Operation Beleaguer

Operation Beleaguer
	Part of the Chinese Civil War and the Cold War
	; Marines in Qingdao during Operation Beleaguer
Date	10 August 1945 – 7 December 1949
Location	Hebei and Shandong provinces, China
Result	US repatriates Japanese and Korean citizens from northern China but is unsuccessful in helping the Nationalist government retake territory in China previously held by Japan
Belligerents
United States; Republic of China	Communist China
Commanders and leaders
Albert C. Wedemeyer; Alvan C. Gillem, Jr.; Keller E. Rockey; Dewitt Peck; Samuel L. Howard; Thomas C. Kinkaid;	Mao Zedong; Zhou Enlai
Units involved
United States Marine Corps III Amphibious Corps; Marine Forces, China; Fleet Marine Force, Western Pacific; ; United States Navy 7th Fleet; Naval Construction Battalions; Underwater Demolition Teams; ; United States Air Force 14th Air Force; ;	8th Route Army
Strength
50,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
35 killed; 43 wounded	47 killed; 12 captured

Operation Beleaguer was the codename for the United States Marine Corps' occupation of northeastern China's Hebei and Shandong provinces from 1945 until 1949. The Marines were tasked with overseeing the repatriation of more than 600,000 Japanese and Koreans that remained in China at the end of World War II. During the four-year occupation, American forces engaged in several skirmishes with the People's Liberation Army while successfully evacuating thousands of foreign nationals. The United States Government attempted to mediate a peace treaty between the opposing Nationalist and Communist factions but was unsuccessful. The Marines departed Northern China in June 1949 a few months before the communists won the Chinese Civil War and took control of mainland China.