Salt-Fu District Anti-Japanese Fallen Soldiers Memorial Tower

　　   The memorial tower was built during the smoky years of the War of Resistance. Under the leadership of General Huang Kecheng, who served as both commander and political commissar of the New Fourth Army's Third Division, they broke through the layered encirclement of tens of thousands of Japanese puppet troops, shattered two major enemy “mopping-up” operations, and the land of Salt-Fu was drenched with the blood of martyrs. To commemorate the fallen and inspire future generations, the Administrative Office of the Salt-Fu District decided to build a memorial tower for perpetual remembrance. Subsequently, a tower construction committee was formed, and its first meeting was held in Lüzhuang, Wu District, Funing County. Deputy Commander Zhang Aiping of the Third Division chaired the meeting, which was attended by Director Cao Houtu of the Administrative Office, Political Commissar Li Xueshan of the Eighth Brigade, leaders of the Funing County Anti-Japanese Democratic Government, and local notables. The construction plan was discussed and formulated, and after an on-site survey, it was decided to use the former site of the Shou’an Temple in Lupu as the tower location.

　　   On June 15, 1943, construction of the memorial tower began. Nearly ten thousand volunteers joined the labor force, with up to nearly two thousand people working in a single day—even girls as young as fourteen or fifteen enthusiastically helped carry bricks. These volunteers helped the construction workers by carrying water, pushing earth, passing bricks, and mixing mortar. They didn’t consume a single grain of public food; all construction materials were transported by the people, carried on their shoulders or pushed in carts. Villagers from Beiji Township in Lianshui risked their lives, transporting bricks and tiles from a location just half a li away from the enemy to the construction site. They said, “If the soldiers can shed blood, we can shed sweat.” On September 10, the memorial tower was completed. Masons Chen Tingmo, Sang Rongxu, and Dong Qigong were recognized as model workers by the construction committee and commended. During the construction period, Zhang Aiping, Li Xueshan, and others visited the site five times.

　　   On September 25 of that year, the completion ceremony and memorial service for the tower were held. Over ten thousand people attended, including Commander Huang Kecheng, Deputy Commander Zhang Aiping, party, government, and military leaders of the Salt-Fu District, representatives from all walks of life, New Fourth Army officers and soldiers, and local villagers. Commander Huang Kecheng read the memorial address, and all attendees listened solemnly, mourning the martyrs with deep sorrow.

　　   On September 15, 1947, the 133rd Brigade of the Nationalist Army’s 51st Division invaded Lupu. Savage and ruthless, they first burned down three thatched cottages where cemetery staff lived, dug up graves, desecrated thirty corpses, and then rounded up six or seven locals, forcing them to destroy the tower. The villagers, unable to bear it, claimed they couldn’t dig. After torturing the villagers, the enemy set up a mortar on the ruins of the Yellow River embankment and shelled the memorial tower, destroying it.

　　   On April 5, 1959, during Qingming Festival, General Huang Kecheng, then Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army, specially sent his wife, Tang Dihua—former Party Secretary of Funing County—and veteran comrades who had fought in the Salt-Fu District to Lupu from Beijing specifically to pay tribute at the martyrs’ graves. In July of that year, the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government allocated special funds to restore the tower to its original state. Chairman [Mao] Zedong personally inscribed the words “Mighty Spirit Lives Forever,” which were engraved on the front of the tower. Inscriptions by leaders such as Chen Yi, Huang Kecheng, and Zhang Aiping were respectively engraved on the sides and back of the tower.

　　   The inscription by Commander Chen Yi reads:

　　   Memorial Tower for the Fallen Soldiers of the New Fourth Army, Salt-Fu District, in the War of Resistance Against Japan, National Revolutionary Army

　　   The inscription by Commander Huang Kecheng reads:

　　   For the country and the people, they risked everything without hesitation. Their spirit lives on; their mighty spirit endures forever.

　　   The inscription by Deputy Commander Zhang Aiping reads:

　　   For the people and the country, fighting across the land, achieving victory over the enemy—though dead, they remain honored.

　　   Though ambitions were unfulfilled, successors carry on. This tower and these tablets stand forever as tributes to loyalty and valor.

　　   Atop the tower stands an iron-cast statue of a New Fourth Army soldier, holding a steel rifle and gazing into the distance, appearing valiant and heroic. It was created by Lu Mang, a veteran of the Central Academy of Fine Arts’ Huadong Branch. Beneath the tower are three-tiered steps, with twelve large bronze shells placed around the uppermost level. On both sides of the tower base stand ten marble steles, each eight feet tall and three feet wide, engraved with the names of 1,890 New Fourth Army soldiers and local cadres and civilians who sacrificed their lives during the war years. Among them are more than forty officers at the regimental level or above, including Peng Xiong, Chief of Staff of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army; Tian Shouyao, Commander of the Eighth Brigade; Liu Zhiguo, Chief of Staff of the Seventh Brigade; and Pei Li, Political Commissar of the Independent Regiment. Behind the tower lie 62 martyrs’ graves, including nine for officers at the regimental level or above. Also interred here are two Liberation War martyrs: Xie Xiangjun, Commander of the 12th Column of the East China Field Army, and Yin Shaoli, Commander of the 4th Division of the 2nd Column.

　　   During the Cultural Revolution, the inscriptions by [Mao] and Huang Kecheng on the memorial tower were chiseled off, some martyrs’ graves were leveled, and trees and plants were destroyed. On August 29, 1981, the Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Provincial Government approved the “Request Report on Restoring Central Leadership Inscriptions on the Lupu Memorial Tower” submitted by the Funing County Committee and County Government. In April 1983, with strong assistance from the Jiangsu Arts and Crafts Factory, the inscriptions by leaders such as [Mao], Chen Yi, and Huang Kecheng were restored on the memorial tower. Twenty additional acres were developed around the tower, where more than 500 trees were planted, including cedar, dragon juniper, plane trees, and metasequoia, along with various flowers and plants. In 1984, an exhibition hall showcasing the glorious deeds of revolutionary martyrs was added.

　　   Today, this site has been designated as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit. The Funing County Government has established the Lupu Martyrs' Cemetery Management Office, responsible for the maintenance of commemorative structures and hosting visitors who come to pay tribute and mourn.