On July 16, 1950, Zhao Hongwenguo, who was awarded the "Mother of Guerrillas" by Chiang Kai-shek and was also known as the "Old Lady of Two Guns" by the people, was shot after a public trial by the people's government, thus ending her legendary life.
Speaking of this "mother of guerrillas", that is a big deal. Long before the "9/18" incident, she was very famous in northeast China. In order to support the national war of resistance, she gave up her glory and wealth and a comfortable and prosperous life, and voluntarily devoted herself to the cause of the national war of resistance. When she was in her old age, she still kept running around the country, publicizing the anti-Japanese ideas to the people and informing the local people in the southern provinces about the propaganda of the Northern War of Resistance.
She is known as the "mother of guerrillas" in China, and in folklore, she is invincible, and is respected by everyone as the "old lady with two guns". This legendary woman, whose full name is Zhao Hongwenguo, her life can be described as ups and downs and full of legends.
Zhao Hongwenguo (1881-1950)
In order to praise the anti-Japanese contributions of this "mother of guerrillas", the famous writers Bing Xin and Tao Xingzhi specially cooperated in compiling the book "Old Lady Zhao", which has a poem praising: "There are monsters in the East, and old wives in China." The old lady catches the monster, and the monster is frightened! Speaking of Mrs. Zhao, who doesn't worship? If you want to be good in China, learn from Mrs. Zhao! ”
As a former anti-Japanese hero, an idol admired by all the Chinese people, and an outstanding representative of Chinese women, Zhao Hongwenguo's final direction and ending in life surprised everyone. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, she was taken advantage of by Chiang Kai-shek to throw herself into the Kuomintang reactionary camp without distinction between right and wrong. At the age of nearly 70, at the instigation of the Kuomintang reactionaries, she actually recruited the remnants of the Kuomintang army and coerced the local people, formed a bandit team, became the leader of the bandits, and made enemies of the people in an attempt to stop the pace of our army's liberation of the southwest. Today we will take a look at her ups and downs.
First, personally experience the occupation of the northeast and concentrate on saving the country
Zhao Hongwenguo (1881-1950), born in Hongqigou, Xiuyan County, Liaoning Province, was of Manchu ethnicity. Her real name was Hong Wenguo, and when she married, she was still in the late Qing Dynasty, because her husband's family name was Zhao, so according to the feudal social customs at that time, her real name was preceded by her husband's surname, called Zhao Hongwenguo.
In 1895, when the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War broke out, Zhao Hongwenguo was only 14 years old, and she witnessed the war crimes committed by the Japanese invaders in her hometown. When she was 23 years old, she experienced the Russo-Japanese War in the northeast and saw that Japan and Russia wantonly fought and killed Chinese people on Chinese territory in order to compete for colonial interests in China, so Zhao Hongwenguo deeply resented the war acts of foreign invaders from an early age.
In 1931, the Japanese invaders created the infamous "918" incident in the northeast, and since then the three eastern provinces have set off a climax of the anti-Japanese salvation movement. In 1932, Zhao Hongwenguo's third son, Zhao Tong (1912-1939, then a student of Northeastern University), and Miao Kexiu, a fellow liaoning student of Northeastern University, sneaked back to their hometown from Beiping and joined the anti-Japanese volunteer army organized by Deng Tiemei in Liaoning.
Statue of Deng Tiemei, a hero of the Northeast Anti-Japanese War
At this time, although Zhao Hongwenguo was over fifty years old, she was full of patriotic passion and was no worse than the young people at that time. Based on her personal experience, she not only sold her property to use as funds for the Volunteer Army, but also led her family to serve the Volunteer Army, turning her home into a command post and transportation station for the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army.
After the Japanese army occupied the northeast, it actively promoted the so-called "enslavement education" in the occupied areas in an attempt to carry out cultural extermination and prepare for a long period of occupation. In order to resist the enslavement education of the Japanese army, Zhao Hongwenguo organized the restoration of the Zhao Jiabaozi Primary School, which was disbanded after the "918" incident, with the help of the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army. In the process of teaching, she personally formulated teaching plans, arranged teaching contents, required schools to teach in Chinese, and taught students to be loyal and patriotic and not to be slaves to the country. This enabled the students trained by Zhao Jiabaozi Primary School to be transformed into anti-Japanese pioneers through the influence of the school environment.
In 1933, Mrs. Zhao and her second son, Zhao Lianxiu, together with Bai Junshi, Liu Zhuangfei and other anti-Japanese heroes in northeast China, formed the "Anti-Japanese Einsatzgruppen". In 1934, according to the needs of the anti-Japanese situation, Mrs. Zhao reorganized the "Anti-Japanese Einsatzgruppen" and reorganized it into the "Young Iron-Blooded Army". The team soon grew to more than 500 people and became an influential anti-Japanese armed force in the area.
In the Young Predator Army, Mrs. Zhao was responsible for purchasing and storing guns and ammunition, organizing and holding important military meetings, and collecting important intelligence of the Japanese puppet army, which played a pivotal role in the Young Predator Army. The data show that the young predatory army has a perfect organizational structure and a clear division of functions, and is an anti-Japanese armed force with strong combat effectiveness and great influence.
Teen Predator film and television stills
In February 1934, after the Japanese reconnaissance learned that the command headquarters of the Young Iron Blooded Army was in Zhaojiabaozi, it concentrated its military forces to launch a surprise attack on Zhaojiabaozi. Due to the disparity in strength between the two sides, although Mrs. Zhao led the crowd to resist to the death, she was ultimately outnumbered, and the Japanese army finally burned all 16 houses of the Zhao family, and the family property accumulated by the Zhao family for more than thirty years was destroyed, but Mrs. Zhao did not give in.
In August 1934, the Japanese Kou raided the Zhao family fort again, arresting the six members of the Zhao family and imprisoning them, and the Zhao family and villagers in Zhulian reached more than 300 people. Rikou tortured and seduced them, but Old Lady Zhao was always unyielding in the face of Rikou's coercion and inducement. Two months later, the Japanese army had no choice but to report to the Kwantung Army Headquarters for approval and prepare to secretly execute Mrs. Zhao.
However, before being executed, Mrs. Zhao organized the young iron-blooded army to cooperate with the outside world, cleverly escaped from the prison, and successfully rescued the villagers and elders who were affected by the Zhao family.com. Subsequently, Mrs. Zhao, her elderly husband and young children, the family sneaked to Beiping safely, and with the help of the "Northeast Salvation Congress", they collected arms from many sources, contacted the anti-Japanese righteous soldiers, and supported the young predators to continue to organize anti-war operations.
In November 1935, Zhao Tong, the son of Mrs. Zhao, was elected commander-in-chief of the Young Iron Blood army. The scope of its activities began to develop from a corner of southern Liaoning to Liaodong, Rehe and other places, and the team gradually developed to 11 fronts, with a total strength of more than 11,000 anti-Japanese soldiers.
Zhao Tong also set up China's first people's anti-Japanese self-help government: the Provisional Government of Southern Liaoning, with the leader of the Young Iron-Blooded Army as his team, and Zhao Dong concurrently served as the president of the government, realizing the military cooperation and improving the organizational structure.
The northeast anti-Japanese guerrillas organized battles
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, according to the rough statistics of the data, the young iron-blooded army experienced more than 300 battles and battles before and after, killed more than 4,000 enemies, and captured more than 2,000 Japanese puppet troops, making outstanding contributions to the great cause of the national war of resistance.
Second, actively resist Japan and run around, moving at home and abroad
On July 29, 1937, Mrs. Zhao led the crowd to fire the first shot of the anti-Japanese resistance of the people of North China. On the night of the same day, Mrs. Zhao and 24 of her comrades-in-arms, after burning incense in their temporary apartment in Beiping, went out of the city in two ways in the middle of the night and revolted in Baiyangcheng, southwest of the city, to organize the establishment of the "North China National Anti-Japanese Army". Later, they broke through the Second Model Prison in Peiping and freed more than a thousand prisoners, including famous Communist Party leaders. They also used rudimentary weapons to shoot down a Japanese aircraft for the first time in the country, which caused a lot of shock at home and abroad at that time.
Learn war in war. The "North China National Anti-Japanese Army" won one victory after another on the battlefield, rapidly developed and grew, and became a guerrilla force with 9 detachments of basic troops and 6 detachments of peripheral troops. They were deployed in Pingjiao, Lingyuan, Huailai, Rehe and other places, with a total strength of more than 25,000 troops. This anti-Japanese armed force became the "thorn in the flesh" of the Japanese army, which not only affected the entire North China region, but also had a certain impact on the entire Chinese battlefield.
Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, and Peng Dehuai, deputy commander-in-chief, fully affirmed the anti-Japanese exploits of the "North China National Anti-Japanese Army." The two personally wrote invitations to incorporate this anti-Japanese armed force into the Fifth Detachment of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region of the Eighth Group Army, and Zhao Dong was appointed commander.
Although Zhao Tong fully recognized our party's anti-Japanese policy, because he had previously joined the Kuomintang with Zhang Junjie as the leader of the party, he was not able to change his original position for a while, so he adopted the strategy of "two do not help each other", neither joining the Communist Party nor the Kuomintang, and in September 1938, he broke away from the anti-Japanese ranks and went to Hong Kong to join his mother.
In September 1937, Mrs. Zhao went south to Wuhan. Here, on the one hand, she actively propagated the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and won arms support from all walks of life in the rear; on the other hand, she led her two daughters and young people from the northeast to the Taihang Mountains of Henan Province, opened up a new anti-Japanese base area, and prepared to build the "Anti-Japanese Restoration Army." The local people responded enthusiastically, with tens of thousands of participants.
After reorganizing and reorganizing the Guangfu Army, Mrs. Zhao dispatched its advance detachments to the north to prepare to open up the passage behind enemy lines, and in coordination with the Hebei National Anti-Japanese Army and the Northeast Young Iron-Blooded Army, the three sides coordinated to organize anti-Japanese actions and form an anti-Japanese guerrilla front behind enemy lines running through the north and south.
In 1938, China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression entered a stalemate. During the extraordinary period of "defending greatEr Wuhan," Mrs. Zhao published "Some Opinions on the Current Situation" in newspapers and periodicals, calling for the all-people war of resistance and personally recovering the national territory, and her reputation affected both at home and abroad.
At that time, the "Damei Pictorial" published a photo of Zhao Hongwenguo
Famous American journalists Snow, Epstein, and Hideko Midorikawa, a member of the Anti-War Alliance, have interviewed Mrs. Zhao many times. Together, they took a group photo and published a signed article to publicize Mrs. Zhao to the international anti-fascist camp, introduce her heroic deeds in the War of Resistance, call on the leaders of the anti-fascist camp to pay attention to China's anti-Japanese battlefield, and encourage people at home and abroad to actively devote themselves to China's anti-Japanese cause.
In September 1938, Mrs. Zhao set out from Guangzhou and was invited to Hong Kong, Nanyang and other places to engage in anti-Japanese propaganda and fundraising activities among overseas Chinese. Chen Jiageng, a well-known patriotic industrialist, and other overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia extended a warm welcome to Mrs. Zhao and her entourage, organized donations from overseas Chinese and the people, and raised huge funds and a large amount of materials for the War of Resistance.
Mrs. Zhao also organized a torch parade in Hong Kong with celebrities in the women's circles such as Soong Ching Ling and He Xiangning to publicize the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the scene at that time was very spectacular and touching, which stimulated the patriotic enthusiasm of overseas Chinese in resisting Japan.
At first, the Nationalist government considered them to be "pawns of the other party" and sent spies to make trouble in the speech. Later, the Nationalist government believed that Mrs. Zhao could "fight", and Chiang Kai-shek, in order to win over, held a solemn ceremony in Chongqing to receive Mrs. Zhao, awarded her the title of "Mother of Guerrillas", and compiled the story of Mrs. Zhao into the Scout textbook.
When Mrs. Zhao and Zhao Tong arrived in Chongqing, the welcome scene of Chongqing citizens was unprecedentedly warm, and for a time the streets in Chongqing were empty. Old Lady Zhao and Zhao Dong were both treated with great courtesy, and Zhao Dong was awarded the rank of "Major General" by the Nationalist government. The famous playwright Wu Zuguang organized the creation of his debut film "Phoenix City" with the theme of Zhao Tong and his comrade-in-arms Miao Kexiu holding high the banner of righteousness to resist Japan, which caused a sensation in the rear area. A documentary on the Zhao family's courageous resistance was also filmed.
The afterword to the anti-Japanese play "Phoenix City" created by the famous playwright Wu Zuguang
In March 1939, Mrs. Zhao refused the car house donated by the National Government, and also refused the arrangements for some celebrities to persuade Zhao Dong and his comrades-in-arms to stay in the rear to recuperate or go abroad for further study.
In September 1939, He Yingqin and Zhang Zhizhong, ministers of the Military and Political Departments of the Nationalist Government, and Song Meiling, the chief instructor of the Women's Steering Committee, jointly hired Mrs. Zhao as a national compulsory military service propaganda instructor. Zhao Hongwenguo accepted the invitation of more than a dozen counties in northern Sichuan, including Nanchong and Daxian, to go to publicize the anti-Japanese resistance, and thus began the anti-Japanese propaganda activities that lasted for two years and traveled to more than 100 cities and counties to save the country. Under the influence of the heroic deeds of Mrs. Zhao's family in the seven years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the local people have constantly set off an upsurge of voluntary participation in the army to resist Japan.
In March 1943, Mrs. Zhao and Lieutenant General Wang Da of the Northeast National Army applied to the Nationalist Government for approval to select some competent backbones who were both wise and courageous and familiar with guerrilla tactics, went deep into the heart of the enemy-occupied areas around Wuhan, Hubei Province, and actively carried out anti-Japanese guerrilla activities behind enemy lines, constantly subjecting the Japanese army to the enemy in the belly and back, and containing the main Japanese forces that had already attacked Dushan in Guizhou and then besieged Sichuan. At the same time, Mrs. Zhao once again sent her children to the battlefield behind enemy lines, hoping that they would serve the nation's great cause of resisting Japan and saving the country.
In 1938, Zhao Hongwenguo took a group photo with representatives of the women's circles in Chongqing
On August 14, 1945, the day before the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mrs. Zhao's husband died in a foreign land, and she had a different idea in her heart. Mrs. Zhao voluntarily resigned from the posts arranged for her by the Military and Political Departments of the Nationalist Government and the Women's Steering Committee, and returned to Beiping in the hope of enjoying a peaceful life after the war.
In fact, in mrs. Zhao's heart, she could not and did not want to idle and enjoy life. Shortly after living in Beiping, Mrs. Zhao began to look around for the families of the anti-Japanese martyrs despite her old age and infirmity, and then went up and down for help, traveled thousands of miles, and braved the nine severe colds alone, which lasted for many months, and led the martyrs of the anti-Japanese army back to the northeast.
Third, he joined the bandits and began to oppose communism, and was finally judged by public trial
For the merits and fame of Mrs. Zhao, Chiang Kai-shek naturally saw it in his eyes and was also very clear about the role she played. At this time, although the War of Resistance was victorious, the "residual heat" of Mrs. Zhao still had use value. In this regard, Chiang Kai-shek constantly seduced her and tried his best to win over Mrs. Zhao in an attempt to make her the backbone of the "anti-communist" campaign. In order to achieve this goal, Chiang Kai-shek did not hesitate to appoint Mrs. Zhao as the commander-in-chief of the "Second Road Appeasement General Headquarters of the Ji-Liao Border Region," and also awarded Mrs. Zhao the rank of "Lieutenant General."
Old Lady Zhao was old at this time, and for Chiang Kai-shek's co-optation and exploitation, she not only did not see his reactionary nature, but also had some gratitude. She accepted Chiang Kai-shek's reward and unconsciously began to follow the Kuomintang. Soon after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mrs. Zhao led the team back to her hometown of the long-term guerrilla war, northeast China.
Although Mrs. Zhao's armed forces played a considerable role in the guerrilla battlefield of the War of Resistance Against Japan, they were indeed too fragile to be attacked in the face of the powerful People's Liberation Army. After the Liaoshen Campaign, the so-called armed forces she was proud of were gradually eliminated by the People's Liberation Army, and eventually there was no piece of armor left behind, and she had to flee to Chongqing with her family.
At the end of 1949, when New China had been founded, and the remnants of the Nationalist government were still trying to resist to the end in the southwest corner, they first thought of the former "mother of guerrillas". On November 25 of that year, five days before the liberation of Chongqing, Chiang Ching-kuo held a letter of appointment as "Commander of the Second Road Appeasement of the Southwest Anti-Communist Guerrilla Force" and personally awarded Zhao Hongwenguo, and also specially received her and Zhao Lianzhong. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek also allocated a considerable amount of guns and ammunition, cars, radios, and other materials, so that Zhao Hongwenguo could recruit troops and buy horses, give play to his expertise in fighting guerrillas, lurk down and continue to "fight," and unite with the Nationalist army to "oppose communism."
On the same day, Mrs. Zhao carried a "letter of appointment" and took her own confidants and backbones, received a large number of weapons, ammunition, and military supplies personally donated by Chiang Kai-shek, and set foot on the western Sichuan Plain, preparing to cooperate with Chiang Kai-shek in the battle of Chengdu. However, the ensuing Chengdu Battle surprised Mrs. Zhao, because at this time, the senior officials of the Nationalist government and the generals of the Nationalist Army were all bent on fleeing taiwan, and the soldiers did not have the heart to fight at all, let alone the fighting spirit and will to fight. As soon as the battle broke out, the Nationalist army either collapsed or fell, Song Xilian was captured, and Chongqing and Chengdu were liberated one after another.
Chongqing liberation information photo
Still obstinate at this point, Mrs. Zhao sneaked to the area around Hongbaichang in Sanhe Township, Shifang County, near Chengdu, used guerrilla tactics to lurk down, and also pulled up a team of remnants of the Kuomintang and local bandits, in a vain attempt to continue to complete the "task" entrusted to her by Chiang Kai-shek, vowing to be an enemy of the newborn people's government.
In order to force the local villagers to participate in the anti-communist war, Mrs. Zhao also personally recruited soldiers and horses in various townships. When the goal is not achieved, the villagers are coerced and the entire family of those who do not participate in the anti-communist uprising will be killed.
Through this cruel method, Zhao Hongwenguo's bandits reached more than 20,000 people for a while, although they were all scattered and had no combat effectiveness at all, but Zhao Hongwenguo still had high hopes. In early February 1950, Zhao Hongwenguo, after preparing for a long time, led her gang of bandits to prepare to attack Shifang County. After the People's Liberation Army discovered their intentions and actions, it organized a half-way ambush to beat the bandits into abandoning their armor and abandoning their armor, dying and fleeing.
In the early morning of February 11, Zhao Hongwenguo personally went into battle again, leading tens of thousands of bandits to attack Shifang County. I saw her riding on a sliding pole and holding a double gun in her hand, directing the bandits to surround the county town for two days and two nights. The bandits also secretly dug tunnels and prepared to carry out a surprise attack, who expected the tunnels to collapse due to heavy rainfall, and Zhao Hongwenguo had to flee again with the remnants of the bandits.
In mid-April, Zhao Hongwenguo and his remnants wandered to the town of Gaoqiao in Mianzhu County. After the People's Liberation Army discovered it, it carried out a night raid on them, Zhao Hongwenguo disguised as a peasant woman, hidden in a bamboo wall, was found by the search and arrest, and the bandits were also annihilated by the Platon Army in one fell swoop.
After Zhao Hongwenguo was captured, the newborn people's government considered whether she should be kept under the knife after her great contributions during the anti-Japanese period. However, due to her many evil deeds in the later stages, the local people have a lot of resentment towards her, especially the families of the more than 200 people she killed cannot forgive her.
In order to calm the people's anger, the people's government conducted a public trial of Zhao Hongwenguo, and eventually sentenced her to death. On July 16, 1950, Zhao Hongwenguo was executed by firing squad. Zhao Hongwenguo killed so many innocent people in his later years in an attempt to disturb the stability of the nascent regime, and it was also legal to be sentenced to capital punishment.
The bandits were tried in public
One step wrong will be a lifelong regret, thinking that Zhao Hongwenguo was also a heroine of the War of Resistance who was bent on serving the country, and sacrificed his own and his family's lives for the War of Resistance. But in the end, she could not resist the temptation and distinguish between right and wrong, so she was used, stood in the wrong line, made a big mistake, and paid the price of her life for her mistake.
References: Relevant materials and pictures are from the public network, and the infringing contact is deleted.