Comrade Mai That - a typical soldier in the revolutionary movement 1930-1931

Loc Ha district, Ha Tinh province is one of the lands rich in historical, cultural and revolutionary traditions. This place has given birth, nurtured, trained and tempered many brave and loyal sons, who have made great contributions to the cause of building and defending the country of our nation. One of those typical sons is comrade Mai That, born in 1890, in Dinh Lu village, Phu Luu commune, Can Loc district, now Tan Thuong village, Tan Loc commune, Loc Ha district, Ha Tinh province.

Comrade Mai That came from a Confucian family with a tradition of patriotism and studiousness. His mother was Nguyen Thi Kim and his father was Mai Pho (1864-1952) who participated in the Can Vuong movement and held the position of captain. When this movement failed, he changed his name to Mai Dinh Hoe or simply called Mai Hoe and went into hiding in his hometown. At Dinh Lu, he constantly connected with patriotic scholars who participated in revolutionary activities following the Dong Du movement (1905-1909) initiated by Phan Boi Chau.

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Notably, in the family, in addition to Mai Dinh Hoe, there were also 7 children including: Mai Thi Vinh, Mai That, Mai Cat, Mai Thi Tu, Mai Dinh, Mai Trac, Mai Thi Chin and daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and grandchildren who all directly participated in revolutionary activities. Up to 10 people were recognized as veteran revolutionary cadres in the period 1930 - 1931.

In early 1928, the Tan Viet cell led by comrade Hoang Khoai Lac was born in Dinh Lu. A number of patriots in the village enthusiastically participated in revolutionary activities, notably: Mai Dinh Hoe, Hoang Ky, Hoang Lien, Phan Gan, Mai Cat, Mai Dinh, Mai That, Nguyen Cu, Nguyen Cuong, Nguyen Than...

Under the leadership of Tan Viet organization, comrade Mai That was sent to villages and hamlets to propagate and mobilize people to fight and be ready to rise up against tyranny. Many struggles to demand the redistribution of public land and to oppose excessive surcharges on farmers took place continuously. Various disguised associations such as roofing associations, funeral associations, etc. were also established in Dinh Lu to help each other solve difficulties in life and use that as a basis to propagate the revolution.

On February 3, 1930, the Communist Party of Vietnam was officially established. Then, in April 1930, the Can Loc District Party Committee was established, marking a historic turning point for the patriotic movement of the people of the entire district. Under the direct leadership of comrade Tran Huu Thieu (from Anh Son, Nghe An) - Secretary of the Provisional Provincial Party Committee of Ha Tinh, the Dinh Lu Party Cell was established, with comrade Hoang Khoai Lac as Secretary.

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Implementing the Resolution of Can Loc District Party Committee, the work of developing party members in Dinh Lu Party Cell was carried out vigorously. Comrade Mai That was also honored to join the Party. During his revolutionary activities, Comrade Mai That was always active in the struggle movements.

Along with the development of the Party cell, mass organizations in Dinh Lu were also quickly established such as the Red Guards, the Suicide Squad, the Red Relief Association, the Red Peasants' Association, the Communist Youth Union, the Women's Association... Mai Dinh Hoe's house became a secret location for the agency to print leaflets and documents, hide revolutionary cadres, and a meeting place to plan demonstrations, rent reductions, and tax reductions. Comrade Mai That was assigned the task of guarding and protecting the Party agency.

Responding to the call of the Ha Tinh Party Committee to celebrate International Labor Day (May 1), the Dinh Lu Party Cell organized flag-raising, leaflet distribution, speeches, and propaganda of the Party's guidelines. Comrade Mai That took on the task of distributing leaflets and mobilizing the masses to fight. He upheld his sense of responsibility and devoted all his mind to worrying about how to bring the Party's voice to the people.

On the occasion of the Ky Phuc festival (June 15, 1930 lunar calendar), comrade Mai That and more than 200 people protested, marched to the village communal house and surrounded the village chiefs who were organizing the festival. Finally, before the strength of the masses, the village chief Nguyen Truc had to sign a paper to return 36 public fields to the people.

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Under the leadership of the Party cell, the revolutionary movement in Dinh Lu developed strongly. On the morning of August 1, 1930, comrade Mai That was assigned to lead a demonstration group with more than 300 farmers from Phu Luu and Lai Thach communes gathered at Truong Gio (Hong Loc) to listen to speeches, then marched to Can Loc district office to submit demands.

Hearing of the people's struggle, District Chief Tran Manh Dan quickly dispatched soldiers to suppress it. Faced with the people's fighting spirit, the District Chief had to sign the 10-point petition that the people put forward and promised to report to the provincial authorities and respond 10 days later.

The struggle movement of the people in Can Loc under the leadership of the Party became increasingly vibrant. Comrade Mai That, together with the people of Tan Loc, participated in many demonstrations and rallies such as: The demonstration on September 7, 1930 of more than 1,000 Can Loc farmers with armed self-defense weapons marched to the district capital to demand the district chief to resolve the demands of the masses that had accepted in the struggle on August 1; On September 17, 1930, the people of Noi Ngoai and Phu Luu communes held a rally at Truong Gio to demonstrate their power; On December 22, 1930, thousands of protesters in Can Loc marched to Nghen district capital to protest against the colonial government. The enemy brutally suppressed and opened fire on the unarmed protesters, causing hundreds of casualties.

At the end of 1930, almost all localities in Can Loc district were seething with fighting spirit, paralyzing and disintegrating the ruling apparatus of the colonialists and feudalists. The Soviet government in Dinh Lu village was established in the form of agricultural villages, this was the first Soviet village in Can Loc district and Ha Tinh province.

At the end of August 1931, the colonial and feudal government implemented the policy."It is better to catch the wrong person or kill the wrong person than to let someone go"They surrounded each village, searched each house in an attempt to separate the communists from each farmer household. In just a short time, almost all cadres and party members in Tan Loc commune were arrested. Some comrades such as Hoang Khoai Lac, Phan Gan... still secretly stayed close to the base, not leaving the masses. During those difficult days, comrade Mai That's family did not hesitate to sacrifice, quietly supplying food to cadres operating in Hong Linh mountain.

In early 1932, the revolutionary movement in Dinh Lu had calmed down, the Party began to operate secretly, comrade Mai That was assigned the task of doing communications, going to grasp the situation in neighboring communes such as Hong Loc, Thu Loc, Thien Loc, Phuc Loc and Quang Loc... During this time, the enemy often carried out strict terror, secret police searched everywhere to arrest the Party's core leaders and those participating in the struggle, but comrade Mai That always tried to complete well the work assigned and trusted by the organization.

In 1937, under the leadership of the Party, comrade Mai That participated in mobilizing the masses to go to the village temple to protest, demanding the removal of unreasonable surcharges, tax reductions, and toll exemptions. Faced with the strength of the people's solidarity, the village chiefs and local officials had to agree to commit to implementing the demands.

In September 1943, Mr. Mai Dinh Hoe and his two sons, comrades Mai That and Mai Dinh, were captured by the enemy for hiding and raising comrade Chu Hue, a wanted communist prisoner who had escaped from prison. The Southern Court sentenced Mr. Mai Dinh Hoe to 1 year in prison (suspended sentence), comrade Mai That to 6 months in prison (suspended sentence), and comrade Mai Dinh was imprisoned in Ha Tinh Prison.

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In 1944, the enemy increased its anti-revolutionary activities, the Party's financial situation was difficult, comrade Mai That mobilized all the money and assets in his family, 400 quan of money, to create a fund for the Party's activities.

On August 15, 1945, the Viet Minh inter-provincial Nghe Tinh ordered an uprising. On August 16, 1945, in the boiling atmosphere of revolutionary spirit, comrade Mai That and a group of young people in the National Salvation Youth organization mobilized the masses to carry spears and storm the district office, arrest the District Chief and occupy the Can Loc district office. On August 17, 1945, the Can Loc Uprising Committee mobilized the masses to demonstrate armedly at the district capital to declare the establishment of the district revolutionary government, and at the same time, issued an order for a general uprising in localities throughout the district.

Following the directive from the superiors, Phu Luu Headquarters held a meeting at comrade Nguyen Cu's house in Ha Dong hamlet, Dinh Lu village to discuss the plan to hang the Party flag, post posters, and distribute leaflets. Attending the meeting were comrades: Giap Toan, Bo Thich, Mai Cat, Nguyen Cu, Nguyen Xuan Dap...

Phu Luu headquarters assigned comrade Mai That to guard and protect the meeting, and go to each house to mobilize people to demonstrate. On the morning of August 18, 1945, following the drum signal of Dinh Lu communal house, comrade Mai That and people from villages in the headquarters gathered at the communal house to listen to speeches and successfully participated in the uprising to seize power in Dinh Lu.

On the morning of August 19, 1945, comrade Mai That and the demonstrators in Dinh Lu and Kim Chuy marched to Canh commune (including Loc Nguyen and Vinh Hoa) to help those two localities gain power. At Dinh Lu, the Provisional Revolutionary Committee was established with comrade Mai Cat as Chairman.

Later, comrade Mai That's house was still a place to hide Party cadres working in the village and he continued to participate in local struggles and social work movements, achieving many outstanding achievements.

In 1961, comrade Mai That was invited by the Party and State to attend the National Day ceremony on September 2 in Hanoi.

In 1967, the Party and State awarded the Certificate of Merit to the Nation and the Commemorative Medal to comrade Mai That's family for their great contributions to the local revolutionary movement, contributing to the victory of the August Revolution.

In 1976, comrade Mai That died due to old age and poor health.

Continuing the family's revolutionary tradition, today the generations of descendants of Mr. Mai Dinh Hoe and Comrade Mai That have been and are continuing to make many contributions to the homeland and country in many fields. Remembering Comrade Mai That is remembering the example of a patriotic son, a staunch communist who contributed to the glorious achievements of his homeland Loc Ha in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement.

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References:

- Flowers in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement (Revolutionary memoirs, volume III), Ha Tinh Party History Research Board, 1969.

- History of Tan Loc Commune Party Committee (1930-2010), Labor Publishing House - Hanoi, 2012.

- History of Ha Tinh Party Committee; volume 1; National Political Publishing House; 1993.

- Mai Dinh Hoe's prison records are kept at the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum.