Site of the Secret Camp of the Third Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in Chaoyang Mountain

Site of the Secret Camp of the Third Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in Chaoyang Mountain

The site of the secret camp of the Third Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in Chaoyang Mountain is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The site of the secret camp of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in Chaoyang Mountain, Wudalianchi City, is located in Chaoyangshan Township, approximately 60 kilometers northeast of Wudalianchi City (formerly Dedu County), Heihe City.

Chaoyang Mountain (also known as Daheng Mountain) lies in the heart of the Chaoyang Mountain area. In June 1938, the Fifth Division of the Third Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, under the leadership of Commander Zhao Shangzhi, advanced deep into the Chaoyang Mountain area and established the rear base of the Third Army. Later, units from the Ninth and Tenth Armies of the Anti-Japanese United Army also arrived in the Chaoyang Mountain area (later reorganized into the Third and Ninth Detachments of the Third Route Army). The core area includes Daheng Mountain (locally called Chaoyang Mountain), Shiying Mountain (locally called Shiren Mountain), and Lingdian Gang. These three mountains consist of dozens of peaks. The peripheral area mainly comprises Jinmajiujuan, 30 kilometers northeast of Shiying Mountain; Guizhou Mountain and Yiquan Mountain, 5 kilometers east of Shiying Mountain; Kecha Mountain, 5 kilometers south of Shiying Mountain; and Mihunzhen, 5 kilometers west. On May 30, 1939, the Third Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army was officially established here, with Li Zhaolin as the commander-in-chief, Feng Zhongyun as the political commissar, and Xu Hengzhi as the chief of staff. It comprised four detachments—the Third, Sixth, Ninth, and Twelfth—along with two regional command centers, Longnan and Longbei. From then on, this site became the headquarters of the Third Route Army. The Anti-Japanese United Army established rear facilities here, including a hospital, an arms repair workshop, a uniform factory, and a military-political cadres school. On July 19, 1940, the cavalry "punitive expedition" forces of the Japanese puppet army attacked the Chaoyang Mountain secret camp. Zhao Jingfu, the political commissar of the Third Detachment, led the training team in a brave counterattack. During the battle, Zhao Jingfu and Zhang Lansheng, a member of the provincial committee, were killed heroically, and the secret camp was destroyed by the enemy. In 1985, 38 dugouts used by the Anti-Japanese United Army, five burial sites, one fire-use relic, and 800 square meters of artificially created forest clearings were discovered in these areas. The site of the headquarters of the Third Route Army of the Anti-Japanese United Army in Chaoyang Mountain is located on the northwest slope of the mountain’s summit. Initially built in early 1938, it is situated on Chaoyang Mountain within Chaoyang Township, Wudalianchi City, in the Xiaoxing’an Mountains, and consists of six wooden cabins. It was destroyed by artillery fire during a battle in 1940 and has not been restored since. In 1992, the site of the secret camp of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in Chaoyang Mountain, Wudalianchi City, was designated as a county-level cultural relics protection area by the Dedu County Government; in July 1993, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit by the Heihe Municipal Government; on January 31, 2005, it was designated as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit by the Heilongjiang Provincial Government; and on June 11, 2007, it was designated as a municipal-level patriotic education base by the Heihe Municipal Party Committee and Government.

On October 7, 2019, the site of the secret camp of the Third Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in Chaoyang Mountain was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units