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Appendix B
Timeline of Events of The Nanking Massacre
Early 1937 Japanese planes begin dropping bombs on Nanking. There are more than 100 fl yovers.
September 25, 1937 The most horrifi c bombing occurs from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 pm. Five hundred bombs
are dropped, and over 600 citizens of Nanking are killed. A refugee camp was also
hit, which resulted in over 100 deaths. The Nanking Central Hospital was bombed,
along with radio stations, power plants, and water works.
November 20, 1937 Japanese forces begin their approach to Nanking and the city falls into chaos.
November 23, 1937 Three fronts are created by the Japanese Imperial Army in their attack on the city:
Eastern front, Central front, and the Western front. The Eastern front of
Japanese troops appeared along the railway from Shanghai to Nanking. The Central
front was the railway from Nanking to Hangzhou. The Western front began
in Changde, Xuandcheng and Wuhu and circled Nanking.
December 1937 The three fronts reach the outside of the city early in December.. The battle breaks
out between the Nanking Garrison Army and the Japanese Imperial Army.
The Chinese Army, with about 100,000 soldiers under General Tang
Shenshi abandons its position.
December 12, 1937 Misty Flower Terrace was attacked and fell to the Japanese. At 2:00 p.m., the gate of
Zhonghua was stormed, and Nanking was then open to the invading Japanese troops.
December 13, 1937 Japanese troops under General Iwane Matsui occupy the city, and Phase I of the
Nanking Massacre begins.
December 14, 1937 Tank battalions and artillery battalions led the way into Nanking. People in the street
were massacred, and many troops went on a killing rampage. Japanese troops were
instructed to, “Kill all, rape all, loot all.” Japanese troops opened the gate of
Yijuang, and charged to the Xhongshan Wharf and the Xiaguan Railway Station.
December 16, 1937 Over 5,000 refugees were bound together and taken in trucks to Xiaguan station to
be murdered.
December 17, 1937 General Matsui exclaimed that the Japanese troops were being disrespected by the
Chinese because they were shutting their doors and closing their shops to the
invaders.
End of December The clearing of the streets begins. The horrors of the Rape of Nanking are
occurring throughout the city as people are brutally murdered,
women are raped and tortured, and many are transported out of the city to be
massacred by Japanese troops along the Yangtze River.
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