Wei Baqun: Sacrifice everything for the interests of the people

In August, the Sun in Guangxi is like a fire, and the Wei Baqun Memorial Hall in the Martyrs' Cemetery in the main urban area of Donglan County, Guangxi, still welcomes many people who come to pay respects and visit every day. "The martyr Wei Baqun is our eternal pride, and his heroic deeds will always inspire us." Huang Gaoxian, director of the management office of the Hero Cultural Park in Zhuangxiang, Donglan County, said.

Wei Baqun, born in 1894, is a native of Donglan, Guangxi. In his early years, he studied at the Guangxi Law and Politics School. In early 1916, he joined the Patriotic Army against Yuan Shikai in Guizhou and participated in the Patriotic War. After entering the Guizhou Daowu Hall to study, after graduation, he served as a staff officer in the Zhang Yi Department of the Qian Army.

Under the influence of the May Fourth Movement, in 1920, Wei Baqun left the Qian army and participated in the "Reform guangxi comrades association" in Guangzhou, and served as the deputy head of the political group of the association, actively participating in the revolutionary activities of the old Gui warlord Lu Rongting.

In September 1921, Wei Baqun returned to his hometown of Donglan County to engage in the peasant revolutionary movement. Successively, the "Comrades' Association for the Transformation of Donglan" (later known as the Peasants' Autonomous Association) and the "National Self-Defense Army" (later known as the Peasants' Self-Defense Army) were successively organized to gradually combine the peasant movement with the armed struggle. In the summer of 1923, he commanded the peasant army to fight three times in Donglan County, which opened the prelude to the armed struggle of the peasants in Youjiang. In early 1925, he entered the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute. After graduating, he returned to Donglan to continue to engage in the peasant movement, host the peasant training institute, train backbone cadres, develop peasant associations and peasant armed forces, and push the agricultural movement to the Youjiang area. In 1926, he led the establishment of the Donglan County Revolutionary Committee, served as its director, and joined the Communist Party of China in the winter of the same year. After the defeat of the Revolution of 1927, the armed struggle continued on the ground.

In December 1929, Wei Baqun participated in leading the Baise Uprising, establishing the Right Jiangsu District, serving as a member of the Right Jiangsu Government and the commander of the 3rd Column of the 7th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. In October 1930, the Red 7th Army concentrated in Hechi, Guangxi, and reorganized the original 3 columns into 3 divisions, with Wei Baqun as the commander of the 21st Division and his troops remaining in the Right Jiangsu District. He resolutely obeyed the party's decision and added more than 1,000 elite officers and men of the 21st Division to the two main divisions of the upcoming expedition, showing the lofty quality of putting the interests of the overall situation first.

After the main force of the Red 7th Army left the Right Jiangsu Area, Wei Baqun led more than a hundred people to stay in the Right Jiangsu Area. He mobilized the masses, organized and expanded his troops, and continued the guerrilla struggle under extremely difficult conditions. His family of 20 people, more than 10 people including his son Wei Shuzong, were brutally killed by the enemy. But none of this shook his revolutionary will, and he said firmly: "Revolutionaries must not be afraid of difficulties, not afraid of death, and resolutely sacrifice everything for the interests of the people." In the early morning of October 19, 1932, Wei Baqun was killed by traitors in Donglan, Guangxi, at the age of 38.

"Wei Baqun has always had a firm historical consciousness of saving lives and trying to survive." Wei Zhongchao, director of the Donglan County Party History Office, said: "Wei Baqun's deeds have inspired us Communists to fight ceaselessly for the interests of the people. ”

Since the launch of targeted poverty alleviation work, the appearance of poor areas in Donglan County has been significantly improved, and the per capita net income of local farmers in 2017 was about 6590 yuan, an increase of 8.5% over 2016. In the face of the rapid changes in his hometown, Wei Shubin, a descendant of the Wei Baqun family, said: "Although life is getting better and better, the revolutionary will cannot be lost, and we must continue to maintain the spirit of arduous struggle." ”

(Xinhua News Agency reporters Cao Yiming and Wu Xiaokang)