Posted on 06/25/2008 6:19:43 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
The French were said to have further told the British that they would be unable to tolerate Japanese control of a strategic point so important to themselves and that if a landing occurred they would be compelled to debark there an equal number of French troops.
According to the same report, the British naval commander at Shanghai reported to the Admiralty a warning to the same effect and intimated that if a Japanese landing on Hainan actually appeared imminent he would proceed personally to those waters to watch developments. No instructions have been given to the admiral and he has been left to exercise his own discretion.
Chinese reports from Hong Kong are to the effect that a Japanese landing has already been attempted but repulsed. This is not confirmed by any British information, but it is known that Japanese warships are off the coast of Hainan. A French cruiser division is also believed to by standing by.
Hainan, 150 miles long and 100 miles wide, with some 2,000,000 Chinese inhabitants, is important because it is separated only by the Gulf of Tongking from French Indo-China and dominates the sea approaches to the latter. The island and bay are French spheres of influence, vital to French commerce with Southern China.
The island is important to Great Britain also because any naval force stationed there with a supply of submarines and seaplanes would command the route from Singapore to Hong Kong. The British therefore may be expected to watch any Japanese moves there closely.
Sir Robert Leslie Craigie, the British Ambassador to Tokyo, has frequently pointed out to the Japanese Government since the conflict in China began to extend to the south that Japanese occupation of any of the islands off South China might lead to friction and possible complications.
The Japanese have invariably replied that while they have no designs on Chinese territory they might find it necessary to occupy some positions temporarily in the interests of carrying on hostilities. The British Government has not been satisfied with this reply and has intimated that such Japanese occupation, however temporary, would be a matter of concern to Great Britain.
The French Government is even more intimately concerned with Hainan because the French have a treaty with the Chinese which recognizes the Chinese sovereignty over the island as long as it is not leased to a third party.
Defenses on Hainan were reported considerably strengthened, with troops undergoing training to resist landing operations. Hoihow, the chief port, has been shelled by warships and bombed from the air frequently.
Unconfirmed Chinese dispatches reported that Japanese planes had bombed Paklungmai, a small Chinese town near the border of Kwangtung Province and Indo-China. Chinese said this was a gesture of defiance to France.
Some observers suggested that Japanese threats against Hainan might be intended to support diplomatic efforts to obtain from France an agreement to prevent war supplies from reaching China through French territory.
Japanese troops landed on the South China mainland today under a heavy protective barrage, while Japanese planes extensively bombed Swatow, South China treaty port. The landing was made from Namoa Island, twenty miles east of Swatow.
The Chinese, after retreating inland, counter-attacked and held their ground against the Japanese near Chihlin, on a cape north of Namoa Island and about thirty miles northeast of Swatow.
According to a military communiqué, issued here, between 5,000 and 6,000 troops landed under cover of a barrage from twenty warships and airplane bombings near Hsinkow on the Yangtze only a few miles from the barrier.
It is expected here the Japanese will attempt to capture the Matang fort protecting the boom, after which the barrier and near-by mines would be removed sufficiently to permit warships to continue up the Yangtze. Other barriers and mined stretches would intervene between the Japanese fleet and Hankow, but the Matang obstruction is the main one.
Japanese troops have also established themselves ashore at Tikang, about twenty-five miles down river from Hsinkow.
The guns of the Matang forts were brought into action against the Japanese warships Thursday for the first time. It was reported they forced the vessels to retire some distance down river.
Chinese planes bombed the Japanese fleet three times Thursday near Tungliu and according to the military communiqué three vessels were hit. Thick columns of black smoke were reported to have been seen rising from the damaged boats.
Japanese planes on Thursday bombed Tungkwan, Weinan and Hwayin, cities in Shensi Province, strengthening indications that operations against the western section of the Lung-Hai Railway are planned. The Japanese have suspended their attacks in Central and Western Anhwei, concentrating their energies on the Yangtze drive.
Increased activity by the new Chinese Fourth Route Army in the vicinity of Nanking and Lake Tai, west of Shanghai, was reported in a communiqué. The Shanghai-Nanking Railway was said to have been cut in two places between Nanking and Chinkiang. Simultaneously Communist Eighth Route Army bands cut the Peiping-Jehol Railway near Kupeikow, threatening the Japanese near Kalgan.
Enough with the fun and games (ie. movies and boxing). Back to the real news.
Below the lead story is one describing action on the Chinese mainland.
Good one
That sentence really stood out to me. Even if troops were debarked from positions in French Indochina, I don't see how it could have stopped the Japanese AFTER a landing had occurred. It would seem that if there was an increase in Naval concentrations off the shore of Hainan, that you would want to build up defensive troop numbers then.
Its not like they couldn't see it comming. The Japanese first began attacks on Hainan back in August 1937. It's no wonder that Hainan would fall in February of 1939.
“The French were said to have further told the British that they would be unable to tolerate Japanese control of a strategic point so important to themselves and that if a landing occurred they would be compelled to debark there an equal number of French troops.”
How bout the Frenchies debark there an overwhelming superiority of French troops?
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