In December 1947, a thrilling battle was staged in Songbu Town, Macheng, Hubei Province. The 6th Brigade of the 18th Column annihilated more than 2,400 "small security units" gathered here overnight. However, after the battle, a shocking news came: Zhao Gang, political commissar of the 18 th Brigade, ordered that all more than 2,000 prisoners be killed! After learning of the incident, the superiors did not investigate the responsibility, but instead sent a telegram of commendation and a meritorious service. What is going on? Why did Political Commissar Zhao Gang give such a cruel order? What kind of story is hidden behind this?
1. The evil deeds of the small security team
In 1947, the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party entered its most intense stage. The Kuomintang army was losing ground on the battlefield, and in order to block the pace of the PLA's offensive, the Kuomintang began to organize militia groups in various places, which became the notorious "small security forces."
The small security team is mostly composed of local landlords, bullies, and hooligans, who are armed with all kinds of weapons and under the banner of "defending their hometowns", but in fact they do all kinds of evil. The most common method used by the small security team is to hide among the common people and wait for an opportunity to brutalize our cadres, soldiers, and masses.
A cadre who was part of the agrarian reform was captured by the small security team on the way, and they first whipped the cadre, then burned his face with a red-hot iron bar, and finally gouged out his eyes and tortured him to death. When a wounded soldier was recuperating at a villager's home, the small security team broke into the villager's home, dragged the wounded man out, inserted it from the lower body with a bamboo stick, and stabbed him straight into the throat.
The evil deeds of the small security team caused panic among the local people, and many people did not dare to take in the wounded and sick of our army, for fear of retaliation from the small security team. The work of our army has been seriously affected, and the morale has been greatly damaged. The soldiers talked about the "protection" color change, and would rather die on the battlefield than fall into the hands of the small security team and be tortured.
The rampant behavior of the small security team soon attracted the attention of the top brass of our army. Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, and other leaders repeatedly demanded in telegrams that the troops should severely crack down on small security units, heighten vigilance, and protect themselves. However, relying on their familiarity with the terrain and the cover of the masses, it was always difficult to completely eradicate them.
In November 1947, the small security team stationed in the Macheng area was even more arrogant. At the instigation of the Kuomintang troops, they launched a frenzied retaliatory action against our troops stationed in Macheng. In just one month, more than 400 cadres, fighters and people were brutally murdered by them.
The evil deeds of the small security team completely angered the officers and men of our army. Chief Liu Deng immediately ordered the 6th Column and 18th Brigade to immediately attack and go to Songbu Town to completely eliminate this stubborn bandit and avenge the dead comrades.
After receiving the order, Xiao Yongyin, commander of the 18th Brigade, and Zhao Gang, political commissar, immediately led the troops to march to Songbu Town. This operation is a matter of great importance, and there is no room for half a point difference, and Xiao Yongyin and Zhao Gang both feel a great responsibility.
Political Commissar Zhao Gang is quite a legendary figure. Born into a family of intellectuals, he graduated from Tsinghua University in 1936 and could have lived a privileged life in a big city, but he resolutely chose the revolutionary road. After the Xi'an Incident, he joined the Communist Party and participated in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhao Gang entered the Northeast with the troops and participated in the Liberation War. He was a good thinker, had a good grasp of military theory, and soon grew into an excellent commander. However, Political Commissar Zhao Gang was not a reckless man who could only fight, he was well aware of the importance of political work, and often personally told the soldiers about the situation and family life, and was a leader who was deeply loved by the soldiers.
This time, Political Commissar Zhao Gang and Brigade Commander Xiao Yongyin led their troops south, vowing to completely wipe out the small security team and eliminate harm for the people. Songbu Town is the last hiding place of the small security team, and the annihilation of the small security team in Songbu Town is equivalent to cutting off the armed forces of the Kuomintang in the Macheng area, which is of great significance for consolidating the rule of our army in southeastern Hubei Province.
Political Commissar Zhao Gang looked at the map and silently pondered the route of the march and the deployment of the operation. He knows that this will be a tough battle, but he is confident that he will win this battle and defend the interests of the people with his blood and life, even if it costs a lot.
2. The Battle of Songbu
In the middle of the night on December 2, 1947, the cold wind was bitter, and the soldiers of the 6th Column and 18th Brigade groped their way forward in the dark. Their target was the town of Songbu, where more than 2,400 members of the small security team had fled from Macheng. With the support of the Kuomintang army, these small security units committed evil deeds and oppressed the people, and they had long become enemies of the people.
The 18th Brigade's attack this time is to completely eliminate this stubborn bandit force and eliminate harm for the people. Brigade Commander Xiao Yongyin and Political Commissar Zhao Gang are both veterans of the battlefield, and they are well aware of the importance of this operation and have repeatedly studied the combat plan before setting off.
The town of Songbu is a densely populated town surrounded by low earthen walls. The small guards are entrenched in the town, and the earthen wall becomes their natural barrier. If you want to conquer Songbu, you must first break through this line of defense.
Political Commissar Zhao Gang ordered the troops to attack Songbu from different directions in three directions. He himself led a reinforced company, ready to wait for an opportunity. Brigade Commander Xiao Yongyin commanded the reserves, ready to reinforce at any time.
At midnight, the battle began. Our soldiers launched a fierce attack, grenades, machine guns, and rifles were put into battle, and suddenly the smoke of gunpowder filled the air, and the sound of guns and artillery shook the sky. Although the small security team is numerous, they are all a rabble, where are the opponents of the regular army.
After several hours of fierce fighting, the sky was already white. The defense line of the small security team was completely broken, and the streets and alleys of Songbu Town were full of figures fleeing in a hurry. Our soldiers were in hot pursuit, fortresses were conquered, and streets and alleys were occupied.
Just as the battle was drawing to a close, the unexpected happened. The leader of a small security team actually led dozens of people to hide in a private house and resist stubbornly. This group of people was armed with machine guns and resisted desperately, and our army was unable to overcome it for a while.
After political commissar Zhao Gang learned of the situation, he immediately led the reinforcement company to the scene. He made a quick decision and ordered the warriors to attack with fire. With a loud "boom", the grenade exploded in the house, and the fire spread instantly. Seeing that the general trend had gone, the leader of the small security team actually committed suicide with a gun. When the rest of the people saw that the leader was dead, they dropped their weapons and fell to their knees and begged for mercy.
The battle is finally over. Our army annihilated more than 2,000 small security units and captured a large number of weapons and ammunition. The town of Songbu was back in the hands of the people, and the local people were all rejoicing.
Brigadier Xiao Yongyin personally counted the results of the battle, but found a disturbing situation. According to prior information, there were more than 2,400 small security teams in Songbu Town, but after the battle, only more than 2,000 people were annihilated, and several hundred people were missing.
Could it be that the information is wrong? Xiao Yongyin was a little puzzled. He immediately ordered his troops to search inside and outside the town to find out what had slipped through the net.
Political Commissar Zhao Gang also felt that things were not simple. With his many years of combat experience, his intuition told him that the hundreds of small security guards were likely to take advantage of the chaos to blend in with the crowd and try to escape this catastrophe.
Thinking of this, Zhao Gang's face sank. He knew that if these hundreds of people were allowed to escape, it would inevitably bring great trouble to our army in the future. The members of the small security team are all extremely vicious people, they are familiar with the terrain, and they have the masses as cover, so it is easy to fight our army's guerrillas.
"We must not let them escape!" Zhao Gang secretly made up his mind. He immediately called a meeting of his subordinates to discuss countermeasures. Everyone unanimously agreed that it is necessary to find out the hundreds of small security team elements as soon as possible and completely eliminate them so as to prevent future troubles.
However, how to find out these hundreds of small security teams from the vast sea of people? This is a thorny problem. There are tens of thousands of people in Songbu Town, not to mention tens of thousands of people, and if you go door-to-door to investigate, I don't know how much time it will take.
Zhao Gang frowned, he had to come up with an effective method as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
III. Screening and Disposal of Captives
The battle of Songbu won a decisive victory, but Political Commissar Zhao Gang did not feel any relaxed in his heart. He knows that the real problem has just begun. How to find out from the tens of thousands of people who were involved in the hundreds of small security team members is an extremely thorny problem.
Zhao Gang immediately convened a meeting of the staff officers, and everyone brainstormed and came up with various methods. Someone suggested that all the people of Songbu Town should be gathered in the central square of the town, and then their identities would be checked one by one. But Zhao Gang shook his head, there are tens of thousands of people in Songbu Town, if you do this, I don't know how much time and energy it will take.
Some people also suggested that the masses should be mobilized to expose those elements of the small security team. But Zhao Gang also vetoed the proposal. He knew that the small security team started by killing the people on weekdays, and the people of Songbu hated it in their hearts, but who dared to stand up and identify them at this time?
Just when everyone was at a loss, Zhao Gang's adjutant Wang Qiang came up with an idea. He said that although the small security team does evil on weekdays, they are also ordinary people after all, and their dress is not much different from that of ordinary farmers. To identify them from the crowd, it may be difficult to identify them by their appearances alone.
Wang Qiang continued, but we can start from another angle. As we all know, the Xiaobao team all fled from Macheng, although they are all locals, but there are still some differences between them and the people of Songbu Town, especially in the accent.
When Zhao Gang heard this, he was immediately interested. He nodded again and again, motioning for Wang Qiang to continue. Wang Qiang explained that when the people of Macheng speak, they often pronounce the word "water" as "fu", while the locals of Songbu tend to pronounce it as "fat". If we ask everyone to pronounce "water" once, we can tell if they are out-of-towners by their accent.
Zhao Gang was overjoyed when he heard this, and praised Wang Qiang for thinking well. He immediately ordered the troops to follow this method and investigate all young and middle-aged males in Songbu Town.
Soon, the men of the town were gathered in the square. The staff brought a basin of water and asked them to step forward one by one and say the word "water" out loud. Sure enough, most of the pronunciation was a standard Songbu accent, and only more than 2,000 people pronounced the unique tone of Macheng.
Zhao Gang nodded with satisfaction, it seemed that Wang Qiang's method had worked. He ordered all the more than 2,000 people to be taken outside the town and kept under strict guard, while the rest were all released.
But then, a new problem arises. How to deal with the more than 2,000 captives? Zhao Gang fell into deep thought. Releasing them is tantamount to raising tigers to cause trouble, but if they are to correct the Fa on the spot, it will inevitably be biased.
Zhao Gang hesitated again and again, and finally made up his mind and ordered his subordinates to execute the prisoners on the spot. His reasoning was that these people were the most vicious scoundrels, and they had many crimes and their hands were stained with the blood of the people. If the tiger is let go back to the mountain, there will be endless troubles. Rather than leaving hidden dangers, it is better to eliminate them once and for all.
Zhao Gang's decision caused a lot of controversy at the time. Some comrades believed that the captives should be given a chance to mend their ways, and perhaps some of them had been coerced into obedience and were not really enemies of us. But Zhao Gang was resolute, saying that the revolutionary war years were so cruel, and being merciful to the enemy was cruel to the people.
In this way, more than 2,000 prisoners were taken to a lake beach outside the town of Songbu, where they were executed by our soldiers with bayonets and wooden sticks. When the young soldiers started, it was inevitable that they were a little timid and unbearable, Zhao Gang shouted loudly on the side, cheering up the soldiers, and asking them to think about how the small security team brutalized our soldiers and people on weekdays, and today is the time to do the right thing for heaven!
A few hours later, the execution ended. More than 2,000 corpses were hastily buried, and the town of Songbu returned to its former tranquility. Zhao Gang looked at the lake beach in the distance, and his heart was mixed. He knew that his decision, although cruel, was necessary. Revolutionary war is never a child's play, and being merciful to the enemy is tantamount to harming the people.
Fourth, the impact and significance of the event
The victory in the battle of Songbu caused a huge repercussion in the local area. When the news reached the head of the military region, everyone applauded Political Commissar Zhao Gang's wise decision. The commander of the military region immediately sent a congratulatory telegram to the 18th Brigade, expressing warm congratulations on the victory in the battle of Songbu, and especially commending Political Commissar Zhao Gang and giving him a first-class meritorious service.
When the news reached Zhao Gang's ears, he didn't show much joy. In his view, the victory in the battle of Songbu is gratifying, but it also exposes some problems worthy of vigilance. In addition to the connivance and support of the Kuomintang, the reason why the small security team was able to play a role in the disaster also reflected that we still have many deficiencies in mass work.
Zhao Gang was keenly aware that a simple military strike could only solve the superficial problem and fundamentally eradicate the cancer of the small security team, and it was also necessary to do a good job in mass work and mobilize the broad masses of the people so that they could clearly understand the reactionary nature of the small security force and consciously struggle against it.
Therefore, on the one hand, Zhao Gang sent a working group to go deep into the countryside to publicize the party's policies to the masses and expose the crimes of the small security team; on the other hand, he also adopted a series of measures to reassure the people and restore production. He called on the soldiers to help the people repair the houses damaged in the battle, carry out voluntary labor, and win the trust and support of the masses with practical actions.
Zhao Gang's measures have received immediate results. In Songbu Town, more and more people began to stand up and expose the remnants of the small security team who were mixed in the crowd. For a time, our army's political offensive was in full swing and had the potential to set the prairie on fire.
The victory in the battle of Songbu dealt a heavy blow to the local bandits and diehards. They finally realized that their rule could no longer be sustained by the support of the Kuomintang. Some local tyrants and shoddy gentry who are familiar with current affairs have come to our army's garrison one after another, expressing their willingness to accept transformation and do some good things for the people.
Zhao Gang's attitude towards these people is neither to relax his vigilance, nor to beat them to death. He knew that some of these people were genuinely repentant, but some were hypocritical and tried to protect their own interests. For the former, we should encourage and support them and help them to transform them thoroughly, while for the latter, we must take strict precautions and never allow them to take advantage of them.
Although the battle of Songbu was only a small episode in the War of Liberation, the problems it reflected were universal. In that war-torn era, there were still many political cadres like Zhao Gang who were brave and good at fighting and resolute. Some of them took the lead and led their troops to charge into battle; some went deep behind enemy lines to carry out guerrilla warfare; and some did mass work to launch an agrarian revolution.
It is precisely because of the countless revolutionary martyrs who can sing and cry that we have a happy life today. They exchanged their blood and lives for the independence of the country and the liberation of the people. It's a debt that can never be paid off.
Zhao Gang's deeds later became a well-known story in the army. His image has also been repeatedly portrayed by writers and artists, and he has become a model for revolutionary soldiers. In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, a Zhao Gang-style political commissar emerged in the Volunteer Army, and he was Wang Cheng in the movie "Heroes' Children".
Political Commissar Wang Cheng was seriously wounded in one of the battles, but he still insisted on directing the battle until he drove the enemy out of his position. His famous phrase "For the sake of victory, shoot at me" still makes people's blood boil.
From Zhao Gang to Wang Cheng, from the War of Liberation to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, generation after generation of revolutionary soldiers have gone forward one after another, composing heroic hymns that can be sung and cried with their blood and lives. They are the backbone of our nation and the beacon on our way forward.
Today, when we cherish the memory of the revolutionary martyrs and relive those eventful years, we should draw on the wisdom and strength of our predecessors and devote ourselves to the great cause of building a great modern socialist country with even higher morale. Let us hold high the banner of the revolution, inherit and carry forward the glorious traditions of our revolutionary ancestors, and use our youth and sweat to create achievements worthy of the times and the people!