Former Site of the Red Army Cave

Former Site of the Red Army Cave

The Former Site of the Red Army Cave is a classic red tourism attraction.

In late 1936, after the peaceful resolution of the Xi’an Incident, the Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek clique adopted a “make peace in the north, suppress in the south” policy, launching a full-scale offensive against the border region of Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Anhui provinces, attempting to eliminate the Red Army guerrilla forces there and focusing on “encircling and suppressing” the revolutionary base area in southern Zhejiang. They controlled key transportation routes and important intersections in areas such as Da’N and Shanxi, deployed heavy troops to stations in Xiadi, Nantian, Xikeng, and Yamei, and also built blockhouses in Nantian, Wangzhai, Yamei, and Aoli, carrying out a comprehensive suppression of the guerrilla base area in the Ruiqingtai region.

In late March 1937, Xu Xinjiong, political commissar of the Second Column of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army Advancing Division and secretary of the CPC Southwest Zhejiang Special Committee, led the special committee headquarters and the Red Guards to southern Zhejiang in search of the Provisional Provincial Committee to receive new instructions. They rendezvoused with the Second Column in Lishan Village, Lishan Township, Yuhu, and later decided to return to operations in the Southwest Zhejiang region. On the 30th of that month, over 80 Red Army officers and soldiers set out from Lishan toward Southwest Zhejiang, camping near Jinxing in Yuhu. Due to a tip-off by local village and security heads, the next morning the officers and soldiers were intercepted by a battalion of the Kuomintang’s 19th Division in Fu Zhuang Village, Shiyuan Township. Political Commissar Xuan Sijin of the First Battalion received orders from Xu Xinjiong to lead his troops up Shenkeng Lingtou, seizing the high ground on both sides of the ridge and using machine guns to cover the retreat of the Second Column’s main force. During the retreat, Xu Xinjiong and Xuan Enjin both unfortunately suffered leg injuries. The unit had to fight while retreating, falling back to Xiazhuang behind the ridge. Xu Xinjiong and Xuan Enjin separately moved to Ye Shan in Shuangxi and to the cave in Tahui Mountain, Yazhuang Village, behind the ridge to recover from their wounds. It took several months before they healed and returned to the unit. Later, the revolutionary masses fondly referred to this cave as the “Red Army Cave.”

The Former Site of the Red Army Cave is located in Yazhuang Village, Linghou Township, Wencheng County, covering an area of 50 square meters. Surrounded by dense woods, the cave entrance is well concealed. Inside, it is spacious enough to accommodate over ten people. Hiding here, outsiders would find it nearly impossible to detect. Nowadays, due to the high mountains, thick forests, and inconvenient transportation, although many visitors are drawn here by its reputation, very few actually make it to the site.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Wenzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC