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The Defense of the Great Wall () (January 1 - May 31 1933) was a battle between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, before official hostilities of the Sino-Japanese War commenced in 1937. Called Operation Nekka by the Japanese, also known as the First battle of Hopei (Hebei province), was a Japanese military campaign following the 1931/32 invasion of Manchuria. Following the establishment of puppet state of Manchukuo, Japanese military presence extended from Manchuria into "China proper". On January 1, Japanese forces began bombarding Shanhai Pass, the easternmost fortress of the Great Wall of China. The Northeastern Army (), which was guarding the pass, was not able to withstand such an attack since it was less than one regiment in strength there. On January 3, Shanhai Pass had fallen to the Japanese. Rehe was the next target and on February 21, the sixth and eight divisions of the Japanese Kwantung Army invaded it in Operation Nekka. After intense fighting, the Chinese retreated on March 1. After the fall of Rehe, He Yingqin replaced Zhang Xueliang as the leader of the Northeastern Army and was assigned the duty of securing defensive positions along the Great Wall. Meanwhile, representatives of the Chinese government attempted to negotiate for the Japanese to return all territorial gains since Manchukuo. The situation was very delicate as China at the time was too weak to wage a frontal war against Japan, and any pretext resembling a declaration of war could have resulted in the total destruction of an autonomous China. On the other hand, the policy of "non-resistance" did not sit well with the general populace. Thus the Chinese government followed a policy of both active resistance and negotiation () The Chinese defense was lined up at several points along the Great Wall of China and engaged the enemies there. The Chinese army was vastly underarmed and many units were only equipped with handguns, grenades, and traditional Chinese swords. The defenders fought tenaciously but were beaten back by overwhelming Japanese firepower. On May 12, the Chinese army retreated from their positions on the Great Wall. On May 22, Chinese and Japanese representatives met at Tanggu (Chinese: 塘沽), Tianjin, to negotiate the end of the conflict. The resulting Tanggu Truce () was extremely unfavorable and humiliating to the Chinese. The agreement created a demilitarized zone within one hundred kilometers south of the Great Wall, which meant that the Chinese army could not cross over to the zone, thus greatly reducing the territorial security of China proper. Secondly, the Japanese were allowed to use reconnaisance aircraft or ground units to make sure that the Chinese stayed out of the zone. In essence, the Chinese government was forced to acknowledge the puppet status of Manchukuo, in addition to the loss of Rehe to the Japanese in the battle. In addition, the demarcated zone rested largely within the remaining territory of Zhang Xueliang, who had already lost Manchuria in the Mukden Incident. The assassination of his father Chang Tso-Lin by the Japanese, territorial losses, and his subsequent appointment by Chiang Kai-shek to fight the Chinese communists instead of Japan, greatly influenced Zhang Xueliang's later determination to kidnap Chiang in the Xi'an Incident to form a united front with the Communists against Japan.
Order of battle Japanese: Order of battle Operation Jehol. Chinese: Order of battle Defense of the Great Wall. See also | ||||||||
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