1. Battles Fought on the Great Wall of China -
Battle of Shanghai Pass, Battle of Rehe,
Construction by Ming Dynasty
The Great Wall of China was initially built as separated walls
by different states before the unification of China to protect
their land from invasions. After the Qin Dynasty proved to be
the most powerful and took over most of the lands, Emperor
Qin Shi Huang connected several walls and built the first Great
Wall of China between 220–206 BC, and, thus, called “10,000
li Wall.” The wall was established to prevent any invasion
attempts and savage attacks by the northern nomadic tribes and
dynasties. However, Genghis Khan, a known leader who united
northern nomadic tribes, was able to penetrate the wall and
able to conquer northern China, which spread all over the
country later on. After the Mongol Empire, China was once
again back to the leadership of their countrymen; this time, the
Ming Dynasty emerged to be the most powerful. During the
Ming Dynasty, the concept of the Great Wall was revived once again. The Ming Dynasty
revived, reconstruct, and further elongated the Great Wall of China under its 10 year project.
They adopted the strategies used by Mongols to penetrate the walls. They further extended it
to the desert where the nomadic tribes used to came from. Unlike the earlier walls, Ming used
bricks and stones instead of rammed earth to strengthen it, and devoted on reconstruction and
repair of the walls as Mongols continued their attempts. This explains why others claim that
the construction of the Great Wall of China was
finished in 1644 under the Ming Dynasty.
723 beacon towers and 7,062 lookout towers of today
complete Great Wall of China can explain that the
“wall” was purposely built for protection reasons. As
told, they were initially built as barriers between states
during the Warring Period, and later between the land
of Qin Dynasty and the northern dynasties. They also
tactically served, although proven not successful in
driving away invaders, to slow down invading
attempts to penetrate into the Qin’s land. However,
unlike other defense mechanisms of any country
today, the Great Wall of China costs no amount upon
building. Men that physically contributed to building
the structure received no amount in hand. They were
forced to labor, establishing the Great Wall during the
Qin Dynasty. They were pushed to work as slaves
under the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Rumors
even said that thousands of workers died in fatigue and starvation, and that their bodies were
buried in the wall itself. During the early times, the Great Wall of China justified its purpose
of stopping war between dynasties, but not until the Mongol invaders penetrated the wall and
invade most of China. To the right is a picture of a Beacon tower.

2. Another famous penetration in the wall was the known first Battle of Shanhai Pass in
Shanhaiguan in 1644. This is a decisive battle of Qing over the Ming Dynasty, which
signaled the end of the Ming Dynasty and crowned Qing to reign over China, making Qing
Dynasty the last dynasty in the history of China. Additionally, conflicts again arose in the
Great Wall of China between Chinese and Japanese soldiers.
During the 20th century, several bloody battles had been witnessed by the Great Wall of
China; one of those was the second Battle of the Shanhai Pass. In 1901 at Shanhaiguan, the
extreme eastern end of the Great Wall of China, the Chinese 626th regiment of the
Northeastern Army met the Japanese 8th division using 4 armored trains and 10 tanks
supported by warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s IJN 2nd Fleet with a dozen warships
offshore. This battle cost the resignation of Chinese regimental commander Shi Shian, in
January 3 of 1933, and lives of half of his men and around 500 Japanese soldiers, on the other
hand.
Next was the Battle of Rehe. It started on February 23, 1933, when the Japanese Army
launched an offensive action on the Chinese forces in Rehe. Attacks continued until the
Japanese took Chengde, the capital of Rehe, in March 4, 1933. Following that time, the Great
Wall of China served as the main defense of the Chinese soldiers. 32nd Corps led by Wan
Fulin retreated to Lengkou Pass, the 29th Corps of General Song Zheyuan also fell back,
Zhang Zuoxiang’s 37th Division retreated to Xifengkou Pass, and General Guan Linzheng’s
25th Division to the Gubeikou Pass. Three days after, the revolutionary armies managed to
hold Lengkou Pass and, further, withstood Japanese attacks in Gubeikou Pass.
Although underarmed, the Chinese soldiers fought within the Great Wall with only their
swords, some mortars, handgun, a few heavy machine guns, some light machine guns, and
rifles. After several days of seesaw battles, the Chinese retreated from one sector of the Great
Wall to another to hold on to the wall as much as possible and try to make offense. But in the
end, the Japanese emerged victorious and took over. Once again, during the Chinese-
Japanese conflicts, although failed to prevent war, the Great Wall of China served to protect
its people to its purpose.