Production and supply of steel materials in base areas and liberated areas under the leadership of the Communist Party of China
Chen Xinliang (Deputy Secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection of China Iron and Steel Association)
Serial 3 (II)
Production and Supply of Iron and Steel Materials in the Liberated Areas during the War of Liberation (Part 2)
(4) The liberated areas took over the iron and steel enterprises of the Kuomintang government and resumed production
After the War of Liberation entered the stage of strategic counteroffensive, as the war progressed and the liberated areas continued to expand, the local military control commissions (hereinafter referred to as the military control committees) took over all kinds of iron and steel enterprises managed by the national government and quickly organized the resumption of production, which made great contributions to military production and the economic recovery of the liberated areas. During the War of Liberation, the steel production enterprises that took over were:
1. Yangquan Mining Bureau Iron Works [29]. On May 2, 1947, when Yangquan was liberated in Shanxi, the Chinese People's Liberation Army took over the "Yangquan Mining Bureau Iron Works" and renamed it "Yangquan Iron Works of Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region". At that time, the plant had two blast furnaces (58 cubic meters) with a daily output of 20 tons of iron; After the takeover, the No. 2 blast furnace and its ancillary equipment of the plant were demolished and transferred to Guxian County to build Guxian Iron Works. The repair of the No. 1 blast furnace began at the end of 1947, and after more than three months, the blast furnace was fully repaired and put into operation on February 26, 1948. After the plant was put into operation, it provided a large amount of cast pig iron for military production. Later, the factory was renamed "Yangquan Iron Works" and was under the jurisdiction of the North China People's Government.
2. Jinhe Commercial Co., Ltd. and Dalian Dahua Mining Co., Ltd. On July 1, 1947, Jinhe Chamber of Commerce and Dahua Mining Co., Ltd. were transferred from the Soviet Red Army to the Military Industry Department of the Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. After the handover, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the two factories quickly resumed production. The Dalian steelmaking plant was mainly based on electric furnace steelmaking, and by the end of 1947, it had returned to the level of 90 tons of steel per month. After repeated research and development, the plant succeeded in smelting qualified nickel-copper alloys for processing shell fuse lugs for the first time in the history of mainland smelting. On October 31, 1948, Dalian Metal Manufacturing Plant merged with Dalian Steelmaking Factory and was renamed Dalian Iron and Steel Factory. In the War of Liberation, the factory provided a large number of fuze alloy materials for artillery shells manufactured by various military industries, and played an important role in various battlefields of the War of Liberation, especially made a major contribution to the victory of the Huaihai Campaign, and was commended by Commander Chen Yi.
3. Anshan Iron and Steel Company [30]. On February 19, 1948, Anshan City was liberated, and the Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China took over Anshan Iron and Steel Company. On December 26, 1948, the Northeast Administrative Committee approved the establishment of Anshan Iron and Steel Company and began to organize the resumption of production. After more than one year of restoration, on April 25, 1949, the No. 2 open-hearth furnace of the steelmaking plant resumed production, and the first furnace of steel after the liberation of Anshan Iron and Steel was smelted; On April 28, the No. 1 open-hearth furnace resumed production; On June 27, 1949, the No. 2 blast furnace resumed production and officially tapped. On July 9, 1949, Anshan Iron and Steel held a grand groundbreaking ceremony, and Anshan Iron and Steel entered a period of full recovery. The resumption of production in Anshan Iron and Steel played an important role in the military production at that time and the recovery of the national economy in Northeast China after liberation.
▲Angang commencement medal. (Source)
4. Benxihu Coal and Iron Company [31]. On October 31, 1948, the city of Benxi was liberated, and on November 2, 1948, the Ministry of Industry of the Northeast Administrative Committee took over the Benxi Lake Coal and Iron Company; On November 7, the company changed its name to "Benxi Coal and Iron Company" and began to repair equipment to resume production; On November 11, the 250-kilogram electric furnace (induction furnace) of the special steel plant smelted the first furnace of special steel after the liberation of Benxi Coal and Iron Company. On July 3, 1949, the No. 2 blast furnace was repaired, on July 4, the blast furnace was produced, on July 15, the Benxi Coal and Iron Company held a grand groundbreaking ceremony, and on October 1, the No. 1 blast furnace was repaired. Benxihu Coal and Iron Company has entered the stage of full resumption of production.
5. Fushun Steel Mill. On October 31, 1948, Fushun was liberated, and on November 6, the Fushun Military Control Commission took over the Fushun Steel Mill and began to resume production; On December 6, the No. 6 3-ton electric furnace of the steelmaking plant smelted the first furnace of steel after the liberation of Fushun, and then the original 1-ton and 5-ton electric furnaces were restored one after another. The electric furnace of Fushun Steel Mill was put into operation, providing a large amount of special steel for military production.
6. Shenyang Internship Factory Steelmaking Plant. On November 2, 1948, Shenyang, the largest city in Northeast China, was liberated, and the Shenyang Military Control Commission took over the Shenyang Trainee Factory Steelmaking Plant and resumed production.
7. Longyan iron ore. On December 7, 1948, Xuanhua was liberated, and the Chahar Provincial People's Government took over the Longyan Iron Mine of North China Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. of the Resources Committee of the National Government. In February 1949, the North China People's Government officially managed the four factories and one mine under Longyan Iron Mine; In July 1949, the mine and oxygen plant resumed production. After the resumption of production of Longyan Iron Mine, it provided important iron ore raw materials for the recovery of Shijingshan Iron and Steel Plant.
7. Longyan iron ore. On December 7, 1948, Xuanhua was liberated, and the Chahar Provincial People's Government took over the Longyan Iron Mine of North China Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. of the Resources Committee of the National Government. In February 1949, the North China People's Government officially managed the four factories and one mine under Longyan Iron Mine; In July 1949, the mine and oxygen plant resumed production. After the resumption of production of Longyan Iron Mine, it provided important iron ore raw materials for the recovery of Shijingshan Iron and Steel Plant.
▲On December 7, 1948, Xuanhua was liberated, and Longyan Iron Mine was taken over by the Chahar Provincial People's Government. In February 1949, the North China People's Government took over the Longyan Iron Mine and its subordinate four factories and one mine. (Source)
8. Tangshan Steel Mill. On December 12, 1948, Tangshan City was liberated, and the Industrial and Mining Enterprise Division of the Tangshan Military Control Commission took over the "Tangshan Steel Mill of North China Iron and Steel Company" on the same day, and changed its name to "Tangshan Steel Mill"; On December 13, the plant's 1-ton and 6-ton iron furnaces, 1 7-ton electric furnace and 1 4-ton acid air side blowing converter, 1 set of 400 mm diameter ×1/250 mm diameter ×4 small rolling mill and refractory workshop fully resumed production.
9. Shijingshan Iron and Steel Plant. On December 17, 1948, Shijingshan was liberated in Beiping City, and on December 19, the Beiping Military Control Commission took over the "Shijingshan Iron and Steel Plant of North China Iron and Steel Company" and renamed it "Shijingshan Iron and Steel Plant"; As soon as the military control took over, it began to resume production. On January 9, 1949, the foundry resumed production, on April 21, the coke oven resumed production, and on June 26, the No. 1 blast furnace with a capacity of 250 tons per day resumed production.
10. Tianjin Steel Mill. On January 15, 1949, Tianjin was liberated, and the Tianjin Municipal Military Control Commission took over the "Tianjin Steel Mill of North China Iron and Steel Company", and set up the main plant and branch plant, implemented unified management, and began to organize the resumption of production; At the end of May 1949, the 25-ton Martin furnace (i.e. open-hearth) was repaired and steelmaking began, and the small and medium-sized rolling mills resumed production.
11. Taiyuan Northwest Iron and Steel Plant. On April 20, 1949, the Taiyuan Military Control Commission took over the Northwest Iron and Steel Plant, and began to resume production after the takeover, and from April 25, it took only one month to resume the production of 1 coke oven, 2 blast furnaces (103 cubic meters and 287 cubic meters respectively), 2 30-ton open-hearth furnaces and 1 medium-sized rolling mill; On May 20, the first molten steel furnace of Taiyuan Liberation was smelted in the open-hearth furnace, and the Northwest Iron and Steel Plant basically resumed production.
12. Ma'anshan Branch of Central China Mining Bureau. On April 23, 1949, Nanjing was liberated, and the Nanjing Municipal Military Control Commission took over the Ma'anshan Branch of the East China Mining Bureau, the Resources Committee of the National Government.
13. Shanghai Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. and many other bureaucratic capital enterprises [32]. After the liberation of Shanghai on May 27, 1949, the East China Military and Political Commission took over seven bureaucratic capital enterprises in Shanghai and quickly organized the resumption of production. On May 30, 1949, the Shanghai Military Control Commission took over the Shanghai Cold Casting Wheel Pilot Plant, and resumed production on June 2 and began casting train wheels; On July 11, Shanghai Iron and Steel Plant No. 2 resumed production line rods; On July 12, the open-hearth furnace of Shanghai Iron and Steel No. 3 Plant began to tap steel; On July 23, the open-hearth furnace of Shanghai Iron and Steel Plant No. 1 was restored. On June 24, 1949, the Shanghai Military Control Commission took over the Shanghai Ceramics Factory and resumed production. On July 18, 1949, the Shanghai Military Control Commission took over the Daxin Iron and Steel Plant, and on August 16, production resumed and steel castings and iron castings began. On July 21, 1949, Nichia Steel Plant resumed production. On October 19, 1949, the Shanghai Military Control Commission took over the Asia Steel Plant, resumed production on July 1, and the electric furnace began to tap steel on July 11.
14. Huazhong Iron and Steel Company [33]. On May 15, 1949, Huangshi, Hubei Province was liberated. On May 27, 1949, when the Wuhan Municipal Military Control Commission took over the Nationalist Government, it was called Huazhong Iron and Steel Company, and on June 13, it was renamed Wuhan Military Control Commission Huazhong Iron and Steel Company. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, the Nationalist Government built a 66 cubic meter blast furnace, two 1.5-ton converters and a set of 250 mm and one set of 430 mm rolling mills that had not yet been installed, but they were not completed and put into operation; After the takeover, construction was resumed, and the converter project and 250 mm rolling mill were completed, producing 53 tons of steel and 92 tons of steel that year.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the iron and steel enterprises in the southwest region were successively received
When the People's Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949, the southwest region had not yet been liberated. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the liberation of the southwest region, the iron and steel enterprises in the southwest region were successively received, mainly as follows:
1. The 29th Arsenal of the Chongqing Ordnance Industry Bureau [34]. Chongqing was liberated on November 30, 1949, and on December 3, the Chongqing Municipal Military Control Commission sent people to the 29th Arsenal of the Chongqing Ordnance Industry Bureau, and on December 6, it officially took over the factory and organized the resumption of production; In January 1950, the open-hearth furnace began to be repaired, and on April 2, 1950, the first molten steel furnace after the liberation of Chongqing was smelted and cast into steel ingots; The blast furnace with a daily output of 20 tons of iron was repaired on March 21, 1950, and production began on April 6. The blast furnace with a daily output of 100 tons of iron was repaired and officially put into operation on July 1, 1951. The rail rolling mill was repaired on May 10, 1950 and production began.
▲The 29th Arsenal of Chongqing Ordnance Industry Bureau. (Source)
2. The 24th Arsenal of the Chongqing Ordnance Industry Administration [35]. On November 30, 1949, Chongqing Municipality was liberated, and on December 7, the Chongqing Municipal Military Control Commission sent military representatives to take over the 24th Factory of the Ordnance Industry Administration of the National Government. On February 3, 1950, a 3-ton electric furnace in the first steelmaking workshop of the plant was repaired and put into operation; By the end of March, 2 sets of rolling mills were repaired and put into operation; In December, the original 3-ton "Jihui furnace" was replaced with a 3-ton molar electric furnace made in the United States and put into production.
3. China Industrial Corporation [36]. After the liberation of Chongqing on November 30, 1949, the Chongqing Municipal Military Control Commission took over the China Industrial Company. The company has 1 30-ton iron-making furnace per day, 2 iron-making furnaces with a daily output of 5 tons (including the 5-ton iron-making furnace of Fuling Iron Works), 1 10-ton steelmaking open-hearth furnace, 1 1-ton electric furnace, 1 1-ton Bessemer converter, 1 set of 10-inch (inch) triple five-frame steel bar mill, 1 set of 18-inch (inch) triple four-frame steel bar mill and 1 set of light rail rolling mill. In the first half of 1950, the takeover of the plant was initially completed and production began to resume.
4. Yunnan China Electric Power Steel Mill and Yunnan Iron and Steel Plant [37]. On March 8, 1950, Yunnan Province was peacefully liberated, and the Kunming Military Control Commission took over the China Power Steel Plant and Yunnan Iron and Steel Plant of the Nationalist Government. The China Power Steel Mill mainly consists of one 1-ton electric furnace, air hammer and mill. The plant is designed to produce 40 tons of steel ingots and 30 tons of steel products per month. Yunnan Iron and Steel Plant has built 1 50-ton iron blast furnace (71 cubic meters) and 2 1.5-ton Bessemer converters per day. On April 7, 1950, the electric furnace of China Electric Power Steel Plant resumed production, and on March 24, 1952, the blast furnace of Yunnan Iron and Steel Plant resumed production.
5. Sichuan Weiyuan Iron Works [38]. In August 1950, Sichuan was liberated, and the Weiyuan Iron Works was taken over by the representatives of the Military Control Committee of the Southern Sichuan Administrative Office. The plant has a blast furnace with a daily output of 15 tons. On September 25, 1950, the blast furnace of the plant resumed production, and the name of the plant was changed to "Weiyuan Iron and Steel Plant, South Sichuan District Industrial Bureau".
These iron and steel enterprises that took over the national government in the War of Liberation played an important role in the war, on the one hand, they provided materials for military production and met the needs of military production; On the other hand, it stabilized the society, provided a solid foundation for the recovery of the entire national economy, and supported the recovery and development of the national economy in the early days of liberation. However, these factories were severely damaged in the war, most of the factories and mines had incomplete production equipment, and there was a serious loss of engineering and technical personnel and workers. It is based on these takeover iron and steel enterprises that the difficult start of the new Chinese steel industry has begun.
V. Conclusion
To build a military industry, it is necessary to have the support of steel materials. In order to meet the needs of the war, the base areas and liberated areas under the leadership of the Communist Party of China have on the one hand captured the enemy's weapons and ammunition through the war, and on the other hand, they have always adhered to self-reliance, worked hard to establish their own military industries, and vigorously developed the production of iron and steel materials to ensure military production. From the establishment of the Jinggangshan Base Area in August 1927 to the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, from the perspective of the entire revolutionary war period, the amount of steel materials produced in the base areas and the liberated areas was not very large, but it was these small quantities of steel materials that ensured the military production in the base areas and the liberated areas and made great contributions to the establishment of New China.
Annotation:
[29] Shanxi Provincial Institute of History, ed., Shanxi Tongzhi - Metallurgical Industry Chronicles, Beijing, Zhonghua Book Company, December 1999, first edition, p. 790
Shougang Changzhi Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., ed., "Centennial Luda", Metallurgical Industry Press, November 2014, first edition
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[30] Li Huazhong, Zhang Yu, eds., Forty Years of Angang, Liaoning People's Publishing House, June 1989, first edition, p. 21, p. 207~p. 208
Anshan Local Chronicles Office, Anshan during the Liberation War, May 1987, p. 33
[31] Benxi Iron & Steel Group Co., Ltd., "Metallurgical History and Culture Series - Benxi Iron and Steel History and Painting", Metallurgical Industry Press, September 2017, first edition, p. 54~p. 55
[32] Shanghai Metallurgical Holding (Group) Co., Ltd., Iron and Steel Chronicles, Shanghai Iron and Steel Industry Journal, December 2001, 1st Edition, pp. 4 and 17
[33] Hubei Provincial Local Chronicles Compilation Committee, Hubei Provincial Chronicles-Metallurgical Industry Chronicles, China Book Publishing House, 1989, 1st edition, overview, pp. 8 and 28
[34] Chongqing Chronicles Editorial Office, "Heavy Steel Chronicles (1936-2003)", internal distribution, December 1987, "Memorabilia", p. 54
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[35] Sichuan Provincial Metallurgical Industry Department, Metallurgical Chronicle Editorial Office, Chronology of Sichuan Metallurgical Industry (1685-1985), January 1987, p. 37
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[36] Chongqing Chronicles Editorial Office, "Heavy Steel Chronicles (1936-2003)", internal distribution, December 1987, p. 20
[37] Yunnan Provincial Local Chronicles Compilation Committee, "Yunnan Provincial Chronicles-Metallurgical Industry Chronicles", Yunnan People's Publishing House, May 1995, 1st edition, pp. 17~18, 351, 362
[38] Sichuan Provincial Metallurgical Industry Department, Metallurgical Chronicle Editorial Office, Sichuan Metallurgical Industry Chronology (1685-1985), January 1987, p. 41
Sichuan Provincial Local Chronicles Compilation Committee, Sichuan Provincial Chronicles - Metallurgical Industry, Sichuan Science and Technology Publishing House, January 1992, first edition, p. 105