Chapter 62 "Fight for myself and for the workers and peasants"

The oppression of poor peasants in China is too deep. They are burdened by the three mountains of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, and several sharp knives such as land rent, taxes, and miscellaneous donations are hanging over their heads.They live in dire straits. The poor peasants on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi were no exception. For example, "Most of the farmers in Yongxin are tenant farmers and semi-owner farmers, and the rent rate is the highest in the southwest counties"; local tyrants and evil gentry "add a lot of additional taxes under the regular tax to exploit the farmers", and even created a "marriage tax". ".

The exorbitant miscellaneous taxes in many places have reached unbearable levels. Not only the workers and peasants objected to "cattle donations, chicken donations, dog donations, house number donations, etc.", but even ordinary businessmen were very disgusted. "The deeper the oppression, the stronger the resistance." The struggle in Jinggangshan once again proved this point. When Mao Zedong led the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants to establish a revolutionary base area in Jinggangshan and carry out the Agrarian Revolution, the exploited and oppressed poor peasants responded one after another.

In its report to the Central Committee on April 15, 1928, the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee talked about the peasants in Yongxin: "During the war between the Mao (Zedong) Army and the 79th Regiment, the peasants were all ready to move, but the reactionary armed oppression It is too strict, and the party has no organization, so it is impossible to carry out explosive struggle. According to the report of the comrades in Southwest: Yongxin, as long as the party has a certain foundation, under the slogan of fighting local tyrants and evil gentry, and fighting the AB regiment, it can immediately call for about 100,000 The actions of the peasants. Whether this is bragging, but in the report, you can always know the situation of the Yongxin peasants' potential struggle."

The Shonan riots swept through more than 20 counties in a short period of time, and organized an uprising team of more than 10,000 people.When the uprising failed and had to move to Jinggangshan, a huge team of more than 10,000 people marched towards Jinggangshan. In his memoirs, Zeng Zhi described the situation of the Xiangnan peasant army rushing to Jinggangshan: "Many family members of cadres saw that most of the troops left in a hurry, fearing that they would be killed by the enemy if they stayed in their hometown, so they left their homes and took their children with them. Helping the old and the young, desperately following behind the team, this is really a special team. In this team, there are babies who are still in their infancy; Those who carry children, those who carry children; some spears carry burdens and diapers..."

In the article "The Struggle in Jinggangshan", Mao Zedong mentioned that "eighty Wan'an revolutionary peasants followed to Jinggangshan". Kang Keqing, one of the "eighty Wan'an revolutionary farmers", recalled the situation at that time: "After the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1928, probably in September, Comrade Chen Yi led a battalion of the Red Army to Luotang Bay. No criminals, camped at the head of the village. The troops went to Luotang Bay three times. On the first day, I was at home, and the window of my house was facing the road. Seeing the troops coming, I did not open the door. Camped in a place, which is only 15 miles away from Yutianxu, Suichuan. The troops wrote and posted a lot of slogans there. We sent a few literate people there to see, and the people sent came back to us I said the content of the slogan, saying that the Red Army does not enter the houses of ordinary people, but camps outside. I thought to myself, these troops are the Red Army, respectable and lovely. The next day, the Red Army came to Luotang Bay again. My aunt and I went out, in I met Caigou (a street person) on the street. He said: Why don’t you come out, we need to prepare military rations. We will organize women to immediately collect food and vegetables for the Red Army, capture and kill the landlord’s pigs, and the millet from Deshengtang They were all picked out. After we collected the food, the troops left without asking for it. On the third day, the Red Army came to Luotang Bay again. On this day, the enemy 81st Regiment also marched from Hexi to Luotang Bay. We also dug out the buried guns and darts. The Red Army saw that the enemy was stronger than us, so they withdrew immediately. More than 100 of us also withdrew with the Red Army, including 7 female comrades. We arrived at Tianxu with the troops. Before dawn, the Red Army fought the enemy for a day, and camped at the edge of Suichuan County the next day. We retreated while fighting, and moved to Jinggangshan. We passed through Duiziqian and Huangao. , and finally arrived at Jinggangshan on the third day. Some people couldn’t bear hardships on the way, and some people didn’t want to leave their homes, so they left the army halfway. When they arrived at Jinggangshan, there were only 80 people left in the Wan’an peasant army that followed the Red Army.”

This is the attraction of the Jinggangshan base! This is the revolutionary enthusiasm of the poor peasants on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi! In order to stand up for liberation and to no longer be exploited and oppressed, the poor peasants on the border not only actively participated in the revolution, but also dared to fight and sacrifice for the revolution, for the benefit of themselves and the workers and peasants. In order to preserve the "Lotus Gun", the revolutionary masses paid a lot of sacrifices.At the most serious moment of the white terror, the big local tyrant Li Chengyin once led the security team to hunt down the gun held by He Guoqing with all his strength. For this reason, Li Chengyin offered a reward for the capture of He Guoqing who kept the gun, and even used the most vicious means to burn He Guoqing to death. father He Chengmao.But it didn't work, He Guoqing insisted on keeping the gun.

In March 1928, the Jinggangshan base suffered its first disastrous defeat. Under the leadership of the landlords and gentry, the Kuomintang army rushed into Maoping, the base camp of the base area, burning houses on sight and arresting everyone they encountered.Xie Jiakai, chairman of the township Soviet government, was unfortunately arrested. Enraged, the enemies set fire to more than 30 houses in Maoping. They still couldn't get rid of their hatred, and they imposed heavy punishment on Xie Jiakai, forcing him to tell where the people and party and government cadres in Maoping had moved.

Xie Jiakai, this tough guy from the mountain village, closed his lips tightly and refused to answer. The enemy took Xie Jiakai to the Maoping River. The executioner cut off Xie Jiakai's arms, and he fell into a pool of blood and passed out.Not long after, Xie Jiakai, who came to his senses, struggled to stand upright, cursed at the enemy, and kept shouting: "Long live the Communist Party!" "Down with the Kuomintang reactionaries!" Enraged again, the enemy cut open Xie Jiakai's chest and abdomen inhumanely, digging out his heart and lungs.Then, Xie Jia was chopped into five pieces and thrown into the river.

Xie Jiakai shed the last drop of blood for the benefit of his own class. Before and after the "August failure" on the border, Xie Chongbo, the propaganda committee member of the Second District of Ninggang Ancient City, and Deng Haibo, a cadre of Dongyuan Township, were unfortunately caught by the enemy while performing a reconnaissance mission.Although tortured, they refused to surrender.The enemy had no choice but to escort them to the west gate of the new city, first cut off their noses, and then slowly cut off their ears and tongues until they were tortured to death, but they would rather die than surrender.

On January 29, 1929, the Jinggangshan base area fell, and more than 100 seriously wounded people who were too late to transfer from the Xiaojing Red Army Hospital fell into the clutches of the enemy. A bloody atrocity took place. More than 100 seriously wounded and sick were escorted to a rice field beside the stream. On the small bridge opposite, the enemy set up several machine guns, surrounded by soldiers with live ammunition. Facing the enemy's muzzle, the wounded and sick of the Red Army remained calm and fearless.They glared at each other and shouted vigorously: "Down with the Kuomintang reactionaries!" "Long live the Communist Party of China!" "Long live the Red Army!"

The gun rang, it was so piercing, it was so heartbreaking! More than 100 seriously wounded and sick soldiers of the Red Army fell in a pool of blood, and the blood in Xiaojing Creek was dyed red... This is the most tragic scene in the Jinggangshan struggle-the disaster of Xiaojing. For the Jinggangshan base area, but also for "themselves and the workers and peasants", the people on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi fought bravely and made great sacrifices!