Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign

Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II
A Japanese soldier with 50mm heavy grenade discharger during the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, 30 May 1942
Date 15 May – 4 September 1942 Location Vicinity of Zhejiang, Jiangxi Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
China  United States	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Gu Zhutong Huang Baitao	Shunroku Hata Naotsugu Sakai †
Units involved
National Revolutionary Army	Imperial Japanese Army Unit 731
Strength
300,000	180,000
Casualties and losses
70,000	36,000[1]
250,000 civilians[1]

The Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign (Japanese: 浙贛作戦, simplified Chinese: 浙赣战役; traditional Chinese: 浙赣戰役; pinyin: Zhè-Gàn Zhànyì), also known as Operation Sei-go, was a campaign by the China Expeditionary Army of the Imperial Japanese Army under Shunroku Hata and Chinese 3rd War Area forces under Gu Zhutong in the Chinese provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi from mid May to early September 1942.

The Japanese troops used biological weapons against Chinese soldiers and civilians alike. Japanese soldiers also committed massacres throughout the battle, resulting in over 300,000 Chinese deaths. Japanese commander Shunroku Hata later served six years in prison for his "failure to prevent atrocities".

Background[]

On April 18, 1942, the United States launched the Doolittle Raid, an attack by 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet on Tokyo, Nagoya, and Yokohama. The original plan was for the aircraft to bomb Japan and land at airfields in unoccupied portion of China. Because the raid had to be launched earlier than planned, all but one of the aircraft (which against orders diverted to the Soviet Union) ran out of fuel and crashed in Chinese provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi or the offshore islands.

Sixty-four American airmen parachuted into the area around Zhejiang. Most were given shelter by Chinese civilians but eight Americans were captured by Japanese troops; three were shot after a show trial for "crimes against humanity".^[2]

The campaign[]

Imperial General Headquarters was aware of possible air attacks from Chinese territory on Japan. Two days before the Doolittle Raid, Headquarters set up an operational plan with the goal of defeating Chinese forces and destroying air bases. The operation started on May 15, 1942, with 40 infantry battalions and 15-16 artillery battalions of the Imperial Japanese Army.^[3]

The Japanese army conducted a massive search for American airmen and in the process whole towns and villages that were suspected of harboring the Americans were burned to the ground and many civilians executed.^[2] The Japanese also wanted to occupy the area to prevent American air force from ever using airfields in China that could put the Japanese mainland within reach.

Aftermath[]

When Japanese troops moved out of the Zhejiang and Jiangxi areas in mid-August, they left behind a trail of devastation. Chinese estimates put the civilian death toll at 250,000.^[2] The Imperial Japanese Army had also spread cholera, typhoid, plague-infected fleas and dysentery pathogens.^[4] The Japanese biological warfare Unit 731 brought almost 300 pounds of paratyphoid and anthrax to be left in contaminated food and contaminated wells with the withdrawal of the army from areas around Yushan, Kinhwa and Futsin.^[5] Around 1,700 Japanese troops died out of a total 10,000 Japanese soldiers who fell ill with disease when their biological weapons attack rebounded on their own forces.^[6][7]

Shunroku Hata, the commander of Japanese forces involved of the massacre of the 250,000 Chinese civilians, was sentenced 1948 in part due to his "failure to prevent atrocities". He was given a life sentence but was paroled in 1954.^[8]

See also[]

• Order of Battle for Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign (1942)
• Flying Tigers
• Unit 731
• Japanese war crimes

References[]

Notes[]

Bibliography[]

• Chevrier, Marie Isabelle; Chomiczewski, Krzysztof; Garrigue, Henri, eds. (2004). The Implementation of Legally Binding Measures to Strengthen the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, Held in Budapest, Hungary, 2001. Volume 150 of NATO science series: Mathematics, physics, and chemistry (illustrated ed.). Springer. ISBN 140202097X. Retrieved 10 March 2014. |volume= has extra text (help)
• Croddy, Eric A.; Wirtz, James J., eds. (2005). Weapons of Mass Destruction. Jeffrey A. Larsen, Managing Editor. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1851094903. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
• James M. Scott. The Untold Story of the Vengeful Japanese Attack After the Doolittle Raid