Chapter 55 The Forgotten Uprising Figure - Peng Ganchen

Careful readers will find an unfamiliar name from the previous section: Peng Ganchen.His position is Nanchang City Public Security Bureau Chief and Garrison Commander. This position is not small, and his role in the uprising army is not trivial. So why has this character been submerged for a long time?When I was writing documentary literature about Zhou Enlai and Chiang Kai-shek a few years ago, I came into contact with this character, and I also noticed that some newspapers and periodicals have been correcting some historical misinformation.When writing this book, I had the honor to get to know Peng Weiguang, the son of Peng Ganchen, and my understanding of this matter has deepened.

Peng Ganchen was born in May 1900 in a tenant farmer's family in Luolinghe Village, Yingshan County, Hubei Province (before 1933, it belonged to Anhui).His father, Peng Shaoxuan, used to be a teacher in a private school. He was proficient in the Four Books and Five Classics, a hundred schools of thought and 24 histories.Under the influence of his father, Peng Ganchen has been studious, knowledgeable and reasonable since he was a child, and his grades have always been excellent. In 1920, he was admitted to the Provincial First Normal School in Anqing, the capital city of the province.Influenced by the May 4th Movement and Chen Duxiu, he became a student leader of the First Division and participated in the organization of the famous June 2 student movement; in support of the February 7 strike and against Cao Kun’s bribery of the president, he organized several College tide.Peng Ganchen joined the party in 1923, and when Chen Duxiu founded the regiment in the first division, he had already served as the party branch secretary of the first division.Later, as the first batch of students of the Whampoa Military Academy, he won the appreciation of Zhou Enlai and became a main member of the special branch of the Whampoa Military Academy of the Communist Party of China.After graduation, he and his classmate Chen Geng were in the same company. Chen Geng was the company commander and Peng Ganchen was the party representative. They participated in the crusade against Chen Jiongming together.In the Battle of Wuhua, Peng Ganchen lost a finger, and his classmates and friends felt very sorry.But he said with a smile: The revolution is really difficult, and it is not a pity to cut off your fingers. If you keep your head, you can serve the party.

On the surface, Chiang Kai-shek treated the Communist Party members of the military academy with courtesy, but he was always wary in his heart.He received a report and immediately greeted Zhou Enlai: "Please draft an order. The party representatives of the first regiment, Wen Zhiwen, Peng Ganchen, and deputy company commander Du Xinshu, etc., retreat before the battle, dismissed and investigated!" Zhou Enlai vaguely felt that this matter was strange.He is familiar with the few people mentioned by Chiang Kai-shek, especially Communists like Peng Ganchen will not retreat at critical moments.After checking, it turned out that the facts were wrong.He reported to Chiang Kai-shek: In the battles of Heshun and Wuhua, Wen Zhiwen, Peng Ganchen, etc. made many military exploits, but because they retreated and took shelter, they mistakenly absconded, so they should not only be punished, but should be credited.Chiang Kai-shek accepted: "Okay, I will immediately issue an order to exempt them from punishment. Your proposal is very good."

Peng Ganchen was brave and good at fighting, and he was promoted again and again, and later he was promoted to the head of the regiment. In June 1925, he was sent by the Central Committee to study at the Oriental University in Moscow.Zhu De, Liu Ding, Zhang Jichun, Zeng Yongquan and Tu Zuochao were all his classmates.His military skills are very good. Whenever the Soviet instructors teach, he and Zhu De often give military demonstrations to the students. In the autumn of 1926, Zhou Enlai conveyed the order of the central government, asking him to return to China to participate in the command of the Northern Expedition, and assigned him to work in Ye Ting's Ministry.When attacking Tingsi Bridge and Hesheng Bridge, he charged forward and attacked Wuchang City. He suggested that Ye Ting organize a death squad for Communist Party members.After the capture of Wuhan, Ye Ting's independent regiment was expanded into the 24th Division, Ye Ting was the commander of the Wuhan Garrison, and Peng Ganchen was promoted to the chief of staff.Zhou Enlai paid more attention to Peng Ganchen's talent.When he went to Shanghai to lead the third workers' armed uprising, he specially transferred Peng Ganchen.He also ordered Peng Ganchen to transfer a group of military backbones at all levels from the Wuchang garrison, disguise themselves down the river, sneak to Shanghai, and intersperse among the workers' pickets to serve as military commanders or military advisers.

Before Peng Ganchen studied in the Soviet Union, he founded a night school for workers at the Shanghai Wusong Locomotive Factory, established a party organization, and had a high prestige among the workers.Wang Ruofei, secretary-general of the Military Commission, introduced to people at the headquarters meeting: "Comrade He Yue (Peng Ganchen's pseudonym) is a first-year student in Huangpu, a member of the Communist Party, with practical experience and commanding skills. Comrade Zhou Enlai can trust him. The military commander of the company’s uprising headquarters.” Sun Jinchuan, who was present at the time, recognized at a glance that this tall, thin, Confucian-like Comrade He Yue was not his party introducer Peng Ganchen?But under the specific circumstances at that time, Sun Jinchuan did not dare to publicly recognize each other. After the "April 12" massacre, Zhou Enlai's office address of the Central Military Commission in the urban area was exposed. Zhou Enlai followed Sun Jinchuan to hide in his home in a shanty town in Zhanghuabang, Wusong.

In mid-May, when Zhou Enlai left Shanghai, Sun Jinchuan's lover sent the disguised Zhou Enlai to Peng Ganchen, and then Peng Ganchen contacted Chen Geng to escort Zhou Enlai safely to Wuchang.Because the Wuchang Communist Party controlled a revolutionary armed force, most of the exposed worker leaders and well-known party members sneaked to Wuchang.Wuchang became a red sanctuary. Li Qiang was also in Wuchang at that time, and he raised a large amount of military expenses for this armed force of thousands of people: there were about 50 boxes of silver dollars, each box was about 5,000 pieces, and it was very difficult for two big men to lift them up.The money was sent to the Wuhan Garrison Command.It just so happened that Peng Ganchen's third brother heard that his eldest brother had become a high-ranking official, so he rushed from Yingshan to Wuchang. As soon as he entered the headquarters office, hey, the room was full of silver dollars, and people couldn't keep their eyes open.The third younger brother has never seen so much money, and tentatively asked: "Brother, give me a few yuan to take home!" He took a deep breath: "Third brother, this is the revolutionary fund, and you can't move a single piece." The third brother became angry instead: "You don't give me a few dollars, what kind of brother are you!" Peng Ganchen ignored him, continued to count silver dollars, and went to registered in the account book.This money was of great use for the subsequent Nanchang Uprising.

In June 1927, Xia Douyin rebelled, Ye Ting led troops to conquer, and Peng Ganchen acted as the commander of Wuhan Garrison.In July of the same year, Peng led some workers and peasants to sneak into Nanchang from Yingshan. Since Peng Ganchen was familiar with public security and garrison work, Zhou Enlai handed over these two important tasks in Nanchang City to Peng.In the name of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, Peng Ganchen was officially appointed as the director of the Nanchang Public Security Bureau, the garrison commander and the party representative. Earlier memoirs also touch on this point.In addition to Tang Tianji’s article quoted in the previous section, there are memories of Xu Guanghe, who was a class member of the Administration Section of the Public Security Bureau at that time.He recalled:

"After Zhu (De) left the Public Security Bureau, the director of the bureau was represented by Comrade Yang Da, the secretary. About a month later, Zhu Peide was carrying out anti-communist activities in Nanchang, and Comrade Zhu De sent a telegram to resign in Linchuan. Then Yang Comrade Da also left the Public Security Bureau, and Li Shangyong and Li Shishuo took over the positions of directors thereafter. "After the bandits were suppressed in June, Director Zhu returned to Nanchang once. He lived in Hedong Mansion No. 1. I went to see him once. I was very happy to see him. He was wearing a grass-green military uniform. Soon he Then I left Nanchang again.

"On the night of July 31, I was staying at home (No. 2 Chenjia Garden). After midnight, I suddenly heard gunshots on the street. At that time, I didn't know it was an uprising. The next day'August 1', I came to the Public Security Bureau to work as usual. I saw a lot of slogans and notices posted on the street. When I returned to the bureau, the Revolutionary Committee sent a new director named Peng Ganchen. Director Peng also served as the commander of the Nanchang Garrison Command. The Garrison Command was located in the Public Security Bureau On the same day, the Public Security Bureau issued a notice, which was written by us with a brush. The content of the notice basically said: Our people have returned, so don’t be afraid, and all stores are required to open for business as usual.

"After the 'August 1st' uprising, the Public Security Bureau was very busy, and the officers and police were fighting all day long. On the afternoon of the 4th, Director Peng braved the rain to summon the first and second security teams and the fire brigade to reorganize on the playground. We formed several companies, and went to the bullet depot to get the bullets. We gathered in the provincial government at seven or eight o'clock that night, stayed for one night, and set off for the southern expedition with General He Long's guard regiment the next morning." Zhang Bingquan, who was a member of the fire brigade of the Public Security Bureau at that time, and Wang Xianzhang, the captain of the first security team of the Public Security Bureau, also had memories:

"During the 'August 1st' uprising, we were in the Public Security Bureau. We only heard gunshots outside that night, and we didn't know what was going on. It was not until early the next morning that we found out that Generals He Long and Ye Ting had revolted. On the day of the uprising, Peng Ganchen took over as the Public Security Bureau. He also hung the title plate of the former reactionary garrison headquarters on the entrance of the Public Security Bureau. Comrades from our overall police officers and fire brigade gathered in the police station for reorganization. Then we were also the pseudo-garrison commander in the Shunzhi Guild Hall More than 1,000 guns were brought into the Ministry. The weather was not very good on the afternoon of the 4th, and it was drizzling. Director Peng called the first and second security teams and the fire brigade to speak. It was not until 7 or 8 o'clock in the evening that the compilation was completed, and those who were incorporated were given guns and bullets. The compiled team was brought into the provincial government that night, stayed for one night, and set out for the city early the next morning .Before departure, we organized a team in the square of Shengjin Pagoda. There were 200 to 300 people. We left Nanchang at 8 o’clock in the morning, walked to Liantang at 12 o’clock, and crossed the river in Shabutan in the afternoon. The entire staff of our Public Security Bureau is They went with General He Long's guard group. Many people followed the rebel army all the way to Guangdong." After the successful uprising, Peng Ganchen was busy.In addition to deploying and posting notices to calm the hearts of the people and requiring citizens to live as usual, shops to operate as usual, and schools to resume classes as usual, he ordered the military police and public security system to strengthen the city's security, search for remnants of the enemy, and crack down on criminals. His commanding skills and organizational skills.While doing these tasks, Peng Ganchen followed Zhou Enlai's direct instructions and kept in close contact with the Political Security Office of the Revolutionary Committee.The head of the Political Security Department is Li Lisan, and the member is his old friend Chen Geng from Huangpu.The two of them put a lot of energy into taking over the work of the city bank. Since this is the case, why did Peng Ganchen's famous name be buried? It even gave people the impression that the chief of public security at that time was Zhu De.According to Peng Weiguang's analysis, there are about three: One is that during the difficult war years, his father changed his name several times, and successively used Peng Qiancheng, He Yue, Huang Chunshan, Huang Daboss, etc. During a period, his pseudonym was more famous than his real name, so that people were not familiar with it. his real name; The second is that since the Nanchang Uprising, Peng Ganchen began to use various aliases to work, so that the Kuomintang newspapers and our newspapers after liberation mentioned his death twice. The Northeast was buried alive by members of the AB regiment within our army.However, a large number of materials prove that these two times are historical fallacies.Peng Ganchen's real sacrifice was in 1935 when the Northeast Jiangxi Red Army went north to fight against Japan; The third is closely related to Zhou Enlai.Peng Ganchen's major contributions during his lifetime: the crusade against Chen Jiongming, the Northern Expedition, the third armed workers' uprising in Shanghai, and the Nanchang Uprising were almost all carried out under the direct guidance of Zhou Enlai. He was one of Zhou Enlai's most capable assistants.And Zhou Enlai once said this before his death: My history will be written by future generations. During my lifetime, I am not going to write or talk about anything about myself.If Zhou Enlai gave a detailed explanation of Peng Ganchen's experience, perhaps the subsequent misinformation in history would not happen. Zhou Enlai is strict with himself, and he dislikes showing off his merits the most.He expected the same from his men. In 1956, Peng Weiguang, who was in his twenties, came to Beijing from Shanghai. The enthusiastic general Chen Geng received him with great joy, and sent him to Ziguang Pavilion, Zhongnanhai to meet Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao.Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao sized up the young boy from head to toe. Deng Yingchao said with tears in his eyes, "Okay, we have finally met our child. You have missed us all these years!" Zhou Enlai said, "Yes, this is Peng Ganchen's son. There is nothing alike in his eyes and face." They treated the young man like a distinguished guest, accompanied him on a boat in Zhongnanhai, and invited him to eat Peking duck. Send him to study again.On that day, Deng Yingchao said affectionately to Peng Weiguang: "Son, your father was doing secret work with us in Shanghai. He is a witty and optimistic person who does everything in spite of all difficulties. We are very sad for his sacrifice. See you today." Your Uncle Zhou and I are very happy to see you. In this way, we can explain something to our lost comrade-in-arms, Martyr Peng Ganchen.” However, when Peng Weiguang asked them about his father’s experience, Zhou Enlai was silent for a moment, and then expressed his feelings in a deliberative way. He said in a tone: "Son, let's not talk about your father's experience in the future, shall we?" At that time, Peng Weiguang followed Zhou Enlai's words and never mentioned his father again. On October 1, 1957, the National Day Observation was held. Zhou Enlai took him to meet Chairman Mao on the Tiananmen Gate.Zhou Enlai said to Chairman Mao: "This is Peng Ganchen's son." Mao Zedong heard "Ah", took Peng Weiguang with one hand, touched his head with the other and said, "Okay, okay." He felt that Mao Zedong seemed to have something to say, but because there were foreign guests from many countries present, it was impossible to speak again. What are you talking about.Many years have passed, and even though Peng Weiguang remembered the Prime Minister's instructions, his eagerness to understand his father's experience became more and more intense.From the "Beijing Evening News" on July 30, 1981, when a reporter interviewed Tang Tianji's article "Recalling Nanchang on the Eve of August 1st" (the article mentioned "garrison commander Peng Ganchen" again), after more than 10 years of unremitting efforts, he traveled around and did so in many ways. After checking, he finally found out the history of his father. Another reason for such misrepresentation is that before the Nanchang Uprising, Zhu De did serve as the director of the Nanchang Public Security Bureau, but many people only remember this and ignore the fact that Zhu De resigned as the director in June.Some people took it for granted that the post of Public Security Bureau Chief after the uprising was still assigned to Zhu De, who was more famous.Due to the long history, it is understandable that some memoirs are misrecorded and misrepresented; but it is inappropriate to delete confirmed facts from the memoirs, which causes artificial confusion. After the uprising army withdrew from Nanchang, Peng Ganchen arrived in Chaozhou and Shantou with the army in late September.The Front Enemy Committee decided to combine the Hailufeng Poor Red Guards and the uprising army into the 15th Army. Liu Bocheng was the commander of the army, Peng Ganchen was the commander of the first division, and Guo Huaruo was the commander of the first battalion. Slightly older than me, slender, maybe taller than me, heroic, well-mannered and amiable." Later, due to the failure of the main force in early October, the 15th Army could not be formally established. After many twists and turns, Peng Ganchen returned to Shanghai in December of that year. According to Peng Weiguang, after the failure of the Nanchang Uprising, in the autumn of 1928, his mother Jiang Xianyun and his father were married by Li Cishan, the chairman of the Anhui Association, and they lived on Chengdu Road near the small vegetable market in Shanghai.Soon, due to financial constraints, he moved to live in a two-story wing house near Suzhou Creek in the British Concession.On a certain day during the season when oranges were in the market, a tall classmate named Chen (or Cheng) from Anhui, who was wearing a robe, came to visit Peng Ganchen.Seeing the old classmates coming, Peng Ganchen warmly received the visitors. After a few words of greetings, he turned to the main topic: "The principal knows that you are struggling in Shanghai, and said that you are a talent. I hope you will go back and give you a higher position than you have held before." After Peng Ganchen heard this, he was quite excited, and he changed his style of Confucianism and Fengya, and yelled: "You bastard, bastard! I don't believe your way, and I won't go back to Chiang Kai-shek's side!" leave.After the visitor left, the mother who was sitting on the side advised the father that the visitor was a representative of Chiang Kai-shek. If you offended him, are you afraid of arresting you?So they moved the next day.On the third day, Peng Ganchen reported the incident to Zhou Enlai. Zhou Enlai praised that the scolding was good, and the Communists would never follow the Kuomintang. In the summer of 1929, the central government held a training class for military and political cadres led by Zhou Enlai in Shanghai. Peng Ganchen, as the "manager of the honey management office", was responsible for a large number of specific affairs of the training class with his wife.Outsiders don't know that he is Peng Ganchen, but only know that there is a "Boss Huang" who is an outstanding talent.Among the people attending lectures here are famous communists such as Xu Guangda, Wang Shoudao, Wu Yunfu, Huang Huoqing and Cai Shenxi.Zhou Enlai was very satisfied with his work and praised Peng Ganchen as an "excellent general manager".Later, Peng Ganchen went to Fengtian to serve as the secretary of the Manchurian Military Commission, and went to Tianjin to serve as the secretary of the Shunzhi Provincial Military Commission. In 1931, he returned to Shanghai to engage in anti-Japanese and national salvation activities. At the beginning of 1935, during the transfer of the Red Cross Army led by Fang Zhimin to the Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi Soviet Areas, Peng Ganchen was besieged by the enemy, and the enemy was outnumbered. Despite tenacious resistance, except for a few people who stood out from the encirclement, most of them died heroically. Peng Ganchen, a hero of the Nanchang Uprising and a generation of heroes who was highly valued by Zhou Enlai, died heroically on the land of Northeast Jiangxi at the age of 36.