In the early morning of December 23, 1937, the sky was hazy and the clouds were low, seeming to be whimpering to tell the story of the suffering of the Chinese people. The highway bridge on the upper level of the Qiantang River Bridge over Hangzhou Bay was opened urgently without the guardrails on both sides being installed. There were no flowers, no applause, and no ceremony. Instead, there were military trucks and refugees swarming in. . This China's first road-rail dual-purpose bridge independently designed and built by the Chinese has endured too many hardships. It was under emergency construction amidst the rumble of Japanese artillery, and was urgently opened under the bombing of Japanese aircraft. A large number of refugees passed through it. The bridge took refuge in other places, and a large amount of military supplies were transported to the front line through this bridge. However, just 89 days later, the bridge was blown up by its designer and builder, Mr. Mao Yisheng. After that, the Qiantang River Bridge was blown up three times again. It was not until 1953, when New China was founded and the Chinese people stood up, that this glorious bridge was completely repaired. Today, more than 80 years have passed, and this bridge with a design life of 50 years is still in normal use.
Qiantang River Bridge next to Liuhe Pagoda
The Qiantang River Bridge had an ill-fated fate. It can be said that it was born at the wrong time. After the July 7th Incident, the iron hoof of Japanese imperialism trampled on the Central Plains, and during the Battle of Songhu, the Qiantang River Bridge, which was so close at hand, was hardly spared. In the final construction stage, the bridge was covered while being constructed. In order to prevent Japanese bombing, the bridge builders tried their best. After the fall of Shanghai, the Japanese army attacked Nanjing along the Shanghai-Nanjing Line. The other Japanese army turned around and approached Hangzhou. In order to delay the Japanese attack, the Nanjing authorities ordered that the Qiantang River Bridge must be blown up before December 15.
The Qiantang River Bridge under construction
Looking at the passing vehicles and the fleeing people, Mr. Mao Yisheng, director of the Bridge Engineering Department and who personally designed and built the bridge, had mixed feelings. At that time, the Qiantang River road-rail dual-purpose bridge designed and built by China had just been opened for more than two months. In order to rush to transport supplies and for the sake of the people fleeing, Mao Yisheng took the risk and delayed it for seven days. It was not until December 23 that the Japanese army was approaching Hangzhou, and Mao Yisheng ordered the bridge to be closed. At 5 p.m., it was almost dark. , the mist on the Qiantang River curled up, and Mao Yisheng ordered to detonate the explosives that had been installed. With a loud "bang", and in the huge fire and smoke, the No. 2 pier and the No. 14 pier of the bridge were The bridge pier collapsed and the huge steel beam sank into the rough Qiantang River.
The bridge was blown up
Before the Qiantang River Bridge, there were two bridges in China, but they were both designed and built by foreigners. The geological and hydrological conditions of the Qiantang River were extremely poor, and the water at the bottom of the river was The quicksand is 41 meters deep and the tide is unpredictable. It is said that "the Qiantang River has no bottom". Foreigners admit that it is impossible to build a bridge on the Qiantang River. The engineers to build the Qiantang River Bridge have not yet been born in China! Mao Yisheng gave up his generous salary as a professor at Peiyang University and was invited by Zeng Yangfu, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Construction, to come to Hangzhou resolutely, determined to build China's own bridge. Mr. Mao Yisheng led Chinese engineers to overcome various difficulties and invented more than 80 world bridge construction patents. It took just more than two years and cost only 5.1 million yuan to build the bridge under the bombing of Japanese aircraft.
Two Japs looked at the bombed Qiantang River Bridge
After the bridge was blown up, Mao Yisheng had a sleepless night. He wrote on a piece of paper: The war of resistance will be won. This bridge must be restored. In fact, after the July 7th Incident, the highest authorities and builders had already anticipated the fate of the bridge. Mao Yisheng reserved holes for placing explosives at the No. 2 pier on the south bank and the No. 14 pier in the middle. With the failure of the Songhu Battle, the Japanese army was approaching Nanjing and Hangzhou. The bridge must not be left to the Japanese. It must be blown up. Although the Qiantang River Bridge has only been opened for less than three months, the trains and cars passing through the bridge have transported a large amount of supplies, and the bridge has contributed a lot to the evacuation of one million refugees.
Retreating soldiers and fleeing refugees
In view of the importance of the Qiantang River Bridge, the Japanese army who occupied Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangzhou tried to repair the bridge, but it was not until early 1944 that the lower level was barely repaired. The railway bridge and the upper road bridge have never been restored. However, the Japanese army had just repaired it and before they had time to deliver supplies, the bridge was blown up again by local guerrillas. In 1945, Japan was at the end of its rope and failure was inevitable. In order to rush to transport supplies for the invasion of China, the Japanese army repaired the bridge again on the eve of its surrender. However, the guerrillas blew up the No. 5 pier of the bridge again overnight.
At this point, until the Japanese army surrendered, there was no time to repair the Qiantang River Bridge again.
At the groundbreaking ceremony of the bridge
In May 1949, the Liberation War was coming to an end and the Kuomintang's defeat was a foregone conclusion. The Kuomintang engineering troops retreating south once again blew up the railway track part of the bridge, but Due to the protection of the underground party, other parts of the bridge were not damaged. In September 1953, New China engineers completely repaired the bridge. Until now, the Qiantang River Bridge is still operating normally and has never undergone major repairs. The repairs carried out in 2000 only replaced the panels on the bridge deck. Qiantang River Bridge Jiang Bridge still stands on the Qiantang River. It tells people about the sufferings of the past and the happiness of today.