


Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseThe coastal region of Zhejiang and the neighboring province of Jiangxi in China were just beyond Japanese control in early 1942, and the American Doolittle Raiders took advantage of this, crash landing their bombers and sought civilian help after attacking the Japanese home islands. The Japanese Army's China Expeditionary Force dispatched a force of 180,000 men on a punitive campaign into the region as a response in mid-May 1942, clashing against the 300,000-strong but poorly-equipped Chinese 3rd War Area. As the Japanese pushed back Chinese defenders and took control of towns and villages, anyone suspected of aiding US airmen were summarily executed, and some of the villages were burned to the ground as a form of collective punishment. During the campaign, the Chinese suffered 70,000 casualties and the Japanese suffered 36,000 casualties. The Chinese estimated that 250,000 civilians were killed by the Japanese during this punitive campaign; the Japanese were also suspected of spreading cholera, typhoid, plague, and dysentery pathogens around this time in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi region for experimentation purposes. Shunroku Hata, the commanding officer of the Japanese Army China Expeditionary Force, was later sentenced to a life imprisonment term by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for his failure to prevent his troops from committing atrocities in China.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Update: Mar 2012
Photographs
![]() |
Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends: Stay updated with WW2DB: |
Visitor Submitted Comments
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
» Hata, Shunroku
» Sun, Du
» Xia, Chuzhong
Location:
» China
- » 1,120 biographies
- » 334 events
- » 40,128 timeline entries
- » 1,178 ships
- » 340 aircraft models
- » 193 vehicle models
- » 365 weapon models
- » 123 historical documents
- » 234 facilities
- » 466 book reviews
- » 28,360 photos
- » 379 maps
Thomas Dodd, late 1945

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!
9 Sep 2020 06:34:08 AM
please add even in parentheses , maybe ideally in () the romanized names (Chekiang) for coast and (Kiangsi) so we westerners can see on map with western names.