Monument to the First Battle of Guerrilla Resistance Behind Enemy Lines in Sanbei

Monument to the First Battle of Guerrilla Resistance Behind Enemy Lines in Sanbei

The Monument to the First Battle of Guerrilla Resistance Behind Enemy Lines in Sanbei is a cultural relic protection unit of Cixi City and a classic red tourism attraction.

In April 1941, Japanese invaders successively captured Shaoxing, Zhenhai, Ningbo, Cixi, and Yuyao, and began conducting mopping-up operations in rural areas, making the struggle increasingly severe. To thwart the Japanese "mopping-up" campaign and establish a revolutionary guerrilla base behind enemy lines in Sanbei, in May 1941, the Chinese Communist Party-led anti-Japanese armed forces from Pudong were deployed in batches to the Sanbei region behind enemy lines. On May 10, the CCP Pudong Working Committee dispatched Jiang Wenguang and Zhu Renxia to lead a squad from the "Songhu 5th Detachment" and a platoon from the Wang puppet 50th Regiment—controlled covertly by the Pudong Working Committee—totaling over 50 people, as an advance team, landing at Xianggong Temple in northern Yao. On June 16, Cai Qunfan, a member of the CCP Pudong Working Committee, head of the military department, instructor of the "Songhu 5th Detachment," and Lin Youzhang, deputy commander of the 4th Battalion, led two companies of the "Songhu 5th Detachment," totaling over 130 personnel, successively assembling at Xianggong Temple. On the afternoon of June 18, a small team of 37 soldiers from the 5th Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Andong, led by Hashimoto Shikoku, went to Xianggong Temple to loot and harass. Our anti-Japanese forces quickly set up an ambush near Xianggong Temple and launched a fierce surprise attack on the Japanese troops. This battle killed or wounded 16 Japanese soldiers and captured a batch of weapons and ammunition, marking the first shot fired against the Japanese behind enemy lines in eastern Zhejiang. On June 25, the Japanese launched another attack on Xianggong Temple but were once again fiercely repelled by our brave soldiers. Winning both battles greatly boosted the morale of both the army and the civilians and created favorable conditions for the establishment of the Sanbei guerrilla base and the successive deployment of Pudong’s anti-Japanese forces. Since both battles against the Japanese took place near Xianggong Temple, they are collectively known as the “Battle of Xianggong Temple.”

In September 1985, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance against Japan, the CCP Cixi County Committee and the County People's Government erected the “Monument to the First Battle of Guerrilla Resistance Behind Enemy Lines in Sanbei” at Yanqing Village in Chongshou Town, the site of the revolution. In April 1986, the Cixi County People's Government designated it as part of the second batch of cultural relic protection units.

The Monument to the First Battle of Guerrilla Resistance Behind Enemy Lines in Sanbei is located within Yanqing Village, west of Xianggong Temple in Chongshou and east of the Liutang Pavilion. The monument itself is 1.941 meters tall, 0.75 meters long, and 0.18 meters wide; the base is 0.6 meters high, 1.95 meters long, and 1.38 meters wide, with all four sides being 0.6 meters away from the body of the monument; the foundation is square, with each side measuring 4.4 meters. The height of the monument body, the distance between the body and the sides of the base, and the width of the monument body symbolize the date of the battle—June 18, 1941.

The front of the monument is inscribed with nine large characters—“三北敌后抗日第一战” (First Battle of Guerrilla Resistance Behind Enemy Lines in Sanbei)—handwritten by Xiao Xian, a contemporary female calligrapher in China. The back bears a brief historical inscription: “In April 1941, Ningbo and Shaoxing fell. Starting in May, the CCP-led anti-Japanese armed forces from Pudong were deployed in batches to the Sanbei region behind enemy lines. On June 18, the 5th Detachment’s 4th Company, with the coordination of the earlier-arrived 3rd Company and the support of local civilians, ambushed Japanese invaders who had come out from Andong to harass Xianggong Temple. The enemy suffered 16 casualties, abandoned their dead, and fled. This marked the first victory, setting the stage for the establishment of the Sanbei Anti-Japanese Base and boosting the morale of both civilians and troops in the resistance across eastern Zhejiang. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance, this monument is erected to forever remind future generations.”

In September 1994, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance, the Cixi Municipal People's Government allocated funds to build a hexagonal stone pavilion at the original site of the monument. In May 2005, the Chongshou Town People's Government constructed the Memorial Hall of the First Battle of Guerrilla Resistance Behind Enemy Lines in Sanbei north of the monument and pavilion.