Former Site of the Japanese Invaders' Wooden and Stone Casemate Fortifications in Mukexia

Former Site of the Japanese Invaders' Wooden and Stone Casemate Fortifications in Mukexia

The Former Site of the Japanese Invaders' Wooden and Stone Casemate Fortifications is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The "Japanese Invaders' Wooden and Stone Casemate Fortifications" were initially built in the spring of 1941. At that time, a platoon of about 30 Japanese soldiers from Unit 476 of the Kwantung Army of Japan occupied the Siliben group in Yichengyong Village, Tongxing Town. They relocated all residents in the Siliben and Aobao areas and forcibly conscripted over 100 laborers along with vehicles to build a military defense line. The project was not completed until the end of 1943, resulting in the construction of 15 bunkers in the Siliben group. After the completion of the project, to maintain secrecy, over 40 laborers were brutally killed and their bodies abandoned in the wilderness. In August 1945, after Japan's surrender, the Japanese troops stationed there were eliminated by the Soviet Red Army.

The Mukexia Anti-Japanese War-era Former Site Cluster of the Japanese Invaders' Wooden and Stone Casemate Fortifications consists of 15 bunkers, 2 shelters, 1 cave depot, 1 building site, and 1 anti-tank cone distribution line, forming a continuous ring-shaped belt stretching 1.5 kilometers. The protection zone for the bunkers, shelters, cave depot, and building site is defined as a 200-meter radius extending outward from the central point of each structure; for the 550-meter-long anti-tank cone line, the protection zone extends 40 meters outward from the centerline. The protection zones for the site cluster also serve as construction control areas.

On October 7, 2019, the Former Site of the Japanese Invaders' Wooden and Stone Casemate Fortifications was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units