Defense of the Great Wall

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Defense of the Great Wall
Part of the Inner Mongolian Campaign

Great Wall, 1933
Date (1933-01-01) (1933-05-31)January 1 – May 31, 1933
(4 months, 4 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Eastern end of the Great Wall of China
Result
Belligerents
Republic of China (1912–1949) China

Empire of Japan Japan

Commanders and leaders
Strength
Northeastern Army: 50,000+ Japan: 50,000
Manchukuo: 42,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The defense of the Great Wall (simplified Chinese: 长城抗战; traditional Chinese: 長城抗戰; pinyin: Chángchéng Kàngzhàn) (January 1 – May 31, 1933) was a campaign between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, which took place before the Second Sino-Japanese War officially commenced in 1937 and after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. It is known in Japanese as Operation Nekka (熱河作戰, Nekka Sakusen) and in many English sources as the First Battle of Hopei.

During this campaign, Japan successfully captured the

Zhang Xueliang, and incorporated it into the newly created state of Manchukuo, whose southern frontier was thus extended to the Great Wall of China
.

Battle of Shanhai Pass

hand grenades and firing a few shots.[1] The Kwantung Army used this as an excuse to demand that the Chinese 626th Regiment of the Northeastern Army
, guarding Shanhaiguan, evacuate the pass defenses.

When the Chinese garrison refused, the

IJN 2nd Fleet with a dozen warships offshore. On January 3, Chinese regimental commander Shi Shian, unable to withstand this attack, was forced to evacuate from his positions after losing half of his force.[1]

Battle of Rehe

Main article: Battle of Rehe

The province of

Kailu were taken. On March 2, the Japanese 4th Cavalry Brigade encountered resistance from the forces of Sun Dianying, and after days of fighting, took Chifeng. On March 4, Japanese cavalry and the 1st Special Tank Company took Chengde
the capital of Rehe.

Falling back from Rehe, Wan Fulin's 32nd Army retreated to Lengkou Pass, while the 29th Army of General Song Zheyuan also fell back, Zhang Zuoxiang's 37th Division retreated to Xifengkou Pass, General Guan Linzheng's 25th Division to the Gubeikou Pass.

On March 4, the 139th Division of the KMT 32nd Army managed to hold

Gubeikou Pass
.

On March 9,

Zhang Xueliang in Baoding about resisting the Japanese invasion. 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 Army from Suiyuan
. However, his actions were too late and the reinforcements were of insufficient strength to stop the Japanese advance.

On March 11, Japanese troops pushed up to the Great Wall itself. On March 12, 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.

Chinese soldiers armed with dadaos

Over twenty close assaults were launched, with sword-armed Northwestern Army soldiers repelling them. However, on March 21, the Japanese took Yiyuankou Pass. The KMT 29th Army evacuated from Xifengkou Pass on April 8. On April 11, Japanese troops retook Lengkou Pass after dozens of seesaw fights over the pass defenses and Chinese forces at Jielingkou abandoned that pass.[3] The Chinese army was significantly underarmed in comparison to the Japanese and many units were predominantly equipped with handguns, hand grenades, and traditional Chinese swords, with limited supplies of trench mortars, heavy machine guns, light machine guns and rifles. Beaten back by overwhelming Japanese firepower, on May 20, the Chinese army retreated from their remaining positions on the Great Wall.

Although the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) suffered defeat in the end, several individual NRA units like the He Zhuguo platoon managed to hold off the better equipped Japanese army for up to three days before being overrun. Some NRA Divisions also managed to win minor victories in passes like Xifengkou and Gubeikou by using the ramparts to move soldiers from one sector to another in the Great Wall, just like the Ming dynasty soldiers before them.[4]

Aftermath

Main article: Tanggu Truce

On May 22, 1933, Chinese and Japanese representatives met at

Rehe
.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c "Battles of the Great Wall". Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  2. ^ Guo Rugui, 第二部分：从"九一八"事变到西安事变 榆关 热河失守 1
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ISBN 978-1-84603-004-8

Sources

External links

Topographic maps

  • Cheng-te nk50-11 SW Jehol Province, SE Chahar Province, NW Hebei Province (north of Beijing, Gubeikou Pass)
  • Lin-yu nk50-12 S Jehol Province, NE Hebei Province, Great Wall to Shanhaikuan upper Luan River area
  • Ch'ang-Li nj50-4 NE Hebei Luan River area

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