After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and until 1933, large volunteer armies waged war against Japanese and

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...

forces over much of

Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...

. Due to

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

's policy of non-resistance, the Japanese were soon able to establish complete control. After the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

refused to do more than voice its disapproval, there were many small guerrilla organizations which resisted Japanese and Manchu rule: *

Jilin Self-Defence Army The Jilin Self-Defence Army was an anti-Japanese volunteer army formed to defend local Chinese residents against the Japanese invasion of northeast China. General Ding Chao, Li Du, Feng Zhanhai, Xing Zhanqing, and Zhao Yi organised the Jilin ...

Chinese People's National Salvation Army {{no footnotes, date=March 2013 One of the most successful volunteer armies was the Chinese People's National Salvation Army or NSA (no connection to the church known as The Salvation Army), led by a former bandit turned soldier, Wang Delin. At th ...

* Northeastern Volunteer Righteous and Brave Fighters *

Northeastern Loyal and Brave Army {{no footnotes, date=March 2013 Following the defeat of the forces of Ting Chao at Harbin in February 1932, Feng Zhanhai withdrew his forces to Shan-Ho-Tun, a village in the Wuchang District. He then called for volunteers, and the Public Safety Bure ...

Northeast People's Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army The Northeast People's Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army was led by Tang Juwu, formerly the commander of a Northeastern infantry regiment, interned by the Japanese at the beginning of the invasion of Manchuria. It was created by the Northeast Natio ...

Northeast Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army Ma Zhanshan, a general in the Chinese Army who had surrendered in January 1932 and joined the Manchukuo regime, rebelled again in late April, forming his own volunteer army in Heilongjiang province at the beginning of May, and then he established an ...

* Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army *

Heilungkiang National Salvation Army Su Bingwen () (September 1892 – May 1975), was a Chinese military leader. Graduating from officers school in 1914 he joined the Model Regiment as a platoon leader in 1916, became a company commander, and then battalion commander. He served in ...

Anti-Japanese Army for the Salvation of the Country The Anti-Japanese Army for the Salvation of the Country was a volunteer army led by Li Hai-ching resisting the pacification of Manchukuo. It had about 10,000 guerrilla troops described as being equipped with light artillery and numerous machine gun ...

Besides these armies there were other forces under leaders like Lao Pie-fang and others. Zhao Hong Wenguo was influential in supporting some armies such as the Iron and Blood Army, with many of her children participating in Anti-Japanese insurgent activities. For the whole year of 1932 the Japanese had to occupy themselves with fighting these Chinese forces in various areas of Manchuria. Gen. Ma Zhanshan, nominally in command of them all, had a total fighting force estimated by the Japanese at 300,000 men. Following their defeat, many retreated into Jehol and other places in China. The remainder were forced to disperse their remnants into small units, often called

shanlin The term shanlin () was frequently used to describe bandits in northeast China from the time of the Qing dynasty, because they knew the local wooded and mountainous terrain very well. Most operated in a fairly small district and took pains to maint ...

. Ongoing Japanese "Anti-Bandit" campaigns and other "

pacification Pacification may refer to: The restoration of peace through a declaration or peace treaty: *Pacification of Ghent, an alliance of several provinces of the Netherlands signed on November 8, 1576 *Treaty of Berwick (1639), or ''Pacification of Berwi ...

" measures steadily reduced the number of

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irre ...

s. Their numbers declined from 120,000 in 1933 to 50,000 in 1934; 40,000 in 1935; 30,000 in 1936; and 20,000 in 1937. As of September 1938, the number of insurgents was estimated by the Japanese at 10,000. From 1935 the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, under the leadership of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

, absorbed many of these volunteer forces into its own ranks.

References

{{Reflist

Sources

* 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. * Jowett, Phillip S., ''Rays of The Rising Sun, Armed Forces of Japan's Asian Allies 1931-45, Volume I: China & Manchuria,'' 2004. Helion & Co. Ltd., 26 Willow Rd., Solihull, West Midlands, England.
Coogan, Anthony, The volunteer armies of Northeast China, History Today; July 1993, Vol. 43 Issue 7, pp.36-41Notes On A Guerrilla Campaign, from http://www.democraticunderground.com accessed November 4, 2006
Anti-Japanese sentiment in China Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies

See also

References

Sources