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Battle of Sihang Warehouse | |||||||
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Part of the Battle of Shanghai in the Second Sino-Japanese War | |||||||
Sihang Warehouse during the battle | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Republic of China | Empire of Japan | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Xie Jinyuan Yang Ruifu (WIA) |
Okochi Denshichi Haji Kitaro | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
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Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force[1]
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Strength | |||||||
410-420 soldiers[2] |
~1200 naval infantry[3][4] Tanks and artillery[5] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Xie's Claim:[6] 10 killed 37 wounded Sun Yuanliang's report at noon on 31st October 1937 :[7] 35 killed 54 wounded Modern Western Estimate:[8] 33 killed and missing 50+ wounded Japanese Claim: ~80 killed[9] |
Western Claims: Heavy losses[10][11] Japanese Claim: 1 killed, ~40 wounded[12][13][9][Note 1] Chinese Claim: 100~200+ killed[14][15][16] Hundreds wounded 4 tanks destroyed or damaged[6] | ||||||
Sihang Warehouse | |||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | 四行倉庫 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 四行仓库 | ||||||
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Eight Hundred Heroes | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | 八百壯士 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 八百壮士 | ||||||
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Japanese name | |||||||
Kanji | 四行倉庫 | ||||||
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The Battle of Sihang Warehouse (Chinese: 四行倉庫保衛戰) took place from October 26 to November 1, 1937, and marked the beginning of the end of the three-month Battle of Shanghai in the opening phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Defenders of the warehouse held out against numerous waves of Japanese forces to cover Chinese forces retreating west during the Battle of Shanghai.[17]
Accounts between Chinese/Western and Japanese sources on the Defense of Sihang Warehouse vary in nature, with both Chinese and Western accounts remembering the conflict as a strong defense against a vastly numerically superior enemy, while Japanese records point to the defense being a relatively unremarkable event within the entire Battle of Shanghai.
Regardless of the integrity of Chinese and Japanese claims, the defense of the warehouse and media reporting of the event provided a morale-lifting consolation to the Chinese army and people in the demoralizing aftermath of the Japanese invasion of China.[18] The warehouse's location just across the Suzhou Creek from the foreign concessions in Shanghai meant the battle took place in full view of the western powers.
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