1937, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out in an all-round way, and the Japanese army quickly occupied the Beijing-Tianjin area in the north of China, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hankou, Guangzhou and other eastern/central and southern regions. At that time, not only major cities fell, but also most industries and almost all coastal ports fell into the hands of the Japanese army, thus blocking the already scarce China maritime aid channel. The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, the only remaining international transport corridor in China, was also almost shut down due to the destruction of the Japanese army. In this context, the originally planned Yunnan-Myanmar Highway has almost become the hope of saving material transportation.
Long Yun, Chairman of Yunnan Province, ordered the places along the highway to start construction before the end of 1937, and to build a simple highway that can be opened to traffic within three months. This kind of road only needs to level the subgrade, spread gravel and flatten it with a roller. About 200,000 people from all ethnic groups along the line were recruited to the construction site. Because young and middle-aged people are basically on the front line, the builders are mostly old people, women and children. Coupled with the lack of construction machinery, these workers can only use their flesh and blood to open up a road thousands of miles long.
At the end of August, 1938, after the unremitting efforts of 200,000 people, the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway was finally opened to traffic. Due to the tense situation of Wuhan Battle and the urgent need for strategic materials, the highway was put into use without any opening ceremony. Yunnan Daily published an editorial saying that the completion of the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway is like building a powerful pipeline for China. However, the birth of this miracle was bought with 3000 lives. During the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, this highway was the only passage between China and the outside world. In the three years since the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway was opened to traffic, 500,000 tons of military supplies, more than 5000 vehicles/kloc-0, and countless materials have been rushed, which is an out-and-out lifeline to support the war of resistance.