The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of TaiyuanJapanese Forces Battle of Taiyan September through November 1937
/ref> was a major battle fought in 1937 between China and Japan named for

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

(the capital of

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

province), which lay in the 2nd Military Region. The battle concluded in a victory for Japan over the

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...

(NRA), including part of

Suiyuan Suiyuan () is a ''de jure'' province of the Republic of China according to the ROC law, as the ROC government formally claims to be the legitimate government of China, with its capital located Guisui (now Hohhot). The abbreviation was (pinyi ...

, most of

and the NRA arsenal at Taiyuan, and effectively ended large-scale organized resistance in the

North China North China, or Huabei () is a List of regions of China, geographical region of China, consisting of the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Part of the larger region of Northern China (''Beifang''), it lies north ...

area. Japanese forces included the

Japanese Northern China Area Army The was an area army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. History The Japanese North China Area Army was formed on August 21, 1937 under the control of the Imperial General Headquarters. It was transferred to the ...

under

Hisaichi Terauchi Count was a '' Gensui'' (or field marshal) in the Imperial Japanese Army, commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group during World War II. Biography Early military career Terauchi was born in Tokyo Prefecture, and was the eldest son of ...

, elements of the

Kwantung Army ''Kantō-gun'' , image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG , image_size = 300px , caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo , dates = April ...

, and elements of the

Inner Mongolian Army The Inner Mongolian Army, also sometimes called the Mengjiang National Army, referred to the Inner Mongolian military units in service of Imperial Japan and its puppet state of Mengjiang during the Second Sino-Japanese War, particularly those led ...

led by

Demchugdongrub Demchugdongrub ( mn, , Demchigdonrob, Дэмчигдонров, translit=Demchigdonrov, , Chinese: 德穆楚克棟魯普, 8 February 1902– 23 May 1966), also known as Prince De ( zh, 德王), courtesy name Xixian ( zh, 希賢), was a Qing ...

. Chinese forces were commanded by

Yan Xishan Yan Xishan (; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960, ) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in ...

(warlord of Shanxi),

Wei Lihuang Wei Lihuang () (16 February 1897 – 17 January 1960) was a Chinese general who served the Nationalist government throughout the Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War as one of China's most successful military commanders. First joinin ...

(14th Army Group), and

Fu Zuoyi Fu Zuoyi () (June 2, 1895 − April 19, 1974) was a Chinese military leader. He began his military career in the service of Yan Xishan, and he was widely praised for his defense of Suiyuan from the Japanese. During the final stages of the Chines ...

(7th Army Group), as well as

Zhu De Zhu De (; ; also Chu Teh; 1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party. Born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan, he was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...

who led the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese ...

of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

(under the

Second United Front The Second United Front ( zh, t=第二次國共合作 , s=第二次国共合作 , first=t ) was the alliance between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to resist the Japanese invasion of China during the Seco ...

alliance). Occupation of the territories gave the Japanese access to coal from

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 cens ...

in northern Shanxi, but also exposed them to attacks by the guerrilla forces of the Nationalist army including the

, tying down many Japanese troops which could have been diverted to other campaigns.

Chronology

In September 1937,

Hideki Tojo Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...

sent the Japanese army stationed in Chahar to invade

in order to exploit its resources. The city of

fell, and the

NRA The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...

was forced to go on the defensive, and concentrated their troops along the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against Eurasian noma ...

in battles at places like

Pingxingguan Pingxing Pass () is a mountain pass in the Shanxi Province of China. There is a section of the Great Wall of China there. The Battle of Pingxingguan was fought here between the National Revolutionary Army's 8th Route Army of the Republic of Ch ...

and to the east at

Niangziguan Niangzi Pass (), also called the Ladies' Pass, is a mountain pass west of Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province in North China. One of the major passages from Shanxi Province to Hebei Province across the Taihang Mountains, it is west of Sh ...

. On September 21, 1937, Major Hiroshi Miwa, commander of the 1st Daitai, 16th Hiko Rentai of the IJAAF, who was a former-hired military flight instructor for Marshall Chang's Fengtian army air corps and well known in the Chinese military aviation circles of the time, led 7

Kawasaki Ki-10 The was the last biplane fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army, entering service in 1935. Built by Kawasaki Kōkūki Kōgyō K.K. for the Imperial Japanese Army, it saw combat service in Manchukuo and in North China during the early stage ...

fighters on an escort mission for 14

Mitsubishi Ki-2 The was a light bomber built by Mitsubishi for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) in the 1930s. Its Allies of World War II, Allied World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, nickname was "Louise". Despite its antiquated appeara ...

bombers to attack the city of

, encountered

Chinese Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an Air force, aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular army, regular ...

V-65C Corsairs and Curtiss Hawk IIs, shooting down several, however Major Miwa himself was shot down and killed over Taiyuan in a duel with Captain Chan Kee-Wong, commander of the 28th PS, 5th PG whilst flying a Curtiss Hawk II.

also sent troops to reinforce

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...

, but that caused a lack of personnel to defend the

area, allowing the Japanese army to break through in the north forcing the Chinese to fall back to a new line at Xinkou. Fighting continued in October in the

Battle of Xinkou The Battle of Xinkou () was a decisive engagement of the Taiyuan Campaign, the second of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Prelude After battles at Na ...

until the Japanese outflanked Niangziguan in late October, compromising the Chinese defense resulting in the fall of Taiyuan.

Sources

* Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) 2nd Ed., 1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China. Pg. 195–200, Map 6

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taiyuan

1937 in China 1937 in Japan Taiyuan 1937 Taiyuan 1937 Taiyuan, Battle of Mengjiang September 1937 events October 1937 events November 1937 events

Chronology

See also

Sources

References