC members, and they are also paid monthly salaries by the Nanchang camp according to their ranks, ranging from a few hundred oceans at most to a hundred or a few tens at a minimum. Lu Zhiying took advantage of this opportunity to have Mo Xiong introduce more than 10 comrades to Kangze's spy training class, and quickly established secret liaison stations of the Chinese Communist Party in Nanchang, Jiujiang and other places.
In 1956, Xiang Younian (left) took a group photo when he reunited with Mo Xiong (Source: Beijing Daily)
Underground party member Zhang Yumin opened a Western medicine clinic in Nanchang as a secret liaison station between the Central Special Branch and Mo Xiong (Source: Beijing Daily)
Chiang Kai-shek's arrangement of Mo Xiong as this commissioner and commander was to make achievements in suppressing the Communists. Under the excellent direction of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, a series of "double reed plays" were staged at the foot of Lushan Mountain. Although the Nanchang Xingying sent secret services to Moxiong's special office and headquarters, they were also dazzled by the constant reports of the good news of the suppression of the Communist Party. At the end of September 1934, Mo Xiong was praised as a "model for suppressing the Communist Party" because of Chiang Kai-shek's "commendation and first place in the examination", and participated in the top-secret military conference held in Lushan without exception, thus obtaining the Kuomintang's fifth military plan for the "encirclement and suppression" of the central Soviet region.
Mo Xiong in 1934 (Source: Beijing Daily)
Mo Xiong's briefcase, the "Iron Bucket Project" is packed in this box and brought down Lushan (Source: Beijing Daily)
Mo Xiong then rushed back to De'an in a hurry, and handed over the enemy's full set of military plans to Lu Zhiying and other comrades, which led to the story of Xiang and Nian sleeping in the open, climbing over the mountains, knocking off his front teeth and pretending to be a beggar, and sending this "information related to the fate of the Central Red Army" to Zhou Enlai.
After the Central Red Army successfully broke through the encirclement, it heroically got rid of the enemy's encirclement and interception, which made Mo Xiong breathe a sigh of relief, but he suddenly received an order from Chiang Kai-shek, who instructed him to lead the original team to be transferred to Guizhou Bijie Commissioner and Security Commander, the main task was to sweep away and exterminate the thousands of wounded and sick left behind by the Red Army's Long March in the Wumeng Mountains, and for this purpose the 63rd Division of the Central Army was also transferred to Mo Xiong's command. If Chiang Kai-shek had transferred other anti-communist elements, the wounded and sick of the Red Army, who had been numbered by several thousand, would have faced great danger. After Mo Xiong took over, he took Lu Zhiying, Liu Mufo and other original team members to Bijie quickly according to the instructions of the organization. They worked closely together, on the one hand, trying to stabilize the 63rd Division, preventing them from sweeping away the wounded and sick of the Red Army and allowing them to rest on the spot; On the other hand, under the command of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, thousands of wounded and sick were quickly transferred in a timely manner. The efficiency of the work of the Turk and the Red Army was very impressive to Moxiong.
In February 1936, the follow-up Red Army Long March troops, led by He Long and Xiao Ke, went straight to Bijie City after several battles. In accordance with the party's instructions, Mo Xiong brought the security team to Weining, which was dozens of kilometers away from Bijie City, so that the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps of He Long and Xiao Ke could successfully enter and occupy Bijie City without a single shot or bullet, rest and reorganize their ranks here, expand the red army by 5,000, and collect a large number of military supplies to continue the Long March.
In 1936, Mo Xiong abandoned Bijie and cooperated with the Red Army's Long March. The picture shows the telegram of Mo Xiong, the boss of the Kuomintang Army (Source: Beijing Daily)
After that, Mo Xiong was imprisoned by the embarrassed Chiang Kai-shek and sent to the No. 1 Military Prison in Nanjing to await trial. When my father heard the jailer say that the prison where he was located was the place before General Deng Yanda was killed, he couldn't help but feel shocked. But he thought that even if he couldn't escape death, it would be worth it. Friends of the Communist Party often call him "Big Brother Mo". This time he really helped the Communist Party, what a pity to die! Because he saw in the fighting Communists the hope of China.
Fighting communists, comrades in the vanguard of the proletarian cause, as long as you still maintain the full "spirit of the Long March," the broad masses of the people will surely be your staunch followers.
In 1978, when Mo Xiong (front row, second from right) went to Beijing with the Guangdong CPPCC delegation, he was cordially received by Marshal Ye Jianying (front row, center) and took a group photo (Source: Beijing Daily)
I'll leave it at that!
June 13, 2024
(Note: The title was added by the editor of "Fang Zhi Sichuan")
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Source: Sichuan Provincial Office of Local Chronicles
Text / Photo: Mo Dongliang (son of General Mo Xiong)