The Crucible of Shanghai: Setting the Stage for Baoshan

In late August 1937, the Battle of Shanghai had reached a critical juncture. What began as a Chinese offensive to dislodge Japanese forces from their Shanghai strongholds had turned into a desperate defensive campaign after two elite Japanese divisions – the 3rd and 11th – successfully landed reinforcements at Wusongkou on August 23. This strategic reversal forced Chiang Kai-shek to commit his best remaining troops, including the newly formed 15th Army Group under his trusted lieutenant Chen Cheng.

The fighting quickly concentrated around the small town of Luodian, earning it the grim nickname “the meat grinder” as both sides suffered horrific casualties in the waterlogged terrain where trenches filled with water at just one meter deep. By August 30, while neither side controlled Luodian completely, the Japanese had secured their beachhead. Their attention then turned to a small but strategically vital target ten li (about 3 miles) west of their position – the walled county seat of Baoshan.

The Strategic Jewel: Why Baoshan Mattered

Established in 1724 during the Qing dynasty, Baoshan occupied a crucial position where the Yangtze River met Shanghai’s northern approaches. Its capture would give the Japanese control over both land and river routes into Shanghai while eliminating a dangerous salient in their lines. For the Chinese, holding Baoshan meant maintaining pressure on Japanese supply lines and preventing them from linking up with forces in downtown Shanghai.

Chen Cheng, known as the “Little Generalissimo” for his close ties to Chiang, recognized Baoshan’s importance. When the initial defenders from the battered 6th Division faltered, Chen turned to his elite 98th Division, part of the prestigious “Tu-Zi” (Earth and Wood) faction of the National Revolutionary Army. Division commander Xia Chuzhong could only spare one relatively fresh unit – the 3rd Battalion of the 583rd Regiment, about 600-700 men under Major Yao Ziqing.

Yao Ziqing: The Scholar Who Chose the Sword

Born in 1908 in Guangdong’s Pingyuan County to a poor Hakka family, Yao Ziqing represented the educated patriots who answered China’s call to arms. Despite academic promise, he enrolled in the Whampoa Military Academy’s sixth class in 1926, distinguishing himself in subsequent campaigns. By 1937, the 28-year-old had risen to battalion commander.

Before departing for Shanghai, Yao wrote to his wife: “If I return alive, that would be fortunate. But if I perish, do not grieve. Just raise our children well and care for my parents.” This letter reflected the fatalistic determination shared by many Chinese officers facing Japan’s superior forces. When Yao surveyed Baoshan’s crumbling earthen walls and shallow moat on August 31, he reportedly told his superiors: “We have a duty to defend this land. We swear to live or die with Baoshan.”

Seven Days That Shook the Yangtze

The battle commenced on September 1 when Japan’s 68th Infantry Regiment (about 3,000 men) began probing attacks. Though outnumbered nearly 5-to-1, Yao’s battalion – equipped with German helmets, light machine guns, and mortars – initially held firm. However, the Japanese brought overwhelming firepower: naval guns from warships like the Izumo, field artillery, and air support. By September 4, with surrounding Chinese positions collapsing, Baoshan became completely isolated.

September 5 saw the full fury of Japan’s military machine unleashed. Thirty warships shelled the town while infantry supported by tanks attacked from multiple directions. Yao reported: “The enemy has over thirty warships off our eastern gate and more than ten aircraft bombing our walls. Tanks assault our gates. We are resolved to defend to the death.” That afternoon, Japanese forces resorted to firing sulfur incendiary rounds, setting much of Baoshan ablaze.

As casualties mounted, Yao reorganized his dwindling forces, ordering all non-combat personnel to the front lines. When Japanese tanks breached the defenses, soldiers resorted to suicide attacks – one private, Li Weiming, strapped grenades to his body and threw himself under a tank. By nightfall, only 100 defenders remained. The 98th Division’s reply to Yao’s situation report made clear no reinforcements would come: “Baoshan concerns the entire war situation. Your battalion must fight to the last man…Prepare for street fighting. If the city falls, die with the enemy within it.”

The Final Hours: A Battalion’s Immolation

At dawn on September 6, Japanese artillery finally breached Baoshan’s walls. By 10 AM, southern gates fell after brutal hand-to-hand combat. Yao, now with about twenty survivors, led a final bayonet charge against overwhelming numbers. The 29-year-old commander fell in this last desperate attack. Apart from a few wounded evacuated earlier and one messenger sent the previous night, Yao’s entire battalion perished.

The stunned Japanese victors found themselves facing a sobering reality. As one Japanese officer later wrote: “We had been told Chinese soldiers would flee at the first shot. These men fought to the last bullet.” The 68th Regiment suffered significant casualties taking Baoshan, an early indication that conquering China would prove far more difficult than Tokyo anticipated.

Legacy of the Baoshan Martyrs

Though overshadowed by the more famous Defense of Sihang Warehouse (popularized in the film “The Eight Hundred”), the Stand at Baoshan became legendary in military circles. In 1938, the Nationalist government renamed Yao’s hometown “Ziqing County” in his honor (reverted after 1949). Today, memorials in Shanghai and Guangdong commemorate Yao and his men.

The battle demonstrated several key aspects of the Sino-Japanese War:
1. The courage of Chinese troops facing impossible odds
2. The critical role of geography in the Shanghai campaign
3. Japan’s initial underestimation of Chinese resistance
4. The Nationalists’ willingness to sacrifice elite units to buy time

While strategically Baoshan’s fall enabled Japan’s eventual capture of Shanghai, the seven-day delay disrupted their timetable, allowing Chinese forces to retreat and prepare for the defense of Nanjing. More importantly, Yao Ziqing’s last stand became a powerful symbol of resistance during China’s darkest hour, inspiring continued defiance despite Japan’s technological superiority.

In the broader narrative of World War II in Asia, Baoshan represents one of the first examples of the “total resistance” that would characterize Chinese warfare until 1945 – a precursor to the desperate stands at Taierzhuang, Changsha, and other bloody battlefields where Nationalist and Communist forces alike demonstrated that China, though weak, would not surrender easily.