Chapter 44 44. Decapitation is not like cutting leeks

In late September 1935, when Mao Zedong led the Central Red Army to march towards northern Shaanxi with all its strength, a very distressing event occurred in the northern Shaanxi revolutionary base.Liu Zhidan, Xi Zhongxun, Zhang Xiushan, and a large number of party, government, and military leaders in the revolutionary base areas in northern Shaanxi were branded as "rightists" and "counter-revolutionaries", and put in prisons, and some were even killed; A large pit has been dug nearby, and it is very likely that this place will become a cemetery for those detainees in the near future.

It started when the Red Twenty-Five Army arrived in northern Shaanxi. On September 18, 1935, the 25th Army of the Red Army, which departed from the Hubei, Henan, and Anhui Soviet Areas, arrived at Yongping Town in northern Shaanxi, joined forces with the 26th and 27th Army of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, and formed the 15th Army. Xu Haidong He served as the head of the army, and Liu Zhidan served as the deputy head of the army.The Red Fifteenth Army was directly led by the Shaanxi-Gansu-Shanxi Provincial Committee and the Northwest Revolutionary Military Committee.Xu Haidong and Liu Zhidan cooperated closely and led the 15th Red Army Corps to fight two major victories in the Laoshan area of ​​Ganquan County and the Yulinqiao area of ​​Fu County (now Fu County). They wiped out one division and two battalions of the enemy, and killed the commander He Lizhong gave the enemy a blow to the third "encirclement and suppression".

In this counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression", the 25th Red Army captured a Kuomintang officer named Zhang Hanmin.Zhang Hanmin confessed that he was an underground member of the CCP undercover in the Kuomintang army, and Liu Zhidan could prove it for him.The interrogators didn't know whether it was negligence or sloppiness or intentional, but they shot Zhang Hanmin on the spot without verification.Nie Hongjun, Chairman of the Northwest Military Commission, and Dai Jiying, Director of the Political Security Bureau, who were deeply influenced by Wang Ming's "Left" errors, used this incident to absurdly deduce that: Liu Zhidan and others have connections with the Kuomintang, and the Red Twenty-Sixth Army in Northern Shaanxi has Infiltrated by the Kuomintang forces, they must be purged.A large-scale anti-revolutionary campaign began.

One day, Liu Zhidan, the founder of the Northern Shaanxi Revolutionary Base, rode to the headquarters of the 15th Red Army for a meeting. On the way, he happened to meet a correspondent sent by the Northwest Military Commission to deliver a letter to the 15th Red Army.The correspondent knew Liu Zhidan and knew that he was the head of the 15th Red Army, so he got off his horse, saluted Liu Zhidan, and handed him an urgent letter.Liu Zhidan opened the letter and saw that it was an arrest warrant issued by the Political Security Bureau of the Northwest Military Commission to the 15th Army Corps. There was a list of cadres to be arrested, and Liu Zhidan's name was on it.After reading it, Liu Zhidan folded the letter as if nothing had happened, handed it back to the correspondent, and said to him: "You send this letter to the army headquarters, and say that I have gone to Wayaobao by myself."After finishing speaking, Liu Zhidan turned his horse's head, went straight to Wayaobao, and ran to the Political Security Department of the Northwest Military Commission on his own initiative.He handed over the revolver and said to the security bureau: I know you are looking for me, so I am here.

Dai Jiying, director of the Security Bureau, ordered Liu Zhidan to be put in a cell.Before and after, more than 100 leading cadres above the county level in the Shaanxi-Gansu border area and above the army battalion were thrown into prison.Liu Zhidan's wife and 5-year-old daughter were also sent to the labor camp.The people from the Security Bureau were afraid that the masses would know that Liu Zhidan had been arrested, so they locked up the horse Liu Zhidan was riding, so as not to cause accidents when people saw it chained alone in the stable.When escorting Liu Zhidan and others to cross the street, they even put cloth covers on their heads.

Yang Shangkun later recalled: "From this point, it can be seen that Liu Zhidan's party spirit is very strong. If he read the letter, he would not go to Wayaobao, but to the 81st Division stationed nearby. This division will be passed by him. He was reorganized by the Northern Shaanxi Red Army led by him, so that the security department would not be able to catch him. If there were serious conflicts between the two parts of the Red Army of the 15th Army Corps, the Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Area would be over." The correspondent rode to the regiment headquarters of the 15th Red Army. The regiment leader Xu Haidong was waiting for Liu Zhidan to study the next battle plan.After reading the arrest warrant and knowing that Liu Zhidan had gone to the Political Security Bureau, Xu Haidong's lungs were about to explode. He hated the Security Bureau led by Dai Jiying.Xu Haidong has long been taught how cruel Dai Jiyingsu's countermeasures are.He knew that Liu Zhidan fell into Dai Jiying's hands this time, and there was no escape from disaster.

It turned out that Xu Haidong and Dai Jiying were both serving in the 74th Division of the 25th Red Army when they were in the Hubei, Henan, Anhui and Soviet Areas. Xu Haidong was the division commander and Dai Jiying was the political commissar of the division.Once, Dai Jiying personally tied up 49 party and group cadres, including the political commissar and chief of staff of the 220th regiment.Xu Haidong was surprised and asked: "What are the political commissars doing? What mistakes did they make?" Dai Jiying said: "Suppress counter-revolutionaries, what are you doing?!" When Xu Haidong heard that Dai Jiying was going to try the case, he insisted on going with him.During the interrogation, Xu Haidong saw with his own eyes that Dai Jiying hung up and tortured the instructor of the 79th Regiment's special agent company. After failing to extract a confession, he tied him to a bench and tortured him.Finally, Dai Jiying ordered the guards to pull the instructor out and kill him.Xu Haidong hurriedly said: "Political commissar, there is no confession at all, why did you kill people?" Dai Jiying said impatiently: "You don't understand the counter-revolutionaries, and the lack of a confession proves that he is a staunch counter-revolutionary, and he is unwilling to reveal their organization. Come." Xu Haidong resolutely objected, and Dai Jiying warned Xu Haidong: "I am a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and a political commissar, and eradicating counter-revolutionaries is my business. Don't worry about it." In this way, all 49 cadres were killed by Dai Jiying up.Afterwards, Xu Haidong, an imposing seven-foot man, had both eyes swollen from crying. After getting up, he was afraid that others would see him, so he quickly applied hot water to compress him.On the way of the 25th Red Army to northern Shaanxi, Dai Jiying repeatedly proposed to eliminate counter-revolutionaries. Xu Haidong became furious and slapped the table several times in front of him, resolutely opposing it.

The commanders and fighters in northern Shaanxi and the revolutionary masses did not believe that these founders of the northern Shaanxi base who were willing to shed blood and sacrifice their lives would be "spies" of the Kuomintang.For a long time, Liu Zhidan has enjoyed high prestige among the people in northern Shaanxi. There is a folk song circulating in the local area: "In the first month, it is the New Year, and there is Liu Zhidan in northern Shaanxi. Liu Zhidan is an upright official. Communist Party.” At that time, many commanders and fighters of the 26th Red Army and 27th Red Army believed that the 25th Red Army from outside deliberately wanted to punish them.He Jinnian, the commander of the 81st Division, later told Yang Shangkun that if the Central Committee does not come, we will fight with the 25th Army.After news of Liu Zhidan's arrest spread, people from thousands of households in the base area fled to the White Area without knowing the truth.Landlords, rich peasants, and counter-revolutionaries took the opportunity to make trouble, and the base area was shrinking day by day.

Just when the northern Shaanxi base was facing an unprecedented crisis, on October 19, 1935, the Central Red Army arrived at Wuqi Town in northern Shaanxi. On October 21, after the victory in the battle of Wuqi Town, Mao Zedong met with local cadres and the masses and learned about the serious situation in the northern Shaanxi base.Mao Zedong was outraged by the "elimination of counter-revolutionaries", and immediately ordered "keep people under the knife" and "stop arresting people".He said to the cadres and masses who reported the situation: "We have just arrived in northern Shaanxi and only learned some information, but I have seen that the people's political awareness is very high and they understand many revolutionary principles. Stick to it firmly, I believe that the comrades who created this base area are good cadres of the party, please rest assured that the central government will handle this issue well.”

In order to save the crisis in northern Shaanxi as soon as possible, Mao Zedong immediately recruited Wang Shoudao, Liu Xiangsan, Jia Tuofu and others from the State Political Security Bureau, and asked them to form an investigation team, lead a company of soldiers, carry a radio station, and rush to the city as quickly as possible. Wayaobao, on behalf of the Party Central Committee, took over the Northwest Security Bureau controlled by Dai Jiying.Mao Zedong said earnestly to Wang Shoudao and others: "Beheading is not like cutting leeks. Leeks can still grow after being cut, but the head will not grow back when it falls to the ground. If we kill the wrong person, revolutionary comrades, it is a crime." Behavior. Everyone must keep this in mind, be cautious, and do a good job in investigation and research.”

The investigation team rushed to Wayaobao and announced the decision of the Party Central Committee that Wang Shoudao, director of the State Political Security Bureau, would act as the director of the Northwest Political Security Bureau.Dai Jiying was surprised by their arrival, but he still believed that he was doing the right thing, and confidently produced many files to prove that Liu Zhidan and other comrades were genuine "rightists" and "counter-revolutionaries."After the investigation team accepted these case files, according to Mao Zedong's instructions, they stepped up investigation and research. During the investigation, the investigation team found that those who supported Liu Zhidan and others were so-called counter-revolutionary "confessions", very few of them were deliberately fabricated by bad guys, and the rest were fake confessions obtained by Dai Jiying and others through torture.A large number of facts prove that Liu Zhidan and others are not "rightists" or "counter-revolutionaries", but outstanding Communist Party members who have always been loyal to the revolution, made outstanding achievements repeatedly, and withstood the test of struggle.None of the "crimes" made by Dai Jiying and others can be established.The investigation team questioned Dai Jiying: "If Liu Zhidan and his group of cadres are 'counter-revolutionaries', how did this revolutionary base area be established and developed? How did the struggle against the enemy here persist?" After listening to the reports of Wang Shoudao and others, Mao Zedong pointed out: This incident of suppressing counter-revolutionaries was completely wrong, and the arrest of Liu Zhidan was a completely unwarranted frame-up, an opportunistic madness.Dai Jiying refused to accept Mao Zedong's criticism of him, and justified his actions. Zhou Enlai was extremely angry about this, and pointed at him and said: "The more 'counter-revolutionaries' like Liu Zhidan, the better, but there is a 'true revolution' like you. It would be better if there were none!" On November 30, in order to strictly enforce party discipline, the Party Central Committee decided to punish Dai Jiying and Nie Hongjun who were in charge of counter-revolutionaries, remove Dai Jiying from his leadership position, and give him a serious warning from within the Party. At the beginning of December, more than 100 party, government, and military leaders, including Liu Zhidan, were released from prison and returned to their respective leadership positions one by one.Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai cordially received Liu Zhidan and others in the cave dwelling of Wayaobao. After that, Liu Zhidan was appointed as the deputy director of the Northwest Revolutionary Military Committee, the commander-in-chief of the North Route Army and the commander of the 28th Army. At the same time, Xu Haidong also reported to Mao Zedong the situation of the eradication of counter-revolutionaries in Hubei, Henan and Anhui, saying that there are still more than 300 comrades in the 25th Red Army who have been wronged.Chairman Mao immediately instructed: "These comrades have followed the Long March and endured a lot of hardships along the way. Why are they still considered counter-revolutionaries?!" To rehabilitate and comfort these people. When Xu Haidong announced to the more than 300 wronged commanders and fighters of the 25th Red Army that they would restore their party and group relations, they all cried, and Xu Haidong himself shed tears of emotion.The vast number of Red Army commanders and fighters once again deeply felt from this incident: Mao Zedong is the most realistic.If Mao Zedong hadn't led the Central Red Army to come, I don't know how long those comrades who were persecuted would be wronged! A dark cloud has since been dispelled, and the strength of the Red Army in the Shaanxi-Gansu border base area has rapidly increased.