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 at the peak of the Xuzhou Campaign. The battle was the war's first major Chinese victory. The battle was a setback for the Japanese military and its reputation as an invincible force. For Chinese forces, it was 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 in short supply of men and material. The Japanese were then virtually encircled by a Chinese counterattack, and were forced out of Taierzhuang with heavy casualties.
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.
Background
Political and strategic situation
By 1938, the Chinese military had suffered tremendous losses in the campaigns of Shanghai and Nanjing. In particular, its air force and navy had both been virtually wiped out. Nonetheless, China's resolve in resisting the Japanese invasion showed no signs of weakening. On 30 January, the Japanese military high command, after evaluating the situation in China, decided that no new offensive operations should be conducted until August. Emperor Hirohito's stance was even more conservative: he believed that it would take at least a year for the Japanese to solidify their positions in their newly captured territory and consolidate their strength before conducting any further operations. Thus, the Japanese high command decided to wait until 1939 before conducting a swift, aggressive offensive in order to decisively end the war in China.
At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek refused to accept the Japanese terms for surrender. On 20 February, China withdrew its ambassador Xu Shiying from Japan. The next day, Japan followed suit, withdrawing its ambassador Kawagoe Shigeru. Earlier that year, Chiang had also resigned from his post as Premier of the Executive Yuan, in order to fully dedicate his efforts to the war. The respective actions taken by both sides indicated their attitude towards the war: China was now fully committed, while Japan still showed some signs of hesitation.
Military situation
Despite Hirohito's declaration that no new offensives would be conducted in 1938, the Japanese forces in China were eager to continue their offensive, with morale reaching a peak following the Fall of Nanjing. The IJN's preferred strategy would have been to continue advancing westwards along the Yangtze River to invade Wuhan.
However, the IJA was reluctant to continue following this approach of following waterways, and instead pursued the Chinese army retreating from the Shanghai-Nanjing theatre, driving northwards into the three provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong and Henan.
A significant proportion of the Chinese forces that withdrew from Shanghai crossed the Yangtze River northwards into the Jiangbei region. During the retreat from Nanjing, many scattered Chinese troops also found themselves drifting down the Yangtze and into Jiangbei. The IJA saw this as an opportunity to pursue and destroy this cluster of disorganized Chinese troops, thus ignoring the IJN's strategy of following the Yangtze westwards.
Throughout December 1937, Rippei Ogisu's 13th Division pursued the fleeing Chinese forces, capturing Jiangdu, Shaobo, and advancing into Anhui to capture Tianchang. Simultaneously, in Northern China, Rensuke Isogai's 10th Division, advanced southwards between Qingcheng and Jiyang to cross the Yellow River, approaching the Jiaoji railway. Gaining access to the railway would enable it to move westwards then southwards to clear the Jinpu railway and join forces with the 13th division at Xuzhou. From there, the combined Japanese forces could attack Wuhan and force the KMT into surrender. The war had thus moved from the 3rd to the 5th War Area.
Armies
Chinese
Chiang sent his Vice Chief of Staff Bai Chongxi to Xuzhou in January 1938. Li Zongren and Bai were old comrades from the New Guangxi Clique, and had served alongside each other since the Battle of Longtan in the Northern Expedition.
Chiang sent Li the 3rd War Area's 21st Group Army. Also a unit from Guangxi, the 21st was commanded by Liao Lei and consisted of the 7th and 48th Armies. At this time, Sun Zhen's 22nd Group Army, a unit from the Sichuan clique also arrived at the Shanxi-Henan region, only to be rejected by both Yan Xishan (commander of the 2nd War Area and chairman of Shanxi) and Cheng Qian (commander of the 1st War Area and chairman of Henan). Both Yan and Cheng disliked units from Sichuan for their poor discipline, particularly their rampant opium consumption.
Under the command of Sun Zhen, the 22nd Group Army had deployed four of its six divisions to assist the war effort in Northern China. Organized under the 41st and 45th Armies, the contingent began its foot march towards Taiyuan on 1 September, marching for more than 50 days continuously and covering some 1400 kilometers. When they arrived in Shanxi, they were confronted with an icy winter. Despite lacking winter uniforms or even a single map of the province, they immediately engaged the Japanese for 10 days at Yangquan (阳泉), incurring heavy casualties. Desperately low on supplies, they broke into one of the Shanxi clique's supply depots, infuriating Yan Xishan, who expelled them from the province. The 22nd then withdrew westwards into the 1st War Area, only for its commander, Cheng Qian to reject its request for resupplies.
Battle
Opening shots (March 15 – March 21)
On March 15, the Japanese 10th Division attacked the Chinese 122nd Division centered around Tengxian and Lincheng. Chinese reinforcements from the 85th Army arrived the next day, but were forced back on March 17. The Japanese, with the support of planes, tanks and heavy artillery, broke through the Chinese lines on March 18.
The Chinese remnants, bolstered by the 52nd Army, retreated to the town of Yixian. The Japanese attacked the town, and destroyed an entire Chinese regiment in a fierce 24-hour battle. On March 19, the Japanese began their advance on the walled town of Taierzhuang.
Fighting outside Taierzhuang (March 22 – March 28)
To counter the threat, the Chinese 2nd Army Group under General Sun Lianzhong was deployed to Taierzhuang. The 31st Division under General Chi Fengcheng reached the town on March 22, and was ordered to delay the Japanese advance until the rest of the Army Group arrived.
On March 23, the 31st Division sallied out of Taierzhuang towards Yixian, but was attacked by two Japanese battalions reinforced by three tanks and four armored cars. The division took positions on a series of hills, and were able to defend against a Japanese regiment of 3,000 men for the rest of the day.
On March 24, a Japanese force of 5,000 men attacked the 31st Division. Another Japanese unit attacked the Chinese from Yixian, forcing them to withdraw to Taierzhuang itself. The Japanese attacked the town, and a 300-strong contingent successfully breached the north-eastern gate at 8pm. However, they were then forced back into the Chenghuang temple. The Chinese then set fire to the temple, killing the entire Japanese force. The next day, the Japanese launched another assault through the breached gate and secured the eastern portion of the district, before also breaching the north-western corner from the outside and capturing the Wenchang Pavilion.
On March 25, a Japanese morning attack was repelled. The Japanese followed up by shelling the Chinese positions with artillery and airstrikes. In the afternoon, the Chinese deployed an armored train towards Yixian. The train ambushed a column of Japanese soldiers near a hamlet, killing or wounding some 70 Japanese troops before quickly retreating back to Taierzhuang. When night fell, three thousand Chinese troops rushed out of the gates and attacked the Japanese lines under cover of darkness, forcing them back to the northeast by dawn.
The next three days would see the Chinese defenders subjected to continuous aerial and artillery bombardment. The Chinese were able to repulse several successive Japanese assaults, but suffered thousands of casualties in the process. On March 28, Chinese artillery support arrived in the form of two 155mm and ten 75mm pieces. On the night of March 29, the Japanese finally managed to breach the wall.
Setting out from the south of the district, a Chinese assault squad stormed the Wenchang pavilion from the south and east, killing the entire Japanese garrison with the exception of four Japanese troops taken as POWs. The Chinese had thus retaken the north-western corner of the district.
Urban fighting inside Taierzhuang (March 29 – April 5)
The Japanese attack into Taierzhuang devolved into a desperate hand-to-hand combat that lasted into the next day. The fighting in Taierzhuang's streets and alleys was characterized by fierce close quarters combat "very similar to the costly urban battles that Europe was soon to see," with combatants often confronting each other face to face.
Out of an initial squad of 57 Chinese soldiers tasked with capturing a building, only 10 survived. One participant described the brutal conditions of the battle:
"The battle continued day and night. The flames lit up the sky. Often all that separated our forces was a single wall. The soldiers would beat holes in the masonry to snipe at each other. We would be fighting for days over a single building, causing dozens of fatalities."
The conditions were so brutal that Chinese officers implemented severe measures to maintain discipline. Junior officers were repeatedly forbidden to retreat, often ordered to personally replace casualties within their ranks. Li Zongren personally threatened Tang Enbo that if he did not carry out his duty, he would "be treated as Han Fuju had been."
In Taierzhuang's cramped conditions, Japanese advantages in artillery and air superiority were rendered useless; whenever either was employed in the congested melee, as many Japanese were killed as Chinese. The fighting in Taierzhuang's streets was thus fought almost entirely by infantry, with each side relying on rifles, pistols, hand grenades, bayonets, and knives. The battle was fought hand-to-hand, often in darkness. The stone structures of Taierzhuang also provided sufficient cover from fire and projectiles. Historian Peter Harmsen notes that it was in these close-quarters conditions where Chinese soldiers were able to fight as the equals, if not the superiors of their Japanese enemies, as shown in the Shanghai suburb of Luodian the year prior.
Sheng Cheng, based on the battle memories of General Chi Fengcheng, described the fighting:
"We had a battle for the little lanes [of the town], and unprecedently, not just streets and lanes, but even courtyards and houses. Neither side was willing to budge. Sometimes we'd capture a house, and dig a hole in the wall to approach the enemy. Sometimes the enemy would be digging a hole in the same wall at the same time. Sometimes we faced each other with hand grenades - or we might even bite each other. Or when we could hear that the enemy was in the house, then we'd climb the roof and drop bombs inside - and kill them all."
On March 31, General Sun Lianzhong arrived to take command of the 2nd Army Group. A Japanese attack later that day was repulsed, but a Chinese counterattack was also fought to a halt.
At 4am on April 1, the Japanese attacked the Chinese lines with support from 11 tanks. The Chinese defenders, equipped with German-made 37mm Pak-36 antitank guns, destroyed 8 of the armored vehicles at point-blank range. Similar incidents would repeat throughout the battle, with many Japanese tanks being destroyed by Chinese artillery and suicide bombers. In one skirmish, Chinese suicide bombers obliterated four Japanese tanks with grenade bundles.
That same day, Chiang ordered via telegram to his generals that "the enemy at Taierzhuang must be destroyed."
On April 2 and 3, the Japanese deployed tear gas against Chinese positions in the town's north station, but failed to dislodge the defenders. They then followed up with a massive armored attack outside the city walls with 30 tanks and 60 armored cars, but were only able to push the Chinese 27th Division back to the Grand Canal.
The fighting continued to rage throughout April 4 and 5. By this point, the Japanese had taken two thirds of Taierzhuang, although the Chinese still held Taierzhuang's South Gate. It was through this entry point where the Chinese command was able to resupply their troops successfully. The Chinese were also able to prevent the Japanese from restocking their own supplies of arms and bullets. In doing so, the Japanese attackers were worn down slowly.