Battle of Nanjing
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| Second Sino-Japanese War |
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| Major engagements in bold Mukden - Nenjiang Bridge - Shanghai (1932) - Great Wall - Rehe - Suiyuan - Marco Polo Bridge - Beiping-Tianjin - Chahar - Shanghai (1937) (Sihang Warehouse) - Pingxingguan - Xinkou - Taiyuan - Nanjing - Tai'erzhuang - Xuzhou- Northern and Eastern Honan 1938 - Wuhan - Xiushui River - Nanchang - Lanfeng - Suixian-Zaoyang - 1st Changsha - S.Guangxi - Winter Offensive - Zaoyang-Yichang - Hundred Regiments - S.Henan - Shanggao - S.Shanxi - 2nd Changsha - 3rd Changsha - Zhejiang-Jiangxi - W.Hubei - Changde - C.Henan - 4th Changsha - Guilin-Liuzhou - W.Henan-N.Hubei - W.Hunan [edit] |
The Battle of Nanjing (Traditional Chinese: 南京保衛戰; Simplified Chinese: 南京保卫战; Hanyu Pinyin: Nánjīng Bǎowèi Zhàn; Wade-Giles: Nan-ching Pao-wei Chan) began after the fall of Shanghai in October 9, 1937, and ended with the fall of the capital city of Nanjing in December, 1937 to Japanese troops, a few days after the Republic of China Government had evacuated the city and relocated to Chongqing. The Nanking Massacre followed the fall of the city.
Before Battle
General Tang Shengzhi was given the job of defending Nanjing following the retreat of the Chinese Army following the Battle of Shanghai. In a press release to foreign reporters, he announced the city would not surrender and would fight to the death. The defense force blocked roads, ruined boats, and burnt nearby villages, preventing many citizens from evacuating. General Tang Shengzhi gathered about 100,000 soldiers, mostly untrained, including a few defeated troops from the Shanghai battlefield, to defend the capital. He also placed the 35th division as well as 72nd division of his troop at the port to prevent people from fleeing Nanjing. However, the government left Nanking on December 1, and the president left on December 7. Nanking was left to an International Committee led by John Rabe.
Battle
After occupying nearby countryside and unsuccessfully demanding a surrender, the Japanese troops under Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko (filling in for Gen. Matsui Iwane) launched a massive assault on the city on December 9. The sheer force caused Chinese commanders to order a retreat across the Yangtze River starting on the evening of December 12. The spontaneous order in the midst of the chaos gave few Chinese soldiers the ability to escape. This was not helped by the previous boat burning that limited the ability to cross the river.
On December 13, the 6th and 114th Divisions of the Japanese Army first entered the city. Simultaneously, the 9th Division entered nearby Guanghua Gate, and the 16th Division entered Zhongshan and Taiping Gate. That same afternoon, two small Japanese Navy fleets arrived on both sides of the Yangtze River. Nanking fell to the Japanese by nightfall.
In the following six weeks, the Japanese troops committed the grotesque Nanking Massacre.
Aftermath
Several cities, including Xuzhou and Wuhan soon fell after this battle. The government also tried to slow down the advancing Japanese by causing the 1938 Huang He flood, which covered three provinces.
See also
External links
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