Treaties, Laws and Speeches

The Situation in China

I. Achievements of the Imperial Army during the Latter Half of 1938

Bureau of Information, War Department

New Year's Day of 1938 saw Japan in possession of Nanking in her drive against the Chiang Kai-shek Régime; that of 1939 saw her in possession of the three Wuhan cities many miles up the Yangtze River and of Canton, the stronghold of South China. This article will review the activities of the Imperial Army from July, 1938 to the end of the year.

The Changkufeng Incident

Last May, when the battle of Hsuchow had been successfully completed, the Japanese forces started immediate preparations for a pincer movement against Hankow. On July 11th, however, a clash occurred between Japanese and Soviet troops on the Manchoukuoan-Soviet border; the clash became known as the Changkufeng Incident.

It is not yet clear what motivated the Soviet Union to precipitate this incident. One version has it that the new Soviet commander of border patrols in the Possiet District, who assumed office following the flight into Manchoukuo of General Genrich Samoilovich Lueshkov, found that Wuchiatze, Shuiliufeng and other key points on the border were in the possession of Japanese. Prompted by the desire to add to his personal reputation, the commander apparently ordered his men to occupy Changkufeng Hill with the knowledge of the Soviet military authorities at Habarovsk. According to this version, the consequent Soviet operations were not vigorous nor were they designed by the Moscow Government to create a diversion against the Japanese military action in China.

If not, however, it is difficult to understand why the Soviet troops made such stubborn attempts to recapture Changkufeng Hill. After July 31st when the Japanese took the hill, the Soviet military authorities concentrated one army corps of sharpshooters, one mechanized brigade and two brigades of the air force in front of Changkufeng, as these authorities were held responsible for the loss of the hill by the Moscow Government. And it is difficult to imagine that the indiscriminate bombing of Korean territory was carried out by the authorities in the Far East without the knowledge or instruction of the Moscow Government.

Despite all efforts, the Soviets failed to recapture Changkufeng and accepted truce proposals on August 10th. Seven reasons may be given for

[Map: Map of China, showing Progress of Japanese Military Operations as of January 15, 1939]

the successful conclusion of the truce agreement.

1. Repeated failures of the Soviet attempts to recapture Changkufeng Hill. 2. The Soviet Union's lack of confidence in waging war against Japan. Although Soviet armaments in the Far East had been greatly expanded, the harmful effect of the so-called purge of military leaders, lack of confidence in the military command in the Far East, and insufficient stocks of war materials apparently caused the Moscow Government to avoid the issue, as pointed out by General Lueshkov. 3. Unrest in the Soviet Union. 4. The strengthening of border patrols by the Kwantung Army. 5. Anglo-French diversion against the Soviet Union. Judging from information from numerous sources, Great Britain and France, especially the latter, resorted to various measures calculated to divert Soviet attention from the Far East, believing that a frontal clash between Japan and the Soviet Union in the Far East would destroy the balance of power in Europe. 6. Moscow's lack of confidence in General Chiang Kai-shek. Had the Moscow Government reposed full confidence in the Chiang Kai-shek Régime, it is logical to suppose that it would have adopted more vigorous operations to hamper Japan's action in China. However, in spite of Chinese attempts to magnify the incident, a truce was reached. 7. Unfavourable public opinion in foreign countries. The total lack of support for the Soviet Union by totalitarian and democratic countries must be regarded as an important cause for that country's hesitation to take more vigorous action and her subsequent acceptance of the truce agreement.

The Canton Campaign

While the Japanese pincer movement on Hankow was in full swing, the Army in close cooperation with the Navy carried out a transoceanic operation by effecting a surprise landing on the shore of Bias Bay, east of Hongkong, at dawn, October 12th. On October 21st, within 9 days of their landing, the Japanese forces successfully reduced Canton, thus intercepting the major route of arms supply for the Nationalist Government and destroying one of its most important bases for military operations.

Out of the many speculations as to the real cause of Japan's success, three main reasons may be singled out: too much dependence on Great Britain by the Chinese authorities, demoralization of the Cantonese Army and faulty strategy on the part of General Chiang Kai-shek.

That Japan should send an expeditionary force to South China to occupy Canton was almost axiomatic. The Chinese military authorities paid due consideration to the matter, it seems, but they apparently came to the conclusion that Japan would never start military operations near Hongkong for fear of complications with the British. A Reuter dispatch from Chungking reported the extreme dissatisfaction and disappointment felt by the Chinese over the failure of Great Britain to take any action. This

message probably reflected the true Chinese attitude following the fall of Canton.

Canton has been known as the cradle of the Chinese revolution; the Cantonese have been reported to hold strong anti-Japanese sentiments, and the Cantonese Army has been reputed to be well equipped and disciplined. The last two statements were exploded by the Japanese campaign in South China. The Cantonese had mechanized units, but these possessed only a dozen or so tanks. They had superior anti-tank guns, imported from Great Britain, but their men were not sufficiently trained to use them. On the eve of the Japanese landing at Bias Bay, when a large number of Japanese transports was at anchor in the bay, the Chinese divisional commander responsible for the defence of the local shores was in a restaurant in Hongkong.

Just before the Japanese landing in South China, General Chiang Kai-shek had ordered the Canton military authorities to send troops as reinforcements for Hankow. The authorities were at a loss to know what to do, inasmuch as it was persistently reported at the time that Japanese troops, some 35,000 strong, were sailing south from Tsingtao and Shanghai. In response, however, to the insistent demand of Chiang, they decided to send about one and a half divisions from Tsengcheng to Hankow. These troops were en route when the Japanese landed at Bias Bay.

It is felt that the swift occupation of Canton by Japanese troops and their strict maintenance of peace and order there have done much to ameliorate the local anti-Japanese feeling. Canton and its vicinity form the native home of many Chinese abroad who wield great influence on Chinese politics and finances. These Chinese overseas have been disillusioned and are no longer believing wholeheartedly in the propaganda systematically and laboriously conducted by the Chiang Kai-shek Régime.

The Battle for Hankow

The complete occupation of the three Wuhan cities, Hankow, Wuchang and Hanyang, announced by the Imperial Headquarters on October 27, 1938 provided the Japanese nation with the greatest thrill of the year.

In reviewing the battle for Hankow, it must be noted that the Chinese armies did their best to defend that city. They were blessed with a great geographical advantage, further reinforced with strong defence works. The strong positions which they had set up around Shanghai were reproduced on the summits of the Tapieh and Lushan mountain ranges. The descendants of the builders of the Great Wall of China have proved very able in constructing fortifications.

General Chiang Kai-shek took personal command of the troops defending the Wuhan cities. He organized a desertion prevention corps that meted out immediate death to any deserter, while guards of pill-boxes and key points in trenches were often put in stocks to prevent their desertion. Overlooking trivialities, however, the Chinese troops fought bravely during the progress of the battle for Hankow. At the front north of the Yangtze River, when the Japanese advanced to Loshan, the Chinese force

assumed positions for encircling the former. A similar offensive defence was taken by the Chinese at Teian at the front south of the Yangtze, where positions were constructed with a view to taking the offensive against the Japanese. Consequently, bitter fighting raged for ten days between the troops which advanced to the west of Teian and the Chinese forces there before the Japanese succeeded in breaking through.

During the progress of the attack on Kwangtsi on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, the Japanese line of communication some 40 kilometres long extending from Kwangtsi to Hwangmei was patrolled in the rear by one or two companies. Meanwhile, a large force of Chinese troops, about two or three divisions strong, made incessant attacks on this line from Yingshan in the north. The Japanese troops, fighting against overwhelming odds, safeguarded their line, inspired by their unshakable conviction in ultimate victory. Units along the communication line were usually kept in contact with each other by an orderly, who, singlehanded, broke through the enemy lines on his way to and from his destination.

Military Achievements Summarized

By the end of 1938, the Japanese occupied territory corresponded to 47 per cent of that part of China which is still under the jurisdiction of the Chiang Kai-shek Régime. Chinese inhabitants in the occupied territory represent 68 per cent of the total Chinese population in unoccupied regions.

Further comparison reveals that the Japanese occupied territory represents 32 per cent of China Proper with the inhabitants corresponding to 40 per cent of the total population therein.

The numerical strength of the Chinese armies is now reduced to about 900,000 in comparison with the 2,000,000 men in arms before the outbreak of the present conflict.

Peace and order in the Japanese occupied area began to show improvement from the beginning of last year, with the clean-up campaigns energetically conducted by the forces in North and Central China. Later, however, concentration of Japanese troops in the battle of Hsuchow, which naturally weakened the garrisons at various points, was responsible for an aggravation of the situation. In the three months of June, July and August, when farm crops were growing, Chinese guerillas and bandits increased their activities. The peak was reached in August. Since then, the resumption of clean-up campaigns has proved effective in maintaining peace and order in North and Central China. Even during the progress of the battle for Hankow, Japanese troops in North China engaged guerillas and bandits several hundreds of times. Since the successful conclusion of the battle for Hankow, the forces in North and Central China have returned to conduct clean-up campaigns in an organized manner.

(A List of Japanese Booty)

(Prepared late in November, 1938)

N.B. This list is compiled on the basis of figures which have appeared in the official reports, while indefinite figures such as "large numbers," "large quantities" and "numberless" which have often appeared are excluded from the list. Consequently, arms and particularly ammunition captured by the Japanese forces must be far larger in quantities than mentioned in the list. Large quantities of various apparatus, medical supplies, transport waggons, clothing, provisions including rice and tobacco have been captured, but they are excluded from the list, which is devoted to major arms and ammunition only. Shells include all gun shells except trench-mortar shells.

Comparison of Fronts

The Japanese front in North and Central China as at the end of November, 1938 was 1,975 kilometres long, extending from Hanchow in the south to Anpeh northwest of Paotow, the western terminus of the Peking-Suiyuan Railway in Suiyuan Province, via Yungsiu, Tsaoshih, Sinyang, Chengyangkwan, Checheng, Kaifeng and the western border of Shansi Province.

Compared with the Western Front of the World War, the Japanese front is about four times its length. The Japanese front in South China is 425 kilometres long, far longer than the fighting-line in the Mukden battle of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 which was only 230 kilometres in length.

The Japanese occupied area in China includes the entire seven provinces of Chahar, Suiyuan, Hopeh, Shantung, Shansi, Kiangsu and Anhwei, the bulk of Honan Province, part of Chekiang Province, part of Kiangsi Province, part of Hupeh Province and part of Kwangtung Province. It contains 1,515,696 square kilometres, more than twice as large as the Japanese Empire which has 675,365 square kilometres. That part of China Proper theoretically remaining under the Chiang Kai-shek Régime totals 3,204,588 square kilometres in area, 47 per cent of which represents the Japanese occupied territory. All China including the outlying provinces totals 10,659,877 square kilometres, 15 per cent of which is now under Japanese occupation.

The Chinese inhabitants in the Japanese occupied area total 169,509,000, representing 68 per cent of the Chinese population of 248,372,000 in that part of China Proper under the Chiang Kai-shek Régime. This figure also corresponds to 39 per cent of the total Chinese population of 429,230,000 for all China.

On the Home Front

Enthusiastic support extended to the fighting services by the nation at home since the very beginning of the China Affair has manifested itself in various forms. The following figures up to the end of November, 1938 show one of its manifestations.

II. Activities of the Imperial Navy in Review

Publicity Bureau, Navy Department

In reviewing the Japanese naval operations in China during the latter half of 1938, the seven specific aims of the Imperial Navy must first be enumerated: command of the seas; activities of the landing parties; command of the air by the naval air force; suspension of traffic in China waters to Chinese vessels; naval operations on the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers and re-opening of their waterways; occupation of key points of the enemy; and cooperation with the Japanese military forces.

Command of the seas in the Western Pacific is of paramount importance for Japan. It may be said without exaggeration that the building of a new order in East Asia is inseparably connected with the maintenance at full strength of the Imperial Navy.

Naval Operations on the Yangtze River

On June 11, 1938, the Japanese Government informed foreign Powers of the beginning of naval and military operations up the Yangtze River with Hankow as the Japanese objective.

These operations progressed so smoothly that Anking, capital of Anhwei Province, was shortly occupied, while other key positions including Chienshan and Matowchen also fell into Japanese hands. With the occupation of Hukow at the mouth of Lake Poyang on July 4th, the pincer movement against Hankow with the Yangtze River as the major route of advance assumed definite form.

While the naval force was engaged with Chinese troops on either bank of the river and at the same time was removing booms and sweeping mines, Japanese landing parties effected landings at various key points in the face of enemy fire and occupied them. As the military forces advanced on Hankow, the naval force pushed upstream steadily to keep up with them. Keen rivalry was thus started between the two forces in their joint drive on the capital of the Nationalist Government.

Meanwhile substantial contributions were made by the naval air force, which destroyed Chinese planes both in the air and on the ground and effectively bombed enemy positions and troop concentrations.

Such was the daily picture of Japanese operations up the Yangtze for about four months after June 11th. A special drive was inaugurated at dawn, July 23rd, when naval and military forces launched a joint advance. A naval unit successfully covered Japanese troops in their landing on the western shore of Lake Poyang, while other naval units on July 23rd and 24th bombarded

enemy artillery positions on both banks of the Yangtze River below Kiukiang and succeeded in silencing them. After sweeping mines, the naval force reached within striking distance of Kiukiang toward evening of the 24th.

The next morning, the naval force advanced on the wavering enemy; the vanguard entered Kiukiang that afternoon followed by the main body of the naval force including the flagship, which entered the port at 3 p. m. The distance between Kiukiang and Hankow is about 200 kilometres. By this time the vanguard of the naval force had proceeded three miles upstream, a landing party had gone ashore and the retreat of the Chinese troops had been cut off. On the morning of July 26th, the landing party completed occupation of Kiukiang and thus established connection between the military and naval forces.

In the next naval operation of importance, a Japanese landing party entered Singtze on the western shore of Lake Poyang at 6 a. m., August 21st and jointly occupied the town with military units. The occupation of Singtze was facilitated by Japanese warships that had approached after sweeping mines and heavily bombarding Chinese positions on the western shore of the lake.

On the 14th of September, Matowchen was reduced. Two days later a Japanese landing party landed at a point below Wusueh in the face of enemy fire. By September 17th, Wusueh was completely occupied after joint operations by naval and naval air forces. In the mountainous regions north and west of Wusueh, bitter fighting developed between the Japanese landing party and Chinese troops twelve times greater in numerical strength. It was at 8 : 30 a. m., September 29th, that the Japanese bluejackets, covered by warship and aerial fire, occupied Siangshan Fort, the outpost of Tienchiachen Fortress. By October 4th, these men had occupied Panpishan Fort as well.

The fall of Panpishan and subsequently of Tienchiachen Fortress gave powerful stimulus to the progress of the operations up the Yangtze. During the single day of October 8th, the naval force advanced no less than 15 miles, taking Kichun and re-opening the waterway above the town. Prior to this, the landing party that had occupied Panpishan Fort kept up its drive and occupied Maanshan (Saddle Mountain) on October 5th. The party reached Hsuchiawan toward evening, negotiating successfully the mountainous region.

Hwoshan was the next to fall to the advancing naval force, on October 10th. On October 12th, as Japanese troops were landing at Bias Bay, a naval landing party landed at a point on the opposite bank of the Yangtze from Kichun.

On October 15th and 16th, Sichaishan and Shihhweiyao were taken by Japanese bluejackets. Three days later, the latter took Hwangshihkang. In cooperation with military units, the landing party effected a landing at a point below Echeng and reduced that town on the same day, October 22nd.

By October 23rd, the naval force had broken through the boom in the Tuanfeng channel and had reached a point only 44 kilometres below Hankow. The next day it advanced to Kotienchen, after silencing the Chinese artillery positions at Paihushan and Tsingshan.

October 25th, when the entire naval force entered Hankow, and October 27th, when complete occupation of the Wuhan cities was effected, were memorable days. However, the naval force continued its drive upstream without pause. Its vanguard reached a point below Chihpi, 90 miles above Hankow, on November 7th. On the 13th, the vanguard entered Yochow (Yoyang) after breaking through the mine fields at Leikushan. A waterway of 130 miles above Hankow had been opened. Near Yochow, two Chinese gunboats were captured.

The South China Campaign

From the beginning of the current conflict, arms and ammunition have been supplied to China by the northwestern and southwestern routes. The northwestern route is the so-called Red route which runs from Lanchow, capital of Kansu Province, to the Lung-Hai and Peking-Hankow Railways and which is devoted to the transportation of arms and ammunition to China from the Soviet Union.

The southwestern route includes Hongkong and Canton, from which munitions have been transported to the interior of China by the Canton-Kowloon and Canton-Hankow Railways. Haiphong and Hanoi in French Indo-China also figure in the southwestern route. Munitions from France, in particular, are transported to Kwangsi and Yunnan Provinces from Haiphong and Hanoi by the Yunnan and Hanoi-Lungchow Railways or by highways. The route from Macao, the Portuguese leased territory, to the interior of China via Hongkong and Canton may also be included in the southwestern route, as may that from Burma to Yunnan Province. Of all these, the most important was the Hongkong route, which supplied 80 per cent of the munitions sold to the Chiang Kai-shek Régime by foreign Powers.

From early in the conflict, the Japanese Navy had been enforcing a blockade along the 2,800-mile China coast line. But as this blockade was directed against Chinese vessels alone, shipments of munitions continued to enter China from foreign countries, although the naval air force made incessant efforts to disrupt the routes of supply within China by bombing them.

Following the Japanese suspension of the Lung-Hai and Peking-Hankow Railways, which disrupted the northwestern or Red route, it became imperative from the strategical viewpoint to intercept the southwestern route. Hence the Canton campaign.

Over one hundred transports, carrying crack units of the Japanese Army, escorted by the Japanese naval force under command of Vice-Admiral Koichi Shiozawa suddenly appeared in Bias Bay and at dawn, October 12th, landed the troops on shore with the protection of the warships and aeroplanes.

The following day, landing parties disembarked on the northern bank of Yaling Bay to the west and also at the base of Paiyashan Fort on the southern shore of Yaling Bay. They occupied these places in the face of enemy fire. The naval force cooperated with the landing of troops at Bias Bay through October 18th. Many mines were discovered in the bay and disposed of.

Operations up the Pearl River

On the morning of October 22nd, the day following the fall of Canton, naval units escorting military transports entered the mouth of the Pearl River.

A landing party, covered by warships and air units, landed at Tachiaotao in face of the enemy and advanced to the shore opposite Bocca Tigris Fortress after routing the Chinese troops on the island. Simultaneously, the warships and naval air units launched furious bombardments on the Chinese forts at Bocca Tigris and Chwanpichiao. On October 23rd, bluejackets and troops landed at the base of Chwanpichiao Fort and Yanianghsieh Fort respectively. Bocca Tigris, whose impregnability was boasted of by Chinese military authorities, fell into Japanese hands at 5 p.m., the same day.

After successfully sweeping mines and re-opening the waterway, the Japanese warships reached Haihsinsha on the mainstream of the Pearl River on October 24th. On October 26th they reached Samshui, the junction of the North and West Rivers west of Canton. The ships that had pushed up the Tamchow channel reached Samshui early on October 25th. After re-opening the 45-mile waterway, the Japanese warships entered Canton on October 29th and were welcomed by the troops which had been there about a week.

The advance up the Pearl River was not easy. The warships had to break through mine fields; they had to watch for enemy torpedo boats illegally flying the British flag; they had to deal with remnants of Chinese troops that infested both banks of the river. The naval landing party had also been busily engaged, reducing Lienhwa Fort in cooperation with the warships and occupying Shihtangtu after a bitter fight with a Chinese company of troops.

On November 23rd, the Japanese warships in cooperation with the naval air force and landing parties cleaned Bill Passage of the remnants of Chinese troops.

Activities of the Naval Air Force

The Japanese naval air force is ubiquitous. It is present in any place where Japanese military operations are conducted and it is cooperating with the ground forces in engagements both large and small.

This force has been responsible in no small degree for the close co-operation and coordination between the Japanese Army and Navy since the beginning of the present conflict. In the great battles for Hsuchow and Hankow, the naval air force played an important part.

With the development of the China Affair and with the expansion of military operations, the force has extended its activities, so that even outlying districts of China are now within bombing range. Lanchow, capital of Kansu Province, Chengtu, capital of Szechuan Province, and Yunnanfu, capital of Yunnan Province, are frequently raided by Japanese naval air units.

The activity of the naval air force during the Canton campaign is revealed

through the fact that no less than 2,000 naval planes participated. From October 12th until the fall of Canton, these planes dropped 6,900 bombs with a total weight of 560 tons.

The Japanese naval air force has succeeded in obliterating the Chinese air force, has bombed and destroyed a number of Chinese war vessels, has secured the command of the air in China and has made substantial contributions to the command of the seas secured by the Japanese Navy in China waters.

The official figures for losses in aeroplanes from the beginning of hostilities until October 31, 1938 are as follows: