Chapter 14 Zhou Enlai and the Shanghai Underground Party during the War of Liberation

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang government moved back to Nanjing from Chongqing.The CCP delegation headed by Comrade Zhou Enlai decided to set up representatives of the CCP in Nanjing and Shanghai in order to facilitate negotiations with the Kuomintang and seek domestic peace. Mission office. In May 1946, the CCP delegation moved from Chongqing to Nanjing, but the Kuomintang authorities never agreed to set up the CCP delegation office in Shanghai.In March and April of 1946, our party built the house at No. 107, Sinan Road, Shanghai. Since the Kuomintang did not allow us to set up a public office, it was used as the mansion of General Zhou Enlai.The Zhou Mansion is actually the Shanghai office of the Chinese Communist Party delegation.

The establishment of the Zhou Mansion, Comrade Zhou Enlai traveled between Shanghai and Nanjing, which was a great encouragement and support for the Shanghai underground party and people from all walks of life in Shanghai.Since then, the Shanghai People's Revolutionary Movement has created a new situation in which the upper-level united front and grass-roots mass movements are combined, and open work and secret work are combined.The movement against the Kuomintang's civil war and dictatorship and for peace and democracy quickly spread among all walks of life, strata, and groups.The Kuomintang dispatched special agents, military police to monitor the Zhou Mansion.Through the organization of my underground party, I and the relevant party committees researched and equipped the Zhou mansion with reliable personnel who are familiar with the situation in Shanghai, as gate guards, office personnel, etc., to do security work.The organizational relationship is very tight, and underground party members are not allowed to go to the Zhou mansion.At that time, the leaders of the underground party in Shanghai were Comrades Liu Xiao and Liu Changsheng; Comrade Zhang Zhiyi, under the leadership of the second Liu, divided the labor to assist in the work of the upper-level united front.Zhang Chengzong was in charge of party organization and mass movement.In this regard, there is a division of labor, overlap, and cooperation with the office.The party's work is under the leadership of the Nanjing Bureau of the Communist Party of China. The office has a Shanghai working committee, and the secretary is Hua Gang.Hua Gang communicated information between the office and the underground party through the occasional contact between Liu Shaowen and Pan Hannian and the underground party Liu Xiao.At the same time, Comrade Zhou Enlai also secretly contacted Comrade Liu Xiao through Comrade Qian Ying, a member of the Nanjing Bureau, to convey the instructions of the Central Committee and Comrade Zhou Enlai.The office originally planned to publish "Xinhua Daily" in Shanghai, but due to various obstacles from the Kuomintang authorities, it failed to do so.

As for our party's work policy in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, Comrade Zhou Enlai once analyzed the situation at a meeting and pointed out that the Kuomintang was in danger of launching a civil war and splitting in an all-round way, and it was necessary to mobilize the masses to stop the civil war.Comrade Zhou Enlai transferred Comrade Feng Wenbin to Shanghai secretly from Yan'an to conduct investigations and research, assist the underground party, and guide the youth movement.Comrade Feng Wenbin had many discussions with Liu Xiao, Liu Changsheng, Zhang Zhiyi, Zhang Chengzong, etc. to study the situation of mass movements, and went deep into the student system to guide the work.In May of the same year, under the leadership of Comrade Zhou Enlai, the Shanghai office cooperated with the underground party to carry out extensive patriotic and democratic united front work in Shanghai's industrial and commercial circles, cultural circles, educational circles, and democratic parties, and organized the Shanghai People's Organization United Front meeting.The participants included the Democratic League, the Association for the Promotion of Democracy, the Democratic National Construction Association, the Women's Association, the Federation of Student Organizations, the Association of Magazines, teachers' associations of primary and secondary schools, and a total of 52 units including restaurants, department stores, utilities, machinery, and industrial trade unions.Ma Xulun, Xu Guangping and 29 people are directors.The Federation issued the "Declaration Against Civil War", calling on the people to unite and take concrete actions to stop the war.

According to Comrade Zhou Enlai's instructions, the Shanghai Underground Party organized the Shanghai People's Peace Petition on June 20 to mobilize people from all walks of life to fight against civil war, fight for peace, fight against dictatorship, and fight for democracy. On June 23, people's organizations from all walks of life in Shanghai sent representatives Ma Xulun, Wu Yaozong, Luo Tingfang, Sheng Pihua, Zhang Jibo, Bao Dasan, Yan Baohang, Lei Jieqiong and student representatives Chen Zhenzhong and Chen Lifu to Nanjing to petition, demanding peace and opposing the civil war , demanding democracy and opposing dictatorship.The Shanghai Party also organized more than 200 social organizations in Shanghai, including machinery, textile, municipal, shop assistants and other industry workers, and students and teachers from more than 100 schools. About 50,000 people held a grand farewell meeting at the North Railway Station. parade to protest.Shanghai Party leaders Liu Xiao, Liu Changsheng, Zhang Zhiyi, Zhang Chengzong, etc. all came to the scene in person, and Comrade Feng Wenbin also came to the headquarters.Zhang Ben and Wu Xueqian are in charge of the students, and Zhang Qi and Lu Zhiren are in charge of the staff. There are also separate command and contact points.When the petition representatives arrived in Xiaguan, Nanjing, they were beaten by Kuomintang agents and four representatives were seriously injured.After hearing the news, Comrade Zhou Enlai and Comrade Dong Biwu went to the hospital to condolences to the injured representatives, and protested to the Kuomintang authorities.After the Xiaguan massacre, Comrade Zhou Enlai was very concerned about the work of the underground party in Shanghai and the safety of the comrades. He once instructed comrades who had been exposed during the movement to retreat in time.He repeatedly emphasized the long-term and tenacity of the underground struggle in Shanghai, we must pay attention to concealment, accumulate strength, and avoid acute illness.Comrade Zhou Enlai's instructions on the analysis of the struggle situation in Shanghai, work guidelines, and struggle tactics are very important to the consolidation and development of the Shanghai underground party and the patriotic democratic movement.After the Kuomintang suppressed the "June 23" peaceful petition group in Shanghai, it further suppressed and undermined the progressive trade union movement, student movement and cultural movement.

On September 1, Comrade Zhou Enlai delivered a speech to Chinese and foreign journalists in Shanghai, pointing out that the expansion of China’s civil war was really caused by the United States helping the country. The material transfer government is engaged in civil war, which is actually a head-on blow to Situ's words of "mediation".Comrade Zhou Enlai lodged a serious protest to the U.S. government. On September 29, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued an instruction on launching the US Army Withdrawal from China Movement Week.Afterwards, the struggles of people from all walks of life in the Shanghai area against the KMT’s civil war and dictatorship combined with their struggles against American interference in China’s internal affairs, and the movement developed into a deeper and broader scope.

On November 19, Comrade Zhou Enlai led the CCP delegation Deng Yingchao, Li Weihan and others to leave Nanjing and return to Yan'an.Before leaving Nanjing, the Shanghai Office of the Communist Party of China conveyed Comrade Zhou Enlai's instructions to Comrade Liu Xiao of the Shanghai Underground Party, pointing out that the moment of darkness and seriousness in the Kuomintang area has come again, and we must persist in concealed and arduous struggle. will be realized.I immediately informed the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee.Comrade Zhou Enlai's care and instructions greatly encouraged the comrades of the Shanghai underground party.Everyone is more confident and persists in the tough struggle of resilience.As a result, the liberation of Shanghai and the victory of the whole country were achieved in only three years.

1947 was a decisive year for the Chinese revolution.The army and civilians in our liberated areas fought back against the Kuomintang's all-out attack, forcing the Kuomintang to take a focused attack.From July to September of the same year, the Kuomintang's key offensive was also crushed.Our People's Liberation Army has launched a national large-scale counter-offensive.At the beginning of the year, anti-American and anti-Chiang student movements took place in major cities such as Beiping and Shanghai in the Kuomintang areas. On February 9, the Shanghai business circles launched a movement to love domestic products, which marked that the people's revolutionary forces were gathering and a nationwide revolutionary upsurge was being set off.

On January 16, 1947, Comrade Zhou Enlai sent a telegram to Liu Xiao and other comrades. In order to lead the people in the Chiang Kai-shek area to struggle for patriotism and democracy in a more planned way, the Central Committee believed that it was necessary to adjust the party organization in the Chiang Kai-shek area, and decided to establish the Shanghai Branch of the CPC Central Committee. The secret organization systems managed by Liu Xiao and Qian Ying are under unified management.Sub-bureau under the Shanghai Municipal Committee.The Shanghai branch is composed of Liu Xiao, Qian Ying, Liu Shaowen and another person recommended by Liu Xiao from the Shanghai Party Committee, responsible for leading and developing the work of the secret party in Jiang's administrative area.The Shanghai branch is directly under the leadership of the central government.At that time, in addition to recommending Comrade Liu Changsheng to the Central Committee, Liu Xiao also recommended three people as members of the branch bureau. On February 1, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China passed an instruction to welcome the new upsurge of the Chinese revolution. On April 29, Comrade Zhou Enlai drafted the instructions to the central bureaus and sub-bureaus for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. cadres of this work. On May 6, he drafted a telegram for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to Liu Xiao and other comrades, informing the Central Committee of its decision to change the Shanghai Central Branch into the Shanghai Central Bureau.The notice pointed out: In order to strengthen and adjust the leadership of our party work in the Chiang Kai-shek area, the central government decided to change the Shanghai Central Bureau into the Shanghai Central Bureau, which will govern the organization and work of the Yangtze River Basin, the southwestern provinces, and part of the party in Pingjin, and guide the Hong Kong branch when necessary.The Shanghai Bureau is still composed of four comrades, Liu Xiao, Liu Changsheng, Qian Ying, and Zhang Ming (namely Liu Shaowen), with Liu Xiao as secretary and Changsheng as deputy secretary.In the current serious environment, the fewer meetings of the Shanghai Bureau, the better.Zhiyuan was in charge of all comrades in the Shanghai Party Committee, and still took care of one aspect of work.According to the spirit of the Central Committee’s instructions, the three comrades recommended by the former Comrade Liu Xiao were respectively under the leadership of the Shanghai Bureau, Comrade Zhang Chengzong in charge of the Shanghai Municipal Committee;In terms of organization, the central government established the Ministry of Urban Industry and the Shanghai Bureau, which strengthened the leadership of the party in the Kuomintang area, which is an important guarantee for the vigorous development of the people's revolutionary movement in the Kuomintang area.Comrade Zhou Enlai's direct leadership enabled the party's line, principles, and policies in the Kuomintang areas to be better implemented.

Comrade Zhou Enlai grasped the leadership of the Shanghai Bureau of the Communist Party of China very closely, paid close attention to the political and economic developments in Jiang's area, and guided the work of the underground party in a timely manner.In 1947, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent telegram instructions to the Shanghai Bureau and telegrams in response to the Shanghai Bureau’s request for instructions. Two of them were drafted by Comrade Zhou Enlai himself. The guiding significance is great, and it has made great contributions to promoting the development of the second front work.

On May 20, 1947, more than 6,000 students from Nanjing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other cities jointly petitioned the Executive Yuan of the Kuomintang and demonstrated against hunger and civil war in order to rescue the education crisis.The marchers were beaten and suppressed by the Kuomintang army, police and gendarmes, seriously injuring 19 people and arresting 28 people, resulting in the "May 20th" tragedy.The anti-civil war, anti-hunger, and anti-persecution student movements spread rapidly across the country. On the 23rd, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hangzhou, and Henan initiated the organization of the National Student Federation.In Shanghai, the student movement quickly promoted the employee movement and the people's revolutionary movement from all walks of life. It was so powerful and widespread that it was rarely seen in history.Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out in his commentary for Xinhua News Agency entitled "The Chiang Kai-shek Government Is Surrounded by the Whole People" that there are already two fronts in China.The war between Chiang Kai-shek's invading army and the People's Liberation Army is the first front.Now there is a second front, the sharp struggle between the great righteous student movement and the reactionary Chiang Kai-shek government.The student movement is part of the entire people's movement.The upsurge of the student movement will inevitably promote the upsurge of the entire people's movement.

The opening and development of the second front are inseparable from the correct leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the timely instructions of Comrade Zhou Enlai. On February 28 and May 5, 1947, Comrade Zhou Enlai drafted two telegrams on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, "Instructions on the Struggle Tactics of the KMT-ruled Areas" and "Instructions on the Party's Struggle Policy in the Areas Administered by Chiang Kai-shek". A programmatic document for winning the anti-Chiang struggle.The document pointed out that mass struggles in Chiang Kai-shek's districts will certainly go through some ups and downs, but the general trend will inevitably continue to rise. The question depends on our leadership's struggle strategy and organizational strength to determine the speed of mass struggle growth and whether it can be avoided. some setbacks.In places where the rule of the Jiang administration is still strict, especially in the big cities in the Jiang administration area, the work policy is to protect our party and the democratic progressive forces, so as to continue to intensify the people's movement.For this purpose, it is necessary to be firm and courageous, but also to be alert and cautious.We must always pay attention to the development of the situation, adhere to the policy of our party to mobilize the masses to fight against the United States and Chiang Kai-shek, and flexibly combine and distinguish between legal and illegal struggles.Head-to-head encounters under unfavorable conditions should be avoided. This is not conservative, but to lead the masses to change their methods and bypass hidden reefs.In Jiang's urban work in the district, everything must be planned for the long-term existence to promote the struggle of the masses and develop a united front. Only in this way can we cooperate with the victory of the liberated areas and promote the arrival of a new upsurge across the country. Comrade Zhou Enlai's analysis of the situation in the Chiang Kai-shek area pointed out very incisively that the focus of work should be to firmly grasp the two links of promoting mass struggle and developing the united front.Comrade Zhou Enlai asked us not only to be firm and brave, but also to be vigilant and cautious.This instruction was very important for the Shanghai underground party to carry out its work in an extremely harsh environment at that time. From February to June 1947, the Shanghai Bureau repeatedly requested instructions from the central government to report on the situation of the struggle in Jiang's administrative area and the implementation of the central instructions, all of which received prompt replies from the central government and Comrade Zhou Enlai.Many comrades of the Shanghai underground party recalled that on February 9, 1947, Shanghai department store workers held a campaign to love domestic products in the Advisement Building, which was sabotaged by Kuomintang agents, killing Yongan Company employee Liang Renda and injuring many people.Celebrities such as Guo Moruo and Deng Chumin who attended the meeting escaped from the window under the protection of the masses.After the death of martyr Liang Renda, the crowd was excited and wanted to carry the coffin and parade on Nanjing Road.The Shanghai Bureau and the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee made deployments based on the situation at the time, the dynamics of the enemy's situation, and Comrade Enlai's spirit of "avoiding head-on encounters". The suppression plan failed, and people from all walks of life were condemned and protested. After the "May 20th" movement, some schools originally put forward the slogan of indefinite strikes. After persuasion by the party organization, according to the instructions of the Central Committee and the Shanghai Bureau, the movement was turned to deepen and consolidate, and it was decided to temporarily suspend the strike. Struggle, classes and strikes with flexible struggle strategies.The above two matters were conveyed and implemented by me on behalf of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee to the Staff Committee and the Education Committee respectively.Under the correct leadership of the Central Committee, the people's revolutionary movement in the Kuomintang areas advances in waves, wave after wave. The more the Kuomintang rulers faced a total collapse, the more frenzied the suppression of the people's revolutionary movement.From the second half of 1947, the Kuomintang army and police Xiante continued to carry out large-scale suppression of the Shanghai student movement and progressive trade unions. In July, the "Wen Cui" publication under the leadership of the party was forced to suspend publication, and the responsible Communist Party members Chen Zitao, Luo Hemin, and Wu Chengjian were arrested and killed. In January 1948, 200 Tongji University students were arrested and hundreds were injured; more than 400 dancers were detained for petitioning. At the beginning of February, the Kuomintang bloodily suppressed the Shen Jiu strike, killing 3 workers, seriously injuring dozens of others, and arresting more than 300 people.With the in-depth development of the anti-US and anti-Chiang struggle in Shanghai, the Kuomintang ruling authorities were dying, and the frantic suppression of the people became more serious. On August 22, 1948, the Party Central Committee issued the "Instructions on the Current Struggle Tactics of the Jiang-administered Areas" drafted by Comrade Zhou Enlai.It pointed out: Jiang Jin has determined to tear up the last remnants of the fake democracy and implement the last struggle of the crazy fascist dictatorship.Therefore, our Party must have a clear mind and flexible tactics in its current work in the Kuomintang-ruled areas, must rely on the broad masses and must not make the mistake of adventurism.And pointed out: In the cities ruled by the Kuomintang, it is absolutely impossible to carry out armed uprisings of workers and citizens alone.In particular, it would be the most blundering thing to prematurely lose the revolutionary leadership accumulated in the cities over the years before the PLA approached and the enemy finally collapsed.The instructions also require us: Whether inside or outside the party, all elements who have been exposed or are on the enemy's special attention should try to leave their posts and retreat to the liberated areas first. Based on the dark situation before dawn, Comrade Enlai made an incisive exposition on the policy that the underground party must remain concealed and lean, accumulate strength, and wait for the right time, so that the Shanghai underground party can avoid the tendency to take risks, go deep into hiding, mobilize the masses, and finally cooperate with the People's Liberation Army attack, liberate Shanghai, and take over Shanghai. In September of the same year, the Shanghai Bureau issued instructions on the current basic policies of Shanghai and Nanjing in accordance with the instructions of the Central Committee. role" report.It is clear that the center of our party's work in the Shanghai area is: to actively develop revolutionary forces, rely on the masses, unite the majority, and fight for the complete liberation of Beijing and Shanghai and prepare to take over.Around this center, the struggle against the Kuomintang massacre, betrayal, and relocation, and the protection of factories, schools, jobs, and lives were launched to cooperate with the liberation of Shanghai and the takeover of Shanghai by the People's Liberation Army. From August 1948, according to the instructions of the Central Committee and Comrade Zhou Enlai, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee decided to withdraw the exposed cadres and transfer the technology and engineering needed for urban work in the liberated areas. , medical and other cadres, about 2,000 people.Comrade Liu Shaowen, a member of the Shanghai Bureau, was damaged by the system to which he belonged. Liu escaped from danger and arrived in the liberated area in early October.The underground party also protected democrats, concealed Ma Yinchu, and Huang Yanpei left Shanghai for Hong Kong. In December, upon notification from the central government, 32 patriotic democrats including Zhang Zhirang, Ye Shengtao, and Zheng Zhenduo were escorted to Hong Kong and transferred to the liberated areas. On January 19, 1949, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China telegraphed Liu Xiao and Pan Hannian to try to deliver the letter from Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai to Soong Ching Ling in Shanghai, and arranged for Song to go north.Because Song decided to stay in Shanghai, he did not go. In late March 1949, Liu Xiao, secretary of the Shanghai Bureau, went north via Hong Kong and transferred to Peiping.Qian Ying, a member of the Shanghai Bureau, also went to Peiping in April.So far, only Comrade Liu Changsheng is left as a member of the Shanghai Bureau. On March 17, the location of the Shanghai Bureau's secret radio station was destroyed by the Kuomintang. Qin Mingjun, the radio operator, and Zhang Junzhai (Zhang Chengzong's younger brother) who contacted the radio station were arrested successively, and then died heroically.At that time, the Central Committee and the East China Bureau were very concerned and asked Comrade Liu Changsheng and Zhang Chengzong to retreat.After research, Liu, Zhang and others decided to hide properly and stay in Shanghai to command because the People's Liberation Army was about to cross the river, and the underground party in Shanghai had heavy work and urgent tasks.At that time, Liu moved to live in the home of Xu Yanfei, the former major general of the National Defense Department of the Kuomintang.Xu Zeng was received by Comrade Zhou Enlai in the rear during the Anti-Japanese War and praised him for his work for our party.Zhang Chengzong moved to the home of Zhang Fakui, Commander-in-Chief of the Kuomintang Army.Zhang Fakui's secretary Mo Zhenqiu is an underground member of our party.Also staying in Shanghai were Wu Kejian from Liu Shaowen's system, and Zhang Deng (that is, Sha Wenhan) who was in charge of cultural united front work under the leadership of the Shanghai Bureau. On the eve of liberation, Shanghai's underground party organized a People's Security Corps of about 60,000 people, including about 20,000 employees, workers, teachers, and students as the backbone, to protect factories, institutions, and schools, and to fight against massacres, sabotage, and relocation. The People's Liberation Army, in cooperation with Shanghai's liberation and takeover work, has completed its glorious historical mission. On May 30, 1949, in a telegram congratulating the liberation of Shanghai, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China warmly congratulated the liberation army officers and fighters of the three fields, members of the Communist Party of Shanghai, workers, students, democrats of all walks of life and patriotic compatriots.The Xinhua News Agency editorial pointed out that Shanghai is the stronghold of the Chinese working class and the birthplace of the Communist Party of China. For a long time, it was the guiding center of the Chinese revolutionary movement. In the future, Shanghai is still one of the main bastions of the Chinese labor movement, the revolutionary cultural movement and the patriotic and democratic movements of various democratic strata.The combination of the revolutionary forces in Shanghai and the revolution in the whole country brought about the liberation of Shanghai. The liberation of Shanghai was the result of the blood of countless revolutionary martyrs, as well as that of Comrade Zhou Enlai.