The majority of the campaign took place in regions and cities north, east and south of Xuzhou, and was characterized by seesaw battles and bloody stalemates.

[11] The campaign also saw the first major Chinese victory of the war at Taierzhuang, where warlord armies under the command of Li Zongren and Tang Enbo managed to defeat Japanese forces in fierce close quarters urban warfare.

[12] The campaign also served as a morale boost for the Chinese army and population, who approached the following defense of Wuhan with renewed confidence and determination.

[13] The end of the campaign saw the Chinese breach the dikes on the Yellow River, flooding a large amount of land to prevent the Japanese from advancing, resulting in massive casualties and property damage.

The two armies were to alongst the northern and southern ends of the JinPu railway, meet up in Xuzhou, and from there coordinate a pincer movement into the Chinese strongholds in the Central Yangtze valley, taking Jiujiang first and then Wuhan.

[15] Chinese preparations saw an initial core of 80,000 troops swell to 300,000, who were positioned along the JinPu and Longhai rail lines to draw in and overextend the Japanese attacks.

[13] This was in line with Baoding military academic Jiang Baili's grand strategy of "protracted warfare," where China was to wear down Japan over the long term.

Many of Jiang's students were commanders of the Chinese defense, including Chen Cheng, Bai Chongxi, Tang Shengzhi, and Xue Yue.

Due to pressure from Japanese forces, 64 Chinese divisions gathered around Xuzhou in Jiangsu, the headquarters of 5th Military Region of the National Revolutionary Army.

On February 9, the Japanese seized the city of Bengbu, granting them control of areas north of the Huai River 400 km northeast of Wuhan.

However, the Japanese advance was stalled by a large Chinese force near the Teng xian railway stop (today Tengzhou), some 75 miles north of Xuzhou.

However, the Sichuanese managed to hold their positions until mid-March, when they were finally overwhelmed by heavy artillery barrages and the sheer size of the Japanese force.

"[20] Three Japanese divisions under Gen. Itagaki Seishiro moved south to attack Taierzhuang, and were confronted by forces under the command of Li Zongren, Sun Lianzhong and Tang Enbo, whose units possessed artillery.

The split nature of the Chinese military, divided amongst warlord lines and mutual distrust, prevented logistics and army coordination from operating efficiently.

[24] In what was described as "one of the war's most skillful maneuvers," the Chinese managed to extricate some 200,000-300,000 troops in 40 divisions from the Japanese encirclement, moving quickly at night and hiding in wheat fields by day.

[26] Despite the successful breakout, the Chinese were faced with the prospect of losing Wuhan to the Japanese, who were advancing rapidly along the captured railway lines to only 40 km from Zhengzhou by May 1938.