Battle for Tai'erzhuang
| date | March 24 - April 7, 1938 |
|---|---|
| place | Tai'erzhuang , China |
| output | Chinese victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Li Zongren , Han Fuqu †, Pang Bingxun , Sun Lianzhong , Sun Zhen , Tang Enbai , Wang Mingzhang †, Zhang Zizhong |
Rensuke Isogai (10th Div.), |
| Troop strength | |
| 100,000 men in 10 divisions |
30,000 men in 2 divisions |
| losses | |
|
30,000 |
16,000 |
1937–1939
Marco Polo Bridge - Beijing-Tianjin - Chahar - Shanghai ( Sihang warehouse ) - Beijing-Hankou Railway - Tianjin-Pukou Railway - Taiyuan ( Pingxingguan , Xinkou ) - Nanjing - Xuzhou ( Tai'erzhuang ) - Henan - Lanfeng - Amoy - Wuhan ( Wanjialing ) - Canton - Hainan - Nanchang - ( Xiushui ) - Chongqing - Suixian-Zaoyang - ( Shantou ) - Changsha (1939) - South Guangxi - ( Kunlun Pass ) - Winter Offensive - ( Wuyuan )
1940–1942
Zaoyang-Yichang - Hundred Regiments - Central Hubei - South Henan - West Hebei - Shanggao - Shanxi - Changsha (1941) - Changsha (1942) - Yunnan-Burma Road - Zhejiang-Jiangxi - Sichuan
1943–1945
West Hubei - North Burma and West Yunnan - Changde - Ichi-gō - Henan - Changsha (1944) - Guilin – Liuzhou - West Henan and North Hubei - West Hunan - Guangxi (1945) - Manchukuo (1945)
The Battle of Tai'erzhuang ( Chinese 臺兒莊 會戰 / 台儿庄 会战 , Pinyin Tái'érzhūang huìzhàn ) took place from March 24 to April 7, 1938 and was a battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War between armies of the Chinese Kuomintang and Japan . Some historians consider the battle to be part of the Battle of Xuzhou .
Tai'erzhuang is located on the east bank of the Imperial Canal and at the time was a garrison town near the front northeast of Xuzhou . The name also stood for a local rail link from Lincheng . Xuzhou itself was a junction of the Jinpu and Longhai Railway. The headquarters of the 5th war zone of the KMT was also located there.
The battle was part of the Japanese plan to take Xuzhou. The Chinese, led by Generals Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi , managed to surprisingly encircle the Japanese at Tai'erzhuang. The Japanese probably also underestimated the large number of supposed farmers, in the thousands, who hindered and sabotaged communication and supply routes. Artificial floods and attacks on railway lines were also among the acts of sabotage . The supplies for the trapped Japanese troops , which had to come from the air from the end of March, were soon nowhere near enough to withstand permanent isolation.
On March 28, a small group of Japanese soldiers tunneled under the walls of Tai'erzhuang and attempted to take the city from within. However, they were discovered and killed by the Chinese defenders . In the next week, both sides claimed parts of the city and the surrounding area for themselves. Many soldiers died in minor shootings and hand grenade skirmishes .
Eventually, despite the significantly larger number of Chinese defenders, the Japanese launched a frontal attack on the city. But when the Chinese received further reinforcements on April 6th, they managed to break away from the Japanese encirclement and the besiegers withdrew. Probably also to conserve their own strength, the Chinese did not pursue the Japanese, which in retrospect is interpreted as a strategic error.
Despite the victory celebrations in Hankou and other Chinese cities, the Japanese denied defeat for days. Corresponding newspaper reports published around the world were initially downplayed, but eventually triggered a cabinet crisis in Tokyo in mid-April .
The success in Tai'erzhuang was the first major victory of the Chinese national coalition and at the same time the end of the myth of Japanese invincibility, which may have had a major impact on the morale of both sides.
In 1986 the two Chinese directors Yang Guangyuan and Zhai Junjie filmed the battle in the eponymous documentary.
Since 2006, the former site of the Battle of Tai'erzhuang ( Chinese 臺兒莊 大戰 舊址 / 台儿庄 大战 旧址 , Pinyin Tái'érzhūang dàzhàn jiùzhǐ ) in the city of Zaozhuang is on the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China (6–981) .
