The Defense of Sihang Warehouse (Chinese: 四行倉庫保衛戰) took place from October 27 to October 31, 1937, and marked the beginning of the end of the three-month Battle of Shanghai in the opening phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Defenders of the warehouse held out against numerous waves of Japanese forces to cover Chinese forces retreating west during the Battle of Shanghai. The Chinese defenders were composed of a single half-strength battalion from the elite German-trained 88th Division, who had fortified and occupied the large "Four Banks" (Sihang) Warehouse in the downtown Zhabei district, along with several buildings. The warehouse's location just across the Suzhou Creek from the Shanghai International Settlement meant the battle took place in full view of the Western powers. Tens of thousands of Chinese and Western civilians were thus able to witness the battle as it unfolded. After enduring several days of repeated attacks by the Japanese, the Chinese defenders were permitted to retreat into the nearby International Settlement, which they managed to do with most of their strength intact. The defense of the warehouse and media reporting of the event provided a morale-lifting consolation to the Chinese army and people in the demoralizing aftermath of the Japanese invasion of China. Japanese sources on the Defense of Sihang Warehouse differ, which record the defense as being a relatively minor skirmish within the entire Battle of Shanghai.
Background
By 26 October 1937, Chinese resistance in the district of Zhabei was faltering. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek wanted to withdraw all forces in the area to defend the rural western regions of Shanghai, and ordered Gu Zhutong, acting commander of the 3rd Military Region, to leave the 88th Division behind to buy time and canvass international support by showing the other nations of the Nine Powers (which were to convene on 6 November) China's determination to resist the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Neither Gu, Sun, nor Zhang were about to disobey Chiang's orders, but Sun (via Zhang) suggested to Gu that the number of troops left to cover the withdrawal would not matter for such a show of determination. In his words, "How many people we sacrifice would not make a difference; it would achieve the same purpose." At 10 p.m. on 26 October, the 524th Regiment, based at the Shanghai North Railway Station, received orders to withdraw to the divisional headquarters at Sihang Warehouse. 1st Battalion commander Yang Ruifu was distraught at having to abandon a position he had held for more than two months.
Order of battle and equipment
National Revolutionary Army
524th Regiment, 88th Division: Regimental commander (CO), Army Lieutenant Colonel Xie JinyuanExecutive officer (XO), Army Major Shangguan Zhibiao (上官志標) 1st Battalion, 524th Regiment: Battalion Commander, Army Major Yang Ruifu (楊瑞符) 1st Company, 1st Battalion: Company commander, Army Captain Tao Xingchun (陶杏春) 2nd Company, 1st Battalion: Company commander, Army Captain Deng Ying (鄧英) 3rd Company, 1st Battalion: Company commander, Army Captain Shi Meihao (石美豪, wounded), Army Captain Tang Di (唐棣) Machine Gun Company, 1st Battalion: Company commander, Army Captain Lei Xiong (雷雄) Initially containing around 800 men, the 1st was technically an over-strength battalion, but casualties suffered over the course of the Battle of Shanghai reduced its actual strength just prior to the battle to 452 men (some sources give 423), including officers. Because of the confusion of the general retreat, some units may have failed to make it to the warehouse, which caused a further reduction in strength, down to only 414 men present at the beginning of the battle. Two months of intense fighting had also whittled down the original German-trained troops, and after five rounds of reinforcements, the majority of soldiers and officers in the battalion were garrison troops from the surrounding provinces. Most of the men were from the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment of the Hubei Provincial Garrison. Hubei did not want to send its best troops to Shanghai, as these had trained over a decade to fight against the Chinese Communists. Thus, many of the soldiers sent as reinforcements to Shanghai were green recruits, with the latest batch recruited after the outbreak of war on 7 July. The regiment was assigned used equipment from the front-line troops of the 88th, and was well equipped considering the poor equipment that most Chinese forces had. Photos and records show that soldiers were each issued a rifle, likely a Hanyang 88 or Chiang Kai-shek rifle, 300 rounds of 8 mm Mauser, two crates of M24 stick grenades, a German-made M1935 Stahlhelm, a gas mask, and food pouch. There was a total of 27 light machine guns, mostly Czech ZB vz.26, approximately one for each squad. The four water-cooled Type 24 Maxim guns were the only heavy weapons available to the battalion—a mortar platoon assigned to them was never mentioned by participants of the battle, and was therefore unlikely to have joined the battle.
Imperial Japanese Forces
Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force: Rear Admiral Okochi Denshichi Shanghai SNLF 10th Battalion: Lieutenant-Commander Haji Kitaro Yokosuka 2nd Independent SNLF Company Kure 1st SNLF Shanghai SNLF 8th and 9th Companies Captain Okochi Denshichi had been assigned command of the Shanghai SNLF on November 16, 1936, and was promoted to Rear Admiral at the beginning of the following month. Prior to the Battle of Shanghai the Shanghai SNLF had a strength of just over 2300 men, but shortly before the battle the force began to be hastily reinforced with additional Special Naval Landing Forces and ship crews deployed on land. Reinforcements would continue to arrive throughout the course of the battle and by October 1937 the force exceeded 10,000 men in strength. On the morning of October 27, 1937 the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force would launch an attack to take over Zhabei. Their attacking forces were known as the "Zhabei Force," and made of the Shanghai SNLF"s 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 12th Battalions. The Shanghai SNLF 10th Battalion would be assigned to the Zhabei Force's Southern Section and serve as the main force opposing the defenders of Sihang Warehouse. The 10th Battalion—noted as a reservist battalion—had a strength of 506 men and 21 officers under the command of Lieutenant Commander Haji Kitaro. Haji's 10th Battalion arrived in Shanghai on the evening of August 19 and was initially used as a reserve force. The battalion later served in Yangshupu from August 21 to 24, before returning to guard the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force Headquarters in Hongkou. On September 21 the battalion was deployed to the sector south of Jukong Road on North Szechuan Road. On September 28, the Yokosuka 2nd Independent SNLF "Kobayashi" Company numbering around 257 men was placed under Haji's command and would serve as the 10th Battalion's 3rd Company From September 29 to October 6, Haji's 10th Battalion and the 2nd Battalion fought fiercely against the 88th Division around the North Szechuan Road in efforts to advance to the Songhu Railway Line. The fighting resulted in eight dead and another 33 wounded in the 10th Battalion. The Shanghai SNLF's 8th and 9th Companies, originally attached to the 4th Battalion (Artillery Battalion), would also provide support with howitzers and mountain guns during the assault on Sihang Warehouse. The Shanghai SNLF's records on attack indicate they utilized eight 8 cm mountain guns, two 12 cm howitzers, and four more 15 cm howitzers.
Imperial Japanese Army 3rd Division According to Western historian Stephen Robinson, on October 25 following the fall of Dachang, the 3rd Division advanced past Zoumatang creek behind the 9th Division, and entered Zhabei to encounter the remaining Chinese battalion in the Sihang Warehouse. Period Japanese military reports, Senshi Sosho—the official war monographs of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy authored by the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies, and the IJA 3rd Division's unit history record that the division was engaged along the Suzhou River Crossing Operation at the time. Chinese reportage writer Xu Zhigeng also stated that the 3rd Division, after capturing Wusong, Yanghang, Liuhang, Wenzaobin, and Dachang, participated in the fierce battle to cross the Suzhou River on October 28. The "China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations", the first comprehensive historical record for the main battlefields of China's War of Resistance to be written in mainland China, stated that the 9th Division and 3rd Division of Japan's Shanghai Expeditionary Army reached the north bank of the Suzhou River on October 28 and the 3rd Division began crossing the river at around noon on October 31. "A Battlefield Photographic Documentary of the Battle of Shanghai" identified the Landing Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy as the unit which attacked and captured the Sihang Warehouse. The "Illustrated History of the Japanese Invasion of China" identified the Landing Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy as the unit which started mopping-up Zhabei on October 27 and captured Sihang Warehouse on October 31 in the "Japanese Troops Captured Zhabei, Dachang Town, and Other Places" section. The 3rd Division was also identified as the unit which captured the radio broadcasting station in Zhenru on October 27 in the "Japanese Troops Forcibly Crossed the Suzhou River" section. Initial Chinese translation of Japanese reports also showed that the SNLF was the unit which faced the Sihang Warehouse defenders.
Battle
Chinese and Western Accounts of Events
October 27
Chinese Preparation
In the morning of October 27, the various companies of the 524th Regiment 1st Battalion were trickling in from Zhabei, under orders from Xie Jinyuan. The effort was difficult, as some units in the battalion had begun moving west with the bulk of the Chinese Army. Visibility was compromised by the heavy presence of smoke and fire, as much of the Zhabei district had been set on fire by the retreating Chinese units. Through the efforts of several messengers, most of the men were rallied from the retreating mass of soldiers. By 9 a.m. the last remaining forces in the battalion had turned up at the warehouse, a force of just over 400 men and officers. That these men had volunteered for the defense was later noted by Chiang Kai-shek as exemplary soldierly conduct. The Chinese spread out their forces across the warehouse and the outlying perimeter. The 1st Company had taken positions on the right flank of the warehouse along the Tibet Road, the 3rd Company on the left across the Bank of Communications building, and the 2nd Company on the northern and southern sides under the leadership of Major Yang Ruifu. Two Type-24 Maxim heavy machine guns were installed on the roof in an anti-aircraft role, while the other machine guns were distributed to the 1st and 3rd Companies.
Opening skirmishes
At 5:05 AM, the Imperial Japanese Navy's Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force (Shanghai SNLF) ordered their forces to launch a general assault on Zhabei. Domei News Agency reported on the Shanghai SNLF's rapid movements through Zhabei, relaying that the Haji and Sano Units had commenced their attacks from the North Szechuan Road area and Haji's men had successfully taken the Pantheon Theatre by 6:55 AM. The troops continued west and captured the North Railway Station at 7:20 AM, with the Japanese Naval Ensign reported to be flying atop the Railway Administration Bureau ten minutes later. A Chinese platoon positioned in the advance outposts began sniping at Japanese patrols around that time, and over the next two hours, the Chinese platoon began a fighting retreat back to the warehouse perimeter. At 7:30 AM, Yang Ruifu received word from his guard force of the Japanese advance towards their position east of the North Station at Han Bridge. Yang ordered his men to not retreat without orders and resist with all their might. 45 minutes later, he was notified the station had fallen into Japanese hands. Domei reported that at 9:20 AM, Haji and Sano's forces began their advance into the Zhabei Pocket to sweep out remaining resistance from Chinese forces. As the Japanese approached the warehouse, the Chinese defenders took defensive positions on the different floors of the warehouse and along the outer wall surrounding the building, whilst watching for enemy movement through the slots inside the walls.
At 1 p.m. a column of Japanese soldiers was seen marching towards the warehouse in what appeared to be a victory parade, brandishing a large Rising Sun banner. Once they were close enough, the Chinese defenders opened fire. Five Japanese soldiers fell to the ground, while the rest of the column scattered for cover. The Japanese then attacked the Bank of Communications to the immediate west of the warehouse. Hundreds of Japanese marines were seen assaulting the street fortifications surrounding the warehouse, using "trench mortars" on several occasions to clear the area. However, upon attempting to secure some abandoned fortifications, several Japanese soldiers stumbled into a trap: the Chinese defenders, having preemptively rigged a bunker with grenades and a mortar round, "pulled the grenade rope," killing another five Japanese soldiers in the ensuing explosions. Chinese defenders continued developing defenses by sealing the warehouse's doors, windows and entry points, as well as constructing makeshift dummy positions on the perimeter to draw Japanese fire and waste ammunition.
First attacks on Sihang Warehouse
Japanese marines received reinforcements and began attempts to break into the warehouse around soon after, targeting the warehouse from North Suzhou Road. They were soon met with intense fire from the Chinese. The Japanese, numbering some fifty strong, began advancing on the warehouse under the cover of steel shields slotted for rifle fire. A group of Chinese reconnaissance troops, led by platoon leader Yin Qiucheng (尹求成), exchanged fire with the attacking formations near the Wuzhen Bridge, killing four Japanese soldiers according to a journalist watching across the river. According to one foreign eye-witness quoted in the Shanghai-based North China Herald, the Japanese began attempting to break their way into the Sihang Warehouse around 10 AM. From the south bank of the Suzhou Creek in the International Settlement, another reporter observed the Naval Landing Forces—armed with machine-guns, rifles, hand-grenades, some Chinese swords, and steel shields—advance east along the Suzhou Creek and take over an abandoned Chinese redoubt west of the warehouse on Wuzhen Road (鳥鎮路) at 11:15 AM.
The Japanese increased their firepower on the building, and managed to push the Chinese from their frontline sandbag positions with hand grenades back to their secondary lines. As the battle continued, 3rd Company captain Shi Meihao was shot in the face but continued to command the defense until he was hit in the leg. Eventually, the Chinese were forced to abandon the outer wall, and barricaded themselves inside the warehouse itself. When the Japanese attempted to follow them to the edge of the warehouse, they were attacked by hand grenades thrown by Chinese soldiers positioned on the upper floors, forcing them to take cover in a blind spot at the south-west of the warehouse. Noticing them, a dozen Chinese soldiers climbed onto the roof and hurled mortar rounds and grenades down at the Japanese, killing seven and wounding between twenty and thirty. The survivors were then driven away when a Chinese machine gunner began to shoot at them from one of the warehouse windows.
Word had been spreading since the early morning that there were still Chinese forces defending Zhabei near the warehouse. As the battle continued, crowds of spectators began to amass on the other side of the 60-yard Suzhou Creek, reportedly cheering every time a Japanese soldier was killed.
At one point during the battle, foreign correspondents witnessed a group of Japanese soldiers slowly approaching the warehouse through the rubble, taking 50 minutes to cover 50 yards. However, the Chinese defenders, who had been watching the Japanese approach from hidden vantage points the entire time, rained hand grenades down on the group the moment they were close enough. After the dust had settled, survivors were finished off with rifles, and several Japanese who rushed forward to rescue their wounded were killed too. A journalist witnessing the combat estimated that sixty Japanese were killed in total during the assault by machine gun fire and grenades. In a letter Colonel Xie wrote to his superior 88th Division Commander Sun Yuanliang, his defenders had killed around eighty Japanese soldiers in the attacks on October 27. In a top-secret report on the China Incident from the Japanese Navy restricted to high-ranking officers, a total of three Naval Landing Force troops were recorded as seriously wounded and 24 more injured during the takeover of Zhabei on October 27. The North China Herald reported that both sides had sustained casualties. Chinese defenders and civilian spectators observed dogs dragging away Japanese casualties during nighttime. As night fell, the Chinese defenders were tasked with constructing fortifications and repairing any damages sustained during the attacks. Nobody was given any sleep.
==== October 28 ==== By the morning of the 28th, the presence of the Chinese battalion in Zhabei had been made known by radio news and several newspapers including North-China Herald, an English-language newspaper based in Shanghai and regarded as the most influential foreign newspaper of its time. The strength of the battalion was estimated at 500 men from the 88th Division, with around 150 having barricaded themselves in the warehouse itself. Authorities within the International Settlement repeatedly attempted to persuade the defenders to lay down their weapons and surrender in the Settlement, but the defenders stated they were "determined to die for China."
At 7 a.m. a flight of Japanese bombers circled above the warehouse but did not drop any bombs, for fear of hitting the concessions in a repeat of "Bloody Saturday." An hour later, Major Yang gave a speech to the officers and squad leaders and then inspected the defenses constructed by the soldiers. While on the roof with Colonel Xie Jinyuan and a group of sentries, they spotted a group of Japanese soldiers walking on the Suzhou Road along the Suzhou Creek, which according to Yang Ruifu was about 1 km (1,100 yd) away. Xie ordered a sentry to give him his rifle and then fired on the group; one of them promptly fell dead.
Second assault on Sihang Warehouse
At 3 p.m., the Japanese mounted a second assault on the warehouse, bombarding the building with five artillery pieces and machine gun fire from the Bank of Communications rooftop. The Chinese retaliated with machine gun fire of their own and showered hand grenades onto Japanese soldiers attempting to approach the warehouse, which was reported on by the English newspaper North China Daily News. Japanese troops made repeated efforts to capture the warehouse, but were beaten back each time by the Chinese after brief exchanges of fire.
The Japanese, outnumbering the Chinese defenders and repeatedly screaming "Banzai," then deployed trench mortars. Several fires broke out across the battlefield, with Chinese soldiers shooting back with rifles and Mauser pistols. Both sides suffered casualties in the intense firefight.
The combat was witnessed by thousands of Chinese and foreigners who had gathered across the Suzhou Creek, who relayed enemy assembly locations and operations to the defenders using large blackboards. Witnesses described the armament of the attacking Japanese Naval Landing Forces as machine-guns, rifles, hand-grenades, a few captured Chinese broadswords, and steel shields. Another western observer witnessed three Japanese troops make their way along the south wall of the warehouse. As one of the men attempted to smash a window to the warehouse, a Chinese soldier dropped a hand grenade from a third story window, which exploded behind them in the street. The same observer noted while the Japanese had encircled the warehouse and sporadic fighting occurred throughout the day, the Japanese apparently were making no determined effort to take the building by assault, as the warehouse's fortress-like nature would make doing so a costly endeavor. As the fighting continued, the crowds watching the battle across the Creek were forced to relocate to the rooftops of nearby buildings after machine gun bullets began to land in the Settlement. After two hours, the Japanese gave up the assault, but cut off water and electricity to the warehouse, forcing the Chinese to institute rationing. The defenders also collected their urine in large barrels to extinguish any potential fires.
===== Supply situation and the "800 Heroes" ===== The defenders inside the warehouse contacted the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, whose telephone number was provided by Girl Guide Yang Huimin. Yang Huimin had previously delivered a request for food, ammunition and lubricant on behalf of the defenders to the Chamber, but had been unsuccessful. Xie requested that Shanghai Mayor Yui supply his men with 500 lb. salt, 500 lb. sugar, and 50,000 Chinese biscuits.
By the evening of October 28, Chinese civilians inside the Settlement had organized a large collection of food, clothing, medicine and other supplies via the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce. In total, more than ten truckloads of aid were donated by Shanghai's citizens, including fruit, bread, cigarettes, newspapers and mail. The supplies were then ferried across the New Lese Bridge under the cover of darkness and unloaded next to the warehouse. The defenders were also facing a problem in the growing number of wounded soldiers, who were unable to receive adequate medical treatment whilst stranded in the warehouse. Through an established phone link, the Chinese organized their transfer across the nearby Lese Bridge into the International Settlement, where they would be transported to hospitals in the Chinese part of Shanghai. As medics began to evacuate ten of the most severely wounded soldiers, Major Yang Ruifu ordered that the men not disclose their actual numbers, and give the original battalion strength of 800 soldiers if asked so as to not "embolden the Japanese." British Royal Welsh Fusiliers positioned on the southern bank of the creek provided assistance to the evacuation efforts. Soon after the evacuation, Shanghai newspapers announced soon after that 800 soldiers were defending the warehouse, including the Central News Agency. As word spread about the fighting near Sihang Warehouse, international newspapers began to report on the battalion's defense, including the New York Times, The Guardian, and the Sydney Morning Herald. As they had the previous night, no Chinese soldiers were permitted to sleep and were instead ordered to continue repairing the defenses.
Delivery of the Chinese flag
As the combat around Sihang Warehouse had been unfolding, Chinese girl guide Yang Huimin had been watching the fighting from a British bunker near the Lese Bridge. She had noticed that Zhabei was covered in Japanese flags, and was troubled by the lack of a Chinese flag. She reported her observations to the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, whose leaders decided to give her a large Republic of China flag to deliver to the defenders.Yang Huimin wrapped the flag around her body underneath her scout uniform, before returning to the British bunker around evening. Upon sensing a brief opening, Yang snuck past the British sentries patrolling the bank and rushed across the bridge to the warehouse under cover of darkness. Regiment-sized Chinese units did not carry army or national flags during the war, so when Yang Huimin delivered the flag to the warehouse, Xie Jinyuan personally accepted the flag as the highest-ranking officer present. When Yang Huimin asked for the soldiers' plans, she was told "defend to the death." Yang Huimin then asked for a list of all the soldiers' names to announce to the entire country. As doing so would inform the Japanese of their real strength, Xie did not disclose the information. Instead, he asked someone to write down around the eight hundred names from the original roster of the 524th Regiment, imitating Yang Ruifu's earlier decision to conceal their true strength. The defenders also gave Yang Huimin messages written in Chinese calligraphy on handkerchiefs. Taking Xie's advice, Yang Huimin returned to the opposite bank of the Suzhou Creek by swimming underwater to avoid detection.
October 29
Raising the Flag
At 6 a.m. on the morning of October 29, the Chinese defenders raised the flag, measuring four meters (13 ft) wide, on the roof of Sihang Warehouse. Since the defenders did not possess a flagpole, they had improvised a makeshift pole made from two bamboo culms tied together. Only a small group of soldiers attended the flag-raising ceremony, including several buglers and orderlies. Yang Huimin also witnessed the event upon escaping across the Creek, which was reportedly conducted quietly with less than twenty soldiers in attendance. Upon noticing the flag, a crowd of roughly thirty thousand people, consisting of both Chinese and foreigners, gathered across the river. The flag measured larger than any of the Japanese flags in the area and reportedly flew higher than the Japanese-held buildings in the vicinity. Many of the Chinese civilians began to shout "Long live the Republic of China!" (Chinese: 中華民國萬歲！; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó wànsuì!. American reporter Keane Arundel who witnessed the event compared the situation to the Alamo, and described the scene as "a symbol of China's heroic resolution to accept annihilation than Japanese conquest. To Shanghai's Americans it recalled Texas' historic Alamo, where Americans died in 1836 rather than yield to Mexico." Crowds continued to gather to watch the event unfold and some were observed carrying food for the defenders. One Chinese observer, a 31-year old Shanghai City Government employee, was mistaken for a Japanese spy because of his Manchurian accent and lynched by a mob before authorities could rescue him. The Japanese, angered by the display, began harassing the defenders by shooting from the nearby Bank of Communications building, and also reportedly sent several aircraft to attack the flag. Because of heavy anti-aircraft fire and fear of hitting the foreign concessions, the planes soon left without destroying the flag.
===== Third assault on Sihang Warehouse ===== In the afternoon of October 29, the Chinese defenders received a warning over telephone that Chinese civilians had spotted a force of several hundred Japanese troops converging on the warehouse. Minutes later, British soldiers guarding the New Lese Bridge provided a similar warning of a "final enemy assault loom[ing] ahead."
The Japanese attacked at 2 p.m. with concentrated fire from numerous artillery pieces, and shelled the warehouse for more than an hour. However, the Chinese defenders were protected by the ten-foot-thick walls and only suffered a few wounded soldiers. Historian Eric Niderost wrote that the Japanese then attacked the warehouse from three directions with hundreds of infantry and support from five Type 94 Te-Ke tankettes, which Yang Ruifu observed advancing down the road. The Japanese intensified their efforts to captured the warehouse, peppering the building with bullets and rifle-grenade fire while reinforcing their machine gun positions on North Suzhou Road. The Japanese shelled the warehouse with a barrage of four rounds from their field guns around 3 p.m. According to Baicheng Shangguan, Xie was positioned at a window where Japanese attempted to attack with ladders. He grabbed the first Japanese soldier's rifle, choked him with the other hand, shoved him off, and finally shot another Japanese soldier on the ladder before pushing the ladder off. Yang Ruifu makes no reference to such an event or the Japanese assaulting with ladders in his account of the fighting on the 29th.
Journalist Kean Arundel observed that "Chinese guns blazed defiantly at Japanese who surrounded the building on three sides." Japanese fire from a field gun was met with rifle fire from the warehouse roof. The Japanese were observed by western observers to have assaulted the warehouse again and again with infantry charges, but each time were repelled by showers of hand grenades and machine-gun fire. At one point, the Japanese were reported to have attempted to "dynamite" the warehouse, but failed. At 4 p.m. one Japanese soldier rushed into the open and fired a number of shots into the corner of the warehouse, causing the defenders to take cover "with lightning speed." Although wounded from the returning Chinese fire, the Japanese attacker escaped. At one point, Chinese defenders chiseled holes through the large black characters on the west wall for use as vantage points. Subsequently, several Japanese soldiers were shot before they realized the danger. Japanese machine gunners returned fire, but had difficulty aiming due to the holes being concealed by the black background of the characters.
====== Suicide Attack ====== Some Chinese sources report that during the height of the battle when a group of Japanese soldiers had attempted to plant explosives at the base of the West Wall and breach it, a 21-year old Chinese private named Chen Shusheng (陳樹生) strapped live grenades to himself and dove off the building into the Japanese squad, allegedly killing twenty Japanese soldiers in a suicide attack. Chen Shusheng's attack is absent from Yang Ruifu's memoirs, which only makes note of his soldiers throwing grenades and firing mortars from the rooftop. Chen Desong also makes no mention of the suicide bombing, only mentioning the throwing of grenades. However, in Li Chunlin's "Recalling the 'Isolated Soldiers of Sihang' in Shanghai," there was indeed a Chen Shusheng who carried out a suicide bombing against the Japanese army. Historian Stephen Robinson argues that account's accuracy was plausible, noting that the Chinese had used suicide attacks many times before during the Battle of Shanghai, such as the case of a soldier in the 36th Division destroying a Japanese tank with an explosive belt, killing himself in the process.
