Conquest of Jinzhou
Japanese artillery unit in Manchuria
| date | December 21, 1931 - January 3, 1932 |
|---|---|
| place | Liaoning , Manchuria , Republic of China |
| output | Japanese victory |
| Territorial changes | Southern Manchuria is occupied by Japan |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 84,000 soldiers (Japanese estimate) | 12,000 soldiers |
| losses | |
|
3,000 soldiers (Japanese estimate) |
300 |
The capture of Jinzhou (Chinchow) was an Imperial Japanese Army operation during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in the lead-up to the Second Sino-Japanese War . In the course of the operation, which lasted from December 21, 1931 to January 3, 1932, the Japanese army succeeded in conquering the city of Jinzhou and immediately afterwards occupying all of southern Manchuria.
background
At the end of November 1931, the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army , General Honjō Shigeru , sent around 10,000 soldiers in 13 armored trains from Mukden towards Jinzhou to conquer it. The troops reached about 30 kilometers from Jinzhou when they received the order to withdraw. The operation had been canceled by the Japanese Minister of War, General Minami Jirō , because the civilian government of Japan under Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō had approved a modified plan of the League of Nations , which would create a "neutral zone" as a buffer between the Republic of China and Manchuria and so as a basis for a future Sino-Japanese peace conference should serve.
However, the Wakatsuki government failed shortly afterwards and was replaced by a new one under Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi , which had no particular interest in talks with the Kuomintang . When the negotiations failed, the Japanese government decided to increase its troops in Manchuria. In December the remnants of the Japanese 20th Infantry Division were sent directly from Japan to Manchuria along with the 38th mixed brigade of the 19th Infantry Division from Korea and the 8th mixed brigade of the 10th Infantry Division .
As a result of the defeat of the Chinese General Ma Zhanshan in Heilongjiang Province and aware of the new reinforcements, the Japanese launched a new offensive on December 21st to conquer Jinzhou. General Honjō announced that the troops would move out to "free the country from bandits" and that the Chinese withdrawal from Jinzhou "is now imperative". Most of these "bandits" were in the process of forming anti-Japanese volunteer armies, while some real bandits took advantage of the chaos following the collapse of the Chinese administration in the wake of the Mukden incident .
Conquest of Jinzhou
While the remaining Japanese troops and defected Manchurian troops moved out of their bases along the South Manchurian Railway to clear the area of enemy elements, the 12th Infantry Division set out at night from Mukden, the headquarters of the Japanese army in Manchuria, towards Jinzhou, to force the Chinese troops there to withdraw. They were supported by several squadrons of Japanese bombers.
The Japanese believed that the Chinese in Jinzhou had about 84,000 soldiers, 58 howitzers, and two rows of moat systems to defend the city. The first Chinese line of defense consisted of a system of trenches about 30 kilometers from the city at the railway bridge over the Taling River. A second line of defense consisted of a moat and rampart system that enclosed the entire city. This line should be retreated to if the first line were broken.
The troops of the Japanese Lieutenant General Tamon Jirō advanced slowly from Mukden towards the south. Due to the winter weather with temperatures as low as −30 ° C, the Japanese troops were wrapped in white invisibility cloaks. Reconnaissance planes reported that a force of around 3,000 Chinese "bandits" had taken up defense positions near Panshan . In a series of minor skirmishes, the Chinese troops were repulsed. Tamon did not expect the first serious resistance until Goubangzi , 50 kilometers north of Jinzhou.
On the evening of December 31, 1932, Japanese troops had worked their way up to about 15 kilometers from Jinzhou in a series of small skirmishes. Lieutenant General Tamon had his troops stop here briefly in order to unite them with the advancing 2nd Division . The War Department announced a radio broadcast of the final "Battle of the Taling River". For this purpose, microphones were placed behind the front line prior to the Japanese attack in order to transmit the battle noise directly to Tokyo. However, the transmission had to be canceled because the Chinese troops withdrew from Jinzhou without a fight.
The Japanese troops marched into the city on January 3, 1932. Out of fear, the inhabitants had sewn Japanese flags and waved them during the invasion to appease the conquerors.
consequences
There was confusion on the Chinese side. The old Nanjing government under Chiang Kai-shek resigned and a new one was formed under Prime Minister Sun Fo . Meanwhile, Zhang Xueliang's troops withdrew disorderly south to the Great Wall of China . In Nanjing, Eugene Chen , the new defense minister, announced that his government had never ordered Marshal Zhang to withdraw, but, on the contrary, had given orders to hold Jinzhou at all costs. As a result of the humiliating loss of Jinzhou, nine Chinese generals in various parts of China withdrew support from the Sun Fo government. One day after the fall of Jinzhou, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Shanhaiguan , completing the military occupation of southern Manchuria.
See also
literature
- Anthony Coogan: Northeast China and the Origins of the Anti-Japanese United Front . Sage Publications, 1994
- Yoshihisa Tak Matsusaka: The Making of Japanese Manchuria, 1904-1932 . Harvard University Asia Center, 2003
Web links
- Hard Methods December 28, 1931 issue of TIME magazine
- Newspaperarchive.org Morning edition of The Charleston Gazette, January 1, 1932
- The Wandering Moloch Issue of TIME magazine from January 4th 1932
- Fun & Blood issue of TIME magazine from January 11, 1932