Wei Gang Battle Victory Monument

Wei Gang Battle Victory Monument

The Wei Gang Battle Victory Monument is a classic site on China’s Red Tourism routes and a patriotic education base.

The Wei Gang Battle Victory Monument stands 25 meters tall, topped with a bronze statue of a marching soldier. The front of the monument bears a cast bronze inscription, while the front of the base features a relief carving of the New Fourth Army emblem (N4A). On either side are inscribed poems by Chen Yi and Su Yu commemorating the battle. The red flag atop the base embodies the imagery of Chen Yi’s famous line “Our nation’s banners reach Jiangnan.”

The red flag atop the base embodies the imagery of Chen Yi’s famous line “Our nation’s banners reach Jiangnan.”

The full text of the monument’s inscription reads as follows:

“On July 7, 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out. After occupying Beiping and Tianjin, Japanese imperialism launched a full-scale invasion of China with a massive attack on Shanghai on August 13. By December 13 of that year, Nanjing had fallen, and the beautiful lands of Jiangnan were lost to the enemy. The Japanese invaders burned, killed, and looted everywhere, committing countless atrocities. The people of Jiangnan rose up in resistance to save the nation.

At the call of the Chinese Communist Party and the demand of the people across the country, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party achieved their second united front. The Red Army guerrilla forces from eight southern provinces formed the New Fourth Army and marched to the front lines of the war of resistance. In accordance with instructions from the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the New Fourth Army headquarters selected cadres and soldiers from the 1st to 6th regiments of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd detachments to form an advance detachment under the command of Su Yu. On May 19, 1938, they entered the enemy’s rear in southern Jiangsu to carry out strategic reconnaissance. In early June, the 1st Detachment of the New Fourth Army, led by Commander Chen Yi, arrived in southern Jiangsu. In the early hours of June 15, the advance detachment and part of the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Detachment, under the unified command of Su Yu, sabotaged the railway near Xiashu Town between Nanjing and Zhenjiang, temporarily disrupting enemy transportation. At 2 a.m. on June 17, they pressed onward through the rain and arrived at around 8 a.m. at the Wangan Mountain Pass along the Zhenjiang–Jurong Road in Wei Gang, where they set an ambush. At that time, a Japanese transport convoy of five vehicles approached from Zhenjiang and entered the ambush zone. Su Yu immediately led his troops in a fierce attack. The Japanese, caught off guard, took cover under their vehicles and in the grass to resist. The brave soldiers of the New Fourth Army fought valiantly and wiped out the enemy in just over half an hour, killing more than ten including Lieutenant Colonel Doi and wounding dozens, destroying four military vehicles, and capturing a large quantity of weapons, ammunition, helmets, military flags, uniforms, and over 7,000 Japanese yen. It was a great victory. The Wei Gang Battle was the first engagement of the New Fourth Army after advancing into the enemy’s rear in Jiangnan to fight against Japanese aggression. This battle shook Jiangnan, dampened the enemy’s ferocity, boosted our troops’ morale, and inspired the people. It marked the prelude to the hundreds of subsequent battles in Jiangnan and the establishment of the anti-Japanese guerrilla base in southern Jiangsu centered on Maoshan. To commemorate the heroic feats of the New Fourth Army soldiers who resisted Japan, educate future generations, inherit and carry forward the revolutionary spirit of the heroes of the War of Resistance, unite as one, strive in unity, and work diligently to build a modern socialist motherland, this monument has been erected on the original site of the Wei Gang Battle. Zhenjiang Municipal People’s Government, Established in September 1985”

In 1997, the Wei Gang Battle Victory Monument was designated as a Jiangsu Provincial Patriotic Education Base by the Publicity Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.