January 28 Incident

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January 28 Incident

Chinese 19th Route Army in defensive position

Date	January 28 - March 3 1932
Location	in and around Shanghai
Result	ceasefire; Shanghai demilitarized

Combatants

Republic of China, 19th Route Army, 5th Army

Empire of Japan, Imperial Japanese Army, Shanghai Expeditionary Force

Commanders

19th Route Army: Jiang Guangnai (Chinese: 蔣光鼐), 5th Army: Zhang Zhizhong (Chinese: 張治中)

Commander: Yoshinori Shirakawa (Japanese: 白川義則),

Chief of staff: Kanichiro Tashiro (Japanese: 田代皖一郎)

Strength

50,000

90,000

Casualties

13,000, including 4000 KIA, plus 10,000 ~ 20,000 civilian deaths

5,000, including 800 KIA

Second Sino-Japanese War
Major engagements in bold Mukden - Invasion of Manchuria -(Jiangqiao - Nenjiang Bridge - Chinchow - Harbin) - Shanghai (1932) - Operation Nekka - ( Rehe - Great Wall) - Suiyuan - Marco Polo Bridge - Beiping-Tianjin - Chahar - Shanghai (1937) (Sihang Warehouse) - Beiping-Hankou Railway - Tianjin-Pukou Railway - Taiyuan - (Pingxingguan) - Xinkou - Nanjing - Xuzhou- Taierzhuang - N.-E.Henan - (Lanfeng) - (Amoy) - Wuhan-(Wanjialing)- Canton - (Hainan) - (Xiushui River) - Nanchang - Suixian-Zaoyang - (Swatow) - 1st Changsha - S.Guangxi- (Kunlun Pass) - Winter Offensive -(Wuyuan) - Zaoyang-Yichang - Hundred Regiments - Indochina Expedition - C. Hopei - S.Henan - W. Hopei - Shanggao - S.Shanxi - 2nd Changsha - 3rd Changsha - Yunnan-Burma Road-(Yenangyaung)- Zhejiang-Jiangxi - W.Hubei - N.Burma-W.Yunnan - Changde - C.Henan - 4th Changsha - Guilin-Liuzhou - W.Henan-N.Hubei - W.Hunan- 2nd Guangxi edit

The January 28 Incident (January 28 - March 3, 1932) was a short war between the armies of the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan, before official hostilities of the Second Sino-Japanese War commenced in 1937. In Chinese literature, it is known as the January 28 Incident, while in Western sources it is often known as the Shanghai War of 1932. In Japan it is known as the First Shanghai Incident, alluding to the Second Shanghai Incident, the Japanese name for the Battle of Shanghai that occurred during the opening stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.

1 Background
2 The battle
3 Peace process
4 Aftermath
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Background

In the Mukden Incident, Japan acquired the vast northeastern region of China and would eventually establish the puppet government of Manchukuo. However, the Japanese military was not satisfied and planned to increase Japanese influence further, especially into Shanghai where it had concessions. In order to achieve this, the Japanese needed to create some incidents to provide some pretexts justifying further military action in China. On January 18, Japanese spy Kawashima Yoshiko organized the beating of five Japanese monks near the Sanyou Factory (Traditional Chinese: 三友實業社; pinyin: sānyǒushíyèshè) and blamed it on Chinese citizens. Meanwhile, some instigated Japanese men burnt down the factory and killed one and hurt several police officers sent by the Chinese authorities. This caused an upsurge of anti-Japanese protests against Japanese presence in the city and its concessions, as residents of Shanghai marched onto the streets. They also called for boycott of Japanese goods.

[edit] The battle

See: Order of Battle January 28 Incident

Chinese military police in combat

The situation by this time could break out into mass rioting. By January 27, the Japanese military had already concentrated around thirty ships, forty airplanes, and nearly seven thousand troops around the shoreline of Shanghai, to put down any resistance in case violence broke out with the justification it had to defend its own concessions. The Japanese also issued an ultimatum to the Shanghai municipal government, demanding a public condemnation and monetary compensation by the Chinese for any Japanese interest damaged in the monk incident, and that the Chinese government actively put down all anti-Japanese protests in the city. In the afternoon of January 28, the Shanghai municipal government agreed to these demands. However, around midnight, three thousand Japanese troops proceeded to attack various targets, such as train stations, around the city. The Chinese 19th Route Army (Chinese: 十九路軍; pinyin: shíjǐulìujūn) put up a fierce resistance and the Japanese hastily retreated. Chiang Kai-shek also sent his 5th Army, including his elite 87th and 88th divisions, into the fray. Thus the Battle of Shanghai began.

Japanese troops burning residential districts

Because Shanghai was a metropolitan city with many foreign interests invested in it, other countries, such as the United States and Great Britain, attempted to negotiate with Japan right from the start for a ceasefire. However, Japan refused and continued to mobilize more and more troops into the region around Shanghai to fight the Chinese defenders. On January 12, American, British, and French representatives brokered a half-day respite for humanitarian relief to civilians caught in the crossfire. On February 12, the Japanese issued another ultimatum, demanding that the Chinese retreat twenty kilometers from the Shanghai foreign concession border, which was promtply refused by the Chinese forces. This only intensified fighting in the city. The Japanese were still not able to take the city and by the middle of February their number was increased to nearly ninety thousand, supported by eighty warships and three hundred airplanes. Japanese bombardments also increased to force the Chinese away from their defensive positions, while commercial and residential districts were torched for the same purpose. The Chinese positions deteriorated rapidly as they were without naval and armored support, and their numbers dwindled to fewer than fifty thousand, while the Japanese had a hundred thousand troops supported by aerial and naval bombardment.

On March 2, the 19th Route Army issued a telegram stating that they had to pull out of Shanghai because of lack of supplies and manpower. The next day, the 19th Route Army and the 5th Army retreated from Shanghai, marking the official end of the battle.

[edit] Peace process

Remembrance service for fallen Chinese troops

On March 4, international delegates at the League of Nations passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire, while sporadic fighting persisted. On March 6, the Chinese agreed to stop fighting, even though the Japanese continued. On March 14, representatives from the League of Nations arrived at Shanghai and forced the Japanese to stop fighting and come to the negotiaton table. While negotiation was going on, intermittent fighting continued in both outlying areas and the city itself. On May 5, China and Japan signed the Shanghai Ceasefire Agreement (Chinese: 淞滬停戰協定; pinyin: sōnghùtíngzhànxiédìng). This agreement made Shanghai a demilitarized zone and forbade China to garrison troops in areas surrounding Shanghai, Suzhou, and Kunshan, while allowing the presence of a few Japanese units in the city. China was allowed to keep a small police force within the city. The agreement was widely regarded by the Chinese as a humiliation to China, because the conditions set forth were extremely unfavorable. In addition, the war was started by the Japanese and that China put up a very tough fight and inflicted nearly heavy casualties to the invaders, who were beaten back numerous times and had to increase troop numbers dramatically. Thus, many thought that the agreement should not have been so favorable to Japan. In reality, the foreign powers, who had vast economic interests in Shanghai in the International Settlements, appeased to Japan to end the conflict in the shortest time possible and essentially betrayed Chinese sovereignty in the process.

[edit] Aftermath

Yoshinori Shirakawa, the commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force and joint leader of the Japanese forces, was assassinated by Korean nationalist Yoon Bong-Gil during the battle and died on May 26.

After the ceasefire was brokered, the 19th Army was reassigned by Chiang Kai-shek to suppress Chinese Communist insurrection in Fujian. They won some battles against the communists but then negotiated peace with them. On November 22, leaders of the 19th Route Army set up their own Republic of China (Chinese: 中華共和國), free from the control of Chiang's Nanjing government. The new Fujian government was not supported by all elements of the communists and was quickly crushed by Chiang's armies in January 1934. The leaders of the 19th Route Army escaped to Hong Kong and the rest of the army was disbanded and reassigned into other units of the National Revolutionary Army.