Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation

Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Date August – December 1937 Location Beiping–Hankou Railway Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Japan	China
Commanders and leaders
Hisaichi Terauchi Kiyoshi Katsuki Toshizō Nishio	Song Zheyuan
Units involved
Imperial Japanese Army 5th division 6th division 14th division 16th division 20th division 108th division 109th division Kawabe brigade	Republic of China Army First Military Front : 30 divisions, 5 brigades, and 3 regiments
Strength
78,000 Chinese Claim : 192,400	297,347
Casualties and losses
According to statistics of the First and Second Armies in major battles : Battles of Zhuozhou and Baoding (14 until 24 September 1937) : 1,047 killed and 3,083 wounded Battles of Shijiazhuang and Fuyang River (late September until late October 1937) : First Army : 329 killed and 1,002 wounded Second Army : 82 killed and 235 wounded Mopping-up operation against Song Zheyuan's army (4 November until 15 December 1937) : 264 killed and 996 wounded	From 14 September until 28 December 1937 : 467 officers and 13,932 soldiers killed 585 officers and 13,336 soldiers wounded 153 officers and 5,693 soldiers missing

The Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation (Japanese: 京漢線作戦; Mid August – Dec. 1937) was a follow-up to the Battle of Beiping–Tianjin of the Japanese army in North China at the beginning of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, fought simultaneously with Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation. The attack was not authorized by the Imperial General Headquarters. The Japanese advanced to the south along the Beiping–Hankou Railway until the Yellow River, capturing Linfen along the way. After the Imperial General Headquarters wrestled control over troops from local commanders, the majority of participating Japanese units were transferred to participate in the concurrent Battle of Taiyuan. These units were replaced by newly formed 108th and 109th divisions.

Operations

In September after securing Beijing and its surrounding area the Japanese army moved south in 2 armies. Their main objective was to secure the major cities and the railway lines connecting them.

Battle of Baoding

Japanese forces approached Baoding, which boasted a sixty-foot wall, two successive moats, and considerable amounts of barbed wire. If properly defended, the city could have held for weeks. Instead, it fell in a single day. The Japanese, as was to become commonplace, committed atrocities within the city after its fall. Acts of rape and murder were committed at the medical college of the city, which was burned, with many of its faculty thrown into the blazing fires.

Aftermath

After the stalemate at Yellow River from December 1937 to March 1938, the fighting resumed resulting in Battle of Xuzhou.

See also

• Order of Battle Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation