Nantong was one of the first areas in Jiangsu to establish the Communist Party of China organization and spread revolutionary ideas. In 1926, the first CPC organization in Nantong, the Independent Nantong Branch of the CPC, was established.

From 1926 to 1927, more CPC branches were established in the city, including the first substitute normal school branch of the CPC Jiangsu, the CPC Rugao branch, the CPC (Rugao) Xiamanzao branch, the CPC Yingxi branch, and the CPC (Haimen) Santiaoqiao branch.

Starting from 1927, with the approval of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, Rugao, Nantong, and Haimen established CPC leading bodies at the county level.

During the Agrarian Revolutionary War period (1927-37), Nantong was the central area of the Tonghai Rutai Red Army guerrilla region, becoming one of nine early revolutionary bases in the country.

The Central Jiangsu Resistance against Japanese Aggression Base Area was the base for the first Division of the New Fourth Army and the local CPC organizations to fight against Japanese invaders in Yangzhou, Taizhou, and Nantong during China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945). It was surrounded by Japanese-occupied areas.

The Nantong revolutionary base fought for the longest time in Jiangsu during the war.

During the Agrarian Revolutionary War period, the Tonghai Rutai Red Army guerrilla region was established.

At the end of 1929, the Central Military Commission consented to the proposal of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and decided to establish the first official Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in Jiangsu.

On April 3, 1930, a conference attended by tens of thousands of peasants was held in Benjiaxiang, Rugao, during which the 14th Red Army was established.

During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Nantong was part of the Central Jiangsu Resistance against Japanese Aggression Base Area.

In November 1940, the General Headquarters for the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army in Central China was established in Hai'an.

On April 20, 1941, the inaugural meeting of the Central Jiangsu Military Region was held in ancient Bencha town.

In the spring of 1943, soldiers and civilians in Nantong entered the cruelest and most arduous period of struggle against Japanese aggression.

During the War of Liberation (1945-49), Nantong was an important part of the Central China Liberated Zone. Of the seven victories in the Central Jiangsu Military Region, five battles were fought at the Nantong base.

The Nantong base was one of the bases in Jiangsu that contributed the most to the resistance against Japanese aggression.

First, unlike all other revolutionary bases located in remote areas where Japanese power was weak, Nantong was located close to Japanese-occupied areas and only one day's travel from Nanjing.

Therefore, it directly deterred the enemy's ruling center and was particularly effective in threatening and restraining the Japanese army.

Second, unlike most revolutionary bases, which were located in mountainous areas and difficult to access and easy to defend, the Nantong base was in the Jianghai Plain.

Third, people in Nantong made considerable sacrifices for the Chinese revolution.

By the time the Chinese revolution achieved final victory, tens of thousands of people in Nantong had sacrificed their own lives and property.

Nearly 20,000 revolutionary martyrs (accounting for one fifth of the total number of martyrs in Jiangsu) were Nantong natives.

Editor-in-chief: Yu Lei

Editor: Wang Yun

Photo by Gu Yao

Translated by Wang Haifei from the Shanghai Waiyuan Translation Agency