Former Site of the Southwest Guerrilla Cadres Training Class during the War of Resistance Against Japan

Former Site of the Southwest Guerrilla Cadres Training Class during the War of Resistance Against Japan

The Former Site of the Southwest Guerrilla Cadres Training Class during the War of Resistance Against Japan is a classic red tourism destination.

Former Site of the Southwest Guerrilla Cadres Training Class during the War of Resistance Against Japan

The Southwest Guerrilla Cadres Training Class was jointly organized by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. On November 8, 1938, Zhou Enlai met with Chiang Kai-shek in Hengshan. Chiang requested Zhou to draft a concrete plan and promised to quickly establish a guerrilla cadres training class. From the 25th to the 28th, the Nanyue Military Conference was held, attended by CCP representatives Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying. The conference decided to adopt the principle of “prioritizing guerrilla warfare over conventional warfare” in the resistance against Japan, and resolved to emulate the combat experience of the Eighth Route Army by extensively carrying out guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines, aiming to “turn small victories into big ones” and “exchange space for time.”

Bai Chongxi suggested at the meeting the establishment of a guerrilla cadres training class, selecting mid-to-lower-level officers from troops for a three-month training program, to prepare them for launching guerrilla operations behind enemy lines in close coordination with front-line positional warfare. Chiang Kai-shek subsequently telegraphed the CCP Central Committee requesting the dispatch of cadres to assist, and appointed Tang Enbo and Ye Jianying as the head and deputy head of the training class respectively. The Guerrilla Cadres Training Class covered two major aspects: military and political education. The main curriculum was based on Mao Zedong’s “On Protracted War,” aimed at strengthening officers’ belief in victory against Japan. In April 1940, the Southwest Guerrilla Cadres Training Class relocated from Qiyang, Hunan, to Manjiang, Xiushui, where it continued until the completion of its fourth session. Officials of the training class noted that “Manjiang is close to the frontlines, so we moved here to integrate teaching, learning, and practice, thereby improving training efficiency.”

Before liberation, Manjiang belonged to the Valley District, bordering Shankou, Fuyuan, Chengfang, and Zhengcun. The Wu’ning River flowed from Tonggu Ancient Bridge through Shankou into Manjiang before joining the Xiushui River, making it an important wharf on the upper reaches of the Xiushui. The towering peak of Tiemaojian presented a spectacular sight. The area had a flourishing culture and abundant resources, and was known as Xiushui’s famous land of fish and rice. Shangfeng Village was the hometown of Mo Jiang, one of the “Eight Sages of Xiushui,” once reputed for having “three generations of five imperial secretaries and three generations of provincial governors among its descendants,” and was also the birthplace of the renowned Ninghong Tea. Due to the fame of Ninghong Tea, during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period, tea merchants from across the country flocked here, merging three villages—Paifangxia, Dujiazhuang, and Dayuanli—into one. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Provisional Middle School of Northwestern Jiangxi and the Southwest Guerrilla Cadres Training Class were successively relocated here. As a result, Manjiang became a secondary center of Xiushui during the war. It was widely said at the time that “there was a Wang Headquarters in Liangtang, and a Li Headquarters in Manjiang” (referring to Wang Lingji and Li Mohan), earning Manjiang the nickname “Little Nanjing.” According to elders in the village, there were as many as 27 barbershops in the Dujiazhuang area alone at the time. To this day, numerous relics and oral stories from the Guerrilla Cadres Training Class remain.

During their stay in Xiushui, Li Mohan, commander-in-chief of the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Border Area Advancing Army, also served as the head of education. Mr. Luo Yunyun, grandson of the local notable Luo Kunhua, recalled that the training class was stationed in his family’s tea business. The couplet on the gate, “Seek promotion and wealth elsewhere, those who fear death should not enter this gate,” remained for a long time. Additionally, on the warehouse wall of the tea shop, there was a note reading “*** ordered 300 sets of military uniforms.” It is said that the training class had around 3,000 to 4,000 people, most of whom were stationed in Tangxia. At the time, the educational office was located in Anshan, the general affairs office in Xiaozisi, and the political department in Xiashaxi. The training class was divided into a general team, the First Battalion, and the Third Sergeants Team, further subdivided into trainee teams and student teams. There were also the Kaiping Theater Troupe, Kaiping Daily, and Kaiping Printing House. Course topics included the history of Chinese national development, Japanese conversation, enemy intelligence studies, brigade commander speeches, member guidelines, blasting summaries, current regulations, and guerrilla tactics. After training, the students went deep into enemy territory and effectively struck against Japanese invaders.

The guerrilla warfare in the Ninth War Zone used bases such as Dayun Mountain, Jiugong Mountain, Min Mountain, and Mount Lu. During the first, second, and third battles of Changsha, they assisted regular forces in completely destroying roads along both sides of the Miluo River and highways within Hunan Province, preventing Japanese heavy artillery, field guns, and trucks from passing through. A key reason for the victories in the three battles of Changsha was the large-scale civilian participation in road sabotage, which caused supply difficulties, ammunition depletion, and eventual defeat for the Japanese forces. On June 31, 1940, guerrillas burned down a Japanese poison gas depot in Wu’ning, poisoning over 300 Japanese soldiers.

According to the late Chen Zhan Yuan, he had joined the Nan’gu Township Guerrilla Unit and often carried out missions in coordination with the troops. Wang Fangmei, a 92-year-old resident of Yangmeidu Village, recalled that at the time, Xiushui’s Sandu bordered the occupied area of Wu’ning. The guerrillas organized large-scale road destruction campaigns. Yu Guangdi’s father from Liangkou Village was a guerrilla and was later killed by the Japanese, his body dismembered. The Communist guerrilla tactics were promoted nationwide through the Guerrilla Cadres Training Class, eliminating a significant number of enemy combatants.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units