The Fall of Beiping
Excerpts from "China At War", C.K. Fung, Random House, 1986
THE Kwantung Army reached the outskirts surrounding Beiping from the northeast on October 9th, and began preparations for taking the city. They were led by Lt. General Kiyoshi Katsuki, and reinforced with another division from the IJA China Garrison led by Maj. Gen. Yasuji Okamura. The 100mm and particularly 150mm cannon out-ranged any artillery the Chinese National Army had, and this was taken advantage of. Anti-tank guns were also dug in and camouflaged, and aerial reconnaissance took place. This would prove to be Japan's first real challenge- Tongzhou fell bloodlessly the week prior, with an IJN practice raid of G3M bombers escorted by G5M fighters dropping leaflets demanding surrender on the city- the fact that they did so unchallenged severely impacted Chinese morale.
In Beiping proper, General Song's forces were reinforced by an additional route army and armoured corps' worth of troops led by General Dengyu Zhao. The quality of the troops varied greatly- from elite German trained and armed soldiers to raw recruits called up weeks before, armed with Czech-designed, Chinese made K98 derivatives and shod in cloth shoes or straw sandals. Armour varied similarly- attempts to equip tank formations with single types gave way to "light" and "heavy" tank formations made up of whatever tanks were available. Still, morale was high. The National Army defenders were eager to defend Beiping, and were willing to pay the price to do so. Some even began to volunteer for "Dare to Die" suicide bombing missions should the situation demand it.
The first of the battles took place on October 11th. A Japanese armoured reconnaissance patrol, made up of Ha-Go light tanks and armoured cars, encountered Chinese armour. Outnumbered and lacking infantry support, they were mauled by the Chinese tanks, with one troop reporting losses of nearly 80%. This early victory led to overconfidence on the part of Zhao, who was now under the belief that Japanese capability was overblown.
On the next day, the Japanese heavy guns began bombarding Chinese positions, aided by IJA Air Service raids by Ki-32 light bombers escorted by Ki-27 fighters. This led to their dispersal and made co-ordinated operations much more difficult. The Chinese artillery, mostly mountain guns and a few 150mm howitzers, attempted to return fire, but lacked sufficient range and did so to no meaningful effect.
On the 14th, Chinese combined armour and infanty took advantage of cloud cover and attempted to overrun the Japanese guns and dislodge their positions. However, poor communications and insufficiently developed tactics and training led to tank formations scattering and overrunning their infantry. The tanks themselves ran into prepared tank traps, and were savaged by well-trained Japanese gunlayers. The smaller tanks proved vulnerable to even 20mm weapons, and suffered particularly severe losses. The infantry were also unable to dislodge the Japanese positions as they caught up, similarly harried by Japanese sniper and machine gun fire, as well as a thrust by infantry and the heavier Chi-Ha medium tanks. They did not pursue the Chinese forces far- a move, that with hindsight, may be considered overly cautious.
By the 16th, losses were mounting on both sides, but the cloud cover had lifted, and larger IJAAS air raids, with Ki-21 heavy bombers, began to bomb troop concentrations around and in Beiping proper. Morale worsened- the Chinese forces were faced with an enemy that could attack them with impunity, and not even their greater numbers would be able to make a meaningful difference against the attackers.
The next day was the bloodiest day of fighting in the battles- the Japanese mounted a frontal assault on the Nanyuan Barracks, backed with close artillery and air support. There were heavy losses on both sides, and it marked the first use of each side's most desperate actions- for the Chinese, the deployment of Dare to Die troops; for the Japanese, one company which found itself surrounded made a banzai charge with bayonets fixed. The barracks, despite changing hands no fewer than twice (correspondents on both sides found recording an accurate figure difficult), was captured decisively by Japanese forces by the morning of the 18th.
The assault on Beiping proper then commenced, and despite a valiant defence, Song felt that he had no option but to surrender. Zhao was dead, along with thousands of troops. Katsuki himself was relieved as well, as he had neither the numbers nor appetite for hand-to-hand, house-to-house fighting. Mayor Zizhong Zhang signed the surrender as Song's army withdrew south.
There was an eerie calm in the city. There were no parades or celebrations, and Japanese troops, prisoners and civilians began cleaning up the rubble, and repairing broken power cables and water pipes. Chiang's portrait was removed from Tiananmen, but a portrait of Hirohito or Konoe did not replace it. The Kempeitai kept close watch over the Japanese troops, and, to the delight of some locals, raided known brothels and drug dens to "remove temptations from the weaker of our ranks". Japanese troops were required to have minimal contact with the locals as well, an order which was also rigidly enforced.
--
Plate F, a photograph from a Japanese war correspondent, illustrates Japanese Superior Private Ichigo Suzuki taking Chinese National Army Corporal Deng Liu prisoner after the latter escaped his tank, disabled by the gun fired by the former.
Both men survived the war. Deng returned to work as a fisherman near Guangzhou, Union of China; and Suzuki becoming a furniture buyer for the Mitsukoshi department store. Neither man wished to speak about their war experiences and declined to be interviewed for this book.
THE Kwantung Army reached the outskirts surrounding Beiping from the northeast on October 9th, and began preparations for taking the city. They were led by Lt. General Kiyoshi Katsuki, and reinforced with another division from the IJA China Garrison led by Maj. Gen. Yasuji Okamura. The 100mm and particularly 150mm cannon out-ranged any artillery the Chinese National Army had, and this was taken advantage of. Anti-tank guns were also dug in and camouflaged, and aerial reconnaissance took place. This would prove to be Japan's first real challenge- Tongzhou fell bloodlessly the week prior, with an IJN practice raid of G3M bombers escorted by G5M fighters dropping leaflets demanding surrender on the city- the fact that they did so unchallenged severely impacted Chinese morale.
In Beiping proper, General Song's forces were reinforced by an additional route army and armoured corps' worth of troops led by General Dengyu Zhao. The quality of the troops varied greatly- from elite German trained and armed soldiers to raw recruits called up weeks before, armed with Czech-designed, Chinese made K98 derivatives and shod in cloth shoes or straw sandals. Armour varied similarly- attempts to equip tank formations with single types gave way to "light" and "heavy" tank formations made up of whatever tanks were available. Still, morale was high. The National Army defenders were eager to defend Beiping, and were willing to pay the price to do so. Some even began to volunteer for "Dare to Die" suicide bombing missions should the situation demand it.
The first of the battles took place on October 11th. A Japanese armoured reconnaissance patrol, made up of Ha-Go light tanks and armoured cars, encountered Chinese armour. Outnumbered and lacking infantry support, they were mauled by the Chinese tanks, with one troop reporting losses of nearly 80%. This early victory led to overconfidence on the part of Zhao, who was now under the belief that Japanese capability was overblown.
On the next day, the Japanese heavy guns began bombarding Chinese positions, aided by IJA Air Service raids by Ki-32 light bombers escorted by Ki-27 fighters. This led to their dispersal and made co-ordinated operations much more difficult. The Chinese artillery, mostly mountain guns and a few 150mm howitzers, attempted to return fire, but lacked sufficient range and did so to no meaningful effect.
On the 14th, Chinese combined armour and infanty took advantage of cloud cover and attempted to overrun the Japanese guns and dislodge their positions. However, poor communications and insufficiently developed tactics and training led to tank formations scattering and overrunning their infantry. The tanks themselves ran into prepared tank traps, and were savaged by well-trained Japanese gunlayers. The smaller tanks proved vulnerable to even 20mm weapons, and suffered particularly severe losses. The infantry were also unable to dislodge the Japanese positions as they caught up, similarly harried by Japanese sniper and machine gun fire, as well as a thrust by infantry and the heavier Chi-Ha medium tanks. They did not pursue the Chinese forces far- a move, that with hindsight, may be considered overly cautious.
By the 16th, losses were mounting on both sides, but the cloud cover had lifted, and larger IJAAS air raids, with Ki-21 heavy bombers, began to bomb troop concentrations around and in Beiping proper. Morale worsened- the Chinese forces were faced with an enemy that could attack them with impunity, and not even their greater numbers would be able to make a meaningful difference against the attackers.
The next day was the bloodiest day of fighting in the battles- the Japanese mounted a frontal assault on the Nanyuan Barracks, backed with close artillery and air support. There were heavy losses on both sides, and it marked the first use of each side's most desperate actions- for the Chinese, the deployment of Dare to Die troops; for the Japanese, one company which found itself surrounded made a banzai charge with bayonets fixed. The barracks, despite changing hands no fewer than twice (correspondents on both sides found recording an accurate figure difficult), was captured decisively by Japanese forces by the morning of the 18th.
The assault on Beiping proper then commenced, and despite a valiant defence, Song felt that he had no option but to surrender. Zhao was dead, along with thousands of troops. Katsuki himself was relieved as well, as he had neither the numbers nor appetite for hand-to-hand, house-to-house fighting. Mayor Zizhong Zhang signed the surrender as Song's army withdrew south.
There was an eerie calm in the city. There were no parades or celebrations, and Japanese troops, prisoners and civilians began cleaning up the rubble, and repairing broken power cables and water pipes. Chiang's portrait was removed from Tiananmen, but a portrait of Hirohito or Konoe did not replace it. The Kempeitai kept close watch over the Japanese troops, and, to the delight of some locals, raided known brothels and drug dens to "remove temptations from the weaker of our ranks". Japanese troops were required to have minimal contact with the locals as well, an order which was also rigidly enforced.
--
Plate F, a photograph from a Japanese war correspondent, illustrates Japanese Superior Private Ichigo Suzuki taking Chinese National Army Corporal Deng Liu prisoner after the latter escaped his tank, disabled by the gun fired by the former.
Both men survived the war. Deng returned to work as a fisherman near Guangzhou, Union of China; and Suzuki becoming a furniture buyer for the Mitsukoshi department store. Neither man wished to speak about their war experiences and declined to be interviewed for this book.
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