Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign
On the 18th of April 1942, sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers took off from the aircraft carrier Hornet. They flew toward Tokyo, Nagoya, and Yokohama to drop their payloads on Japanese cities. The mission required the planes to land in unoccupied China after bombing Japan. Because the fleet was spotted earlier than planned, all but one aircraft ran out of fuel over Chinese territory. Most pilots parachuted into Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces or crashed onto offshore islands. Sixty-four American airmen landed in the area around Zhejiang. Chinese civilians provided shelter for most of these men who had just attacked the enemy capital.
Imperial General Headquarters established an operational plan two days before the Doolittle Raid occurred. Their goal was to defeat Chinese forces and destroy air bases along the coast. Shunroku Hata commanded the China Expeditionary Army when the campaign began on the 15th of May 1942. Forty infantry battalions and fifteen artillery battalions moved westward along the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway. Commander Korechika Anami led two divisions and four detachments from Hangzhou and Nanchang. These troops advanced east to west toward Shangrao in Jiangxi province. The operation aimed to seize local airfields and eliminate any perceived threat from American bombers.
Japanese forces invaded towns including Fenghua, Shangyu, Shaoxing, and Xiaoshan during the first week of May. Both sides engaged in combat along the railway line stretching through Zhejiang. By August 15, the Japanese army received orders to retreat from their positions. The Chinese army pursued them as they withdrew back toward their starting points. All areas along the railway were recovered by September except for Jinhua, Wuyi, and the northeastern region. This four-month battle involved constant movement between major cities like Hangzhou and Nanchang. Troops clashed repeatedly while trying to secure control over strategic rail lines.
Japanese soldiers conducted massive searches for American airmen throughout the occupied provinces. Whole towns and villages suspected of harboring pilots were burned to the ground. Many civilians executed died alongside those who sheltered the Americans. In Yihuang County, troops killed all orphans and elderly people at a missionary station. Soldiers bayoneted victims or tied them to stakes and burned them like human candles. Other cases saw children thrown into wells where they drowned. Up to 250,000 Chinese civilians died during these reprisals. Thousands of farm animals also perished alongside the human population.
Unit 731 brought almost 300 pounds of paratyphoid and anthrax to contaminate food sources. They spread cholera, typhoid, plague-infected fleas, and dysentery pathogens in contaminated wells. The withdrawal from areas around Yushan, Kinhwa, and Futsin left these biological weapons behind. Japanese soldiers inadvertently advanced into zones they had contaminated with disease. Over 1,700 Japanese personnel died and 10,000 fell sick from exposure to their own weapons. A prisoner of war captured by Americans in 1944 admitted that actual death tolls were far higher than official records showed. Statistics seen at Water Supply and Purification Headquarters in Nanking listed more than 1,700 dead chiefly from cholera.
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Common questions
What happened to the sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers on the 18th of April 1942 during the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign?
Sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers took off from the aircraft carrier Hornet and flew toward Tokyo, Nagoya, and Yokohama. All but one aircraft ran out of fuel over Chinese territory because the fleet was spotted earlier than planned.
When did Shunroku Hata command the China Expeditionary Army in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign?
Shunroku Hata commanded the China Expeditionary Army when the campaign began on the 15th of May 1942. Forty infantry battalions and fifteen artillery battalions moved westward along the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway under his orders.
How many Chinese civilians died during the reprisals in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign?
Up to 250,000 Chinese civilians died during these reprisals as Japanese soldiers conducted massive searches for American airmen. Whole towns and villages suspected of harboring pilots were burned to the ground while many civilians executed died alongside those who sheltered the Americans.
What biological weapons did Unit 731 use during the withdrawal phase of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign?
Unit 731 brought almost 300 pounds of paratyphoid and anthrax to contaminate food sources and spread cholera, typhoid, plague-infected fleas, and dysentery pathogens in contaminated wells. The withdrawal from areas around Yushan, Kinhwa, and Futsin left these biological weapons behind.
Which cities remained unrecovered by September after the four-month battle of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign?
All areas along the railway were recovered by September except for Jinhua, Wuyi, and the northeastern region. This four-month battle involved constant movement between major cities like Hangzhou and Nanchang.