Battle of Wuhan

The battle, also known as the Defense of Wuhan, lasted four and a half months from June 11 to October 27 in 1938, and was the longest, largest battle during the entire anti-Japanese war. Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, was the second largest city at the time and became the political, economic and military center after Japan captured Nanjing on December 13, 1937. The battle was one of the most significant during the war because it shattered the Japanese's pre-war hopes for a final showdown in Wuhan and to annihilate the main forces of the Chinese Army. According to Chinese statistics, casualties were extremely high with the Japanese army suffering nearly 257,000 dead and injured and about 400,000 on the Chinese side.