In 1960, in the film "Soldier Station No. 51" shot by the Shanghai Haiyan Film Studio, the story of the "little boss" procuring and transporting military supplies for the New Fourth Army under the clutches of the Japanese Kou became a household name. In 2007, CCTV filmed a 26-episode TV series based on the storyline. The handsome, dashing, witty and brave artistic image of the "little boss" has touched many audiences.
However, over the years, who exactly was the prototype of the "little boss"? Where is the original site of the New Fourth Army Material Procurement Group? It has always been a "mystery" that people expect to solve.
The prototype of "Little Boss" should be Zhang Weiqing, one of the screenwriters of the film literary script "Soldier Station No. 51". At that time, he was the chief of the quartermaster section of the Logistics Department of the First Division of the New Fourth Army, and he came to Shanghai on the orders of Commander Su Yu to carry out the procurement and transportation of military supplies of the New Fourth Army. Wu Song used to be the place where he fought, and many of the plots in the play were personally experienced by him.
In the autumn of 1943, the Japanese invading army completely occupied the Shanghai Concession, further strengthening its bloody rule over the People of Shanghai. The Japanese puppet army set up many checkpoints on major water and land transportation routes and station terminals to check pedestrians and transport vehicles and ships, making it very difficult to transport materials from Shanghai to various anti-Japanese base areas. In order to accomplish the heavy task of procuring military supplies, it is necessary to set up a procurement contact point in Shanghai that is hidden in the open and legal groups.
The First Division of the New Fourth Army and the original site of the Shanghai Procurement Group of the Central Soviet Military Region (1943-1945)
According to Zhang Weiqing's recollection, he came to Baofeng Fishing As a businessman through the introduction of Pan Haipeng, the "old man" of the Hong Gang in Qinglonggang, northern Jiangsu Province. Baofeng Fishing Company is located at No. 24 Tongjiang Road, Wusong Town, which is close to the Huangpu River. Jiang Yongqing, the owner of the fishing house, saw that Zhang Weiqing's business was big, he was alert and flexible, he was good at dealing with each other, and he had the introduction of the "old man", so he did not dare to slack off, so he let him become a "small boss" (agent) in Baofeng Fishing Shop. Since then, the secret contact point of the First Division of the New Fourth Army and the Shanghai Underground Material Procurement Group of the Soviet Central Military Region has been hidden in the Baofeng Fishing Line in Wusong Town.
With contact points in place, there is also a need to address the procurement and delivery of supplies. Soon after Zhang Weiqing arrived in Wusong, he established contact with Comrade Chen Jinsheng, an underground member of the CPC in the system of the Shanghai Workers' Movement Committee of the CPC. Chen Jinsheng was originally the owner of Wusong's Taimi shop, who had worked as a boatman and was very authoritative among boat people; he had contacts with people of all levels such as Wusongkou's water police, Japanese translators, and customs workers. His family lived on Wusong Outer Road, close to the Huangpu River, and it was easy to pick up and drop off ships. Zhang Weiqing decided to take advantage of Chen Jinsheng's various connections to open up sea transportation lines. He himself was personally responsible for opening up this pass in and out of Wusongkou, and then being met by the ccp's underground party organizations and anti-Japanese patriots in the coastal defense brigades stationed in Chongming and Yawosha Island (today's Changxing Island).
At the same time, Zhang Weiqing pretended to be a smuggler, bribed the Korean pilot of the Japanese "Telecommunications Co., Ltd.", and obtained a supply certificate from the enemy and the puppet Admiralty and a sentinel ship of the Wang pseudo-coastal defense regiment. He used these to start a "business" of buying and selling, transporting yellow croaker, cooking oil, wheat, corn, and so on from northern Jiangsu to Wusong Town to sell, and then Chen Jinsheng and other comrades went to downtown Shanghai to organize the purchase of grass green cloth, white newspapers, printing paper, lathes, pig iron, and other military supplies, and transported them one ship after another under the banner of the "Peace Army." Every time Zhang Weiqing contacted Chen Jinsheng, he wore a yellow uniform, a Japanese military hat, and a bayonet, and used his status as a "peace army" as a cover to break through many passes such as customs, water police, and Japanese translators, and transported the scarce military supplies to the base area of the New Fourth Army.
In May 1945, Zhang Weiqing received an order from Su Yu: First, a batch of military equipment was transported for the Shandong Lunan Military Region, including more than 100 pieces of radio, batteries and other large and small materials. Second, in order to support the anti-"clearing" struggle in the central Soviet region of the anti-Japanese base area in central China, mortar barrels and gun mounts, which have been purchased in Shanghai and processed with the assistance of underground party members of the Jiangnan Shipyard, as well as more than 10 tons of materials such as lathes, Western medicines, hardware equipment, batteries, and Daolin paper, will be transported to northern Jiangsu by express. Su Yu demanded that they overcome all difficulties in the shortest possible time and snatch these materials out of the "tiger's mouth" to win victory.
The task is arduous and the situation is urgent. At that time, the situation in Wu Songkou had undergone a new change, and Miyazaki, the captain of the Japanese military police who had previously dealt with Zhang Weiqing, and the interpreter had been transferred, and they could not understand the newly transferred gendarmerie captain for a while. At present, the number of embargoed materials is large, the target is obvious, and the degree of blockade of Wusongkou is innumerable, and they dare not rush to take risks. Therefore, Zhang Weiqing summoned Wu Mingyi, Guo Xiwei, and Wang Yixing, as well as representatives Zhang Hongshu and Shi Wenjue, who had been sent from the Lunan Military Region, to jointly discuss and study the method of transporting Wu Songkou. Everyone believed that only the sentry ships of the pseudo-coastal defense brigade could be used to tow out of Wusongkou and cross the enemy's customs blockade line. In the end, he decided to consult with Zhu Fucai, the squadron leader of the pseudo-coastal defense brigade. Zhu Fu was Zhang Weiqing's confidant, and he promised to help. They agreed to take advantage of Zhu Fucai's marriage to let Zhang Weiqing meet with the leaders of these pseudo-navy at the wedding banquet, and Zhu Fucai pulled relations from them to win the help of these people.
Therefore, Zhang Weiqing, alias "Chen Yongfu," met Gong Jinqin, commander of the pseudo-navy, Hu Laojiu, and Gu Boxiang, the commander of the pseudo-coastal defense brigade, at Zhu Fucai's wedding banquet. Subsequently, Zhang Weiqing invited guests at the Shanghai International Hotel and presented a generous gift during the banquet. When the guests drank and chatted, Zhang Weiqing deliberately sighed and talked about the pain of doing "business" at present, saying that Wu Songkou was too tightly inspected, and a batch of freight could not go out. When Gong Jinqin heard this, he immediately explained to an adjutant and said: "Mr. Chen has goods to be transported out, and you issue a certificate in the name of the headquarters, saying that it is used by the coastal defense brigade and transported to Hengsha Island." Hu Laojiu also immediately said to Zhu Fucai: "You have transferred the big sentry boat parked on Hengsha Island back to haul things for Mr. Chen, and you can enter and exit Wusongkou without inspection." ”
The relationship between the upper echelons was opened, and Zhang Weiqing hired two barges of huang Lao's brothers in Wusong Harbor, and arranged for Wu Mingyi to rush to Yawosha Island and inform Zhu Fucai to prepare to respond. Everything was ready, and Zhang Weiqing, considering that there were more materials and that the Japanese military trucks were limited by time, decided to start in two batches in two afternoons. The materials of the Lunan Military Region are the first batch, and the materials of the First Division of the New Fourth Army are the second batch.
One afternoon, two Japanese military trucks with odd plates on the avenue arrived in the city on time and loaded the materials scattered everywhere onto the truck, and Wang Xingyi, Guo Xiwei, and Lu Yusheng all put on the Uniforms of the Japanese Gendarmes brought by Guo Awu and escorted them with the vehicles. Then they drove to the triangle vegetable market to buy green vegetables, turnips, etc. to cover the materials, and drove straight to WuSong. Unexpectedly, when passing near the Hongkou Swimming Pool, I encountered 7 Japanese gendarmes stopping the car, and everyone was surprised. As soon as the car stopped, 7 Japanese gendarmes climbed into the car and sat on the covered wooden boxes such as green vegetables and turnips, and the leading Japanese gendarmes muttered a few words with the driver. It turned out that they had taken a ride to Wusong Town, and everyone was relieved, but they were still a little nervous in their hearts, afraid of puncturing themselves as Japanese gendarmes in makeup. Passing by the Japanese military checkpoint at Daihachiji Temple (now Daiwashu), the driver raised his handle and passed, because 7 Japanese gendarmes sat on the car and happened to be the "escorts" accompanying the car, which helped a lot. When the car arrived at the Wusong Shirakawa Bridge (now Wusong Bridge), seven Japanese gendarmes got off the bus and lined up to salute.
Boss Huang loaded the supplies onto barges and was towed away by the sentry ships of the coastal defense brigade. Unexpectedly, when WuSongkou was found, he was forcibly stopped by the Japanese customs patrol boat and asked for inspection. They found that the materials they were loaded were all embargoed and must be forcibly detained. Although there are sentry ships of the pseudo-coastal defense brigade towing, indicating that it is the materials of the coastal defense brigade, the customs is controlled by the Japanese Kou, and they do not pay attention to the pseudo-coastal defense brigade at all. In order not to let the situation develop, Wang Xingyi negotiated with them, spent tens of thousands of counterfeit banknotes, and was able to release them, break through the Wusongkou customs, and safely reach YawoSha Island. At this time, Wu Mingyi had already prepared a large ship to pick it up there.
Since then, this "underground" supply line has continuously transported a large amount of military supplies to the base areas of our Soviet- and Chinese New Fourth Armies.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Weiqing (second from left) and Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Aiping (third from left, fourth from left)
In fact, the "little boss" of the New Fourth Army is far more than Zhang Weiqing; they have all infiltrated Shanghai, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, and other places in different capacities, used various social relations to skillfully maneuver with the enemy, procured a large number of steel, hardware, chemical raw materials, and machine tools and equipment, recruited technicians, made outstanding contributions to the military industrial construction of the New Fourth Army, and effectively supported the victory of the anti-Japanese armed struggle behind enemy lines and the war of resistance.
Book source: "History of Baoshan"
The information was provided by the Party History Research Office of the Baoshan District Committee
Main creative staff: He Xiaochen Feng Yanqing
Editor: Sheng Jie
Reviewer, Producer: Ge Jinghong