Editing Battle of Nanking (section)

=== Fighting retreat of the Chinese Army, breaching the Wufu line ===
As of 11 November, all elements of the [[National Revolutionary Army|Chinese army]] in the Lower Yangtze Theatre were falling back after the [[Battle of Shanghai]]. Unlike previous instances during the Shanghai campaign where Chinese retreats were conducted with discipline, the Chinese retreat from Shanghai was poorly coordinated and disorganized, in part due to the sheer size of the operation and lack of prior planning. The orders to retreat had been passed top-down in a haphazard manner, and the Chinese army frequently bogged down under its own weight or became congested at [[Choke point|bottlenecks]] like bridges. Making matters worse were [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Service|Japanese aircraft]] constantly harassing the Chinese columns, adding to the growing casualties and mayhem. Despite their losses, the Chinese army managed to escape destruction by the Japanese forces, who were attempting to encircle them in the last few days of the combat in Shanghai.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=42–43}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Yiding |first=Chen |title=Yangshupu Yunzaobin zhandou |pages=42}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wakabayashi |first=Bob |title=The Nanking Atrocity, 1937-1938: Complicating the Picture |date=2007 |publisher=Berghahn Books |pages=31}}</ref>
[[File:Japanese_landing_at_Baimaokou,_November_1937.png|thumb|Japanese troops of the 16th Division landing on the South Yangtze near Baimaokou, November 13 or 14]]
On 12 November, the Japanese forces deployed in Shanghai were ordered to pursue the retreating Chinese forces. With most Chinese troops melting away into the retreat, many cities and towns were quickly captured by the Japanese, including [[Jiading, Shanghai|Jiading]] and [[Taicang]]. In [[Jiashan County|Jiashan]] however, the main force of the Japanese 18th division encountered fierce resistance from the Right Wing Force. The defenders, consisting of 2 complete divisions and one regiment each from 2 divisions and 1 brigade, fought against the 18th division along the Zhapu-Pinghu-Jiaxing line (乍平嘉線). The 18th division took [[Fengjing| Fengjing Town]] in two days, during which brigade commander Shozo Tezuka (手塚省三) was wounded. On November 10, the 18th division began its attack on Jiashan County. In the next four days, both sides suffered heavy casualties. By the 14th, the defenders had been exhausted and began preparation for retreat when the 18th division launched a general offensive covered by dozens of aircraft, fully occupying the county on the 15th.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/21525355 |title=第四章 太湖以南作战 |access-date=2025-03-16}}</ref> During the six-day Fengjing and Jiashan battles, the 18th division suffered more than 1,000 casualties.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/21540005 |title=第五章 结论 |access-date=2025-03-16}}</ref> The Chinese defenders totalling 15,573 troops suffered as many as 7,317 killed, wounded, or missing.<ref>{{cite book |title=浙江档案 |date=2008 |page=54}}</ref> Japanese troops from the freshly deployed [[Tenth Army (Japan)|Tenth Army]], consisting of the 6th, 18th, 114th divisions and the Kunisaki Detachment, were eager for combat. However, many of the other Japanese units were exhausted from the fighting in Shanghai, and were slower to follow through with their orders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=55–58}}</ref>

Despite the Chinese retreat, the Japanese encountered strong resistance at the Wufu defensive line between Fushan and Lake Tai, which had been nicknamed a "new [[Hindenburg Line|Hindenburg line]]" in Chinese propaganda. At [[Changshu]], Japanese forces had to fight slowly through an interlocking system of concrete [[Pillbox (military)|pillboxes]] manned by Chinese soldiers fighting to the death, all whilst Chinese artillery bombarded them with accurate fire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=84–85}}</ref> The Japanese [[9th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|9th Division]] was faced with a similar challenge in [[Suzhou, Jiangsu|Suzhou]]: contrary to propaganda accounts of the city falling without a fight, Japanese soldiers had to fight through a series of pillboxes in front of the city before painstakingly eliminating pockets of resistance in [[Urban warfare|street fighting]]. These operations were concluded by 19 November, with some 1,000 Chinese soldiers killed in Suzhou and another 100 artillery pieces captured, according to Japanese records.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=86}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Dijiu Shituan zhanshi |edition=56 |pages=108–110}}</ref>

By late November, the Japanese army was advancing rapidly around [[Lake Tai]] en route to Nanjing. The Chinese, in order to counter these advances, deployed some five divisions of the Sichuanese 23rd Group Army from warlord [[Liu Xiang (warlord)|Liu Xiang's]] forces to the southern end of the lake near [[Guangde]], and two more divisions (the 103rd and 112th) to the river fortress [[Jiangyin]] near the lake's northern end, which had been the site of a naval battle in August.