The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

On the night before their departure, Wang Xiaoming gathered the three of them together and solemnly said to them:

"When you lead the Independent Regiment to western Anhui this time, you must ensure the safe arrival of this team at its destination. You must also find the western Anhui District Committee and consult with Secretary Cao about our future tasks. At the same time, you must convey the instructions of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Provincial Committee. Remember, the Independent Regiment is the spark of revolution in northeastern Hubei; there can be no mishaps!"

As he spoke, Wang Xiaoming took out a letter from his pocket, carefully handed it to Fang Shuihua, and instructed her:

"This is a letter written by Xu Baoshan, a high-ranking provincial official, and Wu Huangxian, the political commissar of the 25th Army, to Secretary Cao Jingting before their departure. After you arrive in western Anhui, you must personally deliver this letter to the western Anhui district committee!"

After receiving the letter, Fang Shuihua, Chen Wendong, and Xu Hongji led more than 300 members of the Northeast Hubei Independent Regiment away from Northeast Hubei overnight, traveling by night and hiding by day, heading east to the Western Anhui base area to find the Western Anhui District Committee.

Furthermore, shortly after the Northeast Hubei Independent Regiment marched eastward, Wang Xiaoming, Lu Chongzhu, Luo Houfu, and other members of the district committee, after deliberation, decided:

It was decided to reorganize the 1st Battalion of the Guangshan Independent Regiment, the Hekou Special Committee Battalion, and some guerrilla members to form a new Northeast Hubei Independent Regiment. Xiong Xianyun remained the commander, and Zhang Shengxian was the political commissar. The regiment was responsible for two special service battalions and had a total of more than 300 people.

To support the work of the fraternal units in Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces, Xu Wenqing selected elite soldiers from the special service brigade, special service battalion, reconnaissance battalion, training battalion, guard battalion and engineer battalion to form a new advance brigade of about 300 people.

After crossing the Yangtze River, they entered the Hubei-Henan-Anhui region and, after making contact with Xue Geming via radio, rushed to northeastern Hubei. Following Xu Wenqing's instructions, Xue Geming's special operations squad was temporarily placed under the command of this advance brigade.

This second independent regiment was not comparable to the first one. It was poorly equipped, lacked weapons, and the members were of low quality.

In order to survive and develop amidst the enemy's encirclement, Regiment Commander Xiong Xianyun and Political Commissar Zhang Shengxian consulted with the leaders of the advance brigade of the 19th Red Army Division:

"The new independent regiment has just been established, and its operational range in the Ronan area is very limited. Why don't we continue to expand into the White areas first, and then return when the opportunity arises!"

The advance detachment of the 19th Division of the Red Army, being new to the area, still trusted the local comrades. So they immediately nodded in agreement.

A few days later, the Northeast Hubei Independent Regiment and the advance detachment of the 19th Red Army Division suddenly advanced westward, broke through the enemy's blockade line overnight, and entered the Daxin, Dongxin, and Sanli areas around Wusheng Pass and Jiuli Pass. They hid in the deep mountains and forests, moving by night and destroying several militia strongholds.

The fighting also employed a rapid attack and retreat strategy, with immediate withdrawal after a successful operation.

In this way, their activity area gradually expanded.

More than ten days after entering the area, the Independent Regiment and the advance brigade suddenly moved south again, sneaking into Erlangdian on the east side of the Pinghan Railway. Under the cover of night, they surrounded Duan Zhixu's militia in Erlangdian and launched a fierce attack, eliminating a company of more than 100 people from Duan Zhixu's militia and seizing more than 100 rifles and pistols as well as some military supplies.

Subsequently, the Independent Regiment and the advance detachment quickly withdrew from Erlangdian and returned to the Sanli area.

Thus, the Northeast Hubei Independent Regiment and the vanguard of the 19th Red Army Division, operating day and night, constantly harassed the enemy, disrupting their encirclement and suppression plans and inflicting powerful blows on them. This ensured that the revolutionary flame in Northeast Hubei was kept burning and that the revolutionary situation began to improve slightly.

Winter is gradually approaching, the weather is getting colder day by day, and the leaves on the mountain are beginning to fall one by one.

The Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area entered an extremely difficult period. Only a few small, incomplete base areas remained in the entire border region, namely Chicheng, Chinan, Lu'an, and northeastern Hubei. The regular army of the White Army and local security forces continued to nibble away at the base areas and carried out frenzied suppression. On the one hand, they mobilized civilians to build fortifications, bunkers, set up roadblocks, build outposts, cut down forests, and set fire to mountains. On the other hand, they adopted the methods of relocating people to merge villages, implementing the Baojia system (a system of mutual responsibility among local officials), searching for wounded Red Army soldiers, killing local party and government cadres, underground party members, and revolutionary masses, and carrying out a bloody suppression that "killed all the people and bandits." Many villages had become uninhabited no-man's-land, and the lives of the people in the base areas became extremely difficult.

After the Northeast Hubei Independent Regiment moved eastward into western Anhui, the newly formed Independent Regiment had no choice but to expand into the White areas and operate deep in the vicinity of the Pinghan Railway.

At this time, Wang Xiaoming, a high-ranking official in northeastern Hubei, was only accompanied by more than 30 pistol-wielding team members, more than 30 family members of Red Army cadres, and a dozen female soldiers from the clothing factory. They had no choice but to move to the Tiantai Mountain area to fight as guerrillas.

They hid in caves during the day and could only come out at night. Because the enemy frequently searched the mountains, they often circled around the enemy, hiding here today and there tomorrow, with no fixed abode. They would run away when the enemy came and return when the enemy left.

In particular, the staff of the clothing factory were mostly family members of Red Army cadres. These female soldiers were not only skilled in combat but also adept at sewing, shoemaking, and sock making. With just three sewing machines, they produced countless uniforms for the 25th Red Army.

After the main force of the Red Army, the 25th Army, withdrew, they did not have time to transfer with the main force of the 25th Army. They were left behind and continued to fight the enemy in the deep mountains and forests of northeastern Hubei.

In particular, the workers in the clothing factories were mostly family members of Red Army cadres. These female soldiers were not only skilled in fighting but also adept at sewing clothes and making shoes and socks. With just three sewing machines, they had produced countless uniforms for the 25th Red Army. After the main Red Army withdrew, they were unable to move with the main Red Army and were left behind to continue fighting the enemy in the deep mountains and forests of northeastern Hubei, working and fighting at the same time.

After more than a month of maneuvering through the jungle and battling the enemy, the soldiers finally broke through their encirclement. Once the clothing factory had settled down, factory director Liu Yuqing immediately led the soldiers to quickly set up their sewing machines: some cutting, some scissors, some sewing, producing winter clothing and shoes for the Red Army's Northeast Hubei Independent Regiment.

At night, the soldiers couldn't stay awake any longer and were too tired, so they would just grab a few bundles of straw, spread them out on the ground, and fall asleep quickly.

Factory director Liu Yuqing checked each soldier one by one, making sure the blankets weren't properly covering the soldiers, and then covering them up again. When others were sleepy, she let them rest first, and she stood guard for them until dawn without closing her eyes once.