Battle of Taiyuan

This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Battle of Taiyuan
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Date (1937-09-01) (1937-11-09)September 1 – November 9, 1937 (2 months, 1 week and 1 day) Location Taiyuan, North China Plain, China Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
China Chinese Nationalist Party Chinese Communist Party	Japan  Mongol Military Government
Commanders and leaders
Yan Xishan Yang Aiyuan Wei Lihuang Zhu De Fu Zuoyi	Isogai Rensuke Itagaki Seishiro Demchugdongrub
Units involved
6th army group 7th army group 14th army group 18th army group 28th Pursuit Squadron, 5th Pursuit Group Warlord army of Huang Shaohong	5th division 20th division Provisional air division 1st independent mixed brigade 11th independent mixed brigade 12th independent mixed brigade 15th independent mixed brigade 9th Mongolian cavalry division
Strength
6 Army Groups, ~280,000 men	5 divisions, ~140,000 men
Casualties and losses
129,737	~30,000

The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan^[1] was a major battle fought in 1937 between China and Japan named for Taiyuan (the capital of Shanxi province), which lay in the 2nd Military Region. The battle concluded in a victory for Japan over the National Revolutionary Army (NRA), including part of Suiyuan, most of Shanxi and the NRA arsenal at Taiyuan, and effectively ended large-scale organized resistance in the North China area.

Japanese forces included the Japanese Northern China Area Army under Hisaichi Terauchi, elements of the Kwantung Army, and elements of the Inner Mongolian Army led by Demchugdongrub. Chinese forces were commanded by Yan Xishan (warlord of Shanxi), Wei Lihuang (14th Army Group), and Fu Zuoyi (7th Army Group), as well as Zhu De who led the Eighth Route Army of the Chinese Communist Party (under the Second United Front alliance).

Occupation of the territories gave the Japanese access to coal from Datong in northern Shanxi, but also exposed them to attacks by the guerrilla forces of the Nationalist army including the Eighth Route Army, tying down many Japanese troops which could have been diverted to other campaigns.

The battle was marked by fierce urban combat.^[2]