Xinhui Presents:
Chinese Tank Forces and Battles before 1949:
The first tanks to come to China were 36 FT-17s purchased from France. The first 10 arrived in 1924. They were ordered by the warlord Ching Dao-Lin and served in his private Manchurian Army against other warlords. However, the Chinese did not witness the power of armored warfare until 1932, when the warlord armies faced the invading Japanese in Northern China.
French FT-17 with Chinese infantry, Photo courtesy of Bill Kirk, Copyrighted TANKS! e-Magazine
Battle of Shanghai:
During World War II, armored warfare was not a luxury the Chinese could afford. In fact, neither the Communists nor the KMT (Kuomintang) had a good answer to Japan’s armored force, though the Japanese Imperial Army (IJA) themselves were not successful at mobile tank warfare. During the first battle of Shanghai in September 1937, the Japanese only committed one tank company with 15 tanks. Due to urban settings and mechanical problems, those tanks performed poorly. The second battle of Shanghai was the first time an armor vs armor battle took place in China. The tank battle itself affected little in the outcome of that battle, as both side committed large number of troops. The limited number of tanks were in significant in the overall scheme. The KMT dedicated 400,000 troops for the battle. General Chang Fa Kui commanded 8th and 14th Group Army on the right, General Zhu Shao Liang in the center with 9th and 17th Group army and General Chen Cheng’s 15th and 19th Group army was on the left. Those troops were all German trained and equipped, consider the best of the KMT. On the opposite side, was the IJA 10th army; 5th and 6th division from Beijing area, 18th division from Manchuria, 114th division, 1st and 2nd infantry reserve regiment, one tank regiment and three independent light tank battalions from Japan. By Nov 7, the IJA North China army with additional nine divisions with the 3rd and 4th naval squadron including their flagship the Izumo reinforced invaders. In all, the IJA fielded 300,000 men, 200 tanks, 200 aircraft and large number of warships.
After three months of hand-to-hand fighting in an area of 10 square kilometers around NanJing road of Shinghai, 100,000 of the KMT’s best troops and more than half of their tanks were lost. The Japanese losses amounted to 60,000.
Vickers 6-Ton of the First of Second Armored Battalion Copyrighted TANKS! e-Magazine
Vickers 6-Ton Mk E of First or Second Tank Battalion KMT army, note the German Style helmet of early years.. Photo courtesy of Bill Kirk, Copyrighted TANKS! e-Magazine
XuZhou and the battle of TaiErZhuang:
After the second battle of Shanghai and the Rape of Nanjing, where 300,000 Chinese civilians were murdered the IJA believed they were on their way to a quick victory, as they had planned before their Invasion of China. The Chinese on the other hand were rebuilding 63 divisions in and around XuZhou for a total of 800,000 men, with General Li Zongren as their commander. Those Chinese divisions were in bad shape. Units from various provinces were piecemealed together and had yet to be integrated into the central government or under a unified command. They were further demoralized by the earlier defeats. The IJA GHQ (General Headquarter) planned a converging attack on XuZhou from the north and south with landing at the port of QingDao to the northeast. The Japanese thought this could be their last battle. If the IJA could destroy those divisions, it would force the KMT to accept a federation of puppet régimes controlled by the Japanese in Tokyo.
Panzerkampfwagen 1 Ausf A Sd kfz 101 of the KMT 3rd tank battalion in NanJing. . Photo courtesy of Bill Kirk, Copyrighted TANKS! e-Magazine
In the first phase of the campaign to destroy KMT in XuZhou, in one brilliant flanking movement, the Japanese 1st and 2nd IJA tank battalions commanded by Colonel Iwanaka advanced to the western flank, with the aim of cutting off the first Chinese defense line. This bold armor operation succeeded and forced the Chinese defenders to conduct a general withdraw. Fortunately for the Chinese, the KMT Thirty-first Army fought a determined delay action at MingGuang for 40 days, and the IJA GHQ failed to exploit Colonel Iwanaka’s success in time and push enough reinforcements forward to close the gap. Almost all of the Chinese troops escaped, and unlike the siege NanJing and other defeats, the Chinese conducted an organized withdrawal with their spirits raised and survived to fight another day in TaiErZhuang. The KMT stationed the 2nd, 20th, 40th, 41st, 59th, around TaiErZhuang, facing those in the South were the IJA 9th, 13th, 116th, 106th division, and in the North were the IJA 5th, 10th, 16th, 103rd, 104th, 105th, and 14th division, a total of four hundred thousand troops.
To destroy the withdrawing KMT troops, the IJA GHQ ordered a full speed pursuit in the North; while the Southern Army Group will stop any break out. This set the stage for the battle of TaiErZhuang. Spearheading the attack on the escaping Chinese were the IJA 5th Division, commanded by General Itagaki Seishiro, and the 10th division commanded by General Isogai Rensuke. Commanding all IJA’s operational armor in China during that time. The 5th and the 10th were the only Japanese divisions with their own tank regiments; about 100 armor cars and tank each. Those two divisions were the very best and most mobile of the IJA.
General Li Zong Ren set a trap for the IJA in the city of TaiErZhuang. Knowing the over-confident IJA would move full speed forward, bypassing strong points, and without the necessary forces to protect its line of communication and supply. The slow moving IJA main body failed to keep up with the fast moving 5th and 10th Divisions and provided support. TaiErZhuang was a major regional transportation hub, if the IJA could capture TaiErZhuang, this would divide the Chinese forces in XuZhou into a number of pieces. TaiErZhuang must be taken if XuZhou were to fall.
For Li, the Chinese defensive plan was simple, it tied the mobile elements of the Japanese army up in urban warfare inside of TaiErZhuang, and bought time for him to reorganize his forces, and strike and encircle the enemy inside of the city. The attacking IJA 5th and 10th did exactly as Li planned and took the bait. Li placed staged his force in five strong points outside of TaiErZhuang, four of those areas are stationed with 4 armies each, their job is to dig in, and allow the Japanese bypass the and close the link. Li commanded the last strong point with a strike force created by the 30th, 42nd, 51st, 41st, 44th, 60th, 46th, 22nd, 75th army, and four independent divisions.
typical KMT infantry division had about 6 to 8 thousand men; in the meanwhile an IJA division has 26354 troops. The term division is also misleading for IJA in China, the direct translation should be division-regiment-group.
The defense of TaiErZhuang was at the hands of the KMT Second Group Army. A series of trenches were dug, and men were armed with machine guns for the purpose of slowing the IJA infantry down. The Japanese tanks would speed forward to try to kill the machine gun nest, without the support of the infantry. When the IJA tanks came to within a few hundred yards of the perimeter, the Chinese defenders sent an armored car with an anti-tank gun across their path, firing at each other. And when the tanks reached the Chinese trenches, the Chinese soldiers jumped out to throw bundles of hand grenades under the tracks of the Japanese tanks. The most effective Chinese anti-tank ‘weapon’ was dare-to-die troops who packed themselves with dynamite and ran onto the incoming tanks. Without Japanese infantry support, the Chinese infantry effectively neutralized the IJA’s tank force.
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After two weeks of hard fighting, the KMT Second Group Army lost 70 percent of its men. Rather than letting the TaiErZhuang garrison withdraw, Li ordered the Second Group Army to conduct raids against the Japanese during the nighttime to frustrate their attack plans. Li also ordered that for anyone who retreated; their unit commander was to be shot at the spot. The slow moving main body of the of IJA Northern Army Group strike the Chinese strong point at Dengxian, garrisoned by the Chinese 41st army from Sichuan in attempt to reinforce the trapped divisions. The Chinese defender refused to gave in and the whole 122nd division including its commanding general was lost as no one surrendered to the IJA, but they succeed in keeping the trap close.
While the defenders fought on and held the city against both the IJA 5th and 10th Divisions, Li moved his strike forces from the south and attacked the IJA from behind. The IJA lost not only two of their best divisions with all hands and all its armor, but also their hope for a quick victory in China. By April of 1938, over a quarter of their 1.1 millions troops in China had been killed or wounded, and 500,000 more IJA were lost by the end of 1939. Many Chiang KaiShek advisers, one of them an unknown Russian named Zhukov, witnessed the battle of TaiErZhuang.
The IJA learned their lesson in TaiErZhuang. The IJA conducted no more bold armor thrust operations until their 3rd Tank Division’s drive down south, during the Ichi-Go Offensive in late 1944, more then 6 years later. Battle of TaiErZhuang was not a critical blow to the Japanese, but for the Chinese, it is a great morale booster, as it showed IJA armor could be stop and it was not invincible.
The Japanese eventually captured Xuzhou with an additional 300,000 reinforcements from Northern China, but they fail to destroy a single Chinese division when Xuzhou, as the Chinese conducted an orderly withdraw with lose of 30,000 men. The IJA did not use their armor to pursuit.
Battle of Wuhan and the first action of the 200th division:
Wuhan strategically located in the middle of Yangtze River and served as the major railway hub for the only cross-country rail line of that time. This important city was the place for the next Sino-Japanese battle. In early May, the Japanese Southern Army Group from the battle of TaiErZhuang reequipped with more then 200 tanks move in land supported by a naval squadron, while the 14th division, the new vanguard of the IJA Northern Army Group with 20,000 men and hundreds of tanks moved down south. The 14th division was stop cold by the KMT 1st war zone’s 74th, 71st, 64th, and 8th army. Chiang Kai Shek’s ordered two of his best formation to reinforce the 1st warzone and hoped to stop an encirclement of Wuhan. Those two formations were the 28 army and the 200th mechanized divisions with two fully strength battalions to act as fire brigade. This was the first major armor operation undertaken by the KMT during the war. Both formations’ commanders were educated in military academies in Germany before the outbreak of the war. By the time the 200th division reach 1st war zone, the IJA 14th division already surrendered in three sides by the 71 army in Lanfong city. The IJA 14th division’s commander was during the escape. It was a major disappointment for General Qiu Qing Quan, the commander of 200th. For the next few days, General Qiu Qing Quan personally conducted search and destroy mission around LanFong with a force of eight armor vehicles including his Russian T-26 tank, When he ran into a Japanese cavalry recon company about 100 men, Qiu swiftly charge toward Japanese, and managed to kill the most of the surprised Japanese in a matter of minutes. He then proceeds to give chase to the surviving cavalry to a distance of seven kilometers over a flat terrain, only to be stopped by a battery of IJA anti-tank guns. This event was made into a great propaganda victory for the Chinese armor troops, as a way to boost morale of the troops. Used this ‘victory’ as a reason, the KMT HQ ordered the 200th to lead a general offensive against the IJA Northern Army Group. Unfortunately, the IJA was ready the strike again at the same time. In the night of 23rd, under the cover of darkness, an IJA tank regiment supported by heavy artillery and a brigade of infantry took Lanfong by surprise and the Chinese offensive force was in danger of being cut off. Chiang KaiShek ordered the 28 army to recaptured the city in 2 days. A longer delay would sour the offensive and force the 200th to withdraw. It took the 28 army three days, over 5000 casualties, including all three brigades’ commander who led the charge to push the IJA out. So ended the first armor offensive action of the KMT.
The 28th army’s commander was fired for failing his mission to recovery Lanfong on time, and the garrison of Lanfong, commander of the 36th division was executed.
The KMT withdraw from the Wuhan area in Mid June after the IJA 2nd army of the Northern Army Group broke through KMT’s 8th army’s defense in Zhengzhou, the Chinese western flank is not wide open. To buy time to rebuild his force and fortification of the Wuhan area, Chiang KaiShek ordered the banks of Yellow River to be breach and floored advance route of the 2nd IJA army. Many civilians were killed during the floor. Knowing history will condemn such action, Chiang KaiShek refuse to put his signature on the order. The IJA was stop for about 3 months.
To defended Wuhan, Chiang KaiShek stationed over 1.2 millions troop, the entire air force (100 aircraft), and the entire remain the navy, (40 ships) in the area. He divided his force into two. The Northern defense commanded by General Li Zong Ren of the TaiErZhuang fame, with 23 armies. In the south, there were 26 armies commanded by General Chen Cheng. The south was the major battlefield, as the north was check by the mud from the flood. All Wuhan’s asset was to move inland to the new Capital Chongqing, and Kunming, Yichang, Hunan, and Xi'an areas. After TaiErZhuang and Lanfong, the IJA General HQ order no more independent armor movement, and forbids quick battles, they would take Wuhan the slow and old fashion way. Four months later when the IJA 11th Army entered Wuhan, it already suffered close to 200,000 causalities against 400,000 of the KMT. Wuhan was not secure until mid 1939, as General Li Zong Ren from the north counter attacked with 50 divisions and at one time trapped over 300,000 inside of the city, but without air and naval support, as the KMT air force and naval was whip out by that time, General Li was force to withdrawn after the IJA reinforcement arrived on time and losing over 50,000 men.
Japan vs Russian, 1939:
Throughout most of World War II, the IJA used their tanks as a general infantry support weapon. For example, the newly formed 1st Independent Mixed Brigade consisting of about 40 tanks (mainly Type 95 and Type 89) was dispersed to infantry divisions instead of being concentrated in a single armored thrust, which is what Mixed Brigade was designed for. Tanks, for both the Chinese and Japanese, were mobile pillboxes. When the IJA armor of the newly formed 6th army clashed with the Soviet army in August 23, 1939 they stood no chance. Forty percent of the tanks and almost all of its field commanders were lost in a week before a general withdrawal. The Soviet fielded three divisions and six tank brigades.
Type 95 Light tank with One 37 mm and Two Machine Guns. Photo courtesy of Bill Kirk, Copyrighted TANKS! e-Magazine
The Stalemate:
After Wuhan was secure, the IJA selected to strike next. In the autumn of 1939, the IJA’s 6th, 33rd, 101st, 3rd and 13rd division or division-regiment group with over 300 warships of all size and a marine brigade, a total of 180,000 planed to capture ChangSha by September 30. Changsha, Mao Tse-tung’s hometown was located between the KMT 5th and 9th war zone, with survives of the battle of Wuhan. The IJA followed their traditional plan, half of the force would attack Changsha directly from the South and the remaining half would move to the west to trap the fleeing defenders. First shot of battle of Changsha was fired on September 14, as the IJA 106th and 101st division attacked the KMT 30th and 1st army group from the west, at the same time, the IJA’s 33rd division assaulted KMT 15th army group in the south. September 23, the Japanese marine and the 3rd division with the support of the naval gunfire, landed in the East. Changsha was surrender in three sides. In order to preserve the KMT strength after the huge lose in Wuhan, Chiang KaiShek give the local commander the right to withdraw. But the General Xue Yue fervently expresses his views on the telephone and demanded to die with the 9th war zone here at Changsha rather then pull out. What follows was the most successful cooperation between regular force and Communist guerrilla operation during the entire war, a major guerrilla campaign was conducted and effective blow up every single bridge and all major road junctions were mined. While the 27th and 30th army group of the 9th war zone were able to hold the Japanese advance, Chinese troops of the 5th war zone, broke down to into small groups and with the help of the communist, they aggressively attacked IJA supply convoys, arms depots, and communication lines. The invaders abandoned their advance by early October as their suppliers reached a dangerous low point. In this battle IJA lost over 40,000 troops, 40 of them hold the rank of captain or above. This battle marks the end of the Japanese advance in central China for the remaining of the war.
Generally, the KMT did not use their weapons effectively; they based their tactic on manpower and will power of their poorly equipped and trained troops. However, their tank formation did score a number of victories. As the war in Central China became a stalemate in 1939, The IJA decided to attack the new Chinese wartime capital from the rear in order to break the stalemate. In November of 1941, two IJA divisions, plus a marine brigade, one of them, the newly rebuild 5th Division landed on BeiHai in southern GuangXi, and moved north towards GuiLin. When the IJA force reached the strategic Kunlun pass, the Chinese struck back, and in a rare show of combined arms operation, the Chinese conducted a frontal attack with infantry, mountain guns and 15 tanks from the 200th division. They recaptured the pass within a few days when a flanking movement by the tanks of the 200th trapped the IJA defenders. This operation destroyed the IJA 5th division’s 21st brigade from Taiwan, including a major General. The KMT Air force also in rare showing supported of the operation by bombed IJA reinforcements. In the next few weeks, the pass would change hands three times as both sides rushed reinforcements forward. A total of 154,000 Chinese troops included 5th, 6th, 99th, 36th, 31st, 64th, 66th and 46th armies were finally committed before the IJA decided to evacuate the southern port of GuangXi in the following Chinese New Year, as a victory for the IJA was no longer achievable. The KMT lost over 27,000 troops.
The following years, The IJA conducted more offensive campaigns in central China, with little result; Yichang was the most notable city they captured. They attacked from the north eight times between 1938 and 41 and got push back. In the second battle of Changsha, ended January 15, 1942, the IJA lost 56,000 more troops. Time of London called it the first major Allied victory of World War Two, and twenty days later, the US government granted 500 millions dollars loans to China. The Sino-Japanese war became part of greater world war. While the Chinese were able the hold the line in Central China, and received support from Allies, but by May 1941, all China’s port were fail to the invaders. Burma road became China’s only route to the outside world.
First Burma Campaign:
While the stalemate continued in Mainland China, the focus shifted towards Burma as the IJA tried to cut China off from Allied supplies. The Chinese lost the first Burma campaign and her only land supply route, but the Chinese armored forces did score a number of victories in the process, such as Tongoo, Yedashe, and Yenangyaung. The most notable of those victories was Yenangyaung. In April 1942, after taking Rangoon, the Japanese encircled two British brigades and a tank battalion at the Yenangyaung oilfields in central Burma. The Allied forces in Burma, commanded by Joseph Stilwell, rushed the 200th Division; the only Chinese mechanized formation, from Lashio to the rescue. After a desperate forty-eight-hours of fighting, 17-18 April, this force under its new commander General Sun LiRen, routed the Japanese 33rd Division and recaptured Yenangyaung, killing more than 1000 Japanese, capturing 500 prisoners, and rescuing more then 7000 British and Indian soldiers. This was the first victory for the Chinese armored force.
Only weeks before, Joseph Stilwell noted of the Chinese tank battalion: ‘They are green men in the military sense, and many of them come from China’s paddy fields to drive a motor-driven vehicle for the first time in their lives….’ as recorded in Dick Wilson’s When Tigers Fight page 195. However, the above examples of independent tank actions were too few to make any difference in the course of the war and were very short lived. The sudden dash of the armored division from its original assignment left the flank of the Chinese force unprotected. The IJA were quick to exploit the weakness and the whole Chinese defense line began to crack. The Japanese entered Lashio and forced a general withdraw. In the process, the 200th division was destroyed with its command staff.
With Stilwell’s dramatic rush to rescue the trapped the British at the cost of the entire 1st Burma campaign and two key Chinese armies and most of it operational armor, Stilwell’s ability as a field commander and integrity began to crumble, in the eyes of the KMT high command, and especially Chiang Kai-Shek.
A total of 88 model 1933 T-26 were import from 1938
to 39. They formed the 1st tank regiment. Many of these T-26 tanks were
equipped with the "clothes line" radio antenna on the turret. Some of these
tanks even had twin search lights mounted above the main gun near the mantlet , in
contrast, the Soviets only equipped their command tanks with radios in the early years.
Most were lose with the destruction of its parent division the 200. Photo courtesy
of Bill Kirk, Copyrighted TANKS! e-Magazine and C-D.com
In January 1941 the United States permitted China to join the Lend Lease program. The first shipment of 36 M3A1 scout cars was delivered in October of that year. The KMT received an additional 35 American M4A4 Sherman, and 44 M-5 light tanks.
Like their Japanese counterparts, the limited armored forces were dispersed too thin among infantry divisions. With American training of the KMT’s elite formation general and troops and the fact that Chiang Kai Shek’s second son served in the German army as a second lieutenant just before the outbreak of World War II should have given the KMT a good understanding of armored operations and yet, the KMT failed to use their armor effectively. Shortages of specialists, communication equipment, logistics, and training meant that to conduct a German style of armored warfare was out of the question for the KMT.
It is interesting to note that the KMT did import a number of much feared 88 dual purpose guns, but they were reserved for an anti-aircraft role only.
However, the Chinese troops in World War Two, when properly trained, equipped and lead were as formidable as anyone else. During the second Burma campaign, the newly re-equipped and American trained troops fought in northern Burma for 17 months, advancing more then 600 miles and killing over 20,000 IJA troops with out a single defeat. Americans, such as Colonel Rothwell H. Brown, of the new Chinese tank battalion, commanded some of those Chinese units. By December of 1944, all but 800 IJA troops were destroyed in Burma; those survivors left Bhamo to fight their way to the mountains rather then surrender to the Allies.
M5A1 Stuart
The M3 Stuart Light tanks you have mentioned in your essay, are M3A3. Together with the M4A4 Shermans, they formed the 1st Provisional Tank Group. There is one notable detail about these M4A4 Shermans. The Chinese crewmen painted Tiger markings on them. A pair of eyes is painted on either side of the main gun on the mantel. Paws are painted in front of the driver and co-driver's position and the turret top was painted also. During the Korean War, the Americans did something similar to their M4A3 Shermans and M26 Pershings hoping to scare the superstitious Chinese. Photo courtesy of Bill Kirk, Copyrighted TANKS! e-Magazine