Jiangqiao Campaign
Encyclopedia
The Jiangqiao Campaign was a series of battles and skirmishes occurring after the Mukden Incident
, during the invasion of Manchuria by the Imperial Japanese Army
in the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War
.
and Kirin
, occupying major cities and railways. At that time, the Chairman Wan Fulin
of Heilongjiang
Province was in Beijing
, leaving the provincial government leaderless. Zhang Xueliang
telegraphed the Kuomingtang government in Nanjing
for instructions, and then appointed General Ma Zhanshan
as acting Chairman and Military Commander-in-chief of Heilongjiang Province on October 16, 1931.
General Ma Zhanshan arrived in the capital Tsitsihar
on October 19 and took office the next day. He held military meetings and personally inspected the defense positions while facing down parties who wished to surrender, saying “I am appointed as Chairman of the Province, and I have the responsibility to defend the Province and I will never be a surrendering general".
near Jiangqiao
. This bridge had been dynamited earlier by Ma's forces during the fighting against pro-Japanese collaborationist forces of General Chang Hai-Peng
.
A repair crew, guarded by 800 Japanese soldiers, went to work on 4 November 1931, but fighting soon erupted with the 2,500 Chinese troops nearby. Each side charged the other with opening fire without provocation. The skirmish continued for over three hours, until the Japanese drove General Ma's troops off toward Tsitsihar
.
Later General Ma Zhanshan returned to counterattack with a much larger force. Japanese Major General Shogo Hasebe, had the sluggish river on his left, the railway on his right. Wide swamplands made the Japanese left wing impregnable, forcing Ma to concentrate his cavalry against the exposed Japanese right wing. Although dislodging the Japanese from their advance positions, Ma was unable to recapture the bridge, which the Japanese continued to repair. Ma was eventually forced to withdraw his troops in the face of Japanese tanks and artillery
.
Ma became a national hero for his resistance to the Japanese which was widely reported in the Chinese and international press. The publicity inspired more volunteers to enlist in the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies
.
, mounted an attack on Tsitsihar's 8,000 defenders along a five mile front on the heights of San-chien-fang south of Tangchi
.
Japanese cavalry
charged down the Chinese front line cutting a swath into which Japanese infantry
followed. Ma's right flank held at first. The Chinese cavalry tried to encircle the Japanese right flank, but were stopped by Japanese artillery
and close air support
. The superior Japanese firepower turned the battle. Chinese units broke and fled across the frozen steppes.
On November 18, Ma evacuated Tsitsihar. By November 19, he led his troops to the east to defend Baiquan and Hailun
. His forces had suffered serious casualties and their strength was now much reduced. However once Ma was forced to retire up the Nonni River valley, he managed to regroup his forces and maintain their morale. Japanese troops attempting to press Ma's men further up the Nonni River towards Koshen in the cold suffered large casualties on several occasions.
At the same time the Japanese began their occupation of Tsitsihar, securing control of all three Manchurian provincial capitals. At Mukden and Kirin the Japanese had already established collaborationist Chinese governments. At Tsitsihar they established another government under pro-Japanese General Chang Chin-hui. Japan also secured control of the central section of the Chinese Eastern Railway
, however, the eastern section was still under the control of General Ting Chao
in Harbin
.
Topographic maps of campaign area.
Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, also known as the Manchurian Incident, was a staged event that was engineered by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for invading the northern part of China known as Manchuria in 1931....
, during the invasion of Manchuria by the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
in the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
.
Background
After the Mukden Incident, the Japanese Kwantung Army quickly overran the provinces of LiaoningLiaoning
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
and Kirin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
, occupying major cities and railways. At that time, the Chairman Wan Fulin
Wan Fulin
Wan Fulin was the military governor of Heilongjian province from 1928, and part of the Fengtian clique. On Dec 29th 1928, Wan Fulin along with Zhang Xueliang, son of late Zhang Zuolin, together with Zhang Zuoxiang, against Japanese threats and coercion, declared in a public wire that the four...
of Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang
For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...
Province was in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, leaving the provincial government leaderless. Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang or Chang Hsüeh-liang , occasionally called Peter Hsueh Liang Chang in English, nicknamed the Young Marshal , was the effective ruler of Manchuria and much of North China after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin, by the Japanese on 4 June 1928...
telegraphed the Kuomingtang government in Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
for instructions, and then appointed General Ma Zhanshan
Ma Zhanshan
Ma Zhanshan or Ma Chan-san , was a Chinese Muslim general who initially opposed the Imperial Japanese Army in the invasion of Manchuria, briefly defected to Manchukuo, and then rebelled, and fought against the Japanese in Manchuria and in other parts of China.-Early life:Ma was born...
as acting Chairman and Military Commander-in-chief of Heilongjiang Province on October 16, 1931.
General Ma Zhanshan arrived in the capital Tsitsihar
Qiqihar
- Subdivisions :Qiqihar is divided into 16 divisions: 7 districts , 8 counties and 1 county-level city .-Economy:...
on October 19 and took office the next day. He held military meetings and personally inspected the defense positions while facing down parties who wished to surrender, saying “I am appointed as Chairman of the Province, and I have the responsibility to defend the Province and I will never be a surrendering general".
Resistance at Nenjiang Bridge
In November 1931, General Ma Zhanshan chose to disobey the Kuomintang government's ban on further resistance to the Japanese invasion and attempted to prevent Japanese forces from crossing into Heilongjiang province by defending a strategic railway bridge across the Nen RiverNen River
Nen River or Nenjiang , or Nonni is a river in Northeast China. The Nen River flows through the northern part of Heilongjiang Province and the northeastern section of Inner Mongolia, some parts of the river forming the border between the two regions...
near Jiangqiao
Jiangqiao
Jiangqiao or Ha-la-erh-ka, is a town on the Nen River, Heilongjiang, Peoples Republic of China. It is located south of Qiqiha'er.-History:The Nenjiang Chinese Eastern Railway railroad bridge across the river was the site of first battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War....
. This bridge had been dynamited earlier by Ma's forces during the fighting against pro-Japanese collaborationist forces of General Chang Hai-Peng
Chang Hai-peng
Zhang Haipeng , was a Chinese Northeastern Army general, who went over to the Japanese during the Invasion of Manchuria and became a general in the Manchukuo Imperial Army of the state of Manchukuo.-Biography:...
.
A repair crew, guarded by 800 Japanese soldiers, went to work on 4 November 1931, but fighting soon erupted with the 2,500 Chinese troops nearby. Each side charged the other with opening fire without provocation. The skirmish continued for over three hours, until the Japanese drove General Ma's troops off toward Tsitsihar
Qiqihar
- Subdivisions :Qiqihar is divided into 16 divisions: 7 districts , 8 counties and 1 county-level city .-Economy:...
.
Later General Ma Zhanshan returned to counterattack with a much larger force. Japanese Major General Shogo Hasebe, had the sluggish river on his left, the railway on his right. Wide swamplands made the Japanese left wing impregnable, forcing Ma to concentrate his cavalry against the exposed Japanese right wing. Although dislodging the Japanese from their advance positions, Ma was unable to recapture the bridge, which the Japanese continued to repair. Ma was eventually forced to withdraw his troops in the face of Japanese tanks and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
.
Ma became a national hero for his resistance to the Japanese which was widely reported in the Chinese and international press. The publicity inspired more volunteers to enlist in the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies
Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies
After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and until 1933, large volunteer armies waged war against Japanese and Manchukuo forces over much of Northeast China....
.
Battle of Tsitsihar
On November 15, 1931, despite having lost more than 400 killed and 300 wounded since November 5, General Ma declined a Japanese ultimatum to surrender Tsitsihar. On the November 17, in subzero weather, 3,500 Japanese troops, under the command of General Jiro TamonJiro Tamon
-External links:* * - Notes :...
, mounted an attack on Tsitsihar's 8,000 defenders along a five mile front on the heights of San-chien-fang south of Tangchi
Tangchi
Tangchi is a town in Tailai County, western Heilongjiang province, Northeast China, about south-southwest of the city of Qiqihar.It was the site of a battle in the Jiangqiao Campaign on November 17, 1931 between Ma Zhanshan's 23,000 Chinese and 3,500 Japanese under Lt. General Jiro Tamon during...
.
Japanese cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
charged down the Chinese front line cutting a swath into which Japanese infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
followed. Ma's right flank held at first. The Chinese cavalry tried to encircle the Japanese right flank, but were stopped by Japanese artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and close air support
Close air support
In military tactics, close air support is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are close to friendly forces, and which requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of these forces.The determining factor for CAS is...
. The superior Japanese firepower turned the battle. Chinese units broke and fled across the frozen steppes.
On November 18, Ma evacuated Tsitsihar. By November 19, he led his troops to the east to defend Baiquan and Hailun
Hailun
Hailun is a city in west-central Heilongjiang province, Northeast China. Administratively, it is a county-level city of Suihua City.-Geography:Hailun is located on the Songnen Plain, with the Lesser Khingan mountain range to the west...
. His forces had suffered serious casualties and their strength was now much reduced. However once Ma was forced to retire up the Nonni River valley, he managed to regroup his forces and maintain their morale. Japanese troops attempting to press Ma's men further up the Nonni River towards Koshen in the cold suffered large casualties on several occasions.
At the same time the Japanese began their occupation of Tsitsihar, securing control of all three Manchurian provincial capitals. At Mukden and Kirin the Japanese had already established collaborationist Chinese governments. At Tsitsihar they established another government under pro-Japanese General Chang Chin-hui. Japan also secured control of the central section of the Chinese Eastern Railway
Chinese Eastern Railway
The Chinese Eastern Railway or was a railway in northeastern China . It connected Chita and the Russian Far East. English-speakers have sometimes referred to this line as the Manchurian Railway...
, however, the eastern section was still under the control of General Ting Chao
Ting Chao
Ting Chao or Ding Chao was a Chinese General, known for his defense of Harbin during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and 1932....
in Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
.
External links
- Ma Zhanshan
- Notes On A Guerrilla Campaign
- Two War Lords, Time Magazine Nov. 16, 1931
- Hero Ma, Time Magazine Nov. 23, 1931
- Rout of Ma, Time Magazine Nov. 30, 1931
Topographic maps of campaign area.
- Chi-chi-ha-erh nl51-2 San-chien-fang 三间房 area, Angangxi , Tsitsihar
- Wang-yeh-miao nl51-5 Nenjiang Bridge area
