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
Battle of Shanghai alongside the other German-trained divisions. These divisions performed well, pushing the Japanese
Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) back to the very shores of Shanghai. By September 8, the 88th division had suffered 1,430 killed or wounded out of the nearly 11,500 troops of the division, with plans to supplement the unit with 769 troops from a
Zhejiang peace preservation regiment, though an earlier report put the unit's losses by September 5 at approximately 2,210 casualties. After the landing of the
Shanghai Expeditionary Army on August 23, the 88th Division was in a stand-off with the SNLF in the urban city of Shanghai for most of September with little fighting. The division was bombarded by artillery and aircraft followed by assaults from the SNLF between 1 October and 8 October. On October 15, the division launched a large-scale raid with the 2nd Battalion of the 528th Regiment organized into five assault groups. They were able to break into SNLF positions at Qiujiang Road (虯江路) and Guangdong Street (廣東街) with the support of artillery, but could not make any further progress and eventually returned to their starting positions. After the
Battle of Nanjing, the 88th Division never recovered its former strength and was of limited significance later in the war. In May 1938, the 88th Division participated in the
Battle of Lanfeng and suffered more than 3,000 killed or wounded and more than 800 missing. Divisional commander
Long Muhan was executed by a firing squad in
Wuhan for retreating from Lanfeng without order. In September, the division participated in the battle of Wuhan as part of the 71st Corps of the Fifth Military Front. From September 2 until September 11, the 36th and 88th Divisions fought in the
Battle of Fujin Mountain. The Japanese 13th Division facing them suffered 1,200 casualties including 300 killed in the battle, and half of its battalion commanders were killed or wounded. By the end of the battle, the 36th Division had only approximately 850 combat soldiers left and was withdrawn from the battlefield while the 88th Division suffered casualties exceeding half. Subsequently, the 88th division participated in the battle of Shawo (沙窩), and by early October the unit had only 1,430 combat soldiers left. In April 1940, the division participated in the
Battle of South Shanxi (1940) as part of the 71st Corps which was temporarily assigned to the First Military Front, fighting around the
Gaoping area before withdrawing for reorganization in May. In 1942, the 88th Division was reorganized as part of the
Chinese Expeditionary Force (in Burma). In early May during the
Japanese invasion of Burma, the Japanese army successively occupied
Wanding,
Mangshi,
Zhefang, and
Longling in
Yunnan, marching towards the Nu River (怒江) and could soon threaten
Kunming, which would disrupt incoming supplies from the Allies. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek personally called
Song Xilian, commander of the 11th Group Army, and ordered him to block the enemy's advance. On May 5, the 36th Division clashed with the forward units of the Japanese 56th Division at Huitong Bridge (惠通橋). By 8 May, the 36th Division had successfully repelled the Japanese troops and stabilized the position at Huitong Bridge. The 87th and 88th Divisions and the 2nd Reserve Division of the 71st Corps soon arrived and assembled along the Nu River. On May 10, the Japanese army occupied
Tengchong with only 292 soldiers without firing a single shot. On May 12, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the 71st Corps to retake Tengchong, and Song Xilian planned for a general offensive on May 15. However, the Chinese army had underestimated the Japanese troops in front of them, believing they were only an advance force of 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers, and could not break through the Japanese defenses, suffering heavy casualties. On May 22, Chiang ordered the 36th and 88th Divisions and the 2nd Reserve Division to sweep the Japanese army west of Nu River and retake Longling and Tengchong within three days, threatening punishments on Song and the three divisional commanders if they failed. The next day, Chiang sent several more telegrams criticizing Song for his inability in retaking the cities. On May 28, the 264th Brigade of the 88th Division reported that they had killed a Japanese battalion commander and seized documents which showed the enemy facing them numbered approximately 15,000-20,000. Song immediately sent the documents to the Military High Command. On May 31, Chiang ordered a stop to the offensive and to withdraw the main force from the Nu River, leaving behind a portion for guerilla warfare. In mid-July of 1942, the 2nd Reserve Division and parts of the 36th and 88th Divisions entered the areas around Tengchong and conducted active guerilla warfare. In response, the Japanese 56th Division launched an operation to mop-up the 2nd Reserve Division starting on September 14. To support the 2nd Reserve Division, the 71st Corps marched to the foot of the
Gaoligong Mountains. Duan Sheng (段生)'s battalion of the 262nd Regiment of the 88th Division was ordered to reinforce two guerilla battalions from the 36th and 88th Divisions and blocked the enemy near Hongmushu (红木樹). Starting from October 1, the Japanese 113th Infantry Regiment launched multiple attacks on Chinese positions along the Nu River. On October 3, the Japanese broke through the positions of the guerilla battalion of the 36th Division and forced them to retreat, resulting in the encirclement of Duan's battalion. The battalion was also forced to retreat with heavy casualties and occupied a new defensive position at Datangzi (大塘子). The next day, the battalion retreated northward under pressure and lost contact with its 2nd Company. Corps commander Zhong Bin (鐘彬) ordered the battalion to construct fortifications on the high ground southwest of Gandan (干胆) and forbade any retreat. On October 6, after failing to make any progress at Gandan, the Japanese split into two groups and attacked Datangzi and Jiucheng Street (舊城街). Due to the hasty retreat of the two companies of the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Reserve Division defending Datangzi, the situation suddenly fell into chaos. Duan's battalion was able to take in only 6 company and platoon commanders and 49 soldiers and laborers from its three companies after retreating to Ganding Street (敢顶街). There, the battalion was joined by the retreating guerilla battalion of the 36th Division and reinforcements from another battalion of the 88th Division to guard their position. The 148th Infantry Regiment also defeated elements of the 2nd Reserve and 88th Divisions after a bitter battle at the Mamian Pass (馬面關). The 56th division continued destroying Chinese facilities and positions until February 28, when the commander believed that they had achieved their goal of destroying the enemy stronghold and ordered an end to the first phase of the punitive campaign.
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 ==Chinese Civil War==