Battle of Taierzhuang

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Battle of Taierzhuang
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
House-to-house fighting in Tai'erzhuang
Date 22 March – 7 April 1938 (2 weeks) Location Tai'erzhuang (Shandong), Pizhou (Jiangsu) 34°33′26″N 117°43′51″E / 34.55722°N 117.73083°E / 34.55722; 117.73083 Result Chinese victory
Belligerents
Republic of China National Revolutionary Army	Empire of Japan Imperial Japanese Army
Commanders and leaders
Li Zongren Pang Bingxun Sun Lianzhong Han Deqin Bai Chongxi Sun Zhen Tang Enbo Wang Mingzhang † Zhang Zizhong Guan Linzheng	Rensuke Isogai (10th Division) Itagaki Seishiro (5th Division)
Units involved
National Revolutionary Army 3rd and 4th PG Squadrons, Nationalist Air Force of China	North China Area Army, 2nd Army 10th Division Seya Task Force 5th Division Sakamoto Task Force
Strength
100,000–288,000 troops in 10 divisions	17,000[1][2]–60,000 troops[3] 7 tanks 39 tankettes
Casualties and losses
Western claims: 20,000[4][5]–30,000+ killed and wounded[6] Chinese records: 22,000-23,000 casualties (including 7,000+ killed)[7]	Modern Western estimate: 8,000 killed[8][9][10] 12,000 wounded[11] Contemporary Western estimates: 16,000 killed-20,000 killed[12] 40 tanks destroyed[4] 70 armored cars 100+ trucks[13] Japanese records: Seya Task Force: 411 killed 1,319 wounded 4 tanks 7 tankettes Sakamoto Task Force: unknown Under 2500 total casualties[14] Official Japanese newspaper claim: 636 combat deaths.[7][15] Seya Task Force: 448 combat deaths Sakamoto Task Force: 188 combat deaths Modern Japanese Estimate: 2,310 killed 8,580 wounded[16][17] Chinese claim: 20,000+ killed and wounded 10000+ rifles 931 HMGs 77 infantry guns 40 tanks 50+ cannons Countless POWs[18]

The Battle of Taierzhuang (Chinese: 臺兒莊會戰; pinyin: Tái'érzhuāng Huìzhàn) took place during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938. It was fought between the armies of the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan in the peak of the Xuzhou Campaign. The battle was the war's first major Chinese victory. It humiliated the Japanese military and its reputation as an invincible force; for the Chinese, it represented a tremendous morale boost.

The battle was characterized by vicious close quarters combat. The cramped conditions of urban warfare neutralized Japanese advantages in cannon and heavy artillery. In these circumstances, the Chinese were able to fight the Japanese as equals. Unlike previous engagements, the Chinese managed to resupply their troops while also preventing the Japanese from doing the same. After two weeks of heavy fighting, the Japanese were bled dry of men and material. The Japanese were then virtually encircled by a Chinese counterattack, and were forced out of Taierzhuang with heavy casualties.^[19][20]

Taierzhuang is located on the eastern bank of the Grand Canal of China and was a frontier garrison northeast of Xuzhou. It was also the terminus of a local branch railway from Lincheng. Xuzhou itself was the junction of the Jinpu railway (Tianjin-Pukou), the Longhai railway (Lanzhou-Lianyungang), and the headquarters of the KMT's 5th War Zone.