How can a border town affect the survival of a country? After 70 years of ups and downs, flowers are blooming now

This is a small town familiar with Burmese chickens and dogs. It has been an important passage for southwest China to the outside world since ancient times;

There has been no shortage of overseas brides here since ancient times, and the people are friendly and tolerant. ;

It is such a small town that yearns for peace and is friendly to the outside world;

It is such a small land with a population of only more than 10,000 people.

However, during World War II, war broke out everywhere and the tension was extremely high.

This is Wanding Town, located in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. You can reach Myanmar along the China-Myanmar Friendship Bridge.

Walking into Wanding, you will see a scene of people living and working in peace and contentment. Local residents and Myanmar residents engaged in border trade can be seen everywhere. Residents trade with each other and enjoy themselves happily.

In fact, in the modern history of China, this is also an important place that has gone through ups and downs and been written into history. From a small outbound post road to the construction of the Burma Highway and the opening of the Stilwell Highway, Wanding, a small town guarding the rear area, was once related to the survival of the entire China and the development of the Anti-Japanese War.

After the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, a large amount of aid materials to China, as well as important materials purchased by the National Government from abroad, needed to enter China. As various ports fell, Hong Kong became the only port still navigable. After the supplies landed in Hong Kong, they entered the mainland via the Hong Kong-Kowloon Railway.

Just when the Hong Kong-Kowloon railway transportation was busy, Long Yun, the then chairman of Yunnan Province, proposed to Jiang Jieshi to build the Burma Highway.

Long Yun believed that the Japanese We will definitely find ways to cut off these transportation lines and build the Burma Highway without further delay. Sure enough, when the National Government's road construction experts went to Kunming to discuss road construction with Long Yun, that is, in October 1937, the Japanese began to bomb the Hong Kong-Kowloon Railway;

Not only that, the Japanese People also tried to cut off the channel between China and Vietnam. Frequent bombings began in 1938 on the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and Guangxi-Vietnam Railway. In the same year, construction of the Burma Highway began.

Yunnan is located in the Three Parallel Rivers area, with many mountains and large rivers. It is not an exaggeration to describe the geographical conditions as "treacherous". In addition, there was a special shortage of machinery at that time. After the construction of the road began, even the Japanese did not believe that the road could be built.

But after the local people knew that this road was related to the survival of the country, they brought their own rations and tools, and men, women, old and young went into battle together. But in fact, most of the working-age men and women, old and young, have already joined the army and are on the battlefield. Most of the people who build roads are old, young, women and children. Using simple farm tools and household tools, this "anti-Japanese war lifeline" spanning the Hengduan Mountains and two major river systems was built in less than a year.

At the maximum, 200,000 people participated in road construction every day, and at the minimum, 50,000 people participated in road construction every day, with more than 3,000 deaths. Many people are buried on the roadside. It is said that there are two tombstones every 1 mile on the Burma Highway.

On December 1, 1938, the entire Burma Highway was opened to traffic. This highway runs directly from the provincial capital Kunming to Yangon Port in Myanmar, and the starting point of the section in China is in the small town of Wanding.

If we travel to Wanding now, we can still find witnesses of this history, which are the "First Milestone of the Burma Highway" and the Wanding Bridge. This bridge is also the boundary between China and Myanmar. There are two old and new bridges. The old one is the ruins of the old Wanding Bridge. The new one is the "China-Myanmar Friendship Bridge" we mentioned earlier

After the road was built, a new problem appeared: there were not so many drivers and mechanics who could repair cars. . As a result, the Southwest Transportation Office of the National Government sent a request for help to overseas Chinese leader Tan Kah Kee, who issued the "Announcement No. 6 of the Southern Overseas Chinese Association" to overseas Chinese in all Southeast Asian countries.

There are more than 3,000 overseas Chinese in total. They returned to the motherland in 9 batches and began busy transportation work. I once interviewed an old machinist named Luo Kaihu.

At that time, he was working in a restaurant owned by a relative in Malaysia. According to his recollection: I don’t know when the day started, flyers were flying all over the sky outside. He was affected by the excitement outside. After reading the announcement No. 6, he decided to return to China and recalled his thoughts at that time. When speaking, he said: I didn’t read much and worked in a restaurant since I was very young, but I still understand that everyone has a responsibility when the world prospers.

In September 1940, the Japanese army occupied Vietnam, and the Sino-Vietnamese channel was completely cut off. From then until May 1942, this highway and the mechanics working on it became the only channel for external materials to enter China.

Can you imagine how much it played a role in the war? In three years, they transported back as much as 500,000 tons of materials.

But how could the Japanese army easily allow this road to flow normally like blood vessels? According to statistics, the Japanese army dispatched 60 batches of 639 aircraft to bomb this road. Luo Kaihu recalled that every time he came by plane, there were 9 drivers and 3 drivers in a group.

Many mechanics lost their lives in the bombing. Not only that, after the bombing, they often had to participate in road construction to ensure that it could be opened to traffic as soon as possible. Weng Jiagui, an old man who participated in the transportation of the Gongguo Bridge section and was also the subject of our interview, recalled with a proud look on his face. He said that after the Gongguo Bridge was blown up, the mechanic used empty oil drums to drive the pontoon bridge. "We There’s no shortage of empty oil barrels.”

In order to preserve this only transportation line, various parties have made a lot of investment. The US Air Force in China has also dispatched thousands of aircraft to protect this road.

One of the important significances of the Expeditionary Army's entry into Myanmar was to defend Yangon and preserve this highway. However, the entry into Myanmar failed and the highway was interrupted in 1942. Afterwards, most of the expeditionary force returned to Yunnan and took on a new combat mission: to repair and open this highway. It was not until March 1945 that this interrupted communication line was opened again. Some soldiers also chose to stay in the small town of Wanding forever and continue their lives.

Now Wanding has built the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Machinists Memorial Hall and the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Machinists Memorial Hall. You can see the shadow of history through the exhibits here.

However, the mission of this town is not over yet, the story continues.

After the Yunnan-Burma Highway was interrupted, supplies entering China were transported by air, so the famous hump route emerged. However, it was risky, restrictive, and costly, and was known as a narrow escape route.

Therefore, the United States believes that it is extremely important to open up the road channel between China and India. In May of that year, it was decided to build the China-India Highway, which took 2 years and 3 months.

After arriving in Myitkyina, Myanmar, the highway divides into two roads. One road passes through Tengchong, Yunnan Province and intersects with the Burma Road in Longling. The other road passes through Nankan and intersects with the Burma Road in Wanding.

Wanding, the name of this town is once again closely linked to the Anti-Japanese War.

After the construction of the Stilwell Highway, more than 150,000 tons of materials to aid China’s Anti-Japanese War were transported.

Today, the vicissitudes of Wanding are gone. The tense atmosphere on the rear during the Anti-Japanese War is no longer there, and the Japanese planes that appear from time to time are no longer hovering overhead. But history will never forget this place. The vicissitudes of the past have led to today’s prosperity.