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Battle of Wanjialing

1938 battle in China

Layered newspapers, civic records and oral-history reels arranged as chronological evidence
History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ698138 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Battle of Wanjialing, known in Chinese text as the Victory of Wanjialing (traditional Chinese: 萬家嶺大捷; simplified Chinese: 万家岭大捷; pinyin: Wànjiālǐng Dàjié), refers to the National Revolutionary Army's successful engagement during the Wuhan theatre of the Second Sino-Japanese War against the Japanese 101st, 106th, 9th and 27th divisions around the Wanjialing region in 1938. The two and a half month battle resulted in heavy losses of the Japanese 101st and 106th Divisions.

Combatants

Chinese

The Chinese forces consisted of the 4th Army, the elite 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.

Japanese

The Japanese forces consisted of the 106th Division, led by Lieutenant-General Junrokurō Matsuura. Under the 106th Division, there were the 111th Infantry Brigade (113th and 147th Infantry Regiments) and 136th Brigade (123rd and 145th Infantry Regiments), as well as regiments of cavalry, artillery, engineers and transport. During the battle, the 101st Division was also deployed. Later during the battle, the 9th and 27th divisions would also be deployed.

Battle

Under the orders of Yasuji Okamura, the Japanese 106th Division intended to cross the Wanjialing (萬家嶺) Region, hoping to cut through to the rear of De'an (德安) as a direct approach from Jiujiang (九江) along the railway line south and an approach by 101st Division by pushing through from the eastern foothills of Mount Lu was getting nowhere.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Battle of Wanjialing” is 1938 battle in China. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Battle, Wanjialing and battle, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewMost valuable as an event-and-institution map that identifies actors, dates and record creators for deeper historical inquiry. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1938—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Battle, Wanjialing and battle is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “1938 battle in China” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q698138. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1938.

Critical limits

Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Battle of Wanjialing”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Battle of Wanjialing primary sources, Battle of Wanjialing archive and Battle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Battle of Wanjialing”?
  2. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
  3. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Battle of Wanjialing” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.