Chen Dongfang: Secret Communications in the Oyuwan Soviet Area During the Agrarian Revolutionary War [1] and Their Historical Significance
In recent years, the struggle of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on the hidden front during the New Democratic Revolution [1] has increasingly drawn the attention of the academic community, resulting in a surge of new scholarship. The Hubei-Henan-Anhui (Oyuwan) Soviet Area [2] was the second-largest Soviet area during the Agrarian Revolutionary War, surpassed only by the Central Soviet Area. It serves as "an important base for the founding of our Party and one of the birthplaces of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army," having created the glorious history of "keeping the red flag flying for twenty-eight years" [3]. At that time, the Oyuwan Soviet Area was under a strict blockade and encirclement by the Kuomintang (KMT); the movement of personnel and supplies was difficult, military struggle was extremely frequent, and the environment for survival was exceptionally harsh. Under these circumstances, establishing and perfecting secret communications became an extremely important and urgent task for the Party Central Committee and the Soviet Area. Under the leadership and assistance of the Party Central Committee, a secret communication network for the Oyuwan Soviet Area was gradually established and improved, playing a positive role in the creation, development, and expansion of the region.
The Establishment of Secret Communications in the Oyuwan Soviet Area
Our Party recognized the extreme importance of secret communication work very early on. In April 1925, the Party Central Committee pointed out: "The organizational importance of this work (i.e., intra-Party communications—Editor's note) is equivalent to the blood vessels in the human body; the stagnation of the blood flow affects a person's life or death" (Materials on the Organizational History of the Chinese Communist Party (1921.7—1949.9), Vol. 8, CPC Party History Press, 2000 edition, p. 59). After the failure of the Great Revolution [4], amid the White Terror [5], the establishment of a nationwide secret communication network became a matter of extreme urgency. The August 7th Conference [6] of the Party demanded the swift establishment of a national intra-Party communication network. In accordance with the instructions of the Party Central Committee, secret communications in the Oyuwan Soviet Area were gradually established and improved, falling specifically into the following two types:
The first category consisted of communication lines and stations established by the Party Central Committee and directly subordinate to it. These were secret communication lines leading from the outside into the Soviet Area. Simultaneously, the Party Central Committee assisted Party organizations at all levels within the Soviet Area in establishing secret communication networks. The Party Central Committee successively opened two secret communication lines, East and West, from Shanghai to the Oyuwan Soviet Area. On the East Line, a Central Communication Hub was established in Dianbu Town, Hefei, in the winter of 1929; it oversaw four branch stations, such as Zhengyangguan in Shou County, and employed over 20 couriers. Most personnel sent by the Central Committee to the Oyuwan Soviet Area chose the East Line. On the West Line, prior to April 1931, personnel sent to Oyuwan mostly entered via Xiaogan through the Wuhan communication station; after the Wuhan station was compromised, a new secret communication line was opened entering the Soviet Area via stations in Zhengzhou, Xinyang, Luoshan, and Guangshui.
The second category consisted of secret channels established by the Soviet Area, leading from the Soviet Area to the outside, and directly subordinated to the Soviet Area or its constituent Party organizations. For instance, in March 1930, the Luan Central County Committee held a joint meeting in Qilinwan and decided to "establish a permanent communication network and regular, fixed communication work" (Selected Materials on the Financial and Economic History of the Oyuwan Revolutionary Base, Hubei People's Publishing House, 1989 edition, p. 416). In May 1930, the Xinyang Central County Committee rectified and strengthened secret communication stations such as the Fayuan Lane Hostel and the Southern Henan Datong Hospital in Xinyang City, while establishing multiple contact stations in Huangchuan, Xi County, and other locations. In April 1931, the CPC West Anhui Special Committee was established, creating a communication network between the North Anhui (Shou County) Central County Committee and the Oyuwan Soviet Area, while also helping the Fuyang County Committee establish 18 contact points centered on Zhangguan, Caozhai, and Shenqiu (History of the Oyuwan Revolutionary Base, Anhui People's Publishing House, 1998 edition, pp. 317–325). During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, the Party Central Committee and the Party organizations in the Oyuwan Soviet Area and surrounding regions gradually formed a secret communication network centered on cities like Wuhan, Xiaogan, Xinyang, and Hefei, using the Pinghan, Longhai, and Jinpu railways as well as the Yangtze and Huai rivers as primary lines. This made a significant historical contribution to the revolutionary struggle in the Oyuwan Soviet Area and its surrounding regions.
Historical Significance of Secret Communications in the Oyuwan Soviet Area
The secret communications of the Party undertook three main tasks: first, the delivery of various documents and intelligence; second, the transport of emergency supplies into the Soviet Area and the export of goods from it; and third, the escorting of cadres into and out of the Soviet Area or between Party organizations in the White Areas. Under the KMT's tight blockade and brutal "Encirclement and Suppression" [7] campaigns, completing these tasks required a high degree of technical skill and was a pivot upon which the entire situation turned. In this regard, the Party Central Committee once pointed out: "Reconnaissance and communication in the Red Army are by no means technical issues; today, they have become grave problems" (Selected Important Documents Since the Founding of the Party (1921–1949), Vol. 7, Central Party Literature Press, 2011 edition, p. 610). During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, secret communications played an essential role in the development and expansion of the Oyuwan Soviet Area.
First, secret communications were the key guarantee for the Party Central Committee to exercise political leadership over the Oyuwan Soviet Area. According to the memoirs of Zheng Weisan: "The Central Committee's policies and calls played a massive role; everyone used them as a basis. All the masses participating in the revolution believed in the Party Central Committee’s policies and calls, believing that things would go well if they acted accordingly" (Ni Zhongwen: "Recollections of Comrade Zheng Weisan on Several Major Issues in the History of the Oyuwan Soviet Area," Journal of Wuhan University, No. 3, 1983). The Oyuwan Soviet Area maintained close contact with the Central Committee primarily through secret communications, ensuring that Central instructions were transmitted to the Soviet Area in a timely manner, while reporting the local situation back to the Central Committee. The Party’s political leadership was manifested both in the dispatching of military and political cadres to the Soviet Area and in the transmission of the Party Central Committee's line, principles, and policies. Through secret lines, the Central Committee sent large numbers of political, military, and technical cadres, ensuring Party leadership over the work in the Soviet Area. Liu Huaqing recalled, "Our biggest problem was the lack of cadres; the Provincial Committee repeatedly wrote reports to the Central Committee asking for cadres, especially senior military ones" (The Memoirs of Liu Huaqing, People's Liberation Army Press, 2007 edition, pp. 36–39). Secret couriers of the Oyuwan Soviet Area escorted numerous cadres such as Xu Jishen, Xu Xiangqian, Shen Zemin, Zhang Qinchou, Cheng Fangwu, and Song Kanfu into and out of the area, enriching and strengthening the Party’s leadership over the struggle. Tao Bingzhe was long responsible for the secret communication lines between the Central Committee and Oyuwan; between 1930 and 1934, he traveled between Shanghai and the Soviet Area countless times, passing down Central instructions and delivering the Soviet Area's reports and requests upward (Summary of Party History Materials for West Anhui, Vol. 2, Party History Research Office of the CPC Lu'an Municipal Committee, 2012, pp. 94–98). Song Kanfu, Xu Yixin, Cai Wei, and Wang Zigang arrived in the Oyuwan Soviet Area under the protection of couriers; they collaborated to create the Soviet Area's radio communication system. Through secret communications, the flow of information and personnel was effectively guaranteed, allowing the Central Committee to grasp the struggle's status and timely designate the direction of the revolution.
Second, secret communications provided a guarantee for breaking the enemy's tight economic blockade of the Soviet Area. The KMT’s blockade was extremely brutal, claiming they must ensure "not a grain of rice or a ladle of water reaches the enemy, and not even an ant or a mosquito can pass information." They set up checkpoints at every level in the villages and towns surrounding Oyuwan. The scarcity of civilian and military supplies—such as salt, cloth, and ammunition—became a major obstacle to the survival and development of the Soviet Area, making the safe transport of supplies a matter of life and death. To break the blockade, Oyuwan Party organizations used businesses as fronts—opening general stores, cloth shops, teahouses, and restaurants as secret communication stations along and around the lines—to transport medicine, medical equipment, printing materials, communication devices, cloth, salt, firearms, and ammunition. These supplies were disguised and carried by couriers or transported through social connections. For example, in May 1929, when the Oyuwan base's Red Army Hospital was first established, medicine and equipment were purchased in Wuhan via secret communications, gradually equipping the hospital. In the autumn of 1931, Cheng Mingyuan, head of the Hefei communication station, led an armed communication team back from Pukou with a shipment of weapons and ammunition; they were intercepted by the enemy near Wangzicheng in Hefei County but escaped after a fierce battle to complete the mission. In the winter of 1930, the Party sent Yan Wendou to Hefei to establish a bookstore as a secret station, which purchased large quantities of stationery, medicine, and other essentials. After the bookstore was destroyed by the enemy, Yan opened the Meilin Store and Tongde Pharmacy, continuing the secret supply of medicine until forced to withdraw in 1934. The Liulin station in Xinyang utilized various social connections to purchase flashlights, batteries, pens, pocket watches, and Western medicine from Jigongshan and Hankou. For supplies provided by the Central Committee and surrounding Party organizations, couriers carried light items individually, while heavy goods were transported by armed personnel in plain clothes. In April 1931, during a "Encirclement and Suppression" campaign, supplies in the Soviet Area were extremely scarce. Courier Li Letian delivered a crucial piece of intelligence: KMT troops were about to garrison Zhengyangguan in Shou County to control large stocks of salt, medicine, grain, and other daily necessities. The Oyuwan Sub-bureau attached great importance to this information, employing long-distance raid tactics to seize Zhengyangguan before the enemy arrived, securing massive quantities of supplies. Nearly all daily necessities for the Red Army—clothing, hats, shoes, flashlights, umbrellas, and medicine—were supplied through secret communications. The selection and establishment of each station was meticulously designed using local social relations; since most couriers were locals familiar with customs, they used their professions as cover to struggle against the enemy, playing a massive role in logistical supply for the Red Army, Party organs, and hospitals.
Finally, secret communications were an important force in promoting social mobilization in the Oyuwan Soviet Area. The mass line is one of the "three magic weapons" [8] with which our Party defeated the enemy, and secret communication lines were active in mobilizing the masses to participate in the revolution. In the winter of 1929, when the Oyuwan base was newly established, the Hefei Party organization appointed Chen Lianji as deputy head of the central communication station. In the winter of 1932, while inspecting work in the Zhongpai River area, Chen actively cooperated with Yan Wendou and others to mobilize the masses to conduct "grain-seizing struggles," distributing grain to poor peasants. These struggles brought hope to the poor, who subsequently requested to join the Peasant Associations, causing the revolutionary force to grow daily (Biographies of CPC Party History Figures in Anhui, Vol. 6, Anhui People's Publishing House, 2003 edition, pp. 45–46). In the spring of 1932, the 25th Red Army, acting on information from Cao Guanghua (head of the Zhengyangguan contact station), held a mass rally at Huoshen Temple to expose the KMT’s crimes of betraying national interests and persisting in civil war, while promoting the CPC's proposals for resisting Japan and opposing Chiang Kai-shek. They subsequently organized teams to "strike the local tyrants and distribute grain," giving one million dan [9] of hoarded grain to starving people (History of the CPC in Lu'an, Anhui (1923–1949), CPC Party History Press, 2021 edition, p. 300). Various stations also actively recruited new soldiers and raised military supplies. In May 1930, Guo Tianmin, Secretary of the Yingshan County Committee, mobilized over 30 youths to join the Red Army through various contact stations and another 20 to join the Central Hubei Guerrillas (History of the Oyuwan Revolutionary Base, p. 323). Lü Wenyuan and Liu Jin, both long-term and experienced secret communication workers, were entrusted by the Party to go to Xuchang on New Year's Day 1933 to establish the Henan Provincial Working Committee. By the summer of 1933, Party and Youth League organizations in most parts of Henan had been restored and developed (Biographies of the Wuchang Peasant Movement Institute, Wuhan Publishing House, 1997 edition, pp. 326–327). Thus, the secret communication lines and the couriers were also highly efficient "seeding machines" [10]; they scattered the seeds of revolution throughout the Soviet Area and its periphery, becoming a vital force in the Party's social mobilization.
(Author: Chen Dongfang, Professor at the School of Marxism, Henan University of Engineering) Online Editor: Tongxin Source: Guangming Daily, June 4, 2025, Page 11