Who was killed by the enemy seven days before the liberation of Shanghai? Who entered Zhang Fakui's house and commanded the Shanghai underground party?

In March 1949, Zhang Fakui was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army of the Republic of China, and in that month, Zhang Chengzong, the secretary of the underground Shanghai Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, entered his home and staged a real version of the story of Sun Wukong drilling into the belly of the iron fan prince, but the story was more exciting, thrilling, and the battle was more intense.

1. The Kuomintang staged its final madness

On the morning of March 20, 1949, Zhang Chengzong was holding a meeting at his comrade's house when he suddenly received a phone call and learned that his brother Zhang Qiaozhai had not returned home last night. Could it be that something had happened to the secret radio? Hurry up and inquire. Almost at the same time, he received a report from the comrades of the Shanghai Underground Party Police Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Police Commission): Qin Hongjun's radio station in Xinxinli, Dapu Bridge, was cracked by the enemy, and Qin Hongjun and his wife and Zhang Baozhai had been arrested. Zhang's professional shelter, Fengji Rice Shop, has spies stationed there, and there are also secret agent guards at home.

Zhang Chengzong immediately discussed with Liu Changsheng, responsible person of the Shanghai Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and decided: Immediately notify the party organizations and personnel who are in contact with Qintai and Zhang Zhaozhai to heighten vigilance and pay attention to precautions; Liu Changsheng and Zhang Chengzong will transfer their residences to hide; rescue the arrested comrades through relations among various parties; report the relevant situation to the Central Committee and the East China Bureau, quickly connect the preparatory radio stations with the central authorities, and maintain contact with the central authorities.

That night, Mr. Zhang moved his residence, and a week later moved to a small bungalow on Wuyuan Road— the residence of Zhang Fakui, commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Army. Due to the tense situation, he took important things with him and ran to Guangzhou, and the house was entrusted to his secretary Mo Zhenqiu.

Zhang Fakui had already seen that the Nationalist army was defeated and the Chiang dynasty was in turmoil, and in March 1949 he became the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Army, resigned in July, and went to settle in Hong Kong until his death on March 10, 1980. But Shanghai Police Chief Mao Sen staged the final madness. After Qin Hongjun's radio station was cracked by the enemy, Mao Sen ordered the shooting and killing of the "four martyrs of public security" on May 20.

Here's how it happened: On April 25, 1949, Mao Zedong and Zhu De jointly issued the "Notice of the Chinese People's Liberation Army" (the "Eight Chapters of the Covenant Law"). The Police Commission mimeographed more than 2,000 copies, attached a warning letter, and then sent them to the chiefs of police sub-bureaus, and even put them on the desk of Chief Mawson, which aroused great repercussions within the police department.

Horrified and ashamed, Mao Sen issued a special order to solve the case within a time limit. He arranged for his henchmen to conduct a close investigation, and gradually concentrated his suspicions on four comrades, including Qian Fengqi, secretary of the underground party branch of the Putuo Police Substation of the CPC, Liu Jiadong, a party member, Qian Wenxiang, an underground party member of the Yangshupu Police Substation, and Jiang Zhiyi, a member of the "Mutual Protection Meritorious Service Association, a peripheral organization." The four men were immediately arrested and, after a week of torture, remained unyielding and were shot and killed by Mao Sen in Zhabei Song Park on May 20, a week before the liberation of Shanghai, known as the "Four Martyrs of Public Security."

Mo Zhenqiu is an old party member of our party, and his father is a subordinate of Zhang Fakui, because of this relationship, Mo became Zhang's secretary and used this as a cover to engage in underground work of the party. After Zhang Chengzong moved to Zhang Fakui's house, Mo took his wife and newborn child out in order to cover up better. Liu Changsheng began to move to Jiang Wendao's house, and later moved to the home of Kuomintang Major General Xu Yanfei in order to be more hidden.

When the leaders of the East China Bureau learned that the Shanghai radio station had been cracked and Qin and Zhang had been arrested, they were worried about the safety of Liu Changsheng and Zhang Chengzong, and asked them to temporarily evacuate Shanghai. However, they believed that Shanghai was already facing the moment of the final decisive battle, the Shanghai Bureau only had one person left to win, and Zhang Chengzong was responsible for the work of the municipal party committee, so they decided to continue to stay and persist in the struggle. On May 7, the news came that Comrades Zhang Qiaozhai and Qin Hongjun had bravely taken up their righteousness. It was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, which shocked and deeply saddened us, and at the same time strengthened our determination to fight.

(2) The first flag to welcome liberation

　　Customs is an important department, and our Party has done long-term and in-depth work. We used the legal group, the Customs Club, to unite and educate many customs workers and make them join our ranks. The martyr Mao Liying, who died honorably for the charity sale, was a customs clerk.

　　Because during the kuomintang rule, customs were in the hands of the British and Americans, and some American merchants smuggled in large quantities without scruples. Therefore, we carried forward the patriotic mentality of the customs officers, organized the customs police (or tax police) to carry out armed anti-smuggling, and detained and confiscated the smuggled US goods, which made the Americans greatly angry, which also deepened the rift in the relations between the United States and Chiang Kai-shek. We fought for the upper echelons, launched a united front, penetrated into the armed Hong Kong police and the customs police, and covered the activities of the lower levels of mass organization. Until later, we won the Chinese deputy general tax department to stay, protect the customs, and welcome liberation.

　　On the eve of liberation, customs workers were responsible for the defense of the area in Central Shanghai from the Suzhou River in the north, to the Xinkai River in the south, along the Huangpu River on the Bund in the east, and to the Xizang Road in the west. There were 3 large customs patrol boats and 30 or 40 small boats on the Huangpu River, and the enemy ordered these ships to concentrate on Wusongkou, which was rejected by everyone. The party organization in the Hong Kong police led the masses to move 10 machine guns and various submachine guns, pistols, and dozens of boxes of bullets stored in the Pudong warehouse to the underground warehouse of Jianghai Customs, where they were guarded day and night by the Customs police and Hong Kong police under the leadership of our party for the battle to liberate Shanghai.

On the evening of May 24, after the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee issued an order for the mobilization of the whole party and the immediate dispatch of all the people's security forces, Comrades Liu Changsheng, Wu Kejian, and Sha Wenhan came to Zhang Fakui's residence. In order to celebrate the coming of the People's Liberation Army, we asked Mo Zhenqiu to take out the foreign wine hidden by Zhang Fakui's family and drink two cups. They talked and laughed about the 1927 Guangzhou riots, Zhang Tailei and other comrades used to live in Zhang Fakui's home in Guangzhou, and used it as a command center; now that they are welcoming liberation, they are using Zhang Fakui's family as the headquarters. Early the next morning, Zhang Chengzong and Mo Zhenqiu each took a revolver from Zhang Fakui's safe, led Comrades Zhao Maoxing, Li Qingfa, and other comrades into Jianghai Customs, and notified some responsible comrades to report for duty. When we entered the customs, the Kuomintang troops entrenched in the Bank of Communications (now the Federation of Trade Unions) opened fire on us madly, and Ma Feihai, who came to report, was almost shot... But they finally set up the headquarters of the Shanghai People's Security Corps at Jianghai Customs, and from there they commanded and deployed the combat missions of our personnel.

At Shanghai Jiang Customs, the banner welcoming the People's Liberation Army to liberate Greater Shanghai was first hoisted.