In the autumn of 1950, the northwest achieved fruitful results in the suppression of bandits. A large number of gangsters who committed crimes were completely annihilated by our army, and two of the four major bandit leaders in the northwest, who had harmed one side and whose hands were stained with the blood of innocent people and revolutionary martyrs, were killed, and two others were captured alive.
The ** who commanded the suppression of the bandits telegraphed the good news to Mr. Peng, and at the same time asked for instructions on how to deal with the bandits. A few days later, ** received a call back from Mr. Peng, and the content of the message was only one word: "Kill!" ”
In 1949, the First Field Army and the First Division of the North China Field Army swept across the entire northwest with a devastating momentum, and the Kuomintang's rule in the northwest collapsed. However, the enemy was not reconciled to defeat and organized the bandits and part of the remnants of the defeated army in the northwest to continue to oppose our army.
At that time, there were four major bandit leaders in the northwest region, namely Zhou Shouwa, Ma Yunshan, Zhang Hailu and Guo Shuzi, who were active in Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and other regions. They led their bandits to burn, kill, loot, and even launch rebellions, disrupting social order and seriously threatening the security of the nascent people's power. In order to eliminate these bandits, Yiye quickly mobilized 140,000 troops, commanded by **, and adopted the method of concentrating forces and breaking down the bandits one by one.
The first of the four bandit leaders to be arrested was Ma Yunshan, who was Ma Bufang's old department. Before Ma Bufang fled the mainland, he specially found Ma Yunshan and gave him the position of so-called "commander of the loyal army", asking him to return to his hometown Pingliang as soon as possible and plan an armed riot. In addition, Ma Bufang also personally handed over a part of Ma Yunshan's gold bars as activity funds.
In July 1949, Ma Yunshan quietly sneaked back to his hometown Zhangjiachuan, and in three months, secretly hooked up with hundreds of bandits, and then suddenly attacked the people of the district in October and robbed some of them. With Ma Yunshan, his ambition became greater, he led the bandits, frequently attacked ** and local troops, and accumulated a lot of blood debts.
Ma Yunshan's rampant behavior aroused a high degree of vigilance on our side and resolutely cracked down on him. Ma Yunshan saw that the situation was not good, and he slipped away, he ran to Pingliang, and pulled up a gang of bandits through incitement, demagoguery, etc., and there were thousands of people. After having the capital in his hand, Ma Yunshan's ambition was extremely inflated, and he wanted to die by himself, and he planned to attack Pingliang City this time.
However, Ma Yunshan's calculation this time was wrong, he didn't even enter Pingliang City, and the reinforcements of our army arrived. Eventually, in the process of escaping, Ma Yunshan was killed.
After solving Ma Yunshan, the most powerful bandit leader in the northwest, the remaining three bandit leaders are much easier to deal with. Zhou Shouwa's main activities are in the Shangluo area of Shaanxi, and he is a well-known local bandit, and the local people hate him. Zhou Shouwa had more than 1,500 men under his command, most of whom were some remnants of the former Kuomintang army, and he also proclaimed himself the title of so-called "commander", and openly argued with our side, claiming that he would fight the Communist Party to the end.
As a result, in just one round, Zhou Shouwa's subordinates were crushed, those who fled fled, those who surrendered, and Zhou Shouwa herself had to flee, but in the end she was captured.
Zhang Hailu was Ma Hongkui's subordinate, after the liberation of Ningxia, Zhang Hailu, who had no way to escape, was unwilling to be captured, so he became a bandit on the spot, and also pulled up a gang, but only more than 200 people, in addition, he also confronted our side, causing no less harm than other bandits.
After our army launched a purge, Zhang Hailu's strength was quickly wiped out and lost, but he was still dying and continuing to do evil. After an attack on the township, Zhang Hailu led people to flee to Haiyuan, Ningxia, but still did not escape his doom, and was finally killed by the People's Liberation Army when searching the mountains.
Guo Shuzi was active in the Helan Mountain area, and he was also an old bandit, who had taken refuge in Ma Hongkui before liberation. After the liberation of Ningxia, Guo Shuzi saw that the general trend had gone, so he first pretended to surrender, and it didn't take long for his true colors to be exposed. Guo Shuzi gathered some of his subordinates and went to Helan Mountain to set up the "Black Tiger Army", calling himself the "King of Helan", repeatedly opposing the People's Liberation Army, frequently attacking our troops, and killing many commanders and fighters, including deputy commander Cao Dongzhi.
* When the general heard about Guo Shuzi's evil deeds, he was extremely angry and instructed the Ningxia Military Region to exterminate Guo Shuzi as soon as possible. After more than eight months of purging, Guo Shuzi was beaten and fled alone, fled into Helan Mountain, and was finally captured alive.
In November 1950, the Ningxia Military Region held a public trial meeting to try and execute Guo Shuzi and other bandit leaders on the spot. A month later, Zhou Shouwa was also killed by a righteous bullet. So far, there is no more banditry in the northwest.
The campaign that took place in 1950 completely eliminated the bandit plague that had plagued our country for thousands of years, created a clear social environment, enabled the people to live and work in peace and contentment, and vigorously unfolded socialist construction.