Battle of Beiping–Tianjin

Battle of Beiping-Tianjin
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Date Early July–early August 1937 Location Vicinity of Beiping – Tianjin Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Japan	China
Commanders and leaders
Kanichiro Tashiro Kiyoshi Katsuki	Song Zheyuan
Strength
180,000+	~46,000
Casualties and losses
unknown	unknown

The Battle of Beiping–Tianjin (simplified Chinese: 平津作战; traditional Chinese: 平津作戰; pinyin: Píng Jīn Zùozhàn), also known as the "Peiking-Tientsin Operation" or by the Japanese as the North China Incident (北支事変, Hokushi jihen^?) (25–31 July 1937) was a series of battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War fought in the proximity of Beiping (now Beijing) and Tianjin. It resulted in a Japanese victory.

During the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 8 July 1937, the Japanese China Garrison Army attacked the walled city of Wanping (宛平鎮) after an ultimatum to allow its forces to search for an allegedly missing soldier had elapsed. Wanping, in the neighborhood of Lugou Bridge, was on the main railway line west of Beiping and was of considerable strategic importance. Prior to July 1937, Japanese forces had repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of the Chinese forces stationed at this place.

Chinese General Song Zheyuan ordered his forces to hold their positions and attempted to avert war through diplomacy.

On 9 July, the Japanese offered a ceasefire and truce, one of the conditions of which was that the Chinese 37th Division, which had proven "hostile" to Japan, be replaced with another division from the Chinese 29th Route Army. This condition was agreed to by the Chinese the same day. However, from midnight of 9 July, Japanese violations of the ceasefire began to increase and Japanese reinforcements continued to arrive. Lieutenant General Kanichiro Tashiro commander of Japanese China Garrison Army fell ill and died on 12 July and was replaced by Lieutenant General Kiyoshi Katsuki.

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