Battle of Kunlun Pass

Battle of Kunlun Pass
	Part of the Battle of South Guangxi
Date	December 18, 1939 – January 11, 1940; (3 weeks and 3 days)
Location	Suburbs of Nanning, Guangxi
Result	Chinese victory
Territorial; changes	Chinese hold the pass
Belligerents
Republic of China	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Bai Chongxi; Du Yuming; Qiu Qingquan; Li Mi; Liao Yaoxiang ; Dai Anlan	Masao Nakamura †
Strength
5th corps 60,000; 200th Division:; 240 T-26 M1933 tanks; 120 CV-33 tankettes; 30 BT-5 tanks; 3rd PG, 32nd PS,; Capt. Wei Yiqing †:; 14 I-15, 7 Gladiators, ? O-2; 5th PG, 28th PS,; Capt. Arthur Chin:; ? I-15, 3 Gladiators	5th division (particularly the 21st Brigade) plus various other units, total fighting strength of 45,000; 100 planes; 70 warships; 2 aircraft carriers
Casualties and losses
14,000 casualties	10,000 casualties, including 5,000 killed and 102 captured

The Battle of Kunlun Pass (simplified Chinese: 昆仑关战役; traditional Chinese: 崑崙關戰役; pinyin: Kūnlúnguān Zhànyì) was a series of conflicts between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Chinese forces surrounding Kunlun Pass, a key strategic position in Guangxi province. The Japanese forces planned to cut off Chinese supply lines linking to French Indochina, but the Chinese forces managed to fight off the attacks.^[1]

The battle

The Imperial Japanese Army launched a major offensive into Guangxi province with the intention of eliminating the Chinese supply route through French-controlled Vietnam. The elite Japanese 5th Division was given the task of spearheading the Japanese offensive. After occupying Nanning in November 1939, the Japanese captured the key point of Kunlun Pass and were poised to attack the Chinese forces that protected Chongqing, the wartime capital.

Realizing that inaction would result in being cut off, General Bai Chongxi, himself a native of Guangxi, asked the Nationalist Government for reinforcements. Chiang Kai-shek in turn, dispatched the 5th Corps from Hunan province to fight the Japanese.

The 5th Corps was the most elite unit in the National Revolutionary Army, and it was 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, commander of the 5th Corps, dispatched two divisions to attack the Japanese-held Kunlun Pass. The New 22nd Division's attack ended up cutting off Japanese reinforcements from the rear and also resulted in the death of the Japanese commander, Major General Masao Nakamura.^[7]

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, nicknamed the "unbreakable sword". Faced with the serious possibility of being completely cut off, the Japanese army ended up relying on air power 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. 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.^[6]^{: 101–102} Additionally, the Chinese took 102 Japanese troops as prisoners, 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.^[6]^: 102

Orders of battle

Chinese

5th Corps - Commander Du Yuming
- 200th Division - Commander Dai Anlan
- 1st Honor Division - Commander Zheng Dongguo
- New 22nd Division - Commander Qiu Qingquan

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

^ ^a ^b S. C. M. Paine, (2012). The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107020696
^ 徐 (Xú), 2016, p. 441-442. 韦烈士一清 (Martyr Wei was originally with the Guangxi warlord air force before integrating with the central Nationalist Air Force of China; he was very familiar with the terrain of South Guangxi and Kunlun Pass, and successfully completed many close-air support and interdiction missions; the fighting peaked at the Pass on 27 December 1939, the 28th and 32nd squadrons shot down three enemy aircraft, but Capt. Wei Yiqing was himself shot down and killed right over the Kunlun Pass battlefield.)
^ Cheung, 2015, p. 51. In supporting the Chinese Army's victorious battle of Kunlun Pass, Capt. Arthur Chin shot down at least one A5M on 27 December 1939, but was hit himself while trying to protect a fellow pilot... maneuvering his burning fighter over friendly lines before bailing-out in his parachute, suffering serious burns as a result; 32nd PS commander Capt. Wei was shot down and killed over Kunlun Pass...
^ 朝阳 (17 February 2009). "戴安澜与昆仑关战役". 人民政协报《春秋周刊》. 中国共产党新闻. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
^ "崑崙關戰役". 中華民國國防部. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c 文聞, ed. (2005). 《我所親歷的桂南、桂柳會戰》. 中國文史出版社. ISBN 7-5034-1590-8.
^ Dorn, Frank (1974). The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-532200-1.

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. ISBN 978 14728 05614.
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. ISBN 978-7-5126-4433-5.

External links

Topographic maps

[paine-1] S. C. M. Paine, (2012). The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107020696

[2] 徐 (Xú), 2016, p. 441-442. 韦烈士一清 (Martyr Wei was originally with the Guangxi warlord air force before integrating with the central Nationalist Air Force of China; he was very familiar with the terrain of South Guangxi and Kunlun Pass, and successfully completed many close-air support and interdiction missions; the fighting peaked at the Pass on 27 December 1939, the 28th and 32nd squadrons shot down three enemy aircraft, but Capt. Wei Yiqing was himself shot down and killed right over the Kunlun Pass battlefield.)

[3] Cheung, 2015, p. 51. In supporting the Chinese Army's victorious battle of Kunlun Pass, Capt. Arthur Chin shot down at least one A5M on 27 December 1939, but was hit himself while trying to protect a fellow pilot... maneuvering his burning fighter over friendly lines before bailing-out in his parachute, suffering serious burns as a result; 32nd PS commander Capt. Wei was shot down and killed over Kunlun Pass...

[4] 朝阳 (17 February 2009). "戴安澜与昆仑关战役". 人民政协报《春秋周刊》. 中国共产党新闻. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.

[5] "崑崙關戰役". 中華民國國防部. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2014-07-02.

[桂-6] 文聞, ed. (2005). 《我所親歷的桂南、桂柳會戰》. 中國文史出版社. ISBN 7-5034-1590-8.

[7] Dorn, Frank (1974). The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-532200-1.

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