Canton Operation

Canton Operation
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War

Japanese naval landing forces blasting Chinese pillbox and marching with the naval flag
Date12 October – 29 October 1938
(2 weeks and 3 days)
Location
Guangdong Province
Result Japanese victory
Belligerents

 Japan

 China

Commanders and leaders
Empire of Japan Lt. Gen. Motoo Furusho,
Empire of Japan Adm. Koichi Shiozawa		 Republic of China (1912–1949) Yu Han-mou
Units involved

Empire of Japan 21st Army:[1]

Empire of Japan 5th Fleet:[2]

  • 9th, 10th and 8th Cruiser Divisions
  • 2nd and 5th Torpedo Squadrons
  • 1st and 2nd Carrier Divisions
  • Seaplane tenders Chitose and Kamikawa Maru
  • 3rd Destroyer Division
  • 1st Gunboat Division

Republic of China (1912–1949) 12th Army Group:[3]

  • 62nd Army
  • 63rd Army
  • 64th Army
  • 65th Army
  • 93rd Division (under the 66th Army)
  • 20th Independent Brigade
  • 9th Independent Brigade
  • 2nd Independent Regiment
  • Humen Fortress Command
Strength

 Imperial Japanese Army:[4]

  • 70,000 men
  • 27,000 horses

Army aircraft:[5]

Total aircraft: 55

 Imperial Japanese Navy:[2]

  • 2 aircraft carriers
  • 1 light aircraft carrier
  • 1 heavy cruiser
  • 8 light cruisers
  • 23 destroyers
  • 2 seaplane tenders
  • 3 gunboats
  • 6 minesweepers

Navy aircraft:[5]

  • 39 carrier fighters
  • 45 carrier bombers
  • 43 carrier torpedo bombers
  • 6 naval reconnaissance aircraft
  • 9 medium bombers

Total aircraft: 142

Transports:[6]

  • 80 daihatsu
  • 180 shohatsu
  • 300 motorized sampans
  • 250 barges
  • 200-250 fishing ships
  • 10 tugboats
  • 20-25 sea trucks
  • 10 launches
 80,000 men[citation needed]
Casualties and losses

Official Japanese war records claim:[4]

  • 173 killed
  • 493 wounded
  • 1,264 sick

Total casualties: 1,930

1,069 horses killed, wounded or sick[4]

5 aircraft[7]

Chinese claim: [8]

  • 2,954 killed
  • 5,645 wounded
  • 2,643 missing

Total casualties: 11,242 Official Japanese war records claim 1,340 captured.[9]

Official Japanese war records claim:[9]

  • 2,371 rifles
  • 214 heavy and light machineguns
  • 134 artillery pieces
  • 53 coastal artillery pieces
  • 21 tanks and light armored vehicles
  • 151 vehicles

The Canton Operation (Chinese: 廣州戰役; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Zhànyì) was part of a campaign by Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War to blockade China to prevent it from communicating with the outside world and importing needed arms and materials. Control of Guangzhou (Canton) and the Pearl River Delta would provide a base to make the blockade of Guangdong province more effective by seizing southern China's major port and isolate the British port of British Hong Kong.

  1. ^ OCMH JM180 1956, p. 17
  2. ^ a b NIDS SS79 1975, pp. 56–57
  3. ^ War Study 16 2008
  4. ^ a b c NIDS SS89 1976, p. 248
  5. ^ a b NIDS SS79 1975, p. 57
  6. ^ NIDS SS89 1976, p. 223
  7. ^ Macri 2015, p. 92
  8. ^ 广东省志. 广东人民出版社. 1999. p. 493.
  9. ^ a b NIDS SS89 1976, p. 250