In the 1930s, Mao Zedong and other Communist leaders in the Republic of China established an anti-government armed stronghold in Jiangxi province called the “Central Soviet Area.” Here, Mao used the pretext of combating the AB League to kill over 700 military officers of the Red Twentieth Army.
Futian was a large village in Ji’an County, Jiangxi province, and in the 1930s it served as the location of the Jiangxi Provincial Revolutionary Committee and the Provincial Soviet Government of the CCP.
On December 3, 1930, Mao Zedong, the Secretary of the Central Revolutionary Committee of the Red Army, dispatched Li Shaoku, the director of the Red Army’s Anti-Suppression Committee, with Mao’s instructions to capture the AB League in Futian. Following Mao’s orders, on the 5th, two more people were sent with a second letter of instructions for Li Shaoku. Subsequently, the Secretary-General of the Revolutionary Committee was dispatched to Futian to assist in the anti-suppression efforts.
Mao demanded through his trusted confidants within the Jiangxi Provincial Revolutionary Committee that once the letters were received, there must be no hesitation in executing the task of suppressing counter-revolutionaries immediately. He instructed to capture and kill wealthy farmers, rogues, and agitators in various counties and regions. Any areas where capture and execution were not carried out were deemed as being part of the AB League, whose leaders could be captured and dealt with.
On December 7, Li Shaoku arrived in Futian with a battalion of the Red Twelfth Army and a letter personally received by the Jiangxi Provincial Revolutionary Committee. He stationed his troops at the entrance of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee, armed with rifles, and broke into the office, delivering the letter to the committee members. With the cooperation of the committee members, they proceeded to detain and imprison several officials.
That evening, Li Shaoku subjected the officials to brutal torture techniques like “nailing bamboo slivers between their fingers” and “burning incense slowly,” causing excruciating pain. The cries of those tortured were said to be deafening.
On December 8, the wives of Li Baifang, Ma Ming, and Zhou Mian, who came to visit their detained husbands, were also falsely accused of being part of the AB League and subjected to torture, including being burned and mutilated.
Under torture, the officials were coerced into admitting they were part of the AB League and implicating other members. Within five days from the 7th to the 12th of December, more than 120 people were arrested and over 40 were executed.
During the interrogation of Xie Hanchang, the political director of the Red Twentieth Army, by Li Shaoku, he forced a confession that Liu Di, the political commissar of Brigade 174 of the Red Twentieth Army, was also part of the AB League. On the morning of the 11th, Liu Di was summoned back to Donggu, where he was interrogated by Li Shaoku.
After the conversation, Liu Di realized that Li Shaoku was using the pretext of capturing the AB League for his own conspiracy. Feeling suspicious, he plotted with Zhang Xing and Liang Xueyi, the commander and political commissar of Brigade 1, to detain Li Shaoku and compel him to reveal his plot.
Upon hearing this, Liu Di immediately surrounded the military base, detained General Liu Tiechao, freed the so-called AB League members brought by Li Shaoku from Donggu, and Li Shaoku fled upon hearing the news.
That night, Liu Di and Xie Hanchang rushed to Futian, encircled the Jiangxi Provincial Revolutionary Committee, disarmed the guards, and released nearly a hundred alleged AB League prisoners. Jiangxi Provincial Soviet Government Chairman Zeng Shan and others managed to escape.
This was known as the famous Futian Mutiny.
On December 13, Xie Hanchang, Liu Di, and others led the Red Twentieth Army to the areas of Yongxin, Lianhua, and Anfu in the Xianggan Soviet Area. Along the way, they posted posters criticizing Mao Zedong’s “Party Emperor ideology” and advocating to “overthrow Mao Zedong, support Zhu (De), Peng (Dehuai), and Huang (Gonglue).” On the 15th, they established the “Jiangxi Provincial Action Committee” and the “Jiangxi Provincial Soviet Government” in Ji’an County.
Subsequently, they sent reports to the CCP Central Committee and the General Revolutionary Committee detailing the incident and requesting action.
On January 15, 1931, the CCP Central Soviet Regional Central Bureau was established in Ningdu, Jiangxi. Based on the decision of the CCP Political Bureau, Xiang Ying was appointed as acting secretary, and the role of the Red Army’s Central Committee and the position of the General Secretary held by Mao Zedong were revoked, with Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and others joining the Central Bureau. A Central Revolutionary Military Committee led by the Soviet Central Bureau was also established to command the Red Army in Jiangxi and nationwide, with Xiang Ying serving as chairman. At this point, Xiang Ying replaced Mao as the highest leader of the CCP party and military in the “Central Soviet Area” of Jiangxi.
After a period of investigation, Xiang Ying believed that both sides were at fault for the Futian incident, and it should be resolved through educational and conference methods.
Therefore, Xiang Ying tasked Zeng Bingchun, who was recovering at home during the Futian incident, to go west of the river to convince the Red Twentieth Army to come to the eastern side of the river. He also called on the leaders responsible for dealing with the AB League and the Futian incident to come to the Central Bureau for a meeting to clarify right from wrong and resolve the conflicts.
However, in early 1931, there were changes in the leadership of the CCP Central Committee, with Wang Ming, who returned from the Soviet Union, becoming the actual highest leader of the CCP, leading to the decline of Li Lisan, the original highest leader supported by the Red Twentieth Army.
On March 28, 1931, the CCP Political Bureau decided that the Futian incident was “a counter-revolutionary action prepared and executed by the class enemy and their AB League struggle organization.” Subsequently, Wang Ming dispatched Ren Bishi and others to the Central Soviet Area to convey the decision of the CCP Political Bureau. In mid-April, the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area decided that the Futian incident was a “counter-revolutionary uprising led by the AB League and aligned with the Li Lisan line.”
On April 17, 1931, Xiang Ying, who advocated resolving the issue through meetings, was removed from his position as acting secretary of the Central Soviet Bureau and replaced by Mao Zedong. Soon after, the Red First Army General Committee was reinstated, and Mao Zedong became the secretary-general once again.
After regaining power, Mao immediately decided to purge the leaders of the mutiny. He first executed Liu Di, followed by Xie Hanchang, Li Baifang, Jin Wanbang, Zhou Mian, Cong Yunzhong, and others.
In July 1931, the Red Twentieth Army, which had been conducting guerrilla warfare in Hexi under the leadership of Political Commissar Zeng Bingchun, obeyed the decision of the Central Soviet Bureau and returned to Hedong, Yudu County, the central area of the Soviet Union. However, upon their return, they were met not with a meeting to resolve the issues but with mass arrests and executions.
When the Red Twentieth Army arrived at Pingtouzhai in Yudu County, they were immediately surrounded and disarmed by two of Mao Zedong’s generals, Peng Dehuai and Lin Biao.
Over 700 military officers, including Xiao Dapeng, the brigade commanders and above, were falsely accused of being AB League core members and summarily executed. Even Political Commissar Zeng Bingchun, who had been sent to the Twentieth Army for persuasion work as instructed by the Central Bureau, was also targeted for execution.
The Red Twentieth Army unit was disbanded, and the remaining members were incorporated into the Red Seventh Army.
After the suppression of the Futian incident, the anti-AB League movements across the “Central Soviet Area” were intensified, leading to more indiscriminate arrests and killings.
According to Xiao Ke, a CCP general who obtained a ranking equivalent to General after the Party took power, over 100,000 Red Army soldiers were purged during the anti-counter-revolution campaign in the “Central Soviet Area.” This purge exceeded the number of Red Army casualties eliminated by the Nationalist forces in the years before the Long March.
Reflecting on the events, Xiao Ke remarked, “Why did the Futian incident occur? The main reason was the indiscriminate killings and crackdown on the AB League, which escalated the contradictions… causing everyone to feel threatened. In such a situation, conflicts erupted.”
Since there was no evidence of the existence of the AB League within the Red Army, why did Mao Zedong order the killing of numerous Red Army members under the pretext that they were part of the AB League?
According to Chinese historian Gao Hua, the main reason was that at that time, Mao Zedong’s authority in the “Central Soviet Area” had just been established but was being challenged by the local Red Army and party organizations in Jiangxi, led by Li Wenlin. Mao could not tolerate any opposing force that could influence his authority within the Central Soviet Area, whether it came from within the Red Army or the local party organizations. To maintain his authority in the region, Mao resorted to extreme measures to suppress any forces he suspected of dissent.
In short, Mao killed to solidify his power.
【Epoch Times 2024-05-15】