The Secret Arsenal of the 21st Division of the Red Seventh Army at Sanmenhai

The Secret Arsenal of the 21st Division of the Red Seventh Army at Sanmenhai

The Secret Arsenal of the 21st Division of the Red Seventh Army at Sanmenhai

The Secret Arsenal of the 21st Division of the Red Seventh Army at Sanmenhai is located within the South Heavenly Gate (Nantianmen) Tiankeng scenic spot of the Sanmenhai Tiankeng Cluster in the Fengshan Karst National Geopark. Nantianmen is a massive karst cave with a hall measuring 100 meters in height and 150 meters in width, forming a skylight in the Jiangzhou Underground Corridor. The arsenal is about 1.5 kilometers from the cave entrance via a walking path, covering a factory area of 100 square meters. The site still retains remnants such as workshops, factory buildings, small amounts of production materials, a few finished products, and manufacturing tools.

There is also an 80-meter-long trench ruin near the cave entrance. It is now a municipal-level red tourism attraction and patriotic education base.

In December 1929, [Deng Xiaoping], Zhang Yunyi, and Wei Baqun launched the Baise Uprising, during which the Fengshan peasant army was incorporated into the 21st Division of the Red Seventh Army. At the same time, Soviet governments at the county and township levels organized local Red Guards to meet the needs of the land revolution and the defense of the revolutionary base. These Red Guards were distributed across nine districts and more than a hundred townships (villages) throughout the county. As the revolutionary situation developed and the Red Guard forces expanded, there arose an urgent need for more ammunition and weapons. In accordance with directives from the 21st Division of the Red Seventh Army, the Fengshan County Soviet Government established an arsenal at Sanmenhai. Local blacksmiths were organized to use readily available materials to produce flintlock guns, gunpowder, and to reload bullets, thus meeting the combat needs of the Red Army.