View source for Defense of Sihang Warehouse

{{Short description|1937 engagement in the Battle of Shanghai}}
{{redirect|800 Heroes|other uses|800 Heroes (disambiguation)}}
{{Other uses of|Lost Battalion}}
{{multiple issues|{{primary sources|date=October 2020}}
{{Citation style|date=May 2024}}
{{Full citations needed|date=May 2024}}
{{Third-party|date=May 2024}}}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Sihang Warehouse
| partof            = the [[Battle of Shanghai]] in<br>the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
| image             = Sihang 1937.jpg
| map_type          = Shanghai
| caption           = Sihang Warehouse during the battle
| date              = {{Date range and age in years, months, weeks and days|1937|10|26|1937|11|1}}
| place             = [[Zhabei]], [[Shanghai]], [[Republic of China (1912–49)|China]]
| coordinates       = {{Coord|31.242183|121.466298|type:landmark_region:CN|display=title,inline}}
| result            = Withdrawal of Chinese forces to British concession on October 31st
| combatant1        = {{Flag|Republic of China (1912–49)|name=Republic of China}}
| combatant2        = {{Flag|Empire of Japan}}
| commander1        = {{Flagicon|Republic of China (1912–49)|army}} [[Xie Jinyuan]]<br>{{Flagicon|Republic of China (1912–49)|army}} [[Yang Ruifu]]{{WIA}}
| commander2        = {{flagicon image|Naval Ensign of Japan.svg|size=23px}} Okochi Denshichi<br>{{flagicon image|Naval Ensign of Japan.svg|size=23px}} Haji Kitaro
| strength1         = 410–420 soldiers<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harmsen|first1=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |isbn=978-1-612-00167-8 |page=173 |language=en}}</ref>
| strength2         = ~1,200 naval infantry<ref name="Japan Center for Asian Historical Records">{{cite web |title=陸戦隊の部 |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515342461705&ID=M2015010515342561725&REFCODE=C14120644700 |website=C14120644700 |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="C14120596400">{{cite web |title=主要作戦研究 陸1 上海確保戦(陸戦隊の部) 自8月13日至8月22日 |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515335961217&ID=M2015010515340061242&REFCODE=C14120596400 |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref><br>Tanks and artillery<ref>{{cite book |last1=Van de Ven|first1=Hans |title=China at War: Triumph and Tragedy in the Emergence of the New China |date=2018 |publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-1-922539-20-5 |page=86 |language=en}}</ref>
| casualties1       = '''Chinese Records:'''<br />10–35 killed<br />37–54 wounded<ref name="United Press">{{cite book |last1=Zhu|first1=Xie |title=My Father General Xie Jinyuan: Blood Fight of Eight Hundred Soldiers |date=2010 |publisher=United Press |isbn=978-7-512-60052-2 |page=138 |language=en}}</ref><ref>國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統, 朱紹良電蔣中正稱據孫元良報告經楊嘯天與英軍司馬雷脫商議掩護死守閘北部隊三十日退出遭日反擊等情形現已派員致慰獎卹有功人員, 典藏號: 002-090200-00025-127 [https://ahonline.drnh.gov.tw/index.php?act=Display/image/5295559dE=JzFn#bcu]</ref><br />'''Modern Western Estimate:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robinson|first1=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes: China's lost battalion and the fall of Shanghai |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |isbn=978-1-922539-20-5 |page=117 |language=en}}</ref>'''<br />33 killed and missing<br />50+ wounded<br />'''Japanese Claim:'''<br />80+ killed<ref name="C14120674900">{{cite web |title=支那事変概報第39号 10月1日〜支那事変概報第69号 10月31日(5) |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&REFCODE=C14120674900 |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |access-date=2 August 2023}}</ref>
| casualties2       = '''Chinese Estimates:'''<br>100<ref name="Zhongyang Ribao">{{cite news |title=Standing firm in isolation and hardship for four days, the 800 heroes followed orders and made their retreat (CN:堅守孤壘苦鬥四日八百壮士遵命撤退) |url=https://archive.org/details/zhongyang-ribao-1937.11.01/page/n1/mode/2up |access-date=23 August 2023 |publisher=Zhongyang Ribao |date=November 1, 1937}}</ref>-200+ killed<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yuanliang|first1=Sun |title="A Moment In A Billion Years". 8/13 Battle of Songhu.|date=2002 |publisher=Shanghai Chinese Academy of Social Sciences |pages=8–9 |language=zh}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Robinson|first1=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes: China's lost battalion and the fall of Shanghai. |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing|pages=117 |language=en}}</ref><br />4 tanks destroyed or damaged<ref name="United Press">{{cite book |last1=Zhu|first1=Xie |title=My Father General Xie Jinyuan: Blood Fight of Eight Hundred Soldiers |date=2010 |publisher=United Press |isbn=978-7-512-60052-2 |page=138 |language=en}}</ref><br>'''Western Reports:'''<br>Moderate<ref>{{cite news |date=November 1, 1937 |title=Artillery Ousts Brave Battalion - 100 Bodies Found |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/178 |publisher=North China Herald |issue=1937.11.03}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> to heavy losses<ref>{{cite news |date= November 2, 1937|title=The Shanghai Fighting: Stand of the "Do or Die Battalion"|location= Perth|publisher= The West Australian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=October 30, 1937|title= Fighting to the Last|location=Hobart|publisher=The Mercury}}</ref><br>'''Japanese Records:'''<br>3 fatal casualties among the 42 wounded for the attack on Zhabei; 1 fatal casualty among the 4 wounded in the final assault on October 30<ref name="C14120619600">{{cite web |title=11. 閘北進撃戦(10月27日) |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515341261457&ID=M2015010515341261474&REFCODE=C14120619600 |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="支那事変尽忠録 第三卷">{{cite book |title=支那事変尽忠録 第三卷 |publisher=海軍省教育局 |pages=227–235 |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1906225/1/ |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="C14120674900" /><ref group="Note" name="A"></ref>
| units1            = {{Flagicon|Republic of China (1912–49)|army}} [[88th Division (National Revolutionary Army)|88th Division]]
* 1st Battalion, 524th Regiment
| units2            = {{flagicon image|Naval Ensign of Japan.svg|size=23px}} [[Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force]]<ref name="C14120644700">{{cite web |title=陸戦隊の部 |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/das/image/C14120644700 |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |access-date=28 July 2023}}</ref>
* 10th Battalion (reinforced)
** Yokosuka 2nd Independent SNLF Company
** Kure 1st SNLF
** 8th and 9th Companies (artillery)
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| title             = Sihang Warehouse
| collapse          = <!-- yes|no   -->
| t                 = 四行倉庫
| s                 = 四行仓库
| p                 = Sìháng Cāngkù
| kanji             = 四行倉庫
| romaji            = shikousouko
| altname           = Eight Hundred Heroes
| t2                = 八百壯士
| s2                = 八百壮士
| p2                = Bābǎi Zhùangshì
}}
{{Campaignbox Second Sino-Japanese War}}
{{Japanese colonial campaigns}}

The '''Battle of Sihang Warehouse''' ({{zh|t=四行倉庫保衛戰}})  took place from October 26 to November 1, 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 [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese]] soldiers to cover [[National Revolutionary Army|Chinese forces]] retreating west during the Battle of Shanghai.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=July 15, 2014 |title=Sihang Warehouse in Shanghai to Be Memorial of War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression |url=https://www1.kmt.org.tw/english/page.aspx?type=article&mnum=112&anum=14821 |access-date=August 24, 2024 |work=All Taipei Newspapers}}</ref>

The Chinese defenders were composed of a single half-strength battalion from the elite German-trained [[88th Division (National Revolutionary Army)|88th Division]], who had fortified and occupied the large "Four Banks" (Sihang) Warehouse in the downtown [[Zhabei]] district. The warehouse's location just across the [[Suzhou Creek]] from the [[concessions in China|foreign concessions]] in Shanghai meant the battle took place in full view of the [[Western world|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 army, 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mulready-Stone |first=Kristin |title="Mobilizing Shanghai Youth" |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-1138779853 |edition=1st |pages=127 |language=en}}</ref>

There is a lack of official archival materials and detailed battle reports regarding the battle of Sihang Warehouse from the Chinese side. The "History of the Anti-Japanese War: Battle of Shanghai" which recorded the battle from the Chinese army’s perspective with detailed day-by-day battle progress had only a small passage for the battle of Sihang Warehouse.<ref>{{cite book |title=抗日戰史: 淞滬會戰 (二) | publisher=國防部史政編譯局| date=1966 |page=167}}</ref><ref group="Note" name="G"> The English translation for the relevant section is as follows: "Han's regiment of the 88th division, which had stayed in Zhabei to serve as a covering force, retreated westward from Pengpu Town at dawn on the 27th with most of its troops to rejoin its parent formation. The remaining troops—approximately one battalion (around 800 men) led by regimental adjutant Xie Jinyuan and battalion commander Yang Ruifu—defended Sihang Warehouse to continue blocking the enemy’s advance. At dusk, the enemy set fire to the warehouse and launched a fierce assault. The defenders resisted from the elevated positions of the building amidst the flame, ensuring the 'Blue Sky with a White Sun' national flag would continue to fly over the warehouse. The lone army fought until the 30th, and only retreated into the concession after being persuaded by the friendly British army."</ref> Most of the battle process thus came from newspapers at the time and the memories of Chinese officers and soldiers of the battalion and the civilians who witnessed the battle.<ref name="Jack Hwang">{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240820000626/https://lightmaha.blogspot.com/2022/01/blog-post.html?m=1|title=背坿危槽倚堅壁 ── 四行倉庫戰鬥實況與傳說探析|date=2024-08-20}}</ref>

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 (National Revolutionary Army)|88th Division]] behind to buy time and canvass international support by showing the other nations of the [[Nine-Power Treaty|Nine Powers]] (which were to convene on 6 November) China's determination to resist the Japanese during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]].<ref name="lijunshan">Li, Junshan. "Defense of Shanghai and Nanjing". Taipei: Mai Tian Publishing, 1997, p. 124.</ref>

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."<ref name="zhangboting">Zhang, Boting. "Recollections of the 8/13 Battle of Shanghai". ''Zhuan Ji Wen Xue.'' Taipei: Academia Sinica, 1965, vol. 41.{{primary source inline|date=October 2020}}</ref>

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.<ref name="yangruifu">Yang, Ruifu. "The Lost Battalion's Four-day Struggle". ''8/13 Battle of Songhu''. Shanghai: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 2002, pp. 158–159.{{primary source inline|date=October 2020}}</ref>[[Image:Sihangmap trad.svg|thumb|Map of the area around the warehouse:
{{legend|#061343|Sihang Warehouse, garrisoned by [[National Revolutionary Army|NRA]] troops}}
{{legend|#C6DCBC|Foreign concessions, international settlements}}]]

==Order of battle and equipment==

===National Revolutionary Army===
[[File:Xiejinyuan photo official.jpg|thumb|Lieutenant Colonel [[Xie Jinyuan]], commander of the Chinese force]]
* 524th Regiment, 88th Division: Regimental commander ([[commanding officer|CO]]), Army [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Xie Jinyuan]]<br />Executive officer ([[Executive officer|XO]]), Army [[Major (rank)|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 (armed forces)|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.<ref name="sunyuanliang">Sun, Yuanliang. "Xie Jinyuan and the Eight Hundred Heroes". ''8/13 Battle of Songhu''. Shanghai: [[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]], 2002. p. 115</ref>

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.<ref name="zhangboting" />

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 [[Stielhandgranate|M24 stick]] [[grenade]]s, a German-made [[Stahlhelm#M1935|M1935 Stahlhelm]], a [[gas mask]], and food pouch.<ref name="yangruifu" /> There was a total of 27 [[light machine gun]]s, mostly Czech [[ZB vz.26]], approximately one for each squad. The four water-cooled Type 24 [[Maxim gun]]s were the only heavy weapons available to the battalion—a [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] platoon assigned to them was never mentioned by participants of the battle, and was therefore unlikely to have joined the battle.<ref name="zhangboting" />

===Imperial Japanese Navy===
* [[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]]
[[File:Ookouchi Captain.jpg|thumb|Captain Ōkouchi Denshichi of the Shanghai SNLF.]]
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 in response to the [[Oyama Incident]] on August 9, 1937, the force would be hastily reinforced with Special Naval Landing Forces and ship crews deployed on land. Reinforcements would continue to arrive throughout the course of the battle, eventually bringing the force to just over 10,000 men in strength by October 1937.<ref name="C14120596400">{{cite web |title=主要作戦研究 陸1 上海確保戦(陸戦隊の部) 自8月13日至8月22日 |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515335961217&ID=M2015010515340061242&REFCODE=C14120596400 |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref>

On October 27, 1937, the Shanghai SNLF began their advance on [[Zhabei]], organizing their 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 12th Battalions into the "Zhabei Force" for the operation. 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.<ref name="C14120674800">{{cite web |title=支那事変概報第39号 10月1日〜支那事変概報第69号 10月31日(4) |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&REFCODE=C14120674800 |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |access-date=4 August 2023}}</ref>

The 10th Battalion had been raised in August 1937 from some 520 reservists at the Sasebo and Kure Naval Districts. Lieutenant Commander Haji Kitaro, an instructor at the Naval Gunnery School in Yokosuka was appointed as to the Shanghai SNLF to serve as the battalion's commander.<ref name="C16120702400">{{cite web |title=第8編 緒戦期に於ける中・南支作戦/第2章 8月18日より8月下旬に至る上海作戦/第1節 上海陸上戦闘を中心とする作戦 |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2016122117314343489&ID=M2016122117315143522&REFCODE=C16120702400 |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |access-date=11 April 2023}}</ref> Since landing in Shanghai on August 19, the battalion had engaged in intense urban combat and suffered a number of casualties.

During the assault on Sihang Warehouse the exact number of participating troops is unclear, however the Shanghai SNLF 10th Battalion numbering over 500 men at the time of its formation was reinforced with approximately 250 sailors of the Yokosuka 2nd Independent SNLF Company and over 200 sailors from the Kure 1st SNLF. 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.<ref name="Japan Center for Asian Historical Records">{{cite web |title=陸戦隊の部 |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515342461705&ID=M2015010515342561725&REFCODE=C14120644700 |website=C14120644700 |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="C14120596400">{{cite web |title=主要作戦研究 陸1 上海確保戦(陸戦隊の部) 自8月13日至8月22日 |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515335961217&ID=M2015010515340061242&REFCODE=C14120596400 |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Koizumi |first1=Masayoshi |title=Aru Kaigun Chusa Ikka no Kakei Bo |date=2009 |publisher=Kojinsha |isbn=9784769826019 |pages=192, 196}}</ref>

A number of Western historians including Eric Niderost<ref>{{Cite web |last=Niderost |first=Eric |date=December 2007 |title=Chinese Alamo: Last Stand at Sihang Warehouse |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/chinese-alamo-last-stand-at-sihang-warehouse/}}</ref><ref group="Note" name="B">Niderost's work "Chinese Alamo" (December 2007) states "The Sihang defenders faced the Japanese 3rd Division, considered one of the best of the Imperial Japanese Army. They also had mortar teams, artillery, and armor—probably Type 94 Te-Ke tankettes." Niderost's work does not include any references</ref> and Stephen Robinson<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=66}}</ref><ref group="Note" name="F">Robinson cites Niderost's "Chinese Alamo" for the IJA 3rd Division's involvement at Sihang Warehouse.</ref> have stated the Warehouse was attacked by the Imperial Japanese Army's 3rd Division. However, 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 nearby in the Suzhou River Crossing Operation at the time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=郷土部隊史保存会 編 |title=第三師団郷土部隊史 |date=1967 |publisher=郷土部隊史保存会 |pages=14~18}}</ref><ref group="Note" name="C">The English translation of the relevant sections are as follows: On October 27 the Division spent until the evening moving their front line to the Suzhou Creek from Dachang. The Division subsequently ordered their manpower to pursue retreating enemies, moving to the left of the Suzhou Riverbank and ordering units to the areas listed below:

Right Flank (68th Infantry Regiment) - North of Toyoda Cotton Mills Left Flank (18th Infantry Regiment) - Chenjiabang (陳家浜) 34th Infantry Regiment - Linjiagang and Jixiangwei (林家港、基巷衛) The Other Units - Zhenru Town Area (真如鎮)
With the enemy fleeing west of the Shanghai-Wusong Railway and orders for the Division to cross the Suzhou, late in the evening of the 27th the Division Commander reordered part of the Division stay at the Suzhou Riverbank while the bulk of his manpower were to regroup around Zenhru Town (真如鎮) and Feijiajao (斐家角) and prepare for the river crossing. By the afternoon of October 29 preparations were complete and on October 31st the 3rd Division began crossing the river.</ref><ref name="C14120674800">{{cite web |title=支那事変概報第39号 10月1日〜支那事変概報第69号 10月31日(4) |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&REFCODE=C14120674800 |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |access-date=4 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="C14120674900" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=防衛庁防衛研修所戦史室 編 |title=支那事変陸軍作戦<1>昭和十三年一月まで |date=1975 |publisher=朝雲新聞社 |pages=380, 381}}</ref><ref group="Note" name="D">The English translation of the relevant sections are as follows: October 26 - Our forces captured Dachang Village and blocked the Shanghai-Nanking Railway. Oct 27 - Our forces reached the Suzhou River lines. The Tanigawa Detachment broke through the Jiangwan Village area and advanced to the southern sector and returned to the 101st Division on the 27th. On the 27th the Special Naval Landing Forces captured the Zhabei region and completed their sweep of the enemy. The 3rd Division began their crossing of the Suzhou River on October 31.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=防衛庁防衛研修所戦史室 編 |title=中国方面海軍作戦〈1〉昭和十三年三月まで |date=1974 |publisher=朝雲新聞社 |pages=401, 402}}</ref><ref group="Note" name="E">The English translation of the relevant sections are as follows: On the evening of October 26, our naval landing forces, wanting to maintain contact with the enemy, particularly on the left wing of the Suzhou Creek area, continued their vicious battle. Using the moonlight at 0430 hours on October 27, the right flank launched an attack on critical points as planned. At 0505 hours the entire force began their advance and with an initial breakthrough of the frontline on Baoxing Road, each unit attacked with their all of their might. The Rightward Force was the first to succeed in breaking the frontline at 0700 hours and advanced to the west edge of Zhabei, later moving to the southern area and working to cut off the enemy's escape routes. At the same time the Leftward Force captured the North Station and Railway Bureau, followed by the Central and Leftward Forces sweeping enemies in the west and southern areas and moving to clear out enemies of the eastern pocket area. By around 1800 hours some 100 stragglers retreating from our advance had held up in the Sihang Warehouse. The other remaining stragglers were mopped up in the evening. Some troops also advanced west and captured Zhenru Station (真如駅). Our naval landing forces captured all of Zhabei, the Continental Rail Factory, the Central Weapons Arsenal, and Zhenru Station, with the enemy losses amounting to some 630 dead and a number of captured weapons. Our casualties amounted to 3 heavily wounded and another 24 wounded. The stragglers in the Sihang Warehouse were later encircled and told to surrender, but after ignoring the offer, on October 31 at 0145 hours they were suppressed with artillery and at 0300 hours our forces broke through and completely swept up what was left of the enemy.</ref>

==Battle==

=== October 27 ===

==== Chinese Preparations ====
[[File:Shanghai1937city zhabei fire.jpg|thumb|Zhabei district burning on the morning of October 27, immediately before the fighting near Sihang Warehouse began.]]
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 [[Scorched earth|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.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=196}}</ref> That these men had volunteered for the defense was later noted by Chiang Kai-shek as exemplary soldierly conduct.<ref name="lijunshan" />

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.<ref name="yangruifu" /> Two [[Maxim gun|Type-24 Maxim]] heavy machine guns were installed on the roof in an [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] role, while the other machine guns were distributed to the 1st and 3rd Companies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=76}}</ref>

==== Opening skirmishes ====
[[File:SNLFNorthrailwaystation.jpg|thumb|Japanese SNLF in the ruins of the Shanghai North Railway Station, immediately before attacking Sihang Warehouse, October 27]]

In the meantime, the Japanese had already begun advancing into the area. At around 7:30 a.m., a Chinese outpost at the Han Bridge reported that [[Special Naval Landing Forces|Japanese marines]] were approaching the [[Shanghai North railway station|North Train Station]]. Forty-five minutes later at around 8:15 a.m., the Japanese were spotted hoisting their flag over the building. 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.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":11">{{Cite news |date=November 2, 1937 |title=The Shanghai Fighting: Stand of the "Dare-to-Die Battalion" |work=The West Australian |pages=7}}</ref>[[Image:Shanghai North Railway Station.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Shanghai North Railway Station]], after months of fighting and bombing.]]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.<ref name=":9" />

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 Flag|Rising Sun]] banner. Once they were close enough, the Chinese defenders ambushed them. Five Japanese soldiers were killed instantly by the gunfire, while the rest of the column scattered for cover.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=196}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":11" /> However, upon attempting to secure some abandoned fortifications, several Japanese soldiers stumbled into a [[Booby trap|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yang |first=Ruifu |title=Account of the Lone Unit's Four days of Battle |pages=121 |language=zh}}</ref>

Chinese defenders continued developing [[Fortification|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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes: China's lost battalion and the fall of Shanghai |publisher=Exisle Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-922539-20-5 |location=Australia |pages=117 |language=en}}</ref>

==== First attacks on Sihang Warehouse ====
[[File:Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force assaulting near Ch'ung-te School for Girls, Barchet Road.jpeg|thumb|Shanghai SNLF naval infantry in action in downtown Shanghai, October 1937.]]
The Japanese attackers, composed of units from a "[[Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces|Japanese Naval Landing Party]]" or [[Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces|Japanese marines]],<ref>{{cite news |date=October 31, 1937 |title=Exciting Scenes When Chinese In Fort Make Final Dash Over Bridge |url=https://archive.org/details/smpa-files-3468/page/n51/mode/2up |publisher=Shanghai Times}}</ref><ref name="North China Herald">{{cite news |date=October 28, 1937 |title=Creek Bank Street Fight Being Watched |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/178 |publisher=North China Herald |issue=1937.11.03}}</ref> 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 men strong, began advancing on the warehouse under the cover of [[Ballistic shield|steel shields]] slotted for rifle fire.<ref name=":11" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=78}}</ref>
[[File:JapaneseattacksonSihang,Oct27.png|thumb|A series of frames taken from footage of the Japanese attacks on October 27. The smoke trails are from grenades detonating in the street, thrown from the warehouse roof by Chinese defenders.]]


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.<ref name=":12">{{cite news |date=October 29, 1937 |title=Lone Battalion Ready to Fight to Last |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/177 |publisher=North China Herald |issue=1937.11.03}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{cite news |date=October 29, 1937 |title=Chinese Defenders Withdraw from Chapei at Night |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/176 |publisher=North China Herald |issue=1937.11.03}}</ref> As the battle continued, 3rd Company Captain Shi Meihao was shot in the face but continued to command the defense until he was shot again in the leg. Eventually, the Chinese were forced to abandon the outer wall, and barricaded themselves inside the warehouse itself.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes: China's lost battalion and the fall of Shanghai |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=79}}</ref> 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 under the ledge in a blind spot at the south-west of the warehouse. Noticing them, a dozen Chinese soldiers quickly climbed onto the roof and hurled mortar rounds and grenades down at the Japanese, killing seven and wounding between twenty and thirty.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yang |first=Ruifu |title=Account of the Lone Unit's Four Days of Battle |pages=122}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2013 |edition=1st |pages=197 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="shangguanbaicheng">Shangguan, Baicheng. "Diaries of the Eight Hundred Heroes and Xie Jinyuan". 1977</ref><ref name=":14" /><ref name=":11" /> The survivors were then driven away when a Chinese machine gunner began to shoot at them from one of the warehouse windows.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13" />[[File:Sihang warehouse under fire.jpg|thumb|250px|The Sihang Warehouse during the defense. Note the black Chinese characters painted on the west wall.]]Word had been spreading since the early morning that there were still Chinese forces defending Zhabei near the warehouse.<ref name="yanghuimin">Yang, Huimin. "Autobiography". ''8/13 Battle of Songhu''. Shanghai: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 2002. p.. 118{{primary source inline|date=October 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=197}}</ref>
[[File:Sihangwarehousesuzhoucreek.jpg|thumb|A photograph showing the position of Sihang Warehouse to the [[Shanghai International Settlement|International Settlement]]. The proximity enabled many Western and Chinese civilians to watch the battle from a short distance.]]
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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Farmer |first=Rhodes |title=Shanghai Harvest: A Diary of Three Years in the China War |date=1945 |publisher=London: Museum Press |pages=37}}</ref><ref name=":15" />
 
A journalist witnessing the combat estimated that sixty Japanese were killed in total during the assault by machine gun fire and grenades.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=800 Hundred Heroes |publisher=Exisle Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-922539-20-5 |location=Chatswood, Australia |pages=274 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Zhu |first=Xie |title=My Father, General Xie Jinyuan |publisher=United press |year=2010 |isbn=978-7512600522 |pages=138}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |title=八一三淞沪抗战. 中国文史出版社 |date=1987 |publisher=China Literature and History Press |pages=116}}</ref>  

The Chinese had also suffered casualties in the fighting. The Japanese claimed that none of their troops had been killed in the fighting. 

Chinese defenders and civilian spectators observed police dogs dragging away Japanese casualties during nighttime,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes: China's lost battalion and the fall of Shanghai |publisher=Exisle Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-922539-20-5 |location=Australia |pages=134 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":11" /> which has been used to explain the absence of visible bodies around the warehouse in footage captured by Chinese and foreign journalists during the battle.<ref name="Jack Hwang"/>
As night fell, the Chinese defenders were tasked with constructing fortifications and repairing any damages sustained during the attacks. Nobody was given any sleep.<ref name=":0" />

=== 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.<ref>Xiaoqun Xu. ''Chinese Professionals and the Republican State: The Rise of Professional Associations in Shangahai, 1912–1937'' Cambridge University Press, 2001. p. 45. {{ISBN|0-521-78071-3}}</ref> 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."<ref name=":12" />
[[File:Remains of victims by bombing of Chinese Bombers - Shanghai International Settlement.png|thumb|Victims of "Bloody Saturday," killed by a bombing in the Shanghai International Settlement. ]]
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 (Shanghai)|Bloody Saturday]]." They were driven away from the warehouse by anti-aircraft fire from two the machine guns on the roof.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=80}}</ref><ref name=":15" />

An hour later, Major Yang gave a speech to the officers and squad leaders and then inspected the defenses constructed by the soldiers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=81}}</ref> 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 River|Suzhou Creek]], which according to Yang Ruifu was about 1 km (1,100 [[Yard|yd]]) away. Xie ordered a sentry to give him his rifle and then fired on the group; one of them promptly fell dead.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=198}}</ref><ref name=":10" />

==== Second assault on Sihang Warehouse ====
[[File:Sihangwarehouseroof.jpg|thumb|Chinese soldiers positioned on the roof of Sihang Warehouse, October 28th]]
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.<ref name=":8" /> 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]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 29, 1937 |title=Lone Battalion Still Hold on To Their Posts |work=North China Daily News}}</ref> Japanese troops made repeated efforts to capture the warehouse, but were beaten back each time by the Chinese after brief exchanges of fire.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 29, 1937 |title=A Touching Scene |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/181 |publisher=North China Herald |issue=1937.11.03}}</ref>

The Japanese, outnumbering the Chinese defenders and repeatedly screaming "[[Ten thousand years|Banzai]]," then deployed [[Type 94 90 mm infantry mortar|trench mortars]]. Several fires broke out across the battlefield, with Chinese soldiers shooting back with [[Hanyang 88|rifles]] and [[Mauser C96|Mausers]]. Both sides suffered casualties in the intense firefight.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 28, 1937 |title=Japanese Shout Banzai in Fierce Attack: Rising-Sun Flag Hoisted over Fire and Smoke |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/178/mode/2up?view=theater |work=The North-China Herald |pages=178}}</ref> [[Image:NRA soldiers firing inside Sihang warehouse.jpg|thumb|250px|A Chinese light machine gun position in Sihang Warehouse. ]]
[[File:Sihangoct28.jpg|thumb|The North end of Sihang Warehouse on October 28]]
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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chen |title=The Isolated Soldiers Desperately Fighting for the Country in Sihang Warehouse |pages=135}}</ref> 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.<ref name="North China Herald" /> 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.<ref name="Shanghai's Undeclared War">{{cite book |last1=Bruce |first1=George C. |title=Shanghai's Undeclared War |date=1938 |publisher=Shanghai Evening Post & Mercury |page=72}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=81–83}}</ref>

==== 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.<ref name="yanghuimin" /> Xie requested that Shanghai [[Yu Hung-chun|Mayor Yui]] supply his men with 500 lb. salt, 500 lb. sugar, and 50,000 Chinese biscuits.<ref name=":13" />
[[File:Yu Hongjun.jpg|thumb|Shanghai Mayor Yu (Yui) Hongjun.]]
[[File:Sihangfood.jpg|thumb|Chinese soldiers and civilians unload food and supplies off the Suzhou Creek near Sihang]]
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]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fu |title=Passivity, Resistance, and Collaboration |pages=18}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=83}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=198}}</ref> British [[Royal Welch Fusiliers|Royal Welsh Fusiliers]] positioned on the southern bank of the creek provided assistance to the evacuation efforts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=84 |language=en}}</ref>

Soon after the evacuation, Shanghai newspapers announced soon after that 800 soldiers were defending the warehouse, including the [[Central News Agency (Taiwan)|Central News Agency]]. As word spread about the fighting near Sihang Warehouse, international newspapers began to report on the battalion's defense, including the [[The New York Times|New York Times]], [[The Guardian]], and the [[The Sydney Morning Herald|Sydney Morning Herald]].<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=84–85}}</ref>

As they had the previous night, no Chinese soldiers were permitted to sleep and were instead ordered to continue repairing the defenses.<ref name=":16" /> 

==== Delivery of the Chinese flag ====
{{Main|Yang Huimin}}
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 [[Flag of the Republic of China|Chinese flag]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=202}}</ref> 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.<ref name="yanghuimin" /><ref name="xiejimin">Xie, Jimin. "A Few Explanations Regarding Xie Jinyuan and the Eight Hundred Heroes". ''Shi Lin Xie Ying'' (Shanghai Historical Archive vol.88) Shanghai: Shanghai Committee of Chinese Political Consultative Conference, 1998. pp. 210–211</ref>[[Image:Girl Scout Yang Huimin Battle of Shanghai 1937.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Yang Huimin]] posing with the [[ROC flag]].]]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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Battle for a Doomed City |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=90}}</ref>

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.<ref name="yanghuimin" />

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.<ref name="yangruifu" /> The defenders also gave Yang Huimin messages written in Chinese calligraphy on handkerchiefs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=90}}</ref> Taking Xie's advice, Yang Huimin returned to the opposite bank of the Suzhou Creek by swimming underwater to avoid detection.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=203}}</ref>

=== October 29 ===

==== Raising the Flag ====
[[File:Sihangwarehousefrombelow.jpg|thumb|Yang Huimin's flag flies over Sihang Warehouse, photographed from the New Lese Bridge]]
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]] [[culm (botany)|culm]]s tied together. Only a small group of soldiers attended the [[flag-raising ceremony]], including several [[bugle]]rs and orderlies.<ref name="yanghuimin" /> Yang Huimin also witnessed the event upon escaping across the Creek, which was reportedly conducted quietly with less than twenty soldiers in attendance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=91}}</ref>

Upon noticing the flag, a crowd of roughly thirty thousand people,<ref name="lihpao">"Our Determined Lone Army Makes Final Stand". ''Lihpao Daily'' 29 October 1937</ref> 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.<ref name="Shanghai's Undeclared War" /> Many of the Chinese civilians began to shout "Long live the Republic of China!" ({{zh|t=中華民國萬歲!|p=Zhōnghuá Mínguó wànsuì!}}.<ref name=":17">{{cite news |date=October 30, 1937 |title=Chapei Chinese Battalion Flies Chinese Flag |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/183 |publisher=North China Herald |issue=1937.11.03}}</ref>
[[File:Sihang 1937.jpg|thumb|The Chinese flag flying over Sihang Warehouse. ]]
American reporter Keane Arundel who witnessed the event compared the situation to [[Battle of the Alamo|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, [[Texas Revolution|where Americans died in 1836 rather than yield to Mexico]]."<ref name=":18">{{Cite news |last=Arundel |first=Keane |date=October 29, 1937 |title=200 in Chinese Alamo Hold Off 40,000 Japs |work=Daily News}}</ref>

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 [[Lynching|lynched]] by a mob before authorities could rescue him.<ref name=":17" />

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.<ref name="yangruifu" />

==== 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."<ref name=":19">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Battle for a Doomed City |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=203–204}}</ref>
[[File:Japaneseattacksihang2.jpg|thumb|Japanese infantry rush the wall of Sihang Warehouse. Oct 29. ]]
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.<ref name=":19" /> Historian Eric Niderost wrote that the Japanese then attacked the warehouse from three directions with hundreds of infantry and support from five [[Type 94 tankette|Type 94]] Te-Ke tankettes, which Yang Ruifu observed advancing down the road.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Niderost |title=Chinese Alamo}}</ref>

The Japanese intensified their efforts to captured the warehouse, peppering the building with bullets and [[Rifle grenade|rifle-grenade]] fire while reinforcing their machine gun positions on North Suzhou Road. The Japanese continued to shell the warehouse with a barrage of four rounds from their field guns around 3 p.m.<ref name=":17" />
[[File:Japaneseattacksihang.jpg|thumb|Japanese soldiers scale the west wall of Sihang Warehouse, October 29]]
The Japanese assault pushed the 3rd Company out of their defensive line at the base of the warehouse and forced them into the warehouse itself. Groups of Japanese soldiers then tried to scale the warehouse's walls to the second floor with ladders, but Chinese defenders pushed them over and returned fire with rifles and machine guns.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Niderost |first=Eric |date=2007 |title=Chinese Alamo: Last Stand at Sihang Warehouse |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/chinese-alamo-last-stand-at-sihang-warehouse/ |access-date=June 18, 2023 |website=Warfare History Network}}</ref> 

According to Baicheng Shangguan, Xie was positioned at the window where one of the ladders appeared from. 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.<ref name="shangguanbaicheng" />

Journalist Kean Arundel observed that "Chinese guns blazed defiantly at Japanese who surrounded the building on three sides."<ref name=":18" /> 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.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=October 30, 1937 |title="Lost Battalion" Fights on. International Settlement Watches Gallant Defence |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":17" /> A western observer witnessed how the Chinese defenders had broken 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bruce |first1=George C. |title=Shanghai's Undeclared War |date=1938 |publisher=Shanghai Evening Post & Mercury |page=73}}</ref>

===== Chen Shusheng's suicide attack =====
[[File:Chinese infantry soldier preparing a suicide vest of Model 24 hand grenades at the Battle of Taierzhuang against Japanese Tanks.jpg|thumb|A Chinese soldier wearing a suicide vest made of grenades, similar to what Chen Shusheng was claimed to wear]]
According to several Chinese sources during the height of the battle a group of Japanese soldiers had attempted to plant explosives at the base of the West Wall to breach it. Upon noticing this, 21-year old Chinese private Chen Shusheng [[Explosive belt|strapped live grenades to himself]] and dove off the building into the Japanese squad, allegedly killing twenty Japanese soldiers in a [[Martyrdom in Chinese culture|suicide attack]].<ref name="yangruifu" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kubacki. |first=Marta |title=On The Precipice of Change. |date=2014 |pages=54}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Yang |first1=Yi |date=19 August 2015 |title=Ba Bai Zhuang Shi |url=http://dangshi.people.com.cn/n/2015/0819/c85037-27483750.html |access-date=15 September 2020 |publisher=Baike |language=zh |agency=Beijing Daily}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2 September 2020 |title=Lest we forget the sacrifice of battle heroes |url=http://www.shanghai.gov.cn/shanghai/n46669/n48081/n48088/u22ai130004.html |access-date=15 September 2020 |website=shanghai.gov.cn |publisher=Shanghai Municipal People's Government}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":20">{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=99}}</ref>

The suicide act was first mentioned in a Shanghai newspaper and was not substantiated by reports from regiment commander Xie Jinyuan, battalion commander Yang Ruifu, or executive officer Shangguan Zhibiao. There were not any pictures or footage taken of the explosion or the bodies of the Japanese claimed to have been killed in the suicide attack. Moreover, none of the soldiers of the battalion mentioned the act of martyrdom while they were detained by the British authorities to their visitors. The name of the private only came up in the recollections of some of the veterans of the battalion decades after the battle. Many of the veterans, including platoon commander Yang Yangzheng, did not mention the act in their memoirs.<ref name="Jack Hwang" /> 

===== Evening attacks =====
[[File:Japanesepinnace1937.jpg|thumb|One of the Japanese armored pinnaces (boats) being stopped by the Chinese boom near the Zhejiang Bridge]]
At around 3 p.m., two Japanese pinnaces carrying some 30 marines attempted to flank the warehouse from the river, but were stopped by a makeshift boom fashioned out of Chinese [[Junk (ship)|junks]] at the Zhejiang(North Chekiang) Road Bridge. The Japanese claimed that they were heading up the creek to assist the Shanghai Fire Brigade, but were suspected by the British to attack on the Sihang Warehouse. British troops in the Settlement refused to move the boom due to the violation of the British Settlement sector, and escorted the Japanese sailors back at 4:30 p.m.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Japan's War in China |pages=92}}</ref><ref name=":17" />
[[File:American marines holding up a Japanese patrol in Shanghai, 1930s.png|thumb|American marines confront a Japanese patrol in Shanghai, 1937. The International Settlement was considered a neutral zone on the Shanghai battlefield.  ]]
The fighting lasted until dark, with Japanese attacks now supported by [[armoured fighting vehicle]]s and artillery fire against the fortified Chinese positions, but to no progress and with heavy casualties.<ref name=":20" />

In the evening, according to Yang Ruifu, the Japanese launched a [[Night combat|night attack]] using an [[excavator]], and tried to dig a [[Tunnel warfare|tunnel]] towards the warehouse in conjunction with tank assaults. During this day's battle, Chinese citizens across the river helped the soldiers by writing on large posters, warning of the Japanese army's movements.<ref name="yangruifu" />

Like the previous days, the Japanese claimed that they had lost no men in the attacks. 

=== October 30 ===

==== Renewed Japanese attacks ====
The Japanese launched a new wave of attacks at 7 a.m. on October 30th. There were fewer infantry assaults at the warehouse this time; the Japanese attack was mainly concentrated artillery fire. Because of the sturdy construction and the abundance of sandbags and materials with which to fortify and mend the warehouse, the defenders were able to the repair the warehouse while the Japanese tried to destroy it. Artillery fire was so rapid that Yang Ruifu estimated there was approximately one shell every second.<ref name="yangruifu" />[[File:Sihangwarehouseburning.jpg|thumb|Sihang Warehouse burns during the Japanese artillery barrage, October 30 (Taken by [[Royal Welch Fusiliers|Royal Welsh Fusilier]] John Montgomery)]]Japanese shells created holes in the windowless western wall, which enabled Chinese defenders to return fire at Japanese positions. A western journalist witnessed the fighting and noted that a second Chinese flag had been hoisted above the roof alongside the original flag. Japanese machine guns continued to shoot at the walls and windows of the warehouse, whilst the Chinese defenders fired back with rifles.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 31, 1937 |title=Fierce Fight for Capture of Bank Godowns |work=North China Daily News}}</ref><ref name=":21">{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=102}}</ref>

According to a letter written by Xie Jinyuan to [[Soong Mei-ling|Soong Mei-Ling]], the Chinese defenders had been harassed constantly by Japanese snipers, and Chinese casualties were rising after the Japanese began bombarding the warehouse with heavy artillery. Ricocheting shells and shrapnel caused a number of casualties among the defenders, with the warehouse walls inside showing signs of a potential [[Structural integrity and failure|collapse]] under the Japanese artillery.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 2, 1937 |title=Madame Chiang Kai-Shek: "Heroes Thank British" |work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref>

Later that day on October 30th, a Japanese naval officer announced at a press conference that the Japanese had made every effort to persuade the Chinese troops to surrender, but "all overtures tendered in a spirit of humanitarianism had been disregarded."<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 3, 1937 |title=China Suicide Squad Leaves Post of Peril |work=The Times-News}}</ref> Another Japanese military spokesman declared that "[[88th Division (National Revolutionary Army)|They]] must be destroyed," and another officer similarly stated "We will never let them escape alive."<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 30, 1937 |title=Lost Battalion to Take Refuge in Foreign Area |work=The Evening Star}}</ref> Rear Admiral Tadao Honda, a Japanese naval attaché, declared at a press conference that the Japanese would dislodge the Chinese from the warehouse, citing a "stout, stubborn refusal to surrender," further claiming that everything had been done to "spare the lives of the defenders in the true [[Samurai]] [[Bushido|spirit]], but we must make a final assault now."<ref name=":21" />

==== Chinese decision to retreat ====
By this point in the battle, British and American officers had made multiple attempts to persuade the Chinese to leave the warehouse and accept internment. Major Harrison of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers declared that he had "offered to allow them sanctuary in the settlement provided that they laid down their arms," and stated "they replied that they preferred to die." A similar response was received by Brigadier General John Beaumont of the [[United States Marine Corps|United States Marines]] stationed in the settlement, who upon offering the Chinese sanctuary, received the reply "Let the Japanese try to [[No quarter|escort us to safety]]." In a dispatch to Colonel Alexander [[Alexander Telfer-Smollett|Telfer-Smollet]], commander of the British forces, Xie declared that only Chiang Kai-Shek could order his battalion to leave.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |pages=100–101}}</ref>
[[File:Telfersmollett1937.jpg|thumb|Major General Alexander Telfer-Smollett, who would conduct negotiations for the retreat, poses with British officials, soldiers and Shanghai Municipal Police. Mid-1937. ]]
The foreigners in the concessions in Shanghai did not want the site of combat to be so close to them. With that consideration in mind, and faced with pressure from the Japanese, they agreed to try to convince the Chinese to cease resisting. On the 29th they submitted a petition to the [[Kuomintang|Nationalist Government]] to stop the fighting "for humanitarian concerns."<ref name="zhangboting" /><ref name="sunyuanliang2" />

[[Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-Shek]] had received hundreds of telegrams urging him to save the battalion, as well as requests from Anglo-American commanders to not sacrifice his troops. By October 30, Chiang had decided that the 1st Battalion was "too valuable to spare," and because he considered the objectives of the defenders fulfilled, formally authorized a withdrawal through the 88th Division chief-of-staff officer Zhang Boting.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=104–105}}</ref>

A meeting was arranged with the British general [[Alexander Telfer-Smollett|Telfer-Smollett]] through the commandant of Shanghai Auxiliary Police (上海警備), Yang Hu (楊虎),<ref name="zhangboting" /> and it was decided the 524th would retreat to the foreign concessions and then rejoin the rest of the 88th Division, which had been fighting in west Shanghai. Yang Hu requested assistance from the British Army, to which Telfer-Smollett agreed.<ref name=":22" />

When informed on his superior's decision over telephone, Xie disagreed, wishing to remain in the warehouse and fight to the last man. Only after an argument did Zhang Boting finally convince Xie to retreat.<ref name="zhangboting" /><ref name="sunyuanliang2">Sun, Yuanliang. "A Moment In A Billion Years". ''8/13 Battle of Songhu''. Shanghai: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 2002. p. 120</ref>

==== Final Japanese assault on Sihang Warehouse ====
In the late night of October 30 at around 10 p.m., the Japanese moved their artillery even closer to the warehouse and intensified their bombardment of the building. Observers across the creek watched the Japanese batteries, four 75-mm guns, fire intense barrages, which were only broken by intermittent pauses during which a Japanese [[searchlight]] would move around the wall to inspect the damage. A Chinese soldier attempted to destroy the searchlight by hurling a hand grenade from a window, but it fell short.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=205}}</ref>[[File:Sihangblockhouse4.jpg|thumb|The southern wall of Sihang Warehouse as seen from Blockhouse F, occupied by British soldiers. One British silhouette is visible. ]]The Japanese bombardment became so intense that British soldiers on the Lese Bridge had to abandon their positions for their own safety. The Japanese also began to fire on the warehouse with heavy machine guns and hand grenades, scoring direct hits on the stronghold. Because the Japanese were firing towards the south, several shells missed and landed into the Settlement, one hitting the ''North-China Daily News'' building and injuring three Chinese civilians. A number of combat casualties was reported to have been sustained during the fighting in the early dawn, although a precise figure could not be calculated.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |date=October 31, 1937 |title=Fierce Fight for Bank Godown |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/188 |publisher=North China Herald |issue=1937.11.03}}</ref>

===October 31===

==== Chinese retreat from Sihang Warehouse ====
As the Japanese barrage continued, the Chinese began their breakout near midnight. To reach the British settlement, the Chinese soldiers had to run across 20 yards over the New Lese Bridge whilst being exposed to Japanese fire. The Chinese planned to send the wounded first, followed by the 1st Company and Machine Gun Company in small groups under Xie Jinyuan, then by the 2nd and 3rd Companies under Yang Ruifu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=108–109}}</ref>

To cover the retreat, the Chinese formed a rearguard of a platoon from the 1st company along with some twenty-seven troops too heavily wounded to be moved easily; these men agreed to stay behind to man heavy machine guns and cover the remaining forces.<ref name="yangruifu" /> During the retreat, Western journalists observed the Chinese rearguard exchanging gunfire with Japanese soldiers from seven "rifle-ports" in the Warehouse's west wall, occasionally throwing hand grenades at Japanese soldiers trying to approach and enter the building.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=November 1, 1937 |title=Artillery's Blast Precedes Batallion's Withdrawal |work=North China Daily News}}</ref>
[[File:楊瑞符.jpg|thumb|Major Yang Ruifu who played a major part in the Chinese defense. He was wounded in the leg during the retreat. ]]
To conceal their movements, the Chinese defenders evacuated in a gradual manner, moving every now and then in groups of twos and threes or alone. Each time, a Japanese machine gun posted near the north end of the bridge would open fire. However, the darkness and extreme confusion near the warehouse meant only a few Chinese were hit before they reached the British lines. Among them was Yang Ruifu, who was shot through the left leg while crossing, but managed to limp the remaining distance on his good leg.<ref name=":5" />

Upon reaching the International Settlement, the Chinese escapees were greeted by British soldiers who shook hands with them and congratulated their courage. Major-General [[Alexander Telfer-Smollett|Telfer-Smollett]], the commander of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers at the bridge, received the Chinese soldiers and remarked that "I have never seen anything greater."<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 31, 1937 |title=Dash to British Post |work=The Observer}}</ref> Whether or not British soldiers opened fire in support of the Chinese retreat is unknown. British travellers W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood encountered rumors in 1938 of British troops returning fire against the Japanese, putting a machine gun out of action.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Auden and Isherwood |title=Journey to a War |pages=243}}</ref> Similarly, Zhang Boting and Major Shangguan Zhibiao claimed the British had assisted in eliminating one of the four Japanese machine guns near the North Railway Station.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhibao |first=Shangguan |title=Records of Defence of Sihang Warehouse |pages=33}}</ref> Stephen Robinson claims that British soldiers probably did open fire, citing their obvious sympathies with the Chinese defenders and their anger over the deaths of four [[Royal Ulster Rifles|Royal Ulster Riflemen]] killed by Japanese shelling two days prior.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=113}}</ref>

As the Chinese escaped, a Japanese column headed by a tank attempted to cut off the retreat by blocking the road. Platoon commander Yang Yangzheng attacked the column with a machine gun, but was wounded when the tank fired a shell at him, destroying his left eye with shrapnel. Yang was then dragged half-conscious across the creek by his comrades.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Shanghai 1937, Stalingrad on the Yangtze |date=2013 |publisher=Casemate |pages=205–206}}</ref>
[[File:Sihangdefendersinterned.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the 1st Battalion with British soldiers in the International Settlement following their retreat]]
By 2am, the last troops in Sihang Warehouse had retreated into the settlement safely, with dozens of wounded troops and Yang Huimin's flag being carried out along with 400 rifles, 24 light machine guns, 6 heavy machine guns and ammunition boxes, many of which were still hot from combat. Some 50 wounded Chinese soldiers were taken by British ambulances to various hospitals to be treated for their injuries including Yang Ruifu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes |date=2022 |publisher=Exisle Publishing |pages=112–115}}</ref>

By this point in the battle, the warehouse had caught fire from the bombardment. A [[Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces|Japanese Special Naval Landing Party]] was subsequently reported to be in possession of the building.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 1, 1937 |title=Artillery Ousts Brave Battalion - 100 Bodies Found |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/178 |publisher=North China Herald |issue=1937.11.03}}</ref><ref name=":3" />
[[File:Sihangdefendersinterned2.jpg|thumb|Men of the 1st Battalion in the Settlement]]
According to Western newspapers, the number of Chinese casualties during the retreat were estimated between two and six killed, and ten to twenty-four wounded.<ref name="lihpao2">Su, Hua. "We Are Praying For You". ''Lihpao Daily'', 2 November 1937</ref> The American Consul General at Shanghai reported some 300 Chinese survivors had crossed to the British lines and laid down their arms and that several buildings in the downtown district were hit by Japanese shells during the fighting.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss) to the Secretary of State |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1937v03/d709 |access-date=15 July 2024 |website=Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute}}</ref> Another western observer that 327 soldiers had escaped unhurt, another 28 wounded, claiming the survivors had stated they had left 100 comrades killed within the building.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bruce |first1=George C. |title=Shanghai's Undeclared War |date=1938 |publisher=Shanghai Evening Post & Mercury |page=74}}</ref>

However, the vast majority of the Chinese defenders had escaped alive, some 377 men and officers in total including both Xie Jinyuan and Yang Ruifu.<ref name=":1" />

===Japanese Accounts of Events ([[Special Naval Landing Forces|SNLF]])===
{{Third-party|date=August 2024}}
{{Primary sources|date=August 2024}}
[[File:Japanese soldier with flags in December 1937 detail, front cover of "Pictorial World - Nisshi Dai Jihen Go No.4" Vol. 13 No. 12 日本語 「世界画報・日支大事變號・第四輯」の表表紙, Sekai Gaho Vol.13 No.12 (cropped).jpg|thumb|250px|Troops of the Shanghai SNLF 10th Battalion "Haji Unit" celebrate outside of the Shanghai North Railway Station in Zhabei.]]

==== Advance into Zhabei ====
At 0505 hours on October 27, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Navy's Shanghai [[Special Naval Landing Forces|Special Naval Landing Force]] (Shanghai SNLF) ordered their forces to launch a general assault on Zhabei, supporting the attack with fighter planes. The bulk of Japanese morning operations had been spent on clearing the streets of roadblocks for tanks, vehicles and artillery.<ref name=":23">{{Cite web |last=Hwang |first=Jack |date=2022 |title=背坿危槽倚堅壁 ── 四行倉庫戰鬥實況與傳說探析 |url=https://lightmaha.blogspot.com/2022/01/blog-post.html |access-date=April 28, 2025}}</ref> 

[[File:JapanesesoldiersnorthofSihang.png|thumb|Japanese marines patrol the ruined area north of Sihang Warehouse. ]]
Black smoke rising from burning buildings prevented the Japanese from effectively pursuing the Chinese. The Japanese encountered sporadic resistance from Chinese soldiers remaining in Zhabei, resulting in casualties. One SNLF sailor, Kitadani Michiji (北谷道二), was shot in the chest by a Chinese rifleman near the Guangdong People's Cemetary on October 28, and later died of his injuries in May the following year. Another sailor, Onuki Yoshishige (大贯吉重), was wounded by Chinese mortar shell near the Qiujiang Road on October 31 and died of his injuries on November 1.<ref name="支那事変尽忠録 第三卷" /> 

By around 1800 hours of October 27 Zhabei had largely fallen to the Japanese, with the exception of the Four Banks' Joint Warehouse (Sihang Warehouse), where the Shanghai SNLF reported approximately 800 enemy troops to still be held up at.<ref name="C14120619600">{{cite web |title=11. 閘北進撃戦(10月27日) |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515341261457&ID=M2015010515341261474&REFCODE=C14120619600 |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref> 

==== Attacks on Sihang Warehouse ====
[[File:JapanesephotosofSihang.jpg|thumb|Two photos taken of Japanese forces positioned north of Sihang Warehouse. The Chinese flag is visible in the top, Japanese troops aim at the building in the bottom. ]]
The Japanese forces were halted by "stubborn resistance" from the defenders of Sihang Warehouse. Besides facing [[Loophole (firearm)|gun-loops]] in the building wall, Chinese soldiers positioned on the rooftop and grenade attacks, the Japanese also faced difficulties in bringing their artillery forward. Nevertheless, the Japanese occupied positions north and west of the warehouse and begun counterattacks.<ref name="支那事変尽忠録 第三卷" /> 

The Japanese initially advised the troops held up in Sihang Warehouse to surrender, but by the late hours of October 30 with their demands still unmet and signs of the defenders making their escape into the British defense sector of the International Settlement, the Japanese decided to attack the warehouse. The Japanese attempted to cut off the Chinese retreat but were met by enemy gunfire, striking several Japanese soldiers including Warrant Officer Tanaka.<ref name="支那事変尽忠録 第三卷" />
[[File:JapaneseSNLFoccupySihang.png|thumb|Japanese SNLF occupy the south side of Sihang Warehouse after its capture; the building is still smoking from the artillery blasts. October 31. ]]
By 1:15 am of the 31st, the Imperial Japanese Navy had confirmed sightings of Chinese troops evacuating into the International Settlement and began to bombard the warehouse with artillery fire from the Shanghai SNLF's 8th and 9th Companies thirty minutes later. At 0300 hours, troops from the Shanghai SNLF's 10th Battalion stormed the Sihang Warehouse and within ten minutes had completely cleaned the warehouse of enemy troops and occupied the building.<ref name="C14120619600">{{cite web |title=11. 閘北進撃戦(10月27日) |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515341261457&ID=M2015010515341261474&REFCODE=C14120619600 |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="C14120644700">{{cite web |title=陸戦隊の部 |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/das/image/C14120644700 |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |access-date=28 July 2023}}</ref><ref name="C14120674900" />

After securing the warehouse, the Imperial Japanese Navy reported roughly 80 corpses of fallen Chinese troops and a number of weapons to be inside. According to relevant Japanese naval records, the Imperial Japanese Navy's advance on Zhabei from October 27 to 31 resulted in a total of 42 wounded, four of which were directly injured during the assault on Sihang Warehouse on October 31. One of the wounded, Warrant Officer Tanaka Shiroku—a platoon leader from the Shanghai SNLF 10th Battalion—later died on November 2, after being shot near the warehouse on October 30.<ref name="C14120674900" /><ref name="C14120619600">{{cite web |title=11. 閘北進撃戦(10月27日) |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515341261457&ID=M2015010515341261474&REFCODE=C14120619600 |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="支那事変尽忠録 第三卷" /><ref group="Note" name="A"></ref>

[[File:Lt.Cdr Haji Kitaro and adjutant, Sihang Warehouse 1937.jpg|thumb|Commander of the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force 10th Battalion Lieutenant-Commander Haji Kitaro and his adjutant outside of Sihang Warehouse, Shanghai, circa November 1937]]

==Casualties ==

=== Chinese Casualties ===
The Chinese casualties from the battle were disputed. Xie Jinyuan stated in an interview on November 2 that of the 410 defenders, 10 had been killed and 30 wounded,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1937 |title="Lost Battalion" Men Promoted}}</ref> but later revised this figure to 420 defenders present with 10 killed and 37 wounded.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Xie |first=Zhu |title=My Father General Xie Jinyuan:Blood Fight of Eight Hundred Soldiers |publisher=United Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-7512600522 |pages=138}}</ref> Immediate newspapers claimed between 100 and 200 Chinese soldiers had been killed in the fighting.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1937 |title="Lost Battalion" Saved in Shanghai: Will be Interned |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lehrbas |first=Lloyd |date=1937 |title=Runs Gauntlet of Jap Gunfire}}</ref>
[[File:SihangaftercaptureJapan.jpg|thumb|A Japanese marine stands guard outside the damaged Sihang Warehouse after its capture. Early November.]]
Stephen Robinson calculated that since 377 defenders had retreated (along with the 10 wounded men evacuated earlier), and some 420 defenders had been present, the Chinese "death toll was likely higher [than 10] though probably fewer than 50 men," with 33 men killed or missing from the battalion roster following the retreat.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Eight Hundred Heroes: China's Lost Battalion and the Fall of Shanghai |publisher=Exisle Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-1922539205 |location=Australia |pages=117}}</ref> A similar figure is given by Michael Clodfelter, who claims 34 Chinese soldiers were killed in action defending the Warehouse.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clodfelter |first=Michael |title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015 |date=2017 |publisher=McFarland & Company |edition=4th |pages=392}}</ref> According to 88th Division commander Sun Yuanliang's report on October 31, 1937, the battalion had suffered 89 casualties, including 35 killed and 54 wounded.<ref>{{Cite web |title=國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，朱紹良電蔣中正稱據孫元良報告經楊嘯天與英軍司馬雷脫商議掩護死守閘北部隊三十日退出遭日反擊等情形現已派員致慰獎卹有功人員，典藏號 |url=https://ahonline.drnh.gov.tw/index.php?act=Display/image/5295559dE=JzFn#bcu}}</ref> 

The Imperial Japanese Navy reported finding around 80 dead Chinese soldiers in the warehouse,<ref name="C14120674900" /> but declared finding 100 corpses to the press,<ref name=":6" /> which was very likely an exaggeration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=背坿危槽倚堅壁 ── 四行倉庫戰鬥實況與傳說探析 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240820000626/https://lightmaha.blogspot.com/2022/01/blog-post.html?m=1 |access-date=March 23, 2025}}</ref> Japanese officials also publicly claimed some 700 bodies of Chinese soldiers were left in Zhabei, and that they had captured another 200 enemy troops whilst only suffering 10 wounded soldiers themselves in the entire battle. The same report claimed that Japanese forces were forced to execute some twenty Chinese prisoners in self-defense.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 29, 1937 |title=Ten Japanese Hurt in Chapei Drive |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/180/mode/2up?q=ten |access-date=April 3, 2025 |pages=181}}</ref> 

=== Japanese Casualties ===
Immediately after the retreat, Commander Xie reported to the Chinese newspaper ''[[Zhongyang Ribao]]'' that over 100 Japanese troops had been killed by his defenders.<ref name="Zhongyang Ribao">{{cite news |title=Standing firm in isolation and hardship for four days, the 800 heroes followed orders and made their retreat (CN:堅守孤壘苦鬥四日八百壮士遵命撤退) |url=https://archive.org/details/zhongyang-ribao-1937.11.01/page/n1/mode/2up |access-date=23 August 2023 |publisher=Zhongyang Ribao |date=November 1, 1937}}</ref> 88th Division commander Sun Yuanliang, who had subordinate officers present near the battle, stated that "enemy corpses in the vicinity of Sihang Warehouse totaled over two hundred approximately."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yuanliang |first=Sun |title=A Moment in a Billion Years: 8/13 Battle of Songhu. |publisher=Shanghai: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences |year=2002 |pages=8–9}}</ref> with Xie Jimin giving the same figure, "more than 200 enemy troops were killed and countless ones were wounded. Two enemy tanks were also destroyed and two more were damaged. The number of enemies was the sum of the daily counts obtained by observation posts."<ref name=":2" />

[[File:Sihang Warehouse After Capture.png|thumb|The damaged Sihang Warehouse following its capture by the Haji and Hayasaka Units of the Naval Landing Force.]]

Report of losses from Western sources vary, the Shanghai-based North China Herald made note of Japanese casualties,<ref>{{cite news |date=November 1, 1937 |title=Artillery Ousts Brave Battalion - 100 Bodies Found |url=https://archive.org/details/north-china-herald-1937.11.03/page/178 |publisher=North China Herald |issue=1937.11.03}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> while others such as the November 2 edition of [[the West Australian]] newspaper—which used using mail received from employees on leave in Shanghai—reported the Japanese attackers had suffered heavy losses attempting to capture the warehouse, primarily from rifles, machine guns, grenades and mortars.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 2, 1937 |title=The Shanghai Fighting: Stand of the "Do-or-Die" Battalion |work=The West Australian |pages=7}}</ref> The October 30 edition of [[The Mercury (Hobart)|the Mercury]] also reported that "many Japanese" had been killed in failed assaults on the fortified building.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 30, 1937 |title=Epic Resistance By Chinese "Lost Battalion" |work=The Mercury News |pages=11}}</ref> Australian military historian Stephen Robinson mirrored the Chinese estimate of over 200 Japanese were killed in the fighting, of which the majority were suffered by the 3rd "Lucky" Division, with a handful of Japanese marines killed in the fighting.<ref name=":1" />

Relevant records from the Imperial Japanese Navy reported a total of forty-two wounded amongst the SNLF during the advance on Zhabei from October 27 to 31, of which three were fatally wounded, including sailors Kitadani and Onuki and Warrant Officer Tanaka. Within this figure, four sustained their injuries during the final assault on Sihang Warehouse on October 31. One of them, Warrant Officer Tanaka, was shot outside of the warehouse by a Chinese machine gunner during the retreat on October 30 later died from his injuries on November 2, 1937.<ref name="C14120674900" /><ref name="C14120619600">{{cite web |title=11. 閘北進撃戦(10月27日) |website=Japan Center for Asian Historical Records |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515341261457&ID=M2015010515341261474&REFCODE=C14120619600 |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="支那事変尽忠録 第三卷" /><ref group="Note" name="A">"支那事変概報第39号" - "China Incident Summary Report No. 39" is a formerly classified Japanese military document that covers IJN and IJA movements during the later stages of the Shanghai campaign. Frame 25 states for the following casualties on October 31 [1937] for the Naval Landing Forces. "At 0300 hours our attack force broke through and at 0310 hours completely occupied [the Sihang warehouse] and cleared out remnant enemy forces. They found approximately 80 enemy corpses and a number of weapons. Our own casualties were extremely light, with only 4 wounded. "閘北進撃戦" - "Assault on Zhabei" covers the Japanese capture of Zhabei on October 27 and the occupation of Sihang Warehouse completed on October 31. The second page lists the following casualties for the entire operation from Oct 27-31: "3 heavily wounded, 24 lightly wounded, and 14 barely wounded." "支那事変尽忠録 第三卷" - "China Incident Loyalty Record: Volume 3," a catalog of all Imperial Japanese Navy personnel killed in action or fatally wounded from the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War until December 11, 1937 has only a single entry relating to fatal casualties around Sihang Warehouse. Page 231 titled "同年十月三十日上海閘北四行倉庫附近ニ於ケル戰傷後死者" - "Same Year [1937] October 30: Those who died of their battle wounds while fighting around the Shanghai Sihang Warehouse" lists Naval Special Duty Ensign [posthumous rank] Tanaka Shiroku (田中士陸). Page 231-232 further states "Warrant Officer Tanaka was a platoon leader in the Haji Corps, Sunouchi Company, landing at Shanghai on the evening of August 19 and being placed under the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force Commander's authority." Page 233 continues "Tanaka was heavily wounded by an enemy machine gun round passing through his lower left leg at 6:25 PM [on Oct 30]. He was bandaged at his position and immediately transferred to the hospital for treatment. He temporarily improved in health but by November 2 his condition suddenly worsened and on the same day at 3:30 PM he honorably died of his battle wounds."</ref> Tanks and armored cars from the Special Naval Landing Force's Armored Unit were recorded as participating in the advance on Zhabei but not on the assault on Sihang Warehouse.<ref>{{cite web |title=陸戦隊の部 |url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2015010515342461705&ID=M2015010515342561725&REFCODE=C14120644700 |website=C14120644700 |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref> The commander of the Armored Unit, Lieutenant Yoshino Shozo noted in his memoirs that his unit advanced to Zhenru Station during the Zhabei Offensive and does not mention damage to or losses of any of their tanks and armored vehicles at Sihang Warehouse.<ref>{{Cite book |title=第五十三期級会会誌　第２号 |date= |publisher=海軍兵学校第五十三期級会 |year=1960 |pages=38-40 |chapter=あゝ上海特別陸戦隊（戦車の轍）（吉野捷三）}}</ref> While there is a lack of archival records for the casualties of the Japanese SNLF in the battle of Sihang Warehouse, the catalog of deaths for Imperial Japanese Navy personnel in the "China Incident Loyalty Record" which confirmed the three SNLF combat deaths during the Zhabei Offensive (including one near Sihang Warehouse) nearly matched up with internal figures of Japanese naval casualties. As the Imperial Japanese Navy suffered relatively few deaths in the China battlefield before the [[Pacific War]], they had the capacity to compile such catalogs.<ref name=":23" /> 

== Aftermath ==
[[File:Sihangveterans1943.jpg|thumb|Nine men and officers of the 1st Battalion photographed in Chongqing, after their escape via Nanjing. 1943. ]]
Chiang Kai-shek promoted every defender by a rank and awarded Xie Jinyuan and Yang Ruifu the ''[[Order of Blue Sky and White Sun]]''.<ref>"Japanese Mop Up in Chapei." 1937.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=May 2024}}<ref>"Lone Battalion" Remembered.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=May 2024}} Major Yang Ruifu was wounded and hospitalized during the retreat. Thus, he was allowed to leave the camp and returned to the Chinese army, assigned to another position.<ref name="我所亲历的淞沪会战">{{cite book |title=我所亲历的淞沪会战 |last=Wenbian |first=Wen |date=2005 | publisher=北京：中国文史出版社}}</ref>{{rp|p=113}}

From November 1, 1937 until December 18, 1941, the soldiers of the Chinese battalion were held in the British concession, during which they received many visits from the citizens of Shanghai. On the morning of August 11, 1938, to commemorate the day the 88th division's march from Wuxi to Shanghai, the battalion raised the [[Flag of the Republic of China|national flag]] in spite of the head of the British concession who had forbidden the flying of the flag in fear the Japanese army might see it. The Shanghai Municipal Council quickly sent in 300 British soldiers to surround the camp and 400 Italian soldiers to spread out along Jinyuan Road for security. A team of White Russian soldiers also rushed into the camp and fired machine guns at the unarmed battalion, killing 4 and injuring another 11. The White Russian soldiers then withdrew. At night on the same day, another team of White Russian soldiers forced the Chinese soldiers into several ambulances and imprisoned them in the Central Bank at [[The Bund]]. Citizens of Shanghai went on a strike for three days to demand the battalion be returned to the camp at the Jinyuan Road. The Shanghai Municipal Council had no choice but to agree. However, the flag was confiscated to ensure no such incident would happen again. On September 18, 1940, a sergeant of the Chinese battalion was shot dead and another private was wounded by a White Russian soldier guarding the camp due to tense situations. The perpetrator was sentenced to 15 years in prison.<ref name="我所亲历的淞沪会战"/>{{rp|p=87-89}}

On April 24, 1941, the officers and soldiers of the battalion were gathered at the courtyard for the usual morning exercise. Four of the men who had been bribed by [[Wang Jingwei]]’s collaborationist government took the opportunity to assassinate Colonel Xie Jinyuan, stabbing him at his vital spots. Regimental attaché Shangguan Zhibiao rushed to rescue the colonel but was also seriously injured. All four men were caught and sent to the concession authorities for trial. After Colonel Xie's death, as many as 250,000 Shanghai citizens visited the camp to pay tribute.<ref name="我所亲历的淞沪会战"/>{{rp|p=89-91}}

On December 8, 1941, the Japanese navy [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|bombed Pearl Harbor]] and the Pacific War broke out. On December 28, the Japanese army broke into the camp and captured all the Chinese soldiers. The battalion was initially detained in Baoshan and forced to do hard labor. Because the battalion was not compliant, the Japanese army transported them to a prisoner camp in Nanjing.<ref name="我所亲历的淞沪会战"/>{{rp|p=92-93}} After hearing about the terrible conditions of the prisoners held there including live experiments and dissections conducted by the Japanese biological unit in Central China, 12 soldiers from the battalion attempted to escape the prison camp but were caught by the guards as they ran to the Zhonghua Gate. All 12 were bayonetted.<ref name="日军侵华战俘营总论">{{Cite book|last=Tianyi |first=He |publisher=北京：社会科学文献出版社 |date=2013 |title=日军侵华战俘营总论}}</ref>{{rp|p=254-255}}

Eventually, the Japanese army began the process of separating the men. 50 were sent to the outside of Guanghua Gate (光華門), 60 were sent to [[Xiaolingwei]], 100 were sent to [[Hangzhou]], 50 were sent to Yuxikou (裕溪口), and another 50 were sent to the [[South Seas Mandate]]. The rest were still detained in the camp and forced to do hard labor. On November 6, 1942, most of the prisoners held outside Guanghua Gate escaped when they were exchanged with the prisoners at Xiaolingwei. They hid in Xiaomaoshan (小茅山) for several days. Some stayed to conduct guerilla warfare and some detoured through Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou to return to Chongqing.<ref name="我所亲历的淞沪会战"/>{{rp|p=93}} In most of the prisoner camps the men of the battalion were held in, the prisoners endured poor treatment which resulted in many deaths and there were sporadic cases of killings by the guards. Before the end of the war, many soldiers from the battalion were able to escape through different means.<ref name="日军侵华战俘营总论"/>{{rp|p=255-257}}{{rp|p=272-273}}

After the war, more than 100 survivors from the battalion returned to Shanghai from all over China and Southeast Asia. Among them, there were 34 survivors who were sent to [[Papua New Guinea]] by the Japanese army for hard labor. Out of the original 50 soldiers of the battalion sent to the [[Rabaul]] prisoner camp, 14 died due to poor treatment and another 2 had to stay in Rabaul due to serious injuries. The remaining 34 were repatriated by the Australian government to Shanghai on August 24, 1946.<ref name="我所亲历的淞沪会战"/>{{rp|p=93-94}}<ref name="日军侵华战俘营总论"/>{{rp|p=369}}

==Legacy==
[[Image:Yanghuimin collage.jpg|right|thumb|Three different portrayals of Yang Huimin: 1938 film, [[Eight Hundred Heroes|1976 film]], and c. 1940 "gum card" [[ephemera]].]]
There was a discrepancy between Japanese reports and the records of Chinese troops and Western journalists present during the defense. Both the Chinese and Japanese have made claims which contradict with each other, particularly in regards to losses. American historian [[Richard B. Frank]] notes that these irreconcilable differences between Japanese and Chinese accounts were not unique in the Second Sino-Japanese War, further noting that that there was a general pattern of discrepancies between reported and actual Japanese losses.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frank |first=Richard |title=Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War |date=2020 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |pages=316}}</ref>

Cao Juren, a prominent Chinese war correspondent attached to the Chinese 88th Division during the Defense of Sihang Warehouse, would state postwar "the news in the papers at the time, including my reports, were all bravado and exaggerations, and did not reflect the real situation."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cao |first1=Juren |title=Wanli Xingji (Chinese: 万里行记) |date=1983 |publisher=Fujian People's Publishing House |pages=83}}</ref>{{Request quotation|reason=Talk debate seems to imply that this was taken out of context, which makes the source's direct support for earlier sentences less likely. Please provide the direct quotation in both languages as well as the attached non-quoted content to prevent synth.|date=May 2024}}{{synthesis inline|reason=I see someone in talk has pointed out that this quotation was not stated in the context of the article subject. While possibly appropriate, the earlier sentence on discrepancies needs to be substantiated in the source or a reliable secondary source. The author's status as war correspondent for the relevant division and their presence at the battle also needs to be substantiated if not already in the source.|date=May 2024}}

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
Image:Sihang-Warehouse-01.jpg|Sihang Warehouse from the other side of the Suzhou River. October 2006
Image:Sihang-Warehouse-02.jpg|The entrance. October 2007
Image:Sihang-Warehouse-03.jpg|A bust of Army Lieutenant Colonel Xie Jinyuan inside the entrance. October 2007
</gallery>

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|group=Note|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Japan}}
{{commons|Battle of Shanghai#Sihang Warehouse|Sihang Warehouse}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q7711993|title=Ba Bai Zhuang Shi}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000526035845/http://www.brigittelin.com/800heroes.htm Brigitte Lin page on 1976 movie]}}
* [http://www.dianying.com/cgi-bin/titleen.cgi?bbz1938 Chinese Movie Database page on the 1938 movie]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060222145139/http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2005-03/31/content_2766918.htm Chinese-American leaders petition the mayor of Shanghai for the preservation of Sihang Warehouse] {{in lang|zh}}
* [http://news.sohu.com/20050705/n226198125.shtml Old survivors visit graves of old comrades-in-arms] {{in lang|zh}}
* [https://archive.today/20070716080347/http://www.kjlw.org/nr/g/4816/711096.html Structural Analysis of Sihang Warehouse (Abstract)] {{in lang|zh}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sihang Warehouse 1937}}
[[Category:1937 in Shanghai]]
[[Category:1937 in Japan]]
[[Category:Battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1937]]
[[Category:November 1937 in Asia]]
[[Category:October 1937 in Asia]]
[[Category:Shanghai in World War II]]
[[Category:Attacks on warehouses]]
[[Category:Warehouse fires]]
[[Category:Building and structure fires in China]]
[[Category:1937 fires]]
[[Category:1930s fires in Asia]]
[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in China]]
[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in the 1930s]]