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

203, Shanghai, the dominance of Japanese air and sea power.

Last time, the Japanese expeditionary force, head successfully, landed to the northwest

of Shanghai Center. General Zhang, Chang Kai-shek's commander on the scene, had plenty of men,

with more coming, but the fighting quality of those troops was not sufficient to repel

the amphibious landings. By sunrise of August 23rd, the Japanese

Third and 11th Infantry Divisions were well entrenched and widened their holds. As such,

they were now the larger threat, as opposed to the enemy Marines stationed within the main

harbor. To get a better idea of what was before him, General Zhang, come and dear to a bicycle

from one of his privates and rode to the Jiawan in north central Shanghai. He was now closer

to the Japanese 11th Division's position and hoped to use his proximity to glean a

more accurate picture. And now that he knew of the second enemy landing at Wu-Sung,

located to the southeast of Shuan Sha-Kou by some six miles or 9.5 kilometers, where

Chang was focused on, the general deduced that the town of Lao-Dian with its vital roads

that connected it to the rail lines in between the two landings, but a bit to the west, had

to be their next target. As such, his 11th Infantry, which had just arrived on the scene, was

ordered to make for that small town. But what the 11th's advanced unit would find was that

the Japanese 11th had already sent its own small detachment to the area and had taken it

without a shot fired. Though it was the afternoon and the Chinese troops were tired,

Chang's men launched their own counterattack and retook the town center within an hour.

Once again, the roads to the west and south of Lu-Liang were in safe hands. However, a large

counter-attacking Japanese force, supported by tanks, was soon en route. When the German

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