Battle of Chingshanli

Battle of Cheongsanri
Part of the Korean Independence Movement
Date September 10~12 1920 Location Qingshanli, Jilin, China Result Korean victory
Combatants
Imperial Japanese Army	Armed Korean militants
Commanders
unknown	Kim Jwa Jin Yi Beomseok
Strength
~50,000	about 2,500
Casualties
800~1,200	90

The Battle of Cheongsanri was fought between the Imperial Japanese Army and Korean armed groups in a densely-wooded region of eastern Manchuria (Northeast China) called Qingshanli (青山里 청산리) in October 1920. It occurred during the campaign of the Japanese army in Jiandao.

Background

After the March 1st Movement of 1919, some Korean activists formed armed organizations in Manchuria which are called the "Independence Army" by Koreans. The Japanese government asked China to subdue Korean guerrillas but got no substantive result.

On October 2 1920 indepence forces raided Hun-ch'un and killed 13 Japanese including the commissioner of the consulate police. In response, Japan decide to send troops to eastern Manchuria. Japan immediately held talks with China, and on October 16 received permission of military action in eastern Jilin from the governor of Jilin .

Campaign

The forces who joined the expedition were:

• the 19th Division of the Chosen Army,
• the 28th Brigade of the 19th Division, which was on its way back to Japan, and
• two units from the 11th and 13th Divisions who had been sent to Vladivostok.

Among them, only the 19th Division of the Chosen Army launched an actual military operation and the rest just held a lockdown and a demonstration. The 19th Division was deployed in Hunchun (Isobayashi Detachment), Wangqing (Kimura Detachment) and Yanji-Helong (Azuma Detachment). The Isobayashi and Kimura Detachments engaged in no major combat. Only the Azuma Detachment fought against Korean guerrillas.

The Azuma Detachment engaged in combats with Korean guerrillas from October 21 to 26, and as a result, Koreans retreated from the area of operation. The 19th Division continued the sweeping operation until the end of 1920. Accomplishing their goals, most of the division withdrew from eastern Manchuria in early 1921 and the withdrawal was completed in May. Korean guerrillas went to Siberia to join a revolutionary army Lenin planned to establish.

Controversies

Hun-ch'un Incident

The government of South Korea officially believes that the Hun-ch'un Incident was a deception by Japan, who they believe used it as an excuse to detach troops.

According South Korean sources, the Japanese army bribed a bandit leader called Ch'ang-chiang-hao and made him attack Hun-ch'un. South Korean sources claim that Japanese victims were incidentally attacked by bandits who were enticed to the raid by Ch'ang-chiang-hao and were not under his control.

This story contradicts the firsthand accounts of real Korean guerrillas who fought at Chingshanli, fled to the RSFSR, and continued to fight in the Russian Civil War as a communist volunteer brigade.

Casualties of the Japanese army

South Koreans refer to this battle as the "great victory at Cheongsalli" and consider it a victory of the Independence Army. In contrast North Korean sources make no mention to this battle.

For the casualties of the Japanese army, Chosun Doknip Undongji Hyulsa by Bak Inseok (1920) states "900-1,600 including Regimental Commander Kano," Daehan Minguk jeongdangsa compiled by the National Election Commission (1964) "over 1,000," Hanguk jeonjaengsa by the Military History Compilation Committee of the Ministry of National Defense (1967) "3,300 dead and wounded," and Hanguk Minjok Undongsa by Jo Jihun (1975) "3,300 inclugin Regimental Commander Kano." Apparently the number of Japanese casualties have been exaggerated.

Japanese sources claim 11 dead and 24 wounded, and no casualty from officers. These numbers are repeated by the list of the dead of the Yasukuni Shrine. Japanese investigation of weapons of the 19th Division after the expedition claims that the Japanese army consumed little.

The only Japanese soldier Korean sources name was "Regimental Commander Kano." Chosun Doknip Undongji Hyulsa states that a secret paper by a Japanese consul reported Regimental Commander Kano's death, although Japan has not revealed such a report so far. Japan claims the only man corresponding to "Regimental Commander Kano" was Colonel Kano Nobuteru, who served as commander of the 27th regiment, and that his name cannot be found in the casualty list, but is said to have led the regiment until 1922.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• JACAR Ref.C03022770200, Chōsengun Shireibu (朝鮮軍司令部): Kantō shuppeishi (間島出兵史)
• Sasaki Harutaka (佐々木春隆): Kankoku dokuritsu undōshi jō no "Seizanri taisen" kō (韓国独立運動史上の「青山里大戦」考), Gunji shigaku (軍事史学), Vol.15 No. 3, pp.22-34, 1979.
• Sasaki Harutaka (佐々木春隆): Chōsen sensō zenshi to shite no Kankoku dokuritsu undō no kenkyū (朝鮮戦争前史としての韓国独立運動の研究), 1985.

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