On January 4, 1941, we had to evacuate Yunling, which had been operating for several years, and drove to the north. I also left with tears in my eyes. Before the operation, I maintained intelligence liaison with our party personnel in the Kuomintang, and when the war was about to start, we obtained all the deployment plans of the Kuomintang army, but due to the mistakes of Xiang Ying and Yuan Guoping, we could not avoid falling into the enemy's trap.
Originally, the operation could be carried out in mid-December, but Commander Ye and others all advocated that Yuan Guoping should be sent to the Third War Zone to negotiate the replenishment of ammunition and supplies before leaving afterwards, and at this time, the Chongqing Office of the Communist Party of China also sent a telegram saying that a group of cadres from Chongqing and Guilin were going to come to accompany the army, and asked that the military headquarters should not leave until they arrived. This group of 28 cadres arrived on 27 December in a truck from the Guilin office, so the departure was postponed to 4 January 1941. Regarding the route of the march, Yuan Guoping also explained to the Kuomintang that the crossing of the river by Tongfan had been discovered by the enemy and that he would take the line in southern Jiangsu instead. The Third Theater also agreed, and said that when passing through Ningguo, the Shangguan Yunxiang Headquarters would reissue ammunition supplies. When Yuan Guoping returned, he put forward the idea of taking the "zhi" line at the military branch meeting, and he said: "Don't take this road directly, just learn the method of Chairman Mao's Long March, take the 'zigzag' road, first go south, mobilize the enemy to the south, and we will turn around and turn to the north." As a result, Xiang Ying was convinced, and Ye Ting also agreed, and reported to the Central Committee. Therefore, on 4 January, the military headquarters set out with more than 9,200 people, including the old 1st Regiment, the New 1st Regiment, the 3rd Old Regiment, the New 3rd Regiment, the 5th Regiment, the Special Service Regiment, and the Teaching Team.
Our army marched in three columns, and the troops directly under the army followed the second column in the middle of the road, and took the route of first going south to Maolin, Sanxi, and then passing through Jingde and Ningguo to Langxi to southern Jiangsu. We also received information in advance that the 40th Division of the Kuomintang Army had moved from western Zhejiang to southern Anhui in order to encircle and attack us. Due to the fact that the weather was not beautiful, it rained heavily, and the water of the Qingyi River rose sharply, and the pontoon bridge erected was washed by the current several times. In order to prevent harassment by enemy planes, we marched at night in the rain and walked all night before crossing Zhangjiadu on the Qingyi River, and arrived at Maolin on the morning of the 5th.
Because the road was muddy and difficult to navigate, the team was very tired, and they rested in Maolin for another day, and this delay also affected the timing of the breakthrough, and on the same day, they were attacked by the Kuomintang troops near Gaoling, and four prisoners were captured in the counterattack, and after interrogation, they were all disguised by Nationalist agents. They confessed that the encirclement and attack were arranged by the higher authorities, and we also know that the Kuomintang in this encirclement has seven divisions totaling about 70,000 troops, which is more than seven times more than our army.
On the 7th, our army continued to advance towards Piling, choosing to pass through the gap in the encirclement, but was blocked again when it entered Xingtan.
The commander of the army decided to retreat to the original route, intending to find another way to fight out, but when he marched to Gaoling on the 8th, he was fiercely blocked by the enemy, and he counterattacked near Gaotan and pursued the enemy all the way to the vicinity of Maolin. During the counterattack, a platoon commander of the 144th Division with more than 20 people armed with guns rebelled and surrendered to us, which showed that the Kuomintang launched a civil war and was also unpopular within him. On the 8th, a confidential correspondent of the military department came to me, saying that Deputy Army Commander Xiang had told me to go, and I went with the correspondent to Xiang Ying's temporary office house. The next day (9th) it was still raining heavily, and while we were resting at the Maolin Pass, suddenly a confidential correspondent came to me again and said that the secretary general wanted you to go with me immediately. When I walked to the back of the mountain, I saw that Li Yiyu had left the unit, and there, Li said to me, "When the time has come, our small guerrilla force is scattered, saying that Xiang Ying, Yuan Guoping, and Zhou Zikun are also going all the way, but I didn't see them at that time, I only saw Hu Lijiao, Luo Xiangtao, Li Buxin (secretary of the special committee of the Communist Party of China in southern Anhui), Zhang Yuanpei (deputy director of the quartermaster department), and so on, plus more than 20 people with the armed forces, and there was a meal cooked at a common people's house.
At this time, I met Xu Jinshu, the head of our Fifth Regiment, and Lin Kaifeng, the political commissar, who were ordered to assemble at the Shijingkeng military headquarters, so we also followed to Shijingkeng, only to learn that Xiang Ying, Yuan Guoping, and Zhou Zikun were already there. Seeing Xiang Ying's depressed appearance, I heard that they had a meeting and announced that the central government had ordered Xiang Ying to be removed from his post, but it was not clear what was going on. Later, I heard that it was Rao Shushi (deputy secretary of the Southeast Bureau of the CPC Central Committee) who sent a telegram to the Central Committee saying that Xiang, Yuan, and Zhou had left the team and ran away without permission, so the Central Committee immediately replied to the telegram to remove Xiang Ying from his post and designated Ye Ting and Rao Shushi to be in charge. But how Xiang Ying came back soon on her own, I also felt a mystery at the time. Of course, if the central authorities had telegraph instructions to "disperse and break through and preserve cadres," and Xiang Ying decided to disperse and break through the encirclement and act alone without consulting Ye Ting, it would also be wrong, and it would cause confusion and shake the morale of the army. Some people say that Xiang Ying once sent Ye Chao to find Ye Ting, but why they failed to study together, the reason is not clear, and it has become a historical question. In order to strengthen the operational structure of the headquarters and rectify and improve the chaotic structure at that time, new cadres were appointed, and I was transferred to the deputy chief of the reconnaissance section (second section) of the general staff. The main pipe leads the way with the guide, ready to break out.
Shijingkeng is surrounded by a large mountain, four or five miles from east to west, seven or eight miles from north to south, there are several scattered villages, nearly 100 households. Commander Ye commanded our army to occupy the surrounding hills, determined to hold on for the time being, hoping to gain time to wait for changes. But after holding out for four days, by the 13th of January, the battle was completely lost, our troops suffered heavy casualties, we had no assault force to break out of the encirclement, and we had reached the point of running out of ammunition and food.
It was still raining, and my clothes were soaking wet. At this time, the head of the military department decided to disperse the breakout in order to preserve as much of the revolutionary backbone and living forces as possible. I was given a hundred silver dollars and some fiat currency as a breakout fee, and I was asked to personally try to rush out and return to northern Jiangsu or Yan'an. I burned the documents I had brought with me, the notes and photographs of my own autobiographical novels of 50,000 or 60,000 words, and burned them down in the mountains. But a group of us didn't get out of the way, and we retreated. At this time, Comrade Xiang Ying found that Commander Ye Ting and Rao Shushi (sent by the party to run a newspaper overseas, and he was sent to the Southeast Bureau as deputy secretary shortly after returning from the United States) were separated, so he asked us to look for them. When we found them, Commander Ye was resting on the mountain, and Rao Shushi gathered with us. Li Zhigao and I broke through the encirclement, crossed a ditch, and reached a mountain road, which was blocked by more than 30 enemy machine guns. I persuaded Xiang Ying and Zhou Zikun to climb the mountain, but they did not agree, and later the enemy shouted to us, asking Commander Ye and Deputy Commander Xiang to go down the mountain to negotiate. At this time, Rao Shushi urgently negotiated with Commander Ye, and proposed that Commander Ye go down the mountain to negotiate with Gu Zhutong and let our army personnel go down the mountain to the New Fourth Army in northern Jiangsu. Commander Ye was reluctant to go, believing that under the current situation, there were no conditions for negotiation at all. Rao Shushi said: This is not your personal action, it was sent by the party organization, and all of us present in the future can prove it to the central authorities. In this way, this famous general of the Northern Expedition reluctantly took his nephews Ye Qinhe, Ye Tianliu, Ye Furu, secretaries, adjutants, and guards, as well as Li Zifang, director of the Organization Department of the Military Political Department, and Huang Cheng, secretary general, and more than a dozen other people down the mountain. We stood on the top of the hill and waited for news from the commander, but when the commander left, he was detained and never returned, so we had to leave in a huff. As we walked, Rao Shushi disappeared, and later met Comrade Yuan Guoping, who was tired and said that he wanted to take a break and get something to eat. Before we could see it, the enemy had come up and shouted for us to surrender, and then the machine guns came in a roar. I said to the enemy as a means of delaying the troops: "How can you surrender if the machine guns keep firing like this?" The enemy stopped firing for a while, and I took the opportunity to turn around and run, and the bullets came again, but they did not hit me. Hu Lijiao pulled me up the mountain, and I walked with Hu Lijiao.
At that time, I had only one persistent conviction, and I would not die in the hands of the reactionaries. I finally crossed a hill and met Hu Lijiao and three other comrades, so the four of us walked together. With our relatives together, we are not afraid, so everyone changes into casual clothes and goes on the road. Considering that the four of them have a big goal together, they were divided into two groups, and I and Hu Lijiao were the queen. They didn't go far, and the two comrades had stomach discomfort due to sleeping in the open for several days, so it was convenient for them to go down the mountain. We went straight in the direction of the northeastern township of Jing County, because we knew that the party's mass foundation in this area was relatively good. Although we were exhausted along the way, and the wounds on our feet ached, we still talked and laughed, and did not take the danger that could come at any time seriously.
The gunfire was still so tight in the distance. Suddenly, someone at the intersection in front of me lifted a bamboo pole, picked a piece of clothing on the bamboo pole, and looked around there. We immediately realized that it was an agent, but we calmly stepped forward and deliberately looked at him aggressively, but he did not dare to provoke us. But when we went into the teahouse to wait for the two comrades, we waited for a long time, and perhaps they were captured by the secret agent we had just met.
The enemy's criminal act of hunting down the breakout force continues brutally. During the day, we had to hide in the inaccessible mountains, and at night, we went down the mountain to get something to eat and ask the people for directions. Once, our hiding place was discovered by a strong man who asked us if there was a "guy" on us, and we pretended to be confused, not knowing what the "guy" was, and saying that we were running a business. Naturally, this can't be hidden from him, "How can anyone go to the deep mountains and old forests to open a 'dock'?" the strong man said coldly. From this sentence "open the dock", I immediately deduced that this person was a disciple of the Southern Anhui Youth Gang. When I was the chief of the intelligence section in southern Anhui, I learned the code language of the Green Gang, and I was able to deal with the "cuts" on the rivers and lakes. I immediately started talking to this strong man in these "black words", and I also pretended to be happy to meet my own family in a serious way. Later, he found a shriveled old man in his seventies, who was obviously his head, and this old man tested me meticulously, and I could finally handle it. The old man then retreated and spoke to me alone. It turned out that this old man was very shrewd, and he had already seen that we were the New Fourth Army, but he was quite "righteous" and said cheerfully: "I will not hand you over to the Central Army! "The road he took us on was winding and rugged, and behind a dense wood, he settled us in a hut where two charcoal burners lived. The old man said that they were also members of the Communist Party and were from Hubei. Only then did he sigh and say: "After fighting the New Fourth Army, China will not be saved!" Later, he admitted that he was also a member of the Communist Party and had served as secretary of the district party committee, but he could not stand the constraints of discipline and could not bear hardships, so he withdrew. They gave us their beds to sleep on, slept on the floor, and sold us their clothes and trousers.
After that, the old man always sent his granddaughter to bring us food on time every two or three days, and sometimes there was fish and meat, and we spent the Spring Festival in the mountains. Although there is food and drink, birds and beasts are rare to come to this kind of place, the surrounding mountains are beautiful, and the scenery is really not bad, but young revolutionaries like us have to hide here as hermits. At the beginning of spring, the old man saw that the wind outside had loosened a little, and sent a reliable character to take us out of the mountains.
Out of the mountains, I was excited to find that I knew the road in front of me. It turned out that before the "Southern Anhui Incident," the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army had organized a staff tour group to investigate the route of the northern retreat, and I served as the political commissar of the tour group, and during the inspection, I drew up a detailed plan and drew up a map. Not when this experience comes in handy.
Who knew that at that time, the Kuomintang troops' hunting down and killing of the stragglers of the New Fourth Army had not ended, secret agents abounded, and white terror was still permeated along the way. We walked to Zikeng, Jing County, and were eating at a farmer's house, when we encountered an enemy search, but fortunately a child reported and was able to leave in time. Because we have grasped the characteristics of the enemy who only come out during the day and do not dare to act at night, we walk day and night, do not take the main road, climb the mountains and cross the mountains, and cross the trail. There were many times when Hu Lijiao and I almost fell into the clutches of the devil, but fortunately, both of us had a hundred yuan on us, and sometimes we took out a few yuan to buy off those eagle dogs before we got out of danger. I remember that Hu Lijiao once said with emotion: "Thanks to this breakthrough fee!"
In this way, after passing through Xuancheng and Langxi counties, and arriving at Meizhu in Liyang County, Jiangsu, it was only then that he finally jumped out of the search circle laid by the Kuomintang. However, the New Fourth Army units were not found in Xixiang, Liyang. One of the peasants who was on duty and a family member of our army told us that the New Fourth Army had left for Wujin County. With great difficulty, we found one of our military stations (traffic stations) by Changdang Lake, and found the local district party secretary Comrade Lao Gong. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he turned out to be a clerk at a bookstore I knew in Shanghai, so things were easier. Through his arrangement, we finally found Liao Haitao, the political commissar of the Jiangnan Headquarters of the New Fourth Army, and we were overjoyed. Comrade Liao Haitao, an outstanding commander of our party, was surrounded by the enemy in a battle that followed, and died heroically because of the bullets, and he was a hero that I will always remember.
After being arranged by Political Commissar Liao, we crossed the blockade line of highways, canals, railways, and the Yangtze River, and arrived at Dongtai in northern Jiangsu on 15 February. I first found my old comrade-in-arms, Comrade Zhou Lin, and then I really returned home. He put us in a hotel and took a shower. That night, I got some local shochu and drank it together, and I took advantage of it to write a poem [Arriving in Northern Jiangsu]:
Afraid of mentioning the battle record, he was drunk and picked up the dust of the sun and the moon.
The spring is raging, and the blood debt should be extended.
At that time, Comrades Chen Yi and Su Yu also happened to be holding a meeting in Dongtai City to make arrangements for the attack on Taizhou, and they took the time to meet us, and we were very happy in our hearts. Compared to the previous days, it is really heaven and earth. Comrade Chen Yi said: "You (and Comrade Ye Chao) are the first batch of cadres who broke through to northern Jiangsu during the 'Southern Anhui Incident'. "We were cordially greeted by Comrades Chen Yi and Su Yu, and we were also welcomed by our comrades as if we were heroes. After listening to our report on the situation in the "Southern Anhui Incident," Comrade Chen Yi sighed and said: "Comrade Xiang Ying was too weak against the Kuomintang, so he suffered a great loss. He also said: "How can we disperse our forces into three ways to break through the encirclement? We should concentrate our forces and choose one direction where the enemy is weak to break through the encirclement!" In this way, we must lose the battle by dispersing our forces. "Comrade Chen Yi has been with Comrade Xiang Ying during the three-year guerrilla war and knows Comrade Xiang Ying very well. He briefly and concisely pointed out the lessons of the "Southern Anhui Incident" politically and militarily, and I was deeply impressed at that time.
Comrade Chen Yi asked us to rest and recuperate in Dongtai, so he quickly went to the Yancheng Military Headquarters to report to Comrade Liu Shaoqi. We took a small steamer to Yancheng and met Comrade Liu Shaoqi that night. Comrade Shaoqi commended us, then listened to our detailed report, which lasted for eight hours from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day, and immediately drafted a report to the Central Committee on the basis of the specific materials of the "Southern Anhui Incident" that we had reported. He was very happy that I had also compiled into a document the names and contact methods of our party's comrades who were engaged in secret work in the nationalized areas and enemy-occupied areas, which I had memorized by heart, and handed them over to Comrade Shaoqi in person. Comrade Shaoqi immediately gave an explanation of the task, and asked Comrade Hu Lijiao and I to serve as members of the "Examination Committee for Cadres of the Southern Anhui Breakout." Soon there were more than 300 people who broke through to northern Jiangsu, and Rao Shushi also broke through, and he stood in front of us respectfully and said, "Please review." When Rao Shushi broke through, he was interrogated by the Kuomintang, and he claimed to be a Chinese medicine practitioner who came to the mountains to buy medicinal materials, but he was not seen to be flawed, so he was let go.
[Yangfan (1912-February 20, 1999), formerly known as Shi Yunhua, was once known as Yin Yang. He is a native of Hengjing Town, Shajiabang Town, Changshu, Jiangsu. In 1924, he went to Shanghai to study. In September 1932, he was admitted to the Department of Chinese Literature of Peking University. In 1937, he joined the Communist Party of China and participated in the "December 9" Movement in the same year. The following year, he became the editor and special correspondent of the Translation Daily. At the beginning of 1939, he led the "Performance Troupe of Soldiers of the Third War Zone" organized by the Cultural Salvation Association to the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui to visit the soldiers of the Third War Zone, and later joined the New Fourth Army and served as the political instructor of the Cultural Team of the New Fourth Army Teaching Corps, the secretary of the deputy commander Xiang Ying, and the chief of the Investigation Section of the Military Justice Department. In 1941, Yang Fan served as the deputy director and director of the Military Judicial Department of the New Fourth Army, and concurrently served as the director of the Social Department of the Yanfu District Party Committee, the director of the District Security Department, and the director of the Security Department and the director of the Investigation and Research Office of the Political Department of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army. In October 1944, he was appointed director of the Enemy Area Work Department of the Central China Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. During the War of Liberation, he served as the head of the Liaison Department of the Central China Branch of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the deputy director of the Social Department of the East China Bureau. In June 1949, Yang Fan was appointed deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yang Fan served as deputy director and director of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau. Later, the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau was reorganized, and Yang Fan was dismissed. In April 1955, he was arrested and imprisoned for 11 years in connection with the "Pan (Hannian) Yang (Fan) Case". In August 1965, Yang Fan was sentenced to 16 years in prison and deprived of political rights for life. In 1975, Yangfan was sent to Shayang Labor Reform Farm in Hubei Province to settle labor. In April 1980, the Ministry of Public Security rehabilitated Yangfan. In August 1983, all the untruths of Yangfan were overturned, he was completely rehabilitated, his reputation and party membership were restored, and he was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai CPPCC. 】