Zhongbao Victory Memorial Park

Zhongbao Victory Memorial Park

Zhongbao Victory Memorial Park is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

The site of the Zhongbao Victory is located in Zhongbao Town, Xianfeng County, and was built to commemorate the "Zhongbao Victory" battle.

The "Zhongbao Victory" occurred in June 1935, under the overall command of He Long. The Red Second and Sixth Armies annihilated the headquarters of the Nationalist 41st Division, the 121st Brigade, and the Special Service Battalion here, capturing Column Commander and 41st Division Commander Zhang Zhenhan. This battle was one of the most significant strikes against the enemy since the establishment of the Hunan-Hubei-Su Revolutionary Base and has been recorded in the history of the People's Liberation Army.

The Zhongbao Victory was a successful military operation carried out by the Red Second and Sixth Armies to support the Long March of the Central Red Army and to seek opportunities to eliminate enemy forces in motion, thereby strengthening the revolutionary base. It stands as a notable example in the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou border region and has been enshrined in the glorious history of the People’s Army. The battlefield site is located in Zhongbao Town, at the junction of Xianfeng County, Xuan'en County, and Laifeng County.

In the summer of 1935, the Red Second and Sixth Armies undertook the mission of diverting the main forces of the Nationalist army in the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou region away from their “encirclement and suppression” of the Central Red Army. They employed a strategy of “besieging the point to strike the relief force,” surrounding and feigning an attack on the defenders of Xuan’en County to create the illusion of a threat to Enshi and the Yangtze River transportation line. At the same time, a portion of their forces cut off the main road used by Enshi defenders to reinforce Xuan’en, while the main force was concealed 10 kilometers south of Xuan’en, ready to engage any relief forces coming from Laifeng. At the time, Xuan’en County was defended only by the 287th Regiment of the Nationalist 48th Division and the 3rd Hubei Security Regiment. The 287th Regiment had already lost one battalion to the Red Army at Jiaoyuan, and part of the 3rd Security Regiment had also suffered heavy losses south of the city. Xu Yuanquan, the commander-in-chief of the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou “Suppression of Communists” headquarters stationed in Enshi, upon seeing Xuan’en under siege, urgently ordered Column Commander Zhang Zhenhan, stationed in Laifeng, to lead the main force to reinforce it—falling right into the Red Army’s “luring the tiger away from the mountain” trap.

On June 11, after intercepting enemy communications about plans to assemble and reinforce Xuan’en through Zhongbao via three routes, Commander He Long of the Red Second and Sixth Armies urgently deployed forces. He ordered the troops besieging Xuan’en to leave one regiment behind to continue the feint attack while the main force swiftly split into two routes to rush toward Zhongbao. Leveraging the geographic advantages of the densely forested mountains along the main roads, they set up an ambush. The battle commenced at 3 PM on June 12. To prevent the Nationalist forces from concentrating entirely at Zhongbao, He Long commanded the Red Fourth Division to launch an attack, annihilating one battalion of the enemy rear guard and forcing the enemy into the valley of Yangpiling. Meanwhile, a portion of the Red Fourth Division seized high ground in the mountains to block any attempt by the Zhongbao enemy to reinforce. The main force of the Red Sixth Army entered the battle from the left flank of the Red Fourth Division, occupying commanding heights east of Laoyaguan, cutting off the retreat route of the enemy’s left column. Facing repeated failed reinforcement attempts and heavy casualties, the Nationalist forces in the Zhongbao area were forced to cease fighting and surrendered. The battle ended at 3 PM on June 14, lasting two full days. A total of over 4,000 troops from the Nationalist 41st Division headquarters, 121st Brigade, and Special Service Battalion were annihilated, and Division Commander Zhang Zhenhan was captured.

In June 1985, the Xianfeng County People’s Government erected the Zhongbao Victory Monument on the site of the main battlefield of that year. On the 70th anniversary of the victory, the Xianfeng County People’s Government expanded the site into a martyrs’ cemetery based on the original monument.

Zhongbao Town: a town under the jurisdiction of Xianfeng County. Established as Weixing Commune in 1958, it became Zhongbao Town in 1984, and its administrative area was expanded in 1996 during a district-to-township conversion. Located in the eastern part of the county, it is 20 kilometers from the county seat. Covering an area of 146 square kilometers with a population of 15,000, it has a county-level road leading to the county town. The town governs 14 village committees: Mingxing, Ma guantun, Sanfomiao, Shimenba, Liaojia bao, Gaosuntang, Xipigou, Miaoliangzi, Tongchang, Banqiao, Huangmutuo, Jieping, Tiechangxi, and Huangcaoba. Major mineral resources include lead, zinc, copper, iron, mercury, dolomite, and barite. The area boasts abundant forest resources, as well as wildlife and plants... More details about Zhongbao Town++