Defense of the Great Wall

{{short description|Army campaign between China and Japan before the Second Sino-Japanese War}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Defense of the Great Wall | partof = the Inner Mongolian Campaign in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the interwar period | image = Greatwall 1933 japan.jpg | caption = Great Wall, 1933 | date = {{Date range and age in years, months, weeks and days|1933|1|1|1933|5|31}} | place = Eastern end of the Great Wall of China, Republic of China | result = {{Plainlist| * Japanese-Manchukuo victory * Tanggu Truce}} | combatant1 = {{flagicon|Republic of China (1912–1949)}} China | combatant2 = {{tree list}} * {{flagicon|Empire of Japan}} Japan ** {{flag|Manchukuo}} {{tree list/end}} | commander1 = {{Plainlist| * {{flagicon|Republic of China (1912-49)|army}} Zhang Xueliang * {{flagicon|Republic of China (1912-49)|army}} He Yingqin * {{flagicon|Republic of China (1912-49)|army}} Xu Tingyao * {{flagicon|Republic of China (1912-49)|army}} Song Zheyuan * {{flagicon|Republic of China (1912-49)|army}} Tong Linge * {{flagicon|Republic of China (1912-49)|army}} Zhang Zizhong * {{flagicon|Republic of China (1912-49)|army}} Zhao Dengyu}} | commander2 = {{Plainlist| * {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|army}} Nobuyoshi Mutō * {{flagicon|Manchukuo|army}} Zhang Haipeng}} | strength1 = '''Northeastern Army:''' 50,000+ | strength2 = '''Japan:''' 50,000<br />'''Manchukuo:''' 42,000 | casualties1 = From 1 January until 24 May 1933:<ref name = "Jiang Keshi">{{cite web |last=Keshi |first=Jiang |date=2020-02-10 |title=热河作战日军的死亡人数考证 |url=https://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/76441/202002/14061.html |website=blog.wenxuecity.com |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref><br>518 officers and 15,248 soldiers killed<br>1,122 officers and 21,501 soldiers wounded | casualties2 = From January until May 1933:<ref>{{cite book |title= 抗战文学与正面战场 |last= Zhongliang| first1= Zhang| page=172 |date=2014 |publisher=社会科学文献出版社}}</ref> 2,400 casualties : In the Rehe Campaign (24 February until 18 March 1933):<ref name = "Jiang Keshi"/> 171 combat deaths. | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Second Sino-Japanese War}} {{Japanese colonial campaigns}} }} The '''defense of the Great Wall''' ({{lang-zh|t=長城抗戰|s=长城抗战|first=t|p=Chángchéng Kàngzhàn}}) (January 1 – May 31, 1933) was a campaign between the armies of the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan, which took place before the Second Sino-Japanese War officially commenced in 1937 and after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. It is known in Japanese as {{nihongo| '''Operation Nekka'''|熱河作戰|Nekka Sakusen}} and in many English sources as the '''First Battle of Hopei'''.

During this campaign, Japan successfully captured the Inner Mongolian province of Rehe from the Chinese warlord Zhang Xueliang, and incorporated it into the newly created state of Manchukuo, whose southern frontier was thus extended to the Great Wall of China.

==Battle of Shanhai Pass== thumb|Japanese soldiers on the captured section of the Great Wall of China in Shanhaiguan. Shanhaiguan is the fortified eastern end of the Great Wall of China, where the Great Wall meets the ocean. Per the terms of the 1901 Boxer Rebellion accord, the Imperial Japanese Army maintained a small garrison of around 200 men at Shanhaiguan. On the night of 1 January 1933, the Japanese garrison commander staged an "incident" by exploding a few hand grenades and firing a few shots.<ref name="republicanchina">{{cite web|url=http://www.republicanchina.org/war.htm#Chang-Cheng-Zhi-Zhan|title=Battles of the Great Wall|access-date=13 August 2016}}</ref> The Kwantung Army used this as an excuse to demand that the Chinese 626th Regiment of the Northeastern Army, guarding Shanhaiguan, evacuate the pass defenses.

When the Chinese garrison refused, the Japanese 8th Division issued an ultimatum, and then attacked the pass with the support of 4 armored trains and 10 tanks.<ref>Guo Rugui, 第二部分：从"九一八"事变到西安事变 榆关 热河失守 1</ref> The Japanese attack was supported by close air support from bombers, and by shelling by warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy's IJN 2nd Fleet with a dozen warships offshore. On January 3, Chinese regimental commander Shi Shian, unable to withstand this attack, was forced to evacuate from his positions after losing half of his force.<ref name="republicanchina"/>

==Battle of Rehe== {{main|Battle of Rehe}} thumb|Japanese troops at Battle of Rehe. The province of Rehe, on the northern side of the Great Wall, was the next target. Declaring the province to be historically a portion of Manchuria, the Japanese Army initially hoped to secure it through the defection of General Tang Yulin to the Manchukuo cause. When this failed, the military option was put into action. The Japanese army's Chief of Staff requested Emperor Hirohito's sanction for the 'strategic operation' against Chinese forces in Rehe. Hoping that it was the last of the army's operations in the area and that it would bring an end to the Manchurian matter, the Emperor approved, while stating explicitly that the army was not to go beyond the Great Wall.<ref name="republicanchina" /> On February 23, 1933, the offensive was launched. On February 25, Chaoyang and Kailu were taken. On March 2, the Japanese 4th Cavalry Brigade encountered resistance from the forces of Sun Dianying, and after days of fighting, took Chifeng. On March 4, Japanese cavalry and the 1st Special Tank Company took Chengde the capital of Rehe.

Falling back from Rehe, Wan Fulin's 32nd Army retreated to Lengkou Pass, while the 29th Army of General Song Zheyuan also fell back, Zhang Zuoxiang's 37th Division retreated to Xifengkou Pass, General Guan Linzheng's 25th Division to the Gubeikou Pass.

On March 4, the 139th Division of the KMT 32nd Army managed to hold Lengkou Pass, and on March 7, the KMT 67th Army withstood attacks by the 16th Brigade of the Japanese 8th Division, at Gubeikou Pass.

On March 9, Chiang Kai-shek held discussions with Zhang Xueliang in Baoding about resisting the Japanese invasion. Chiang Kai-shek began to relocate his forces away from his campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet, which would include the forces of Huang Jie, Xu Tingyao and Guan Linzheng. Chiang Kai-shek also called over Fu Zuoyi's 7th Army from Suiyuan. However, his actions were too late and the reinforcements were of insufficient strength to stop the Japanese advance.

On March 11, Japanese troops pushed up to the Great Wall itself. On March 12, Zhang Xueliang resigned his post to He Yingqin who, as the new leader of the Northeastern Army, was assigned the duty of securing defensive positions along the Great Wall. [[File:Greatwall 1933 swords.jpg|thumb|right|Chinese soldiers armed with dadaos]] Over twenty close assaults were launched, with sword-armed Northwestern Army soldiers repelling them. However, on March 21, the Japanese took Yiyuankou Pass. The KMT 29th Army evacuated from Xifengkou Pass on April 8. On April 11, Japanese troops retook Lengkou Pass after dozens of seesaw fights over the pass defenses and Chinese forces at Jielingkou abandoned that pass.<ref>Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China. Pg. 159–161.</ref> The Chinese army was significantly underarmed in comparison to the Japanese and many units were predominantly equipped with handguns, hand grenades, and traditional Chinese swords, with limited supplies of trench mortars, heavy machine guns, light machine guns and rifles. Beaten back by overwhelming Japanese firepower, on May 20, the Chinese army retreated from their remaining positions on the Great Wall.

Although the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) suffered defeat in the end, several individual NRA units like the He Zhuguo platoon managed to hold off the better equipped Japanese army for up to three days before being overrun. Some NRA Divisions also managed to win major victories in passes like Xifengkou and Gubeikou by using the ramparts to move soldiers from one sector to another in the Great Wall, just like the Ming dynasty soldiers before them.<ref name="Turnbull">Osprey Publishing: The Great Wall of China 221 BC–AD 1644. Stephen Turnbull. Paperback January 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-84603-004-8}}</ref>

==Aftermath== {{main|Tanggu Truce}} On May 22, 1933, Chinese and Japanese representatives met at Tanggu, Tianjin, to negotiate an end of the conflict. The resulting Tanggu Truce created a demilitarized zone extending one hundred kilometers south of the Great Wall, which the Chinese army was prohibited from entering, thus greatly reducing the territorial security of China proper, whereas the Japanese were permitted to use reconnaissance aircraft or ground units to make sure that the Chinese complied. Furthermore, the Chinese government was forced to acknowledge the ''de facto'' independence of Manchukuo and the loss of Rehe. <!--- The Great Wall was the site of one of the final battles of the war, some 12 years later. On 30 August 1945 after the Japanese surrender, a minor "mopping up" battle lasting for 3 hours was fought in the Shanghaiguan region between Chinese forces and 3000 Japanese soldiers refusing orders to surrender. Chinese forces commanded by Zeng Kelin backed with Soviet Red Army artillery annihilated the Japanese holdouts.<ref name="Turnbull" /> -->

== See also == {{Portal|Japan|China}} * Events preceding World War II in Asia ** Jinan incident (May 1928) ** Huanggutun incident (Japanese assassination of the Chinese head of state Generalissimo Zhang Zuolin on 4 June 1928) ** Japanese invasion of Manchuria *** Mukden Incident (18 September 1931) ** January 28 incident (Shanghai, 1932) ** Marco Polo Bridge incident (7 July 1937) * List of military engagements of the Second Sino-Japanese War * Order of battle Operation Jehol * Order of battle Defense of the Great Wall * Baimaguan Fort * Suiyuan campaign * North China Buffer State Strategy * Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army

== References == === Citations === {{Reflist}}

=== Sources === {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last = Guo |first = Rugui |year = 2005 |script-title = zh:《中国抗日战争正面战场作战记》 |language = zh-CN |trans-title = China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations |publisher = Jiangsu People's Publishing House |ISBN = 7-214-03034-9 }} * {{cite book |last = Young |first = Louise |year = 1999 |title = Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism |publisher = University of California Press |ISBN = 0-520-21934-1 }} {{refend}}

==External links== *[http://www.republicanchina.org/Battle_of_the_Great_Wall.pdf Battles of the Great Wall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017151527/http://www.republicanchina.org/Battle_of_the_Great_Wall.pdf|archive-date=October 17, 2022}} *[https://takihomepage.web.fc2.com/history.htm The History of Battles of Imperial Japanese Tanks] *[http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=102309&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=24 Jehol 1933] Japanese photos from Operation Nekka. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080531052210/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744960,00.html "On Bended Knee"]. ''Time''. January 23, 1933. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080531052215/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,745202,00.html?iid=chix-sphere "Bumps & Blood"]. ''Time''. February 27, 1933. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20101122132244/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,745247,00.html "War of Jehol"]. ''Time''. March 6, 1933. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930081349/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,745246,00.html "Two-Gun Tang"]. ''Time''. March 6, 1933. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080531052225/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,745307,00.html "Glorious 16th"]. ''Time''. March 13, 1933.

===Topographic maps=== *[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/manchuria/txu-oclc-6614368-nk50-11.jpg Cheng-te nk50-11] SW Jehol Province, SE Chahar Province, NW Hebei Province (north of Beijing, Gubeikou Pass) * [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/manchuria/txu-oclc-6614368-nk50-12.jpg Lin-yu nk50-12] S Jehol Province, NE Hebei Province, Great Wall to Shanhaikuan upper Luan River area *[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/china/txu-oclc-10552568-nj50-4.jpg Ch'ang-Li nj50-4] NE Hebei Luan River area

{{coord missing|Inner Mongolia}}

Category:Battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War Category:Conflicts in 1933 Category:History of the Great Wall of China Category:Military history of Manchuria Category:1930s in Inner Mongolia Category:1933 in Manchuria Category:1933 in Japan Category:Battles involving Manchukuo Category:Military history of Zhangjiakou Category:Attacks on military installations in the 1930s Category:Attacks on military installations in China