| Original caption: “Camouflaged and poorly equipped Chinese soldiers repel a charge of fifty thousand Japanese along the Salween River near Burma.” Kuomintang Nationalist Chinese soldiers of Y Force under the command of Lieutenant General Song Xilian (April 9, 1907 – February 13, 1993) opposed the Imperial Japanese Army 56th Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant General Yūzō Matsuyama (February 1, 1889 – January 11, 1947) at the Salween River throughout 1943. The heights and both sides of the Salween, some up to 12,000 feet (3,650 meters), but most 4,000 feet (1,200 meters), made it difficult for both sides to make offensives. It was the “Battleground Above the Clouds.” Y Force, short for Yunnan Force or Yoke Force, was trained by the Americans and represented 30 Kuomintang Divisions. But they were severely understrength, and were supplied mainly by porters – 80 percent of their supplies were carried by humans or mules – and had a mix of Mauser rifles of Chinese, German, and Spanish manufacture, British Short Magazine Lee-Enfields (SMLEs), and American M1903 Springfields and M1917 Enfields. They lacked heavy artillery, and what they did have was obsolete. This made ammunition supply difficult. Most of Y Force suffered from scabies, malnutrition, and a host of other ailments. Until 1944, bandages were so scarce that they were boiled and reused. Medical systems were almost nonexistent. Kuomintang officers were apt to execute enlisted men who dropped out during forced marches, leading to poor morale. Y Force held the Japanese out of Yunnan and protected Kunming, a significant supply center and the terminus of the flights over the “Hump” at the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains, and Chungking, the western capital of the Kuomintang, after they were driven out of Shanghai and Nanking. The Japanese attempted a 3-pronged offensive in the summer of 1943, but Y Force held the Salween River Front, preventing the Japanese from overrunning Kunming, the gateway to Chungking. Surrounded by mountains, Chungking would’ve been difficult to attack, but holding the line at the Salween River meant that the Kuomintang never had to worry about that possibility. By April 1943, 6,000 American officers and men had been flown over the hump to train Y Force. While they never reached the capabilities of their compatriot X Force trained in India, they became a capable fighting army. Renamed the Chinese Expeditionary Force, 72,000 Kuomintang soldiers were available by February 1944. This was accomplished by mobilizing Chinese youths in Yunnan. In May 1944, using rubber boats, oil drum floats, and dinghies, the Chinese Expeditionary Force crossed the Salween River and attacked the Japanese as part of a planned linkup with X Force from India. It was slow going, over mountainous terrain against stubborn Japanese resistance; the Chinese Expeditionary Force engaged targets rather than bypassing them. The Chinese command disregarded the long-standing American advisors’ advice to infiltrate through the scattered Japanese and move on into Burma. Nevertheless, considerable progress was made, and in late May, General Wei Lihuang (February 16, 1897 – January 17, 1960) decided to commit his central force to an attack straight down the Burma Road. After initial successes, the Chinese were driven back from the key point of Lungling by a counterattack of 1,500 Japanese infantry. The middle of June found the Chinese with no hopes of a speedy breakthrough into Burma, while in eastern China, the Japanese seemed to be moving at will. This photo was 1 of a series of International News photos circulated nationally that depicted the Y Force as they fought a Japanese offensive in June 1943. The series depicted Kuomintang soldiers marching, medical care, trench warfare, and the use of natural camouflage. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1595.jpg |
| Image Size | 961.50 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2900 x 2284 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Franklin D. Roosevelt Library |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 1, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Yunnan |
| Country | China |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-65386(36) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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