In 1946, there were nearly 30,000 bandits in Northeast China, who were called "beards", hiding in the deep mountains and old forests, often haunting, causing great damage to the production and life of the people.
These people are brutal, often looting people's property, killing local workers, and even raiding local units of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army. Their presence is a source of deep pain and indignation among the people.
In March 1946, He Jinnian, commander of the 3rd Garrison Brigade of the Eighth Route Army Garrison Corps and commander of the 3rd Border Military Region, went to the Northeast and served as the commander of the Hejiang Military Region. In Qiqihar, He Jinnian saw **, stretched out two fingers to him, and said with a smile: "Meng's coming." ”
He Jinnian thought that the gesture of ** meant that he was as brave as a second pole in battle, and hurriedly said: "I don't want this nickname." * said: "This is the letter V in English, which stands for victory."
You come to suppress the bandits, and the battle will be won. "He Jinnian is a fierce general who has experienced a bloody revolutionary war. In northern Shaanxi, he was famous for fighting bullies and establishing base areas, and in northeast China, he commanded troops to encircle and intercept bandits for three months, and exterminated the "four flagpoles" bandits in one fell swoop.
The "four flagpoles" bandits in Northeast China refer to the bandit armed forces organized by Xie Wendong, Zhang Heizi, Zhang Rongjiu and others. During the puppet Manchurian period, Japan adopted a policy of bribery in Northeast China to win over bandits and bribe some bandits.
Most of the members of the army mobilized by the female spy Yoshiko Kawashima are bandits. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang's army gained control of the northeast and granted official positions to many bandit leaders. After three months of arduous fighting, He Jinnian successfully exterminated the bandits of the "Four Flagpoles" and laid a solid foundation for peace and development in the northeast region.
In March 1939, Xie Wendong surrendered to Japan, and on August 15, 1946, a rally was held in the central square of Jiamusi to celebrate the first anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and several Japanese war criminals and traitors were tried publicly.
Before the start of the trial, a burst of gunfire rang out, people were injured on the assault platform, and the local troops counterattacked, quelling **. The square was littered with enemy leaflets. In October, bandits attacked the county towns of Luobei and Yilan one after another, kidnapped more than 20 people in the county, dragged them to the suburbs and killed them, and looted all the shops in the county.
In the face of rampant bandits, our troops went out to encircle and suppress them. However, these bandits are widely distributed and familiar with the terrain, and they have set up eyeliners everywhere, and as soon as the troops are dispatched, they will run away without a trace.
Sometimes the troops surrounded the bandits, but as soon as the fight started, the bandits fled in all directions. Soon after, the bandits reorganized. After He Jinnian carefully analyzed the characteristics of bandits, he adopted different methods to suppress bandits.
First, if the enemy is concentrated, the method of concentrated strikes will be adopted; second, if the enemy is scattered, the attack will be dispersed; and third, the bandits will be pursued relentlessly, and capable small detachments will be organized to lock down the bandit leaders and chase them into the old forests, meadows, and swamps until the bandit leaders are caught.
He Jinnian later summed up the experience of suppressing bandits: "There are three kinds of treasures in the Northeast, ginseng, mink, and ura grass. Our team also has three treasures, big cakes, pickle gnocchi, and ura grass. ”
They asked, "What's so amazing about this?" ”
He Jinnian recounted his experience of chasing bandits: "We can't waste time cooking, because in the 100,000 urgent moments of chasing bandits, even a second is precious.
So, we took dry food, ate pickles, and ate as we went, saving time to hunt down bandits. Even in the season when there is no snow, just by carefully observing the appearance of the grass, you can judge the direction of the bandits.
At night, the birds and birds are also important clues for us to track down the bandits. In addition, we will also observe horse manure along the way, which can help us judge the distance and direction of travel of the bandits. ”
In November 1946, the temperature in the Linhai Snow Field plummeted, the water of the Mudanjiang River began to freeze, and the battle line became longer and longer. As long as the bandits run, it will be difficult to find them again.
He Jinnian decided to divide his troops into multiple ways to pursue the bandits, from east to west, south to north, and fully deployed. He also sent soldiers to block the mountain and chase the big bandit leader Xie Wendong with all his might.
During the day, the warriors kept an eye on the footprints and horse manure left by the bandits, tracking their whereabouts. The bandits were very cunning, they scurried around the woods in groups, footprints and horse manure everywhere.
But He Jinnian firmly believes that no matter how many roads the bandits have to go, they will chase them all the way to the end. Whenever a crow is seen croaking, the warriors rush there to defeat the bandits.
At night, the warriors would climb the high mountain, and if there was fire, they would fight. This trick made the bandits panic, and some of them were injured and fled in all directions.
Faced with countless elusive bandits, He Jinnian proposed a unique strategy: to leave the bandits without food. He led his soldiers to destroy the bandits' grain depots and cut off their food sources.
At the same time, he also realized that in order to suppress bandits, he must rely on the masses. He encouraged the masses to fight the bandits bravely, and this strategy worked well in practice, and many bandits were eliminated.
However, this process was not easy for He Jinnian. He pursued the bandits day and night, and his horses fell ill and died. In the deep mountains and old forests, he developed a high fever and was in a very bad physical condition.
However, even in such a situation, he insisted on staying at the front line, leading the fighters to continue the pursuit of the bandits. He firmly believes that as long as everyone's will is strong enough, they will be able to defeat the bandits.
In the process of suppressing bandits in the mountains, the soldiers faced the harsh natural environment and the frantic resistance of the bandits. The cotton clothes and pants they wore were torn by tree branches and hay, revealing small cotton balls.
The temperature was extremely low at night, and the soldiers had to rely on repeated fires to keep warm. However, even under such circumstances, He Jinnian still held his position, constantly cutting off the bandits' food on the one hand, and sending soldiers to the settlements on the other hand, establishing a defensive line, so that the bandits were in the vast ocean of the people's war.
Once, Xie Wendong, the leader of the big bandits, took the bandits down from Wudao Mountain, preparing to smuggle in from the area of Sidaohezi. However, as soon as they approached the house, they were met with a volley of bullets, and the bandits in front fell to the ground, blood flowing.
It turned out that He Jinnian had already arranged a squad of soldiers in this house, and they suppressed the bandits' attack with firepower. Xie Wendong's son hurriedly grabbed Xie Wendong and fled back to the mountains with some of the bandits.
However, the situation did not change because of the temporary retreat of the bandits. They had already eaten all the food, so they had to kill the horses and eat the horse meat, but the horse meat was not easy to digest, and Xie Wendong and some beards had diarrhea and blood in the stool.
Some of the beards took the opportunity to flee and surrender to our troops. The combat effectiveness of the beards is quickly reduced. In this way, Xie Wendong was chased to the point where there was no way to escape, and finally was arrested.
He Jinnian, an outstanding bandit general, was highly praised by Mr. Lin three times for his bravery, flexibility, and fickleness. When the bandits heard his name, they were all terrified, and hated that his father and mother had lost two legs.
During his lifetime, he held such important positions as Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Northeast Military District, Deputy Commander of the Armored Corps, and was awarded the rank of Major General in 1955.