Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation

Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
DateAugust – December 1937
Location
Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
 Japan  China
Commanders and leaders
Hisaichi Terauchi
Kiyoshi Katsuki
Toshizō Nishio
Song Zheyuan
Units involved

 Imperial Japanese Army

 Republic of China Army

Strength
78,000 5,934 officers and 100,141 soldiers
Casualties and losses

From 14 September until 27 October 1937 :
Battles of Zhuozhou and Baoding : 1,047 killed and 3,083 wounded
Battles of Shijiazhuang and Fuyang River :

  • First Army : 329 killed and 1,002 wounded
  • Second Army : 82 killed and 235 wounded
From 14 September until 28 December 1937 :
467 officers and 13,932 soldiers killed
585 officers and 13,336 soldiers wounded
153 officers and 5,693 soldiers missing
  1. 1 2 Very incomplete, with more than half of the units' number of troops and casualties not yet reported

The Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation (Japanese: 京漢線作戦; Mid August – Dec. 1937) was a follow-up to the Battle of Beiping–Tianjin of the Japanese army in North China at the beginning of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, fought simultaneously with Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation. The attack was not authorized by the Imperial General Headquarters. The Japanese advanced to the south along the Beiping–Hankou Railway until the Yellow River, capturing Linfen along the way. After the Imperial General Headquarters wrestled control over troops from local commanders, the majority of participating Japanese units were transferred to participate in the concurrent Battle of Taiyuan. These units were replaced by newly formed 108th and 109th divisions.