The Battle of South Henan (), was one of the 22 major engagements between the

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...

(NRA) and

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

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 ...

. This battle was the first time the NRA engaged the Japanese in southern

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

. In January 1941, the Japanese 11th Army split into three routes to attack the Chinese positions. Their main objective was to eradicate Chinese control of the Ping-Han Railway's southern section. Li Zongren, commander of the Chinese 5th War Area, avoided frontal contact with the Japanese as much as possible. Instead, he fought conservatively, diverting his main forces towards the two flanks. Outflanked, the Japanese retreated after taking heavy casualties, and their attack was repelled.

References

South Henan South Henan 1940 1941 in China 1941 in Japan History of Henan January 1941 events February 1941 events March 1941 events {{Japan-battle-stub

See also

References