Yu Bei Village Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Liaison Station

Yu Bei Village Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Liaison Station

The Yu Bei Village Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Liaison Station serves as a patriotic education base.

The former site of the Yu Bei Village Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Liaison Station is located in Yu Bei Village, Luogang, in the southeastern part of Baiyun District. In June 2003, it was placed under the jurisdiction of the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone. During the Anti-Japanese War, Yu Bei Village was not only an anti-Japanese guerrilla area of Baiyun District but also a stronghold village. The liaison station of the anti-Japanese guerrillas was established at the home of Zhong Jintao, a member of the Communist Party of China. This liaison station continued to operate from the time of the Anti-Japanese War until the liberation of Luogang.

In August 1940, the Working Committee of the Zengcheng County Occupied Area of the Communist Party of China sent personnel to carry out anti-Japanese struggles in the Yue Dong Ling Tou area. In April 1941, the Independent Brigade of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces, Zengcongfan Independent Battalion, was established in Huashan Dou, Fuhe area, Zengcheng County. Subsequently, the independent battalion expanded continuously, operating in areas near Guangzhou such as Maofeng Mountain, Huangmatang, Liboao, Ling Tou, and Luogang. Zhong Jintao, a member of the Communist Party of China and a native of Yu Bei Village, hosted the liaison station at his home. At the age of 17, he went to Hong Kong to work and joined the Hong Kong Foreign Trade Trade Union led by the Communist Party of China. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1938. After the fall of Guangzhou, he participated in the Hong Kong and Macau Overseas Chinese Return Home Group organized and led by Soong Ching-ling, He Xiangning, and Zeng Sheng, returning to his hometown and joining the revolutionary cause.

On April 8, 1942, over 400 Japanese soldiers launched a three-pronged attack on the Zengcongfan Independent Battalion stationed on Huangqi Mountain in Zengcheng County from Zhongbeitou, Xinzheng, and Liboao. At the time, Battalion Commander Lu Weiliang, Deputy Battalion Commander Lu Feng, and Company Commander Xiao Guangxing were attending a meeting in Dongguan. The battalion had only about 90 men, including 70 to 80 armed personnel. They fought fiercely with the Japanese for a day, killing more than 10 enemies. Battalion Staff Officer Liu De was killed in action, and Deputy Company Commander Huang Jinshui was wounded during the battle and later died. After the Battle of Huangqi Mountain, the battalion withdrew from Zengcheng and took shelter at the home of Zhong Jintao in Yu Bei Village, Luogang, Yue Bei, where they regrouped and trained.

In May of the same year, the Enemy-Occupied Area Party Committee of Zengcheng County was established, with its headquarters in Yu Bei Village, Luogang, and Guo Datong serving as the secretary. In July, Guo Datong was transferred, and Xie Xuechou took over as secretary. Liu Zhiyuan, secretary of the Occupied Area Party Committee, was also recuperating at the home of Zhong Jintao in Yu Bei Village. Later, Lu Feng, Zhang He, Chen Liantie, and other members of the main company of the Independent Battalion also arrived in Yu Bei Village. At that time, there were eight party members who formed a temporary party group, with Liu Zhiyuan as the leader. Liao An was responsible for propaganda, and Zhong Jintao handled armed operations. The party group also organized a local militia team (“Lao Geng”), consisting of about 30 members, most of whom were equipped with firearms, including two light machine guns. The team was led by Zhong Zeliang. In the summer of 1943, the militia team engaged in a battle with Japanese forces that had come to surround the village from Longyan Cave, killing five Japanese soldiers. Several houses in Shuixi Village were burned, one member of the militia team was killed, and two or three were injured. To facilitate their work, the party group opened a rice shop, which served both as a cover for underground party activities and a means to raise funds. Zhong Jintao sold rice, Chen Liantie acted as the manager, and informants included Zhu Di, Liu Zhiyuan, and Zhong Weicai. The rice shop not only concealed party members and protected the wounded but also gathered intelligence, delivered information, ammunition, and supplies to the guerrillas. Additionally, it secretly printed leaflets and publications such as the “Forward Newspaper,” distributed leaflets, organized and mobilized the masses, conducted anti-Japanese salvation propaganda among women, gathered intelligence for the guerrillas, guided them in ambushing enemies, and delivered medicine and supplies.

Informant Zhu Di, under the influence of her younger uncle Zhong Jintao, actively participated in anti-Japanese activities, protected the wounded, and shielded comrades, becoming a stronghold household in the village. She often took advantage of selling rice at the market, bringing along her 13-year-old younger uncle Zhong Xinnan, to distribute or post publications and other propaganda materials reproduced by the liaison station in various marketplaces. She gathered intelligence, delivered information and supplies to the guerrillas, escorted cadres across borders, and carried out a great deal of work.

In December 1944, after the establishment of the Fourth Detachment of the Dongjiang Column of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces, Detachment Commander and Political Commissar Cai Guoliang, First Battalion Commander Ruan Haitian, and Political Section Chief Chen Liantie returned to the Yu Bei Village area to carry out anti-Japanese guerrilla activities. Using Yu Bei Village as a base, they assigned Zhong Jintao to gather intelligence and transport food and ammunition for the troops. After the “Dongyue Column” withdrew northward in September 1945, this liaison station continued its operations until the liberation of Luogang.

The old site of the rice shop is at No. 23, Yu Bei Xia Village Street. The former sites of Zhong Jintao’s home—the guerrilla liaison station—and the places where the guerrillas stayed are at No. 25 and No. 33, Yu Bei Xia Village. The peasant association, the rice shop opened by the guerrillas, Zhong Jintao’s home, and the former lodging sites of the guerrillas are still preserved. The original liaison station covered an area of about 60 square meters, with half-brick walls and half-wattle (lime-mixed pounded walls), a tiled roof, and an adjacent cowshed in front, which contained a hidden compartment for storing ammunition. In 1964, the Baiyun District Civil Affairs Bureau allocated funds to repair the site and demolished the cowshed. The current site is a standalone courtyard structure consisting of one living room, one bedroom, and one kitchen. On August 28, 1995, Baiyun District designated the Yu Bei Village liaison station as one of the district’s patriotic education bases.