On April 6, 1927, hundreds of military police broke into the Soviet Embassy with guns and arrested the old Russian barracks at the west of the embassy, arresting Li Dazhao and other revolutionary volunteers.
Later, many warlord officials claimed that Li Dazhao was the "bane of the Red Party" and demanded that Li Dazhao be executed as soon as possible, in an attempt to strangle the new Communist regime in the cradle.
On April 28, Li Dazhao was sentenced to "death" by a military court and died in righteousness that afternoon, and when people learned that the execution time was as long as 40 minutes, they could not help but feel indignant, they did not understand, obviously they were sentenced to death, why the execution time was so long. And this truth was not investigated until 24 years later.
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Why was Li Dazhao tortured for so long? What really happened back then? Why was he sentenced to death?
Li Dazhao
Around the 1930s, in order to resist the imperialist invasion, many patriots threw themselves into the revolution with the banner of "anti-imperialism and anti-warlordism", including the main leader of the Communist Party, Li Dazhao.
At this time, our country was under the rule of the warlord government, and for the Communist Party that was contrary to its own ruling philosophy, the warlord government naturally regarded it as a "thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh", and therefore, Li Dazhao, as one of the leaders of the Communist Party, was on the blacklist of the warlord government.
In March 1926,
The Japanese warships covered Zhang Zuolin's Feng army and went to the Tianjin Dagukou Fort to shell the Nationalists, and the Nationalists were forced to return fire, driving the Japanese warships out of the Dagukou. After this, Japan joined forces with Britain, France, the United States and other countries to issue a message against the Beiyang warlord government
"Violating the Treaty of Xinugu and immediately removing the defense of Dagukou Fort"
Notices.
When Li Dazhao heard this news, he was indignant, because once the defense of the fort at Dagukou was removed, it would be equivalent to saying that China had opened the door for the empire to invade, and there was no dignity to speak of.
To this end,
On March 18 of that year, Li Dazhao led tens of thousands of students in Beijing to protest the imperialist actions in front of Tiananmen Square.
In the face of the protests of the masses of the people, the Duan Qirui government not only did not reflect on what it had done, but also, at the instigation of Japan, ordered the government troops to attack the protesting masses with bayonets and other weapons.
Since Zhang Zuolin entered Beijing, he colluded with the Japanese army and began to slaughter the revolutionary volunteers of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party for no reason, and for a while, the whole capital fell into the "white terror", among which Li Dazhao was also on the list of wanted warlords of Zhang Zuolin for leading the parade.
For the matter of being on the wanted list, Li Dazhao was very optimistic and said:
"It's not the first time I've been wanted, I have nothing to be afraid of, and those who do revolution are not afraid of being wanted!"
Zhang Zuolin
At this time, Li Dazhao had moved the party's leading organ into the old Russian barracks next to the Soviet Embassy in Dongjiaomin Lane.
In order to arrest Li Dazhao, the warlords of Zhang Zuolin's faction specially sent people to visit the British, American, and Japanese embassies, and colluded with them to achieve this
"Agreed to allow government military police to enter the embassy area and search the old Russian barracks next to the Soviet embassy"
Protocol.
In addition, in order to act foolproof, Zhang Zuolin also sent undercover agents to infiltrate our party to spy on intelligence, and arrested Li Bohai, secretary of the National Movement Committee, according to the contents of the intelligence.
On April 6, 1927, Zhang Zuolin, who was fully prepared, made the chief of the Investigation Department of the Beijing Police Department
Wu Yuwen
With hundreds of armed gendarmes, they rushed into the consular district of foreign embassies.
On this day, the door of the Soviet Embassy was tightly closed, and Wu Yuwen waved his hand when he saw that there was no answer to the knock, only to see dozens of big men hugging together, like pillars hitting bells, and forcibly knocking the door of the Soviet Embassy open.
Regarding the behavior of the warlords, the staff of the Soviet Embassy loudly reprimanded Zhang Zuolin, claiming that Zhang Zuolin violated the provisions of the Xinugu Treaty that "Chinese military and police are not allowed to enter the consular areas of foreign embassies."
The gendarmes looked calm and did not panic at the accusations of the Soviets, because he had already colluded with other consulates, and no one would hold him accountable at all.
Old photo of Dongjiaomin Lane
After entering the embassy, Wu Yuwen ordered the foreigners to control them, and pointed to the old Russian barracks in the West Garden, signaling them to arrest Li Dazhao.
Since they had previously mastered Li Dazhao's exact room number, the gendarmes directly surrounded Li Dazhao's room and did not give Li Dazhao the slightest chance to escape. At that time, Li Dazhao, who was writing on the desk, stopped writing immediately after hearing the noisy movement outside, and he looked at the door without changing his color, and was ready to sacrifice.
Suddenly, a roar came from outside the door:
"Don't let anyone go!"
After the conversation, the armed gendarmes rushed in and surrounded Li Dazhao, and then Wu Yuwen walked into the door and said frantically:
"The director of the Investigation Department of the Police Department of our people has come to invite Mr. Li Dazhao to the police station for tea!"
After that, Wu Yuwen made a gesture, and several gendarmes came forward to tie up Li Dazhao, and Wu Yuwen nodded with satisfaction when he saw this scene, and ordered: "Withdraw! ”
Zhang Zuolin's warlord forces arrested li dazhao and more than 30 other revolutionaries in this operation, in addition to arresting 15 Soviet embassy staff who blocked the search, which can be described as extreme arrogance.
Painting: Li Dazhao
After this, Li Dazhao was imprisoned in Caojiezi Hutong Prison, where the enemy tortured Li Dazhao severely in order to obtain intelligence from Li Dazhao's mouth.
At first, they nailed bamboo sticks into Li Dazhao's fingernails, and Li Dazhao endured the pain without saying a word, never giving in to the enemy. The enemy saw that this move had no effect, so he slowly peeled off Li Dazhao's fingernails and tried to make him submit with greater physical pain, but even so, Li Dazhao did not bow his head.
The enemy saw that he was resolute and not afraid of torture, so he changed his move to "soft".
One day, Zhang Zuolin's chief of staff, Yang Yuting, came to visit Li Dazhao in prison, and he walked up to Li Dazhao with good wine and good dishes and said:
"Today, I came to talk to Mr. Li."
Li Dazhao sorted out his robe and asked him straight away: "Say, what ghost idea did you play again?" ”
Yang Yuting said:
"You and I are all fellow villagers in Hebei, and when I see mr. Li in such a situation, I can't bear it in my heart and want to pull you along."
Li Dazhao instantly heard the meaning of Yang Yuting's words, and he stared at Yang Yuting with an angry eye and mercilessly criticized Yang Yuting: "When the eldest husband was born in the world, he should maintain his national integrity, and he must not submit to the traitorous warlords for the sake of gold and jade food!" ”
Later, the Fengzhi warlords sent many people to persuade Li Dazhao to submit, but they were all driven away by Li Dazhao, and Li Dazhao's soft and hard attitude caused the warlord government a headache, because they could not get any useful information out of Li Dazhao's mouth, nor could they take him for their own use.
Some warlords believe that Li Dazhao is no longer of any use to them, and keeping them will cause greater resentment, but it is better to put him to death as soon as possible.
Many warlord officials claimed that Li Dazhao was the "bane of the Red Party" and asked Zhang Zuolin to execute Li Dazhao as soon as possible
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April 28, 1927 at 10:00 a.m
Li Dazhao, dressed in a robe, stood calmly in the enemy's eyes
Special Court
When he heard the verdict of the "death sentence pronounced", he still stood there with his face unchanged, showing the demeanor of a Communist Party leader.
After that, the news of Li Dazhao's sentence to death did not go away, causing the people's indignation throughout the country, and in the face of public resentment, the warlords of Zhang Zuolin's faction still went their own way and stubbornly wanted to execute Li Dazhao.
At 12:30 p.m., Li Dazhao and other revolutionary volunteers were taken by 6 police department cars to the Jingshi Detention Center in Xijiaomin Lane, and in order to prevent the rescue of the Communist Party, Zhang Zuolin issued an order before being escorted
"Cut off traffic on the escort road and send guards to guard the escort road"
After Li Dazhao was escorted to the execution ground, he straightened up and said to the prison officer of the Military Law Society:
"You hanged one Li Dazhao today, and there will be thousands of Li Dazhao in the future. Communism will surely win a glorious victory in China! ”
After saying this, Li Dazhao laughed a few times.
The prison officer, on the other hand, was angry, and he ordered the jailer to stop it and not let Li Dazhao continue to speak, and then the jailer rushed forward with a stride and knocked Li Dazhao to the ground with one punch.
According to the historical record "Trivia on the Execution of Li Dazhao and Other Trivia", when Li Dazhao was sent to the gallows, Li Dazhao said:
"Please come with a pen and paper and write a will."
But the executioner refused Li Dazhao's request for a will, saying:
"It's too late at this point."
After listening to the words of the executor, Li Dazhao calmly walked up to the gallows, and when the gallows came up, he did not change his look, until the executioner put the rope into his neck, Li Dazhao still stood there straight, not seeing the slightest fear.
The next day, the news of Li Dazhao's death spread throughout China, and when the revolutionaries heard that Li Dazhao had been tortured for 40 minutes, they not only felt sad and indignant, they did not understand.
Why did you sentence Li Dazhao for forty minutes?
And that answer didn't surface until 24 years later.
In June 1951, China arrested and arrested Wu Yuwen and others who arrested and killed Li Dazhao, and through their oral accounts, we can glimpse the process of Li Dazhao's punishment.
At that time, the warlord government banned the beheading method to carry out the death penalty, so it was changed to a Western-style hanging, and the warlords implemented the most cruel hanging method in ancient times, that is, the "Three Hangings Execution Law", in order to torture Li Dazhao, and Li Dazhao was the first person to be hanged, so the time it took was naturally longer.
When the rope around Li Dazhao's neck was tightened for the first time, he had closed his eyes and waited for death to come, and soon he was strangled by the executioner, and at the moment when Li Dazhao passed out, the executioner hurriedly loosened the rope, waiting for Li Dazhao to wake up.
Li Dazhao was on the gallows
When Li Dazhao woke up, he coughed a few times in pain, and when he realized that he was not dead, he already knew the enemy's intentions. After that, the executioner put the rope around Li Dazhao's neck again and asked him:
"Regrets? If you admit that you 'repented', I'll give you a hard time. ”
Li Dazhao smiled contemptuously and said indignantly:
"You don't want me to give in, I'm still honored to die!"
After listening to Li Dazhao's words, the Warlords of the Feng clan present were all blue in the face, and the executioner once again tightened the rope around Li Dazhao's neck, and Li Dazhao's face was instantly reddened, and it did not take long for the executioner to loosen the rope again and again advised Li Dazhao to "repent."
Li Dazhao suppressed the pain in his body and said in a hoarse voice:
"What have I done to regret? You don't have to bother with your words, I Li Dazhao, not afraid of death, and strive to do it quickly! ”
Later, the executioner hanged Li Dazhao for the third time, and Li Dazhao also died in this long hanging.
Just as Li Dazhao said, after his death, there will be thousands of people like him in China who will struggle for the revolution, and in the years of struggle against imperialism and the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang, the Communist Party finally won the victory and founded new China, which also proves that what Li Dazhao said is not false.
Today, under the leadership of the Communist Party, our country is becoming stronger and stronger, and the people have also lived a well-off and happy life, and everything we have now is inseparable from the struggle of the revolutionary volunteers of that era, without their efforts and sacrifices, where would there be a peaceful and strong New China today!