WW2 - Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1941

During the early stages of World War Two countries with around half a billion people took part in the war in Europe. The same proportion of humanity was engaged in conflict on the other side of Eurasia between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China. This video views the first part of this war.
Maps: Army Map Service, USA; USGS.
Sources:
History of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) by Hsu Long-Hsuen, and Chang Ming-Kai.
Japanese Monographs: www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan...
The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945
/ eastory
This video has been greatly helped by the support from my wonderful Patrons:
Adam Coni, Adam H, Adam Wallace, Bishops, alans4488, Alan Collinge, ALEX ARCHARO, name name, NvllivsInVerba, Bram Spliet, Bdiah, Brian Hynes, Bogdan Sacarea, Bryan Linsley, Yuri B, gartonschwärt, Marco Agnoletti, ccplz, Christian Richard, David Russell, Craig McCall, David Weidman, David Salm, Daniel Benhardt, Deniz Özger, CatInSpace, RocketWrench, Prevost, dionglamine1987, Daniel J Pierce, Dave Nelson, D G, Dongbin Zhang, Ehood Garmiza, Eli Krumholz, Federico Peyrani, Michael, D C, Frank Scheer, Aaron Clarkson, Get_the_fuck_up, Greengsg9, Amine Hajji, Håvard Damsberg, Tibor Helienek, KingHarkinian, Idan Vegana, Isaiah Snell-Feikema, Ivan Trapić, Georges Chouinard, Talbot-Jaaskelainen, JAY ALAN EDELMAN, swagmasterx420, Johan West, _thefishball, aserehuehue, Jiacheng Wu, Jordon Long-Lay, Juan Escobar, Kamil Babula, Kelly-Stephen Soo, KB, Kevin Castillo, Reindeer, Nandor Kocsi, Kristofers Borovskis, Kristaps, Kyle Askine, omega21, 1st Guards Cavalry Corps, Bluebeaner, yellowLia, Igor Reznichenko, Ivan Avdeev, Louis Burke, Lucio Franceschini, Marek Novák, STRONTJESBERG, Praetor98, Anton Kovalev, Alexander G, Morgan, Michal Weyer, Mirco Künne, Mark Fisher, Yury Kuchanov, Sam Tyson, Michał Zdunek, Arkonos, BooBooBlueBerry, Naseem Hanna, Ned Weinert, ned hulton, William Nettles, Nicholas Cubbon, Omer Glickman, Piia Orav, Ori Taichman, Eiko Streitz, Shmavon Gazanchyan, Pavel Kuriscak, Pavel Kletnoy, Gurnik, rJ, Philip F Myers, PLD, Peter Lewerin, Christopher Plummer, William Bowe, Harambe, Rafael Aguila, Dmitry Zaitcev, Rob H, Robert Wahl, Bogdan Putintsev, Rahs, Ryan Harbottle, Simon Stock, Sitraka Forler, Stefan Moluf, Eric Strachan, אביתר הכהן, Herr Burns, Thomas Dobrenel, Marco, Travis Fudge, Torfinn Tyvold, Just A Random Contributor, Vladislav, VonKickass, Robert Vroman, WillN2Go1 ., Nicole Winters, Mingjian Wang, Jordan Corkins, Arta Yusa, Dennis Anthony Zaluski.
00:54 Battle of Beiping-Tianjin
01:21 Battle of Shanghai
01:38 North China Railway operation
01:52 Battle of Taiyuan
02:01 Battle of Shanghai
02:23 Battle of Nanjing
02:35 Strategic situation
03:36 Battle of Xuzhou
03:58 Battle of North-East Henan
04:20 Battle of Wuhan
05:00 Battle of Nanchang
05:06 Battle of Suixian-Zaoyang
05:13 First Battle of Changsha
05:18 Japan occupies China's ports
05:32 Chinese Winter offensive
06:08 Battle of South Guangxi
06:15 Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang
06:28 Hundred Regiments offensive
06:42 Battle of South Shanxi
06:45 Central Hubei Operation
06:48 Western Hubei Operation
06:49 Battle of Southern Honan
06:52 Battle of ShaShanggao
05:55 Second Battle of Changsha
07:01 Burma and Indochina roads
07:18 Japan goes to war with USA
Music:
"King's Men" - Biz Baz Studio
"Annihilate" - Jeremy Blake
"A Fever" - Devon Church
"Dark Alley Deals" - Aaron Kenny
Stormfront Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Industrial Cinematic Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Satiate Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

[@mircokunne5168]

Its so difficult to properly show the troop movements in this war with front lines and involved military units often unclear. You have done a great job here!

[@Eastory]

Yes, it took me 3 months to do so.

[@interestingengineering291]

@@Eastory wow 🤩 thanks man I really love your work and your voice is soo smooth 😘

[@Burner.Account..]

​@@Eastory How did you manage to gain access to Chinese and Japanese sources tho? And how do you know what to look for?

[@whgeglegnldkegnd]

@@Eastory I also want to know how it is even possible to know when troops were moved

[@jerryx3253]

@@Burner.Account.. I assume he has Patreons who could reas both Chinese and Japanese.

[@ShortHax]

When you invade a collapsing nation that’s been embroiled in a civil war and battle them to a draw for 9 years

[@mrttripz3236]

Sadly the tooth and nail defence of China by the nationalists allowed the communists to win the civil war

[@ISCARIOTSHIELD]

@@mrttripz3236 why sadly

[@naruoze]

@@ISCARIOTSHIELD Because the CCP prove to be a totalitarian regime later. It slaughtered Chinese civilians and intellectuals even more than the Japanese army.

[@Lyle_Stevik]

sigma movement

[@ISCARIOTSHIELD]

@@naruoze wtf I love the CCP?!!

[@sporemaster18]

Absolutely awesome summary of the first stages of the war in China.

[@ethanyiu491]

Yes

[@jayg6138]

terrible. Taiwan island was under Chinese control until Japan invaded.

[@sporemaster18]

@@jayg6138 What? Taiwan had been under Japanese control since 1895. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_under_Japanese_rule

[@user-uv7uz5bu7c]

@@jayg6138 Taiwan is China's territory, according to the Cairo Declaration

[@fargr5926]

@@user-uv7uz5bu7c yeah, agreed, but Japan grabbed Taiwan in 1895, not during ww2.

[@gargravarr2]

It's strange to see Chinese Army Groups being the equivalents of Japanese Divisions.

[@decimusdecius7858]

Chinese used a lot of manpower to stop Japan, they had more units than Japan but as its mentioned in the video the effectiveness of their army was bad. Important thing to note was warlordism in china. The country unified only because of Japan threat. Their army was patched together from various warlord forces at the start of the war. Together with civilian casualties, china had second biggest casualties in WWII, over 20 million people. Only fraction of their forces was close to western military standard. It was called 60 division plan. "In 1934 General Hans von Seeckt, acting as advisor to Chiang, proposed a '60 Division Plan' for restructuring the Chinese Nationalist Army into 60 divisions of highly trained, well-equipped troops along German doctrines." Only few divisons was restructured, and their potential has been wasted in battle of Shanghai (1:31 in video those units were part of 9th army group, the circle with number "9" you can see what happened to them at 2:18 time stamp.) Also china, not only produced its own arms and equipment, it bought alot from foreign countries before the war. Mainly from Nazi Germany and Czechoslovakia. After start of the war, they started getting support from allies which helped them to stay in the war.

[@jerryx3253]

A Japanese division possessed more artillery, machine guns and support units than an entire Chinese army corp. Sometimes even an army group did not have the comparable supporting arms than a Japanese first-class division.

[@looinrims]

Chinese units were small

[@Nathan-jh1ho]

Most Chinese units were poorly trained, lack artillery, also many units weren't full

[@rayray6490]

The Japanese division can be 15-20k men. A typical Chinese division can be anywhere from 5000 - 10000 due to many commanders pocketing from “empty rosters” on paper for what a full-strength division (9-10k) should be. 2-3 divisions make up a corp, while the 2-3 corps would make up a army group. I think the Chinese army corp is roughly the strength of a Japanese division but on paper only. Like other people mention, there’s simply not a lot of heavy weaponry and equipment to spare on the Chinese side. I think in some divisions, even the better ones…2-3 soldiers might share a rifle. Malnutrition is also a major issue especially in the latter years of the war. Limited ammo production for small arms also mean less ammo for target practice. All this means that other than the best divisions, the average Chinese infantryman is disadvantaged from the start

[@Ksensei41]

Never understood how large the offensive was before. Thanks

[@naruoze]

Thank you for having interest in knowing about this history. Didn't Japanese textbooks teach this history in detail? I wish they could remember and acknowledge the history as the Germans do.

[@jerryx3253]

@@naruoze Nah.

[@kaga-yh3ue]

@KSG In fact, when Soviet troops invaded Berlin, a large number of mixed-race people were born, but none of them have been identified in Nanjing.

[@user-mx9ci3uw7u]

IN DETAIL?You can't find this in Japanese textbooks AT ALL

[@user-lx9sy1hx4g]

@@naruoze only in Chinese history textbooks

[@dingusdean1905]

It’s great to finally see a good, in depth video about the 2nd Sino Japanese war. There’s almost nothing on the subject despite the intensity of the combat, the suffering of the people and the single minded resolve of the brave NRA defenders. Almost every city the Japanese stormed was its own Stalingrad. Lacking anti tank weapons, heroic young students *volunteered* to be fitted with grenade vests to take out the Japanese tanks as suicide bombers. It’s astonishing how none of this gets any real attention

[@norwegianboyee]

We always hear stories about concentration camps in Europe and the USA. Barely if ever do we hear stories of events such as the formation of Unit 731 or battles such as the battle of Shanghai. I remember being the only one in my history class to talk about Imperial Japan when we were making presentations about events in WW2.

[@chozer1]

@@norwegianboyee probably because we dont live in asia. if you want to focus on that its probably gonna be on some chinese site. is what i would say if it wasnt a dictatorship lol

[@aaroncabatingan5238]

Information about the 2nd Sino-Japanese War is unreliable at best and pure propaganda at worst.

[@dingusdean1905]

@@aaroncabatingan5238 which is exactly why it’s so hard to research yeah

[@lc9245]

Two folds, information about the war is still shrouded in bias and uncertainty. Half of that was due to the Japanese able to conceal their archive because they were not occupied by a foreign nation intending to dismantle it, so information would be able to be systematic change or destroy. The American occupation was also lenient and amiable rather than an effort in dismantling like others, thus the Japanese had more control over what they will provide to the public. Not only that, the successor state was exactly the same, and not one that was hostile to the previous one. Then, there's the Chinese records. This is even worse due to the KMT record being lost during the chaotic civil war. In addition, the CCP also pick and choose the information it wants to publish to glorify their contribution and diminish the KMT's. Thus, the information available have been through 2 governments, 2 wars, a few purges. Then, the nature of the war leaves a lot in doubt. While the first few years might have been action packed, with lots of interesting events and battles. After that, other than 2 major offensives, were mostly skirmishes and minor battles, as the front becoming static and the frontline confusing. From a military standpoint, the war became, boring. The Japanese themselves shifted from the IJA to the IJN, as war with the U.S. heated up. The war ended without the Chinese retaking China, but with the Japanese surrendering. Such as the situation in China, that if you live in Shanghai for the time, your life would be uncertain, but continue mostly normally after the titanic battle. The Japanese managed the economy badly, but there was still demand and supply, so people buy, sell, trade with each other and the Japanese as normal. The IJA can even be considered cushy military jobs, and many commanders made riches in China. Only the IJN was badly battered.

[@ekszentrik]

The Chinese front was the ultimate whack-a-mole sunk cost fallacy of WW2.

[@purpleemerald5299]

Stalin: “SHIT, THEY’RE TRYING TO BEAT MY HIGH SCORE! *YOU FUCKERS!!!”*

[@mac2857]

@@purpleemerald5299 educate yourself

[@purpleemerald5299]

@@mac2857 Stalin: *_”BITCH DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!!!”_* If anyone got that reference, I’ll be shocked.

[@memer7987]

@@purpleemerald5299 Mr-popo

[@purpleemerald5299]

@@memer7987 *C O R R E C T !* My satisfaction is immeasurable, and my day is blessed.

[@itjustjuan5148]

The Chinese theater is one of the most interesting aspects of the second world war. Glad you're covering it!

[@XMehrooz]

And the most brutal!

[@stoneruler]

Yes, it was absolutely devastating. The Japanese did the most unthinkable atrocities to China. Including using civilians as live samples for bio weapon experiments.

[@auzk2js71]

@@stoneruler 731

[@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

Chinas eastern front

[@user-kp1tz9km1n]

@@stoneruler 來自台灣的分享日本有人體實驗和生化病毒鼠疫，死亡行軍對帶戰俘沒有依照國際公約和紅十字會基本人權，現在日本政府絕不承認慰安婦等問題還有屠殺的證據，正大光明參拜紀國神社⛩️

[@SpaceMonkeyBoi]

Evil Eastory be like: "Hello, I'm Westory, and today we will be talking about how I want Estonia to be annexed by Russia."

[@tankart3645]

I think you meant "Hello, I'm Westory, and today we will be talking about how I want Estonia to be annexed by East Estonia"

[@SpaceMonkeyBoi]

@@tankart3645 you mean southern Finland?

[@tankart3645]

@@SpaceMonkeyBoi I want to start a petition to rename Russia to East Estonia, and then the big chunk up there in north to East Finland.

[@sussymussydude]

@@tankart3645 ну нихуя ты замахнулся, проще переименовать Финляндию в северную Эстонию

[@filipinordabest]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesti

[@100thdragoon]

When Sugiyama and Nagano presented themselves, the emperor, observed historian Eri Hotta, “displayed the incisiveness he was capable of when utterly compelled-which did not happen often.” How long would war last with the United States?, he demanded. Sugiyama volunteered only three months. The emperor rejoined that Sugiyama had told him the China Incident would end in about one month, and now four years later it still raged. Sugiyama haltingly replied that China proved to have a vast hinterland. A clearly riled emperor retorted: “If the hinterland of China is vast isn’t the Pacific Ocean even more immense?” - Tower of Skulls, Richard B. Frank

[@maxthexpfarmer3957]

Did this really happen? It’s insane that his excuse was that China was big. Did he not know that before?

[@olegdemianenko3054]

@@maxthexpfarmer3957 I can certainly imagine it happening. I have heard/read several times that Japan was overly optimistic and even delusional about successfully subduing their opponents and that a lot of crucial information was witheld from reaching their top brass, further reinforcing the optimistic outlook. Perhaps their consecutive victories over the course of 30 years have clouded their judgement and they actually believed they were unstoppable.

[@maxthexpfarmer3957]

@@olegdemianenko3054 They lost the Battles of Khalkhin Gol.

[@olegdemianenko3054]

@@maxthexpfarmer3957 They certainly did. I was saying that in general Japan was still quite successful in their conflicts and it may have given them the wrong impression that they were "the bigger fish".

[@purpleemerald5299]

@@olegdemianenko3054 Oh, it most certainly did. Their army’s “everything must die” mentality and lack of self preservation stemmed from a deep-seeded belief that their empire was a godly force of nature worth sacrificing *_everyone and everything_* for. It would have been hard to achieve such cultish devotion from anything _but_ a long string of decisive victories against larger nations. To this day my mind is still blown by how quickly all that shit went out the window after the war. For a _relatively_ peaceful occupation, America really seemed to make Japan its submissive bitch in that time, which I find to be a fitting punishment for their psychotic “death before surrender” soldiers to have bore witness to.

[@GurtMan100]

I love the combination of animation and commentary, it shows everything in context so well!

[@superpowerdragon]

finally, I left a comment about doing sino-japanese front in the other ww2 videos, never thought you are going to do it, so glad you did!

[@AustrianChaos]

Very well done, I love how this channel presents military history in a much more organic, comprehensive way!

[@superpacocaalado7215]

Japan: *invades China* China: I won't surrender Japan: He is smarter than I thouth

[@armandovaiandando6472]

Just like Hitler thought that the USSR would collapse/surrender

[@typegreen3434]

France：You embarrassed me

[@mkjyt1]

US literally helped China not to be conquered by Japan

[@ckjl7704]

@@mkjyt1 Not until they got bombed in Hawaii

[@sb17899]

@@ckjl7704 The embargo was basically direct help from the US to China lol. Not that the US actually cared about China I guess, they just didn't want Japan to get more powerful as it would be a threat to overseas US territory like the Philippines.

[@Atomic866]

Couldn't find any quality animated content about the war on KZbin, thanks for shedding light on this underrated topic.

[@SNOUPS4]

Ever since I found this channel many years ago I looked forwards to the release of this specific video! Thanks!

[@garmonplays]

This is an amazing video, PLEASE MAKE MORE CONTENT,I've been waiting for more uploads from this channel for ages.

[@user-xq5og9lt8p]

"Majority of the population perished" Very calm way of describing something even historians used to call "rape of Nanjin"

[@noanyabizniz4333]

Eastory has far right sympathies and refused to denounce Trump and endorse BLM during a Q&A. I'm not surprised he is justifying the massacre of PoC.

[@michaelkovacic2608]

@@noanyabizniz4333 eastory did in no way justify the massacre in this video. And claiming that he is far-right because he didn't denounce trump is a bit of a joke. As an European my understanding of US domestic politics is limited, but i know that both Democrats and Republicans had more voters in 2020 than ever before. Claiming that all Republicans are far-right is just as unsubstantiated as claiming all Democrats are far-left. When you have only 2 parties in such a large country, it is natural that they serve as a pool for many different people.

[@michaelkovacic2608]

@lati long it is a bit surprising that there are actually denialists, since the massacre is very well documented.

[@autokrator_]

@@noanyabizniz4333 9/10 bait.

[@darklysm8345]

Historians call the invasion of belgium "rape of belgium" when only a few thousand died

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

I do hope you do a full series for the Chinese Theatre. It’s a very overlooked theatre of war.

[@googane7755]

Why do i see your comment everywhere?

[@AI-ih5or]

In fact, there is no need. From the Japanese occupation of Wuhan in 1939 to 1944, the Chinese and Japanese armies were basically in equilibrium on the front lines of the battlefield. Although the war is still very fierce, it has not changed much. In 1944, Japan was cut off by the U.S. military on the sea transportation route, and Japan regrouped its army to open up the land transportation route to Southeast Asia. At this time, China's elite troops were on the battlefield in Myanmar, so Japan was able to quickly occupy more territory, and the war situation changed.

[@owo5869]

@@AI-ih5or The elite troops are technically under western command and logistics I believe. 1944 ROC army is a shell of its former self, recruitment and conscription of local populace are somewhat common. Logistics isn’t a thing anymore. There was a report that 93% of U.S supplies that went to China went to the American semi military personal stationed in China. That means yes U.S is supplying something but contrary to belief propagandize by Stilwell, McCarthyist , and CCP the supplies wasn’t disappeared due to corruption there’s simply not enough going into the front. Japanese in their fashion launches their operation and you know the rest both ROCA and IJA damaged each other so hard CCP won.

[@lolasdm6959]

@@owo5869You are so wrong, the ROCA and CCP both had quite some time to prepare after the Japes surrendered. If anything the ROCA was better equipped compared to the start. There were way more stuff from the US to the KMT than USSR to CCP. I have no idea why people can't accept the KMT was a incompetent facist warlord state, even if you are anti-ccp, so what you want to support someone worse? Chiang was so incompetent the US couped him 5 fxing times, twice during the Japanese invasion. Because with the equipment he was given, the Americans were struggling to understand why isn't the Chinese armies kicking Japanese ass????

[@onetwothreefour3957]

first time i've seen this time of the war be so clearly described thanks so much, every video you make i get reminded why you are one of my best subscriptions

[@oasis1282]

Ask

[@mollye]

"the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage" -Hirohito's surrender broadcast on August 14th 1945

[@andrewlynch4126]

The greatest understatement of all time

[@czarson6694]

He's right tho

[@apalahartisebuahnama7684]

Because Japan's main enemies supposedly China and USSR, by giving themselves to Uncle Sam it would give them more advantage than fighting him.

[@lolasdm6959]

@@apalahartisebuahnama7684 What? Their main enemy is the US, which is literally invading the mainland

[@m.r.daniel5395]

I learned a lot of new things about the Chinese-Japanese war from this video, and I think I learned the main cause for Japan declaring war on America. Thank you for sharing these things with us. We can't wait to see the next part of this video. Keep up the good work!

[@oliwyrm]

this is exactly what i needed right now thank you so much

[@credulousrbt894]

What a great video on such a under-discussed topic in media. Plz continue to make part 2!

[@HistoryHustle]

Great production again, Eastory. I also admire your work for the WW2 channel.

[@stoopidphersun7436]

Nice to see you here

[@jason8923]

Note on the map at 4:30 : Hefei was not an extremely important city then and it wasn't the provincial capital of Anhui (it only had a population of 30,000 in the 30s and was a relatively small town). The provincial capital of Anhui Province was Anqing until 1945. Also note that many areas of China were only nominally under Japanese control but the Japanese weren't able to exert their full authority over the entirety of the areas they occupied.

[@FUZionist]

I guess he was trying to visualize the front lines. But you are right. The 100 regiment offensive couldn’t have been conducted if Japan controlled all of the territories

[@mxn1948]

@@FUZionist they controlled cities and major strategic points with forts/strong point they built. but they never really controlled the countryside.

[@Akkise]

Wasn't Hefei just a castle?

[@jason8923]

@@Akkise it was a smallish town.

[@vmerkwurdigliebe3751]

@@Akkise it was a county, so to speak.

[@Birdman369]

There was a minor battle against the Japanese that took place near the village that my dad came from. The battle for a crossing over a nameless river cost 300 lives. The names of those that could be identified were carved into the faces of the battle monument, those that could not were simply noted as "nameless martyrs". 300 doesn't sound like a lot but when you see the names on the monument it hits differently. Their sacrifices and the price paid in blood and lives ensured the continuation of our people and nation. No matter the flag, the Chinese soldiers that fought for us are all heroes and martyrs.

[@great8319]

Ya no matter the flag , Chinese is Chinese

[@waltuh2.3bviews3secondsago3]

I think numbers like 300 put into scale how huge the millions were in battles like stalingrad

[@lovelylavenderr]

As they say in war, "1 death is a tragedy, 1 million deaths is a statistic." We take for granted that when we hear that so and so many people died in a battle or in a war, each one of those who died had loved ones, and had a story. They all mattered to someone. Lest we forget, and glory to the heroes of China who fought bravely for her resistance against a ruthless and cruel enemy. Love from the United States. 🇺🇸💖🇹🇼🇨🇳

[@hiyukelavie2396]

Why would they be nameless though? Wouldn't they know who was missing after the battle?

[@kv4648]

​@@great8319 🤔 Uyghurs aren't Chinese

[@ZZZ2573]

Quality content as always. Bravo!

[@jirkakubec98]

I think the translation might be confusing, sometimes units like 集团军 are translated as 'group armies', while it's rather a (combined arms) corps, similarly 军 as an army, while it is a corps, and so on. So it might not be an XXXXX unit, but maybe an XXX unit, with smaller components than the Japanese corps, therefore equivalent to a division.

[@nathannaite0709]

It is more complicated as just few of 軍 and 集團軍 are in full strength

[@joewu7534]

Chinese集团军 is equivalent to a CORP. For example, CCP control 18th集团(corp) which has 3 divisions attached to it

[@jirkakubec98]

@@joewu7534 Thank you for the clarification! I know that 集团军 is correctly a corps, but unfortunately, most western analysts and so on translate it as a "group army" (not to be confused with an army group)... To be honest I really dislike that.

[@sakaijin7270]

@@jirkakubec98 This is a problem for both side. For me. I studied about Chinese army first. So when I first learn about european theater of WW2. I thought the east front was not that big. Because there were only three armies group under Hitler's command..... Then I realized I was totally wrong. There was more than one million personnel for only one single army group. While Chinese army group have no more than 100,000 personnel. The translation is pretty accurate. It's just the same word has been used to named different size of unit. In the west army group is the highest army unit. In China the highest unit is野战军 field army. Which similar to army group in west and consist of more than one million personnel. And both the two units doesn't exist in peace time due to the massive size and components.

[@owo5869]

@@sakaijin7270 All these military also have different systems for chain of command. We can’t find many good accurate translations for ww2 German command structure too qwq Are you a naruto fan?

[@g0-b0y90]

Every time I see a new Eastory video, I get super excited.

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

Outstanding presentation exactly what I was looking for. Well done.

[@epicpeebrain]

This channel is seriously underrated, these animated battles are so good

[@GandalfGreyhame]

Amazing video as always! Some constructive criticism: don't display movement with arrows, but with the armies themselves like you've done before. It makes for much cleared and easily understandable animation, and it looks a lot better! :)

[@SgtAndrewM]

when the world needed Eastory most....he returned, thanks for the great content

[@whatsup8583]

5 months already !!! My life is running, i remember was yesterday! Your content Is amazing. Keep it on fire ;)

[@speedzero7478]

Great maps, good detailed information. You condensed 1000s of pages of my university reading into an excellent, concise video, on this topic.

[@Minboelf]

Japan: We can conquer China in 3 months Also Japan: Took them three months to secure Shanghai

[@XCal]

Specifically, it took the veteran Imperial 3rd army about that long to finally defeat the rearguard of about 300+ of China's greenest, freshest recruits with half their equipment displaced because said recruits refused to vacate a warehouse. It was too close to a British embassy to just bomb, blowing holes into the wall just gave them more spots to return fire from and Japan's finest kept getting out-melee'd when they try to storm the place. These guys were so stubborn, they refused to even budge from claiming they were actually 800 dudes flat (which became a meme, and then how they were remembered by) or from flying their flag. They also way overshot the time they were originally ordered to stall, and when they finally withdrew from the warehouse the ones too injured to retreat died fighting on their gun emplacements. Later in the Burma Road campaign, seemingly clear cut Japanese superiority would see attacks stalled because half-dead Chinese soldiers from units believed to be obliterated would climb out of the rubble of bombarded positions and begin counterattacking. If we could retroactively name countries, I'd have just called the place Cadia.

[@purpleemerald5299]

@@XCal China and the USSR sure seemed to have had a lot in common when it came to the disarray and incompetence of their leadership counter-acted by the sheer stubbornness and perseverance of their massive population.

[@owo5869]

@@purpleemerald5299 Yeah about the leadership part. Do you mean the leadership that lead a preindustrial society that is at civil war for the past 100 years and won a war against the 4 or 5 leading nation in the world? While having not yet integrated military power like communists and certain cliques both of them setting up self-governing zones all across the country? Also balancing internal politics, foreign diplomacy, and goals of western colonial powers? Furthermore stopping betrayers settling terms with Japan while evacuating the industries and central command centers (capital) and rectifying military command? Yeah dude easy job.

[@owo5869]

@@purpleemerald5299 dude educate yourself

[@purpleemerald5299]

@@owo5869 I never thought I’d see someone named OwO come to the defence of a bunch of Chinese warlords and dictators who were more than willing to sacrifice their civilians in the name of a nation that they themselves had willingly divided and weakened with their own political conflicts, but then again, I’ve had people come to the defence of Stalin, so I guess this isn’t too surprising. But thanks for reminding me just how much praise leaders around the world can get for dragging their populace out of crises they helped to exacerbate. I was starting to forget how depressing it all was…

[@aussiemilitant4486]

The true start of WWII. Awesome video as always Eastory.

[@chrisnorman1183]

Oh yeah Eastory! Thanks mate as been waiting for another one of your amazing videos :)

[@aslant1108]

It is the best historical mapping channel. Thank you.

[@Kabutoes]

If I’m mistaken, Soviet general Zhukov was studying the battle of Wuhan and learned to prepare for what’s later known as Stalingrad

[@LogicalReasons]

Amazing!

[@xiaoyusun4030]

This is very informative, thank you!

[@filipbujaroski9221]

Thank you for this amazing content

[@zxbzxbzxb1]

Great video. I know little about this conflict and it's often overlooked by historians despite how bloody and significant it was

[@lintulv9486]

Eastory has officially become my favourite channel on this site. I only have one question. How do you make these videos? Where do you get the information needed, what program do you use? I appreciate all anwsers i get!

[@williaml.]

Will be there for that other video ! Really interesting topic

[@DHGameStudios]

Awesome, I look forward to this series.

[@esTehPana555]

Thank you so much for making a 2nd Sino-Japanese war video! I’ve always wanted a good video on this topic but it is hard to come buy. This channel, however, did very well and I am so happy! 😃 cheers!

[@karuneshmehta9161]

Amazing 😄

[@Ren3gaid]

Nice to see one of your videos again! Wish you a nice evening!

[@dtikvxcdgjbv7975]

Excellent work. Nice insight into the situation.

[@chriscao653]

So glad to see you cover Second Sino-Japanese War in your channel. You help people be aware of Chinese huge sacrifice and contribution to the victory of WWII. Greeting from China :)

[@JR-gp2zk]

Thank you for doing these videos. While everyone seems to focus on WWII in Europe, there is not many videos or documentaries on the Asian and Pacific theater.

[@ayoubalrfadey3031]

I watch your videos on the eastern front regularly and I can't stop admiring the work

[@maxpower6765]

You produce excellent videos. Keep up the great work. Cheers 🇨🇦

[@Kylesaystuff]

As Chinese, This war (we treated as part of WWII, and it truly is) always make me sad, not because of the war itself or the second-highest human casualties of WWII, is that after years of suffering, genocide, human experiment from the Japanese. After Japan surrendered, the end of WWII when the world was celebrating, the Chinese civil war will continue, the Chinese people will keep suffering, and forever divided the nationalist(Taiwan) and the communist (mainland China) till this day. We are all Chinese, but power and greed forever divide us.

[@user-fd7ed3df9m]

You are right, I also hope China and Taiwan can be unified, we have been divided for too long

[@TheLocalLt]

@@user-fd7ed3df9m yes but only under the Republic of China not under the Communist regime

[@wanqingluo7991]

@@TheLocalLt I suspect the present administration in TW would come to rule all of China, given the opportunity, say when China is democratized.

[@TheLocalLt]

@@wanqingluo7991 that’s the outcome we certainly have to hope for

[@Kylesaystuff]

@n Zeppeli No, it has nothing to do with it, but I mean the thing is, China has been suffering from war and death for 40years, millions of death each decade, and the Japanese came, making things even worse. Civil war 2, millions of death, then the Korean War, millions of death, the Vietnam war, the cultural revolution, Chinese people suffering from 1840 to 1980 is truly a tragedy. Also, one of the reasons why the Qing empire fell was the war with Japan and the British and the Taiping rebellions in the first place. Second, if Japan didn't invade, the nationalist would have won.

[@magnapinna7169]

Can't believe how China can last long with all the external and internal threats it had at this time period. China didn't hear no bell.

[@user-bt2lm2zy8p]

The different factions in China did stay united when Japan invaded, you can't have a civil war if your country is taken by someone.

[@dariuszgaat5771]

@@user-bt2lm2zy8p There were still minor clashes between nationalists and communists.

[@stoopidphersun7436]

@@dariuszgaat5771 quite a few actually

[@Jake-dh9qk]

@@user-bt2lm2zy8p If only the same can be said for the middle east.

[@user-bt2lm2zy8p]

@@Jake-dh9qk I don't know much about the wars in the middle east.

[@guillermoespino2141]

Thanks for the video, you are the best!

[@EL20078]

You legend! Another video! Well done!

[@HamiltonStandard]

The high school I attended had a small theatre. It seems every semester the history department showed the same newsreel or more comprehensive documentary(s) about this war, year after year. I always watched with fascination and genuine horror, but never really understood the scope of what I was seeing until now... Thank you.

[@citytianyu]

Really? I wish my son could see that in his school some day.

[@JiaruiChen_]

What school

[@punanchnay]

Chiang was holding Shanghai in the hope of gathering Western sympathy and demonstrating China's ability to fight. Though the losses were large it wasn't a total mistake in my opinion. The IJA thought the whole of China would be captured in 3 months and Wuhan in 1 month and were shocked by the defence. Defending Shanghai for as long as possible also gave time for the vital industries and people to evacuate inland, critical to the continued resistance of China.

[@stoneruler]

But personally I think the battle would have been better made in Nanking. It was a far more defendable city. Shanghai was not in immediated danger at the time, and they could have relocated the industries westward before the final showdown.

[@punanchnay]

@@stoneruler I agree but Chiang chose Shanghai because of the international settlements, so it would happen closer to the eyes of the Westerners. Since the battle did not have the intended political effects, the sacrifice in military value was not worth it and can be regarded as a mistake. Though Chiang knew that China alone would not be able to defeat Japan so he took the gamble.

[@iamcoolboi111]

@@stoneruler nanjing is a indefensible city actually, defending downtown nanjing was a death trap for the defenders, and pre war there were actually extremely defensible bunker lines in the Wuxi, Suzhou, line. If chiang told the German trained units and the elite “ tax regiments” units to the Wuxi Suzhou lines, the elite Japanese army (3rd, 6th, 9th, 10th 18th Japanese divisions etc) would be stuck there for possibly 6 months and suffer greater casualties than just 100000 maybe up to 250k+

[@stoneruler]

@@iamcoolboi111 it’s really down to comparison. Nanjing has a river on one side and mountains on the other, which limits the direction an invading army can strike. Shanghai on the other side is flat, which makes it easy to surround, which was exactly what the ija did. Also shanghai is right on the coast, which meant Japan could easily supply their army with ships, and bombard the defenders with navy guns.

[@iamcoolboi111]

@@stoneruler Japanese could also use the rivers to bring their ships in to bombard Chinese troops, so it would also be a good idea to go cause river traffic to prevent Japanese from using the rivers.

[@jldldr3933]

Oh god I can not belive it, another banger from Eastory.

[@warspite1995]

I love it when I see an Eastory video in my sub box..... 10/10!

[@alehaim]

I kind of feel you did injustice with the initial explanation by just mentioning stagnation, when in my opinion it would have been a vetter way to say that China had been throguh civil war and reunited at last or something like that. The explanation of the battle for Shanghai was quite underwhelming and a bit incorrect. The battle of Shanghai was a bid to buy time for the Nationalist China to relocate industry and people to the west, open a second front against the Japanese to ease the pressure on the northern front and show the international settlement in Shanghai that the Chinese are no push overs in order to hopefully gain aid. Besides that, this is amazing!

[@Eastory]

Your explanation was in one of the original versions, but I decided to make it more simple.

[@user-co6vr9es9n]

@@Eastory 我可以理解视频的制作者，你已经做的很好了

[@jaichind]

Part of the ROC strategy of attacking Shanghai is to turn the war from one of Japan advancing South from Northern China to one of the Japanese advancing West from Eastern China. The more West you go the more mountainous it is which negates the Japanese advantage of mechanization and firepower.

[@thereynaldosan7695]

well... """mechanization""" more like horses and paper tanks

[@jerryx3253]

I mean Shanghai Campaign is not the worst idea. It’s just what follows after in the defense of Nanjing was a total shamble. (The entire Fortified line was abandoned without much resistance, not much formations were intact after the Shanghai Campaign)

[@kamovka2317]

@@thereynaldosan7695 well mechanized compared to the chinese who air tanks and human leg instead of horse

[@thereynaldosan7695]

@@kamovka2317 yes, that's why japanese was so efective againts them but so weak againts the US

[@thereynaldosan7695]

@KSG You just have to see the amount of casualties that the Japanese suffered when facing the United States compared to those suffered by the United States

[@maximuse2276]

Thank you I wait this video for so long !!

[@furiacabocla2furiacabocla589]

Thanks for the very well done explanation...

[@idontgetit8325]

The amount of time and effort it must take to properly represent the lines of the chinese united front in a simple way that’s easy to understand is a lot more than one would normally think.

[@linero7760]

但他在描述这段历史的时候夹带了太多主观观点。 说一个点，二战前国民党作为政府时，台湾就在其控制范围内，地图上缺失了这个点。 其他还有很多，如果你们对中国反侵略战争的历史感兴趣，可以看现在大陆和 台湾的的教科书。我都看过我自认为大陆的没太夹带私货，只看大陆的就行了，如果信不过就都看看，有不理解的地方可以一起聊聊。 总结:这不是一个好的视频😅

[@leaaae4638]

I can't believe all these wars only happened 80ish years ago. Looking around the world now. We have advanced so far.

[@hq3473]

Amazingly this is the best explanation of Sino-Japanese war i ever watched or read.

[@danielyilmaz6499]

Looking forward to more of your videos!

[@india-curry]

"I can conquer China in 3 months" -someone who cannot conquer china in 4 years

[@ccdsds3221]

They pretty much did...

[@axelNodvon2047]

8 years*

[@axelNodvon2047]

@@ccdsds3221 They did? How come the Chinese government never surrendered their country?

[@thejudge6453]

Sounds like "I can conquer Soviet Union in 3 weeks" -someone who cannot conquer Soviet Union in 5 years

[@ccdsds3221]

@@axelNodvon2047 controlling all of the country’s industry and all ports is not winning? That’s like saying the communists did not win the war because the government fled to taiwan and never surrendered... or germany conquering france in ww2?

[@sethheristal9561]

Why Japan attacked USA? Another possible answer: Japan continued on a road already full of mistakes, hoping that somehow the situation would get better.

[@joselee9605]

The choice was between the Soviet Union and the USA, I guess they thought the US was too far away to car

[@FUZionist]

@@joselee9605 soviets hadn’t no developed oil field in the Far East, whereas the SE Asia had many built by the Europeans and Americans.

[@jamesjamison3463]

It was literally explained in the video.

[@UmurKaragoz]

Great content as always!!!

[@marioshobbyhq]

Thank you for this clear summary of decade-long war that paved the way to WW2 in the pacific!

[@cheng3580]

My ancestors fought in these battles. Each side of my family played a part on both sides. (I'm both Japanese and Chinese)

[@TapOnX]

so your like a korean?

[@rorychivers8769]

@@TapOnX No that's a different country. You can look where it is on a map if you like.

[@ganfy465]

@@TapOnX what

[@citytianyu]

@@TapOnX LOL, what a bad joke.

[@lochunlam811]

@@TapOnX lol

[@abukafiralalmani]

I am so excited 😁

[@noahkidd3359]

Top notch history video, I learned a lot!

[@AQ-uc4bb]

Thanks for sharing

[@NotFinnish]

There’s like nothing on this how!!! I’m very proud of my country for their effort! Fun thing: at Xuzhou, the 5th division, one of Japan’s best divisions, got held up because the local farmers cut their communications

[@leahcimoyatse5511]

The common folk sure are awesome too

[@iamcoolboi111]

Not only that the best Japanese 5th division was also beaten at Kunlun pass, suffered heavy casualties and never returned to china after that battle.

[@Kingkhan-og8xw]

@@leahcimoyatse5511 well what do you expect when the Japanese massacred civilians.... You expect them not to resist

[@skywind9524]

@@iamcoolboi111 Yeah and they even lost a...旅团长？

[@iamcoolboi111]

@@skywind9524 Massao Nakumura yep

[@cactusgreen4449]

wasn't china also in a civil war, until they formed the Chinese united front to defeat the Japanese.

[@jerryx3253]

United Front happened in 1936 I think after the Xi’an Incident. The communist and nationalist practically agreed for a temporary ceasefire.

[@James-uu6xs]

Yeah, after 1911 there were many warlords. All the way until the Kuomintang united china. But in 1927 they purged the communists and sparked continuous civil war until the Japanese full invasion.

[@Warsie]

There were still KMT and CCP crossfire incidents even *while* they were fighting Japan in their "8 years war of resistance" part of WWII

[@mxn1948]

@@James-uu6xs well, the KMT united china in name only. many warlords still held onto their private armies, only now they got a new title as a general of the RoC. this directly affected how ineffective the KMT armies would be later on in the civil war.

[@PigletCNC]

Thanks for another great video :)

[@dyjgduonfdy]

Amazing video please keep up the great work

[@nby333]

Eastory: Covers the eastern front. Eastory: We must go even more east!

[@floodercw]

My grandfather joined the Chinese (ROC) military trying to protect his home country when he was 16, 17 years old. I was lucky to hear him sharing the story of fighting against the Japanese troops and communists when I was young o7 to those great warriors and those who sacrificed their lives 😭😭

[@NYG5]

Dude must have had crazy stories, man. Jeez like 25 years of war

[@user-wu5bi9pt2h]

致敬

[@fargr5926]

向国军将士敬礼🫡

[@haisee1671]

Cool!

[@antteraraphaelhoskinen504]

best video...yet...there is not much sources on YT about 1937 - 40 japanese attack...thank you wery much

[@sirdarklust]

Excellent video. Thank you.

[@HistoryOfRevolutions]

Lu Xun (鲁迅) once wrote: "For all of ignorant people of a nation, even if their body is somehow strong, somehow grand, even then they can only make meaningless displays of this "strength". As for the multitude of constituents and observers, however many may die from this sickness, this is still not to be considered as unfortunate"

[@slkjvlkfsvnlsdfhgdght5447]

and what does it mean? it seems pretty opaque

[@winstonsp4689]

Is it Lu Xun from Chinese three kingdoms era?

[@bjorntorlarsson]

Very efficiently explained! The YT channel "Kings and Generals" promise to have a long and comprehensive series about the Pacific war, week by week 80 years later. But somehow this channel is more to the point and effective if one compares with their about the same war.

[@Kanbei11]

They're probably too busy with the cold war channel now

[@user-ed8wc1yr8s]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hl6pmIiel7mGjJY 第二次世界大戦において、日本人は日本のためよりも、むしろ戦争によって利益を得た他の国々のために偉大な歴史を残した。 On world War II, （第二案）On World War II, Japan left a great history, not only for Japan, but also for the other countries that got benefits from war. (第３案）In World War II, Japan contributed a great history to the countries benefited by the war rather than its own country. 【確定】On World War II, Japan achieved a great deal in the history, not of its own, but rather of the other countries benefited by the war. それらの国々とは、日本の掲げた理想、大東亜共栄圏に含まれた国々である。 （第一案）They are the Asian countries that are included in Japan's ideal, "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere". （第二案）These countries includes in the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere which Japan has raised its ideal. 【確定】Those countries were included in the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere that Japan idealized. アーノルド・J・トインビー Arnold Joseph Toynbee

[@user-hq9in5dc3w]

Great video! Thanks a lot!

[@polo443]

Outstanding video, congratulations!

[@alexandrualex1085]

Finally someone make a video about the "easter from" in ww2

[@greg5028]

Excellent work as always! Really hoping to see the Soviet Union vs Japan especially on Sakhalin island in 1945.

[@BZAKether]

Exellent video, as usual!

[@dyar0992]

Good stuff continue your great videos.

[@dr.woozie7500]

The land they covered was so the vast Japanese had no way of asserting complete control over it. They mostly just held the frontline areas and strategic forts and cities. They had no control over the countryside and that’s why pockets always developed.

[@estiarosenkreuz6628]

As a Chinese, this video is so good, but, probably the video would mislead the understanding of people on the condition of china at that time, in 1930s China was not such a united one like what video showed, not like Soviet Union, but actually was controled by many independent warlords and factions, and they were fighting each other. Not all the Chinese military were fighting Japanese. That's why we see Chinese army far outnumbered Japanese but still lost again and again.

[@smilinggeneral8870]

Thanks for making this! Very few channels covered this due to how little information is available outside china.

[@alejandrovillamor4406]

Amazing work just impressive, Jeep going