Summary of the Great Victory of Taierzhuang: Beginning on March 16, 1938 and ending on April 15, 1938, the battle lasted for one month, with more than 50,000 Japanese troops participating in the battle, more than 50,000 Chinese casualties, and more than 20,000 Japanese troops killed. It was the biggest victory since the War of Resistance Against Japan and inspired the enthusiasm of the Chinese people in resisting the war.
In December 1937, after the Japanese invaders invaded Nanjing, they sent their elite divisions to attack Xuzhou in two directions, north and south, hoping to open up the Jinpu Road, control the area north of the Yangtze River, and connect the north and south battlefields.
On the southern road, with Hata Shunroku as the commander, he led the enemy army to cross the Yangtze River from Zhenjiang, Nanjing, and Wuhu, and marched north along the Jinpu Road with the main three divisions.
The enemy of the north road was divided into east and west roads to the south.
To the east, a unit of the enemy's Fifth Division landed at Laoshan Bay, occupied Qingdao, attacked westward, turned south through Weixian County, and approached Linyi in March 1938.
To the west, because Han Fuyu did not resist, he led two armies to Ruxi to avoid the battle without authorization, so that the frontal portal of Jinpu Road was wide opened, and the 10th Division of the Japanese Army's Isogu Occupied Jinan and Trapped Tai'an, and drove south along Jinpu Road, dateng County in March.
The enemy marched in tandem with the enemy on the south road, and directly attacked Xuzhou.
On the eve of the fall of Nanjing, the Kuomintang government appointed Li Qinren as the commander of the Fifth Theater of Operations, responsible for the defense of Jinpu Road. At this time, Li Zongren was stationed in Xuzhou and led his troops to resist the invading enemy.
After the Japanese army fell to Bengbu on the south road, it continued to move north. At that time, the Chinese army Yu Xuezhong's troops were defending the defensive line on the north bank of the Huai River, and at the same time, the Thirty-first Army attacked the enemy's rear, and the Japanese army was attacked back and forth, forced to retreat, and was blocked south of the Huai River. This created favorable conditions for the victory of the Battle of Taierzhuang on the northern front.
On the north road, when the enemy Banyuan Division reached Linyi, the Chinese troops stationed in Linyi blocked the attack, and the battle was very fierce. After that, the Chinese defenders were besieged in the city by the Japanese army and still held out for help.
Zhang Zizhong's troops were ordered to reinforce, and in March Zhonggu rushed to the outskirts of Linyi. The Chinese army inside the city organized a counterattack, and under the attack between the inside and outside, the Itagaki Division suffered heavy losses.
Itagaki was forced to lead his troops to retreat, retreated to Ju County, and waited for help, not daring to go south. The defeat and retreat of the Banyuan Division made the Alum valley division go deep alone, so the victory in the Battle of Linyi was actually a prerequisite for the victory of the Battle of Taierzhuang, and the Isogu Division, which went south along the Jinpu Road, after occupying Tengxian County in March, was arrogant and arrogant, regardless of the lone army's deep penetration, continued to go south, directly attacked Taierzhuang, and wanted to seize the first merit of Xuzhou.
Because Taierzhuang is an outpost position northeast of Xuzhou and a place of contention for Xuzhou, the seizure of Taierzhuang opens the door to the acquisition of Xuzhou.
The Chinese troops stationed in Taierzhuang fortified along the canal and built fortifications with the Taierzhuang fortress as the core to block the attack. After March 23, more than 40,000 people of the Isoya Division reached the north of Taierzhuang, and the vanguard troops arrived at Nigou Station. On March 24, the Japanese army of 5,000 or 6,000 people launched a fierce attack on the Chinese defenders, with the cooperation of aircraft, first bombarded the Chinese defenders' positions with artillery, and then advanced forward with tanks as the first guide, and the Japanese soldiers attacked with tanks.
The Chinese army resisted the danger, and the Japanese army attacked for three consecutive days, and on the 26th, it entered the northeast corner of the Taierzhuang walled city. However, the Chinese army still resisted, engaging in white-knife combat with the Japanese army in the city and engaging in a tug-of-war. During the day, the Japanese army attacked the positions that were taken, and at night the Chinese army attacked, beating the Japanese army to the point of confusion and retaking the position. After several iterations, the battle was fierce.
By April 3, three-quarters of the taierzhuang walled city was occupied by the enemy army, seven-tenths of the Chinese army was killed or wounded, and the rest retreated to the southern corner of the walled city, and was in danger. But the Chinese defenders still fought with their backs to the canal and fought the enemy to the death.
Chinese reinforcements reached the area north of Taierzhuang on the morning of the 4th and entered the position, and the enemy Isogu Division fell into the siege of the Chinese army. At this time, Li Zongren also personally rushed from Xuzhou to the outskirts of Taierzhuang to direct the battle. Caught between the city and outside the city, the enemy suffered a heavy blow. The commander of the division, Isoya, was forced to lead more than 10,000 remnants of his troops to break through the siege, escape from Tuoerzhuang, and sneak to Yi County. The Chinese army took advantage of the victory to pursue the county, and the enemy closed the city and waited for reinforcements.
At this point, the Battle of Taierzhuang was victorious, the Japanese army was annihilated more than 20,000 people, destroyed more than 30 tanks, and captured a large number of cannons, machine guns, ammunition, etc., so it was called "Taierzhuang Great Victory".