Battle of Rehe

• 1. Introduction

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  The Battle of Rehe began on the 23rd of February, 1933, and ended just days later with Japan holding a province that China's forces had failed to defend. The province of Rehe, nestled on the northern side of the Great Wall, fell in under two weeks. What made its loss so swift, and so consequential, is a story of miscalculation, fractured command, and a Japanese military campaign that had been building since the establishment of Manchukuo.

  Who were the men tasked with holding Rehe? Why did a Chinese force numbering as many as 150,000 soldiers collapse against a smaller, better-organized opponent? And what happened to the commander held responsible when it was all over? The answers reach back to the politics of a crumbling warlord system and forward to the catastrophe of 1937.

• 2. The Province Japan Wanted

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  Manchukuo, the new Japanese-backed state, had a vulnerable southern flank. The Kwantung Army moved to secure that flank by seizing Shanhaiguan Pass at the Great Wall on the 3rd of January, 1933. Rehe was the logical next target.

  Japanese strategists declared the province to be historically part of Manchuria, giving the operation a pretext. Before sending in troops, they tried a quieter approach: persuading General Tang Yulin, who controlled tens of thousands of soldiers in Rehe, to defect to the Manchukuo cause. Tang refused. With that option closed, the military plan moved forward.

  The units committed to the operation were substantial. The 6th Division and 8th Division formed the infantry backbone, joined by the 14th and 33rd Mixed Brigades. The 4th Cavalry Brigade brought Type 92 Heavy Armored Cars, and the 1st Special Tank Company was attached for the assault. The operation carried the name Nekka, and the Battle of Rehe was its second phase.

• 3. Hirohito's Condition

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  Before the offensive could begin, the Japanese Army's chief of staff sought Emperor Hirohito's sanction for what was formally called the "strategic operation" against Chinese forces in Rehe. The Emperor approved, but he was explicit on one point: the army was not to advance beyond China's Great Wall.

  Hirohito hoped this would be the last of the army's operations in the region and would bring closure to what was already being called the Manchurian matter. That hope would not survive the year.

• 4. A Fractured Defense

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  Chinese forces assembled to defend Rehe were large in number but badly divided. Between 100,000 and 150,000 soldiers were gathered, drawn from different commands with no unified loyalty. Wan Fulin led 40,000 troops from the Northeastern Army. Tang Yulin, the general Japan had tried to recruit, commanded 30,000 to 50,000 men. Sun Dianying and Song Zheyuan together brought 30,000 former Guominjun soldiers.

  Irregular forces added further complications. Village militias, Manchurian bandits in exile, and five volunteer brigades under Zhu Qinglan were all present in the province. Rather than strengthening the defense, these volunteers actively hindered it. Zhang Xueliang, the warlord nominally responsible for holding Rehe, responded by issuing warrants for their arrest.

• 5. Days of the Offensive

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  The offensive opened on the 23rd of February, 1933. Within two days, on the 25th of February, Chaoyang and Kailu had both fallen. The pace was relentless.

  On the 2nd of March, the Japanese 4th Cavalry Brigade ran into resistance from Sun Dianying's forces near Chifeng. Days of fighting followed before Chifeng was taken. Sun Dianying then launched a counterattack against the Japanese 6th Division that same day, at one point pushing close enough to threaten the Japanese headquarters itself. It was a moment of real danger, but it did not last.

• 6. Consequences and the Truce

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  Rehe was annexed to Manchukuo almost immediately after its fall. Zhang Xueliang, the commander who had presided over the collapse, was compelled by the Kuomintang government to give up his posts, citing "medical reasons" as the official explanation.

  Chinese forces retreated in disorder to the Great Wall. Fighting continued there in a series of battles and skirmishes, but the outcome was a negotiated ceasefire known as the Tanggu Truce. Its terms established a demilitarized zone between the Great Wall and Beijing. At the time, some saw it as a stabilizing arrangement. Instead, it proved only a pause before full-scale fighting between Japan and China resumed in 1937, when the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in earnest.