Li Guiwu, who swore to die with the party
Zhang Zemin
Li Guiwu
Li Guiwu, born in 1906, is a native of Lizhuang, Jiangyang Administrative Village, Xiaojie Township, with the name Jingxin, Tingfang, and Guiwu. He attended private school at an early age and later reached the secondary school education level through self-study. In his early years, he served as a soldier, worked in local teams, and had high military quality (according to He Chongsheng's "Remembrance of the Year of Forgetting to Handing Over Li Guiwu"). Therefore, in 1931, when He Chongsheng's father, He Shusan, served as the second captain of the county security corps, he was promoted to squadron leader.
Li Guiwu fought bravely and fiercely, charged into battle against bandits, and was repeatedly commended. However, during this period, he offended a very powerful figure, Wang Xizhong. Wang Xizhong, whose name is Shaoji, is a native of Hedong Village, Guxian County. His father, Wang Huanan, served as the chief of the adjutant division of Zhang Xuan, commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang 20th Route Army, brigade commander and deputy division commander of the Central Army, and had contacts with many leading figures in Henan's military and political circles. Wang Xizhong relied on his father's connections to become the mayor of Changshui District in his early 20s, and later became the deputy chief of the county security corps and the first team leader. During a raid on bandits, Li Guiwu killed Wang Xizhong's uncle Wang Hongzhang. Wang Xizhong said that his uncle was innocent, and Li Guiwu said that Wang Hongzhang was a real bandit. The two thus formed a bond.
He Shusan was worried that Wang Xizhong was plotting against Li Guiwu, so he found an opportunity to send him to the Kaifeng Garrison Officers' Teaching Corps for training. Half a year later, Li Guiwu graduated from the teaching regiment and was assigned to the Central Army as a company commander. In April 1938, Li Guiwu, who had already become a battalion commander, participated in the famous Battle of Taierzhuang. He fought bravely on the battlefield, was seriously wounded, and returned to the county to recuperate after treatment. At that time, Li Guiwu was regarded as a triumphant hero of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the Kuomintang county government, the county National Volunteer Army Headquarters, the county Anti-Enemy Support Association, and the First Theater Office of the People's Movement in Luoning jointly held a grand welcoming ceremony for him. Since then, Li Guiwu has ranked among the famous gentlemen of Luoning.
Since 1932, Li Guiwu has established friendship with Yi Zigeng, secretary of the Hedi branch of the CPC, and He Chongsheng, a member of the CPC. He repeatedly expressed his support for the Communist Party's views on Yi Zigeng and He Chongsheng. In the fall of 1938, representatives of students in the "County Middle School Tide" were detained by the county authorities. At the request of He Chongsheng, Li Guiwu approached the county magistrate Chen Dianmo and asked for bail on the student representatives. Under pressure from all sides, Chen Dianmo agreed to Li Guiwu's request and unconditionally released the student representatives.
After Li Guiwu was injured, he was appointed as the leader of the river defense brigade by the First Operations Commission. He actively prepared for river defense affairs and organized an anti-Japanese contingent. The county appointed Zhang Zhiling and other underground party members to join the river defense brigade to help Li Guiwu in his work. However, after more than a month, the First Theater of Operations believed that the Japanese army would not attack western Henan for the time being, so it no longer allocated funds to the river defense brigade. The river defense brigade was therefore disbanded, and Li Guiwu lost his job.
In the winter of 1943, Li Guiwu became the mayor of Wang Fan Town, and Zhang Guangren of Wang Fan Street served as the deputy mayor. At that time, Wang Fan Town included the current Wang Fan Hui Town, Chengguan Town, Suburban Township, and Xiaojie Township, with a vast area. Li Guiwu formed an armed force of dozens of people on the pretext of protecting the locality. In the spring of 1944, when the Japanese army launched the Henan Campaign, the county magistrate Li Wanqiu panicked and asked Li Guiwu to form a brigade to serve as foreign aid when the county town encountered danger. Li Guiwu soon formed a brigade of more than 100 people, and he also served as the captain of the brigade, and Zhao Lianzhi of Yuliang Village served as the deputy captain. However, before the Japanese army could approach the city, Li Wanqiu was "ordered" to abandon the city, and the county government immediately scattered the birds and beasts.
After the Japanese army occupied the county seat, Li Guiwu was unable to support himself and led the team up the temple mountain. At that time, many scattered soldiers of the Kuomintang army fled westward. They did not dare to walk the Luo River, and they all passed by the foot of The Temple Mountain. When Li Guiwu saw them carrying guns, but did not fight the Japanese soldiers, he took the opportunity to confiscate their guns. More than 40 guns were confiscated on one occasion, more than 80 guns were confiscated in the other, and more than 80 soldiers were recruited. In this way, Li Guiwu's team grew to more than 200 guns, and the momentum was greatly enhanced. The Japanese puppet army went to the Miaoshan area twice to clear and suppress, but they did not take advantage.
Soon, Hu Bohan, commander of the New Eighth Army, and Fan Longzhang, commander of the division, led a battalion to The villages of Zhaoyan and Songyao to collect and transport the weapons, ammunition and equipment hidden there. Although Li Guiwu knew Hu Bohan before, he did not dare to rush to see him, so he sent Zhang Guangren to come forward to receive him. At that time, Li Guiwu had resigned as the mayor of Wang Fanzhen and was succeeded by Zhang Guangren. Zhang Guangren saw Hu Bohan, and before he could speak, Hu Bohan said, "I heard that Li Guiwu pulled up an anti-Japanese team, we are old acquaintances, and I want to meet him." Li Guiwu received a notice from Zhang Guangren and rushed to The Village of Zhaoyan to host a banquet for Hu Bohan and other officers, and also let the soldiers have a full meal. Hu Bohan praised Li Guiwu and immediately gave him two mortars and some guns and ammunition, and also gave him a lot of paper money. Hu Bohan asked the soldiers to change into new uniforms, leaving the old uniforms to Li Guiwu. The news came out that Li Guiwu's reputation was even greater. Soon, ZhaoYan Guo Lianjie, Wang Cun Huang Hairong, and others all brought their own people and horses to Li Guiwu's banner. Wang Yanli (a native of Xiwu Village), a military instructor at Luoyang Normal School (who moved to Lu at the time), also brought some students with him. Li Guiwu's team soon grew to more than 500 people.
In mid-July, Li Guiwu raised the banner of "Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps" at Qingyun Temple in Qiaoyuan Village, and appointed himself as the first commander, Huang Hairong as the second commander, and Zhao Lianzhi and Guo Lianjie as deputy commanders. He reorganized the team into 13 brigades, in addition to the special forces, mortar platoons directly under the command of the command. During the reorganization, Li Guiwu promulgated four disciplines: first, kill those who defect to the enemy; second, kill those who rob people and rob roads; third, kill those who rummage through boxes and cabinets; and fourth, kill those who rape women. Li Guiwu first mobilized his uncle Yuan Keming to donate 40,000 pieces of ocean, a mule and several rifles. The nearby rich families received a letter from Li Guiwu and also donated grain and donations, and the team's provision was guaranteed.
In August, Li Guiwu's team grew to more than 1,000 people, and the headquarters was moved to Shanhou Village. At that time, Wang Xizhong was appointed by Jiang Dingwen, commander of the First Theater, as the commander of the "Luolu People's Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Army". He formed 6 detachments in Luoning, 4 detachments in Luohe South, the fifth detachment of He Shusan at the bottom of the Luohe River, and the sixth detachment of Liu Weili in Changshui. It is reasonable to say that Li Guiwu's guerrilla general unit should become a detachment. However, Wang Xizhong was unwilling to give Li Guiwu a number, and Li Guiwu did not want to be restrained by him. Therefore, Li Guiwu found another patron. He sent Zhao Lianzhi to the Shaanzhou Special Bureau to carry out activities, and he wanted to get the name of "the Second Security Regiment of the Shaanzhou Special Bureau". He served as the head of the regiment, and Zhao Lianzhi served as the deputy head of the regiment. However, the name of the "guerrilla corps" has not been changed, and the organization and official rank have not changed. The ranks expanded, and Wang Yanli was asked to be a quartermaster, Wang Tingbi as an adjutant, Zixiang as chief of staff, and Li Tingkun as the secretary of the headquarters. During this period, Li Guiwu personally led a team to take wang Fanri's pseudo-town office and defeated the puppet army of Qin Shengfu in Shaanxi County.
In September, He Chongsheng returned to the bottom of the river from southern Shaanxi and detoured to visit Li Guiwu in Shanhou Village. Li Guiwu asked He Chongsheng to send some cadres to help him train the guerrillas into a contingent like the Eighth Route Army. He Chongsheng told him that there was no one to send now. However, it is estimated that the Eighth Route Army will soon come to western Henan to establish an anti-Japanese base area behind enemy lines, and it must be prepared to meet the Eighth Route Army. Li Guiwu saw hope and applied to He Chongsheng to join the party. When He Chongsheng was leaving, Li Guiwu gave him a mortar and a war horse.
Later, Li Guiwu helped He Chongsheng to do a lot of work to promote the "joint defense of the four counties (Luoning, Shichi, Shaanxi, and Yiyang)" armed forces to unite with the Eighth Route Army to resist Japan and resist stubbornness. In November, He Chongsheng introduced Li Guiwu to the Chinese Communist Party and became a secret (alternate) party member. In early January 1945, Li Guiwu led a team to cooperate with the Eighth Route Army to annihilate the recalcitrant troops who harassed Luoning and Shichi, and made contributions to the creation of the anti-Japanese base area of the Second Sub-district of Western Henan. Subsequently, the Second Prefectural Committee and the Second Sub-district of Western Henan reported to the CPC Central Committee to reorganize Li Guiwu's guerrilla headquarters into an independent Eighth Brigade, with Li Guiwu as the brigade commander. Li Guiwu sincerely accepted the Communist Party's reorganization, but Huang Hairong and Yao Zixiang resolutely opposed the reorganization, and the two sides were intolerant. Li Guiwu asked Huang and the two to leave the team. Huang Hairong and Xiang Zixiang colluded with the traitor Wang Jiesan to plot to assassinate Li Guiwu. As a result, Wang Jiesan used the bait of "giving things to a regiment leader" and instructed Zhao Erhu (daimyo Zhao Jujin) to poison Li Guiwu at Guanling Village on the night of January 13.
Li Guiwu sacrificed the ground
Before his death, Li Guiwu expressed to party representative Wang Qimei: Resolutely accept the reorganization of the Communist Party. He also instructed Guo Lianjie and Zhao Lianzhi to follow the Communist Party. Unfortunately, these two men violated the yin and yang and promised Li Guiwu in person, but later they still betrayed the revolution and embarked on a dead end.
By the time Liu Jukui and He Chongsheng led the Fifty-ninth Regiment to the village, Li Guiwu had already been killed, Huang Hairong had already fled, and Zixiang had already been executed.
In early February, the Second Prefectural Committee and the Second Sub-district held a memorial meeting to mourn Li Guiwu in The Mantis Village of Shaanxi County. He was posthumously recognized as a full member of the Communist Party of China, and named the Independent Eighth Brigade the "Gui Fifth Brigade" to commemorate this anti-Japanese hero who swore to die and followed the party.
Let's talk about Zhao Erhu's fate. At the end of February, the Second Division detected Zhao Erhu hiding on the Miangou Village near Xiaoshijie and immediately sent troops to surround him. Zhao Erhu thought that he could not help him, and even shouted and scolded loudly on the top of the village. A soldier raised his gun to shoot, and Zhao Erhu fell to the ground in response, and the bullet hit the chest. Some people say that Zhao Erhu fulfilled his oath: If he betrays Li Guiwu, he will let the bullet pass through his chest. Whether this incident was true or not, Zhao Erhu was shot and killed, and Li Gui's five blood revenge was repaid, which was indeed very gratifying.
About author:Zhang Zemin, born in 1949, a native of Chen Wu Village, Chen Wu Township, is a member of the Communist Party of China. Before retiring, he served as the director of the office of the county CPPCC committee and the director of the Cultural and Historical Committee.