In June 1938, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Kuomintang troops under Chiang Kai-Shek broke the levees holding back the Yellow River in order to stop advancing Imperial Japanese Army. The Chinese forces destroyed the dikes near Kaifeng and diverted the Yellow River to a previous riverbed. The resulting 1938 Yellow River flood inundated 54,000 km² (21,000 square miles) covering parts of Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces and the floodwaters took some 500,000-900,000 lives. The strategy could be consided partly successful as by 1940, the Japanese were essentially in a stalemate with the Chinese forces. 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China Imperial Japanese Army, Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Zhu De, He Yingqin Tojo Hideki, Matsui Iwane, Minami Jiro, Kesago Nakajima, Toshizo Nishio, Neiji Okamura. ... The Chinese Nationalist Party (Traditional Chinese: 中國國民黨; Simplified Chinese: 中国国民党; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo Kuo-min-tang; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhōngguó GuómíndÇŽng), commonly known as the Kuomintang (KMT), is a conservative political party currently active in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. ... Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. ... A levee, levée (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ... The Yellow River, (Chinese: 黃河; , Pinyin: Huáng Hé; Wade-Giles: Hwang-ho; literally, Yellow River), is 4,700 km long and is the second longest river in China, after the Yangtze. ... The Imperial Japanese Army (: 大日本帝國陸軍 Shinjitai: 大日本帝国陸軍 Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun) was the official ground based armed force of Japan from 1867 to 1945 when it was Imperial Japan. ... Kaifeng (Simplified Chinese: 开封; Traditional Chinese: 開封; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kai-feng), formerly known as Bianliang (汴梁), is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, Peoples Republic of China. ... A square metre (US spelling: square meter) is by definition the area enclosed by a square with sides each 1 metre long. ... A square mile is an Imperial unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (5,280 feet, 1,760 yards, 1,609. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... Anhui (Chinese: 安徽; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: An-hui; Postal System Pinyin: Ngan-hui, Anhwei or An-hwei) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Jiangsu (Simplified Chinese: 江苏; Traditional Chinese: 江蘇; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chiang-su; Postal System Pinyin: Kiangsu) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. ... A province, in the context of China, is a translation of sheng (省 shÄ›ng), which is an administrative division of China. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

The dikes were rebuilt in 1946 and 1947 and Yellow River returned to its pre-1938 course. 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...