Cheng Qian (left) and Chen Mingren.
On the afternoon of August 4, 1949, the Kuomintang’s Hunan military and political leaders Cheng Qian, Chen Mingren, and 37 Hunan military and political leaders jointly signed an uprising, announcing that they formally separated from the Kuomintang government , joined the people’s democratic government, and worked together to establish a new democracy. China struggles. On August 5th, more than 100 people including famous Hunanese Tang Shengzhi, Zhou Zhenlin, Qiu Ao, etc. were electrified in response to the uprising. That night, the People's Liberation Army entered Changsha, and Hunan declared its peaceful liberation. The peaceful liberation of Hunan is the result of the active efforts of the Chinese Communist Party and the joint efforts of all parties. It created the "Changsha Way" after the peaceful liberation of Peking and Suiyuan and saved the people of Hunan from the catastrophe of war.
On August 5, the vanguard of the 12th Corps of the Fourth Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army crossed the Liuyang River and drove into Changsha City from Xiaowumen.
In fact, a year ago, Cheng Qian, who failed to run for "Vice President" and returned to Hunan to serve as director of the Changsha Appeasement Office and chairman of the government of Hunan Province, also chanted anti-Communist high-profile many times in public. In this year, what factors caused Cheng Qian's attitude to take a 180-degree turn? What did the underground party organization of the Communist Party of China active in Changsha at that time do? What role did the special branch of the CCP Changsha, mentioned many times in the party history, play in it? Let’s start with a special family banquet on the banks of Taozi Lake under Yuelu Mountain in Changsha in November 1948.
Peach Lake Banquet: Three-party representatives, four identities
Zhou Li recalled when he was Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Working Committee of the Communist Party of China , although Cheng Qian said in public at that time that he would "fight hard" with the Communist Party, but the Provincial Work Committee analyzed Later, he believed that he supported the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party during the Great Revolution and the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and he was a Hunanese, and he had to consider the people in his hometown. Many of his actions, including after returning to power in Hunan, were biased towards the people. More importantly, Cheng Qian has conflicts with Chiang Kai-shek and the Gui family, so the possibility of Cheng Qian's path to peace exists objectively.
The Hunan Provincial Working Committee has determined that the underground party member Yu Zhihong will specialize in the upper-level united front work with Cheng Qian as the main task, and will be directly led by Zhou Li. Yu Zhihong and Cheng Qian are fellow townspeople in Liling, and they are the secretaries of the former chairman of of Hunan Province's government, Wang Dongyuan. They have many contacts with the upper echelons. At that time they were lecturers at Hunan University.
learned that Fang Shuzhang, an adviser to the provincial government who lived near Hunan University at the time, was called Cheng Qian’s "military division". Yu Zhihong found a way to get to know Fang Shuzhang and mobilized Fang Shuzhang through Hunan University professor Li Da to fight for Cheng Qian. After all, Fang Shuzhang was introduced by Li Dazhao in his early years to join the Chinese Communist Party , and his ideological tendency was progressive.
On November 19, 1948, arranged by Yu Zhihong, Fang Shuzhang invited Hunan University professors Li Da, Wu Yinong, associate professor Xiao Minsong, and lecturer Yu Zhihong to their home on the bank of Taozi Lake at the foot of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha. At the same time, Hunan was also invited. Xiao Zuolin, deputy commander of the Provincial Security Command, Deng Jiesong, Secretary-General of the Provincial Government, and Cheng Xingling, the younger brother of the Cheng Qian clan. This family banquet was later called "Peach Lake Banquet" by Zhou Li.
Xiao Minsong.
It is worth noting that Fang Shuzhang, Xiao Zuolin, Deng Jiesong, and Cheng Xingling were the most trusted people around Cheng Qian at the time, while Xiao Minsong attended as an executive member of the Southern General Branch of the China Democratic League. In a political meeting between the Hunan Provincial Working Committee, Cheng Qian, and the China Democratic League, in fact, Xiao Minsong has another little-known identity-a member of the Changsha Special Branch of the Communist Party of China.
said it was a light feast, but the guests who went to the feast always talked about the evening from the morning. There is only one topic: what should Hunan do when the Kuomintang’s defeat is set? What about Cheng Qian? Although most people hesitated in the morning, after lunch, Deng Jiesong, Xiao Zuolin, Cheng Xingling, and Fang Shuzhang finally confided the internal facts of Hunan's military and political aspects, as well as Cheng Qianzhu's views and concerns. The witness Deng Jiesong said: "Zhuang and Xie come together, from the morning to the evening, the closer you talk, the more vigorous you are."
Li Da later wrote in his memoirs: “I only said three bluntly: Cheng Songyun should defend the peace of Hunan (meaning the peaceful liberation of Hunan); Chiang Kai-shek will not have soldiers to Hunan, but Bai Chongxi retreats from Wuhan. I had a stay in Hunan for a period of time. I should be good at self-management."
Cheng Xingling, Deng Jiesong and Xiao Zuolin passed Li Dazhuhe's advice to Cheng Qian, and they were approved by Cheng Qian. Because Li Da has a special status as a representative of the Communist Party of China, the Kuomintang members who attended the meeting immediately realized that he was preaching for the underground party.Meaning.
Regarding the specific time of the "Peach Lake Banquet", the eight attendees had two different opinions. One is November 19, 1948. Zhou Li, Cheng Xingling, and Xiao Zuolin all hold this view in their memoirs. The time recorded in the memoirs of Deng Jiesong is November; the time recorded in the memoirs of Xiao Minsong's wife Cao Guozhi is November 19. The other is January 19, 1949. This is what Cheng Qian and Yu Zhihong say in their memoirs. Li Da recorded the time as November 19, 1948 and January 19, 1949 in his two articles, "Autobiography" and "The Process of Promoting Chengqian Uprising". When did
"Peach Lake Banquet" happen? Considering that around January 19, 1949, two of the three major battles of the War of Liberation had ended, the Battle of Pingjin had come to an end, the domestic political and military situation had become clear, and on New Year’s Day that year, even Chiang Kai-shek was included in the "New Year Proclamation." There was a plea for peace, and the three parties did not need to communicate about the future of the Kuomintang at the family banquet at the Fang family by the Taozi Lake. Therefore, the specific time of the "Peach Lake Banquet" can be determined as Zhouli and the majority of people in 1948. November 19th. The impact of
"Peach Lake Luncheon" is profound. At that time, the Liaoshen Campaign had just ended for half a month, and the Huaihai Campaign was underway, and the military struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was not yet completely clear. The luncheon not only provided the ideological foundation and implementation method for Cheng Qian to contact the CCP, but also strengthened the confidence of the real powerists Deng Jiesong and Xiao Zuolin. Measures including the establishment of the Peace Promotion Association in 1949 were inspired by the Taozi Lake talks.
And Xiao Minsong’s invitation to the banquet also proved two points: First, the United Front Work of the Changsha Special Branch has penetrated into the top military and political leaders of the Kuomintang in Hunan; second, the Democratic League as an independent political force began to play a role in the peaceful liberation of Hunan.
Confusing: The Changsha Special Branch who changed his superiors four times
Xiao Minsong, who joined the Chinese Communist Party at Peking University in 1935, was originally from Taihe County, Jiangxi Province. He lost contact with the Beiping Municipal Committee and the Hunan Provincial Committee during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Attempts to restore party organization relations failed. In 1941, Xiao Minsong and his wife Cao Guozhi joined the Chinese Democratic Political League in Hexian, Guangxi, becoming the first members of Hunan to join the alliance.
In 1948, Xiao Minsong reunited in Changsha with Song Shaoyao, a comrade and special branch member of the Peking Underground Party in the 1930s. Introduced by the then secretary of the special branch Chen Kedong and approved by the superior, Xiao Minsong rejoined the party in the special branch of Changsha.
From the perspective of time, Yu Zhihong who participated in the "Peach Lake Banquet", including the secretary of the Hunan Provincial Working Committee Zhouli did not know Xiao Minsong's status as an underground party member of the Communist Party of China. This starts with the history of the establishment of the Changsha Special Branch.
"Father said before his death that in January 1949, when Chen Kedong, the first secretary of the Changsha Special Branch, , handed over with him in Hong Kong, he only said one word about the establishment of the special branch:'I was in charge from Wuhan to Changsha in 1947. The work of the special branch in Changsha. I don’t know the preliminary situation of the special branch.” Liu Shiming, son of Liu Qingbo, the second secretary of the special branch of Changsha, said to Guanchao Jun.
Entrusted by his father’s deathbed, Liu Shiming began to collect information about the Changsha Special Branch and interviewed underground party members from 1998, and finally clarified the historical context of the Changsha Special Branch:
In October 1947,
The Hubei Provincial Working Committee of the Communist Party of China was established shortly, in order to make a great leap forward. The army of Liu and Deng in Dabie Mountains, the Shanghai Bureau of the CPC Central Committee issued instructions to the Hubei Provincial Working Committee to "actively open up work on both sides of the river and prepare to cooperate with the army to cross the river in March." Chen Kedong, a member of the Hubei Provincial Working Committee, established a branch in Yueyang and a special branch in Changsha in accordance with the instructions of the Provincial Working Committee to "implement the plan on both sides of the river and start work in several large and medium-sized cities along the E-xiang section of the Guangdong-Han Railway." Both branches are under the Hubei Provincial Working Committee. Chen Kedong concurrently serves as Secretary of the Special Branch of Changsha , and Yue Jianzhong and Song Shaoyao serve as members. The Wuhan Municipal Work Committee also established a branch directly under Hengyang.
In July 1948, the Shanghai Bureau of
decided to reorganize the Hubei Underground Party, abolished the Hubei Provincial Working Committee, and established the Wuhan Underground Municipal Party Committee. The Changsha Special Branch was placed under the leadership of the Wuhan Underground Municipal Party Committee. Member of the Municipal Party Committee Chen Kedong is still the secretary of the Changsha Special Branch .
The Shanghai Bureau of
decided in January 1949: Changsha Special Branch was separated from the Wuhan Underground Municipal Party Committee system and directly led by the Shanghai Bureau. Liu Qingbo took over the work of the Changsha branch in Hong Kong in January. In mid-to-late January, at Lu Juru (Lu Fang) Under the cover, he went to Changsha to serve as the secretary of the special branch , and Zhang Liwu (Yue Jianzhong) and Lin Nan served as committee members.
May 1949
In May 1949, the Changsha Special Branch was transferred to the Central China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee with Qian Ying, member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Bureau and Minister of Organization.
On July 1, 1949,
merged with the Changsha Municipal Work Committee in accordance with the instructions of the superior.
It can be seen that since the establishment of the Changsha Special Branch, its superior leadership relationship has always been in Hubei or Shanghai Bureau instead of the Hunan Provincial Working Committee. In other words, during the period of underground work carried out by the Changsha Special Branch in Hunan, it has always been two lines that do not intersect with the Hunan Provincial Working Committee system.
According to Liu Qingbo's recollection, after he handed over work with Chen Kedong in Hong Kong in January 1949, Qian Ying repeatedly confessed to him that he could not have any contact with the Hunan Provincial Working Committee in Changsha. This is to prevent that once the underground party organization in Hunan is devastated, as a response force, there is a directly affiliated underground party that can continue to fight in Changsha. This is also a "two-handed preparation" response measure after the devastating destruction of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and the Hunan-Hubei Special Committee under the Shanghai Bureau.
Qian Ying.
However, with the development of underground work, the underground party members on the two lines crossed and collided in their work. The party members of the Changsha Special Branch were once suspected by the Hunan Provincial Working Committee and the Changsha Municipal Working Committee to destroy the underground organization our party "Red Flag Special Agents", special support is in danger of exposure. Despite this, Qian Ying insisted on not allowing the Provincial Work Committee to connect with the special support. Until the end of June 1949, the necessity of special support as a response force had disappeared. Qian Ying, who had been transferred to the first deputy head of the Organization Department of the Central China Bureau of the Communist Party of China, sent a person to Changsha to convey instructions from the higher authorities in Zhouli, Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Working Committee. The misunderstanding of Liu Qingbo and their "red flag agents" was eliminated.
So when Xiao Minsong received the invitation to the banquet, the Changsha Special Branch was in the leadership of the Wuhan Underground Municipal Party Committee. The then Changsha Special Branch Secretary Chen Kedong instructed Xiao Minsong not to reveal the identity of the Special Branch Party members and to attend as the Democratic League. Zhou Li and Yu Zhihong naturally did not know that Xiao Minsong was also a party comrade.
promoted the uprising: The special branch
of Changsha, which accelerated the pace of the United Front, participated in the "Peach Lake Banquet". Later, Xiao Minsong went to the small bungalow of Jixian Village in Lake Dajixian Village to discuss with him and mobilized Li Da to come forward and promote the Cheng Qian uprising. Xiao Minsong also participated in many meetings held by Wu Yinong in his home in order to cooperate with the underground party, and discussed with Fang Shuzhang, Deng Jiesong, Li Da and others on specific methods to urge Cheng Qian to peaceful uprising. Wu Yinong met on this basis. Qian and Tang Sheng wisely contribute to the quotient. Chen Kedong praised Xiao Minsong for his "excellent work performance."
Chen Kedong. Cao Guoshu, a member of the special branch of
, was also instructed by Chen Kedong to use his relatives with Cao Bowen, secretary general of the Hunan Provincial Senate, and through him to do more united front work for Cheng Qian and others.
In January 1949, Liu Qingbo succeeded Chen Kedong as the second secretary of the Changsha branch. Soon, Qian Ying handed over to Liu Qingbo the relationship with Cheng Yuan (Bogan), the son of Cheng Qian and the head of the Changsha Appeasement Office's guard regiment, to open up another way to win Cheng Qian.
Liu Qingbo.
Liu Qingbo, while leading the work of the special branch, established the Hunan Provincial Branch of the Democratic League and the Changsha Municipal Working Committee of the Chinese Democratic League. In March 1949, the Changsha Special Branch accelerated its united front efforts against the upper echelons of the Hunan Kuomintang. Party members such as Yang Bojun, Cao Guoshu, and Xiao Minsong contacted Cheng Xingling and Fang Shuzhang. Liu Qingbo also handed over the task of contacting Cheng Yuan to Xiao Minsong. Xiao established contact with Cheng Yuan through Liu Boqian, a classmate of his classmate at Mingde Middle School, who was then the news director of the Hunan Provincial Government. Liu Qingbo, through the father-in-law of special party member Huang Jianping (Huang Dong), and Cheng Yizhong of the Changsha City Working Committee of the National Revolutionary Committee, maintained contact with Fang Dingying and Song Yingzhong, the local powers of the KMT, and met with Tang Shengzhi's younger brother Tang Shengming.
In June 1949, the Changsha Special Branch assigned the task of direct talks with Cheng Qian to Zhang Liwu, a branch member of the Military Insurrection Working Group.
With the help of Xiao Minsong, Zhang Liwu, Cheng Yuan and Liu Boqian met at Hunan Xingsu Middle School (now Changsha No. 7 Middle School) and talked about the form of the War of Liberation and the Party's policies. Cheng and Liu agreed that peaceful liberation was the only way out for Hunan, and said that Cheng Qian was resolute and clear about the situation in Hunan. They proposed that Cheng Qian hoped to have a direct interview with the head of the underground party and asked when specific arrangements could be made.
Cheng Yuan.
After exchanging opinions, Cheng Yuan and Liu BoQian decided to wait for a reply at Xiao Minsong's home the next day. The next day, Cheng and Liu informed Zhang Liwu: Cheng Qian decided to meet with Zhang Liwu at the office of the provincial government at noon that day.
After lunch, Zhang Liwu took Cheng and Liu’s jeep to the government of Hunan Province and had a close conversation with Cheng Qianqi in his office. Zhang Liwu came back and recalled that at that time he talked to Cheng Qian about the domestic situation and the party's policies, and also analyzed the situation in Hunan, and reviewed the treachery and perverse behavior of the Chiang Kai-shek Group since the Great Revolution. This shows that the collapse of the Chiang family dynasty and the victory of the people are the general trend. .
Cheng Qian told Zhang Liwu that, as a Hunanese, he would not want the people of Hunan to be stricken by war again, and would never do anything to apologize to the elders of Hunan. "I will go on the road of peaceful return to the people sooner or later, but I have to wait for the opportunity."
Zhang Liwu hoped that Cheng Qian could see the right time and grasp the opportunity, and suggested that Cheng Qian should consider the safety of the people and individuals of the province and prevent Bai Chongxi from being attacked by the military when he retreated from Hunan. Cheng Qian said that he has made military arrangements, and the Changsha Appeasement Office is also preparing to move to Shaoyang to temporarily avoid Bai Chongxi. The two parties agreed that Liu Boqian and Cheng Yuan would be responsible for the contact and safety when meeting in the future. A few days later, Cheng Qian entrusted Liu Boqian to transfer Zhang Liwu a badge from the provincial government , and arranged for him a provincial government "participation" name to facilitate Zhang Liwu's interview with Cheng Qian's office. Soon, Zhang Liwu went to the provincial government to meet Cheng Qian by appointment. Zhang Liwu proposed to take coercive measures to detain Bai Chongxi in Changsha? Cheng Qian said that although he was at odds with Bai Chongxi, he still couldn't do the forced detention.
Triangle Pond, the former site of the Hunan Provincial Working Committee of the Communist Party of China.
On July 1, the Changsha Special Branch merged with the Changsha Municipal Working Committee of the Communist Party of China in accordance with the instructions of superiors. At the time of the merger, the Changsha Special Branch had more than 60 party members. It also formed six armed forces including the Xiangbei Advance Team and the New Democratic Youth Club. Seven peripheral organizations. With the exception of Zhang Liwu and Huang Jianping who joined the military insurrection team of the Hunan Provincial Working Committee of the Communist Party of China, the other party members entered the Changsha City Working Committee to continue underground work.
Cheng Qian led the Changsha Appeasement Office to move to Shaoyang, and the Provincial Working Committee sent Zhang Liwu to accompany him. Zhang interviewed Cheng Qian twice in Shaoyang about the uprising. According to the memories of old comrades who worked underground in Changsha at that time, although several comrades had secretly met with Cheng Qian, in terms of the number of times, Zhang Liwu met Cheng Qian the most.
Welcome to the liberation: the perfect curtain call for the special branch of Changsha
On August 1, the Changsha Municipal Working Committee decided to focus on the special branch party members and set up the "Welcome and Disband United" party group with Liu Qingbo as the secretary of .
On August 4th, after preparations, the presidium of the "Changsha City Welcome Liberation Federation" ("Welcome the Liberation" for short") was established at the site of the Provincial Senate Council, Zhongshan East Road, Changsha City (now Xiangjiang Hotel), with special party member Cao Guoshu as the chairman , Liu Qingbo pseudonym Wang Yilin as the secretary-general, and at the same time established an advisory committee with Tang Shengzhi as the chairman, more than 230 groups and units have joined.
On July 5, the Changsha Party History Museum once passed the black leather briefcase of the PLA's plan to enter the city.
In the early morning of August 3rd to 5th, Liu Qingbo, secretary of the party group of the "Yellow Disintegration Alliance", personally put the plan for the People’s Liberation Army into the city in a black leather briefcase, and sent a liaison officer to take this bag to Chunhua Mountain several times to deliver the plan. To the head of the People's Liberation Army 138 division. After three adjustments, the plan for the People's Liberation Army to enter the city at night was finally passed to prevent enemy aircraft from bombing.
Although the dawn of liberation has appeared, Liu Qingbo almost fell on the eve of victory. On August 3, Battalion Commander Liu Yuankai of the 10th Gendarmerie Regiment stationed in Changsha, and Mao Jianjun, a special agent sent by General Mao Renfeng from the General Command Bureau, detained. Chen Mingren objected after learning about it. Our party , for the sake of the overall situation, agreed to release Mao Jianjun. After
Mao was released, he avenged his grudge and mobilized three enemy planes to take off from Hengyang to bomb Changsha, and dropped a bomb at the office of the "Yellow and Disintegration United". Fortunately, there were no casualties. Liu Qingbo immediately instructed the spokesperson of the "Yellow League" to hold a press conference and angrily denounced the enemy's crimes.
That night, Liu Qingbo was suddenly assassinated by a hidden spy in an alley while returning to Huohou Street. The spies fired 3 shots in a row. Liu Qingbo was almost shot. The guards fired back. The spies ran away in a hurry and Liu Qingbo was able to escape.
On August 5, 1949, more than 50,000 people from all walks of life in Changsha gathered in Xiecaoping (the provincial peoplePeople’s Stadium), ready to welcome the People’s Liberation Army. Photographed by You Zhenxin
At around 5 o'clock in the evening on August 5, the "Yellow Jie" team gathered at Xiecaoping (now the Provincial People's Stadium). After the team was assembled, the "Yellow Jie" presidium led 230 groups and 50,000 representatives. Many citizens walked to Dongtundu Ferry to meet the PLA. The 138 Division of the 46th Army of the Fourth Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army marched into Changsha with great strength. History has opened a new page!
source: crab watching the tide
editor: Han Yang
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