In May 1946, in a small house in the liberated area, the famous writer Liu Zhixia was sitting on a chair in a daze. On the desk in front of him was a thick stack of manuscripts, which were the result of his continuous writing over the past few months.
At this moment, Liu Zhixia was not unable to write his own works because of exhaustion of inspiration. Years of War of Resistance gave Liu Zhixia countless literary materials, but now, Liu Zhixia accidentally learned about a piece of news and stopped his creation.
This news not only shocked Liu Zhixia, but also shocked the leaders of the Party Central Committee at that time: Xu Guangtian, one of the founders of Railway Guerrillas, betrayed the revolution.
Liu Zhixia's literary creation at this time was a historical epic of the Anti-Japanese War "Railway Guerrillas". Halfway through the writing, he got bad news that Xu Guangtian betrayed the revolution, which made Liu Zhixia continue to write.
Xu Guangtian is an anti-Japanese vanguard and a Class A combat hero. Why did he choose to betray the revolution in the end?
Let us follow Liu Zhixia's memories and take a look at the legendary story of the railway guerrillas and the story of its founder Xu Guangtian...
In times of crisis, Flying Tigers became
Railway guerrillas, one of the most famous combat troops during the Anti-Japanese War. This unit is known as the first special forces in my country during the Anti-Japanese period, and it also has a well-known nickname - Flying Tigers.
It was in 1937. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army also began to invade our country's territory on a large scale. A large number of Japanese invaders poured into the Shandong region, and Shandong was instantly occupied.
The reason why the Japanese army quickly occupied Shandong was the first time was two reasons:
One. From a military perspective, Shandong is a very strategic area. It is close to the sea to the east, which can ensure the logistics supply of the Japanese army and the south, which will be backed by Jiangsu to the south, which will prepare for the Japanese army's next attack on Nanjing, the core area of the Kuomintang.
Secondly, means that Shandong has rich resources, and the transportation network in Shandong is also very developed. The railways here are well-connected, which can facilitate the Japanese army's advancement.
It is precisely because of the rich regional resources and the developed railway network that the Zaozhuang area in Shandong has become a key "care" place for the Japanese army. Because in Zaozhuang , there are both coal mines and important transportation routes of Shandong Railway.
The importance of this area is self-evident. Therefore, the local anti-Japanese volunteer army specially sent two comrades, Hong Zhenhai and and Wang Zhisheng and , among the Sulu People's Anti-Japanese Volunteers, to sneak into Zaozhuang to obtain secret information.
The reason why the two were entrusted with important tasks is that they act decisively and are good at adapting to changes. Therefore, shortly after entering Zaozhuang, the two knocked down a spy post of the Japanese army and learned a preliminary understanding of the internal situation of Zaozhuang.
Then, the two successfully established an intelligence station, and Wang Zhisheng also sneaked into the Japanese to work in a foreign company in Zaozhuang, thereby obtaining a lot of intelligence.
Originally, Hong Zhenhai and Wang Zhisheng were just planning to enter Zaozhuang to obtain intelligence and did not consider the direction of the armed forces. However, after the Eighth Route Army's Nie Rongzhen's troops incorporated the local anti-Japanese armed forces, the fate of Hong Zhenhai and Wang Zhisheng also changed.
The two joined the Eighth Route Army with the Sulu Anti-Japanese Armed Forces they had previously belonged to. After learning that the intelligence work of Hong Zhenhai and Wang Zhisheng was progressing smoothly, the Party Central Committee decided to let them develop nearby for a long time, and it would be best to pull out an anti-Japanese armed force.
The two received important figures from the Party Central Committee and immediately started to arrange the arrangements.
How to develop the armed forces? There are two key points of : one is resources and the other is manpower.
resources do not exist, but Zaozhuang is rich in coal mines, and can start with the materials transported by the Japanese army; as for manpower, there are a large number of unemployed workers in Zaozhuang, which can be absorbed and used.
So after the general policy was formulated, the two began to take action.
Xu Guangtian met Hong and Wang at this time.
Xu Guangtian is a local from Zaozhuang. He entered the coal mine in Zaozhuang at the age of thirteen. Xu Guangtian, who has done physical work since childhood, has developed a strong personality.
Not long after, Xu Guangtian went to the railway to work as a railway worker, usually responsible for repairing simple parts of the train and burning fire for the locomotive. Therefore, he also learned a lot of skills about trains, which laid the foundation for his outstanding performance in the railway guerrillas in the future.
By chance, when Hong Zhenhai and Wang Zhisheng were recruiting workers, they met Xu Guangtian. They saw that he was familiar with train knowledge, agile and enthusiastic, so they really wanted to absorb him into the team.
Xu Guangtian was unambiguous and had been determined to drive the Japanese devils out of China since he was a child. In addition, he was oppressed by the local foreman for many years. Various reasons made Xu Guangtian join the team without hesitation.
However, at this time, the three of them had not yet formed a railway guerrilla team because they did not have weapons yet, and at this time, Xu Guangtian's role was extremely prominent.
1939, Xu Guangtian took Hong Zhenhai and Wang Zhisheng to the middle section of the railway to wait. At night, the train passed by, and Xu Guangtian jumped and rode on the train.
This is not the first time Xu Guangtian has stolen coals on the train. He had stolen coals on the train several times due to his livelihood problems.
Wang Zhisheng and Hong Zhenhai received Xu Guangtian's guidance before this and successfully jumped onto the train.
The three of them searched for a long time and finally found thirteen lid guns and two machine guns . When the train slowed down, the three of them jumped to a safe area.
Their action of obtaining weapons from the train this time was of great significance and laid the foundation for the formation and establishment of railway guerrillas.
has achieved fruitful results, and unexpectedly left the team
Liu Zhixia naturally knew the history of the establishment of the railway guerrillas. He still did not forget his conversation with Xu Guangtian in 1943. When talking about the first mission with Hong and Wang, Xu Guangtian's eyes were full of excitement and pride.
Unexpectedly, things changed, and after only two or three years, Xu Guangtian actually left the team and betrayed the revolution.
However, it is undeniable that Xu Guangtian made great contributions during his work in the railway guerrillas.
You should know that the thirteen lid guns and two machine guns at the beginning of the team can be said to be brought by Xu Guangtian, who played a very critical role in the early growth of the railway guerrillas.
By 1940, the railway guerrillas had grown bigger and bigger, from the first three to more than three hundred.
Of course, more than 300 people seem to be not many, but they each have "special skills" and can be regarded as a "special force".
Xu Guangtian's skills of flying trains are very important to the team. He immediately transformed into the technical guidance of the team and passed on this crucial skill of the members.
This army finally took the banner of "Eighth Route Army Shandong Southern Railway Team" and began to use their unique methods - grab supplies from Japanese trains and fight blocking wars on railways to carry out armed anti-Japanese resistance.
Hong Zhenhai serves as the captain of the army, and Wang Zhisheng serves as the deputy captain of the army. Although Xu Guangtian is also one of the founders, Hong and Wang are indeed more experienced and are also strategy makers, so Xu Guangtian has no objection.
, and Xu Guangtian eventually served as the squadron leader of this unit's Gun Squadron because of his bravery in combat. The Gun Squadron is the main armed force in the railway team, which also shows everyone's affirmation of Xu Guangtian's ability.
July 1939 was the first time that the railway guerrillas carried out armed combat with the enemy in the face to face. In this battle, Xu Guangtian still played an important role.
On the same day, Hong Zhenhai obtained information that eleven Japanese devils would take the train, so Hong Zhenhai thought it was time to check the quality of the team members. He took eight team members including Wang Zhisheng and Xu Guangtian to get on the train after disguising himself in Zaozhuang.
When the train arrived at the ambush circle, Xu Guangtian took the lead in taking action. Several people immediately shot eleven Japanese soldiers and seized two long spears and a Japanese machine gun .After the battle ended, Hong Zhenhai carefully led several team members to stabilize the emotions of the people on the train, and planned a retreat route for them to prevent the Japanese devils from revenge and hurt innocent people.
This is the first time that several main players have carried out the task, and the completion was very smooth. After that, Xu Guangtian made many contributions and his reputation in the team gradually grew.
A task, according to the instructions of the superior, he wanted to destroy several Japanese locomotives, and Xu Guangtian volunteered to take over the task.
This task is very difficult. First, it is impossible to use explosives, because this will immediately attract a large number of enemy troops; second, it is necessary to quickly evacuate the scene to avoid being caught by the enemy.
On the same day, Xu Guangtian came to the railway side, observed the situation on the scene, and first quickly entered a locomotive and drove it out of the platform. Although the enemy discovered an abnormal situation, it could not catch up.
Xu Guangtian parked the locomotive halfway, and then went forward to start another locomotive to control the two locomotives to collide. At the moment of the collision, Xu Guangtian immediately jumped out of the car, and the two locomotives immediately collided and broke.
After a large number of people watched, several Japanese soldiers also surrounded him, but Xu Guangtian immediately fled with the help of the masses. In this way, Xu Guangtian successfully destroyed the two enemy locomotives.
In addition to his outstanding personal performance, Xu Guangtian and his teammates also cooperated very well and often completed important tasks together.
In October 1941, the railway guerrillas received an order from the superior to attack the Japanese soldiers in of the Lincheng Railway Station in .
After entering the precise plan, the railway team took action immediately. First, let the team Liu Jinshan put on the yellow military uniform of the puppet army, enter the station for reconnaissance, and then retreat and report after obtaining information.
The next day, Xu Guangtian and Wang Zhisheng pretended to be rich businessmen, had oily hair and suits and entered the station. The Japanese soldiers inside were unexpectedly relaxed, and the two Japanese on guard were already asleep on the table.
Xu Guangtian made a quick decision and immediately killed the two Japanese devils, then took away the weapons in the station and retreated.
After the other Japanese were attracted by Johnson and Johnson, Xu Guangtian turned around and threw a bomb, and then cooperated with other team members who came to cover to retreat smoothly.
It can be seen that Xu Guangtian's wit and courage have indeed helped the railway guerrillas complete many important tasks. It is precisely because of the team that the railway guerrillas have become the famous anti-Japanese armed forces.
1943, the Shandong Military Region held a warrior commendation meeting. In this grand event attended by countless combat heroes, Xu Guangtian was named a Class A combat hero and instantly became famous in the entire war zone and even the anti-Japanese team across the country.
It was at this conference that Liu Zhixia met Xu Guangtian and interviewed him personally. Liu Zhixia, who was deeply moved by the story of the railway guerrillas, was determined to create a novel for them and tell the story of the railway guerrillas to the people of the whole country. After the commendation of
, Xu Guangtian and the railway guerrillas continued to fight behind the enemy, using their own unique methods to fight against the Japanese. Finally, in 1945, the Japanese army surrendered and our country won the War of Resistance.
In October, more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers in Zaozhuang area surrendered to the railway guerrillas led by Xu Guangtian and others with a large number of weapons. Finally, after more than seven years of fighting with the enemy, the railway guerrillas ushered in the final victory.
But shortly after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Guangtian actually made a decision that everyone unexpectedly - to leave the team.The news of
also shocked Liu Zhixia, who was creating "Railway Guerrillas" at the time. You know, Xu Guangtian is one of the protagonists in the novel. In reality, he actually chose to leave the team. What's the matter?
Liu Zhixia immediately set off and went to Xu Guangtian's residence who had not left at the time. He chatted with him all night, and then realized the cause and effect of his desire to leave...
Individualism, wrong choice
In fact, a large part of the reason why Xu Guangtian chose to leave was his desire for power.
First of all, the entire railway guerrilla team, undoubtedly the most experienced people are Hong Zhenhai, Wang Zhisheng and Xu Guangtian. Hong Zhenhai and Wang Zhisheng were the first to raise the team, so it is obvious that the two were divided into chief and deputy captains.
Xu Guangtian, as the captain of the spear team, fully demonstrated everyone's affirmation of him. In addition, Xu Guangtian's personal ability can basically be regarded as the second-ranked figure behind Hong Zhenhai in the team, and can be ranked alongside Wang Zhisheng.
Hong Zhenhai, Wang Zhisheng and Xu Guangtian have a good relationship, so Xu Guangtian is also very obedient to Hong Zhenhai's management. After all, he brought himself into the team at the beginning.
accident occurred in 941. In December of this year, caused the entire railway team to be surrounded by the enemy. In order to cover the evacuation of teammates, Hong Zhenhai was hit by a stray bullet in the battle and unfortunately died.
This battle suffered heavy losses, and the sacrifice of captain Hong Zhenhai made the entire team filled with a haze. Although everyone was very sad, the captain died, so a new captain would have to be selected.
There were three candidates at that time, one was Wang Zhisheng, the other was Xu Guangtian, and the other was named Liu Jinshan.
Liu Jinshan was also an early member of the railway team, only a little later than Xu Guangtian, but his abilities are also outstanding. He is very good at intelligence work, flexible and agile, and also serves as a team leader in the team.
Among the three, although Wang Zhisheng has the most experienced, he lacks leadership temperament and lacks ability.
Although Liu Jinshan has good abilities, he is still slightly loser than Xu Guangtian, so Xu Guangtian is confident that he will serve as the captain of the railway team.
But unexpectedly, the result surprised Xu Guangtian - was eventually captained by Liu Jinshan, Wang Zhisheng continued to serve as deputy captain, and Xu Guangtian continued to serve as captain of the spear team.
In fact, the superiors also considered this decision.
Xu Guangtian is very capable, and he also shows bravery when climbing trains and fighting. He is resourceful when performing tasks and has made significant contributions to the team.
But he is good at everything, but there is one thing that is bad - loyalty to the Party Central Committee is difficult to examine.
The railway guerrillas are undoubtedly the party's troops and the Eighth Route Army's troops. Xu Guangtian also joined the Communist Party of China during this period, but he was too self-centered in his heart and often disobeyed the party's arrangements.
When Liu Zhixia interviewed Xu Guangtian in 1943, Xu Guangtian recalled his thoughts when he discussed the name of the railway team with Hong Zhenhai and others.
Xu Guangtian said to Hong Zhenhai: Our team must have a name, otherwise if we don’t know where to receive the prize after fighting the Japanese, we will be beaten by the people as bandits. When the Eighth Route Army came to Shandong, we will treat it as the Eighth Route Army team.
From here we can see that Xu Guangtian actually has no big idea about the Eighth Route Army and the Party Central Committee. In his heart, joining the Eighth Route Army and the CCP was just to facilitate "receiving the award" and not to be regarded as bandits.
From this we can see that Xu Guangtian’s loyalty to the party really cannot stand the test, so this is also the reason why the Party Central Committee did not choose to let Xu Guangtian take over as the captain.
On the contrary, Liu Jinshan showed extreme loyalty to the party. He repeatedly promoted the party's thoughts in the team, which is also an important reason why his superiors chose to let Liu Jinshan succeed to the captain.
Because Xu Guangtian did not become the captain, he began to have conflicts with Liu Jinshan and often disobeyed his instructions.
Also at the commendation meeting in 1943, Xu Guangtian called the railway guerrillas "my railway team."
For a long time, although Xu Guangtian still serves the team, he has already accumulated a lot of negative emotions in his heart.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Guangtian broke out completely due to the issue of position allocation.
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Liu Jinshan and Wang Zhisheng were both promoted to the director of the Railway Bureau, while Xu Guangtian continued to stay in the Gun Squadron as the captain of the Gun Squadron. In fact, the organization also considered to preserve this combat effectiveness, so he retained his position.
But Xu Guangtian didn't think so. His family complained to him: "All the cadres of the eight-year war of resistance have been promoted, but you are still the captain of the spear squadron."
This matter also became the last straw that overwhelmed the camel. The grievance and dissatisfaction in his heart quickly expanded, which also led him to make a wrong decision - to withdraw from the team.
Lunnan Military Region attached great importance to this and immediately sent someone to do ideological work. Liu Zhixia also arrived in person to relieve him. But at this time, Xu Guangtian had made up his mind and left alone soon.
After leaving the liberated area, Xu Guangtian was tempted by the Kuomintang and thought that he could become a battalion commander, so he went to , the Kuomintang-controlled area, .
After he held a free position for two months there, he chose to leave because he could not face his comrades back then.
Later, Xu Guangtian became a coal miner, but was fired for drinking and fighting.
Not long after, he died in a difficult period of three years. The heroes in the area were so miserable that they couldn't help but sigh.
Liu Zhixia has never forgotten how he looked when he first met Xu Guangtian:
Xu Guangtian is enthusiastic and generous, and can rush to his friends. He usually looks very shy, but once his eyes are glaring, he is full of murderous intent.
He is a famous hero in the railway guerrillas!
Conclusion
Faced with the invasion of the Japanese army, Xu Guangtian used his skills and bravery to participate in the creation of the railway guerrillas, and made many extraordinary achievements and was awarded the title of Class A combat hero. But such a hero finally chose to betray the revolution.
His choice was partly due to the conflict with Liu Jinshan, and partly due to the grievances in post-war position allocation.
But the fundamental reason is that he has outstanding individualism and disloyalty to the Party Central Committee, which leads him to eventually leave the team, abandon the open and the dark, and end up with a sad end.
Although the wheel of history has gradually faded away, we will still be amazed by the heroic performance of the railway guerrillas, and will always remember Xu Guangtian's behavior as a warning, never forget his original aspiration and forge ahead.
