Battle of Wanjialing - The Battle

The Battle

Under the orders of Yasuji Okamura, the Japanese 106th Division intended to cross the Wanjialing Region in hopes of cutting off the connection between the Chinese Army in Nanxun and Wuning Railway. The plan was discovered by Xue Yue, and the Chinese Army managed to surround the 106th Division. On the August 20, the Japanese 101st division landed at Xingzi to relieve the 106th, but faced fierce resistance. As a result, the Japanese army began to deploy poison gas in an attempt to break through. At the beginning of September, Okamura ordered the 9th and 27th Divisions to reinforce the 106th Division, but they were halted by the Chinese Army. On September 24, the Japanese army finally managed to punch through the Chinese lines in the west, but were then confronted by Ou Zhen's 4th army and Yu Jishi's elite 74th army and were once again surrounded. Desperate to break open a safe path for their trapped ground forces, the Japanese Air Force began heavy bombing on the Chinese positions with incendiary bombs, resulting in many Chinese deaths.

On the October 7, the Chinese units carried out their final attack orders, soundly defeating the Japanese. His forces devastated and crippled, Okamura dispatched transport planes to evacuate his highest ranking commanders. The two and a half month battle was finally over, ending in a decisive Chinese victory. The date was the October 10, which was coincidentally the Chinese National Celebration Day.

The Japanese 101st and 106th divisions initially had a combined strength of over 30,000 troops but were largely annihilated by the Chinese army during the battle, with only around 1,700 troops escaping. On October 13, 1938, the Chinese forces withdrew from the battlefield. The Battle of Wanjialing was a major victory for the Chinese and the first time a full Japanese division had been destroyed.