In late July, according to the instructions of the Central Committee, the Northern Jiangsu Headquarters of the New Fourth Army was established, with Chen Yi and Su Yu as deputy commanders respectively, and Ada and Zhong Qiguang as deputy directors of the Political Department respectively. Subordinate units of Subei Command were reorganized into three columns, nine regiments, with about 7,000 people. Ye Fei, commander and political commissar of the first column, has the first, fourth and fifth regiments, the second column commander Wang Bicheng, political commissar Liu Peishan, the third column commander Tao Yong and political commissar Liu Xiansheng, and the third, seventh and eighth regiments. Through reorganization, unified command and unified organizational system, the military and political quality of the army has been improved and the face of the army has changed.
At this time, Chen Pixian, the youth minister of the Central Southeast Bureau, led a group of cadres from Jiangnan to northern Jiangsu to help Chen Yi lead the local party. From then on, the situation in northern Jiangsu began to change qualitatively, and the struggle with Han Deqin, the die-hard of the Kuomintang, entered the confrontation stage from fighting for the middle forces.
After the reorganization of the troops in northern Jiangsu, the first question is where to establish the base area. At that time, there were three ideas: one was to enter Xinghua in the north, the other was to hold the same place, and the third was to enter Huangqiao in the east. After weighing and comparing the advantages and disadvantages, the headquarters in northern Jiangsu considered Xinghua as the center of Han Deqin's rule. In the north, Xinghua violates the principle of self-defense, and the area is small, so the food supply is a big problem. If it develops outward, it will inevitably conflict with Korea, which is not conducive to the reunification of Lee and North Korea. Huangqiao is in the center of Jingjiang, Rugao, Taixian and Taixing counties. The east can be developed to Tongru and Haiqi areas, and the south can control the Yangtze River. He Keqian, the fourth security brigade in Huangqiao area, colluded with the Japanese and Puppet, actively opposed * * *, distributed taxes, extorted money, did evil and lost the hearts of the people for a long time. So the third idea is politically reasonable and militarily advantageous.
As a result, the northern Jiangsu headquarters immediately deployed eastward. First, it issued a political mobilization order, put forward the slogan of unity and resistance against stubbornness, and asked all commanders and soldiers to make full preparations for mobile warfare and annihilation. Chen Yi said at a meeting of cadres at or above the company level: You can only win this time, but you can't lose. We are burning our bridges and making a final resistance, and we will never go back to the west again. He called on all officers and men to make up their minds to win.
On July 25th, Subei headquarters led the troops eastward. On 26th and 27th, after passing two Li sectors, two Li Zunyue gave way. The troops fired into the air to hide Han Deqin's eyes and ears, while the New Fourth Army pretended to take the road. Han Deqin found that the New Fourth Army was advancing eastward. Even though He Keqian led the four security brigades to attack northward from Huangqiao and its south area, he ordered Chen Taiyun's tax police headquarters to attack from Qutang south to Beijinjie area, and attacked the north and south in an attempt to destroy the troops of the New Fourth Army moving eastward.
According to the different situations of He Keqian and Chen Taiyun, the Subei Headquarters took corresponding measures respectively. After fighting two regiments and destroying one battalion, Chen Tai's Ministry of Transport returned all the prisoners and guns as a sign of unity against Japan. Chen Taiyun expressed his willingness to cooperate with the New Fourth Army in the War of Resistance. For any department, Subei Command deployed the second column to occupy Jiang Duo, Xi Gu and Longxi in the northeast of Huangqiao, the first column occupied and penetrated, cutting off He Keqian's retreat, and the third column captured Huangqiao and its south area. On 28th, after a night of fierce fighting, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd columns successfully completed their tasks, annihilated nearly 2,000 main forces of any department, and strived for any secret service group's uprising in Chen Zongbao. On the 29th, the New Fourth Army occupied Huangqiao. The eastward troops captured Japanese and puppet strongholds such as Gushan and Xilai town in the northeast of Jingjiang, captured more than 40 puppet troops and smashed two retaliatory raids by the Japanese and puppet troops.
According to the instructions of the central government to "steadily develop" northern Jiangsu, after the New Fourth Army entered Huangqiao, it sent cadres, pro-democracy teams and service groups to cooperate with local party organizations to mobilize the masses and actively build anti-Japanese democratic base areas. At the beginning of August, Huangqiao Military-civilian Joint Office was established, with Chen as the deputy director of the political department of Subei Command and column, as the director of the office, presiding over local administrative work.
And the administrative work of the four districts around Huangqiao was restored. In late August, the Tongru Jingtai Interim Administrative Committee was established, with Guan Hechen as the deputy director, Wei and Xue Hanyang as members, including the Secretariat, Administration Department, Finance Department, Culture and Education Department, Military Department, Justice Department and Democracy Department.
At the same time, the governments of Taixian County, Taixing County, Rugao County and Jingjiang County were established, and Hui Yuyu, Chen County, and Jingjiang County were appointed as county heads.
In mid-September, according to the instructions of the Central Plains Bureau, the Central Jiangsu Regional Committee was established, with members including Chen Yi, Su Yu, Chen Pixian, Ye Fei, Wei, Wu, etc., and Chen Yi and Chen Pixian as deputy secretaries. At the same time, the Subei Special Committee and the Jiangbei Special Committee were abolished. (1) Established two central county committees in Taixing and Rugao, and Wei, secretary of Taixing Central County Committee, led the work in Jiangdu, Taixing, Taixian and Jingjiang counties; Zhong Min, secretary of Rugao Central County Party Committee, leads Rugao, Nantong, Qidong, Haimen and Chongming.
In order to speed up the construction of the base area and prepare to counterattack Han Deqin's attack, the Subei Command and the New Fourth Army issued the "Instructions on Creating the Huangqiao Base Area" on August 20, emphasizing that: "The current tasks are: actively enriching the main force, strictly training and exercising troops, striving for mass movements, laying the foundation for the work of democratic political power and preparing for the victory of anti-mopping and anti-friction." Put forward the specific principles and tasks of military training and development, mass movements, administrative work and party work. Since then, the construction of base areas centered on Huangqiao has been gradually carried out.
The Executive Committee promulgated the anti-Japanese democratic policy program, the "25 th Five-Year Rent Reduction" decree and the mass organization law. As soon as the slogan of "reducing rent by 25" was put forward, it aroused social repercussions in northern Jiangsu. The landlord class listened to the slanderous propaganda of the Kuomintang reactionaries and was afraid of "disguised production" and "chronic production"; The majority of farmers hope to implement the land policy of the Red Fourteenth Army in those days, and worry that rent reduction on 25th is not the real policy of the Party. In view of these situations, the leaders of the party, government and army explained the rent reduction law to farmers and landlords and gentry in various ways, while leading farmers to carry out rent reduction and interest reduction campaigns. A large number of farmers benefited from rent reduction. In order to broaden financial resources and ensure supply, seven tax offices have been set up, including Huangqiao, Zhoujiaqiao, Dingjiaxin, Gaojiawan, Guangling Town and Bianjie √ Xiamawei, which reduced the tax rate. In the middle and late August, the tax revenue 1 1 10,000 yuan increased to 2 1 10,000 yuan in September, reaching 800,000 yuan in the highest month.
In order to train military and political cadres, Subei Military and Political Cadre School was established, which absorbed a large number of educated youth. Party member training course will be held to cultivate and improve the new party member. Publish "Anti-Enemy Newspaper" (Subei Edition). Establish anti-Japanese mass organizations such as agricultural resistance, women's resistance and youth resistance. The New Fourth Army stepped up training and consolidation, and expanded its army. In August, more than 200 recruits were added/KLOC-0. Local armed organizations have been established: more than 200 people in Jingtai Management Committee, more than 200 people in Rugao County, more than 0/00 people in Jingjiang County/KLOC, and 50-60 people in Taixing County. Some districts have also set up local armed organizations with 20 or 30 people. In this way, the construction of the base area centered on Huangqiao has begun to take shape.