The Defense of Sihang Warehouse (Chinese: 四行倉庫保衛戰) took place from October 27 to October 31, 1937, and marked the beginning of the end of the three-month Battle of Shanghai in the opening phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Defenders of the warehouse held out against numerous waves of Japanese forces to cover Chinese forces retreating west during the Battle of Shanghai.
The Chinese defenders were composed of a single half-strength battalion from the elite German-trained 88th Division, who had fortified and occupied the large "Four Banks" (Sihang) Warehouse in the downtown Zhabei district, along with several buildings. The warehouse's location just across the Suzhou Creek from the Shanghai International Settlement meant the battle took place in full view of the Western powers. Tens of thousands of Chinese and Western civilians were thus able to witness the battle as it unfolded.
After enduring several days of repeated attacks by the Japanese, the Chinese defenders were permitted to retreat into the nearby International Settlement, which they managed to do with most of their strength intact.
The defense of the warehouse and media reporting of the event provided a morale-lifting consolation to the Chinese army and people in the demoralizing aftermath of the Japanese invasion of China.
Japanese sources on the Defense of Sihang Warehouse differ, which record the defense as being a relatively minor skirmish within the entire Battle of Shanghai.
Background
By 26 October 1937, Chinese resistance in the district of Zhabei was faltering. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek wanted to withdraw all forces in the area to defend the rural western regions of Shanghai, and ordered Gu Zhutong, acting commander of the 3rd Military Region, to leave the 88th Division behind to buy time and canvass international support by showing the other nations of the Nine Powers (which were to convene on 6 November) China's determination to resist the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Neither Gu, Sun, nor Zhang were about to disobey Chiang's orders, but Sun (via Zhang) suggested to Gu that the number of troops left to cover the withdrawal would not matter for such a show of determination. In his words, "How many people we sacrifice would not make a difference; it would achieve the same purpose."
At 10 p.m. on 26 October, the 524th Regiment, based at the Shanghai North Railway Station, received orders to withdraw to the divisional headquarters at Sihang Warehouse. 1st Battalion commander Yang Ruifu was distraught at having to abandon a position he had held for more than two months.
Order of battle and equipment
National Revolutionary Army
- 524th Regiment, 88th Division: Regimental commander (CO), Army Lieutenant Colonel Xie JinyuanExecutive officer (XO), Army Major Shangguan Zhibiao (上官志標)
- 1st Battalion, 524th Regiment: Battalion Commander, Army Major Yang Ruifu (楊瑞符)
- 1st Company, 1st Battalion: Company commander, Army Captain Tao Xingchun (陶杏春)
- 2nd Company, 1st Battalion: Company commander, Army Captain Deng Ying (鄧英)
- 3rd Company, 1st Battalion: Company commander, Army Captain Shi Meihao (石美豪, wounded), Army Captain Tang Di (唐棣)
- Machine Gun Company, 1st Battalion: Company commander, Army Captain Lei Xiong (雷雄)
Initially containing around 800 men, the 1st was technically an over-strength battalion, but casualties suffered over the course of the Battle of Shanghai reduced its actual strength just prior to the battle to 452 men (some sources give 423), including officers. Because of the confusion of the general retreat, some units may have failed to make it to the warehouse, which caused a further reduction in strength, down to only 414 men present at the beginning of the battle. Two months of intense fighting had also whittled down the original German-trained troops, and after five rounds of reinforcements, the majority of soldiers and officers in the battalion were garrison troops from the surrounding provinces.
Most of the men were from the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment of the Hubei Provincial Garrison. Hubei did not want to send its best troops to Shanghai, as these had trained over a decade to fight against the Chinese Communists. Thus, many of the soldiers sent as reinforcements to Shanghai were green recruits, with the latest batch recruited after the outbreak of war on 7 July.
The regiment was assigned used equipment from the front-line troops of the 88th, and was well equipped considering the poor equipment that most Chinese forces had. Photos and records show that soldiers were each issued a rifle, likely a Hanyang 88 or Chiang Kai-shek rifle, 300 rounds of 8 mm Mauser, two crates of M24 stick grenades, a German-made M1935 Stahlhelm, a gas mask, and food pouch. There was a total of 27 light machine guns, mostly Czech ZB vz.26, approximately one for each squad. The four water-cooled Type 24 Maxim guns were the only heavy weapons available to the battalion—a mortar platoon assigned to them was never mentioned by participants of the battle, and was therefore unlikely to have joined the battle.
Imperial Japanese Forces
- Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force: Rear Admiral Okochi Denshichi
- Shanghai SNLF 10th Battalion: Lieutenant-Commander Haji Kitaro
- Yokosuka 2nd Independent SNLF Company
- Kure 1st SNLF
- Shanghai SNLF 8th and 9th Companies
Captain Okochi Denshichi had been assigned command of the Shanghai SNLF on November 16, 1936, and was promoted to Rear Admiral at the beginning of the following month. Prior to the Battle of Shanghai the Shanghai SNLF had a strength of just over 2300 men, but shortly before the battle the force began to be hastily reinforced with additional Special Naval Landing Forces and ship crews deployed on land. Reinforcements would continue to arrive throughout the course of the battle and by October 1937 the force exceeded 10,000 men in strength.
On the morning of October 27, 1937 the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force would launch an attack to take over Zhabei. Their attacking forces were known as the "Zhabei Force," and made of the Shanghai SNLF"s 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 12th Battalions. The Shanghai SNLF 10th Battalion would be assigned to the Zhabei Force's Southern Section and serve as the main force opposing the defenders of Sihang Warehouse.
The 10th Battalion—noted as a reservist battalion—had a strength of 506 men and 21 officers under the command of Lieutenant Commander Haji Kitaro.
Haji's 10th Battalion arrived in Shanghai on the evening of August 19 and was initially used as a reserve force. The battalion later served in Yangshupu from August 21 to 24, before returning to guard the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force Headquarters in Hongkou. On September 21 the battalion was deployed to the sector south of Jukong Road on North Szechuan Road. On September 28, the Yokosuka 2nd Independent SNLF "Kobayashi" Company numbering around 257 men was placed under Haji's command and would serve as the 10th Battalion's 3rd Company
From September 29 to October 6, Haji's 10th Battalion and the 2nd Battalion fought fiercely against the 88th Division around the North Szechuan Road in efforts to advance to the Songhu Railway Line. The fighting resulted in eight dead and another 33 wounded in the 10th Battalion.
The Shanghai SNLF's 8th and 9th Companies, originally attached to the 4th Battalion (Artillery Battalion), would also provide support with howitzers and mountain guns during the assault on Sihang Warehouse. The Shanghai SNLF's records on attack indicate they utilized eight 8 cm mountain guns, two 12 cm howitzers, and four more 15 cm howitzers.
- Imperial Japanese Army 3rd Division
According to Western historian Stephen Robinson, on October 25 following the fall of Dachang, the 3rd Division advanced past Zoumatang creek behind the 9th Division, and entered Zhabei to encounter the remaining Chinese battalion in the Sihang Warehouse. Period Japanese military reports, Senshi Sosho—the official war monographs of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy authored by the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies, and the IJA 3rd Division's unit history record that the division was engaged along the Suzhou River Crossing Operation at the time. Chinese reportage writer Xu Zhigeng also stated that the 3rd Division, after capturing Wusong, Yanghang, Liuhang, Wenzaobin, and Dachang, participated in the fierce battle to cross the Suzhou River on October 28. The "China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations", the first comprehensive historical record for the main battlefields of China's War of Resistance to be written in mainland China, stated that the 9th Division and 3rd Division of Japan's Shanghai Expeditionary Army reached the north bank of the Suzhou River on October 28 and the 3rd Division began crossing the river at around noon on October 31. "A Battlefield Photographic Documentary of the Battle of Shanghai" identified the Landing Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy as the unit which attacked and captured the Sihang Warehouse. The "Illustrated History of the Japanese Invasion of China" identified the Landing Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy as the unit which started mopping-up Zhabei on October 27 and captured Sihang Warehouse on October 31 in the "Japanese Troops Captured Zhabei, Dachang Town, and Other Places" section. The 3rd Division was also identified as the unit which captured the radio broadcasting station in Zhenru on October 27 in the "Japanese Troops Forcibly Crossed the Suzhou River" section. Initial Chinese translation of Japanese reports also showed that the SNLF was the unit which faced the Sihang Warehouse defenders.
Battle
Chinese and Western Accounts of Events
October 27
In the morning of October 27, the various companies of the 524th Regiment 1st Battalion were trickling in from Zhabei, under orders from Xie Jinyuan. The effort was difficult, as some units in the battalion had begun moving west with the bulk of the Chinese Army. Visibility was compromised by the heavy presence of smoke and fire, as much of the Zhabei district had been set on fire by the retreating Chinese units. Through the efforts of several messengers, most of the men were rallied from the retreating mass of soldiers. By 9 a.m. the last remaining forces in the battalion had turned up at the warehouse, a force of just over 400 men and officers. That these men had volunteered for the defense was later noted by Chiang Kai-shek as exemplary soldierly conduct.
The Chinese spread out their forces across the warehouse and the outlying perimeter. The 1st Company had taken positions on the right flank of the warehouse along the Tibet Road, the 3rd Company on the left across the Bank of Communications building, and the 2nd Company on the northern and southern sides under the leadership of Major Yang Ruifu. Two Type-24 Maxim heavy machine guns were installed on the roof in an anti-aircraft role, while the other machine guns were distributed to the 1st and 3rd Companies.
At 5:05 AM, the Imperial Japanese Navy's Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force (Shanghai SNLF) ordered their forces to launch a general assault on Zhabei. Domei News Agency reported on the Shanghai SNLF's rapid movements through Zhabei, relaying that the Haji and Sano Units had commenced their attacks from the North Szechuan Road area and Haji's men had successfully taken the Pantheon Theatre by 6:55 AM. The troops continued west and captured the North Railway Station at 7:20 AM, with the Japanese Naval Ensign reported to be flying atop the Railway Administration Bureau ten minutes later. A Chinese platoon positioned in the advance outposts began sniping at Japanese patrols around that time, and over the next two hours, the Chinese platoon began a fighting retreat back to the warehouse perimeter.
At 7:30 AM, Yang Ruifu received word from his guard force of the Japanese advance towards their position east of the North Station at Han Bridge. Yang ordered his men to not retreat without orders and resist with all their might. 45 minutes later, he was notified the station had fallen into Japanese hands.
Domei reported that at 9:20 AM, Haji and Sano's forces began their advance into the Zhabei Pocket to sweep out remaining resistance from Chinese forces. As the Japanese approached the warehouse, the Chinese defenders took defensive positions on the different floors of the warehouse and along the outer wall surrounding the building, whilst watching for enemy movement through the slots inside the walls.
At 1 p.m. a column of Japanese soldiers was seen marching towards the warehouse in what appeared to be a victory parade, brandishing a large Rising Sun banner. Once they were close enough, the Chinese defenders opened fire. Five Japanese soldiers fell to the ground, while the rest of the column scattered for cover.
The Japanese then attacked the Bank of Communications to the immediate west of the warehouse. Hundreds of Japanese marines were seen assaulting the street fortifications surrounding the warehouse, using "trench mortars" on several occasions to clear the area. However, upon attempting to secure some abandoned fortifications, several Japanese soldiers stumbled into a trap: the Chinese defenders, having preemptively rigged a bunker with grenades and a mortar round, "pulled the grenade rope," killing another five Japanese soldiers in the ensuing explosions.