Battle before: Battle of Nanjing
Battle after: Battle of Xuzhou
| Battle of Taierzhuang
|
| Conflict | Second Sino-Japanese War
|
| Date | October 1937 and evening of March 24 1938¹ - April 7, 1938
|
| Place | Taierzhuang , Shandong
|
| Result | Decisive Kuomintang victory
|
| ¹ Assault of Taierzhuang began on March 24 but previous military developments dated back to October
|
| Combatants
|
| China, National Revolutionary Army
| Japan, North China Theater Army
|
| Commanders
|
| Li Tsung-jen (supreme commander), Tang Enbai , Pang Bingxun , Zhang Zizhong, Sun Lianzhong , Sun Zhen , Wang Mingzhang †, Han Fuqu †
| Isogai Rensuke , Itagaki Seishiro |
| Strength
|
| 10 divisions, ~100,000 men
| 2 divisions (Itagaki 5th, Isogai 10th), ~30,000 men
|
| Casualties
|
| ~20000 | over 16000
|
|
The Battle of Tai'erzhuang was a battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, between armies of Chinese Kuomintang and Japan.
Taierzhuang is located on the eastern bank of the Grand Canal of China and was a frontier garrison northeast of Xuzhou. Xuzhou itself was the joint of Jinpu Railway (Tianjin-Pudong) and Longhai Railway (Lanzhou-Lianyungang) and the headquarters of the KMT's 5th War Zone.
The battle involved a Japanese plan to conquer Xuzhou, a major city in the East. However, the Japanese failed to consider the plans of Li Tsung-jen who planned to encircle the Japanese in the town of Tai'erzhuang. The Japanese overconfidently attacked frontally and failed to consider the Chinese numbers. A major encirclement preceded a major Japanese retreat, which the Chinese unfortunately failed to capitalize by pursuing.
Nevertheless, the Chinese scored a major victory, the first of the Kuomintang in the war. The battle broke the infallibility of the Japanese and resulted in an incalculable benefit to the Chinese morale.
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