The Martyrs Memorial Tower of Yangshan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery stands atop the cemetery at an altitude of 96 metres. The tower is 17.5 metres high. Modelled after the Monument to the People's Heroes in Beijing, it adopts a hollow brick and cement structure. Its base is 3 metres high, with a length and width of 7 metres each.

On the front face are seven large characters Martyrs Memorial Tower, collected from Mao Zedong’s handwriting. On the back is an inscription written by General Liu Bocheng on December 1, 1952 for the preparation and construction of Yangshan Martyrs Cemetery in Jinxiang County: The Southwest Shandong Campaign waged by the People’s Liberation Army opened the gateway for the strategic counteroffensive and the march toward the Yangtze River. The fallen officers and soldiers will always be remembered by the people, and their spirit will endure forever.

Beneath the tower is a brief introduction to the Southwest Shandong Campaign, which reads in full:

"Under the leadership of Comrades Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, and in accordance with the strategic deployment of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao, our Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army broke through the natural barrier of the Yellow River on the night of June 30, 1947. It advanced into Yuncheng, Heze, Dingtao, Caoxian, Juye, Jinxiang and other areas and launched the famous Southwest Shandong Campaign.

From July 1 to 28, our army concentrated superior forces and fought successive arduous and fierce battles. We wiped out the headquarters of four reorganized divisions and nine and a half brigades of Kuomintang regular troops, totalling 56,000 men. We captured senior military officers including Lieutenant General Chen Yiding, Commander of the 70th Reorganized Division, and Lieutenant General Song Ruike, Commander of the 66th Reorganized Division.

This victory cleared the path for the PLA to march into the Central Plains and leap into the Dabie Mountains. It marked the turning point from strategic defence to strategic offence for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, ushering in a great turning point in China’s revolutionary struggle and creating favourable conditions for the final nationwide victory."

The construction of the memorial tower was led by the civil affairs department and presided over by Yang Shaotang, former director of the martyrs cemetery. Construction began in the spring of 1974 and was completed in the autumn of 1975 after more than one year. More than 60 bluestone steps were built, leading straight up to the tower.

In January 1988, it was approved by the People’s Government of Shandong Province as one of the first Provincial Key Protected Martyr Memorial Buildings