The “Battle of Shanghai” (Chinese: 淞沪会战) was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It lasted from August 13, 1937, to November 26, 1937, and was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the entire war, later described as “Stalingrad on the Yangtze”, and is often regarded as the battle where World War II started. After over three months of extensive fighting on land, in the air and at sea, the battle concluded with a victory for Japan.
Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 followed by the Japanese attack of Shanghai in 1932, there had been ongoing armed conflicts between China and Japan without an official declaration of war. These conflicts finally escalated in July 1937, when the Marco Polo Bridge Incident triggered the full advance from Japan. Dogged Chinese resistance at Shanghai was aimed at stalling Japanese advance, giving much needed time for the Chinese government to move vital industries to the interior, while at the same time attempting to bring sympathetic Western powers to China’s side. During the fierce three-month battle, Chinese and Japanese troops fought in downtown Shanghai, in the outlying towns, and on the beaches of the Yangtze River and Hangzhou Bay, where the Japanese had made amphibious landings.
Chinese forces were equipped with primarily with small-caliber weapons against much greater Japanese air, naval, and armor power. In the end, Shanghai fell, and China lost a significant portion of its best troops, while failing to elicit any international intervention. The resistance of Chinese forces and length of the battle at over 3 months shocked the Japanese, who had been indoctrinated with notions of cultural and martial superiority, and largely demoralized the Imperial Japanese Army who believed they could take Shanghai within days and China within three months.
The battle can be divided into three stages, and eventually involved nearly one million troops. The first stage lasted from August 13 to August 22, 1937, during which the NRA attempted to eradicate Japanese troop presence in downtown Shanghai. The second stage lasted from August 23 to October 26, 1937, during which the Japanese launched amphibious landings on the Jiangsu coast and the two armies fought a Stalingrad-type house-to-house battle, with the Japanese attempting to gain control of the city and the surrounding regions. The last stage, ranging from October 27 to the end of November 1937, involved the retreat of the Chinese army in the face of Japanese flanking maneuvers, and the ensuing combat on the road to China’s capital, Nanjing.
Cooperation between China and Germany
Cooperation between China and Germany was instrumental in modernizing the industry and the armed forces of the Republic of China between 1926 and 1941. The Chinese urgency for modernising its military and national defence industry, coupled with Germany’s need for a stable supply of raw materials, put China and the German Weimar Republic on the road of close relations from the late 1920s onwards.
The Weimar Republic sent advisors to the Republic of China, but because of the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, they could not serve in military capacities. Chiang initially requested famous generals such as Ludendorff and von Mackensen as advisors - the Weimar Republic turned him down, fearing that they were too famous, would invite the ire of the Allies, and would result in the loss of national prestige for such renowned figures to work, essentially, as mercenaries. Max Bauer was the first advisor sent to China.
When Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and disregarded the Treaty, the anti-communist Nazi Party and the anti-communist KMT were soon engaged in cooperation with Germany training Chinese troops and expanding Chinese infrastructure, while China opened its markets and natural resources to Germany.
In 1934 General Hans von Seeckt, acting as advisor to President Chiang, proposed a “80 Division Plan” for reforming the entire Chinese army into 80 divisions of highly trained, well-equipped troops organised along German lines. The plan was never fully realised, as the vying warlords could not agree upon the reorganised division organization and the disbanding of the others. By July 1937 only 8 infantry divisions had completed reorganisation and training. These were the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 14th, 36th, 87th, 88th, and the Training Division.
Another 12 divisions equipped with Chinese arms on the reorganized model with German advisors had some training by the time the Second Sino-Japanese War started in July 1937. These Divisions were the 2nd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 25th, 27th, 57th, 67th, 80th, 83rd, 89th Infantry Divisions.
Equipments in Chinese military force
Rifles: Hanyang 88(or Hanyang Zao, based on the German Gewehr 88), Chiang Kai-shek rifle(or Zhongzheng rifle, a Chinese-made copy of the German Gewehr 98),ZH29, Mondragón rifle;
Submachine guns: MP18/28, Erma EMP, Thomson M1921(Chinese-made copy);
Pistols: Mauser C96, Luger, FN M1900, Astra Model 900, Browning Hi-Power,
Light machine guns: ZB26, SIG KE7, Lahti-Saloranta M/26, Browning wz. 1928, Hotchkiss Mle 1922 (All Chinese government purchased);
Hevy machine guns: MG08,MG13,MG34,ZB37, Maxim(or type 24, copy MG08)
Grenade: GongShi grenade(German M24 made by China Gongxian Arsenal)
Anti-tank guns:Pak36, Cannone da 47/32 mod. 1935;
Tanks: Vickers Mark E Type, Panzerkampfwagen I, Carro Veloce L3/33, AMR33/35,FT-17, T-26 (the last three types of tanks no participated in battle of Shanghai);
Fighter planes: I-15/16, Curtiss Model 68 Hawk III, Hawk 75, Fiat CR.32
Bombers: He-111(only 6 purchased), Northrop Gamma 2E, Martin B-10, Fiat CR.25, Tupolev SB(no participated in battle of Shanghai)
At last, I recommend a film “The Eight Hundred”(Ba bai) . It shows eight hundred Chinese soldiers fight under siege from SiHang warehouse in the middle of the Shanghai battlefield, completely surrounded by the Japanese army.
