The Battle of Beijing-Tianjin , also known as the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin ( Chinese ex. 平津 作战 , Pinyin : Píng Jīn Zùozhàn , pall .: Ping-Jin Zozhan ), the Beijing-Tianjin operation and the North China incident ( 支 北 北北 Hokusi jiken ) - a series of battles in the vicinity of Beiping (as Beijing was then called) and Tianjin on July 25-31 , 1937 at the beginning of the Sino-Japanese war .
| The Battle of Beiping Tianjin | |||
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| Main Conflict: Second Sino-Japanese War | |||
| date of | July 25 - 31, 1937 | ||
| A place | Beiping Neighborhood - Tianjin | ||
| Total | victory of Japan | ||
| Opponents | |||
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| Commanders | |||
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| Forces of the parties | |||
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Content
- 1 Background
- 2 Diplomatic maneuvers
- 3 Langfang incident
- 4 Rebellion in Tongzhou
- 5 The fall of Tianjin
- 6 The Fall of Beiping
- 7 Summary
- 8 Literature
- 9 References
Background
During the incident on Lugouqiao on July 8, 1937, the Japanese Garrison Army in China attacked the Wanping Fortress after rejecting an ultimatum demanding that Japanese troops enter the city to search for the missing soldier. Wanping, located near the Lugou Bridge, stood on the main railway line west of Beiping and was of strategic importance. Until July 1937, the Japanese repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of Chinese troops from there.
Chinese General Song Zheyuan ordered his troops to maintain their positions, and tried to prevent the war through negotiations.
On July 9, the Japanese agreed to a ceasefire and a ceasefire, one of the conditions of which was the replacement of the 37th division, which "showed hatred of the Japanese," with another division of the Chinese 29th Field Army. The Chinese agreed on these terms that day. However, starting at midnight on July 9, the number of ceasefire violations by the Japanese began to increase, and Japanese reinforcements continued to arrive. Lieutenant General Kanichiro Tashiro , who commanded the Garrison Army in China , fell ill and died on July 12, and Lieutenant General Kiyoshi Katsuki was appointed to his post.
Diplomatic maneuvers
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, the civilian government of Prime Minister Konoe convened an emergency meeting on July 8, and decided to try to resolve the situation through diplomatic means. However, the army general headquarters decided to transfer the infantry division from the Korean army , two separate brigades from the Kwantung army and an aviation regiment as reinforcements. Even when it was reported that an agreement was reached on July 18 with General Song Zheyuan , who commanded the 29th Army and was the head of the Hebei-Chahara Political Council , the Japanese army continued to deploy reinforcements, claiming that the Chinese government could not be trusted. This was opposed by General Kanji Ishiwara , who believed that an unnecessary escalation of the conflict with China would threaten the Japanese position in Manzhou from the standpoint of confronting the USSR . At Isivara’s insistence, the transfer of reinforcements was suspended, while Konoe used his personal contacts with Sun Yatsen’s Japanese acquaintances to establish direct relations with the Kuomintang Central Government in Nanjing . This clandestine diplomacy failed when the Japanese military detained emissary Konoe on July 23, and the transfer of reinforcements resumed on July 29.
A week later, the Japanese commander said that in the absence of any signs of improvement, he decided to use force to “punish” the Chinese 29th field army, and sought consent from Tokyo. Meanwhile, an order was issued to mobilize four more infantry divisions.
Langfang incident
Despite a formal ceasefire, numerous violations of the ceasefire continued, including the shelling of Wanping on July 14th.
On July 25, Japanese reinforcements arrived - the 20th Division - and the fighting resumed. The first case was a skirmish between a Chinese and Japanese companies near Langfang, a city on the railway connecting Beiping and Tianjin. The second battle took place on July 26, when the Japanese brigade tried to break through the Beiping gate of Guanghuamen to "protect people of Japanese nationality." On the same day, Japanese planes bombed Langfang.
The Japanese presented an ultimatum to General Song Zheyuan , demanding that he withdraw all Chinese troops from the suburbs of Beiping to the west bank of the Yongding River within 24 hours. Song refused, ordered his troops to prepare for battle, and asked the central government for major reinforcements, which he was denied.
On July 27, when the Japanese besieged Chinese units in Tongzhou, one Chinese battalion broke into Nanyuan. Japanese aircraft bombed Chinese forces around Beiping and carried out reconnaissance on Kaifeng , Zhengzhou and Luoyang .
On July 28, the 20th Japanese Division and three separate mixed brigades launched an attack on Beiping with aviation support. The main attack was directed at Nanyuan, the auxiliary attack at Beiyuan. Heavy fighting ensued, the deputy commander of the 29th field army, General Tong Linghe, and the commander of the 132nd division, General Zhao Dengyu, were killed and Chinese troops suffered heavy losses. However, the brigade of the Chinese 38th division under the command of General Liu Chenxan drove the Japanese away from Langfang, and the Chinese 53rd corps with part of the 37th division recaptured the Fengtai railway station.
However, this was only a temporary success. At night, General Song Zheyuan came to the conclusion that the further battles were futile and withdrew the main forces of the Chinese 29th Field Army across the Yongding River. Major General Zhang Zizhong arrived from Tianjin to Beiping to head the provinces of Hebei and Chahar, but he did not have troops. The 29th new separate brigade of General Liu Ruzheng was left in Beijing to maintain order.
Tongzhou rebellion
On July 29, the East Hebei Army of Chinese collaborators rebelled in Tongzhou, killing Japanese advisers and civilians.
The Fall of Tianjin
Meanwhile, on the coast at dawn on July 29, the Japanese 5th division and the Japanese fleet separately attacked Tianjin and the port of Tanggu, which defended parts of the Chinese 38th division and volunteers under the command of Liu Wentian . The team of General Juan Weikan bravely defended the fort of Dagu and attacked the nearby Japanese airfield, destroying many aircraft. However, with the approach of Japanese reinforcements, their situation became hopeless, and on the night of July 30, General Zhang Zizhong ordered to retreat to Machan and Yanlujing south of Tianjin, leaving the city and port to the Japanese.
Beipin's Fall
On July 28, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Song Zheyuan to leave for Baoding . On August 4, the remaining brigade of Liu Ruzheng retreated to Chahar . The isolated Beiping was without resistance occupied by Japanese units on August 8, 1937. On August 18, General Masakazu Kawabe solemnly entered the city and posted proclamations in important places announcing that he was the new military governor of the city.
Summary
With the fall of Beiping and Tianjin, the Great Plain of China was defenseless, and the Japanese occupied it by the end of the year. The Chinese NRA constantly retreated until the Battle of Taierzhuang .
Literature
- 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. Publications 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. p. 177-180.
- Dorn, Frank. The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. - MacMillan., 1974. - ISBN isbn = 0025322001.
- Dryburgh, Marjor. North China and Japanese Expansion 1933-1937: Regional Power and the National Interest. - RoutledgeCurzon., 2000. - ISBN 0700712747 .
- Lu, David J. From The Marco Polo Bridge To Pearl Harbor: A Study Of Japan's Entry Into World War II. - Public Affairs Press., 1961. - ISBN ASIN: B000UV6MFQ.
- Furuya, Keiji. The riddle of the Marco Polo bridge: To verify the first shot. - Symposium on the History of the Republic of China, 1981. - ISBN ASIN: B0007BJI7I.