Battle of Taiyuan

The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan () was a major battle fought between China and Japan named for Taiyuan (the capital of Shanxi province), which lay in the 2nd Military Region. This battle concluded in loss for the NRA, including part of Suiyuan, most of Shanxi and their most modern arsenal at Taiyuan and effectively ended large-scale regular resistance in the North China area.

With these territories occupied, the Japanese obtained the coal supply in nearby Datong, but it also exposed them to attacks by the guerrilla 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.

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 battles at places like Pingxingguan and to the east at in Niangziguan.

Yan Xishan also sent troops to reinforce Shijiazhuang, but that caused a lack of personnel to defend the North China 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 until the Japanese outflanked Niangziguan in late October, compromising the Chinese defense resulting in the fall of Taiyuan.

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