Dongkou of Hunan renovates Monument for Officers and Soldiers who Died in Western Hunan Battle
Source:Shaoyang International CultureWriter: Liu YouxiangTime:2015-04-05Clicks：次
In the beginning of March, we came to Jiangkou Town, Dongkou County which, located at the foot of Xuefeng Mountain, was the main battle field of West Hunan Battle between Chinese and Japanese forces and found that the monument and the cemetery for the Chinese officers and soldiers who died in the battle were almost renovated.
Western Hunan Battle, also called Xuefeng Mountain Battle, started on April 9, 1945 and ended on June 6, 1945, in which a total strength of more than 0.28 million men from both sides was involved and over 30 thousand Japanese soldiers and officers were shot dead or wounded along the 200 kilometers long main battlefront consisting of Gaosha, Jiangkou, Qingyan and Tieshan of Dongkou County and Longtan and Wenshui of Xupu County.
According to the local villagers, because of too many deaths, people had to dig large holes and laid the dead officers and soldiers in layers covered with lime. In 1985, Dongkou county removed and renovated the cemetery for the officers and soldiers of the former No.74 National Army Corps and last year Jiankou Town obtained a special fund to expand and renovate the monument.
The whole renovation involves refurbishment of the cemetery, the monument and the memorial tower, expansion of the platform with marble for memorial ceremony and building of a mountain road leading to the monument.
According to Mr. Xie, mayor of Jiangkou Town, who is in charge of publicity, the local authorities will carry out a survey on possible relics of trenches and ammunition warehouses of Western Hunan Battle after some old photos and historic records of the battle have been collected.
(Translated by Xie Yiping)