Li Bai: Illuminate the darkness before dawn with the light of life

"The Electric Wave That Never Dies" is a classic movie that people are familiar. Anyone who has seen this movie can't help but be moved by the heroic deeds of the protagonist Li Xia. Under extremely dangerous and difficult conditions, Li Xia's wit, bravery and perseverance left an indelible impression on future generations.

Through the fog of history, Li Xia in the movie does have a prototype character-he is Li Bai, an underground member of the Communist Party of China and has been engaged in communication work on the secret front for a long time. In the early days, Li Bai participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising and the Long March of the Red Army. Later, because he was proficient in radio communications, he was sent by the party organization to Shanghai, Zhejiang and other places to engage in underground work. On May 7, 1949, he was killed by Kuomintang agents and died bravely. He was only 39 years old. With the light of life, he practiced his loyalty to the party and the revolutionary cause, illuminating the darkness before dawn.

"Radio is more important than life"

Li Bai, a native of Liuyang, Hunan. Formerly known as Li Huachu, later renamed Li Pu, once alias Li Xia, Li Jingan. In 1925, he joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 15. In 1927 to participate in the autumn harvest uprising. In 1930, he joined the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and became a soldier of the Fourth Red Army. In June 1931, he participated in the second telecommunication class of the Red Army Communication School in Ruijin to learn radio communication technology. After graduation, he was transferred to the political commissar of the radio team of the 13th army of the Red Army, and has since forged an indissoluble bond with the party's radio cause. During his tenure as political commissar, he strictly required the cadres and soldiers of the radio team with the discipline of the Red Army, making this Red Army team adapted from the Kuomintang insurgent army a technical force that has repeatedly made remarkable achievements. In the fourth anti-"encirclement and suppression" battle, when the Red Fifth Army was besieged by heavy enemy troops on the maple hillside, he risked his life to lead the troops to protect the radio station, and used the radio station to report the enemy's situation to the Red Army headquarters in time. The reinforcements of the Red First and Third Army quickly arrived, the situation on the front line was reversed, and the enemy was defeated and fled everywhere. He received a commendation from headquarters for this.

After the Red Army's Long March began, Li Bai served as political commissar of the radio detachment of the Red Fifth Army. At that time, the radio station was known as "clairvoyance" and "downwind ears", and it was the main communication tool for the Red Fifth Army to communicate with the Red Army headquarters. Without the radio, the troops would lose contact. In this case, Li Bai emphasized the importance of protecting radio stations, put forward the slogan "Radio is more important than life", and took this sentence as the motto of his life. In order to ensure smooth radio communication, he always took care of the troops and radio stations before and after each march. He sometimes organized radio squads of soldiers to carry the transmitter over the cliff, and sometimes carried the generator with the soldiers.

In order to protect the radio, Li Bai always risked his life and rushed to the front line. On one occasion, when the troops were marching to a mountain village in Guangxi to rest, they happened to encounter the enemy's machine gun attack on a nearby mountain. Fearing that the radio would be damaged, he first asked Captain Zhou Wei to lead the troops and the radio out of the village. However, he ran to the foot of the mountain and led some Red Army soldiers to shoot at the enemy. He was not evacuated until the station was safely transferred to the designated location. Hearing that the radio station was safe, he rolled up his sleeves and went to repair the generator again. He was not idle for a moment.

Although every effort was made to protect the station, due to lack of gasoline and parts, the station still had problems and could not work properly when crossing the grass. Li Bai and the cadres and soldiers of the radio team tried every possible means. Hearing that alcohol can replace gasoline to generate electricity, he looked around and finally found a substitute for gasoline-wine, which enabled the generator to start generating electricity. When the dry battery was dead, he experimented with several soldiers, nailing a few eyes on the dry battery and soaking it in salt water, which could keep the dry battery for about an hour. On one occasion, a vacuum tube on the transmitter failed, and there was an urgent telegram to be sent, and several telegraphers were in a hurry. Li Bai repeated experiments, pulled out a vacuum tube on the receiver and plugged it into the transmitter before sending the emergency telegram in time.

While ensuring the safety of the radio station, Li Bai was also very concerned about the safety of his comrades. At that time, there were more than 100 radio units of the Fifth Red Army, of which 70 or 80 were carrying various machines and materials, including transmitters, generators, internal combustion engines, batteries, and gasoline. In addition to the long march, the troops also used the break to set up lines, organize machines, and send and receive telegrams. Sometimes the telegram is not finished, and the troops have to move again, so they cannot rest for a while. Li Bai, like the soldiers, insisted on marching on foot. The superior gave him a horse, which he never rode, mainly used to carry machines or ride sick. In order to reduce the burden on the soldiers, he often carried the machine to replace the tired soldiers. When sending and receiving telegraph, like the telegraph operator, he took turns on duty.

In June 1935, the Red First and Fourth Front Army joined forces in Maogong, Sichuan. Shortly after the rendezvous, the Red Army divided into two armies, left and right. The Red Fifth Army was charged with the task of advancing the Left Route Army. Li Bai and his radio team also acted with the Left Route Army. Once, the Red Army marched to Lushan, Sichuan, he was tired and sick, days of high fever, fatigue, the soldiers want to send him to treatment, he firmly disagreed, said: "I can not leave the radio, can not leave you. Especially now, I can not do without a step! Revolution all these years, I can eat any bitter, this disease and what?"

Despite the constant dangers and twists and turns, because Li Bai paid great attention to protecting the radio station, regarded the radio station as more important than life, and he was able to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers and tide over the difficulties together, the radio team he led was able to complete the task excellently every time and played an irreplaceable role in the long March. His achievements were also recognized by the Party Central Committee. After the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, he served as the director of the Fourth Red Army radio station.

Fighting in the early hours of the morning

After the outbreak of the whole nation's war of resistance against Japan, the situation between ourselves and the enemy was complicated. In order to understand the enemy situation in detail, the Party Central Committee decided to send Li Bai to Shanghai to engage in the party's secret communication work. In October 1937, Li Bai arrived in Shanghai and began long-term latent work. In the meantime, in order to cover identity, he alias Li Xia. At that time, we were in the downtown area of the concession, and the radio was sending and receiving, with the sound of lights and electric keys, and the electric wave induction even caused the lights of nearby residents to flicker. In order to reduce the impact on the surrounding areas and avoid being discovered by the enemy, the party organization sent Tu Zuochao, an underground party member who is proficient in radio communication, to transform the radio station and reduce the power of the transmitter from the original 75 watts to 30 watts. Under such circumstances, it is not easy to transmit information from Shanghai to distant Yan'an. In order to solve this difficulty, after repeated experiments, they found that only at midnight, in the dead of night, the best effect of sending and receiving telegrams. This can not only avoid the noise outside the room, but also not easy to be found. In view of this, in order to safely send the information to Yan 'an, Li Bai usually chooses to send the report between 0: 00 a.m. and 4: 00 a.m. Before sending the report, he would replace the 25-watt bulb with a 5-watt bulb and wrap it in a black cloth to block the light. Then, a small piece of paper is attached to the key contact point to reduce the key sound. The Yan'an radio station also followed this rule and waited at midnight. 0.1, Li Bai sent a signal to Yan'an. After receiving the signal, the Yan'an radio station will also send a call sign to respond. In this way, an "air bridge" has been built between Shanghai and Yan'an ".

In order to ensure the smooth flow of the "air bridge", the Central Radio Station of the Yan'an Party also specially assigned personnel to liaise with Shanghai Radio. Yuan yihui, then director of the 2-point team of the central radio station, was mainly responsible for contacting Li Bai. He said, "At that time, I hoped every day that zero would come soon. Because 0.1 is the time for me to communicate with Comrade Li Bai in Shanghai. When I put on my headphones and listen, yeah! A faint signal came from a distant place on time. After the other party called, they asked me if the radio station had reported anything and how the situation was, asking for an answer. I concentrated on receiving the faint signal, my eyes fixed on the newspaper copy, and quickly recorded it. As soon as we put into work, we are very nervous. It is often not clear how long the time has passed and what is happening outside. When I finished receiving the telegram, it had been reported for several hours." Due to the large number of telegrams, sometimes the sending and receiving of telegrams is extended until dawn. Considering that Li Bai secretly sends and receives newspapers in Shanghai, the doors and windows are closed, and day and night cannot be separated. Therefore, at the end of the newspaper, Yuan Yi Hui often said: "Comrade Li Bai, the sky is bright, goodbye!" Then, Li Bai also replied: "Goodbye!" through such intense work, they ensured the unimpeded flow of the "air bridge" between shanghai and yan'an.

In 1939, in order to avoid arousing the enemy's suspicion, the Shanghai Party organization asked Li Bai and Qiu Huiying, a member of the Communist Party of China and a young woman worker in a silk factory, to pretend to be husband and wife and jointly undertake the task of protecting radio stations and broadcasting. Li Bai and Qiu Huiying cooperated very well. From 0: 00 a.m. to 4: 00 a.m. every day, when Li Bai attentively sends a report to Yan'an, Qiu Huiying always pays close attention to the surrounding situation. As soon as there is an abnormal situation, the transmission of the report will be interrupted immediately. Sometimes, under the guise of walking together, they send some information to the nearby traffic station. In the common battle and life, the two adored each other and had a pure love. In 1940, with the consent of the party organization, they became a real husband and wife. Under their common guardianship, the Party's radio station in Shanghai sent a steady stream of information to Yan'an.

During this period, in order to cover its identity, the party organization set up a fusheng radio company at 338 weihaiwei road, Shanghai, with tu zuochao as the "boss" and Li Bai as the "Mr. account room". They are open for business during the day and are responsible for repairing the radio. In the evening, Li Bai took time to learn from Tu Zuochao about the assembly and repair of the radio station. In the early hours of the morning, we continued to insist on using radio to inform Yan'an. Qiu Huiying was watching the wind. After continuous exploration and learning, Li Bai's radio technology has improved by leaps and bounds. He was not only able to send and receive telegrams skillfully when the radio waves were weak, but also skillfully assembled and repaired radio stations.

Fight wits and courage with the enemy

In January 1941, the Southern Anhui Incident, which shocked China and foreign countries, occurred. In order to inform the general public of the truth of the southern Anhui incident in a timely manner, Yan 'an Central Radio Station kept calling radio stations around the country to tell them that the Central Committee had important telegrams and asked them to copy them. The enemy has mastered the rule that the notification time of Yan'an and Shanghai is between 0: 00 a.m. and 4: 00 a.m., and centralized interference measures are taken during this period, so Shanghai radio station cannot receive Yan'an's call for a while, and the situation is very urgent. Under such circumstances, the Central Radio Station of the Yan'an Party decided to temporarily close the station at the zero hour and take radio silence measures to avoid enemy interference. Wait until the enemy is exhausted and impatient, then suddenly turn on the radio to send a message. Yuan Yihui, who was in charge of sending the newspaper, recalled: "At that time, when the needle pointed to two o'clock, I called Shanghai Radio Station. Without waiting for his answer, I sent the truth of the Southern Anhui Incident and the instructions of the Party Central Committee twice in a row. At five o'clock in the morning, I sent it twice in a row. After sending it, I concentrated on waiting for the answer." For this special way of dealing with Yan'an, Li Bai found that the situation was abnormal, but he did not know what had happened. So he calmed down and stared at the radio with rapt attention, waiting for news from Yan'an at any time. After receiving the news from Yan'an about the Southern Anhui Incident and the instructions from the Party Central Committee, in order to ensure the safety of the radio station, he answered with weaker radio waves than usual. Due to his ability to adapt to changes, Li Bai promptly passed the truth of the Southern Anhui Incident and the instructions of the Party Central Committee to the Shanghai Party Organization. This played an important role in exposing the conspiracy of the Kuomintang die-hards and forced the Kuomintang to temporarily stop its anti-communist appearance.

In 1942, in order to strengthen the control of Shanghai, the Japanese and puppet forces stepped up their efforts to destroy the underground party organizations of the Communist Party of China, and the situation became increasingly serious. In order to protect the safety of the radio station, Li Bai reduced the power of the radio station. Even so, his station position was still measured by the Japanese radio radar direction finder. In order to get rid of the enemy tracking, Li Bai in addition to constantly changing residence, but also with the enemy wits and courage, constantly around.

One day at about two o'clock in the morning, the enemy suddenly went to the neighbor's house to "check the household registration". Qiu Huiying, who was keeping watch nearby, urgently notified Li Bai, who was sending the news. Li Bai immediately packed up the transmitter and walked out the door. When the enemy went to Li Bai's house to "check his account", Li Bai had already left home. The enemy searched Li Bai's house and found nothing. Not reconciled to the enemy, he arranged for spies to monitor nearby. After daybreak, Li Bai returned home with a suitcase. Nearby spies thought Li Bai mentioned the radio and immediately rushed up to check. This makes Qiu Huiying also very worried. When I opened it, there were two radios inside. The spy looked for it and found nothing suspicious before finally leaving.

Similar dangers had occurred several times and were tactfully resolved by Li Bai. However, as the enemy intensified their tracking and capture, Li Bai eventually failed to escape the danger.

In 1942, on the night before the Mid-Autumn Festival, when Li Bai was nervously sending a report in the attic, a group of heavily armed Japanese gendarmes and spies rushed to his residence. Qiu Huiying quickly ran to the attic and told Li Bai, "The enemy is coming, put away the radio station." Seeing that the situation was critical, Li Bai quickly finished the telegram and sent "goodbye" to Yan'an Radio Station many times to say goodbye. Yuan Yihui recalled this unusual "farewell" decades later, and it is still vivid in his eyes. He said: "Shortly after the zero, I was concentrating on copying the telegram sent by Shanghai Radio, when Comrade Li Bai suddenly stopped sending the telegram and took a picture of 'PSEQRX' (English contraction, meaning: I have a situation here, please wait)... After more than ten minutes, Comrade Li Bai continued to send the message to me. After sending the message, he continued to 'PSEGB' (goodbye) and took seven or eight pictures, the last one was especially long. When Comrade Li Bai stopped serving, I was very nervous. At the moment, his sound of 'goodbye' was like a hammer hitting my taut heartstrings harder and harder."

The situation was indeed critical. After Li Bai finished sending the telegram, he quickly took apart the transmitter and hid it in a space under a movable floor. Then, unplug the two coils in the radio used for receiving the report and put them back in place. As soon as they were packed, the enemy rushed into the room and searched everywhere. When they saw the radio, they picked it up and checked it carefully many times. They found nothing unusual and put it back. This radio is a special radio specially modified by Li Bai. In a critical moment, unplugging two of the coils is no different from an ordinary radio. Unfortunately, during the search, a Japanese soldier happened to step on the movable floor. Only heard a "click", the floor was broken and the transmitter parts were exposed. Seeing these transmitter parts, the enemy immediately tied up Li Bai and Qiu Huiying, put them in a car, and took them to the Japanese gendarmerie, where they were held in two cells.

In the cell, the enemy used up all kinds of torture to Li Bai and Qiu Huiying, but they remained steadfast and unyielding. Li Bai insisted that he used the radio station to help his friends understand the business situation. The radio station found under the floor was a "private commercial radio station". Since the enemy had no conclusive evidence to prove that the radio station had other uses, Qiu Huiying was released a month later and Li Bai was transferred to the headquarters of Wang Puppet Agent No. 76. In the 76 magic cave, Li Bai still insisted that the radio station used was a private commercial radio station, so the case became a "headless case". Later with the help of the party organization, Li Bai was released on bail. After the torture of prison, he was very weak and pale, but his will to fight was not weakened. He said to his wife, "The enemy broke my muscles and bones, but did not destroy my will. I feel more responsible for my work when I think of the cruelty the enemy has done to me and to thousands of Chinese people."

In the autumn of 1944, with the gradual recovery of his body, Li Bai entered the Kuomintang Institute of International Studies under the pseudonym Li Jingan according to the arrangement of the party organization, and took public activities in Chun'an, Changkou, Zhejiang and Qianshan in Jiangxi. In the meantime, he used the Kuomintang's radio station to send a large amount of intelligence to Yan'an, which provided an important reference for our party to formulate policies during the strategic counter-offensive stage.

Sacrifice in the coming moment of dawn

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, in accordance with the requirements of the party organization, Li Bai and Qiu Huiying secretly returned to Shanghai and continued to engage in latent work. In order to cover his identity, he went to the Fuxing Island Fisheries Management Office of the Kuomintang Rehabilitation Administration to repair the electrical equipment of fishing boats during the day, and contacted the Party Central Committee late at night. In order to prevent the enemy from detecting the location of the radio station, he groped several times and even reduced the power of the radio station to 7 watts for sending and receiving reports. At the same time, he kept changing residences. In the first half of 1947, Li Bai and his wife moved to the third floor, No. 15, Lane 107, Huangdu Road, Hongkou District. The small attic in the middle is Li Bai's workshop.

During the Three Great Battles, especially during the Huaihai Campaign, Li Bai's work was more intense and busy than before. He once sent a letter of information marked "100 thousand urgent" and "ten thousand urgent" to the radio station of the Ministry of social affairs of the CPC Central Committee in Xibaipo, which provided effective help for the Party Central Committee and front-line commanders to formulate operational plans. Among them, including the deployment of the Kuomintang navy and army, the deployment of the south bank of the Yangtze River and other top-secret documents. In the early morning of December 30, 1948, when Li Bai was sending a report, the second brigade of the inspection department of the Kuomintang Songhu police headquarters suddenly surrounded Li Bai's residence and began to search from house to house. Seeing that the enemy was menacing, Qiu Huiying urged Li Bai to tidy up the radio station as soon as possible. Li Bai quickly finished the telegram and sent three "V" emergency signals. At that time, Su Caiqing was working in the radio station of the Ministry of Social Affairs of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and was responsible for liaising with the radio station in Shanghai. For the last briefing with Li Bai, she will never forget. She said: "It was a night in the deep winter of 1948, and soon after I contacted the other party, I encountered an abnormal situation. First, when the other party sent the report to me, there were intermittent situations (it is estimated that the enemy agents searched for the radio station by means of partition power failure), and then the telegram was sent faster than usual. Then, the other side sent three 'V' Morse codes in a row: tick tick, tick, tick. By secret agreement, this was his signal to me: he was in danger! There was no news further down, and even the usual idiom" GB' (English acronym meaning "goodbye") did not have time to shoot each other." Due to confidentiality reasons, Su Caiqing did not know that Li Bai was the one who contacted her at that time, nor did he know what critical situation had occurred to the other party. In fact, Li Bai was arrested after the newspaper was sent out.

After his arrest, Li Bai was tortured by his enemies. He was fearless and calm. He was well aware that the revolution was about to be victorious and that the enemy was bound to lose. On April 22, 1949, he wrote his last letter to his wife, Qiu Huiying. In the letter, he said: "Huiying, on the afternoon of the 22nd of this month (Friday), I was sent by the police department to the detention center of Penglai Road Police Station in Nanshi to send (detention). The air in the room here is better than that in the detention center of the police department, but it is far from home and the interview is more difficult than before. If you come to see me, come with your aunt and take care of the children while you ride. It is said that things can be delivered here from 9: 00 a.m. to 10: 00 a.m. and from 3: 00 p.m. to 4: 00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, because when the road is far away, please buy some salty white (divination) or keep things that are not easy to break down for a long time. Bring me some cash for convenience. Please bring some fried rice noodles, besides a piece of soap, hot water and (bottle) one. I know everything here. Take care and rest assured. The family is in distress. I hope you can take care of yourself and raise your children well. Good luck! Jing 'an word, on the night of April 22 (the detention center came in from the gate of Penglai police station)." From this letter, we can see Li Bai's inner calmness and perseverance, as well as his concern and concern for his wife and children.

On May 7, Qiu Huiying came to visit Li Bai with her children. It was their last meeting. Li Bai said to his wife: "It's almost dawn, and now, you don't need to pay too much attention to personal safety." "Of course, it is best for me to come back in the future. In case you cannot come back, you, like the people of the whole country, can live a free and happy life!" Finally, he reluctantly said to his children: "good boy, dad will come to hug you later." That night, the Kuomintang secret service brutally killed Li Bai and others in accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's order of "not telling the truth and imposing capital punishment. At this time, it is only 20 days before the liberation of Shanghai on May 27.

Li Bai longed for light and liberation, but when victory was coming, he sacrificed gloriously. He played the movement of the founding of New China with the sound of "tick, tick", illuminating the darkness before dawn with the light of his life. In order to commemorate Li Bai's contribution to the victory of the Chinese revolution, director Wang Ping created the film "The Electric Wave That Never Dies" based on Li Bai's deeds. In September 2009, Li Bai was named one of the "100 Heroes and Models who have made outstanding contributions to the founding of New China.

Source: Learning Times