Because of my working relationship, I had the honor to participate in the compilation of the history of revolutionary development in the old district of Dapeng in Shenzhen and the later census of revolutionary sites. In the process of fieldwork, I followed the footsteps of my ancestors, walked through the green mountains and rivers of Dapeng, and came to a small harbor with a narrow back to the mountains and the sea. This is Sand Fish Bay, where the Shenzhen Patriotic Education Base, the Dongjiang Column North Retreat Memorial Park, is located. On the commemorative plaque in the park, General Zeng Sheng's inscription "In order to uphold domestic peace, from now on board the ship and withdraw north to Shandong" 16 characters are particularly eye-catching.
The sea next to the park is blue, dizzying blue, I don't know how many secrets are hidden in the vast and deep blue; the sea breeze is calm, and the golden sunlight falls on the sea, shining, like a mother's hand caressing a well-behaved child, and also scattered on the soft beach, the warm pulse makes people feel infinite reverie; the occasional small wave, like a small fish, crosses the heel, "whoosh, whoosh", shallow chanting, as if telling the world about the vicissitudes of sand fish for hundreds of years.
Sand Fish Bay is a military fortress that connects the river and the sea, and has always been a battle between soldiers and families. Merchants gathered here and settled into villages since the Ming Dynasty, making it an important trade port; after British imperialism forcibly leased the New Territories, it was reduced to a smuggling port. In order to curb smuggling, the Qing government set up the Kowloon Guanshayu Bay Anti-Smuggling Factory here. By the 1930s, Shayu Bay reached its peak of development and became the largest treaty port, commodity distribution center and ancient trade route in Huizhou, Dongguan and Bao'an at that time. At that time, tea houses, barber shops, customs, banks, pawn shops, casinos, and tobacco shops were readily available here, and the goods were dazzling.
However, more than a hundred years ago, China was poor and weak, and a magnificent battle broke out here. At that time, the mountains and rivers were broken, the people's livelihood was withered, and people were like ants... If it were not for the several huge historical events of the New Democratic Period, Sand Fish Bay might have been slowly extinguished like fireworks in the long river of history.
It was getting late, and the reef and beach where I was standing were gradually gushing up – the tide was rising. The waves are getting closer and closer, and the waves are constantly coming up, and they are instantly smashed on the rocks, and droplets are splashed. The rumble of the waves crashing against the shore made people shudder, because the sound seemed to still roar and roar for the battle of sandfish bay, which had suffered heavy casualties.
In 1925, in order to sabotage the provincial and Hong Kong strikes, British imperialism instigated the remnants of Chen Jiongming to carry out harassment and sabotage activities in the Dapeng area. The remnants of Chen Jiongming, Deng Wenlie, commander-in-chief of the Marine Corps of the Second Division of the Guangdong Army, and Luo Kun, commander of the mok hung remnants, under the instructions of the British authorities in Hong Kong, attacked the workers' pickets stationed at The Queen Mother Market in ShaYu Chung and provoked the incident. After hearing the news, the ironclad convoy sent Zhou Shidi and Liao Qianwu to lead four squads with a total of more than 50 people from Shenzhen to Shayu Bay for rescue. On November 4 of that year, with the enemy ten times as many soldiers as me, the ironclad convoy and picket fighters fought bravely to kill the enemy, and after exhausting their ammunition, engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. The enemy suffered about 200 casualties; our ironclad convoy suffered more than 20 casualties, the pickets suffered more than 10 casualties, and Cai Linsheng, the tenth captain of the pickets, and Li Zhensen, the platoon leader of the ironclad convoy, were heroically sacrificed.
This battle was the first battle of the armed contingent (ironclad convoy) led by the Communist Party of China in Dapeng, dealt a heavy blow to the imperialist forces, greatly enhanced the prestige of the proletariat and its vanguard Communist Party, and made a major contribution to the victorious march of the Northern Expedition and to the development of the domestic revolutionary situation at that time. During the period of the Revolution, Shayu Bay became an outpost of the provincial and hong kong strikes that shocked China and foreign countries.
The waves are higher than the waves, like thousands of troops and horses galloping forward, and like hungry tigers and wolves roaring, telling the world about another scene that occurred after the fall of Hong Kong, the celebrity rescue.
In 1942, under the unified deployment of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and under the personal command of Zhou Enlai, the Dapeng Party organization and the people actively cooperated with the Dongjiang Column in establishing a secret communication line in the east, fought bravely with the Japanese army and Kuomintang agents, crossed the blockade, broke through the Daodao Iron Fence, rescued and escorted Mao Dun, Zou Taofen, and a large number of cultural celebrities and patriotic democrats from Shayu Chung, safely broke away from Hukou, and returned to the rear area. The victorious rescue, which lasted for 6 months, will forever be recorded in history because of the timely rescue and protection of a number of outstanding talents and cultural fires of the Chinese nation. The following year, the Dongjiang Column was established, and the Tuyang area where Shayu Bay was located became the headquarters of the Dongjiang Column and the command center of guerrilla warfare in South China, once again occupying an important place in the annals of history.
The waves roll in one by one, and each wave tells an unforgettable story, which allows us to break through the fog of history and travel through the glorious years of the Republic of China.
A few years later, after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, in order to achieve domestic peace, 2,583 members of the Dongjiang Column broke through the many obstacles of the Kuomintang, tearfully bid farewell to the people's army that was connected with the Communists and flesh and blood, and boarded three US landing ships from Shayu Chung to retreat north to Shandong. These historical events have an important impact on the Dongjiang region, South China and even the whole country. Therefore, as the forefront of foreign exchanges and the outpost of defense against foreign aggression, Sand Fish Bay has an irreplaceable historical position.
With the curtain of the new-democratic revolution slowly falling, New China was founded in a joyful and joyful manner, opening a brand-new page in Shenzhen's history with great vigor. Looking back at the past years, the hot land of Shenzhen does not know how many stories to sing and cry, and The Sand Fish Bay is like a bright pearl, and the history through the dust is still shining, becoming a topic that can never be avoided in the study of modern and modern history, attracting people to continue to trace the footprints of their ancestors.
The author 丨 Mo Zhimin is a member of the Shenzhen Writers Association and a special guest author of the "Times Bay Area" column
Courtesy of Mo Zhimin