Battle of Shanghai
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese war
A National Revolutionary Army machine gun nest in Shanghai
Date August 13, 1937 - November 26, 1937 Location In and around Shanghai Result Japanese victory
Combatants
National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China	Imperial Japanese Army, Empire of Japan
Commanders
Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng	Heisuke Yanagawa, Iwane Matsui, Hasegawa Kiyoshi
Strength
600,000 troops in 75 divisions and 9 brigades, 200 airplanes	300,000 troops in 8 divisions and 6 brigades, 500 airplanes, 300 tanks, 130 naval ships
Casualties
~200,000+	~70,000

The Battle of Shanghai was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Army, Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the entire war. Combatants Republic of China Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Xue Yue, Mao Zedong, Peng Dehuai Fumimaro Konoe, Hideki Tojo, Matsui Iwane, Jiro Minami, Kesago Nakajima, Toshizo Nishio, Yasuji Okamura, Umezu Yoshijiro Strength 5,600,000[] 4,100,000 (including 900... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... The National Revolutionary Army (NRA) (Chinese: 國民革命軍; pinyin: guo2 min2 ge2 ming4 jun1) was the national army of the Republic of China. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China. ... The National Revolutionary Army (NRA) (Chinese: 國民革命軍; pinyin: guo2 min2 ge2 ming4 jun1) was the national army of the Republic of China. ... Motto: Three Principles of the People (三民主義 San-min Chu-i) Anthem: National Anthem of the Republic of China Capital Taipei (de facto)  Nanjing (de jure)1  Largest city Taipei Official languages Mandarin (GuóyÇ”) Government Semi-presidential system  -  President Chen Shui-bian  -  Vice President Annette Lu  -  Premier Su Tseng-chang... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_(bordered). ... 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. ... Anthem: Kimi ga Yo Imperial Reign Slogan: Fukoku Kyohei Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Military (a. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China. ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chen Chen Cheng (Traditional Chinese: 陳誠; Simplified Chinese: 陈诚; Hanyu Pinyin: Chén Chéng) (January 4, 1897 - March 5, 1965), Chinese political and military leader, was one of the main Kuomintang (KMT) commanders during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_(bordered). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_(bordered). ... General Iwane Matsui , July 27, 1878 - December 23, 1948) was a general of the Japanese Imperial Army and the commander of the expeditionary forces sent to China. ... Image File history File links Naval_Ensign_of_Japan. ... Combatants Republic of China Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Xue Yue, Mao Zedong, Peng Dehuai Fumimaro Konoe, Hideki Tojo, Matsui Iwane, Jiro Minami, Kesago Nakajima, Toshizo Nishio, Yasuji Okamura, Umezu Yoshijiro Strength 5,600,000[] 4,100,000 (including 900... It has been suggested that Manchuria Incident be merged into this article or section. ... 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Combatants Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies, Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, Republic of China Imperial Japanese Army, Empire of Japan, Manchukuo Imperial Army, Manchukuo Commanders Ma Zhanshan, Ting Chao, Tang Juwu, Wang Fengge, Wang Delin, Su Bingwen, Feng Yuxiang, Yang Jingyu, Zhou Baozhong, Li Zhaolin Shigeru Honjo, Nobuyoshi Muto, Takashi Hishikari... -Operation Nekka Date : March, 1933 Place : Hebei, China Opponent : Chinese Army Tank Unit:1st Special Tank Company Commander:Captain Hyakutake Tanks:11 Type 89 Medium Tanks, 2 Type 92 Combat Cars After the Manchurian Incident, the Renault tanks of the 1st Special Tank Company were replaced with Type 89 Tank. ... The Battle of Rehe was fought from February 21 to March 1 of 1933 between China and Japan. ... 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Since 1931, China and Japan had been embroiled in incessant, smaller conflicts, often known as "incidents," that saw China lose territories piece by piece. By August 1937, following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of July 7 and the ensuing Japanese invasion of North China, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek decided to lead China into total war with Japan, though without a formal declaration of war. Dogged Chinese resistance at Shanghai was aimed at stalling the rapid Japanese advance, giving much needed time for the Chinese government to move vital industries to the interior, while at the same time attempting to bring sympathetic Western Powers to China's side. During the fierce three-month battle, Chinese and Japanese troops fought in downtown Shanghai, in the outlying towns, and on the beaches of the Jiangsu coast, where the Japanese had made amphibious landings. The Battle of Shanghai was essentially a story of Chinese soldiers, who, relying only on their small-caliber weapons, defended Shanghai against an overwhelming onslaught of air, naval, and armored striking power from Japan. In the end, Shanghai fell, and China lost a significant portion of its best troops, while also failing to elicit any international intervention. The resistance of Chinese forces, however, came as a massive shock to the Japanese invaders, who had been indoctrinated with notions of cultural and martial superiority, and dramatically demoralized the Japanese army. The epic defense of Shanghai and the ensuing atrocities inflicted by the profoundly shocked Japanese troops inspired Chinese nationalistic resistance in what was to be a brutal eight-year conflict. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Lukouchiao Incident. ... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... A generalissimo is a commissioned officer of the highest rank; the word is often translated as Supreme Commander or Commander in Chief. It is an Italian superlative substantive, which grammatically would actually be disallowed in Italian (superlatives can be made with adjectives only). ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ... Total war is a military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nations ability to engage in war. ... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 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. ... The May Fourth Movement in 1919 marked a turning point in the history of Chinese nationalism. ...

In Chinese, the Battle of Shanghai is known as the Battle of Songhu (Chinese: 淞滬會戰; pinyin: Sōnghù Huìzhàn). Song (淞) comes from Wusong (吳凇), an alternate name of Suzhou Creek, which runs through Shanghai. Hu (滬) is the abbreviation for the city itself. In Chinese literature, the battle is also referred to as 813, denoting August 13, the date when battle began. In some Japanese sources, the battle is known as the "Second Shanghai Incident" (Japanese: 第二次上海事変), alluding to the First Shanghai Incident of 1932. However, the 1937 Battle of Shanghai was a full-scale battle signifying the beginning of an all-out war between the two countries. The term "incident" traditionally has been used to downplay Japanese invasions of China. The battle can be divided into three stages, and eventually involved nearly one million troops. The first stage lasted from August 13 to August 22, during which the Chinese army attempted to eradicate Japanese troop presence in downtown Shanghai; The second stage lasted from August 23 to October 26, during which the Japanese launched amphibious landings at Jiangsu coast and the two armies fought a Stalingrad-themed house-to-house battle, with the Japanese attempting to gain control of the city and the surrounding regions; and the last stage, lasting from October 27 to the end of November, involved the retreat of the Chinese army in the face of Japanese flanking maneuvers, and the ensuing combat on the road to China's capital, Nanjing. Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Suzhou Creek (Chinese: 苏州河; Pinyin: SÅ«zhōu Hé; Wade-Giles: Su-chou-ho; literally Suzhou River) is a river in China that passes through the Shanghai city centre. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... -First Shanghai Incident Date : Feb. ... 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. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... The National Revolutionary Army (NRA) (Chinese: 國民革命軍; pinyin: guo2 min2 ge2 ming4 jun1) was the national army of the Republic of China. ... 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. ... August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 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. ... October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ...

Background

The Battle of Shanghai was the first major battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War and escalated the skirmish of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the localized war in North China into a full-scale war that would involve most major regions of China. There were several underlying causes for this. See also the town of Battle, East Sussex, England Generally, a battle is an instance of combat between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Lukouchiao Incident. ... Total war is a military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nations ability to engage in war. ...

Strategic reasons

Since the outbreak of the war on July 7, 1937, most combat had occurred in and around North China in operations collectively known as the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin. Originally, neither China nor Japan expected the skirmirsh to escalate into a full-scale war. Japan expected a quick ceasefire and further gains of Chinese territory, similar to what had happened earlier in the Mukden Incident (1931), January 28 Incident (1932), the Great Wall Incident (1933), and various other settlements brokered in the mid-1930s. But Chiang Kai-shek saw the Marco Polo Bridge Incident as the boldest attempt yet by Japan to completely separate northern provinces from Chinese control and incorporate them into the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. This broke the "Final Point" (最後關頭) of Chiang's tolerance of Japanese aggression according to his policy of "internal pacification before external resistance." Chiang was left with no option but to fight a full-scale war with Japan. July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Northern Peoples Republic of China region. ... The Battle of Beiping-Tianjin (Traditional Chinese: 平津作戰; Simplified Chinese: 平津作战; pinyin: ) (25 July - 31 July 1937) was a battle fought during the Second Sino-Japanese War in the proximity of Beiping (now Beijing) and Tianjin. ... A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war or any armed conflict, where each side of the conflict agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. ... It has been suggested that Manchuria Incident be merged into this article or section. ... Combatants Republic of China, 19th Route Army, 5th Army Empire of Japan, Imperial Japanese Army, 2nd Independent Tank Company, Shanghai Expeditionary Force Commanders 19th Route Army: Jiang Guangnai (Chinese: 蔣光鼐), 5th Army: Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中) Commander: Yoshinori Shirakawa (Japanese: 白川義則), Chief of staff: Kanichiro Tashiro (Japanese: 田代皖一郎) Strength 50,000 90,000 Casualties... The Defense of the Great Wall (Traditional Chinese: 長城抗戰; Simplified Chinese: 长城抗战; pinyin: Chángchéng Kàngzhàn) (January 1 - May 31, 1933) was a battle between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, before official hostilities of the Sino-Japanese War commenced in 1937. ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ... Manchukuo (1932–1945), Manchu country, was a former state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia created by former Qing Dynasty officials and Imperial Japan in 1932. ...

A section of a Chinese road blockade defended by the 87th Division

Soldiers from the 88th Division defending an intersection behind sandbag fortifications

Chiang Kai-shek and his advisors believed that the next logical step for the Japanese army was to march from North China, along the Peiping-Hankou and Peiping-Pukou railways, and cut right into Wuhan and areas of Central and East China. The Japanese north-to-south advance meant that the the Chinese army had to defend along a horizontal axis, to attempt to encircle the advancing enemy through pincer movement. However, the Chinese army was simply incapable of such maneuvers, whereas the Japanese Imperial Army had qualitative superiority in North China, and the mobility of its armor and artillery pieces was unmatched. Chinese military presence in North China was minimal, and the central government and the Kuomintang itself were banned from conducting political activity in Hebei province as a result of the He-Umezu Agreement. In addition, most of the more robust Chinese defense works were not built in North China, but in East China, along the lower Yangtze Delta. Also as important, Japanese troops were being reinforced easily from Japan, through Korea and Manchukuo, and finally to North China through efficient naval and rail transports. Chinese troop movement was severely handicapped by the lack of sufficient motorized vehicles and adequate railway lines. The vast majority of Chinese troops had reached the frontline simply by marching. It took considerably longer for Chinese reinforcements from South China to reach North China than it did for the Japanese to reinforce from their home islands. This meant transferring the Chinese army to fight a war in North China was impracticle. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Beijing (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng; Wade-Giles: Pei-ching; Postal System Pinyin: Peking), is the capital city of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Hankou (漢口; pinyin: Hànkǒu; Wade-Giles: Hankow) is one of the three towns, together with Wuchang and Hanyang, which are included in modern day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, in China. ... Location within China Modern and ancient   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: WÇ”hàn) is the capital of Hubei province, and is the most populous city in central China. ... East China Charter Township is a charter township located in St. ... A pincer movement whereby the blue force doubly envelops the red force. ... Armor or armour (see spelling differences) is protective clothing intended to defend its wearer from intentional harm in combat and military engagements, typically associated with soldiers. ... Artillery with Gabion fortification Cannons on display at Fort Point Continental Artillery crew from the American Revolution Firing of an 18-pound gun, Louis-Philippe Crepin, (1772 – 1851) A forge-welded Iron Cannon in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... On May 29th, 1935 General Yoshijiro Umezu, Commander of the China Garrison Army in Tientsin, on the pretext that a pro Japanese head of a news service had been killed made the following six demands on Gen. ... East China Charter Township is a charter township located in St. ... The Yangzi Delta generally comprises the triangular-shaped territory of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province and northern Zhejiang province. ... Korea (Korean: 한국 or ì¡°ì„ , see below) is a geographic area, civilization, and former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. ... Manchukuo (1932–1945), Manchu country, was a former state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia created by former Qing Dynasty officials and Imperial Japan in 1932. ... The Home Islands refers to the four main islands of Japan: Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido. ...

In addition, if the Japanese army had made a southward advance and invaded Wuhan and then turned eastward with a push toward East and Central China and encircled the Shanghai-Nanjing region, Chinese defenders would have been chased to the sea in a scenario similar to the future Battle of Dunkirk. The Imperial Japanese Navy had total supremacy in Chinese seas and the retreating Chinese forces would have been decimated by the enemy as they had nowhere to retreat. Under this scenario, Chiang decided to establish a second front in Shanghai, with the intention of drawing enemy troops to the East and Central China Theater. His plan was to force the Japanese to change the north-to-south direction of advance into east-to-west. This way, Chinese troops would have room in the southwest for them to retreat and regroup should Shanghai, Nanjing, and Wuhan fall to Japan. The Chinese plan was to fight as much as possible to delay the Japanese advance, while time was bought to move the government and vital industries into the Chinese interior. This was the basis of the strategy of trading "space for time." This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... This article is about a Second World War battle in 1940, for the 1658 battle of the same name see Battle of the Dunes (1658) Combatants United Kingdom France Belgium Germany Commanders Lord Gort General Weygand Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Ewald von Kleist (Panzergruppe von Kleist) Strength approx. ... The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) (: 大日本帝國海軍 Shinjitai: 大日本帝国海軍   or 日本海軍 Nippon Kaigun), officially Navy of Empire of Greater Japan, also known as the Japanese Navy or Combined Fleet was the Navy of Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japans constitutional renunciation of the use of force... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... Location within China Modern and ancient   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: WÇ”hàn) is the capital of Hubei province, and is the most populous city in central China. ...

Political causes

Public opinion and patriotism were also strong factors in Chiang's decision to prosecute a full-scale war with Japan. Throughout the 1930s, the central government had lost considerable public support because it was preoccupied with the pacification of Chinese communist insurrections before mounting a full scale war against Japan. However, having emerged from the peaceful resolution of the Xian Incident, Chiang Kai-shek attained unprecedented popularity as he was seen as the only national leader capable of conducting the war against Japan. It was impossible for him to back down as it would have doomed his political career. Public Opinion is a book on media and democracy by Walter Lippmann. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Communist Party of China flag The Communist Party of China (Simplified Chinese: 中国共产党; Traditional Chinese: 中國共産黨; pinyin: Zhōnggu ngchǎndǎng) is the ruling party of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Xian Incident (西安事变 Xīān shìbiàn) occurred in Xian on December 12, 1936. ...

Originally, Chiang believed that China needed at least several years of internal peace and unity to build up a national army and sufficient industries to fight Japan on the same footing. Chiang feared that a premature war would put an end to his preparatory plans, and thus opted for fighting small, localized "incidents" that were characteristic of Sino-Japanese conflicts in the 1930s. On the other hand, if Chiang decided to put up an all-out resistance, he risked losing his newly reorganized divisions that were barely ready to meet the enemy head-on, in addition to the complete destruction of China's nascent industrial base. Essentially, for Chiang, fighting a full-scale war would bolster his public image among the Chinese, but would undermine his political leverage, which was based on military strength, against other regional powers. However, stepping down and making more concessions would make him appear unpatriotic and lose public support, but would maintain his military power. The Battle of Shanghai and the decision for total war would prove to be a great gamble for Chiang.

Chiang also could not afford losing Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces to Japanese hands. Both Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China at the time, and Shanghai were situated in Jiangsu province. The two provinces were also economic powerhouse of the lower Yangtze Delta region, and much of the industrial progress and political foundation of the "Nanjing Decade" were developed here. The region was also the only place in China where the central government under Chiang Kai-shek had unopposed political authority, since North China had been under Japanese influence, and other provinces were subject to the control of remnant warlords or other Kuomintang militarist factions. Thus, Chiang also had to defend Shanghai at all costs since it was situated at the core of his political and economic administration. Zhejiang (also spelled Chehkiang or Chekiang) is an eastern coastal 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. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) succeeded the Qing Dynasty in 1912, ending 2,000 years of imperial rule. ... Warlord is a term that refers to one who has de facto military control of a subnational area, due to armed forces which are personally obedient to — somewhat circularly — that warlord. ...

Shanghai was a cosmopolitan city and had investments and assets from most major foreign powers, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Traditionally, Western Powers had been unwilling to condemn Japanese aggression because of their preoccupation with the situation in Europe and Japan's anti-Soviet Union political agenda. However, a Japanese invasion of the city would provide an impetus for the West to enter the war on the side of China. It was obvious that the war would undercut western commercial investments and make them propose a quick settlement on terms acceptable to China. In addition, Japan could not possibly sustain a war against the United States, the greatest economic power, and the United Kingdom, the greatest colonial power. However, appeasement and isolationism permeated the international community and past experience from the 1930s had made it clear that Japanese excursions would not be acted upon by the foreign powers, other than some ineffective condemnations from the League of Nations. Already in 1935, Chiang's German advisor, General Alexander von Falkenhausen, told him that the Nine-Power Treaty was basically a sheet of scrap paper and that he should place no hope that the international community would come to intervene. Chiang was advised that China must be prepared to fight alone for at least two years of the war, regardless of any changes in the international situation. In the context of international relations and diplomacy, power (sometimes clarified as international power, national power, or state power) is the ability of one state to influence or control other states. ... Appeasement is a policy of accepting the imposed conditions of an aggressor in lieu of armed resistance, usually at the sacrifice of principles. ... Isolationism is a foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist military and a political policy of economic nationalism (protectionism). ... The League of Nations was an international organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. ... Alexander von Falkenhausen (October 29, 1878 - July 31, 1966) was the head of the military government of Belgium during the German occupation, from 1940 until 1944 in the Second World War. ... Signed by the US, France, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Belgium, China, Netherlands, and Portugal. ...

Past experience and preparation

Chinese peace preservation corps in downtown Shanghai

Chiang and his advisers were also somewhat confident in raising the stakes of the battle, since the Chinese army had fought the Japanese to a standstill in the January 28 Incident, also known as the First Shanghai Incident, in 1932. Because the Shanghai Ceasefire Agreement of 1932, signed after the incident, forbade the Chinese from deploying any troops within Shanghai, the Chinese trained its police garrison, whose presence was allowed in the city, in various military tactics unusual for a police force. The planning of the defense of Shanghai was overseen by Zhang Zhizhong, a veteran of the 1932 incident. Since China did not possess adequate artillery and armor, Zhang Zhizhong believed that the Chinese army should use their numerical superiority and take the initiative, and push the Japanese into the sea before they had a chance to reinforce. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Combatants Republic of China, 19th Route Army, 5th Army Empire of Japan, Imperial Japanese Army, 2nd Independent Tank Company, Shanghai Expeditionary Force Commanders 19th Route Army: Jiang Guangnai (Chinese: 蔣光鼐), 5th Army: Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中) Commander: Yoshinori Shirakawa (Japanese: 白川義則), Chief of staff: Kanichiro Tashiro (Japanese: 田代皖一郎) Strength 50,000 90,000 Casualties... Combatants Republic of China, 19th Route Army, 5th Army Empire of Japan, Imperial Japanese Army, 2nd Independent Tank Company, Shanghai Expeditionary Force Commanders 19th Route Army: Jiang Guangnai (Chinese: 蔣光鼐), 5th Army: Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中) Commander: Yoshinori Shirakawa (Japanese: 白川義則), Chief of staff: Kanichiro Tashiro (Japanese: 田代皖一郎) Strength 50,000 90,000 Casualties... Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中; Pinyin: ) (1895-1965) was a general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China. ...

In 1933, three military zones, Nanjing, Nanjing-Hangzhou, and Nanjing-Shanghai, were established to coordinate defenses in the Yangtze Delta. In 1934, with German assistance, the construction of the so-called "Chinese Hindenburg Line" began, with a series of fortifications to facilitate defense in depth. Two such lines, the Wufu Line (吳福線) between Suzhou and Fushan, and the Xicheng Line (錫澄線) between Wuxi and Jiangyin, were in position to protect the road to Nanjing, in case Shanghai should fall into enemy hands. In spring 1937, just barely months before the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the lines were finally completed. However, the necessary training of personnel to man these positions and coordinate the defense had not yet been completed when the war broke out.   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city in the Peoples Republic of China and the capital of Zhejiang province. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Sino-German cooperation played a great role in Chinese history of the early and mid 20th century. ... The Hindenburg Line was a vast system of defences in Northern France constructed by the Germans during the winter of 1916– 17 during World War I; the Germans called it the Siegfried Line. ... Defence in depth is a military stategy sometimes also called elastic defence. ... Suzhou (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; ancient name: 吳) is a city with a long history on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. ... Wuxi (Simplified Chinese: 无锡; Traditional Chinese: 無錫; Pinyin: WúxÄ«; former spellings: Wu-hsi, Wuhsi, or Wusih; lit. ... Jiangyin (Simplified Chinese: 江阴; Traditional Chinese: 江陰; pinyin: JiāngyÄ«n; Wade-Giles: Kiangyin) is a city in Chinas Jiangsu province on the Yangtze River. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ...

Japanese position

Since the outbreak of war on July 7, Japan had focused on conducting military operations primarily in North China, which included provinces such as Hebei, Shanxi, and Chahar. The Japanese invasion further increased the frequency of anti-Japanese protests, and boycotts of Japanese goods had serious repercussions upon Japanese trade in China. The effect was strongly felt in Shanghai because there were many Japanese commercial interests in the city. Northern Peoples Republic of China region. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Shanxi (Chinese: 山西; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Shansi) is a province in the northern part of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Chakhar is a group of the Mongols. ... Demonstrators march in the street while protesting the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on April 16, 2005. ... Look up Boycott in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The Imperial Japanese Navy had insisted on escalating troop presence to protect both Japanese factories and citizens from a possible confrontation with the Chinese, but the Imperial Japanese Army consistently refused to cooperate until early August. One reason for this was that the Japanese Army did not wish to deploy in East and Central China, for fear that such action would create a vacuum in North China and Manchukuo, which bordered the Soviet Union. Japan saw the Soviet Union as the primary military threat on the Chinese mainland and did not want to divert attention away from North China. The Japanese Army Command also did not wish to deploy troops into Central China, because doing so might steer Japan into confrontations with other foreign powers present in the region. In addition, the Japanese Army Command had a very low opinion of Chinese fighting capability, and believed that since China had almost always been mired in the civil wars, Chiang Kai-shek would focus on national unification first and would not risk his troops against the vastly superior Japanese. There was no need for the Imperial Japanese Army to enter Central China. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) (: 大日本帝國海軍 Shinjitai: 大日本帝国海軍   or 日本海軍 Nippon Kaigun), officially Navy of Empire of Greater Japan, also known as the Japanese Navy or Combined Fleet was the Navy of Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japans constitutional renunciation of the use of force... 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. ... Manchukuo (1932–1945), Manchu country, was a former state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia created by former Qing Dynasty officials and Imperial Japan in 1932. ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ...

Thus, Japan wished to defeat China and conclude the war as soon as possible, to avoid disrupting its plans against the Soviet Union. However, the Japanese Naval Command insisted on deploying troops in Central China to destroy any Chinese troops that might be dispatched to North China, where the war was localized. Following the Oyama Incident of August 9, a conflict in Shanghai seemed inevitable. On August 10, naval commander-in-chief Mitsumasa Yonai voiced his demand in the cabinet meeting and faced opposition from army generals Ishiwara Kanji and Umezu Yoshijiro. The two generals insisted that the Shanghai front would be the responsibility solely of the Imperial Navy. After some negotiation, the Army Command acceded to the navy's demand and began deploying troops to the Shanghai region on August 10. August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Mitsumasa Yonai (米内 光政 Yonai Mitsumasa; March 2, 1880–April 20, 1948) was a Japanese politician and the 37th Prime Minister of Japan from January 16, 1940 to July 22, 1940. ... Kanji Ishiwara (石原 莞爾, January 18, 1889 - August 15, 1949) was a Japanese military officer in the Kantogun. ... General Yoshijiro Umezu (梅酢芳次郎 Umezu Yoshijirō, 1882-1949) was the chief commander of the Japanese army in World War II. Along with War Minister Korechika Anami and Soemu Toyoda, Chief of Staff of the Navy, Umezu opposed surrender in August of 1945; he believed that... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

The Japanese military was confident to overcome Chinese forces in Central China in only three days and end the entire war in three months. The Japanese had military garrisons within the city while Chinese military presence, aside from a small military police garrison, known as the Peace Preservation Corps (保安隊), and some fortifications, was strictly forbidden under the Shanghai Ceasefire Agreement. The Japanese had many factories and warehouses in the city, and most of them were reinforced for military purposes. The Japanese marines headquarters was near a textile mill and there were more than eighty emplacements and bunkers of various types in the city. The Japanese Third Fleet also had ships patrolling the rivers that ran through Shanghai, and the city was well within the firing range of their guns. In sum, the Japanese army was well prepared to meet the numerically superior, but under-trained and under-equipped Chinese army. Combatants Republic of China, 19th Route Army, 5th Army Empire of Japan, Imperial Japanese Army, 2nd Independent Tank Company, Shanghai Expeditionary Force Commanders 19th Route Army: Jiang Guangnai (Chinese: 蔣光鼐), 5th Army: Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中) Commander: Yoshinori Shirakawa (Japanese: 白川義則), Chief of staff: Kanichiro Tashiro (Japanese: 田代皖一郎) Strength 50,000 90,000 Casualties...

Prelude to the battle

Oyama Incident

On August 9, First Lieutenant Isao Oyama (大山勇夫) of the Japanese Marines attempted an illegal entry into the Hungchiao Airport (虹橋機場) of Shanghai, but was shot to death by the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps stationed near the military airport. It is still unknown whether Oyama initiated the intrusion on his own or acted on higher orders. Regardless, the Oyama Incident certainly heightened the tension in Shanghai. On August 10, the Japanese consul general apologized for Oyama's action, because it was a clear intrusion of Chinese territory. Nevertheless, he remained firm and demanded that the Chinese withdraw the Peace Preservation Corps and dismantle their defense works around the city. He also made it clear that the shooting of a Japanese officer was a humiliation to the Imperial Army, and the situation was likely to explode at the slightest provocation. The shooting incident also caused Japan to send in reinforcements into the Shanghai area on August 10. To the Chinese, the Oyama Incident was yet another pretext for Japanese aggression, not at all different from the many "incidents" in the 1930s. In response to Japanese troop movements, Chiang Kai-shek began deploying Chinese troops into the Shanghai area on August 11, in direct violation of the Shanghai Ceasefire Agreement of 1932. August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... The Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF), (海軍陸戦隊 Kaigun Rikusentai) were the marine troops of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and was only part of the IJN Land Forces. ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Combatants Republic of China, 19th Route Army, 5th Army Empire of Japan, Imperial Japanese Army, 2nd Independent Tank Company, Shanghai Expeditionary Force Commanders 19th Route Army: Jiang Guangnai (Chinese: 蔣光鼐), 5th Army: Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中) Commander: Yoshinori Shirakawa (Japanese: 白川義則), Chief of staff: Kanichiro Tashiro (Japanese: 田代皖一郎) Strength 50,000 90,000 Casualties...

Final efforts at negotiation

On August 12, representatives of the major powers convened and Japan demanded the powers enforce the withdrawal of Chinese troops from Shanghai, but mayor Yu Hung-chun protested that Japan had already violated the agreement through its invasion of China on July 7. The major powers did not wish to see another January 28 Incident, which greatly disrupted foreign economic activities in Shanghai. On the other hand, Chinese citizens feverishly welcomed the presence of Chinese troops in the city. In Nanjing, Chinese and Japanese representatives met for the last time for final efforts at negotiation. The Japanese demanded that the Chinese withdraw all Peace Preservation Corps from Shanghai and all regular troops from the vicinities of the city. The Chinese insisted that the Japanese demand of a unilateral Chinese withdrawal was unacceptable since the two countries were already fighting a war in North China. At last mayor Yu made it clear that at most the Chinese government would concede that the Chinese troops would not fire unless fired upon. Japan on the other hand placed all responsibility on China because of Chinese deployment of troops around Shanghai. Negotiation was impossible and there was no alternative other than the spread of war into Central China. August 12 is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Yu Hung-Chun (1897 - 1960) was a Taiwanese (Chinese-born) political figure. ... Combatants Republic of China, 19th Route Army, 5th Army Empire of Japan, Imperial Japanese Army, 2nd Independent Tank Company, Shanghai Expeditionary Force Commanders 19th Route Army: Jiang Guangnai (Chinese: 蔣光鼐), 5th Army: Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中) Commander: Yoshinori Shirakawa (Japanese: 白川義則), Chief of staff: Kanichiro Tashiro (Japanese: 田代皖一郎) Strength 50,000 90,000 Casualties...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ...

Order of battle

See Order of battle at Shanghai. The following the the order of battle of the forces involved in the Battle of Shanghai, during the opening stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War. ...

First phase (August 13 - 22)

Urban fighting

Zhabei district on fire

Around 9am on August 13, the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps exchanged small arms fire with Japanese troops in Zhabei, Wusong, and Jiangwan districts of Shanghai. Around 3pm the Japanese army also crossed over the Bazi Bridge (八字橋) in Zhabei district and attacked various centers in the city. The Chinese 88th Division retaliated with mortar attacks. Sporadic shootings continued through the day until 4pm, when the Japanese headquarters ordered the naval ships of the Third Fleet, stationed in the Yangtze and the Huangpu River to open fire on Chinese positions in the city. In the late night of August 13, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Zhang Zhizhong to begin the Chinese offensive the next day. In the morning August 14, the Chinese air force began bombing various Japanese targets and the Chinese ground force began its offensive at 3pm. On the same day the Chinese government issued the Proclamation of Self-Defense and War of Resistance (自衛抗戰聲明書), explaining the government's resolve against Japanese aggression. The Battle of Shanghai officially began. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... Shanghai district map highlighting Zhabei Zhabei District of Shanghai has a land area of 29. ... The 88th Division (Traditional Chinese: 第88師; Simplified Chinese: 第88师; pinyin: ) was a German-trained division in the National Revolutionary Army. ... US soldier loading a M224 60-mm mortar. ... Length 6,380 km Elevation of the source  ? m Average discharge 31,900 m³/s Area watershed 1,800,000 km² Origin Qinghai Province and Tibet Mouth East China Sea Basin countries China The Chang Jiang (Simplified Chinese: 长江; Traditional Chinese: 長江; pinyin: Cháng Jiāng... Huangpu river (黃浦江) is a 97km long river in China flowing through Shanghai. ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ... Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中; Pinyin: ) (1895-1965) was a general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China. ... August 14 is the 226th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (227th in leap years), with 139 days remaining. ...

Zhang Zhizhong's initial plan was to have the numerically superior Chinese forces attack the Japanese by surprise and push them right into Huangpu River, and then blockade the coast to deny the Japanese the opportunity to land reinforcements in the Huangpu wharves between Yangshupu (楊樹浦) and Hongkou (虹口). The Chinese 88th Division was to attack the Japanese army headquarters near Zhabei, and the 87th Division was to attack the reinforced Kung-ta Textile Mill, where the Japanese naval command was located. Zhang estimated it would take one week to complete the objectives. However, the operations ran into trouble as the troops fought to a standstill just outside the International Settlement. Japanese strongholds were fortified with thick concrete and were resistant to 150mm howitzers, the only heavy weapons in Chinese possession. Chinese troops could only advance under machine gun cover and get really close to the emplacements to kill those within with hand grenades. The Chinese advance was greatly reduced by this limit and the element of surprise was quickly lost. Huangpu river (黃浦江) is a 97km long river in China flowing through Shanghai. ... A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies, troops, information or aid from reaching an opposing force. ... A wharf (plural wharfs, or (especially in American English) wharves, collectively wharfing or wharfage) is a fixed platform, commonly on pilings, roughly parallel to and alongside navigable water, where ships are loaded and unloaded. ... Shanghai district map highlighting Zhabei Zhabei District of Shanghai has a land area of 29. ... This article or section needs to be wikified. ... Loading a WW1 British 15 in (381 mm) howitzer 155 mm M198 Howitzer A howitzer or hauwitzer is a type of field artillery. ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... Grenade may refer to: The well-known hand grenade commonly used by soldiers. ...

On August 16, Zhang Zhizhong ordered his men to take the streets surrounding the Japanese strongholds, rather than assaulting them head-on. Every time a street was successfully cleared, the Chinese would set up sandbag blockades and set fire to allow the Japanese no escape. The tactic was successful as the Chinese were able to destroy many emplacements and outposts in a single day. However, the Japanese then deployed tanks and were able to repel Chinese attacks in the broad streets. The Chinese also ran into the same problem of the lack of heavy weapons to destroy the bunkers easily. Thus, on August 18, the attack was called off. August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Japanese artillery in the streets

On August 18, Chen Cheng reached the frontlines to discuss the situation with Zhang Zhizhong. They decided to send the newly arrived 36th Division into the fray, by attacking the Hueishan (匯山) docks on the northern side of the Huangpu River. Meanwhile, the 87th Division broke through Japanese lines at Yangshupu, and pushed onto the Hueishan docks along with the 36th Division. On August 22, the tanks of the 36th Division reached the docks, but were not able to hold the position for long. The Chinese troops were trained insufficiently in coordinating infantry-tank tactics, and the troops were not able to keep up to the tanks' speed. The tanks were vulnerable to Japanese anti-tank weapons and artillery in close quarters and became useless when they entered the city center. The few troops who accompanied the tanks through the city blocks were then trapped by Japanese road blockades and annihilated by flamethrowers and intense machine gun fire. While the Chinese almost succeeded in pushing the Japanese down the Huangpu River, the casualty rate was exceedingly high. In the night of August 22 alone, the 36th Division lost more than ninety officers and a thousand troops. Image File history File linksMetadata Shanghai1937IJA_streets. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Shanghai1937IJA_streets. ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chen Chen Cheng (Traditional Chinese: 陳誠; Simplified Chinese: 陈诚; Hanyu Pinyin: Chén Chéng) (January 4, 1897 - March 5, 1965), Chinese political and military leader, was one of the main Kuomintang (KMT) commanders during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... Anti-tank, or simply AT, refers to any method of combating military armored fighting vehicles, notably tanks. ... Riverboat of the U.S. Brownwater Navy shooting ignited napalm from its mounted flamethrower during the Vietnam war. ...

On August 22, the Japanese 3rd, 8th, and 11th Divisions made an amphibious assault under cover from naval bombardments and proceeded to land in Chuanshakou (川沙口), Shizilin (獅子林), and Baoshan (寶山), towns on the northeast coast some fifty kilometers away from downtown Shanghai. Japanese landings in northeast Shanghai suburban areas meant that many Chinese troops, who were deployed in Shanghai's urban center, had to be redeployed to coastal regions to counter the landings. Thus, the frontline was lengthened from metropolitan Shanghai along the Huangpu River to the northeast coastal districts. The Chinese offensive in the urban center had come to a halt, and the fight in downtown Shanghai essentially became a static battle with both sides suffering heavy losses and making minimal changes in the frontline. The Chinese divisions were able to hold onto Zhabei, Jiangwan, and other downtown positions for three months, until situations in other areas made it strategically impossible to continue defending these positions. August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... The Baoshan district of Shanghai has a land area of 424. ...

Air operations

A train station bombed on August 24, this iconic photo appeared in LIFE magazine

On August 14, the Taiwan-based Shikaya and Kisarazu air squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service launched bombing raids against Chinese targets in the Shanghai area. The bombings directly caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths as the explosives landed in populated centers and major transportation hubs. The nascent Republic of China Air Force retaliated and the 4th Flying Group, based in Henan and under the command of Captain Gao Zhihang (高志航), shot down six Japanese planes, while suffering zero losses. In 1940 the government announced August 14 would be the Air Force Day to raise the morale of the Chinese populace. The Chinese air force also bombed various targets in the city and naval ships. From August 15 to 18, the Chinese fought the numerically superior Japanese air force in an intense air battle that saw the two Japanese squadrons destroyed. However, China was fighting the air war with every airplane in its possession, some of them even second-hand purchases from various countries. China was not able to produce any planes of its own and was always running low on replacement parts and supplies for its aircraft.^[1] On the other hand, Japan had a robust aviation industry and was technologically advanced to design and manufacture its own planes and send them to the war zone quite efficiently. Any Japanese losses could be easily reinforced, while China was unable to replace its lost aircraft. Thus, it was inconceivable that China would win the air war. In the Shanghai campaign, the Chinese air force shot down 85 Japanese airplanes and sank 51 ships. The Chinese lost 91 planes, which was just under half of the entire air force at China's disposal. I feel like crying when I see this picture. ... I feel like crying when I see this picture. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... Look up icon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Edward Steichens portrait of Greta Garbo. ... August 14 is the 226th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (227th in leap years), with 139 days remaining. ... The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (more traditionally called the Japanese Army Air Force) was Imperial Japans land-based aviation force. ... The Republic of China Air Force (中華民國空軍; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó KōngjÅ«n) is the aviation branch of the armed forces of the Republic of China on Taiwan, and is often viewed as one of the most professional and capable branches of the Republic of Chinas armed forces. ... 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. ...

Other developments

Japanese troops in the ruins of Shanghai

On August 15, the Japanese formed the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, composed of the 3rd and 11th Divisions, under the command of General Matsui Iwane. On August 19, Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe announced that the Sino-Japanese conflict could only be resolved through war, regardless of any attempts at negotiation by third party nations. Konoe said that the initial plan of localized "containment" around the Shanghai region had now escalated to total war, with the ultimate goal of forcing the Chinese government to cooperate with Japan economically and politically. On August 23, the Japanese began the bombing campaign over Nanjing, and various cities in Central China. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... Gen. ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The Prime Minister of Japan (内閣総理大臣 Naikaku sōri daijin) is the usual English-language term used for the head of government of Japan, although the literal translation of the Japanese name for the office is Prime Minister of the Cabinet. ... Fumimaro Konoe Prince Fumimaro Konoe (è¿‘è¡ž{è¡› in Shinjitai} 文麿 Konoe Fumimaro) (sometimes Konoye, October 12, 1891–December 16, 1945) was a Japanese politician and the 34th (June 4, 1937–January 5, 1939), 38th (July 22, 1940–July 18, 1941) and 39th (July 18, 1941–October 18, 1941) Prime Minister of Japan. ... August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ...

In the beginning of the battle, Zhang Zhizhong, as the commander of the 5th Army and the Nanjing-Shanghai war zone, was responsible conducting Chinese operations. The failure of the initial Chinese offensive greatly dismayed Chiang Kai-shek and his staff. Chiang criticized Zhang's failure to make sufficient preparations, especially the procurement of weapons capable of penetrating Japanese bunkers, before sending in troops in waves, which resulted in many divisions sustaining a huge number of casualties right from the beginning. Zhang was also criticized for his overconfidence and his penchant of holding press conferences, for both foreign and Chinese reporters in the cosmopolitan city. Chiang Kai-shek and his staff, the most prominent including Chen Cheng and Gu Zhutong, began taking over command duties from Zhang Zhizhong. Chiang Kai-shek himself would eventually become the commander of the 3rd Warzone that oversaw Shanghai. The failure of the Chinese offensive showed that even though the Chinese army initially outnumbered the Japanese garrison, it still could not have achieve its objective, given its lack of heavy weapons and artillery. In addition, the Japanese fleet was ubiquitous in Shanghai waters and their naval guns bombarded Chinese positions in the city with pinpoint accuracy. Given such odds, the chance of a successful Chinese offensive was slim. Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中; Pinyin: ) (1895-1965) was a general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China. ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ... A joint press conference by U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chen Chen Cheng (Traditional Chinese: 陳誠; Simplified Chinese: 陈诚; Hanyu Pinyin: Chén Chéng) (January 4, 1897 - March 5, 1965), Chinese political and military leader, was one of the main Kuomintang (KMT) commanders during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese... Gu Zhutong(顾祝同)(1893～1987) Courtesy name:Moshan(墨山) Gu Zhutong was born in Lianshui,located in Jiangsu. ...

Second phase (August 23 - October 26)

The bloodiest and most intense period of fighting occurred in the period from August 23, when the Japanese began landing in waves, to October 26, when the Chinese retired from metropolitan Shanghai. During this period, the majority of combat concentrated along the 40 kilometer line from metropolitan Shanghai to the town of Liuhe (瀏河), located northeast to the city on the coast where the Japanese made their landings. August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 66 days remaining. ...

Defense against landing (August 23 - September 10)

Japanese amphibious landings

On August 23, the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Force, led by Iwane Matsui, landed in Liuhe, Wusong (吳淞), and Chuanshakou. Chiang Kai-shek had expected these coastal towns to be vulnerable to Japanese landings and ordered Chen Cheng to reinforce the area with the 18th Army. However, the Chinese were no match for Japanese firepower. The Japanese almost always began their amphibious assaults with heavy naval and air bombardment of the Chinese coastal defense works and trenches. It was not unheard of for the Chinese to lose an entire garrison to such bombardments. However, the Chinese were tenacious and would reinforce almost immediately to counter the Japanese troops who had just made their landing after the bombardment. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... General Iwane Matsui , July 27, 1878 - December 23, 1948) was a general of the Japanese Imperial Army and the commander of the expeditionary forces sent to China. ... A trench is a long narrow ditch. ... A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. ...

In the two weeks that followed, the Chinese and Japanese troops fought bitter battles in the numerous towns and villages along the coast. The Chinese troops fending off the amphibious assaults had only their small-caliber weapons to depend on, and were not sufficiently supported by the Chinese air force and the almost nonexistent Chinese navy. They paid heavily for the defense. An entire regiment could be reduced to just a few men in action. In addition, Chinese coastal defense works were hastily constructed and did not offer much protection against enemy attacks, as many trenches were newly constructed during the lull of heavy fighting. Moreover, the sandy soil of the coastal region meant that it was difficult to construct sturdy fortifications. Many trenches would collapse due to rain. It was a race against time to construct and repair these defense works while they were constantly being bombarded by the Japanese. Logistics difficulty also meant it was hard to transport the necessary construction materials to the frontline. The Chinese often had to turn to bombed-out houses for bricks, beams, and others for materials. However, the Chinese fought against great odds and tried to hold onto the coastal villages as long as they could. It was commonplace for the Japanese to successfully occupy the towns in the day under heavy naval support, only to lose it during the night to Chinese counterattacks. Look up Logistics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Such attacks and counterattacks continued well into late August, when the fall of Baoshan, a vital coastal town, seemed imminent. Chiang Kai-shek ordered the remaining troops of the 98th Division to defend the town. One battalion, under Yao Ziqing (姚子青), was assigned to the task. The situation in Baoshan was grim, as the Japanese had surrounded the town on September 5. However, Yao ordered his men to defend to the death. Japanese artillery strikes reduced the town to rubble, and Yao was killed in house-to-house fighting. On September 6 Baoshan fell. The entire battalion, except for one soldier, was killed in action. Such level of sacrifice was to continue throughout the Shanghai campaign. September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ...

Combat around Luodian (September 11 - 30)

On September 11, with the fall of Baoshan, the Chinese Army moved into defensive positions around Luodian (羅店). Luodian was only a small town, but it was the transportation center connecting Baoshan, downtown Shanghai, Jiading, Songjiang and several other towns with highways. Therefore, the successful defense of Luodian was strategically paramount to the security of Suzhou and Shanghai. As early as August 29, German adviser Alexander von Falkenhausen told Chiang Kai-shek that the town of Luodian had to be held at all costs. For the fight for Luodian, the Chinese concentrated some three hundred thousand soldiers, while the Japanese amassed more than one hundred thousand troops, supported with naval ships, tanks and airplanes. September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... Jiading is one of the 18 districts of Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. ... Songjiang (松江; pinyin: Sōngjiāng; Wade-Giles: Sungkiang) can refer to: Songjiang District, a county-level division of Shanghai, China Before the forming of Shanghai city, Shanghai was called Songjiang county, a part of Suzhou city Songjiang, a former province of China, with capital at Harbin. ... Suzhou (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; ancient name: 吳) is a city with a long history on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... Alexander von Falkenhausen (October 29, 1878 - July 31, 1966) was the head of the military government of Belgium during the German occupation, from 1940 until 1944 in the Second World War. ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ...

Chinese troops making a charge in Luodian

The carnage and intensity of the resulting battle earned the fight for Luodian the nickname "grinding mill of flesh and blood" (血肉磨坊). The Japanese offensive usually began at daybreak with concentrated aerial bombing, followed by the release of observation balloons to pinpoint the exact location of remaining Chinese positions for artillery and naval strikes. Japanese infantry would then advance under smokescreen and armored support. Japanese planes would also accompany the infantry and strafe Chinese reinforcements. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Observation balloons were widely employed as aerial platforms for purposes of intelligence gathering and artillery direction during the First World War and beyond. ... Artillery with Gabion fortification Cannons on display at Fort Point Continental Artillery crew from the American Revolution Firing of an 18-pound gun, Louis-Philippe Crepin, (1772 – 1851) A forge-welded Iron Cannon in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. ... A U.S. Army Humvee laying a smoke screen A smoke-screen is a release of smoke in order to mask the movement or location of military units such as infantry, tanks or ships. ... Armor or armour (see spelling differences) is protective clothing intended to defend its wearer from intentional harm in combat and military engagements, typically associated with soldiers. ... Warfare Strafing (adaptation of German strafen - to punish) is the practice of shooting a machine gun, from an airplane in flight, at objects or people on the ground. ...

Chinese defense was stubborn even in the face of such overwhelming firepower. During the night, Chinese soldiers mined the roads connecting the coastal towns to Luodian and engaged in night combat to cut off Japanese advance troops. At daybreak, the Chinese would garrison the front most defensive lines with comparatively fewer troops to reduce casualties resulting from intense Japanese bombardments. The Chinese would then emerge from rear positions to engage the enemy when the Japanese land offensive started after naval and artillery strikes had ceased. “Minefield” redirects here. ...

The defense of Luodian was an uphill battle for the Chinese. In addition to the obvious inferiority of firepower when compared to the Japanese, the Chinese were also in a passive position to face the onslaught, because they were not able to mount effective offensives until the Japanese were practically on top of Luodian. Because of this, the Chinese literally defended to the death to hold onto every square inch of the town. This tactic greatly accelerated the attrition rate within the Chinese ranks. For example, the casualty rate of General Chen Cheng's army group was more than fifty percent. By the end of September, the Chinese had been almost bled dry and were forced to give up Luodian.

Fight for Dachang (October 1 - 26)

Chinese soldiers near a bombed-out building

On October 1, on the advice from his commanders, Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe decided to integrate and escalate the combat in the North China and Central China Theaters and launch an October offensive to subjugate the Chinese government and end the war. By this time, the Japanese had increased troop strength in the Shanghai region to more than two hundred thousand strong. Japanese troops also invaded the town of Liuhang (劉行), south of Luodian. Thus, the frontline moved further south onto the banks of the Yunzaobin River (蘊藻濱). The Japanese aim was to cross the Yunzaobin River and take the town of Dachang (大場), which was the communications link between Chinese troops in downtown Shanghai and the northwest outlying towns. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

If Dachang had fallen, the Chinese troops would have to give up their positions in downtown Shanghai and regions east of the Huangpu River to avoid encirclement by the Japanese army. The defense of Dachang was vital to how long the Chinese army can stay and continue fighting in the Shanghai warzone. For this, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized whatever remaining troops he could salvage for the defense of Dachang. Huangpu river (黃浦江) is a 97km long river in China flowing through Shanghai. ... Encirclement is a military term for the situation when one sides force or target is isolated and surrounded by other sides forces. ...

The two armies engaged in seesaw battles, with little changes in the frontline along the Yunzaobin River. From September 11 to October 20, the Japanese army was able to advance only five kilometers. At most the positions changed hands five times a day. On October 17, the Guangxi Army under Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi finally arrived to join Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army in the battle for Shanghai. The Chinese then staged a final counteroffensive in an attempt to fully consolidate Chinese positions around Dachang and retake the banks of the Yunzaobin River. However, the counteroffensive was not coordinated well and again the Chinese succumbed to superior Japanese firepower. The Japanese utilized some 700 artillery pieces and 150 bombers for the Dachang operation and the town was totally reduced to the ground. The fighting was so fierce that the average Chinese casualty rate per hour was in the thousands, and a division could be incapacitated in a matter of just a few days. This fierce fighting continued until October 25, when Dachang finally fell. By then, Chinese troops had no option but to withdraw from downtown Shanghai, which they had held for almost three months. September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... October 17 is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Guangxi (Zhuang: Gvangjsih; old orthography: ; Simplified Chinese: 广西; Traditional Chinese: 廣西; Pinyin: Guǎngxī; Wade-Giles: Kuang-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangsi), full name Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Zhuang: Gvangjsih Bouxcuengh Swcigih; old orthography: ; Simplified Chinese: 广西壮族自治区; Traditional Chinese: 廣西壯族自治區; Pinyin: Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū) is a Zhuang autonomous region of... Li Tsung-jen (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Li Tsung-jen) (13 August 1890 - 13 January 1969), courtesy name Delin (德鄰), was prominent Guangxi warlord and Kuomintang (KMT) military commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. ... Bai Chongxi in uniform Bai Chongxi (Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Pai Chung-hsi) (18 March 1893 – 1 December 1966), also spelled Pai Chung-hsi, was a Chinese Muslim general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China (ROC). ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ... October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Third Phase (October 27 - November 26)

Chinese withdrawal from metropolitan Shanghai

Japanese troops reaching the destroyed North Station in downtown Shanghai

Starting the night of October 26, the Chinese began withdrawing from Shanghai urban center. Because Dachang and other vital suburban towns had been lost already, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the Chinese troops to retreat from Zhabei, Jiangwan (江灣), and other positions that the troops had held for seventy-five days without faltering. However, Chiang ordered one battalion of the 88th Division remain in Zhabei to defend the Sihang Warehouse on the northern bank of the Suzhou River. Chiang cannot fully retire from downtown Shanghai because the Nine-Power Treaty conference was in session in Brussels for a possible Western intervention in the Sino-Japanese conflict. The rest of the Chinese troops crossed the Suzhou River and regrouped for the final showdown with the Japanese army. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... Shanghai district map highlighting Zhabei Zhabei District of Shanghai has a land area of 29. ... The Eight Hundred Heroes (Traditional Chinese: 八百壯士; Simplified Chinese: 八百壮士; pinyin: ), also known as the Lost Battalion - not to be confused with the American Lost Battalion of WWI - were the defenders of the Sihang warehouse, who covered the retreat of Chinese forces after the Battle of Shanghai. ... The French poster for Suzhou River - River of Love Suzhou River 苏州河 (2000) is a film noir by Lou Ye about a tragic love story set in contemporary Shanghai. ... Signed by the US, France, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Belgium, China, Netherlands, and Portugal. ... Nickname: The Capital Of Europe, Comic City City of a 100 Museums[] Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area    - City 162 (Region) km²  (62. ...

Fighting around Suzhou River

Japanese troops crawling through the ruins

Chiang's original plan was to fight in areas south of the Suzhou River and inflict as many Japanese casualties as possible. However, through three months of intense fighting, Chinese troop strength had been greatly reduced. Most units had their strength halved, and as a result a division had the fighting capability of less than two regiments. By now, the Chinese army needed from eight to twelve divisions to match the fighting strength of just one Japanese division. Thus, Chinese commanders were pessimistic about the outcome of the Suzhou River combat. Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Chang Fa-kuei and other commanders insisted that the Chinese troops should enter the Wufu and Xicheng defense lines to protect Nanjing, but Chiang wanted the Chinese troops to continue fighting on the southern bank of Suzhou River. On October 28, Chiang arrived in the battlefield to boost the morale of his troops. However, the situation was bleak. On October 30, the Japanese crossed Suzhou River and the Chinese troops were in danger of encirclement. The Chinese army was at its limit of endurance. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... The French poster for Suzhou River - River of Love Suzhou River 苏州河 (2000) is a film noir by Lou Ye about a tragic love story set in contemporary Shanghai. ... Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to twenty thousand soldiers. ... A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a variable number of battalions - - commanded by a colonel. ... Li Tsung-jen (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Li Tsung-jen) (13 August 1890 - 13 January 1969), courtesy name Delin (å¾·é„°), was prominent Guangxi warlord and Kuomintang (KMT) military commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. ... Bai Chongxi in uniform Bai Chongxi (Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Pai Chung-hsi) (18 March 1893 – 1 December 1966), also spelled Pai Chung-hsi, was a Chinese Muslim general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China (ROC). ... Chang Fa-kuei (Traditional Chinese: 張發奎; Pinyin: zhāng fākúei) (1886-1980) was a general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 64 days remaining. ... Morale is a term for the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal. ... October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 62 days remaining. ...

Japanese landings at Jinshanwei

Japanese rear guard units landing supplies in Jinshanwei

As early as October 12, the Japanese chiefs of staffs had already formulated plans to force a landing in Jinshanwei (金山衛), a town located on the northern bank of Hangzhou Bay, south of the Shanghai region. The Jinshanwei landings would facilitate a northward push into Shanghai, to complement the landings in northeastern towns, such as the ones around Baoshan between late August and mid-September, which brought about a southward push. Chiang Kai-shek was aware of the Japanese plan to encircle his army in Shanghai from the north and the south, and had already ordered his commanders to take precautions of the possible Japanese landings at Jinshanwei. However, the impending fall of Dachang in late October forced Chiang to redeploy the Chinese divisions originally stationed along the northern coast of Hangzhou Bay. As a result, the lack of Chinese defenses allowed the Japanese 10th Army Corps, composed of units diverted from the Battle of Taiyuan in the North China Theater, to land easily in Jinshanwei on November 5. Jinshanwei was only forty kilometers away from the banks of Suzhou River where the Chinese troops had just retreated from the fall of Dachang. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... The Hangzhou Bay is an inlet of the East China Sea, bordered by the province of Zhejiang and the municipality of Shanghai. ... The Battle of Taiyuan is a major battle fought between China and Japan near Taiyuan, which lies in the 2nd China Theater. ... November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 56 days remaining. ...

Road to Nanjing

Chinese treating casualties from Japanese gas attacks

Japanese landings at Jinshanwei meant that the Chinese army must retire from the Shanghai front and make a breakout. However, Chiang Kai-shek still placed some hope that the Nine-Power Treaty would result in a sanction against Japan by Western Powers. It was not until November 8 that the Chinese central command issued a general retreat to withdraw from the entire Shanghai front. All Chinese units were ordered to move toward western towns such as Kunshan, and then from there enter the final defense lines to stop the Japanese from reaching Nanjing. By then, the Chinese army was utterly exhausted, and with a severe shortage of ammunition and supplies, the defense was faltering. Kunshan was lost in only two days, and the remaining troops began moving toward the Wufu Line fortifications on November 13. The Chinese army was fighting with the last of its strength and the frontline was on the verge of collapse. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Signed by the US, France, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Belgium, China, Netherlands, and Portugal. ... Sanction is an interesting word, in that, depending on context, it can have diametrically opposing meanings. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... Kunshan ( 昆山; pinyin: KÅ«nshān; Wade-Giles: Kun-shan) is a county-level city in Jiangsu, China. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... Boxes of ammunition clog a warehouse in Baghdad Ammunition is a generic military term meaning (the assembly of) a projectile and its propellant. ... November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ...

In the chaos that ensued many Chinese units were broken up and lost contact with their communications officers who had the maps and layouts to the fortifications. In addition, once they arrived at Wufu Line, the Chinese troops discovered that some of the civilian officials were not there to receive them as they had already fled and had taken the keys with them. It was devastating that the battered Chinese troops, who had just emerged from the bloodbath in Shanghai and were hoping to enter the defense lines, found that they were not able to utilize these fortifications. Wufu Line was broken through on November 19, and the Chinese troops then moved toward Xicheng Line, which they were forced to give up on November 26 in the midst of the onslaught. The "Chinese Hindenberg Line," which the government had spent millions to construct and was the final line of defense between Shanghai and Nanjing, collapsed in only two weeks. The Battle of Shanghai was over. However, fighting continued without a pause on the road to China's capital and the ensuing combat immediately merged into the Battle of Nanjing, which was itself overshadowed by the Nanjing Massacre after the city had fallen. November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants China, National Revolutionary Army Japan, Central China Theater Army Commanders Tang Shengzhi Matsui Iwane Strength 100,000 men 8 divisions Casualties ~50,000 military personnel, ~300,000 civilians minimal The Battle of Nanjing (Traditional Chinese: 南京保衛戰; Simplified Chinese: 南京保卫战; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Nan-ching Pao-wei Chan) began after the... The Nanking Massacre (Chinese: 南京大屠殺, pinyin: Nánjīng Dàtúshā; Japanese: 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu), also known as the Rape of Nanking and sometimes in Japan as the Nanking Incident (南京事件, Nankin Jiken), refers to what...

Aftermath and appraisal

Loss of Central Army military strength

China's officer corps took a particularly strong hit in the battle.

Even though the Battle of Shanghai was only the first of the twenty-two major battles fought between China and Japan, Chiang Kai-shek's decision to pit his best troops into the battle had significant repercussions. At the outbreak of the war, the Chinese National Revolutionary Army boasted a standing army of some 1.7 million troops, but in reality Chinese military strength was significantly lower. This was because almost all of the troops were poorly trained, poorly equipped, and semi-literate peasants who had little concept of modern warfare. Only about 300,000 were comparatively better trained and were reorganized into some 40 newly-adjusted divisions. Of these, around 80,000 were the best of the best, the German-trained divisions that composed the elite units of Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army. However, even then these divisions were not sufficiently supported by combined arms. Thus, out of a grand total of almost two million men-in-arms, less than one hundred thousand Chinese troops were able to fight Japan more or less vis-à-vis. Chiang Kai-shek's decision to pit all of his crack divisions to fight the grand stand in Shanghai caused his elite units to suffer some sixty percent casualties in the three-month bloodbath. In one single blow, Chiang also lost some 10,000 of the 25,000 junior officers trained by the elite Central Military Academy between 1929 and 1937, in addition to some tens of thousands of potential military officers. Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army was never to recover from these devastating losses. For example, by the time the 88th Division, arguably the best of these elite divisions, began its defense of Nanjing, it had been reduced to seven thousand men, of whom three thousand were new recruits to replace the lost veterans. The destruction of his own military strength also forced Chiang to rely on non-Whampoa generals, who commanded the provincial armies and many of whom had questionable loyalty. Because of his reduction in military power, Chiang lost some political leverage to local militarists. In sum, Chiang Kai-shek was effectively only the head of a loose coalition, rather than the commander-in-chief of a united fighting force. The sapping of China's best fighting men also made the planning and execution of subsequent military operations difficult. In essence, Chiang Kai-shek's concerted pre-war effort to build a truly effective, modernized, national army was greatly devastated by the sacrifices made in the Battle of Shanghai. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... The National Revolutionary Army (NRA) (Chinese: 國民革命軍; pinyin: guo2 min2 ge2 ming4 jun1) was the national army of the Republic of China. ... World literacy rates by country The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. ... Modern warfare involves the widespread use of highly advanced technology. ... Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to twenty thousand soldiers. ... Preceding and during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Republic of China government sought German assistance in modernizing its National Revolutionary Army. ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ... Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects. ... The term junior officer is sometimes used to make clear that an officer in a military or para-military command is not in over-all command. ... The 88th Division (Traditional Chinese: 第88師; Simplified Chinese: 第88师; pinyin: ) was a German-trained division in the National Revolutionary Army. ... Combatants China, National Revolutionary Army Japan, Central China Theater Army Commanders Tang Shengzhi Matsui Iwane Strength 100,000 men 8 divisions Casualties ~50,000 military personnel, ~300,000 civilians minimal The Battle of Nanjing (Traditional Chinese: 南京保衛戰; Simplified Chinese: 南京保卫战; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Nan-ching Pao-wei Chan) began after the... The Nationalist Party of China Army Officer Academy (中國國民黨陸軍軍官學校), commonly known as the Whampoa Military Academy (黃埔軍校, pinyin huáng pŭ jūn xiào), was a military academy in China that produced many prestigious...

International response and its consequences

A major reason that the Chinese army held onto the city as long as it did, even though it was on the brink of collapse, was that China was hoping for a western intervention in the Sino-Japanese War. Western nations had been paying little attention to China's plight since they were preoccupied with the situation in Europe. In addition, most western nations had little prospect that their intervention would help China in the long run because they believed that China would eventually lose. If China was deemed militarily weak, economically backward, and politically disunited by Western powers, it would not make sense for them to help China when it seemed bound for defeat by Japan. Thus, Chiang Kai-shek had to devote everything China had to offer to make sure the Western powers know that the present conflict between China and Japan was a major war, not a collection of inconsequential "incidents" as had been the case previously. Based on this political strategy, Chiang Kai-shek had to order his troops to fight to the death in an attempt to arouse international sympathy and cause the international community to adopt measures that would help China and sanction Japan. This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ...

On September 12, one month after the Battle of Shanghai began, China formally brought the case against Japan to the League of Nations. Again, the League was not able to formulate any effective sanctions against Japan other than an October 4 statement that gave China "spiritual support." The United States was not a member of the League and Great Britain and France were reluctant to challenge Japan. Of all the major western powers, only the United States seemed able to act more since it was not embroiled in the volatile European affairs. In addition, on October 5, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the Quarantine Speech, calling for the United States to help nations fight against aggressor nations. This speech had a tremendous effect on raising China's morale. Because America seemed willing to confront Japan, the British representative suggested to close the League case and convene the Nine Power Treaty Conference. Since the Nine-Power Treaty was signed as a result of the Washington Naval Conference of 1922, the opening of the Conference automatically brought the United States into the effort to rein in Japanese aggression. September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... The League of Nations was an international organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (279th in leap years). ... The presidential seal was first used in 1880 by President Rutherford B. Hayes and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. ... FDR redirects here. ... The Quarantine Speech given by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1937 in Chicago calling for an international quarantine of the aggressor nations as an alternative to the political climate of American neutrality and isolationism that was prevalent at the time. ... Signed by the US, France, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Belgium, China, Netherlands, and Portugal. ... The Washington Naval Conference was a diplomatic conference, called by the administration of President Warren G. Harding and held in Washington, D.C. from November 1921 to March 1922. ...

Chiang Kai-shek on the frontline

American entry into the international response brought new hope to the Chinese, and Chiang Kai-shek again reiterated the need for his troops to hold onto Shanghai to prove that China was indeed worth fighting for. By mid-October, Chinese situation in Shanghai became direr day by day, as the Japanese had made significant gains. The vital town of Dachang fell on October 26 and the Chinese withdrew from metropolitan Shanghai. However, because the Nine Power Treaty Conference was to be begin in early November, Chiang Kai-shek ordered his troops to stay in the Shanghai battlefield, instead of retreating to the Wufu and Xicheng Lines to protect Nanjing. He also left one lone battalion to defend the Sihang Warehouse in metropolitan Shanghai. Chiang also visited the frontlines to encourage his troops. Because Shanghai was the most important Chinese city in western eyes, the troops had to fight and hold onto the city as long as possible, rather than moving toward the defense lines along nameless towns en route to Nanjing. On November 3, the Conference finally convened in Brussels. While the western powers were in session to mediate the situation, the Chinese troops were making their final stand in Shanghai and had all hopes for a western intervention that would save China from collapse. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 66 days remaining. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO military graphic symbols A battalion is a military unit usually consisting of between two and six companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. ... The Eight Hundred Heroes (Traditional Chinese: 八百壯士; Simplified Chinese: 八百壮士; pinyin: ), also known as the Lost Battalion - not to be confused with the American Lost Battalion of WWI - were the defenders of the Sihang warehouse, who covered the retreat of Chinese forces after the Battle of Shanghai. ... November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... Nickname: The Capital Of Europe, Comic City City of a 100 Museums[] Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area    - City 162 (Region) km²  (62. ...

However, the Conference dragged on with little productivity. Japan was invited to the Conference twice but declined, thus a mediation effort directly involving Japan was out of the question. Similar to what had transpired in the League of Nations conference, the western powers, including the United States, were still dominated by isolationism and appeasement. Thus, nothing effective was formulated. On November 5, the Japanese made amphibious landings at Jinshanwei to surround the Chinese troops still fighting in the Shanghai warzone. Chiang was still waiting for the Conference to produce a favorable response and ordered the troops to continue fighting, even though the worn-out troops were in danger of encirclement from the Jinshanwei landings. It was not until three days later on November 8 that the Chinese central command ordered the troops to retire from the entire Shanghai front to protect Nanjing. This three day delay was enough to cause a breakdown in Chinese command as the units were devastated by continued fighting, and this directly caused the failure to coordinate the defense around the Chinese Hindenburg Lines guarding Nanjing. On November 24, the Nine-Power Treaty Conference convened for the last time and then adjourned indefinitely, without producing any measures that would stop Japanese aggression. In his report, General Chen Cheng wrote that throughout much of the Shanghai campaign, sound military strategy was often supplanted by political strategy. It was the nation's tragedy that political strategy, especially the one as precarious as the hope for foreign intervention, forced the troops to make exorbitant sacrifices in Shanghai and led almost to total annihilation. He wrote that because China was weak, it was in dire need of foreign help and had to sacrifice just to prove its capacity to fight and will to resist. By the end of the battle, even though hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops died just to make the point that China was ready to sacrifice, the final hope for a western intervention never materialized. Isolationism is a foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist military and a political policy of economic nationalism (protectionism). ... Appeasement is a policy of accepting the imposed conditions of an aggressor in lieu of armed resistance, usually at the sacrifice of principles. ... November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 56 days remaining. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 53 days remaining. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... November 24 is the 328th day (329th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chen Chen Cheng (Traditional Chinese: 陳誠; Simplified Chinese: 陈诚; Hanyu Pinyin: Chén Chéng) (January 4, 1897 - March 5, 1965), Chinese political and military leader, was one of the main Kuomintang (KMT) commanders during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese...

Effects

In terms of its long-term effects on the war of attrition, the Battle of Shanghai bought enough time for the Chinese government to move some of its vital industries to Wuhan and Xian, and from there to Chongqing, China's wartime capital. The difficulty in dismantling and relocating thousands of tons of machinery and factory equipment, especially in the heat of Japanese bombing campaigns, meant that the Chinese government fell short of its goal of moving the entire industrial base in the Shanghai region. Many factories were destroyed during the fighting and lost their usefulness. Of the nearly twelve hundred factories and workshops of all sizes, only slightly more than ten percent made it out of Shanghai. However, as insignificant as they were, these factories formed the core of China's wartime industry, especially in the bleak days of the blockade of the entire Chinese coast, the closure of the Burma Road, and the low tonnage of supplies flown over the Hump. Chiang Kai-shek's strategy of bringing the fight to Shanghai to force Japan to adopt an east-to-west direction of attack also prevented Japan from cutting right into Central China. As a result, the Battle of Wuhan was delayed for almost a year, and the time bought gave the Chinese government a breathing chance during which it recuperated and relocated more resources to Chongqing. Overall, even though Chinese losses were irreparable, the strategy of trading "space for time" proved its worth. Location within China Modern and ancient   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: WÇ”hàn) is the capital of Hubei province, and is the most populous city in central China. ... 1) The city of Xian in China 2) An alternative spelling of Christian, by analogy with Xmas as an alternative spelling of Christmas. ... Chongqing (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Chungching, also Chungking) is the largest and most populous of the Peoples Republic of Chinas four provincial-level municipalities, and the only one in the less densely populated western half of China. ... A machine is any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks. ... A factory worker in 1940s Fort Worth, Texas. ... A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies, troops, information or aid from reaching an opposing force. ... Burma Road The Burma Road is a road linking Burma (also called Myanmar) with China. ... The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew from India to China to resupply the Flying Tigers and the Chinese Government of Chiang Kai-shek. ... Combatants National Revolutionary Army Military Region 5, 9, Soviet Air Force volunteers[1] Imperial Japanese Army, Central China Expeditionary Force, 11th Army, 2nd Army, China Area Fleet, Central China Aviation Army Corps Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Xue Yue, Wu Qiwei, Zhang Fakui, Wang Jingjiu, Ou Zhentong, Yu Jishi，Duan Langru...

The Battle of Shanghai was a military defeat but a high point for Chinese nationalism. The beginning of full-scale war meant that China would no longer stand idly and allow Japan to conquer its territories piece by piece as it had done in the past. It also demonstrated China's resolve not to surrender even in the face of overwhelming firepower. However, Chiang Kai-shek's order to have his troops make one death stand after another greatly sapped his strength and directly caused his army's inability to defend Nanjing for even two weeks. In his memoir, General Li Zongren pointed out that Chiang's staff had proposed that the Chinese army reserve around ten divisions along the Wufu Line to protect Nanjing and felt it made no difference if Shanghai could be held for a few months longer at the expense of huge casualties. However, as China was not able to defeat Japan single-handedly, Chiang believed the best option was to bring the western powers into the war by eliciting international sympathy through courageous Chinese resistance at Shanghai. Also, Chiang Kai-shek probably did not realize that the war would last as long as it turned out to be - eight years. In his correspondence with Hu Shih, Chiang wrote that China was capable to withstand six months of combat before changes in international situation would end the war. This may have also caused Chiang to devote all of his best troops in the first battle of what would eventually become a prolonged war. However, while Chiang's initial assessment was overly optimistic, China continued fighting for eight more years until Japan was finally defeated, even when much more powerful nations such as France and others had gone down fighting and surrendered in merely six weeks. The May Fourth Movement in 1919 marked a turning point in the history of Chinese nationalism. ... Chiang Kai-shek (Traditional Chinese: 蔣介石 or 蔣中正, October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... Li Tsung-jen (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Li Tsung-jen) (13 August 1890 - 13 January 1969), courtesy name Delin (å¾·é„°), was prominent Guangxi warlord and Kuomintang (KMT) military commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. ... Hu Shih (Simplified: 胡适, Traditional: 胡適, Pinyin: Hú Shì), (December 17, 1891-February 24, 1962) was a Chinese philosopher and essayist. ...

Furthermore, the Battle of Shanghai was the first instance in which the provincial armies cooperated fully with Chiang's Central Army. Only a couple of years before, Chiang Kai-shek, Li Zongren, and several other regional militarists had been mortal enemies in various civil wars, fighting for the supremacy over China. But they were overcame by nationalism and their armies fought side by side against the common enemy. In addition, the Chinese fought stubbornly so that Shanghai would not fall in three days, and that China would not fall in three months as the Japanese had proclaimed in their slogans. This was a huge morale-booster, especially in the dark days during which the Chinese army suffered a string of defeats in the opening stage of the war. In addition, the heavy casualties inflicted by the Chinese and difficulties in conquering the city may have caused the Japanese troops to carry out the Nanjing Massacre as a retributive action against Chinese resistance. China's tenacity and resolve also surprised most international observers who had expected the Chinese to be defeated easily and then sue for peace. All in all, even though the price paid was astronomical, the fact that China was able to withstand repeated strikes one after another and still remain standing in the "bloodiest battle that the world had seen since Verdun" was evidence to China's determination to continue the war and fight to the bitter end. The Nanking Massacre (Chinese: 南京大屠殺, pinyin: Nánjīng Dàtúshā; Japanese: 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu), also known as the Rape of Nanking and sometimes in Japan as the Nanking Incident (南京事件, Nankin Jiken), refers to what... Combatants France German Empire Commanders Philippe Pétain Robert Nivelle Erich von Falkenhayn Strength About 30,000 on 21 February 1916 About 150,000 on 21 February 1916 Casualties 378,000; of whom 120,000 died 337,000; of whom 100,000 died The Battle of Verdun was one of...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Battle of Shanghai

• History of the Republic of China
• Military of the Republic of China

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) succeeded the Qing Dynasty in 1912, ending 2,000 years of imperial rule. ... The Republic of China (ROC) maintains a large military establishment, which accounted for 16. ...

References

• Nationalist China At War 1937-1945 published by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1982.
• Doctoral dissertation on the Shanghai-Nanking Campaign from the National Taiwan University.