The New Fourth Army was on its way to assemble at Yansi Temple in Shexian County, Anhui Province
The New Fourth Army marched to Yansi Temple in Shexian County, Anhui Province
A detachment of the New Fourth Army is stationed in Shexian Qiankou
The second detachment of the New Fourth Army is stationed in Putang, Shexian County
The three detachments of the New Fourth Army are stationed in Xixi South, Shexian County
Memorial Hall of the Former Site of the New Fourth Army Headquarters of Yansi Temple, Shexian County
Jinjia Big House, the former site of the New Fourth Army Headquarters of Yansi Temple, Shexian County
Shexian Rock Temple Ancient Wenfeng Pagoda and Ancient Point General Platform
Xuguo Arch, an old street in Shexian County, was built in 1584
There is Yan'an in the north and Yan Temple in the south. As a gathering place for the Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces, the reorganization of the New Fourth Army, the formation of the army, and the place for the eastward march to resist the Japanese, Yansi Is one of the holy places of revolution like Yan'an. In 1938, the ancient town of Yansi between the green mountains and clear waters, like a thin flame, summoned the Red Army teams of the eight southern provinces and converged into the "red" stream of the revolution, opening the prelude to the eastward march against Japan. The "iron army spirit" forged by the soldiers of the New Fourth Army with their blood and lives will forever be recorded in the annals of history and will be a "family heirloom" of the people of Huizhou, and also the eternal spiritual wealth of all the sons and daughters of China! In order to remember history, remember the martyrs, cherish peace, and create the future, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War and the 82nd anniversary of the concentrated reorganization of the New Fourth Army Rock Temple to the east to resist Japan, let us reminisce about the glory days and remember the revolutionary martyrs.
The establishment of the New Fourth Army
After the "July 7" Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937, the Communist Party of China put the interests of the nation first, held high the banner of the anti-Japanese national united front, and actively promoted the formation of the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. In August 1937, the Kuomintang and the Communists reached an agreement to reorganize the main force of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi into the Eighth Route Army; in October of the same year, the Red Army guerrillas in the 8 southern provinces were reorganized into the newly organized Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army (referred to as the New Fourth Army). The New Fourth Army Was Established in Hankou, Hubei Province on December 25, 1937, and was formally established in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province on January 6, 1938. Ye Ting was appointed military commander, Xiang Ying was appointed political commissar and deputy commander, Zhang Yunyi was appointed chief of staff, Yuan Guoping was appointed director of the Political Department, Deng Zihui was appointed deputy director, Zhou Zikun was appointed deputy chief of staff, and Li Yihao was appointed secretary general of the military department. On February 6, 1938, the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government ordered all the athletes to concentrate on the Anhui Anhui Nanyan Temple on February 20.
Formation of the first detachment of the New Fourth Army
A detachment was organized by the Gansu-Guangdong border guerrilla group led by Xiang Ying and Chen Yi, the Guidong guerrilla group led by You Shixiong, the Xiang'egan guerrilla group led by Fu Qiutao, the Xianggan guerrilla group led by Tan Yubao, and the Anhui-Zhejiang-Gansu guerrilla group led by Li Buxin. The Xiang'e-Gansu guerrillas had more than 1,100 people and more than 600 guns and were organized into one detachment and one regiment; the Xianggan guerrillas had 335 men and more than 200 guns, which were organized into a detachment of two regiments and one battalion; the Gansu-Guangdong and Guidong guerrillas had more than 750 people, more than 300 guns, and one light machine gun, which were organized into a detachment of two regiments, two battalions, and three battalions; and 198 people and 75 guns of the Anhui-Zhejiang Gansu guerrillas were organized into one detachment, two regiments, three battalions, and one unit. There were more than 2,300 people in the whole detachment, chen Yi as the commander of the detachment, Fu Qiutao as the deputy commander of the detachment, Hu Fajian as the chief of staff of the detachment, and Liu Yan as the political director of the detachment. Under the jurisdiction of the first and second regiments, Fu Qiutao concurrently served as the first regimental commander, and Zhang Zhengkun served as the second regimental commander. A detachment was stationed in Qiankou and Wang villages.
Formation of the second detachment of the New Fourth Army
The two detachments were organized by a large part of the western Fujian (southern) guerrillas led by Zhang Dingcheng, Tan Zhenlin, and Deng Zihui, the southern Zhejiang (Pingyang, Zhejiang) guerrillas led by Su Yu and Liu Ying, the Fujian-Ganbian (CPC Soviet) guerrillas led by Zhong Desheng, Hu Rongjia, and Peng Shengbiao, and the Southern Fujian (Fujian-Guangdong) guerrillas. The two guerrilla units in western Fujian and southern Fujian totaled more than 1,200 people and more than 500 guns, which were organized into two detachments, three regiments, one regiment, and one regiment; the Fujian-Gansu border guerrillas had more than 300 people and more than 150 guns, which were organized into three regiments and one unit; and the southern Zhejiang guerrillas had more than 600 people and more than 200 guns, which were organized into the third battalion of the fourth regiment. There were more than 2,100 people in the whole detachment, zhang Dingcheng as the commander of the detachment, Su Yu as the deputy commander of the detachment, Luo Zhongyi as the chief of staff of the detachment, and Wang Jing as the political director of the detachment. It administers the third and fourth regiments, with Huang Mars as the third regiment leader and Lu Sheng as the fourth regiment leader. The two detachments are stationed in Pa village and Putang.
Formation of the third detachment of the New Fourth Army
The three detachments were organized by the Northern Fujian (Fujian-Zhejiang-Gan) guerrilla group led by Huang Dao, Huang Ligui, Zeng Jingbing, and Rao Shoukun, and the eastern Fujian guerrilla group led by Ye Fei. The northern Fujian guerrillas had more than 600 men and more than 300 guns, organized into three detachments and five regiments; the eastern Fujian guerrillas had more than 920 people and more than 500 guns, and were organized into three detachments and six regiments. There were more than 1,500 people in the detachment, Zhang Yunyi concurrently served as the commander of the detachment, Tan Zhenlin served as the deputy commander of the detachment, Zhao Lingbo served as the chief of staff of the detachment, and Hu Rong served as the political director of the detachment. Under the jurisdiction of the fifth and sixth regiments, Rao Shoukun served as the fifth regimental commander and Ye Fei served as the sixth regimental commander. Three detachments are stationed in Xixi South.
The Headquarters of the New Fourth Army moved to Yansi Temple
After receiving the order to assemble, the New Fourth Army headquarters immediately began to prepare for the relocation of the military headquarters to the Rock Temple and the march of the detachments. On March 14, 1938, Ye Ting, Chen Yi, Li Yihao, and others set off from Nanchang. On March 17, Commander Ye arrived in Tunxi and sent a telegram to the commander: "Regarding the operation of various units, solve the problem of mobile personnel." At the beginning of April, Chen Yi and Ye Ting arrived at yan temple one after another. On April 4, the military left Nanchang for Yansi. On the 5th, the Military Staff Office arrived at Yan temple. The military department was located in the Jinjia House of Yansi Temple (the office of the Honest Government Education Hall at the former site of the New Fourth Army Headquarters of Yan temple), where Ye Ting and Xiang Ying lived. The General Staff Office and the Adjutant Office are located in Wu Xiaoting's house, the Quartermaster Office is located in Pan Ruiting's house, the Guard Platoon is located in the Cao's House next door to the Jin Family House, the Military Department Confidential Section is located in the house on the east side of the "Hongqiao", and the other directly subordinate organs of the Military Department are located around the Rock Temple and the Rock Temple.
The main activities of the New Fourth Army at Yansi Temple were organization and point inspection
After the news of the New Fourth Army's concentration at The Rock Temple was announced, many guerrillas and young students who had not caught up with the reorganization rushed here one after another. At this time, the force developed rapidly. Many poor peasants, individual laborers, and workers and clerks from all walks of life joined the New Fourth Army; many young intellectuals and exiled students came together as soon as they received this news. The new Fourth Army's formation sequence belongs to the Kuomintang Third Theater, and after entering the Rock Temple, it must first undergo the "point inspection" of the Third Theater. According to the roster of the New Fourth Army newspaper, the "three theaters" sent personnel to "point and inspect" and then pay salaries and military supplies before they could go to the front line to resist Japan. Gu Zhutong, commander of the three theaters, Shangguan Yunxiang, deputy commander-in-chief, and Leng Qin imposed various restrictions on the personnel and establishment of the New Fourth Army and withheld military salaries. In order to take into account the overall situation, jointly resist Japan, and save the national crisis, the officers and men of the New Fourth Army waged a reasonable, favorable, and disciplined struggle against the Kuomintang officials who restricted and withheld the troop establishment and salaries.
The main activity of the New Fourth Army at Iwaji Temple was to enrich the weapons and equipment of the troops
The weapons and equipment of the New Fourth Army are very old, the soldiers are still holding the old sleeves and "Hanyang" made during the three-year guerrilla war, and a small number of comrades still use shuttle darts and large knives. Faced with the new situation that the number of soldiers was increasing day by day and the Kuomintang authorities did not provide weapons and ammunition, the leaders of the military department decided to set up their own arsenal. After a period of hard work, the New Fourth Army set up an arsenal in the Ancestral Hall of the River Family in the Upper Bridge of the Rock Temple, which was then called the "Anhui South New Fourth Army Ordnance Repair Center", which consisted of about 20 blacksmiths and carpenters. Among them, only Zhu Zongshan and Luo Kesheng knew some of the repair techniques. Zhu Zongshan served as the director and technician, and Jia Guanjun served as the deputy director. The ordnance repair institute started from scratch, and the materials for repairing guns and guns were based on the shells of bullets and the scrap copper and iron collected. Its mission is to repair old guns and pair them with bayonets. At first, each person could only play one bayonet a day, but later, the technology became proficient, and each person could fight 16 a day, and the maximum could be 24. This arsenal has always followed the military headquarters, and it not only built guns, but also produced a large number of iron mines and stone mines, which effectively supported the New Fourth Army. In addition to repairing some guns, the repair center also adopted other methods, such as borrowing parts from landlords, buying some civilian guns, and seizing militia guns to enrich the weapons and equipment of the troops. Under the circumstances at the time, one more gun could get one more bullet and improve the combat effectiveness of the troops.
The main activity of the New Fourth Army at Yansi Temple is to carry out military and political training of troops
At that time, some cadres and fighters did not understand enough about the reorganization of the New Fourth Army by the Red Army guerrillas in the 8 southern provinces (excluding Qiongya and Fujian), and were skeptical of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party; there were different degrees of organization, such as mountaintop, standardization, and closed-door doctrine. In light of the above-mentioned situations and problems, the leaders of the military departments and detachments have strengthened ideological and political work in a targeted manner, organized cadres and fighters to conscientiously study the principles and policies of the CPC Central Committee on the anti-Japanese national united front, eliminated misunderstandings and doubts about the issue of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, adhered to the principle of both unity and struggle, and adhered to the principle of independence and self-determination. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the tactical research of the Japanese army, familiarize themselves with the operational characteristics of the Japanese army, and learn the strategy and tactics of guerrilla warfare in the water network area. The military training of the New Fourth Army is strict, and everywhere it goes, it opens up its own training grounds and makes full use of terrain and features to carry out various forms of military training. There are two specific training tasks: one is technical training; the other is tactical training. Through military and political training, the officers and men of the units have a clearer understanding of the purpose and significance of forming the New Fourth Army and have achieved ideological unity; the strength, personnel, and equipment of the troops have been enriched, and the quality of military and government has been enhanced.
The main activity of the New Fourth Army at Yansi Temple was to carry out the work of the democracy movement
In his speech at the meeting of cadres at and above the battalion level in mid-April 1938, Xiang Ying pointed out in particular that the area around Yansi was a new district, and although the Red Army's anti-Japanese advance team led by Fang Zhimin had visited the north, it was a short time, and people were not familiar with the Red Army, especially the New Fourth Army. There were many Kuomintang troops in this area, and the people did not understand our army because they were deceived and propagandized by the reactionaries. Therefore, we must do everything possible to expand the political influence of our army, publicize our party's policy of the anti-Japanese national united front, strictly enforce discipline, show concern for and love the masses, respect the local government, and prove with practical actions that the New Fourth Army is a sincere anti-Japanese contingent. When the New Fourth Army first arrived at the Rock Temple, the common people did not dare to approach it, and there was a wariness mentality. Under the leadership of Deng Zihui, the Ministry of Democracy Movement has actively carried out propaganda, organization, education, and mobilization work for the masses, helped them establish various anti-Japanese mass organizations such as youth resistance, women's resistance, and peasant resistance, and mobilized everyone to have money to pay money, make a strong contribution, and have guns out of guns. When the common people saw that the New Fourth Army was strictly disciplined and kind, they gradually became intimate until they talked about everything. In addition to the extensive work carried out by the people's movement, the military department has also done a lot of united front work, and the officers stationed in the Kuomintang army and the local upper-level figures in Tunxi and Yansi have been listed as the targets of the United Front of the New Fourth Army.
The main activity of the New Fourth Army at The Rock Temple is to do practical work for the people
When the New Fourth Army arrived at Yansi Temple, it was the busy season of spring ploughing, the leaders of the military department and detachment took the lead in participating in the labor, and the soldiers of the New Fourth Army were scattered to various peasant households to help cultivate the fields, plant seedlings, carry water, and collect firewood. The New Fourth Army also set up a peasant night school at Yansi Temple, where poor children entered night schools, books and ink were provided by the New Fourth Army, one teacher for every 30 people, and textbooks were written by the Political Department. In addition to teaching literacy, reading, and the principle of resisting Japan and saving the dead, the night school also taught the singing of revolutionary songs such as "International Song", "March of the Great Knife", "The Storm Is Coming", "Digging Trenches", and "Guerrilla Song". Ye Ting, Xiang Ying, Chen Yi, etc. often went to the night school to give lectures and enthusiastically answered the questions of poor students.
The main activity of the New Fourth Army in Yansi is to guide and cooperate with local party organizations in carrying out their work
In February 1938, li Buxin was ordered by Chen Yi to lead the Anhui-Zhejiang Ganbian guerrillas down the mountain to Yansi Temple, and then received the "Seven Policies" special branch of the CPC led by Huang Cheng and began to restore the organizational work of the party in southern Anhui. In April, the CPC Anhui Southern Special Committee was established in Qiankou, with Li Buxin as secretary, Chen Shifu as director of organization, Yu Hua as director of the United Front Work Department, and Huang Cheng as secretary general and propaganda minister. In order to train the backbone of the local party, the party organization in southern Anhui once held a training class for party members in Qiankou. Those who participated in the study were introduced through the "Seven Politics" special branch, and there were also some grass-roots cadres of the Red Army who were fighting guerrillas in southern Anhui, with a total of 29 party members. The Party training course lasted two weeks from its inception to its end. Chen Yi also went to the party training class to speak to the trainees. After the three detachments arrived in Xixinan, Li Buxin, secretary of the Anhui Southern Special Committee, transferred the affiliation of the special branch of shexian County to the New Fourth Army, and under the direct leadership of the party organizations of the three detachments, Zhang Yunyi and Hu Rong both specifically guided the work of the local party organizations. Zhang Yunyi often listened to the situation reports of the responsible persons of the special branch of Shexian County and regularly attended the meetings of the special branch, instructing the local party to carry out social investigations and mobilize the masses to support the New Fourth Army. The New Fourth Army was concentrated at Yansi Temple, and the masses gave strong support to the troops, provided a lot of information, won the trust of the people, and developed and expanded the ranks.
The main activity of the New Fourth Army at Yansi Temple was the establishment of the New Fourth Army Station
The station was originally set up as the Baojia House of Yansi Temple, later moved to Zhufang, and was established on April 9, 1938, and later changed to the Bingzhan Police Station. Most of the staff of the institute are former members of the Shanghai Coal Industry Ambulance Team (collectively joined the New Fourth Army in January 1938), and there are still soldiers of the Fifth Company of the Special Service Battalion of the New Fourth Army, including nearly 100 soldiers in the military, political, technical, military and guard units. When the military department withdrew, 15 cars were left for the use of the police station, which followed the name of the Shanghai Red Cross Coal Industry Ambulance Team to meet the needs of the work. After the establishment of the New Fourth Army Station Police Station in Yansi, it spared no effort for the New Fourth Army, fought for military supplies, fought against the enemy skillfully, transported talents, transported and escorted important leaders and international friends, and more than 2,000 people were transported by the Shanghai underground party alone. At the same time, the military station police station has extensive contacts with people from all walks of life and developed a patriotic anti-Japanese united front. It is worth mentioning that on February 22, 1939, Commander Ye Ting, Zeng Shan, deputy secretary of the Southeast Branch of the CPC and secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial CPC Committee, and Wang Gongdao, director of the Yansi Bing Station, warmly received Zhou Enlai, accompanied him in inspecting the garrison of the New Fourth Army headquarters of the Yansi Temple, inspecting the work of the military station.
The New Fourth Army rushed to the anti-Japanese front
After reorganization and education, the troops are in high spirits, morale is exuberant, and their combat effectiveness has been unprecedentedly enhanced. In order to cooperate with the main force of the frontal battlefield of the whole country and carry out the xuzhou defense war, on April 27, 1938, the military department drew some combat backbones from each of the first, second, and third detachments to form an anti-Japanese advance detachment of more than 500 people, with Su Yu as the commander and Zhong Qiguang as the director of the political department. The main tasks of the advance detachment are to advance behind enemy lines, carry out strategic reconnaissance, understand the situation of the struggle behind enemy lines in Jiangnan and the law of enemy activities, publicize the party's policy of the anti-Japanese national united front, survey the terrain, roads, and bridges, mobilize and organize the masses, and create conditions for the main forces to penetrate deep behind enemy lines, create anti-Japanese national base areas, and carry out guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. On April 28, the advance detachment set out from the submarine mouth in southern Anhui Province, opening the prelude to the New Fourth Army's eastward march to resist Japan. Before leaving, a meeting was held in front of the great ancestral hall on the west side of the qiankou, and Ye Ting, Xiang Ying, Yuan Guoping, and leading comrades of various detachments all attended the meeting in person to bid farewell to the troops. Chen Yi made an important speech to all commanders and fighters at the meeting. Su Yu mobilized, unified his ideological will and pace, and went straight into Liyang through Tangkou and Taiping to enter the rear of the enemy in southern Jiangsu for strategic reconnaissance. Subsequently, the main force of the New Fourth Army entered the battlefields of Jiangnan.
Editor: Zhong Yiping
(I have lived and worked for 16 years at Rock Temple in Shexian County, and Iwaji Ishiji is my second hometown.) ）