Meanwhile, to help all employees gain an in-depth understanding of and fully embrace Lapsen’s corporate culture and vision, the company organized a patriotic education event at the Memorial Park of the Songshan Battle Site in Longling, China, where staff mourned revolutionary martyrs and kept history firmly in mind.

Songshan Mountain in Yunnan was the main battlefield of the Western Yunnan Anti-Japanese War in World War II. It belongs to the Gaoligong Mountain Range of the Hengduan Mountains System and consists of more than twenty peaks of varying sizes. Standing atop its main peak at an altitude of 2,200 meters, one can overlook the magnificent Nu River Gorge, the world’s second-largest canyon, to the north, east and south. The towering cliffs on the east bank of the Nu River stand opposite Songshan Mountain on the west bank, forming the perilous natural barrier of the Nu River with surging waves and jagged peaks piercing the clouds. After crossing the Nu River via Huitong Bridge, the renowned Yunnan-Myanmar Highway winds along the precipices of the mountain for over forty kilometers. Boasting a terrain that fits the description "one man guarding the pass can hold ten thousand at bay", it is a strategic choke point of the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway and was dubbed the "Gibraltar of the East" by American military strategists. The Battle of Songshan, one of the largest military campaigns in southern China during World War II, was fought here.

Veterans give an overview introduction of the memorial park

One of the main battlefield sites of the Songshan Campaign during the Western Yunnan Anti-Japanese War

Witness Tree

This scarred, pockmarked yet surviving Witness Tree of wartime history seems to be preserved on purpose to remind future generations never to forget history or the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country, standing as the finest testimony to the past.

Veterans explain the geographical layout of the Songshan Campaign battlefield

Zigao Highland on the main peak served as the core position of the Japanese army’s Songshan stronghold. After seizing this area in 1942, the Japanese hollowed out the mountain top and built two huge bunkers over ten meters deep on both sides to secure the stronghold. In August 1944, the Chinese Expeditionary Force launched an uphill assault on the main peak of Songshan from Daoren Pingzi at the foot of the mountain. Concentrated airstrikes and artillery barrages, as well as suicide squad charges and blasting attempts, all failed to take the position. Troops then switched to tunneling operations, digging two 150-meter explosive tunnels from the mountain base straight beneath the two enemy bunkers atop the peak. A total of 120 crates (3 tons) of TNT explosives were placed inside the tunnels. At 9:15 a.m. on August 20, the explosives were detonated, completely destroying the Japanese fortifications.

Chinese Expeditionary Force Sculpture Group

The Sculpture Group of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was officially unveiled on September 3, 2013, the 68th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Composed of 12 formations including generals, child soldiers, India-stationed troops, female soldiers, troops in summer, autumn and winter uniforms, veteran soldiers, warhorses and combat vehicles, the whole group contains 402 sculptures in total. The number symbolizes that the Chinese Expeditionary Force first marched out of China’s borders into Myanmar to fight Japanese invaders in 1942.

This patriotic education activity left all colleagues at Lapsen with profound feelings. The peaceful and happy life we enjoy today was bought with the blood and tears of revolutionary martyrs. We will inherit and carry forward the glorious traditions of the martyrs, stay down-to-earth and fully dedicate ourselves to our daily work. Lapsen will continue to make due contributions to the country and society. We are committed to realizing manpower replacement by machinery, personnel reduction through automation and fully unmanned operation for submerged arc furnace production and other high-risk industries. Guided by our vision of "To eliminate dangerous jobs worldwide", we sincerely pray for world peace.