Defense of Sihang Warehouse - 27 October

27 October

The various companies of the battalion were spread out across the front lines that night. Yang Ruifu sent the 1st Company to Sihang Warehouse and personally led the 2nd Company. The 3rd Company, Machine Gun Company and part of the 1st Company could not be contacted. What initially seemed a disastrous start to the defense was averted at nine in the morning, when these companies turned up at the warehouse, having heard the orders through word of mouth from other forces that had retreated from Zhabei. That these men essentially volunteered for this suicidal mission was later noted by Chiang Kai-shek as exemplary soldierly conduct.

In early morning, news circulated throughout Shanghai that there were still Chinese forces defending Zhabei at Sihang Warehouse. This piqued the interest of Girl Guide Yang Huimin (楊惠敏), who would later play a large part in this battle. At around 4 a.m. she walked to the British guard post at the Chinese end of New Lese Bridge, where she noticed the British soldier throwing a pack of cigarettes into the warehouse.

She asked the soldier what he was doing, and he answered that there were Chinese soldiers inside. She wrote a message and asked the British soldier to stuff it in a pack of cigarettes and throw it over. After a while a message was thrown back saying that the soldiers in the warehouse wanted food, ammunition and lubricant for their firearms. Yang Huimin left the bridge and pleaded with the head of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, who initially did not believe her story, much to her frustration.

Xie deployed the 1st Company on the right side of the warehouse along Tibet Road, the 3rd Company on the left across from the Bank of Communications building, and the 2nd Company on the other sides. Two heavy machine guns were installed on the roof, and the other machine guns were spread out to each company. Xie noted that the fortifications built by the Nationalist Army before the war in preparation against a European attack from the foreign concessions could be used by the Japanese against the warehouse. Consequently, he ordered these fortifications to be rigged with explosives in case the Japanese tried to occupy them.

Makeshift defenses were constructed from sandbags and the sacks of corn, beans, and other merchandise stocked within the warehouse. The electric lights in the warehouse were destroyed, and some of the immediate surrounding buildings were razed to clear a killing field.

By 7 a.m. the Japanese 3rd Division had moved to the Shanghai North Railway Station, and by 1 p.m. they had reached the general vicinity of the warehouse. Around ten Japanese soldiers tried to secure the rigged fortifications and were promptly killed. At 2 p.m. a group of Chinese reconnaissance troops, led by platoon leader Yin Qiucheng (尹求成), exchanged fire with around fifty Japanese soldiers. A short while after, a Japanese company attacked the warehouse from the west, and 3rd Company commander Shi Meihao was shot in the face but continued to command the defense until he was shot again in the leg. About seventy Japanese soldiers had taken cover in a blind spot at the south-west of the warehouse, and some Chinese troops climbed on the roof and threw grenades down at the Japanese. They reported seven Japanese killed and about twenty wounded. Having failed their first assault, the Japanese set fire to the north-west section of the warehouse, which stored fuel and wood. It was put out by 5 p.m. In their wake the Japanese looted and burned Zhabei.

At 9 p.m. Yang Ruifu concluded that there would be no more Japanese attacks for the day, and ordered meals to be prepared and fortifications repaired. Two defenders were killed and four wounded on this day.