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The 'Defense of the Great Wall' () (January 1 - May 31 1933) was a battle between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, before official hostilities of the Second Sino-Japanese War commenced in 1937. Called ''Operation Nekka'' by the Japanese, also known as the First battle of Hopei (Hebei province), was a Japanese military campaign following the 1931/32 invasion of Manchuria.

Contents

Prelude

Shanhai Pass

Rehe

Battle

At the Great Wall

Tanggu Truce

Aftermath

Popular Culture

See also

References

External links

Prelude

Shanhai Pass

Following the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, the Japanese military presence extended from Manchuria into "China proper". On 1 January 1933, the Japanese demanded that the Chinese 626th Regiment Regiment of the Northeastern Army (), guarding Shanhai Pass, evacuate the pass defenses. Later they began bombarding Shanhaiguan, the easternmost fortress of the Great Wall of China. On January 2nd, the Japanese 8th Division issued an ultimatum, and then attacked the pass with the support of 3 armoured vehicles. On January 3, Regimental commander Shi Shian, unable to withstand this attack, evacuated from the pass after losing of half his force while the Japanese incurred casualties estimated at 500.^[1] On January 3, Shanhai Pass had fallen to the Japanese.

Rehe

Rehe was the next target. The Japanese began to organize another operation. Assigned to this Operation Nekka were the 6th Division and 8th Division and 14th and 33rd Mixed Brigades of infantry, 4th Cavalry Brigade and the 1st Special Tank Company.
By January 28th, two attacks were planned, 8th Division and two brigades were to attack four passes along the Great Wall from Jinzhou to Yixian, and the 6th Division, 4th Cavarly Brigade and the Tank Company were to attack Chifeng via Tongliao, Zhangwu and Hushan. The attack was scheduled for Feb 21st. The Japanese army's chief of staff requested Emperor Hirohito's sanction for a '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 that the army was not go beyond China's Great Wall.^[1]
After intense fighting, the Chinese retreated on March 1. After the fall of Rehe, He Yingqin replaced Zhang Xueliang as the leader of the Northeastern Army and was assigned the duty of securing defensive positions along the Great Wall.

Battle

At the Great Wall

Falling back from Jehol, Wan Fulin's 32nd Corps retreated to Lengkou Pass, while the 29th Corps of General Song Zheyuan fell back, Zhang Zuoxiang's 37th Division retreated to Xifengkou Pass, General Guan Linzheng's 25th Division to the Gubeikou Pass.
On March 4th, 139th Division of the KMT 32nd Corps recovered Lengkou Pass. On March 7th, 67th Corps beat off attacks by the 16th Brigade of the Japanese 8th Division, at Gubeikou Pass. Guan Linzheng's relief forces also arrived.
On March 9th, Chiang Kai-shek discussed with Zhang Xueliang about resisting Japanese invasion in Baoding in Hebei Province. 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 Corps from Suiyuan. On March 11th, Japanese troops pushed up to the Great Wall. On March 12th, 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.
Over twenty close assaults were launched, with sword armed Northwestern Army soldiers, said to have cut off Japanese heads "by the hundreds" during each engagement.^[3]
However on March 21st, the Japanese took Yiyuankou Pass. 29th Corps evacuated from Xifengkou Pass on April 8th. On April 11th, Japanese troops retook Lengkou Pass after dozens of seesaw fights over the pass defenses and Chinese forces at Jielingkou abandoned that pass.^[3] The Chinese army was significantly underarmed in comparison with the Japanese in heavy weapons and many units were equipped only with trench mortars, a few heavy machineguns, some light machineguns and rifles, but mostly handguns, grenades, and traditional Chinese swords. Beaten back by overwhelming Japanese firepower, on May 12, the Chinese army retreated from their remaining positions on the Great Wall.

Tanggu Truce

Main articles: Tanggu Truce

On May 22, Chinese and Japanese representatives met at Tanggu, Tianjin, to negotiate the end of the conflict. The resulting Tanggu Truce was extremely unfavorable and humiliating to the Chinese. The agreement created a demilitarized zone extending one hundred kilometers south of the Great Wall, which the Chinese army could not enter, thus greatly reducing the territorial security of China proper. Secondly, the Japanese were allowed to use reconnaissance aircraft or ground units to make sure that the Chinese stayed out of the zone. In essence, the Chinese government was forced to acknowledge the puppet status of Manchukuo, in addition to the loss of Rehe to the Japanese in the battle. In addition, the demarcated zone rested largely within the remaining territory of Zhang Xueliang, who had already lost Manchuria in the Mukden Incident. The assassination of his father Chang Tso-Lin by the Japanese, territorial losses, and his subsequent appointment by Chiang Kai-shek to fight the Chinese communists instead of Japan, greatly influenced Zhang Xueliang's later determination to kidnap Chiang in the Xi'an Incident to form a united front with the Communists against Japan.

Aftermath

Although the NRA suffered defeat in the end, several individual NRA divisions like the He Zhuguo platoon managed to hold off the better equipped Japanese army for up to 3 days before being overrun. Some NRA Divisions also managed to win minor victories in passes like Xifengkuo and Gubeikou by using the ramparts to move soldiers from one sector to another in the Great Wall, just like the Ming soldiers before them.^[5]
12 years later, on 30 August 1945 after the Japanese surrender, a minor "mopping up" battle lasting for 3 hours was fought at the Great Wall of China, in the Shanghaiguan region with 3000 Japanese soldiers refusing to surrender, holed up in the Great Wall close to Manchuria. At the end they suffered total annihilation by the Chinese army commanded by Zeng Kelin with the Soviet Red Army providing shellfire, being one of the last conflicts at the Great Wall.^[5]

Popular Culture

★ An action movie made in Hong Kong called 7 Man Army about 7 Chinese soldiers who managed to hold off against 20,000 Japanese soldiers for 5 days. The accuracy and historical truth is up to debate.

See also

★ Second Sino-Japanese War

★ Order of battle Operation Jehol

★ Order of battle Defense of the Great Wall

References

1. http://www.republicanchina.org/war.htm#Chang-Cheng-Zhi-Zhan Battles of the Great Wall
2. http://www.republicanchina.org/war.htm#Chang-Cheng-Zhi-Zhan Battles of the Great Wall
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Osprey Publishing: The Great Wall of China 221 BC–AD 1644. Stephen Turnbull. Paperback January 2007 ISBN: 9781846030048
6. Osprey Publishing: The Great Wall of China 221 BC–AD 1644. Stephen Turnbull. Paperback January 2007 ISBN: 9781846030048

External links

★ Battles of the Great Wall

★ The History of Battles of Imperial Jamanese Tanks

★ Jehol 1933 Japanese photos from Operation Nekka.