Duan Boyu: The red high counselor in the Kuomintang Military Affairs Bureau

Duan Boyu: The red high counselor in the Kuomintang Military Affairs Bureau

Shan Wei

Source: Learning Times

　　When Duan Boyu was a teenager, he actively participated in the vigorous May Fourth Movement. He joined the Communist Party of China in August 1938. In April 1946, he entered the Military Affairs Bureau of the Presidential Office, the most core military organ of the Kuomintang. Under the leadership of the Countermeasure Committee of the Shanghai Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, he participated in organizing the uprising of the Kuomintang Reserve Cadre Corps and the Three Paratrooper Regiments that shook China and foreign countries, strongly supported the river crossing operation and the liberation of the Ninghu-Hangzhou region, and made special contributions to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people.

　　Gloriously joined the Communist Party of China

　　In July 1904, Duan Boyu was born in Mengyu Village, Li County, Hebei Province. From the age of 10, he studied at the Tianjin Juemin School, where he spent 6 years studying and was influenced by patriotism. In the old China of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, imperialist aggression and the dark decay of feudal rule prompted Duan Boyu to actively pursue progress ideologically. After the outbreak of the May Fourth Movement, under the leadership of Zhou Enlai, he actively participated in the Tianjin Student Parade, and together with more than 2,000 students, took to the streets to publicize speeches and count the crimes of traitorous surrender of the Beiyang government. During the movement, Duan Boyu was enlightened by Marxism and had a personal feeling and understanding of the struggle against imperialism and feudal warlords.

　　While studying at Hebei University, Duan Boyu met Dai Peiyuan, a member of the Chinese Communist Party, and began to read Marxist works under his guidance. After graduating from university, he opened a clinic in Taiyuan for nearly 3 years, came into contact with progressive people, and read a large number of Marxist works. He opened a new bookstore not far from the clinic, propagated socialist ideas, openly sold progressive books, and was wanted by the Shanxi warlord Yan Xishan. In 1936, he opened a progressive newspaper in Baoding to publicize the idea of resisting Japan and saving the country. In September 1937, when the Japanese occupied Baoding, Duan Boyu led several people to the Taihang Mountains to defect to the Eighth Route Army without success, and joined the Kuomintang 32nd Army with no food, clothing, and isolation.

　　In June 1938, Under the pretext of visiting relatives, Duan Boyu transferred to Xi'an to Yan'an, entered the Chinese Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, and applied to join the party. In early August, Duan Boyu returned to changsha to the training ground of the 32nd Army. Wang Xinggang, an underground member of the Communist Party of China in the army, asked him to talk, and he reported on his journey to Yan'an to study, and once again submitted a request to join the party. Soon, Wang Xinggang solemnly informed Duan Boyu that the organization had agreed to recruit him into the party and have him as the introducer. Two days later, Comrade Nie Hongjun of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China took the oath and joined the party in front of the small land temple on the mountainside of Yuelu. Duan Boyu reported to Nie Hongjun the difficult twists and turns of years of searching for the party organization, and it took a full 14 years to join the organization. Nie Hongjun comforted Duan Boyu and stressed the party's discipline, telling him to pay special attention to strengthening the concept of organization in the areas ruled by the Kuomintang, always keeping in mind that he was a communist and strictly guarding the party's secrets. Duan Boyu made up his mind to set strict demands on himself by the standards of party members.

　　Underground struggles were waged under the tutelage of Zhou Enlai

　　At the end of 1938, due to the dissolution of the Kuomintang reorganized 32nd Army Cadre Training Regiment, Duan Boyu wanted to return to North China to participate in the War of Resistance. At the beginning of 1939, Duan Boyu came to Chongqing and reported to the Chongqing office of the Eighth Route Army. Organizationally, it was decided that Duan Boyu would remain in Chongqing to carry out his work, and his open post would be an inspector of the Kuomintang's field party and government committees, and his task would be to mediate the dispute between the Kuomintang and the Communists in order to facilitate the unity of the War of Resistance. Duan Boyu did a lot of work and collected a lot of valuable intelligence for the party organization.

　　Soon, Zhou Enlai received Duan Boyu. Zhou Enlai encouraged him to do a good job in the united front work of the upper echelons of the Kuomintang and to influence and promote Chiang Kai-shek's resistance to Japan through them. Zhou Enlai earnestly exhorted Duan Boyu to make full use of the favorable conditions for his post in the Kuomintang, unite the progressive forces, win over the middle forces, and oppose the reactionaries. In working in areas ruled by the Kuomintang, the work policy is to strive for favorable possibilities under the most unfavorable circumstances and to do our best to transform them into reality. Zhou Enlai's teachings deeply educated and touched Duan Boyu.

　　At the end of 1939, the anti-communist activities of the Kuomintang diehards continued to expand, constantly creating military friction. Duan Boyu participated in an inspection delegation organized by the Party and Government Committee on the Ground and went to Shandong, Hebei, and other places to investigate the friction between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Duan Boyu witnessed the anti-communist friction provoked by the diehard Kuomintang faction and collected a lot of conclusive evidence. What Duan Boyu did provoked strong resentment among Kuomintang diehards. The new secretary general of the field party and government committee reprimanded him for "eating the meals of the Kuomintang and speaking for the Communist Party" and ordered him to be locked up.

　　Infiltrated the Kuomintang "Presidential Military Affairs Bureau"

　　In order to facilitate his work in the Kuomintang army, Duan Boyu was admitted to the Kuomintang Army University in October 1943. During his studies, he made extensive contacts with patriotic and progressive classmates to prepare conditions for future work. In March 1946, Chiang Kai-shek, in the name of president, presided over the graduation ceremony of the Army University and summoned Duan Boyu. After Duan Boyu graduated, under the recommendation of his younger brother Duan Zhongyu, he was assigned to the fourth section of the "Military Affairs Bureau of the Presidential Palace" to engage in military intelligence work, and soon gained a firm foothold in the Military Affairs Bureau, successively serving as the chief of the intelligence section of the major general and a senior staff officer.

　　With such a job, Duan Boyu's first task is to work for the party. In May 1946, when he learned that a Chinese communist delegation led by Zhou Enlai had entered the Meiyuan New Village in Nanjing to negotiate with the Nationalist government, he tried to contact the delegation. However, the Kuomintang secret service organs stepped up their surveillance and control over the CPC deputies, and the delegation's station was surrounded by all kinds of spies, and "the air was full of spies' eyes." Duan Boyu was never able to get in close.

　　Just when Duan Boyu was eagerly looking for the party organization, he was inspecting the documents and archives while on duty, and when he happened to see a wooden box that had been sealed for a long time, he opened it and saw that it was all the documents of the CPC Central Committee collected by the Kuomintang Central News Agency and the reports and speeches of Mao Zedong and other central leading comrades. These documents were collected and kept by the Military Affairs Bureau for the purpose of studying the Communist Party's countermeasures, and Duan Boyu won the opportunity to study and study them frequently, understand the party's basic principles and policies, and provide a basis and guide for carrying out the party's underground work.

　　Unite patriotic generals armed against Chiang Kai-shek

　　After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Communist Party of China made tremendous efforts to strive for peace and democracy. However, against the will of the people of the whole country, the Chiang Kai-shek clique tore up the CPPCC agreement and launched a full-scale civil war. Under these circumstances, Duan Boyu actively united with the patriotic generals of the Kuomintang against Chiang Kai-shek's policy of civil war. Duan Boyu united a group of progressive classmates with patriotic ideas during his studies at the Army University and were successively assigned to work in the military and political organs of the Kuomintang. Duan Boyu often expressed his views on the current situation to them in the form of forums, friendships, and dinners, exposed the truth that Chiang Kai-shek betrayed Sun Yat-sen's three major policies, colluded with US imperialism, and opposed communism and the people, and used facts to explain that fighting a civil war was unpopular. These ideological works of Duan Boyu aroused the deep thinking and resonance of some classmates, and their dissatisfaction with Chiang Kai-shek's perverse behavior was increasing day by day. This laid the ideological foundation for the later organization of armed anti-Chiang Kai-shek.

　　In September 1948, more than 100,000 Kuomintang troops were annihilated in the Battle of Jinan, and Chiang Kai-shek's "key defense" system, which was dominated by large cities, began to collapse. In November 1948, Duan Boyu, who was working in the Military Affairs Bureau, suddenly received a phone call from Jia Yibin, then acting director of the Reserve Cadre Bureau of the Kuomintang Ministry of National Defense, and invited him to his home for discussions. The meeting was mainly attended by duan Boyu's classmates from the Army University. Everyone debated endlessly, expressing dissatisfaction with Chiang Kai-shek's launching of the civil war, the corruption of the Kuomintang, and the monopoly of the four major families in financial plundering of the people's fat and people's anointing, believing that the Kuomintang had lost the hearts of the people, that the defeat was already decided, and that it could not end up with it, and that it was discussed to launch an uprising in Nanjing. When Duan Boyu heard the opinions of his classmates, he felt both sudden and happy. After careful consideration, he believed that neither cold water nor blind movement could be thrown. He learned from everyone about the troops that could be mobilized and told them his opinions. He said: "First, I am very sympathetic to the righteous deeds of the students, but there are very few troops we can mobilize, there are heavy troops stationed in Nanjing, and our actions are tantamount to hitting the stones with pebbles, and if we expose ourselves, it will be very unfavorable." Second, we want to oppose Chiang Kai-shek, which is a revolutionary action, but we must not act blindly, and we must do it in an organized, planned, and leading manner. Third, we must be armed, accumulate strength, and act on standby. Duan Boyu calmly and rationally analyzed, and everyone unanimously agreed. After this meeting, Duan Boyu immediately took action, asking his younger brother Duan Zhongyu and Song Guanglie, a classmate of the Army University, to talk separately, report on the situation, and arrange work. Song Guanglie contacted Wang Xiushen, commander of the Kuomintang 106th Army, and Yu Zhaolong, commander of the 96th Army. Duan Zhongyu contacted the patriotic generals Qi Guoyu and Wang Haiyu. After many kinds of work, by the winter of 1948, Duan Boyu contacted and agreed that there were more than 100,000 Kuomintang troops who were ready to participate in the uprising, distributed in a vast area from Wuhu in the west, through Nanjing, Changzhou, and Shanghai, to Jiaxing and Hangzhou in the east.

　　Develop the Party's organization

　　In the process of planning and implementing armed anti-Chiang Kai-shek, Duan Boyu has been stepping up his search for party organizations to obtain party instructions and leadership. At the end of 1948, Duan Boyu took advantage of his illness to leave the Military Affairs Bureau and went to Shanghai to concentrate on military transportation work. Duan Boyu sent a comrade to the Liberated Areas of Henan to find a party organization, and through the help of his cousin Wen Shangyu, a member of the Communist Party of China who studied at Tongji University, he contacted Zhang Zhiyi, secretary of the Shanghai Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Duan Boyu reported in detail on his experience and work situation, and Zhang Zhiyi gave a high evaluation to Duan Boyu for independently carrying out underground work and achieving outstanding results.

　　Zhang Zhiyi held that Duan Boyu's work of mobilizing and striving to master the troops is of great importance and requires special contacts. On New Year's Day 1949, he introduced Li Zhengwen to Duan Boyu to contact. Li Zhengwen was very conscientious and responsible, and almost every day he went to Bo Yu's residence at No. 1 Baoshan Road to repeatedly study and discuss the uprising plan and action steps. Duan Boyu introduced Jia Yibin, Liu Nongyi, Duan Zhongyu, Song Jianren, Wang Haijiao, and other senior kuomintang generals who were preparing to participate in the uprising to Li Zhengwen and talked about their work, the strength of the troops, and the situation of their garrisons. Duan Boyu and Li Zhengwen deeply felt that strengthening the leadership of party organizations was the key to the success of the uprising. In order to strengthen ties with the Kuomintang troops participating in the uprising, Duan Boyu suggested sending party comrades to the troops. With the consent of the Countermeasure Committee of the Shanghai Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Zhang Wenzao was selected to the Reserve Cadre Corps, Zhou Qichang to the Third Paratrooper Regiment, Wang Zhiming to the Fourth Regiment of Engineers, and Chen Jingming to the Jiangsu Security Corps to actively establish underground party branches, carry out propaganda and organizational work, and prepare for the uprising to enter a more tense operational stage.

　　In February 1949, Li Zhengwen conveyed to Duan Boyu the decision of the Shanghai Party Organization on restoring its organizational relations. The party organization's affirmation and concern for Duan Boyu made him doubly moved and inspired. He introduced Jia Yibin, Liu Nongyi, Song Jianren, and Duan Zhongyu to the party organization and was approved. Through the efforts of Duan Boyu and others, the party's leadership over the uprising was effectively strengthened.

　　Participated in the organization of troop uprisings, supported the river crossing operation and the liberation of the Ninghu-Hangzhou area

　　In order to help the Platon Army cross the river, Duan Boyu and others stepped up preparations under the leadership of the Shanghai Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The relevant comrades of the Shanghai Bureau believe that the conditions for a large-scale uprising in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui are not yet ripe, and even if all other units in our party's hands are ready to revolt together, it will be difficult to succeed. At this time, a series of unexpected incidents forced the Reserve Cadre Corps of the Ministry of National Defense led by Jia Yibin and the three paratrooper regiments led by Liu Nongyi to revolt in advance.

　　The Counter-Rebellion Committee of the Shanghai Bureau of the CPC Central Committee attached special importance to the uprising of the Reserve Cadre Corps led by Jia Yibin. This force is the trump card that the Kuomintang has painstakingly managed for many years. If it revolts in the heart of the Kuomintang, the political impact will be immeasurable. Li Zhengwen, Duan Boyu, Jia Yibin, and others made a detailed study of the timing and method of the uprising of the reserve cadre corps and reached a consensus. With the assistance of liaison officer Zhang Wenzao, Jia Yibin conducted patriotic education among officers and soldiers, exposed the reactionary corruption of the Kuomintang ruling clique, and publicized the policies of the Communist Party of China. In the early morning of April 7, 1949, Jia Yibin resolutely led the officers and men, subdued The Deputy Brigade Commander Li Tianduo, who opposed the uprising, and several other officers, and pulled the troops out in the name of marching to Moganshan, and the Jiaxing Uprising broke out. Chiang Kai-shek was furious and denounced Chiang Ching-kuo for his "incompetence" and "mismanagement in employing people." He hurriedly dispatched superior troops, set up heavy encirclement and blockade lines, and offered a reward of 50,000 silver yuan to arrest Jia Yibin. Under the leadership of Jia Yibin and others, the rebel troops fought bloodily, but in the end, due to the disparity in strength, they were outnumbered and the troops were scattered. Although the uprising failed, this righteous action of "coming out of the heart of the Chiang family" smashed Chiang Kai-shek's plan to establish a new army and greatly destroyed the morale of the Kuomintang troops.

　　The Third Regiment of Kuomintang Paratroopers, headed by Liu Nongyi, was also a concubine unit to which Chiang Kai-shek attached great importance. Chiang Kai-shek was constantly losing militarily, and on the eve of preparing to flee to Taiwan, he personally summoned Liu Nongyi to talk in an attempt to transfer the Third Paratrooper Regiment to Taiwan. Duan Boyu asked Li Zhengwen, Liu Nongyi, Duan Zhongyu, and others to discuss together, and decided to put the plan in place, and let Liu Nongyu lead the Third Regiment of Paratroopers to retreat to Taiwan under the guise of retreating to Taiwan on chiang Kai-shek's orders, and as soon as it went out to sea, it changed course and went straight to Lianyungang, the liberated area of our country. The Shanghai Bureau of the CPC Central Committee approved the plan for the uprising of the three paratrooper regiments. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the uprising plan, Duan Zhongyu allocated a 3,000-ton "Zhongzi 102" American large tank landing craft and handed it over to Liu Nongyi to take over. On April 15, 1949, the Parachute Regiment landed at Lianyungang, and the insurgents were warmly welcomed. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China attached great importance to the uprising of this unit, and Chairman Mao Zedong and Commander-in-Chief Zhu De sent a telegram of condolence: "To celebrate your heroic act of breaking away from the kuomintang reactionary clique and joining the People's Liberation Army, I hope that you will strive to study politics and technology and strive to build a new paratrooper in China." ”

　　The Fourth Regiment of Engineers of the Ministry of National Defense, headed by Wang Haiyao, was the most well-equipped heavy engineer regiment in the Kuomintang army. Chiang Kai-shek and the Ministry of National Defense repeatedly ordered the regiment to withdraw to Guangzhou. After study, Li Zhengwen, Duan Boyu, Duan Zhongyu, and Wang Haiyao decided to adopt the method of exchanging space for time, indicating that they would obey the order to retreat to Guangzhou, but in fact repeatedly delayed the transfer. According to the tense situation of military transportation of the Kuomintang at that time, they scattered the three battalions of the engineer corps on the Qianli Railway Line of Zhejiang Ganlu by means of successive relocation and defense. These cumbersome road-building machinery and rolling stock formed obstacles on the railway, causing railway jams and traffic paralysis by all means, making it impossible for Chiang Kai-shek's southern troops to pass. The Ministry of National Defense repeatedly urged, to no avail, and wanted Wang Haiyao to "delay the military plane and set it to be dealt with strictly." After completing his mission, Wang Haiyao flew to Hong Kong with liaison officer Wang Statement and then transferred to the Liberated Areas.

　　Duan Boyu participated in the organization of the uprising of the Kuomintang troops and cooperated with the liberation work, contributing to the victory of the liberation war. After the founding of New China, under the leadership of the party, Duan Boyu continued to immerse himself in socialist construction and made important contributions to diplomacy, party building, Taiwan work, and scientific research.