A Series of Histories of Bandit Suppression in the War of Liberation - Memoirs of bandits in Northern Guibei, Guangxi, written by Zhang Zhigang, former 147th Division of the 49th Army of the People's Liberation Army

On June 29, 1950, more than 200 of our group of cadets who graduated from the military academy were assigned to work in the 147th Division of the 49th Army, and Comrade Xie Zhongjie and I were assigned to the second company of the division's direct guard battalion, and the company headquarters was stationed in Jiuwu District, Lingchuan County.

According to the unified deployment of the division headquarters, the troops responsible for stationing the bandits in Lingchuan County are the divisional guard battalion and the 3rd battalion of the 441st Regiment, plus the local armed county brigades and district squadrons in Lingchuan County, with a total strength of nearly 2,000 bandits. The superiors demanded that the bandits in Lingchuan County must be eliminated before the end of the year. By the end of November 1950, the bandits in the entire Lingchuan County had been basically eliminated, and our company had successfully completed the task of suppressing bandits in Lingchuan County.

At the beginning of December 1950, our company accepted a new combat task of suppressing bandits and was ordered to transfer to the fourth district of Longjiang in Baishou County, a mountainous area, to pursue and annihilate the bandits. Our company was stationed in Longjiang under the command of the battalion joint defense and suppression of bandits. Longjiang is a newly liberated mountainous area, with high mountains and dense forests, rich in shiitake mushrooms and luo han guo, and has always been the old nest of the Liang Yuan bandits of the anti-communist salvation army in northern Guizhou. According to the strategic plan of suppressing bandits, it is one of the areas that has temporarily abandoned the invasion and suppression of bandits.

After we successfully eliminated the bandits on the outskirts of Guilin City, the 440th Regiment of our division and the 1st and 2nd companies of the division's direct guard battalion were ordered to march into Baishou. Before entering the mountains to pursue bandits, Baishou, Longsheng and Sanjiang were basically the unified world of bandits. At that time, the Baishou bandit rebellion was more serious than that of Lingchuan. Liang Yuan, commander of the Bandit North District, built a strong fortification defense at the Towering Golden Bamboo Pass on the road from Lingui and Lingchuan to Baishou, and often sent bandits to invade and harass the border areas of Lingui, Lingchuan, and Yining near Baishou.

After the outbreak of the Korean War, Liang Yuan's bandits became even more arrogant and threatened to lead their troops out of the mountains to attack Guilin. In order to rescue tens of thousands of people from the brutal oppression of bandits, we have made full preparations for battle in advance.

According to the battle order issued by the Baishou Joint Defense and Suppression Command, our company was responsible for launching a general attack on the bandits from Lingui Suwei to Jinzhu Pass. The attack began, first aiming at the fortifications built by the bandits at the top of the Jinzhu Pass with the 60 guns and destroying them. The bandits fled in the face of the wind under the attack of my powerful firepower, and I liberated Longjiang at 1 o'clock in the afternoon after breaking through the first line of defense of Liang Yuan's bandits at Jinzhu Pass. After continuous combat and annihilation, the bandits of Liang Yuan's bandits who were entrenched in the areas of Stagecoach, Jiangkou, and Bao'an near Longjiang launched a continuous attack, declaring that all the Longjiang areas were liberated.

After the liberation of Longjiang, our company was responsible for forming a newborn people's power, the People's Government of the Fourth District of Longjiang in Baishou County. The county party committee appointed Comrade Long Wucai, the company commander, as the district chief, and Comrade Zhang Jingzhou, the instructor, as the secretary of the district party committee, and the prefectural party committee selected five cadres from the localities to accompany us to organize the district government. The district government and the company department are merged into one, and the office is located in the Fan Family Ancestral Hall in Longjiang. The security squad and communication squad of the battalion headquarters and the company headquarters and three platoons stationed in Longjiang District Government, the second platoon stationed at Jiangkou, and the first platoon stationed security guards. The bandits retreated to the northern district to confront our army.

From December 1950 to February 1951, in these two months, there were frequent battles with bandits, either bandits came to harass and ambush us, or we went to the villages near the station to find the whereabouts of the bandits and fight the bandits.

On February 5, 1951 (that is, on the eve of the Spring Festival, the 29th day of the lunar calendar), the scouts we sent out reconnaissance learned that more than 100 people in the Liangyuan Bandit Department were concentrated in the Northern District for the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival), and after the study of the party branch of the company, Li Huanzhang, deputy company commander, selected eleven squads from each platoon disguised as bandits to sneak in, and I was also selected. At that time, it was a severely cold winter, the weather was very cold, the sky was drizzling, and the rain clipped snowflakes with the wind, and each of us, the twelve fake bandits who had put on makeup, changed into plain clothes, put on a coat, and put on a bamboo leaf rain hat, and Comrade Tang Shiliang, chairman of the Peasant Association, led the way, and the sky was just dark and bright from Longjiang. Then the company commander and the instructor led the second and third platoons to follow us, pulling away from us for a mile, and once the battle began, it was a good response.

We were marching on the rough mountain road, walking for about two hours, when suddenly we found a man in front of us coming straight towards us, this man thought we were real bandits, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he asked which part of us we were, and this question completely exposed his horse's feet, and he was sure that he was a bandit. When I encountered bandits in the middle of the road, the road was really narrow, and the deputy company commander immediately gave me a look, and I cleverly went forward to talk to him (because I spoke with a Guilin accent) and said: "We are on the orders of Commander Liang Yuan to go to the northern district to concentrate on the north." He smiled and said, "Good! Good! Hurry up, hurry up, the brethren are busy slaughtering pigs and cattle waiting for you to celebrate the New Year!" Just when this bandit was overwhelmed and talking about the New Year, the deputy company commander quickly pulled out his pistol and held it against the door of his head, and several squad members quickly rushed up, tied him up with a rope, interrogated him on the spot, and at first he was not honest, after we asked the guide to identify him from not far away, he recognized that this person was Longjiang Fan's family, who was originally the chief of the financial and grain section of the pseudo-Baishou County government, and after participating in the bandit riots, he was promoted to a higher level, and he was appointed by the bandit department as the logistics and finance minister, and he was still a big official! From him, he found 1 revolver, 35 rounds of bullets, and more than 100 pieces of Yuan Datou (Guangyang).

According to his preliminary confession, it was Liang Yuan who told him to sneak back to Longjiang, and one of them inquired into the situation of our army and prepared to take advantage of our army's happy Spring Festival on the night of the New Year's Day to relax his vigilance and prepare to besiege our district government; second, he came out to raise grain and raise funds. It is conceivable how vicious Liang Bandit's sinister intentions are. But he would never have imagined that the commanders and fighters of our army who were in a state of emergency combat readiness for suppressing bandits did not consider the matter of not being old at that time, and it can be said that every cell and nerve in every commander and fighter was highly concentrated on thinking about how to eliminate the bandits and eliminate harm to the people.

Therefore, not only did we not have any light enemy paralyzing thoughts, but instead took the opportunity of the concentration of bandits in the New Year or the return to our home for the New Year, actively looking for fighters and taking the initiative to attack and annihilate the bandits. Time is of the essence, and it is not too late. The company commander and the instructor all caught up with him, and after learning what was happening in front of them, they decided to follow the original battle plan and rush towards the bandits' concentrated area. When we approached the bandits, it was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon, and it happened that in a land temple next to the village of Chaotui, more than a dozen bandits were happily surrounding a pile of gambling money. My reconnaissance squad quickly rushed into the small temple, pointed 12 guns at this group of outlaws, majestically ordered them to lie on the ground one by one, not to move randomly, all of them handed over their guns, tied them tightly with their backhands with hemp rope, ordered them to kneel down facing the wall, and sent two soldiers from three platoons to guard them.

At this time, the company commander decisively issued the order to attack the bandits according to the terrain, and our reconnaissance squad disguised as bandits quickly detoured from the front, the second platoon from the left, and the third platoon from the right. When I detoured to the left and right of the second and third platoons, because they were all wearing yellow uniforms, they were discovered by the bandits' watchman at the top of the hill behind the village, and the bandit sentry fired three shots in a row. At this time, the company commander immediately ordered the trumpeter Xiao Lizi to blow the charge trumpet, and all the commanders and fighters participating in the battle rushed straight to the bandits like little tigers, and rifles, machine guns, submachine guns, and grenades all concentrated their firepower to attack the bandits. The bandits fought back and resisted, fleeing to the mountain villages behind them, while we chased after the bandits and opened fire fiercely. Because the bandits fled into the deep mountains and old forests, and occupied the favorable terrain on the top of the mountain, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. On the basis of this analysis of the complicated terrain, the company commander chased after us again, and immediately made a decision, ordering the third platoon to be on guard on the back hill to prevent the bandits from counterattacking, while the second platoon and my reconnaissance squad quickly attacked the DPRK, searched for the bandits who had slipped through the net one by one, and cleaned up the battlefield. In this battle, 3 bandits were killed and 11 were taken prisoner, and 5 wounded bandits could not run and hid in the woods and in the homes of the masses. In this battle, when the bandits fled, it was too late to take away the two pigs, one cow, more than 30 chickens, a few tons of rice, and a few pots of water tofu. We forced the 11 captured bandits to carry the spoils of war and carry the wounded of the bandits back to Longjiang to celebrate the Spring Festival of 51 years in Longjiang in a victorious battle to hunt down and annihilate the bandits.

After the Spring Festival, along with the smooth progress of military encirclement and suppression, in accordance with the successful experience summed up in the suppression of bandits in Lingchuan, our company quickly and closely cooperated with the localities and organized more than ten powerful armed task forces to be stationed in various villages to publicize, organize, and mobilize the masses, so as to generally establish and improve the peasant associations, a newborn people's political power at the grass-roots level. From then on, the poor peasants were the masters of the household. The peasant associations also organized militias, women's associations, and children's regiments one after another to plunge themselves into the vigorous struggle against banditry and hegemony. Everywhere, militia and children are arranged to cooperate with the PLA patrols, stand guard, set up sentries, and set up checkpoints to check pedestrians.

Bandits are like rats passing by, and everyone shouts and beats, forcing them to be cornered and have nowhere to hide. Under the powerful military encirclement and political offensive of our army, more than one hundred and seventy bandits in Longjiang surrendered to our army. A few stubborn and reactionary bandits who refused to surrender could only take a few of their cronies out of the Longjiang area and wander into the Longsheng and Sanjiang mountains in a vain attempt to struggle to the death. But these stubborn bandits, who are like birds of fright, will not be able to escape from the vast net laid down by our army.

According to the order of the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao to "basically complete the elimination of bandits in Guangxi by the end of May," in early April, unless the combat and miscellaneous personnel remained outside Longjiang, the whole company was ordered to follow the bandit army of all roads to take advantage of the victory and pursue the bandits, and besieged the bandits in Lane Forty-Eight from all sides. In mid-April, he finally launched a general attack on the bandits, completely and cleanly eliminating the bandits who were finally entrenched in forty-eight bags in one fell swoop, and successfully fulfilled the glorious task of the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao to the Guangxi bandit suppression troops.

Lane 48 originally belongs to the boundary of Baishou County and Rong County, there are 234 large and small stone mountain lanes, covering an area of nearly 300 square kilometers, and there are 239 natural villages in it, with deep forests, complex and steep terrain, steep caves and steep cliffs, and rugged roads. At the beginning of the liberation, more than 6,000 remnants and veteran bandits of the Kuomintang were stationed here, becoming the most stubborn and the last to be eliminated in the six major bandit areas in Guangxi. When our company, in close coordination with friendly and neighboring troops, escorted more than forty Baishou Longjiang bandits who had been captured and surrendered to Longjiang after the bandits had been completely annihilated in Lane 48, they were warmly welcomed and warmly greeted by the masses along the way.

After returning to Longjiang, we promptly took the captured bandits who surrendered to custody and mobilized the masses of various villages to identify and clean up one by one, and those who asked to be brought back to the mass assembly to fight were led back by the peasant associations to tour the struggle, and fully mobilized the masses to expose, report, and accuse their crimes. The 39 bandits who were severely punished by the peasant association and the broad masses of the people were all bandits above the platoon leader level.

According to the interrogation of these bandits, when they rioted for the bandits, they committed many evil deeds, and all confessed to committing adultery, fornication, burning, killing, and robbery, and it was difficult for the civilians to be indignant without killing. After one interrogation was completed, the materials were sorted out and reported to the county party committee, and the county party committee promptly examined and approved them, and then shot him after holding a mass meeting on the spot for public trial and judgment.

This is the large-scale suppression of counter-revolutionary bandit riots that I have carried out since the suppression of bandits. Comrade Zhang Jingzhou, secretary of the district party committee, personally served as the presiding judge, Xie Zhongzhi and I served as clerks, and the chairmen of the peasant associations of various villages appeared in court as people's assessors, and held a mass judgment meeting of several thousand people in Longjiang District. Those who can kill or not kill are generally not killed as much as possible, and they are sentenced to imprisonment and sent to the labor reform farm for reform. For ordinary bandits who have committed lesser crimes and are willing to repent, a lenient policy is adopted, and the masses release them on bail and release them to the supervision and control of the peasant associations.

When our company was carrying out the task of suppressing bandits who committed the most heinous crimes in Longjiang this time, we mobilized the masses fully and carefully organized them in advance. At the beginning of the sentencing meeting, when the presiding judge heard the public prosecution (district chief Long Wucai), he pronounced the verdicts of the 39 bandits who committed the most heinous crimes one by one, and the bandits confessed to their crimes. When the presiding judge waved a red pen and ticked the verdict notice, announced the execution of the death penalty, verified his body, and was escorted to the execution site for execution, the entire venue erupted into thunderous applause, and the crowd was excited. At the same time, with the approval of the company commander, at this time, each machine gunner and submachine gunner can fire a cassette of bullets into the sky, and the pistol and rifleman can fire 5 bullets. When the executed bandits were escorted to the execution ground one by one by two PLA or so, all of them were arranged to be shot by the militiamen of various villages who were bitter and bitter, so as to arouse the class hatred of the masses against the bandits.

Through this crackdown on bandits in the Baishou Longjiang area. It marks that the banditry that once flourished in the Baishou and Longjiang areas has been basically eliminated, and the people have won. Victory was not easy to come by, but was bought through arduous struggle and bloody sacrifice. The correct command, organization, and leadership of party committees at higher levels and commanders at all levels is the fundamental guarantee for us to win victory in suppressing bandits. The broad masses of the people's vigorous support for our army's suppression of bandits is the basis for our victory in suppressing bandits. The commanders and fighters of the whole company carried forward the spirit of not being afraid of suffering and not being afraid of death, and fought heroically, which is the source of our strength for winning victory against bandits.

After nearly a year and a half of arduous struggle against bandits in the northern Guizhou region, our company has finally won a great victory in the struggle against bandits after dozens of large and small battles with bandits, and the results of the battle have been brilliant. A total of 44 bandits were killed, 11 bandits were wounded, 75 bandits were captured, and 356 bandits surrendered to our army with guns, for a total of 486 bandits. 462 guns of various kinds and 2310 rounds of various bullets were seized. He was awarded the title of "Model Company of Heroes of Bandit Suppression" by the division. 60 percent of the commanders and fighters of the whole company were commended for their meritorious service, and successfully fulfilled the historical mission of eliminating bandits in the early liberation period of northern Guizhou.

The suppression of bandits in northern Guibei is a struggle waged by our Party against the reactionary remnants of the Kuomintang under the new situation of seizing political power and establishing and consolidating the new people's power. The enemies faced were not only numerous and large enough, but also very vicious and brutal. At that time, it was also in an extraordinary period when the Xianchao War broke out, and the enemy thought that the "Third World War" would soon break out, and Chiang Kai-shek thought that the time had come to "counterattack the mainland", and the counter-revolutionary arrogance was very arrogant. The infiltrated enemy and counter-revolutionaries colluded with the landlords and bullies of the feudal forces in the countryside to organize armed riots by bandits, destroy factories, railways, and bridges everywhere, burn warehouses and houses, assassinate, poison, and shoot black guns, rob property, attack and besiege grass-roots people's governments and peasant associations, and brutally kill revolutionary cadres and activists among the masses.

It is reported that in 1950, nearly 40,000 cadres and masses in the vast newly liberated areas were killed by counter-revolutionaries, including more than 7,000 in Guangxi. You can imagine how complex and severe the struggle was at that time. It was a great struggle of blood and fire, life and death. I have the privilege of personally experiencing and throwing myself into this struggle, withstanding the tests and tempering of the struggle, and gradually growing up healthily. At that time, I was involved in the struggle against people and bandits, when I was eighteen or nineteen years old, and I was full of style and flesh. Remembering that before liberation, the family was brutally persecuted by Japanese devils and traitors, which aroused class hatred and national hatred, full of anger has been burning in the heart. Secretly determined to "be a hero without dying, and being a martyr when dead", he threw himself into the struggle against bandits. Because of his active work, not being afraid of hardship, not being afraid of death, and being brave in combat, he was honored to attend the commendation meeting held by the division headquarters in Guilin City and listen to the summary report of Zheng Guiqing, commander of the division and commander of the Guilin Military Sub-district, at the commendation meeting for the celebration of the suppression of bandits. A total of 1,028 bandits were killed, 226 bandits were wounded, 7,706 bandits were captured, 9,147 bandits surrendered to our army (including 479 bandits above regimental level), 32,605 surrendered to surrender, and a total of 50,712 bandits were annihilated. It is equivalent to annihilating the strength of a corps of the Kuomintang army. 22,993 guns of various kinds, 829997 rounds of various bullets, 532 guns of various kinds, 1174 shells, 10 radios, 174 telephones, 6 switchboards, 14 transceivers, 6 recorders, 116 horses, and various materials were seized.

In his summing up, the commander of the division clearly pointed out: The victory was not easy to come by, and the achievements were the fruitful results of the heroic battles of all the commanders and fighters of our division who were not afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice, and were exchanged for the lives and blood of the revolutionary comrades-in-arms who had already died gloriously in the battle against bandits. Comrades-in-arms who died for the interests of the people will always live in our hearts. Their exploits, together with the achievements of our division in suppressing bandits in northern Guizhou, are with the mountains and rivers and with the sun and the moon; they will forever be recorded in the annals of the history of the Guilin region, and will never be recorded in the history of a thousand times!