Tiger Head Fortress

Tiger Head Fortress

Tiger Head Fortress is a patriotic education base.

Located in the hills of the remaining ranges of the Wandashan Mountains around Hutou Town (now Houtou), Hulin County, Heilongjiang Province, the fortress stretches from Huoshi Mountain in the west to the Ussuri River in the east, facing Russia's Iman across the river, and from Bianlianzi Mountain in the south to Hubeishan Mountain in the north. The central area spans 12 kilometers in width and 6 kilometers in depth. Within this tens-of-kilometers radius, there are over ten large and small fortresses, comprising five positions: Menghu Mountain, Hubei Mountain, Hudong Mountain, Hexi Mountain, and Huxiao Mountain. Among them, Menghu Mountain is the main position, with Hudong Mountain and Hubei Mountain serving as its two wing forward positions, forming a pincer-like defensive line along the northern and southern flanks. Hexi Mountain and Huxiao Mountain are positioned to the west of the main Menghu Mountain position, serving as the second-line rear positions.

The main Menghu Mountain position consists of three hills: Zhongmenghu Mountain, Dongmenghu Mountain, and Ximenghu Mountain. It is surrounded by swampy areas, creating a naturally impassable barrier. Zhongmenghu Mountain was the site of the Japanese Army’s Houtou Border Defense Command Headquarters, standing at an elevation of 111.8 meters. It is 350 meters and 300 meters in straight-line distance from the high points of Dongmenghu Mountain and Ximenghu Mountain respectively, and about 2000 meters from the Ussuri River. The underground facilities are centered on Zhongmenghu Mountain and are connected via tunnels to the underground fortresses on Dongmenghu and Ximenghu Mountains. These underground facilities include a command post, communication room, soldier rest areas, kitchen, bathhouse, grain storage, ammunition depot, power station, and more. There are also vertical shafts leading to the mountaintop observation post, ventilation openings, exhaust vents, and counterattack exits.

The Japanese Kwantung Army built Tiger Head Fortress as a strategic base for attacking the Soviet Union. Due to its extremely important military-strategic location, it lies just short of the midpoint between Birobidzhan and Vladivostok, controlling the vital throat of the Soviet Far East Ussuri Railway, while also providing a shortcut for Far Eastern Soviet forces entering the hinterlands of Northeast China.

To enhance the firepower of heavy artillery, a supergun position was constructed at the northwest foothills of Ximenghu Mountain. A 40-centimeter-caliber coastal defense gun, originally from the Tokyo Bay Fortress, was transported to Tiger Head Fortress. This gun had a barrel diameter of 1 meter, was over 20 meters long, with a maximum range of 20 kilometers. Its shells were 4 meters long, with a 40-centimeter-diameter, 1.2-meter-long warhead, and a maximum charge of 1000 kilograms. It had 200 rounds in reserve. The supergun position featured a semi-underground reinforced concrete turret, with its muzzle directly aimed at the Soviet Iman Railway Bridge and Lazov Water Tower to the southeast. The mission of this supergun was to deliver a devastating blow to the Ussuri Railway transportation hub during combat with the Soviet Union, destroying the Iman Railway Bridge and Lazov Water Tower, and crippling Soviet railway and water supply facilities. Additionally, a train cannon position was built at Huoshi Mountain, 30 kilometers west of Houtou Town, manned by a train cannon squadron equipped with a 24-centimeter-caliber train cannon with a maximum range of 50 kilometers. It was used for long-range operations such as cutting off transportation, disrupting water supplies, harassing rear logistics, and shelling military targets. The original base was located in Houtou but was later moved to Huoshi Mountain due to its excessive range and high mobility.

Brutal forced labor, inhumane treatment, coupled with food shortages and excessively strenuous physical work, led to the mass deaths of laborers. In winter, their bodies were often dumped directly into the marshes or abandoned in the wild mountains and forests, where they were torn apart and gnawed by wolves, a sight too horrifying to behold. According to Japanese soldier Kanou Sensaburo, who served at Tiger Head Fortress, in his first year of enlistment, he personally witnessed many abandoned laborer skeletons strewn across the mountains behind Zhongmenghu Mountain. These deceased laborers were collectively executed by the Japanese army after the completion of the fortifications.

On August 9, 1945, the Soviet Far East First Front Army launched an attack on Tiger Head Fortress. The Japanese garrison, relying on their fortified positions, put up stubborn resistance. The fierce battle continued until August 26, when the Soviet forces finally captured the fortress. Of the 1,400 Japanese soldiers and the hundreds of Japanese settlers and military dependents in the surrounding areas of the fortress, only 53 managed to escape alive—the rest ultimately became victims of this unjust war.

Today, Tiger Head Fortress has become a historical site. The Houtou Underground Fortress Museum has been established as a patriotic education base, bearing witness to the crimes of Japanese aggression against China.

Further Reading:

· China National Second-Class Museum