Battle of the Nen Jiang Bridge

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Battle of the Nen Jiang Bridge
Japanese Renault tank in Manchuria after the Mukden incident
Japanese Renault tank in Manchuria after the Mukden incident
date November 4, 1931
place Bridge over the Nen Jiang , south of Qiqihar , Manchuria , Republic of China
output Japanese victory
Parties to the conflict

China Republic 1928Republic of China (1912–1949) China

JapanJapan Japan

Commander

Ma Zhanshan

Hasebe Shōgo

Troop strength
2,500 soldiers 800
losses

120 soldiers

15 soldiers

Manchuria Crisis (1931-1932)

The Battle of the Nen-Jiang Bridge was a minor battle between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army and collaborating Manchurian forces in the wake of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in the run-up to the Second Sino-Japanese War . It marked the beginning of the Japanese Jiangqiao campaign .

background

At the beginning of November 1931, the ruling governor of Heilongjiang Province , General Ma Zhanshan , decided to disregard the Kuomintang government's ban on resistance to the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. To prevent the Japanese troops from marching into Heilongjiang, Ma decided to stop the Japanese at a strategically important railway bridge over the Nen Jiang River . This had been blown up by Ma’s troops in an earlier battle with the troops of General Zhang Haipeng , who was collaborating with Japan, and was to be rebuilt by the Japanese army to support the advance.

course

On November 4, 1931, a repair force, protected by 800 Japanese soldiers, got to work. A nearby Chinese force of 2,500 soldiers under the command of Ma Zhanshan began to approach the bridge. According to Japanese information, the Chinese troops began bombarding the Japanese with rifles and machine guns in the afternoon when there was thick fog, which they replied. The Chinese side, in turn, accused the Japanese of opening fire for no reason. The fighting lasted about three hours before a Japanese advance across the river forced Mas' troops to retreat. Ma later returned with a considerably larger force, but could not retake the bridge and was again forced to retreat to Tsitsihar . It is not clear whether the Japanese soldiers were supported by tanks and artillery.

consequences

The Japanese were able to repair the bridge and thus significantly accelerate the advance of their troops and armored trains.

Despite his defeat in the battle for the bridge, Ma Zhanshan was branded a hero by the Chinese and international press for daring to stand in the way of the Japanese advance from Nanjing without backing . After the battle, there was an increased influx of volunteers into the anti-Japanese volunteer armies in Manchuria. While these troops were not a real threat to the Japanese advance, they did pose a serious problem in pacifying Manchukuo during 1932 .

See also

literature

  • Anthony Coogan: Northeast China and the Origins of the Anti-Japanese United Front . In: Modern China , Vol. 20 (1994), Issue 3, pp. 282-314, ISSN  0097-7004
  • Yoshihisa Tak Matsusaka: The Making of Japanese Manchuria, 1904-1932 . Harvard University Asia Center, Cambridge, Mass. 2003, ISBN 0-674-00369-1 (Harvard East Asia Monographs; 196).

Web links