Defense of Sihang Warehouse

1937 engagement in the Battle of Shanghai

The Battle of Sihang Warehouse took place from October 26 to November 1, 1937, and marked the beginning of the end of the three month Battle of Shanghai in the opening phase of the Second Sino Japanese War. Defenders of the warehouse held out against numerous waves of Japanese forces and covered Chinese forces retreating west during the Battle of Shanghai. Accounts from Chinese, Japanese, and Western sources on the Defense of Sihang Warehouse vary significantly in nature, with both Chinese and Western accounts remembering the conflict as an excellent defense against a vastly numerically superior enemy, while Japanese records point to the defense being a relatively unremarkable event within the entire Battle of Shanghai. As Chinese memoirs and Japanese combat reports for the event largely contradict each other, there remains debate over what truly occurred during the defense. Regardless of the integrity of Chinese and Japanese claims, the defense of the warehouse and media reporting of the event provided a morale lifting consolation to the Chinese army and people in the demoralizing aftermath of the Japanese invasion of China. The warehouse's location just across the Suzhou Creek from the foreign concessions in Shanghai meant the battle took place in full view of the western powers.

By 26 October 1937, Chinese resistance in the district of Zhabei was faltering. Generalissimo Chiang Kai shek wanted to withdraw all forces in the area to defend the rural western regions of Shanghai, and ordered Gu Zhutong, acting commander of the 3rd Military Region, to leave the 88th Division behind to buy time and canvass international support by showing the other nations of the Nine Powers (which were to convene on 6 November) China's determination to resist the Japanese war of aggression. Neither Gu, Sun nor Zhang were about to disobey Chiang's orders, but Sun (via Zhang) suggested to Gu that the number of troops left to cover the withdrawal would not matter for such a show of determination. In his words, "How many people we sacrifice would not make a difference; it would achieve the same purpose." At 10 p. m. on 26 October, the 524th Regiment, based at the Shanghai North Railway Station, received orders to withdraw to the divisional headquarters at Sihang Warehouse. 1st Battalion commander Yang Ruifu was distraught at having to abandon a position he had held for more than two months.

The various companies of the battalion were spread out across the front lines that night. Yang Ruifu sent the 1st Company to Sihang Warehouse and personally led the 2nd Company. The 3rd Company, Machine Gun Company and part of the 1st Company could not be contacted. What initially seemed a disastrous start to the defense was averted at nine in the morning, when these companies turned up at the warehouse, having heard the orders through word of mouth from other forces that had retreated from Zhabei. That these men essentially volunteered for this suicidal mission was later noted by Chiang Kai shek as exemplary soldierly conduct. Yang asked the soldier what he was doing, and he answered that there were Chinese soldiers inside. She wrote a message and asked the British soldier to stuff it in a pack of cigarettes and throw it over. After a while a message was thrown back saying that the soldiers in the warehouse wanted food, ammunition and lubricant for their firearms. She left the bridge and pleaded with the head of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, who initially did not believe her story, much to her frustration. At 2 p. m. a group of Chinese reconnaissance troops, led by platoon leader Yin Qiucheng (尹求成), exchanged fire with around fifty Japanese soldiers. Chinese defenders continued developing defenses by sealing the warehouse's doors, windows and entry points, as well as constructing makeshift dummy positions on the perimeter to draw Japanese fire and waste ammunition. A short while after, a Japanese company consisting of 194 infantry with machine gun and light artillery support attacked the warehouse from the west, eventually forcing the defenders to retreat inside the warehouse. 3rd Company commander Shi Meihao was shot in the face but continued to command the defense until he was shot again in the leg. About seventy Japanese soldiers had taken cover in a blind spot at the south west of the warehouse. Chinese troops climbed on the roof and threw mortar rounds and grenades down at the Japanese, killing seven Japanese and wounding between twenty and thirty. A witnessing journalist estimated that around sixty Japanese were killed in total during the assault by machine gun fire and grenades.

The defenders rushed to construct fortifications during the night; nobody was given any sleep. In the morning Xie contacted the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, whose telephone number was provided by Yang Huimin. Regiment sized Chinese units did not carry army or national flags during the war, so when Yang Huimin delivered the flag to the warehouse, Xie had to personally accept the flag as the highest ranking officer present. Yang Huimin asked for the soldiers' plans, to which the answer "Defend to the death!" was given. Yang Huimin, moved, asked for a list of all the soldiers' names to announce to the entire country. was jubilant, shouting "Long live the Republic of China!" , while the Japanese were furious and sent aircraft to attack the flag. Warned of the attack by spectators, Chinese soldiers resisted the assault from all three sides under intense artillery fire. The Japanese assault pushed the 3rd Company out of their defensive line at the base of the warehouse and forced them into the warehouse itself. The west side of the warehouse originally lacked windows, but the Japanese artillery attacks conveniently opened up firing holes for the defenders. Groups of Japanese soldiers tried to scale the warehouse's walls to the second floor with ladders, but Chinese defenders pushed them over and returned fire with rifles and machine guns. Xie just happened to be at the window where one of the ladders appeared from. He grabbed the first Japanese soldier's rifle, choked him with the other hand, pushed him off, and finally shot another Japanese soldier on the ladder before pushing the ladder off. The fighting lasted until dark, with Japanese waves now frequently supported by armoured fighting vehicles and artillery fire against the fortified Chinese positions, but to no progress and with heavy casualties. Finally, after all else had failed, the Japanese used an excavator and tried to dig a tunnel towards the warehouse. in conjunction with tank assaults. During this day's battle, Chinese citizens across the river helped the soldiers by writing on large posters, warning of the Japanese army's movements. At midnight, 1 November, Xie led 376 men in small groups toward the British concession across New Lese Bridge. At least ten defenders had died during the battle, and another 27 were too heavily wounded to be moved. Consequently, these men agreed to stay behind to man the machine guns and cover the retreat of the remaining forces. By 2 a. m. the retreat was complete.

At 0505 hours on October 27, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Navy's Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force (Shanghai SNLF) ordered their forces to launch a general assault on Zhabei. With few of Chiang's defenders left in the Zhabei, the Shanghai SNLF moved through the district and captured former enemy strongholds with relative ease. By around 1800 hours Zhabei had largely fallen to the Japanese, with the exception of the Four Banks' Joint Warehouse (Sihang Warehouse), where the Shanghai SNLF reported approximately 800 enemy troops to still be held up at. The Japanese initially advised the troops held up in Sihang Warehouse to surrender, but by the early hours of October 31 with their demands still unmet and signs of the defenders making an escape into the British defense sector of the International Settlement, the Japanese decided to attack the warehouse. On October 31 at 0115 hours the Imperial Japanese Navy confirmed sightings of Chinese troops evacuating into the International Settlement and began to bombard the warehouse with artillery fire from the Shanghai SNLF's 8th and 9th Companies thirty minutes later. At 0300 hours, troops from the Shanghai SNLF's 10th Battalion stormed the Sihang Warehouse and within ten minutes had completely cleaned the warehouse of enemy troops and occupied the building. After securing the warehouse, the Imperial Japanese Navy reported roughly 80 corpses of fallen Chinese troops and a number of weapons to be inside. The Imperial Japanese Navy's advance on Zhabei from October 27 to 31 resulted in a total of 42 wounded, four of which were directly injured during the assault on Sihang Warehouse on October 31. Of the total wounded in the advance on Zhabei, two would later succumb from their injuries, including Warrant Officer Tanaka—a platoon leader from the Shanghai SNLF 10th Battalion—who was shot while skirmishing around the warehouse on October 30 and later died on November 2, 1937.

The Chinese casualties from the battle were disputed; immediate newspapers and reporters claimed between 100 and 200 Chinese soldiers had been killed in the fighting. Xie Jinyuan stated in an interview on November 2 that of the 410 defenders, 10 had been killed and 30 wounded, but later revised this figure to 420 defenders present with 10 killed and 37 wounded. The Imperial Japanese Navy reported finding around 80 dead Chinese soldiers in the warehouse. A 2022 strength data analysis found that since 377 defenders had retreated (along with the 10 wounded men evacuated earlier), and 420 defenders had been present, the Chinese "death toll was likely higher [than 10] though probably fewer than 50 men," with 33 men killed or missing from the battalion roster following the retreat. Immediately after the battle, Xie Jinyuan stated an excess of 100 Japanese troops had been killed by the defenders. The Japanese casualties asserted by the Chinese would increase postwar, with Sun Yuanliang later estimating that "Enemy corpses in the vicinity of Sihang Warehouse totalled over two hundred approximately." and Xie Jimin alleging "more than 200 enemy troops were killed and countless ones were wounded. Two enemy tanks were also destroyed and two more were damaged. The number of enemies was the sum of the daily counts obtained by observation posts." Chinese defenders observed dogs dragging away Japanese troops during nighttime. Chiang Kai shek promoted every defender by a rank and awarded Xie Jinyuan and Yang Ruifu the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun.

Due to a large discrepancy between Japanese combat reports and testimonies of Chinese troops and journalists present during the defense, many of the details have been called into question. Both the Chinese and Japanese have alleged claims which contradict with each other, particularly in regards to losses. Cao Juren, a prominent Chinese war correspondent attached to the Chinese 88th Division during the Defense of Sihang Warehouse, would state postwar "the news in the papers at the time, including my reports, were all bravado and exaggerations, and did not reflect the real situation."