[Cultural Relics Story] Author: Yu Xiao (Director of the Propaganda and Education Office of the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution) This is a postal bag sewn with white homespun cloth. Due to its age, the fabric has a light yellow color. The handwriting on the fro

[Cultural Relics Story]

Author: Yu Xiao (Director of the Propaganda and Education Office of the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution)

This is a postal parcel sewn with white homespun cloth. Due to its age, the fabric is light yellow. The handwriting on the front of the parcel is vaguely legible, written column by column from right to left: "The inner cold clothes are to be sent to the Government of Western Fujian for transfer to Liannan area to be collected by Comrade Wang Sili in the 1st Battalion and 2nd Company of the 3rd Regiment of the 12th Army of the Red Army"; " Sent by Fuling Township Government, District 11, Yongding." There is also a note from the post office on the upper left side of the package: Return to original location, postmark date is November 8, 1931. In the middle of the back of the package, there are ink words "Workers of the world unite".

In November 1931, it was the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. The relatives in my hometown were thinking about the soldiers who fought bloody battles on the front line. The township government specially packed a few pieces of cold clothes and "sent them to the south of Liancheng ". As for how to find out Wang Sili's address, there is no exact record. Considering that the troops had switched to guerrilla warfare and would not be able to stay in one place for a long time, the word "exploring friends" was used. From the annotation "returned to the original place", it can be inferred that Wang Sili's unit may have left, or the unit number information is incorrect, so it cannot be delivered and the warmth from his hometown cannot be delivered to the front line.

During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, in order to meet the needs of military struggle, red post offices were generally established in revolutionary base areas, responsible for the delivery of letters, parcels, documents, books, newspapers and periodicals from the party, government, military and civilians in the Soviet area. After the establishment of the Soviet regime in , Western Fujian established its own communications organization based on the methods of the Chinese Postal Service. The Western Fujian General Administration of Transportation was established in Longyan . Each county under its jurisdiction established a transportation branch, a district transportation station, and a township transportation office, forming a A complete postal network in western Fujian was established, communications regulations were formulated, postal routes were opened, and red postal stamps were issued. According to the monthly postal affairs report of the Fujian Postal Service Administration in May 1930, "The Communists have set up a post office in Yongding to hire postmen. The postmen wear vests with the word 'traffic' on them and use woodcuts. Date stamp, cancel the mail in red. The emblem on the mail is a five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle crossed in the middle. It is a symbol of the Soviet Union. The mail service runs one to four times a day, and anyone, whether a Communist or not, can deliver letters free of charge. If the letter is of an important nature, a special messenger will be dispatched. This is done in the Communist base areas of Fujian Province. "

The township government came forward to send cold clothes, which was also one of the activities carried out by the Soviet governments at all levels in western Fujian at that time to support the army. As soon as the Western Fujian Soviet Government was established, Proclamation No. 2 was the "Regulations on Preferential Treatment of Red Army Soldiers". Various forms of activities were also carried out at all levels to support the army and give preferential treatment to their families. For example, the first district of Yongding organized mass support teams, nursing teams, transport teams and other support activities for the army. , organized labor mutual aid societies to help the families of the Red Army . In November 1931, in order to help the Twelfth Red Army solve the problem of cotton-padded clothes, the Soviet government in Western Fujian took emergency measures such as raising donations and reducing government and agency expenditures under very difficult financial circumstances, and rushed to produce 2,500 cotton-padded clothes in one week. A set of cotton-padded clothes was sent to the Twelfth Red Army.

The recipient Wang Sili is a soldier from Yongding in the 12th Red Army. Based on the research number, location, combat experience and other aspects, his unit should be the 12th Red Army in western Fujian. In March 1930, after the Soviet regime was established in western Fujian, the local armed forces were gradually upgraded to the main Red Army, and the Red Guards in each county were reorganized into the Ninth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Among them, the Red Guards regiment in Wang Sili's hometown of Yongding was organized into the third regiment. In late April, the Ninth Red Army was renamed the Twelfth Red Army. This unit, composed of soldiers from Western Fujian, was later organized into the First Red Army Corps under the orders of the central government and retained the designation of the Red Twelfth Army. In October 1930, the Soviet government in Western Fujian established the New Twelfth Army, with 3 regiments and 10 battalions under its jurisdiction. In October 1931, according to the instructions of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, partial adjustments were made to the organizational structure of the main Red Army and the local Red Army in western Fujian. The New Red Twelfth Army in western Fujian was downsized into the Thirty-fourth Division of the Twelfth Army of the First Red Army. It can be seen that in the early days of the Party's establishment of the army and rural revolutionary base areas, the Red Army reorganized and expanded and conducted guerrilla operations more frequently. The troop establishment and location information also changed, which was one of the reasons for the failure of the delivery.

The postal package was collected by the Logistics Department of the Fuzhou Military Region. It carried the deep affection of the people in the old district and was sent to the Military Museum under preparation in 1959.As a first-class cultural relic in the collection, it is full of the sender's affection for the recipient. The strong hometown love and family affection, through the flames and smoke of the revolutionary war years, reveal warmth and a little sadness, making people miss you for a long time. ...

"Guangming Daily" (Page 7, August 21, 2022)

Source: Guangming.com - "Guangming Daily"