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Battle of Lanfeng

Battle of Lanfeng
Part of Second Sino-Japanese War
Date (1938-05-20) (1938-06-10)May 20 – June 10, 1938
(3 weeks)
Location
Kaifeng and Shangqiu Counties, Henan, Republic of China
Result

Japanese victory[1]: 155-159 

  • Chinese failure to destroy the Japanese 14th Division
  • Japanese capture of Lanfeng and Kaifeng
  • Destruction of the embankments in Huayuankou Town by Chinese forces to block the Japanese advance, resulting in the 1938 Yellow River flood
Belligerents
Taiwan China Japan Japan
Commanders and leaders
Republic of China (1912–1949) Chiang Kai-shek (commander-in-chief)
Republic of China (1912–1949) Cheng Qian
Republic of China (1912–1949) Xue Yue
Republic of China (1912–1949) Gui Yongqing		 Empire of Japan Kenji Doihara
Units involved
Battle of Lanfeng : fourteen divisions
Battle of Kaifeng : one division[1]: 128-129 		 14th Division
Strength
Unknown Battle of Lanfeng : Around 7,000[2]
Casualties and losses

Battle of Lanfeng :

  • 46th Division : 2 brigade commanders, 11 school officers, 108 junior officers, and more than 4,000 soldiers casualties.[3]
  • 87th and 88th Divisions of the 71st Corps : more than 7,000 killed or wounded, more than 1,100 missing.[4]
  • 20th, 51st, and 58th Divisions of the 74th Corps : heavy casualties, with a total of 7,000 new recruits requested by the corps commander to cover the losses.[5]
  • 1st, 61st, 78th, and 36th Divisions : 7,125 casualties.[6][7]
  • 106th and 155th Divisions : very heavy casualties.[1]: 119-121 
  • 200th Division : light losses.[8]
  • 14th Cavalry Brigade : 115 casualties.[9]
  • 34th and 195th Divisions : Unknown

Battle of Kaifeng :

  • 141st Division and Tax Police Brigade of the 32nd Corps : more than 2,050 casualties.[10]
 14th Division from the start of the operation on April 15, 1938 until the capture of Kaifeng on June 6, 1938 : 765 killed and 2,996 wounded.[11]

The Battle of Lanfeng (Chinese: 蘭封會戰), in the Second Sino-Japanese War, was part of the larger campaign for Northern and Eastern Henan (February 7 – June 10, 1938) and took place at the same time as the Battle of Xuzhou (Late December – Early June 1938) was occurring.

It involved a Chinese counterattack at Lanfeng by elements of the 1st War Area against the positions held by the Japanese 14th Division. The 14th Division was the vanguard of the Japanese First Army (North China Area Army) and numbered 20,000 men with tanks. It was the first action of the Chinese 200th Division, the first mechanized division in the Chinese Army.

In the assault, the 200th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, located to the west of the line of contact, overran the flanks of Kenji Doihara's 14th Division, successfully encircling 7,000 men of the division in the county of Lanfeng. The battle resulted in a Japanese defeat, forestalling the Japanese capture of the northern section of the Longhai railway. The Chinese victory, which The New York Times described as a second Taierzhuang, resulted in the near destruction of the 14th Division.[12]

Simultaneously, Japanese forces undertook a successful offensive operation that captured the city of Kweiteh southeast of Lanfeng.[12]

Order of Battle of Lanfeng

[edit]

See the Order of Battle of the Battle of Lanfeng

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c History and Political Compilation Department (1963). 抗日戰史 : 運河垣曲間黃河兩岸之作戰(二) [History of the Anti-Japanese War: Operations on both banks of the Yellow River between the canal and Yuanqu (Part 2)]. Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China).
  2. ^ "LANFENG VICTORY IN A GREAT BATTLE CLAIMED BY CHINA", New York Times, May 28, 1938
  3. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，李良榮電蔣中正等率部參加蘭封諸項戰役官兵傷亡甚大現抵白馬寺整編職督率無方難辭其咎並請速予補充以資鼓勵各官兵，典藏號：002-090200-00045-182 [1]
  4. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，宋希濂電蔣中正職軍在蘭封考城等處作戰官兵傷亡甚重擬請准將八十八師併編為八十七師及將榮譽第一師改為八十八師既省軍費又可即時充實所部戰力，典藏號：002-090200-00045-059 [2]
  5. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，俞濟時電蔣中正請撥補新兵及槍械器具，典藏號：002-080200-00283-030 [3]
  6. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，程潛電蔣中正六十一師人員傷亡及槍械損失等情，典藏號：002-090200-00041-191 [4]
  7. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，胡宗南電蔣中正各師戰鬥序列及傷亡兵員現有械彈戰備等明細及據閻錫山電稱陳長捷軍一日破壞臨汾以南鐵路與電話線，典藏號：002-090200-00043-319 [5]
  8. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，邱清泉電蔣中正轉戰蘭封附近車輛官兵損傷情形現奉命在興隆以北之南神崗擔任警戒文電日報表，典藏號：002-080200-00497-099 [6]
  9. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，程潛劉峙宋哲元電蔣中正蘭封開封各戰役損失情形，典藏號：002-090200-00043-317 [7]
  10. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，程潛等電蔣中正等呈報一三九師魯南蕭縣戰役及一四一師第四旅與三十二軍菏澤戰役等役損失情形請於第三期抗戰前補充器械兵員俾以整理再戰，典藏號：002-090200-00047-105 [8]
  11. ^ "第４節　戦傷統計". Japan Center for Asian Historical Records. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  12. ^ a b "LANFENG VICTORY IN A GREAT BATTLE CLAIMED BY CHINA", New York Times, pp. 1, 15, May 29, 1938

Sources

[edit]

Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) 2nd Ed., 1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China, page 230–235, Map. 9-2


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