The Guangzhou Uprising was a period of the Second Civil Revolutionary War, and after the Nanchang Uprising and the Autumn Harvest Uprising on the Xianggan border, the Party led the Chinese people to carry out an in-depth agrarian revolution and another heroic counterattack against the Kuomintang's rule of terror, which was a bold attempt to establish Soviet power in the cities.
Although this uprising failed, countless revolutionary martyrs emerged, and the revolutionary spirit of the rebel army fighting bravely and not being afraid of sacrifice gave new encouragement to the Chinese people; at the same time, many leaders of the uprising and the remaining armed forces continued to fight tenaciously for the cause of the Chinese revolution and became an important part of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and a revolutionary torch. A glorious and magnificent page has been written in the history of the revolutionary struggle of the Chinese people.
In order to commemorate these revolutionary martyrs who heroically sacrificed their lives in the Guangzhou Uprising, at No. 92 Zhongshan 2nd Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City, a Guangzhou Uprising Martyrs Cemetery was built, the main body of the cemetery has the main entrance, square, mausoleum avenue, Guangzhou Uprising Monument and circular sealing soil, the tomb road is lined with 20 large flower beds, flowers in all seasons, the tomb is densely paved with grass, surrounded by pine and cypress evergreen, solemn and solemn. At the northern end of the tomb road is the Guangzhou Uprising Monument, which has a unique shape and profound meaning.
The monument is most striking about a set of reliefs on the north side: 6 soldiers with a strong face, one with a spear in his hand, aiming at the enemy; one holding a large stone high with his arms; and a female soldier with a strong face and a heroic posture, clutching the last grenade, ready to pull and throw it at the enemy.
The female soldier on the relief is You Xi, a famous heroine of the Guangzhou Uprising, who led a group of female soldiers to fight with the enemy in the alley, because she was outnumbered and all died, she also spilled blood on the battlefield, only 19 years old.
You Xi, formerly known as You Chuanyu, was born in 1908 to a handicraft family in The Luzu Temple of Dayanggou (now Chongqing) on the banks of the Jialing River in Ba County, Sichuan Province. You Xi's father, You Zhenghua, was a traditional thinker who did not allow his daughter to study, believing that it was enough for a baby girl to grow up and marry a man. The stubborn You Xi repeatedly asked to go to school, and finally got the support of her mother and brother. In 1921, she entered the low-cost "Sun Mountain Girls' Vocational School" for part-time work. Later, she entered the Sichuan Provincial No. 2 Women's Normal School, actively participated in social activities, and joined the Communist Youth League, changing her name to You Xi.
When You Xi was 18 years old, she entered the Wuhan branch of the Central Military and Political School (i.e., the Whampoa Military Academy), which was the first batch of girls in the history of the Whampoa Military Academy and was listed as the 6th phase of the military school.
During her studies at the Whampoa Military Academy, she participated in arduous training with revolutionary enthusiasm, without any speciality. In the morning, as soon as the military trumpet sounds, get up, dress, freshen up, clean up in 10 minutes, and then practice. Start at 5:30 a.m. and go to bed at 9:30 p.m.
Military training courses include infantry drills, shooting training, and going to Snake Mountain to "fight in the wild" and conduct on-the-spot military exercises. You Xi was incorporated into the propaganda team of the First Regiment and marched to the Xianning and Jiayu areas to meet the enemy. She was the youngest in the military, but she was resourceful and courageous and decisive. Through the assiduous study and conscientious tempering of military schools, both political theory and military technology have been greatly improved, and the will to dedicate oneself has become firmer.
After the "April 12" coup d'état, she was incorporated into the Teaching Regiment of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army with the cadets of the Military Academy, joined the Western Expeditionary Army and joined the Party, and then followed the Teaching Regiment south to Guangzhou to participate in the Guangzhou Uprising, serving as a member of the teaching regiment branch and a female soldier squad leader. The female squad of the Red Army she led was incorporated into the reserve and took charge of guarding the regimental headquarters.
On the evening of December 10, 1927, the Guangzhou Uprising officially began, You Xi and his comrades tied the red tie of the symbol of the uprising, and the gunfire of the teaching group broke through the silent night sky and opened the prelude to the Guangzhou Uprising. Her teaching regiment was the main force of the Guangzhou Uprising, and with the cooperation of the Workers' Red Guards and the peasant army on the outskirts of the city, it fought bravely, quickly crushed the enemy in many strongholds, liberated most of the northern bank of the Pearl River before dawn, and the Guangzhou Workers' and Peasants' Government was proclaimed ——— the Guangzhou Commune.
Soon, however, the enemy began a frenzied counterattack, and the main targets were aimed at the Long Causeway guarded by the Teaching Regiment, Guanyin Mountain, and the location of the general headquarters of the uprising. The rebels fought fiercely with the enemy on both the northern and southern fronts. The enemy continued to reinforce, and the situation became more and more critical. You Xi's female soldier squad received the order and immediately rushed to the long causeway on the north bank of the Pearl River to join the team blocking the enemy.
On the afternoon of the same day, Zhang Tailei, the commander-in-chief of the rebel army, was shot and killed on the front line, and the leaders of the insurgent troops saw that the enemy was outnumbered and decided to retreat in order to preserve the revolutionary forces. From 10 o'clock that night, the main force of the rebel army withdrew from Guangzhou one after another, and the rebel soldiers and workers' Red Guards, who had no time to retreat, engaged in a fierce street battle with the enemy in the city. At that time, the female soldier squad, which had lost contact with the command, still held on to the Long Causeway, fighting with dozens of times the enemy. After the female soldier squad repelled the other side's repeated attacks, the number of wounded increased, the food and water were cut off, and there were few bullets left, and You Xi decided to send a soldier back to the headquarters to contact.
The soldier said, "Squad leader, go yourself!" We stand firm against the enemy! You Xi said solemnly, "When is this, I can't leave this post!" She paused and added in a stern tone, "Go ahead! Tell the leaders of the command that we would rather shed the last drop of blood to defend Soviet power. After the warriors left, the enemy began to attack again, and You Xi commanded the female soldiers to throw out the last few grenades, and then the first to rush out to fight with the enemy bayonet, once again forcing the enemy to retreat.
At this point, all their bullets were gone, and their bayonets were bent, and they were all wounded. You Xi glanced at the few remaining female soldiers, pointed to the red flag embroidered with axes and scythes fluttering on the position, and said heavily and firmly: "Comrades, when we run out of bullets, we will pick up the enemy's corpses, as long as one person is alive, we must hold up this big flag..." Before she could finish speaking, the enemy pounced frantically again, and You Xi led the whole class of soldiers to bravely meet the enemy, fight with the enemy's bayonet, and finally died heroically because of the outnumbered.
After the battle, in order to vent his anger, the enemy went so far as to frantically strip the martyrs of all their clothes, dismember them into pieces, and display them on the Tianzi Wharf to "show the public." Through the true reflection of the group of reliefs of the Guangzhou Uprising Martyrs Monument, her image will forever linger among the pines and cypresses, inspiring future generations to move forward courageously.