Wuhan Fell

Fall of Wuhan (October 25-27, 1938) In the late stages of the Wuhan Battle in 1938, the Japanese army attacked from the north and south and broke through the outer defense line. Due to inferior equipment and supply difficulties, the Chinese army's defense line gradually collapsed. On October 25, the Japanese 6th Division invaded Hankou, and the defenders retreated in an orderly manner. The Nationalist Government transferred institutions and burned strategic materials; on the 26th, the Japanese Botian Detachment crossed the Yangtze River and occupied Wuchang, and the 185th Division and others withdrew to Xianning; on the 27th, the Japanese 116th Division occupied Hanyang, and all three towns in Wuhan fell. The Chinese army withdrew to Hunan and western Hubei to avoid annihilation as planned, and implemented the "scorched earth policy" to blow up industrial facilities in Hankou and Wuchang to delay the use of the Japanese army. Militarily, the Japanese army failed to wipe out the main force of the Chinese army, and the war entered a stalemate stage. The Chinese army preserved its strength and continued to defend; politically, the Nationalist Government moved the capital to Chongqing, and the protracted war strategy of "exchanging space for time" was established, and the Soviet Union and others increased their aid to China; economically, the inward relocation of Wuhan's industries was completed, supporting the long-term war of resistance. The Japanese army was unable to launch a large-scale attack due to the long front and supply difficulties. The Chinese army blocked the attack in Suizao, Changsha and other places. The fall of Wuhan was a strategic retreat, not a defeat, and the war of resistance turned into a more difficult but more resilient protracted war.