9.18 Songshan Battle Memorial Park - In memory of national heroes.

On May 11, 1944, the Chinese Expeditionary Force counterattacked in western Yunnan (Tengchong, Songshan, Longling). The first battle of the Songshan Campaign started on June 4 and ended on September 7, lasting 3 months and 3 days. With a heavy price of 7,773 casualties and 1,288 enemy casualties, Songshan was successfully recovered. Songshan became the first piece of land we recovered, and it also laid a solid foundation for the opening of the Yunnan-Burma Highway.
The Pacific War broke out in December 1941. In early March 1942, 100,000 Chinese Expeditionary Forces entered Burma to fight against Japan. They fought fiercely with the Japanese army in places such as Tonggu, Ren'anqiang, Lashu, and Mizhina, but due to the improper coordination and command of the Allied forces, they repeatedly missed opportunities and failed in the battle.
General Dai Anlan died heroically, and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers died in a foreign land and were buried in the Wildman Mountain. The Expeditionary Force was defeated and retreated, and they withdrew from Burma separately. On May 3, the national gate of Wanting fell.
In order to prevent the Japanese army from invading the east, our defenders were ordered to blow up the Huitong Bridge of the Nujiang River Bridge, and a large area of land west of the Nujiang River fell. Our army and the Japanese army confronted each other across the river until May 1944.
Songshan is in a dangerous position, overlooking the Yunnan-Burma kilometer from Lamei Village to Huitong Bridge. There is a 30-kilometer journey from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the Nujiang River Valley. The Japanese army built a solid fortress like a spider web, which posed a major threat to our army's recovery of Songshan.
After the battle started, our army was unable to attack for a long time and suffered heavy casualties. In the end, the tunnel operation method was adopted to dig the tunnel under the two main peaks of the Japanese army. The three meals of TNT explosives collapsed it, and finally all the defenders were wiped out. The battle was extremely fierce.
Next to the battlefield is the Expeditionary Army Cemetery, with 12 phalanxes and a total of 402 statues of the Expeditionary Army. 672 soldiers from the 103rd Division of the Eighth Army are buried here.
93 years have passed, the smoke has dissipated, but the green mountains and cypresses and the surging river water guard our heroes. History cannot be forgotten, national shame cannot be forgotten, and heroes will live forever. (Picture 4 Expeditionary Army Group Sculpture Baby Soldier, Picture 5 Our Army Attack Trench, Picture 7 The upper right corner is Huitong Bridge, Picture 9 Huitong Bridge before Yunnan-Burma Kilometer Tiger Mouth)

Post by ELAINE CHAMBERS | Sep 21, 2024