Editing Second Sino-Japanese War (section)

===Battles of Xuzhou and Taierzhuang===
[[File:Taierzhuang.jpg|thumb|Chinese soldiers in [[urban warfare]] in the [[Battle of Taierzhuang]], March–April 1938]]

With many victories achieved, Japanese field generals [[Battle of Xuzhou|escalated the war in Jiangsu]] in an attempt to wipe out the Chinese forces in the area. The Japanese managed to overcome Chinese resistance around Bengbu and the Teng xian, but were fought to a halt at Linyi.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mackinnon |first=Stephen |title=Wuhan, 1938: War, Refugees, and the Making of Modern China |date=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=32}}</ref>

The Japanese were then decisively defeated at the Battle of Taierzhuang (March–April 1938), where the Chinese used night attacks and [[close-quarters combat]] to overcome Japanese advantages in firepower. The Chinese also severed Japanese supply lines from the rear, forcing the Japanese to retreat in the first Chinese victory of the war.{{sfn|Mitter|2013|pp=149–150}}

The Japanese then attempted to surround and destroy the Chinese armies in the Xuzhou region with an enormous [[pincer movement]]. However the majority of the Chinese forces, some 200,000–300,000 troops in 40 divisions, managed to break out of the encirclement and retreat to defend Wuhan, the Japanese's next target.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Storm Clouds over the Pacific, 1931–1941 |year=2018 |publisher=Casemate |page=111}}</ref>