CCP CENTRAL COMMITTEE SPOKESMAN ON THE SOUTHERN ANHWEI INCIDENT
18 January 1941

[Text] While under orders to move north, the New
4th Army, located south of the Yangtze River, suddenly was attacked by government troops. This represents an attempt to quickly annihilate an anti-
Japanese armed unit. As the news broke, the nation
and the world were shocked. A reporter of this newspaper was sent to see the spokesman of the Central
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He issued
the following statement:

This tragic event is not accidental. It is, in fact, a premeditated act
on the part of pro-Japanese conspirators and members of the stubborn
anticommunist faction. Shortly after the beginning of the war of
resistance, the guerrillas of the Red Army in south China were reorganized
as the New 4th Army of the National Revolutionary Army. In the last 3
years this army has fought strong enemy forces north and south of the
Yangtze River and rendered meritorious services numerous times. This is
known not only to every one of our countrymen but also to the world. By
ordinary reasoning, these outstanding anti-Japanese units should be well
cherished. Unfortunately, as the nation is confronted with a strong
enemy and as the national crisis is worsening, the people in power fail
to adhere to the principle of "national interest first" and "war of
resistance first," cling to their 10-year-old anticommunist prejudice,
and always discriminate against the armed units led by the Chinese Com-munist Party. Incidents of humiliation, cruel treatment, besiege, and
sneak attacks on our troops occur repeatedly. This treatment of the New
4th Army, of course, is no exception. In central Hupeh the Li Hsien-nien
battalion of this army was attacked numerous times by Ch'eng Ju-huai [4453
3067 2037] and others. In southern Kiangsu the Chen I [7115 3015] unit
was repeatedly under the pressure of Leng Hsin [0397 2946). In northern
Kiangsu the troops under Kuan Wen-wei [4619 2429 5588] were oppressed by
Han Te-ch'in [7281 1795 0530]. The units under Lo Ping-hui [5012 3521
6540] in eastern Anhwei and the units under Peng Hsueh-feng [1756 7185 2000]

located north of the Huai River were under the oppression of Li P'in-hsien
[2621 0756 0341]. Many of the rearguard personnel and the wounded officers and men of the New 4th Army in Ping-chiang and western Honan were
murdered. These notorious incidents were known as the Ping-chiang
massacre and the Chueh-shan massacre. The wife and young son of Chang
Yun-i [1728 0061 6654], chief of staff of the New 4th Army, were arrested.
These incidents which have occurred in the last few years are well known
to everybody. In the last few months the situation has become worse.
Massive attacks were launched in northern Kiangsu, eastern Anhwei and
central Hupeh in the name of "eliminating the bandits." These campaigns
loomed large along the Yangtze and the Huai rivers. Also, on 19 October
1940 Ho Ying-ch'in [0149 2019 2953] and Pai Ch'ung-hsi [4101 1504 4406],
in their respective capacities as the general chief of staff and deputy
general chief of staff, telegraphed Chu Teh and P'eng Te-huai, commander
in chief and deputy commander in chief, respectively, of the 18th Com-bined Army Corps, Yeh T'ing [5509 2185] and Hsiang Ying [7309 5391],
commander and deputy commander of the New 4th Army, instructing all units
of the New 4th Army and the 8th Route Army to assemble before a definite
date in an area north of the Yellow River. In the telegram they stressed
the so-called "military administration" and "military order." In view of
the interest of the country, Chu, P'eng, Yeh and Hsiang promised in their
reply cable to move the units of the New 4th Army located south of the
Yangtze River to the north. By the end of December all preparations for
the move had been completed by Yeh T'ing. When the troops were about to
move, the Kuomintang press unexpectedly released a news report about the
troop movement. This constituted an act of informing the enemy of our
military secrets. At the same time, we heard that Ku Chu-t'ung [7357
4376 0681] and Shang-huan Yun-hsiang [0006 1351 0061 4161] had been
ordered by the government authorities to attack. The order included such
words as "catch them all in one net and capture Yeh and Hsiang alive."
Ostensibly, however, the government authorities had given orders to all
government units to help the New 4th Army travel through their territory
without causing any difficulty. Commander Yeh T'ing presumed that these
words uttered by the responsible authorities were trustworthy. He started
the troop movement on 4 January. The number of troops and officers of
the New 4th Army Headquarters totaled about 10,000. No sooner had they
started moving than they were attacked. When they reached Mou-lin village
between Ching-hsien and Tai-ping, they were surrounded and attacked by
the 52d Division led by T'ang Yun-shan [0781 0061 1472], the 108th Division
led by Jung Chi-wu [2051 4764 0063], the 79th Division led by Tuan Mou-lin
[3008 5399 2651], the 144th Division led by Fan Tzu-ying [5400 1311 5391],
the 40th Division led by Chan Chung-yen [6124 1813 6056], the new 7th
Division led by T'ien Chung-yi [3944 4429 3015], and the 10th Division
led by Wang Ching-hsiu [3769 0513 0208], totaling more than 70,000 men
and all under the command of Ku Chu-t'ung and Shang-kuan Yun-hsiang.
While hastily responding to the attack, Commander Yeh T'ing cabled the
government asking the reason for this attack. During the 7 days and 7
nights of bloody fighting, the government authorities kept lying that
they had cabled Ku Chu-t'ung to inquire about the true situation.

Actually, all government troops were under secret orders to carry out
the plan to wipe out the New 4th Army. On the 13th, when the fierce
battle was in its 8th day, the ambushed New 4th Army, on the move under
government orders, exhausted its ammunition and food supply. The entire
force was sacrificed. The government's objective had been achieved. On
the 17th, the Military Council of the National Government issued a formal
announcement declaring the New 4th Army a rebellious unit and straightforwardly admitting the annihilation of the New 4th Army units in
southern Anhwei. It also said that Yeh T'ing had been wounded and captured and that the deputy commander, Hsiang Ying, had fled. It also
announced the elimination of the New 4th Army as an army unit and said
that Yeh T'ing would be court-martialed. Such a dignified announcement
had in fact exposed to all the people of the country a conspiracy to
annihilate an anti-Japanese unit. Coincidentally, on the 17th the
Japanese KYODO news agency issued a startling report from Nanking. It
said in brief: "The Chungking government has ordered the communist
troops stationed south of the lower Yangtze to move to the north of the
river before 26 December. In order to prompt the communist troops to
move, the commanders of the Third War Zone have started surrounding and
attacking the New 4th Army and other communist troops in the vicinity of
Tung-liu. Some of the defeated communist troops retreated from Ti-kang
to the north of the Yangtze on the 10th. The Japanese Army also attacked
the New 4th Army in the vicinity of Hsuan-cheng and Ching-tan. The
pacification units of the 'national government' also assisted the
Japanese Army in the battle." At this time the true facts of a great
conspiracy and a tragic massacre to eliminate an anti-Japanese armed unit
and to crush those different from themselves were further bared to the
world. The so-called northward move within a specified time limit was
but a cunning trick to lure our troops into a trap so that they could
be surrounded, attacked and wiped out. The so-called military discipline
and the law of the nation meant that those who survived the slaughter
were declared rebels and would be turned over to the courts for trial.
The old tunes glorifying the solemnity of military discipline and the
sacredness of the law of the nation are nothing but alibis for intrigues
to murder the opponents of those who are in power. The New 4th Army is
an anti-Japanese armed unit, and its northward move was made in compliance with government orders, but the army was surrounded and annihilated.
Where is military discipline? Where is the law of the nation? The violators of orders were those who gave the orders. The lawbreakers are
those who made the law. There should be no more argument about this.

When the New 4th Army south of the Yangtze was under attack, the government authorities also ordered more than 200,000 men under the command of
Tang En-po [3282 1869 0130], Li P'in-hsien [2621 0756 0103], Li Hsien-chou
[2621 0103 3166], Wang Chung-lien [3769 0112 1670] and Han Te-ch'in [7281
1795 0530] to stage a massive attack on the New 4th Army stationed north
of the Yangtze. The so-called "catch them all in one net" plan was not
limited to the area south of the Yangtze River. Meanwhile, in northwest
China the Shensi-Kansu-Ninghsia border region was encircled by more than

ULTIMATUM TO THE KUOMINTANG AUTHORITIES

200,000 troops. In Sian, government secret service agents, aside from
blockading the office of the 8th Route Army, even kidnaped a water carrier of the office a few days ago and compelled him to put poison in
the drinking water. In Kweilin the police and government military units
compelled the local offices of the 8th Route Army and the New 4th Army
to close down immediately. A dossier of Communist Party members and
progressive elements in the entire country has been compiled. Probably,
it will not be too long before they "catch them all with one net."
In view of these facts, there is a tendency that the tragedy of civil
war will be repeated. There is a possibility that the heroic 3 1/2-yearold war of resistance will be abandoned. The shameful criminal act of
eliminating the New 4th Army in southern Anhwei is only an exposed part
of the entire intrigue. This is only the beginning of the scenario of
the pro-Japanese elements, conspirators and stubborn anticommunist factions who wish to replace the war of resistance with a civil war and
replace national unity with a split. This kind of lawless criminal act
in favor of the enemy can never be tolerated by the hundreds of thousands
of Communist Party members and hundreds of thousands of officers and men
of the 8th Route Army and the New 4th Army. Even the military, civilians,
and patriotic fellow countrymen and those in the entire world who advocate righteousness cannot stand idly by. We appeal to all patriotic
soldiers and civilians of the country and call upon all righteous people
of the world sympathetic to China's national liberation to unite with us
in our joint struggle to achieve the following goals:

1.  Severely punish the leaders who conspired and perpetrated the crime
of annihilating the New 4th Army in southern Anhwei!

2.  Release all captured officers and men of the New 4th Army! Protect
the lives and safety of Commander Yeh T'ing and other military and
political cadres!

3.  Give compensation to the family members of officers and men of the
New 4th Army who were killed or wounded!

4.  Stop the anticommunist war in central China involving several hundreds
of thousands of troops!

5.  Lift the anticommunist blockade in northwest China!

6.  Stop the criminal act of killing and arresting Communist Party members and patriotic personalities throughout the country and release all
patriotic political prisoners!

7.  Get rid of Ho Ying-ching and all other pro-Japanese elements!

8.  Oppose all intrigues to sabotage the war of resistance and destroy
national unity!

9. Tighten up the anti-Japanese front and persist in the war against
Japan to the end!

We are deeply convinced that most of our armed and civilian countrymen
of various political parties and nonpartisan countrymen take the fate
of our country seriously and stand on the same line with us in opposition to those few pro-Japanese elements and in breaking up their shameful intrigues to sell out our country through civil strife and peace with
the enemy. The Chinese nation is facing its most serious crisis in the
war of resistance. We communists and most of the soldiers and civilians
in the country know very well what our duties are and what measures we
should take during this critical situation.

O
*

--- Notes

"Reference Materials on the History of the Chinese Revolution," Vol 4,
Chinese People's University, 1957
"Collection of Important Documents Since the War of Resistance," 1942
Δ HSIN-CHUNG HUA-PAO, 18 January 1941
Δ CHIEH-FANG, No 124