Jinzhou Operation

Last updated
Jinzhou (Chinchow) Operation
Part of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria
IJA artillery in Manchuria.jpg
Japanese artillery in Manchuria after the Mukden Incident
Date (1931-12-21) (1932-01-03)December 21, 1931 – January 3, 1932
(1 week and 6 days)
Location
Result Japanese victory
Belligerents

Flag of the Republic of China.svg Republic of China

Merchant flag of Japan (1870).svg Empire of Japan

Commanders and leaders
Flag of the Republic of China Army.svg Zhang Xueliang War flag of the Imperial Japanese Army.svg Jirō Tamon
Strength
84,000 men 12,000 men
Casualties and losses
3,000 (Japanese estimate) 300

The Jinzhou Operation or Chinchow Operation was an operation in 1931 during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which was a preliminary, contributing factor to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.

Contents

Background

In late November 1931, Imperial Japanese Army commander in chief General Shigeru Honjō dispatched 10,000 soldiers in 13 armored trains, escorted by a squadron of bombers, in an advance on Jinzhou from Mukden. This force advanced to within 30 kilometers of Chinchow when it received an order to withdraw. The operation was cancelled by Japanese War Minister General Jirō Minami, due to the acceptance of modified form of a League of Nations proposal for a "neutral zone" to be established as a buffer zone between the Republic of China proper and Manchuria pending a future China-Japanese peace conference by the civilian government of Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō in Tokyo.

However the two sides failed to reach a lasting agreement. The Wakatsuki government soon fell and was replaced by a new cabinet led by Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai. Further negotiations with the Kuomintang government failing, the Japanese government approved an increase in the military forces in Manchuria. In December, the rest of the 20th Infantry Division, along with the 38th Mixed Brigade of the 19th Infantry Division were sent into Manchuria from Korea while the 8th Mixed Brigade, 10th Infantry Division was sent from Japan.

Following the defeat of General Ma Zhanshan in Heilongjiang province, and in anticipation of reinforcements, a new Japanese offensive was launched in Manchuria on December 21. General Honjo insisted that his troops were moving out "to clear the country of bandits," and added that the Chinese evacuation of Chinchow was "absolutely imperative". Most of the "bandits" were actually the organizing Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies but some real bandits were also exploiting the chaos following the collapse of the Chinese government and its Northeastern Army following the Mukden Incident and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

Japanese advance

While the other Japanese forces and collaborationist Manchurian troops spread out from their bases along the South Manchurian Railway rail lines to clear the countryside, from Mukden, the Japanese headquarters in Manchuria, the brigades of the 12th Infantry Division advanced southward in the night, supported by squadrons of Japanese bombers to force the Chinese to evacuate Jinzhou.

The Japanese estimated the Chinese at Jinzhou had 84,000 defenders, with 58 artillery pieces placed to support two separate systems of entrenchments defending the city. The Chinese first defensive line, 20 miles north of the city, was a series of trenches aimed to stop the Japanese advance at the Taling River Bridge on the Peiping-Mukden Railway. The Chinese had a second line of earthworks and entrenchments completely encircling Jinzhou to fall back on if the Japanese forces broke through the first line.

Japanese Lieutenant General Jirō Tamon's troops cautiously advanced south from Mukden. The temperature was 30 below zero, and Japanese forces were camouflaged in white. Japanese reconnaissance aircraft reported a force of at least 3,000 Chinese "bandits" waiting to defend Panshan County. Brushing aside these Chinese skirmishers in a series of minor clashes, Tamon prepared to meet and crush the first serious Chinese resistance, expected at Goubangzi, 50 kilometers north of Jinzhou.

By the evening of December 31, 1931, the Japanese advance guard was fifteen kilometers from Jinzhou on the banks of the Taling river. General Tamon halted briefly to bring up the rest of his 2nd Division, for the final drive on Jinzhou. The Japanese War Office announced in a radio broadcast "The Battle of the Taling River", setting up microphones behind the Japanese lines, arranging an elaborate hookup to broadcast the sound of firing to Tokyo, but then had to call off the broadcast when the Chinese retreated without giving combat.

Japanese forces occupied Jinzhou on January 3, 1932, with the local populace waving Japanese flags homemade during the night to appease the conquerors.

Aftermath

On the Chinese side confusion reigned. The old government of Chiang Kai-shek at Nanjing had resigned and a new one under Premier Sun Fo had been formed. Additionally, Marshal Zhang Xueliang's defenders were in disorderly retreat toward the Great Wall, leaving only a small garrison to protect the few government functionaries who remained behind. At Nanjing Eugene Chen, the new Kuomintang Foreign Minister, asserted that his government had never ordered evacuation of Jinzhou, but, on the contrary, had ordered Marshal Zhang repeatedly to stand his ground. Nine Chinese generals in various parts of China denounced Premier Sun Fo's new government, blaming it for the humiliating loss of Jinzhou without a struggle.

The day after the fall of Jinzhou, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Shanhaiguan, thus completing its military control over south Manchuria.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mukden Incident</span> 1931 railway explosion in Mukden (Shenyang) staged by the Japanese military

The Mukden Incident was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenji Doihara</span> Japanese officer, war criminal 1883-1948

Kenji Doihara was a Japanese army officer. As a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, he was instrumental in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchuria Aviation Company</span>

Manchuria Aviation Company was the national airline of Manchukuo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Rehe</span>

The Battle of Rehe was the second part of Operation Nekka, a campaign by which the Empire of Japan successfully captured the Inner Mongolian province of Rehe from the Chinese warlord Zhang Xueliang and annexed it to the new state of Manchukuo. The battle was fought from February 21 to March 1, 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhang Jinghui</span> Chinese politician

Zhang Jinghui ; was a Chinese general, warlord and politician during the Warlord era. He is noted for his role in the Japanese puppet regime of Manchukuo in which he served as its second and final Prime Minister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchukuo Imperial Army</span> Ground force of the military of the Empire of Manchukuo

The Manchukuo Imperial Army was the ground force of the military of the Manchukuo, a puppet state established by Imperial Japan in Manchuria, a region of northeastern China. The force was primarily used for fighting against Communist and Nationalist guerrillas in Manchukuo but also took part in battle against the Soviet Red Army on several occasions. It initially consisted of former National Revolutionary Army troops of the "Young Marshal" Zhang Xueliang who were recruited after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria en masse, but eventually expanded to include new volunteers and conscripts. The Imperial Army increased in size from about 111,000 troops in 1933 to an estimated strength of between 170,000 and 220,000 soldiers at its peak in 1945, being composed of Han Chinese, Manchus, Mongols, Koreans, Japanese, and White Russians. Throughout its existence the majority of its troops were considered to be mostly unreliable by their Japanese officers and advisers, due to poor training and low morale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shigeru Honjō</span> Japanese general

General BaronShigeru Honjō was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the early period of the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was considered an ardent follower of Sadao Araki's doctrines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jiangqiao campaign</span>

The Jiangqiao campaign was a series of battles and skirmishes occurring after the Mukden Incident, during the invasion of Manchuria by the Imperial Japanese Army, prior to the Second Sino-Japanese War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ma Zhanshan</span> Chinese general and politician

Ma Zhanshan was a Chinese general famous for resisting the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Ma was placed in charge of the Northeastern Army in Heilongjiang Province during the invasion and ignored orders from the central government not to resist the Japanese. He became a national hero in China by fighting the unsuccessful but highly symbolic Jiangqiao campaign against the Kwantung Army's advance into Heilongjiang. After his defeat, he feigned defection to the Japanese and was appointed Minister of War in the new Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. He then joined and took command of the guerrilla campaign against Japanese occupation, taking with him large amounts of supplies, funds, and military intelligence. Ma Zhanshan rejoined the Northeastern Army after the guerilla movement was largely defeated. He continued to oppose Chiang Kai-shek's policy of non-resistance and supported the Xi'an Incident that forced Chiang to form the Second United Front with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He commanded several units in the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War while covertly cooperating with the CCP. Ma avoided direct participation in the postwar Chinese Civil War and eventually defected the Communists, dying a year later in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takashi Hishikari</span>

Taka Hishikari was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese invasion of Manchuria</span> 1931–32 Japanese invasion of northeast China prior to the Second Sino-Japanese War

The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden Incident. At the war's end in February 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. Their occupation lasted until the success of the Soviet Union and Mongolia with the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation in mid-August 1945, towards the end of the Second World War.

The Defense of Harbin occurred during the early Second Sino-Japanese War, as part of the campaign of the Invasion of Manchuria by forces of the Empire of Japan from 25 January to 4 February 1932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jirō Tamon</span> Japanese general (1878–1934)

Jirō Tamon was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in the early Second Sino-Japanese War. He was noted as the commander in many of the operations of the invasion of Manchuria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacification of Manchukuo</span> Japanese military operations during the annexation of Manchuria (1931), numerous Japanese war crimes

The Pacification of Manchukuo was a Japanese counterinsurgency campaign to suppress any armed resistance to the newly established puppet state of Manchukuo from various anti-Japanese volunteer armies in occupied Manchuria and later the Communist Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. The operations were carried out by the Imperial Japanese Kwantung Army and the collaborationist forces of the Manchukuo government from March 1932 until 1942, and resulted in a Japanese victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Division (Imperial Japanese Army)</span> 1888-1945 Imperial Japanese Army formation

The 2nd Division was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō was Courageous Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhang Haipeng</span> Chinese general (1867–1949)

Zhang Haipeng, was a Chinese Northeastern Army general, who went over to the Japanese during the Invasion of Manchuria and became a general in the Manchukuo Imperial Army of the State of Manchuria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xi Qia</span> Chinese general (1883–1950)

Aisin-Gioro Xiqia (Aisin-Gioro Hsi-hsia; Chinese: 愛新覺羅·熙洽; pinyin: Àixīnjuéluó Xīqià; Wade–Giles: Ai4-hsin1-chüeh2-lo2 Hsi1-ch'ia4; 1883–1950), commonly known as Xi Qia or Xi Xia (Hsi Hsia; Chinese: 熙洽; pinyin: Xīqià; Wade–Giles: Hsi1-hsia4; Hepburn: Ki Kō), was a general in command of the Kirin Provincial Army of the Republic of China, who defected to the Japanese during the Invasion of Manchuria in 1931, and who subsequently served as a cabinet minister in Manchukuo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zang Shiyi</span>

Zang Shiyi was a Chinese general and Governor of Liaoning Province at the time of the invasion of Manchuria in 1932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yu Zhishan</span>

Yu Zhishan, was a military officer under the Beiyang Government and the Fengtian clique, subsequently becoming a cabinet minister in Manchukuo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwantung Army</span> Group of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1919 to 1945

The Kwantung Army was a general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1919 to 1945.

References