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111-663: The Hengduan Mountains cover much of western present-day Sichuan province as well as the northwestern portions of Yunnan , the easternmost section of the Tibet Autonomous Region , and touching upon parts of southern Qinghai . Additionally, some parts of eastern Kachin State in neighbouring Myanmar are considered part of the Hengduan group. The Hengduan Mountains are approximately 900 kilometres (560 mi) long, stretching from 33°N to 25°N. Depending on extent of

222-470: A subarctic climate ( Köppen Dwc )- featuring extremely cold winters down to −30 °C and even cold summer nights. The region is geologically active with landslides and earthquakes. Average elevation ranges from 2,000 to 3,500 meters; average temperatures range from 0 to 15 °C. The southern part of the province, including Panzhihua and Xichang, has a sunny climate with short, very mild winters and very warm to hot summers. Sichuan borders Qinghai to

333-595: A new weapon in an experiment to help with the dispersal of, and attacks against, the massive Japanese bomber formations: multiple air burst bombs developed by combat flight instructor Yan Lei of the Central Air Force Academy at the Wujiaba Airbase . At 13:56 hours that day, 90 G3M bombers appeared in two waves, and Maj. Zheng's team, with ample preparations, maneuvered high and above the approaching bomber formation with precision flying while

444-475: A range of habitats , from subtropical to temperate to montane biomes . The mountains are largely covered by subalpine coniferous forests . Elevations range from 1,300 to 6,000 metres (4,300 to 19,700 ft). The dense, pristine forests, the relative isolation, and the fact that most of the area remained free from glaciation during the ice ages provides a very complex habitat with a high degree of biological diversity . The ecoregions that coincide with

555-603: A serious blow a few weeks later in July 1940 when the British yielded to Japanese diplomatic pressure and closed the Burma Road , which was China's primary lifeline for material and fuel needed in the defense of Chongqing and Chengdu. On 11 August 1940, 4th PG CO Maj. Zheng Shaoyu personally selected a team of five of his top fighter pilots, including ace fighter pilot Capt. Liu Zhesheng and future ace Lt. Gao Youxin to deploy

666-551: A single night during the Battle of Berlin . A total of 268 air raids were conducted against Chongqing. In March 2006, 40 Chinese who were wounded or lost family members during the bombings sued the Japanese government, demanding 10,000,000 yen (628,973 yuan) each, and asked for apologies. "By filing a lawsuit, we want the Japanese people to know about Chongqing bombings," said a victim. In 2006, 188 Chongqing bombing survivors filed

777-590: A total of 268 air raids were conducted against Chongqing, involving anywhere from a few dozen to over 150 bombers per raid. These bombings were probably aimed at cowing the Chinese government, or as part of the planned but never executed Sichuan invasion . The centralized command of the Republic of China Air Force integrated many former Chinese warlord air force aircraft and crews, and numerous Chinese-American and other foreign aviators volunteering for service with

888-727: Is a province in Southwestern China , occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau —between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Chengdu , and its population stands at 83 million. Sichuan neighbors Qinghai and Gansu to the north, Shaanxi and Chongqing to the east, Guizhou and Yunnan to

999-670: Is a well-preserved 15th-century monastery complex built between 1440 and 1446 during the Zhengtong Emperor 's reign (1427–64). Dabei Hall enshrines a thousand-armed wooden image of Guanyin and Huayan Hall is a repository with a revolving sutra cabinet. The wall paintings, sculptures, and other ornamental details are masterpieces of the Ming period. In the middle of the 17th century, the peasant rebel leader Zhang Xianzhong (1606–1646) from Yan'an , Shaanxi Province, nicknamed Yellow Tiger , led his peasant troop from north China to

1110-408: Is abundant where they live, pandas' diet consists of 99% bamboo, with small other plants, or small animals consisting of the other 1%. As the panda is native to China, they have become a national symbol of China. The politics of Sichuan is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China . The governor of Sichuan is the highest-ranking official in

1221-607: Is commonly believed that the name Sichuan means 'four rivers '; in folk etymology , this is usually taken to mean four of the province's major rivers: the Jialing , Jinsha (or Wu ), Min , and Tuo . According to historical geographer Tan Qixiang , 'four rivers' is an erroneous interpretation of the name. The name of the province is a contraction of the phrases 'Four Plain Circuits ' ( 四川路 ; Sìchuān lù ) and 'Four Circuits of Chuanxia' ( 川峽四路 ; chuānxiásìlù ), referring to

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1332-521: Is rich in mineral resources. It has more than 132 kinds of proven underground mineral resources including vanadium, titanium, and lithium is the largest in China. The Panxi region alone possesses 13.3% of the reserves of iron, 93% of titanium, 69% of vanadium, and 83% of cobalt in the whole country. Sichuan also possesses China's largest proven natural gas reserves (such as the Dazhou and Yuanba gas fields ),

1443-762: Is surrounded by the Hengduan Mountains to the west, the Qin Mountains to the north, and Yungui Plateau to the south. Since the Yangtze flows through the basin and then through the perilous Three Gorges to eastern and southern China, Sichuan was a staging area for amphibious military forces and a haven for political refugees. Qin armies finished their conquest of the kingdoms of Shu and Ba by 316 BC. Any written records and civil achievements of earlier kingdoms were destroyed. Qin administrators introduced improved agricultural technology. Li Bing , engineered

1554-702: The Chronicles of Huayang compiled in the Jin dynasty (266–420) , and the Han-dynasty compilation Chronicle of the Kings of Shu  [ zh ] . These contained folk stories such as that of Emperor Duyu  [ zh ] who taught the people agriculture and transformed himself into a cuckoo after his death. The existence of a highly developed civilization with an independent bronze industry in Sichuan

1665-441: The schnellbomber strategy further above the general obsolescence of the defending Chinese fighter aircraft now struggling to gain speed and altitude to make even a single head-on pass against the high-speed/high-altitude IJNAF bombing runs, and even more vulnerable to the massed-firepower of those heavy bomber formations. Also by mid-1940, the Japanese had employed new tactics to stave off attacks from defending Chinese fighters;

1776-487: The 12th Kokutai led by Lieutenant Saburo Shindo which had escorted 27 G3M bombers on a raid into Chongqing were sent against 34 Chinese fighters: including Polikarpov I-15bis (led by Maj. Louie Yim-qun of the 28th PS) and I-16 (led by Capt. Yang Mengjing of the 24th PS) and other Polikarpov fighters of Maj. Zheng Shaoyu's 4th PG. The battle lasted about half an hour by which point the Chinese were low on fuel and had to break off; with some luck, escaping further contact with

1887-687: The Battle of Shanghai , the Fall of Nanjing , the Fall of Taiyuan , and the Fall of Wuhan . The Chinese had found new hope in the lifeline of the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1937 , and Chinese Air Force pilots had almost completely transitioned into the Soviet-made Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 series of fighter-pursuit aircraft by early 1938. Along with a few remaining Curtiss Hawk IIIs which were China's frontline fighter-attack weapon of choice at

1998-593: The Burma Road open, the ever increasing Japanese blockade of imports into China, particularly after Chongqing was cut off from the sea after losing Nanning in the Battle of South Guangxi , and with war now looming in Europe, the supplies needed by the Chinese were barely trickling in, and the Chinese Air Force had to make do with the increasingly poor flying performance and maintenance problems of these Soviet-made fighters burning low-grade 65–75 octane fuel in

2109-566: The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding . Sichuan is the 6th-largest provincial economy of China, the largest in Western China , and the second-largest among inland provinces after Henan . As of 2021, its nominal GDP was CN¥5,385 billion (US$ 847.68 billion), ahead of that of Turkey ($ 815 billion). If it were its own country, Sichuan would be the 18th-largest economy and 19th-most populous as of 2021. It

2220-622: The Daba Mountains , in the province's northeast. The Yangtze River and its tributaries flow through the mountains of western Sichuan and the Sichuan Basin; thus, the province is upstream of the great cities that stand along the Yangtze River further to the east, such as Chongqing , Wuhan , Nanjing , and Shanghai . One of the major tributaries of the Yangtze within the province is the Min River of central Sichuan, which joins

2331-690: The Dadu River caused by an earthquake gave way on 10 June 1786. The resulting flood killed 100,000 people. In the early 20th century, the newly founded Republic of China established the Chuanbian Special Administrative District ( 川邊特別行政區 ) on the province's territories to the west of the Sichuan Basin . The Special District later became the province of Xikang , incorporating the areas inhabited by Yi , Tibetan , and Qiang ethnic minorities to its west, and eastern part of today's Tibet Autonomous Region . In

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2442-475: The Dujiangyan irrigation system to control the Min River , a major tributary of the Yangtze. This innovative hydraulic system was composed of movable weirs which could be adjusted for high or low water flow according to the season, to either provide irrigation or prevent floods. The increased agricultural output and taxes made the area a source of provisions and men for Qin's unification of China. Sichuan

2553-714: The Hengduan Mountains . One of these ranges, the Daxue Mountains , contains the highest point of the province Gongga Shan , at 7,556 m (24,790 ft) above sea level. The mountains are formed by the collision of the Tibetan Plateau with the Yangtze Plate . Faults here include the Longmenshan Fault which ruptured during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Other mountain ranges surround the Sichuan Basin from north, east, and south. Among them are

2664-509: The Japanese invasion of French Indochina , the Empire of Japan was finally met with the U.S. scrap metal and oil embargo against Japan and the freezing of Japanese assets in summer of 1941. On 5 June 1941, in midst of the increased brutality of the new Operation 102 bombing campaign to force the Chinese to capitulate in their war of resistance, the Japanese flew more than 20 sorties, bombing

2775-753: The Shang in northern China. The region had its own distinct religious beliefs and worldview. The earliest excavated culture found therein is the Baodun culture ( c. 2700–1750 BC) excavated in the Chengdu Plain . The most important native states were those of Ba and Shu. Ba stretched into Sichuan from the Han Valley in Shaanxi and Hubei down the Jialing River as far as its confluence with

2886-608: The Sui dynasty , but it was during the subsequent Tang dynasty that Sichuan regained its previous political and cultural prominence for which it was known during the Han. Chengdu became nationally known as a supplier of armies and the home of Du Fu , who is sometimes called China's greatest poet. During the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fled from Chang'an to Sichuan which became his refuge. The region

2997-514: The Ten Kingdoms period (907–979). Currently, both characters for Shu and Chuan are common abbreviations for Sichuan. The region was formerly referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions . The Sichuan Basin and adjacent areas of the Yangtze watershed were a cradle of indigenous civilizations dating back to at least the 15th century BC, coinciding with

3108-583: The Yangtze at Chongqing . Shu occupied the valley of the Min , including Chengdu and other areas of western Sichuan. The existence of the early state of Shu was poorly recorded in the main historical records of China. It was, however, referred to in the Book of Documents as an ally of the Zhou. Accounts of Shu exist mainly as a mixture of mythological stories and historical legends recorded in local annals such as

3219-581: The Yumen Laojunmiao oil wells in Gansu province beginning in the summer of 1939, which produced 90% of the native petrol (250,000 tons) for China during those war years. The Japanese warned foreign delegations in Chongqing to avoid being hit as collateral damage in the massed attacks by moving to pre-defined "secure areas" which would be exempt from bombing; a large Nazi flag was emblazoned on

3330-417: The "Province of Abundance". It is one of the major agricultural production bases of China. Grain, including rice and wheat, is the major product with output that ranked first in China in 1999. Commercial crops include citrus fruits, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, peaches, and grapes. Sichuan also had the largest output of pork among all the provinces and the second largest output of silkworm cocoons in 1999. Sichuan

3441-559: The "joint air strike force" of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy bomber formations began to comprise upwards of 150–200 bombers per raid, under the new codename "Operation 101" ( 101 号作战), and massed defensive machine gun and cannon fire from the bomber formations were very effective against the slow Chinese fighter aircraft further handicapped with burning low-grade fuel, much of which came by way of French Indochina and processed locally; locally sourced oil came by way of

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3552-472: The 100 million mark shortly after the 1982 census figure of 99,730,000. This changed in 1997 when the Sub-provincial city of Chongqing as well as the three surrounding prefectures of Fuling , Wanxian , and Qianjiang were split off into the new Chongqing Municipality . The new municipality was formed to spearhead China's effort to economically develop its western provinces, as well as to coordinate

3663-661: The 19th century. During World War II , Chongqing served as the temporary capital of the Republic of China , and was heavily bombed . It was one of the last mainland areas captured by the People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Civil War , and was divided into four parts from 1949 to 1952, with Chongqing restored two years later. It suffered gravely during the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961) but remained China's most-populous province until Chongqing

3774-629: The 20th century, as Beijing , Shanghai , Nanjing , and Wuhan had all been occupied by the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War , the capital of the Republic of China had been temporarily relocated to Chongqing , then a major city in Sichuan. An enduring legacy of this move is those nearby inland provinces, such as Shaanxi , Gansu , and Guizhou , which previously never had modern Western-style universities , began to be developed in this regard. The difficulty of accessing

3885-506: The 24th PS, the 4th PG equipped with the few (10 in total) 20mm ShVAK cannon -armed and more-powerful M-25V engined I-16 Type 17 fighters that the Chinese Air Force had; unfortunately, two of the I-16 Type 17s were put out of action following the battle, having been shot-up by the defensive fire from the Japanese raiders and making forced landings. The Japanese air raids against Chongqing had become increasingly intense and destructive as

3996-409: The 4th Pursuit Group) Polikarpov fighters against the bombers on 3 May, shooting down seven bombers but losing two pilots including his deputy commander, the veteran Zhang Mingsheng. Zhang tried to save his damaged plane, but it became engulfed by fire, and while bailing-out and parachuting to safety, he was severely burned; he was then attacked by locals who thought he was a Japanese airman as he laid on

4107-649: The C5M in pursuit, but enough to force the scouts away, while a second flight of fighters were launched against returning Japanese bombers as the first flight of Chinese interceptors returned to disperse in smaller auxiliary airbases to refuel, although successful interceptions were still limited against the IJNAF bombers as the Polikarpovs struggled in particular against the new Model 22/23 G3M bombers. A C5M and three G3Ms were shot down over eastern Chongqing on 20 May 1940 by

4218-506: The Chinese Air Force. Nominally referred to as the Nationalist Air Force of China , at the outbreak of the air war in 1937 it was equipped mainly with US-made aircraft and training, as well as aircraft and training from other foreign sources, including Italian and Japanese army air force instructors. China was not an aviation industrial power at the time, and by the end of 1938 had suffered severe losses through attrition at

4329-430: The Chinese air raid early warning network would alert the Chinese fighter squadrons to scramble their fighters towards approaching Japanese bomber formations (ideally with ample time to attain sufficient altitude ahead of the raids); however, they were being monitored by fast IJNAF C5M (IJAAF designation Ki-15 ) scouting-attack planes at high altitudes which would radio instructions to the bombers to circle out of range as

4440-448: The Chinese fighters rose to meet the bombers; once the Chinese fighters had run low on fuel and returned to base, the scouts would then redirect the bombers to attack the Chinese fighters on the ground refueling. While the Chinese soon cracked the code used by the C5M crews relaying messages to the bomber formations, some of the countermeasures used by the Chinese pilots were to launch a pair of I-16s that were almost fast enough to intercept

4551-621: The Chinese pilots began operating nighttime interceptions over Chongqing with some success in shooting down the nighttime bombers using "lone wolf" fighter tactics previously deployed during the Battle of Nanking two years earlier (and similar to the Wilde Sau tactics the Luftwaffe would deploy a few years later). The interceptions involved the coordination with a series of manually-operated ground based searchlights illuminating and tracking incoming bombers which can then be seen and targeted by

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4662-727: The Communists one after another, the Kuomintang government again tried to make Sichuan its stronghold on the mainland, although it already saw some Communist activity since it was one area on the road of the Long March . Chiang Kai-shek himself flew to Chongqing from Taiwan in November 1949 to lead the defense. But the same month Chongqing switched to the Communists, followed by Chengdu on 10 December. The Kuomintang general Wang Sheng wanted to stay behind with his troops to continue

4773-676: The Hengduan Mountains are: Additionally, the lowest elevation portions of the Jinsha (Yangtze) River and Nu (Salween) River valleys in the southern Hengduan ranges are classified by the Chinese government as a tropical savanna environment. The easternmost ranges of the Hengduan are home to the rare and endangered giant panda . Other species native to the mountains are the Chinese yew ( Taxus chinensis ) and various other rare plants, deer, and primates. Sichuan Sichuan

4884-504: The IJNAF G3M Model 21 bombers that formed the primary aircraft of the carpet-bombing campaign against Chongqing and Chengdu had become largely relegated to nighttime bombing attacks, while daylight raids were being replaced with the new and improved Model 22/23 G3Ms equipped with the higher-octane rated and supercharged Kinsei 51 engines, boosting the power of each of the twin-engined bombers by 500 horsepower and greatly enabling

4995-650: The Japanese Zero fighters employ new tactics to avoid near-deadly mistakes from the 13 September 1940 air battle experience; the intense dogfight over Chengdu was another devastatingly dark day in the tragic chapters of the Chinese Air Force in the war, as eight pilots were killed, including top-ace fighter pilots Maj. John Huang Xinrui and Capt. Cen Zeliu , along with the young 2nd Lt. Lin Heng (younger brother of renowned architect Phyllis Lin Huiyin ). In response to

5106-561: The Japanese air raids conducted against Chongqing and other targets around Sichuan were made with squadrons of medium-heavy bombers composed of IJNAF Mitsubishi G3M variants, known under Allied codename "Nell" and the IJAAF Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally"; others include the Fiat BR.20 Cicognas ("Ruth"), Kawasaki Ki-48 "Lily" and Nakajima B5N "Kate". Prior to the departure of the crack Japanese naval air units in China for

5217-575: The Japanese aircrews observed the unusual movements of the Chinese fighters, who soon dropped the air-burst devices that descended under parachutes, and detonating just a few hundred meters in front of the lead bombers, resulting in a breakup of the bomber formation followed by furious attacks from the Chinese fighter pilots the best they could with the handicap of the highly challenged performance and firepower of their Polikarpovs, claiming five shot down (two wrecks confirmed) and damaging many others; eight Chinese fighters suffered various degrees of damage while

5328-612: The Japanese invasion of French Indochina , with the oil and steel embargo against Japan, and consequently, the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor ; beginning in 1942, barrels of 100-octane avgas began to increasingly trickle into China through the cross-Himalayan air-route known as " The Hump " – mostly destined for United States Army Air Force (USAAF) operations – and the Chinese Air Force were provided with new American Republic P-43 Lancer pursuit planes, which in theory with its very fast high-altitude performance and good firepower from its four 50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns ,

5439-600: The Japanese raided Chongqing with 129, 154 and 114 bombers on these days respectively, while the Chinese I-15 and I-16 fighter squadrons engaged these attacks shooting down 13 of the raiders, perhaps more importantly, forcing bombers to miss their targets, although these disrupted flights of bombers may have evaded the Chinese fighters from their primary targets, and diverted out to drop bombs on secondary targets, including other large population and industrial areas such as Ziliujing and Luxian . The Chinese would be dealt with

5550-600: The Japanese to establish airbases and logistics to stage a sustained campaign of massively coordinated joint-strike operations with the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service heavy bomber units. The introduction of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter in 1940, the most advanced fighter aircraft produced at the time, ensured the Japanese practically complete air supremacy . U.S. support for China had begun in earnest in 1941 following

5661-615: The Kingdom of Shu-Han as a step on the path to reuniting China. Salt production becomes a major business in Ziliujing District . During the Six Dynasties period of Chinese disunity, Sichuan began to be populated by non- Han ethnic minority peoples, owing to the migration of Gelao people from the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the Sichuan basin. Sichuan came under the firm control of a Chinese central government during

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5772-418: The Pacific War in mid-late 1941, the new successor to the G3M bomber, the Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" and the Aichi D3A dive-bomber were operationally tested in the bombing of Chongqing, followed by newer designs such as the Mitsubishi Ki-67 "Peggy", Nakajima Ki-49 "Helen", and Yokosuka P1Y "Frances" (successor to the G4M), which were deployed in the following years as the bombing of Chongqing continued. In

5883-434: The People's Government of Sichuan. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Sichuan Communist Party of China's Party Committee Secretary , colloquially termed the "Sichuan CCP Party Chief". Sichuan is the 6th-largest provincial economy of China, the largest in Western China and the second largest among inland provinces after Henan . As of 2021, its nominal GDP

5994-434: The Sichuan tea industry to pay for warhorses, but this state intervention eventually brought devastation to the local economy. The line of defense was finally broken through after the first use of firearms in history during the six-year Battle of Xiangyang , which ended in 1273. Allegedly there were a million pieces of unspecified types of skeleton bones belonging to war animals and both Song and Yuan soldiers who perished in

6105-475: The Yangtze at Yibin . There are also a number of other rivers, such as the Jialing River , Tuo River , Yalong River , Wu River , and Jinsha River , and any four of the various rivers are often grouped as the "four rivers" that the name of Sichuan is commonly and mistakenly believed to mean. Due to great differences in terrain, the climate of the province is highly variable. In general, it has strong monsoonal influences, with rainfall heavily concentrated in

6216-406: The air force's anti-aircraft gun units assigned specifically for the defense of the airbases. As the Chinese government and military forces fell-back and engaged the Japanese advances in new frontline operations in the beginning of 1938 at Wuhan , Taierzhuang , Guangdong and other main battle lines, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force began harassing the deep-rear with exploratory strikes against

6327-415: The already desperate situation was now irrefutable with the scourge of the new Zero fighters, the Chinese Air Force high-command issued an all-points bulletin to avoid combat engagement against the new air-superiority fighters; however, Chinese fighters would continue with fatalistic courage to face the Zero on numerous occasions, including another large-scale dogfight over Chengdu on 14 March 1941 that saw

6438-455: The anticipated national fortress of Chongqing, while the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force was hitting hard at the main battle-front of the temporary wartime-capital Wuhan. The exploratory strikes on Chongqing began on 18 February 1938, and continued sporadically at relatively low intensity until the commencement of "Operation 100" on 3 May 1939, when airbases of newly-captured territories, specifically in Hubei province including Wuhan, allowed

6549-417: The anticommunist guerilla war in Sichuan, but was recalled to Taiwan. Many of his soldiers made their way there as well, via Burma . The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, and it split Sichuan into four areas and separated Chongqing municipality. Sichuan was reconstituted in 1952, with Chongqing added in 1954, while the former Xikang province was split between Tibet in the west and Sichuan in

6660-457: The area of modern Sichuan including the now separated Chongqing Municipality was known to the Chinese as Ba–Shu , in reference to the ancient state of Ba and the ancient kingdom of Shu that once occupied the Sichuan Basin . Shu continued to be used to refer to the region to the present day; several states formed in the area used the same name, for example, the Shu of the Three Kingdoms period (220–280), and Former Shu and Later Shu of

6771-413: The authority of Yangtze Valley emperors over China. In 221, during the partition following the fall of the Eastern Han – the era of the Three Kingdoms – Liu Bei founded the southwest kingdom of Shu Han ( 蜀 漢 ; 221–263) in parts of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan, with Chengdu as its capital. Shu-Han claimed to be the successor to the Han dynasty. In 263, the Cao Wei of North China conquered

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6882-656: The battlefronts against Nazi Germany. On 11 August 1941, in what would be the last-recorded dogfight between the Chinese Air Force fighters and the IJNAF Zeroes before all active Zero squadrons were pulled out of China in preparations for Operation Z (the Pearl Harbor attack mission), future Japanese ace-fighter pilots Gitaro Miyazaki and Saburō Sakai were part of the escort of an Operation 102 bomber attack and fighter sweep of Chinese air bases between Chongqing and Chengdu, and encountered Chinese I-153 and I-16 fighters at Wenjiang Airbase; while shooting down all those that managed to take off or strafing those still taxiing down

6993-402: The beginning of War of Resistance-World War II in 1937. A handful of other fighter-aircraft models were also available to the Chinese, including several Dewoitine D.510 fighters left by the defunct French Volunteer Group (the 41st PS) , which was disbanded in October 1938 due to difficulties in combating the Mitsubishi A5M fighter. While the Chinese victory at the Battle of Kunlun Pass kept

7104-543: The bombers by the Chinese Air Force whose airbases in the Chongqing region were not yet set up for nighttime operations. Two months later, after tens of thousands of deaths, in retaliation for firebombing , the United States embargoed the export of airplane parts to Japan, thus imposing its first economic sanction against that nation. The Japanese began to embark more nighttime bombing raids against Chongqing in summer of 1939 in an effort to reduce confrontation and casualties from defending Chinese Air Force fighters; however,

7215-452: The bombing run instead, killing two guards west of Yunxiu Tower, but failing to kill the Generalissimo, who recorded in his diary how he felt the immense shocks of the bombing and suffering of the people who experienced the torment not just day and night, but for over four years. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States declared war on Japan , and President Roosevelt sought an immediate counterattack for

7326-402: The campaign took place on 19 December 1944. Three thousand tons of bombs were dropped on the city from 1939 to 1942. According to photographer Carl Mydans , the spring 1941 bombings were at the time "the most destructive shelling ever made on a city", although terror bombing grew rapidly during the Second World War: by comparison 2,300 tons of bombs were dropped by Allied bombers on Berlin in

7437-413: The city for three hours. About 4,000 residents who hid in a tunnel were asphyxiated . With the start of full-scale war between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany on 22 June 1941, and with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek looking for increased support from the Americans through the Lend-Lease Act of which was extended to China on 6 May 1941, all new fighter aircraft produced by the Soviets were now directed to

7548-446: The conventional historiography that the local culture and technology of Sichuan were undeveloped in comparison to the technologically and culturally "advanced" Yellow River valley of north-central China. The rulers of the expansionist state of Qin , based in present-day Gansu and Shaanxi , were the first strategists to realize that the area's military importance matched its commercial and agricultural significance. The Sichuan basin

7659-403: The definition, the Hengduan Mountains are also approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) wide under the narrowest definition, ranging from 98°E to 102°E. The area covered by these ranges roughly corresponds with the Tibetan region known as Kham . The Hengduan Mountains subalpine conifer forests is a palaearctic ecoregion in the Temperate coniferous forests biome that covers portions of

7770-411: The deportation of Sichuanese civilians to Mongolia occurred in the aftermath of a battle in 1259 when more than 80,000 people were taken captive from one city in Sichuan and moved to Mongolia. The Ming dynasty defeated Ming Yuzhen 's Xia polity which ruled Sichuan. During the Ming dynasty , major architectural works were created in Sichuan. Buddhism remained influential in the region. Bao'en Temple

7881-428: The division of the existing imperial administrative circuit in the area into four during the Northern Song dynasty , which were Yizhou , Lizhou , Zizhou , and Kuizhou . The word chuan ( 川 ) here means 'plain', not its typical meaning of 'river' as popularly assumed. In addition to its postal map and Wade–Giles forms, the name has also been irregularly romanized as Szű-chuan and Szechuen . In antiquity,

7992-405: The east. The province was deeply affected by the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–1961, during which period some 9.4 million people (13.07% of the population at the time) died. In 1978, when Deng Xiaoping took power, Sichuan was one of the first provinces to experiment with the market economic enterprise. From 1955 until 1997, Sichuan had been China's most populous province; the population hit

8103-470: The end of the year 2017, the total population is 83.02 million. Sichuan consists of two geographically very distinct parts. The eastern part of the province is mostly within the fertile Sichuan basin (which is shared by Sichuan with Chongqing Municipality). The western Sichuan consists of numerous mountain ranges forming the easternmost part of the Tibetan Plateau , which are known generically as

8214-419: The fighting over the city, although the figure may have been grossly exaggerated. The recorded number of families in Sichuan dropped from 2,640,000 families, as recorded from the census taken in 1162 AD, to 120,000 families in 1282 AD. Possible causes include forced population transfer to nearby areas, evacuation to nearby provinces, census under-reporting or inaccuracy, and war-related deaths. One instance of

8325-599: The first few years defending Chongqing and Chengdu while massive formations of Japanese aircraft benefiting from great technological advancements and burning 90+ octane fuel were flying ever-faster and higher, almost beyond practical reach of the obsolescent Chinese fighter aircraft; the British Royal Air Force for example were supplied directly by their own aircraft industry while benefiting from tremendous improvements in their fighter aircraft speed, acceleration and high-altitude performance by upgrading from

8436-724: The first true paper money in human history ( 交子 ; jiāozǐ ) was issued in Chengdu . It was also during the Song dynasty that the bulk of the native Ba people of eastern Sichuan assimilated into the Han Chinese ethnicity. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Southern Song dynasty established coordinated defenses against the Mongolian Yuan dynasty , in Sichuan and Xiangyang . The Southern Song state monopolized

8547-484: The first two days of the Operation 100 ( 100 号作战) bombing campaign, 54 and 27 Japanese bombers raided Chongqing on 3 and 4 May 1939 respectively, dropping approximately a 3:2 ratio of Type 98/25 high explosive "land bombs" (98 dropped on day one) and Type 98/7 incendiary bombs (68 dropped on day one). The first raid killed almost 700 residents and injured 350 more. Major Deng Mingde led the 22nd Pursuit Squadron (of

8658-414: The ground, barely able to mutter a sound to identify himself, and rescued four hours later, succumbing to his battle wounds the following day in a hospital. The pre-dawn attack on 4 May resulted in far more casualties, with over three thousand deaths, injuring almost 2,000 more, and leaving about 200,000 homeless. Although the attacking force was smaller and dropped fewer bombs, there was no interception of

8769-399: The humiliation of Pearl Harbor; in the urgency to keep China resupplied for the new Sino-US joint effort in the war against Japan, General Joseph Stilwell was sent to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek on a top secret arrangement for the transfer of North American B-25 Mitchell bomber support equipment, radio-homing navigational aids and 100-octane avgas into China to support the planning of what

8880-519: The major landmarks... from time to time, on command of their formation leader, all the bombers would open up a defensive barrage of fire in direction most likely of attack by fighters. The performance was effective. It was like a gigantic broom of fire sweeping the starry sky." Monks of the Ciyun Temple contributed greatly to rescuing and saving lives of residents over the course of the half-decade long bombing campaigns over Chongqing. By mid-1940,

8991-533: The majority of which are transported to more developed eastern regions. Sichuan is one of the major industrial centers of China. It was a major recipient of China's investment in industrial capacity during the Third Front campaign. In addition to heavy industries such as coal, energy, iron, and steel, the province has also established a light industrial sector comprising building materials, wood processing, food, and silk processing. Chengdu and Mianyang are

9102-577: The memorial for him and the other martyrs on the 16th of August; under these special circumstances, the remains of Ms. Yang and Lt. Huang were buried together at the Chongqing Nanshan Air Force Martyrs Memorial Park. On 30 August 1941, Lt. General Saburo Endo , commander of the Imperial Japanese Army's 3rd Sentai , having already received intelligence reports regarding an upcoming military conference in Chongqing held by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, and

9213-484: The mountains. The Hengduan Mountain system consists of many component mountain ranges, most of which run roughly north to south. These mountain ranges, in turn, can be further divided into various subranges. The component ranges of the Hengduan are separated by deep river valleys that channel the waters of many of Southeast Asia's great rivers. The core of the Hengduan Mountains can be divided into four major component ranges, described below. The Hengduan Mountains support

9324-567: The much faster Zeroes. Many of the Polikarpovs were damaged or shot down (the Zero pilots claiming 27 Polikarpovs shot down), with ten pilots killed, and eight wounded, Maj. Zheng Shaoyu and Lt. Gao Youxin managed to drive Zeroes off the tails of other Chinese fighters, with Lt. Gao closing-in to 50 meters (160 ft) of one, and claiming a Zero shot-down, but in fact only four Zeroes suffered some damage, and all 13 safely returned to base in Wuhan. As

9435-623: The neighboring Huguang Province (modern Hubei and Hunan) and other provinces during the Qing dynasty. Sichuan was originally the origin of the Deng lineage until one of them was hired as an official in Guangdong during the Ming dynasty but during the Qing plan to increase the population in 1671 they came to Sichuan again. In 1904 Deng Xiaoping was born in Sichuan. During the Qing dynasty , Sichuan

9546-483: The northwest, Gansu to the north, Shaanxi to the northeast, Chongqing to the east, Guizhou to the southeast, Yunnan to the south, and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the west. Giant pandas live in bamboo forests and low mountainous areas such as the Minshan Mountains in Sichuan. The majority of the panda population lives in Sichuan, with their range spreading into Shaanxi and Gansu . As it

9657-536: The precise location for it, led a massive strike from Wuhan consisting of 205 bomber-attack planes, with Saburo Endo himself personally leading the assassination strike on Yunxiu Villa (specifically the Yunxiu Tower ); at first, it made a low-level bombing run for accuracy, but was severely hampered by intense bursts of anti-aircraft fire that, according to him, "knocked me up away from my seat several times", and then having to increase altitude to 5,500 meters to make

9768-963: The production centers for textiles and electronics products. Deyang , Panzhihua , and Yibin are the production centers for machinery, metallurgical industries, and wine, respectively. Sichuan's wine production accounted for 21.9% of the country's total production in 2000. Great strides have been made in developing Sichuan into a modern hi-tech industrial base, by encouraging both domestic and foreign investments in electronics and information technology (such as software), machinery and metallurgy (including automobiles), hydropower, pharmaceutical, food and beverage industries. Bombing of Chongqing 1941 1942 Second Sino-Japanese War Taishō period Shōwa period Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The bombing of Chongqing ( simplified Chinese : 重庆大轰炸 ; traditional Chinese : 重慶大轟炸 , Japanese : 重慶爆撃 ), from 18 February 1938 to 19 December 1944,

9879-491: The provincial capital of Chengdu. Official figures recorded a death toll of nearly 70,000 people, and millions of people were left homeless. Sichuan consists of twenty-one prefecture-level divisions : eighteen prefecture-level cities (including a sub-provincial city ) and three autonomous prefectures : The twenty prefectures of Sichuan are subdivided into 183 county-level divisions (53 districts , 17 county-level cities , 109 counties , and 4 autonomous counties ). At

9990-461: The region overland from the eastern part of China and the foggy climate hindering the accuracy of the Japanese bombing of the Sichuan Basin made the region the stronghold of Chiang Kai-shek 's Kuomintang government during 1938–45 and led to the Bombing of Chongqing . The Second Sino-Japanese War was soon followed by the resumed Chinese Civil War , and the cities of East China are obtained by

10101-532: The resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam project. In 1997, when Sichuan split, the sum of the two parts was recorded to be 114,720,000 people. As of 2010, Sichuan ranks as both the 3rd largest (the largest among Chinese provinces with a population greater than 50 million) and 4th most populous province in China. In May 2008, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9/8.0 hit just 79 km (49 mi) northwest of

10212-700: The roof of the German embassy in Chongqing, but was still hit by a Japanese air raid. Following the defeat of France by Germany in June 1940, the French Vichy Government submitted to the demands of the Japanese – allowing Japanese troops to conduct cross-border raids into Yunnan province, and the stationing of Japanese army air units at three airbases in French Indochina (now Vietnam ), including Lạng Sơn . On 10, 12 and 16 June 1940,

10323-415: The runways, Saburo Sakai described how five Zeroes then struggled to shoot down the one last opponent still in the air that "was an absolute master" as it "snap-rolled, spiralled, looped and turned through seemingly impossible maneuvers... like a wraith", but Sakai himself only managed to finally shoot down the acrobatic biplane fighter pilot when he was forced to slow-roll in a climb while trying to clear over

10434-499: The solitary fighter pilot; fighter ace Liu Zhesheng shot down a bomber on the night of 3 August 1939 flying "lone wolf" in an I-15bis during such a nighttime interception mission over Chongqing, among several other kills he claimed while battling for the defense of Chongqing. In the following night, Capt. Cen Zeliu would also claim a nighttime kill of a bomber while at the controls of an I-15bis. "The Japanese bombers appeared over Chungking on moon-lit nights when they could easily see

10545-531: The south and conquered Sichuan. Upon capturing it, he declared himself emperor of the Daxi dynasty ( 大西王朝 ). In response to the resistance from local elites, he massacred a large number of people in Sichuan, killing around one in three people. As a result of the massacre as well as years of turmoil during the Ming-Qing transition , the population of Sichuan fell sharply, requiring massive resettlement of people from

10656-535: The south, and Tibet to the west. During antiquity, Sichuan was home to the kingdoms of Ba and Shu until their incorporation by the Qin . During the Three Kingdoms era (220–280), Liu Bei 's state of Shu was based in Sichuan. The area was devastated in the 17th century by Zhang Xianzhong 's rebellion and the area's subsequent Manchu conquest, but recovered to become one of China's most productive areas by

10767-475: The standard 87 octane fuel to the "secret 100 octane" formula later in the Battle of Britain . Primary and auxiliary airbases used by the Chinese Air Force in the Chongqing and Chengdu defense sector included Baishiyi Airbase , Fenghuangshan , Guangyangba , Liangshan , Shuangliu , Suining , Taipingsi , Wenjiang , and Xinjin , among others. There were 18 primary anti-aircraft artillery batteries positioned around Chongqing from 1939 to 1942, not including

10878-697: The summer. Under the Köppen climate classification , the Sichuan Basin (including Chengdu ) in the eastern half of the province experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa or Cfa ), with long, hot, wet summers and short, mild to cool, dry, and cloudy winters. Consequently, it has China's lowest sunshine totals. The western region has mountainous areas producing a cooler but sunnier climate. Having cool to very cold winters and mild summers, temperatures generally decrease with greater elevation. However, due to its high altitude and its inland location, many areas such as Garze County and Zoige County in Sichuan exhibit

10989-419: The top of a hill west of Chengdu. The belly of the Chinese fighter suddenly exposed right into the gunsight of Sakai's Zero, who fired cannon shells that "tore through the floorboards of the biplane", sending it down in a wide spin and exploding as it hit the hillside. Four Chinese pilots were killed in this engagement, including Lt. Huang Rongfa, whose fiancée, Ms. Yang Quanfang, took a pistol and shot herself at

11100-529: The war in the Pacific, the offensive campaign against Chongqing and Chengdu had been significantly curtailed; nonetheless, modern interceptor aircraft possessing far greater speed and firepower, supported by ground-based radar equipment, and new aircrew training supported by the US and Allied partners, allowed the Chinese Air Force to be in a much better position to fight back by August 1943. The last recorded air raid of

11211-467: The wreckages of Japanese bombers were found in Shichuxian and Shuangqing with three of the seven-man crew in one of the bombers found alive and taken prisoner. The state-of-the-art new Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters were first deployed into combat in course of the Chongqing and Chengdu bombing raids, and received its first baptism of fire in aerial combat on 13 September 1940; 13 Zeroes of

11322-522: Was 5,385 billion yuan (US$ 847.68 billion), ahead of the GDP of Turkey of 815 billion. Compared to a country, it would be the 18th-largest economy as well as the 19th most populous as of 2021. As of 2021, its nominal GDP per capita was 64,357 RMB (US$ 10,120). In 2021, the per capita net income of rural residents was 17,575 yuan (US$ 2760). The per capita disposable income of the urbanites averaged 41,444 yuan (US$ 6510). Sichuan has been historically known as

11433-776: Was a series of massive terror bombing operations authorized by the Empire of Japan's Imperial General Headquarters and conducted by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAF) and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAF). Resistance was put up by the Chinese Air Force and the National Revolutionary Army 's anti-aircraft artillery units in defense of the provisional wartime capital of Chongqing and other targets in Sichuan . According to incomplete statistics,

11544-521: Was absorbed by the Song . During the Song dynasty (960–1279), Sichuanese was able to protect themselves from Tibetan attacks with the help of the central government. There were rebellions against the Song by Li Shun in 994 and Wang Jun in 1000. Sichuan also saw cultural revivals like the great poets Su Xun ( 蘇洵 ), Su Shi , and Su Zhe . Although paper currency was known in the Tang dynasty, in 1023 AD,

11655-405: Was again separated from it in 1997. The Sichuanese people speak distinctive dialects of Mandarin Chinese . The spicy Sichuan pepper is prominent in modern Sichuan cuisine , featuring dishes—including Kung Pao chicken and mapo tofu , that have become staples of Chinese cuisine around the world. There are many panda stations in the province and large reserves for these creatures, such as

11766-526: Was excavated in 1986 at a small village named Sanxingdui in Guanghan , Sichuan. This site, believed to be an ancient city of Shu, was initially discovered by a local farmer in 1929 who found jade and stone artifacts. Excavations by archeologists yielded few significant finds until 1986 when two major sacrificial pits were found with spectacular bronze items as well as artifacts in jade, gold, earthenware, and stone. This and other discoveries in Sichuan contest

11877-544: Was merged with Shaanxi and Shanxi to create "Shenzhuan" during 1680–1731 and 1735–1748. The current borders of Sichuan (which then included Chongqing ) were established in the early 18th century. In the aftermath of the Sino-Nepalese War on China's southwestern border, the Qing gave Sichuan's provincial government direct control over the minority-inhabited areas of Sichuan west of Kangding , which had previously been handled by an amban . A landslide dam on

11988-404: Was quite the upgrade the Chinese Air Force needed to effectively hit back at the Japanese raiders, but it was proven to be extremely unreliable and may have killed more of its own pilots than the enemies, including veteran pilot and 4th PG CO Major Zheng Shaoyu whose P-43 caught fire during a ferrying flight back to combat operations in China and was killed in the ensuing crash. The majority of

12099-541: Was subjected to the autonomous control of kings named by the imperial family of the Han dynasty. During the 11 years hiatus between 25 and 36 AD, Sichuan was controlled by the Chengjia Kingdom. Following the declining central government of the Han dynasty in the second century, the Sichuan basin, surrounded by mountains and easily defensible, became a popular place for upstart generals to found kingdoms that challenged

12210-560: Was to become the Doolittle Raid against the Japanese home islands. The badly needed high-octane avgas and new equipment in China for the renewed war effort against the Empire of Japan were now increasingly being freighted via the risky Himalayan air-route known as " The Hump ". As Japan's focus shifted towards the Pacific campaign , and much of the Japanese aerial-combat assets and experienced personnel had been diverted to support

12321-575: Was torn by constant warfare and economic distress as it was besieged by the Tibetan Empire . In the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period , Sichuan became the heart of the Shu kingdom with its capital in Chengdu . In 925, the kingdom was absorbed into Later Tang but would regain independence under Meng Zhixiang who founded Later Shu in 934. Later Shu would continue until 965 when it

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