by tigre on 20 Nov 2005 23:09 Hello to all, here goes another incident of the Sino - japanese War; I hope be interesting.
Japanese Landing Operations.
[From an article by N. Gasmmv,in Krasny Flot, 14 April 1939.
Translated from the Russian in the Historical Section, the Army War College, Washington, D C.]
During the operations in the Yangtze valley in the summer of 1938, the Japanese made extensive use of landing Parties, conducted jointly by naval and land forces. The purpose of these operations was to bring about the capture ofHankow in the shortest possible time and produce a situation favoring the conclusion of the war.
Mindful of their failures in the Nanking and Suchow Operations, the Japanese made lengthy preparations prior to the launching of their campaign on the Yangtze. They devoted special attention to the organization of a river squadron and to the planning of joint action by the land and naval forces. They failed, however, in the execution of their plans. The operations for the capture of Hankow were extended over a period of five months, during which time the Japanese, according to foreign press reports, suffered losses amounting to 300,000 men.
The beginning of the Hankow operations should be considered with the Japanese attempt to capture Datun, the first barrier in the advance of the Japanese quadron upstream.
Datun, on the south bank of the river, is approximately 230 miles from Hankow. Early in June the Japanese concentrated at Datun about one hundred vessels, includlng over thirty naval craft armed with medium caliber artillery. Meanwhile the main concentration of the Japanese land forces on the north bank of the river was increased to 80,000 men. (See Sketch 1).
For eight days the Japanese naval guns bombarded the Chinese field fortifications surrounding Datun. On the ninth day, when the landing was attempted, the artillery bombardment was reinforced by an aerial bombardment with twenty medium bombers, all the fire being concentrated against the Chinese fortified positions. The naval vessels were a little more than a mile from shore. The movement of the transport vessels from behind the line of naval craft was covered by concentrated artillery fire.
Upon the approach of the transports to within 300 or 400 yards of the bank of the river, motor boats were lowered with infantry landing parties. The artillery fire at this time was switched to the rear of the Chinese positions The Japanese attack, however, was repulsed. Repeated attempts to effect a landing ended in failure.
The Japanese squadron, forcing the barriers in the river, then moved upstream in the direction of Antsin, which is located on tbe north bank of the river about 185 miles below Hankow. The river narrows down somewhat at this point, its banks are covered by reeds, and the current is about five knots. The Chinese had built field fortifications around Antsin, while east of the city there were three permanent forts with field artillery armament. Thus the capture of Antsin involved considerable ditiiculties for the attacker.
But the capture of this city was important to the Japanese. It would open the water route to Hankow, create a threat to the right flank of the Chinese defensive zone, and afford an opportunity for free maneuver along both banks of the Yangtze. The Japanese command decided therefore to carry out active operations on land while the navy was assisting in a strong landing operation in the immediate vicinity of the city.
In the conduct of the operations against Antsin, the Japanese forces were increaased to .a strength of 100,000 men, the bulk of these forces in the Lucbow area. The main drive was to be westward from Luchow, while a small force was to advance southward in the direction of Antsin with a view to diverting Chinese forces from the eastern sector of the Antsin positions where the landing was to be effected.
Another group of Japanese land forces was given the mission of launching a vigorous attack along the north bank of the river against Antsin. The landing force was composed of one infantry brigade, a marine landing battalion, artillery, engineers and chemical elements, totalling about 12,000 men and 80 to 90 guns, The squadron comprised 40 units, including destroyers, mine sweepers, naval and river gunboats, and blockade boats. Twenty steamboats transported the troops designated to make the landing. In addition, the operation was supported from the air by 100 airplanes, mainly light bombers, some of which had arrived on aircraft carriers.
The Chinese forces were in strong positions on both sides of the river. The immediate defense of Antsin had been entrusted to the Chinese 146th and 147th divisions with a total strength of about 18,000 men. The Chinese Command had anticipated the landing operations of the Japanese at Antsin, though they had not expected such a rapid penetration by the Japanese squadron at Datun. As a result they were unable to concentrate sufficiently strong forces in the threatened area.
On the morning of 11 June, the Japanese squadron forced its way through the barriers at the city of Datun. The Japanese vessels spent that entire day in intensive efforts at clearing the channel of obstructions and mines in the area between Datun and Antsin. In clearing the channel the Japanese aviation played a considerable part, reconnoitering points containing barriers and bombing mine fields from the air. Simultaneously the Japanese aviation and torpedo-boats conducted a thorough reconnaissance of the areas selected for the landings.
All of this work was completed by the evening of 11 June and at 2:00 AM, 12 June, the Japanese proceeded with their actual landings. The landing was effected as follows: The Japanese squadron, divided into detachments, extended under cover of darkness in the Sinkhekow and Potsziadu areas (See Sketch 1). Simultaneously, a special detachment of about 1,200 men, loaded in fast motor boats, was moved up the river past Antsin to Shikoo, with the mission of attacking Antsin from the rear. The main forces, below Antsin, loaded on barges and boats, proceeded to the shore under cover of the artillery, aviatiou and smoke screens, The first attempt ended in failure. Confronted by the artillery and machine-gun fire of the Chinese, the Japanese boats, subjected to heavy losses, turned back and the troop transports were taken behind the line of war vessels. After several hours of artillery preparations the Japanese repeated the attempt to land. The second effort was successful, though costly, and a foothold was gained below the city. The landing by the detachment at Shikoo above Antsin was secretly effected and this force launched its advance against Antsin from the southwest. at daybreak. With a view to concealing the landing points of the main forces, small Japanese detachments feigned landings at numerous points along the shore. The action of the Chinese forces was characterized by great tenacity, but the
overwhelrning superiority of the enemy in modern mechanical equipment compelled the Chinese forces to withdraw. On the evening of 12 June the Japanese enveloped the city and the next day, after very stubborn fighting, succeeded in capturing it.
The Japanese naval squadron, and Japanese planes played a decisive role in the fighting at Antsin. The battle for this city served to demonstrate the inability of the Japanese infantry to develop the attack independently, without strong artillery support, and to overcome the resistance of the Chinese forces. The landing operations at Antsin further demonstrated the fact that from a purely technical point of view the execution of landing operations by the Japanese suffers from certain deficiencies; their schedules and timing of actual landings were not observed, the landing operations were protracted and, as a result of this, their troops effecting the landing were subjected to tremendous losses.
Best regards. Tigre.
Axis History Forum
This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the Axis nations, as well as the First and Second World Wars in general hosted by Marcus Wendel's Axis History Factbook in cooperation with Michael Miller's Axis Biographical Research, Christoph Awender's WW2 day by day, Dan Reinbold's Das Reich and Christian Ankerstjerne's Panzerworld.
