Yellow River Planned Flood: How the Chinese Ruined 800,000 to Stop the Japanese

The Great Yellow River is the cradle of Chinese civilization and the cause of the deaths of several million people. Throughout the centuries-old history of the Chinese people, the Yellow River has spilled and broken dams so many times that catastrophic floods have crossed over 1000. Due to the many victims caused by the Yellow River, the Chinese even called the river "China's Mountain."

Literally, Yellow River is translated from Chinese as "yellow river", which is associated with the color of its water. Flowing along the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River erodes it and replenishes its waters with tons of suspended solids. The Yellow River flows into the Yellow Sea, which is so named for the same reason.

Throughout its history, the Chinese people built protective dams in the Yellow River Valley and its tributaries. Despite this, terrible floods caused by the breakthrough of dams occurred regularly. One of the last severe floods occurred in 1938, but it differs from the previous ones by the fact that it was caused artificially.

These were difficult times for China. In the summer of 1937, the Japanese army invaded the territory of a neighboring country, marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Well-trained and armed Japanese units quickly advanced through the territory of China, capturing more and more provinces. Torn by internal political contradictions, China led by Chiang Kai-shek was not able to effectively resist the aggressors.

A year later, in the summer of 1938, the situation was such that the Japanese occupied the entire northern part of the country. They were not going to stop and threatened the largest cities in China - Wuhan and Xian. Against the backdrop of the current situation, the leadership decided on a desperate step: to provoke a flood.

In June 1938, dams were opened on the Yellow River in the Zhengzhou area, and huge floods of water flooded thousands of square kilometers. According to reports, about 800,000 Chinese were killed as a result of this terrible tragedy. The most affected areas were Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu.

Today, historians disagree on the correctness of this decision. The Japanese army was stopped for a while, but Wuhan was still captured by the invaders in October 1938. Despite this, the flooded provinces were only partially controlled by the invaders, and a powerful partisan movement was operating in them. Perhaps it was thanks to the flood that these several provinces were not completely captured by the Japanese.