At the end of November 1947, I led the political commissars (or directors of the political department) of the three divisions of the Ninth Column to Harbin to attend the political work conference of the Northeast Military Region. Braving the bitter cold of dozens of degrees below zero, we rode horses to the headquarters of the Second Column east of Tongliao and met with the cadres of the Second Column attending the meeting. Wu Faxian, the political commissar of the Second Column, had a jeep, and I took the bus with him to Tongliao Station, while Wang Wen, the political commissar of our division, and other comrades could only take a truck.
In Tongliao we changed trains, this is the first time in my life to take the train, although it is a stuffy tank car, cold and bad, but it is better than walking, horseback riding. We got off the bus in Qiqihar and came to the second column detention center, I vomited and fell ill. After staying overnight in the Second Column, we changed to a passenger car and headed for Harbin. The passenger car is much more comfortable than the stuffy tank car, but there is no heating, so that Wu Faxian is still losing his temper when he arrives in Harbin: "Damn, I don't have any heating on the train, and it's too cold for me!"
The military-political conference lasted for a long time, from the end of December 1947 to February of the following year. The meeting was presided over by Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan and Director Tan Zheng. Many of the people attending the meeting were old comrades-in-arms and comrades whom I had known since I was in Yan'an, and everyone was very excited to get together again. The meeting summed up the experience of our army's political work in the previous campaign, and all the cadres attending the meeting rejoiced at the excellent situation in the northeast battlefield. At the meeting, Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan clearly put forward the operational tasks of "seizing big cities," "cutting off the enemy's retreat," and "striving to completely annihilate the enemy's forces entering the northeast." He also demanded that this idea be "widely publicized and educated among the troops and set up a clear direction."
The meeting made arrangements for military and political training after the end of the winter offensive, and demanded that all troops, on the basis of complaining about hardships and education, launch a larger-scale new-style army rectification campaign, and enhance the relations between officers and soldiers and strengthen unity and unity through the "five rectifications and one inspection" (rectification of thinking, work style, relations, discipline, establishment, and composition) and the education on land reform and the launching of a democratic campaign. It also requires all units to conduct general education on urban discipline in light of the combat mission they are faced with in seizing large cities.
Now, I would like to talk specifically about a few issues that are closely related to my nine verticals:
1. Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan's conversation with me
During the meeting, Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan talked to me. Political Commissar Luo humorously said: "Oh, you eight or nine columns, I didn't say in writing in the past, you are like locusts in southern Liaoning!"
I know that Political Commissar Luo is criticizing us for our poor discipline, and probably there is a reflection on us in the local area. I am engaged in the political work of the army, and the words of Political Commissar Luo have stimulated me a lot, and I feel very uncomfortable. I said to Political Commissar Luo: "Political Commissar Luo, we have made mistakes in the discipline of the troops, and we will definitely solve them well through the 'five rectifications and one investigation.'" However, there are also some objective situations, the winter clothing of our troops in the eighth and ninth columns has not been solved, and it is so cold that it is not good, and many people have frozen. In that case, the local tyrants were beaten to solve some problems, mainly distributed to the masses, especially food, and the troops still had it, but the troops still needed to keep out the cold and solve the problem of hats, shoes, and clothes. Due to the lax control of some cadres, some problems of violating policy discipline have emerged......"
Political Commissar Luo listened carefully to my opinions.
The conversation ended, but the phrase "You are like locusts in southern Liaoning" was still imprinted in my mind.
2. Lin Biao's conversation with me
The day after Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan talked to me, someone informed me: "Mr. Lin wants to talk to you." "
Lin Biao lived at the Shuangcheng Zidong Command Post in the south of Harbin at the time. He sent an American Jeep to pick me up. After dinner that day, I asked them to tell Lin Biao: I have arrived.
I knew Lin Biao when he was in Yan'an. At that time, he was the principal of Kang University, and I was a student of the first team, and Lin Biao's residence was very close to our first team. Lin Biao knows me and knows that I am competitive. I remember once I had a quarrel with Comrade Tan Zhengwen, and later the branch secretary helped us solve it. One day, Lin Biao was walking on Yan'an Street and happened to meet me, and he asked me: "Li Zhongquan, has your quarrel problem been solved?" I told him that it had been solved.
The next morning, Lin Biao met with me, asked me about the situation of the troops, and said to me very kindly: "You comrades of the Ninth Column are just a ditch gang who has not fought well. If we do a good job, we can annihilate one more division of the enemy in this winter offensive. Due to the sluggishness of your troops, which delayed the fighters, the division ran away. We have criticized you, and the former finger has also criticized you. ...... You should do a good job of reorganizing your troops and training them well. "
I left the column for a meeting in Harbin, and I didn't know that such a big event had happened at home. I said to Mr. Lin: "I don't know the situation of the ditch gang fighting. After the autumn offensive, we are ready to return to eastern Hebei. I wasn't able to go back. But the troops are still the equipment of Jidong, and it is so cold that it has froze many people, so there are some problems in discipline, and Political Commissar Luo also criticized it. The main reason why we did not fight well in this battle is that we have not worked hard enough subjectively; in addition, we hope that the leaders will understand the objective situation. "
Lin Biao listened carefully to my opinions, inquired about the relevant situation, and said to me in parting: "Zhan Caifang of your column is the commander, and the organization has decided that you will be the political commissar. "
Before that, I was the deputy political commissar and director of the Political Department of the Ninth Column. Not long after Lin Biao and I talked, my appointment as political commissar and director of the Political Department of the Ninth Column also arrived. I think of a greater responsibility. I am in charge of the political and ideological work of the whole column. The two issues of the Ninth Column discussed by Political Commissar Luo and Lin Biao put a lot of pressure on me, but I am determined to turn the pressure into a driving force, do a good job in the military and political training of the Ninth Column, and add honor to the Ninth Column.
3. On the issue of the so-called "anti-land reform" of Wang Wen, political commissar of the 27th Division
During the Harbin political work conference, when Director Tan Zheng talked about the need to educate the troops on land reform, he suddenly said very seriously: "It is not permissible to oppose land reform! A political commissar of a division of the Ninth Column opposed land reform and wrote a letter to the localities, which reported it to the Northeast Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which has now forwarded the letter to us. This matter was instructed to be handled by the Nine Verticals and reported the results to us. "
At such a meeting, we were first named by the names of the Ninth Column, and the political commissar of a division opposed such a serious political issue, which shook several of us at the meeting. In particular, the political commissar ordered by Director Tan was Comrade Wang Wen, the political commissar of the 27th Division. He was sitting next to us when he came to the meeting with me, and he was even more frightened, and he was not in a good mood until the meeting ended, and he cried on the way back to his residence. I persuaded him at the time: "Don't worry, you can explain this problem to us clearly when you go back, and we will also check it out." "
Wang Wen is a native of Jixian County, eastern Hebei Province, and his family is a landlord. I know this comrade well, he is bold in his work, capable of fighting, a cadre of the great insurrection, and the only division-level cadre in eastern Hebei among the first-level cadres of our column. If such a comrade is eliminated, it will be a big loss to the troops.
4. Return to the Nine Verticals
In February 1948, when the political work conference of the Northeast Military Region ended, I led the cadres of our column from Harbin to the towns and cities of northwest Liaoning Province with the determination to convey the spirit of the meeting, do a good job in military and political training, and change the appearance of the Ninth Column.
I briefed Comrade Zhan Caifang on the meeting. Zhan Caifang said to me with a heavy heart: "After you left, the ditch gang did not fight well, and was criticized by the general manager. "I told him about the conversation between President Lin and Political Commissar Luo, and he also felt a lot of pressure. I told him, "We don't need to carry our burdens, we should use criticism as a spur and pressure into motivation." "
On how to turn pressure into motivation, I talked to Zhan Caifang about my opinion, and we can put forward a slogan in connection with the unit's overall training: "For the shame of the snow ditch gang and the removal of the locust-like infamy, we swear that we will work hard to defeat the battle!" This slogan will certainly inspire the commanders and fighters of the whole column to think of seeking glory in shame, turn pressure into motivation, and boost the troops' morale to the fullest, so that the whole training will be more targeted and achieve more desirable results.
Zhan Caifang agrees with me. In our Ninth Column, he is the commander and I am the political commissar, and in the party committee, he is the secretary and I am the deputy secretary. He was very gentle and good-tempered, but I was impatient, and sometimes very angry. However, whether it is operational command or ideological work, we have worked closely together and respected each other's opinions. The reason why we have done a good job in the Ninth Column has a lot to do with the unity of the leading cadres.
In this way, we have drawn up a preliminary plan for the whole training with the characteristics of our nine verticals.
Regarding Wang Wen's question, I also had a serious discussion with Zhan Caifang. I said to Zhan Caifang: "We need to clarify the nature of Wang Wen's problem, if he is not anti-land reform, but we expel him from the party according to opposing land reform, then we cannot be the political commissar." It is a pity that such a comrade has been eliminated! According to what he said, we still need to investigate. Zhan Caifang agreed with me.
The results of the investigation were: Comrade Wang Wen had opinions on some of the "leftist" practices of land reform in the county, and he wrote a letter to the county party committee, saying that some of their practices were inappropriate. The county party committee did not agree with this criticism and complained to the higher-ups.
Zhan Caifang and I believe that Comrade Wang Wen has opinions on some methods of land reform, and he should be allowed to raise them, but we should pay attention to the way and put them forward to the organization. However, he wrote directly to the county party committee to give advice, but the county did not agree, so he made a problem. He was wrong on this issue, but it cannot be characterized as opposing land reform. According to his consistent performance, he was a good comrade and a cadre of the great riot, and he should not be dismissed from his post or expelled from the party. We decided to let Comrade Wang Wen make a review at the Ninth Vertical Party Committee, and everyone would criticize and help.
Before the meeting of the party committee of the column, we did some work among the comrades. During the meeting, Wang Wen made an inspection and his attitude was very sincere; The members of the party committee knew that our attitude was to protect him, and they were very measured in their criticism.
After the Party Committee, I drafted a telegram, which roughly read:
Report to the General Headquarters of the East and to the Northeast Bureau: Comrade Wang Wen, political commissar of the 27th Division of our Column, has opinions on certain methods of land reform at the local level, and he should report them to the organization and should not directly put forward his opinions to the local authorities. It was wrong for him to do so, but the party committee of the column did not believe that it could constitute opposition to land reform. The comrade's attitude in inspection was very good, and we believe that we should not be treated as anti-land reform and given strict criticism. If not, please comment.
After the telegram was drafted, Zhan also agreed, and it was sent to the Northeast Military Region and the Northeast Bureau. However, the Northeast Bureau and the Military Region never heard back, and in fact they did not express their position. A stone in our hearts has finally fallen to the ground, and Comrade Wang Wen is of course very happy.
I have a bad temper and sometimes go too far in criticizing cadres, but I have always been very cautious in dealing with cadre issues.
What I didn't expect was that 20 years later, during the Cultural Revolution, Wang Wen was beaten as a "three-anti element", and his old account of "anti-land reform" was turned over. The task force went to Zhan Caifang, and Zhan Caifang said: "I can't remember this matter, you can go to Li Zhongquan." "
At that time, I was also detained by the task force, and I said to the task force: "I can recite this matter, how the party committee handled it, and the original text of the telegram." It cannot be said that he is opposed to land reform, and if it is said that he is against land reform, then the column party committee is not wrong. The task force came to me for the second time, and I said to them, "You don't need to ask, it's the same as last time, and there's nothing new to add." They had no choice but to walk away. However, this is still not possible, and the issue of Comrade Wang Wen has still not been resolved. It was not until later that I sent the supporting materials to the Air Force that the Wang Wen issue was resolved.
[Li Zhongquan (1915 ~ August 4, 2014), a native of Daxian County, Sichuan. He joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in 1928, the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in 1932, and the Communist Party of China in 1933. He participated in the Agrarian Revolution, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. In 1955 he was awarded the rank of Major General. 】
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