Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation

The Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation (京漢線作戦; Mid August – Dec. 1937) was a follow-up to the Battle of Beiping–Tianjin of the Japanese army in North China at the beginning of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, fought simultaneously with Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation. The attack was not authorized by the Imperial General Headquarters. The Japanese advanced to the south along the Beiping–Hankou Railway until the Yellow River, capturing Linfen along the way. After the Imperial General Headquarters wrestled control over troops from local commanders, the majority of participating Japanese units were transferred to participate in the concurrent Battle of Taiyuan. These units were replaced by newly formed 108th and 109th divisions.

Operations
In September after securing Beijing and its surrounding area the Japanese army moved south in 2 armies. Their main objective was to secure the major cities and the railway lines connecting them.

Battle of Baoding
Japanese forces approached Baoding, which boasted a sixty-foot wall, two successive moats, and considerable amounts of barbed wire. If properly defended, the city could have held for weeks. Instead, it fell in a single day. The Japanese, as was to become commonplace, committed atrocities within the city after its fall. Acts of rape and murder were committed at the medical college of the city, which was burned, with many of its faculty thrown into the blazing fires.

Aftermath
After the stalemate at Yellow River from December 1937 to March 1938, the fighting resumed resulting in Battle of Xuzhou.