The Battle of Shanghai () was a major battle fought between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China in the Chinese city of Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It lasted from August 13 to November 26, 1937, and was arguably the single largest and longest battle of the entire war, with it even regarded by some historians as the first battle of World War II. It resulted in the Japanese capture of Shanghai and heavy destruction to the city.
It 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. The Japanese eventually prevailed after over three months of extensive fighting on land, in the air and at sea. Both sides accused each other of using chemical weapons during the battle, with Japanese forces confirmed to have deployed poison gas at least thirteen times. Historian Peter Harmsen stated that the battle "presaged urban combat as it was to be waged not just during the Second World War, but throughout the remainder of the twentieth century" and that it "signalled the totality of modern urban warfare". It was the single largest urban battle prior to the Battle of Stalingrad, which occurred almost five years later.
Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 followed by the Japanese attack on 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 a full-scale war between the two countries. Shanghai was China's largest and most cosmopolitan city, with it being the world's fifth largest city at the time. Shanghai was known as the "Pearl of the Orient" and "Paris of the East", with it being China's main commercial hub and largest port. By deliberately initiating a major conflict in Shanghai, it's believed that the Chinese leadership aimed to achieve several objectives: to divert the main Japanese focus to the Yangtze delta, thereby stalling the perceived north-to-south advance of the Japanese army, to give 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, though there is no consensus on whether this strategy was successful. During the fierce three-month battle, the forces of China and Japan 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 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, the elite Chinese forces trained and equipped by the Germans, while failing to elicit any international intervention. However, the resistance of Chinese forces over three months of battle shocked the Japanese, who believed they could take Shanghai within days and China within months.
The battle can be divided into three stages, and eventually involved around one million troops. The first stage lasted from August 13 to August 22, 1937, during which the NRA besieged the Japanese Naval Landing Force stationed in Shanghai in bloody urban fighting in an attempt to dislodge them. The second stage lasted from August 23 to October 26, 1937, during which the Japanese launched reinforcing amphibious landings on the Jiangsu coast and the two armies fought a house-to-house battle in the creek country north of Shanghai, 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 at the time, Nanjing. In addition to the urban combat, trench warfare was also fought in the outskirts of the city.
Prelude Ōyama Incident
On August 9, Naval Sub-Lieutenant , head of the Western Detachment of the Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces stationed in Shanghai and his driver, First-Class Seaman Saito Yozo, along with a guard from the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps were found dead around the gate to Hongqiao Airport on Monument Road. Several accounts allege Ōyama and his driver were stopped by the Peace Preservation Corps Guard before Ōyama opened fire and killed them. The Sub-Lieutenant and his driver were then subsequently killed in returning fire from other guards at airport.
However, Ōyama was unarmed at the time of the shooting, having left his sidearm at the headquarters. Historian Peter Harmsen purported the so-called shootout to in fact be a staged scene to coverup the killing of the two Japanese naval personnel by Chinese soldiers masquerading as Peace Preservation Corps.
It is still unknown whether Ōyama attempted to enter the military airport under higher orders. The incident heightened the tensions between the Chinese and Japanese forces in Shanghai. On August 10, 1937, the Japanese Consul General demanded that the Chinese withdraw the Peace Preservation Corps and dismantle their defense works around the city. He also made it clear that the Imperial Japanese Army regarded the shooting of a Japanese officer as humiliating, and that any further incident would escalate the situation. In response to the incident, the Japanese began sending in reinforcements to Shanghai. Facing the increasing Japanese military presence in Shanghai, Chinese troops were also being deployed to the Shanghai area beginning on August 11.
Final efforts at negotiation
On August 1, 1937, representatives from the United Kingdom, France, United States and Italy along with Japan and China participated in the joint conference held in Shanghai to discuss the ceasefire terms. Japan demanded the withdrawal of Chinese troops from Shanghai, while the Chinese representative Yu Hung-chun dismissed the Japanese demand, stating that the terms of ceasefire have already been violated by Japan. The major powers did not wish to see another January 28 Incident, which greatly disrupted foreign economic activities in Shanghai. On the other hand, Chinese citizens feverishly welcomed the presence of Chinese troops in the city. In Nanjing, Chinese and Japanese representatives met for the last time for final efforts at negotiation. The Japanese demanded that the Chinese withdraw all Peace Preservation Corps from Shanghai and all regular troops from the vicinities of the city. The Chinese insisted that the Japanese demand of a unilateral Chinese withdrawal was unacceptable since the two countries were already fighting a war in North China. At last Mayor Yu made it clear that at most the Chinese government would concede that the Chinese troops would not fire unless fired upon. Japan on the other hand placed all responsibility on China because of Chinese deployment of troops around Shanghai. Negotiation was impossible and there was no alternative other than the spread of war into Central China.
Order of battle
First phase (August 13–22)
Opening shots
Around 9 am on August 13, the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps exchanged small arms fire with Japanese troops in the Zhabei, Wusong, and Jiangwan districts of Shanghai. At about 3 pm the Japanese army crossed over the Bazi Bridge (八字橋) in Zhabei and attacked various centers in the city. The 88th Division retaliated with mortar attacks. Sporadic shooting continued through the day until 4 pm, when Japanese headquarters ordered ships of the Third Fleet stationed in the Yangtze and the Huangpu River to open fire on Chinese positions in the city. Late that night, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Zhang Zhizhong to begin Chinese offensive operations the next day. The next morning the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) began bombing various Japanese targets and Chinese ground forces attacked at 3 pm. On the same day, August 14, 1937, the Chinese government issued the Proclamation of Self-Defense and War of Resistance (自衛抗戰聲明書), explaining the government's resolution against Japanese aggression. The Battle of Shanghai had officially begun.
Chiang's initial plan was to have the numerically superior Chinese forces attack the Japanese by surprise and push them into the Huangpu River using Entscheidungsschlacht tactics recommended by his German advisor Alexander von Falkenhausen. His troops were then to blockade the coast to deny the Japanese the opportunity to land reinforcements at the Huangpu wharves between Yangshupu and Hongkou,. The 88th Division was to attack Japanese army headquarters near Zhabei, and the 87th Division was to attack the reinforced Kung-ta Textile Mill, where the Japanese naval command was located.
The Japanese strongholds in the Hongkou salient were heavily fortified with thick concrete, barbed wire, sandbags, and machine guns. Their bunkers and were also resistant to 150mm howitzers, the only heavy weapons the Chinese possessed. Zhang estimated it would take one week to achieve these objectives; however, the operation ran into trouble when his troops were fought to a standstill just outside the Shanghai International Settlement.
First attacks
On the late afternoon of August 14, 1937, the Chinese 88th Division attacked Japanese positions in downtown Shanghai, but was halted by direct fire from the entrenched Japanese and heavy bombardments from the Japanese Third Fleet moored in the Huangpu. Chinese artillery was also positioned too far in the rear, with inexperienced crews and poor communication from their observers preventing effective Chinese artillery support in the fighting. Chinese troops could only advance, under the cover of machine gun fire, by getting close enough to the emplacements to kill those within with hand grenades. The Chinese advance was greatly slowed and the element of surprise was lost.
As a result, the Chinese suffered heavy losses in the first attack, with over a thousand casualties including brigade commander Huang Meixing who was killed when an artillery shell destroyed his position near the Bazi Bridge. By nightfall, Chiang ordered Zhang Zhizhong to pause the assault.
Operation Iron Fist On August 15, 1937, Chiang convened with his divisional staff to organize a second assault on the Japanese defenses, this time with greater firepower and preparation. The Chinese divisions were to use German Stosstrupp shock tactics, advancing immediately after an intense artillery barrage to break through Japanese lines and fight their way deep behind enemy positions before the defenders could recover.
Since their forces lacked adequate heavy weapons to destroy the Japanese bunkers directly, the Chinese command decided to use encirclement tactics. To this end, Zhang Zhizhong instructed his troops to take the streets surrounding the Japanese strongholds, avoiding costly frontal attacks on heavily fortified positions.
In the morning of the 17th, the 88th and 87th Divisions launched Iron Fist, first intensely shelling the Japanese positions and then charging with infantry. In line with Zhang's tactics, every time a street was successfully cleared, the Chinese would construct sandbag blockades and gradually surround each Japanese stronghold, closing off all possible routes of escape. The tactic was successful at first and the Chinese were able to destroy several emplacements and outposts on the first day.