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June 20, 2017

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Home » District » Minhang

How Qibao Town welcomed its liberation in 1949

QIBAO Town in Minhang District is not only a commercial area and travel destination, but is also a place steeped in modern history.

During Kuomintang control, the town was divided into three parts, belonging to three different counties or districts. In 1948, secret agents of the Communist Party of China started to collect information about the highway, rivers, bridges as well as the fortress distribution of the Kuomint­ang army.

The agents sent warning letters to important figures in the Kuomintang, urging them to protect the archives and equipment to be handed over to the Communist Party.

The request was favorably received by some Kuomintang officials, includ­ing Jiang Yunhui, director of the town.

In 1949, to defend Shanghai, the Kuomintang army built 34 fortresses in the town, among which the No. 7 Bridge Fortress was considered the most essential because it defended the entire area of Caobao Road. To build the fortress, many people were reportedly forced to do unpaid work. Zhao Ruiqing, a Communist agent, was arrested for taking information during the construction and was tortured to death.

After the fortresses were all set, the Kuomintang army ordered that all the houses, trees and bamboo forests in the vicinity be burned to clear the view. Communist Party agents and some Kuomintang officials, including Jiang, started negotiations with the army, trying to persuade them to give up the plan. They gave one battalion commander a pig as a bribe and succeeded.

In May, the People’s Liberation Army occupied the Xinqiao and Sijing areas, and the Kuomintang army prepared to withdraw. They planned to burn down the houses in Qibao to block the liberation army. Communist agents and some soldiers rushed to the town to save it. The Kuomintang army fled, and only two houses were destroyed.

After the Shanghai battle began, a team was formed in Qibao to prepare the way for the liberation army. It was led by Xu Jialiu, Party secretary of the town.

On May 15, the liberation army occupied Qibao, 12 days before it oc­cupied the entire city of Shanghai.




 

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