Taiyuan Campaign

Taiyuan Campaign was a campaign fought between the s and s for the control of Taiyuan, the provincial capital of Shanxi province during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era, and resulted in the communist victory.

Prelude

After the end of the Central Shanxi Campaign, the majority of the province had fallen into the hands, and the nationalists were left with only two cities in entire Shanxi: Taiyuan, the provincial capital, and Datong. In order to completely annihilate their nationalist opponents and take control of the entire province, the communists decided to launch the Taiyuan Campaign by in mid October 1948. The communist commander Xu Xiangqian was put in charge, facing his adversary Yan Xishan, his nationalist counterpart who had just suffered a humiliating defeat in the hands of Xu Xiangqian in the Central Shanxi Campaign, but this time, Yan was determined to put a good fight to the end and repeatedly claimed in public that he would die with the city of Taiyuan. Yan Xishan was right in that the communists under the command of Xu Xiangqian had a tough time in taking the city. The communists began to mass their troops in places including Qingyuan , Taigu and Yuci for the preparation of the attack on the provincial capital.

Order of battle

First Stage:
*Nationalists: 6 Armies totaling 20 s
**14 infantry divisions
**3 Columns
**3 Specialized Divisions
*Communists:
**Units of 7th Column
**Units of 8th Column
**Units of 13th Column
**Units of 15th Column
Second Stage:
*Nationalists: 2 Corps totaling 6 armies
**X Corps
**XV Corps
*Communists:
**Units of XVIII Corps
**Units of XIX Corps
**Units of XX Corps
**Units of the 7th Army
**Units of the 1st Artillery Division of the Fourth
**Units of the 3rd Artillery Division of the communist North China Military Region

Strategy

The nationalist defenders had some significant advantages in terms of geography: the rugged mountainous terrain strongly favored the defenders and prevented large numbers of attackers from being effectively deployed. When the attackers were forced to reduced their numbers, they were furthered confronted by a large numbers of complexes of fortifications and bunkers. The nationalist defense parameter bordered by the Yellow Camp and Zhou Family's Mountain in the north, Wuxiu and the Town of Little Hotel in the south, Rocky Thousand Peak in the west, and Han Mountain in the east. Within in this defense parameter, there were more than 5,000 large bunkers outside the city wall alone, and additionally, important positions such as regions of Ox and Camel Camp , Lesser Yaodong Head , Mountain Peak , and Zhuo Ma to the east of the city, the Twin Pagoda Temple to the southeast of the city, and Crouching Tiger Mountain to the northeast of the city were all fortified as bunker complexes. The nationalist 30th Army was airlifted from Xi'an to Taiyuan to further strengthen the urban defense, while the total nationalist artillery pieces gathered for the defense of the city was more than six hundred.

The defenders of Taiyuan itself first divided the city into four sectors, the eastern, western, northern and southern sectors, but this was soon further split into five when the eastern sector was further divided into northeastern and southeastern sectors. A total of eleven divisions were tasked to defend these five defensive sectors while another six divisions were used as mobile strike force. The rest three divisions were used as reserves. To counter the nationalist defense, on September 28, 1948, Xu Xiangqian decided the communist strategy of gradually annihilating the defenders in the outskirt of the city, hopefully when they were out of their fortifications, and then to take the city. The first step was to breach the nationalist defense from southeast and northwest, and preventing the use of the two airports by artillery bombardment. The second step would be taking the nationalist strongholds of Mountain Peak , Zhuo Ma , the Twin Pagoda Temple and others, and the last step was to take the city from northeast and southeast.

First Stage

In order to strengthen the defense of Taiyuan, Yan Xishan had to take as much food and able-bodies recruits as possible from the rural area, so on October 2, 1948, he sent out seven nationalist divisions to do so, and these divisions pushed southward in the region between the Fen River in the east and Tianjin-Pukou Railway in the west. By the next day, the nationalist 44th Division, 45th Division and units of the nationalist 72nd Division reached the region of the town around Little Hotel and the Village of Southwestern Shore while the nationalist 40th Division, 49th Division, and the 73rd Division reached the region of Autumn Village and Western Warm Village , and the nationalist 66th Division and the 69th Division reached the region of Red Temple . The communists decided to take this great opportunity of striking the enemy out in the open when they came out of their fortifications by launching Taiyuan Campaign ahead of the original planned schedule.

At the dawn of October 5, 1948, the communist 7th Column crossed the Fen River at Qingyuan , and struck eastward to the region north of the town of Little Hotel . In conjunction with the communist 7th Column striking eastward strike, the communist 15th Column struck westward to the north of Wuxiu Airport from Tai Gu and Yu Ci, , thus cutting off the escape route of the nationalist forces at Wuxiu Airport and Little Hotel region to Taiyuan. The communist 8th Column and 13th Column besieged the nationalist forces that had just took regions of Little Hotel and Southern Black Yaodong, . By the early morning of October 6, 1948, the nationalist 44th Division and 45th Division were completely annihilated, while the nationalist 49th Division and 72nd Division were badly mauled. Riding on these successes, the communist took Wuxiu Airport and approached the nationalist positions at Eastern Mountain from its southern flank. In accordance with the communist offensive in the Little Hotel region, communist 7th Column launched its own offensive against nationalists positions at the Phoenix Pavilion Ridge to the north of the city, annihilating a regiment of the nationalist 68th Division and a battalion of the nationalist 39th Division, and shelled the New Urban Airport to the north of the city. After eleven days of fierce battle, three nationalist divisions were badly mauled, suffering over 12,000 casualties, and the enemy was at the first defensive line of the city. Both sides took a brief break for regrouping.

On October 16, 1948, units of the communist 7th Column, 8th Column, 13th Column, and 15th Column attacked nationalists positions at Eastern Mountain simultaneously from both the south and the north. By October 19, 1948, nationalist stronghold at Eastern Mountain including positions at Black Camel , Stone Person Ridge , Greater Yaodong Head, , Greater and Lesser Northern Point , Elm Grove Level Ground , Meng's Family's Well , and Ox and Camel Camp . The defenders of the main peak of the Eastern Mountain , Mt. Rear , consisted of a regiment, was forced to surrender. Yan Xishan deployed the nationalist 30th Army and the 10th Column consisted of former Japanese troops to launch continuous counterattacks on the communist 7th Column under the artillery coverage, which averaged over 10,000 per day on a position that was merely three hundred square meters. After three days of fierce fighting and suffering extreme heavy casualties, the nationalists were finally able to dislodge the enemy and take back the position. However, the enemy would not give up so easily and was determined to take the position. By October 26, 1948, the communists readjusted their tactics and deployed units of the communist 7th Column, 8th Column, 13th Column, and 15th Column to once again take nationalist positions at Ox and Camel Camp , Lesser Yaodong Head , Mountain Peak , and Zhuo Ma . With air support, the defenders attempted to counterattack but without success, and even with the deployment of gas attack and incendiary rounds, the enemy was able to have the newly gained positions firmly in their hands.

After fierce battles of nineteen days, by November 13, 1948, all four nationalist stronghold at Eastern Mountain had been taken and the in addition to the 22,000+ casualties suffered, the defenders also lost an entire division when the nationalist 8th Column defected to the communist side. Meanwhile, units from the communist Central Shanxi Military Region also the town of Green Dragon to the north of the city, the Temple of Xu to the south of the city, and the South-North Dyke on the western bank of Fen River, thus further isolated the defenders by strengthening the siege. The nationalist commander of the 30th Army, Huang Jiaosong , was disillusioned with the nationalist regime and decided to defect, and the communists sent liaison officers into the city to help. However, the conspirators were sold out by one of Huang's subordinates, a divisional commander named Dai Bingnan and everyone involved were arrested. Based on the letters captured, Yan Xishan erroneously believed that the lead communist liaison officer, Jin Fu was Hu Yaobang, and eventually sent all of the captured conspirators to Chiang Kai-shek, who had all of them executed after failing to obtain any information from them. However, nationalists had committed a serious blunder that would cost them dearly for the rest of the Chinese Civil War: Commander Dai Bingnan was paid in huge amount of gold for his action but he was not allowed to be evacuated when the fall of the city was imminent. After the fall of the city, Dai Bingnan attempted to hide under a table in a house and carried the gold on him, but of course he was captured by the communists. After the much publicized propaganda of his capture and a humiliating public trail, Dai Bingnan was executed in public. The nationalist failure to save lives of informers such as Dai Bingnan had greatly alienated those within the nationalist own rank, and since then, most showed their objection to defection by either not joining in or leaving the defecting nationalist units, instead of revealing the conspirators. The idea to leave those informers behind was that since they had no way out, they would fight to the death in the face of communist attack, but this idea rumored to be approved by Chiang had backfired seriously, as proven later in many other similar incidents in the rest of the Chinese Civil War.

After the end of Liaoshen Campaign, the nationalist force in North China headed by Fu Zuoyi became almost exposed and isolated. The communists feared that if the city of Taiyuan was taken too early which would lead to the complete exposure isolation of the nationalist force in North China, the nationalists would withdraw and avoid annihilation. Furthermore, if the nationalist force in North China was redeployed elsewhere in China, the communists would have great difficulties later on. As a result, a decision was made to temporarily stop the offensive on the city to finish Pingjin Campaign first, and then take Taiyuan afterward. While the order was given on November 16, 1948 to stop the assault on the city itself, preparation was also done to further isolate the city. The I Corps of the communist North China Military Region acted accordingly by taking nationalist strongholds to the north of the city, including the Village of Su , Yangqu , the Orchid Village , and nationalist strongholds to the south of the city, including Huaqitou , Zhao Family's Village , Qi's Ditch , and nationalist stronghold to the east of the city, the Pine Tree Slope . While the defenders were forced into a region of 15 km centered at the city, the communists stopped their offensives and launched another round of psychological warfare by stepping up the political pressure and sending the relatives of the defenders to the front to ask the defenders to surrender. As a result, from December 1, 1948 thru March, 1949, over 12,000 defenders defected to the communists.

Second Stage

After the end of Pingjin Campaign, the I Corps, II Corps, and III Corps of the communist North China Military Region were renamed as the XVIII Corps, XIX Corps, and XX Corps respectively, while the 7th Column of the communist Northwestern was renamed as the 7th Army of the First Field Army. In March, 1949, the communist XIX Corps, XX Corps, an artillery division of the Fourth Field Army and another artillery division of the communist North China Military Region were sent to Taiyuan to assist the communist XIX Corps in taking the city. On March 17, 1949, the communists formed the Taiyuan Frontline Command headed by Xu Xiangqian to coordinated the upcoming attack on the city, and Xu was further assisted by Peng Dehuai when he joined the Xu on March 28, 1949. The total communist force totaled more than 320,000, achieving absolute numerical superiority. However, the communists soon realized that due to the mountainous terrain of Taiyuan that strongly favored the defenders, the increased number of communist troops only provided excellent target practice for the defenders of the city because the harsh terrain had prevented large number of attacking force from being deployed in great numbers. In order to avoid wasteful casualties, the communists were forced to reduce their attacking force back to the original level of 100,000 troops in the first stage of the Taiyuan Campaign while rest was deployed as reserves. However, the newly boosted force did provide a welcome relief for communist veterans of the first stage of the campaign, and they were replaced by the fresh communist forces newly arrived.

In the first stage of Taiyuan Campaign, Yan Xishan had lost over 40,000 troops, but he was able to rapidly replace the loss with large scale drafting, and decided to fight the communists to proclaiming that he would die with the city. The nationalist 83rd Division was airlifted from Yulin, Shaanxi to Taiyuan, and the nationalist force defending the city totaled more than 70,000 troops in six armies, which was reorganized into two corpses: the nationalist X Corps and the nationalist XV Corps. A total of twelve divisions were deployed in nationalist strongholds outside the city wall and two divisions were deployed within the city, while the rest of the division served as mobil strike force. However, Yan Xishan was well aware the end was near and he was by no means of having any confidience in the defense of the city and his public proclamation was nothing other than morale boosting only showpiece. On February 5, 1949, Yan Xishan betrayed his promise of dying with the city by fleeing the city via air, and left his trusted lietanents, Sun Chu , the commander of the nationalist X Corps and Wang Jingguo , the commander of the nationalist XV Corps as the and the deputy of the urban defense of Taiyuan. On March 31, 1949, the communist Frontline Command of Taiyuan decided to take good positions that could be used to assault the city by first continuously isolating and annihilating defenders in nationalist strongholds outside the city wall, and then taking the city by concentrating available forces. Units of the communist XX Corps and a division from the communist 7th Army would attack the defenders in the nationalist stronghold to the north of the city from northeast and northwest, and other divisions of the communist 7th Army and units of the communist XVIII Corps would attack the city from the east, and units of the communist XIX Corps would attack the city from south and southwest, while the communist XX Corps would attack the city from northeast and southeast. The 1st Artillery Division of the Fourth and the 3rd Artillery Division of the communist North China Military Region would be under the direct command of the communist Taiyuan Frontline Command, while the 4th Artillery Division of the communist North China Military Region would be attached to the communist XIX Corps and XX Corps.

On April 20, 1949, a general assault was launched and with strong artillery support, nationalist strongholds including New City , Crown Price's Head to the north of the city, Northern Fen River Bridge , Greater King's Village , Lesser King's Village to the southwest of the city, Village of Di and Old Soldiers’ Camp to the south of the city, Hao Family's Ditch and Scissors Bay to the east of the city. By April 22, 1949, the last nationalist stronghold outside the city wall had fallen into the enemy hands and the communists had completely annihilated four nationalist armies garrisoning these strongholds. The communist success meant that two critical locations, the two highest points, the Twin Pagoda Temple and Crouching Tiger Mountain were controlled by the attacking enemy. On April 22, the communists asked the surviving nationalist defenders of the city to surrender in order to minimize the destruction of the city, but their request was refused. In the early morning of April 24, 1949, after shelling the city with over 1,300 artilleries, the final assault on the city begun. The communist XX Corps first breached the city defense at the city wall to the east of the Lesser Northern Gate , and the communist XVIII Corps and XIX Corps soon breached the city defense elsewhere, and fierce street fights broke out within the city. By 9:00 a.m., the nationalist headquarter had fallen and the nationalist commander-in-chief Sun Chu and his deputy Wang Jingguo were both captured alive along with their Japanese advisory group headed by Nakamura and Iwata by the attacking communists. By 10:00 a.m., the fighting ended and the campaign concluded with the communist victory.

Outcome

The nationalist defeat in Taiyuan Campaign cost the nationalists over 135,000 troops and the most immediate result of the campaign was that the nationalist garrison at Datong totaling more than 10,000 realized that it was all over after witnessing the nationalist defeat in Taiyuan, and surrendered to the communists without a fight. Communist victory cost them 15,000 troops and it had not only completely ended the 38-year old reign of Yan Xishan in Shanxi, but also effectively ended the nationalist reign of Shanxi.

Shangdang Campaign

The Shangdang Campaign was a series battles fought between the Communist force under the leadership of Liu Bocheng and the nationalist Yan Xishan’s Kuomintang force from September 10, 1945 through October 12, 1945. Like all other communist victories in the clashes immediately after Japanese's surrender in World War II. The outcome of this campaign altered the course of the peace negotiation held in Chongqing from August 28, 1945 through October 11, 1945, resulting in Mao Zedong's favor instead of Chiang Kai-shek.

Prelude

After the end of World War II, the conflict between the communist and Kuomintang intensified and surfaced. Under the direction of Chiang Kai-shek, the commander-in-chief of the second war zone Yan Xishan ordered the commander of the 19th Shi Zebo to lead the 19th , part of the 61st and other units totaled more than 17,000 to invade the communist base in the Shangdang region of southeastern Shanxi in the mid August, 1945. Three nationalist divisions were stationed in the largest city of the region, Changzhi, while the rest stationed in the following cities/towns: Xiangyuan , Changzi , Tunliu , Lucheng, Huguang and other counties, and from these newly established bases, the nationalists planned to take the entire southeastern Shanxi region from the communists. The communists were not to let that happen and mobilized 31,000 troops from the Taihang , Taiyue , and Southern Hebei military districts to prepare for the upcoming battles.
The communist commander Liu Bocheng was helped by his political commissar Deng Xiaoping, who was great in political motivation. Many communist troops worried about the safety of Mao Zedong, who was in Chongqing negotiating a peace treaty with Chiang Kai-shek. Deng Xiaoping told his soldiers that the greater the victory for the upcoming battle, the safer Mao Zedong would be, and the strong the position communists would have gained on the negotiation table. Deng’s bet was correct. In addition to political motivations, the communists also mobilized an additional 50,000 militia to help the logistics and to fill the vacancies left behind by the regular troops who went off fighting.

First Stage

The campaign officially started on September 10, 1945 when the first shot of the first battle was fired. The communist Taihang column first attacked Tunliu , while Taiyue and Southern Hebei prepared for an ambush. One next day, more than 6,000 nationalist troops from Changzhi, but the nationalist commander was extremely careful and once the contact with the communist force was made, the nationalist force immediately withdrew back to Changzhi. Although the communist ambush failed, but they did achieve in taking Tunliu on September 12, 1945. On September 13, 1945, the communist played the same trick again, with the Taihang attacking Changzi , while Taiyue and Southern Hebei prepared for another ambush. However, the nationalist commander Shi Zebo would not fall for the communists’ trick and did not sent out anymore reinforcement from Changzhi.
Realizing that their original plan would not work out, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping promptly changed their strategy from decimating the nationalist force to retake the lost regions, and consequently took the Xiangyuan , Changzi , Tunliu , Lucheng, Huguang and other counties by September 19, 1945, annihilating more than 7,000 nationalist troops in the process. The next day, communist force attacked garrisons outside Changzhi city from the south, east and west. The communists planned to let the nationalists escape to the north and ambush them on the way. Again, the communist plan failed to materialize when nationalist commander Shi Zebo at Changzhi would not fall for the communists’ trick and decided to hold out. When the attack on the city started on September 24, 1945, the communists failed to take the city due to the technical superiority of the nationalist defenders, and a stalemate was reached.

Second stage

After Yan Xishan learned the emergency his commander Shi Zebo at Changzhi had, he sent out reinforcement lead by the deputy commander-in-chief of the 2nd Army Group, Peng Yubin , who led the 23rd , the 83rd Army and other divisions totalling more than 20,000. Learning the news on September 28, 1945, the communists planned an ambush in the area between Tunliu and Xianghuan by leaving the Southern Hebei and local militia attacking Changzhi, while redeploying Taihang and Taiyue columns to the north.

On October 2, 1945, the nationalist reinforcement clashed with the waiting communist forces at a region northwest of Tunliu called the Ditch of the Wang's Family . After the initial battle, the nationalist reinforcement was besieged at regions along Old Master's Ridge , Nether Millstone Brain , and Elm Grove line. However, when the nationalists were suppressed into small regions, it turned out to be an advantage for them because communications became much more efficient due to shorter distance, and the nationalists were able to concentrate their superior firepower and utilize their technical superiority to the maximum by inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking communist force. The communists were forced to redeploy the Southern Hebei Column for reinforcement, leaving only the local militia attacking Changzhi. The communists also changed their tactic by attacking from 3 sides, leaving the north side open so that the enemy would escape to the north and thus be ambushed on the way. The tactic worked and on October 5, 1945, Peng Yubin escaped to the north exactly as the communists had hoped. His force was soon defeated, and Peng Yubin himself was killed at Siting by the waiting communist Taiyue column.

Third Phase

Learning his reinforcements were annihilated, the nationalist commander Shi Zebo at Changzhi planned to breakout to west on October 8, 1945 under the cover of darkness, hoping to reach Linfen. Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping immediately ordered Taiyue to move to Horse Wall from Siting to intercept the fleeing enemy. On October 12, 1945, the communist force caught up with the fleeing nationalist force at General’s Ridge and Peach River regions, decimating the demoralized enemy, capturing the nationalist commander Shi Zebo alive.

Conclusion

The Shangdang Campaign cost the Kuomintang 13 totaled more than 35,000 troops, with more than 31,000 out of the 35,000 being captured alive by the communists, including the commander, while the communists suffered more than 4,000 casualties. In addition to decimating the numerically and technically superior nationalist force with relatively light casualties, the communist force also obtained an important supply of weapons its force desperately needed by capturing 24 mountain guns, more than 2,000 machine guns, and more than 16,000 rifles, submachine guns, and handguns from its enemy.
The campaign had an additional importance to the communists in that it was the first campaign in which the communist force engaged in the regular mobile warfare and succeeded, marking the transition from the guerrilla warfare commonly practiced by the communists.

On the political front, the campaign was a great boost for the communist on the negotiation table at the peace talk in Chongqing just like other communist victories on the battlefield, and Kuomintang suffered accordingly, losing its bargaining chips and losing face in the public, which strongly urged the Kuomintang to produce results for the peace talk.

Order of battle Battle of South Shanxi

Chinese

1st War Area - Wei Li-huang
5th Army Group - Tseng Wan-chung
*3rd Corps - Tang Huai-yuan
**7th Division
**12th Division
*80th Corps - Kung Ling-hsun
**165th Division
**New 27th Division
*34th Division - Kung Ping-fan
14th Army Group - Liu Mao-en
*15th Corps - Wu Ting-lin
**64th Division
**65th Division
*98th Corps - Wu Shih-ming
**42nd Division
**169th Division
9th Corps - Pei Chang-hui
*47th Division
*54th Division
*New 24th Division
17th Corps - Kao Kuei-tze
*84th Division
*New 2nd Division
43rd Corps - Chao Shih-ling *
*70th Division
*New 47th Division
14th Corps - Chen Tieh
*85th Division
*94th Division
93rd Corps - Liu Kan
*10th Division

27th Corps -?
*?

Notes:

43rd Corps was formerly with 2nd War Area.

Sources:
* Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung , Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China.

Japanese

North China Front Army - Major General Hayao Tada
35th Division - Lt. Gen. Kumakichi Harada
21st Division - Lt. Gen. Hisakazu Tanaka
33rd Division - Lt. Gen. Shozo Sakurai
4th Cavalry Brigade - ?
1st Army - Lt. Gen. Yoshio Shinozuka
*36th Division - Iseki Mitsuru
*37th Division - Adachi Hatazo
*41st Division - Shimizu Noritsune
*9th Independent Mixed Brigade - Major General Kenkichi Ikenoue
*16th Independent Mixed Brigade - Major General Heiji Wakamatsu

Airforces:

1st Hikodan
90th Sentai
*Kawasaki Ki-48
*Mitsubishi Ki-30
10th I F Chutai
*Nakajima Ki-27
1 Reconnaissance Chutai / 15th Sentai

3rd Hikodan
32nd Sentai
*Light bomber unit.
44th Sentai
**Mitsubishi Ki-51
83rd Sentai
**Reconnaissance unit

Notes:
During the Chungyuan Operation the 1st at Ani airfield supported the ground operations of the 1st Army, while the 3rd Hikodan supported the operations of the 21st and 35th Divisions.

Sources:
* Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung , Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China.

* Sino-Japanese Air War 1937 – 1945
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/sino-japanese.htm

Nanshan Colliery disaster

On November 13 2006 there was a large and fatal gas explosion at the Nanshan Colliery in Lingshi County, Jinzhong , Shanxi Province, China. Twenty-four people were killed. The mine was operating without any safety licence as its original had expired. While no official cause has emerged, the news agency claims the explosion was triggered by incorrect usage of explosives.

Luliang Campaign

Lüliang Campaign , also called Southwestern Shanxi Campaign , was a series of battles fought between the s and the communists in Lüliang region in southwestern Shanxi during the Chinese Civil War in the post War World II era, and resulted in the communist victory.

Prelude

In early November 1946, Hu Zongnan, the of the 1st War Zone in an attempt to concentrate force to attack the communist capital Yan'an, redeployed two reorganized s Shaanxi from southern Shanxi. Only two s were left for the local defense of southern Shanxi, and in Lüliang region with a total of ten counties, there was only one regiment of the 2nd War Zone, assisted by local security brigades totaling ten thousand. The communists decided to take this opportunity by taking the region and annihilating the garrison in the process.

Order of battle

Defenders: order of battle:
*4 s
*Local Security Brigades
Attackers: communist order of battle:
*The 4th Column of the communist Shanxi – Henan – Hebei – Shandong Military District
*The 2nd Column of the communist Shanxi – Suiyuan Military District
*8 regiments of the communist Taiyue Military District, including the 24th Brigade

Campaign

On November 22, 1946 the campaign begun as the communist unleashed their attacks. After a series of battles, the communists succeeded in taking strongholds including Daning , Forever Peace , Pu County, Stone Building , and heavily fortified towns Xi County and Middle Sun . Majority of the local garrison totaling more than five thousand were captured alive by the enemy, including the of the western Shanxi region of the 2nd War Zone, Yang Dengyuan , while the rest were killed. The rapid success of communist meant that a vast region bordered by the Yellow River in the west, the Datong – Pukou Railway in the east, Middle Sun in the north and the Ji County in the south had fallen into the enemy hands by December 12, 1946, and the rear of the units planned to attack Yan'an was gravely exposed, and thus seriously threatened by the enemy. The two reorganized s deployed from southern Shanxi to Shaanxi to attack Yan'an were forced to abandon their original objective and redeployed back to southern Shanxi, and Hu Zongnan was also forced to order another two s to attack Daning and Pu County from Linfen and Ji County in an attempt to retake the territory lost to the enemy.

Facing the counteroffensive, the communists formed a new command to better control all of the communist units in Lüliang region, and the three-men committee was consisted of Chen Geng , the and Xie Fuzhi, the political commissar of the 4th Column of the communist Shanxi – Henan – Hebei – Shandong Military District, and Wang Zhen, the of the 2nd Column of the communist Shanxi – Suiyuan Military District. The communists of the 4th Column decided to maximize the terrain advantage in their next move, since the local landscape was a great obstacle for deploying mechanized force for fast mobile warfare which the s were good at. The communists planned to lure the enemy deeper into the hostile terrain and annihilate enemy one small portion at a time, and one communist brigade was sent out to penetrate deep behind the enemy line, successfully severed the supply line. Meanwhile, eight regiments of the communist Taiyue Military District took Yuanqu and Flank City in a coordinated attack. Being attacked by the enemy from the front and rear, and as well as exhausting available supplies, the s attacking Lüliang region were forced to withdraw. On December 30, 1946, the communist 4th Column annihilated the rear guard, the 67th Brigade on the highway from the town of Pu County to Danning , and following the success, concluded the campaign by taking the town of Pu County on January 1, 1947, badly mauling the defenders in the process.

Outcome

The s lost over 10,000 troops in this defeat, which disrupted the overall plan to attack the communist capital Yan'an, and the original offensive schedule had to be postponed, thus providing the enemy with ample time to evacuate. Furthermore, the southwestern Shanxi was constantly under the enemy threat as a result of the defeat. The lack of corporation among s themselves was also an important contributor to the enemy’s success: the local Shanxi Yan Xishan was always fearful of Chiang Kai-shek’s takeover and thus refused to send out any of his own troops for reinforcement under the excuse of local areas would be threatened if his troops were sent to southwestern Shanxi to help Hu Zongnan.

Linfen Campaign

Linfen Campaign was a series of battles fought between the communists and the s during the Chinese Civil War to control the city of Linfen, and resulted in the communist victory.

Prelude

After the Yuncheng Campaign , Linfen was the only stronghold left in southern Shanxi. Linfen was ideal to defend: the city wall was 15 metre tall and 10 metre wide at the top, 25 – 30 metres wide at the bottom, and at the section of the Eastern Pass , there was a second wall of the same size, providing additional protection. There were a total of 31 clusters of bunkers around the city and additional strongholds within 3 – 7 km range in the outskirt. There were deep ditches both outside and inside city wall, and fortifications within the city. Located on the eastern bank of Fen River, the east, north and south directions were wide open, with little cover for the attacking enemy to hide.

The strategy was to hold on until reinforcement arrived and then counterattack, while the communist strategy was to take the city primarily using under ground tunnels since the communists lacked heavy artillery pieces.

Order of battle

Defenders totaling 25,000: order of battle:
*The 66th deployed in positions outside the city
*The 30th Brigade
*The artillery battalion of the 27th Brigade
*Two Security Brigades
*Two Training Regiments
*Security forces of adjacent 15 counties withdrew into the city of Linfen
Attackers totaling 53,000: communist order of battle:
*The 8th Column
*The 13th Column
*Units of the Taiyue Military District

First Stage

The s begun to airlift the 30th Brigade to Luochuan from Linfen on March 6, 1948 to strengthen the force in northwestern China. In order to prevent this, the communists decided to launch the campaign early and on March 7, 1948, the communist 24th Brigade of the 8th Column took the airfield south of Linfen after destroying two aircraft, thus cutoff the aerial link of the city. The s were forced to give up the airlift plan and the city was attacked by the enemy from three sides: east, north and south. The strongholds in the outskirt of Linfen including Cui Family’s Bump , Train Station , High River Hotel and Official Yao’s Temple fell into the enemy hands, and the futile attempt to counterattack and retake these strongholds were beaten back for more than thirty times. Afterward, the enemy approached the outer city of Linfen, the Eastern Pass , which was the barrier for Linfen, and the s desperately attempted to hold on this critical defensive stronghold.

From March 23, 1948 – March 27, 1948, the defenders twice successfully beaten back the attacks on Eastern Pass by the communist 13th Column. On April 1, 1948, the enemy adjusted tactic and the communist 37th Brigade of the 13th Column attacked from southeast and the communist 23rd Brigade of the 8th Column attacked from northeast simlutaneously, while the 4 underground tunnels were dug toward the city wall. On April 10, 1948, three of the four tunnels were filled with explosives and detonated simultaneously, succeeding in collapsing the city wall of the Eastern Pass section, and attacking communist 37th Brigade of the 13th Column and the communist 23rd Brigade of the 8th Column were able to swiftly taking the Eastern Pass , the outer city of Linfen, badly mauling the local defenders, the 66th .

Second Stage

On April 16, 1948, the battle mostly had switched to underground when the communist 8th Column and Taiyue Military District at eastern outskirt of Linfen and the 13th Column at southern outskirt of Linfen begun to dig 15 tunnels toward the city wall and an additional 40+ tunnels for cover. Taking the lesson learned from the loss of Eastern Pass , the defenders also begun to dig tunnels to counter the underground threat. In addition, under the cover of shelling with incendiary rounds and gas attacks, the 30th Brigade counterattacked the enemy with air cover. Although the counterattack was beaten back the enemy, and the s did succeed in destroying most of the enemy tunnels.

On May 1, 1948, the Xu Xiangqian changed their tactic by deploying the communist 13th Column to the east of the city to assist the communist 8th Column to attack the city, while the 22nd Brigade of the communist 8th Column and the 39th Brigade of the communist 13th Column were deployed to assist the communist regiment of the Taiyue Military District on the western bank of the Fen River to blockade the escape route of the fleeing enemy. On May 16, 1948, the 23rd Brigade of the 8th Column succeeded in extending two 110 metre-long tunnels directly under the city wall, filling one with 6,000 kg black dynamite and the other with 3,500 kg dynamite. On May 15, 1948 at 7:50 PM, the dynamites were detonated, blowing up two 50 metre wide gaps in the city wall and the assault team of the 69th Regiment of the communist 23rd Brigade was the first to ventured into the city and other communist units soon followed under the cover of heavy artillery fire. After fierce street fights, the battle ended after midnight when all of the defenders were either killed or captured, and the campaign concluded.

Outcome

The entire garrison of Linfen was lost, including the , Liang Peihuang 梁培璜, who was captured alive by the enemy. The fall of Linfen meant that the last stronghold in southern Shanxi was finally eliminated. The communist victory of Linfen Campaign resulted in the liniking up of the Lüliang communist base and Taiyue communist base, and the entire southern Shanxi region falling into the communist hands. The communist 23rd Brigade of the 8th Column played a significant role in the taking of Linfen and was honored as Linfen Brigade after the campaign.

Linfen-Fushan Campaign

Linfen – Fushan Campaign was a series battles fought in regions between Linfen and Floating Mountain in Shanxi, China between the s and the communists during the Chinese Civil War and resulted in communist victory.

Prelude

In the mid August of 1946, the s planned to redeploy four brigades from Shaanxi to Wing City and Linfen in southern Shanxi to push northward along the railroad in coordination with s pushing southward from Pingyao and Jiexiu , thus annihilating the communists in between at the Flooding Hole and Zhao’s City regions. The communists, in turn, deployed the 24th Brigade of the Taiyue Military Region to the north of Lingshi to stop the s from the north, while the communist main force was prepared to ambush the s from the south in regions between Linfen and Floating Mountain .

Order of battle

The order of battle: 5 Brigades totaling 11,500:
*The Reorganized 30th
*The 1st Brigade of the Reorganized 1st
*The 167th Brigade of the Reorganized 1st
The communist order of battle: 4 Brigades totaling 8,800:
*The 10th Brigade of the 4th Column
*The 11th Brigade of the 4th Column
*The 13th Brigade of the 4th Column
*The 24th Brigade of the Taiyue Military Region

Campaign

On September 22, 1946, the 167th Brigade of the Reorganized 1st and the 27th Brigade of the Reorganized 30th took Floating Mountain , and the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the 1st pushed eastward along the road from Floating Mountain to Linfen. A portion of the communist 13th Brigade of the 4th Column faked attack on Floating Mountain , while its main force, along with the communist 11th Brigade of the 4th Column suddenly surrounded the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the 1st at the Official Sparrow Village region between Floating Mountain and Linfen. After dark, the enemy launched their assault under the cover of darkness on the besieged s, and the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the 1st was subsequently wiped out.

Unaware that their besieged comrades-in-arms had already been annihilated by the enemy at the Official Sparrow Village region, on September 23, 1946, the 167th Brigade of the Reorganized 1st and the 27th Brigade of the Reorganized 30th abandoned Floating Mountain to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms from the east, while the 1st Brigade of the Reorganized 1st attempted to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms from Linfen. The communist 13th Brigade of the 4th Column managed to stop the reinforcement from the east, while the communist 10th Brigade of the 4th Column besieged the reinforcement from the west at the Chen’s Levee Village region. After the arrival of the main force of the communist 4th Column and the communist 24 Brigade of the Taiyue Military Region, the final assault begun at the dusk on September 23, 1946. After a fierce battle that lasted the entire night, the 1st Brigade of the Reorganized 1st was completely annihilated by next morning. Hearing the news of the defeat, the 167th Brigade of the Reorganized 1st and the 27th Brigade of the Reorganized 30th immediately gave up the fight and retreated to Linfen while the communist 13th Brigade of the 4th Column wisely chose not to pursuit, and the campaign was concluded.

Outcome

The defeat cost more than 5,000 casualties, and the original hope of eliminate the enemy by attacking simultaneously from the north and the south was crashed. However, the political and psychological impact was much more greater than the military defeat: the Nationalist Reorganized 1st Brigade, or nicknamed the "1st Brigade Under the Heaven" , was completely annihilated, with its commander lieutenant general Huang Zhengcheng captured alive by the communist enemy. After the campaign, the nationalist adopted the correct tactics of not engaging the enemy and hold on the strongholds behind the city walls, but although such tactics reduced loss, it had left vast rural area to the communists.

Datong-Puzhou Campaign

Datong-Puzhou Campaign is a campaign fought against the during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era in Shanxi, and resulted in communist victory.

Order of battle

Nationalist:
*The 34th Army
Communist:
*4th Column of Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field army

Campaign

In early July, 1946, nationalist commander-in-chief of the 2nd War Zone, Yan Xishan, ordered the nationalist 34th Army under his command to attack communists from Jiexiu to help Hu Zongnan’s attacks on the communists. The planned to annihilate their communist enemy in the regions of Hongdong and Zhao City in southern Shanxi. However, Hu Zongnan, the nationalist commander-in-chief of the 1st War Zone was soundly defeated by the communists in the Wenxi-Xiaxian Campaign by late July, 1946, and was forced to retreated to Yuncheng and Wenxi regions to regroup and thus could not support Yan Xishan's effort. Communists accordingly launched their Northern Shanxi Campaign to further expand their victory.

In order to reinforce nationalists in northern Shanxi, Yan Xishan had to redeploy his troops from southern Shanxi, which provided the excellent opportunity for the enemy to strike in the vast region from Lingshi to Hongdong along the Datong-Puzhou Railway. The communist commanders were quick to seize the opportunity, and struck on August 14, 1946, after marching from Jiang county and Quwo county in secret on August 9 and August 10 respectively. The campaign progressed exactly as communists had planned and ended in their predicated victory. In addition to annihilating more than 10,000 nationalist troops, the victorious communists also succeeded in taking counties / towns including Hongdong on August 16 , Zhao City on August 17 , Huo county on August 24, Lingshi on August 28, and Fenxi on August 29. The communists ended the campaign on September 1, 1946 when they took Wealthy Family's Beach .

As a result of the defeat, over 130 km stretch of area along the southern section of Datong-Puzhou Railway had fallen into the enemy hands, resulting the linkage between Yan Xishan's 2nd War Zone and Hu Zongnan's 1st War Zone was completely severed, thus making future operations more difficult. Five important local cities / towns were lost to the communists, where they would obtain plenty of supplies. Nationalists were also forced to be on the defensive for sometime after Datong-Puzhou Campaign, while communists took the opportunity to consolidate their gains.

Datong-Cining Campaign

Datong- Campaign was a series of battles fought between the s and the s mainly in northern Shanxi and the surrounding regions during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era. The main battlefield was centered around two cities, Datong and .

Prelude

After the Chinese Civil War had broken out in full scale on June 22, 1946, the communists had many difficulties. Zhangjiakou, the capital of the communist base in border area of Shanxi--Hebei was sandwiched between nationalist strongholds both in the east and the west. The nationalist stronghold Datong in the west was guarded by the nationalist 38th , the 5th Cavalry Division, the 6th Cavalry Division and some local security forces totaling 20,000. In an attempt to eliminate the nationalist threat of Zhangjiakou, the communist decided to first take the nationalist stronghold of Datong in the west by concentrating a total of thirty regiments from nine brigades, and out of the nine brigades, five brigades were to be deployed to assault the city itself, while the remaining four brigades were deployed at regions of Zhuozi Mountain , Earth Castle , Merchant Capital and Cool Castle near to stop and ambush the nationalist reinforcement.

Order of battle

Defenders: nationalist order of battle:
*The 38th
*The 5th Cavalry Division
*The 6th Cavalry Division
*A security regiment
*The 35th Army
*The Newly Organized 31st Division
*The 11th Division
*The 17th Division
*Two divisions from the 3rd Army
*4 cavalry divisions
*The 101st Division
*Newly Organized 32nd Division
*The Newly Organized 4th Cavalry Division
Attackers: communist order of battle:
*Units from the 2nd Column of the communist Shanxi--Hebei Military Region
*Units from the 3rd Column of the communist Shanxi--Hebei Military Region
*Units from the 4th Column of the communist Shanxi--Hebei Military Region
*Independent 1st Brigade of the communist Shanxi-Suiyuan
*Independent 3rd Brigade of the communist Shanxi-Suiyuan
*The 358th Brigade of the communist Shanxi-Suiyuan
*The cavalry Brigade of the communist Shanxi-Suiyuan
*Local militia units

The Campaign

On July 31, 1946, the communists launched their assaults on the nationalist outposts outside Datong and by August 4, 1946, the defenders were forced to withdrew behind the city wall after suffering more than 2,000 casualties. The enemy begun their assault on the city itself on September 14, 1946 and by September 4, 1946, Northern Pass , Train station at the Western Pass in the outskirt of the city had fallen into enemy hands. By this time, the nationalist 35th Army, two divisions of the nationalist 3rd Army, and 4 nationalist cavalry divisions totaling more than thirty thousand attempted to reinforce the besieged Datong by attacking communist held from Hohhot in three fronts. The communists, in turn, decided to deploy three brigades and local militia to continue the siege of Datong while the rest of force totaling more than forty thousands would be deployed to fight the nationalist reinforcement.

After taking Zhuozi Mountain to the west of on September 10, 1946, the nationalist the Newly Organized 31st Division, the 11th Division, and the 17th Division attempted to attack from north and west under the air cover, but they were beaten back by the communists. On September 11, 1946, the communists launched a counteroffensive on the nationalist reinforcement retreating toward Crouching Dragon Mountain and Head Bad Mountain , badly mauling the nationalist 11th Division and the 17th Division, killing more than 5,000 nationalist troops. On September 12, 1946, the nationalist 101st Division followed by the Newly Organized 32nd Division and the Newly Organized 4th Cavalry Division came to take in full force. By September 13, 1946, the nationalist reinforcement reached and begun their attack on the city, and the communists were forced to abandon the city in the evening on the same day. By September 16, 1946, the communists withdrew their siege on Datong and the campaign concluded with nationalists suffering over 12,000 casualties and the communists suffered several thousand casualties.

Outcome

For the nationalists, the campaign was a failure because although the nationalists were able to beat off enemy attacks on the two cities, majority of rural area in the region had fallen into the enemy hands, and the nationalists defenders of the two cities were isolated, which greatly drained the nationalists resources later as the nationalists attempted to re-supply the isolated cities, resulting in nationalist defense lines overly stretched. Furthermore, the nationalists were infatuated with conquering as much land as possible instead of inflicting heavy casualties on their enemy, resulting in enemy being escaped with relatively few numerical losses in comparison to that of nationalists themselves. One of such nationalist blunders made in the campaign was that in their attack on , the nationalists did not besiege the city and thus the enemy defending the city were able to withdraw. However, such mistake was intentional because the nationalist commander Fu Zuoyi was not willing to sacrifice his own troops for Chiang Kai-shek and Yan Xishan. Similarly, Yan Xishan was not willing to sacrifice his own troops for Chiang and Fu Zuoyi either. As a result of lack of corporation, the enemy was able to successfully withdraw, and eventually returned with vengeance and the lessons learnt in this campaign, and the nationalists would consequently have to pay a heavy price later.

However, their enemy had suffered equally if not greater because although the communists had managed in inflicting greater number of casualties on the nationalists, they had failed to achieve their original goal of capturing Datong and . The communist failure was mainly due to the grave underestimation of the enemy strength. Not only the communists had failed to achieve absolute numerical superiority, which by Mao Zedong’s definition at the time, should be at least three or four times than the opposing sides, and with absolute technical inferiority as in the case of this campaign, it should even be five or six times. As a result of failing to achieve absolute numerical superiority, the communist troops with absolute technical inferiority lost in this campaign were the cream of the crop: these were the combat hardened veterans with great experiences resulted from years of fighting. Although the communists were able to later boost their strength by drafting local militia into their regular army which swelled to a much larger size than it was before the campaign, there was a fatal flaw of the newly formed communist force: those militia were only good at guerilla tactics and had no knowledge on regular warfare, and as result, both the individual fighting capability and the fighting capability as military formations of these new troops were greatly inferior than that of veterans killed in the campaign. Additionally, many if not most of these new guerrilla fighters were illiterate and could not operate modern weaponry captured from the nationalists, and since most of the combat hardened veterans with experience were killed, there were enough trainers to train these new troops either. These factors led the communist loss of Zhangjiakou later in the Battle of Zhangjiakou, and the result this campaign is therefore classified as a stalemate at the best if not a communist defeat.

Campaign along the Southern Section of Datong-Puzhou Railway

Campaign along the Southern Section of the Datong-Puzhou Railway was a campaign fought between the s and the communists during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era and resulted in the communist victory.

Prelude

In early July, 1946, Hu Zongnan, the nationalist of the 1st War Zone sent the nationalist Reorganized 1st and the Reorganized 27th Division northward to link up with the nationalist force from Linfen and Jiexiu under the command of Yan Xishan, the nationalist of the 2nd War Zone, hoping that the nationalist would dislodge the communists controlling the southern section of the Datong-Puzhou Railway. The communists under the command of Chen Geng and his political commissar Xie Fuzhi in turn, planned to annihilate the nationalists before they could link up with each other. The communist 4th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region was tasked with this job with the help of units of the communist Taiyue Military Region.

Order of battle

Nationalists:
*Reorganized 1st Division
*Reorganized 27th Division
*The 39th Division
*The 69th Division
Communists:
*The 4th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region
*Units of the communist Taiyue Military Region

Campaign

On June 12, 1946, the nationalist Reorganized 27th Division and two brigades of the nationalist Reorganized 1st Division had pushed to Wenxi , Water Head Town , Embankment Palm Town , and Summer County, and the nationalist advance guard had penetrated over 70 km into the communist dominated areas. On July 13, 1946, the communist 4th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region concentrated two brigades to besiege the 31st Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 27th Division, while the rest of the troops were deployed to stop the nationalist reinforcement. By July 14, 1946, the 31st Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 27th Division was completely annihilated at Embankment Palm Town and the Town of Hu and Zhang regions. In the mean time, the nationalist reinforcement of the nationalist Reorganized 1st Division from Wenxi and Water Head Town to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms was also ambushed on its way and was forced to retreat.

After suffering the defeat, the nationalist force under the command of Hu Zongnan was forced out of action and had to regroup by withdrawing to the Wenxi , Xia County, Shanxi and Anyi regions. However, the nationalist force under the command of Yan Xishan was still on the move to the north in order to reinforce the nationalists in northern Shanxi participating in the Northern Shanxi Campaign. As the majority of the nationalist force was sent to the north, the regions along the Datong-Puzhou Railway from Lingshi to Hongtong was only defended by the nationalist 39th Division, 69th Division, and local security regiments. Taking the opportunity, the communist 4th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region and units of the communist Taiyue Military Region joined their forces and launched another round of assaults on August 9, 1946, taking Hongtong, City of Zhao , Huo County, Lingshi and Fenxi . The campaign finally concluded on September 1, 1946 when the communists took the region of Wealthy Family’s Beach .

Outcome

The nationalists had suffered over 15,000 casualties in their defeat, and not only they had failed to achieve their original objective of linking up with their comrades-in-arms, but the original gap in the nationalist defense had greatly increased as the result of the nationalist defeat. In contrast, the communist victory had completely severed the link between the nationalist force under the command of Hu Zongnan in the south and the nationalist force under the command of Yan Xishan in the north. The original gap between the two groups of the nationalist forces was greatly increased that there was no chance for the nationalists to link up again because a vast area along the 100 km southern section of the Datong-Puzhou Railway had fallen into communist hands.

Battle of Xinkou

The Battle of Xinkou was 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 Nankou, the Chahar Expeditionary Force of the Japanese Kwangtung Army occupied Datong in Shanxi province, and began their assault on the Yenbei area. The started their attack from Hebei marching eastwards and taking the towns of Guanglin, Linchou, Hungyuan in northwest Shanxi.

By late September, the Japanese commander Itagaki Seishiro ordered the fifth division and the Chahar Expeditionary Force to begin attacking the Chinese defense line along the inner Great Wall in Shanxi. The Commander of the 2nd War Zone, Yan Xishan ,ordered Chinese troops to retreat and set up a defense line in Niangziguan and Pingxingguan. Even after the Eighth Route Army led by Lin Biao successfully ambushed the Japanese at the Battle of Pingxingguan, the Chinese defenders suffered heavy casualties under Japanese artillery and tank assaults and were forced to retreat to Wutaishan to set up another defense line at Xinkou.　　

The Battle of Xinkou

Yan Xishan gathered all available Chinese troops under his command to make a stand at Xinkou, because this location is flanked by Wutaishan and Yunzhonshan, which is favorable for the defenders and is also a gateway to Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi. On October 1, Japanese central command ordered Itagaki Seishiro to lead the Fifth Division and Chahar Expeditionary Force for the final assault on Taiyuan. On the same day, the military commission of the Chinese Nationalist government ordered the 14th Group Army to fight the Japanese at Xinkou. The 14th Group Army, along with Yan Xishan’s eight armies, organized a frontal defense of Xinkou, while the 18th Group Army and 101st division, 73rd division and the newly formed 2nd Division organized the defense on the right flank along the Sutou River’s south bank, commanded by Zhu De, while one division was sent to the enemy's rear to harass their left flank. The 6th Group Army organized into two divisions and one brigade, comprised the Chinese defense on the left flank along with the 120th division , which concentrated their forces at Heiyu and Yangfangkou, while one division was sent to the enemy's rear to harass their right flank. The 34th and 35th Armies were in reserve, commanded by Fu Zuoyi, to control the Dingxiang and Xinxian area.

On October 2, the 2nd brigade from the Chahar Expeditionary Force started their attack on Gouxian , and the 19th Army’s Chinese defenders held off the attack until October 9, by then the Gouxian had fallen into Japanese hands. The 15th brigade from the Chahar Expeditionary Force marched around Gouxian and attacked Yuanping, and engaged the 34th Army’s 196 brigade, led by Jiang Yuzhen. After intense close-quarter combat, the defending Chinese soldiers were wiped out and the Japanese took Yuanping on October 12. By this time, the invading forces were ready to make their move on Xinkou.

Due to the unfavorable developments on the battlefields, Chinese commander Wei Lihuang had to re-organize the defense line on October 2nd. He positioned the 9th, 61st, and 35th Armies to form the central defense line, holding their position along the Xinkou mountains passes; while the 14th Army, 71st and 66th Divisions commanded by Li Mo'an formed the left flank, controlling the Yunzhongshan area. Finally, the 33rd, 17th and 15th Armies formed the right flank, controlling Wutaishan.

On October 13, Itagaki Seishiro led 50,000 Japanese troops on a major assault against Xinkou. The 5th Division was on the left wing, and concentrated their attack on Nanhuaihua; while the 15th Brigade was on the right wing, focusing their efforts on Dabaishui, with the 2nd Brigade was in the rear defending the inner Great Wall. The 5th Divisions used 30+ airplanes, 40+ heavy artilleries, 50+ tanks to flank the infantry’s assault; while the Chinese central defense forces used the favorable terrain to put up stiff resistances despite a lack of firepower. The Xinkou battles rages on for days, with the Nanhuahua position changing hands many times. On October 16 the Chinese central defense force begin a major counter-attack to take the high grounds at Nanhuahua, during this battle the commander of the 9th Army Hao Mengling became the first Chinese army general to during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Despite his death, the 61st Army commander Chen Zhangjie and subsequently the 19th Army commander Wang Jingguo continued to lead the defense of Xinkou and successfully held their defensive positions.　
During this time, the Communists’ Eighth Route Army executed several guerrilla attacks in the Japanese troops rear at Lingqiu, Guangling, Weixian, Pingxingguan, Ningwu and Yanmenguan. On the evening of October 19, the 769 Regiment of the 120th Division attacked Yangmingbao airbase, and successfully destroyed 24 Japanese airplanes on the ground. 　

By this time the Japanese had suffered close to 20,000 casualties without making much progress on their assault of Xinkou. Therefore the Japanese Northern China Area Army had to add three additional regiments on October 22, 27 and 29, to assist in the attack of Nanhauhua. However, the Japanese troops still could not take this important position and had to re-direct their attack to Dabaishui, and the Chinese defenders were able to fight the Japanese to a stalemate.

The Defense of Niangziguan

The military commission of the Chinese Nationalist government ordered troops of the 1st War Zone to relocate and set up defense at Niangziguan, with the 17th and 30th Divisions defending the center, 3rd Army positioned at the right wing and 14th Group Army on the left wing. The Chinese commander for this operation was assigned to Huang Shaohong, the deputy commander of the 2nd War Zone.

On October 11, the 20th division of the Japanese army captured Jingxing. The Japanese only used some troops to attack Niangziguan, while their main force marched around and captured Jiuguan. With the defenders at Niangziguan effectively surrounded at this time, Yan Xishan hasty ordered the 26th Army led by Sun Lianzhong stationed at northern Shanxi to move to Niangziguan and organized and conducted counter attacks, but did not retake Jingxing as planned. On October 21, the 20th division was reinforced by the 109th division and continued their attack on Niangziguan from the south, aided by Japanese bombers and fighters. On October 26, four Japanese commando battalions were able to break through the Chinese 3rd Army defense at Ceyuzhen, and breach the Niangziguan defense line. The Chinese forces were forced to retreat to Taiyuan, and were chased by the Japanese attackers along the Shijiazhuang – Taiyuan railways. On November 11th, the Japanese troops captured Shouyang after repelling an ambush by the 41st Army. By this time, all Chinese troops at Xinkou were ordered to retreat to Taiyuan to avoid being encircled by the enemy, and the Japanese army had finally won the battle of Xinkou.

Conclusion

The battle of Xinkou marked the first large-scale cooperation between the provincial army , Chinese Communists , and Chiang Kaishek’s Central Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Although the Chinese defenders fought bravely on a united front against the enemy during this campaign, However, a significant disadvantage in firepower resulted in massive casualties among the Chinese troops. A personal account of General Li Mo'an stated that the only weapon the Chinese infantry had against Japanese tanks was Molotov cocktails, and many defenders on the left flank were simply run over by tanks. After this battle and the subsequent battle around the city of Taiyuan, the Chinese effectively lost control of northern China and resistance was reduced to minor guerrilla attacks behind enemy lines.

Battle of South Shanxi

The Battle of South Shanxi , also known as the Battle of Jinnan and as Chungyuan Operation by the Japanese, it was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Order of battle

See Order of battle Battle of South Shanxi

Battle of Niangziguan

The Battle of Niangziguan was a battle fought between the and the during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era and resulted in communist victory. The battle was a critical one in Zhengtai Campaign that helped to determine the outcome of the campaign.

Order of battle
*Nationalist
**Shanxi 4th Security Regiment
*Communist
**7th Brigade of Shanxi--Hebei Military Region

Niangziguan was a strategically important pass that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. The nationalist 4th Security Regiment of Shanxi totaling around 1,000, defended the pass.

On April 24, 1947, the communist 7th Brigade of the Shanxi--Hebei Military Region reached the pass, but instead of immediately attacking the defenders’ positions, the attackers sent out troops to outflank the defenders and penetrated the defenders’ position under the cover of darkness in the night. At 3:00 AM on April 25, 1947, the enemy finally attacked under the cover of artillery shelling. The defenders immediately came out of their fortifications to counterattack, but this proved to be a great mistake: venturing out of their fortifications allowed the defenders to be sealed off by the attacking enemy into several isolated groups that could not support each other, and without the fortifications, the stranded defenders were annihilated within three hours.

The communist victory ensured the control of the strategic pass and secured the safe passage of future troop movements for themselves while blocking the passage of nationalists, thus helped the communist to achieve final victory in Zhengtai Campaign.

Battle of Mayi

The Battle of Mayi was an aborted ambush operation by the Han Dynasty against the invading Xiongnu forces. This urged the long-term war between the Han Dynasty and Xiongnu, and henceforth marked a beginning of offensive policies adopted by the Han court.

Background

After the humiliating defeat of in the hands of Modu Shanyu at in 200 BC, the Han Dynasty was forced to resort to political appeasement in order to decrease the scale of Xiongnu hostilty. However, despite the periodic gifting and heqin did not prevent border townships and villages being ravaged by the nomads, as the prosperous Chinese land never failed to attract Xiongnu raids.

After seven decades, Han Dynasty had built up its strength. Unlike his predecessors, , Han's seventh emperor, would no longer tolerate this situation. Although he maintained a policy of peace early in his reign, ideas of how to finally strike a major blow against the Xiongnu were beginning to be formulated.

The Ambush

In 133 BC, at the suggestion of Wang Hui, the minister of vassal affairs, Emperor Wu had his generals set a trap for the Xiongnu Shanyu at the city of . A powerful local trader/smuggler, Nie Wengyi, would deceptively claim to Junchen Shanyu that he had killed the local magistrate and was willing to offer the city to the Xiongnu. The plan was to entice the Shanyu's forces into advancing on Mayi so that a 300,000-strong Han forces hidden around the area could ambush them.

The plan failed, ironically, because the Han ambush was set up too excessively. When the Shanyu bought the bait and moved in for a raid on Mayi, he saw fields full of cattles but with no . Feeling increasingly suspicious, the Shanyu ordered his men to halt advance. Xiongnu scouts then captured a Han soldier from a local outpost, who disclosed the entire plan to the Shanyu. In shock, the Shanyu then withdrew quickly before the Han forces could act. Wang Hui, the mastermind behind the entire operation, hestitated and ordered not to give pursuit. As a result, neither side suffered any casualties.

Aftermath

Though border military clashes already continued for decades between the two sides, this "battle" ended the ''de jure'' "peace" between the Han and Xiongnu. The ambush operation revealed the Han Dynasty's hawkish stance, and the "marriage/gift for peace" policy was officially abandoned. For the next few years, Xiongnu would tune up their border attacks, further solidifying the cause of pro-war factions and their control in the Han court.

The failure of the Mayi operation also prompt Emperor Wu to reconsider his strategies. Disappointed at the inefficiency of existing generals, Emperor Wu began to look for younger generations of military hopefuls capable of offensive anti-cavalry warfare. This led to the rise of famous new-generation tacticians like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, and decline in favour for traditional commanders like Li Guang.

Battle of Changping

The Battle of Changping in 260 BC was a decisive victory of the state of Qin of China over during the Warring States Period. Even by today's standards it is one of the , although a great majority of the Zhao soldiers were executed after battle instead of being killed in battle.

Beginning

Qin invaded the state of in 265 BC, with the intention of taking the Han province of Shangdang somewhere in modern-day Shanxi province by cutting off all of its communications to the Han mainland. The Qin army ripped through Han territory – the main roads and fortresses across the Taiheng mountains were all captured by the Qin in four years. Shangdang was totally cut off from the rest of Han, and was poised to fall.

Han, in desperation, decided to give Shangdang to the neighbouring Zhao kingdom. Shangdang was a strategically important area to the west of Zhao; if it fell to Qin, Zhao mainland would be vulnerable to attack . So King Xiaocheng of Zhao accepted the lands and sent Lian Po to deal with the threat posed by Qin. The two armies met at Changping in 262 BC. On one side was the Qin army, led by Wang He , and on the other was the Zhao army led by Lian Po.

Lian Po, after looking over the Qin formations and after several minor defeats, decided that the only way to stop their attack was to wait it out. He built several fortresses in the summer of 260 BC and camped, waiting for the opposing army to go away. Despite this, the Qin army did manage to breach the Zhao walls once. Even so, they did not have the strength or equipment to break the Zhao defense, and the battle turned into a stalemate, lasting for three years.

A new strategy

The Qin had no intention of leaving. They sent spies to the states of Zhao and Han, ordering them to spread the word that Lian Po was cowardly and was too old to fight battles. The king, already dissatisfied with Lian Po's strategy, then decided to remove Lian Po and replace him with Zhao Kuo, the son of another famous Zhao general, Zhao She. At the same time, the Qin replaced Wang He with the renowned general, Bai Qi.

Legend has it that on his deathbed, Zhao She told his wife never to let Zhao Kuo command an army. So Zhao She's wife, after hearing of Zhao Kuo's appointment as general, went up to the King of Zhao along with the minister, Lin Xiangru, and tried to persuade him not to appoint Zhao Kuo as general. The King refused, although Lady Zhao extracted a promise from king that the Zhao clan would not be punished should Zhao Kuo's command end in failure.

When Zhao Kuo assumed command in July 260 BC, the Zhao army numbered approximately 400,000 men. Zhao Kuo ordered the army to launch an invasion on the Qin camp. The Qin staged a feigned retreat, at the same time leaving two lines of ambush troops ready to block the Zhao army's retreat. The Zhao army pursued the enemy as far as the Qin fortress, while the Qin ambush forces, numbering 25,000 men, cut off the rear of the Zhao army and another 5,000 cavalry sealed off the Zhao fortress. The Zhao army was thus split into two parts and its supply lines were cut. Bai Qi then dispatched troops to make counter-attacks. With no hope of attacking or retreating, the Zhao forces built fortifications on a hill, preparing to wait for reinforcements.

Main action

Since 295 BC, opportunism had dominated Zhao foreign policy; it had been shifting between Hezong and Lianheng . When King Zhaoxiang of Qin heard that and refused to assist Zhao, he hurried to Henei region , where he bestowed one grade of noble rank on the population and ordered all men over the age of 15 to go to Changping to block the Zhao food supply and reinforcements. The Zhao encampment on the hill was for 46 days. On September, driven mad by hunger and thirst, the Zhao forces made several desperate charges down the hill, attempting to break out of the encirclement, but could not do so. Finally Zhao Kuo himself led his finest men into combat. He was shot down by Qin archers.

Surrender of Zhao's troops

The troops of Zhao thus surrendered. Bai Qi was afraid that the Zhao troops might eventually revolt, so he devised some deception and had them all buried alive, sending only 240 of the youngest soldiers back to Zhao. In total, Zhao lost more than 450,000 soldiers in the campaign, while Qin also lost hundreds of thousands of men. The Battle of Changping therefore is listed among the .

More than three years of battle left both states financially and domestically exhausted. Qin recovered quickly, but Zhao did not.

Before the battle, Zhao was one of the most powerful of the Warring States. Although Zhao was saved after the battle from conquest, it did not recover from the defeat and was conquered by Qin about thirty years later. Thus with this victory, Qin had established military superiority over the other states. More campaigns and battles ensued, especially in the conquest of the state of Chu. Nevertheless no matter how bloody these military operations would be, Qin's final victory was guaranteed.

Battle of Baideng

The Battle of Baideng was a military conflict between Han China and the Xiongnu in 200 BC. Han Dynasty of China invaded the territory of the Xiongnu in 200 BC attempting to subjugate them. However the Xiongnu united their forces under Modu Shanyu and surrounded the Han emperor in Baideng. The siege was only relieved after seven days when the Han royal court, under Chen Ping's suggestion, sent spies to bribe Modu's wife.

After the defeat at Baideng, the Han emperor abandoned a military solution to the Xiongnu threat. Instead, in 198 BC, the courtier Liu Jing was dispatched for negotiations. The peace settlement eventually reached between the parties included a Han princess given in marriage to the ''chanyu'' ; periodic tribute of silk, liquor and rice to the Xiongnu; equal status between the states; and the Great Wall as mutual border. This treaty set the pattern for relations between the Han and the Xiongnu for some sixty years.

Weixian–Guangling–Nuanquan Campaign

The Weixian-Guangling-Nuanquan Campaign was a campaign fought in Wei County and Warm Spring of Chahar and Guanling of Shanxi, and it was a clash between the communists and the former s turned Japanese puppet regime force who rejoined the s after World War II. The battle was one of the Chinese Civil War in the immediate post World War II era, and resulted in victory. This campaign was part of the General Counteroffensive in Shanxi-Chahar -Hebei.

Campaign

In September, 1945, the communist decided to take Wei County and Warm Spring in Chahar and Guanling in Shanxi by force after the local defenders consisted of former s turned Japanese puppet regime force who rejoined the s after World War II refused to surrender. The 12th Brigade of the communist Central Hebei Column was tasked with this job, and its 34th Regiment would take Warm Spring of Chahar , its 35th Regiment would take Wei County of Chahar with the help of a battalion of its 36th Regiment, and the remaining two battalions would take Guanling of Shanxi. At the dusk of September 29, 1945, all communist units suddenly besieged their targets and surprised the defenders.

The 34th Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the communist Central Hebei Column launched its assault against its target at dusk and annihilated most of the defenders in the fierce street fights. The surviving defenders were annihilated in the ambush as they attempted to escape. On September 30, 1945, the 36th Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the communist Central Hebei Column took the important position of Four Passes of Guanling in Shanxi, but their subsequent attacks on the town itself via ladders were beaten back by the defenders on October 6, 1945. The communists changed their tactic by digging underground tunnels and the 34th Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the communist Central Hebei Column was redeployed to reinforce their comrades on October 26, 1945. At 10:00 PM on October 26, 1945, the general assault on the town begun and after three hours of fierce fight, the entire garrison of defenders was completely annihilated.

Meanwhile, the attack on Wei County in Chahar by the 35th Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the communist Central Hebei Column was successfully beaten back on October 1, 1945. The 34th Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the communist Central Hebei Column was redeployed to attack Wei County in Chahar but its attack was also successfully beaten back by the defenders on October 6, 1945. Communists responded by adding an artillery company to the attacking force and on November 2, 1945, they finally succeeded in breaching the defense at the western gate and southern gate. After five hours of fierce street fight, the defenders were annihilated, with only around 30 were able to escape the onslaught. The communist victory of this campaign resulted in inflicting over 3,000 casualties over their enemy, capturing more than 40 machine guns and over 1,000 firearms.