For decades, the Xiangxi region has been plagued by banditry. In the early days of liberation, the people's government carried out large-scale anti-bandit operations, and finally basically eliminated this scourge. However, among the mountains there is still a stubborn bandit who refuses to bow to the new society. This is the Qin Guoqing and Tian Yulian couple of Dayong County. In order to eliminate the pair of male and female bandits, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture has made 15 years of hard work, mobilized a lot of manpower and material resources, and even caused a lot of sacrifices. When the diehards were finally extinguished, the chairman couldn't help but ask: "How long are you going to keep them?" Behind this is a painful history of struggle, and it is also the determination of the people of Xiangxi to completely eradicate the scourge of the old society. What's going on, let's find out?
1. The determination to eradicate stubborn diseases and eliminate Secretary Qin's bandits
On the eve of liberation, Qin Guoqing, a ferocious bandit, has become a cancer in Xiangxi that is difficult to get rid of. Since the age of 14, he has been following the gangsters to do evil, and his thin calves have earned him the nickname "Medal Pole". Before liberation, he killed countless people, causing disaster to Gou Village, and all over Xiangxi. There is a folk song that describes his loss of conscience: "Now that the world is not at peace, the pole has broken into my village; robbing goods, cattle and women, and harming the people for the sake of crime. Chickens and dogs go up to the house, and guns pick children's hearts. ＂
Defecting to the reactionary remnants of the Kuomintang, Secretary Qin led a group of territorial bandits to patrol the mountains of western Hunan Province, becoming the biggest stumbling block to the people's liberation. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched a thunderous attack and eradicated most of the hooligan and bandit groups in Xiangxi. However, Secretary of State Qin, an old and cunning bandit leader, is still hiding in the mountains and Tibet, refusing to be captured.
In 1954, there were only 6 people left in Qin Guoqing's remnants of the bandit unit, including Tian Yulian, a girl who was captured by him. Tian Yulian was originally a poor peasant girl, who was taken captive by Secretary Qin before liberation, and she was desperate for this murderous bandit and was inseparable from him. The local government repeatedly sent people to dissuade him to no avail, and finally had to be included in the target of the bandits.
In order to completely eliminate the remnants of this stubborn banditry, the local government of Xiangxi has continuously carried out armed encirclement and suppression for 15 years. Because of Secretary Qin's cunning and prudence, taking root in the mountains and old forests, and hiding traces of gods, the armed forces were gradually tired and relaxed. However, the party and government leaders at all levels in Xiangxi never gave up, but paid more and more attention to it, continued to increase investment, adhered to the people's war strategy of mobilizing the masses and armed forces to attack, and finally succeeded in finding Secretary Qin's hiding place...
2. Mobilize the whole people to suppress banditry
In the face of the stubborn remnants of Secretary Qin Guo's bandits, the local government of Xiangxi persevered and adopted a series of effective measures to extensively mobilize the forces of the whole people to participate in the crackdown on bandits.
The first is the input of the armed forces. The Hunan Provincial Military Region has dispatched more than 2,500 armed forces, including sub-divisions and armed police forces, to participate in the encirclement and suppression. The Provincial Public Security Corps transferred 12 backbone forces from the police force that was undergoing intensive training to be incorporated into the anti-bandit brigade, including the heroic figure Xiang Nanshu, who later died. The Autonomous Prefecture Public Security Bureau has set up a number of specialized reconnaissance squads and "flying groups" to go deep into the mountains and forests to track down the bandits' tracks.
The second is the full cooperation of local cadres and the masses. In addition to the armed forces, a considerable number of public security cadres and local cadres are involved in the suppression of bandits, and they play important roles such as guidance, reconnaissance, and logistical support. What is even more commendable is that the local masses spontaneously organized militia armies and cooperated with professional armed personnel to carry out search and guard work, and threw themselves into this people's war to eradicate the scourge.
In order to concentrate forces and attack accurately, various innovative means have been adopted in various parts of Xiangxi. The public security organs have set up an intelligence network to conduct covert reconnaissance and surprise attacks on bandits, and have mobilized civilian forces to search for clues. At the same time, a special "propaganda working group" has been set up to widely publicize the policy among the local masses and call on everyone to "destroy relatives in a righteous way." The public security joint defense organizations in various localities have been further improved, forming a high-vigilance situation in which one police officer and four companies dispatch to ensure that there are no blind spots for monitoring.
In addition, the local government of Xiangxi has allocated special funds for the work of suppressing bandits, and has purchased a large amount of equipment for armed personnel, such as radio communication equipment, police dogs, cotton coats, and so on. The leaders of the autonomous prefecture often visited the headquarters in person to boost the morale of the officers and men, and issued an oath of encouragement, so that all the participants were determined to be invincible.
It was precisely by virtue of such collective wisdom and meticulous organization that the people's war achieved initial results. But to completely eliminate Secretary Qin's bandits, it still needs to be painstakingly searched and rounded...
3. The twists and turns, the hardships of finding a place to hide
Although a large number of forces were concentrated and tightly surrounded, it was quite difficult to completely find the exact hiding place of Qin Guoqing and his wife. Xiangxi, an area with overlapping mountains and rivers and complex topography, has brought great obstacles to the pursuit work.
At the beginning, the armed forces carried out a thorough sweep and search of the mountains, small forests, streams and gorges where Qin Guoqing and other bandits might be hiding. They searched all the mountains such as Pig Stone, Guanyin Mountain, and Panlong Mountain, and also went deep into the deep mountains and old forests of Fenglang Creek and Wild Boar Creek. However, everywhere they went, the bandits disappeared as if from the world, leaving only some suspicious traces that were difficult to identify.
As time went on and the investment of manpower and material resources increased, the armed forces had to temporarily slow down their military operations. Instead, the county public security bureaus first organized a large number of secret investigation operations, with the help of the masses to collect clues, and tried every means to discover Secretary Qin's hiding place.
In this process, the public security personnel worked tirelessly, running around the large and small mountain villages, finding out every suspicious element and carefully analyzing their every move. Based on this, they drew a large number of topographic maps, marking suspicious grass, tree holes, rock caves, etc., as the basis for future raids.
At the same time, although the public security forces have withdrawn, they are still on high alert. They set up countless checkpoints in various suspicious mountain ranges, and constantly checked and searched passers-by, for fear of missing any clues. The local masses have also organized a large number of militia forces, and together with the armed public security personnel, they have continuously monitored suspicious targets, forming a strict line of defense for mass prevention and control.
In this way, the two sides have been maneuvering in a narrow geographical area for several years, with twists and turns, and obstacles at every turn. However, the determination of the people's soldiers has never wavered. In Maogang, Dayong County, where the temporary headquarters is located, the party and government leaders are sometimes inspiring, sometimes reflecting on and summarizing the failures in their work, and constantly adjusting their strategies and tactics. It was this tenacious will to never give up that finally made a major breakthrough in the pursuit operation...
4. Thrilling, the final life-and-death struggle
After years of painstaking pursuit, a major breakthrough was finally made in 1964. That year, Xu Daicheng, a militiaman of the Dayong County Public Security Bureau, was unfortunately killed in the pursuit operation, and the place of sacrifice was the Sangmuchong area where Qin Guoqing's bandits had been haunted many times.
Upon learning of this bad news, the local party and government leaders in Xiangxi immediately attached importance to it and instructed all localities to intensify their efforts to narrow the scope of encirclement and suppression to Sangmuchong and its surrounding mountains. Soon, with the cooperation of the masses, a number of suspicious traces were discovered, such as newly dug caves, fire slag in tree cavities, etc. It can be seen that the bandits are hiding in the deep mountains and old forests in this area.
In order to completely annihilate Secretary Qin's bandits, in April 1965, the local party, government, military, police, and people in Xiangxi went into battle and carried out an unprecedented encirclement and suppression in the Sangmuchong area with large-scale armed forces. This time, in addition to the conventional armed forces such as the sub-divisions and the armed police, a large number of militias, local cadres and the masses also participated in the project, and at the same time more advanced investigation methods were launched, such as radio communications and police dogs.
The armed forces are divided into multiple routes, some of which are responsible for carrying out carpet sweeps and searches of suspected areas, while others set up checkpoints and tightly sealed off key areas such as mountain roads and crossings. Whether in the sun or at night, everyone is on high alert and ready to engage the enemy.
After more than a month of slow advance, a decisive standoff finally took place between the two sides in a valley. It was early in the morning of May 18, 1965, and armed men found a cave in a place called "Laijiawan", which was obviously the lair of Qin Guoqing and others. They immediately shelled the mouth of the cave and kept shouting for the bandits to surrender.
However, under the cover of artillery fire, the bandits stubbornly fought back and launched a desperate rain of bullets. The two sides were completely engaged in a fierce battle in the Laijiawan Valley, and the soldiers continued to fire grenades and rockets at the bandits' caves, and the bandits responded with heavy fire. It wasn't until it was getting dark that the fierce battle came to an end...
5. Raise your eyebrows and exalt your face, and completely eradicate the scourge of the old society
After a day and night of desperate struggle, Secretary Qin and Tian Yulian were finally captured alive in the battle of Laijiawan. The two were seriously wounded, but under the superior firepower of the armed forces, they were powerless to fight back. In this way, the last stubborn bandit remnants in Xiangxi were completely swept away.
As soon as the news spread, the whole state rejoiced. Once upon a time, the pair of male and female bandits wreaked havoc like evil spirits among the mountains, making people fearful. Now, the new society of New China has finally swept away the evil and eliminated the evil, and the masses of the people are cheering and living freely in the era of peace.
Subsequently, hundreds of thousands of people spontaneously organized a celebration meeting. They held high the red flag, condemned Secretary Qin's hooliganism, and sang the praises of the heroic struggle of the people's soldiers. There are also some people who have been ravaged by bandits, telling their blood and tears in public, vowing to get rid of the darkness of the old society forever.
The local party and government organs also gave extremely high praise and rewards to those who suppressed bandits. They conferred on many people such honorable titles as "heroic models" and made grand awards. The sacrificed militia Xu Daicheng and others will also be forever remembered in people's hearts.
The most heartening thing is the personal attention and encouragement of the central leaders. When Chairman Mao Zedong, the supreme leader at that time, learned of this, he made a special phone call to inquire about the situation. He praised the heroic struggle of the people of Xiangxi, and at the same time reflected on the lessons of the entire process of suppressing bandits: why should they be "raised" for so long? How can I prevent similar situations from happening again? The chairman's words undoubtedly further strengthened the determination of the people of Xiangxi to completely eradicate the scourge of the old society.
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In this way, in May 1965, Xiangxi, a land of mountains once ravaged by bandits, ushered in the first dawn of New China. After 15 years of unremitting efforts, the local people can finally live a healthy life without worries. This people's war to eradicate stubborn diseases will surely be recorded in the revolutionary history of Xiangxi and forever remembered in the hearts of the people.