Establishment of the Twenty-seventh Executive Group in the Military Investigation Department
In accordance with the spirit of the "Armistice Agreement" signed between the Central Committee of our Party and the Kuomintang Government, representatives of our Party and the Kuomintang, plus representatives of the United States who appeared as intermediaries, jointly formed the Executive Department of the Military Mediation Office (hereinafter referred to as the Military Investigation Department) to supervise and coordinate conflicts between the armies of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in various localities and to inspect the implementation of the armistice agreement. Comrade Ye Jianying, as a representative of our Party, the Eighth Route Army, and the Yan'an Headquarters of the New Fourth Army, presided over the work of the CPC delegation. The secretary general of the delegation was Li Kenong, and Huang Hua, Dong Yueqian, and Rao Shushi also participated in the work of the delegation. The Beiping underground party also recommended Wang Guangmei, a former student of Fu Jen University, to serve as an English interpreter for the CCP delegation, but she had not yet joined the party at that time, and under such circumstances, it was not easy to participate in the revolution openly.
In early April 1946, the Executive Department of the Beiping Military Investigation Office sent Rao Shushi to arrive at Dongfeng Airport near the Meihe Estuary on a special US plane to land. Because we had been notified in advance, Peng Zhen, Lin Feng, Li Lisan and I, as well as some other comrades, all went to the airport to greet us and met with Rao Shushi. He conveyed to us the opinions of the Beiping Military Investigation Department and Comrade Ye Jianying, saying that the Twenty-seventh Executive Group would be set up in Shenyang, with several subordinate groups, and the members of the group would be attended by the northeast bureau to send key cadres. After studying, Peng Zhen, Lin Feng, and other comrades decided that Li Lisan and I would join the group and let us immediately fly to Shenyang with Rao Shushi to take up our posts.
After arriving in Shenyang, the Twenty-seventh Group was formally established, with Rao Shushi as the group leader and Li Li as the political adviser three times, and I was the chief of staff who did not have a single soldier under me, living on the seventh floor of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Society in Shenyang. The representative of the Kuomintang was named Zhao Yi. He was originally a lieutenant general and division commander of the Northeast Army, had contacts with our Party during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and had a relatively good attitude toward us. Later, the Kuomintang intelligence officers found that he was quite close to us and was not resolute in our struggle, and quickly replaced him. The person who came to replace Zhao Yi was Cai Zongyi, a northeasterner who was also a lieutenant general. He had two major general assistants and a number of staff members. The Representatives of the American Side began as Colonel Detille and later as Colonel Taylor. The 27th group has several subgroups: fushun direction in the area east of Shenyang, the group leader is Mo Wenluo, and the group leader in benxi direction is Xiao Hua; In the direction of Siping in the area north of Shenyang, the group leader is Geng Biao, and the leader of the western part of Shenyang is Wang Shoudao.
At that time, the regular kuomintang troops had not yet arrived in large numbers, and there were often minor clashes between our army and the local troops they sheltered, and the group meetings quarreled every day over these matters, in short, they quarreled without reaching conclusions.
Then, in order to prevent the Kuomintang army from moving north, our army engaged in a fierce battle with the Kuomintang army in the Siping area. The other side wanted to occupy the whole northeast in one fell swoop, but our army resolutely refused to let it and fought for nearly a month. Because the battle line is too wide, the enemy's strength far exceeds that of our army. We had limited troops, were unable to fight well, and had to end the fighting. At this time, the main forces of the Kuomintang had gradually advanced into Shenyang and the surrounding areas. Our army once occupied Changchun before making Siping, and captured some of the enemy. However, according to the situation at that time, it was also untenable in Changchun, and had to withdraw from Changchun. Then he retreated to Harbin. In the end, it could only be bounded by the Songhua River, and the southern bank was occupied by the Kuomintang army. However, we left a stronghold by the river, called Tao Laizhao, and put a company of troops to guard the enemy in Jiangnan. When the Kuomintang troops entered the Songhua River, they did not dare to rush forward any longer. After withdrawing from Siping, Rao Shushi was transferred back to Beiping, where he had only been working in the Twenty-Seven Group for one month. After he left, the group was headed by Li Lisan, and I was his deputy. The group's location was also moved from Shenyang to Changchun. We lived in a relatively small northeastern hotel, the Kuomintang representatives stayed in the Chinese hotel, and the Americans lived very close to the seekers, called the Yamato Hotel. At that time, the main forces of the Kuomintang in the northeast were Sun Liren's New First Army and Liao Yaoxiang's Sixth Corps, but at first there was no corps name. Soon, the Northeast Bureau transferred Li Lisan back to Harbin, and I was mainly responsible for the work of the group. At that time, in addition to a set of staff officers, radio stations, confidential personnel, and administrative personnel, the group mainly had two translators, one was Li Huichuan from Beijing, who was originally a mechanical worker of Southwest United University, because there were not many people, he also served as a secretary, and the work reports of the group were drafted by him and reported to the headquarters, and another translator was his lover Zhou Yan. They were originally engaged, and they did not officially marry until after Changchun. They all now work at the Institute of International Relations. The subgroups under the Twenty-Seven Groups have also been changed, and the original groups of Fushun, Ben'ao and Sipingdi have been abolished, and several groups have been re-established: a group of Dehui, the leader of which is Yuan Renyuan, a group of twin cities, and the leader of the group is high-speed rail; Qiqihar is a group, and the leader of the group is Zhu Guang. Because Changchun and Dehui were in the Kuomintang-occupied areas, the Kuomintang also set up two groups in our Twin Cities and other places.