Долговременные оборонительные сооружения Китайско-Восточной железной дороги в Харбине
Permanent Defensive Structures of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Harbin

Summary/Abstract: Based on previously unknown data revealed in the documents of the Russian State Military Historical Archive, the article examines the problem of creating a system of fortification defense of the Sunghua Bridge in Harbin on the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1914–1918. The relevance of the study is due to the lack of special work on the history of permanent defensive structures protecting the eastern and western entrances to the railway bridge over the Sunghua River in Harbin. The source base of the study was made up of documents from the currentrecords management department of the Main Military Technical Directorate of the War Ministry and the Main Directorate of the General Staff. The paper considers projects for the construction of concrete blockhouses to protect the immediate approaches to the bridge and the surrounding area from possible attacks by Chinese bandits-hunghuzi and sabotage groups. For the first time, data on the cost, sequence and scale of planned work have been introduced into scientific circulation. A general overview of the progress of work on the construction of these facilities is presented. For the first time, data on the internal structure of the Sunghua blockhouses, their layout and technical support are published. The progress and results of the discussion on the creation of an esplanade around the blockhouses are shown. The error made by A.A.Rakhmanov during the design of the blockhouse Building No. 2 on the left (western) bank of the Sunghua River, which led to the washing away and destruction of the building during the flood of 1932, has been established. The article highlights the value of the blockhouses as unique monuments of the Russian military engineering school of the early twentieth century located in Harbin.

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