Hello, and thank you for listening to the History of World War II podcast, Episode

213, the Second Sino-Japanese War, The Fall of Wuhan.

Last time with Shanghai occupied and the former capital Nanjing equally lost with hundreds

of thousands of Chinese being slaughtered.

Chen Kai-shek, the nationalist leader, met with his generals and focused on protecting

his new military headquarters at Wuhan.

But in reality, as there was a lack of transportation, much of his civilian government could not get

further west to Chongqing, hence Wuhan became the de facto capital.

There was a rail line that connected Wuhan to Shuzhou to the northeast and the Japanese

were already preparing to take that city.

Chang's generals asked themselves and each other could Wuhan resist the Japanese?

No one knew the answer, of course, but the officers did agree that it was important to

keep their leader from micromanaging its defense.

The late January meeting ended with hope, laced with pessimistic reality.

As things now stood, the Japanese controlled Shanghai and Nanjing, the latter being only

some 250 kilometers or 155 miles southeast of Shuzhou, in the form of the Central China

Area Army or at CCAA.

Also as Shondong along the coast to the north had fallen, covered last time, another Japanese

army was roughly the same distance to the northeast of Shuzhou.

This being the forces of General Shishiro Itakaki, the chief of staff of the Kongtong Army and

his Imperial Japanese Army 5th Division.

Thus the way forward for them seemed obvious.

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