Jump to content

Battle of South Shanxi

Coordinates: 38°00′00″N 112°00′00″E / 38.0000°N 112.0000°E / 38.0000; 112.0000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of South Shanxi
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War

A map of the battle
Date (1941-05-07) (1941-05-27)May 7–27, 1941
(2 weeks and 6 days)
Location
South Shanxi, China
Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Republic of China (1912–1949) National Revolutionary Army, China Empire of Japan North China Front Army, Imperial Japanese Army, Japan
Commanders and leaders
Republic of China (1912–1949) Wei Lihuang[1] Empire of Japan Hayao Tada
Strength
180,000 troops in 8 armies 100,000 troops in 6 divisions, 3 brigades
Casualties and losses
According to commander-in-chief Wei Lihuang's report on 5th September 1941 : 25,066 killed or wounded and 21,611 missing[2][a]
According to the history of the Anti-Japanese War (based on reports from each unit in June and July) : 75,600 killed, wounded, or missing[3]

Japanese claim : 42,000 killed and 35,000 captured[4]

According to Japanese interrogations of Chinese POWs : 12,672 prisoners		 Chinese claim : 39,600 casualties[3]

Japanese claim : 673 killed and 2,292 wounded[4]
  1. ^ Wei Lihuang wrote that the number of killed being higher than the number of wounded was because many of the reported casualties included previously-unreported vacancies and that each division had as many as 2,000 vacancies. Moreover, most of the missing were guerillas in Southern Shanxi who had lost contact with the main force but there were still troops returning one after another. Various commanders also took the opportunity to overreport damaged or lost equipment to make up for insufficient or poor equipment. Thus, the number of loss equipment reported were generally higher than the actual number of losses

The Battle of South Shanxi , also known as the Battle of Jinnan (Chinese: 晉南战役) and Zhongtiao Mountains campaign (Chinese: 中條山會戰) by the Chinese and as the Chungyuan Operation by the Japanese, was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).

Context

[edit]
A map displaying the location of Chinese and Japanese forces during the Battle of South Shanxi, as described in this section of the article.
The strategic context of the battle. Chinese cities & conventional armies are shown as red icons; Chinese guerrilla forces are shown as red blobs. Japanese-controlled cities & armies are in black-and-white. Note that north is to the right.

The disastrous losses of the first year of the war (1937-38) meant that the internationally-recognized Chinese government (controlled by the Kuomintang or KMT party) had been forced to abandon its capital and all the industrialized areas of the country. It fought on from a new base in the west, mainly the province of Sichuan and Guanzhong.

The Zhongtiao Mountains held symbolic importance as the largest area of territory north of the Yellow River still under full Chinese control.

They also had some strategic importance as defensive ground on the north bank of the Yellow River. Beyond the south bank lay the railway line connecting the KMT's western base with the Zhongyuan central plain, the 'breadbasket of China'.[5]

The area of the battle was very roughly in the shape of a triangle, with the Yellow River as the base to the south. On the northwest side were Japanese armies that had advanced down the railway line from the north as far as its Yellow River terminus at Fenglingdu. Likewise, the frontline to the northeast side was the territory captured by the Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation.

Since the loss of Fenglingdu in the spring of 1938, Chinese and Japanese forces had fought for the Zhongtiao Mountain thirteen times.[6]: 3  In April 1940, the North China Front Army launched a massive offensive in Southern Shanxi with 3 divisions, aiming to capture key positions outside Zhongtiao Mountain and destroy the Kuomintang army stationed there. At a cost of nearly 1,200 killed and more than 3,500 wounded, the Japanese army captured Gaoping, Jincheng, Yangcheng, and other counties and cities.[7][8][9] The Chinese guerillas in Southern Shanxi, having suffered more than 30,000 casualties, were gradually compressed into Zhongtiao Mountain, the triangle defense area cut into smaller pieces.[10][11][12]

In late August, after hearing the early success in the Hundred Regiments Offensive, Chiang Kai-Shek ordered the Hebei-Chahar Military Front in the Taihang Mountains, Second Military Front in the Luliang Mountains, and First Military Front in the Zhongtiao Mountains to support the Eighth Route Army in the offensive. Wei Lihuang’s First Military Front planned to retake the positions lost in April, taking advantage of the Japanese army transferring many of its troops north to fight the Eighth Route Army. With the 27th corps as the backbone, they fought fiercely with the Japanese army in Changzhi, Gaoping, Yangcheng, and Jincheng in mid-September. Despite breaking into Jincheng in the first few days, the 27th corps could not dislodge the Japanese forces inside the city and suffered heavy casualties. By the end of September, the 27th corps and other units of the First Military Front had stopped their attacks and retreated.[13][14]

In early 1941, the Japanese army in North China made plans to eliminate the Kuomintang presence in Zhongtiao Mountain. In March 1941, they launched attacks against the NRA 27th corps in Lingchuan and the NRA 15th corps south of Yicheng and east of Jiang County for a more favourable position before the Zhongtiao Mountain operation.[15][16][17][6]: 4 

In mid-April 1941, the Chinese army detected the Japanese army amassing a large force of 200,000 troops in 4 divisions and 3 independent brigades for an offensive at Zhongtiao Mountain. The Southern Shanxi army thus deployed its troops accordingly for guerilla warfare while planning a counterattack with the support from parts of the Second, Fifth, and Eighth Military Fronts.[6]: 3-7 . However, due to lack of coordination between the military fronts, the Fifth and Eighth Military Fronts did not support the First Military Front in a timely manner.[6]: 181 

At the onset of the battle, KMT-CPC relations were at a low point following the still recent New Fourth Army incident in early 1941. As a result, the nearby 8th Route Army refused to assist the surrounded Nationalists. South Shanxi was later remembered in China as one of the worst defeats of the entire war.

Campaign

[edit]

The campaign is extensively discussed in the travel book Two Kinds of Time by the US journalist Graham Peck, based on eyewitness interviews with refugees. Peck reports that the NRA had built a line of fortifications overlooking the major roads through the mountains, which had withstood several earlier Japanese assaults. It was garrisoned by second-line warlord troops. He claims that the Chinese commanders had become complacement and were caught out when the Japanese adopted new, guerrilla-style tactics. They used peasant paths to infiltrate into the mountains and encircled the mountain range by moving along north bank of the Yellow River. Once they realized they were surrounded, the Chinese forces disintegrated before better-quality troops could be brought across the river.[18]

Aftermath

[edit]

In May and June, the Southern Shanxi army broke out from Zhongtiao Mountain through different routes. Most of the units moved their main force to Henan or Shaanxi for rest. The 27th corps, which had been ordered to support the troops besieged in Zhongtiao Mountain, returned to Lingchuan to continue its guerilla activities. The 43rd corps and 98th corps moved to the Taiyue Mountain.[6]: 146-147 . The 98th corps ended up cooperating with the friendly Eighth Route Army despite tensions between the Kuomintang and Communist authorities.

The battle of Zhongtiao Mountain resulted in tens of thousands of casualties for the Chinese army. Moreover, a large number of Chinese generals were killed or captured in the operation.

Generals killed in action :[19]: 166–188 

  • Lieutenant General Tang Huaiyuan (唐淮源) : commander of the 3rd corps, posthumously promoted to full general.
  • Lieutenant General Cun Xingqi (寸性奇) : commander of the 12th division of the 3rd corps.
  • Major General Jin Shuzhi (金述之) : chief of ordnance of the 3rd corps.
  • Major General Wang Jun (王竣) : commander of the new 27th division of the 80th corps, posthumously promoted to lieutenant general.
  • Major General Chen Wenqi (陈文杞) : chief of staff of the new 27th division of the 80th corps.
  • Major General Liang Xixian (梁希贤) : deputy commander of the new 27th division of the 80th corps.
  • Major General Liu Kexin (刘克信) : chief of staff of the Hebei People’s Army.
  • Major General Wan Jinsheng (万金声) : senior staff officer of the 15th corps.
  • Major General Zhang Shihui (张世惠) : chief of the general staff of the 14th army group, captured and shot during the battle with more than 10 other officers for refusing to cooperate.
  • Major General Jin Chongyin (金崇印) : chief of staff of the 17th corps, captured during the battle and shot on 16 July 1941 for refusing to cooperate.

Generals captured during the battle :[20]

  • Lieutenant General Gong Bingfan (公秉藩) : commander of the 34th division of the 5th army group.
  • Major General Liu Mingxia (刘明夏) : commander of the 94th division of the 14th corps.
  • Major General Zhao Kuige (赵奎阁) : deputy commander of the new 2nd division of the 17th corps.
  • Major General Tan Youfu (谭友佛) : chief of staff of the 3rd corps.
  • Major General Bi Meixuan (毕梅轩) : commander of the 6th guerilla column of the First Military Front.
  • Major General Liu Yinxuan (刘荫轩) : commander of the 1st guerilla detachment of Hebei Province.
  • Major General Li Jiesan (李杰三) : senior staff officer of the First Military Front’s headquarters.


On 31 July 1941, the General Staff of the North China Front Army launched an investigation on the 12,672 POWs captured in the battle of Southern Shanxi and recorded the interrogations of senior officers. This investigation allowed the Japanese army to better understand the internal problems and combat effectiveness of the National Revolutionary Army at the time.[21]

The two corps in Taiyue Mountain would continue fighting behind the lines for a few months. On September 5, the Japanese army attacked the 70th division of the 43rd corps in Jiang County. By the 6th, the Japanese army had surrounded the division’s headquarters. Divisional commander Shi Zuoheng (石作衡) personally led more than 200 soldiers of the 209th regiment to break out when they encountered enemy reinforcements. Shi Zuoheng was killed by an artillery shell during the hand-to-hand fighting[19]: 189–190  In the same month, the Japanese army launched a massive sweep against the 98th corps and Eighth Route Army in Taiyue which lasted for a month. The Eighth Route Army was able to avoid encirclement and suffered 374 killed, wounded, or missing during the operation.[22] The 98th corps was surrounded by two Japanese divisions on September 29 and was annihilated. Corps commander Wu Shimin (武士敏) was badly wounded and captured while leading his men to break-out. On October 1, the corps commander died of his wounds.[19]: 197–199 

By the end of the Qinhe mopping-up campaign, corps commander Wu Shimin, divisional chief of staff Wang Ruqin (王儒钦), and more than 1,180 officers and soldiers had been killed in action. Divisional commander Wang Kejing (王克敬), deputy divisional commander Xue Rulan (薛如蘭), and more than 2,000 officers and soldiers were captured. Guo Jingtang (郭景唐), the commander of the 169th division, led the remaining hundreds to break out and cross the Yellow River towards friendly lines.[23][24][19]: 195–196 . The Japanese army claimed to have killed 2,862 soldiers and captured 4,311 from the 98th corps and Eighth Route Army, suffering 16 killed and 52 wounded in the process.[25] In a few months, the Nationalists had lost its foothold in Southern Shanxi.

Order of battle

[edit]

Source:[26][27]

Chinese

[edit]

1st War Area – Wei Lihuang

  • 5th Army Group – Zeng Wanzhong
    • 3rd Corps – Tang Huaiyuan
      • 7th Division
      • 12th Division
    • 80th Corps – Kong Lingxun
      • 165th Division
      • New 27th Division
    • 34th Division – Kung Pingfan
  • 14th Army Group – Liu Mao'en
    • 15th Corps – Wu Tinglin
      • 64th Division
      • 65th Division
    • 98th Corps – Wu Shiming
      • 42nd Division
      • 169th Division
  • 9th Corps – Pei Changhui
    • 47th Division
    • 54th Division
    • New 24th Division
  • 17th Corps – Gao Guizi
    • 84th Division
    • New 2nd Division
  • 43rd Corps§ – Zhao Shiling
    • 70th Division
    • New 47th Division
  • 14th Corps – Chen Tie
    • 85th Division
    • 94th Division
  • 93rd Corps – Liu Kan
    • 10th Division
  • Hebei People's Army – Qiao Mingli
  • Various guerilla units from the First and Hebei-Chahar Military Fronts

§ 43rd Corps was formerly with 2nd War Area.

Japanese

[edit]

North China Front Army – Major General Hayao Tada (Early May 1941)

  • 35th Division – Lt. Gen. Kumakichi Harada
  • 21st Division – Lt. Gen. Hisakazu Tanaka
  • 33rd Division – Lt. Gen. Shozo Sakurai
  • 4th Cavalry Brigade (partial) – ?
  • 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

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Peck, Two Kinds of Time, p.287
  2. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，衛立煌電蔣中正中條山戰役人馬武器損失情形，典藏號：002-080200-00296-013 [1]
  3. ^ a b 抗日戰史: 晉南會戰. 史政局. 1966. pp. 148–149.
  4. ^ a b 日中戦争の軍事的展開. 慶應義塾大学出版会. 2006. p. 252.
  5. ^ "Big Japanese drive in Shansi". Hong Kong Daily Press. 13 May 1941. p. 4. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e 抗日戰史: 晉南會戰. 史政局. 1966.
  7. ^ "第３節　作戦の成果". Japan Center for Asian Historical Records. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  8. ^ "第３節　作戦の成果". Japan Center for Asian Historical Records. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  9. ^ "第２節　作戦経過の概要". Japan Center for Asian Historical Records. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  10. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，衛立煌電蔣中正三報第一戰區暨晉南作戰軍各部隊民國二十九年度年終作戰各項統計總數，典藏號：002-090200-00072-298 [2]
  11. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，閻錫山電蔣中正此次呂梁山戰役敵以肅清我根據地截斷黃河東西補給線我以保晉南三角地帶及同蒲路交通安全為目的日軍抽調三十七和四十一師團與我李呂彭軍戰況，典藏號：002-090200-00062-260 [3]
  12. ^ 抗日戰史: 晉綏游擊戰(二). 國防部史政編. 1961. pp. 151–166.
  13. ^ Tingxin, Sun (1993). 国民党敌后抗日游击军. 西南交通大学出版社. pp. 6–8.
  14. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，陳布雷賀耀組彙呈蔣中正海防之敵仍續行登陸中及晉南我軍已停止主攻但敵小部隊仍不斷向我襲擊與鄂西已破壞公路橋樑情形等情報提要等五則，典藏號：002-080200-00530-065 [4]
  15. ^ 北支の治安戦. Vol. 1. 朝雲新聞社. 1968. p. 474.
  16. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，衛立煌電蔣中正報告陵川戰役經過及日偽軍反撲情形並稱范漢傑軍所轄各師已派有力部隊襲擊晉城至博愛一帶地區，典藏號：002-090200-00072-304 [5]
  17. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，劉茂恩電蔣中正據武庭鱗電稱此次敵軍南犯西犯經桑地南河一帶所部英勇抵抗懇飭將壯烈犧牲之官兵進級追贈並於其鄉里豎立紀念碑以表殊榮，典藏號：002-090200-00071-083 [6]
  18. ^ Peck, Graham (1950). Two Kinds of Time (Paperback ed.). Seattle & London: University of Washington Press (published 2008). pp. 238–284. ISBN 9780295988528.
  19. ^ a b c d Bo, Hu; Kan, Wang (2013). 碧血千秋 : 抗日阵亡将军录. 武汉大学出版社.
  20. ^ 晋绥抗战. 中国文史出版社. 1994. p. 412.
  21. ^ "中原会戦俘虜調査報告　昭和１６年７月３１日　岡村部隊参謀部第２課". Japan Center for Asian Historical Records. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  22. ^ 中国抗日战争史. Vol. 3. 解放军出版社. 2005. p. 71.
  23. ^ 抗日戰史: 晉綏游擊戰(三). 國防部史政編. 1961. pp. 188–189.
  24. ^ 國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，蔣鼎文電蔣中正據范漢傑電稱張魁元劉金玉稱武士敏王儒欽九月三十日在瓦窯溝以西山地陣亡王克敬薛如蘭等被俘等情，典藏號：002-090200-00071-035 [7]
  25. ^ "第１軍作戦経過の概要 第２５章 沁河作戦 昭和１７年１月１５日 第１軍参謀部／沁河作戦綜合戦果一覧表". Japan Center for Asian Historical Records. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  26. ^ Hsu, Long-hsuen; Chang, Ming-kai (1971). History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Translated by Wen, Ha-hsiung (2nd ed.). Taipei: Chung Wu Publishing.
  27. ^ 抗日戰史: 晉南會戰. 史政局. 1966.

38°00′00″N 112°00′00″E / 38.0000°N 112.0000°E / 38.0000; 112.0000

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_South_Shanxi&oldid=1282285327"