A Look Back: Marco Polo Bridge Incident

by+Chen+Xinzhou,+Xiao+Chunfei,Yan+Xiangling

The July 7 Incident of 1937， also known as Marco Polo Bridge Incident， marked the beginning of Japans full-scale invasion of China as well as the onset of the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression throughout the country.

In 1937， Beiping （now Beijing） was already surrounded by Japanese troops in three directions， leaving only southwestern Wanping town garrisoned by the 29th Route Army of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army. The Marco Polo Bridge and Wanping Town served as the final shelter for Beiping and even central China. If the town was captured by Japanese troops， the BeipingHankou Railway would be blocked and Beiping unprotected.

On the morning of July 7， 1937， Japanese forces launched a drill near the Marco Polo Bridge. On that afternoon， a unit of Japanese troops left the Fengtai barracks for the Dragon King Temple about 1，000 meters outside the walled town of Wanping， under the pretext of performing night drills.

At 7：30 p.m.， the Japanese military maneuvers began. At 10：40 p.m.， gunshots were heard from the drills northeast of Wanping. Later， several Japanese soldiers arrived outside of Wanping， demanding permission to enter the town to search for a missing soldier. The request was refused by the 29th Route Army. The Japanese forces then attacked Wanping.

At midnight， the Japanese sent a representation to the HebeiChahar Political Committee to discuss the issue of the “missing Japanese soldier” and asked to enter and search Wanping. The request was refused by Qin Dechun， vice commander of the 29th Route Army and mayor of Beiping， who responded to the Japanese that he would “order local police to search for the Japanese soldier at daybreak and return him if found.”

According to Memoir on the Marco Polo Bridge Incident by Wang Lengzhai， then magistrate of Wanping County， Qin Dechun ordered the Chinese troops garrisoning Wanping to stay on high alert and asked Wang to “figure out the truth as soon as possible to properly handle the issue.” The investigation showed that no Chinese troops had fired a gun and produced no evidence concerning the missing Japanese soldier.

In fact， the “missing” Japanese soldier， Shimura Kikujiro， soon returned to his unit. When interviewed by Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on June 30， 1938， Kiyonao Ichiki， commander of the 8th Battalion of the Japanese army during the July 7 Incident of 1937， admitted that he had been informed of the return of the missing soldier before the outbreak of the incident.

After their request was refused， the Japanese troops fired on the defending Chinese troops and bombarded Wanping. The Chinese army was forced to fight back.

At 2 a.m. on July 8， Japanese reinforcements arrived in the area southwest of the Marco Polo Bridge Railway Station. Three minutes later， the Japanese forces occupied Shagang， the only high ground outside Wanping.

At 3 a.m.， Chinese representatives arrived at the office building of the Japanese special agency in Beiping for negotiations. Around 4 a.m.， representatives of both sides negotiated in Wanping. At the same time， Kanichiro Tashiro， commander of the Japanese China Garrison Army， convened a meeting in Tianjin， at which he ordered an attack on Wanping.

At 5 a.m.， Japanese forces launched an attack on Wanping and negotiations were suspended. The defending Chinese troops fought back. After an hour of intense fighting， the Japanese troops were locked out of the town. Japanese representatives then raised a white flag and ascended the city wall of Wanping， asking to resume negotiations.

At 7：30 a.m.， the headquarters of the Japanese China Garrison Army ordered relocation of its troops in Tianjin and Qinhuangdao to Beiping.

At 9：30 a.m.， the Japanese army attacked Wanping and the Marco Polo Bridge again. Jin Zhenzhong， commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 29th Route Army， led two companies to fight the Japanese troops at the east end of the railway bridge. After two hours of battle， the Chinese troops recaptured the east end of the bridge as Japanese forces were forced to retreat a kilometer.

At 4 p.m.， the Japanese side requested resumption of negotiations， which was rejected by the Chinese side. At 5 p.m.， the Japanese side issued an ultimatum demanding Chinese troops retreat from Wanping. When the ultimatum was rejected， the Japanese troops began shelling Wanping at 6：05 p.m. The battle lasted for more than three hours， and many civilian residences were destroyed during the bombing.

The Chinese troops defended Wanping tenaciously. The Broad Sword Team of the 29th Route Army attacked Japanese troops in the Dragon King Temple and recaptured it after a two-hour fierce battle.

On July 8， the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） issued a public statement， calling for a “nation- wide war of resistance against Japan，” heralding the beginning of the eight-year nationwide Chinese Peoples War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.