Military History Exhibition Hall of the 73011 Unit

Military History Exhibition Hall of the 73011 Unit

The Military History Exhibition Hall of the 73011 Unit is a classic red tourism destination, a patriotic education base, and a national defense education base.

The 73011 Unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army is a heroic force with a glorious revolutionary tradition and fine style of work. The Military History Exhibition Hall, which records the honorable history of this heroic unit, is located at the unit’s garrison in Huzhou City.

Established during the Nanchang Uprising and the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Western Hunan and Hubei in 1927, the 73011 Unit traces its roots to the Red Second Army Corps, formed by military leaders who participated in the Nanchang Uprising such as He Long and Zhou Yiqun, as well as the worker-peasant armed forces involved in the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Western Hunan and Hubei. It has grown by integrating many revolutionary forces from all over the country and has now gone through more than 70 years of glorious history. Many proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation in our Party, including He Long, Zhou Yiqun, Yun Daiying, Deng Zhongxia, and Ren Bishi, as well as many famous military leaders of our army, have successively held key leadership positions in this unit.

During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and He Long, this unit followed the path of encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing political power through armed struggle. It established the Western Hunan-Hubei Revolutionary Base centered around Honghu Lake and explored and summarized guerrilla warfare experience in riverine and lacustrine regions during the war, earning praise from Comrade Mao Zedong. During the world-famous 25,000-li Long March, the unit set out from Liujia Ping in Sangzhi, Hunan, broke through the heavy encirclement of more than 130 enemy regiments, advanced into central Hunan, swept through Guizhou, crossed the Wu River, maneuvered through the Wumeng Mountains, marched into western Yunnan, crossed the Jinsha River, traversed the Kangding-Tibet Plateau, crossed the snowy mountains, and joined forces with the Fourth Front Army in Garze, Sichuan in July 1936. The unit then continued northward, crossed the grasslands, scaled the Liupan Mountains, and in October of the same year, successfully joined the Central Red Army in Huining, Gansu.

In July 1937, when the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out, in accordance with the orders of the Party Central Committee, the unit was reorganized into the 358th Brigade of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army and was ordered to advance to the North China anti-Japanese front, establishing the Shanxi Northwest and Daqing Mountain Anti-Japanese Base Areas. In November 1939, the He Long Special Regiment scored a victory in the famous Huangtuling Ambush, killing Lieutenant General Abe Norihide, the Japanese brigade commander known as the "Flower of Famous Generals." The unit then returned to Shanxi Northwest to defend the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, participated in the Hundred Regiments Offensive, and achieved final victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan.

During the Liberation War, as the main force of the First Field Army, this unit continued to grow and expand. It moved north to Suiyuan, south to northern Shanxi, west across the Yellow River, and fought across northern Shaanxi. During the famous Defense of Yan’an campaign, the unit won seven battles in seven engagements, creating a model of winning with fewer troops in the military history of our army, and successfully accomplished the tasks of defending Yan’an, defending the Party Central Committee, and defending Chairman Mao. Later, the unit took part in the strategic offensive of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, marched into the Guanzhong region, swept through the western regions, galloped across Shaanxi and Gansu, advanced into Qinghai, and achieved victory in many major campaigns such as the liberation of northwest China, making immortal contributions to the liberation of the Chinese people.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the unit was stationed in Qinghai and Gansu, engaged in bandit suppression and special agent elimination, repaired the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, the Ningzhang Highway, and airports, liberated Chamdo, and promoted the peaceful liberation of Tibet. In January 1953, the unit crossed the Yalu River in two parts to participate in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. In July 1984, the unit was ordered to advance to the Laoshan area in Yunnan and other regions to take part in the counterattack in self-defense against Vietnam, successfully completing the rotation combat mission assigned by the Central Military Commission, and making important contributions to the defense and construction of socialism. In the long-term practice of revolutionary struggle, the 73011 Unit withstood the test of blood and fire, producing a large number of nationally and militarily renowned exemplary units and individuals, represented by the “Invincible Sixth Company.” Currently, the unit includes one Red Army division, two Red Army regiments, four Red Army battalions, and 22 Red Army companies, along with 234 exemplary advanced units and 821 heroic models, among which there are 32 national (military-wide) level heroic models, 135 major military region level heroic models, and 654 army-level heroic models from the wartime era.

To promote the unit’s glorious revolutionary traditions and fine style of work, the Military History Exhibition Hall was built in February 1992 and opened to the public in May of the same year. Covering an area of 966 square meters, the Military History Exhibition Hall of the 73011 Unit features a base shaped like the characters “八一” (August 1st), and its name was inscribed by Liao Hansheng. Two large-scale reliefs, based on 65 granite blocks symbolizing the unit’s 65-year combat history, display six portrait heads wearing the Red Army's octagonal cap, the Eighth Route Army cap, the old Liberation Army cap, the Volunteer Army cap, the Liberation cap, and the Type 85 service cap, representing the development journey of the unit. The left relief depicts the unit’s revolutionary activities in the Honghu area, its battlefield exploits during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and its two defenses of Yan’an and the Party Central Committee, as well as its campaigns across the northwest during the Liberation War. The right relief features military training and disaster relief backgrounds, symbolizing the unit’s responsibilities in safeguarding and building the nation during peacetime. The exhibition hall consists of a front lobby, two exhibition rooms, and a Hall of Honor. The front lobby and the two exhibition rooms use a wealth of photos, charts, and revolutionary relics to vividly document the unit’s glorious journey of being established and growing during the Agrarian Revolutionary War, fighting across battlefields during the War of Resistance Against Japan, achieving repeated military successes during the Liberation War, and marching forward on the path of socialism. The Hall of Honor displays honor rolls, commendation boards, a case cabinet for medals, and a platform for exemplary individuals, providing detailed accounts of the advanced deeds of the unit’s famous exemplary units and heroic figures since its establishment. This Military History Exhibition Hall serves as an excellent classroom for educating soldiers and the general public about patriotism and revolutionary heroism. In 1996, it was designated as a Patriotic Education Base by the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Government. In 2001, it was named a Provincial National Defense Education Base by the Provincial National Defense Education Committee.