In 1927 after the dissolution of the First United Front between the Nationalists and the Communists, the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) purged its leftist members and completely eliminated Soviet influence from its ranks. Chiang Kai-shek turned to Germany, historically a great military power, for assistance in the reorganization of the National Revolutionary Army.
The Weimar Republic sent advisors to China, however due to restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, these advisors could not serve in military capacities. When Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 and disregarded the Treaty, the National Socialist Party and the KMT united by their shared anti-communist ideals began closely cooperating with Germany training Chinese troops and expanding Chinese infrastructure while China made its markets and natural resources available to Germany.
In 1934 General Hans von Seeckt, acting as advisor to Chiang, proposed a '60 Division Plan' for restructuring the Chinese Nationalist Army into 60 divisions of highly trained, well-equipped troops along German doctrines. The 88th Division was one of the first divisions to be reorganized and alongside the 36th Division and 87th Division became the cream of the crop of the National Revolutionary Army.
The Battle of Shanghai
In 1937, though still not completely trained and fully equipped with German weapons, the 88th Division under the command of Sun Yuanliang was rushed to the Second Battle of Shanghai alongside the other German-trained divisions. The elite, German-trained division performed admirably, pushing the Japanese marines back to the very shores of Shanghai.[2] While the Chinese Air Force provided much air-interdiction and close-air support early-on in the battle of Shanghai, pressing demands for air force units in the northern front at the Battle of Taiyuan and southern front at Guangzhou, plus heavy attrition in the Shanghai-Nanjing theater of operations eventually overwhelmed the Chinese Air Force units, the eventual absence of air and naval support, poor coordination between units, and the lack of defence in depth, resulted in the division suffering heavy casualties towards the end of the three-month battle. On 25 November 1937, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek ordered the division withdrawn to join the ill-fated Battle of Nanjing. This led to portions of the 524th Regiment remaining at the Sihang Warehouse for several days, where they successfully covered the retreat of the division while beating back numerous Japanese assaults on the warehouse.
After the Battle of Nanking, the 88th Division never recovered its former strength and was of limited significance later in the war. In 1938 the 88th Division participated in the Battle of Wuhan as part of the 71st Army. In 1942 the 88th Division was again reorganized and redeployed into Burma as part of the Chinese Expeditionary Force (in Burma).
^ abCooke, E. D. (December 1937). "The Japanese attacks at Shanghai and the defense by the Chinese, 1931-1932: an original military study". Command and General Staff School quarterly review of military literature, December 1937. Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.: Combined Arms Center. pp. 5–28. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
^Taipei Times "Nationalist general Sun Yuan-liang dies at 103" June 12 2006
January 16, 2023
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources 88th Division National Revolutionary Army news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message The 88th Division simplified Chinese 第八十八师 traditional Chinese 第八十八師 pinyin Di 88 Shi Wade Giles Ti pa Shih pa Shih was a German trained and reorganized division in the National Revolutionary Army 88th DivisionThe Nationalist 88th Division fighting in Shanghai 1937 Active1932 1948Country Republic of ChinaBranchNational Revolutionary ArmyTypeInfantryRoleClose quarters combatCombined armsForward observerRaidingUrban warfareSize14 000Nickname s Tiger DivisionPatronAlexander von FalkenhausenEngagementsSecond Sino Japanese War1st Battle of Shanghai 2nd Battle of Shanghai Battle of Nanking Battle of WuhanChinese Civil War Battle of JinzhouDecorationsPresidential Unit Citation Tiger FlagCommandersCeremonial chiefChiang Kai shekNotablecommandersSun YuanliangInsigniaDivisional Arm badge Contents 1 First Battle of Shanghai 1 1 Order of Battle 1932 2 The 88th Division as a German trained division 2 1 The Battle of Shanghai 2 2 Order of Battle 1937 3 See also 4 ReferencesFirst Battle of Shanghai EditThe division was present at the First Battle of Shanghai in 1932 under the command of General Yu Jishi as part of the Fifth Army fighting alongside the 19th Route Army Order of Battle 1932 Edit 5th Army Zhang Zhizhong 張治中 1 88th Division General Yu Jishi 余濟時 1 262nd Brigade Qin Lungti 錢倫體 264th Brigade Yang Bufei 楊步飛 The 88th Division as a German trained division EditIn 1927 after the dissolution of the First United Front between the Nationalists and the Communists the ruling Kuomintang KMT purged its leftist members and completely eliminated Soviet influence from its ranks Chiang Kai shek turned to Germany historically a great military power for assistance in the reorganization of the National Revolutionary Army The Weimar Republic sent advisors to China however due to restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles these advisors could not serve in military capacities When Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 and disregarded the Treaty the National Socialist Party and the KMT united by their shared anti communist ideals began closely cooperating with Germany training Chinese troops and expanding Chinese infrastructure while China made its markets and natural resources available to Germany In 1934 General Hans von Seeckt acting as advisor to Chiang proposed a 60 Division Plan for restructuring the Chinese Nationalist Army into 60 divisions of highly trained well equipped troops along German doctrines The 88th Division was one of the first divisions to be reorganized and alongside the 36th Division and 87th Division became the cream of the crop of the National Revolutionary Army The Battle of Shanghai Edit In 1937 though still not completely trained and fully equipped with German weapons the 88th Division under the command of Sun Yuanliang was rushed to the Second Battle of Shanghai alongside the other German trained divisions The elite German trained division performed admirably pushing the Japanese marines back to the very shores of Shanghai 2 While the Chinese Air Force provided much air interdiction and close air support early on in the battle of Shanghai pressing demands for air force units in the northern front at the Battle of Taiyuan and southern front at Guangzhou plus heavy attrition in the Shanghai Nanjing theater of operations eventually overwhelmed the Chinese Air Force units the eventual absence of air and naval support poor coordination between units and the lack of defence in depth resulted in the division suffering heavy casualties towards the end of the three month battle On 25 November 1937 Generalissimo Chiang Kai shek ordered the division withdrawn to join the ill fated Battle of Nanjing This led to portions of the 524th Regiment remaining at the Sihang Warehouse for several days where they successfully covered the retreat of the division while beating back numerous Japanese assaults on the warehouse After the Battle of Nanking the 88th Division never recovered its former strength and was of limited significance later in the war In 1938 the 88th Division participated in the Battle of Wuhan as part of the 71st Army In 1942 the 88th Division was again reorganized and redeployed into Burma as part of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma Order of Battle 1937 Edit 88th Division Total strength 14 000 men2 infantry brigades1 artillery company 1 light artillery company 1 signal company 1 SpcOps company 3 infantry battalions3 infantry companies3 infantry platoons3 infantry squads dd 1 heavy weapons company dd dd directly under divisional command1 artillery battalion3 artillery companies1 anti tank company 1 anti air company 1 engineer company 1 signal company2 wired platoons 1 wireless platoon1 heavy transport company 1 SpcOps company 1 field hospital team dd 2 reserve regiments dd See also EditArthur Chin Republic of China Air ForceGen Yu Jishi s publicationsReferences Edit a b Cooke E D December 1937 The Japanese attacks at Shanghai and the defense by the Chinese 1931 1932 an original military study Command and General Staff School quarterly review of military literature December 1937 Ft Leavenworth Kansas Combined Arms Center pp 5 28 Retrieved 9 September 2011 Taipei Times Nationalist general Sun Yuan liang dies at 103 June 12 2006 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 88th Division National Revolutionary Army amp oldid 1124334146, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
