Podcast appearances and mentions of Pearl River

Last time we spoke about the reaction after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. After four years of fighting Japan almost alone, China's Chiang Kai-shek learned of Pearl Harbor with profound relief. Japan's attack, meant to neutralize American naval power, instead galvanized the entire Western world against Tokyo. Within hours, Chiang declared war on the Axis powers, transforming China from an isolated nation to a recognized Allied member. The strategic mathematics were clear to Chiang: America's industrial might would ultimately crush Japan. China simply needed to survive long enough. The United States quickly formalized this partnership, pledging military support through Lend-Lease and elevating Chiang to leadership of Allied forces in the China theater. Yet Pearl Harbor brought catastrophe for Western civilians in China. Americans and Britons, previously protected as neutral foreigners, were suddenly rounded up and interned in camps. For many, decades of presence in China ended in hasty evacuation, leaving behind lives built over generations.   #216 The Battle of Hong Kong Part 1: The Approaching Storm Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Japan emerged as a significant threat to British interests during the 1920s following the collapse of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. This concern intensified dramatically after Japan's invasion of China, with the ensuing Sino-Japanese War escalating tensions further. British assets in the region came under direct assault, including attacks on Western military and commercial vessels such as HMS Ladybird. Yet despite these provocations, the British Government maintained an inconsistent stance toward Japan, responding with only feeble diplomatic and military countermeasures. This contradiction characterized London's approach: while diplomatic channels remained conciliatory, military planners viewed Japan with genuine apprehension. During the 1930s, Singapore and Malaya represented Britain's most valuable and prosperous holdings in the Far East and consequently received substantial garrison reinforcements. By contrast, Hong Kong was widely acknowledged to be indefensible—a conclusion reached repeatedly by successive military studies. Despite this consensus, the British Government proceeded with the Hong Kong Defence Scheme in 1936, which aimed to transform Hong Kong Island into a fortified redoubt while establishing delaying positions in Kowloon and the New Territories. The Hong Kong Garrison's mandate was straightforward: repel external attacks and prevent enemy use of the harbour and dry dock. The underlying strategy relied on a simple principle: hold Hong Kong Island as an impregnable fortress and await relief from the Royal Navy. Consequently, protecting the harbour became the paramount objective. Japanese strategists were correctly identified as Hong Kong's primary threat, with military planners anticipating attack from the sea rather than overland. To counter such an offensive, the defence scheme incorporated five successive layers of protection: naval mines fitted with indicator nets and anti-submarine booms formed the first barrier; coastal artillery provided the second; beach installations featuring pillboxes, wire entanglements and mines constituted the third; infantry strongpoints positioned on commanding heights guarded against amphibious landings; and finally, a mobile reserve force stood ready to counterattack and eliminate any successful enemy incursion. The 1936 plan also mandated extensive fortification of Kowloon's bottleneck approaches through bunkers, trenches and blocked passages, with a principal defensive line—resembling a miniature Maginot Line—constructed across the mountains immediately north of Kowloon. The garrison structure comprised three infantry battalions plus the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC), a unit approximately regiment-strength equipped with armoured cars, engineers, artillery, anti-aircraft guns and infantry. These forces organized into three brigades: mainland, island, and garrison reserve. The air component was planned to be formidable: a reconnaissance squadron, a fighter-bomber squadron, two torpedo squadrons and a flight of auxiliary spotting aircraft operated by the HKVDC. Naval forces consisted of a modest destroyer contingent, an MTB flotilla, gunboats and patrol vessels. When Japan occupied Guangzhou, Hong Kong found itself effectively encircled. In response, limited conscription was implemented, though restricted to non-Chinese males for HKVDC service. Chinese personnel were largely confined to non-combat positions such as air-raid precautions and medical duties. The expanding Japanese threat prompted a substantial expansion of the Hong Kong Garrison to four regular infantry regiments—two British units (one specializing in medium machine-gun support) and two Indian regiments. Supporting forces included two coastal artillery regiments, a field artillery regiment-plus, and an anti-aircraft regiment. The Royal Navy expanded to include the 2nd MTB flotilla (eight 60-foot, 29-knot motor torpedo boats armed with twin torpedoes and eight Lewis guns each, plus two smaller 55-foot vessels), four shallow-draught river gunboats (HMS Cicala, Tern, Moth and Robin), four aging World War I S-class destroyers (HMS Thracian, Thanet, Scout and Tenedos—the last transferred to Singapore in 1939), HMS Cornflower sloop, and various auxiliary vessels including tugs, boom defence ships and minelayers. The Fleet Air Arm deployed three Supermarine Walruses—single-engine reconnaissance amphibians—at Kai Tak Airport. The Royal Air Force remained the weakest service, equipped with only four Vickers Wildebeest torpedo-bombers and a handful of HKVDC aircraft: one Avro Tutor, two Hornet Moths and two Cadet biplanes. When World War II erupted in Europe, Britain's focus necessarily shifted to national survival, inevitably leaving distant imperial outposts like Hong Kong neglected. Rather than receive reinforcements, Hong Kong actually lost capable personnel; many veteran troops were repatriated to Europe, leaving behind a less proficient garrison. Peacetime duties had proven a poor preparation for combat—officers and men had passed their time socializing rather than maintaining combat readiness. Governor Sir Geoffrey Northcote persistently urged London to adopt a firmer stance against relentless Japanese provocations: aircraft incursions, sinking of junks and fishing vessels, and infiltration by Taiwanese fifth columnists (Japan had colonized Taiwan in 1895). Recognizing the hopelessness of his position, Northcote recommended withdrawal in October 1940, arguing that defending the colony would inevitably result in mass civilian casualties and widespread destruction—a pragmatic assessment given Hong Kong's indefensible state. London categorically rejected this proposal, reasoning that withdrawal would demoralize China, embolden Japan and undermine American confidence in British resolve. Underlying this decision was an additional consideration: the long-standing dispute over Hong Kong's sovereignty. Since Britain acquired Hong Kong in 1841, the prospect of surrendering it, even temporarily, raised fears about reclaiming it afterward. Preserving the appearance of British determination was deemed crucial to demonstrating to Chiang Kai-shek, Nationalist China's leader, that Britain intended to retain the territory. Despite these political calculations, London consistently refused fresh troop deployments. Major-General A. E. Grasett, the China theatre commander, requested reinforcements only to face rejection—London offered only Indian or other colonial forces. Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, appointed British commander in the Far East in 1941, likewise pressed for garrison strengthening, to no avail. The situation shifted dramatically after Grasett, a retired Canadian who had recently left his China post, travelled to Britain via Canada. Upon arriving in Canada, he independently approached his former classmate Major-General Crerar, Chief of the Canadian General Staff, and advocated for reinforcement. Grasett argued persuasively that deploying two or more additional battalions would enable the Hong Kong garrison to withstand an extended siege. When Grasett reached London in early September 1941, he presented this case directly to the British Chiefs of Staff, simultaneously proposing that Canada could provide the extra units. His arguments proved persuasive; the Chiefs of Staff altered course and convinced a reluctant Churchill to reconsider. In light of accelerating Japanese pressure, Britain substantially enlarged the Malaysia/Singapore garrison from nine to 32 battalions and despatched two capital ships—HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse—to the region, reasoning that this show of force would deter Japanese aggression against British Far Eastern interests, including Hong Kong. The original defence strategy envisaged holding Hong Kong Island exclusively while denying the harbour to attackers. A single battalion (the Punjabis) would execute delaying actions across the New Territories, followed by a three-battalion defensive stand on the Gin Drinkers Line. This brief mainland resistance would allow time for demolishing stores, power installations, docks and wharves, clearing food stocks and removing vital matériel before withdrawing to Hong Kong Island for a protracted resistance awaiting relief from Singapore or American forces from the Philippines. The Gin Drinkers Line—styled after the French Maginot Line in miniature—ran approximately 18 kilometres south of the Sino-Hong Kong border. Beginning near Gin Drinkers Bay west of Kowloon, it extended 17 kilometres across the Kowloon Peninsula hills toward its eastern extremity. The strategic expectation was that this line would delay the Japanese assault for three weeks or longer, permitting battalion withdrawal to Hong Kong Island for sustained resistance while mainland forces completed evacuation procedures. The 1937 war plan stipulated that four battalions would be necessary for an effective delaying action and seven for an adequate Gin Drinkers Line defence—figures which excluded the aircraft and naval support essential to success. With only a single army brigade available and virtually no air capability, planners abandoned the mainland defence concept, leaving defensive works incomplete and deteriorating under tropical conditions. Chinese personnel were conspicuously absent from initial war preparations and strategic planning, only being incorporated late in the process. The largest Chinese component was the volunteer contingent serving with the HKVDC. On the regular army side, approximately 150 Chinese recruits were enlisted in mid-1941 for the 5th Anti-Aircraft Regiment. The Hong Kong Chinese Regiment, hastily constituted on 3 November 1941, comprised officers borrowed from British and Indian units alongside 52 Chinese junior NCOs and other ranks with minimal training. A Royal Engineers troop staffed entirely by Chinese soldiers saw service, and some Chinese personnel served with the Royal Navy and Dockyard Defence Corps. Chinese participation increased substantially in auxiliary services—air-raid precautions, auxiliary police, nursing, St John Ambulance and fire brigades. This reluctance to fully integrate Chinese forces likely reflected prevailing attitudes of the era. Pre-war British propaganda had frequently mocked Japanese military capability, portraying officers and soldiers as myopic and incompetent. Japanese combat prowess was systematically underestimated; their victories in China were attributed to facing inferior opposition rather than evidence of genuine military strength. Japanese weaponry was dismissed as inferior to European standards. Consequently, British confidence remained high that the colony could hold indefinitely if adequately reinforced. In September 1941, Hong Kong received heartening news: two additional Canadian battalions would be deployed to the garrison. Brigadier John Maltby promptly revived the pre-war plan for defending the Gin Drinkers Line, developing a strategy centred on three mainland battalions (2nd Royal Scots, 5/7 Rajputs and 2/14 Punjab) supported by HKVDC elements and four artillery troop detachments, while three island battalions (1st Middlesex, Royal Rifles of Canada and Winnipeg Grenadiers) bolstered by the bulk of the HKVDC would hold Hong Kong Island. Command responsibility was divided between two brigades: the Island Brigade (Hong Kong Infantry Brigade) under Brigadier Lawson, a recently arrived Canadian, and the mainland Kowloon Infantry Brigade under Brigadier Wallis. The Canadian regiments arrived on 16 November 1941. Maltby was commissioned into the Indian Army in 1911, and  saw extensive service across multiple campaigns: World War I, the Persian Gulf (1913–14), and the North-West Frontier (1923–24). His early promise earned him selection for accelerated advancement through prestigious staff colleges at Quetta and RAF Andover. By 1937, he was again serving on the North-West Frontier, and by 1939 commanded both the 3rd Jhelum Brigade (later the Calcutta Brigade) and the 19th Infantry Brigade in Deccan. In 1940, posted to China, Maltby orchestrated the closure of the North China Command by withdrawing two infantry battalions from Shanghai. Promoted to major-general as GOC China in August 1941, he had only three months to prepare the colony's defenses, a race against time he could not win.  The Gin Drinkers Line occupied a naturally dominant position atop mountains spanning northern Kowloon's breadth, yet possessed inherent weaknesses that would prove fatal. The line lacked defensive depth and remained vulnerable to flanking manoeuvres, with two sectors representing particular danger: Customs Pass and the gap between Golden Hill and Laichikok Peninsula near Gin Drinkers Bay. Given the extended front, each battalion arranged its forces in a string of platoon positions with gaps covered by daytime fire and nighttime patrols. One company per battalion could be held in reserve within prepared positions guarding the most dangerous sectors. The reserve company of the centre battalion (2/14 Punjab) initially advanced as forward troops, screening demolition operations and delaying the enemy's initial thrust. The hasty decision to establish mainland defences meant that essential support systems—communication networks, artillery registrations, mortar calibrations—remained incomplete when combat commenced. Ammunition shortages compounded the problem. For instance, the 2/14 Punjab conducted only a single 3-inch mortar practice session before the attack; adequate ammunition arrived only in November and totalled a mere 70 rounds per battalion for both training and combat. These mortars were registered for the first time in their battle positions, with combat beginning just 12 hours later. The 2-inch mortar situation was even more desperate: troops received live ammunition only as fighting started, making their baptism of fire an actual combat situation. Transportation deficiencies—trucks and animals in short supply—forced manual ammunition transport across Hong Kong's challenging terrain, imposing severe physical demands on already stretched personnel.   On 6 November 1941, Imperial Japanese Headquarters ordered its Commander-in-Chief in China to prepare plans for capturing Hong Kong. The 23rd Army, part of the China Southern Expeditionary Army Group and commanded by Lt. Gen. Sakai Takashi with Maj. Gen. Kuribayashi Tadamichi serving as Chief of Staff, would form the invasion's backbone. All preparations were to be completed by the end of November 1941. The operation, designated 'Operation C', sought to 'seize Hong Kong within ten days'. Takahashi was the son of a factory worker, and rose through the ranks to become a veteran of China campaigns. He was tasked with capturing Hong Kong using the 38th Division normally assigned to the Southern Expeditionary Army Group. Despite setbacks and humiliation over requests for additional resources—particularly following intelligence reports of tanks (actually Bren carriers) in Hong Kong—Sakai remained determined to succeed. He served as Governor of Hong Kong from 26 December 1941 to 20 February 1942. Kuribayashi, best remembered as the Japanese commander at Iwo Jima, graduated from the Army Academy in 1914 specializing in cavalry. He served as deputy military attaché to Washington and Canada and studied at Harvard University. In December 1941, he held the position of Chief of Staff to the 23rd Army during the Hong Kong operation. Operation C followed a straightforward strategic framework. A blocking force would prevent Chinese interference from the rear, while the main invasion force would spearhead the assault. The 23rd Army, comprising four divisions plus a mixed brigade and two infantry regiments, received the assignment to attack Hong Kong. Of these four divisions, only the 38th played a substantive role in the invasion itself. The attack employed a combined-arms approach. Naval forces would establish a blockade and deliver bombardment while aircraft targeted key installations. Ground forces from the 38th Division—specifically the 228th, 229th, and 230th Regiments—would execute the land invasion using a three-pronged strategy. The right column would sweep westward in a wide arc, clearing Castle Peak Road and targeting the western flank of the Gin Drinkers Line near Laichikok Peninsula. The centre force would press directly through the line's middle, while the left column would cross Tidal Cove (Tolo Harbour) toward Kai Tak Airport and eastward toward Devil Peak, a crucial defensive position. The objective was to annihilate British forces on the mainland and compel Hong Kong's surrender through sustained bombardment. Should British forces resist, the island phase of the campaign would commence. Securing the rear against the Chinese National Army of the 7th Military District and Communist guerrillas fell to the 66th Regiment, normally part of the 51st Division but attached to the 38th for this operation. The 66th would simultaneously occupy and secure rear areas throughout the New Territories and Kowloon while the three assault regiments engaged the main defensive forces. This rearguard operation was organised into columns named after their commanding officers: Kitazawa, Kobayashi, Sato, and Araki. The Japanese selected the narrowest approach between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, targeting the eastern coast near Lyemun Passage where only 410 metres of water separated the mainland from the island. Upon landing, forces would rapidly advance inland to seize the critical junction of Wongneichong Gap, then pivot westward and southward to capture Victoria City and the remainder of Hong Kong. The naval contingent divided into two groups: the Bombardment Group and the Attack Group. Approximately 300 personnel from the Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) were attached to the invasion force. Air support came from the First Air Brigade under Col. Habu Hideharu, which contributed 56 light bombers and fighters. Their mission was to neutralise the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, thereby securing aerial and maritime superiority for the ground campaign.   On the eve of war, the British garrison numbered 13,981 all ranks, including nursing staff and St John Ambulance personnel. Of these, 8,919 were British and Canadian, with 4,402 Indian and Chinese. The core infantry force comprised 5,422 regular soldiers, complemented by approximately 6,000 additional personnel across artillery, engineering, naval, and Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC) units. By 1941, the Royal Navy had become a shadow of its former self as the once-dominant China Squadron. Of the three World War I destroyers present on 8 December, two had been sent to Singapore—the third undergoing repairs—by 1930. This redeployment stemmed partly from the futility of defending the colony and partly from a commitment by senior US Navy officers: Britain would reinforce Singapore with Hong Kong's fleet in exchange for four American destroyers at Singapore. This American guarantee, however, never materialized. The defensive infrastructure focused primarily on countering a seaborne attack: twenty-nine coastal guns (9.2in., 6in., 4.7in., and 4in. calibres), ten 18- and 2-pounder beach defense guns, and twenty-eight field guns (60-pounder, 6in., 4.5in., and 3.7in. calibres). The Hong Kong Garrison's infantry comprised four regular army battalions—two British and two Indian—bolstered by five HKVDC infantry companies, each averaging 100 men. The 1st Middlesex Regiment, deployed in August 1937, served as a machine-gun battalion equipped with forty-eight Vickers medium machine guns. Having been abroad since 1931, the regiment had deteriorated through protracted garrison service, Hong Kong being among the softest postings available. From September 1939 onward, all regiments—including the 5/7 Rajputs (arrived June 1937) and the 2/14 Punjab—experienced systematic loss of experienced officers and NCOs to other theaters. The Royal Scots proved particularly hard hit, suffering disciplinary problems and an unusually high court-martial rate. Units like the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery suffered critical leadership gaps that went unaddressed. By December 1941, many formations fielded inexperienced replacement troops, significantly undermining combat readiness. The Punjabis exemplified these deficiencies. Stationed in Hong Kong since November 1940, they received their vehicles and mortars only in August 1941—three months before combat. Compounding this, forty percent of their strength consisted of raw recruits arrived just in October. When war erupted, artillery regiments found themselves relying on junior officers in senior roles, with British commanders unfamiliar with Urdu directing Indian troops, a handicap that severely compromised effectiveness. Deficient equipment compounded leadership shortages. Shells dating from 1918 detonated prematurely upon discharge, while ammunition shortages crippled operations. On 8 December, all field guns deployed with merely 100 rounds apiece, with 200 rounds held in reserve for the entire campaign, and coastal guns received only 25 rounds each. Insufficient cross-training meant many infantrymen failed to understand the artillery "clock face" targeting system, causing them to miss their objectives. Malaria devastated European troops, particularly the Royal Scots. Of approximately 770 personnel, at least 180 suffered recurring malarial episodes from the Shing Mun Redoubt area's notoriously endemic conditions. Staff shortages forced nearly every unit to promote junior officers to positions beyond their rank, exacerbating structural weaknesses. Although the Canadians' arrival bolstered the garrison, significant handicaps undermined their effectiveness. Both battalions carried a C-class designation—deemed unfit for foreign service—having spent years in soft garrison postings without rigorous training. The deficit was stark: each Canadian soldier received only thirty-five rifle practice rounds. The two battalions incorporated 115 men with fewer than sixteen weeks' training, while sixty-two of seventy-five recruits joining the Winnipeg Grenadiers in June came directly from a training depot lacking even basic rifles. Twelve percent of the Canadian force remained untrained. Equipment deficiencies proved even more damaging. A standard 1941 Canadian infantry battalion required 102 motor vehicles—including twenty-two Universal Carriers, thirty-seven ¾-ton trucks, thirteen 1-ton trucks, thirty-one bicycles, and twenty-two Boys anti-tank rifles. When the Canadians landed, logistical failures left them with only six Bren carriers, two water tankers, twelve ¾-ton trucks, and a single Boys anti-tank rifle. Although they carried 3in. mortars, neither ammunition nor radios accompanied them. Canada possessed only 300 3-inch mortar bombs in its entire inventory at that time, making any allocation to Hong Kong impossible. A second vessel, the SS Don Jose, was dispatched with replacement vehicles and equipment but never reached Hong Kong before 8 December. The Japanese seized it en route to Manila. Despite these shortcomings, the force departed on 27 October with 1,975 men and arrived on 16 November. Intelligence estimates regarding Japanese available forces varied widely, ranging from two to four divisions. On 6 December evening, Chinese reports confirmed the previous day's arrival of three Japanese divisions at Buji township, located eight miles from the border in what is now Shenzhen. Earlier, around 1 November, a Japanese deserter provided intelligence of significant troop concentrations north of the frontier, including large-calibre artillery indicative of at least divisional strength.   The Hong Kong invasion force comprised three service branches: the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) deployed the 38th Infantry Division, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) committed the Second China Fleet, and the Imperial Japanese Air Force (IJAF) contributed the 1st Air Group. Command of the ground assault rested with Lieutenant-General Sano Tadayoshi of the 38th Division, supported by Major-General Ito Takeo heading the infantry group, while supporting arms including artillery, engineers, armor, and transport fell under Sano's authority. The main assault force consisted of three infantry regiments from the 38th Division, each led by a colonel: the 228th under Doi Teihichi, the 229th under Tanaka Ryosaburo, and the 230th under Shoji Toshishige. The 38th Division itself was a standard 1940s B-class infantry division of approximately 20,000 troops (ranging from 18,000–21,000 depending on operational requirements), organized into three regiments with three battalions each. Reflecting the Japanese army's reliance on animal and human transport, each regiment fielded roughly 3,800 troops supported by some 700 horses. Battalion strength averaged around 1,071 personnel, with companies numbering approximately 180 men. Japanese infantry battalions of this period featured a distinctive organization: rifle platoons consisted of four sections (three equipped with rifles and light machine guns, one with light mortars and rifles), complemented by an additional heavy machine-gun company fielding twelve Type 92 weapons and a troop of light artillery—likely Type 92 70mm infantry guns. The divisional field artillery regiment operated 75mm Type 41 mountain guns organized into three 688-man battalions, each with two troops of two guns. Mountain artillery units, numbering 36 guns total, carried additional personnel (3,400) and animals (1,400) to navigate the terrain complexities of Hong Kong operations. Recognizing the need for overwhelming firepower to compel Hong Kong's surrender, the IJA augmented the invasion force with heavy artillery—15cm and 24cm howitzers commanded by Major-General Kitashima Kineo. News of the Canadian reinforcements arriving in Hong Kong forced a reassessment. Commander-in-Chief Sakai Takashi of the 23rd Army informed his superiors that the original ten-day timeline was unrealistic and requested additional troops. Although most formations were already committed to other operations, Imperial Headquarters eventually authorized two depot regiments from Japan to support the campaign. Intended for second-line duties rather than frontline combat, these units were to be returned promptly after freeing experienced personnel for Hong Kong operations. This arrangement allowed the 19th and 20th mixed brigades—approximately 6,000 men organized in five infantry battalions, a field artillery battalion, and an engineer battalion—to be released for Hong Kong. However, Sakai's request for reinforcements met with disapproval from Imperial Headquarters, and he received an unmistakable message: a swift, decisive campaign was essential. His situation worsened when Japanese agents mistakenly identified British Bren carriers as tanks, forcing Sakai to improvise armor by raiding the 1st Reserve Tank Battalion and tankette units from infantry depot divisions. In attempting to secure additional armor from the 11th Army's 9th Reconnaissance Regiment, Sakai encountered resistance. General Hata Shunroku lodged sustained complaints with senior officials, and Sakai received a sharp rebuke—further requests would not be entertained, and his replacement would follow if necessary. Stung by this loss of face, Sakai abandoned all additional requests and became even more determined to achieve success. Vice-Admiral Niimi Masaichi, commanding the 2nd China Expeditionary Fleet, oversaw the entire naval element, divided into bombardment and attack groups. His flagship, the light cruiser Isuzu, carried Captain Ura Koichi, who simultaneously commanded the bombardment group. This naval force assembled ships from various China Expeditionary Fleet units, particularly from the Canton Special Base Force, 15 Squadron, and 11 Torpedo Boat Division at Guangzhou. Reflecting Niimi's lack of confidence in the army's air support capabilities, the seaplane tender IJN Kamikawa Maru joined the operation on his insistence, providing organic naval aviation against the threat posed by British Wildebeests. Niimi also petitioned for destroyers IJN Wakaba and Yugure to counter the three British destroyers, though this request was denied. The Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF) were assigned to conduct diversionary attacks south of Hong Kong Island, intended to distract British forces from the main land invasion thrust. The IJAF's 1st Air Brigade, commanded by Colonel Habu Hideharu, centered on the 45th Air Regiment with 34 Kawasaki Ki-32 Type 98 'Mary' light bombers. This composite force drew aircraft and units from airfields across China and Manchuria—Beijing, Shanghai, Taiwan, and Qiqihar—all assembled at Baiyun Aerodrome in Guangzhou on 7 December 1941. Supporting the 1st Air Brigade were the 10th Independent Squadron under Captain Takatsuki Akira with 13 Nakajima Ki-27 Type 97 'Nate' fighters, 3 Mitsubishi Ki-15 Type 97 'Babs' command reconnaissance aircraft from the 18th Independent Reconnaissance Squadron, and the 44th Independent Squadron fielding 6 Tachikawa Ki-36 Type 98 'Ida' observation aircraft. Years before the invasion, the Japanese cultivated an extensive network of agents and sleeper operatives in Hong Kong, methodically gathering intelligence and mapping military installations. This sophisticated network proved remarkably effective: invasion maps carried by IJA officers were actually Hong Kong Government and British military maps, overprinted with Japanese annotations and interpretations. British officers later discovered in captivity that the Peninsula Hotel's regular barber was a Japanese Navy lieutenant-commander who had exploited the intimate setting to extract valuable information about British force dispositions. Intelligence operatives infiltrated every level of Hong Kong society—the garrison tailor and barber both served as spies. This groundwork enabled exceptional accuracy in artillery fire and bombing campaigns. The Japanese further leveraged criminal networks, recruiting gangsters throughout Hong Kong and Guangdong province with money and arms, turning them into irregular auxiliaries supporting the invasion.   On Sunday, 7 December, seven hundred members of the 2nd Royal Scots and Middlesex Regiment marched to St John's Cathedral for the morning service. As Major-General Maltby read a passage from Matthew, his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant I. MacGregor, delivered an urgent message that would change everything. Preparations for conflict had already begun. On 5 December, the HKVDC had mobilized fully, yet Hong Kong's broader population remained unmoved—the Happy Valley racetrack reported record attendance that very day. The contrast was stark: while one institution prepared for war, another celebrated as though nothing threatened. Japanese forces had been positioned advantageously since autumn 1941. The 23rd Army was already stationed west of Guangzhou, with contingents scattered across Foshan Town, Zhuhai, and other locations on the Pearl River delta. Upon orders for war on 1 December, they faced minimal distances to cover. The army regrouped at Humen, Shilong Town, and Guangzhou itself—staging areas for the invasion. The first visible signs arrived on 4–5 December when Japanese forces landed at Mirs Bay; the 228th Regiment moved into its staging area at Buji Town, now part of Shenzhen City. Maltby received these reports and immediately departed the cathedral service to issue urgent stand-to orders. Yet skepticism persisted within military circles. Some dismissed the threat, dismissing such intelligence as "astonishingly erroneous." Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Navy massed in the waters beyond Hong Kong's horizon. The Kowloon Infantry Brigade held a stretched defensive line: the 5/7 Rajputs anchored the centre, the 2/14 Punjab the east, and the 2nd Royal Scots the west. Forward positions extended far—C Company, 2/14 Punjab, under Major S. Burns ranged along Castle Peak Road toward Yuen Long. The brigade screen, C Company of the 2/14 Punjab, held Shueng Shui and Taipo Market with four Bren carriers and two armoured cars from the HKVDC, backed by engineers and the 22nd Fortress Company. The Hong Kong Infantry Brigade held Hong Kong Island itself. The Winnipeg Grenadiers occupied Victoria City on the north-west coast, while the Royal Rifles of Canada stretched along the north-east shores from Saukiwan to Lyemun. Brigadier Lawson commanded from his headquarters at Wongneichong Gap in the island's centre. At 0355 hours on 8 December, the code word "Blossom Blossom" was transmitted. Eleven minutes later, Lieutenant-General Sakai ordered the invasion to commence. Fifty minutes after that, at 0445 hours, Major Charles Boxer—a fluent Japanese speaker formerly of the Lincolnshire Regiment—was roused by Radio Tokyo announcing that war was imminent. Governor Young and Major-General Maltby were informed at once. By 0500 hours, the forward demolition points had been blown by Major Gray, OC of C Company 2/14 Punjab, and the HKVDC engineers under Major J. H. Bottomley. At 0645 hours, the garrison received formal notification: Britain and Japan were at war. Seventy-five minutes later, air-raid sirens wailed. Within moments, smoke billowed from Kai Tak Airport as Japanese aircraft destroyed virtually the entire air garrison. The Wildebeests, Walruses, HKVDC biplanes, and several civilian planes were engulfed in flames. Only two Ju-52s of the Eurasia Corporation and one CNAC T-32 Condor escaped destruction—dispersal bays had never been built due to lack of funds. The Japanese then turned to secondary targets, bombing Shamshuipo Camp and the neighbouring police station. The Canadians suffered few large-scale casualties in the initial strikes, though Sergeant Routledge and Signalman Fairley of the signal platoon were wounded—the first Canadian soldiers injured in World War II. Remarkably, Hong Kong Island's theatres, cinemas, and restaurants continued operating as though the island faced no peril. Japanese demolition efforts proved only minor obstacles. Bridges blown were quickly replaced. The invasion proceeded on three fronts: the 230th Regiment advanced westward along the northern route toward Yuen Long and Castle Peak, targeting the northern slope of Tai Mo Mountain. The 228th Regiment drove down the centre, following the Sheung Shui–Taipo–Kowloon road toward Grassy Hill north of the Shing Mun Redoubt. The 229th Regiment, crossing at Sha Tau Kok and by boat at Starling Inlet, proceeded via Taipo toward Tai Shui Hang and Ma On Mountain. Whenever confronted with strongly defended positions, the Japanese bypassed them entirely rather than engage. The first day brought scattered but spirited resistance. Around 1300 hours, the Punjabis inflicted the first serious check, drawing blood from advancing Japanese forces. At 1830 hours, they ambushed and decimated several Japanese platoons south of Taipo market town. The HKVDC's armoured cars and Bren carriers struck similar successes nearby. The 2 Royal Scots' reconnaissance platoon clashed with elements of the 229th Regiment around Yuen Long. Despite these minor victories, Japanese momentum continued. Armed with stolen British maps and guided by fifth columnists, they pushed forward relentlessly. By late afternoon on the 8th, the Punjabis withdrew toward Grassy Hill to avoid being outflanked. The artillerymen of the 12th Battery engaged an IJN destroyer and Japanese forces around Taipo, inflicting heavy casualties. Farther south near Shatin, on the Taipo–Kowloon highway, rapidly advancing Japanese troops surprised the defenders and severed the fuse at an HKVDC demolition point. Their triumph proved momentary; the engineers completed the backup circuit and detonated the bridge, destroying it along with the Japanese soldiers crossing it. By early morning on 9 December, orders came to withdraw all mainland units to the Gin Drinkers Line. The Punjabis, already at Shatin Wai overlooking Tide Cove, held their position under pressure and continuous shelling for the next two days. The HKVDC withdrew to Fotan, a village south of Shatin. Maltby ordered D Company, 5/7 Rajputs, under Captain H. R. Newtons to Smuggler's Ridge to close the gap between the 2 Royal Scots and 2/14 Punjab. HKVDC armoured cars and Bren carriers continued patrols along Castle Peak Road while HMS Cicala, having survived two air attacks, maintained station in Castle Peak Bay. Despite an IJN blockade, the destroyers HMS Thanet and Scout slipped anchor and escaped to Singapore around 2130 hours. The surviving CNAC and Eurasia aircraft took off with high-value evacuees: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's widow and her two equally renowned sisters—the Soong sisters—along with Chinese Finance Minister H. H. Kung. Also departing was Lieutenant-Colonel H. Owen-Hughes of the HKVDC, who carried orders to coordinate with the Chinese Nationalist Army for a rear-guard attack on Japanese forces to relieve the pressure on Hong Kong. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. On 8 December 1941, Japan attacked Hong Kong with the 38th Division, supported by naval and air forces. Despite British defenses manned by undertrained, under-equipped troops, Japanese forces advanced rapidly across three fronts. Within hours, the RAF was destroyed, demolitions proved futile, and British units withdrew toward the Gin Drinkers Line facing overwhelming odds.

On the night of October 11, 1973, two shipyard workers drove into the Jackson County Sheriff's Office in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and told a story that neither of them expected anybody to believe. Charles Hickson spelled his name into a tape recorder and said that even if they laughed him out of the county he was going to tell it anyway.Then he described a blue light coming down over the bayou, three figures floating out of an opening, and something that looked like a big eye moving over his body while he lay immobilized inside a machine. Calvin Parker, the younger of the two, said almost nothing about the inside of it, because by his own account he passed out at the beginning and didn't come around until it was over.What makes Pascagoula different from almost every case like it is what the sheriff did next.Fred Diamond and Captain Glenn Ryder finished the interview around 11 p.m., walked out, and left the two men alone in a room with the recorder still running, expecting to catch a hoax. What they caught instead was a 42-year-old man trying to talk a terrified teenager down, and then, after Hickson stepped out for coffee, a young man from Jones County praying out loud to a machine he didn't know was there.This episode is the Mississippi stop on the Backwoods Cryptid Road Trip, and it goes in deep. I work the case from the primary recording rather than the retellings, which means you get Hickson's actual answers to the deputies, including all the places he told them he didn't know.I lay out the geography of the Pascagoula River, the Singing River legend and why I don't trust the version that got printed for a century, and the Phantom Barber summer of 1942, because this is not a town with no history of strange. I walk through the 1973 flap that was already in the local paper four days before any of this happened, including the service station operator who called in a light around 8 p.m., roughly two hours before Hickson ever knocked on a newspaper door.I also deal with the part a lot of tellings skip, which is what Charles Hickson did with the next 20 years of his life, the ongoing contact claims, the television circuit that started with Dick Cavett on November 2, and the arrest in January 1974, and why none of that gets to reach backward and rewrite what's on that tape.There's a witness who waited 45 years and came forward in 2019, eight years after the man who spent his life asking for her had already died. And there's a historical marker, unveiled June 22, 2019, standing today at the spot where Hickson was certain he'd be run out of town. The back half of the show goes into the woods, because that's the other reason we came.I get into the Choctaw material collected by Henry Halbert in the 1800s, David Bushnell in 1910, and John Swanton after him, including Shampe and Nalusa Falaya, and I'm careful about what that material does and doesn't prove. Then I go county by county through Mississippi's actual documented Sasquatch record, including a very close encounter in the Homochitto National Forest on November 28 of either 1978 or 1979, with 14-inch three-toed tracks and corroborating witnesses, and a report from the Stennis Space Center buffer zone in Hancock County from January 18, 2025.We finish with listener accounts out of the DeSoto, the Delta, the Pearl River, the Tombigbee, and Noxubee.No body, no bone, no photograph worth arguing about. But there's a tape sitting in a county file that anybody can listen to, and I still can't tell you what came down over that bayou.Email BrianJoin Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteHave you experienced a Bigfoot sighting, Sasquatch encounter, Dogman experience, UFO sighting, or any unexplained cryptid or paranormal event deep in the woods? We want to hear your story.Email your encounter to brian@paranormalworldproductions.com for a chance to be featured on a future episode of Backwoods Bigfoot Stories.Backwoods Bigfoot Stories is a paranormal storytelling podcast featuring real Bigfoot encounters, Sasquatch sightings, Dogman reports, cryptid experiences, and true scary stories from the backwoods.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss a chilling encounter from the forest. Listen with the lights off… if you dare.

Louisiana doesn't give you one monster. It gives you two.On this stop of the Backwoods Cryptid Road Trip, we head into the bayous and river swamps of the Pelican State for a full double feature.First up is the rougarou, the Cajun werewolf that crossed the Atlantic with exiled French farmers, survived the Acadian expulsion, and settled into the swamps of south Louisiana, where it's been enforcing Lent and scratching at shutters for two hundred and fifty years. We dig into the loup-garou's roots in the werewolf trials of medieval France, the Catholic morality machine that kept the legend alive, the strange rulebook of the curse itself, from the hundred and one days to the thirteen coins by the door, and the encounter stories that suggest people down the bayou are still seeing something.A young woman paced for four miles by amber eyeshine on a dark bayou road. Three fearless hog dogs that refused one cut of swamp for two weeks straight. A calf struck on the highway that wasn't there when the driver walked back. Then we cross the Pearl River into seventy thousand acres of nowhere for the Honey Island Swamp Monster.In August of nineteen sixty-three, an air traffic controller named Harlan Ford and his hunting partner Billy Mills watched a seven-foot, gray-haired figure stand up out of a clearing and look back at them, and the case that followed includes torn-out boar throats, disputed plaster casts, a missing fisherman, and a reel of Super Eight film that Ford's family didn't find until after he was gone.From there we widen out to Louisiana's full Sasquatch record, including the Earl Whitstine logging case reported to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office in the year two thousand, the Kisatchie National Forest reports, and firsthand accounts from hunters, campers, and one duck hunter who sat in a pirogue until sunrise because something stood up out of the water ten yards away.Two monsters. One silhouette. By the end of this episode, you may start to wonder, like I did, whether Cajun Louisiana has been describing the same flesh-and-blood animal all along, in whatever language the porch light allowed.Have you experienced a Bigfoot sighting, Sasquatch encounter, Dogman experience, UFO sighting, or any unexplained cryptid or paranormal event deep in the woods? We want to hear your story.Email your encounter to brian@paranormalworldproductions.com for a chance to be featured on a future episode of Backwoods Bigfoot Stories.Backwoods Bigfoot Stories is a paranormal storytelling podcast featuring real Bigfoot encounters, Sasquatch sightings, Dogman reports, cryptid experiences, and true scary stories from the backwoods.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss a chilling encounter from the forest. Listen with the lights off… if you dare.

Eileen lives in Pearl River, New York, in the same home she and her firefighter husband, John, purchased after their 1995 marriage. She raised their four children there—alongside their dad, who continues to watch over them from heaven. Inspired by her daughter Katreana's screenplay, Black Sunday: Trial By Fire (currently in development), Eileen wrote After John Jumped to share her journey through loss, healing, and hope. She continues John's legacy through the John Bellew Memorial Fund, has returned to teaching, and lives with her husband, Kevin, and their dog, Blue. @afterjohnjumped eileenbellewauthor@gmail.com Sponsorship: @southwest_fire_academy  Editing: @bradshea Marketing: @m.pletz Administration: @haileygreenfitness Partnership: @firefighternationhq @rescue_squad_ironworks @truenorthfools @ffrescueontario @firefighterfitnesscanada

The Swaps "Nothing" - Fast Train www.theswaps.co.uk The Miners "Without You" - Megunticook www.minersmusic.comEver More Nest "Wishing Well" - Out Here Now www.evermorenest.comJohn Papa Gros "Old Joe's Turkey" - Central City www.johnpapagros.comMike Zito "One Step At A Time" - Pearl River www.mikezito.comJack Grace "I Will Complain" - All The Above www.jackgrace.comMatthew Payne "Name" - Better Times www.thisismatthewpayne.comLe Vent Du Nord "Bienvenue (Welcome)" - Voisinages www.leventdunord.com ******************Jillian Matundan "Hold On" www.jillianmatundan.comAndrew McKnight "Hour Of Darkness" - Something Worth Standing For www.andrewmcknight.netKevin Neidig "Shoot The Tires, Donald!" - Questioning The Forty www.kevinneidig.comLynn Hollyfield "New Beginning" In The Balance www.lynnhollyfield.comTom Chapin "Julia Ward Howe (A Mother's Day For Peace)" - Songs Of Hope www.tomchapin.comJen Chapin "Little Hours" - Linger www.jenchapin.comThe Chapin Sisters "Girlfriend" - s/t www.thechapinsisters.com********************************Crys Matthews "Waking Up The Dead" - Reclamation www.crysmatthews.comSarah McQuaid "Yellowstone" The St. Buryan Sessions www.sarahmcquaid.comTerry Klein "Musconetcong River" - Hill Country Folk Music www.terrykleinmusic.comTrae Sheehan "Better Off" - Postcards From The Country www.traesheehan.com David Coller "Tuscon" - When Summer Comes www.davidcoller.com Mike Agranoff "The Ballad Of The White Seal Maid" - Or Would You Rather Get A Job? www.mikeagranoff.comClosing music: Geoffrey Armes "Vrikshashana (The Tree)" - Spirit Dwelling Running time: 3 hours, 53 minutes.I hold deed to this audio's usage, which is free to share with specific attribution, non-commercial and non-derivation rules.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Be sure and join us live for our next segment of the "Author's Corner" with our special guest, Eileen Bellew. Eileen Bellew of Pearl River has written "After John Jumped: The True Story of a Family's Rise from the Ashes," a memoir that begins with the death of her husband, New York City firefighter John Bellew. He died in January 2005 during a fire in the Bronx on a day known infamously as “Black Sunday,” after jumping from a four‑story building. After the tragic Black Sunday fire where she lost her husband John. She wrote a book titled "After John Jumped" . It's going to be another great conversation. We will get the whole skinny. You don't want to miss this one. Join us at the kitchen table on the BEST FIREFIGHTER PODCAST ON THE INTERNET! You can also Listen to our podcast ...we are on all the players #lovethisjob #GiveBackMoreThanYouTake #Oldschool #Tradition #blacksunday #FDNYhttps://eileenbellew.comhttps://www.amazon.com/After-John-Jumped-Story-Familys/dp/B0GT8NHKRZBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gettin-salty-experience-firefighter-podcast--4218265/support.

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A Pearl River teacher is in a whole lot of pain after he allegedly used Band-Aids to tape his student's mouths shut. Does this case have any legal weight? Attorney Doug Sunseri tells Dave the expert's opinion

In this segment of The Clay Edwards Show, host Clay Edwards welcomes Mississippi State Rep. Fred Shanks for a no-holds-barred discussion on pressing state issues. They tackle the ongoing liquor distribution crisis, including warehouse backlogs, delivery delays, and calls from local stores like Spillway Wine and Spirits for a state of emergency to resolve it—potentially deploying creative solutions like extra manpower to clear orders and stem massive tax revenue losses. Fred updates on legislative wins, including funding for school resource officers, the Children's Promise Act for tax credits, mobile sports betting to boost PERS and generate over $100 million annually, and appropriations for Jackson's sewer system while killing harmful bills. They celebrate a major victory on the Pearl River widening project led by Pearl Mayor Jake Windham, promising flood protection and transformative development for Rankin County and Jackson. The conversation shifts to Jackson's controversial police chief hire, emphasizing the need for boots-on-the-ground enforcement over studies. Fred shares insights on Trump's pardon czar, Mississippi native Alice Johnson, her redemption story from life in prison to White House role, and efforts to restore voting rights for nonviolent felons. They dive into national politics, debating Stephen A. Smith's potential 2028 presidential run as a common-sense Democrat shaking up a weak bench against figures like AOC and Gavin Newsom. Plus, quick hits on I-20 repaving and casino revenue for education. Raw, insightful talk on Mississippi's challenges and wins!

The December 2025 episode of "Crossroads of Rockland History" started streaming on Monday, December 15, 2025 at 10 am, on all major podcast platforms and on the HSRC website.Host Clare Sheridan welcomed Pearl River librarian and local historian James Cassetta for a discussion of his newly published book, When God Awakens in the Hinterlands: A History of Religious Worship in Pearl River, New York. The book explores Pearl River's spiritual heritage and tells the stories behind the different denominations that have helped shape the Pearl River community.Learn more about James Cassetta's books and appearances at the Pearl River Public LibraryCrossroads of Rockland History, a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, starts streaming new episodes on the third Monday of each month at 10am. From October 2010 to May 2025, the program aired after the morning show on WRCR radio 1700 AM and www.WRCR.com. Join host Clare Sheridan as we explore, celebrate, and learn about our local history, with different topics and guest speakers every month. Our recorded broadcasts are also available for streaming on all major podcasts platforms and at our website. The Historical Society of Rockland County is a nonprofit educational institution and principal repository for original documents and artifacts relating to Rockland County. Its headquarters are a four-acre site featuring a history museum and the 1832 Jacob Blauvelt House in New City, New York. www.RocklandHistory.org

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Presented by Pearl River Resort. Visit PearlRiverResort.com today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presented by Pearl River Resort. Visit PearlRiverResort.com today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presented by Pearl River Resort. Visit PearlRiverResort.com today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Juan Saliba joins the podcast before he shoots his debut short film, The Midnight Screening. He talks about his life, filmmaking journey and the process leading up to his short. As of this release, principal photography has wrapped. Look for it at film festivals in 2026/2027! Follow instagram.com/thchosenjuan instagram.com/themidnightscreeningshortfilm Upcoming Shows 11.19.25 | Pearl River, NY | Jordan Fried at Uncle Tommy's Tavern | 7 PM | Free 12.5.25 | Carlstadt, NJ | Junk Mail Improv Holiday Spectacular at Bolero Snort | 8 PM 12.7.25 | New York, NY | Jordan Fried at The Comedy Shop | 2 PM 12.20.25 | Bergenfield, NJ | Jordan Fried at Tommy Fox's Sessions With Mary Jane is a Cannabis infused podcast hosted by stoner comedian and filmmaker, Jordan Fried.  It features interviews from musicians, filmmakers, comedians, politicians, writers and business owners along with solo concept episodes.  While all guests do not necessarily partake, the one requirement is that they are pretty chill, man.  Listen for untold stories, how to guides, deeper dives and expanded curiosities. Your source for all things New Jersey, Hudson Valley and NYC.  New Episodes every Wednesday with exclusive bonus content. An LNH Studios podcast on the Gotham Network. Produced by the Gotham Network. LNH Studios is a comedy and video production company based out of Rutherford, New Jersey. It is comprised of the comedy trio Late Night Hump, consisting of Reena Ezra, Jordan Fried, and Brendan O'Brien.LNH Studios focuses on producing: • Podcasts • Films • Comedy shows and series (including sketch comedy, improv, stand-up, musical improv, and variety shows) They also offer classes and workshops related to comedy and production, and their services extend to recording audio and video, and scriptwriting.  You can find more information and contact them through their website, lnhstudios.com, or by phone at +1 845-545-0284.⁠ Jordan Fried⁠ (⁠https://jordanfried.myportfolio.com/⁠) is a SAG AFTRA comedian and filmmaker from Warwick, NY currently based in Rutherford, NJ. His debut comedy special and album, When The Edible Hits, is out on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, X, Facebook and Vinyl.  He is the co-director, co-writer and star of Beware The Horn, a film about a film school graduate that stumbles upon an improv troupe that he thinks is a cult.  He also appeared as the Young Peter Madoff in Madoff : Monster of Wall Street. He studied Digital Media Production and English at Tulane University, where he was a member of Cat Mafia Comedy. He's performed at Rhino Comedy, Eastville Comedy Club, Hell Yes Fest, Binghamton Comedy and Arts Festival, New Orleans Comedy and Arts Festival and Northern Virginia Comedy Festival. He produced the comedy variety show, Circuit Break; Late Night Hump at NJ Weedman's Joint; and he is a founding member of the improv troupes, Duly Noted and The Mutts.  He taught media, podcasting and comedy classes for Montclair Film, Blue Sky Kids and Educate The Block.  He recently worked as the operations manager at The Williams Center in Rutherford, NJ.

Last time we spoke about the beginning of the Wuhan Campaign. As Japanese forces pressed toward central China, Chiang Kai-shek faced a brutal choice: defend Wuhan with costly sieges or unleash a dangerous flood to buy time. The Yellow River breached its banks at Huayuankou, sending a wall of water racing toward villages, railways, and fields. The flood did not erase the enemy; it bought months of breathing room for a battered China, but at a terrible toll to civilians who lost homes, farms, and lives. Within Wuhan's orbit, a mosaic of Chinese forces struggled to unite. The NRA, split into competing war zones and factions, numbered about 1.3 million but fought with uneven equipment and training. The Japanese, deploying hundreds of thousands, ships, and air power, pressed from multiple angles: Anqing, Madang, Jiujiang, and beyond, using riverine forts and amphibious landings to turn the Yangtze into a deadly artery. Yet courage endured as troops held lines, pilots challenged the skies, and civilians, like Wang Guozhen, who refused to betray his country, chose defiance over surrender. The war for Wuhan was not a single battle but a testament to endurance in the face of overwhelming odds.   #173 The Fall of Wuhan Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. In the last episode we began the Battle of Wuhan. Japan captured Anqing and gained air access to Jiujiang, Chinese defenses around the Yangtze River were strained. The southern Yangtze's Ninth War Zone held two key garrisons: one west of Poyang Lake and another in Jiujiang. To deter Japanese assault on Jiujiang, China fortified Madang with artillery, mines, and bamboo booms. On June 24, Japan conducted a surprise Madang landing while pressing south along the Yangtze. Madang's fortress withstood four assaults but suffered heavy bombardment and poison gas. Chinese leadership failures contributed to the fall: Li Yunheng, overseeing Madang, was away at a ceremony, leaving only partial contingents, primarily three battalions from marine corps units and the 313th regiment of the 53rd division, participating, totaling under five battalions. Reinforcements from Pengze were misrouted by Li's orders, arriving too late. Madang fell after three days. Chiang Kai-shek retaliated with a counterattack and rewarded units that recaptured Xiangshan, but further progress was blocked. Li Yunheng was court-martialed, and Xue Weiying executed.   Madang's loss opened a corridor toward Jiujiang. The Japanese needed weeks to clear minefields, sacrificing several ships in the process. With roughly 200,000 Chinese troops in the Jiujiang–Ruichang zone under Xue Yue and Zhang Fukui, the Japanese captured Pengze and then Hukou, using poison gas again during the fighting. The Hukou evacuation cut off many non-combat troops, with over 1,800 of 3,100 soldiers successfully evacuated and more than 1,300 missing drowned in the lake. Two weeks after Hukou's fall, the Japanese reached Jiujiang and overtook it after a five-day battle. The retreat left civilians stranded, and the Jiujiang Massacre followed: about 90,000 civilians were killed, with mass executions of POWs, rapes, and widespread destruction of districts, factories, and transport. Subsequently, the Southern Riverline Campaign saw Japanese detachments along the river advance westward, capturing Ruichang, Ruoxi, and other areas through October, stretching Chinese defenses thin as Japan pressed toward Wuchang and beyond. On July 26, 1938, the Japanese occupied Jiujiang and immediately divided their forces into three routes: advancing toward De'an and Nanchang, then striking Changsha, severing the Yue-Han Railway, and surrounding Wuhan in an effort to annihilate the Chinese field army. The advance of the 101st and 106th Infantry Divisions slowed south of the Yangtze River, yet the Central China Expeditionary Army remained intent on seizing Ruichang and De'an to cut off Chinese forces around Mount Lu. To this end, the 9th and 27th Infantry Divisions were deployed to the sector, with the 9th regarded as an experienced unit that had fought in earlier campaigns, while the 27th was newly formed in the summer of 1938; this contrast underscored the rapidly expanding scope of the war in China as the Japanese Army General Staff continued mobilizing reservists and creating new formations. According to the operational plan, the 101st and 106th Divisions would push south toward De'an to pin Chinese defenders, while the 9th and 27th Divisions would envelop Chinese forces south of the river. Okamura Yasuji ordered five battalions from the 9th to move toward De'an via Ruichang, and the Hata Detachment was tasked with securing the area northwest of Ruichang to protect the 9th's flank. North of the Yangtze, the 6th Infantry Division was to move from Huangmei to Guangji, with Tianjiazhen as the ultimate objective; capturing Tianjiazhen would allow the 11th Army to converge on Wuhan from both north and south of the river.  The operation began when the 9th Division landed at Jiujiang, threatening the left flank of the Jinguanqiao line. The Chinese responded by deploying the 1st Corps to counter the 9th Division's left flank, which threatened the Maruyama Detachment's lines of communication. The Maruyama Detachment counterattacked successfully, enabling the rest of the 9th Division to seize Ruichang on August 24; on the same day, the 9th attacked the 30th Army defending Mount Min. The Chinese defense deteriorated on the mountain, and multiple counterattacks by Chinese divisions failed, forcing the 1st Corps to retreat to Mahuiling. The seizure of Ruichang and the surrounding area was followed by a wave of atrocities, with Japanese forces inflicting substantial casualties, destroying houses, and damaging property, and crimes including murder, rape, arson, torture, and looting devastating many villages and livelihoods in the Ruichang area. After Ruichang and Mount Min fell, the Maruyama Detachment and the 106th Infantry Division advanced on Mahuiling, seeking to encircle Chinese forces from the northwest, with the 106th forming the inner ring and the Maruyama Detachment the outer ring; this coordination led to Mahuiling's fall on September 3. The 27th Infantry Division, arriving in late August, landed east of Xiaochikou, providing the manpower to extend Japanese offensives beyond the Yangtze's banks and outflank Chinese defenders along the river. Its main objective was to seize the Rui-wu highway, a vital route for the continued advance toward Wuhan. After the fall of Mahuiling, Japanese command altered its strategy. The 11th Army ordered the Maruyama Detachment to rejoin the 9th Infantry Division and press westward, while the 101st Infantry Division was to remain at Mahuiling and push south toward De'an along with the 106th Infantry Division. This divergent or “eccentric” offensive aimed to advance on Wuhan while protecting the southern flank. The renewed offensive began on September 11, 1938, with the 9th Infantry Division and Hata Detachment advancing west along the Rui-yang and Rui-wu highways toward Wuhan, followed days later by the 27th Infantry Division. Initially, the Japanese made solid progress from Ruichang toward a line centered on Laowuge, but soon faced formidable Chinese defenses. The 9th and 27th Divisions confronted the Chinese 2nd Army Corps, which had prepared in-depth positions in the mountains west of Sanchikou and Xintanpu. The 27th Division encountered stiff resistance from the 18th and 30th Corps, and although it captured Xiaoao by September 24, its vanguard advancing west of Shujie came under heavy attack from the 91st, 142nd, 60th, and 6th Reserve Infantry Divisions, threatening to encircle it. Only the southward advance of the 101st and 106th Divisions relieved the pressure, forcing the Chinese to redeploy the 91st and 6th Reserve Divisions to the south and thereby loosening the 27th's grip. After the redeployment, the 9th and 27th Divisions resumed their push. The 9th crossed the Fu Shui on October 9 and took Sanjikou on October 16, while the 27th seized Xintanpu on October 18. The Hata Detachment followed, capturing Yangxin on October 18 and Ocheng on October 23, further tightening Japanese control over the highways toward Wuhan. By mid-October, 11th Army commander Okamura Yasuji resolved to sever the Guangzhou-Hankou railway to disrupt Chinese lines. On October 22, the 9th and 27th Divisions attacked toward Jinniu and Xianning. By October 27, the 9th had captured Jinniu and cut the railway; the 27th Division extended the disruption further south. These actions effectively isolated Wuchang from the south, giving the Imperial Japanese Army greater leverage over the southern approaches to Wuhan. The push south by the 101st and 106th Infantry Divisions pressed toward De'an, where they encountered the entrenched Chinese 1st Army Corps. The offensive began on September 16 and by the 24th, elements of the 27th Division penetrated deep into the area west of Baishui Street and De'an's environs. Recognizing the growing crisis, Xue Yue mobilized the nearby 91st and 142nd Divisions, who seized Nanping Mountain along the Ruiwu Line overnight, effectively cutting off the 27th Division's retreat. Fierce combat on the 25th and 26th saw Yang Jialiu, commander of the 360th Regiment of the 60th Division, die a heroic death. Zhang Zhihe, chief of staff of the 30th Group Army and an underground CCP member, commanded the newly formed 13th Division and the 6th Division to annihilate the Suzuki Regiment and recapture Qilin Peak. Learning of the 27th Division's trap, Okamura Yasuji panicked and, on the 25th, urgently ordered the 123rd, 145th, and 147th Infantry Regiments and mountain artillery of the 106th Division on the Nanxun Line, along with the 149th Regiment of the 101st Division on the Dexing Line, to rush to Mahuiling and Xingzi. To adapt to mountain warfare, some units were temporarily converted to packhorse formations. On the 27th, the 106th Division broke through the Wutailing position with force, splitting into two groups and pushing toward Erfangzheng and Lishan. By the 28th, the three regiments and mountain artillery of the 106th Division advanced into the mountain villages of Wanjialing, Leimingguliu, Shibaoshan, Nantianpu, Beixijie, and Dunshangguo, about 50 li west of De'an. On the same day, the 149th Regiment of the 101st Division entered the Wanjialing area and joined the 106th Division. Commanded by Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura, the 106th Division sought to break out of Baicha and disrupt the Nanwu Highway to disrupt the Chinese retreat from De'an. At this juncture, Xue Yue's corps perceived the Japanese advance as a predatory, wolf-like maneuver and deemed it a strategic opportunity to counterattack. He resolved to pull forces from Dexing, Nanxun, and Ruiwu to envelop the enemy near Wanjialing, with the aim of annihilating them. Thus began a desperate, pivotal battle between China and Japan in northern Jiangxi, centered on the Wanjialing area. The Japanese 106th Division found its rear communications cut off around September 28, 1938, as the Chinese blockade tightened. Despite the 27th Division's severed rear and its earlier defeat at Qilin Peak, Okamura Yasuji ordered a renewed push to relieve the besieged 106th by directing the 27th Division to attack Qilin Peak and advance east of Baishui Street. In this phase, the 27th Division dispatched the remnants of its 3rd Regiment to press the assault on Qilin Peak, employing poison gas and briefly reaching the summit. On September 29, the 142nd Division of the 32nd Army, under Shang Zhen, coordinated with the 752nd Regiment of the same division to launch a fierce counterattack on Qilin Peak at Zenggai Mountain west of Xiaoao. After intense fighting, they reclaimed the peak, thwarting the 27th Division's bid to move eastward to aid the 106th. Concurrently, a portion of the 123rd Regiment of the 106th Division attempted a breakout west of Baishui Street. Our 6th and 91st Divisions responded with a determined assault from the east of Xiaoao, blocking the 123rd Regiment east of Baishui Street. The victories at Qilin Peak and Baishui Street halted any merger between the eastern and western Japanese forces, enabling the Chinese army to seal the pocket and create decisive conditions for encircling the 106th Division and securing victory in the Battle of Wanjialing. After the setback at Qilin Peak, Division Commander Masaharu Homma, defying Okamura Yasuji's orders to secure Baishui Street, redirected his focus to Tianhe Bridge under a pretext of broader operations. He neglected the heavily encircled 106th Division and pivoted toward Xintanpu. By September 30, Chinese forces attacked from both the east and west, with the 90th and 91st Divisions joining the assault on the Japanese positions. On October 1, the Japanese, disoriented and unable to pinpoint their own unit locations, telegrammed Okamura Yasuji for air support. On October 2, the First Corps received orders to tighten the encirclement and annihilate the enemy forces. Deployments were made to exploit a numerical advantage and bolster morale, placing the Japanese in a desperate position. On October 3, 1938, the 90th and 91st Divisions launched a concerted attack on Nantianpu, delivering heavy damage to the Japanese force and showering Leimingguliu with artillery fire that endangered the 106th Division headquarters. By October 5, Chinese forces reorganized: the 58th Division of the 74th Army advanced from the south, the 90th Division of the 4th Army from the east, portions of the 6th and 91st Divisions from the west, and the 159th and 160th Divisions of the 65th Army from the north, tightening the surrounding cordon from four directions. On October 6, Xue Yue ordered a counterattack, and by October 7 the Chinese army had effectively cut off all retreat routes. That evening, after fierce hand-to-hand combat, the 4th Army regained the hilltop, standing at a 100-meter-high position, and thwarted any Japanese plan to break through Baicha and sever Chinese retreat toward De'an. By October 8, Lieutenant Colonel Sakurada Ryozo, the 106th Division's staff officer, reported the division's deteriorating situation to headquarters. The telegram signaled the impending collapse of the 106th Division. On October 9, Kuomintang forces recaptured strategic positions such as Lishan, tightening encirclement to a small pocket of about three to four square kilometers in Nantianpu, Leimingguliu, and Panjia. That night, the vanguard attacked the Japanese 106th Division's headquarters at Leimingguliu, engaging in close combat with the Japanese. Matsuura and the division's staff then took up arms in defense. In the early hours of October 10, Japanese forces launched flares that illuminated only a narrow arc of movement, and a limited number of troops fled northwest toward Yangfang Street. The two and a half month battle inflicted tremendous casualties on the Japanese, particularly on the 101st and 106th divisions. These two formations began with a combined strength of over 47,000 troops and ultimately lost around 30,000 men in the fighting. The high casualty rate hit the Japanese officer corps especially hard, forcing General Shunroku Hata to frequently airdrop replacement officers onto the besieged units' bases throughout the engagement. For the Chinese, the successful defense of Wanjialing was pivotal to the Wuhan campaign.  Zooming out at a macro level a lot of action was occurring all over the place. Over in Shandong, 1,000 soldiers under Shi Yousan, who had defected multiple times between rival warlord cliques and operated as an independent faction, occupied Jinan and held it for a few days. Guerrillas briefly controlled Yantai. East of Changzhou extending to Shanghai, another non-government Chinese force, led by Dai Li, employed guerrilla tactics in the Shanghai suburbs and across the Huangpu River. This force included secret society members from the Green Gang and the Tiandihui, who conducted executions of spies and perceived traitors, losing more than 100 men in the course of operations. On August 13, members of this force clandestinely entered the Japanese air base at Hongqiao and raised a Chinese flag. Meanwhile, the Japanese Sixth Division breached the defensive lines of Chinese 31st and 68th Armies on July 24 and captured Taihu, Susong, and Huangmei Counties by August 3. As Japanese forces advanced westward, the Chinese Fourth Army of the Fifth War Zone deployed its main strength in Guangji, Hubei, and Tianjia Town to intercept the offensive. The 11th Army Group and the 68th Army were ordered to form a defensive line in Huangmei County, while the 21st and 29th Army Groups, along with the 26th Army, moved south to outflank the Japanese. The Chinese recaptured Taihu on August 27 and Susong on August 28. However, with Japanese reinforcements arriving on August 30, the Chinese 11th Army Group and the 68th Army were unable to sustain counteroffensives and retreated to Guangji County to continue resisting alongside the 26th, 55th, and 86th Armies. The Chinese Fourth Army Group directed the 21st and 29th Army Groups to flank the Japanese from the northeast of Huangmei, but they failed to halt the Japanese advance. Guangji fell on September 6, and while Guangji was recovered by the Chinese Fourth Corps on September 8, Wuxue was lost on the same day. Zooming back in on the Wuhan Front, the Japanese focus shifted to Tianjiazhen. The fortress of Tianjiazhen represented the 6th Infantry Division's most important objective. Its geographic position, where the Yangtze's two banks narrow to roughly 600 meters, with cliffs and high ground overlooking the river, allowed Chinese forces to deploy gun batteries that could control the river and surrounding terrain. Chinese control of Tianjiazhen thus posed a serious obstacle to Japan's amphibious and logistical operations on the Yangtze, and its seizure was deemed essential for Japan to advance toward Wuhan. Taking Tianjiazhen would not be easy: overland approaches were impeded by mountainous terrain on both sides of the fortress, while an amphibious assault faced fortified positions and minefields in the narrow river. Recognizing its strategic importance, Chinese forces reinforced Tianjiazhen with three divisions from central government troops, aiming to deter an overland assault. Chinese preparations included breaching several dykes and dams along the Yangtze to flood expanses of land and slow the Japanese advance; however, the resulting higher water levels widened the river and created a more accessible supply route for the Japanese. Instead of relying on a long overland route from Anqing to Susong, the Japanese could now move supplies directly up the Yangtze from Jiujiang to Huangmei, a distance of only about 40 kilometers, which boosted the 6th Division's logistics and manpower. In August 1938 the 6th Infantry Division resumed its northward push, facing determined resistance from the 4th Army Corps entrenched in a narrow defile south of the Dabie Mountains, with counterattacks from the 21st and 27th Army Groups affecting the 6th's flank. The Dabie Mountains are a major mountain range located in central China. Running northwest to southeast, they form the main watershed between the Huai and Yangtze rivers. The range also marks the boundary between Hubei Province and its neighboring provinces of Henan to the north and Anhui to the east. By early September the 6th had captured Guangji, providing a staging ground for the thrust toward Tianjiazhen, though this extended the division's long flank: after Guangji fell, it now faced a 30-kilometer front between Huangmei and Guangji, exposing it to renewed Chinese pressure from the 21st and 27th Army Groups. This constrained the number of troops available for the main objective at Tianjiazhen. Consequently, the Japanese dispatched only a small force, three battalions from the Imamura Detachment, to assault Tianjiazhen, betting that the fortress could be taken within a week. The KMT, learning from previous defeats, reinforced Tianjiazhen with a stronger infantry garrison and built obstacles, barbed wire, pillboxes, and trench networks, to slow the assault. These defenses, combined with limited Japanese logistics, six days of rations per soldier, made the operation costly and precarious. The final Japanese assault was postponed by poor weather, allowing Chinese forces to press counterattacks: three Chinese corps, the 26th, 48th, and 86th, attacked the Imamura Detachment's flank and rear, and by September 18 these attacks had begun to bite, though the floods of the Yangtze prevented a complete encirclement of the eastern flank. Despite these setbacks, Japanese riverine and ground operations continued, aided by naval support that moved up the Yangtze as Matouzhen's batteries were overtaken. After Matouzhen fell and enabled a secure riverine supply line from Shanghai to Guangji, 11th Army commander Okamura Yasuji quickly sent relief supplies upriver on September 23. These replenishments restored the besieged troops near Tianjiazhen and allowed the Japanese to resume the offensive, employing night assaults and poison gas to seize Tianjiazhen on September 29, 1938, thereby removing a major barrier to their advance toward Wuhan along the Yangtze. The 11th Army pressed north along the Yangtze while the 2nd Army, commanded by Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, concentrated the 3rd, 10th, 13th, and 16th Infantry Divisions around Hefei with initial aims at Lu'an and Heshan and the broader objective of moving toward the northern foothills of the Dabie Mountains. When Chinese forces began destroying roads west of Lu'an, Naruhiko shifted the 2nd Army's plan. Rather than pushing along a line from Lu'an to Heshan, he redirected toward the Huangchuan–Shangcheng corridor, where more intact roads remained accessible, and Chinese withdrawals in the Huangchuan–Shangceng area to counter the 11th Army's Yangtze advance allowed the 2nd Army to gain speed in the early stage of its offensive. The 10th and 13th Infantry Divisions were ordered to begin their advance on August 27, facing roughly 25,000 Chinese troops from the Fifth War Zone's 51st and 77th Corps, and achieving notable early gains. The 10th captured Lu'an on August 28, followed by the 13th taking Heshan on August 29. The 10th then seized Kushi on September 7. Meanwhile, the 13th crossed the Shi River at night in an attempt to seize Changbailing, but encountered stiff resistance from multiple Chinese divisions that slowed its progress. To bolster the effort, Naruhiko ordered the Seiya Detachment from the 10th Division—three infantry battalions—to reinforce the 13th. Despite these reinforcements, momentum remained insufficient, so he deployed the 16th Infantry Division, which had arrived at Yenchiachi, to assault Shangcheng from the north. After crossing the Shi River at Yanjiachi, the 16th outflanked Shangcheng from the north, coordinating with the 13th from the south; the Chinese withdrew and Shangcheng fell. Following this success, Naruhiko ordered the 13th and 16th Divisions to push deeper into the Dabie Mountains toward Baikou and Songfu, while the 10th and 3rd Divisions moved toward Leshan and Xinyang, with Xinyang, a crucial Beijing–Wuhan Railway node, representing a particularly important objective. The Japanese advance progressed steadily through the Dabie Mountains, with the 10th executing bold maneuvers to outflank Leshan from the south and the 3rd penetrating toward the Beijing–Wuhan railway north of Xinyang, collectively disrupting and cutting the railway near Xinyang in October. An independent unit, the Okada Detachment, operated between these forces, advancing through Loshan before sealing Xinyang on October 12. The seizure of Xinyang effectively severed Wuhan's northern artery from external reinforcement and resupply, signaling a decisive turn against Wuhan as a Chinese stronghold. While the 2nd Army advanced in the Dabie Mountains, another critical development was taking place far to the south. By the end of 1937, southern China became more crucial to the Republic of China as a lifeline to the outside world. Guangzhou and Hong Kong served as some of the last vital transportation hubs and sources of international aid for Chiang Kai-Shek, with approximately 80 percent of supplies from abroad reaching Chinese forces in the interior through Guangzhou. Imperial General Headquarters believed that a blockade of Guangdong province would deprive China of essential war materiel and the ability to prolong the war. As I always liked to term it, the Japanese were trying to plug up the leaks of supplies coming into China, and Guangzhou was the largest one. In 1936 the Hankow-Canton railway was completed, and together with the Kowloon-Canton railway formed a rapid all-rail link from south China to central and northern China. For the first sixteen months of the war, about 60,000 tons of goods transited per month through the port of Hong Kong. The central government also reported the import of 1.5 million gallons of gasoline through Hong Kong in 1938, and more than 700,000 tons of goods would eventually reach Hankou using the new railway. In comparison, the Soviet Union in 1937 was sending war materiel through Xinjiang to Lanzhou using camels, with Chinese raw materials traveling back either the same route or via Hong Kong to Vladivostok. By 1940, 50,000 camels and hundreds of trucks were transporting 2,000–3,000 tons of Soviet war material per month into China. Japanese planning for operations began in early November 1937, with the blockade's objectives centered on seizing a portion of Daya Bay and conducting air operations from there. In December 1937, the 5th Army, including the 11th Division, the Formosa Mixed Brigade, and the 4th Air Brigade, were activated in Formosa under Lt. Gen. Motoo Furusho to achieve this objective. Due to the proximity of Daya Bay to Hong Kong, the Japanese government feared potential trouble with Britain, and the operation was subsequently suspended, leading to the deactivation of the 5th Army. By June 1938, the Battle of Wuhan convinced Imperial General Headquarters that the fighting could not be localized. The headquarters reversed policy and began preparations to capture Guangzhou and to expedite the settlement of the war. During the peak of the battles of Shanghai and Nanjing, urgent demands for aerial support at the Battle of Taiyuan in the north and at Canton in the south forced the Nationalist Air Force of China to split the 28th Pursuit Squadron and the 5th Pursuit Group , based at Jurong Airbase in the Nanking defense sector. The squadron was divided into two smaller units: Lt. Arthur Chin led one half toward Canton, while Capt. Chan Kee-Wong led the other half to Taiyuan. On September 27, 1937, the 28th PS under Lt. Arthur Chin dispatched four Hawk IIs from Shaoguan Airbase, and the 29th PS under Lt. Chen Shun-Nan deployed three Hawk IIIs from Tianhe Airbase. Their mission was to intercept Japanese IJNAF G3M bombers attempting to strike the Canton–Hankow railway infrastructure. The two flights engaged the Japanese bombers over Canton, claiming at least two kills; one G3M dumped fuel and ditching off the coast of Swatow, with its crew rescued by a British freighter, though one of the gunners died of battle injuries. In October 1937, amid mounting demands and combat losses, the Chinese government ordered 36 Gloster Gladiator Mk.I fighters, whose performance and firepower surpassed that of the Hawk IIs and IIIs, and most of these would become frontline fighters for the Canton defense sector as the war extended into 1938. On February 23, 1938, Capt. John Huang Xinrui, another Chinese-American volunteer pilot, took command of the renewed 29th PS, now equipped with the Gladiators. He led nine Gladiators from Nanxiong Airbase on their first active combat over Canton, supporting three Gladiators from the 28th PS as they intercepted thirteen Nakajima E8N fighter-attack seaplanes launched from the seaplane tenders Notoro Maru and Kinugasa Maru. The battle proved challenging: most of the Gladiators' machine guns jammed, severely reducing their firepower. Despite this, five of the E8Ns were shot down, confirmed by Capt. Huang and his fellow pilots who managed to strike the Japanese aircraft with only one, two, or three functioning guns per Gladiator. Chin later revealed that the gun jams were caused by defective Belgian-made ammunition. The combat nevertheless proved tragic and costly: Lt. Xie Chuanhe (Hsieh Chuan-ho) and his wingman Lt. Yang Rutong pursued the E8Ns but were stymied by inoperable weapons, with Lt. Yang killed in the counterattack, and Lt. Chen Qiwei lost under similar circumstances. The 4th War Area Army, commanded by He Yingqin, was assigned to the defense of south China in 1938. General Yu Hanmou led the 12th Army Group defending Guangdong province. The region's defense included about eight divisions and two brigades of regular army troops stationed around Guangzhou, with an additional five divisions of regular troops deployed in Fujian. The 4th War Area Army totaled roughly 110,000 regular army troops. By this time, most regular army units in Guangxi and four Guangdong divisions had been redirected north to participate in the Battle of Wuhan. Beyond the regular army, two militia divisions were deployed near Guangzhou, and the Guangxi militia comprised five divisions. Militia units were typically raised from local civilians and disbanded as the army moved through new areas. Their roles centered on security, supply transportation, and reconnaissance. Guangdong's main defensive strength was concentrated in Guangzhou and the immediate environs to the city's east. Other Chinese forces defended Chaozhou and western Guangdong. Defensive fortifications included the Humen fortress guarding the Pearl River mouth and three defensive lines near Daya Bay. Guangzhou housed three batteries of four three-inch guns, a battery of three 120mm guns, and Soviet-supplied 37mm anti-aircraft guns. The Imperial Japanese Navy conducted an aerial and naval interdiction campaign aimed at China's communication lines to neighboring regions. Japan believed that the blockade would hasten the end of the war, and disruption of the Chinese logistics network was the primary objective in Guangdong province from August 1937 until October 1938. The 5th Fleet's blockading actions extended along the coast from Haimenchen, Zhejiang to Shantou, with the 5th Destroyer Squadron patrolling the coast south of Shantou. At times, units from the Marianas were deployed to support coastal blockade operations in south China, usually consisting of cruisers accompanied by destroyer flotillas. One or two aircraft carriers and fleet auxiliaries would also be on station. Naval interdictions focused on stopping junks ferrying military supplies from Hong Kong to coastal China. The first recorded attack occurred in September 1937 when eleven junks were sunk by a Japanese submarine. Although Japan successfully blockaded Chinese shipping and ports, foreign shipping could still enter and depart from Hong Kong. The central government had established Hong Kong as a warehouse for munitions and supplies to pass through. Aerial interdictions targeted Chinese railway bridges and trains in Guangdong. Starting in October 1937, the Japanese launched air raids against the Sunning railway, focusing on government facilities and bridges in Jiangmen and towns along the railway. By 1938, airstrikes against the Kowloon–C Canton railway became common, with damaged trains periodically found along the line. An air-defense early warning system was created to divert trains during raids into forested areas that offered overhead concealment. In May 1938, the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office approved a Chinese request to construct and operate a locomotive repair yard within the New Territories to keep the railway operational. Airstrikes against rail facilities in Guangzhou were designed to interrupt rail supplies from Hong Kong so Japan would not need to commit to land operations in south China. However, the air raids did not severely impede railway operations or stop supplies moving through Hunan or Guangxi. The blockade in south China also targeted aircraft flying out of Hong Kong. In November 1937, a Royal Navy aircraft from HMS Eagle encountered Japanese naval anti-aircraft fire off the coast of Hong Kong. In December 1937, fifteen Japanese bombers overflew Lantau Island and the Taikoo docks. In August 1938, Japanese naval aircraft shot down a China National Aviation Corporation passenger plane, and two Eurasia Aviation Corporation passenger planes were shot down the following month. Beyond military targets, the Japanese conducted politically motivated terror bombing in Guangzhou. Bombing intensified from May to June 1938 with incendiary munitions and low-level strafing attacks against ships. The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service, operating from Formosa and the carrier Kaga, conducted about 400 airstrikes during this period and continued into July. By the end of the summer, Guangzhou's population had dwindled to approximately 600,000 from an original 1.3 million. From August 1937 to October 1938, casualties in Guangzhou were estimated at 6,000 killed and 8,000 injured. On October 12, 1938, Japanese forces from the 21st Army, including the 5th, 18th, and 104th Infantry Divisions, landed in Guangzhou, launching the operation at 4:00 am with elements of the 5th and 18th Divisions hitting Aotou and elements of the 104th Division landing at Hachung in Bias Bay. Initially totaling about 30,000 men, they were soon reinforced by a further 20,000, and resistance was minimal because most of Yu Hanmou's 12th Army Group had been redeployed to central China to defend approaches to Wuhan, leaving only two regular Chinese divisions, the 151st and 153rd, to defend the region. By the night of October 12, the Japanese had established a 10-kilometer-deep beachhead and advanced inland; on October 13 they seized the towns of Pingshan and Tamshui with little opposition, and on October 15 they converged on Waichow and captured it. The fall of Pingshan, located on the Sai Kong River with a deep, broad river and only a flimsy crossing, and Waichow, where Chinese defenses included trenches and concrete pillboxes, surprised observers since these positions had been prepared to resist invasion; nonetheless, Chinese forces fled, opening the road to Guangzhou for the Japanese. Between October 16 and 19, three Japanese columns pushed inland, with the easternmost column crossing the East River on the 16th and the 5th Infantry Division capturing Sheklung on the 19th as Chinese forces retreated. By the night of October 20, Guangzhou's defenders withdrew and adopted a scorched-earth policy to deny resources to the invaders. On October 21, Japanese tanks entered Guangzhou without infantry support, and a regiment from the 5th Infantry Division captured the Bocca Tigris forts with no resistance. With Guangzhou secured, the Guangzhou–Wuhan railway and the Hong Kong–Guangzhou railway were severed, supplies to Wuhan were cut, Chiang Kai-Shek faced a daunting and depressing task, he had to abandon Wuhan. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Yangtze became a bloodied artery as Chinese and Japanese forces clashed from Anqing to Jiujiang, Madang to Tianjiazhen. A mosaic of Chinese troops, filled with grit and missteps, held lines while civilians like Wang Guozhen refused to surrender. The siege of Wanjialing crowned Chinese resilience, even as Guangzhou buckled under a relentless blockade. The Fall of Wuhan was all but inevitable.

Update: Electronics at center of sexual encounter at Pearl River church altar sex incident ordered returned to disgraced priest, Elderly Japanese woman scammed out of $6700 by 'astronaut stranded in space', Korean wrestling coach expelled after hitting student in the head with a shovel

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A state legislative leader says one of his top priorities for the next session is expanding school choice.Then, the Army Corps of Engineers hears what residents in Jackson think about different versions of the "One Lake Project", an effort to mitigate flooding along the Pearl River.Plus, students at the University of Mississippi Medical Center are relocating thousands of graves, a unique opportunity to better understand the state's medical history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Mississippi Department of Health warns cases of the Whooping Cough are rising at a high rate.Children are especially vulnerable and it can be fatal. Then, the Army Corps of Engineers reveals new flood control plans for the Pearl River in Jackson.Plus a new civil rights marker shares the story of the Alexander versus Holmes County Supreme Court Decision. That rule led to the desegregation of all public schools nationwide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

628. Anniversary episode.  It's the 13th anniversary for the Anthology, and the 12th for the Podcast. Ed Branley visits again to discuss our accomplishments and his over the past year. Here are some new additions to our Anthology over recent months: The Axman. Letter to the Times Picayune from a serial killer who was never caught. James Fenimore Cooper. The Prairie. A novel set in the Louisiana Purchase during the territorial days.Dabney. The Industrial Canal. Dorothy Day. Newspaper articles and The Eleventh Virgin. David Ervin. A Frozen Solution. He tells the story of how he created the drive-thru daiquiri stand in Lafayette.  Louise Hicks. “Women and the Code Napoléon.” Huey P. Long. Share Our Wealth pamphlet. H. P. Lovecraft. The Call of Cthulhu. A tale of chilling horror beginning in a Louisiana swamp. Keith Plessy et al. “Grant of Posthumous Clemency to Homer Plessy.”  Emma Southworth. India: The Pearl of Pearl River. A novel set in the antebellum South. Keep coming back for further updates! And thanks for your support. Now available: Liberty in Louisiana: A Comedy. The oldest play about Louisiana, author James Workman wrote it as a celebration of the Louisiana Purchase. Now it is back in print for the first time in 221 years. Order your copy today! This week in Louisiana history. May 31, 1964. Last run of Canal Street Streetcar This week in New Orleans history. Tom Benson buys the Saints  May 31, 1985. This week in Louisiana. June 7, 2025 75th Annual Louisiana Peach Festival Railroad Park Ruston, LA 71270 (318) 255-2031 Website     Come discover the homegrown flavors, art, music, and culture of Ruston, LA at the 74th Annual Louisiana Peach Festival featuring 12+ hours of live music, a juried arts market, food vendors, kids' activities, and more peachy fun in the heart of charming Downtown Ruston.     The Louisiana Peach Festival is a long-standing Ruston tradition dating back to 1951. The festival was created by area peach farmers as a way to promote their industry and the delicious peaches they produced throughout Louisiana and surrounding states. Over the years, the Peach Festival has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to Lincoln Parish and pumped millions back into the local economy. The festival has seen many changes over its 70 years, but through it all, the event has continued to be a source of excitement and pride in the community. In 2021, the  Ruston Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau and Downtown Ruston took over coordination of the event with the goal of continuing the event's legacy as a celebration of Ruston's local talent and delicious peaches. Postcards from Louisiana. Phillip Manuel sings with Michael Pellera Trio play at Snug Harbor on Frenchmen St. in New Orleans  Listen on Apple Podcasts. Listen on audible. Listen on Spotify. Listen on TuneIn. Listen on iHeartRadio. The Louisiana Anthology Home Page. Like us on Facebook. 

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From Garage Bands to Gibson: Mike Lawson's Wild Ride Through the Music Industry In this episode of The Tone Mob Podcast, Blake Wyland sits down with Mike Lawson—musician, publisher, gear designer, and all-around music industry lifer. From his early days jamming in Florida to shaping the future of music education and publishing, Mike's career has spanned decades of innovation, reinvention, and pure love for the craft. They dive deep into the golden era of guitar shops, the digital revolution that transformed music production, and Mike's time working with giants like Quincy Jones, Gibson Guitars, Hal Leonard and a whole lot more! Plus, hear about the creation of his signature guitars with Pearl River, his favorite pedals, and—of course—his go-to pizza toppings. Whether you're a gear nerd, a publishing pro, or just love a good behind-the-scenes music story, this one's packed with insight, nostalgia, and plenty of laughs.

​Alice Cheng is the Founder and CEO of Culinary Agents, an online professional networking and job matching platform dedicated to the hospitality industry. Her career began in the hospitality sector, working as a hostess and server at La Maisonette in the Pearl River Hilton and as a catering server for Munno's Deli in Pearl River, NY.Cheng pursued a Bachelor of Science in Advertising, Marketing & Communications from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, NY.  She then embarked on a 13-year tenure at IBM, starting in the mailroom and advancing to roles such as Digital Media Specialist, Economic Stimulus Strategy & Sales Leader, and Global Innovation Executive in Strategy & Transformation.In 2012, Cheng founded Culinary Agents to address the challenges hospitality professionals faced in job searching and recruitment. The platform has since connected over 2 million users with more than 50,000 businesses, offering job listings, industry insights, and educational content to inspire the next generation of restaurant talent.Beyond her role at Culinary Agents, Cheng serves as a Strategic Advisor for Hot Bread Kitchen's Kitchen Cabinet in New York, NY, and is a member of the Society of Fellows for the Culinary Institute of America. She also hosts the podcast "Hospitality on the Rise," highlighting stories and insights from hospitality professionals. Cheng's dedication to the hospitality industry is evident in her efforts to provide resources and tools that support professionals in their career development. Her work continues to influence and shape the future of hospitality recruitment and networking.​

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Get ready for an eye-opening journey into the world of luxury river cruising in Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar with John Nguyen, CEO of Heritage Line!

Attention TLF Solar System:"The Lapsed Fan" is nominated for "Best Wrestling Podcast" in the Sports Podcast Awards! That means it's time for you to do the right thing and vote. It's also time for you to get your friends and family (even the ones you don't like to talk to) to do the right thing, too. Vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-wrestling-podcast/#

Last time we spoke about the Nanchang and Autumn Harvest Uprisings. On August 1st, during the Nanchang Uprising, the CCP's 2nd Front Army inflicted heavy casualties and seized substantial weaponry. Reorganized under He Long and Ye Ting, the army, then 20,000 strong, celebrated in Nanchang, attracting new recruits. However, faced with an imminent counterattack, they retreated south in what became known as the "little long march." Despite initial successes, like capturing Huichang County, internal strife and harsh conditions reduced their numbers significantly. By the end of August, they reached Guangdong, but relentless opposition from Nationalist forces led to severe losses. The remaining forces retreated east, encountering brutal battles and a final, devastating defeat. Scattered, the remnants sought refuge and eventually regrouped, with leaders like Zhou Enlai and He Long navigating exile and adversity. The uprising marked the CCP's first armed resistance against the KMT, a prelude to continued revolutionary efforts, notably the Autumn Harvest Uprising, amid widespread, strategic shifts in CCP policy and leadership, including Mao Zedong's influential role.   #120 The Guangzhou, Gansu and Red Spear Uprisings Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Last we left off the Nanchang and Autumn Harvest uprisings saw mixed to….lets be honest kind of lackluster results. Both certainly saw their hardships for the passionate people involved. Countless gave their lives for a cause they truly believed in. This was China's warlord era, so many differing groups made grand promises for bright futures, such as warlords, the KMT and of course the CCP. The CCP having undergone the White Terror, now sought to unleash their own independent revolution, now released by the shackles of the KMT.  On the 7th the CCP Central Committee held an emergency meeting, where Chen Duxiu was criticized for his appeasement of the KMT right wing. It was also during this meeting, the CCP formalized how they would go about implementing a land revolution and armed uprisings. The CCP then received strong suggestions from Joseph Stalin, that they should unleash a major uprising to seize control over a province, hinting at performing such a deed in Guangzhou in the hopes of taking Guangdong. In accordance the head of the CCP Qu Qiubai decided they needed to persuade soldiers to their cause to perform such a thing. Many within the CCP leadership did not support such plans, deeming the chance of winning control over a province to be highly unlikely, but their Soviet advisors were strongly pushing for it.   On the 20th Zhang Tailei, the secretary of the Guangdong CCP provincial committee, discussed plans for a provincial wide uprising. They would mobilize the workers and peasants to hold riots in key locations within Guangdong, particularly Guangzhou. The ultimate plan was to seize Guangdong by establishing uprising committees in Beijiang, Xijiang and Guangzhou. In early October the Nanchang uprising suffered tremendous losses at Chao'an and Shantou. This setback changed the minds of those seeking to seize all of Guangdong and instead they directed their efforts to mobilizing workers in Guangzhou to carry out political and economic struggles. On November 17th within Guangdong and Guangxi, petty warlords began a little war. This was between the KMT aligned warlords Zhang Fakui and Li Jishen. The CCP Central Committee believed this little war was a major opportunity and jumped to exploit it.  Zhang Fakui was vulnerable in particular. He was colluding with Wang Jingwei at the time, his primary job was to eliminate the pervading influence of the CCP in the Guangzhou area. Zhang Fakui's troops continuously rounded up suspected communists and kept a close eye on the Soviet consulate at all times. Zhang Fakui's troops were more or less brutalizing the common people, not a tasteful job by any means and one that demoralized them. It was because of this the CCP knew they might be able to win over some of his troops to their side. The CCP played upon the low standard of living and economic instability of warlord era China, hoping to appeal to the masses for a Soviet communist style system rather than what the KMT proposed. Here is a taste of some of the slogans they wrote on placards and proclaimed in major city centers: Raise the Soldiers' Pay to 20 Silver Dollars! Food for the Workers! Land to the Tillers! Knock Down the KMT and the Warlords! Kill All the Country Bullies and the Evil Landlords! Confiscate the Capitalists' Homes and Give Them to the Rebel Masses! All Authority to the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers! They passed the “resolution of the Guangdong work plan”, this would require the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee to expand some riots using workers and peasants within the cities and villages; incite soldiers to mutiny and resist the war and hopefully direct all said into a general riot to seize power. They would first begin by mobilizing farmers to refuse to pay winter rent and riot if they could. On November 26th, Zhang Tailei went to Guangzhou from Hong Kong covertly and convened a secret meeting with CPP members there. During these meetings it was decided they would take advantage of Zhang Fakui troops, who were currently very demoralized from fighting battles they honestly wanted nothing to do with. Within Guangzhou was the 4th army teaching corps and part of the guards corps amongst smaller CCP militia groups. Zhang Tailei would act as chairman, Huang Ping and Zhou Wenyong would all lead the uprising. After the meeting Zhang Tailei and the others went to the Teaching Corps and Guards Corps to mobilize them, as well as begin training some worker Red Guards who formed into 7 regiments and 2 death squads with Zhou Wengyong as their commander in chief. The Fourth army teaching corps was reorganized from a KMT political school with Ye Jianying as their leader. In early December, Comintern agent Heinz Neumann arrived in Guangdong, to add the uprising. Its said he had a large influence on the committee and took a leading role in what happened. Ye Jianying formed a communist infiltrated cadet regiment roughly 1200 men strong, that would form the core of their army. Added to this was an ad-hoc Red Guard of about 2000 armed workers. On December 6th the Guangdong Provincial Committee chaired by Zhang Tailei approved a declaration and letter to the people as well as made arrangements for the establishment of a Soviet government in Guangzhou. They had decided to enact the uprising on December 12th. In the meantime the headquarters and staff for the uprising were established, Ye Ting would be commander in chief and Ye Jianying would be his deputy. On the eve of the uprising, Wang Jingwei and Zhang Fakui both became aware of the impending uprising so they immediately began disbanding the teaching units, imposed martial law in Guangzhou and transferred their main forces back to Guangzhou. The CCP found out the jig was up so they unleashed the uprising ahead of schedule on the morning of the 11th.  At 3:30am under the leadership of Zhang Tailei, Ye Ting, Huang Ping, Zhou Wenyong, Ye Jianying and Yang Yin, the entire teaching regiment, part of the guard regiment and the armed worker Red Guards totaling about 5000 people, 2000 of which were the Red Guards, launched a surprise attack upon key points in Guangzhou from several directions. Some Soviets, Koreans and Vietnamese in Guangzhou also were said to participate in the uprising. I read that last one from a single source and I kinda doubt it. In fact evidence suggests the CCP leadership was extremely mixed on this uprising. Commanders Ye Ting, Ye Jiangying and Xu Xiangqian strongly suggested against going through with it, arguing they were too badly armed to have any success, only 2000 of them even had rifles. The CCP began by first seducing troops of Zhang Fakui. The first units to enter the city were the infamous dare-to-die units. As the name suggests, these men were like a suicidal vanguard stormed police stations, seizing their weapons and cars. They also took control over city buses and trucks to spread the incoming Red army units throughout the city as fast as possible. Along the eastern route, under the direct command of Ye Ting the main force quickly defeated an infantry regiment stationed in Shahe, capturing 600 prisoners, numerous small firearms and eliminated an artillery regiment stationed at Yantang. On the middle route, part of the teaching regiment and Red Guards captured the KMT Guangdong Provincial government building sitting on the commanding heights of Guangyin Mountain, known today as Yuexiu Mountain. On the southern route, the 3rd battalion of the Guards regiment and Red Guards attacked the headquarters of the 4th army and their arsenal, but encountered stiff resistance and were unable to capture them. Meanwhile peasants in Fangcun, Xicun and suburbs of Guangzhou launched uprisings with some gaining urban worker cooperation. Within 4 hours of battle the uprising was providing results, excluding the headquarters of the 4th army. The armory, rear office of the 12th division of the 4th army, the police forces and urban area north of the Pearl River was secured. They took control over government buildings, the central bank which at that time had a very large silver reserve and numerous barracks. To suppress any resistance they began grabbing KMT troops who refused to comply and executed them in the streets. They also marked and burnt down the residences of KMT officials. They had eliminated numerous enemies and captured 20 artillery pieces and 1000 small arms. That same day members the new Soviet government of Guangzhou was formed with Su Zhaozheng becoming its chairman. Upon its establishment the Guangzhou Soviet declared a “letter to the people” with decrees.  Meanwhile during the outbreak of hostilities, Chen Gongbo, the chairman of the KMT Guangdong provincial government, Zhang Fakui, Huang Qixiang the commander of the 4th Army and other KMT officials hastily fled to the headquarters of Li Fulin's 5th army stationed over at the Haizhong temple on the south bank of the pearl river. There they ordered the 12th division, the 78th rgiment of the 26th division, the 25th division in Dongjiang and the 1st and 2nd regiment of the 1st training division in Shunde to march upon Gaungzhou. This saw roughly 15,000 NRA troops converging upon the city. On the 12th more than 3 of Zhang Fakui's divisions and part of Li Fulin's 5th army assembled along the south bank of the pearl river with the support of British, American, French and Japanese warships and marines. They prepared a counterattack from the east, west and south. The communists fought desperately against much superior forces in terms of numbers, training and equipment. They suffered heavy losses, including the death of Zhang Tailei. Zhang Fakui's troops arrived one after another gradually surrounding the city. At a critical moment the CCP leadership called for a retreat from the city to preserve the forces they had left. The surviving 1000 Reds fled Guangzhou in the early hours of the 13th whereupon they were reorganized into the 4th Red division. They fled to Huaxian, then Haifeng and Lufegen counties where they joined others performing uprisings in the Dongjiang and Youjiang areas. A few survivors went to Shaoguan, joining survivors of the Nanchang uprising led by Zhu De and Chen Yi. After the KMT secured Guangzhou they carried out a bloody suppression of anyone suspecting of being a communist or sympathetic to the cause. The CCP estimated that perhaps more than 5700 people were killed. The Soviet consulate in Guangzhou was also attacked around 8pm on the 13th. All of its personnel were arrested and according to the testimony of Soviet Consul Pokhvalinsky, diplomats Ukolov and Ivanov “Each of them had a sign tied to their body that read: ‘Russian Communist, anyone can punish him at will.' … Along the way, people threw things at them, hit them, stabbed them with knives, and spit on them.” They both would later be shot, alongside the deputy consul named Hasis. Ye Ting, was scapegoated, purged and blamed for the failure of the Guangzhou uprising, despite the fact he was one of the commanders arguing it should have been called off in the first place. Enraged by how he was treated, Ye Ting fled China and went into exile in Europe. Although the Nanchang, Autumn Harvest and Guangzhou uprisings had all failed to achieve their primary objectives, they did kindle a fire within China. Rather then become demoralized and whither away, the communists pushed even more uprisings and would grow each year. This began what the CCP refers to as the “ten year civil war”, a period that will end in 1936. Now we are going to take a little break from the Chinese Civil War until we hit the early 1930's, but there have been quite a lot of events overshadowed by the Northern Expedition. I of course can't get into everything that was going on in China during the late 1920's, but I thought it be a good idea to at least tackle some of the big ones. If you remember all the way back when I was listing the different warlord cliques, one of them was the Ma clique. Feng Yuxiang's Guominjun had been shoved into the northwest after the Anti-Fengtian war and one province his men began to oversee was Gansu. At the time famine, natural disasters and the forced seizure of farming land for opium cultivation drove the people of Gansu to rebellion. Two Hui Muslim Generals, Ma Zhongying and Ma Tingxiang exploited the situation to perform a revolt against the Guominjun in 1928.  Prior to this, there had been a lot of ethnic/religious fighting within the province of Gansu. An American botanist named James Rock wrote accounts of how he saw fighting between the Hui Muslims ld by the warlord Ma Qi and Tibetan Buddhists at the Labrang Monastery. Back in 1917, Tibetans in Xunhua had rebelled against Ma Anliang because of over taxation. Ma Anliang did not report this to the Beiyang government and was reprimanded for it, seeing Ma Qi sent by the Beiyang government to investigate and suppress the rebellion. Ma Qi commanded the Ninghai Army in Qinghai and used his forces to seize the Labrang Monastery in 1917. This was the first time non-Tibetans had taken the monastery. Because of this ethnic/religious riots broke out between Muslims and Tibetans seeing Ma Qi defeat the Tibetans. Afterwards he heavily taxed the town of Labrang for over 8 years and repeatedly quelled uprisings. In 1921 he crushed Tibetan Monks trying to retake the monastery. In 1925 a full blown Tibetan rebellion broke out, seeing thousands attacking Hui Muslims. Ma Qi responded by deploying 3000 troops who quickly retook Labrang and machine gunned thousands of Tibetans trying to flee. Ma Qi would besiege Labrang numerous times seeing Hui Muslims, Mongols and Tibetans all fighting for control over Labrang, but by 1927 Ma Qi gave it all up. Ma Qi became the governor of Qinghai and moved on. However, that was not the last Labrang would see of General Ma Qi. The Hui forces looted and ravaged the monastery again and in revenge Tibetans skinned alive many Hui soldiers. One of the most common practices was to slice open the stomach of a living soldier and then put hot rocks inside the stomach. Many Hui women were sold to the ethnic Han and Kazakhs. Children were adopted by the Tibetans. Now come 1927, Feng Yuxiang became the governor of Gansu. To control the region, Feng Yuxiang incorporated and promoted Hui Muslim Generals within his Guominjun. Feng Yuxiang placed Liu Yufen with 15,000 troops to act as governor while he jumped into the northern expedition. There was a particularly nasty earthquake that year, followed by drought and famine. Liu Yufen responded to the situation by overtaxing the populace. During the later half of the northern expedition, Zhang Zuolin fomented any rebellious fires he could amongst his enemies and he could see within Gansu there was an opportunity to exploit. He began sending shipments of weapons to the son of Ma Anliang, Ma Tingxiang who unleashed a revolt against Liu Yufen in Liangzhou. The revolt soon spread and this saw Ma Tingxiang unleash a siege against Hezhou in the spring of 1928. To support the siege, Ma Zhongying recruited Hui, Dongxiang and Salar Muslims, forming an army nearly 10,000 strong. By November, the Hezhou besiegers numbered 25,000 and were beginning to starve. So the men were directed towards the Tao River Valley in the south where they began slaughtering Tibetan monks. They burned the place of the Tibetan Tusi Chief King Yang Jiqing after defeating his 3000 man strong army and sacked the Tibetan city of Chone. The Tibetan areas south of Gansu were laid to waste. At Taozhou Tibetan militias tried to fight off the force of Ma Tingxiang but were defeated. However they did inflict severe casualties upon Ma Tingxiang's forces. This only emboldened more atrocities, seeing muslim forces burn printing presses and temples of the Tibetan Buddhists in Chone. The muslims then looted the Gompa (for those who don't know a Gompa is a sacred Buddhist spiritual compound, sort of like a buddhist university) and massacred the Tibetan Buddhist monks of the Labrang monastery.  The Austrian-American botanist Joseph Rock witnessed much of the carnage and even found himself stuck in a battle in 1929. He described seeing Muslim armies leaving behind Tibetan skeletons over wide areas and decorated the Labrang Monastery with severed Tibetan heads. During the 1929 battle of Xiahe near Labrang, severed Tibetan heads were apparently used as ornaments by Hui Muslim troops within their camps. Rock stated “how the heads of young girls and children were staked around the encampment. Ten to fifteen heads were fastened to the saddle of every Muslim cavalryman. The heads were "strung about the walls of the Moslem garrison like a garland of flowers" The blood flowed until 1929 whence Liu Yufen with support of Feng Yuxiang finally drove off their forces. Its estimated up to 2 million died in the war across Gansu. Ma Tingxiang tried to defect to Chiang Kai-Shek, but would find himself captured later by Feng Yuxiang who executed him. Another notable rebellion occurred in the good old province of Shandong, because where else right?  You may remember me talking about a small group known as the Red Spear Society. They were a movement made up of peasants, who formed self-defense militias during China's Warlord Era. There were numerous branches, but the largest one was in Shandong, particularly within Laiyang county. They of course were so numerous in Shandong because of our old friend the Dogmeat General Zhang Zongchang. Zhang Zongchang notoriously abused the populace of Shandong with gross mismanagement, over taxation and pure brutality. Lets also be honest, Shandong just keeps rearing its head through this podcast series, its basically the melting pot for uprisings. In the fall of 1928, banditry rose exponentially across the Shandong Peninsula, leading more and more villages to join the Red Spear Society trying to defend themselves. Meanwhile with Zhang Zongchang defeated and tossed into exile in Dalian, his subordinate, Liu Zhennian became the new ruler of the province. Liu Zhennian had defected to the KMT at the very last moment, betraying his master so he could steal his fiefdom. Liu Zhennians rule was just as bad if not worse than the Dogmeat General. He overtaxed the population, though a little less than Zhang Zongchang mind you. He used his personal army to brutalize the population, many of his troops simply became bandits looting and pillaging the countryside. All of this further antagonized the Red Spear Society.  In 1928 the Red Spear Society organized a militant tax resistance, causing Liu Zhennians officials to fear even going near a village, particularly at Laiyang and Zhaoyuan where large concentrations of Red Spears were. Now the Red Spears were not the only problem that would hit Shandong in the late 1920's. Our good friend, Zhang Zongchang, exiled in Dalian could not take it anymore and wanted to seize back his power base from his former subordinate. He formed a plot to perform an uprising in Shandong with the help of Chu Yupu and Huang Fengqi. Zhang Zongchang first enlisted the help of one of his former White Russian Commanders, Generals Grigory Semyonov and Konstantin Petrovich Nechaev. Zhang Zongchangs plan to recapture Shandong rested upon the tens of thousands of his former soldiers still within the province. Many of them had not joined the NRA and instead tossed their lot in as bandits. Within quite a precarious economic situation without a real leader, many of them were willing to come back to Zhang Zongchang. These men were certainly not in the best shape. They were demoralized, lacked weapons and training, but they did have one thing going for them. Their war was to be against Liu Zhennians forces and not the crack NRA. Liu Zhennians forces were technically part of the NRA, but in reality they were just a bunch of under trained Fengtian troops who had no real allegiance to the new Nationalist government. They had zero support from the population of Shandong, whom they terrorized. Zhang Zongchang would also have the financial backing of Japan for his little venture.  When Zhang Zongchang came over to Shandong, this caused Liu Zhennians garrison units at Longkou and Huangxian to mutiny in late January of 1929. The local commanders, Liu Kaitai, Xu Tienpin, Li Xutung and Kao Pengqi all began working to overthrow Liu Zhennian. They renounced their allegiance to the KMT and began a revolt. Roughly 3000 men strong consisting of Zhang ZOngchangs former Shandong troops and some Ex-Zhili forces they began to loot and pillage Longkou, Huangxian and Dengzhou. The foreign communities in these parts fled to two Japanese warships at harbor. The Imperial Japanese Navy then sent a squadron to protect their citizens in the area. This was soon followed up by 20,000 troops of Liu Zhennian. However instead of facing Liu Zhennian's men, the mutineers fled into areas defended by the Red Spears. The mutineers and Red Spears formed an alliance, and they prepared an offensive against Longkou. In February the rebels gained the upper hand and pushed Liu Zhennian into the Zhifu area in northeastern Shandong. On February 19th, Zhang Zongchang, Chu Yupu and Huang Fengqi landed at Longkou with a small detachment. The mutineers promptly joined their old master and as he set up a new HQ at Dengzhou. From there they marched upon Zhifu. 15 miles short of Zhifu Zhang Zongchang's now 5000 man strong army ran into Liu Zhennians near Fushan. Zhang Zongchang was hopelessly outnumbered, but luckily Huang Fengqi had spent most of February recruiting their old comrades and managed to assemble 26,000 troops. Meanwhile, Liu Zhennian now had fewer troops than Zhang Zongchang and his KMT backers did not support him very much. What he did receive from the KMT was 200,000 rounds of ammunition, and roughly 50,000 yuan for military funds. Furthermore he was impaired by the presence of the IJN who were secretly supporting Zhang Zongchang by not allowing NRA reinforcements into the area. After a series of skirmishes, Zhang Zongchang arrived at Zhifu with a force nearly 25,000 strong, while Liu Zhennian only had 7000 men left to defend the town. On february 21st the two sides clashed and surprisingly it was Zhang Zongchang who lost. Despite their numbers, they simply were not armed well enough to fight an army who enjoyed fortifications. Another issue they faced was the fact, Zhang Zongchang was not even present during the battle. Zhang Zongchang suffered 500 casualties, roughly 200 deaths and 300 captured, perhaps worse he lost nearly 3000 rifles and 15 machine guns. He pulled back his army to Dengzhou, undaunted by the defeat. Zhang Zongchang's troops then began pillaging the local population. Zhang Zongchang began negotiations with Liu Zhennian trying to convince him to surrender. Certainly Liu Zhennian was not in a good state, by February 25th roughly 15,000 of his troops near the area of Weihaiwei had defected to Zhang Zongchang. By the end of the month Zhang Zongchang effectively controlled eastern Shandong. It was around early March when Zhang Zongchang announced a new warlord coalition, consisting of himself, Chu Yupu, Qi Xieyuan, Wu Peifu, Bai Chongxi, Yan Xishan and countless Fengtian commanders who would soon launch a campaign to defeat the KMT. You are probably thinking to yourself, some of those names don't make any sense, why would they join old Dogmeat? They didn't, he simply made the entire thing up, because he had something cooking in Beijing. Zhang Zongchang sought to foment an anti-KMT movement in north China. On March 2nd, 20 armed men wearing civilian clothing suddenly disarmed the Shanxi Army guards at the Yonghe Temple. These men then fired into the air signaling a regiment loyal to Zhang Zongchang to perform a mutiny. The mutineers quickly manned the temple walls, barricaded themselves in and seized control over nearby fortifications. From their vantage points they began shooting at the local populace causing panic and disorder. Then at lightning speed the KMT forces in Beijing surrounded the Yonghe Temple and forced the mutineers to surrender. Only 2 mutineers were killed, 35 were wounded, but a lot of civilians had been hurt. Despite being a bit comical if you think about it, the Beijing Revolt as it became known received a lot of press. The Nanjing government then took some steps to prevent any more Shandong NRA troops from joining the rebels. Meanwhile back over in eastern Shandong, Zhang Zongchangs troops had literally razed 6 large towns and 50 villages to the ground, apparently in retaliation because someone tried to assassinate Zhang Zongchang. It would not take much for those back under the Dogmeat Generals rule to want to kill him. He was back to his old brutal ways, going even above and beyond. It is said captured women were being sold as slaves at Huangxian for 10-20 mexican dollars. One of Zhang Zongchangs commanders, General Li Xudong had his forces plunder Laizhou before returning to the frontlines around Zhifu. Liu Zhennians forces were likewise looting, albeit on a smaller scale. Liu Zhennian was also ignoring orders from Chiang Kai-Shek to control his men and act in accordance with NRA protocols, IE: no raping, looting and such. The civilian population of Zhifu were so brutalized many simply fled for Dalian. There emerged a growing international concern for the foreign community in eastern Shandong. Several foreign warships began to anchor there. Meanwhile the Red Spear Society was occupying parts of Shandongs hinterland, expanding their influence as countless villages and towns joined them for protection. The Red Spear Society were not the only ones forming localize self defense forces. Being Shandong, the act of doing so had been as ancient as time it self, a lot of irregular armed groups rose up such as the one 2000 man strong army led by Wang Zucheng known as the “southern army” and another force calling themselves the White Spear Society. This group was explicitly raised to defend local villages from Zhang Zongchangs men, but quickly found themselves under attack from local armed groups as well. The White Spears, like the Red Spears, formed a powerbase in Shandongs hinterland.  By early March, Zhang Zongchang and Liu Zhennian agreed to a 5 day ceasefire. Zhang Zongchang followed this up by trying to bribe Liu Zhennian to defect back to him. He offered him 100,000 yuan but in Liu Zhennians words "I thought my loyalty was worth at least 500,000 yuan". Zhang Zongchang was unwilling to pay that much, so Liu Zhennian remained on the side of the KMT. Thus both parties gathered more troops to do battle, once the 5 days were over Zhang Zongchang attacked Zhifu. While under siege, Liu Zhennian received 7000 reinforcements from a local warlord named Sun Dianying. Unfortunately soon after, one of Liu Zhennians regimental commanders, Colonel Liang defected to Zhang Zongchang, opening the gates of the city. Liu Zhennians forces managed to retreat in good order eastwards as Zhang Zongchang began brutalizing the local population. A 6 day long spree of rape, murder and looting devestated Zhifu. By March 28th the Japanese and KMT government signed an agreement resulting in the departure of Japanese forces from Shandong. Meanwhile Liu Zhennian's army had fled to Muping where they found themselves yet again under siege. Liu Zhennian sortied to attack his assailants, inflicting 2000 casualties. As the siege progressed, Liu Zhennian offered to surrender on April 4th, but Zhang Zongchang refused, thinking he had the win in the bag. Unfortunately for Zhang Zongchang, his men gradually sought to plunder the undefended countryside rather than maintain the siege, greatly reducing his strength. During a final attempt to take Muping on April 22nd, Zhang Zongchang's army was routed. Liu Zhennian launched a counter offensive forcing most of Zhang Zongchangs men into the countryside. Countless simply became bandits again, Zhang Zongchangs big attempt to retake the province had crumbled.  Zhang Zongchang yet again fled to Dalian, leaving Chu Yupu with just under 5000 men. Chu Yupu fled to Fushan where he took its 20,000 inhabitants hostage. For 13 days Chu Yupu was besieged by NRA forces. During those 13 days, Chu Yupu's men raped, murdered and looted. Apparently they tied up over 400 women and children to be used as human shields during the siege as well. Chu Yufu eventually surrendered, whereupon numerous women and girls committed suicide having become raped and pregnant. Over 1500 NRA and 2000 rebels were reportedly killed during the siege of Fushan. The city that had been plundered heavily for 13 days, was then plundered by the besiegers. Chu Yupu had secured a deal with the KMT to be allowed to go into exile in Korea with 400,000$ worth of silver. Now again back to those Red Spears. By the summer of 1929 they had ballooned into what was effectively a proto-state around Dengzhou. They had established a magistrate, taken over all the local administration and introduced land and head taxes to fund themselves…which is ironic. Within their territory they refused to pay governmental taxes. They introduced a forced conscription of at least one member of each family. The taxes collected funded buying arms and ammunition and any NRA or KMT officials who came near were shot on sight. It got to the point if anyone was caught speaking without the local dialect they were turned away. By august they were roughly 60,000 strong and were too large for Liu Zhennian not to deal with any longer. On September 23rd Liu Zhennien unleashed an encirclement campaign between Dengzhou and Huangxian, performing a scorched earth policy. His troops destroyed 18 villages and largely burned down another 60 killing everyone they encountered, whether man, woman or child. By November the Red Spears in the area ceased to exist. It was just another sunny day in Shandong province.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Guangzhou uprisings was another testament to the lengths the CCP would go to try and carve out a new communist China. The Gansu and Red Spear uprisings were just a few amongst countless tales of the absolute mayhem and chaos that was China's warlord era, when the real victims were always the same, the common people of China.  

PREVIEW: #HONG KONG: #PRC: Conversation with colleague Mark Clifford, author TODAY HONG KONG, TOMORROW THE WORLD, re what can be done to push back against PRC CCP abuses - such as challenging the fiction that the Pearl River Basin is unfettered entrepreneurship like the Bay Area. More tonight. 1890 Hong Kong