Zhenhai Relics of Coastal Defense Works

Zhenhai is an important place with flourishing business and shipping industry withShandong Province to its north and Fujian and Guangdong provinces to its south.The couplet inscribed at Banshan Pavilion says，“Hundreds of ships are eager to sail to the foreign sea and Mount Zhaobao invites the treasure and enriches the middle land.”It can be regarded as a vivid reflection of the prosperity of shipping industry in history.Zhenhai，as an important military site historically，has been named as an important coastal town and the throat of Zhe jiang Province.It was recorded that Zhenhai had witnessed 46 battles of various types since the Eastern Jin Dynasty.Since the middle period of the Ming Dynasty，Zhenhai has gone through many wars of resistance against foreign aggression by Britain，France，and Japan，and left us many heroic and moving deeds and precious relics of coastal defense works.In the area of less than 2 square kilometers around the river mouth，there are over 30 sites of coastal defense works left from different historical periods.Now Zhenhai Relics of Coastal Defense Works have been listed in the 100 National Patriotism Educational Bases，such as National Educational Bases for Teenagers，Provincial Patriotism Educational Bases，Provincial Educational Base of National Defense，and Provincial Patriotism Educational Bases for Women.In November，1996，they were honored as the National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Zhenhai Seaport Coastal Defense Historical Memorial Hall is located at the foothill of Mount Zhaobao，the original battle field in history，covering an area of 2，000 square meters and a total floor space of 3，200 square meters with an investment of 21 million yuan in total.

During the middle period of the Ming Dynasty，the Japanese pirates colluded with illegal merchants and made consecutive harassments in the areas of Jiangsu，Zhe jiang，Fujian，and Guangdong Provinces.They committed crimes of all types including attacking the city reaving the strongholds，killing civilians，setting fires，raping，and plundering.The harassments of Japanese arose fierce resistance of the military army and civilians in Zhejiang Province.The government of Ming’s Court appointed grand army to drive away the Japanese pirates.Famous generals such as Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang guarded Zhenhai successively.They were engaged in fierce battles against the Japanese pirates repeatedly and gained prestige all across the country.

During the First Opium War period，Zhoushan was lost to the enemy and Zhenhai became the outpost position of Anti-British war.Ge Yunfei，the well-known anti-British military officer，was once responsible for the defense of Zhenhai；Lin Zexu，the outstanding national hero and Yu Qian，the imperial envoy were present at the town to supervise the combat.The patriotic soldiers and civilians shared a common hatred and were engaged in bloody battles against British armed forces.All these obviously showed their national moral integrity and courage.During the period of Anti-French War，Guba，the French Far East Armada Commander，led his army to trespass on Zhenhai Seaport.Officials including Liu Bingzhang，the Grand Coordinator of Zhe jiang Province，Ouyang Lijian，the official of Zhe jiang Province，Xue Fucheng，the officer of Ningbo and Shaoxing were leading the army to resist the enemies.Wu Jie，the guard of emplacement operated the artillery himself and severely wounded the army of Guba，forcing the enemy to retreat and brought their attempt of threatening the capital of China to an end.During the Zhenhai Battle of Anti-French War，they witnessed several victories of considerable scale and wrote a glorious chapter in the history of the resistance war of foreign invasion.

In the anti-Japanese war of the 20th century，the civilians and army of Zhenhai alsorepelled many attacks of Japanese forces.On July 17，1940，the Japanese invading army landed on Zhenhai from the city gate and the Beilun Harbor.The civilians and army of Zhenhai involved themselves into harsh combats against the invaders，wounding and killing the enemies of more than 400，which caused the enemies into a panic retreat.On the land of heroes，patriotic personages of one generation after another have forged the national spirit of non-fearing of ferocious adversary，stubborn resistance of foreign invasion and constant striving for self-improvement with their own flesh and blood，leaving a vivid teaching material of patriotism to later generations.

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