Battle Site of the Attack on the Tanbian Police Station

Battle Site of the Attack on the Tanbian Police Station

The Battle Site of the Attack on the Tanbian Police Station is a classic red tourism attraction.

The Battle Site of the Attack on the Tanbian Police Station is located in Xinting Natural Village, Tanbian Village, Duwei Town, Xianyou County, Putian City.

In April 1949, the Xian-De Working Committee of the Chinese Communist Party decided to eliminate the grassroots Kuomintang regime at the Tanbian Police Station in the western hills to clear the way for establishing a guerrilla base in the region. At dawn on April 21, the western hills guerrilla unit took early action, with over 40 guerrillas surrounding the Tanbian Police Station. Due to the station’s fortified watchtower, more than 20 police officers took up strong defensive positions and put up fierce resistance. During the battle, several guerrillas were wounded, but they still failed to capture the station. Liu Zuozhou, secretary of the Xian-De Working Committee, immediately dispatched three guerrilla squads from the western district, along with the Shengshan Ling Joseph Guerrilla Unit and the Xikou Lin Yuankun Guerrilla Squad, to provide reinforcements. The intense fighting continued until the next morning when the Kuomintang self-defense force stationed at Ganlanling arrived at Tanbian. The guerrillas had no choice but to withdraw.

Seeing the high morale of his troops and with the arrival of guerrilla units from the eastern and southeastern districts joining the battle in the western hills, Liu Zuozhou launched another attack on the Tanbian Police Station on the evening of April 22. This time, the guerrillas changed their tactics from a direct assault to burning the watchtower with bundles of firewood. The police officers hiding in the tower could no longer hold their ground and fled under the cover of darkness through the side where the guerrillas' defense was weaker, escaping toward the county town. After a day and two nights of fierce combat, the guerrillas finally broke into the Tanbian Police Station and eliminated the armed stronghold of the Kuomintang local forces in the western hills. The Xian-De Working Committee then deployed another guerrilla unit to guard the strategic橄榄岭 (Olive Ridge), the gateway to the western hills, thereby gaining control over a large area of western and northwestern Xianyou. This move created favorable conditions for establishing a guerrilla base in the region.

The original Battle Site of the Attack on the Tanbian Police Station was a three-story watchtower, which has now been destroyed and leveled to the ground. It is located within the grounds of Tanbian Primary School.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Putian Municipal Committee

Duwei Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Xianyou County. Established as the Duwei Commune in 1958, reorganized as a township in 1984, and upgraded to a town in 1987. Located in the western part of the county, 15 kilometers from the county seat, on the upper reaches of the Mulan River. It covers an area of 110 square kilometers with a population of 77,000. The Xianyong Highway runs through the entire town. It administers two neighborhood committees—Dufeng and Tanbian—and 17 village committees: Dongfeng, Lishan, Shengshan, Xiazhou, Zhongfeng, Houpu, Xiangxi, Yangban, Zhongyue, Maoshan, Yunshui, Pingshan, Jianshan, Xiaxi, Puwei, Yunju, and Kuzhu. The main agricultural products are honey tangerines, rice, and sugarcane. ... Detailed information about Duwei Town++