The Garden of Merit (4) ‖ Zhang Zhixiang, the first commissioner of Pingbei
Author/Eagle
Broadcast/boiling point
In the south of Chicheng County, there is a provincial red education base, the Meritorious Garden, where more than a dozen old revolutionaries of the Pingbei War of Resistance are buried. Today's story is a fragment of the battle of Zhang Zhixiang's predecessor, the first commissioner of the Pingbei Special Bureau, who once held a post at the state's main ministerial level.
Zhang Zhixiang (1909-2009), a native of Wujin, Jiangsu Province. In 1926, he joined the revolution, and in the summer of 1939, he was sent to Pingxi by the organization to be responsible for founding the "Zhenjin Bao". In the summer of 1940, he was appointed Commissioner of Pingbei. In August, disguised as a merchant, he set off with a groom and horses.
The central area of the Pingbei Anti-Japanese Base Area is in the hinterland of Haituo Mountain between chicheng, Longguan, and Yanqing counties, where the mountains are high and densely forested, the land is barren and the people are poor, and the population is sparsely populated. When he arrived at Haituo Mountain, he could not find the prefectural committee and troops for several days, so he went to a fellow villager's house to ask for directions, saw the banner "Heaven and Earth Emperor's Family Division" hanging in the hall house, and realized that he had broken into the "Green Gang" family. A few years ago, in order to facilitate underground work, the organization had arranged for him to join the "Red Gang", and the jianghu rules he learned in Tianjin came in handy at this time. People asked, "How much incense?" "The green gang black talk refers to the number of generations or age. He replied ,"22 on top of his head and 24 on his feet," or 23 years old. After answering, he also asked the people "how much incense head" and then made a gesture saying "the boat ran aground", which means to tell people that I am lost.
In early 1943, Zhang Zhixiang was in Haituo Mountain
The Green and Red Gang were originally a family, and when the Green Gang brother saw that he was "his own person", he was eager to help him find a sheep. Zhang Zhixiang recalled, "He was willing to find it for me, but let me herd sheep for him, and I first became a 'sheep commissioner'." Two days later, when he found the instructor of the unit, he told me that his company was about to move to combat, and asked me to help him do something: they had just captured a large batch of smoke slurry from the enemy and asked me to boil it into smoke to maintain the life of the troops. And told me not to move the place, find a superior leader to pick me up. I remember helping them stay up all night. A few days later, the relationship with the prefectural committee was established." After finding the prefectural committee, Zhang Zhixiang immediately threw himself into a new work. At that time, although the areas where the Eighth Route Army of Pingbei were active were called base areas, they were actually small and unconnected areas of some deep mountain guerrilla areas. The life of the local people is very difficult, so the problem of food for the troops is also facing a severe test. Zhang Zhixiang went deep into the countryside to understand the peasants and rural conditions, studied the work plan, established and improved the anti-Japanese regime in counties, districts, and villages, opened up channels for grain sources, and formulated reasonable burdens for peasants. Mobilize the masses to hand over public grain, military shoes, and military grass, organize the masses to make uniforms for the troops, and make all-out efforts to ensure that the troops fight. A year later, he was transferred back to Pingxi as the editor-in-chief of the "Zhenjin Bao".
Comrades of the Zhenjin Newspaper Company took a group photo with the leaders of the Pingbei Prefectural Committee at Haituo Mountain. The front row is on the right side of Zhang Zhixiang, and the second row is three on the right of Su Quan
At the beginning of 1942, Zhang Zhixiang re-entered Pingbei and served as the propaganda director of the prefectural party committee and the director of the "Zhenjin Bao". This year was the most arduous year of the Pingbei War of Resistance, and under the frequent "sweeping" and continuous "encroachment" of the enemy, the area of our base area was constantly shrinking, and the "seven pieces and eight fell" were divided. Zhang Zhixiang recalled, "Although the prefectural party committee and the newspaper company are in the hinterland, they are also facing enemies in all directions, and they have to be transferred in ten days and eight days. In 1942, the newspaper ran a newspaper in guerrilla warfare all year round, barely taking off its shoes at night, and when the whistle sounded, it was urgently assembled and transferred within five minutes. The enemy entered Datuo in multiple ways, and we could only go out of the mountains and advance into Yanqingchuan to penetrate deep into the heart of the enemy, and the newspaper became a propaganda team to publicize the international and domestic situation for the compatriots, so as to calm the mood of the people in the enemy-occupied areas and build confidence in the victory of the War of Resistance. ”
In the spring of 1946, Zhang Zhixiang and his wife were in Zhangjiakou
When the troops and anti-Japanese cadres were active there, the "Advance Newspaper" was "distributed" there. Some entered the enemy's strongholds, and some also spread into Beiping City. A shopkeeper in Beiping came across a copy of the "Advance Newspaper" and learned that in the mountains to the north, the Eighth Route Army still insisted on resisting the war, which made him very moved.
In September 1949, Zhou Enlai personally appointed Zhang Zhixiang, deputy director of the Political Department of the North China Military Region, as the head of the design of Tiananmen Square at the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China and the commander-in-chief of some sites. After more than 20 days of meticulous work and day and night struggle, he finally successfully completed the glorious task at the National Day ceremony. In the later film "Tiananmen", the prototype of Minister Zhang is Zhang Zhixiang.
The tomb of Zhang Zhixiang in the Akagi Meritorious Garden
In the autumn of 1954, Zhang Zhixiang transferred to the Ministry of Culture, successively serving as vice minister of culture, deputy director of the State Council Foreign Cultural Liaison Committee, secretary of the party leading group (at the level of the ministry), deputy director and adviser of the Central Foreign Liaison Department, etc., committed to China's cultural and diplomatic undertakings.
In 2008, at the age of 100, he personally edited his own "100-year-old souvenir" painting biography. He died in Beijing on December 18, 2009. In July 2015, Zhang Zhixiang's ashes returned to the old pingbei district where he had fought and was buried in the Akagi Meritorious Garden.
100-year-old souvenir photo. Photographed at the secret joint location of his underground work, in the garden of the present-day Tianjin Municipal Government
In August 2015, when he went to Beijing to visit Mrs. Zhang Zhixiang and Pingbei Lao Baluyi, the 92-year-old Yizhi senior signed and donated books to the author in person
Personal mischief, welcome axe straight.
Eagle Sky, thanks for your attention.
Author: Zhang Jinzhong, net name Eagle, a native of Chicheng, Hebei, and a lover of Pingbei war history. He is the author of "Guide to the Work of Foreign-related Projects", "Akagi Heroic Martyrs", "Akagi County Gazetteer", "History of the Development of the Old Revolutionary Area of Akagi County", etc.
Broadcast: Boiling Point, Beijing Huairou people, love photography and audio novel acting. Audio novels are mostly on the shelves of Himalayan and lazy listening books, and their works include "Jenny Girl", "Peak of Martial Arts", "Notes on Touching Gold", "Treasure Master", "Special Divine Doctor" and so on.
The original image of the background of the first article originated from the network