From the September 18 Incident in 1931 to the final victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1945, the history of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army in carrying out anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare (including the struggle in the early stage of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army) lasted for 14 years. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the commanders and fighters of the Anti-Japanese Federation held high the banner of resisting Japan and saving the country, united the people of all nationalities in northeast China, persisted in waging anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare, and dealt a powerful blow to the Japanese aggressors. In the documents he drafted for the Communist Party of China and his personal writings and speeches, he has repeatedly highly praised the heroic struggle of the Anti-Japanese Federation, and made strategic arrangements for supporting the Anti-Japanese Federation, which plays an important role in inspiring the anti-Japanese fighting spirit of the commanders and fighters of the Anti-Japanese Federation and promoting the development of the anti-Japanese struggle in Northeast China.
He proposed the organization and leadership of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army
Declaration of the Provisional *** War against Japan of the Chinese Soviet Republic
After the September 18 Incident, the national crisis deepened. The broad masses of people in the three eastern provinces and a part of the patriotic officers and soldiers of the Northeast Army broke through the shackles of Nanjing's national non-resistance policy, formed various forms of anti-Japanese volunteers, and rose up. At the time of the rise of the anti-Japanese volunteers in Northeast China, special emphasis was placed on the organization and leadership of the volunteers. In 1932, as the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic, he drafted the Declaration of the Provisional Chinese Soviet Republic on the War against Japan and the Instruction on Mobilizing to declare war against Japan, calling on the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the oppressed people to expel Japanese imperialism through a national revolutionary war, and instructed: "When the red guerrillas develop outward to a place close to the forces of Japanese imperialism, they should lead the people to organize anti-Japanese volunteers, automatically arm, carry out guerrilla movements, and fight directly against Japan." On April 15, 1932, the Declaration and Instructions were officially published. After the document was transmitted to Northeast China, it was reprinted and widely publicized by Yang Jingyu, who was then establishing the Panshi Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Base Area, which effectively promoted the anti-Japanese struggle in Northeast China. This is the first *** work mentioned in the literature of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation. From January 24 to 25, 1934, he made a long report at the Second National Congress of Soviets, in which he once again regarded the formation and leadership of the Northeast Volunteer Army as one of the important tasks of the Chinese Soviets in "leading the anti-imperialist struggle and the work in the white areas." He pointed out that "the Soviets must strengthen their leadership over the anti-imperialist struggle throughout the country and the revolutionary struggle of the workers and peasants in the Kuomintang regions" and that "especially in the three eastern provinces, Rehe, Chahar, North China, and other areas of attack by Japanese imperialism, organize the People's Revolutionary Army and the Volunteer Army, and lead the old Volunteer Army to free it from the reactionary influence of the Kuomintang and fight resolutely against Japanese imperialism." The congress elected the second executive committee of the Chinese Soviet, and Yang Jingyu was elected as a member under the pseudonym Zhang Guanyi. The spirit of the Second National Congress of Soviets and the news of Yang Jingyu's election greatly boosted the anti-Japanese fighting spirit of the people in Northeast China.
He spoke highly of the heroic struggle and historical contributions of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation
Some officers and soldiers of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation Teaching Brigade.
** Highly praised and fully affirmed the heroic struggle and historical contributions of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation on many occasions, and showed that the Chinese people are capable of resisting the aggression of the Japanese fascists. After the Long March arrived in northern Shaanxi, in November 1935, he talked with reporters from the Communist Party of China and the newspaper "Red China", the organ of the Chinese Soviets, denouncing Chiang Kai-shek's speech on the so-called foreign policy delivered at the "Fifth Plenary Congress" of the Kuomintang, and at the same time pointed out that "the experience of the Manchurian Volunteers in several years of tenacious resistance against Japan" is enough to prove that "China has vigorously resisted Japan, recovered its lost territory, and fought for national independence and freedom." On August 10, 1936, ** wrote in a letter to Zhang Naiqi and other responsible persons of the National Salvation Association that the heroic resistance of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces "has caused the enemy to lose 'more than 100,000 lives and tens of thousands of dollars' of money," and has prevented Japanese imperialism from invading the Chinese mainland very quickly. This evaluation incisively pointed out that the role of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation was not only in causing soldiers and economic losses to the Japanese invading army, but also in its strategic significance and spiritual value to the national war of resistance. This significance and value are also as pointed out in the article "Strategic Problems of Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Warfare" in May 1938: "The guerrillas there killed one more enemy soldier, consumed one more enemy ammunition, and pinned down one more enemy soldier so that they could not enter the pass and go south, even if they added one point of strength to the entire war of resistance." It is also obvious that it has adversely affected the entire enemy army and the enemy country and has had a good spiritual impact on the entire army and people. At the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, ** made a written political report entitled "On Alliance**," in which he discussed the history of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, ** first mentioned the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army and pointed out: "This heroic guerrilla war once developed to a very large scale, and after many difficulties and setbacks in between, it was never wiped out by the enemy. This is also a classic evaluation of the historical status and contribution of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation.
Profoundly sum up the lessons and lessons of the struggle of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation
** Attaches great importance to summarizing the valuable experience accumulated by the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation in the practice of struggle, and has repeatedly asked the whole party to attach importance to and learn from it. On January 26, 1939, the Communist Party of China held a meeting to study the issue of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance, and said in his speech: "If the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army has good leadership, it is possible to develop under the conditions of mountain villages and opposition to national enemies, otherwise there is also the possibility of weakening." In this speech, ** pointed out three key points of work and the key to success or failure of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation, namely, the leadership of the party, the establishment of mountain village base areas, and the common opposition to national enemies. Among them, regarding the experience of building base areas, ** once particularly praised the Changbai Mountain Anti-Japanese Base Area founded by Yang Jingyu, listed it as the first of several base areas, and believed that it was "the place that can provide the most long-term support for the anti-Japanese guerrilla war and an important fortress of the War of Resistance against Japan." With regard to the experience of the common opposition to the national enemy,** it has been noted that the Northeast "is also a national united front, and in addition to the Communists, there are other factions and various military and popular groups that have united under a common policy." In addition, on July 16, 1936, in a conversation with an American progressive journalist, he took the experience of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation in mobilizing the peasant masses and organizing guerrillas as an example for the whole nation to resist the war, pointing out: "The anti-Japanese volunteers won freedom from the Japanese oppressors and armed themselves in the same way. If the Chinese are trained, armed and organized, they too can become an invincible force. "In addition to mobilizing trained troops for mobile warfare, it was necessary to organize a large number of guerrilla units among the peasants. It should be noted that the anti-Japanese volunteers in the three eastern provinces represent only a small part of the latent force that the peasants of the whole country can mobilize to resist the war. "History has proved that every victory won by the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation was the result of uniting all patriotic forces and launching and organizing the peasant masses to carry out guerrilla warfare under the correct leadership of the Communist Party of China and relying on the base areas in mountain villages.
During the Yan'an rectification, he led the whole party to sum up the lessons of the Chinese revolution, and when the "Resolution on Several Historical Issues" was revised for the seventh time, he personally added a paragraph: "It should be pointed out that after 918, our party led the Northeast Volunteer Army... and other anti-Japanese policies and work, these are correct. Unfortunately, however, because of the denial of the possibility of coalition with the middle class and a part of the big landlords and the big bourgeoisie against Japan, we cannot but make leftist mistakes in these work. This passage objectively points out that the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation, like the whole party, was interfered with by Wang Ming's "leftist" erroneous line and carried out a "leftist" policy of closing the door that was divorced from the reality of the northeast, thus hindering the development of the anti-Japanese guerrillas.
Actively deploy support and cooperation for the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation
** Always pay attention to the development of the Northeast Anti-Japanese War, and make many strategic deployments to support the Anti-Japanese Federation. After 1935, the Japanese invaders not only continued to ** the Chinese people in Northeast China, but also extended their claws to North China. The Northeast War of Resistance was a local war in form, but in essence it has become an important precursor to the national War of Resistance. From December 17 to 25, 1935, the Communist Party of China held an enlarged meeting of the Politburo in Wayaobao, correcting the "leftist" mistakes on the political line and formulating a new strategy for the anti-Japanese national united front. Under the auspices of the Communist Party of China, the meeting studied the issue of the cooperation between the main Red Army and the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation, and adopted the "Resolution of the Communist Party of China on Military Strategic Issues" drafted by the Communist Party of China. In the areas occupied by Japan and the autonomous regions, it is necessary to organize, expand, and unite as much as possible all anti-Japanese armed forces -- the anti-Japanese volunteers and anti-Japanese guerrillas -- to wage direct and effective guerrilla warfare against the Japanese army. "From February to May 1936, the Red Army launched an eastward crusade under the leadership of ***, crossed the Yellow River and advanced into Shanxi, pointing directly at Rehe, Chahar, and Suiyuan. After learning the news of the Eastern Expedition of the main Red Army, in June and November 1936, Yang Jingyu twice organized the Western Expedition of the First Army of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, trying to open up the connection with the Eastern Expeditionary Red Army and the Chinese Communist Party. On the ninth day after the outbreak of the 77 Incident, ** sent a telegram to Ren Bi with **, instructing "more than 3,000 people from the 27th Army, the 28th Army, the 32nd Army, and the Cavalry Regiment to form a guerrilla division and send them to carry out activities between Re, Cha, and Hebei, and send more Red Cadres to accompany them to expand the volunteer movement." "This is the first time that the issue of assistance to the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation has been raised after the National War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Since then, more and more attention has been paid to the Northeast Battlefield as an important part of the National General War of Resistance. In August 1937, the propaganda and agitation outline of "Struggle for the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Drafted by the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China" took "assisting the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army and destroying the enemy's rear" as one of the nine major tasks of the general mobilization, and clearly stated that it was necessary to "fight to the end for the recovery of Pingjin and the Northeast". At the same time, he attached great importance to the Eighth Route Army's advance into the northeast, and led the deployment of the work of establishing the Jireliao base area. On February 8, 1938, at the Politburo Standing Committee, he made a report on military issues, proposing the development of a new guerrilla zone in the area of Wuling Mountain at the junction of Rehe and Hebei, pointing out that "this is the enemy's far rear, the east should be in response to the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army, the south should be in response to the Jin-Cha-Ji, the north should be close to Mongolia, and the west should be in contact with Suiyuan. The next day, ** sent another telegram **, proposing that elite troops should be sent to Wuling Mountain for development. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Jireliao base area developed rapidly, and by the time of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, it had developed into an anti-Japanese democratic regime at the level of 15 joint counties, which strategically echoed the situation with the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation.
**In Yan'an.
In addition to the military deployment of assistance to the Northeast Resistance League,** it is also very concerned about the issue of establishing contact with the Resistance League. Due to objective reasons, the contact between the CCP and the Northeast Party organizations and the Anti-United Nations forces was cut off after 1938. On January 26, 1939, *** pointed out: "The Northeast Volunteer Army has the longest anti-Japanese war, with a history of seven years, and although there are only 10,000 people now, it has become a good foundation. The problem now is to establish contact with the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, first send traffic officers and try to send radio stations. In order to implement the instructions of the first country, at the beginning of 1939, the Communist Party of China set up the Northeast Working Committee in Yan'an, and sent a group of cadres from the Northeast to set up a training team for Northeast cadres, and sent people to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area to establish a traffic station to look for cadres who are familiar with the situation in the Northeast and can operate in the Northeast to work in the Northeast. Since then, the Jinchaji Branch and the Shandong Branch have respectively set up special Northeast Working Committees. All of these institutions have sent cadres to the northeast to carry out underground work. At the beginning of 1944, after seeing the "Manchurian Work Report" reported, he said happily: "Manchuria is not monolithic. Manchurian work is promising. "Although due to the danger of Guanshan and the enemy's blockade, the contact between the CCP and the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation has not been realized, but under the instructions of the CCP, the party has established a base in the northeast region, carried out secret work in the northeast, and infiltrated the northeast through various means, all of which have laid an important foundation for the CCP to recover the northeast.
Author: Assistant researcher of the Institute of Party History and Literature of the Communist Party of China.
*: "Centennial Tide" Issue 8, 2023.