 He was at the Battle of Xuzhou, crossing the Yellow River and overrunning Shandong until 30 April 1938.Shortly after the defeat his army suffered in the Battle of Taierzhuang, he was replaced and returned to Tokyo to be Inspector-General of Military Training.Promoted to general on 1 August 1939, Nishio returned to China again to take command of the Thirteenth Army on 12 September for a month and then took command of all the forces in China as Commander in Chief of the China Expeditionary Army on 22 September.