The Amoy Operation, also known as the Battle of Xiamen () was part of a campaign by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

to blockade

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

to prevent it from communicating with the outside world and importing needed arms and materials. Control of

Amoy Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...

Island would provide a base to make the blockade of

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

province more effective. Like the

Canton Operation The Canton Operation (; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Zhànyì) was part of a campaign by Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War to blockade China to prevent it from communicating with the outside world and importing needed arms and materials. Cont ...

, the Amoy Operation was overseen by Koichi Shiozawa (1881-1943), who was the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Fleet during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The fleets warships bombarded the city to cover the landing of more than 2,000 invading troops. The poorly equipped defenders of the city were forced to withdraw and move to Sung-yu. The blockade was successful so that China's ability to counterattack was effectively crippled.

References

Sources

* Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) 2nd Ed., 1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China. Pg. 247, Map 11.

External links

Axis History Forum: OOB IJN Amphibious Assault Xiamen (Amoy) May 10, 1938
Second Sino-Japanese War Battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War Conflicts in 1938 1938 in China 1938 in Japan Military history of Fujian May 1938 events {{Japan-battle-stub