Located at the foot of the 60,000 Mountains General Ridge Mountain, there is a natural village called Manger Village, which is the territory of Liushan Village in Langping Town, Bobai County, which is said to be because the Northern Song Dynasty General Di Qing set up camp in General Ridge and tied up Maza Village here, so it was named "Manger". There is a mud brick cannon tower in Manger Village, which is said to have been built in the 16th year of the Republic of China, and has a history of nearly 100 years, but it is still basically well preserved. The old man in the village said that when the fort was Li Zongren's 60,000 soldiers, it was stipulated that every remote village in the surrounding area must build one to prevent bandits from invading.
Recently, the reporter walked into this mud brick artillery tower and listened to the old man tell the story of the cannon tower, just like flipping through a "history book" of vicissitudes.
Nearly a hundred years of artillery towers, heroic still exists
The mud brick cannon tower sits at the foot of the hill behind manger village. From the outside, the turret looks quite unique, especially the surrounding lookout holes and shooting ports (locals call them "bulging drums"), the lookout holes are all made of green bricks, with only a small gap; and the shooting port only opens a small slit, from the outside can not see the inside, shooting is not able to enter, and the inside can easily shoot outside. "Since the turrets are mainly used to defend against bandit invasion, these firing ports are specially designed." Liu Kegui, a villager in his 70s, said.
The height of more than 4 meters makes this turret that has cracked the wall in many places look a little majestic and solemn. "There used to be a house next to this turret, but it was demolished in the 1960s." Liu Kegui told reporters that in order to enter the current turret, it was necessary to go through several doorways to enter, and these doorways were all located in the houses that had been demolished. ”
The foot of the wall of the turret was made of bluestone and fire bricks, and a thick layer of gray sand was brushed on it, and the reporter tried to step on it with his feet, and the ash sand did not fall off. Liu Kegui said that the ash sand is made of glutinous rice and field soil and is very strong. According to Liu Kegui, the structure of the turret is very strong, and so far, it has only been renovated once.
On the wall of the turret, the reporter can clearly see the gun holes and bullet holes that are deeply sunken in, and it is possible to imagine the scene of the fierce battle between the villagers and the bandits here. "The original turret was attacked by bandits several times, but the villagers eventually repelled the bandits with the impossibility of the turret, and it was this turret that protected the lives and property of the villagers." Liu Kegui said that after the Kuomintang defeated and retreated to Taiwan, there were remnants of the Kuomintang who occupied the fort for a period of time, and then they were captured by the People's Liberation Army.
On the other side of the turret, there is a rectangular window about 2 meters above the ground, on which grows a bunch of vigorous green vines, so that the turret is painted with the shadow of time, it seems that nearly a hundred years of time and shade have been precipitated and condensed here. Through this window, it is as if you can see a long history.
"This window is actually a doorway, and to enter this turret, you have to use a wooden ladder to climb in." Liu Kegui said that the function of the artillery tower was to put grain in the early stage, look high, and guard the safety of the villagers, so it was not easy to enter and exit the turret, and almost every entrance and exit had to use a wooden ladder to enter and exit.
The structure is exquisite and the layout is exquisite
There is now a doorway on the side of the turret, which is said to have been dug by villagers later to facilitate access. This doorway is located in the middle of the turret, and as soon as you enter the doorway, you see the partition wall in the middle of the turret, which divides the turret into two identical houses. The two houses are connected by an entrance more than 1 meter high, and this entrance is at the entrance of the entrance, so as soon as you walk in, you can see the houses on both sides at the same time.
As soon as you enter the door, you will see two "deep pits". "These two deep pits are actually the first floor of the turret." Liu Kegui said that because it is anti-bandit, this turret is designed to be complex, each room is not easy, from the original window in and out of the entry and exit, you have to use a wooden ladder to enter the first floor, and after entering the first floor, to enter the second floor also have to use a wooden ladder.
"The bottom (i.e., the first floor) of the turret is a granary, and there was originally a defensive function hall on the outside of each floor, with gun ports on three sides, and near the inside of the valley are multiple living rooms, where villagers can eat, discuss village affairs, and teach and educate people in dangerous times." Liu Kegui said that in addition to the first floor, each house is also divided into two floors with wooden planks. The reporter found that most of the plates had decayed, and only a few were still intact.
Liu Kegui introduced to reporters that the upper two floors are used to live in people, and people live on it, but also in order to facilitate the observation of the enemy situation from the observation point and the return fire from the firing port when encountering an attack by bandits.
However, due to the disrepair, coupled with the weather, termites, the structure of the turret itself is aging, from the inside of the turret can clearly see that there are several walls that have cracked long openings, and many trusses and tiles on the roof have also decayed, which is a dangerous house. According to Liu Kegui, around 1980, the turret was renovated once, replacing some rotten wooden planks and beams on the second and third floors, and replacing all the tiles of the roof once.
Villager: I hope to rebuild a turret as it is
"In the past, due to the lack of roads, the remote location of Manger Village, the many wild beasts in the mountains, and the rampant banditry during the Republic of China period, especially the bandit gang led by Liang Shouqing at that time often burned and looted the surrounding villages, in the face of the harsh living environment, the villagers of Manger Village did not retreat, but united and resisted, in order to ensure the tranquility of the party, built their own artillery towers." Ms. Chen, who is in her 30s, married from Guangdong to Manger Village, although she has been doing business outside with her husband for many years, every time she returns to her hometown, she will go to the turret to take a look and listen to the story of the old man telling the story of the turret, so she knows the history of the turret very well.
According to Ms. Chen, although Manger Village is located at the foot of the General Ridge Mountain, the fields are flat, the land is fertile, and the villagers are naturally reluctant to move out of this place, so they decided to respond to Li Zongren's call to build a gun tower to resist the bandit invasion. Now, due to the increasingly dilapidated artillery tower, many villagers suggested that it be demolished and then rebuilt according to the original appearance, but because the structure inside was quite ingenious, some villagers were worried that the newly built turret would "go out of shape" and did not agree to rebuild, so the villagers' opinions were not unified.
"My husband said that when he was a child, he saw that there were many bird nests at the top of the turret, and every spring the swallows would nest here and make their home, and the more bird nests there were, the more crops were harvested, and some naughty children also liked to climb to the third floor of the turret to learn the little swallows, and compete with who learned the most." Ms. Chen said that some villagers with more brothers have also lived here because their families do not have enough place to live, and it is said that the turret is very cool at night, there are no mosquitoes, and they do not need mosquito nets to sleep.
"The turret carries the villagers' memories of that era, it is the historical imprint of that era, and it carries nostalgia." Another 80-year-old man in the village said that the turret was built by the entire village of Manger. He had heard the old people in the village say that the mud bricks that had originally built this artillery tower were made from the fields one by one, and then moved back one by one, and it took several months to build the artillery tower. Although it is now dilapidated, many old people still have great feelings for it.
"This turret has become a living fossil that bears witness to the history of Manger Village." The old man said that for this village, it is a historical site of rich cultural value, a history book of vicissitudes, not long ago, there were several teachers of nearby primary schools who brought primary school students to visit the turret and tell students about the history of that year. "Now many villagers hope to rebuild an identical artillery tower as it is, so that it can continue its new life."
Source: Yulin Evening News
Reporters Wang Yaoqian wang yan
General Event Editor (Copyright belongs to the original author)
Legal Counsel: Lawyer Lan Qingqiu Guangxi Jindadi Law Firm