Marco Polo Bridge Incident
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| Marco Polo Bridge Incident | |||||||
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| Part of Second Sino-Japanese War | |||||||
 The National Revolutionary Army troops defending the Marco Polo Bridge, 1937 |
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| Combatants | |||||||
 National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China |
 Imperial Japanese Army, Empire of Japan |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Song Zheyuan |
Kanichiro Tashiro |
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| Strength | |||||||
| ? | ? | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| ? | ? | ||||||
| Second Sino-Japanese War |
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| 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 Marco Polo Bridge Incident (盧溝橋事變; also known as 七七事變, 七七盧溝橋事變 or the Luokuochiao Incident) was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Empire of Japan's Imperial Japanese Army, marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The marble bridge itself, Lugouqiao, is an architectural work of eleven arches, restored by the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722).
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[edit] Names
The battle goes by different names.
- In the West
- The Marco Polo Bridge Incident
- Battle of Lugou Bridge
- In China
- In Japan:
- Roko Bridge Matter (盧溝橋事件 Rokōkyō jiken)
- Roko Bridge Incident (盧溝橋事変 Rokōkyō jihen)
[edit] Background
Japan had occupied Manchuria in 1931 and had created a nominally independent state of Manchukuo with Henry Puyi, the last monarch of the Qing Dynasty, as its sovereign. That state is widely regarded to have been a puppet government with real power concentrated in the hands of the Japanese, which constituted the only significant military forces in Manchuria. Although the Kuomintang (KMT) and the international community refused to recognize the legality of the Japanese occupation, a truce had been negotiated in 1931.
At the end of 1932, the Japanese Kantogun army invaded Rehe Province. The Kuomintang's 29th Corps, led by General Song Zheyuan, resisted the attack, in the Defense of the Great Wall. The province fell to the Japanese after their victory, therefore areas to the west of Beijing (at the time called Beiping) were under Japanese sphere of influence.
In 1933, Japan incorporated Rehe (also known as Jehol) into Manchukuo, using the security of Manchukuo as a pretext. Consequently all areas north of the Great Wall and hence north of Beijing fell to Japanese influence. He Yingqin (何應欽) and Umezu Yoshijiro (1888-1949) (梅津美治郎) signed an agreement on June 9, 1935, known as the He-Umezu Agreement, recognizing Japanese occupation of Hebei and Chahar. Later that year, Japan established yet another puppet government, the anti-communist East Hebei Autonomous Council (冀東防共自治政府 abbreviated as East Ji Autonomous Government 冀東自治政府). As a result, at the start of 1937 all the areas around Beijing were controlled by Japan.
[edit] Geography
Lugou Bridge (蘆溝橋 lúgōuqiáo) is located in Fengtai (豐台 fēng tái), a suburb south of Beijing. The bridge straddles the Yongding River (永定江). It is also known as the Marco Polo Bridge because the bridge was believed to be described in the works of Marco Polo. Lugouqiao literally means "Reed-gutter Bridge".
Four strategic posts secured Beijing from the outside:
- To the East: the Town of Tongzhou (通州鎮)
- To the Northwest: the Town of Nankou (南口鎮) in Changping Prefecture (昌平縣xian)
- To the South: the Town of Fengtai (豐台鎮)
- To the Southwest: Lugou Bridge in Wanping Prefecture (宛平縣), where the Town of Wanping (宛平鎮) was located.
The Lugou Bridge was the choke point of the Pinghan Railway (Beijing-Wuhan), and guarded the only passage linking Beijing to Kuomintang-controlled area from the south. Nanyuan Town (南宛鎮) is located between Wanping town and Beijing.
At the start of the battle, the Japanese controlled the East, Northwest and South posts as well as the west end of the Lugou Bridge. The Kuomintang held the east end of the bridge. If the bridge fell, Beijing would be completely cut off and easily captured.
[edit] Strategic appraisal
At the time of the war, the Chinese army in north China controlled by Yan Xishan were mostly infantry equipped with outdated rifles and sabers. Some soldiers were recruited from peasants and local gangsters, thus undertrained and underequipped compared to the Japanese Imperial Army. Outnumbering the enemy and exploiting the battlefield landscape to their advantages had been their only ways to defeat the Japanese.
For the Japanese, subduing the cities guaranteed the fall of the north of the Huang He portion of the North China Plain, since the Japanese mechanized divisions were formidable against the various Chinese Armies, which had very few aircraft and little anti-tank weaponry. The North China Plain has been an integral region in Chinese culture since ancient times, having formed the core of Chinese territory through the millenia.
[edit] People and divisions involved
[edit] Kuomintang
The 29th Army, composed mostly of Feng Yuxiang's forces and infantry, secured the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, and the western part of Hebei Province.
| Name (abbreviation) |
Military Post(s) | Non-Military Post(s) |
|---|---|---|
| General Song Zheyuan (宋哲元) (Song) |
Commander of 29th Army | Chairman of the Hebei Legislative Committee (a provincial parliament) Head of the Beijing security forces (similar to police) |
| General Qin Dechun (秦德純 qín dé chún) (Qin) |
Vice-Commander of 29th Army | Mayor of Beijing |
| General Liu Ruming (劉汝明 liú rǔ míng) (Liu) |
Commander of the 143rd Division | Chairman of Chahar Province |
| General Feng Zhian (馮治安 féng zhì àn) (Feng) |
Commander of the 37th Division | Chairman of Hebei Province |
| General Zhao Dengru (趙登汝 zhào dēng rǔ) (Zhao) |
Commander of the 132nd Division | N/A |
| General Zhang Zizhong (張自忠 zhāng zì zhōng) (Zhang) |
Commander of the 38th Division | Mayor of Tianjin |
| Colonel Ji Xingwen (吉星文 jí xīng wén) (Ji) |
Commander of the 219th Regiment, under the 110th Brigade of the 37th Division | N/A |
[edit] Japan
The Japanese China Garrison Army in the region was a combination of infantry, tanks, mechanized forces, artillery and cavalry.
| Name (abbreviation hereafter) | Military Post(s) | Composition of the corresponding units |
|---|---|---|
| Matsui Taisa = Colonel Matsui (松(matsu) 井(i) 大(tai) 佐(sa)) (Matsui) | Commander of the 117th (?) Battalion of the Kantogun and troops around Beijing and Tianjin | Infantry |
| Taii = Captain (?) | Commander of the 221st (?) Mechanized Squadron | Some tanks and mostly armoured vehicles |
| Taii (?) | Commander of the 3rd (7th?) Battery | Artillery with few infantry |
| Taii (?) | Commander of the 6th (8th?) Squadron | Cavalry |
[edit] Deployment
[edit] Phase I
| Unit | Location of Headquarters | Strength in Number of Soldiers | Deployment or Duties |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29th Army | Beijing | around 10000 | Hebei Province |
| 143rd Division | Beijing | just below 3000 | Beijing |
| 37th Division | Beijing | just below 3000 | south of Beijing |
| 132nd Division | Beijing | several thousands | between Beijing and Tianjin |
| 38th Division | Tianjin | several thousands | Tianjin |
| 219th Regiment, under the 110th Brigade of the 37th Division | Wanping Town | around 400 of the 3000 | deployed right in front of the Japanese for security of the bridge |
| Unit | Location of Headquarters | Strength in Number of Soldiers | Deployment or Duties |
|---|---|---|---|
| 117th (?) Battalion | ? | around 400 | west of Marco Polo Bridge |
| 221st (?) Mechanized Squadron | same as 117th | around 400 | West of Marco Polo Bridge |
| 3rd (7th?) Battery | Nankou Town | around 400 | Nankou Town |
| 6th (8th?) Squadron | Tongzhou Town | around 400 | Tongzhou Town |
[edit] Phase II
For the Nationalist forces, Phase II was the same as Phase I except 132nd was moved to garrison Nanyuan Town which is between Wanping Town and Beijing.
For the Japanese forces, The 3rd (2nd?) Division of the Kantogun from Chahar Province and the 15th (9th?) Division from Manchuria and troops from Phase I were all commanded by General Hashimoto (橋本大將). The strength of the Japanese Army sharply increased from around 1000 to around 3000. The 34th (?) Division of the Kantogun was on its way from Manchuria and Korea.
[edit] The battle
[edit] Phase I
Beginning late June 1937, the Japanese army (several hundred) deployed at the west end of the bridge were practicing while Kuomintang forces, garrisoned in Wanping Town, watched closely. At dawn on 7 July, the Japanese army telegraphed the KMT forces saying that a soldier was missing and believed to be hiding inside the town. The Japanese demanded that its army should enter the town to search for the missing soldier, who was later found unharmed. There are some disputes among historians over the incident with some historians believing that this was an unintentional accident while others believing that the entire incident was fabricated by the Kantogun in order to provide a pretext for the invasion of central China. Right-wing Japanese historians suggest that the incident was staged by the Chinese Communist Party, who hoped that the incident would lead to a war of attrition between the Japanese army and the Kuomintang, weakening both of the CCP's foes.[1]
Colonel Ji denied the request backed by his superior, General Song. In the evening of 7 July, Matsui gave Ji an ultimatum that KMT troops must let Japanese troops enter the town within the next hour or the town would be fired upon. The Japanese artillery had already aimed at the town when the ultimatum was sent. At midnight 8 July, Japanese artillery units started bombarding the town while the infantry with tanks marched across the bridge at dawn. With orders from Song, Ji led the KMT forces of about 1000 to defend at all cost. The Japanese army partially overran the bridge and vicinity in the afternoon. KMT forces, after reinforcement from nearby units, outnumbered the Japanese and retook it completely the next day. The Japanese army then halted the attack and offered to negotiate, marking the end of Phase I. Nevertheless the Japanese Army remained concentrated at the west end of the bridge.
[edit] Phase II
During the meeting of all senior Kuomintang officers of the 29th Army in Beijing on 12 July, Qin insisted that Kuomintang forces must continue defending and resist any temptation to negotiate with the Japanese, whom he did not trust. Zhang in turn argued the incident on 7 July could still be settled by negotiation. Song then sent Zhang as Kuomintang representative to Tianjin to meet General Hashimoto, the commander of all Japanese forces around the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and in Chahar and Rehe Provinces.
At the beginning Hashimoto told Zhang that the Japanese hoped the incident on 7 July could be settled peacefully. Zhang was encouraged by his friendly gesture and telegraphed Song that any more Kuomintang forces around Beijing would be viewed as an escalation and anger the Japanese. However Song thought Hashimoto was only buying time since he received various reconnaissance reports indicating increasing accumulation of Japanese forces from Manchuria and Korea around Beijing. As the recent Chinese victory relied on outnumbering the opponent, he transferred Zhao's 132nd Division accompanied by Qin to a station at Nanyuan Town which was between the bridge and Beijing to keep up the pressure from concentration of Japanese forces. Similar to most Nationalist and Communist forces, the 29th Army was equipped with only rifles and just enough mortars and heavy machine guns, compared to better armed, trained and commanded Japanese troops whose tanks the Chinese armies still did not have any weapon capable of destroying. It should, however, also be noted that the KMT leader, Chiang Kai-Shek held a grudge against the 29th Army due to the fact it was made up primarily of his political rival Feng Yuxiang's troops, and did not provide sufficient support.
The Japanese promised not to invade Beijing and Tianjin upon agreement of all following terms:
1) The Kuomintang must wipe out all anti-Japanese organizations and halt all anti-Japanese activities inside the cities.
2) The Kuomintang must take all responsibilities of the incident on 7 July.
3) Song, not any other inferior officer of the 29th Army, must apologize.
Zhang accepted the first term and the commander of the battalion under Ji's command was to be relieved as an agreement to the second. However Zhang told Hashimoto that he could not decide on behalf of Song, thus could not agree on the third term at the time. He then returned to Beijing. Hashimoto also hinted that the Japanese would preferred Zhang as the commander of KMT troops around the city. As soon as Zhang left, the Japanese launched a full-scale attack on Beijing.
Three days after Zhang headed for the city, the bridge and Wanping Town fell to the Japanese. Nanyuan Town fell on the next day with both divisions (37th and 132nd) shattered. Zhao was mortally wounded on the battlefield and Qin retreated with the remnants back to the city. In the evening after the fall of Nanyuan Town, Zhang finally arrived. In order to do so he had to pass through enemy lines to reach the city. Several days later, Song relieved himself of all non-military posts and appointed Zhang to take his posts and the mayorship of Beijing. Qin and Song then led the 29th Army out of the city, which was going to be surrounded within hours and left Zhang with virtually no troops. Japanese armies entered the city on 18 August without much resistance and installed Zhang as mayor. However Zhang felt he was betrayed and left the city secretly a week later.
[edit] Aftermath
With the fall of Beijing on 29 July and Tianjin on 30th, the North China Plain was helpless against Japanese mechanized divisions who occupied it by the end of the year. The Chinese armies were on constant retreat until the hard fought Chinese victory at Tai'er Zhuang.
There are some disputes among historians over the KMT's handling of the encroachment of Japanese troops upon Beijing, with some believing that Zhang and Song secretly cooperated with Zhang's appointment to non-military posts in Beijing. Song and Qin could then safely retreat from the city to retain the fighting ability of the 29th Army.
Others believe that the Japanese completely sold Zhang out as they still invaded the cities, even though the KMT agreed to all terms. Zhang was vilified relentlessly by the Chinese press, some of which like that of Shanghai reviled him as the traitor of the country. Upon arrival at Nanjing he apologized publicly. Since he later died fighting against the Japanese, the KMT pardoned Zhang for his activities in Beijing.
