Songshan Battlefield, War memorial in Longling County, China.
Songshan Battlefield comprises two parts in Longling County, Yunnan: the Songshan battle site and the Longling Japanese invasion evidence site. The battle site holds 69 extant sites and 815 vestiges, including Japanese bunkers, shelters, trenches, training grounds, a simple road, a water reservoir, and the main-peak defenses, plus Chinese artillery and bombing craters, tunnels dug to blow up the main Japanese bunker and the resulting crater, and the cemetery of the 103rd Division of the 8th Army. Trenches total about 13,200 meters: roughly 1,600 meters Chinese and 11,600 meters Japanese.
Japanese troops seized Songshan in May 1942 after the Chinese retreat from Burma and the demolition of the Huitong Bridge, then built concrete bunkers and about 11,600 metres of trenches. In May 1944 the Chinese Expeditionary Force crossed the Nujiang and attacked; the mountain was taken on 7 September 1944, and Longling was recovered on 13 November.
The site displays monuments and concrete replicas of soldiers who fought here, representing different military forces. These representations help visitors today understand who defended the position.
The terrain is mountainous and requires good footing, so visitors should wear appropriate shoes. Built pathways help with exploration, but it is wise to check conditions beforehand and allow time to navigate the landscape.
The Japanese garrison at Songshan built about 11,600 metres of trenches, against roughly 1,600 metres dug by the Chinese Expeditionary Force; 691 of the 815 surviving traces are Japanese. Visitors can still see the tunnel the Chinese troops dug to detonate the main Japanese bunker and the crater left by the blast.
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