A Brief History of the Tujia: The Tujia in the Early Years of New China (Part 1)
Chapter 6: The Socialist Period — Section 1: The Tujia in the Early Years of New China. As the People's Liberation War neared its end, the Tujia actively sought their own liberation, cooperated with the PLA in suppressing bandits, established people's governments, and embraced a new life.
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Chapter Six The Socialist Period
Section One The Tujia in the Early Period of the Founding of New China
As the People's Liberation War under the leadership of the Communist Party of China drew to a close, various parts of China were liberated one after another. The Tujia also actively sought their own liberation, cooperated with the People's Liberation Army in carrying out the struggle to suppress bandits and eliminate evil forces, established people's political power, welcomed a new life of liberation, and integrated into the joy of the founding of New China. The establishment of New China brought earth-shaking changes to the Tujia in politics, economy, society, and other aspects.
I. The Liberation of Tujia Areas and the Establishment of People's Political Power
In May 1949, after the liberation of Wuhan, the main force of the Fourth Field Army of the People's Liberation Army successively moved into Hubei and Jiangxi. In July 1949, it advanced in three routes—west, central, and east—and launched an offensive against the Bai Chongxi group. The eastern route struck out from Zhangshu and in August liberated Ganzhou, an important town in southern Jiangxi. Between September and October, the main force of the Fourth Field Army and part of the Second Field Army launched attacks on the Kuomintang troops retreating to Hengyang and Baoqing, annihilating 34,000 troops of the Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi groups. The central route advanced southward from southern Hubei along the Guangzhou-Hankou Railway. Cheng Qian and Chen Mingren announced an uprising on August 4, and Changsha was peacefully liberated. The western route advanced from Yichang and Shashi and captured Changde by the end of July. In July 1949, the People's Liberation Army swept through western Hunan with overwhelming force. On July 15, Shimen was liberated. On July 31, Cili was liberated. On October 16, the People's Liberation Army attacked Dayong and, after fierce fighting, finally liberated this county town. On the same day, Sangzhi County was also liberated. The People's Liberation Army then advanced toward Yongshun. With the large army pressing in, the Kuomintang defenders fled in panic. Yongshun was liberated on the 19th, and Guzhang was liberated on the 23rd. On November 5, Jishou was liberated; on November 7, Baojing was liberated; on November 11, Longshan was liberated.
After the liberation of Sangzhi, Yongshun, Longshan, and other counties in western Hunan, work to establish people's political power was immediately launched. In Dayong County, the CPC Dayong County Committee was established on October 21, 1949, and the Dayong County People's Government was established on the 28th. In Sangzhi County, the CPC Sangzhi County Committee was established in January 1950, the Sangzhi County Provisional People's Government was established on November 23, 1949, and the county people's government was formally established on March 28, 1950. In Yongshun County, the Yongshun People's Government was established on October 27, 1949, and the CPC Yongshun County Committee was established in March 1950. In Baojing County, the Baojing People's Government was established on November 7, 1949, and the CPC Baojing County Committee was established in March 1950. In Longshan County, the provisional people's government was established on November 16, 1949, and the CPC county committee and people's government were formally established on March 18, 1950. In December 1949, the Yongshun Prefecture Administrative Office was established, governing the 6 counties of Yongshun, Longshan, Baojing, Sangzhi, Dayong, and Guzhang. After the establishment of county party committees and county people's governments, the Yongshun Prefecture Administrative Office and the Yongshun Military Subdistrict actively carried out work near the county towns, such as publicizing the Party's policies, suppressing bandits, and rectifying public order, dispelling the people's misgivings and raising the masses' ideological awareness.
In Hubei, the People's Liberation Army successively liberated Shashi, Yichang, Xingshan, and Zigui. In late October 1949, the Western Hubei-Southwestern Hubei Campaign Command Post was established, launching the Western Hubei-Southwestern Hubei Campaign with the liberation of Enshi as its central objective. On October 29, the People's Liberation Army attacked the Kuomintang Second Army and 124th Army occupying Yesanguan in Badong. Two divisions of the 47th Army of the Fourth Field Army and the 11th Army of the Second Field Army of the People's Liberation Army also thrust directly from Longshan, Hunan, to Xianfeng, cutting off the Kuomintang troops' route of retreat to Sichuan. On November 3, the Independent First Division of the Hubei Military District annihilated part of the enemy's 223rd Division at Lvcongpo in Badong county town, capturing more than 700 enemy soldiers, and also annihilated part of the enemy's security regiment at Maotian in Jianshi, capturing Deng Ziyun, commander-in-chief of the joint defense headquarters of the eight counties of southwestern Hubei. On the same day, the Independent Second Division of the Hubei Military District captured Wawazhai, annihilating 800 enemy soldiers. On November 5, Jianshi was liberated. On November 6, the Independent Second Division of the Hubei Military District arrived at Longfengba in Enshi, routed the defending enemy, and annihilated about 300 enemy soldiers. Another 300-plus enemy soldiers mistakenly entered the ranks of the Independent Second Division and were captured on the spot. The People's Liberation Army then took advantage of the victory to capture Fenghuang Mountain and Wufeng Mountain, and on the evening of November 6, Enshi was declared liberated. Before the Western Hubei-Southwestern Hubei Campaign began, the 11th Army of the Second Field Army destroyed the enemy's Dayong and Yuanling defense lines. After the campaign started, the 11th Army advanced westward, reaching Youyang and Qianjiang in eastern Sichuan. On November 7, it then maneuvered back to western Hubei, outflanking the rear of Song Xilian's forces. On the 9th, Laifeng county town was liberated. On November 11, the 92nd Regiment of the 11th Army of the Second Field Army first captured Tudi Pass in Xianfeng, then pressed directly toward the county town. After 3 hours of fierce fighting, it routed the stubbornly resisting enemy, captured more than 1,000 enemy soldiers, and liberated Xianfeng county town. In addition, after liberating Enshi, the Independent Second Division of the Hubei Military District fought shoulder to shoulder with brother units and continued to pursue the enemy southward. On November 10, Xuan'en county town was liberated. On November 14, the People's Liberation Army compressed the defeated Kuomintang troops from various places in western Hubei into the Shadaogou, Gaoluo, and Mayangzhai areas east of the highway from Jiaoyuan in Xuan'en to Xianfeng, completed their encirclement, and quickly launched an attack, annihilating them in one stroke and winning victory in the Western Hubei-Southwestern Hubei Campaign. On November 14, Lichuan county town was liberated. On the 18th, when the People's Liberation Army arrived at Hefeng, the enemy was preparing to burn the city. Upon seeing the People's Liberation Army, they fled in panic, and their attempt to burn the city failed. In addition, more than 600 officers and soldiers laid down their arms and surrendered, and Hefeng was liberated. The liberation of Hefeng marked the victorious end of the Western Hubei-Southwestern Hubei Campaign and also marked the liberation of the entire territory of Hubei.
With the liberation of the entire Tujia area of western Hubei, people's democratic political power was established one after another. As early as August 1949, the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee formed the Enshi Regional Administrative Work Brigade and established the CPC Enshi Prefectural Committee in Wuchang. At the same time, the Independent Second Division of the Hubei Provincial Military District was converted into the Enshi Military Subdistrict, and more than 400 cadres assigned from various places to work in the Enshi region were organized into the administrative brigade, which had 5 squadrons under it, namely the Enshi, Jianshi, Badong, Lichuan, and Xuan'en squadrons. After October 2, the Enshi Administrative Work Team entered various parts of Enshi and took over the political power organs of the 5 counties of Enshi, Jianshi, Xuan'en, Lichuan, and Badong. The 3 counties of Xianfeng, Laifeng, and Hefeng were temporarily maintained by People's Liberation Army cadres.
Facing the powerful offensive of the People's Liberation Army, the Kuomintang had attempted to reverse the defeat. On August 29, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek convened a meeting in Chongqing to "actively deploy defenses in the Southwest," proposing the strategic policy of "holding Sichuan firmly and securing the great Southwest," in a vain attempt to block the liberation army from entering Sichuan. Song Xilian, then director of the Chuankang-Hunan-Hubei Pacification Office, deployed his 100,000 troops along the line of Badong, Enshi, and Laifeng in western Hubei and Longshan and Dayong in western Hunan, undertaking the defense of the border areas of Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, and Hubei, including Youyang, Xiushan, Qianjiang, and Pengshui in Sichuan and Yanhe and Songtao in Guizhou. On November 1, the People's Liberation Army launched the battle for Sichuan and Guizhou, breaking through both wings of Song Xilian's military deployment in one stroke. The left-wing group, composed of the Third Army Corps led by Chen Xilian and the Fourth Field Army's Forty-Seventh Army, together with the right-wing group composed of the Fourth Field Army's Forty-Second Army, Fiftieth Army, and troops of the Hubei Military District, converged to annihilate Song Xilian's group east of Pengshui. Part of the Eleventh Army of the Second Field Army of the People's Liberation Army, after the campaign in southwestern Hubei began, advanced directly toward Youyang and Qianjiang, then made a detour through western Hubei, cutting off the rear of Song Xilian's forces. On November 7, Xiushan county town was liberated, and the CPC Xiushan County Committee and Xiushan County People's Government were promptly established. On the 11th, the PLA entered Youyang territory; the garrison in Youyang county town fled upon hearing the news, and Youyang was liberated. On November 21, local construction workers of the Southwest Service Corps arrived in Youyang and quickly established the CPC Youyang County Committee and Youyang County People's Government. In early December, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, and Li Da arrived in Youyang, learned about the local situation, held a meeting, and decided to separate the three counties of Youyang, Xiushan, and Qianjiang and establish the Youyang Prefectural Committee and Youyang Prefectural Office. After the People's Liberation Army occupied Xianfeng, the Kuomintang's Fifty-Fourth Division fled from Xianfeng toward Qianjiang and was encircled and annihilated by the PLA in the Wantang area of Qianjiang. On November 12, the People's Liberation Army pursued the victory and liberated Qianjiang. At the same time, the Thirty-Sixth Division of the Twelfth Army also advanced from Youyang along the Sichuan-Hunan Highway, annihilated part of the Kuomintang garrison at Lianghekou and Fengjiaba, joined forces with the Thirty-First Division in Qianjiang, and then took advantage of the situation to attack Pengshui. After the liberation of Qianjiang, organs at all levels of the new regime began to be formed. After the People's Liberation Army liberated Xiushan, Youyang, and Qianjiang, Song Xilian's troops retreated along the Sichuan-Hunan Highway toward Pengshui, deploying their main forces on both banks of the Wu River in Pengshui in an attempt to stop the PLA's advance. But the Second Field Army of the People's Liberation Army set out from Qianjiang toward Pengshui, quickly forming two forces to outflank Song Xilian's troops and, coordinating with the PLA on the east bank, launched an attack simultaneously. Song's forces were attacked from front and rear and fled in panic. On November 16, Pengshui county town was liberated. On the 21st, the Pengshui County People's Government was established. In Shizhu County, the underground Party organization and guerrilla organization, on the one hand, strengthened organizational construction, accelerated development in new areas, and worked hard to train backbone members; on the other hand, they led the masses in protecting grain depots and intercepting routed Kuomintang troops. In mid-November, the People's Liberation Army attacked Shizhu. On the 19th, Shizhu county town was liberated. On the 21st, the guerrilla force led by Qin Luting joined forces with the PLA led by Bai Xiangguo, Qi Lu, and others. On November 24, the Shizhu County Provisional People's Government was established. On December 5, Zha Haibo, Ke Huashan, and others of the Southwest Service Corps arrived in Shizhu, and the CPC Shizhu County Committee and County People's Government were formally established.
In the northeastern Guizhou region, on November 15, 1949, the Tenth Army of the Third Army Corps of the Second Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army arrived from Songtao at Muhuang and Heshui in Yinjiang County and was about to enter the town. The Kuomintang county government led its subordinates in a panicked flight, and the county town was kept in order by the Fifth Brigade (i.e., the Yinjiang Guerrilla Force) led by the Sinan General Branch of the CPC underground Party. In the early morning of the 16th, the guerrilla force welcomed the PLA into the town, Yinjiang was liberated, and the Yinjiang County Provisional Working Committee was established. On the 17th, the teaching brigade of the Twenty-Eighth Division of the Tenth Army of the Third Army Corps of the Second Field Army of the People's Liberation Army, led by Du Tangyou, successfully crossed the Wu River and liberated Sinan. On the 18th, Zhu Ya, political commissar of the CPC Sinan Guerrilla Force, led his troops into the county town and was ordered to take over transportation, maintain public order, and prepare grain and fodder for the PLA passing through. The PLA continued westward, and the county town was garrisoned by the Second Detachment of the Northeastern Guizhou Column, which took over Sinan. On the 23rd, more than 250 members of the Kuomintang's People's Self-Defense Corps surrendered, and the next day He Doukui's Kuomintang army unit also surrendered; afterward the CPC Sinan County Committee and County People's Government were established. On January 25, 1950, Liu Xueli and Zhang Tianyi led more than 50 people through Sinan to Yinjiang. On February 1, the founding meeting of the Yinjiang County People's Government was held at the Nanmen River Dam in Yinjiang county town.
In November 1949, the Dejiang Guerrilla Force established the Northeastern Guizhou Guerrilla Force. On November 19, the Northeastern Guizhou Guerrilla Force liberated Dejiang county town, and afterward established the CPC Dejiang County Committee and County People's Government. In Yanhe, Kuomintang county magistrate Gu Niandong at first prepared to launch resistance, but after persuasion decided to surrender to the PLA. On December 25, 1949, Gu Niandong convened a meeting of people from all walks of life in the county town, announced the dissolution of the Kuomintang county government, established a liberation work committee, and prepared to welcome liberation. On December 29, Wu Guozhong led the PLA into Yanhe county town. On January 5, 1950, a mass rally was held in Yanhe county town, and Wu Guozhong announced the liberation of Yanhe. On February 6, the CPC Yanhe County Committee and County People's Government were formally established. At this point, the Tujia region was fully liberated, people's political power was established, and the people began to exercise their right to be masters of their own affairs, laying a solid foundation for eliminating banditry thereafter.