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Actions in Inner Mongolia (1933-36)
Encyclopedia
The Campaigns in Inner Mongolia from 1933-1936 were part of the ongoing invasion of northern China
by the Empire of Japan
prior to the official start of hostilities in the Second Sino-Japanese War
. In 1931, the invasion of Manchuria secured the creation of the puppet state
of Manchukuo
and in 1933, Operation Nekka detached the province of Jehol from the Republic of China
.
Blocked from further advance south by the Tanggu Truce
, the Imperial Japanese Army
turned its attention west, towards the Inner Mongolia
n provinces of Chahar
and Suiyuan, with the goal of establishing a northern China buffer state.
In order to avoid overt violation of the Truce, the Japanese government used proxy armies in these campaigns while Chinese resistance was at first only provided by Anti Japanese Resistance movement forces in Chahar. Chinese government forces were overtly hostile to the Anti Japanese resistance and resisted Japanese aggression only in Suiyuan in 1936.
to watch the eastern Jehol border, while the balance of the Japanese forces moved south to engage the Chinese on the Great Wall
. In April 1933, collaborationist General Liu Guitang
, under Japanese orders, crossed into southeastern Chahar
province in the Dolonor
region, as a diversionary feint to draw off Chinese reinforcements to the Great Wall. Finding resistance minimum, Liu then led his 3,000 troops further east toward Changpei
. Although reported at the time as a Japanese operation, Liu's further advance may have been carried out without Japan's explicit approval.
The Kuomingtang military committee in Peking appointed General Fu Zuoyi
as commander of Chinese 7th Army Group, and tasked him with providing Jehol border security. At the end of April, when the advancing Japanese forces approached Miyun, He Yingqin
anxiously redeployed Fu Zuoyi's troops to strengthen the Peking's defenses eastwards to Changping
leaving the defense of the Chahar border empty. The Japanese and Manchukuo armies seized the opportunity on May 11, and quickly following up on Liu Guitang's advance, seizing the Dolonnur
region, and subsequently taking Guyuan
, just prior to the signing of the Tanggu Truce of May 31, 1933.
's policies, both within the Kuomintang
and the Chinese Communist Party, as well as overseas Chinese
cooperated in organizing and supporting an irregular force, or Anti-Japanese Allied Army
to resist further Japanese encroachment.
General Feng Yuxiang
and his former subordinate Ji Hongchang
, were able to recruit many units of former Guominjun
soldiers. Fang Zhenwu
raised volunteers from the rest of China. Added to this were the local militias driven out of Jehol by the Japanese and Manchurian Anti-Japanese guerrilla forces
under Feng Zhanhai
, the local Chahar militia, and a Mongol army under Demchugdongrub
. Even the Japanese collaborator Liu Guitang switched sides, joining the Anti-Japanese Allied Army as did the Suiyuan bandit leader Wang Ying.
After a meeting of the various commanding officers, on May 26, 1933, the Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army
was formally proclaimed with General Feng Yuxiang was made commander-in-chief
, Fang Zhenwu became vice-commander-in-chief and Ji Hongchang the front-line commander. The army was estimated in strength to be between 60,000 to 120,000 men by various sources, with the figure of 100,000 men claimed by Feng Yuxiang. Despite its numbers, most of the volunteers in the army lacked guns or other modern weapons.
Order of Battle Anti-Japanese Allied Army Campaign of 1933
unit. Outside the city, the Japanese erected 32 blockhouses connected with trenches, a wire communications network, and multiple lines of obstacles. These outer defenses were guarded by Manchukuo troops under the command of Li Shou-hsin
. To the south the Japanese 8th Regiment was stationed in Fengning
, for mutual support with the forces in Dolonnur.
The Anti-Japanese Allied Army found its situation worsening day-by-day. On June 1, Japanese airplanes bombed Dushikou
, on June 4, Baochang fell to the Japanese, as did Kangbao on June 5. On June 21, Feng Yuxiang ordered the Anti-Japanese Allied Army to launch a counteroffensive in three columns to regain the lost territory. On the June 22 its vanguard approached Kangbao, and after several hours of fighting, the Manchukuo force under General Cui Xingwu
fled, allowing the Chinese forces to re-occupy the town.
In late June, a force under Ji Hongchang pushed northeast against Dolonnur with two corps. The Northern corps recaptured Baochang from the now-demoralized Manchukuo force under Cui Xingwu. The Southern corps under Fang Zhenwu advanced on Guyuan, held by the collaborationist General Liu Guitang. Liu was persuaded to change sides, and surrendered Guyuan and other places on the Bashang Plateau
without battle.
On July 8, before dawn, Ji Hongchang began an assault on Dolonnur, capturing the two outer defense lines outside the city before being driven back with heavy casualties. Later some of Ji's soldiers were sent in disguise into the city as covert operatives to gather intelligence for a second attack. This second attack re-captured Dolonnur on July 12, effectively driving the Japanese-Manchukuo armies out of Chahar province. In late July, Feng Yuxiang and Ji Hongchang established the "Committee For Recovering the Four Provinces of the Northeast" at Kalgan
, directly challenging threatening Japan's hold on the recently established puppet state of Manchukuo
.
. Later they sent an armored train close to Kalgan, and directed Yan Xishan to station troops on the Shanxi
border with Chahar, including the 42nd Division under Feng Qinzai
, Chinese 35th Army under Fu Zuoyi
and Chinese 3rd Army under Pang Bingxun
. In July the Chinese 17th Army under Xu Tingyao
and 87th Division under Wang Jingjiu
relieved the forces of Sun Dianying
and took control of the Peiking - Suiyuan rail line, preventing outside supply and reinforcement to the Anti-Japanese Allied Army.
Chiang Kai-shek also used the Anti-Japanese Armies internal disunity against it, sending spies in to gather intelligence, create rumors, sow dissension, and buy or win over some of the leaders. Generals Gang Bao, Feng Zhanhai
, Li Zhongyi, Tan Zixin eventually defected to Chiang. Deng Wen was assassinated.
Japan seized the opportunity provided by this disunity to invade Chahar again in August. On August 8, the Japanese bombed Guyuan and again attacked Guyuan and Dolonnur. Ji Hongchang temporarily stopped the Japanese forces, but the effects of Chiang's blockade meant that food, clothing, ammunition and money were all in short supply. Feng Yuxiang was not able to bring these in from outside Chahar, and the province itself lacked thee resources to support the army.
Feng Yuxiang sent a telegram on August 5, announcing that he was going to officially disband the Anti-Japanese Allied Army and asked the national government to let Song Zheyuan
return to oversee the process. Many officers and men in the Anti-Japanese Allied Army, now unpaid, suffering starvation, disease and lacking the means to fight were now easily persuaded to join the Chinese Army
or submit to being disbanded. Feng Yuxiang resigned his post on August 18, and left Chahar; Dolonnur was re-captured by the Japanese immediately afterwards.
Song Zheyuan made Ruan Xuanwu (former commander of 5th Corps) Shandu garrison commander, overseeing two regiments and Fu Chun (former commander of 24th Division) commander of another regiment under Ruan's command. Zhang Lingyun (former commander of 6th Corps) became Baochang Garrison Commander; Mie Yuling (former commander of Guerrilla Division) was his deputy, commanding two regiments. Huang Shouzhong (former commander of 18th Corps) oversaw the two battalions of the provincial guerrilla detachment. Sun Liangcheng (former commander of Herald Corps), Liu Zhendong and guerilla leader Tang Juwu were each given command of regiments. Zhang Lisheng accepted the post of provincial government consultant in return for disbanding the Chahar Self-Defense Army. Tan Zixin, Zhang Renjie, Li Zhongyi were put under the command of the Peiking Branch Military Committee. The units of Yao Jingchuan, Song Kebin, and others were reduced and reorganized.
With the Anti-Japanese Allied Army under Fang Zhenwu and Ji Hongchang considerably reduced by Song's activities, Fang Zhenwu as the new commander-in-chief ordered the army east to Dushikou. Some of the subordinates of Ji Hongchang attempted to move west to Ningxia
via Suiyuan. However Fu Zuoyi and Zhang Lingyun
pursued and blocked them east of Ertaizi
, forcing them east to join Fang Zhenwu at Dushikou.
On September 10, Ji Hongchang went to Yunzhou
(north of Chicheng
) to meet with Fang Zhenwu, Tang Yulin
, and Liu Guitang in a military conference, together they decided to reorganize their troops and changed their name to the 抗日讨贼军 "Resist Japan Thief Punitive Expeditionary Army", Fang Zhenwu was to be commander-in-chief, Tang Yulin deputy commander-in-chief, Liu Guitang Right Route commander, Ji Hongchang Left Route commander. Surrounded by Nationalist forces to the south and Japanese to the north the decision was taken to leave from Dushikou and advance southward toward Peiking.
After the meeting, Ji's Left Route troops pushed southward via the Hei River toward Huairou east of the Great Wall and the Right Route troops under Fang Zhenwu moved west of the Great Wall along the Bai River
to the southeast. Both forces crossed the Great Wall on September 20 and on September 21, Ji attacked Huairou and Fang Zhenwu attacked and occupied Miyun in the same day.
Meanwhile Liu Guitang, after talks with Sung Che-yuan, defected back to the Japanese side again. Liu was given the title of "Bandit Suppression Commander of Eastern Chahar", commanding three regiments stationed at Chicheng, Dushikou and Yunzhou. Liu's force blocked Tang's troops from following the rest of the Anti-Japanese Allied Army south, leaving Fang Zhenwu and Ji Hongchang to continue alone.
On September 25, Fang Zhenwu attacked and occupied Gaoliying
. A Japanese reconnaissance aircraft
dropped a warning to withdraw from the Tanggu Treaty demilitarized zone the following day, and when he failed to do so on September 27, Japanese aircraft bombed his position. Feng and Ji decided to continue the advance with their remaining 6,000 men, (approximately half unarmed), divided in three groups. At the beginning of October, Ji’s forces encountered the forces of Shang Zhen
, Guan Linzheng
and Pang Bingxun
at Changping
, blocking their further advance. In a few days they had surrounded the Anti-Japanese Allied Army. Although short of food and ammunition, after several days of heavy fighting Fang and Ji’s forces were able to break out to the east at Xiaotangshan
but with heavy losses and were again trapped. The remaining 4,500 men were forced to capitulate. Ji was able to slip away during the confusion, going to Tianjin
to continue to carry on his opposition to Japan. Fang Zhenwu was forced into exile in Hong Kong.
and Suiyuan Provinces traveled to Bathahalak, north of Kweihwa and gathered in a council with Prince Demchugdongrub
, who for months had been trying to found a Pan-Mongolian Self-rule Movement. In mid October, despite their traditional suspicions of one another the princes agreed to draw up a “Confederation of Inner Mongolian States”. They sent word to Nanking that unless Inner Mongolian autonomy was formally acknowledged; assistance would be sought from Japan. In response, Chiang Kai-shek
permitted the establishment of the Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee
, but in its attempts to assert its authority it would engage in two serious clashes with Suiyuan provincial forces over the next year.
General Jirō Minami
, commander of the Kwangtung Army and Colonel Seishiro Itagaki gave support to the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government. However when General Minami sent Major Ryukichi Tanaka
and another officer to interview Prince Demchugdongrub in April 1935, an agreement could not be reached at that time.
In June 1935 the North Chahar Incident
and the resulting Chin-Doihara Agreement
, substantially affected events. The Agreement forced all units of the Chinese 29th Army to be withdrawn from north of Changpei, which amounted to near total evacuation of Chinese forces from Chahar province. Public order was to be entrusted to a “Peace Preservation Corps”, a police
organization armed with only light weapons. No Chinese settlers were to be permitted to relocate to northern part of Chahar, and the activities of the Kuomintang were banned, as were all other anti-Japanese institutions. In August 1935, General Minami met with Prince Demchugdongrub where the Prince promised close cooperation with Japan, and Minami promised financial assistance.
On December 24, 1935, General Minami sent two battalions of irregular Manchurian cavalry under Li Shou-hsin
, a squadron of Japanese planes, and a few tanks to assist Prince Demchugdongrub in occupying the northern part of Chahar province. The six hsien's of northern Chahar, were defended by only a few thousand men of the Peace Preservation Corps. With Li's assistance the Inner Mongolian forces soon overran the area.
s had been operating in Suiyuan, setting up radio stations with operators disguised as Buddhist priests. Following the promotion of General Seishiro Itagaki to Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, plans for the establishment of the invasion of Suiyuan went forward.
In late April 1936, Prince Demchugdongrub and Li Shou-Hsin met with the Japanese Special Service Chief Captain Takayoshi Tanaka, at West Wuchumuhsin. Representatives from Inner Mongolia
, Tsinghai and Outer Mongolia
also attended the meeting, which was called the “State-Founding Conference”. A plan was made to create a new Mongolian Empire, which would encompass all of Inner and Outer Mongolia and Tsinghai
province. As a result of this conference, the Mongol Military Government
(蒙古軍政府), was formed on May 12, 1936. A mutual assistance agreement with Manchukuo was concluded in July 1936, and Japan agreed to provide both military and economic aid.
Prince Demchugdongrub set out to enlarge and equip his army, increasing from three cavalry
divisions to nine divisions with the aid of his Japanese advisors. The Japanese provided arms captured from the Northeastern Army
but Tanaka ignored the advice of the Mongolian leaders and also recruited poorly-armed levies and ex-bandits from various regions. Having no unity, poor training and poorly armed, this irregular force of around 10,000 men had poor morale and cohesion and proved to be a liability rather than an asset. Additionally a collaborationist Chinese army of questionable loyalty, the Grand Han Righteous Army
under Wang Ying was attached to the new Inner Mongolian Army
The Japanese also created a "Mengjiang Air Force" with 28 combat aircraft, with Japanese air and ground crews based in Changpei, to assist the army in close air support
. The Japanese also provided artillery
pieces and armoured cars, (and also reportedly up to thirty tank
s or tankette
s), also crewed by Japanese. The South Manchurian Railway Company sent 150 trucks to form a transportation regiment, and Manchukuo government sent communications equipment.
province Yan Xishan
, as well as Chiang Kai-shek, who had moved his Central Army forces into Shaanxi
province to attack People's Liberation Army
units arriving there after the Long March
. On August 9, Yan sent the Chinese 19th Army under Wang Jingguo
consisting of the 68th Division, 7th and 8th Independent Brigades and four artillery regiments, and on September 18, the Central Army sent one anti-aircraft artillery battalion.
On October 14, Chiang Kai-Shek sent a telegram to Yan Xishan, advising that he was sending Tang Enbo and the Chinese 13th Army (with 2 divisions) and Men Bingyue
's 7th Cavalry Division to reinforce Suiyuan. On October 30, Yan Xishan and Fu Zuoyi met with Chiang Kai-Shek, to assess the military situation and determine troop dispositions. On November 11, Yan Xishan divided his forces into three Route Armies, a Cavalry Army and a Reserve Army, with troop dispositions to be completed as soon as Tang Enbo's forces arrived. However, the Japanese struck first on November 15, 1936.
Order of Battle Suiyuan Campaign(1936)
began on November 14, 1936 when a coalition of the Inner Mongolian Army
's 7th and 8th Cavalry Divisions, Wang Ying's Grand Han Righteous Army
, and Mongol mercenaries from Jehol, Chahar and other areas, supported by 30 Japanese advisors, attacked the Chinese garrison at Hongort
.
After several days of fighting the attackers failed to capture the town. On November 17 a Chinese counterattack surprised the invaders and led to a disorganized retreat. Taking advantage of the Mongolian disorder General Fu Tso-yi made a flanking movement to the west of the Mongolian headquarters at Pai-ling-miao
and attacked, capturing it and routing the Mongolian forces. Wang and his Grand Han Righteous Army were trucked into a location near Pai-ling-miao and launched a counterattack, which failed dismally on December 19, with most of the attackers either taken prisoner or annihilated.
which occurred immediately after the successful outcome of this campaign was possibly triggered by this event.
Small scale combat continued in Suiyuan until the beginning of open hostilities following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident
the following year. Following his defeat in Suiyuan, Prince Demchugdongrub was forced to rebuild his army. With Japanese help by the time war broke out in July 1937, his army consisted of 20,000 men in eight cavalry divisions. These forces participated in Operation Chahar
and the Battle of Taiyuan
during which Japanese regular and allied Inner Mongol forces finally captured eastern Suiyuan province.
Ultimately, after the end of the Second Sino-Japananese War, China fell into civil war between the Chiang Kai Shek's Kuomintang and Mao Zedong's Communist forces. With the victory of Communists, Inner Mongolia returned to centralised Chinese rule and many collaborators were punished.
Topographic Maps
Northern and southern China
Northern China and southern China are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions has never been precisely defined...
by the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
prior to the official start of hostilities in 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...
. In 1931, the invasion of Manchuria secured the creation of the puppet state
Puppet state
A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...
of Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
and in 1933, Operation Nekka detached the province of Jehol from the Republic of China
Republic of China (1912–1949)
In 1911, after over two thousand years of imperial rule, a republic was established in China and the monarchy overthrown by a group of revolutionaries. The Qing Dynasty, having just experienced a century of instability, suffered from both internal rebellion and foreign imperialism...
.
Blocked from further advance south by the Tanggu Truce
Tanggu Truce
The Tanggu Truce, sometimes called the Tangku Truce , Japanese , was a cease-fire signed between China and Empire of Japan in Tanggu District, Tianjin on May 31, 1933, formally ending the Japanese invasion of Manchuria which had begun two years earlier....
, 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...
turned its attention west, towards the Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
n provinces of Chahar
Chahar (province)
Chahar , also known as Chaha'er, Chakhar, or Qahar, was a province of China in existence from 1912 to 1936, mostly covering territory in what is part of eastern Inner Mongolia. It was named after the Chahar Mongolians....
and Suiyuan, with the goal of establishing a northern China buffer state.
In order to avoid overt violation of the Truce, the Japanese government used proxy armies in these campaigns while Chinese resistance was at first only provided by Anti Japanese Resistance movement forces in Chahar. Chinese government forces were overtly hostile to the Anti Japanese resistance and resisted Japanese aggression only in Suiyuan in 1936.
Background
In February 1933 following the successful Japanese invasion of Jehol, the Kwantung Army left a small Japanese detachment and the much larger Manchukuo Imperial ArmyManchukuo Imperial Army
The Manchukuo Imperial Army was the armed force of the Japanese dominated puppet state of Manchukuo, serving as the land forces, along with the Manchukuo Imperial Guards...
to watch the eastern Jehol border, while the balance of the Japanese forces moved south to engage the Chinese on the Great Wall
Defense of the Great Wall
The Defense of the Great Wall was a campaign between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, which took place before the Second Sino-Japanese War officially commenced in 1937...
. In April 1933, collaborationist General Liu Guitang
Liu Guitang
Liu Guitang, Liu Kuei-tang, 刘桂堂,. Chinese bandit and soldier, involved in the Japanese attempt to control Chahar province in 1933. Noted for switching sides several times and returning to banditry...
, under Japanese orders, crossed into southeastern Chahar
Chahar (province)
Chahar , also known as Chaha'er, Chakhar, or Qahar, was a province of China in existence from 1912 to 1936, mostly covering territory in what is part of eastern Inner Mongolia. It was named after the Chahar Mongolians....
province in the Dolonor
Duolun County
Duolun County is a county of Inner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration of Xilin Gol League.-References:*...
region, as a diversionary feint to draw off Chinese reinforcements to the Great Wall. Finding resistance minimum, Liu then led his 3,000 troops further east toward Changpei
Zhangbei (town)
Zhangbei is a town in and the seat of government of Zhangbei County, Hebei, China....
. Although reported at the time as a Japanese operation, Liu's further advance may have been carried out without Japan's explicit approval.
The Kuomingtang military committee in Peking appointed General Fu Zuoyi
Fu Zuoyi
Fu Zuoyi was a Chinese military leader. He began his military career in the service of Yan Xishan, and he was widely praised for his defense of Suiyuan from the Japanese. During the final stages of the Chinese Civil War, Fu surrendered the large and strategic garrison around Beiping to Communist...
as commander of Chinese 7th Army Group, and tasked him with providing Jehol border security. At the end of April, when the advancing Japanese forces approached Miyun, He Yingqin
He Yingqin
He Yingqin , also spelled Ho Ying-chin, was one of the most senior generals of the Kuomintang during Republican China, and a close ally of Chiang Kai-shek.-Early years:A native of Guizhou, He was healthy and bookish in his childhood...
anxiously redeployed Fu Zuoyi's troops to strengthen the Peking's defenses eastwards to Changping
Changping
Changping may refer to:*Princess Changping , princess of the Ming Dynasty*Battle of Changping , campaign of the Warring States Period of China*Changping District , Beijing*Changping Town , Dongguan, Guangdong...
leaving the defense of the Chahar border empty. The Japanese and Manchukuo armies seized the opportunity on May 11, and quickly following up on Liu Guitang's advance, seizing the Dolonnur
Duolun County
Duolun County is a county of Inner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration of Xilin Gol League.-References:*...
region, and subsequently taking Guyuan
Guyuan (Hebei)
Guyuan County is a county under the administration of Zhangjiakou, Hebei, People's Republic of China. It was once part of the province of Chahar, and now borders Inner Mongolia. The area of the city is , and the population as of 2004 is 230,000...
, just prior to the signing of the Tanggu Truce of May 31, 1933.
The Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army
The terms of the Tunggu Truce enraged public opinion particularly in urban China. Groups of Chinese patriots opposed to Chiang Kai-ShekChiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's policies, both within the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
and the Chinese Communist Party, as well as overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
cooperated in organizing and supporting an irregular force, or Anti-Japanese Allied Army
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....
to resist further Japanese encroachment.
General Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang was a warlord and leader in Republican China. He was also known as the Christian General for his zeal to convert his troops and the Betrayal General for his penchant to break with the establishment. In 1911, he was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army but joined...
and his former subordinate Ji Hongchang
Ji Hongchang
Ji Hongchang, was a Chinese general and patriot.-Biography:Ji Hongchang was born in 1895, in Fugou, Henan province of China. He started his military career in 1913 under the leadership of Gen. Feng Yuxiang. He was the commander of the 22nd Army when he was nominated as Ningxia chairman...
, were able to recruit many units of former Guominjun
Guominjun
The Guominjun , a.k.a Nationalist Army, KMC, or Northwest Army , refers to the military faction founded by Feng Yuxiang, Hu Jingyi and Sun Yue during China's Warlord Era. It was formed when Feng betrayed the Zhili clique during the Second Zhili-Fengtian War with the Fengtian clique in 1924...
soldiers. Fang Zhenwu
Fang Zhenwu
Fang Zhenwu was a Chinese military officer in the early twentieth century.-Biography:Fang was born in 1885 in Shou County, Lu'an, Anhui province, in the Empire of China. He took part in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and joined the revolutionary New Army in Shanghai...
raised volunteers from the rest of China. Added to this were the local militias driven out of Jehol by the Japanese and Manchurian Anti-Japanese guerrilla forces
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....
under Feng Zhanhai
Feng Zhanhai
Feng Zhanhai or Feng Chan-hai, 冯占海,, was one of the leaders of the volunteer armies resisting the Japanese and the puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria. Feng was born on November 6, 1899. At eighteen he joined the Dongbei Army, and later entered a military school graduating in 1921...
, the local Chahar militia, and a Mongol army under Demchugdongrub
Demchugdongrub
Prince Demchugdongrub was the leader of a Mongol independence movement in Inner Mongolia. He was the chairman of Mengjiang, a Japanese puppet state in World War II....
. Even the Japanese collaborator Liu Guitang switched sides, joining the Anti-Japanese Allied Army as did the Suiyuan bandit leader Wang Ying.
After a meeting of the various commanding officers, on May 26, 1933, the Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army
Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army
The Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army consisted mostly of former Northwestern Army units under Feng Yuxiang, troops from Fang Zhenwu's Resisting Japan and Saving China Army, remnants of the provincial forces from Jehol, Anti-Japanese volunteers from Manchuria and local forces from Chahar and Suiyuan...
was formally proclaimed with General Feng Yuxiang was made commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
, Fang Zhenwu became vice-commander-in-chief and Ji Hongchang the front-line commander. The army was estimated in strength to be between 60,000 to 120,000 men by various sources, with the figure of 100,000 men claimed by Feng Yuxiang. Despite its numbers, most of the volunteers in the army lacked guns or other modern weapons.
Order of Battle Anti-Japanese Allied Army Campaign of 1933
Order of Battle Anti-Japanese Allied Army Campaign of 1933
The Order of Battle Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Allied Army in the Inner Mongoia campaign of 1933.The Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army consisted mostly of former Northwestern Army units under Feng Yuxiang, troops from Fang Zhenwu's Resisting Japan and Saving China Army, remnants of the...
Campaign of the Anti-Japanese Allied Army
By the time the Anti-Japanese Allied Army had been established, the Kwantung Army strengthened its defenses at Dolonnur. The city was garrisoned by over 2,000 men of the Japanese 4th Cavalry Brigade and an artilleryArtillery
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...
unit. Outside the city, the Japanese erected 32 blockhouses connected with trenches, a wire communications network, and multiple lines of obstacles. These outer defenses were guarded by Manchukuo troops under the command of Li Shou-hsin
Li Shouxin
Li Shouxin was a general in Manchukuo, followed by Mengjiang during the Second Sino-Japanese War.-Biography:Of ethnic Mongol descent, Li was born into a family of minor landlords...
. To the south the Japanese 8th Regiment was stationed in Fengning
Fengning Manchu Autonomous County
Fengning Manchu Autonomous County is a Manchu autonomous county of Hebei Province, China, lying under the administration of Chengde Prefecture.-Administrative Divisions:Towns:...
, for mutual support with the forces in Dolonnur.
The Anti-Japanese Allied Army found its situation worsening day-by-day. On June 1, Japanese airplanes bombed Dushikou
Dushikou
Dushikou is a town in northern Chicheng County, Hebei, China, located about 120km northeast of Zhangjiakou. Dushikou is an ancient town, first built in the Tang Dynasty. It still contains stone paved streets and old buildings. It is located at one of the passes in the Great Wall for which it is...
, on June 4, Baochang fell to the Japanese, as did Kangbao on June 5. On June 21, Feng Yuxiang ordered the Anti-Japanese Allied Army to launch a counteroffensive in three columns to regain the lost territory. On the June 22 its vanguard approached Kangbao, and after several hours of fighting, the Manchukuo force under General Cui Xingwu
Cui Xingwu
Cui Xingwu, 崔兴五,; Chinese officer in the army defending Jehol in the Second Sino-Japanese War that defected with his brigade to the Japanese and joined the Army of Manchukuo....
fled, allowing the Chinese forces to re-occupy the town.
In late June, a force under Ji Hongchang pushed northeast against Dolonnur with two corps. The Northern corps recaptured Baochang from the now-demoralized Manchukuo force under Cui Xingwu. The Southern corps under Fang Zhenwu advanced on Guyuan, held by the collaborationist General Liu Guitang. Liu was persuaded to change sides, and surrendered Guyuan and other places on the Bashang Plateau
Bashang Plateau
Bashang Plateau covers about of northwest Hebei. It is on average 1,300 - 1,600 meters above sea level and is part of the Inner Mongolian Plateau. Though the plateau itself is high it does not have tall mountain peaks nor depressions. From a distance it appears to be hills, but it becomes a flat...
without battle.
On July 8, before dawn, Ji Hongchang began an assault on Dolonnur, capturing the two outer defense lines outside the city before being driven back with heavy casualties. Later some of Ji's soldiers were sent in disguise into the city as covert operatives to gather intelligence for a second attack. This second attack re-captured Dolonnur on July 12, effectively driving the Japanese-Manchukuo armies out of Chahar province. In late July, Feng Yuxiang and Ji Hongchang established the "Committee For Recovering the Four Provinces of the Northeast" at Kalgan
Zhangjiakou
Zhangjiakou, also known also by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province of North China, adjacent to Beijing to the southeast. Its administrative area has a population of 4.35 million, and covers...
, directly challenging threatening Japan's hold on the recently established puppet state of Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
.
The end of the Anti-Japanese Allied Army
Chiang Kai-shek believed that communists dominated the Anti-Japanese Allied Army, and felt that it was a threat to his authority. When the Anti-Japanese Allied Army was proclaimed, the Kuomintang military committee in Peking issued an order to cut off passenger train service to KalganZhangjiakou
Zhangjiakou, also known also by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province of North China, adjacent to Beijing to the southeast. Its administrative area has a population of 4.35 million, and covers...
. Later they sent an armored train close to Kalgan, and directed Yan Xishan to station troops on the Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
border with Chahar, including the 42nd Division under Feng Qinzai
Feng Qinzai
Feng Qinzai 冯钦哉, or Feng Chin-Tsai was a Lieutenant-General in the Chinese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.Feng Qinzai commanded the 42nd Division during the Battle of the Great Wall. In 1937, he became commander of the 14th Army, leading it in the Battle of Taiyuan...
, Chinese 35th Army under Fu Zuoyi
Fu Zuoyi
Fu Zuoyi was a Chinese military leader. He began his military career in the service of Yan Xishan, and he was widely praised for his defense of Suiyuan from the Japanese. During the final stages of the Chinese Civil War, Fu surrendered the large and strategic garrison around Beiping to Communist...
and Chinese 3rd Army under Pang Bingxun
Pang Bingxun
Pang Bingxun was a high-ranking nationalist commander who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist Army...
. In July the Chinese 17th Army under Xu Tingyao
Xu Tingyao
Xu Tingyao, Hsu Ting-Yao, , was a Chinese KMT general from Anhui.General Xu, commanded 17th Army during the Defense of the Great Wall in 1933, taking temporary command of the 8th Army Group when its commander was relieved...
and 87th Division under Wang Jingjiu
Wang Jingjiu
Wang Jingjiu or Wang Ching-chiu was a general in China's National Revolutionary Army. He commanded the 87th Division and was engaged in the Chinese Civil War and suppressing the Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army in 1933. His Division became one of the Chinese-German trained Divisions forme in...
relieved the forces of Sun Dianying
Sun Dianying
Sun Diangying was one of the minor warlords during the Warlord Era.-Biography:...
and took control of the Peiking - Suiyuan rail line, preventing outside supply and reinforcement to the Anti-Japanese Allied Army.
Chiang Kai-shek also used the Anti-Japanese Armies internal disunity against it, sending spies in to gather intelligence, create rumors, sow dissension, and buy or win over some of the leaders. Generals Gang Bao, Feng Zhanhai
Feng Zhanhai
Feng Zhanhai or Feng Chan-hai, 冯占海,, was one of the leaders of the volunteer armies resisting the Japanese and the puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria. Feng was born on November 6, 1899. At eighteen he joined the Dongbei Army, and later entered a military school graduating in 1921...
, Li Zhongyi, Tan Zixin eventually defected to Chiang. Deng Wen was assassinated.
Japan seized the opportunity provided by this disunity to invade Chahar again in August. On August 8, the Japanese bombed Guyuan and again attacked Guyuan and Dolonnur. Ji Hongchang temporarily stopped the Japanese forces, but the effects of Chiang's blockade meant that food, clothing, ammunition and money were all in short supply. Feng Yuxiang was not able to bring these in from outside Chahar, and the province itself lacked thee resources to support the army.
Feng Yuxiang sent a telegram on August 5, announcing that he was going to officially disband the Anti-Japanese Allied Army and asked the national government to let Song Zheyuan
Song Zheyuan
Sòng Zhéyuán was a Chinese general during the Chinese Civil War and Sino-Japanese War .- Early life and education :...
return to oversee the process. Many officers and men in the Anti-Japanese Allied Army, now unpaid, suffering starvation, disease and lacking the means to fight were now easily persuaded to join the Chinese Army
National Revolutionary Army
The National Revolutionary Army , pre-1928 sometimes shortened to 革命軍 or Revolutionary Army and between 1928-1947 as 國軍 or National Army was the Military Arm of the Kuomintang from 1925 until 1947, as well as the national army of the Republic of China during the KMT's period of party rule...
or submit to being disbanded. Feng Yuxiang resigned his post on August 18, and left Chahar; Dolonnur was re-captured by the Japanese immediately afterwards.
Song Zheyuan made Ruan Xuanwu (former commander of 5th Corps) Shandu garrison commander, overseeing two regiments and Fu Chun (former commander of 24th Division) commander of another regiment under Ruan's command. Zhang Lingyun (former commander of 6th Corps) became Baochang Garrison Commander; Mie Yuling (former commander of Guerrilla Division) was his deputy, commanding two regiments. Huang Shouzhong (former commander of 18th Corps) oversaw the two battalions of the provincial guerrilla detachment. Sun Liangcheng (former commander of Herald Corps), Liu Zhendong and guerilla leader Tang Juwu were each given command of regiments. Zhang Lisheng accepted the post of provincial government consultant in return for disbanding the Chahar Self-Defense Army. Tan Zixin, Zhang Renjie, Li Zhongyi were put under the command of the Peiking Branch Military Committee. The units of Yao Jingchuan, Song Kebin, and others were reduced and reorganized.
With the Anti-Japanese Allied Army under Fang Zhenwu and Ji Hongchang considerably reduced by Song's activities, Fang Zhenwu as the new commander-in-chief ordered the army east to Dushikou. Some of the subordinates of Ji Hongchang attempted to move west to Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
via Suiyuan. However Fu Zuoyi and Zhang Lingyun
Zhang Lingyun
Zhang Lingyun or Chang Ling-yun, 张凌云, , was a General in the Chinese Army during the Warlord era and Second Sino-Japanese War....
pursued and blocked them east of Ertaizi
Ertaizi
Ertaizi is a town in Xinghe County, Inner Mongolia, China. Formerly a walled town called Erh-t’ai-tzu and located in Suiyuan province....
, forcing them east to join Fang Zhenwu at Dushikou.
On September 10, Ji Hongchang went to Yunzhou
Yunzhou
Yunzhou Township is a township in northwestern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, on the upper reaches of the Bai River. It is under the administration of Chicheng County, to the south-southeast.-History:...
(north of Chicheng
Chicheng
Chicheng , or Ch’ih-ch’eng, is a county of Zhangjiakou City, northwestern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. The total area of the county is...
) to meet with Fang Zhenwu, Tang Yulin
Tang Yulin
Tang Yulin was a Chinese warlord in the Fengtien clique and Chairman of the government of Rehe.-Biography:...
, and Liu Guitang in a military conference, together they decided to reorganize their troops and changed their name to the 抗日讨贼军 "Resist Japan Thief Punitive Expeditionary Army", Fang Zhenwu was to be commander-in-chief, Tang Yulin deputy commander-in-chief, Liu Guitang Right Route commander, Ji Hongchang Left Route commander. Surrounded by Nationalist forces to the south and Japanese to the north the decision was taken to leave from Dushikou and advance southward toward Peiking.
After the meeting, Ji's Left Route troops pushed southward via the Hei River toward Huairou east of the Great Wall and the Right Route troops under Fang Zhenwu moved west of the Great Wall along the Bai River
Bai River
The Bai River is a tributary of the Şuţa River in Romania.-References:* Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti* Institutul de Meteorologie şi Hidrologie - Rîurile României - Bucureşti 1971...
to the southeast. Both forces crossed the Great Wall on September 20 and on September 21, Ji attacked Huairou and Fang Zhenwu attacked and occupied Miyun in the same day.
Meanwhile Liu Guitang, after talks with Sung Che-yuan, defected back to the Japanese side again. Liu was given the title of "Bandit Suppression Commander of Eastern Chahar", commanding three regiments stationed at Chicheng, Dushikou and Yunzhou. Liu's force blocked Tang's troops from following the rest of the Anti-Japanese Allied Army south, leaving Fang Zhenwu and Ji Hongchang to continue alone.
On September 25, Fang Zhenwu attacked and occupied Gaoliying
Gaoliying, Beijing
Gaoliying in Beijing is a small town just north of the Northern 6th Ring Road.At present , it is also the northernmost extremity of the Jingcheng Expressway, a six-lane expressway linking central Beijing via Huairou District and Miyun County to Chengde in Hebei province.Gaoliying is in Shunyi...
. A Japanese reconnaissance aircraft
Reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...
dropped a warning to withdraw from the Tanggu Treaty demilitarized zone the following day, and when he failed to do so on September 27, Japanese aircraft bombed his position. Feng and Ji decided to continue the advance with their remaining 6,000 men, (approximately half unarmed), divided in three groups. At the beginning of October, Ji’s forces encountered the forces of Shang Zhen
Shang Zhen
Shang Zhen, , 商震, General of the National Revolutionary Army during the Warlord Era and Second Sino-Japanese War.Governor of Suiyuan Province from 1927 to 1928. He became Chairman of the Government of Hebei Province and Commander of the Peiping & Tientsin Garrison from 1928 to 1929 following the...
, Guan Linzheng
Guan Linzheng
Guan Linzheng （1905-1980）was a highly successful Chinese general in the Kuomintang who fought against both the Chinese communists and the Imperial Japanese Army, and was a recipient of Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, the highest honor for a Chinese nationalist commander.-Early life and career:Guan...
and Pang Bingxun
Pang Bingxun
Pang Bingxun was a high-ranking nationalist commander who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist Army...
at Changping
Changping District
Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
, blocking their further advance. In a few days they had surrounded the Anti-Japanese Allied Army. Although short of food and ammunition, after several days of heavy fighting Fang and Ji’s forces were able to break out to the east at Xiaotangshan
Xiaotangshan
Xiaotangshan is a small town in the Changping District of Beijing in the People's Republic of China. It is the location of the Xiaotangshan Modern Agricultural Science Demonstration Park- the largest modern agricultural park in China...
but with heavy losses and were again trapped. The remaining 4,500 men were forced to capitulate. Ji was able to slip away during the confusion, going to Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
to continue to carry on his opposition to Japan. Fang Zhenwu was forced into exile in Hong Kong.
Demchugdongrub and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government
During September 1933, the Mongolian princes of ChaharChahar (province)
Chahar , also known as Chaha'er, Chakhar, or Qahar, was a province of China in existence from 1912 to 1936, mostly covering territory in what is part of eastern Inner Mongolia. It was named after the Chahar Mongolians....
and Suiyuan Provinces traveled to Bathahalak, north of Kweihwa and gathered in a council with Prince Demchugdongrub
Demchugdongrub
Prince Demchugdongrub was the leader of a Mongol independence movement in Inner Mongolia. He was the chairman of Mengjiang, a Japanese puppet state in World War II....
, who for months had been trying to found a Pan-Mongolian Self-rule Movement. In mid October, despite their traditional suspicions of one another the princes agreed to draw up a “Confederation of Inner Mongolian States”. They sent word to Nanking that unless Inner Mongolian autonomy was formally acknowledged; assistance would be sought from Japan. In response, Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
permitted the establishment of the Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee
Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee
The Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee , also referred to as the Pailingmiao Council or Peilingmiao Council, was a political body of ethnic Mongols in the Republic of China...
, but in its attempts to assert its authority it would engage in two serious clashes with Suiyuan provincial forces over the next year.
General Jirō Minami
Jiro Minami
- Notes :...
, commander of the Kwangtung Army and Colonel Seishiro Itagaki gave support to the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government. However when General Minami sent Major Ryukichi Tanaka
Ryukichi Tanaka
-External links:*- Notes :...
and another officer to interview Prince Demchugdongrub in April 1935, an agreement could not be reached at that time.
In June 1935 the North Chahar Incident
North Chahar Incident
The North Chahar Incident between Japan and China in June 1935, resulted in an agreement that demilitarized Chahar province.In June 1935, four Japanese soldiers entered the Changpei District of Chahar province, north of the Great Wall, on a journey to Kalgan and Peiping. They were detained because...
and the resulting Chin-Doihara Agreement
Chin-Doihara Agreement
The Chin-Doihara Agreement was an treaty that resolved the North Chahar Incident of 27 June 1935 between the Empire of Japan and Republic of China. The agreement was made between Kwantung Army negotiator, Kenji Doihara, representing Japan, and Deputy Commander of the Kuomintang 29th Army, General...
, substantially affected events. The Agreement forced all units of the Chinese 29th Army to be withdrawn from north of Changpei, which amounted to near total evacuation of Chinese forces from Chahar province. Public order was to be entrusted to a “Peace Preservation Corps”, a police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
organization armed with only light weapons. No Chinese settlers were to be permitted to relocate to northern part of Chahar, and the activities of the Kuomintang were banned, as were all other anti-Japanese institutions. In August 1935, General Minami met with Prince Demchugdongrub where the Prince promised close cooperation with Japan, and Minami promised financial assistance.
On December 24, 1935, General Minami sent two battalions of irregular Manchurian cavalry under Li Shou-hsin
Li Shouxin
Li Shouxin was a general in Manchukuo, followed by Mengjiang during the Second Sino-Japanese War.-Biography:Of ethnic Mongol descent, Li was born into a family of minor landlords...
, a squadron of Japanese planes, and a few tanks to assist Prince Demchugdongrub in occupying the northern part of Chahar province. The six hsien's of northern Chahar, were defended by only a few thousand men of the Peace Preservation Corps. With Li's assistance the Inner Mongolian forces soon overran the area.
Japanese Preparations
For some time before the capture of northern Chahar, Japanese secret agentSecret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
s had been operating in Suiyuan, setting up radio stations with operators disguised as Buddhist priests. Following the promotion of General Seishiro Itagaki to Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, plans for the establishment of the invasion of Suiyuan went forward.
In late April 1936, Prince Demchugdongrub and Li Shou-Hsin met with the Japanese Special Service Chief Captain Takayoshi Tanaka, at West Wuchumuhsin. Representatives from Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
, Tsinghai and Outer Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
also attended the meeting, which was called the “State-Founding Conference”. A plan was made to create a new Mongolian Empire, which would encompass all of Inner and Outer Mongolia and Tsinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
province. As a result of this conference, the Mongol Military Government
Mengjiang
Mengjiang , also known in English as Mongol Border Land, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, operating under nominal Chinese sovereignty and Japanese control. It consisted of the then-Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia...
(蒙古軍政府), was formed on May 12, 1936. A mutual assistance agreement with Manchukuo was concluded in July 1936, and Japan agreed to provide both military and economic aid.
Prince Demchugdongrub set out to enlarge and equip his army, increasing from three 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...
divisions to nine divisions with the aid of his Japanese advisors. The Japanese provided arms captured from the Northeastern Army
Northeastern Army
The Northeastern Army , was the Chinese army of the Fengtien clique until the unification of China in 1928. From 1931 to 1933 it faced the Japanese forces in Manchuria, Jehol and Hebei, in the early years of the Second Sino-Japanese War.Zhang Xueliang commanded this army after the assassination of...
but Tanaka ignored the advice of the Mongolian leaders and also recruited poorly-armed levies and ex-bandits from various regions. Having no unity, poor training and poorly armed, this irregular force of around 10,000 men had poor morale and cohesion and proved to be a liability rather than an asset. Additionally a collaborationist Chinese army of questionable loyalty, the Grand Han Righteous Army
Grand Han Righteous Army
The Grand Han Righteous Army was a collaborationist Chinese army cooperating with the Empire of Japan in campaigns in northern China and Inner Mongolia immediately prior to the official start of hostilities of the Second Sino-Japanese War.-History:...
under Wang Ying was attached to the new Inner Mongolian Army
Inner Mongolian Army
The Inner Mongolian Army was first formed by Prince Demchugdongrub with his personal bodyguard of 900 men in 1929.Although only armed with rifles and a couple of field guns from the Mukden arsenal, a gift of the Young Marshal in 1929. His force became very efficient with the assistance of...
The Japanese also created a "Mengjiang Air Force" with 28 combat aircraft, with Japanese air and ground crews based in Changpei, to assist the army in 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 Japanese also provided 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...
pieces and armoured cars, (and also reportedly up to thirty tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s or tankette
Tankette
A tankette is a tracked combat vehicle resembling a small tank roughly the size of a car, mainly intended for light infantry support or reconnaissance. Colloquially it may also simply mean a "small tank"....
s), also crewed by Japanese. The South Manchurian Railway Company sent 150 trucks to form a transportation regiment, and Manchukuo government sent communications equipment.
Chinese Response
General Fu Zuoyi prepared for the expected Japanese-Inner Mongolian assault by seeking reinforcements for his provincial forces from the governor of ShanxiShanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
province Yan Xishan
Yan Xishan
Yan Xishan, was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. Yan effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War...
, as well as Chiang Kai-shek, who had moved his Central Army forces into Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
province to attack People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
units arriving there after the Long March
Long March
The Long March was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. There was not one Long March, but a series of marches, as various Communist armies in the south...
. On August 9, Yan sent the Chinese 19th Army under Wang Jingguo
Wang Jingguo
Wang Jingguo was a KMT general from Shanxi. He was the son-in-law of the warlord who controlled Shanxi from 1911-1949, Yan Xishan. Wang served throughout his career in Yan's army, fighting in numerous campaigns.-Suiyuan:...
consisting of the 68th Division, 7th and 8th Independent Brigades and four artillery regiments, and on September 18, the Central Army sent one anti-aircraft artillery battalion.
On October 14, Chiang Kai-Shek sent a telegram to Yan Xishan, advising that he was sending Tang Enbo and the Chinese 13th Army (with 2 divisions) and Men Bingyue
Men Bingyue
Men Bingyue, Men Ping-yueh, 门炳岳 Chinese General in the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. As commander of the 7th Cavalry Division he participated in the Suiyuan Campaign in 1936, defeating the Japanese backed Inner Mongolian Army...
's 7th Cavalry Division to reinforce Suiyuan. On October 30, Yan Xishan and Fu Zuoyi met with Chiang Kai-Shek, to assess the military situation and determine troop dispositions. On November 11, Yan Xishan divided his forces into three Route Armies, a Cavalry Army and a Reserve Army, with troop dispositions to be completed as soon as Tang Enbo's forces arrived. However, the Japanese struck first on November 15, 1936.
Order of Battle Suiyuan Campaign(1936)
Suiyuan Campaign
The invasion of SuiyuanSuiyuan Campaign (1936)
The Suiyuan Campaign was an engagement between the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and the Japanese-trained Inner Mongolian/Grand Han Righteous Armies before the outbreak of official hostilities during the Second Sino-Japanese War....
began on November 14, 1936 when a coalition of the Inner Mongolian Army
Inner Mongolian Army
The Inner Mongolian Army was first formed by Prince Demchugdongrub with his personal bodyguard of 900 men in 1929.Although only armed with rifles and a couple of field guns from the Mukden arsenal, a gift of the Young Marshal in 1929. His force became very efficient with the assistance of...
's 7th and 8th Cavalry Divisions, Wang Ying's Grand Han Righteous Army
Grand Han Righteous Army
The Grand Han Righteous Army was a collaborationist Chinese army cooperating with the Empire of Japan in campaigns in northern China and Inner Mongolia immediately prior to the official start of hostilities of the Second Sino-Japanese War.-History:...
, and Mongol mercenaries from Jehol, Chahar and other areas, supported by 30 Japanese advisors, attacked the Chinese garrison at Hongort
Hongort
Hongort is a town of the Chahar Right Back Banner, which in turn is part of Ulanqab prefecture-level city in Inner Mongolia, China. It is located about 30 km northwest of Shangdu county. In 2000, when it was still classified as township , it had 11860 inhabitants. In 1936, Hongort was the site...
.
After several days of fighting the attackers failed to capture the town. On November 17 a Chinese counterattack surprised the invaders and led to a disorganized retreat. Taking advantage of the Mongolian disorder General Fu Tso-yi made a flanking movement to the west of the Mongolian headquarters at Pai-ling-miao
Bail Miao
Bailingmiao is a small settlement of 705 people in Inner Mongolia, China. It is located in the Darhan Muminggan United Banner, about northeast of Baotou. From 1934 to 1936 it served as the seat of the Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee...
and attacked, capturing it and routing the Mongolian forces. Wang and his Grand Han Righteous Army were trucked into a location near Pai-ling-miao and launched a counterattack, which failed dismally on December 19, with most of the attackers either taken prisoner or annihilated.
Aftermath
The defeat of Japan's proxy forces encouraged many Chinese into pushing for a more active resistance against the Japanese. The Xi'an IncidentXi'an Incident
The Xi'an Incident of December 1936 is an important episode of Chinese modern history, taking place in the city of Xi'an during the Chinese Civil War between the ruling Kuomintang and the rebel Chinese Communist Party and just before the Second Sino-Japanese War...
which occurred immediately after the successful outcome of this campaign was possibly triggered by this event.
Small scale combat continued in Suiyuan until the beginning of open hostilities following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War .The eleven-arch granite bridge, Lugouqiao, is an architecturally significant structure,...
the following year. Following his defeat in Suiyuan, Prince Demchugdongrub was forced to rebuild his army. With Japanese help by the time war broke out in July 1937, his army consisted of 20,000 men in eight cavalry divisions. These forces participated in Operation Chahar
Operation Chahar
Operation Chahar, known by the Japanese as チャハル作戦 and by the Chinese as the 长城抗战 , occurred in August 1937, following the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War....
and the Battle of Taiyuan
Battle of Taiyuan
The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan was a major battle fought between China and Japan named for Taiyuan , which lay in the 2nd Military Region...
during which Japanese regular and allied Inner Mongol forces finally captured eastern Suiyuan province.
Ultimately, after the end of the Second Sino-Japananese War, China fell into civil war between the Chiang Kai Shek's Kuomintang and Mao Zedong's Communist forces. With the victory of Communists, Inner Mongolia returned to centralised Chinese rule and many collaborators were punished.
External links
- International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Chapter 5: Japanese Aggression Against China
- RESISTANCE WARS: Battles of the Great Wall, Feng Yuxiang's Anti-Japanese Allied Army 1933-34
- RESISTANCE WARS: Campaigns against Communist Strongholds, Interruptions by Actions of Anti-Japanese Allied Army & Mutiny of 19th Route Army
- TIME, May 1, 1933, Heaven-Sent Army
- TIME Jun. 05, 1933 Truce v. Salvation
- TIME July 24, 1933 , Private Slice
- TIME July 31, 1933 "Toward Righteousness!"
- TIME Aug. 14, 1933 Arm Band Profits
- TIME Aug. 28, 1933 Triumphant Bumpkin
- TIME Magazine, Sep. 04, 1933 Soong Comes Home
- TIME Oct. 23, 1933, Inner Mongolia for Inner Mongolians
- TIME, Dec. 11, 1933 Generalissimo’s Last Straw
- TIME Magazine, Feb. 12, 1934 The Word is Out
Topographic Maps
- Chang-pei nk50-7 Chang-pei, K’ang–pao(Kangbao), Pao-ch’ang(Baochang), Ku-yuan(Guyuan), Chahar Province
- Tolun nk50-5 Tolun(Dolonnur), E. Chahar Province, W. Jehol Province
- Lung-hua nk50-8 W. Jehol Province
- Chiang Chia Kou nk50-10 Chiang Chia Kou (Kalgan), Chahar Province
- Cheng-te nk50-11 SW Jehol Province, SE Chahar Province, NW Hebei Province (north of Beijing, covering the area of the march of the Anti-Japanese Army)
- Wu Chuan nk49-8 Pai-ling-miao, Wu Chuan, Suiyuan Province
- Chi-Ning nk49-9 T'ao-Lin(Hongge'ertu), Shengdu, Suiyuan - Chahar border
