Martyrs' Cemetery of Sucun

Martyrs' Cemetery of Sucun

The Martyrs' Cemetery of Sucun is a cultural relic protection unit of Shenxian County.

The Monument to the Martyrs of the Sucun Blocking Battle is located 500 meters east of Sucun in Zhangzhai Town, Shenxian County.

In early January 1941, Yang Yong, Commander of the Western Shandong Military District and Commander of the 3rd Training Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, led troops in the Panxidu Battle, completely annihilating one Japanese company. After the battle, over 7,000 Japanese soldiers, over 3,000 puppet troops, with over 300 vehicles, over 20 tanks and armored vehicles, and covered by more than 10 aircraft, launched from Jining, Heze, Linqing, and Daming in Hebei. They attacked in six routes toward the Western Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Area centered on Puxian, Fanxian, and Guancheng, attempting to encircle and capture the Western Shandong Military District and the administrative office.

To cover the safe evacuation of the military district and administrative office, following orders from the military district, on January 17, the headquarters of the Special Service Battalion, along with Companies 9 and 10, moved into Sucun and took up defensive positions facing the direction of Chaocheng, constructing fortifications. At that time, Sucun was 17 kilometers from enemy strongholds, had hundreds of households, and featured a T-shaped east-west street in the village center, leading east to Chaocheng and west to Maji. The western road had been dug into an anti-Japanese trench over half a person deep, the southwest was open plain, and the old perimeter walls were reduced to mere earthen ridges and broken segments.

Just as the soldiers finished constructing the defenses, the vanguard of the Japanese forces arrived. Engaging in combat, the Japanese formed battle lines and attacked the position of Company 9 in the eastern part of the village. They were met with fierce counterattacks from our troops, and the two sides entered a stalemate. The Special Service Battalion was consuming ammunition rapidly, with some comrades quickly running out of bullets and grenades. To reduce unnecessary casualties and conserve ammunition, the battalion commander withdrew the rookie squads of Companies 9 and 10 from the battle, redistributing their ammunition and bayonets to veteran soldiers, while evacuating the seriously wounded. As a result, only four squads remained in Companies 9 and 10, totaling fewer than 130 soldiers including the battalion’s combat personnel, while the enemy quickly increased to over 1,000, supported by over 80 vehicles, 6 aircraft, and 10 artillery pieces. The Special Service Battalion decided: resolutely carry out the orders to block and distract the enemy, protect the safe evacuation of command and rear personnel; hold Sucun at all costs, even if it meant perishing with the village; meanwhile, destroy all documents and hide the seriously wounded in safer locations.

Around 11 a.m. that day, after completing their deployment, the enemy began a furious artillery bombardment of the Special Service Battalion’s positions, while infantry launched flanking actions from the north and south. During the battle, the soldiers disregarded their own safety, fighting bravely against the enemy, repelling four consecutive assaults. Believing the Western Shandong Military District was in Sucun, the enemy threw in all their reserve forces for a siege.

After completing the encirclement, the enemy concentrated forces and launched a general assault on Sucun from the east, south, and north. The officers and soldiers of the Special Service Battalion engaged in a desperate struggle with the overwhelming enemy. When defending the village failed, they fell back to the streets; when the streets became untenable, they moved to rooftops; when rooftops were lost, they fought in alleys; and when alley combat failed, they resorted to close-quarters combat. As the battle grew increasingly intense, the enemy deployed five tanks charging toward the position of Company 9 in the east, with infantry following closely behind. Liu Yong, platoon leader of the 2nd Squad of Company 9, severely wounded and unable to walk, stuffed several grenades in his waistband, crawled to the front of the position, lay down, and detonated them along with an enemy tank.

As the enemy attacks intensified, the battle descended into street fighting. Enemy casualties were heavy, and the Special Service Battalion also suffered major losses. By around 4 p.m., fewer than 20 soldiers remained in the battalion, still putting up stubborn resistance in the southwestern corner of Sucun. The enemy deployed poison gas against the battalion soldiers, causing severe coughing and tears. Those less affected used wet towels soaked in soap bubbles and garlic juice to cover their noses and mouths, continuing to fight. As the gas thickened, soldiers began to lose consciousness one after another.

After breaching Sucun, the Japanese failed to find any trace of the Western Shandong Military District or administrative office, and in rage, following fruitless torture, they transported captured soldiers in batches to the wheat fields southeast of Sucun and carried out a massacre. A few who were not fatally bayoneted regained consciousness later, received help from locals, and were sent to the rear hospital of the military district for treatment, surviving by sheer luck. After the battle, with the help of local residents, the military district buried the 126 fallen soldiers in three graves. After the founding of New China, three rooms were built west of the cemetery, and guards were assigned.

The Sucun Blocking Battle lasted from dawn until dusk. With just over 130 soldiers—comprising the battalion headquarters and two companies of four squads—the Special Service Battalion of the Western Shandong Military District held firm with flesh and blood, blocking and distracting a six-route, over ten-times-larger joint land-air offensive by the Japanese. They killed over 400 Japanese soldiers, protected the safe evacuation of the regional command and local military-civilian personnel, defended the Ji-Lu-Yu Anti-Japanese Base Area, and wrote a glorious chapter in the history of the War of Resistance in the region.

In 1984, the Martyrs' Cemetery of Sucun was designated as a county-level cultural relic protection unit. Before the Qingming Festival in 2004, the Shenxian County Government renovated the martyrs’ cemetery and erected a new monument. On every Qingming Festival, July 1st, and Army Day, government agencies, schools, and people from all walks of life visit to pay tribute to the revolutionary martyrs and receive patriotic and revolutionary tradition education. The site receives nearly 10,000 visitors for commemoration each year.