Time: March 7-8, 2023
At 9:30 on the 7th, the weather was clear, and I rode from Dali along the Hangzhou-Rui Expressway to Longling. In 2015, during riding Ruili from Tengchong, I felt that the Songshan Anti-War Site was near the county seat, so I went directly to Longling, a whole distance of more than 300 kilometers, and arrived at Longling County at 2 pm. On the way, I crossed two international rivers, the Lancang and Nu Rivers, and when crossing the Nu River, I saw many wild herons on the waterside of Jiangxin Island, a sight that is common on the banks of the Chishui River in my hometown, but I have only seen it in Yingtan and here in Jiangxi Province in other places.
East-west artery one hangrui expressway
On the banks of the Lancang River
A glimpse of the Nu River
Riverside wild heron
This time I went to Longling mainly to visit the ruins of the Longling Songshan battlefield during the Anti-Japanese War. At nearly 4 p.m., I first went to the Anti-Japanese War Memorial in the county seat, giving the impression that the war was cruel and bloody, and that little Japan was crazy and shameless.
Longling Anti-Japanese War Memorial Square
A Japanese carved castle left in the square
The 53rd Expeditionary Army went south to fight at Longling
The expeditionary force crossed the Nu River
Screenshot of Japanese fortifications
Shell case remains are piling up
Only one officer and man of the Japanese field artillery squadron survived the Battle of Matsuyama
The Japanese lieutenants stationed at Matsuyama were killed in Matsuyama
This is a South Korean woman who was rescued in Songshan, and one of the first to be pregnant is a South Korean woman, and now South Korea and Japan are still complicit in curbing and suppressing China. I wonder how the Korean people feel when they see this photo?
In early 1943, the Japan Broadcasting Association organized a condolence delegation to Matsuyama to comfort the Japanese invading army. The entourage included popular Japanese singers such as Kasugai Umeori and Ayako Okuyama and a large group of young female dancers. In order to rush to drive the actress, a Japanese soldier Cao Chang also overturned near Zhen'an Street and sent his life. Takahashi Fu, a military medical lieutenant of the Ramon Garrison, rushed to the rescue with the health soldiers, and because he touched the skin of these women from Japan, his heart was full of excitement and relief. But this was the last "eye blessing" before the fall of the Japanese army in Matsuyama.
Expeditionary Force flamethrower
Chinese soldiers served rice from rice dumplings, and the hardship of war life was evident
On March 8, I rode from the county seat of Longling to the site of the Battle of Songshan, 40 kilometers away. There is no admission fee here, and it is a national cultural relic protection unit. According to reports: In November 1941, the Pacific War broke out. However, on the 100th day, the Japanese army occupied Southeast Asian countries and Hong Kong, cutting off the Yunnan-Vietnam railway and Hong Kong's transportation channels. Later, it attacked Burma by separate routes in a vain attempt to cut off the Burma Road, the last channel of China's international rescue, and achieve its goal of completely conquering China.
In early February 1942, the Japanese army invaded Burma, and Burma was in critical condition. At the request of the British commander-in-chief, in early March, the 100,000-strong Chinese Expeditionary Force entered Burma to fight against Japan, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force fought fiercely with the Japanese army in Tonggu, Ren'anqiang, Lashio, Myitkyina, and other places, but due to improper coordination and command of the allied countries, they repeatedly missed fighters and lost the battle. Later, Japan captured Komon-hatamachi on May 3. Within days, much of the country west of the Nu River fell into the hands of the Japanese. On May 11, the Chinese Expeditionary Force was ordered to cross the river and launch a counteroffensive. During this period, he crossed the river, fought fiercely at Songshan, besieged Tengchong, fought three battles against Longling, and Diliang Mangshi for eight months, and drove the enemy outside the country on January 20 of the following year. Later, he joined forces in Mangyou, Myanmar, where the Chinese and American garrison troops counterattacked from Burma to the south, and the counteroffensive in northern Burma and western Yunnan was a battle of complete victory in the frontal battlefield since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. This not only opened up land communication between China and the allies, but also opened the prelude to the counteroffensive of the Allies against the Japanese in the Asian theater.
On May 11, 1944, the Chinese Expeditionary Force was ordered to cross the river and counterattack western Yunnan (Tengchong, Songshan, Longling). The Battle of Matsuyama began on June 4 and ended on September 7
, lasted more than three months, paid a terrible price of 7,773 casualties and annihilated 1,288 Japanese troops, successfully recaptured Songshan, and laid a solid foundation for opening up the Burma Road. On September 14, Tengchong was conquered. After that, the expeditionary army gathered at Longling. After fierce battles to capture the highlands on all sides of Longling and cut off the traffic from Mangshi to Longling, on October 29, the expeditionary force concentrated its forces and launched a general attack on the city. After fierce fighting, most of the Japanese defenders were finally annihilated on January 3 and the vital strategic fortress of Longling was recaptured. This battle was the largest fortress battle in the entire Yunnan counteroffensive.
In the battles of Songshan and Longling, a total of 11,900 Japanese troops were annihilated, accounting for 56% of the total number of enemies annihilated in the counteroffensive in western Yunnan; The expeditionary officers and men suffered 35,984 casualties, accounting for 53 percent of the total casualties. Longling Songshan is the first piece of land successfully recovered by China in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a symbol of victory and pride, full of the righteousness of the soul of a great country; Longling is the main battlefield of the Chinese War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Western Yunnan War of Resistance, carrying the memories of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the people, and demonstrating the spirit of national unity. The site of the Battle of Songshan has been as stormy as in the past for more than 70 years, and the heroism has been enhanced for a long time. The sculpture group of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was built in Songshan at the right place, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force sculpture group was composed of soldiers in summer and autumn and winter clothing, baby soldiers, artillery, kneeling shooters, chariots, female soldiers, allied troops, veterans, war horses, and 402 statues in 12 phalanxes of the garrison in India, molded in a ratio of 1:1.2. The group portrait has complete arms, complete structure, realistic demeanor, and magnificent momentum, which is very infectious and shocking! The statue was made and donated by Mr. Li Chunhua, a sculpture artist in Foshan, Guangdong, and the foundation part of the sculpture group covering a total area of about 17,400 square meters was invested and constructed by the People's Government of Longling County, which took more than a year and was completed on September 3, 2013.
Scenic encounters on the road
Memorial Garden of the Statue Group of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
The opposite mountain is the main peak of Songshan Mountain, Ichiko Highland, with an altitude of more than 2,000 meters
Monument to the Battle of Matsuyama
Gunma statue
Statue of a soldier
Soldier shooting stance
Statue of a female soldier
Expeditionary Force Group Eagle
Mighty expeditionary force
Local wood pickers and tourists
Flowers for warriors
Wartime bridges
Overlooking Tonghui Bridge
The U.S. Army's Chinese Expeditionary Force fought in concert
Artillery bunker of the expeditionary force when attacking the heights
Japanese trenches
Japanese tank armored vehicles on the road
Bunker No. 1 on the main peak of Songshan fell into the pit, and the expeditionary force operated in the tunnel, loading 18 tons of explosives to blow up the fort
Originally, the main peak of Matsuyama was composed of two pinnacles, and the Japanese army built a main fort under each peak, each main fort was equivalent to burying three floors in the mountain, and our expeditionary force could not attack for a long time, using tunnel operation to blast, and this huge pit in front of us was one of the two pits left after the blasting of the sub-heights. Of the 75 Japanese soldiers led by the recalcitrant enemy Captain Yoshio Guo, four were stunned and captured after the explosion, and the rest were all killed.
Picture of the scene when the sub-highland fortress was blasted
The second of the main peaks of Songshan was blasting and falling in the highland, and 12 tons of explosives were blasting to leave this pit
When the sub-heights could not be attacked for a long time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force used terminal operations to dig communication trenches, the depth of the trenches was 1.8 meters, the width was 1 meter, covered with 10 mm steel plates, every 2 traffic trenches were connected to a main fort, and trench operations were taken, and when the tunnel was dug 30 meters in front of the fortress, it was changed to a dark passage, and the secret passage was hit directly below the fortress to make a medicine room. This method seems very primitive, but it tore through the main positions of the Japanese army and changed the offensive and defensive systems of both the enemy and us.
This is the second pit left after the blasting of Sub-Highland and the summit of Matsuyama at 2019.8 meters above sea level. The memoirs of Wang Boxun, commander of the 82nd Division who commanded the sub-highland blasting, recorded: "The sub-highland blasting originally thought that the sound would be very loud, but in essence it was not as violent as the explosion of the 155-howitzer (155mm howitzer), but the sound was very dull and the impact was also very strong, and I deeply felt the power of the shock wave in the eagle squat mountain bunker 500 meters away, and my bunker squeaked." "
Pit No. 2 was originally rebared
The site of the Battle of Songshan is mainly concentrated in the area of the top of Songshan Mountain on the east and west sides of Dayakou Village, Ladong Town, Longling County, covering an area of about four square kilometers. On seven highlands of various sizes, such as Pine Mountain and Loess Slope, bunkers, trenches, and craters can be seen everywhere. Among them, the more important relics are: the main position of Songshan, the remains of the expeditionary army's tunnel operation and the blasting pit; Battlefield sites such as Rolling Dragon Slope and Eagle Squat Mountain. In 1944, when the Chinese Expeditionary Force attacked Songshan, facing a bunker where aircraft could not be bombarded and artillery could not be destroyed, deputy commander Li Mi wrote in his diary: "Attacking Songshan is the most arduous task of the rest of his life. The enemy is strong, strong its fortifications, fortresses, firepower. If you compete with the enemy for gains and losses in one mountain and one place, the enemy will also be counted. It is necessary to destroy its fortifications, clear its fortresses, and kill its stubborn enemies. "General Li Mi's method is to break each one. Starting from the periphery, destroy one bunker after another, gradually advancing towards the center of the bunker group on the mountain. Although the progress is slow, it is solid and effective. In order to cooperate with Li Mi's tactics, the US military brought in the latest weapon, the flamethrower, which burned trees (the main material of the bunker) and exploded ammunition.
Chen Guoguo, then deputy commander of the 307th Regiment of the 103rd Division, recalled, "During the attack, our regiment used eight groups of flamethrowers, which made great progress in the attack and played a decisive role in destroying the enemy fort. After the flames entered the enemy fort, they caused objects in the fortress to burn, ammunition exploded, and personnel suffocated and died. The temperature inside the fort was maintained, so reinforcements could not be used immediately.
The tour guide will explain to tourists
The site of the Battle of Songshan, a national cultural relic protection unit
Crowded with tourists
7. On the 8th, he visited the Longling Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall and admired the site of the Songshan Battle, and was deeply educated. The most deeply felt is the statue of the expeditionary army group, Mr. Li Chunhua, a sculptor from Foshan, Guangdong, who loves boundless and pays a lot of hard work and money to leave this magnificent and exquisite statue group. Warn and educate future generations, do not forget the national shame, the establishment of the country is not easy, the rejuvenation of China, the Chinese people need to redouble their efforts!