Battle of Xuzhou 1938
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 24 March 1938 – 1 May 1938 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1938 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Interwar (1919–1938) | derived from year |
| Location | China | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Sino-Japanese War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 34.2667, 117.1670 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Xuzhou was a military campaign between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China forces in early 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It lasted for more than three months, with both sides taking heavy casualties and claiming victories. It resulted in an eventual victory for the Japanese, but they failed to destroy the Chinese army, who managed to retreat and regroup to fight later at Wuhan.
The battle of Xuzhou was primarily fought over control over the regional railway lines and junctions. The majority of the campaign took place in regions and cities north, east and south of Xuzhou, and was characterized by seesaw battles and bloody stalemates. It ended when the Japanese initiated a massive pincer movement aimed at encircling the Chinese forces. However, the Chinese managed to evade the Japanese maneuvers and break out of the encirclement, regrouping later to fight at Wuhan.
The campaign also saw the first major Chinese victory of the war at Taierzhuang, where warlord armies under the command of Li Zongren and Tang Enbo managed to defeat Japanese forces in fierce close quarters urban warfare. The campaign also served as a morale boost for the Chinese army and population, who approached the following defense of Wuhan with renewed confidence and determination.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Xuzhou (revision 1374490976), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Taierzhuang 1938 · 61 km
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- Battle of Gaixia 202 BC · 110 km
- Siege of Suiyang 757 · 143 km
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Other battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War
- Battle of Pingxingguan 1937
- Battle of Shanghai 1937
- Battle of Taiyuan 1937
- Battle of Xinkou 1937
- Marco Polo Bridge incident 1937
- Battle of Taierzhuang 1938
- Battle of Wuhan 1938
- Battle of Changsha (1939) 1939
- Battle of Nanchang 1939
- Battle of South Guangxi 1939
All 27 battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War →
Browse more: battles in China · Asia · Interwar battles