Patriotic, democratic, and cultural personages have always been close comrades-in-arms of our party. In the war-torn revolutionary years, the Communist Party of China tried every means and mobilized all kinds of forces to protect patriotic democrats and cultural figures from reactionary forces. At the beginning of 1942, nearly 800 patriotic democrats and cultural celebrities succeeded in turning danger into a disaster under the careful planning of our party's hidden front. This unprecedented and thrilling "Hong Kong Secret Rescue" is also known as "the greatest rescue since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression".
Schematic diagram of the rescue route in Hong Kong.
In 1941, the Kuomintang diehards set off the second "** climax, He Xiangning, Liu Yazi, Mao Dun, Zou Taofen and a large number of patriotic democrats and well-known figures in the cultural circles published articles and declarations, criticizing the Kuomintang diehards' "passive anti-Japanese and positive" policy, and propagating the Communist Party of China's anti-Japanese and salvation proposition.
In December 1941, Hong Kong fell. The Japanese army blocked traffic, put up posters, and wantonly searched for these progressives throughout Hong Kong, restricting them to report to the "Great Japanese Administration Department" or "shoot them to death." The patriotic democrats and well-known figures in the cultural circles who are trapped in Hong Kong are in a very dangerous situation. In order to escape the Japanese army's arrest, a large number of progressives fled in all directions and hid in the deep streets and alleys of Hong Kong.
At the time of crisis, the then secretary of the Southern Bureau of the Communist Party of China sent urgent telegrams to Liao Chengzhi, Pan Hannian, Liu Shaowen and other comrades, demanding that these patriotic democrats and cultural elites be transferred out as soon as possible at all costs and by all means. After receiving the order, the covert front immediately moved to draw up a plan for retreat, open lines of communication, set up secret liaison stations, raise funds and food, and contact these progressives one by one. After study, it was decided to take advantage of the fact that the Japanese army had not yet gained a firm foothold in Hong Kong and had not yet fully grasped the situation, and to transfer the progressives out of Hong Kong by land and water.
Liao Chengzhi, head of the Hong Kong office of the Eighth Route Army, took a group photo with celebrities in the cultural circles in Guangzhou (front row, from left: Mao Dun, Xia Yan, Liao Chengzhi; Back row, from left: Pan Hannian, Wang Fuquan, Yu Feng, Ye Wenjin, Situ Huimin).
By water, you have to avoid the sea patrols of Japanese patrol boats, interrogations along the way, and rampant pirates. Under the leadership of Liu Shaowen, the comrades of the hidden front rented fishermen's boats with a large amount of money, collected fishermen's and refugee clothes for disguise, carefully selected transfer transfer stations, landing sites, secret reception stations, etc., and conducted rigorous drills in advance to ensure that nothing went wrong. Zou Taofen, Hu Cheng, Mao Dun and others took this road.
By land, you have to cross the Great Smoky Mountains at an altitude of more than 900 meters, and there are sentry posts and blockades of the Japanese puppet army along the way, and you will also encounter the infestation of bandits. In this regard, the covert front opened up all joints in advance, especially to do the work of dispersing counterfeits and bandits, and strive for their release. At the same time, Hong Kong locals who are familiar with Hong Kong's conditions were organized to lead the way, and the elderly and children who were familiar with the secret roads were mobilized to serve as traffic officers, and the leading task was brilliantly completed. Fan Changjiang, Xia Yan and dozens of others walked this road.
A group photo of some cultural celebrities after the victory of the Great Rescue.
On New Year's Day 1942, the rescue work officially began. The covert front was launched by land and water, crossed in batches, lasted 11 months, and helped more than 800 progressives evacuate safely from Hong Kong. In addition, it also rescued a number of Kuomintang personnel stationed in Hong Kong and foreign friends, and received more than 2,000 patriotic young people who returned to China to participate in the anti-Japanese resistance, and protected a large number of elites at that time in a timely manner.
Regarding this thrilling past, Xia Yan once commented, "This is the real heart-to-heart and death together." Mr. Mao Dun called it "the greatest rescue work in history since the Anti-Japanese War". The "Hong Kong Rescue" has covered more than 10 provinces and cities, traveled tens of thousands of miles, and no one died in distress throughout the whole process, which is a miracle in the history of the Communist Party of China's covert struggle.