On May 3, 70 years ago, Hangzhou announced its peaceful liberation with the rolling iron flow and hunting banners. This morning, the “major turning point and great victory” – the exhibition of historical materials celebrating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shanghai opened in the Hangzhou Museum, witnessing the wonderful appearance of more than 670 pieces (pieces) of precious historical materials and pictures of this period of history. Zhou Jiangyong, member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, announced the opening ceremony and expressed condolences to the PLA officers and soldiers who participated in the liberation of Hangzhou.
Qi Xiaohu attended, Xu Ming presided over and Miao Chengchao attended. At the opening ceremony, the appointment ceremony of the “Red Heritage Volunteer” in Hangzhou was held. Five exhibition halls in Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shanghai signed the “Red Culture Service Demonstration Cooperation” Agreement in the Yangtze River Delta.
70 years ago, Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangzhou ushered in the dawn of liberation. Today, the CPC Hangzhou History Museum, the Hangzhou Museum, the Nanjing Museum (the Victory Memorial Hall of Crossing the River), the Memorial Hall of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and the Shanghai History Museum (the Shanghai Revolutionary History Museum) are jointly cooperating. Centering on the common theme of “Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Nanjing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou”, they respectively launched the exhibition of historical materials of the liberation war during the three liberation days. This is the first cross-regional cooperation of the three red-themed exhibitions, and also the first cross-time exhibition of the precious collections of the five major museums. It reflects the positive collaboration of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, promoting the regional integration development of the Yangtze River Delta with cultural integration, and contributing to the joint promotion of regional cultural soft power.
After the opening ceremony, city leaders visited the exhibition of historical materials. Pieces of historical relics, precious photos, and sections of real historical data have reproduced the history of the liberation of Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai by the People’s Liberation Army, and the historical facts of the people’s support and takeover of cities, showing the spirit of patriotism of the revolutionary ancestors fearless of sacrifice and heroic struggle, and reflecting Hangzhou’s brilliant achievements in the socialist modernization drive since the liberation of 70 years ago. From time to time, we stop to carefully understand the historical significance of the commemorative relics, truly feel the power of ideals and beliefs from the glorious course of the liberation war, and draw the inexhaustible power to realize the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The exhibition lasts until July 8.
In the spring of 1949, victory in the war of liberation was in sight. On April 22, the People’s Liberation Army successfully broke through the Kuomintang’s nearly 1000 li river defense position and liberated Nanjing, the Kuomintang’s reactionary ruling center, on April 23. After the liberation of Nanjing, the eastern and central assault groups moved east and west under the unified command of Su Yu, and quickly surrounded and annihilated the five armies that fled from Nanjing and Zhenjiang in Langxi and Guangde. The victory of the Langguang Campaign upset the Kuomintang’s deployment of retreating to Hangzhou and created extremely favorable conditions for the liberation of Hangzhou.
At dawn on May 3, the 18th Regiment of the 62nd Division crossed the Wuyun Mountain, unexpectedly occupied the highlands on the north side of Erlong Mountain, and ordered the 2nd Battalion to take the main task of seizing the Qiantang River Bridge. The second battalion immediately deployed the fifth and sixth companies as the left and right wings to approach the bridge. The five companies used part of their forces to feint at the front, and the main force carried out a side attack. They quickly attacked the Liuhe Tower, wiped out the enemy and controlled the commanding heights overlooking the Qiantang River Bridge. After the fourth and sixth companies arrived, they seized and controlled the bridgehead at the north end of the Qiantang River Bridge together, cutting off the enemy’s escape route to the south.
Seeing that the Kuomintang garrison stationed at the Qiantang River Bridge could not resist it, they began to bomb the bridge. Before that, the underground party organizations in Hangzhou had done a lot of political work on the engineering battalion responsible for the bridge bombing, so the amount of explosives they used to blast the bridge was small and far away from the key parts. The explosion only destroyed a small section of the railway bridge deck and the plank road bridge deck. The officers and soldiers of the fourth and fifth companies braved the fire suppression of the enemy in the south of the bridge and successfully occupied the bridgehead at the south end of the Qiantang River Bridge. The Kuomintang bridge guard troops surrendered. So far, the People’s Liberation Army has completely occupied and controlled the Qiantang River Bridge, blocking the land passage for Kuomintang troops to flee south in the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou region.
While seizing the Qiantang River Bridge, the third battalion of the 18th Regiment of the 62nd Division inserted Yuhuang Mountain from the northeast side of Erlong Mountain to the south, annihilated more than 100 people defending the mountain, occupied Yuhuang Mountain and controlled the commanding heights in the south of the city. The first battalion of the 185th Regiment, along the north bank of the river, captured the gate power plant and the ferry. The main force of the 62nd Division immediately pushed forward to the urban area of Hangzhou on the basis of Yuhuang Mountain, Erlong Mountain, Liuhe Tower and Qiantang River Bridge, and captured Zhongshan Bridge, Electric Light Company and the Kuomintang Zhejiang Provincial Government.
At the same time, the 61st Division attacked the urban area of Hangzhou; The division headquarters of the sixty-first division led the 183 regiment to capture the western urban area, and directly penetrated the central area with the Kuomintang provincial Party headquarters as the center. At about 2:00 p.m., the 62nd and 61st Divisions met, and the remnants of the Kuomintang garrison in the urban area had been completely wiped out.
At about 3:00 p.m. on May 3, the 21st Army platoon entered the urban area of Hangzhou and was welcomed by tens of thousands of people, announcing the liberation of Hangzhou. On the evening of May 4, Tan Zhenlin, Wang Jian’an, Ji Pengfei and other leaders of the 7th Corps of the Third Field Army stationed in Hangzhou. In this process, the underground party organizations, local guerrillas and the people of Hangzhou made outstanding contributions to the military offensive of the 21st Army.
The battle to liberate Hangzhou has been recorded in history and has become one of the valuable spiritual assets that inspire the people of Hangzhou to build a new Hangzhou and create a better life.
The exhibition is divided into three parts: the right path on earth, the liberation of Hangzhou, and the great changes. Through a large number of precious pictures, physical objects, images, and text explanations, it comprehensively introduces the history of the liberation of the three important cities of Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai by the People’s Liberation Army, as well as the historical facts of the people’s support and takeover of the city.
In the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou Campaign 70 years ago, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Shanghai were considered as one. 70 years later, the exhibition was held at the Victory Memorial of the Crossing of the Yangtze River, the Hangzhou Museum, and the Shanghai Museum of History (the Shanghai Museum of Revolutionary History).
Exhibition time: April 28 to July 8, 2019
Exhibition address: Hangzhou Museum, No. 18, Liangdaoshan, Qingbo Street, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou