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| Battle of Wanjialing | |||||||
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| Part of theBattle of Wuhan in theSecond Sino-Japanese War and theinterwar period | |||||||
 Map outline of the battle | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 China |  Japan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Xue YueWu Qiwei |  Junrokurō Matsuura | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| In the Wanjialing Front : 100,000 troops In the entire Nanchang-Jiujiang and Ruichang-Wuning Fronts : 245,777 troops in 31 infantry divisions from 12 armies, 1 separate brigade, and 2 Jiangxi peace preservation regiments[2][3] | 92,000 troops | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| In the battles along the Nanchang-Jiujiang, De'an-Xingzi, and Ruichang-Wuning Railways from 17 September until 4 October 1938 : 50,000+ combat casualties,[2] including 15,000 in Wanjialing In the entire Nanchang-Jiujiang and Ruichang-Wuning Fronts from early August until mid-November 1938 (including 5,000+ combat casualties in the battle of De'an in late October 1938) :[3][4] 38,067 killed 50,213 wounded 42,706 fallen ill | Initial Chinese claim : In the battles along the Nanchang-Jiujiang, De'an-Xingzi, and Ruichang-Wuning Railways from 17 September until 4 October 1938 : 20,000+ killed or wounded (including about 5,000 killed in Wanjialing), 110 captured[2] Later Chinese claim : 30,000+ killed or captured (101st and106th divisions, not including relief units (9th and27th divisions)[1] Japanese claim : 106th division (in the entire battle of Wuhan) :[5] 3,321 killed 4,085 wounded 9,905 hospitalized from illnesses. | ||||||
TheBattle of Wanjialing, known in Chinese text as theVictory of Wanjialing (traditional Chinese:萬家嶺大捷;simplified Chinese:万家岭大捷;pinyin:Wànjiālǐng Dàjié), refers to theNational Revolutionary Army's successful engagement during theWuhan theatre of theSecond Sino-Japanese War against the Japanese101st,106th,9th and27th divisions around theWanjialing region in 1938. The two and a half month battle resulted in heavy losses of the Japanese101st and106th Divisions.
The Chinese forces consisted of the 4th Army, the elite 74th Army, 66th Army, 187th Division, 91st Division, New 13th Division, 142nd Division, 60th Division, Reserved 6th Division, 19th Division, a brigade from the 139th Division and the New 15th Division, which totals up to 100,000 men. The chief commander in the frontline was the commander of the 9th Group ArmyWu Qiwei. They were under the overall command of the supreme commander of the 9th Military RegionXue Yue.
The Japanese forces consisted of the106th Division, led by Lieutenant-GeneralJunrokurō Matsuura. Under the 106th Division, there were the 111th Infantry Brigade (113th and 147th Infantry Regiments) and 136th Brigade (123rd and 145th Infantry Regiments), as well as regiments of cavalry, artillery, engineers and transport. During the battle, the101st Division was also deployed. Later during the battle, the9th and27th divisions would also be deployed.[1]
Under the orders ofYasuji Okamura, the Japanese 106th Division intended to cross the Wanjialing (萬家嶺) Region, hoping to cut through to the rear of De'an (德安) as a direct approach from Jiujiang (九江) along the railway line south and an approach by 101st Division by pushing through from the eastern foothills ofMount Lu was getting nowhere. The plan was discovered by Xue Yue, and the Chinese Army managed to surround the 106th Division with 16 divisions atLushan.[1] After capturing Jiujiang, the 106th Division tried to push south using the Jiujiang to Nanchang railway as the axis and capture De'an. It got a mauling at Shahe 沙河 just south of Jiujiang. On August 21, the Japanese 101st Division's Sato Detachment (commanded by Major General Sato Shozaburo (佐藤正三郎), 101 Brigade), consisting of two infantry battalions supported by a battalion of artillery, capturedXingzi as part of the push to De'an, but faced fierce resistance fromWang Jingjiu's 25th Corps andYe Zhao's 66th Corps. Although reinforced with Saeda's detachment (commanded by Major General Saeda Yoshishige (佐村義重), 101st division) both forces were still unable to break through the Chinese lines. The Japanese proceeded to unleash poison gas on the Chinese positions.[1] Although the Chinese had a severe shortage of protective equipment against chemical weapons, they were still able to repel the Japanese attack.[1]
At the beginning of September, Okamura ordered the9th and27th Divisions to relieve the106th division, but they were halted by fierce Chinese resistance.[1] On September 24, the Japanese Army finally managed to punch through the Chinese lines in the west, but was then confronted byOu Zhen's 4th Corps andYu Jishi's elite 74th Corps and was once again surrounded.[1] Desperate to break open a safe path for their trapped ground forces, the Japanese conducted heavy aerial bombardment on the Chinese positions with incendiary bombs, resulting in many Chinese deaths.[1]
On October 7, the Chinese suddenly launched co-ordinated series of fierce counter-attacks, forcing the remaining Japanese units that were still intact to hastily retreat.[1] Combat ended on October 10, which was coincidentally theChinese National Celebration Day. On October 13, the Chinese forces withdrew from the battlefield.[1]
The two and a half month battle caused tremendous casualties for the Japanese army, especially their101st and106th divisions.[1] These two divisions, which initially had a combined strength of over 47,000 troops, lost about 30,000 men in battle.[1] The Japanese officer corps was hit particularly hard: the high casualty rate forced GeneralShunroku Hata to frequently airdrop replacement officers onto the bases of his besieged units throughout the battle.[citation needed]
For the Chinese, the successful defense of Wanjialing played a key role in the overallWuhan campaign, halting the Japanese offensive drive towards Wuhan along the southern bank of theYangtze River, and buying invaluable time for the Chinese government to evacuate its civilian population, war facilities, and industrial assets from the city and move them westward towards cities such as the new wartime capital ofChongqing.[1]
