During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese 1st Army, under the command of Lt. General Kiyoshi Katsuki, drove General Cheng Qian's 1st War Area Chinese forces out of Northern and Eastern Honan. The Japanese advance continued until they were halted by the catastrophic 1938 Yellow River flood, which was caused by the Chinese Army diverting the Yellow River into the Jialu and Huai Rivers.

• Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) 2nd Ed., 1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing, pp. 230–235. Map 9-2.