Yangjiapu Martyrs' Cemetery

Yangjiapu Martyrs' Cemetery

Yangjiapu Martyrs' Cemetery is a cultural relic protection unit of Tangshan City.

Yangjiapu Martyrs' Cemetery is a patriotic education base in Tangshan City, located north of Yangjiapu Village, Jiangjiaying Township, Fengrun County, Hebei Province.

In September 1944, the Jirebian Special Committee held a meeting in Guanyizhai, Fengrun District. Attendees included committee members such as Li Yunchang, Zhou Wenbin, Li Zhongquan, Zhu Qiwén, Wang You, and Ding Zhenjun. During the meeting, news came that the enemy planned to strike our leadership organs using a long-distance surprise encirclement tactic. Our forces then decided to disperse. However, the assault on Yangjiapu was carried out by the main force of the Japanese Army’s Independent Mixed Eighth Brigade—approximately 2,700 troops—along with attached units, totaling over 3,000 men. They launched a sudden surprise attack and encirclement from various locations including Tangshan, Fengrun City, Zhenzi Town, Qianxi Iron Works, and Zuojiawu, converging on the Guanyizhai area. During the encirclement, the enemy employed irregular zigzag maneuvers, with each punitive squad charging toward the direction where the first heavy machine gun fire erupted. As a result, when gunfire broke out at Xiazhuangzi, forces from all directions quickly closed in on Yangjiapu. Outnumbered and facing dire circumstances, the situation turned highly unfavorable. By noon, key surrounding heights—Matou Mountain to the east, Mati Mountain to the southeast, and Xicheng Mountain to the west—had all been taken by the Japanese. Confronted with this critical threat, Zhou Wenbin and several other leaders decided to break through toward Lizhuangzi in the southwest via the southern slope of Zhanmao Mountain. They ordered everyone to burn documents, money, and valuables to travel light. Liu Jingyu, commander of the Second Platoon of the Special Service Company and a native of Yangjiapu, led soldiers from the second and third squads. Leveraging his familiarity with the terrain, he charged forward like a tiger descending a mountain, fighting through enemy lines to carve out an escape route and cover the retreat.

The battle lasted over ten hours and ultimately ended in failure due to being outnumbered. More than 430 cadres and soldiers were killed in action, including Zhou Wenbin, Standing Committee Member and Head of Organization of the Jirebian Special Committee; Li Shan, Deputy Secretary-General of the Special Committee; Lü Guang, Deputy Head of the Propaganda Department; Ding Zhenjun, Secretary and Commissioner of the Fourth Sub-bureau; and Wang Shaoqi, Head of the Medical Department and Political Commissar of the Jidong Military Sub-district.

In 1954, to deeply commemorate the revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the Battle of Yangjiapu, the Fengrun County Committee and County People's Government of the Communist Party of China built Yangjiapu Martyrs' Cemetery approximately three li (1.5 km) north of Yangjiapu Village, behind Laozhao Mountain. The original cemetery covered around five mu (about 0.33 hectares), containing more than 240 martyr tombs and burying over 400 martyrs. It also included an 110-square-meter building housing exhibition rooms and a reception area, as well as a central memorial monument. A small pavilion with a stone tablet inside commemorated the heroic deeds of the martyrs.

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