Battle of Pingxingguan
| Battle of Pingxingguan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Battle of Taiyuan in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the interwar period | |||||||||
Chinese soldiers firing a Type 24 heavy machine gun at an ambush against Japanese troops in the Battle of Pingxing Pass | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Empire of Japan | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Yan Xishan Yang Aiyuan Fu Zuoyi Lin Biao Zhu De | Itagaki Seishiro | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Republic of China Air Force | Imperial Japanese Army | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
Nationalist troops : 158,307 troops. Communists troops : 6,000 troops of the 115th Division |
5th Division (15,000 troops) of the Imperial Japanese Army and the 2nd and 9th Independent Mixed Brigades of the Kwantung Army
| ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
Nationalist troops : 39,402 casualties 115th division in the Pingxingguan ambush : ~400 casualties |
Chinese Claim :
| ||||||||
|
| |||||||||
The Battle of Pingxingguan (simplified Chinese: 平型关战役; traditional Chinese: 平型關戰役) was the initial significant confrontation in northwestern Shanxi after the commencement of the full-scale Second Sino-Japanese War at the Pingxing Pass. The conflict commenced in late September and endured for almost ten days. Initially, Chinese soldiers effectively ambushed and repelled Japanese troops in the Pingxingguan region. Subsequently, the Japanese force breached Ruyuekou (Chinese: 茹越口) and seized the county seat of Fanshi. This battle also saw cooperation between Nationalist and Communist troops. The Pingxingguan Ambush, commonly called the Great Victory of Pingxingguan, was a part of this battle fought on 25 September 1937, at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, between the Eighth Route Army of the Chinese Communist Party and the Imperial Japanese Army.
Yan Xishan, commander of the Second War Zone, dismissed a counterattack plan suggested by Chinese general Fu Zuoyi without adequate assessment, despite the circumstances. He subsequently commanded a complete withdrawal of Chinese defense forces. This decision resulted in a total retreat to the Xinkou line, culminating in the forfeiture of vital positions such as Yanmen Pass and Pingxingguan to Japanese control.