The Dukou Street Watchtower Battle Site in Dayang

The Dukou Street Watchtower Battle Site in Dayang

The Dukou Street Watchtower Battle Site in Dayang is a classic red tourism attraction.

The Dukou Street Watchtower Battle Site in Dayang is located in Yangbian Natural Village, Yang Village, Dayang Township, Hanjiang District, Putian City.

In late 1948, the Central Fujian Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish a presence in Dayang. To remove obstacles to the revolutionary struggle, the committee led guerrilla forces in mobilizing the masses in Dayang to carry out anti-tyranny and anti-evil campaigns. By March 1949, the Nationalist two-tiered township and security administration in Dayang had completely collapsed, leaving only a watchtower on Dukou Street, situated at a high elevation, which was defended by over ten members of the self-defense force. As a result, the Dayang District Committee of the Communist Party decided to eliminate this enemy stronghold with armed local militias. On the night of March 27, the district secretary Cai Guangyu organized militiamen who, armed with spears, pikes, broadswords, and hoes, surrounded the watchtower and conducted propaganda urging the enemy to surrender or defect. Although the watchtower remained uncaptured after two days of encirclement, once the militiamen voluntarily withdrew, the enemy, sensing the heightened revolutionary consciousness among the people of Dayang and finding it difficult to hold their ground, chose to retreat from Dayang and regroup in Xinxian Town. The elimination of the Dukou Street Watchtower cleared the way for the headquarters of the Central Fujian Detachment of the People’s Liberation Army to move into Dukou Primary School.

The former site of the Dukou Street Watchtower Battle has been destroyed.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Putian Municipal Committee