17 Mar 1938 | World War II Database

17 Mar 1938

China

At 0600 hours, Japanese troops began a 2-hour bombardment on Tengxian, Jiangsu Province, China. At 0800 hours, multiple attacks began from all directions of the town. After suffering very high casualties, Japanese troops captured the west and south gates on the city wall by 1700 hours. Chinese troops on the east gate refused to fall back and fought until they could no longer hold the line; they committed mass-suicide by grenades. Overnight, Chinese troops began to withdraw troops out of Tengxian, marching them to the city Xuzhou 75 miles to the south, which was the Japanese main target of the offensive. ww2dbase [Battle of Xuzhou | Tengxian, Jiangsu | CPC]

Russia

The Soviet Union requested a meeting with the western powers to limit further German aggression in Europe. Such a meeting would never materialize. ww2dbase [CPC]
An ANT-6 aircraft operated by the civilian organization Polyarnaya Aviatsiya crashed during landing at Bukhta Teplits, Arhangelsk Oblast, Russia. All seven aboard survived. ww2dbase [TB-3 | Bukhta Teplits, Arhangelsk | CPC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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