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 24 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 5th Division
Strength
100,000–288,000 troops in 10 divisions	40,000–70,000 troops in 2 divisions 80+ tanks
Casualties and losses
20,000 killed and wounded[1][2]	Japanese claim: 2369 killed 9615 wounded[3] Chinese claim: 8,000[4]-20,000 killed[2] 12,000 wounded[5] Many tanks destroyed[1]

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. 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. Unlike previous engagements, the Chinese managed to resupply their troops whilst also preventing the Japanese from doing the same. After two weeks of heavy fighting, the Japanese were bled dry of men and material, and were forced out of Taierzhuang with heavy casualties.^[6][7]

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.