Former Site of the New Fourth Army Northern Jiangsu Command Headquarters (Anti-Japanese Democratic Government of Jiangdu County)

Former Site of the New Fourth Army Northern Jiangsu Command Headquarters (Anti-Japanese Democratic Government of Jiangdu County)

The Former Site of the New Fourth Army Northern Jiangsu Command Headquarters (Anti-Japanese Democratic Government of Jiangdu County) is a Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a classic red tourism destination.

Guocun, separated from Taizhou by just a stretch of farmland, has long been known as the "eastern gateway" of Yangzhou. The Qiyang Expressway and National Highway 328 run through the area. Over 70 years ago, this was the region of "Three Bridges and Two Marshes," where Japanese forces, puppet troops, and die-hard anti-communist factions each occupied a corner, creating a highly complex situation.

To break the encirclement and division by the Japanese, puppet, and die-hard forces, Chen Yi, Deputy Secretary of the New Fourth Army’s Jiangbei Branch and Commander of the First Detachment, resolutely implemented the Party Central Committee’s directive to "develop northward." He dispatched the New Fourth Army Advance Column to cross the river into the "Three Bridges and Two Marshes" region of Jiangdu. On February 8, 1940, the 1st Regiment of the New Fourth Army Advance Column crushed a “mopping-up” operation by nearly 500 Japanese and puppet troops near Daqiao, achieving the first victory against Japanese and puppet forces since entering Jiangdu and greatly boosting the army's prestige.

Unwilling to accept defeat, the invading Japanese army regrouped and launched another sweep of the Wuqiaqiao area. In the early morning of May 14, over 1,000 Japanese and puppet troops launched another large-scale “mopping-up” operation, only to be repelled once again by the Advance Column. To prevent retaliation by the Japanese, the New Fourth Army Advance Column relocated to Guocun for rest and regrouping.

On June 27, 1940, the Kuomintang die-hards assembled a force of 13 regiments to surround Guocun on all sides and launched successive attacks. During the seven-day, seven-night battle that followed, the New Fourth Army troops who had crossed the river to resist Japan, with the full support of the local party organization and the people of Guocun, fought tenaciously against the 13-regiment, 20,000-strong siege by the Kuomintang die-hards with just over 2,000 troops, ultimately achieving victory against greater odds.

After the victory in the Battle of Guocun Defense, Chen Yi instructed the establishment of a local anti-Japanese democratic government. On July 7, 1940, the grand founding conference of the Jiangdu County Government was held in Tangtou Town. Hui Yuyu, Deputy Secretary of the Northern Jiangsu Special Committee, announced the establishment of the first county-level anti-Japanese democratic government in northern Jiangsu—the First Anti-Japanese Democratic Government of Jiangdu County—at the Sisters' Building.

The establishment of the Jiangdu County Anti-Japanese Democratic Government marked the official beginning of the creation of the Central Jiangsu Anti-Japanese Base Area, which later became one of the nation’s 19 well-known anti-Japanese base areas.

In March 2019, the Former Site of the New Fourth Army Northern Jiangsu Command Headquarters (Anti-Japanese Democratic Government of Jiangdu County) was included in the eighth batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units