Since ancient times, those who win the hearts and minds of the people have won the world.
Therefore, one of the three fine styles of the CPC is to maintain close ties with the masses.
This is a truth summed up in countless experiences of struggle.
The Huaihai Campaign, one of the three major battles during the Liberation War, was hailed as a victory pushed out by the masses of the people with small carts.
At the beginning of its founding, the Communist Party of China fought for the common people, so it won the hearts of the people.
However, on the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, when the People's Liberation Army advanced into Dabie Mountain to suppress bandits, something unexpected happened.
The local people did not cooperate with the PLA's crackdown on bandits, resulting in the initial crackdown on bandits proceeding slowly and with little effect.
At that time, it was Wang Shusheng who led the troops to suppress the bandits, and he even ordered the troops to raise pigs and grow vegetables with great fanfare.
When Bai Chongxi heard this, he shouted: It's over!
Why is Bai Chongxi afraid of our army raising pigs and growing vegetables?
New forces in the old revolutionary areas
Dabie Mountain is located at the junction of Anhui, Hubei and Henan provinces.
The mountains here are densely forested, and it was historically a mountainous area with inconvenient transportation and backward economic development.
It is precisely because of the special geographical location and natural environment here that Dabie Mountain has become an old revolutionary area on the mainland.
During the Agrarian Revolution, this was the core area of the Eyuwan Revolutionary Base Area.
From its establishment in 1930 to October 1932, when the main forces of the Red Fourth Army withdrew from the base areas, Dabie Mountain experienced the baptism of artillery fire many times.
At the beginning, the Kuomintang troops had an absolute superiority in both numbers and weapons and equipment.
The Red Fourth Front Army, which was able to fight the enemy again and again without being annihilated, had a lot to do with the support of the common people in the Dabie Mountains in addition to its strategy and tactics and the tenacious willpower of its soldiers.
After the Red Fourth Army withdrew from Dabie Mountain, the Kuomintang again cleared and encircled the area.
Not only did the troops left behind suffer heavy losses, but the masses who helped the Red Fourth Front Army were also implicated.
But this has not changed, and the people in the Dabie mountain area support the Communist Party.
During the Liberation War, Liu Deng's advance into Dabie Mountain was a great turning point in the War of Liberation.
In August 1947, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping led an army of 120,000 into Dabie Mountain.
If it can be successfully occupied, Nanjing, the seat of the Nationalist government, and Wuhan, the military center, will be threatened.
The Kuomintang naturally knew the importance of the Dabie Mountains, so they fought fierce battles with Liu Deng's army in the Dabie Mountains.
In order to protect the Dabie Mountain area, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Bai Chongxi to lead 400,000 troops to encircle and suppress Liu Deng's army.
Not to mention the large number of Kuomintang troops and advanced weapons and equipment, "Little Zhuge " Bai Chongxi is not a wasted name.
Bai Chongxi's strategy and tactics were always unexpected, which made Liu Deng's army suffer.
After thorough consideration, Liu Deng's army withdrew from Dabie Mountain on March 29, 1948.
The 120,000 troops advanced into Dabie Mountain, and only 70,000 were evacuated, and the cruelty of this war was self-evident.
After Liu Deng's army withdrew, the common people in the Dabie Mountain Area fell into dire straits again.
A momentary failure does not mean a permanent failure.
On May 16, 1949, Wuhan was liberated.
Bai Chongxi, who had defeated Liu Deng's army at Dabie Mountain, fled in a hurry at this time.
But before fleeing, he created another problem for the PLA.
Bai Chongxi had a strong foresight of the war, and he knew that Wuhan could no longer be defended, so he followed the successful experience of the Communist Party in those years and sent people into Dabie Mountain to establish a base area.
However, this army nominally belongs to the Kuomintang army, but in fact it is bandits.
Bai Chongxi entrusted him with a heavy responsibility by Wang Xian, who named him commander of the "People's Self-Defense Army of the Eyu-Anhui Border Region."
This person was deeply trusted by Bai Chongxi, but he could not be blue eyes of Chiang Kai-shek, because Bai Chongxi and Chiang Kai-shek would not deal with each other in the first place.
Wang Xian, who had spent half of his life, was once captured and released because he pleaded guilty well.
However, Wang Xian still remained dead, and after being released, he went to Bai Chongxi, hoping that the principal could promote him.
Incidentally, this principal is Bai Chongxi, who once served as the president of Guilin Military Academy, not Chiang Kai-shek, the president of Whampoa Military Academy.
Wang Xian has always been loyal to Bai Chongxi, so he resolutely obeyed his arrangement.
After the liberation of Wuhan, part of the defeated Kuomintang army also hid in the Dabie Mountains.
Of course, Dabie Mountain is not a livable place, and there are bandit local forces that have been entrenched here for a long time.
Wang Xian first used money and power to lure down some bandits who were not strong enough, and for those bandits who refused to obey, he killed them quickly.
Wang Xian did not disappoint Bai Chongxi's high hopes in the early days, and he established a bandit force of about 17,000 people in Dabie Mountain, becoming a new force ruling the old revolutionary area of Dabie Mountain.
In order to invite credit, Wang Xian reported to Bai Chongxi that the number of people was more than 40,000, and the foreign world claimed to be an army of 100,000.
In order to invite merit from Chiang Kai-shek, Bai Chongxi reported 70,000 or 80,000 troops, and claimed to be an army of 200,000 to the outside world.
This shows how serious the exaggeration style in the National Government is.
New problems of the people's army
At this time, the People's Liberation Army was already sweeping away the remnants of the Kuomintang on the mainland in a posture of destruction and decay.
The defeated Kuomintang troops had long lost their fighting spirit, and only Chiang Kai-shek was still making a final struggle, hoping for a miracle.
Hearing that Wang Xian had established a "powerful" army in Dabie Mountain was like giving a shot in the arm to the dying Nationalist Government.
Chiang Kai-shek, overjoyed, immediately allocated a large amount of materials and weapons and equipment to Bai Chongxi, and Bai Chongxi then airdropped them to Wang Xian.
In fact, at that time, Wang Xian and Bai Chongxi falsely reported the number of troops in order to defraud more weapons and materials.
Chiang Kai-shek, who could not distinguish the true from the false, believed it to be true, so Wang Xian's bandit troops received sufficient supplies three times.
There are people and weapons, but Wang Xian did not take it lightly.
The mountainous Dabie Mountain area is an easy place to defend and difficult to attack, and the troops he led were almost all local bandits, so they were more familiar with the terrain, and it was very easy to hide and fight an ambush.
On the contrary, if the PLA wants to attack this area, it will definitely be difficult to move without a familiar guide to lead the way.
Wang Xian had dealt with the Communist Party for many years and knew that the People's Liberation Army led by the Communist Party was very popular, and in order to prevent local people from serving as guides or messengers to the Communist Party, he formulated a "three killings" policy.
"Kill those who lead the way for the PLA, kill those who report to the PLA, and kill bandits who are captured by the PLA and do not jointly report them."
In addition, before this, after the Red Fourth Front Army withdrew from Dabie Mountain and Liu Deng's army withdrew from Dabie Mountain, the local armed forces retaliated frantically. The common people in the Dabie Mountain area were like frightened birds, and under the high pressure of Wang Xian's troops, everyone was silent.
Obedience does not mean that one can escape persecution and exploitation by Wang Xian's troops.
People are accustomed to calling Wang Xian's team bandits, partly because most of the personnel in the army are bandits who have been recruited.
The second is that although this team wears the uniform of the Kuomintang, its behavior is no different from that of bandits.
The troops have no law at all, wantonly harass the lives of ordinary people, and rob whatever they see.
If anyone dares to resist, they will be cut off from hands and feet to shot.
Not only that, in order to accumulate wealth, the bandit army searched and arrested the communists under the pretext of searching and detaining merchants everywhere, and even the merchants who passed by would not let go.
In a short period of time, everyone in the Dabie Mountain area was at risk, and outsiders avoided it after hearing about it.
In order to completely eliminate the remnants of the Kuomintang and rescue the common people in the Dabie mountainous areas, our army decided to launch a crackdown operation in the Dabie mountainous areas.
This task was initially carried out by the 2nd Garrison Brigade of the Northern Anhui Military Region and the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division of Western Anhui.
However, when the troops entered the Dabie Mountains and launched an attack, they encountered new problems.
Our army only captured a few old, weak, sick and disabled bandits, and almost all the captured weapons were useless.
This situation was really abnormal, and before our army could adjust its operational strategy, it was attacked by bandits who had been ambushed around in advance.
Because our army is not familiar with the terrain, it is very passive.
In order to minimize the number of casualties, our troops could only temporarily retreat.
In fact, the local people were also heartbroken to see that the People's Liberation Army was ambushed by Wang Xian's bandit army, but they could only keep silent for fear of retaliation from the bandit army.
Our army attached great importance to the failure of the first crackdown on bandits, and not only increased the strength of the bandits, but also appointed Wang Shusheng, deputy commander of the Hubei Military Region, as commander and political commissar of the anti-bandit headquarters.
Wang Shusheng is not only excellent in military ability, but also familiar with the terrain and situation of Dabie Mountain.
A new strategy that wins in surprise
Knowing oneself and knowing oneself is invincible.
When the troops arrived at the designated location according to the battle plan, Wang Shusheng did not rush to attack.
He disguised himself as a common man and entered Dabie Mountain, wanting to know why Wang Xian's bandit army could expect things to be like gods.
"We all hate Wang Xian's bandit army, but we dare not report to the PLA, nor dare to act as guides, for fear of reprisals."
"There were communist teams here before, but they left after the battle, and the people who gave them news were killed and retaliated, and now no one dares to report the news."
After visiting Wang Shusheng, he finally understood the truth, and the people were afraid that this time the suppression of bandits would not be thorough, and history would repeat itself after the PLA left.
Wang Shusheng is worthy of being an old revolutionary who has been trained on the battlefield for a long time, and after he returned, he gave a strange order.
Let the troops raise pigs and grow vegetables with great fanfare!
At the same time, Wang Shusheng also asked the soldiers to post slogans everywhere - "If the bandits are not purged, they will not collect the troops!"
At present, when soldiers do not do military training, but want to grow vegetables and raise pigs, do they have to put down their guns and pick hoes?
At first, some soldiers were very puzzled by Wang Shusheng's order, but not long after the order was executed, it received unexpected results.
First of all, a few ordinary people took the initiative to go to the PLA station to inform some bandits about the situation.
The second is that some bandit troops have voluntarily surrendered to the PLA.
After Wang Xian saw this situation, he immediately reported to Bai Chongxi.
Bai Chongxi, who was scheming, lamented after learning that Wang Shusheng had ordered the troops to raise pigs and grow vegetables with great fanfare: It's over.
The People's Liberation Army only raised pigs and vegetables in the station, and did not shoot a single shot, why can it reassure the people and make Bai Chongxi sigh that the general trend has passed?
Raising pigs and farming is a long-term process, and this behavior of the PLA is telling the bandit army and the local people that the PLA will live here permanently.
Any verbal propaganda is not as convincing as actual action, and the common people of the Dabie Mountain, who are already frightened birds, are like eating a reassuring pill when they see that the troops have begun to raise pigs and grow vegetables.
And the previously arrogant Wang Xian bandit army saw that the PLA was going to be stationed here for a long time, and could not help but muttered in his heart.
Because they were well aware of the overall situation in the country at that time and the strength of the PLA, they would certainly not be opponents once the PLA was stationed here for a long time.
Originally, Wang Xian's troops were mostly bandits, and they had no concept of serving the party and the state.
I have to admire Wang Shusheng's strategy, which not only regained the support of the people, but also broke the military spirit of the bandit army, killing two birds with one stone.
The piglets are slowly growing, the vegetables are about to be harvested, and the task of suppressing bandits has reached the moment to tackle tough problems.
Under the guidance of the local people, our army figured out the enemy's hiding place and then launched an attack with precision.
The bandit army had no intention of fighting at this time, and only wanted to flee for their lives.
Wang Xian was naturally unwilling to be captured, so he asked Bai Chongxi for help, hoping to drop more supplies and weapons.
As everyone knows, Bai Chongxi at this time was also hit hard by the People's Liberation Army in the southwest region, and he had no time to protect himself, and he could not care about Wang Xian's life or death.
After several attacks, Wang Xian's bandit army was obviously vulnerable.
The people who reported the news were all well protected this time, and the bandit troops who surrendered before were not persecuted.
The various actions of the People's Liberation Army have caused more and more bandit troops to have the idea of surrendering.
At this time, Wang Shusheng seized the opportunity and began to launch public opinion attacks and psychological warfare.
Our army publicized our army's policy of treating prisoners by shouting and promised not to kill them if they surrendered their guns.
In the following time, our army surrounded Wang Xian's bandit army, and before launching an attack, some bandit troops surrendered one after another.
In the end, there are still some diehards such as Wang Xian left to do the final battle of trapped beasts.
On September 30, 1949, our army launched a general attack on Wang Xian's lair and captured Wang Xian alive.
The leaderless bandits collapsed in an instant, most of them surrendered, and a small number of those who resisted death were annihilated.
When the local people learned that Wang Xian had been captured alive, they no longer had any worries and helped the PLA to arrest the bandits who had fled before.
The vegetables were harvested, the pigs were fattened and healthy, and the bandit army in Dabie Mountain was wiped out.
Today's Dabieshan Revolutionary Old Area is already a famous tourist attraction with beautiful scenery.
Visitors who come here will hear a story of the bandits that happened here.
What aroused the curiosity of tourists the most was that Wang Shusheng, who was responsible for leading the troops to suppress bandits, actually ordered the troops to raise pigs and grow vegetables with great fanfare.
This order sounded a little inexplicable, but it made Bai Chongxi lament that it was over.
After learning the beginning and end, the audience suddenly became cheerful and couldn't help but admire Wang Shusheng's wonderful strategy and tactics.
This anti-bandit action has also fully demonstrated the important role of the masses of the people in the war and once again confirmed the truth that those who win the hearts of the people win the world.
Bibliography:
[1] Wang Hongji, Wu Weichao: "<大别山剿匪对群众宣传要点>The Revelation of the Times"
[2] Chen Xianda: "Re-encounter with the former Dabie Mountain Bandit Prisoners of War"
[3] Chen Guangxiang: "Wind and Thunder in the Dabie Mountains: A Record of the Suppression of Bandits in the Eyu-Anhui Border Region in the Early Years of the People's Republic of China (Part I)"
[4] Chen Guangxiang: "Wind and Thunder in the Dabie Mountains: A Record of the Suppression of Bandits in the Eyu-Anhui Border Region in the Early Years of the People's Republic of China (Part II)"
[5] Zhou Jiuyan: "Raising eyebrows and unsheathing the sword - Dabie Mountain Suppression of Bandits"
[6] Zhou Yanjiu: "Dabie Mountain Suppression of Bandits"
[7] Zhou Yanjiu: "A Brief Description of the Struggle against Bandits in Dabie Mountain"