88th Division (National Revolutionary Army)

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The 88th Division (traditional Chinese: 第八十八師; simplified Chinese: 第八十八师; pinyin: Dì 88 Shī; Wade-Giles: Ti-pa Shih-pa Shih) was a German-trained reorganised division in the National Revolutionary Army.

Contents 1 First Battle of Shanghai 1.1 Order of Battle (1932) 2 The 88th as a German-trained division 2.1 Order of Battle (1937)

[edit] First Battle of Shanghai

The division, commanded by Yu Jishi, was present at the First Battle of Shanghai (1932) as part of the Fifth Army, fighting alongside the 19th Route Army.

[edit] Order of Battle (1932)

• 5th Army - Zhang Zhizhong (張治中)

• 88th Division - Yu Jishi (余濟時)

• 262th Brigade - Qian Lunti (錢倫體)
• 264th Brigade - Yang Bufei (楊步飛)

[edit] The 88th as a German-trained division

In 1927, after the dissolution of the First United Front between the Nationalists and the Communists, the ruling Kuomintang purged its leftist members and completely eliminated Soviet influence from its ranks. Chiang Kai-shek turned to Germany, historically a great military power, for the reorganisation of the National Revolutionary Army.

The Weimar Republic sent advisors to China, but because of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, they could not serve in military capacities. When Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 and disregarded the Treaty, the anti-communist NSDAP and the anti-communist KMT were soon engaged in close cooperation with Germany training Chinese troops and expanding Chinese infrastructure, while China opened its markets and natural resources to Germany.

In 1934 General Hans von Seeckt, acting as advisor to Chiang, proposed a "60 Division Plan" for reforming the entire Chinese army into 60 divisions of highly trained, well-equipped troops along German doctrines. The 88th Division was one of the first divisions to be reorganised and together with the 36th and 87th Division became the créme de la créme of the National Revolutionary Army.

In 1937, still not completely reorganised, the 88th was rushed to the Battle of Shanghai (1937) with the other German-trained divisions. The division performed admirably, pushing the Japanese marines back to the shores of Shanghai, but due to a combination of the absence of air and naval support, poor coordination between units, and the lack of defence in depth, the division suffered heavy casualties near the end of the three-month battle. On Christmas Day, 1937, the division withdrew to join the ill-fated Defence of Nanjing, though the 800 Heroes of the 524th Regiment remained at the Sihang Warehouse for days and 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, and was of limited significance later in the war.

[edit] Order of Battle (1937)

• 88th Division - Total strength: 14,000 men

• 2 infantry brigades

• 1 artillery company
• 1 light artillery company
• 1 signal company
• 1 SpcOps company
• 3 infantry battalions

• 3 infantry companies

• 3 infantry platoons

• 3 infantry squads

• 1 heavy weapons company

• directly under divisional command

• 1 artillery battalion

• 3 artillery companies

• 1 anti-tank company
• 1 anti-air company
• 1 engineer company
• 1 signal company

• 2 "wired" platoons
• 1 wireless platoon

• 1 heavy transport company
• 1 SpcOps company
• 1 field hospital team

• 2 reserve regiments