Mukden (Shěnyáng; 123.402E
41.801N) was the
capital of Manchuria and hub of
the rail system of southern Manchuria.
It had been at the limit of the zone of Chinese
agricultural settlement since the 8th
century. The Japanese claimed
a concession here at the end of the Russo-Japanese
War of 1905 and hastened industrial development. This included a
huge ordnance
works, claimed to have been second only to Krupp in 1931. There were
two coking plants near the city,
which produced a significant percentage of Japan's coke for steelmaking.
Like most of Manchuria, Mukden experiences extremes of temperature, from subzero in the winter to nearly 90 degrees in a typical summer. Its summer rains are sufficient to support wheat crops.
The airfield based the Kwantung Air Brigade with 36 Ki-57 Topsy transports and the
headquarters of 2 Air Division.
Climate Information:
Elevation: 141'
Temperatures: Jan 22/-1, Apr 61/37, Jul 87/69, Oct 61/38, record 103/-27
Rainfall: Jan 2/0.3, Apr 5/1.1, Jul 11/7.2, Oct 5/1.4 == 27.9"
References
Frank (1999)
Pearce
and Smith (1990)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2006-2007, 2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index