In 1937, though still not completely trained and fully equipped with German weapons, the 88th Division under the command of Sun Yuanliang was rushed to the Second Battle of Shanghai alongside the other German-trained divisions. The elite, German-trained division performed admirably, pushing the Japanese marines back to the very shores of Shanghai. While the Chinese Air Force provided much air-interdiction and close-air support , pressing demands for air force units in the northern front at the Battle of Taiyuan and southern front at Guangzhou, plus heavy attrition in the Shanghai-Nanjing theater of operations eventually overwhelmed the Chinese Air Force units, the eventual absence of air and naval support, poor coordination between units, and the lack of defence in depth, resulted in the division suffering heavy casualties towards the end of the three-month battle. On 25 December 1937, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek ordered the division withdrawn to join the ill-fated Battle of Nanjing. This led to portions of the 524th Regiment remaining at the Sihang Warehouse for several days, where they successfully covered the retreat of the division while beating back numerous Japanese assaults on the warehouse.