Wang Hongwen is from Changchun, Jilin. When he was a child, his family was poor and he had no money to study. While children from wealthy families went to school with their schoolbags on their backs, Wang Hongwen could only come to his uncle's house to help them herd pigs. At the end of the Liberation War, Changchun was liberated, and the living conditions of Wang Hongwen's family slowly improved. After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Wang Hongwen joined the army and followed the 27th Army to fight across the Yalu River. After returning from North Korea, Wang Hongwen was assigned to Shanghai National Cotton No. 17 Factory as a security officer.
During this period, someone introduced that Wang Hongwen got married to a female worker named Cui Gendi in the factory. After marriage, they had one daughter and two sons. After the "Cultural Revolution" began, Wang Hongwen posted big-character posters in the factory, and then connected with others to form the "General Department of Industry." After the "Anting Incident", Wang Hongwen became famous and became a famous "rebellion" commander in Shanghai. Later, he, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and others launched the "January Storm" and seized the power of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. Later, Wang Hongwen became the third secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and deputy director of the Shanghai "Revolutionary Committee". After
became the main leader of Shanghai, it was no longer convenient for Wang Hongwen to personally come forward to fight. Moreover, the "General Directorate of Industry" could not get on the stage, so he decided to form a militia. In the National Cotton No. 17 Factory, Wang Hongwen served as the militia company commander, and he has certain experience in this regard. Wang Hongwen's idea was supported by Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan. In August 1967, Zhang Chunqiao called Wang Hongwen from Beijing and asked him to first form a militia of "100,000 people."
Wang Hongwen quickly took action. He convened a meeting with his subordinates at No. 32 Bund, Shanghai, and announced the establishment of a militia in the name of Shanghai's "Revolutionary Committee." According to common sense, this militia should be under the command of the Shanghai Garrison District. However, Zhou Chunlin, the commander of the Garrison Area at the time, was not interested in the "Gang of Four" and repeatedly refused their attempts to win over. Therefore, Wang Hongwen made the militia independent of the Shanghai Garrison District and put it under his direct command.
In 1972, Wang Hongwen came to Beijing to serve as Vice Chairman of the Central Committee. At this time, he still tightly held the Shanghai militia in his hands. Under Wang Hongwen's continuous management, the Shanghai militia has grown in size and is equipped with weapons such as rocket launchers and rocket launchers. At the end of March 1974, Wang Hongwen’s best friend Wang Xiuzhen came to Beijing. When talking to her, Wang Hongwen revealed his "ambition". He planned to promote Shanghai's experience to the whole country, and established a national militia headquarters, appointing Zhou Hongbao as commander-in-chief to prepare for future wars.
So who is this Zhou Hongbao? Why does Wang Hongwen trust him so much? Zhou Hongbao is a native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu, and was born in the same year as Wang Hongwen. In 1959, he came to Shanghai and participated in the Chongming Reclamation. Because of his outstanding performance during the reclamation process, he later stayed in Shanghai and was assigned to work as a worker at the Shanghai No. 1 Steel Plant. After the "Cultural Revolution" began, Zhou Hongbao also posted big-character posters in the factory, and later joined the "General Department of Industry" and became Wang Hongwen's little brother.
Zhou Hongbao has a lot of brute strength and often rushes to the front when fighting. Wang Hongwen appreciates him very much. After the Shanghai "Revolutionary Committee" was established, Zhou Hongbao became a member of the Standing Committee of the "Revolutionary Committee" on the recommendation of Wang Hongwen. Later, when Wang Hongwen formed the Shanghai militia, Zhou Hongbao was the first to take the lead in responding and contributed a lot. After Wang Hongwen entered Beijing, he handed over the command of the Shanghai militia to Zhou Hongbao. Originally, Wang Hongwen was planning to establish a national militia headquarters with Zhou Hongbao as commander-in-chief.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he proposed this idea, he was opposed by Ye Jianying. At that time, Ye Jianying was the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, in charge of military work. He said to Wang Hongwen: "China cannot have a second armed force." Due to Ye Jianying's opposition, Wang Hongwen's conspiracy failed. Although he failed to become the commander-in-chief of the national militia, under Wang Hongwen's operation, Zhou Hongbao, who only had a junior high school education, came to Beijing and served as deputy minister of the Ministry of Education. Under Wang Hongwen's instruction, Zhou Hongbao did many bad things and persecuted many older generation educators. After the "Gang of Four" was arrested, Zhou Hongbao was isolated for review and expelled from the party. Zhou Hongbao passed away in 1994 at the age of 59.
