Lianyungang Anti-Japanese Defense Relics

Lianyungang Anti-Japanese Defense Relics

The Lianyungang Anti-Japanese Defense Relics are a cultural relic protection unit of Lianyungang City.

Lianyungang Anti-Japanese Defense Relics (1938–1939)

The Lianyungang Anti-Japanese Defense Relics include sites such as Dalongding, Weiping Mountain, Jinping Mountain, Yaji Mountain, Houzui Mountain, Chaoyang West Mountain, Dongzou Mountain, and Xiangu Ling.

Dalongding is a peak on the eastern side of Dawayingjian in Yuntai Mountain, Lianyungang City, and is the highest point of Huangwo Mountain. It gets its name from a rock at the summit that resembles a dragon’s head. According to local historical records, this site consists of defensive fortifications built between 1938 and 1939 by the Nationalist troops to resist attacks on Lianyungang by the Japanese navy. There are two main locations. The first is at the main western peak of Dalongding, where the fortifications form a circular structure built along the mountain terrain, with trenches extending eastward. Two bunker ruins remain, and the surviving trench system stretches approximately 1,500 meters in total. A large number of artifacts were unearthed from the soil layers at the site, including shell casings, shrapnel, military uniform buttons, one intact grenade, and a Japanese military boundary marker stone. These items have been identified as having been left by both the Chinese and Japanese combat forces.

The second location is on the eastern section of the main peak of Dalongding, beginning about three to four hundred meters west of the transmission tower atop the main peak and extending eastward along the ridge. This set of fortifications is mainly divided into three clusters, connected by intermittent trenches. Though most of the trenches have become silted over, their outlines are still faintly visible. The features of these fortifications stand out prominently — they largely make use of gaps among rocks and cliffs, which were slightly modified and then linked by trenches, forming secure bomb shelters. Defensive relics from the war are relatively sparse on the eastern line of Dalongding. Due to its proximity to the Japanese landing site at Huangwo and being within range of Japanese naval gunfire, the defensive characteristics here are especially pronounced, vividly reflecting the intensity and brutality of the fighting between the two sides at the time.

In addition, a large number of anti-Japanese defensive fortifications also exist at Weiping Mountain, Yaji Mountain, and Beigu Mountain in the northern part of Yuntai Mountain; Niushan Mountain, Dongzou Mountain in the central Yuntai Mountain; Xiangu Ling, Houzui Mountain, Chaoyang West Mountain, and Jinping Mountain in the southern Yuntai Mountain.

Further reading:

· The Fifth Batch of Municipal-Level Cultural Relic Protection Units in Lianyungang City