Martyrs' Cemetery of the Shaobo Defense Battle

Martyrs' Cemetery of the Shaobo Defense Battle

The Martyrs' Cemetery of the Shaobo Defense Battle is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

The Martyrs' Cemetery of the Shaobo Defense Battle is located by Shaobo Lake in Shaobo Town.

In mid-July 1946, Tang Enbo, commander of the Nationalist Party's First Pacification Zone stationed in Nantong, led five reorganized divisions totaling 120,000 troops in a large-scale offensive against the Central Jiangsu Liberated Area. Following the Central Military Commission's directive to "win several battles inland first," the Huazhong Field Army, under the command of Commander Su Yu, rose to meet the enemy with 30,000 troops, launching the Central Jiangsu Campaign and achieving the glorious victory of seven battles and seven wins, eliminating over 50,000 enemy troops and dealing a heavy blow to the aggressively advancing Nationalist army. From August 23 to 26, the Huazhong Field Army won the sixth battle of the Central Jiangsu Campaign—the Defense of Shaobo. In this battle, over 2,000 Nationalist soldiers were killed or wounded, while the Huazhong Field Army suffered around 1,000 casualties.

To commemorate the revolutionary martyrs who bravely sacrificed their lives in the battle and honor their great achievements, the Shaobo Town People's Government built the Martyrs' Cemetery of the Shaobo Defense Battle in 1985. The cemetery is situated by the beautiful Gaoshui River and features a memorial monument, martyrs' tombs, and a historical exhibition hall dedicated to the Shaobo Defense Battle. Wei Yongyi, former commander of the Huazhong Second Military Sub-district and former vice governor of Jiangsu Province, personally inscribed the cemetery’s name at the age of 89. The 16.3-meter-high martyrs' monument bears an inscription in three directions that reads “Eternal Glory to the Revolutionary Martyrs of the Shaobo Defense Battle,” written by Chen Pixian, former political commissar of the New Fourth Army’s Central Jiangsu Military District and former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. The former Dawang Temple has been converted into the Shaobo Defense Battle Memorial Hall, displaying some relics of the soldiers.

In 1993, the Martyrs' Cemetery of the Shaobo Defense Battle was designated as a “Jiangdu County Patriotic Education Base” by the Jiangdu County Party Committee and County Government.