Throwing the full weight of the imperial Japanese military, China's glorious city Shanghai has come under attack in the past fortnight.The Chinese expected something after a Japanese Lieutenant Oyama and some Japanese Marines were discovered and shot on August 9th. The General Consul apologized for the incident. It is unclear if the Marines were acting on their own or from orders from superiors. The Japanese, nevertheless, stood firm in demanding the Chinese dismantle their protective barriers around Shanghai.
Not only did the Chinese not submit to this, Chiang Kai-shek increased the Chinese troops in Shanghai beginning August 11th.
Two days later, the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps exchanged small arms fire with Japanese troops in the Zhabei, Wusong, and Jiangwan districts of Shanghai. Following this at 3 PM, local time, the Japanese crossed the Bazi Bridge (八字橋) and began attacking. China's 88th Division returned the attack.
The Following day, Chiang Kai-shek's orders, Zhang Zhizong had the Chinese airplanes begin bombing Japanese targets with the Chinese ground forces also going on the offensive at 3 PM on that day.
On August 16, Zhang Zhizhong ordered his men to take the streets surrounding the Japanese strongholds, rather than assaulting them head-on. Every time a street was successfully cleared, the Chinese would set up sandbag blockades and set fire to allow the Japanese no escape. The tactic was successful as the Chinese were able to destroy many emplacements and outposts in a single day. However, the Japanese then deployed tanks and were able to repel Chinese attacks in the broad streets. The Chinese also ran into the same problem of the lack of heavy weapons to destroy the bunkers easily.
Thus, on August 18, the attack was called off. But in the meantime, Chen Cheng reached the frontlines to discuss the situation with Zhang Zhizhong. They decided to send the newly arrived 36th Division into the fray, by attacking the Hueishan (匯山) docks on the northern side of the Huangpu River. Meanwhile, the 87th Division broke through Japanese lines at Yangshupu, and pushed onto the Hueishan docks along with the 36th Division.
On August 22, the tanks of the 36th Division reached the docks, but were not able to hold the position for long. The Chinese troops were trained insufficiently in coordinating infantry-tank tactics, and the troops were not able to keep up to the tanks' speed. The tanks were vulnerable to Japanese anti-tank weapons and artillery in close quarters and became useless when they entered the city center. The few troops who accompanied the tanks through the city blocks were then trapped by Japanese road blockades and annihilated by flamethrowers and intense machine gun fire. While the Chinese almost succeeded in pushing the Japanese down the Huangpu River, the casualty rate was exceedingly high. In the night of August 22 alone, the 36th Division lost more than ninety officers and a thousand troops.
Most recently, on August 22, the Japanese 3rd, 8th, and 11th Divisions made an amphibious assault under cover from naval bombardments and proceeded to land in Chuanshakou (川沙口), Shizilin (獅子林), and Baoshan (寶山), towns on the northeast coast some fifty kilometers away from downtown Shanghai. Japanese landings in northeast Shanghai suburban areas meant that many Chinese troops, who were deployed in Shanghai's urban center, had to be redeployed to coastal regions to counter the landings. Thus, the frontline has been lengthened from metropolitan Shanghai along the Huangpu River to the northeast coastal districts. The Chinese offensive in the urban center has come to a halt, and the fight in downtown Shanghai essentially has become a static battle with both sides suffering heavy losses and making minimal changes in the frontline. The Chinese divisions have been able to hold onto Zhabei, Jiangwan, and other downtown positions.
