Battle of Kunlun Pass
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The Battle of Kunlun Pass () was a series of conflicts between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Chinese forces surrounding
Kunlun Pass Kunlun Pass () is mountain pass located 59 kilometers northeast of Nanning, Guangxi and traversed by . The altitude is around 300 m (1000 ft). During the Second Sino-Japanese War, this pass was contended between the Japanese and the Chinese in t ...
, a key strategic position in
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
province. The Japanese forces planned to cut off Chinese supply lines linking to
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
, but the Chinese forces managed to fight off the attacks.S. C. M. Paine, (2012). ''The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949''. Cambridge University Press.


The battle

The Imperial Japanese Army launched a major offensive into
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
province with the intention of eliminating the Chinese supply route through French-controlled
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. The elite Japanese
5th Division In military terms, 5th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *5th Division (Australia) * 5th Division (People's Republic of China) *5th Division (Colombia) *Finnish 5th Division (Continuation War) *5th Light Cavalry Division (France) *5th Moto ...
was given the task of spearheading the Japanese offensive. After occupying
Nanning Nanning (; ; za, Namzningz) is the capital and largest city by population of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of ...
in November 1939, the Japanese captured the key point of Kunlun pass and were poised to attack the Chinese forces that protected
Chungking Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Counc ...
, the wartime capital. Realizing that inaction would result in being cut off, General
Bai Chongxi Bai Chongxi (18 March 1893 – 2 December 1966; , , Xiao'erjing: ) was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China (ROC) and a prominent Chinese Nationalist leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Musli ...
, himself a native of Guangxi, asked the Nationalist Government for reinforcements.
Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
in turn, dispatched the 5th Corps from
Hunan province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi t ...
to fight the Japanese. The 5th Corps was the most elite unit in the NRA, and it is also the only Chinese unit that had tanks and armored vehicles. Its soldiers were combat-hardened veterans from previous engagements against Japanese forces, and as a result, morale was high. General
Du Yuming Du Yuming (; 28 November 1904 – 7 May 1981), was a Kuomintang field commander. He was a graduate of the first class of Whampoa Academy, took part in Chiang's Northern Expedition, and was active in southern China and in the Burma theatre of the ...
, commander of the 5th Corps, dispatched two divisions to attack the Japanese-held Kunlun Pass. The New 22nd Divisions attack ended up cutting off Japanese reinforcements from the rear and also resulted in the death of the Japanese commander, Major General Masao Nakamura.Dorn, Frank (1974). ''The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor.'' MacMillan. . The Japanese reacted immediately by sending in the elite unit of the Japanese 5th Division, the 21st Brigade, which had also participated in the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
, nicknamed the "unbreakable sword". Faced with the serious possibility of being completely cut off, the Japanese army ended up relying on air power to for the delivery of vital supplies. Before Major General Nakamura's death, he admitted in his diary that the Chinese soldiers' fighting ability had surpassed the Russians whom the Brigade encountered in Manchuria. This campaign was the first major victory of the Chinese army since the
Battle of Wuhan The Battle of Wuhan (武漢之戰), popularly known to the Chinese as the Defense of Wuhan, and to the Japanese as the Capture of Wuhan, was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Engagements took place across vast areas of Anhui ...
. At a cost of 14,000 casualties, the Chinese army had inflicted a total of 10,000 casualties on the Japanese. Among the Japanese casualties were 5,000 fatalities, including over 85% of all officers, such as Major General Nakamura, Colonel Sakata Gen'ichi (commander of the 42nd Regiment and acting commander of the 21st Brigade), Colonel Miki Kichinosuke (commander of the 21st Regiment), Colonel 生田滕一 (deputy commander of the 21st Regiment), 杵平作 (commander of the 1st Battalion), 官本得 (commander of the 2nd Battalion), 森本宮 (commander of the 3rd Battalion), among others. Additionally, the Chinese took 102 Japanese troops as prisoner, and captured 79 horses, 10 mountain guns, 12 field guns, 10 anti-tank guns, 102 light machine guns, 80 heavy machine guns, and 2,000 rifles.


Orders of battle


Chinese

*5th Corps **
200th Division The 200th Division ({{zh, t=第200師, s=第200师, w=Ti 200 Shih, p=Dì 200 Shī) was the first mechanised division in the National Revolutionary Army. It was created in 1938 by General Du Yuming, who was also its first commander. Its first act ...
- Commander
Dai Anlan Dai Anlan (; 25 November 1904 – 26 May 1942) was a major general of the Republic of China. As commander of the 200th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, he distinguished himself in the Battle of Kunlun Pass and the Battle of Toungoo ...
**
1st Honor Division First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
**New 22nd Division


Japanese

*21st Brigade / 5th Division **21st Infantry Regiment **42nd Infantry Regiment *Cavalry Regiment / 5th Division *5th Artillery Regiment / 5th Division *Two Regiments / Taiwan Mixed Brigade


Notes


References

*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. 311-318, Pg. 325-327,
Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection
China 1:250,000, Series L500, U.S. Army Map Service, 1954- . Topographic Maps of China during the Second World War. Bibliography * Cheung, Raymond. ''OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES 126: Aces of the Republic of China Air Force''. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015. . * 徐 (Xú), 露梅 (Lùméi). ''隕落 (Fallen): 682位空军英烈的生死档案 - 抗战空军英烈档案大解密 (A Decryption of 682 Air Force Heroes of The War of Resistance-WWII and Their Martyrdom)''. 东城区, 北京, 中国: 团结出版社, 2016. .


External links


Topographic maps


Lai-pin NF49-1Nanning NF49-5
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunlun Pass Conflicts in 1939 Conflicts in 1940 1939 in China 1940 in China K 1939 in Japan 1940 in Japan Military history of Guangxi December 1939 events January 1940 events