He Long is a ruthless demon king who kills without blinking (Heizei’s heinous crimes during the洪湖purge)
The great bandit He Long has used his counter-revolutionary double tactics for decades, deceiving superiors and subordinates, distorting history, and shifting blame for his crimes whenever possible. He is not only a political ambitious conspirator aiming to usurp the party and military but also a ruthless devil who kills without hesitation. Just in the 1933 purge in the洪湖area, thousands of outstanding sons and daughters of the party died at his slaughter, making it one of the most heinous political persecutions in our party and military history. The length of this white terror, the number of people killed, is hard to believe without the testimonies of comrades who personally experienced it and exposed it during the Great Cultural Revolution. The mastermind behind this purge is He Long, whose entire body is soaked in the blood of martyrs. This blood debt must be repaid, and justice must be done for the martyrs who suffered. Today, based on the testimonies of several comrades who survived the persecution, we condemn this ruthless demon.
Heizei, after the failure of the Nanchang Uprising in 1927, disguised himself and fled to Hong Kong, then to Shanghai. Later, he gathered some old subordinates and established the Red Fourth Army, which was later renamed the Red Second Army Corps, with He Long as commander-in-chief. Since 1931, He Long faithfully implemented the “Left” opportunist line of the Third Route, which was a concrete manifestation of executing the “Left” line in the洪湖region’s purge issues.
Under Heizei’s manipulation, three purges were carried out in洪湖from March 1932 to May 1934. The basis for the purge was absurd; it was claimed that a Kuomintang spy was caught in Tianmen County,湖北Province, who confessed to contacts with the 武装部 (Armed Department) of 法地区 (Fadi District) and said the armed director was a reformist. Taking advantage of this, Heizei launched a crackdown on reformists within the military and local areas (reformists being those inside the Communist Party opposed to it). But whom exactly did Heizei arrest? He targeted five types of people: those with differing opinions from Heizei, those difficult to lead, those dissatisfied with Heizei’s banditry, those privately criticizing Heizei, and even some who didn’t know why they were arrested. All were branded as reformists, subjected to brutal torture, interrogated day and night, imprisoned, and killed. According to Zhong ××, who participated in the purge:
“One morning, I killed more than sixty people, and my shoulders were sore.”
Almost all cadres of the army and local officials were killed, especially those at the division level and above. Heizei’s secretary, Fan ××, was imprisoned three times and nearly killed, only spared because He Long, illiterate, needed him to read documents. Later, too many people were to be killed, so they were tied up with ropes and pushed into洪湖, where the water was filled with the bodies of revolutionary martyrs, their blood turning洪湖water red. As the local people exposed:
洪湖based area was not defeated by the enemy but was destroyed by Heizei’s killings. This is intolerable!
The above describes how he murdered officials. He also persecuted soldiers, but due to the large number of soldiers, he couldn’t kill them all. Instead, he issued some separation allowances, and when soldiers left the army, they were killed by the enemy—using their departure as a pretext for murder. The soldiers who were dismissed lived in inhumane conditions. According to Cai ××’s recollection of the tragic scene:
“Many lower-level cadres and soldiers suspected of being reformists were expelled, with no way out, so they followed the main force. If they fell behind or got lost, they would be killed by the enemy. They were tied with ropes, made to carry supplies, and were bound for half a year. The ropes cut into their flesh, maggots grew in the summer, and finally, they were released, but the ropes couldn’t be untied, so they had to be cut off with small knives.”
Cai showed us his wrists, which bore deep scars like bracelets. Fan ×× added:
“They formed these dismissed personnel into reformist units, each given guns but no bullets. Besides being used as laborers, when fighting, these so-called reformist units were sent into battle. These comrades were loyal to the Party and the people. Although their guns had no bullets, they fought with machetes against the enemy, willing to sacrifice themselves. They destroyed many enemies but suffered heavy casualties, losing many good comrades.”
Such mass slaughter did not satisfy Heizei’s heinous goals. After three purges, he wanted to carry out a fourth, but the central government issued timely instructions to stop another massacre. The number of revolutionary comrades killed by Heizei is incalculable. Were they guilty? No! Were they anti-party? No! They were proletarian revolutionary soldiers. They were murdered solely because of this old bandit’s bestial nature. This is one of Heizei’s heinous crimes.
Why did Heizei kill so many people? The reason is simple: he wanted to usurp the title of founder of the洪湖Soviet Area. So he first murdered the founder, Comrade Duan Dechang, and claimed his achievements. In 1961, Heizei ordered reactionary intellectuals to write the “洪湖赤卫队” (Honghu Red Guard) opera, praising him as the founder of the洪湖Soviet Area—just to fulfill his long-standing wish to distort history and erect monuments for himself. Today, we must reverse this distorted history and restore the heroic image of our good comrade Duan Dechang.
Comrade Duan Dechang studied early at the Whampoa Military Academy, joined the Party in 1925, and began underground work in洪湖in 1928, earning great respect. When the洪湖base was under pressure, Heizei and the then-secretary of the special committee, Xia Xi, insisted on escapeism, while Duan Dechang strongly advocated continuing the struggle in洪湖. Because of his firm opposition to Heizei and Xia Xi’s escapeism, Heizei hated Duan Dechang to the core. Using the excuse of arresting reformists, he imprisoned Duan Dechang, accusing him of “opposing the leadership of the Central Bureau of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan.” Duan Dechang retorted, “I do not oppose the Central Bureau; I oppose your escapeism and opportunism.” He pointed out that his struggle with Xia Xi was a line struggle. Because Duan Dechang was highly respected among the masses, Heizei and Xia Xi feared he would cause trouble, so they took ruthless action. In 1933, in Jinguoping, Sangzhi County, Hunan, the good son of the party and the people’s good cadre, Duan Dechang, was murdered. During his killing, his subordinates watched for three days, and the soldiers wept bitterly for Duan. At the time, Duan was only in his thirties. When facing execution, he shouted:
“Long live the Communist Party of China!” “Long live the Soviet!” “Oppose Xia Xi’s escapeism!”
and other revolutionary slogans. Throughout his life, Duan Dechang resolutely implemented Chairman Mao’s directives on rural encirclement of cities, mobilizing and relying on the masses, and establishing broad rural bases. He was a brave and skillful commander, fighting at the front, retreating at the back, courageous and tenacious, making immortal contributions to the Party and the people. When he was killed, due to a shortage of bullets, he even said:
“Kill me with a knife! Save bullets for the enemy.” Such an outstanding communist warrior was falsely accused and murdered by Heizei.
He Long, this great bandit, committed such heinous crimes of inhumanity and still tries to cover up the truth. But this tiny planet, with a few flies crying, cannot drown the truth! Our great leader Chairman Mao, at the Seventh Party Congress, rehabilitated Duan Dechang, saying:
“Duan Dechang was a good comrade.”
Heizei, in an attempt to shirk responsibility, used all kinds of conspiracy tricks. In 1935, when the Central Committee investigated the洪湖purge, Heizei blamed all the crimes on the dead Xia Xi and declared:
“I was not a member of the purge committee at that time.”
This is a complete escape from responsibility! But today, evidence and witnesses are clear: He Long was one of the members of the purge committee. As a comrade from the Wuhan troops revealed: “The decisive vote that led to the murder of Duan Dechang was He Long’s.” Moreover, during the three purges, the person holding military power was He Long. Without his approval, who would dare to kill his subordinates? Isn’t this an obvious truth?! Furthermore, the reports submitted to higher authorities during the purge bore the signatures of He Long and Xia Xi. The evidence is irrefutable.
On the eve of the Seventh Congress, Heizei feared exposure of his counter-revolutionary crimes. He resorted to bribery, threats, and inducements, and released traitors to run around for him. He once told Fan ××, who was repeatedly arrested and released during the purge: “Tell the Seventh Congress about the situation, and I will clear your name.” He hinted that Fan should shift the blame onto the dead Xia Xi to exonerate himself. Fan replied, “Boss, if you had said a few more words at the time, it might have been better, and fewer people would have been killed.” These words touched Heizei’s sore spot. He angrily said:
“You ××, I am not even safe myself?”
What a lie! The master of life and death, the living god of death, is not safe? What nonsense! When Heizei saw that bribery and threats didn’t work, he sent his minions and the counter-revolutionaries Liao Hansheng to find Fan ××, promising to promote Fan to the position of staff officer of the 358th Brigade. But Fan refused to cooperate and still advised Heizei. Enraged, Heizei withdrew the order to promote Fan. Heizei is such a cunning old fox, always scheming, using both soft and hard tactics.
During the洪湖purge, Heizei even slandered our revolutionary comrades, accusing them of “participating in the revolution to sabotage it, and participating in the Soviet to sabotage the Soviet.” It is clear that for decades he has been a counter-revolutionary. His consistent opposition to the Party and Chairman Mao exposes his reactionary class nature. As a traitor to the nation and enemy of the people, he will not be overthrown, denounced, and cast into the Eighteen Levels of Hell during the Cultural Revolution? When will that be?!
“Golden Monkey rises with a mighty staff, the jade sky clears of ten thousand miles of dust” — it is time to thoroughly purge the counter-revolutionary elements like He Long! Let us rise with Mao Zedong Thought, raise the banner of revolutionary criticism, eradicate the revisionist roots within the sports front, and ensure that our great motherland remains forever unchanging in color.
Beijing Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers Institute of Mao Zedong Thought Troops
