◎Modern History

The heroic people of Baoding have never given up their struggle against the dark reality,and have never feared the enemy’s despotic power.They have written poems of struggle with their own wit and courage.

Spread of Marxism in Baoding In March 1921,Deng Zhongxia,one of the earliest communists in China,came to teach in Zhili Second Normal University,guiding progressive students to learn Marxism,assisting students in organizing progressive societies,and promoting the establishment of local organizations of the CPC in Baoding.Baoding became the center of revolutionary movements in central Hebei.Baoding’s Party organizations led all walks of life in revolutionary struggles,launched anti-imperialist and antifeudal patriotic movements,including the revolutionary students strike of the Second Women’s Normal University,the Wuligang Uprising in Wanxian County (now Shunping County,Baoding),the students strike of the Zhili Second Normal University,and the Gaoli Farmers Uprising,having an important impact in the north of China.

The Counter-Japanese War in Baoding After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 1937,the Japanese army invaded Baoding,built artillery buildings and bunkers,and implemented the inhuman Three Alls Policy (kill all,burn all and loot all).Wherever they went,the houses were burned,the crops were destroyed,and the villages were looted,which brought profound disasters to the people of Baoding.

The Eighth Route Army,led by the CPC,advanced behind enemy lines and established the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Counter-Japanese Base Area,China’s first counter-Japanese base area in Fuping,which then became the seat of the head office of the party,the government and the army in Shanxi,Chahar and Hebei.Under the leadership of the CPC,the people of Baoding quickly set off a wave of national resistance to the enemies,ignited the flame of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression,and cooperated with the regular troops of the Eighth Route Army in a number of battles,such as the Hundred Regiments Offensive,the Huangtuling Battle,the Fairy Mountain Defense War,and the Lianzikou Battle,annihilating a large number of Japanese and Puppet troops,smashing the Japanese army’s Three Alls Policy,“Cage”policy and many fierce“mopping-up”attempts,creating multiple modes of warfare,such as guerrilla warfare,tunnel warfare,mine warfare and sabotage warfare and sparrow warfare,and plunged the Japanese army into the vast sea of people’s war.During the 14 years of the war of resistance against Japanese aggression,Baoding people made great sacrifices,and many epic counter-Japanese heroes emerged,such as Li Yong and Li Dianbing,the explosion heroes,the Five Heroes of Langya Mountain,as well as armed working teams,railway workers guerrillas,and wild goose feature teams.Baoding,located in the core of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Counter-Japanese Base Area,is the main battlefield of North China.In order to resist the Japanese fascist aggression,it became an area where international friends gathered.Among them,Dr.Henry Norman Bethune from Canada and Dr.Kwarkanath S.Kotnis from India have been most widely eulogized.These two great international friends came to the liberated areas for the Chinese people’s national liberation and fought side by side with our soldiers and civilians against Japanese aggression.They saved the wounded and rescued the dying,made selfless dedications and spared no effort in the performance of their duty,and finally lost their lives in Tangxian County at their posts.

Liberation War in Baoding During the Liberation War,the Kuo- mintang army took Baoding as a place with vital military significance in North China,built defense works and stationed massive troops here.The Party Organization of Baoding strengthened the leadership of urban underground work,carried out intelligence work and incited rebellion within the enemy camp,actively cooperated with exterior-line operations,and relied on and mobilized people to fight resolutely against the dark rule of the Kuomintang.On the battlefield,the people of Baoding bravely marched forward.They cooperated with the PLA (the People’s Liberation Army) in the success of such battles as the Campaign to the South of Baoding,the Campaign to the North of Baoding,the Qingfengdian Campaign,the Beiping-Hankou Railway Sabotage Operation,the Campaign to Take over the North of Baoding,and the Campaign to the North of Daqing River,and made important contributions to the liberation of China.On November 22,1948,the Kuomintang garrison,which had occupied Baoding for three years,abandoned the city and fled,and Baoding declared its liberation.