Former Site of the Heshi Armed Uprising

Former Site of the Heshi Armed Uprising

The former site of the Heshi Armed Uprising is located on the streets of Heshi Town, Longchuan County.

In the spring of 1928, after the establishment of the Longchuan County Soviet Government and the “First Army of the Dongjiang Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army,” to coordinate with the “New Year’s Uprising” plan in the Dongjiang region, it was decided to march into Heshi in early March to stage the first armed uprising. On the evening of the 9th, over 400 organized members of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army gathered at FenShuiAo on Pingtian Ridge for an oath-taking ceremony before setting off. Before dawn, they arrived near the Heshi market town and took up concealed positions. At 5 a.m., Commander Huang Ke of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army issued the order to attack. The peasant soldiers crossed the bridge under the cover of night, engaged the enemy in combat within the streets, and after fierce street fighting, the enemy retreated. Huang Ke led his forces into the town and occupied the enemy district office. However, Huang Yusheng, the commander of the county police battalion stationed in Heshi, sneaked out of the market town under the cover of darkness during the battle. The Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army successfully captured 25 rifles and one horse, and took several prisoners. After the battle, the peasant army posted proclamations and slogans from the First Army of the Dongjiang Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army, encouraging shops to reopen, and distributed the captured grain to local farmers. At 10 a.m., Huang Ke learned that Zhong Biao, who had been responsible for conveying the uprising orders to other units in the surrounding areas of Heshi, had been arrested and executed before the uprising, resulting in the leakage of intelligence. This caused other peasant units to be unable to provide support, leaving the revolutionary army isolated and without reinforcements. Consequently, he immediately ordered a full retreat from Heshi. Just as the troops exited the town, they were surrounded by over 1,000 enemy local militia who had been rallied together. Huang Ke led the peasant soldiers in a fighting retreat, battling their way through for most of the day before finally breaking the encirclement and retreating back to Sijia. Over ten soldiers were killed or wounded during the intense fighting. Later, the Nationalist authorities in Longchuan carried out ruthless reprisals, focusing their suppression on the “Sijia” Soviet area. Commander Huang Ke was captured on his way to Zijin, and later taken back to Tuocheng where he was executed.

Although the Heshi Uprising ultimately failed, it shook the upper reaches of the Dongjiang region and marked the first time the people of Longchuan attempted to seize political power by force.

Heshi Town: Located in the southeastern part of Longchuan County, Heshi Town enjoys a superior geographical location and convenient transportation. It serves as the political, economic, cultural, commercial, and logistics hub for the five towns in the southeastern part of Longchuan County. In 2002, it was approved by the provincial government as one of the first batch of central towns.

Heshi Town covers a total area of 52 square kilometers and governs nine village committees and one neighborhood committee. It has a permanent population of 29,000, including 26,000 agricultural residents and approximately 7,000 migrants. The town has 15,169 mu of arable land, including 12,728 mu of paddy fields, with per capita paddy field area of about 0.4 mu, and forested mountain area... More detailed information about Heshi Town++