In March 1938 , Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by Japanese in May . In June 1938 , Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding the Yellow River ; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , but the city was taken by October . Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve ; instead the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war
flooding the Yellow River
1938 Yellow River flood
World War II