Canton Operation

Canton Operation
	Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
	; Japanese naval landing forces blasting Chinese pillbox and marching with the naval flag
Date	12 October – 29 October 1938 ; (2 weeks and 3 days)
Location	Guangdong Province
Result	Japanese victory
Belligerents
Japan Imperial Japanese Army; Imperial Japanese Navy;	China Republic of China Army;
Commanders and leaders
Lt. Gen. Motoo Furusho, ; Adm. Koichi Shiozawa	Yu Han-mou
Units involved
21st Army: 5th Division; 18th Division; 104th Division; 4th Air Division; 5th Fleet: 9th, 10th and 8th Cruiser Divisions; 2nd and 5th Torpedo Squadrons; 1st and 2nd Carrier Divisions; Seaplane tenders Chitose and Kamikawa Maru; 3rd Destroyer Division; 1st Gunboat Division;	12th Army Group: 62nd Army; 63rd Army; 64th Army; 65th Army; 93rd Division (under the 66th Army); 20th Independent Brigade; 9th Independent Brigade; 2nd Independent Regiment; Humen Fortress Command;
Strength
Imperial Japanese Army: 70,000 men; 27,000 horses; Army aircraft: 4 direct support aircraft; 24 fighters; 27 light bombers; Total aircraft: 55 Imperial Japanese Navy: 2 aircraft carriers; 1 light aircraft carrier; 1 heavy cruiser; 8 light cruisers; 23 destroyers; 2 seaplane tenders; 3 gunboats; 6 minesweepers; Navy aircraft: 39 carrier fighters; 45 carrier bombers; 43 carrier torpedo bombers; 6 naval reconnaissance aircraft; 9 medium bombers; Total aircraft: 142 Transports: 80 daihatsu; 180 shohatsu; 300 motorized sampans; 250 barges; 200-250 fishing ships; 10 tugboats; 20-25 sea trucks; 10 launches;	80,000 men[citation needed]
Casualties and losses
Official Japanese war records claim: 173 killed; 493 wounded; 1,264 sick; Total casualties: 1,930 1,069 horses killed, wounded or sick 5 aircraft	Chinese claim:[citation needed] 2,954 killed; 5,645 wounded; 2,643 missing; Total casualties: 11,242 Official Japanese war records claim 1,340 captured. Official Japanese war records claim: 2,371 rifles; 214 heavy and light machineguns; 134 artillery pieces; 53 coastal artillery pieces; 21 tanks and light armored vehicles; 151 vehicles;

The Canton Operation (Chinese: 廣州戰役; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Zhànyì) was part of a campaign by Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War to blockade China to prevent it from communicating with the outside world and importing needed arms and materials. Control of Guangzhou (Canton) and the Pearl River Delta would provide a base to make the blockade of Guangdong province more effective by seizing southern China's major port and isolate the British port of British Hong Kong.

^ OCMH JM180 1956, p. 17
^ ^a ^b NIDS SS79 1975, pp. 56–57
^ War Study 16 2008
^ ^a ^b ^c NIDS SS89 1976, p. 248
^ ^a ^b NIDS SS79 1975, p. 57
^ NIDS SS89 1976, p. 223
^ Macri 2015, p. 92
^ ^a ^b NIDS SS89 1976, p. 250

[JM180_1-1] OCMH JM180 1956, p. 17

[SenshiSosho79_1-2] NIDS SS79 1975, pp. 56–57

[WarStudy_16-3] War Study 16 2008

[SenshiSosho89_1-4] NIDS SS89 1976, p. 248

[SenshiSosho79_2-5] NIDS SS79 1975, p. 57

[SenshiSosho89_223-6] NIDS SS89 1976, p. 223

[Macri_92-7] Macri 2015, p. 92

[SenshiSosho89_2-8] NIDS SS89 1976, p. 250

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