Marco Polo Bridge incident

Marco Polo Bridge incident
	Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
	; Aerial photo of the Marco Polo Bridge (right) in 1937. Wanping Fortress is on the opposite side of the river.
Date	July 7–9, 1937; (2 days)
Location	Near Beijing, China39°50′57″N 116°12′47″E / 39.84917°N 116.21306°E
Result	See § Aftermath
Belligerents
China	Japan East Hebei;
Commanders and leaders
Song Zheyuan; Qin Dechun;	Kanichiro Tashiro
Units involved
29th Army	Japanese China Garrison Army
Strength
100 troops at the bridge; 900 in reinforcement	5,600
Casualties and losses
Western claim: 96 killed; Chinese claim: 180+ killed or wounded	Western claim: 660 killed; Japanese claim: 10 killed, 15 badly wounded, 19 lightly wounded
	1 2 from 7 until 8 July 1937;
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	盧溝橋事變
Simplified Chinese	卢沟桥事变
Literal meaning	Lugou Bridge incident
Hanyu Pinyin	Lúgōuqiáo Shìbiàn
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	七七事變
Simplified Chinese	七七事变
Literal meaning	July 7 incident
Hanyu Pinyin	Qīqī Shìbiàn
Japanese name
Kanji	盧溝橋事件
Revised Hepburn	Rokōkyō Jiken
	Location within Beijing

The Marco Polo Bridge incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge incident or the July 7 incident, was a 3-day battle that began on 7 July 1937 in the district of Beijing between the 29th Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Army.

Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, there had been many small incidents along the rail line connecting Beijing with the port of Tianjin, but all had subsided. On the night of 7 July, Japanese garrison troops at Lugouqiao held an unusual manoeuvre; and, alleging that a Japanese soldier was missing, demanded entry into the City of Wanping to conduct a search. Fighting broke out while the Japanese complaint was still under negotiation. However, the missing Japanese soldier had already returned to his lines. The Marco Polo Bridge incident is generally regarded as the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

[date-5] 1 2 from 7 until 8 July 1937