The Marco Polo Bridge Incident

In July 1937, Beijing was surrounded by Japanese-controlled territory. Only the southern road with the ancient Marco Polo Bridge was still free of the enemy. If this last of the Beijing approaches fell into Japanese hands, the whole city would be lost. Japanese troops were stationed on the eastern side …

1937-07-08

BOF01

In July 1937, Beijing was surrounded by Japanese-controlled territory. Only the southern road with the ancient Marco Polo Bridge was still free of the enemy. If this last of the Beijing approaches fell into Japanese hands, the whole city would be lost. Japanese troops were stationed on the eastern side of the bridge and the Chinese on the western side. Japanese infantry and tankettes slug it out with Chinese infantry and a lone armored car. The Japanese try to put themselves in the best situation possible before the inevitable negotiations begin by controlling as large a bridgehead and capturing as many prisoners as possible.

Wanping, China

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident or the Double-Seven Incident, was a July 1937 battle between China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, there had been many small incidents along the rail line connecting Beijing with the port of Tianjin, but all had subsided. On this occasion, a Japanese soldier was temporarily absent from his unit opposite Wanping, and the Japanese commander demanded the right to search the town for him. When this was refused, other units on both sides were put on alert, and with tension rising the Chinese Army fired on the Japanese Army which then escalated further, even though the soldier had returned to his lines. The details are unclear, but the incident is generally reckoned as the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Japanese

Chinese

Scenario Type = Standard