Battle of Xuzhou

Battle of Xuzhou
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Chinese troops fighting in the town of Taierzhuang
Date (1938-02-09) (1938-05-21)February 9 – May 21, 1938 (3 months, 1 week and 5 days) Location Xuzhou and proximity Result Japanese victory Successful Chinese breakout
Belligerents
China	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Li Zongren Bai Chongxi Pang Bingxun Sun Lianzhong Sun Zhen Tang Enbo Wang Mingzhang † Zhang Zizhong	Shunroku Hata Hisaichi Terauchi Toshizō Nishio Isogai Rensuke Itagaki Seishiro
Units involved
Military Region 1 Military Region 5	North China Area Army Central China Expeditionary Army
Strength
600,000 troops in 64 divisions	400,000 troops[1]
Casualties and losses
Heavy (20,000 in Taierzhuang[2])	Heavy (20,000+ in Taierzhuang[3])

The Battle of Xuzhou was a military campaign between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China forces in early 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It lasted for more than three months, with both sides taking heavy casualties and claiming victories. It resulted in an eventual victory for the Japanese, but they failed to destroy the Chinese army, who managed to retreat and regroup to fight later at Wuhan.^[4]

The battle of Xuzhou was primarily fought over control over the regional railway lines and junctions. The majority of the campaign took place in regions and cities north, east and south of Xuzhou, and was characterized by seesaw battles and bloody stalemates. It ended when the Japanese initiated a massive pincer movement aimed at encircling the Chinese forces. However, the Chinese managed to evade the Japanese maneuvers and break out of the encirclement, regrouping later to fight at Wuhan.^[4]

The campaign also saw the first major Chinese victory of the war at Taierzhuang, where warlord armies under the command of Li Zongren and Tang Enbo managed to defeat Japanese forces in fierce close quarters urban warfare.^[5] The campaign also served as a morale boost for the Chinese army and population, who approached the following defense of Wuhan with renewed confidence and determination.^[6]

The end of the campaign saw the Chinese breach the dikes on the Yellow River, flooding the a large amount of land to prevent the Japanese from advancing, resulting in massive casualties and property damage.