ANOTHER WAR IN THE EAST?
The Bridge
Early in the morning of June 25th the Japanese garrison near Lugou Bridge, better known as Marco Polo Bridge, realize that one of their soldiers is missing. The Japanese commanding officer telegraphs Guomindang officials in the city of Beiping and demands entrance to the city, since the missing soldier is believed to be hiding there. Chinese consider this a provocation and deny access. However, the IJA soldiers do march across the bridge and get fired at by the Chinese garrison. An armed incident takes place and Japanese artillery completely seals the deal by shelling Beiping. Guomindang forces abandon the bridge, but come back the next day and completely retake it by force.
1936, June 28th
The missing soldier is found unharmed, but the damage is done. Both IJA and Guomindang are gathering troops on opposing sides of the bridge while their officers try to negotiate peace. Japanese promise not to invade Beiping and Tianjin, but hours after the meeting, IJA once again crosses the bridge, but this time they do not stop on the other side. Emperor Hirohito is informed about this incident few hours later. He is furious: ”How come I am the last one to receive the news!? Find the officers responsible for this and tell them, that if their adventure fails they will pay dearly!”. Now Hirohito has no choice, but to approve the attacks and order the Kwantung Army to support them.
Kwantung Army quickly joins the action and carries out two major offensives in the direction of Tianjin and Kalgan. Guomindang
forces quickly retreat leaving the local warlords in charge of the defenses of the cities. Intelligence reports show that Shanxi warlords have
190 000 men, most likely even more. That's a force worth acknowledging.
The three Chinese cities are the only obstacles for the IJA. Koiso leads the attack on Tianjin, while Terauchi closes in on Kalgan. With them conquered Beiping will be exposed to an encirclement. Chinese know that and send every single soldier to defend their flanks. Advancing Japanese reach both cities late at night and stop to regroup. The final attacks will take place the next day, early in the morning.
1936, June 29th - July 5th
Early in the morning of June 29th, Japanese soldiers storm the walls of Tianjin, but are quickly repelled by the defenders. Japanese officers only then realize the strength of the “inferior” Chinese. Several more attempts to take the walls fail and, with no reserves or reinforcements available, Koiso calls the Imperial Japanese Navy for help. On June 30th, thousands of people gather in Hiroshima harbor to see off the 30 ships leaving for China. Emperor Hirohito himself appears in the ceremony and congratulates Grand Admiral Osami Nagano on his first mission to China.
Nagano was promoted to fleet admiral in 1935 and now he is in charge of the China Theater Fleet. The fleet combines 10 battleships,
5 heavy cruisers and 15 light cruisers. It is the largest and most powerful fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Nagano’s mission will be to support the advancing IJN and bombard the enemy strong points all along the coast.
China Theater Fleet reaches the coast of China on July 1st and immediately starts bombarding Tianjin. The effect is immediate. Chinese morale drops as shells fall and, after four days of constant bombardment by IJAAF and IJN, the city is abandoned. Japanese soldiers capture the city and continue to pursue the retreating warlord soldiers. Meanwhile, Terauchi is having some trouble in Kalgan. IJA forces outnumber the Chinese more than three times, but they still put up a decent fight when Japanese breach the walls. The bloody street battles last for five days and, eventually, the defenders retreat. Terauchi stops for a short brake and prepares his troops for a possible counterattack. So far the Japanese lost 1200 men and 4 bombers, Chinese casualties are unknown.
A Siege in the East
1936, July 6th
Together with the rising sun comes the Japanese attack on Baoding. After a three hour battle the city is captured and the last Chinese supply route with Beiping is cut. About 100 000 Chinese, including the majority of surviving defenders of Tianjin, barricade the streets and prepare for the Japanese attack. But there will be no attack. Hirohito personally orders to negotiate with the defenders: “We must advance deeper and let them starve. Soon they will realize the absurdity of their situation and hand the city over to us without any bloodshed.” – explains Hirohito to his generals. A wise plan indeed.
1936, July 16th
It’s the 10th day of the siege of Beiping. The situation hasn’t changed much and the negotiations with the Chinese officers are going nowhere. But on July 16th a message is delivered to Terauchi. It comes straight from the warlord capital – Taiyuan. Chiang Kai-shek ordered his troops to retreat from warlord territories and, without his support, the warlords are doomed. So they met and discussed the situation. They assumed that Chiang is the one, that the Japanese are after and, granting an access through Shanxi territories to the Japanese, would save them from complete annihilation. So the message states that they will cede the following cities to Japanese: Beiping, Tianjin, Kalgan, Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Handan, Datong, Hohhot and Yucheng.
Terauchi immediately contacts Hirohito and informs him about the proposal. The Emperor quickly arranges a meeting with his ministers, who turn out to be against any type of peace: “The economical situation is finally stabilizing – all thanks to the war!” – argues the Armaments Minister Machida Chuji. “Why stop now when we can take everything! Chiang is busy with the communists and Guangxi warlords, that is why the Guomindang forces are retreating without a fight.” – adds the Foreign Minister Hirota Koki. After few hours
of discussion Hirohito is persuaded to ignore the warlord proposal. Furtehrmore, later that day, hundreds of the peace proposal copies
are air-dropped over Beiping. Let the defenders know what their “leaders” are planning behind their backs!
1936, August
IJA reach the Yellow River, cross it near Jinan, but stop at first sight of Nationalist troops. Japanese officers order their men to hold their fire. Guomindang soldiers were defeated only once – near the Marco Polo bridge, and since then they were on the run. Chiang’s intentions are not clear, but attacking his troops again would certainly mean war. Japanese are spread out as it is and a simple Chinese counterattack could mean big trouble.
Elsewhere, the IJA is slowly advancing to the deserts and mountains. With the peace proposal rejected there is only one option available
– total occupation. And, on August 2nd five o'clock in the evening, a groupof Chinese officers exit fortress Beping with white flags in their hands - the 26 day siege of the city is finally over.
About 80 000 Chinese soldiers surrender and are gradually transferred to newly built POW camps in Manchuria. This is the greatest Japanese achievement so far. These soldiers, if handed over to Nationalists, would have been a great headache for the Japanese in the future. Now they will have an opportunity to join the Japanese army or local Chinese police forces and ensure safety in their homeland.
On August 3rd, light cruiser Suzuya becomes the first new addition to the Imperial Japanese Navy. This ship will become a part of the newly formed Special Task Fleet, led by Admiral Yamamoto, and will provide support and AA defense for the three Japanese carriers.