Lithuanians Ask Independence; Gorbachev Due Today : Soviet Union: The Kremlin chief will try to heal a rift with the Baltic republic’s rebellious Communist Party.

An estimated 10,000 defiant Lithuanians demonstrated Wednesday on the eve of President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s visit, calling for independence from the Soviet Union.

Kazys Saja, a Lithuanian writer, told a crowd in Vilnius’ Central Cathedral Square: “They say we want to secede from the Soviet Union. That’s wrong. We just want the Soviet Union to leave Lithuania. No oak tree can be expected to thrive when it is planted in an alien land.”

The protest was one of the most radical ever in Lithuania. Some demonstrators carried signs in English urging, “Gorbachev Go Home, Along With the Red Army.”

All this made it clear that Gorbachev will face a severe challenge when he comes to Lithuania today on a three-day mission of conciliation.

Gorbachev is expected to ask Communists in this Baltic republic to compromise on their unprecedented Dec. 20 decision to split with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The Central Committee of the Soviet party was not able to decide last month on a response to the Lithuanian move. And events here are being closely watched by other republics, including the other Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia, and the Ukraine and Moldavia, where activists are also seeking greater autonomy from Moscow.

Analysts say that Gorbachev, who has repeatedly ruled out using force in this rebellious republic, is not likely to persuade the Lithuanians with words alone and may be forced to make some concessions.

Lithuanians who met with Gorbachev last week in Moscow said he suggested a compromise transition period, six months or a year, before the Lithuanian Communist Party becomes independent.

But the Lithuanians have already changed the name of the party newspaper from Lithuanian Pravda to Lithuanians’ Morning and have announced that they will issue new party cards to all independent Lithuanian Communists.

The protesters appeared to be resolutely opposed to compromise.

“Free Lithuania!” they chanted, and they sang what had been their national anthem before they were absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1940 under a secret pact between Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.

Vitautas Landisbergis, head of the Sajudis Popular Movement, said Lithuanians regard Gorbachev “as the head of a neighboring state.”

“It is time,” Landisbergis said, “to start negotiations between Lithuania and the Soviet Union as between two countries.”

Landisbergis said growing sympathy for independence in Lithuania is in keeping with Gorbachev’s effort to reform Soviet society.

“It won’t lead to the destabilization of the Soviet Union,” he said. “It will lead simply to the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union.”

Meanwhile, the small faction of Lithuanian Communists who voted to remain loyal to Moscow are hoping that Gorbachev will officially recognize them as the true Communist Party of Lithuania.

They say they represent about 15% of the republic’s 200,000 registered Communists and are now known as the Party of the Night because their members held closed-door, late-night meetings in December, after the regular party meetings, and decided to keep their ties to the Soviet Communist Party. They are for the most part old-guard conservatives.

Juazas Kuolialis, one of four secretaries sharing leadership of this faction, told an interviewer: “My position is that the most important thing is unity, and I want to be part of the same party that Gorbachev belongs to. I hope that will count for something.”

But he added that he believes Gorbachev is coming too late.

“Perhaps,” he said, “if Gorbachev had come several months ago, he might have made a difference. Not now. Now the people think they want independence.”