preface
Speaking of Xie Wendong, a well-known "giant bandit" in history, everyone's understanding of him does not originate from history. For the post-90s generation like this author, the name Xie Wendong is the male protagonist who appeared in a famous online novel, and it was once popular in the author's junior high school.
However, the real history of Xie Wendong's experience of "three family slaves with three surnames" seeing the wind and making the rudder is actually not much inferior to that of online novels.
So how did this "bandit tyrant" in modern China go step by step to the end of the road?
Pictured: Stills of Xie Wendong in the film and television drama
Middle-aged origins: Xie Wendong is the rich side
Xie Wendong was born in 1887 to a poor peasant family in Yongdian Town, Kuandian County, Liaoning Province. Speaking of which, Xie Wendong was a Manchu Qingzheng White Banner man, but at this time the Qing government had fallen, and the family was only giving the life of a long-term worker to a large household in the village. Despite this, the Xie family was still able to bear hardships and be capable, and the young Xie Wendong helped the family to do farm work and never was lazy, and in the early years of the Republic of China, the situation of the Xie family finally improved, with a big car, a dozen laborers and six or seven heads of livestock, and became a middle peasant in one fell swoop.
With the improvement of family income, Xie Wendong's father Xie Fuxi found that the whole family needed a person who could write letters and keep accounts, because usually the accounting relied on oral and mental arithmetic, and there would always be mistakes, which sent Xie Wendong, who was the eldest son, to a nearby private school for 4 years. After leaving the private school, in addition to being in charge of the family's fields, Xie Wendong also took his two younger brothers across the Yalu River to go to North Korea to herd silkworms; at the age of 26, Xie Wendong was also responsible for buying the village's cattle and horses to sell in Andong (now Dandong), and when he returned to the village, he sold salt to farmers for profit.
This rich life of going south and north gave Xie Wendong a certain level of insight and knowledge and culture in his youth.
However, Providence made people, and a major flood in the Yalu River in the thirteenth year of the Republic of China (1924) left Xie Wendong's family's field grains without harvest, and at this time he also ate a lawsuit in Korea for herding silkworms. At a very embarrassing time, Xie Wendong heard that there were few people going to the "Northern Wilderness" area to reclaim land, and his life was relatively better, so he consulted with his father and prepared to go there to reclaim the land.
Pictured: Farmers in the Republic of China period measure the land
In 1925, Xie Wendong's family moved to the vicinity of HeishanZuizi in the Tulong Mountains of Yilan County (now Taiping Village, Huanan County, Heilongjiang Province) to join his cousin Guan Minglin. The cousin saw that Xie Wendong's family had a large number of laborers and was willing to bear hardships and stand hard work, so he guaranteed him in the village, rented a large piece of land in the village for him, and rented 8 grass houses in the village to settle down for him. In this way, Xie Wendong cultivated land here while cultivating land, and in just three or four years, there were nearly 60 yuan (shǎng, the old system of northeast land units, about 15 acres) of land, forty or fifty people and more than ten cattle and horses. With Xie Wendong's family's great career, he also began to consider buying guns to care for the nursing home, so he secretly bought some arms from some sources to guard against bandits and hunting.
Although nominally, Xie Wendong is considered a foreigner,
But he has courage and courage in doing things, and he also likes to fight unevenly, and soon established a good network of relationships in Montenegro.
And as his family business grew, he also had some contacts with local officials. Soon after, Xie Wendong was elected as the head of the local militia group, and later appointed by the local national government of Yilan County as the chief of the five guarantees in Tulong Mountain.
Unveiling the Pole: Xie Wendong's Road to ResistIng Japan and Saving the Country
After the Japanese army launched the "918" incident, the Anti-Japanese National Armed Forces of the Northeast Army once resisted the Japanese invasion in the area south of Harbin. In May 1932, when General Li Du went to Yilan, he had mobilized local armed forces to set up a cavalry mixed brigade of the Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Army, although this anti-Japanese national armed force was eventually disbanded because of the incompetence of the leader, but this activity left a patriotic flame in the minds of the locals.
Pictured: Monument to the peasants' anti-Japanese armed uprising in TulongShan
After the Japanese invaders occupied all of northeast China, they formulated a resettlement plan, which planned to use 20 years to immigrate 5 million people from Japan to China, encroaching on about 99.2 million mu of Chinese arable land, of which the Sanjiang Plain area accounted for about 20% of the plan. In the summer of 1933, in order to allow immigrants to obtain enough arable land, the Japanese Kwantung Army forcibly confiscated guns and land photos from various peasants in Yilan County in the name of "public security and rectification" and "East Asia Persuasion Company", which aroused strong opposition from local farmers.
Therefore, Xie Wendong, who was the chief of the security guard, began to secretly consult with Jing Zhenqing, the chief of the sixth guarantee, to combine the forces of the militia group and form a self-defense regiment of more than 100 people to prepare for armed self-defense.
Pictured: Land licenses in the hands of farmers during the Republic of China period
In the Spring Festival of 1934, in order to implement the so-called "public order and solemnity", the Japanese Kwantung Army has begun to send a large number of soldiers to search for guns and photos in every household, so many rich and gun-owning people have found Xie Wendong and told him:
"If you say you do it, we will do it!"
Xie Wendong believed that the Japanese invaders had already bullied their home, and there was no way to survive if they did not rise up to resist Japan, so Xie Wendong and Jing Zhenqing went to the vicinity of Wudaogang nearby to mobilize the masses and call on everyone to jointly resist Japan and defend their hometown, and soon Xie Wendong's men grew to more than 700 people.
On March 9, 1934, Cao Ziheng and others, who were making internal responses within Taiping Town, began to act, and almost effortlessly disarmed a cavalry company of the puppet army inside Taiping Town. Subsequently, Xie Wendong and Jing Zhenqing led a large group of people into Taiping Town, and various militia force organizations nearby, such as the "Big Knife Society" and the "Red Gun Society", also rushed to the town, and for a while, all around Taiping Town were people dancing knives and guns, and the momentum was huge, reaching more than 10,000 people.
Pictured: News of Daisaku Iizuka's death in battle reported in Japanese media newspapers
After learning this news, Guan Jintao, who was then the pseudo-county magistrate of Ilan County, knew that things would be difficult to clean up, so he asked For help from Asago Iizuka, the commander of the 63rd Wing of the Japanese Kwantung Army. Asahina Iizuka participated in the Russo-Japanese War, made great achievements in battle, and once received a saber from the Emperor of Japan. Upon hearing this news, he decided to personally lead a small group of Japanese troops and a large part of the puppet army to Taiping Town the next day.
However, Iizuka Did not dream that the next day, his five cars had just driven to the vicinity of Dongjia Village, and they were ambushed by the rebel army, and all 21 Japanese officers, including Iizuka Asagiri, were killed.
After the success of the uprising, the rebel troops gathered in Baijiagou to hold a celebration meeting, at which time Li Depei (Ji Qing), a party member who had secretly joined the Communist Party of China, said to Xie Wendong, who held real power: "The Japanese devils will definitely send large troops to retaliate, and it is no longer realistic to reorganize the troops in Taiping Town, and it is best to transfer the insurrection team to an appropriate place and then carry out centralized rectification." Xie Wendong felt that it was very reasonable, so he quickly withdrew the rebel troops to the vicinity of the half-cut River.
Photo: Old photo of martyr Jing Zhenqing
Here, the first major meeting of the rebel army was held,
The meeting jointly elected Xie Wendong as commander-in-chief, Jing Zhenqing as commander-in-chief, and Qian Zijiu as chief of staff, and reorganized the rebel army into 5 brigades.
The number of each brigade is about 250, the name of the team is tentatively set as "Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army", and three disciplines have been formulated: first, the execution of those who have escaped from the front; second, it is forbidden to use ordinary people to walk on horses; and third, it is not allowed to take the property of ordinary people. After the strict military discipline, Xie Wendong's troops developed rapidly, and the regular troops soon expanded to more than 2700 people.
Pictured: Items used in the Tulongshan peasant revolt
Subsequently, Xie Wendong withdrew his troops to the mountains of Baoqing County, and the Japanese army was very frightened when they heard the news, and posted notices everywhere: "Those who capture Xie Wendong alive will be rewarded with 40,000 yuan." Subsequently, Xie Wendong's troops relied on the favorable terrain near Hengdai Mountain to launch a series of arduous struggles with the Japanese army, and in a series of fierce battles, Jing Zhenqing and Dong Dianfu, important generals of the People's Salvation Army, were killed one after another, which made Xie Wendong seriously injured and in an increasingly difficult situation.
In January 1935, Xie Wendong led a small number of more than 30 team members to yanshou and Binxian areas, where they met Zhao Shangzhi, commander of the Third Army of the Northeast People's Revolutionary Army led by the Communist Party of China.
In the negotiations, Zhao Shangzhi agreed to help each other and act together. In the spring of 1935, Xie Wendong, Li Huatang (formerly an officer under Li Du, who also led an anti-Japanese team) and a team led by Zhao Shangzhi met near Fangzheng County, and based on the three anti-Japanese teams, jointly established the General Headquarters of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army.
Xie Wendong served as the chairman of the committee, Zhao Shangzhi as the commander-in-chief, and Li Huatang as the deputy commander-in-chief.
Pictured: Hero portrait of Zhao Shangzhi
After the three armies were combined, the Northeast People's Salvation Army, with the help of the Communist Party and the local people, was widely active in Yilan, Boli, Yanshou, and Binxian, and the troops were re-developed to about 400 people. In order to promote cooperation with Xie Wendong, in September 1936, this team was officially reorganized into the Eighth Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army, with Xie Wendong serving as the commander of the army, and in political work, he was supported by Zhou Baozhong, then commander of the Fifth Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance.
With the help of Zhou Baozhong, Xie Wendong's Eighth Army carried out internal discipline reorganization, expanded its troops to more than 2,000 people, and joined the Second Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army in 1938.
It became the largest number of teams in the lower reaches of the Songhua River at that time.
Exhausted: Xie Wendong suffered a blow and defected to the enemy
Beginning in November 1937, the Japanese invaders began to implement the practice of "sitting in a row" and "returning to the tun jijia" in the northeast region, which caused the anti-Japanese team to lose contact with the masses of the people, and Xie Wendong's Eighth Army lost its foundation; at the same time, Xie Wendong's troops were brutally encircled and suppressed by the Japanese Ishikawa and Hotan troops, and had to hide in the deep mountains and dense forests.
There was a lack of clothing and food in the mountains, and Xie Wendong's Anti-Japanese Eighth Army was originally complex and mixed with many speculators, which led to this
Under the traitor's defection and guidance, the divisions of Xie Wendong's Eighth Army suffered a devastating blow
The troops of the First and Fourth Divisions of the Eighth Army collapsed under the blows of the Japanese army, and the deputy division commanders and directors of the Political Department were killed one after another; the commanders of the Third, Fifth, and Sixth Divisions, the chief of staff, and others most of them defected to the enemy under the brutal encirclement and suppression.
Pictured: Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition fighters ambushing the enemy
At this time, Xie Wendong's troops were only the military headquarters itself and the remnants of the Second Division. Under the encirclement and suppression of the Japanese army,Xie Wendong, along with Guan Jiwen, commander of the Second Division, and others hid in the deep mountains and old forests around Diao Ling.
In early October 1938, the Japanese army discovered Xie Wendong's secret camp near the Wudaohe River, and immediately launched a fierce attack, and Xie Wendong immediately ordered a duel with the enemy.
In the fierce battle, Xie Wendong's uncle and third son were killed on the spot, and the eldest daughter-in-law, because she had just given birth to a weak child, raised her gun and committed suicide in order not to drag down the troops; Xie Wendong's second son Xie Shunsheng was captured by the Japanese army during the breakthrough and was immediately shot; and Xie Wendong's 70-year-old mother, with her second daughter-in-law and grandson, was also killed by the Japanese army during the breakthrough. After this battle, Xie Wendong lost 8 relatives, and he could only endure the extreme grief and led the remnants of the troops to another secret camp.
Seeing that Xie Wendong's general situation had gone, Guan Wenji, commander of the Second Division, immediately surrendered to the Japanese army with more than 70 people, and after the surrender, the Japanese army sent him to persuade Xie Wendong and Teng Songbai to surrender, but during the conversation, Teng Songbai thought that Guan Wenji's words were deceitful and shot him on the spot.
Pictured: The Japanese army holds a surrender ceremony for Xie Wendong
In order to persuade Xie Wendong to surrender, Kunio Shaosa, who was then serving as a Japanese military adviser in the pseudo-Sanjiang Province, could be described as painstaking. They not only held a solemn memorial service for Xie Wendong's dead mother and daughter-in-law, but also added a sentence to the announcement offering Xie Wendong:
"Xie Wendong himself came to surrender, not only innocent but also entrusted with important official positions."
Subsequently, they sent the pseudo-regimental commander Hekuiwu, who had previously been in Xie Wendong's troops, to persuade Xie Wendong to surrender.
At first, Xie Wendong did not want to surrender, and thought that he would die in the mountains, but Jiang Yongmao, the captain of the Guard around Xie Wendong, was alive, and they planned to surrender, and later the Japanese found out the internal contradictions and went to Jiang Yongmao to negotiate. Xie Wendong saw that he would suffer losses if he did not surrender, so he surrendered on March 19, 1939, and became a shameful traitor.
Zhang Mu for the Enemy: Xie Wendong's career as a traitor
After Xie Wendong surrendered in 1939, he was received by Yoshiya Daisa, the commander of the Japanese military police detachment, in the county seat of Boli County. In order to stabilize Xie Wendong, he said in front of Xie Wendong in front of the local pseudo-county magistrate: "You can rest assured, in the future, your work and family life, the imperial army has made arrangements for you." And instructed the pseudo-county magistrate to implement this matter for Xie Wendong, and Xie Wendong thanked him in person.
Pictured: After the Japanese surrendered, they were pushed down by the local people and broken in front of Fortress Hill.
In order to expand the political influence of Xie Wendong's surrender, the Japanese invaders decided to send Xie Wendong to Visit Tokyo, the capital of Japan.
After arriving in Tokyo, Xie Wendong was personally summoned by the brother of the Japanese emperor, and when meeting some upper-class figures, many Japanese people asked him to sign autographs, especially when he visited the home of Iizuka Daisa, who had been killed by him, the Japanese did not show the slightest resentment, and treated him with courtesy, and he was deeply shocked by the Japanese spirit of "subduing people with virtue". So after returning to China, he knelt down in front of the so-called "Monument of Faithful Souls" and confessed:
"The contemptible Xie Wendong once went astray against the imperial army..."
After returning to China, the pseudo-Boli county authorities introduced Xie Wendong to a nearby coal mine to become a big leader.
Since 1942, more than 600 farmers in Boli County have been sent to coal mines as laborers every year, and Xie Wendong has been appointed as the head of the labor brigade.
During this period, Xie Wendong made a lot of efforts for the coal policy of the Japanese and pseudo-japanese periods, he was very good at managing his husband, and he was unanimously praised by the Japanese. However, Xie Wendong was not willing to stay under the people for a long time, and every night after 10 o'clock, he would secretly crouch in front of the radio station and eavesdrop on the Radio news of the Kuomintang side alone, which became an inducement for Xie Wen to defect to the Kuomintang government and make enemies with the people in the future.
Resurgence: Xie Wendong Forms the "First Advancing Column in Northeast China"
On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and Xie Wendong immediately used his fame to pull up a team at Liumaohe. There are thousands of people. In November, the Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Jiamusi and the Headquarters of the Sanjiang People's Autonomous Army held a local work conference in Jiamusi.
At this time, Li Yanlu, chairman of Hejiang Province, wrote a letter to persuade Xie Wendong to take into account the valuable experience of the anti-Japanese resistance in those years, clearly understand the current situation, and get close to the people.
Photo: Old photo of Li Yanlu
After receiving the news, Xie Wendong initially agreed to the reorganization, but when he received the order to let the troops drive to the Fujin area, he became suspicious, believing that his troops would be disarmed on the way, believing that this was the Communist Party's strategy of "moving the tiger away from the mountain", so he pulled the team to the hunchback area and waited for the opportunity.
At the same time, Kuomintang commissioner Wu Kang also found Xie Wendong, reorganized his troops into the First Advance Army of the Kuomintang 15th Group Army, and appointed Xie Wendong as the commander of the general. Xie Wendong, who had received this appointment, was very happy, so he immediately led his troops to attack the county seat of Boli with great force.
After capturing the county seat, Wu Kang immediately announced that Xie Wendong's troops would be reorganized into the "First Advancing Column in the Northeast", and also known as Hu Zongnan's troops.
Suddenly, many bandits in nearby counties defected to Xie Wendong, and although Xie Wendong already had more than 4,500 people under him, only about 1,500 people were actually able to move. In December 1945, the Soviet army marched into Boli and ordered Xie Wendong to evacuate Boli within a certain period of time, and as a result, they robbed all the materials in the territory, and Xie Wendong was determined to go to the end with the Kuomintang commissioner, completely on the opposite side of the interests of the Communist Party and the people.
Self-destruction: The Hejiang Military Region captured Xie Wendong alive
At the beginning of 1946, under the severe crackdown of the Soviet Army and Fang Qiang, commander of the Hejiang Military Region, Xie Wendong suffered a lot of losses and hardships, and he attempted to move his troops to Taipingtun to wait for the Kuomintang to "take over".
In early March, Xie Wendong finally waited for Yang Yiru, a kuomintang commissioner, who brought a letter of appointment from the chairman of Hejiang Province of the Kuomintang, and Xie Wendong was appointed commander of the Hejiang Security Army.
At this time, Xie Wendong still had more than 600 men under him, and his combat effectiveness was very strong, which was regarded as a serious problem by the Hejiang Military Region.
Pictured: Commander Fang Qiang, who was the commander of the Hejiang Military Region
On the morning of April 6, 1946, Xie Wendong began to plan an attack on Jixi, and Jiguan Mountain in the southeast of Jixi was a natural barrier, and in order to capture Jixi, it was necessary to take this commanding height. At this time, the 359th Brigade of the Hejiang Military Region was stationed in Jixi, and Xie Wendong was just preparing to organize an attack on Jiguan Mountain when he was hit by heavy artillery fire from the People's Liberation Army, and there was no progress after a day of fighting.
In the dark of night, Xie Wendong was preparing to attack Jiguan Mountain in the dark, but found that his "Hejiang Security Army" had been surrounded by 359 brigades and regiments, and was quickly defeated. Under the pursuit of 359, Xie Wendong ran for more than 70 miles with his men in one breath, until he ran to the four-man class (place name) before meeting his right-hand man Mu Qingshan, at which time Xie Wendong hurriedly commanded the troops for defense.
Pictured: The person sitting in the front row in a robe is Xie Wendong
However, more than two months later, on June 25, the strength of three regiments of the Hejiang Military Region surrounded Xie Wendong's new garrison, and after the battle began, the artillery fire of the bandit troops was like a sea of mountains and fiercely bombarded the positions of Xie Wendong's bandits, and Xie Wendong could only flee with a few hundred people, running for a day and a night and then coming to the mountains in Dong'an. They thought they could rest here, but just stopped, the 359th Brigade chased after them again, and Xie Wendong was beaten to death, but fortunately, he was more familiar with the terrain, and finally fled back to Taipingtun.
On August 10, Dai Hongbin, deputy commander of the Hejiang Military Region, took advantage of the night to besiege Taipingtun, and Xie Wendong desperately broke out from the north and ran to the west bank of the Mudanjiang River to continue his activities for several months, robbing the villagers of horses and grain everywhere, and the local villagers suffered greatly.
It was not until late November that Xie Wendong's gang of bandits finally penetrated the pocket set up by the 359th Brigade in the big clip ditch and tied up.
Pictured: Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army Cavalry Regiment ready to attack bandits
On November 6, according to local villagers, Xie Wendong had sneaked into Dajiapigou, and in order to speed up the progress of the suppression of bandits, the commander of the Hejiang Military Region pointed to the battle map and said to the comrades of the troops participating in the search for mountains and bandits:
"Now that Xie Wendong is on the west bank of the Mudanjiang River, we must capture Xie Wendong alive, eliminate harm for the people, and completely eliminate this stubborn bandit!"
Subsequently, he assigned search missions to local troops.
Pictured: Soldiers post anti-bandit slogans
Under the severe search and blockade of the People's Liberation Army, the bandits around Xie Wendong because they had no food, hunger and cold, and successively went out of the mountains to surrender, but Xie Wendong knew what the consequences of his surrender were, so even if there were only 5 people left around him, he was unwilling to go out of the mountains to surrender. On November 20, Li Yuqing, deputy company commander of the 8th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the Hejiang Military Region, was on a search mission in the Wuhuzuizi Mountain Forest, when he found a fat man and several people prostrating in front of a small temple and praying for Guanyin, and Xie Wendong was still kneeling on the ground and prostrating his head and muttering to himself:
"May the bodhisattva bless me from the sea of suffering..."
Pictured: Xie Wendong's arrest photo
Li Yuqing immediately concluded that this fat man was Xie Wendong, so he suddenly swooped out, picked up the pistol and shouted at him:
"Xie Wendong, I've come to catch you!" See where you're going? ”
Xie Wendong was suddenly frightened and depressed, paralyzed on the ground, and muttered in his mouth: "I, I am not Xie Wendong..." At this time, his son and other bandits still wanted to escape, but they had already been held down by the soldiers who had caught up, and they were all tied up.
Photo: Xie Wendong Public Trial Conference
On December 3, 1946, Boli County held a victory public trial meeting against bandits and traitors, and the masses within a radius of 40 miles all participated in the public trial meeting to accuse Xie Wendong of committing a lot of bloody deeds. In the end, Xie Wendong was executed by shooting, and the evil bandit was finally tried justly.