Battle of Taiyuan

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Battle of Taiyuan

Date	September 1, 1937 - November 9, 1937
Location	Taiyuan, North China Plain
Result	Significant territorial and resource gains for Japan; Fall of Taiyuan, End of regular resistance in surrounding areas

Combatants

Image:Flag of the Republic of China.svg Republic of China, 2nd Military Region

Image:Flag of Japan - variant.svg Empire of Japan, North China Area Army

Commanders

Yan Xishan, Wei Lihuang, Zhu De, Fu Zuoyi

Isogai Rensuke, Itagaki Seishiro

Strength

6 Army Groups, ~580,000 men

5 divisions, ~140,000 men

Casualties

about 100,000

near 30,000

v • d • e

Second Sino-Japanese

War

Major engagements in bold
Before Second Sino-Japanese War
Mukden - Manchuria - (Jiangqiao - Nenjiang Bridge - Chinchow - Harbin) - Shanghai (1932) - Pacification of Manchukuo - Rehe - Great Wall - Inner Mongolia - (Suiyuan)
Began in 1937-1939
Marco Polo Bridge - Beiping-Tianjin - Chahar - Shanghai (1937) (Sihang Warehouse) - Beiping-Hankou Railway - Tianjin-Pukou Railway - Taiyuan - (Pingxingguan) - Xinkou - Nanjing - Xuzhou - Taierzhuang - N.-E.Henan - (Lanfeng) - Amoy - Chongqing - Wuhan - (Wanjialing) - Canton - (Hainan) - Nanchang - (Xiushui River) - Suixian-Zaoyang - (Swatow) - 1st Changsha - S.Guangxi - (Kunlun Pass) - Winter Offensive - (Wuyuan)
Began in 1940-1942
Zaoyang-Yichang - Hundred Regiments - Vietnam - C. Hupei - S.Henan - W. Hopei - Shanggao - S.Shanxi - 2nd Changsha - 3rd Changsha - Yunnan-Burma Road - (Toungoo) - (Yenangyaung) - Zhejiang-Jiangxi - Sichuan Invasion
Began in 1943-1945
W.Hubei - N.Burma-W.Yunnan - Changde - C.Henan - 4th Changsha - Guilin-Liuzhou - W.Henan-N.Hubei - W.Hunan - 2nd Guangxi - Operation August Storm

The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan (traditional Chinese: 太原會戰; Hanyu Pinyin: Tàiyuán Huìzhàn; Wade-Giles: T'ai-yüan Hui-tsan) was a major battle fought between China and Japan near Taiyuan (the capital of Shanxi province), which lies in the 2nd Military Region. This battle concluded in loss for the NRA, including their most modern arsenal at Taiyuan and effectively ended large-scale regular resistance in the North China Plain area. With these territories occupied, the Japanese obtained the coal supply in nearby Datong, but it also exposed them to attacks by the guerilla forces of the Nationalist army including the Eighth Route Army, tying down a large number of Japanese troops which could have been diverted to other campaigns.

[edit] Chronology

In September 1937, Hideki Tojo sent the Japanese army stationed in Chahar to invade Shanxi in order to exploit its resources. The city of Datong fell, and the NRA was forced to go on the defensive, and concentrated their troops along the Great Wall, in Niangziguan and Pingxingguan. Yan Xishan also sent troops to reinforce Shijiangzhuang, but that caused a lack of personnel to defend the North China Plain area, allowing the Japanese army to break through in early October. Fighting continued intermittently until November.