七七事變前，日本在平津一帶的兵力近萬人； 七七事變后的第5天，也就是1937年7月12日，15列滿載日本關(guān)東軍第一、第十一旅團(tuán)和駐朝鮮第十二旅團(tuán)的日本兵車，開進(jìn)天津火車站。天津東局子飛機(jī)場(chǎng)，日軍飛機(jī)增加到100余架。同日，日軍35000人在塘沽登陸，開始攻占天津的行動(dòng)。

·《益世報(bào)》報(bào)道二十九軍三十八師抗敵消息

1937年7月27日，國(guó)民黨第二十九軍軍長(zhǎng)宋哲元，通電全國(guó)提出：“決心盡力自衛(wèi)，守土有責(zé)。”
7月27日晚，駐津二十九軍三十八師副師長(zhǎng)李文田，召集二十六旅旅長(zhǎng)李志遠(yuǎn)、手槍團(tuán)長(zhǎng)祁光遠(yuǎn)、保安隊(duì)長(zhǎng)寧殿武等，成立臨時(shí)指揮部，確定29日凌晨，向日軍發(fā)動(dòng)進(jìn)攻。并向國(guó)民黨軍政首腦發(fā)出抗日通電： “喋血抗日，義無反顧，誓與天津共存亡！ ”當(dāng)時(shí)，駐津各部隊(duì)共5000多人，官兵們抗日情緒高漲，紛紛請(qǐng)纓殺敵。
7月29日凌晨1時(shí)，二十九軍愛國(guó)官兵在二十六旅與保安隊(duì)的配合下，占領(lǐng)了天津東站、北站，向日租界、海光寺、東局子飛機(jī)場(chǎng)等處的日軍發(fā)起進(jìn)攻。打響了中國(guó)軍隊(duì)主動(dòng)抗戰(zhàn)的第一槍。
同日，進(jìn)攻飛機(jī)場(chǎng)的中國(guó)部隊(duì)，首先用大刀砍死敵人哨兵，然后沖進(jìn)機(jī)場(chǎng)，直撲停在機(jī)場(chǎng)上的日軍飛機(jī)。睡在飛機(jī)下的駕駛員，聽到槍聲后，有的急忙爬上駕駛艙，匆匆起飛。中國(guó)士兵輪起大刀，邊追邊砍，看到不管用，就用雙手抓住飛機(jī)不放。飛機(jī)起飛后，許多戰(zhàn)士被帶到空中摔下來； 對(duì)來不及起飛的飛機(jī)，就用手榴彈炸，用槍打，用火燒，共摧毀日本飛機(jī)20余架。
同日，攻擊海光寺日軍兵營(yíng)的中國(guó)官兵，前仆后繼，幾經(jīng)沖鋒，打到日軍兵營(yíng)外圍，并占領(lǐng)了東停車場(chǎng)。由于這里是日軍盤踞多年的據(jù)點(diǎn)，工事堅(jiān)固，火力很強(qiáng)，雙方形成對(duì)峙局面。
同日，襲擊日租界的戰(zhàn)斗，尤為殘酷激烈。從29日凌晨至4時(shí)55分，雙方反復(fù)廝殺，中國(guó)軍隊(duì)從大和街(今興安路)、旭街(今和平路)、福島街(今多倫道),三面包圍了日軍守備部隊(duì)。日軍驚恐萬狀，日駐天津總領(lǐng)事電報(bào)稱： “由于中國(guó)方面的攻擊，我方處于甚為危懼的狀態(tài)?！?br>天津駐軍的英勇抗戰(zhàn)，使日軍驚惶失措，連忙從北平調(diào)關(guān)東軍和大批空軍到津增援。對(duì)天津市政府、各火車站、電話局、警察總部、南開大學(xué)等處狂轟亂炸，抗日部隊(duì)遭到慘重傷亡，卻孤立無援，與日軍實(shí)力相差懸殊。經(jīng)過15個(gè)小時(shí)激戰(zhàn)，又傷亡慘重，于7月29日下午三四點(diǎn)鐘，只好向靜海、馬廠一帶撤退。駐大沽沿海地區(qū)的軍隊(duì)，也被迫轉(zhuǎn)移到靜海、馬廠一帶。
戰(zhàn)斗在公大七廠的保安隊(duì)員，聽到撤退號(hào)令后，卻高呼： “至死不退卻，為戰(zhàn)友報(bào)仇。”他們一直堅(jiān)守在水樓上，到了30日中午，彈盡援絕，4名戰(zhàn)士端起刺刀，與敵人進(jìn)行了最后的白刃搏斗。半個(gè)多世紀(jì)過去了，他們的姓名已難以查詢，但是水樓上留下的數(shù)百個(gè)彈痕，仿佛使我們看到了那壯烈的場(chǎng)面，聽到了激烈的槍聲和英雄們的怒吼。1937年7月30日，天津淪陷。
Before July 7 Event,nearly 10,000 Japanese soldierswere stationed in Beijing and Tianjin. Five days afterJuly 7 Event (July 12,1937),15 trains carried the 1stand 11th brigades of Kwantung Army and the 12thbrigade stationed in Korea to Tianjin Railway Station.There were also 100 Japanese planes at DongjuziAirport in Tianjin. At the same day,35,000 Japanesesoldiers landed on Tanggu and began to invade Tianjin.
On July 27,1937,Song Zheyuan,the commanderof the 29th army of Kuomintang,issued a nationalcircular telegram "Try our best to defend our nation".Zhang Zizhong,Tianjin Mayor and the commander of38th division of 29th army,issued a national circulartelegram of "We promise to defend Tianjin till death".
At night of July 27,Li Wentian,the deputycommander of 38th division of 29th army in Tianjin,set up the temporary headquarter with Li Zhiyuan (thebrigadier of the 26th brigade),Qi Guangyuan (thecolonel of Pistol Regiment),and Ning Dianwu (the headof Peace Preservation Corp). They decided to attack theJapanese army at dawn of 29. They issued a telegraphto fight for and defend Tianjin until death. The 5,000soldiers in Tianjin were at high morale and requested tokill enemies.
At 1:00 of July 29,the 29th army,cooperated by the26th brigade and the peace preservation corp,occupiedthe east and north stations of Tianjin and attackedthe Japanese army stationed at Japanese concession,Haiguang Temple and Dongjuzi Airport. This was thefirst shot by the Chinese army of the Anti-Japanese War.
The Chinese army attacked the airport at the same day.They killed the sentinels by broad swords and went straightto the planes in the airport. The airmen sleeping under theplanes hurried to climb into the plane to fly. The Chinesesoldiers caught up with them and clutched at the planes byhands. After the departure,many soldiers fell down fromthe planes. Those 20 planes which could not fly quicklywere destroyed by shooting,bombing and firing.
On the same day,the Chinese army attacked Japanesebarracks at Haiguang Temple. They reached the peripheryof the enemy and occupied its east parking lot. Becausethe temple was occupied by Japanese army for long yearsit was difficult for the Chinese army to break through thedefense line of the enemy.
The fight at Japanese concession was also fierce.From 1:00 to 4:55 of 29,the Chinese army besiegedthe Japanese guard army from three sides of DaheStreet (Xing`an Road),Xu Street (Heping Road) andFudao Street (Duolun Street) although the Japanesecounterattacked many times. The Japanese armyworried a lot. The Japanese consulate-general inTianjin wrote in his telegraph that "we are in dangerbecause of China`s attack".
The Japanese army was in panic because of Tianjinarmy`s courageous attack. They moved Kwantung Armyand air force from Beijing to support and bombed Tianjinmunicipal buildings,railway stations,telephone bureaus,police headquarters and Nankai University. The numberof Chinese army lagged far behind the Japanese butdid not have support. After 15-hour fierce attack,manyChinese soldiers were dead or wounded. At about 15:00of July 29,they had to retreat to Jinghai and Machang,including the army stationed at coastal areas of Dagu.
The members of peace preservation corps at the7th factory of Gongda kept fighting at Water Buildingeven after knowing the order of retreat. They shouted"Never retreat. Revenge our comrades-in-arms."At the noon of 30,they fired all their bullets. Foursoldiers held the bayonets and fought the enemies bytheir blades. Half a century has passed; it is difficultto know their names. The hundreds of bullet traces onthe water building remind us of the sound of shootingand the shout of heroes. On July 30,1937,Tianjinwas occupied by the enemies.

·天津保安隊(duì)抵抗日本侵略者