Defense of Sihang Warehouse

The Battle of Sihang Warehouse (Chinese: 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 Japanese forces and covered Chinese forces retreating west during the Battle of Shanghai.

Accounts from Chinese, Japanese, and Western sources on the Defense of Sihang Warehouse vary significantly in nature, with both Chinese and Western accounts remembering the conflict as an excellent defense against a vastly numerically superior enemy, while Japanese records point to the defense being a relatively unremarkable event within the entire Battle of Shanghai. As Chinese memoirs and Japanese combat reports for the event largely contradict each other, there remains debate over what truly occurred during the defense.

Regardless of the integrity of Chinese and Japanese claims, 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. The warehouse's location just across the Suzhou Creek from the foreign concessions in Shanghai meant the battle took place in full view of the western powers.

Because of the warehouse's proximity to the foreign concessions in Shanghai, the Japanese did not use naval bombardment on the area, since a stray shot might land in the concessions and provoke an incident with the Europeans and Americans, whom the Japanese wanted to keep out of the war. Moreover, the Japanese dared not use mustard gas here as they did elsewhere in Shanghai, in full view of the foreign powers. This proximity drew the attention, if only briefly, of the international community to Chiang Kai-shek's bid for worldwide support against Japanese aggression.

In Chinese, the warehouse defenders are known as the Eight Hundred Heroes, because commander Xie Jinyuan, not wanting to reveal their true strength to the Japanese, provided an exaggerated number to Girl Guide Yang Huimin to announce to the public.