Red Army City Assault Site

Red Army City Assault Site

The Red Army City Assault Site is a classic red tourism attraction.

The Red Army City Assault Site is located in the urban area along Binhe Road, Fenggang Subdistrict, Sha County.

On January 2, 1934, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission telegraphed the Red 3rd Army Corps to set out for the Sha County area in western Fujian on January 3 and, on January 10, to cooperate with the Red 7th Army Corps in attacking the Fujian enemy forces under Lu Xingbang and occupying Sha County. On the afternoon of January 8, Peng Dehuai issued the "Order for the 3rd Army Corps to Advance on Sha County," assigning the 5th Division, the corps directly affiliated units, and the 6th Division to the right column, which would take the Longhu and Xiayang routes and arrive at Fukou for encampment on January 10; the 4th Division was designated as the left column, taking the Longhu, Tongling, Bailian, and Waxi routes and reaching Xiamao for encampment on January 10.

To the southeast of Sha County, the Shaxi River and Dongxi River served as natural barriers. The county town had nine city gates in the four cardinal directions, surrounded by nearly 4,700 meters of tall, thick city walls, making it very sturdy. At the time, the defending enemy forces inside the city were the entire 10th Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the 11th Regiment of the newly formed 52nd Division of the Nationalist Army's Lu Xingbang forces, along with part of the artillery battalion, totaling approximately two regiments. To strengthen their defenses, they demolished all buildings within 30 meters outside the city to create open ground and dug a protective moat around the city, over one meter deep and more than two meters wide. In addition, they placed five rows of electric lights around the city walls and added gas lamps every few dozen meters along the walls, illuminating the entire perimeter as bright as day. They intended to rely on the natural barrier of the Shaxi River, the solid fortifications, and tight defenses to hold their ground.

On January 12, the Red 3rd Army Corps began the assault on Sha County, with the Red 5th Division leading the main attack, the Red 6th Division providing support, and the Red 4th Division positioned in Qingzhou in the northeast of Sha County to block enemy reinforcements from Yanping. That evening, the troops began digging tunnels at the three city gates—east, west, and north—to prepare for blowing up the walls. On January 14, the Red 3rd Army Corps headquarters learned that about one division of enemy forces from Yanping intended to reinforce Sha County. A portion of the troops besieged the enemy in the city while continuing tunnel work. On January 15, parts of the Red 4th and Red 6th Divisions reached the Qingzhou-Qinshan line, effectively stopping the reinforcing enemies near Qingzhou, which facilitated the encirclement and annihilation of the enemy in Sha County. On January 16, Corps Commander Peng Dehuai and Political Commissar Yang Shangkun issued the "Order of the Red 3rd Army Corps on Preemptively Capturing Sha County and Preparing to Flank Attacking Reinforcements" from the Guanqian Headquarters. At 4:00 a.m. on January 22, the Red 5th and main forces of the Red 6th Divisions, assigned the main assault task, moved into their starting positions. At 5:20 a.m., explosives in the tunnels under Sha County were detonated. However, the blast missed the intended target, causing the assault to falter. Peng Dehuai and Yang Shangkun decided to continue tunneling in preparation for another attack. On the morning of January 25, following orders from Peng Dehuai and Yang Shangkun, the Red 3rd Army Corps launched a general assault on the Sha County defenders. At 5:25 a.m., the tunnel blasting succeeded, creating a gap of over 20 meters in the western city wall. The Red Army entered the city and engaged in street fighting, completely annihilating two regiments of the Nationalist 52nd Division and the division’s directly affiliated units. They killed or wounded over 700 enemy soldiers, captured more than 1,300, seized eight cannons, over 2,000 rifles, 108,000 rounds of ammunition, over 20,000 artillery shells, one wireless radio station, one munitions factory, as well as large quantities of salt, grain, and cloth.

The ancient city walls at the Red Army City Assault Site were originally the eastern, western, and southern gates of the old city walls in the urban area of Sha County. The ancient walls were first built in the fifth year of the Hongzhi reign during the Ming Dynasty (1492), stretching approximately 7,000 meters in total. The walls stood nearly seven meters high and about four meters wide, with granite foundations and brick walls. There were four main gates: Ying’en Gate to the east, Yanfu Gate to the south, Yong’an Gate to the west, and Changle Gate to the north, each with a gate tower. The southern wall faced the stream and featured four smaller southern gates from west to east: Xiaoshui Gate, Shigu Gate, Miao Gate, and Wenchang Gate. Today, only the southern section along the river remains, with a remnant length of over 1,000 meters. Only Xiaoshui Gate and Miao Gate still exist. Parts of the walls are buried beneath current roads such as Wenmiao Road and Binhe Road, but some sections and crenellations can still be seen along the river.

The ancient city walls at the Red Army City Assault Site were designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Sha County by the Sha County People’s Government in August 1984.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Sanming Municipal Committee