The Jinzhou Operation or Chinchow Operation was an operation in 1931 during the
Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which was a preliminary, contributing factor to the outbreak of the
Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.
Background
In late November 1931,
Imperial Japanese Army commander in chief General
Shigeru Honjō
General Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the early period of the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was considered an ardent follower of Sadao Araki's doctrines.
Biography
Honjō was born into a farming family in Hyōgo prefect ...
dispatched 10,000 soldiers in 13 armored trains, escorted by a squadron of bombers, in an advance on
Jinzhou from
Mukden. This force advanced to within 30 kilometers of Chinchow when it received an order to withdraw. The operation was cancelled by
Japanese War Minister General
Jirō Minami, due to the acceptance of modified form of a
League of Nations proposal for a "neutral zone" to be established as a buffer zone between the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
proper and
Manchuria pending a future China-Japanese peace conference by the civilian government of
Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō in
Tokyo.
However the two sides failed to reach a lasting agreement. The Wakatsuki government soon fell and was replaced by a new cabinet led by Prime Minister
Tsuyoshi Inukai. Further negotiations with the
Kuomintang government failing, the Japanese government approved an increase in the military forces in Manchuria. In December, the rest of the
20th Infantry Division, along with the 38th Mixed Brigade of the
19th Infantry Division were sent into Manchuria from
Korea while the 8th Mixed Brigade,
10th Infantry Division was sent from Japan.
Following the defeat of General
Ma Zhanshan in
Heilongjiang province, and in anticipation of reinforcements, a new Japanese offensive was launched in Manchuria on December 21. General Honjo insisted that his troops were moving out "to clear the country of bandits," and added that the Chinese evacuation of Chinchow was "absolutely imperative". Most of the "bandits" were actually the organizing
Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies but some real bandits were also exploiting the chaos following the collapse of the Chinese government and its
Northeastern Army following the
Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
On September 18, 1931, L ...
and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
Japanese advance
While the other Japanese forces and collaborationist Manchurian troops spread out from their bases along the
South Manchurian Railway rail lines to clear the countryside, from Mukden, the Japanese headquarters in Manchuria, the brigades of the 12th Infantry Division advanced southward in the night, supported by squadrons of Japanese bombers to force the Chinese to evacuate Jinzhou.
The Japanese estimated the Chinese at Jinzhou had 84,000 defenders, with 58
artillery pieces placed to support two separate systems of
entrenchments defending the city. The Chinese first defensive line, 20 miles north of the city, was a series of trenches aimed to stop the Japanese advance at the Taling River Bridge on the
Peiping-Mukden Railway. The Chinese had a second line of earthworks and entrenchments completely encircling Jinzhou to fall back on if the Japanese forces broke through the first line.
Japanese Lieutenant General
Jirō Tamon's troops cautiously advanced south from Mukden. The temperature was 30 below zero, and Japanese forces were
camouflaged in white. Japanese
reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...
reported a force of at least 3,000 Chinese "bandits" waiting to defend
Panshan County. Brushing aside these Chinese skirmishers in a series of minor clashes, Tamon prepared to meet and crush the first serious Chinese resistance, expected at
Goubangzi, 50 kilometers north of Jinzhou.
By the evening of December 31, 1931, the Japanese advance guard was fifteen kilometers from Jinzhou on the banks of the Taling river. General Tamon halted briefly to bring up the rest of his
2nd Division, for the final drive on Jinzhou. The Japanese War Office announced in a
radio broadcast "The Battle of the Taling River", setting up microphones behind the Japanese lines, arranging an elaborate hookup to broadcast the sound of firing to Tokyo, but then had to call off the broadcast when the Chinese retreated without giving combat.
Japanese forces occupied Jinzhou on January 3, 1932, with the local populace waving
Japanese flags homemade during the night to appease the conquerors.
Aftermath
On the Chinese side confusion reigned. The old government of
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 ...
at
Nanjing had resigned and a new one under Premier
Sun Fo had been formed. Additionally, Marshal
Zhang Xueliang's defenders were in disorderly retreat toward the
Great Wall, leaving only a small garrison to protect the few government functionaries who remained behind. At Nanjing
Eugene Chen, the new Kuomintang Foreign Minister, asserted that his government had never ordered evacuation of Jinzhou, but, on the contrary, had ordered Marshal Zhang repeatedly to stand his ground. Nine Chinese generals in various parts of China denounced Premier Sun Fo's new government, blaming it for the humiliating loss of Jinzhou without a struggle.
The day after the fall of Jinzhou, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied
Shanhaiguan, thus completing its military control over south Manchuria.
See also
*
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
*
Pacification of Manchukuo
References
*
*
External links
"Strong Policy" From the Dec. 28, 1931 issue of TIME magazine The Charleston Gazette Friday Morning, January 1, 1932.
{{coord missing, Liaoning
Battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Conflicts in 1931
Conflicts in 1932
1931 in China
Military history of Manchuria
1931 in Japan
1932 in Japan
December 1931 events
January 1932 events