The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known by several other names, was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. It is often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1946).
Incident[]
On July 7th 1937, Japanese units stationed at Fengtai crossed the border to conduct military night exercises and ran into forces stationed outside the Chinese town of Wanping, 10.2 miles (16.42 kilometers) Southwest of Beiping. Being surprised, both sides opened fire on each other at the same time at approximately 11pm, and simultaneously retired. There were no casualties to either side, but when a Japanese soldier, Private Shimura Kikujiro failed to return to his post, the Chinese Regimental Commander Ji Xingwen received a message from his Japanese counterpart General Masakazu Kawabe demanding permission to enter Wanping to search for their missing soldier. Commander Xingwen refused permission, and instead launched his own search with the intent of safely returning the Japanese private as a show of good faith, but he was not found. As it was, Private Shimura had a private liaison with a Chinese villager, and later returned to his unit unaware of the situation his absence has created. By this point however, both sides were mobilizing and General Kawabe failed to defuse the situation by simply saying to Commander Xingwen that the private had been found.
At 2AM on the 8th, Commander Xingwen attempted to defuse the situation by sending Wang Lengzhai, mayor of Wanping, on a solo journey to the Japanese camp to conduct negotiations. This however proved to be fruitless and the Japanese insisted that they be let into the town to investigate the cause of the incident, and by 4AM Wang Lengzhai had returned to Wanping to report his failure, and alert Commander Xingwen that a Japanese attack is likely imminent as he had seen Japanese troops massing in the area, but within 5 minutes of his return the first shots were fired, marking the commencement of the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin, and, by extension, the full scale commencement of the Second Sino-Japanese War at 4:50AM.
Colonel Xingwen led the Chinese defenses with about a hundred men and with orders to hold the bridge at all costs, and after furious fighting they are able to hold the bridge with the help of timely arrived reinforcements in the form of two Chinese Siege Gunboats steaming upriver and some 200 troops. With the attack repulsed, the Japanese military and members of the Japanese Foreign Service began negotiations in Beiping with the Chinese Nationalist government to finally defuse the situation.
As a result of these talks a verbal agreement with Chinese General Qin will be reached, whereby an apology would be given to the Chinese by the Japanese and punishment will be dealt to those responsible. In return, control of Wanping was to be turned over to the Hopei Chinese Civilian Constabulary and Chinese will attempt to better control "communists" in the area. Some three hours after initially rejecting this, despite orders to the contrary, General Kawabe finally ceases his artillery barrage and begins to move his forces to the northeast.
Aftermath[]
Although a ceasefire had been declared, further efforts to de-escalate the conflict failed, largely due to actions by the Japanese China Garrison Army commanders and militarists within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. Japanese Garrison Infantry Brigade commander General Masakazu Kawabe ordered Wanping to be shelled on July 9th. The following day, Japanese armored units joined the attack. The Chinese 219th regiment staged an effective resistance, and full scale fighting commenced at Langfang on July 25th. After launching a bitter and bloody attack on the Japanese lines on the July 27th, General Sung was defeated and forced to retreat behind the Yongding River by the next day.