Ruins of the Huaying Mountain guerrillas

Ruins of the Huaying Mountain guerrillas

The Huaying Mountain guerrilla ruins are a classic red tourism destination and a national patriotic education base.

Ruins of the Huaying Mountain guerrillas

The Huaying Mountain area, adjacent to Chongqing, was a key stronghold for the Nationalist Party’s troop and food supplies before liberation. To pin down the enemy forces and pave the way for the PLA’s entry into Sichuan, from 1947 to 1949, the Huaying Mountain region witnessed a sweeping tide of revolutionary fervor.

Following the directive from the CPC Central Committee’s Southern Bureau — “to carry out armed struggle in the Huaying Mountain area, tie down enemy forces, and support the liberation war” — in October 1947, the Sichuan East Provisional Committee was formed under the leadership of Wang Pu, who served as secretary. This committee unified the underground work of the CPC in northern, southern Sichuan and Chongqing. In November 1947, the Sichuan East Local Provisional Committee was established in Guang’an, which then set up eight temporary working committees in areas including Yuechi, Wusheng, Guang’an, Linshui, Dazhu, Qu County, and Hechuan. These committees mobilized the masses to launch the “Three Resistances” movement (resisting conscription, grain levies, and taxes). Thanks to these efforts, the revolutionary struggle in the Huaying Mountain area grew rapidly. However, in April 1948, after the “Tingjin Bao” newspaper of the Chongqing Underground Committee was compromised and traitors revealed key information, the entire Huaying Mountain region was suddenly covered in an atmosphere of terror. The Sichuan East Provisional Committee held an emergency meeting and decided to launch a joint uprising ahead of schedule in the surrounding counties of Guang, Yue, Wu, Qu, He, and Ying. They also unified all the armed forces led by the various working committees under the Sichuan East command into what was called the “Southwest Democratic United Army — East Sichuan Column,” better known as the Huaying Mountain Guerrillas. These guerrilla forces were divided into detachments, organized according to the numerical order of the working committees. In August 1948, uprisings broke out in multiple locations, including the Dai Shi-Guan Ge Uprising, Sanxi Uprising, Fulong Uprising, and Zhenjing-Jinzi Uprising. The uprising forces battled the enemy and moved around the Huaying Mountains. However, under the enemy’s fierce suppression, the uprisings soon waned. Yet, the guerrilla fighters continued the fight in the Huaying Mountain area and stayed on to welcome the liberation.

The Huaying Mountain guerrilla ruins now include sites such as the Yanghe Battle site, the Yanghe Bowl Factory site, and the Jiepai clever military vehicle seizure site. These have become important bases for revolutionary tradition education among youth.