Actions in Inner Mongolia (1933–1936)
The Inner Mongolian campaign in the period from 1933 to 1936 were part of the ongoing invasion of northern China by the Empire of Japan prior to the official start of hostilities in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 1931, the invasion of Manchuria secured the creation of the puppet state of Manchukuo and in 1933, Operation Nekka detached the province of Rehe from the Republic of China. Blocked from further advance south by the Tanggu Truce, the Imperial Japanese Army turned its attention west, towards the Inner Mongolian provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, with the goal of establishing a northern China buffer state. In order to avoid overt violation of the Truce, the Japanese government used proxy armies in these campaigns while Chinese resistance was at first only provided by Anti-Japanese resistance movement forces in Chahar. The former included in the Inner Mongolian Army, the Manchukuo Imperial Army, and the Grand Han Righteous Army. Chinese government forces were overtly hostile to the anti-Japanese resistance and resisted Japanese aggression only in Suiyuan in 1936.
Background[edit]
In February 1933, following the successful Japanese invasion of Rehe, the Kwantung Army left a small Japanese detachment and the much larger Manchukuo Imperial Army to watch the eastern Rehe border, while the balance of the Japanese forces moved south to engage the Chinese on the Great Wall. In April 1933, collaborationist General Liu Guitang, under Japanese orders, crossed into southeastern Chahar province in the Dolonor region, as a diversionary feint to draw off Chinese reinforcements to the Great Wall. Finding little resistance, Liu then led his 3,000 troops further east toward Changpei. Although reported at the time as a Japanese operation,[1] Liu's further advance may have been carried out without Japan's explicit approval.
The Kuomintang military committee in Peking appointed General Fu Zuoyi as commander of Chinese 7th Army Group, and tasked him with providing Rehe border security. At the end of April, when the advancing Japanese forces approached Miyun, He Yingqin anxiously redeployed Fu Zuoyi's troops to strengthen the Peking's defenses eastwards to Changping leaving the defense of the Chahar border empty. The Japanese and Manchukuo armies seized the opportunity on May 11, and quickly following up on Liu Guitang's advance, seized the Dolonnur region, and subsequently took Guyuan, just prior to the signing of the Tanggu Truce of May 31, 1933.
Demchugdongrub and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government[edit]
During September 1933, the Mongolian princes of Chahar and Suiyuan Provinces traveled to Bathahalak, north of Kweihwa and gathered in a council with Prince Demchugdongrub, who for months had been trying to found a Pan-Mongolian Self-rule Movement. In mid October, despite their traditional suspicions of one another the princes agreed to draw up a "Confederation of Inner Mongolian States". They sent word to Nanking that unless Inner Mongolian autonomy was formally acknowledged; assistance would be sought from Japan. In response, Chiang Kai-shek permitted the establishment of the Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee, but in its attempts to assert its authority it would engage in two serious clashes with Suiyuan provincial forces over the next year.[7]
General Jirō Minami, commander of the Kwantung Army and Colonel Seishirō Itagaki gave support to the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government. However, when General Minami sent Major Ryūkichi Tanaka and another officer to interview Prince Demchugdongrub in April 1935, an agreement could not be reached at that time.
In June 1935 the North Chahar Incident and the resulting Chin-Doihara Agreement, substantially affected events. The Agreement forced all units of the Chinese 29th Army to be withdrawn from north of Changpei, which amounted to near total evacuation of Chinese forces from Chahar province. Public order was to be entrusted to a "Peace Preservation Corps", a police organization armed with only light weapons. No Chinese settlers were to be permitted to relocate to northern part of Chahar, and the activities of the Kuomintang were banned, as were all other anti-Japanese institutions. In August 1935, General Minami met with Prince Demchugdongrub where the Prince promised close cooperation with Japan, and Minami promised financial assistance.
On December 24, 1935, General Minami sent two battalions of irregular Manchurian cavalry under Li Shouxin, a squadron of Japanese planes, and a few tanks to assist Prince Demchugdongrub in occupying the northern part of Chahar province. The six xian of northern Chahar, were defended by only a few thousand men of the Peace Preservation Corps. With Li's assistance the Inner Mongolian forces soon overran the area.
Aftermath[edit]
The defeat of Japan's proxy forces encouraged many Chinese into pushing for a more active resistance against the Japanese. The Xi'an Incident which occurred immediately after the successful outcome of this campaign was possibly triggered by this event.
Small scale combat continued in Suiyuan until the beginning of open hostilities following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident the following year. Following his defeat in Suiyuan, Prince Demchugdongrub was forced to rebuild his army. With Japanese help by the time war broke out in July 1937, his army consisted of 20,000 men in eight cavalry divisions. These forces participated in Operation Chahar and the Battle of Taiyuan during which Japanese regular and allied Inner Mongol forces finally captured eastern Suiyuan province.