Into Former Battlefields of War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression: The Tale of Huangyadong Arsenal

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chinese army was severely under-equipped. Yet secretly, there was a place producing over 400 rifles and 2,000 shells a month—enough to supply 16 regiments annually. That hidden powerhouse was Huangyadong—nestled deep in the folds of the Taihang Mountains, in Licheng County of north China's Shanxi province.

Tucked among cliffs on three sides, Huangyadong was accessible only via a narrow mountain trail. Concealed within was the munitions factory. The Eighth Route Army rigged mines and built fortifications along the path to stop the invaders. In the Defense of Huangyadong, our troops fought eight grueling days and nights against an enemy five times their size, suffering 166 casualties while inflicting over 1,000 on the enemy force—an astonishing 6:1 ratio.