Defense of the Great Wall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Defense of the Great Wall | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second Sino-Japanese War | |||||||
 Chinese defenders overlooking a section of the Great Wall of China |
|||||||
|
|||||||
| Combatants | |||||||
 Republic of China National Revolutionary Army |
 Empire of Japan Imperial Japanese Army |
||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Zhang Xueliang He Yingqin |
Nobuyoshi Muto | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ? | ? | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| ? | ? | ||||||
| Second Sino-Japanese War |
|---|
| Major engagements in bold Mukden - Manchuria -(Jiangqiao - Nenjiang Bridge - Chinchow - Harbin) -Shanghai (1932) -Pacification of Manchukuo - Operation Nekka - ( Rehe - Great Wall) - Suiyuan - Marco Polo Bridge - Beiping-Tianjin - Chahar - Shanghai (1937) (Sihang Warehouse) - Beiping-Hankou Railway - Tianjin-Pukou Railway - Taiyuan - (Pingxingguan) - Xinkou - Nanjing - Xuzhou- Taierzhuang - N.-E.Henan - (Lanfeng) - Amoy - Wuhan-(Wanjialing)- Canton - (Hainan) - (Xiushui River) - Nanchang - Suixian-Zaoyang - (Swatow) - 1st Changsha - S.Guangxi- (Kunlun Pass) - Winter Offensive -(Wuyuan) - Zaoyang-Yichang - Hundred Regiments - French Indochina - C. Hupei - S.Henan - W. Hopei - Shanggao - S.Shanxi - 2nd Changsha - 3rd Changsha - Yunnan-Burma Road-(Yenangyaung)- Zhejiang-Jiangxi - W.Hubei - N.Burma-W.Yunnan - Changde - C.Henan - 4th Changsha - Guilin-Liuzhou - W.Henan-N.Hubei - W.Hunan- 2nd Guangxi edit |
The Defense of the Great Wall (Traditional Chinese: 長城抗戰; Simplified Chinese: 长城抗战; pinyin: Chángchéng Kàngzhàn) (January 1 - May 31, 1933) was a battle between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, before official hostilities of the Sino-Japanese War commenced in 1937. Called Operation Nekka by the Japanese, also known as the First battle of Hopei (Hebei province), was a Japanese military campaign following the 1931/32 invasion of Manchuria.
Contents |
[edit] Prelude
[edit] Shanhai Pass
Following the establishment of puppet state of Manchukuo, Japanese military presence extended from Manchuria into "China proper". On January 1, Japanese forces began bombarding Shanhai Pass, the easternmost fortress of the Great Wall of China. The Northeastern Army (Traditional Chinese: 東北軍; Simplified Chinese: 东北军; pinyin: Dōngběi Jūn), which was guarding the pass, was not able to withstand such an attack since it was less than one regiment in strength there. On January 3, Shanhai Pass had fallen to the Japanese.
[edit] Rehe
Rehe was the next target and on February 21, the 6th and 8th Divisions of the Japanese Kwantung Army invaded it in the first phase of Operation Nekka. After intense fighting, the Chinese retreated on March 1. After the fall of Rehe, He Yingqin replaced Zhang Xueliang as the leader of the Northeastern Army and was assigned the duty of securing defensive positions along the Great Wall. Meanwhile, representatives of the Chinese government attempted to negotiate for the Japanese to return all territorial gains since Manchukuo. The situation was very delicate as China at the time was too weak to wage a frontal war against Japan, and any pretext resembling a declaration of war could have resulted in the total destruction of an autonomous China. On the other hand, the policy of "non-resistance" did not sit well with the general populace. Thus the Chinese government followed a policy of both active resistance and negotiation (Traditional Chinese: 一面抵抗; Simplified Chinese: 一面交涉; pinyin: yīmiàn dǐkàng, yīmiàn jīaoshè)
[edit] The Great Wall
Falling back from Jehol, Wan Fulin's 32nd Corps retreated to Lengkou Pass, while the 29th Corps of General Song Zheyuan fell back, Zhang Zuoxiang's 37th Division retreated to Xifengkou Pass, General Guan Linzheng's 25th Division to the Gubeikou Pass.
On March 9th, Chiang Kai-shek discussed with Zhang Xueliang about resisting Japanese invasion in Baoding in Hebei Province. Chiang Kai-shek began to relocate his forces away from his campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet, which would include the forces of Huang Jie, Xu Tingyao and Guan Linzheng. Chiang Kai-shek also called over Fu Zuoyi's 7th Corps from Suiyuan. On March 11th, Japanese troops pushed up to the Great Wall. On March 12th, Zhang Xueliang resigned his post to He Yingqin, who as the new leader of the Northeastern Army was assigned the duty of securing defensive positions along the Great Wall
On March 4th, 139th Division of the KMT 32nd Corps recovered Lengkou Pass. On March 7th, 67th Corps beat off attacks by the 16th Brigade of the Japanese 8th Division, at Gubeikou Pass. Guan Linzheng's relief forces also arrived. At Xifengkou Pass, from March 9th, the 37th Division of the 29th Corps fought against the Japanese 6th Division and 14th Mixed Brigade for 31 days. Over twenty close assaults were launched, with sword armed Northwestern Army soldiers, said to have cut off Japanese heads "by the hundreds" during each engagement.[1]
However on March 21st, the Japanese took Yiyuankou Pass. 29th Corps evacuated from Xifengkou Pass on April 8th. On April 11th, Japanese troops retook Lengkou Pass after dozens of seesaw fights over the pass defenses and Chinese forces at Jielingkou abandoned that pass.[1] The Chinese army was significantly underarmed in comparison with the Japanese in heavy weapons and many units were equipped only with trench mortars, a few heavy machineguns, some light machineguns and rifles, but mostly handguns, grenades, and traditional Chinese swords. Beaten back by overwhelming Japanese firepower, on May 12, the Chinese army retreated from their remaining positions on the Great Wall.
[edit] Tanggu Truce
On May 22, Chinese and Japanese representatives met at Tanggu, Tianjin, to negotiate the end of the conflict. The resulting Tanggu Truce was extremely unfavorable and humiliating to the Chinese. The agreement created a demilitarized zone within one hundred kilometers south of the Great Wall, which meant that the Chinese army could not cross over to the zone, thus greatly reducing the territorial security of China proper. Secondly, the Japanese were allowed to use reconnaissance aircraft or ground units to make sure that the Chinese stayed out of the zone. In essence, the Chinese government was forced to acknowledge the puppet status of Manchukuo, in addition to the loss of Rehe to the Japanese in the battle. In addition, the demarcated zone rested largely within the remaining territory of Zhang Xueliang, who had already lost Manchuria in the Mukden Incident. The assassination of his father Chang Tso-Lin by the Japanese, territorial losses, and his subsequent appointment by Chiang Kai-shek to fight the Chinese communists instead of Japan, greatly influenced Zhang Xueliang's later determination to kidnap Chiang in the Xi'an Incident to form a united front with the Communists against Japan.
[edit] Order of battle
Japanese: Order of battle Operation Jehol.
Chinese: Order of battle Defense of the Great Wall.
[edit] See also
Source
- [1] Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung , Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China. Pg. 159-161.
