   the battle of nanking was an engagement fought in early december 1937 between the national revolutionary army of china and the imperial japanese army during the second sino-japanese war for control of the city of nanking, the capital of republic of china. following the outbreak of war between japan and china in 1937 the japanese government had at first kept strong limits on the area of fighting and sought a negotiated settlement to the war, but following the battle of shanghai expansionists within the japanese military won the day and on december 1 the campaign to capture nanking was officially authorized. the task of occupying nanking was given to general iwane matsui, the commander of japan's central china area army, who believed that the capture of nanking would force china to surrender and thus end the war. chinese leader chiang kai-shek ultimately decided to defend the city and appointed tang shengzhi to command the nanking defense force, a hastily assembled army of local conscripts and the remnants of the chinese units who had fought in the battle of shanghai. japanese soldiers marched from shanghai to nanking at a breakneck pace, rapidly defeating pockets of chinese resistance, and by december 9 they had reached the last line of defense, the fukuo line, behind which lay the fortified walls of the city of nanking. on december 10 matsui ordered an all-out attack on nanking, and after less than two days of intense fighting
1937_in_China 1937_in_Japan Battles_of_the_Second_Sino-Japanese_War Conflicts_in_1937 History_of_Nanjing