Knowing that Xiang Ying's name was due to the "Anhui Southern Incident", there was not enough publicity for Xiang Ying for a long time in the past, resulting in people only knowing that Xiang Ying was the political commissar of the New Fourth Army, who died in the Anhui Southern Incident, and knew very little about other contributions in his life.
Xiang Ying, formerly known as Xiang Delong (Dragon). Pseudonyms Jiang Jun, Jiang Jun, Zhang Cheng. Born in May 1898, a native of Huangpi, Hubei Province, he called himself a native of Wuchang because he grew up in Wuchang. Xiang Ying's father was a poor student, and when Xiang Ying was 12 years old, his father unfortunately died prematurely. Xiang Ying and her sister were raised by their mother's textile embroidery. After Xiang Ying finished junior high school at the Rixin Preparatory School in Wuchang Han Sangong, because his family was poor and unable to go to school, he was admitted to the Wuchang Model Factory as an apprentice at the age of 15. The three-year apprentice suffered a lot, and after completing the mastery, he still worked in the factory, and was paid for the finished product piece. At the age of 20, she still could not adopt her mother and raise her sister, her mother still relied on textile embroidery to support herself, and her sister picked up the rags for several years before entering primary school. Xiang Ying's uncle Xiang Yangzhi, the president of Wuchang Charity, is rich and powerful. But Xiang Ying's family never interacted with his uncle, and Xiang Ying often scolded his uncle as a "bare stick that eats people". Xiang Ying has been involved in the workers' movement since 1920 and has organized strikes for textile workers. Because of reading books for several years, Xiang Ying was able to read books and periodicals, and insisted on reading books for two hours a day for several years. After the founding of the Communist Party of China, the Wuhan Branch of the Secretariat of the China Labor Union was established to lead the Wuhan workers' movement. When Xiang Ying read the Labor Weekly of the Secretariat of the China Labor Union, he knew that Chinese workers had to organize themselves and already had their own groups. In the winter of 1921, Xiang Ying wrote to the Hubei Communist Party group, which was trying to develop the labor movement, saying that he wanted to talk to them about the workers' movement. A few days later, Xiang Ying found No. 16 Huangtupo Road in Wuchang, and it was Bao Huisheng, a major representative of the Communist Party of China, who received him. Xiang Ying said: "I am willing to engage in the workers' movement, and I hope that you can guide me how to cultivate myself and how to participate in work." Bao Huisheng felt that this young man who looked like a countryman was very extraordinary, full of enthusiasm and great ambition, so he introduced him to the newly established Secretariat of the Labor Union and the work being carried out, and asked him to write for the "Labor Weekly", and gave him some pamphlets - "The Conversation of Two Workers", "Soviet Russian Studies", "A Brief Introduction to Capital", "Laborers" and so on. After a while, due to the preparation of the Jiang'an Beijing-Hankou Railway Workers' Club, the party organization decided to hire Xiang Ying as a clerk for the Preparatory Committee of the Workers' Club, with a monthly living expense of 15 yuan, that is, to make him a professional revolutionary. Bao Huisheng, secretary of the Jiang Branch of the China Labor Union, asked him to go back and consult with his mother, "Because he is a skilled worker after three years of apprenticeship, abandoning this profession is not a trivial matter for an ordinary person." Xiang Ying agreed: "I have complete freedom to choose a career, and I have no intention of taking textile workers as a lifelong career." Bao Hui monk was surprised that he had such an opinion. From this British officially engaged in the workers' movement, while working and actively reading. Every week, Bao Huisheng went to the river bank to listen to work reports, and Xiang Ying talked to him about how many pages or books he had read and what kind of experience he had learned. When Xiang Ying arrived at the Yangtze River branch organ, he first turned over books and newspapers, and if there were new books and newspapers, he would have to take a sneak peek. In April 1922, through the introduction of Bao Huisheng, Xiang Ying officially joined the Communist Party of China and became the earliest industrial workers party member in Hubei. Xiang Ying's first party meeting was at Li Hanjun's home in Nanling Street, under the Rouge Mountain in Wuchang, and the participants were all CCP members in Hubei at that time, a total of more than ten people. At the meeting, Xiang Ying listened attentively to the party's report and the speeches of each comrade and recorded them in detail. After the meeting, Xiang Ying said to Bao Huisheng: "I have lived a lonely life for more than twenty years, and I hate the coldness of the world, and now that I have joined the party and have come into contact with these comrades at today's meeting, I feel that everyone is full of revolutionary enthusiasm, has rich ideas, and is sincerely united. Since working on the Beijing-Hankou Railway, Xiang Delong has often used the pseudonym "Xia Ying" (his mother's surname is Xia), and later communicated with foreign countries or published articles in newspapers, combining his original surname with a pseudonym: Xiang Ying. After joining the party, Xiang Ying went deep among the masses of workers in accordance with the instructions of the party, propagated the revolutionary doctrine, eliminated the influence of the gang, and promoted the unity of the workers' masses, and the situation was quickly opened. Xiang Ying is very organized and communicative, not only can get along well with the leaders of the gang, but also can unite the workers in a blended way, and also teaches himself at the workers' night school, and his prestige gradually rises. Everyone knows that he is a skilled textile worker, giving up his profession to do things for the workers. In this way, he and Lin Xiangqian and others quickly established the Jiang'an Workers' Club. In July 1922, he went to Shanghai as a workers' representative to attend the Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China and became one of the 12 delegates. After returning to Wuhan, Xiang Ying recruited party members among progressive workers in accordance with the requirements of the central authorities. After the inspection, he first introduced the workers' leader Lin Xiangqian and the lawyer Shi Yang, who spoke for the workers, into the party. Subsequently, a party organization was formed on the riverbank to form a fighting collective. In October 1922, Xiang Ying led a strike at the Yangtze River Machinery Factory in Hankou and proposed to the factory to increase wages and improve treatment. The factory refused to accept the workers' demands and closed the factory doors in an attempt to "put the workers in a difficult situation." Xiang Ying encouraged the workers to "raise their spirits, work hard, fight for their personality, prefer to die unyieldingly, fight for the Yangtze workers, and fight for the workers in the world." After meticulous organization of propaganda and ideological work, the workers united as one, the will was firm, and finally won the victory of the strike struggle. Xiang Ying soon became one of the recognized leaders of the Working Class in Wuhan and was deeply respected. He was then sent to Zhengzhou to participate in the drafting of the Declaration of the Beijing-Hankou Railway Federation of Trade Unions and other documents, and was elected as the director general of the Preparatory Committee of the Beijing-Hankou Railway Federation. On February 1, 1923, the Beijing-Hankou Railway Federation of Trade Unions held its inaugural meeting in Zhengzhou. However, the Beiyang warlords sent a large number of military police to impose martial law, prevent workers from going to the venue, and deprive workers of their freedom. Xiang Ying and Shi Yang led the workers to rush into the venue and solemnly announced the establishment of the Beijing-Hankou Railway Federation of Trade Unions. On the afternoon of the same day, the army occupied the venue and forcibly dispersed the workers' representatives. The workers then decided to hold a general strike on the entire Beijing-Hankou Railway and elected Xiang Ying as the director general of the strike committee. On the 4th, due to the rejection of the reasonable demands of the workers, the strike of the Beijing-Hankou railway workers broke out. On the 7th, the reactionary warlord Wu Peifu ordered the shooting and carried out armed suppression. The enemy arrested Lin Xiangqian, chairman of the Jiang'an Trade Union, and asked him to order the resumption of work. Lin Xiangqian was unyielding and replied: "The head can be broken, the blood can flow, and the orders of the upper work cannot be lowered!" "The enemy tied him to a telephone pole and brutally killed him. Xiang Ying led the workers to fight the enemy, and more than 30 people were killed, but Xiang Ying survived. He lurked by the riverside, waited for the night to get a small paddle to the Hankou French Concession, went to the residence of Xiong Jinhuai in Changqingli, met with Liao Qianwu, established the Liaison Office of the Beijing-Hankou Railway Federation of Trade Unions, and then set up a "Relief Association" to investigate the situation of the dead workers, to provide pensions to the families, to rescue the arrested, to search for the missing, to provide relief to more than 200 unemployed workers, and at the same time to secretly contact the trade unions in various places. After the failure of the Erqi strike, Xiang Ying, Bao Huisheng, and 17 others were wanted by Wu Peifu and Xiao Yaonan, but he still secretly sneaked to Beijing, actively participated in the impeachment case and labor legislation against Wu Peifu and Xiao Yaonan, petitioned the Senate and the House of Representatives on behalf of the dead workers of the Beijing-Hankou Railway, and made a report on the "Erqi Gong tide" in the House of Representatives. The February 7 strike shocked China and the outside world, and the Comintern issued a manifesto praising: "Your actions have reached the organization of the world proletariat. In May 1924, the party transferred Xiang Ying to Shanghai to serve as a teacher at the Huxi Civilian School. In August, he and Deng Zhongxia established the Huxi Workers' Tuition School and the Huxi Workers' Club on the basis of the Huxi Civilian School. Through civilian schools and workers' clubs, Xiang Ying promptly conveyed the spirit of the party's instructions to the masses of workers, who were soon united and organized, and soon ushered in the February strike of the Huxi Japanese Textile Mills in 1925 and the magnificent "May Thirtieth" Movement. Xiang Ying worked day and night, together with Deng Zhongxia, Li Lisan and others, commanded a general strike of nearly 40,000 workers in 22 spinning mills until victory was achieved. During the May Thirtieth Movement, Xiang Ying was one of the leaders of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions and participated in leading strikes, strikes, and strikes throughout Shanghai. At the Third National Labor Congress held in May 1926, Xiang Ying was elected as an executive member and vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. In September of the same year, on the eve of the Northern Expeditionary Army's capture of Wuchang, he returned to Wuhan to guide the workers' movement in Hubei, serving as the director of the organization of the Hubei District Committee of the Communist Party of China, the vice chairman of the Hubei Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, and the secretary of the party group. At the First Workers' Congress in Hubei Province, Xiang Ying made a report on the workers' movement and spoke highly of the revolutionary enthusiasm of the Working Class in Wuhan for freedom for the people and independence for the nation. In October, the Hubei Provincial Federation of Trade Unions was established, and Xiang Ying, together with Liu Shaoqi, Dong Biwu, Li Lisan, Yun Daiying and others, trained a large number of backbone workers' movements, which greatly promoted the development of the workers' movement in various parts of Hubei. From the autumn of 1926, Xiang Ying organized workers' pickets in Wuhan and served as the chief of the brigade, cooperating with the Northern Expeditionary Army to fight and maintain social order. In January 1927, under the leadership of Liu Shaoqi, Li Lisan, Lin Yunan and Xiang Ying, the working class in Wuhan reclaimed the British Concession, which was an unprecedented feat of the Anti-Imperialist struggle of the Chinese working class. Under the leadership of Xiang Ying, the Wuhan Federation of Trade Unions was organized and established, unifying the strength of the Working Class in Wuhan. Subsequently, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions set up an office in Hankou, and Xiang Ying served as the propaganda director of the Hankou Office of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, responsible for guiding the workers' movement in the five provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Gansu, Anhui and Sichuan. At the Third to Fifth National Congresses of the Communist Party of China, Xiang Yingjun was elected as a member of the Central Committee. After the defeat of the Great Revolution, in order to preserve the revolutionary forces, Xiang Ying was transferred away from Hubei. In February 1928, Xiang Ying moved to Shanghai, serving as secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, carrying out trade union work under the white terror. In July of the same year, he attended the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Moscow and was elected as a member of the Politburo and a standing committee member at the First Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. After the meeting, Xiang Ying attended the Sixth Congress of the Communist International held in Moscow and was elected as a member of the Control Commission of the Communist International. In November 1929, the Fifth National Labor Conference was held secretly in Shanghai. At the meeting, Xiang Ying made a "Report on the Work of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions," summed up the work of the ACFTU since the Fourth "Congress of Labor," and pointed out that the ACFTU was always the general headquarters of the working class throughout the country. At this congress, Xiang Ying was elected secretary of the Workers' Movement Committee of the CPC Central Committee, chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and secretary of the CPC Caucus.
In August 1930, Xiang Ying became the secretary of the Yangtze River Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. In September 1930, with the development of the revolutionary situation throughout the country and the expansion of the Soviet Zone, the Third Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish the Central Bureau of the Soviet Zone to strengthen the leadership over the Party organizations and revolutionary base areas in the Soviet Zone. "All special committees of the Soviet Zone who can have direct contact with the Central Bureau of the Soviet Zone shall be under their command." The Central Bureau of the Soviet Union was secretary by Zhou Enlai. However, because Zhou Enlai's work could not be separated from Shanghai, the central authorities entrusted Xiang Ying to go to Jiangxi to prepare for the establishment of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Union and the Central Military Commission, and to undertake the task of preparing for the convening of the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviet Republic. At the end of the same year, Xiang Ying went to the central revolutionary base area to meet Zhu De and Mao Zedong. On January 15, 1931, the Central Bureau of the Communist Party of China in the Soviet Union was established in Xiaobu, Huangpi, Ningdu County, with Xiang Ying as acting secretary (secretary Zhou Enlai) and chairman of the Central Military Commission. The committee members were Gu Zuolin, Ren Bishi, Zhu De, Deng Fa, Mao Zedong, and Wang Jiaxiang. Zhu De served as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and commander-in-chief of the Red Army, and Mao Zedong served as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and director of the General Political Department and political commissar of the Red Army. When Xiang Ying first arrived in the Central Soviet Region, he encountered the problem of the "Tomita Incident" caused by the arrest of the AB regiment (AB regiment is the abbreviation of the English "anti-Bolshevik", which was a secret organization of the Kuomintang counter-revolutionary rightists during the first Period of Kuomintang-Communist cooperation and was destroyed after only four months of existence). At that time, the General Front Committee of the Red Army believed the information of the enemy side about the AB Regiment, believing that the AB Regiment had been mixed into the Communist Party and the Red Army, and for this reason launched the first anti-corruption campaign in the history of our Party. In December 1930, some commanders and fighters of the Red Twentieth Army, who were beaten as members of the AB Regiment, rushed to Tomita to release nearly 100 detainees, which was the "Tomita Incident" that caused a sensation in the Soviet Union. Xiang Ying, who was deeply disturbed by the scene of extorting confessions through severe torture and indiscriminately biting and killing indiscriminately during the purge of rebellion, immediately made a decision after in-depth investigation, demanding that the shortcomings and mistakes in the struggle against the AB regiment be immediately corrected, and that the party should educate all party members in an educational manner in every struggle. The Eleventh Circular of the Central Bureau of the Soviet District, which he drafted, pointed out: "Based on the history of the party's struggle in southwest Jiangxi and the party's organizational foundation in the past, as well as the objective facts of action of the Tomita Incident, the Central Bureau cannot draw an idealistic conclusion, and it is certain that the 'Tomita Incident' is the insurrection of the AB Regiment cancellation faction. He informed the leaders who participated in the "Tomita Incident" to go to the Central Bureau of the Soviet Union to hold a meeting to distinguish between right and wrong. It was precisely because of the decision made by Xiang Ying that the suppression and expansion of the Central Soviet Region at that time was eased for a while, and a large number of comrades were temporarily protected from being killed. However, Xiang Ying's approach was rejected by the central delegation headed by Wang Ming, who criticized Xiang Ying for making the mistake of conciliationism and removed him from his post as acting secretary of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Union and replaced him with vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. In April 1931, a central delegation came to Jiangxi, which intensified the struggle and caused serious consequences. It was not until a year later that Zhou Enlai, who was the secretary of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Union, presided over the criticism of the expansion of the soviet zone. Through the active efforts of Xiang Ying and the Central Bureau of the Soviet District. On November 7, 1931, the First Congress of the Chinese Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Soviets was held in Ruijin. Xiang Ying, the executive chairman of the presidium of the congress, delivered opening and closing speeches at the meeting, and made a report on the draft labor law, Mao Zedong was elected chairman of the Central Executive Committee and the Central People's Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic, Xiang Ying was elected vice chairman, and also a working people's commissar, and later chairman of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection Commission. During Mao Zedong's recuperation, Xiang Ying presided over the work of the Central Provisional Government, and he actively mobilized and organized the masses to develop production, raise supplies, ensure supply on the front line, and made important contributions to the economic and cultural construction of the base areas, the launching of the agrarian revolution, and the struggle against "encirclement and suppression." Under his auspices, the Soviet government established a judicial body and formulated the Marriage Regulations of the Chinese Soviet Republic. It was the first law on marriage enacted by the people's power under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and the first law in Chinese history aimed at liberating women. From May to December 1933, Xiang Ying served as acting chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission of the Chinese Soviet Republic. During this period, Xiang Ying issued an order that the day of the Nanchang Uprising on August 1, 1927, was designated as the anniversary of the founding of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. He actively led the expansion of the Red Army, the formation of new divisions and regiments, and presided over the formulation of the Oath of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. On July 9 of the same year, Xiang Ying, in the name of the acting chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, issued an order to award the Red Star Medal, and Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and others were awarded the Red Star Medal of the First Class; 34 people, including Chen Yi, Zhang Yunyi, Luo Ruiqing, Xiao Ke, and He Changgong, were awarded the Second Class Red Star Medal; and 53 people, including Wang Zhen, were awarded the Third Class Red Star Medal. In January 1934, at the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Xiang Ying was elected as a member of the Politburo and a member of the Secretariat. Needless to say, because of the "Left" adventurism ruling the Party Central Committee, Xiang Ying also made "Left" mistakes in the Central Soviet Region.
In October 1934, after the Long March of the main force of the Central Red Army, Xiang Yinglin was appointed as the secretary of the Soviet Sub-bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the commander and political commissar of the Central Military Region, and the chairman of the branch of the Central Military Commission, and together with Chen Yi, director of the Central Government Office of the Chinese Soviet Republic, led the Red 24th Division and more than 16,000 local armed forces remaining in the Soviet Area to cover the breakthrough and transfer of the main force of the Red Army. At that time, the task given to Xiang Ying and the Central Bureau was to contain the Kuomintang army to cover the transfer of the main force of the Central Red Army, and to demarcate the triangle area between Ruijin, Ningdu, Huichang, and Yudu as the last position that Xiang Ying's troops must hold. After Xiang Ying, who was loyal to his duties, sent off the last team of the central organs, he was faced with an unimaginable situation. The only people left to him were the Red Army plus government workers, who nominally had about thirty thousand men, but more than ten thousand of them were wounded and sick who needed to be cared for and protected. More than half of the men in the ranks had only large knives and shuttles in their hands, and they would face the attack of half a million Nationalist troops. On the third day after the departure of the main force of the Red Army, Xiang Ying presided over a meeting of the Central Sub-Bureau. At the meeting, he issued two orders: First, whether the Party Central Committee and the main forces of the Red Army can successfully carry out a strategic transfer has a bearing on the most fundamental interests of the whole Party and the people of the whole country, and everyone must cooperate with positive actions. Second, as Communists and revolutionary soldiers, they must unconditionally obey orders and not allow anyone to carry out evacuations before the Party Central Committee and the main Red Army have left the Soviet zone. In other words, all must hold out until the last moment when the enemy's bayonet is on top of the chest. Xiang Ying demanded that the staff of the organs work normally to the outside world and handle official affairs in order to confuse the enemy and conceal the transfer of the main force of the Red Army. It was not until a month later that the Kuomintang understood that the main force of the Red Army had shifted. When Chiang Kai-shek knew that the Red Army, which had fallen into a hopeless situation, had disappeared from the encirclement, he began to use extremely harsh means to encircle and suppress the Remaining Red Army, dividing the Soviet zone into countless small pieces, building a large number of fortress blockade lines, and beginning a comprehensive liquidation. Xiang Ying repeatedly reported the situation to the central authorities and requested the central authorities to give "detailed instructions" and clarify the course of action. Because the Party Central Committee was busy with the transfer of the main force of the Red Army, it was "no instructions" and "no call back" for 3 months. It was not until after the Zunyi Conference that the Central Committee sent a telegram to Xiang Ying and the Central Bureau on February 5, 1935. In accordance with the instructions of the Party Central Committee, Xiang Ying commanded the troops to break through in 9 ways and disperse to carry out guerrilla warfare. Xiang Ying did not order the burial of the radio station, the burning of the code, and the departure of Yudu and the breakthrough to the border of Gansu and Guangdong until the telegram to the Party Central Committee was sent, and the enemy was approaching a critical situation. In the breakout battle, Qu Qiubai, He Chang, He Shuheng, and a number of other party and army leaders died one after another. The guerrillas had to face not only unbearable cold and hunger, but also the daily "liquidation" of the Kuomintang army. In early April 1935, Xiang Ying organized an important meeting, known in history as the "Changling Conference". The meeting decided to implement the plan of "reducing the whole into pieces and dividing the troops into guerrillas" under the strategic principle of "relying on the masses, persisting in the struggle, accumulating strength, creating conditions, and ushering in a new revolutionary upsurge." In May, the Kuomintang army, about 50 times the strength of the guerrillas, carried out a comprehensive "clearance" of the guerrilla areas in the Gansu-Guangdong border area, demanding that the guerrillas be "killed, starved to death, and trapped" within three months. The guerrillas could only live in the mountains and forests, and the enemy adopted the means of "relocating to the villages" and "sealing the pits" by driving the common people out of the mountains in an attempt to cut off the links between the guerrillas and the masses, so that the guerrillas would not be able to obtain food, salt, and basic daily necessities. At this time, Xiang Ying and the guerrillas lived like wild people, and they could only accompany the animals in the mountains, eating wild vegetables, picking wild fruits, digging bamboo shoots, and even burning horse honeycombs. When nothing is found, it can only be patience. In such an environment where life and death are uncertain every day, Xiang Ying often said to the people around him: "As long as we have one person left, we must stubbornly persist, and the banner of the Communist Party cannot be poured, and the banner of the guerrillas cannot be overthrown." Xiang Ying led the guerrillas to use the principle of guerrilla tactics to maneuver with the enemy in the mountains and mountains, and through countless difficulties and obstacles, they waged a three-year-long and extremely arduous and deadly struggle. It was their presence that made people always aware that the Communist Party was still there and the Red Army was still there. The Kuomintang's original task of ending the liquidation and suppression in three months was thus changed from half a year to one year, and finally to a "long-term liquidation and suppression" with no end period. Later, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee issued a "Resolution on the Work of the Southern Guerrilla Zone," which fully affirmed Xiang Ying and the comrades of the southern guerrilla zones for "the spirit of protracted and arduous struggle and the will to resolutely Chinese the people for the liberation of the whole party, and are the models of the whole party." This resolution is the highest reward given by the Party Central Committee to Xiang Ying and his comrades-in-arms.
On July 7, 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out. Xiang Ying immediately wrote the article "The Lugou Bridge Incident and the Climax of the Anti-Japanese Struggle" and put forward the slogan of "jointly resisting the war and fighting for the defense of the motherland." The Gansu-Guangdong border guerrillas were changed to the Jiangxi Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army. On August 20, without receiving instructions from the central authorities, Xiang Ying Chen Yi had great foresight and sent a letter in the name of the special committee to the chairman of the Kuomintang Jiangxi Province, the commissioner of Ganzhou, the commander of the Forty-sixth Division, and the county governors of Dayu, Xinfeng, Nankang, and Nanxiong, demanding that they immediately cooperate in resisting Japan in order to cooperate with the grand plan of the nationwide War of Resistance. On September 8, Xiang Ying sent Chen Yi as plenipotentiary to negotiate with representatives of the Dayu County government and reach a preliminary agreement. On September 24, Xiang Ying was invited by Xiong Shihui, chairman of the Kuomintang Jiangxi Province, to represent guerrillas from eight southern provinces to Negotiate in Nanchang. As soon as Xiang Ying arrived in Nanchang, he sent a telegram to Ye Jianying to Mao Zedong, thus restoring the contact between the Central Sub-Bureau and the Party Central Committee, and obtaining the Declaration of the Party Central Committee on cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and other documents. Through the Nanchang negotiations, the problem of the guerrilla units in various guerrilla areas being reorganized into anti-Japanese volunteers was resolved. This marked the success of the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation in the southern region and laid the foundation for the final reorganization of the Red Army guerrillas into the New Fourth Army. On November 3, 1937, Ye Ting arrived in Yan'an. On the 7th, Xiang Ying arrived in Yan'an. They were ordered to form the New Fourth Army, with Ye Ting as the commander and Xiang Ying as the deputy commander. In order to strengthen the party's leadership, the central authorities decided to set up the Southeast Branch of the CPC Central Committee and the New Fourth Army Branch of the Central Military Commission, with Xiang Ying as secretary. On December 13, the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee issued a "Resolution on the Work of the Southern Guerrilla Zone", pointing out that Xiang Ying and others "basically and correctly implemented the party's line and fulfilled the tasks entrusted to them by the party", praised them as models of the whole party, and called on everyone to learn from them. On December 25, 1937, Ye Ting and Xiang Ying convened the first meeting of cadres of the New Fourth Army organs in Hankou. On January 6, 1938, the New Fourth Army moved to The Three Eyes Well in Nanchang and officially opened its office. Subsequently, Xiang Ying negotiated with the Kuomintang on the formation of the guerrilla units of the Southern Red Army into the New Fourth Army and the concentration of troops, and reached an agreement on the formation of the New Fourth Army into four detachments and eight regiments, and personally or sent personnel to the guerrilla areas to mobilize the guerrillas to go down the mountain for reorganization. After Xiang Ying suggested to Mao Zedong and Luo Fu, Mao Zedong sent a telegram to agree: Zhang Yunyi and Zhou Zikun were appointed as chief and deputy chiefs of staff, Yuan Guoping and Deng Zihui were appointed as the chief and deputy directors of the Political Department, and Chen Yi, Zhang Dingcheng, Zhang Yunyi, and Gao Jingting were the commanders of the first, second, third, and fourth detachments; the whole army had 10,300 people. In just 3 months, Xiang Ying completed the historical mission of reorganizing the Red Army guerrillas scattered in fourteen areas of the eight southern provinces into the New Fourth Army, and Chen Yi highly praised Xiang Ying's historical merits in forming the New Fourth Army: "Deputy Commander Xiang, with his historical position and prestige in the whole party, has enabled the guerrillas in the seventh and eighth provinces in the south to create an iron force. In the future, he cooperated with Commander Ye to make the reorganization successful, which was the key to the establishment of this army. After the establishment of the New Fourth Army, soon after Xiang Ying arrived in southern Anhui with the Headquarters of the New Fourth Army, he suggested sending an advance detachment to the enemy's rear in southern Jiangsu to conduct strategic reconnaissance. In November of the same year, according to the instructions of the central authorities, he sent Chief of Staff Zhang Yunyi to Jiangbei to strengthen the leadership of the anti-Japanese struggle. In 1939, Xiang Ying not only participated in the formulation of the New Fourth Army's policy of "consolidating to the south, fighting to the east, and developing to the north", but also conscientiously organized and implemented it. In central Anhui, the Jiangbei Command Headquarters was set up and a fifth detachment was formed to be responsible for opening up the anti-Japanese base area in eastern Anhui; the special service battalion of the military department, the first battalion of the fourth regiment, and the third battalion of the fifth regiment were successively sent to Jiangbei, thus strengthening the backbone strength of the northern Jiangbei brigade. In southern Jiangsu, the Jiangnan Command was set up, and when the "Jiang Resistance" retreated to the west, He Kexi and others were immediately sent to the east to preside over it, and later Tan Zhenlin was sent to serve as commander and political commissar of the "Jiang Kang" East Road Command, and ordered the Sixth Regiment and the Fourth Regiment and One Guan Wenwei to cross the Yangtze River from Yangzhong to the north, making preparations for Chen Yi and Su Yu to subsequently lead the main force of the South China to cross the northern part of Jiangsu. In southern Anhui, a fierce struggle was waged to persist in the anti-war positions, and five victories were won in the Defense of Prosperity and two anti-"sweeps" in April and October 1940. In a harsh environment, Xiang Ying still attached great importance to the education and training of the troops and the building of the contingent of cadres, stressing the need to do a good job in political and ideological work, carry forward the fine tradition of arduous struggle, set up a teaching corps, vigorously train cadres, and strive to improve the quality of the military and government. His articles such as "The Tasks of Our War of Resistance in Jiangnan in the New Stage" and "Combat Experience in the Past Year and the Work of Building the Army in our Own Army" are important documents in the history of the new Fourth Army's army building and political work. During the period of the New Fourth Army, Xiang Ying also attached great importance to the work of the party in the southeast region. He instructed party organizations in various localities to use the offices and communications offices established by the New Fourth Army in various places in the early days of the War of Resistance as a cover to contact party members who had lost their relations, recruit new party members, and restore and establish party organizations. During the garrison of the New Fourth Army in Yunling, Xiang Ying presided over the first party congress of the New Fourth Army of the Communist Party of China in Shijian Village, Yunling, on July 16, 1939. The meeting was the only party congress held in the decade between the formation of the New Fourth Army in October 1937 and its abolition in January 1947. This is a particularly important contribution of Xiang Ying, secretary of the Southeast Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the New Fourth Army Branch of the Central Military Commission, in leading the work of the New Fourth Army. Under the leadership of Xiang Ying, at the end of 1940, the party organizations under the jurisdiction of the Southeast Bureau of the CPC Central Committee expanded to Zhejiang, Fujian, southern Anhui, southern Jiangsu, and northeastern Jiangxi, with a total of about 50,000 party members. These Party organizations and Party members led the masses and made important contributions to the development of the local revolutionary struggle. On April 30, 1941, Comrade Liu Shaoqi was discussing the work of the Party in the southeast region at the Central China Bureau. He once pointed out: "The work of the party in the southeast has generally been very successful since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Under the leadership of Ye Ting and Xiang Ying, from the spring of 1938 when the New Fourth Army went to the front to the end of 1940, the New Fourth Army fought 2,946 battles against the Japanese puppet army, killing and wounding more than 28,000 Japanese puppet troops and capturing more than 24,300 long and short guns. It contained one-sixth of the troops of the Japanese army invading China and effectively cooperated and supported the frontal battlefield operations. The New Fourth Army's own troops grew to 90,000 people, and established 9 anti-Japanese democratic base areas including a population of 15 million. However, Xiang Ying lacked sufficient understanding of the principle of independence and self-determination in the national united front against Japan, was ineffective in taking measures to develop behind enemy lines, was not fully prepared to deal with the anti-communist conspiracy of the Kuomintang diehards, failed to seize the favorable opportunity for the transfer of the New Fourth Army headquarters and the southern Anhui brigade, hesitated and wavered during the transfer in January 1941, mishandled it, and bore certain responsibility for the serious losses suffered by the New Fourth Army in the southern Anhui Incident.
In January 1941, Chiang Kai-shek launched the "Anhui Southern Incident". On January 4, 1941, more than 9,000 people, including more than 9,000 troops directly under the Headquarters of the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui, began to move north under the leadership of Ye Ting and Xiang Ying. On January 6, when the troops reached the Maolin area of Jing County, Anhui Province, they were suddenly attacked by about 80,000 people from 7 nationalist divisions. The New Fourth Army fought bravely, fiercely fighting for 7 days and nights, and finally due to the disparity between the masses and the lack of food, except for Fu Qiutao and more than 2,000 people scattered to break through, a few were captured, and most of them died heroically. The military commander Ye Ting was detained, and Yuan Guoping, director of the Political Department, was killed in the breakout. Due to the good mass base in Liankeng Village, Deputy Army Commander Xiang Ying and Deputy Chief of Staff Zhou Zikun led more than 10 people from the military headquarters to come here. Xiang Ying and they went to Jiang Yuefan's (also known as Jiang Degui) family under the leadership of the underground party. Jiang Yuefan is an underground party and can fully trust him. After staying at Jiang Yuefan's house for three days, he moved to the bee cave on the nearby mountain. Jiang Yuefan was responsible for some of the vigilance tasks. When he saw the Kuomintang troops entering the mountain to search, he hung a white dress at the door and told the personnel on the mountain to pay attention to avoiding and reducing their activities; when the Kuomintang troops left, he hung a red dress at the door, indicating that he was temporarily safe and could come out to move. Due to the steep trees and mountains here, it has never been discovered by the Kuomintang troops. The bee cave where they lived was relatively small and could only sleep 4 people. Therefore, Xiang Ying, Zhou Zikun, the guard Huang Cheng, and the aide-de-camp Liu Houzong slept inside, while the rest of them built a shed outside. In the early morning of March 14, the adjutant Liu Houzong was greedy for money, shot and killed Xiang Ying, Zhou Zikun, and the guards Huang Cheng, snatching their weapons and gold and silver watch pens. Because he had encountered Liu Houzong, who had come down the mountain in a panic, the guards immediately pursued him, but did not catch up. Subsequently, with the help of his fellow villagers, the bodies of Xiang Ying and Zhou Zikun were buried nearby. After the traitor Liu Houzong killed Xiang Ying and Zhou Zikun, he went down the mountain to surrender to the Kuomintang, but the people did not believe it, nor did they receive a reward from the Kuomintang, but they were imprisoned. In early August 1952, Liu Houzong was executed in Nanchang.
Xiang Ying had two wives, the first wife Zhang Liang, who had a daughter Xiang Suyun and a son Xiang Xuecheng, who was arrested when she broke through with Qu Qiubai, and after Qu Qiubai was killed, Zhang Liang was only released during the second cooperation of the Kuomintang in the War of Resistance, but from then on he was charged with the crime of "betraying Qu Qiubai's traitor", and it was not until half a century later that Zhang Liang was rehabilitated. His second wife, Li Youlan, married Xiang Ying in 1941, but then the Anhui Incident broke out, and Xiang Ying died. In 1942, Li Youlan married Zhang Aiping again and had three sons and a daughter.
"Comrade Xiang Ying was an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, a famous activist of the workers' movement, one of the early leaders of the Party and the Red Army, and one of the founders and principal leaders of the New Fourth Army." This is a fair assessment of Xiang Ying's historical position. On June 19, 1955, Xiang Ying's remains were moved to the Yuhuatai Martyrs' Cemetery in Nanjing; in 1990, a bronze statue of Xiang Ying was erected in Wuchang, engraved with the inscription of Yang Shangkun, President of the People's Republic of China: "Comrade Xiang Ying's great spirit will last forever."
