Battle of Wanjialing, well known in Chinese text as the Victory of Wanjialing (simplified Chinese: 万家岭大捷; traditional Chinese: 萬家嶺大捷; pinyin: Wànjīalîng Dàjíe) refers to the Chinese Army's successful engagement during the Wuhan theatre of the Second Sino-Japanese War against the Japanese 101st and 106th Divisions around the Wanjialing region in 1938.
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In the Battle of Wanjialing, the Chinese side consisted of the 4th Army, the élite 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 Army Wu Qiwei. They were under the overall command of the supreme commander of the 9th Military Region Xue Yue.
The Japanese side consisted of the 106th Division, led by lieutenant-general Junrokurō Matsuura. Under the 106th Division, there were the 111th Infantry Brigade (113rd and 147th Infantry Regiments) and 136th Brigade (123rd and 145th Infantry Regiments), as well as Regiments of cavalry, artillery, engineers and transport. Reinforcing the 106th division were the 9th, 27th and 101st divisions[1].
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 managed to surround the 106th Division. On the 20th of August, 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 the 24th of September, the Japanese army finally managed to punch through the Chinese lines in the west, but were then confronted by Ou Zhen's 4th Corps and Yu Jishi's 74th Corps 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 7th of October, the Chinese forces carried out their final attack orders. Okamura dispatched transport planes to evacuate his commanders. The two and a half month battle was finally over. The date was the 10th of October, 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 during the battle, with only around 1,700 troops escaping. On October 13, 1938, the Chinese Army retreated from the battlefield. The Battle of Wanjialing was the first time a full Japanese division had been destroyed.[1].