A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

The organizational numbers, troop strength, equipment, deployment, and offensive and defensive postures of both the Eastern Army and the Fengtian Army were marked on the map and sand table.

"The Japanese army, centered on Lücheng and Fengcheng, deployed itself in various strategic locations along the South Manchurian Railway, and its garrison forces completely controlled the entire railway line," Wang Zhi said.

Song Hongfei pointed to the sand table and said, "This is the most critical point. Before the battle even started, the main transportation artery was completely controlled by the enemy. Although the Japanese army is severely lacking in motor vehicles and mules, it is stationed at key points along the railway line and can use the railway to quickly concentrate its forces and maneuver."

"Why do I always have to be the one marking them?" Zhang Yi asked.

Song Hongfei and Wang Zhi chuckled and said, "Of course you handle the physical work, but leave the thinking to us."

"Damn it!" Zhang Yi was speechless and indignant.

The phrase "I'm so damned" was brought to us by Song Hongfei from later generations. He would use it from time to time, and later Zhang Yi and some West Point cadets also started using it.

Zhang Yi flipped through the internal reference materials, marking the red and blue flags and various symbols representing the troop strength and equipment of both sides on the map and sand table with red and blue pens:

"On the afternoon of September 18, the 3rd Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Independent Garrison of the Japanese Army, led by Company Commander Kawashima Masashi, marched south along the South Manchurian Railway to the Wenguantun area under the pretext of conducting a night exercise."

"At approximately 22:20 PM, Lieutenant Kawamoto Suemori and Sergeant Kosugi Kiichi led a small detachment to blow up a section of the South Manchurian Railway near Liutiaohu, about 800 meters southwest of the Fengtian Army's Beidaying camp, and falsely accused the Chinese army of sabotaging the railway. Subsequently, the Japanese army bombarded the Beidaying camp and the airport with heavy howitzers."

"Around 23 p.m., the Japanese army blew up a railway bridge at Liutiaogou on the South Manchurian Railway and falsely accused the Chinese army. Kawashima Company then took the lead in attacking Beidaying, while the 29th Regiment of the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division attacked Shenyang."

"The railway garrison stationed in Fucheng and Tiecheng, and the main force of the 15th Brigade of the 2nd Division stationed in Liaocheng also quickly concentrated in Shencheng and launched an attack together with the 29th Regiment."

Zhang Yi said indignantly, "A mere garrison of a few hundred men dares to attack the 8000-strong Independent 7th Brigade stationed at Beidaying. The Japanese are incredibly arrogant."

"They're gambling! Taking a huge gamble, which is very much in line with the gambler's nature of the Japanese," Song Hongfei said.

"But who would have thought that it would actually win the bet!" Wang Zhi also sighed.

Zhang Yi continued to mark on the sand table and map:

That night, Wang Tiehan's 620th Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the Fengtian Army in Beidaying fought back, but Rong Zhen, the Chief of Staff of the Fengtian Army, ordered the troops: "No resistance is allowed, and all weapons and ammunition must be surrendered."

At approximately 2:9 AM on September 19, Japanese troops launched simultaneous surprise attacks in multiple locations.

Around 4:00 AM, the 5th Battalion of the Independent Garrison arrived at Beidaying and joined the battle. At 5:30 AM, the 7th Brigade of the Fengtian Army retreated to Dongdaying at Dongshanzui in Shenyang, and the Japanese Army then completely occupied Beidaying. In the battle, the Fengtian Army suffered more than 300 casualties, while the Japanese Army suffered 24 casualties.

At around 7 a.m. on September 19, the Japanese army captured Shenyang.

By 10:00 AM, in less than 12 hours, the Japanese army had captured 18 towns along the South Manchurian Railway and the Anfeng Railway. On the same day, they occupied dozens of towns and key locations in Liaoning and Jilin provinces.

At 3:55 a.m. on September 19, five hours after the surprise attack on Beidaying, Honjo Shigeru ordered the 4th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army to attack Chuncheng. The 2nd Battalion of the Fengtian Army stationed at the Nanling Artillery Position fought back, and the defenders of Nandaying in Chuncheng repelled the Japanese Army's first attack.

At 9:00 AM, the 1st Independent Garrison Battalion launched a joint attack on Nanling, and the 50th Infantry Regiment and the 10th Artillery Regiment of the Fengtian Army fought back fiercely. The defending troops reported for reinforcements, but Xi Qia, the acting chairman of Jilin Province and chief of staff of the border defense army, ordered: 'No resistance is allowed.'

The fierce fighting continued into the afternoon, and the defending troops at Nanling were isolated and without support, forcing them to retreat. At 17:30 PM, the Japanese army occupied Nanling and then advanced towards Chuncheng Railway Station. By 22:30 PM, Chuncheng had been completely occupied by the Japanese army.

Zhang Yi added, "The Battle of Chuncheng was the most intense and longest-lasting battle in the entire Guandong region at the beginning of the incident."

On September 20, Xi Qia, who was in Jicheng, the provincial capital, sent his confidants to Chuncheng to beg for surrender and betray the country from the commander of the 2nd Division of the Japanese Army, Tamon Jiro.

"That traitor Xi Qia, he's a complete scoundrel!" Zhang Yi cursed angrily as he continued to mark the troop strength comparisons on the map using red and blue pens.

"The attacking Japanese army, the 4th Regiment, consisted of only two battalions, plus one company from the 1st Independent Garrison Battalion, with a strength of less than 1000 men."

“驻守的奉军有：步兵第23旅663团2营，部署在二道沟。炮兵第10团、步兵第25旅第50团、辎重兵1个营和弹药库在南岭，共计约7000人。”

"The Japanese army first launched a surprise attack on the artillery regiment, which was also the only heavy artillery regiment stationed in the Kwantung region. The artillery regiment was caught off guard, and dozens of cannons were captured by the Japanese army. The Japanese army used the captured cannons to bombard the Fengtian Army fiercely, causing heavy casualties and forcing it to retreat."

"We have such excellent heavy equipment, but we've given it all to the enemy!" Wang Zhi and Song Hongfei were also heartbroken.

Zhang Yi continued marking, the sand table and map were already densely marked:

On September 20, the Japanese army occupied Xiongcheng.

On September 21, Xi Qia surrendered the city to the Japanese, and the 2nd Division occupied Jicheng, which fell without a fight.

On September 22, they captured Tongcheng, Zhengjiacheng, and Niuzhuangcheng.

On September 23, they captured Duncheng and Wencheng.

On September 24, they captured Juliushi and Xincheng.

On September 25, they captured Taocheng.

On September 26, the puppet Jilin Provincial Government was established, with Xi Qia appointed as its governor.

On September 28, Xi Qia declared that he was severing ties with the Huaxia National Government and Zhang Shaoshuai's Guandong regime, and announced 'independence'.

"The Japanese army has been planning this for a long time, with meticulous planning, thorough deployment, and swift action," Song Hongfei said, pointing to the sand table.

“The key points of the two provinces fell into enemy hands almost simultaneously. With only a little over 1 troops, they captured dozens of cities in just a few days. In terms of time, it was far too fast,” Song Hongfei pondered.

In the week from September 18 to 25, the Japanese army occupied more than 30 cities in Liaoning and Jilin provinces. In addition to the South Manchuria Railway and the Anfeng Railway, they also controlled various important transportation lines, such as the Chinese Eastern Railway, to varying degrees.

The Japanese army completed its initial military offensive objectives in the early stages of the incident, creating an extremely favorable fait accompli.

"They succeeded in just a few days, it's unbelievably fast!" Wang Zhi was equally puzzled.

"Because there are too many spineless cowards and traitors! Like this Xi Qia and Yu Zhishan!" Zhang Yi said with a pained expression as he read through the intelligence reports, marking them on the map and sand table:

"Yu Zhishan was the garrison commander of the eastern border region and a military advisor to the commander-in-chief of the border defense army. He commanded more than 20 counties in the eastern border region of Fengtian Province and had 30,000 elite troops under his command. After the incident, Yu Zhishan betrayed the country and surrendered to the enemy. He served as the puppet commander-in-chief of the Eastern Border Region Autonomous Security Force and issued a 'Declaration of Independence'. In December, he was appointed as the puppet commander of the Fengtian Provincial Garrison."

Zhang Yi continued to mark:

On October 1, Zhang Haipeng, the garrison commander of Taoliao Town stationed in Heilongjiang Province, defected to the enemy and announced his appointment as the puppet border security commander. He then dispatched three regiments to Jiangqiao on the orders of the Japanese army, where they engaged in fierce fighting with the garrison under Xu Baozhen.

On October 26, the 29th Regiment of the 2nd Division captured major towns along the Sitao Railway.

On November 4th, the Nenjiang Detachment of the South Manchuria Railway Garrison attacked the defending troops north of the Nenjiang Bridge. Xu Baozhen and Zhang Jingdu commanded more than 2700 defenders to fight back. In the battle that day, the defenders killed more than 1000 enemy soldiers.

On November 5, more than 8000 Japanese troops and puppet troops continued their fierce attack. The defending troops fought desperately and killed or wounded more than 700 Japanese troops.

On November 6, Jiro Tamon's 2nd Division was deployed to the battle. The defending troops annihilated more than 2000 Japanese and puppet troops, but suffered more than 1800 casualties themselves. Due to the heavy losses, Shigeru Honjo ordered the 2nd Division to retreat to its garrison.

After that, the Japanese army continued to reinforce its troops, bringing the total strength of the Japanese army and the puppet army to more than 3.

From November 12 to 14, the Japanese army and the puppet army concentrated their forces to launch multiple attacks, but were repelled. More than 300 Japanese soldiers were killed, and more than 2000 puppet soldiers were killed, wounded, or fled.

On November 16, the main force of the 2nd Division joined the battle, and the 4th Mixed Brigade came to reinforce them.

On November 18, the Japanese army concentrated heavy artillery, tanks, and aircraft to launch a fierce attack. The defending artillery counterattacked fiercely, and due to a lack of logistics, they were forced to withdraw from Jiangqiao.

On November 19, the Japanese army captured Qicheng, the provincial capital.

. . . . . .

Zhang Yi sighed deeply, threw down his pen, and said angrily, "Of the more than 10 Fengtian troops, not many rose up in resistance, but more than half became traitors, including 6 or 70 high-ranking generals!"

Song Hongfei was also heartbroken: "Of the eight garrison commanders, six defected to the enemy and five became traitors!"

"And this person also became a traitor. New intelligence from December," Wang Zhi said, looking at the document in his hand. "Zang Shiyi, the former chairman of Liaoning Province, was placed under house arrest by the Japanese army for three months after the incident. Itagaki Seishiro coerced and enticed him, and Zang Shiyi became the chairman of the puppet Fengtian Province, declaring that he did not recognize the Liaoning Provincial Government established by Marshal Zhang in Jincheng. His mother committed suicide by hanging herself, sacrificing her life for her country."

"This Zang Shiyi has also followed Xi Qia's example and become a traitorous lackey! A disgrace to the nation, he is not even as principled as his mother!" Zhang Yi was extremely indignant.

Wang Zhi then read the latest intelligence he had in his hands:

Following the incident, Japan formulated a "solution to the Manchurian and Mongolian problem," deciding to support the establishment of a puppet regime and wooing several veterans of the Fengtian Army, including Xi Qia, Zhang Haipeng, Yu Zhishan, and Zhang Jinghui, to surrender and betray the country.

"In late December, former Japanese Army Minister Minami Jiro held secret talks with Xi Qia and Zang Shiyi, plotting to bring Puyi to the Northeast to establish a puppet regime in Manchuria and Mongolia. Intelligence suggests that they may have two plans: one is to establish a special regime; the other is to establish an independent puppet state in Manchuria and Mongolia."

Wang Zhiyou said, "I think the second option is more likely."

“You’re wrong about one thing.” Song Hongfei looked at the documents in his hand, then looked up at Zhang Yi and said, “This Xiqia, Aisin Gioro Xiqia, is a Manchu of the Plain Blue Banner. This traitor is not Han at all.”

"A remnant of the Manchu dynasty?" Wang Zhi and Zhang Yi both crowded around, looking at the internal report in Song Hongfei's hand:

At the time of the incident, Zhang Zuoxiang, the deputy commander of the border defense forces and chairman of Jilin Province, returned to his hometown of Jincheng to attend his father's funeral. Xi Qia, who was then the director of military training in Jilin Province and chief of staff of the deputy commander's office, acted as the acting military and political leader.

After Xi Qia declared the "independence" of Jilin Province, he issued orders to induce local military and political officials to surrender, and formed a puppet "bandit suppression army" of 5 brigades and 1 railway garrison to invade the northern part of Jilin Province in conjunction with the Japanese army.

At the same time, Xi Qia was busy colluding with others in an attempt to restore the Manchu Qing regime, and actively expanding his restoration party and military and political power.

"The incompetent and corrupt Qing dynasty has ruined China for three hundred years, and now it even dares to try to rely on Japan to restore its rule?!" The three were extremely indignant.