Carrying forward the red gene: The Tenth Workshop Party branch visits the Songshan Anti-Japanese War site to carry forward the red spirit

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, to revisit historical memories, to trace the sites of the War of Resistance Against Japan, to commemorate revolutionary martyrs, to carry forward the red gene, and to promote the spirit of patriotism. On June 7, the Party branch of the Tenth Engineering Project Department organized Party members and employees to visit and study the Songshan Anti-Japanese War site.

The Songshan Anti-Japanese War site is located in Lameng Township, Longling County, Baoshan City, Yunnan Province, and is one of the main battlefields of the Dianxi Anti-Japanese War. Located on the 2200-meter-high main peak of the Gaoligong Mountain in the Hengduan Mountain Range, the Songshan Anti-Japanese War site overlooks the magnificent Nujiang Canyon to the north, east, and south. After passing the Huitong Bridge, the Stilwell Road winds for more than 40 kilometers among the cliffs and precipices here, with a posture of "one man guarding the pass, ten thousand men cannot open it," and is known as the "Eastern Gibraltar."

After entering the park, the first thing we saw was a banyan tree. The lower half of the tree bears the scars of gunfire, a "witness" left over from the war. Therefore, this surviving tree is called the Witness Tree by later generations.

Stepping up 96 steps, representing the 96 days of this fierce battle, we see the group of sculptures of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. There are a total of 402 sculptures, each group neatly arranged in a square formation. Among these formations, there are generals, soldiers, child soldiers, and patriots.

Walking along the boardwalk, we saw many trenches dug by the Japanese army at that time. The trenches dug by the Japanese army were intertwined like a spider web around Songshan, especially the Zigaogdi military stronghold, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack. The trenches and fortifications were extremely strong. In order to capture Zigaogdi, the Chinese Expeditionary Force dug two tunnels from the foot of the mountain to carry out bombing. The two huge blast pits and some tunnels that remain today bear witness to the huge disparity between the enemy and ourselves at that time, and how tragic the sacrifices of the Expeditionary Force were. At that time, the entire Songshan mountain was covered with corpses, and the blood stained the top of Songshan like a red hat, so it was named "Red Hat Slope."

The remaining sites today allow everyone to personally experience the arduous efforts made by the anti-Japanese martyrs for the survival of the Chinese nation, and to express deep respect and infinite remembrance for the hard-won victory achieved by the Chinese Expeditionary Force through bloody battles at the cost of painful sacrifices.

【Tenth Engineering Department/Wu Mingyan Editor/Hu Hengjin】