Tiger Head Fortress

　　Located in the hills of the Wanda Mountain foothills around Hutou Town (now Houtou), Hulin County, Heilongjiang Province, it stretches from Huoshi Mountain in the west to the Ussuri River, facing the Russian town of Iman across the river, and from Bianlianzi Mountain in the south to Hubei Mountain in the north. The central area spans 12 kilometers in width and 6 kilometers in depth. Within this tens-of-kilometers radius, there are over ten large and small fortresses, consisting of five positions: Menghu Mountain, Hubei Mountain, Hudong Mountain, Hexi Mountain, and Huxiao Mountain. Among them, Menghu Mountain is the main position, with Hudong Mountain and Hubei Mountain as its two flanking forward positions, forming a pincer-shaped defensive line along the north-south axis. Huxi Mountain and Huxiao Mountain are located to the west of the main Menghu Mountain position, serving as the second-line rear positions.

　　The main position, Menghu Mountain, consists of three hills: Central Menghu Mountain, East Menghu Mountain, and West Menghu Mountain, surrounded by marshland that forms a natural barrier difficult to traverse. Central Menghu Mountain was the site of the Japanese Houtou Border Defense Command Headquarters, with an elevation of 111.8 meters. It lies 350 meters and 300 meters in a straight line from the high points of East and West Menghu Mountains respectively, and about 2000 meters from the Ussuri River. The underground facilities are centered around Central Menghu Mountain and connected via tunnels to the underground fortresses of East and West Menghu Mountains. These underground facilities include a command post, communication room, soldier rest area, kitchen, bathhouse, grain storage, ammunition depot, power generation room, and more. Vertical shafts lead to observation posts at the mountaintop, as well as ventilation shafts, exhaust vents, and counterattack openings.

　　The Kwantung Army of Japan built Tiger Head Fortress as a strategic base for attacking the Soviet Union. Due to its extremely important military-strategic location, it lies just south of the midpoint between Birobidzhan and Vladivostok, controlling the throat of the Soviet Far Eastern Ussuri Railway, while also serving as a shortcut for Far Eastern Soviet forces to enter the heartland of Northeast China.

　　To enhance the firepower of heavy artillery, a super-large gun position was constructed at the northwest foot of West Menghu Mountain. A 40-centimeter caliber howitzer coastal defense gun from the Tokyo Bay Fortress was transported to Tiger Head Fortress. This gun had a barrel diameter of 1 meter, was over 20 meters long, with a maximum range of 20 kilometers. Its shells were 4 meters long, with a 40-centimeter diameter head measuring 1.2 meters in length, and a maximum charge of 1000 kilograms. There were 200 shells prepared. The gun turret was a semi-underground reinforced concrete structure, with the muzzle directly facing the Soviet Iman Railway Bridge and Lazov Water Tower to the southeast. This massive gun’s mission was to deliver a devastating blow to the Ussuri Railway transportation hub during combat with the Soviet Union, destroying the Iman Railway Bridge and Lazov Water Tower, and crippling Soviet railway and water supply facilities. Additionally, a train cannon position was built at Huoshi Mountain, 30 kilometers west of Houtou Town, where a train cannon squadron was stationed, equipped with a 24-centimeter caliber train cannon with a maximum range of 50 kilometers. It was used for long-range operations such as cutting off transportation, disrupting water supplies, harassing rear logistics, and shelling military targets. The original base was in Houtou, but due to its excessive range and high mobility, it was later relocated to Huoshi Mountain.

　　Brutal forced labor, inhumane treatment, coupled with food shortages and extremely strenuous physical labor, led to the mass deaths of laborers. In winter, their bodies were often dumped directly into the marshes or abandoned in the wild mountains and forests, where they were torn apart and gnawed on by wolves — a sight too horrible to behold. According to Japanese soldier Kanou Sensaburo, who served at Tiger Head Fortress, in his first year of service he personally witnessed numerous discarded laborer skeletons strewn across the mountains behind Central Menghu Mountain. These deceased laborers were collectively massacred by the Japanese army after the construction work was completed.

　　On August 9, 1945, the Soviet Far Eastern First Front Army launched an attack on Tiger Head Fortress. The Japanese garrison, relying on their fortified positions, put up stubborn resistance. The fierce battle continued until August 26, when the Soviet forces finally captured Tiger Head Fortress. Of the 1,400 Japanese soldiers and several hundred Japanese settlers and military dependents in the surrounding areas of the fortress, all but 53 perished as casualties of this unjust war.

　　Today, Tiger Head Fortress has become a historical site. The Houtou Underground Fortress Museum has been established and serves as a patriotic education base, bearing witness to the crimes of Japanese aggression against China.