Monument to the Red Army’s Crossing of the Treacherous Yachi River

　　Yachi River — an upper tributary of the Wu River and a strategic chokepoint along the Qingzhen-Bijie Highway (National Highway 321), with deep and fast-flowing waters and steep cliffs on both sides, historically known as a “natural stronghold.” On February 2, 1936, the Second and Sixth Armies of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, under the leadership of comrades He Long, Ren Bishi, Xiao Ke, and others, and with the cooperation of local residents, bravely and skillfully forced a crossing at the ancient ferry (now located 1 kilometer downstream from the Yachi River Iron Bridge), successfully advancing into Qianxi. On February 5, He Long, Xiao Ke, Guan Xiangying, and others held an important meeting at the He Long’s residence in the Xinchuan Ancestral Temple in Qianxi County (historically known as the Qianxi Meeting), deciding to implement a strategic shift in the regions of Greater Qian (xi), Greater (Fang), and Bi (jie), establishing revolutionary bases, and forming the People’s Government of the China-Sichuan-Guizhou Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic. To commemorate the Second and Sixth Armies of the Red Army’s historic crossing of the Yachi River during the Long March, in 1985, the Qianxi County People’s Government constructed a monument on the left bank of the Yachi River at Xiaojingpo Hilltop (2 kilometers from the now-national-level tourism attraction Dongfeng Lake Scenic Area), approximately 2 kilometers from the original Red Army crossing site, along the winding National Highway 321. The monument body is made of poured concrete with white mosaic facing. The first tier is 3.6 meters high, symbolizing the time of the Red Army’s crossing; the second tier is 1.25 meters high, representing the year the monument was built; the middle features carved azaleas, symbolizing the offering of the region’s famed flower to the Red Army by all ethnic groups. The top of the monument features a 2.6-meter sculpture symbolizing the Second and Sixth Armies; it depicts a boatman forcefully rowing a wooden boat carrying three Red Army soldiers as they surge through the waves. The edge of the platform in front of the monument is inlaid with chicken-blood marble, engraved with the eight large characters: “Red Army Forces Cross the Treacherous Yachi River.” The design of the Red Army Crossing Monument is simple yet solemn and dignified, serving as an ideal site for people to honor martyrs, reflect on revolutionary history, and receive education on revolutionary traditions.