Tengchong: Martyrs will be forever remembered

In the arduous eight-year Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, 53 days were but a brief span of time. However, Yunnan people will never forget the 53 days and nights from the first general offensive on July 23, 1944 on Tengchong City occupied by the Japanese troops to the recovery of the city on September 14. These tragic and glorious moments marked an important page in the world’s anti-fascist history.

On July 7, the all-media interviewing group of Yunnan Daily Press Group came to Tengchong in west Yunnan. The reporters visited old battlefields, interviewed veterans and sensed the indomitable fighting spirit of Chinese people in the War Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

It was a rainy day and Tengchong was verdant and vigorous with the plentiful precipitation. However, in the rainy season 71 years ago, over 40,000 troops of the 20th Army Group of Chinese Expeditionary Force crossed the torrential Nujiang River and attacked the enemies stationed in the Gaoligong Mountain from the lower point, starting the West Yunnan counterattack.

Zhang Tiliu, born in Meishan of Sichuan in 1925, used to be leader of the 3rd Squad, the 1st Platoon, the 1st Company, the 1st battalion, the 6th Regiment, the 2nd Reserved Division, the 54th Army, the 20th Army Group of Chinese Expeditionary Force. His unit was part of the battle to regain Tengchong. After so many years, he can still remember how many of his comrades lost their lives under the insurmountable walls of Tengchong City.

In their two years’ occupation of Tengchong, the Japanese troops built more than 30 strongholds and interconnected trenches inside the city, turning the whole city into a huge fortress. Even with the heavy shelling of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the aerial bombardment of the allied forces, the city walls remained firm. After several days in a stalemate, the 14th Air Force of the United States flew at a low altitude and threw a bomb wrapped with steel bars into a wall at a 45-degree angle, which tore it open. On August 2, 1944, the Chinese Expeditionary Force broke into the city.

 “The street fighting was even fiercer. Within a radius of one square kilometre in the small city, the officers and soldiers of the Chinese Expeditionary Force eliminated enemies street by street and house by house” said Bo Shaohai, deputy curator of Western Yunnan Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall. In the street fighting, every metre of Tengchong was recovered at the cost of seven Chinese soldiers. By 10:00, September 14, 1944, after a few gunshots in Lijiaxiang Lane, Tengchong City was already in the hands of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. The 148th Wing of the Japanese force was almost annihilated; some remnants of the enemy fled into the mountains and were soon captured by the local people. After the battle, Tengchong was almost flattened, leaving only rubbles and dilapidated walls; not a single house could provide shelter from wind and rain; and even the trees had been shot through by bullets and scorched by fire.

Today, the commanding height of the Laifeng Hill that was once used by the Japanese troops as a stronghold are still criss-crossed with trenches; the stone walls of the then British Consulate outside the city are covered with bullet holes; and the shrapnel deeply embedded in the sturdy wooden pillars of the Confucius Temple is a silent evidence of the fierce battle 71 years ago.

Ge Shuya, a Yunnan-based expert on World War II history, described the significance of the recovery of Tengchong as follows: “Of the 500 counties across the country occupied by the Japanese force, Tengchong was the first recovered through a bloody battle, which greatly enhanced the anti-Japanese morale; following the recovery of Tengchong, the Chinese Expeditionary Force successively took Longling, Mangshi and Wanding from the Japanese troops, echoing with the northern Myanmar counterattack and facilitating the resumption of road transport between China and India.”

Tengchong: Martyrs will be forever remembered

In the arduous eight-year Chinese Peoples War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, 53 days were but a brief span of time. However, Yunnan people will never forget the 53 days and nights from the first general offensive on July 23, 1944 on Tengchong City occupied by the Japanese troops to the recovery of the city on September 14. These tragic and glorious moments marked an important page in the worlds anti-fascist history. On July 7, the all-media interviewing group of Yunnan Daily Press Group came to Tengchong in west Yunnan. The reporters visited old battlefields, interviewed veterans and sensed the indomitable fighting spirit of Chinese people in the War Resistance against Japanese Aggression. It was a rainy day and Tengchong was verdant and vigorous with the plentiful precipitation. However, in the rainy season 71 years ago, over 40,000 troops of the 20th Army Group of Chinese Expeditionary Force crossed the torrential Nujiang River and attacked the enemies stationed in the Gaoligong Mountain from the lower point, starting the West Yunnan counterattack. Zhang Tiliu, born in Meishan of Sichuan in 1925, used to be leader of the 3rd Squad, the 1st Platoon, the 1st Company, the 1st battalion, the 6th Regiment, the 2nd Reserved Division, the 54th Army, the 20th Army Group of Chinese Expeditionary Force. His unit was part of the battle to regain Tengchong. After so many years, he can still remember how many of his comrades lost their lives under the insurmountable walls of Tengchong City. In their two years occupation of Tengchong, the Japanese troops built more than 30 strongholds and interconnected trenches inside the city, turning the whole city into a huge fortress. Even with the heavy shelling of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the aerial bombardment of the allied forces, the city walls remained firm. After several days in a stalemate, the 14th Air Force of the United States flew at a low altitude and threw a bomb wrapped with steel bars into a wall at a 45-degree angle, which tore it open. On August 2, 1944, the Chinese Expeditionary Force broke into the city. The street fighting was even fiercer. Within a radius of one square kilometre in the small city, the officers and soldiers of the Chinese Expeditionary Force eliminated enemies street by street and house by house said Bo Shaohai, deputy curator of Western Yunnan Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall. In the street fighting, every metre of Tengchong was recovered at the cost of seven Chinese soldiers. By 10:00, September 14, 1944, after a few gunshots in Lijiaxiang Lane, Tengchong City was already in the hands of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. The 148th Wing of the Japanese force was almost annihilated; some remnants of the enemy fled into the mountains and were soon captured by the local people. After the battle, Tengchong was almost flattened, leaving only rubbles and dilapidated walls; not a single house could provide shelter from wind and rain; and even the trees had been shot through by bullets and scorched by fire. Today, the commanding height of the Laifeng Hill that was once used by the Japanese troops as a stronghold are still criss-crossed with trenches; the stone walls of the then British Consulate outside the city are covered with bullet holes; and the shrapnel deeply embedded in the sturdy wooden pillars of the Confucius Temple is a silent evidence of the fierce battle 71 years ago. Ge Shuya, a Yunnan-based expert on World War II history, described the significance of the recovery of Tengchong as follows: Of the 500 counties across the country occupied by the Japanese force, Tengchong was the first recovered through a bloody battle, which greatly enhanced the anti-Japanese morale; following the recovery of Tengchong, the Chinese Expeditionary Force successively took Longling, Mangshi and Wanding from the Japanese troops, echoing with the northern Myanmar counterattack and facilitating the resumption of road transport between China and India.