Battle of Pingxingguan

Battle of Pingxingguan
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Chinese soldiers firing a Type 24 heavy machine gun at an ambush against Japanese troops in the Battle of Pingxing Pass
Date (1937-09-22) (1937-09-29)September 22–29, 1937 (1 week) Location Pingxingguan, Shanxi 39°20′43.98″N 113°57′34.23″E Result Japanese victory over the Chinese Nationalists and capture of Pingxingguan Chinese Communists victory at the Pingxingguan Ambush
Belligerents
Republic of China	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Yan Xishan Yang Aiyuan Fu Zuoyi Lin Biao Zhu De	Itagaki Seishiro
Units involved
National Revolutionary Army Eighth Route Army 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 Pingxingguan ambush : certain supply troops and the 3rd Battalion of the 21st Regiment of the 5th Division
Casualties and losses
Nationalist troops : 39,402 casualties 115th division in the Pingxingguan ambush : ~400 casualties	Chinese Claim : Chinese Nationalists claim : 2,952 casualties Chinese Communists claims : Initial Chinese report : 1,000 casualties Postwar Chinese study : 400-500 casualties Japanese Records : 527 killed, 961 wounded, 18 missing In the Pingxingguan ambush : 165 killed, 75 wounded

The Battle of Pingxingguan (Chinese: 平型關戰役) was a battle between Chinese and Japanese troops at the Pingxing Pass. The Japanese army defeated the numerically-superior Nationalist army and occupied the pass over the course of a week. This battle also saw cooperation between Nationalist and Communist troops.

The Pingxingguan Ambush, commonly called the Great Victory of Pingxingguan in Mainland China, was an engagement 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. The battle resulted in the loss of 400 to 600 soldiers on both sides, but the Chinese captured 100 trucks full of supplies. The victory gave the Chinese Communists a tremendous boost since it was the only division-size battle that they fought during the entire war.

Background

After the capture of Beiping (present Beijing) at the end of July 1937, Japanese forces advanced along the Beijing–Baotou railway to Inner Mongolia. Having anticipated the move, Chiang Kai-shek had appointed the Shanxi warlord Yan Xishan as Pacification Director of Taiyuan. Theoretically Yan had authority over all the Chinese military forces in his theatre of operations, including Lin Biao's 115th Division of the Communist 8th Route Army, Liu Ruming's ex-Kuomintang troops and various Central Army contingents responsible to Chiang Kai-shek. In reality these forces operated independently from Yan's provincial army.

Japanese forces, mainly the 5th Division and 11th Independent Mixed Brigade, moved out from Beiping and advanced on Huailai County in Chahar. A Japanese column advanced quickly into Shanxi, making use of the railway which the Chinese did not attempt to destroy. On September 10, the Japanese 5th division captured Yu County and the 16th brigade captured Yangquan. The Chinese abandoned Datong on 13 September. On the same day, the 16th brigade attacked the 84th division at Huoshaoling (火燒嶺) while the 5th division also attacked the 21st division, 73rd division, and 3rd independent brigade, fighting fiercely all day long. Lu Chaoran (呂超然), the commander of the 423rd regiment, was killed in action. On September 14, the 5th division occupied Guangling County. On the 15th, the division attacked the 424th regiment of the 73rd division at the Songshushan (松樹山) position, capturing it by morning. Divisional commander Liu Fengbin (劉奉濱) personally led four infantry companies to recapture the position. Liu Fengbin was badly wounded during the fierce fighting and more than half of the troops were killed or wounded. The Chinese army fell back to a line from Yanmen Pass on the Great Wall east to the mountain pass of Pingxingguan. Yan Xishan's troops became more demoralised as the Japanese exerted their air supremacy.

The main body of the Japanese 5th Division, under the command of Itagaki Seishiro, advanced from Huaili to invade northeastern Shanxi. Although it had a motorised transport column, its rate of advance was limited by the poor roads. By the time they reached the Shanxi border, Lin Biao's 115th Division, after a forced march from Shaanxi, was in place at Pingxingguan on 24 September to ambush the Japanese army.

Battle

Battles between Nationalist and Japanese forces

On September 22, part of the Japanese 5th division attacked Caijiayu (蔡家峪) and Pingxingguan. On September 23, the position of Caijiayu was overrun and the battalion of the 623rd regiment of the 8th independent brigade defending it had to retreat. Japanese troops also attacked the northwest heights of Dongpaochi (東跑池), killing all two companies of the 8th independent brigade. Deputy commander-in-chief Sun Chu ordered the 73rd division, 84th division, and 8th independent brigade to counterattack the enemy. However, no progress was made throughout the day and Ai Jiesan (艾捷三), commander of the 502nd regiment of the 84th division, was badly wounded and battalion commander Li was killed.

On September 23, commander-in-chief Fu Zuoyi led the reserve army to jointly command operations with Yang Aiyuan’s 6th army group at Pingxingguan. The reserve army consisted of the 71st division, 72nd division, and new 2nd division alongside the 115th division of the Eighth Route Army. On the 25th, the Chinese army launched a counterattack with the reserve army and parts of the 6th army group. The battlefields of Tuanchengkou (團城口), Dongpaochi, and Xiaozhai Village (小寨村) were successively recovered. At dawn on September 26, a part of the 5th division attacked the 71st division at Mihui Village (迷迴村). The 217th brigade of the 72nd division was sent to assist and the 6th army group launched a counterattack, forming an encirclement around the 1st battalion of the 11th infantry regiment under Major Oie’s command.

On September 27, the 211th brigade and 218th brigade of the 35th corps and the 3rd independent brigade of the 7th army group arrived as reinforcements. At the same time, the 21st division was attacked at Xihekou and fierce fighting occurred all day. The 203rd brigade of the 19th corps also came under attack at Ruyuekou (茹越口) and the two battalions of the 227th regiment of the brigade suffered very heavy losses. The 405th regiment of the 34th army was dispatched to assist the brigade. On September 28, the main force of the 71st division attacked the besieged Oie’s battalion. After making some progress, the division was suddenly attacked by enemy reinforcements and the 434th regiment was surrounded as it had advanced too far. After several hours of fighting, the regiment was reduced to only dozens of officers and soldiers left. Regimental commander Cheng Jixian (程繼賢) and the rest of the officers and soldiers were all killed. The 403rd regiment and two battalions of the 431st regiment also suffered very heavy casualties and all the soldiers on the hill south of Tuanchengkou were killed. The remnants of the two regiments and two battalions withdrew to Gaifanggou (蓋房溝) and awaited for reinforcements. Oie’s battalion was finally relieved of its three-day encirclement. At the same time, the Japanese army captured Ruyuekou. Liang Jiantang (梁鑑堂), the commander of the 203rd independent brigade, was killed in action, and his troops retreated to the Tiejiaoling (鐵角嶺) position north of Fanshi. The 101st division of the 35th corps also suffered heavy casualties and retreated to the area east of Tiejiaoling.

On September 29, a part of the 5th division continued attacking the 71st division with aircraft and artillery, causing heavy casualties on the defenders. The 21st division continued fighting north of Xihekou. The 34th corps lost its Tiejiaoling position and retreated to Fanshi under hot pursuit. Learning about the situation, Yan Xishan ordered the 6th and 7th army groups to retreat and occupy positions along Mount Wutai. All units started to move on September 30, arriving at their designated positions on October 1. The battle of Pingxingguan ended.

Pingxingguan Ambush

Eighth Route Army troops entering Pingxingguan. Photograph by Sha Fei

The pass of Pingxingguan was a narrow defile worn through the loess, with no exit for several kilometres except the road itself. Lin's division were able to ambush two columns of mainly transportation and supply units and virtually annihilate the trapped Japanese forces.

On 25 September, the 21st brigade of the Japanese 5th Division stationed at Lingqiu received a request from the 21st Regiment that they urgently needed supplies due to falling temperature. The supply troops of the 21st Regiment set out with 70 horse-drawn vehicles with 50 horses, filled with clothes, food, ammunition and proceeded westwards towards Pingxingguan. Around 10:00, the supply column passed into a defile with the two sides rising up more than 10 metres; they were heading towards Caijiayu about 3 km away.

At the same time, a motorized column of Japanese supply troops in about 80 trucks left Guangou and headed east. Both of these non-combat formations entered into the ambush set by the 115th division after 10 a.m. on the 25th and were largely wiped out. A relief force consisting of the 3rd Battalion of the 21st Regiment was rebuffed by Chinese troops and suffered almost 100 casualties. Lin Biao's troops eventually withdrew from the battlefield, allowing the Japanese to finally reach the site of the ambush on 28 September. The Nationalist Air Force of China provided some close-air support for the Chinese ground forces in course of the battles at Pingxingguan.

Japanese casualties in the battle have been estimated at 400 to 500 and the Chinese at about 400. The Chinese forces destroyed about 70 trucks and an equal number of horse-drawn carts and captured 100 rifles, 10 light machine guns, 1 gun and 2,000 shells as well as some clothing and food.

Evaluation

Chinese translated to English – Pingxingguan Grand Victory Relics

Pingxingguan Ambush

The 'history of the Anti-Japanese War' recorded that the 115th division wiped out a battalion of troops and destroyed 80 trucks at Caijiayu and Xiaozhai Village during the ambush on September 25. On the other hand, the Communists' accounts describe Pingxingguan as a typical example of Red guerrilla tactics, inspired by Mao Zedong's conceptualization of people's war.

Japanese losses were greatly exaggerated for propaganda purposes. However, like the victory at the Battle of Taierzhuang, the Pingxingguan ambush was explained by Japan as Japanese officers succumbing to what they came to call "victory disease."

After a series of easy victories against their opponents, they failed to take elementary precautions. Japanese commanders seldom repeated the operational blunders that had led to Pingxingguan Ambush.

Nonetheless, the battle gave the Chinese a major boost in morale and credence to the Communists in the eyes of the people. The battle was constantly cited by CPC leaders as an example of their commitment to battling the Japanese occupation, even though Mao had opposed the battle, according to an account written by Lin Biao in Russia (where he was being treated for bullet wounds) and Lin had undertaken it on his own authority.

Overall Campaign

The Japanese was able to occupy Pingxingguan and inflict many times more casualties on the Nationalist army. The 'history of the Anti-Japanese War' put the ratio of casualties between the Japanese and Nationalist armies at 1 to 13.38. After the battle, both sides prepared for the next stage of the battle of Taiyuan at Xinkou. Professor Jiang Keshi believed that the Eighth Group Army performed much better in the battle, as the 6,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers killed or wounded 240 Japanese soldiers in a day compared to the 60,000 Shanxi-Suiyuan army soldiers who killed or wounded 1,266 Japanese soldiers in a week of fighting. However, he also criticized the propagandizing of the ambush to the point of negating the role of the Shanxi-Suiyuan army in the battle of Pingxingguan, which also fought in bloody battles for a week at Pingxingguan and Ruyuekou. The Japanese army also referred to the battle of Pingxingguan against the Nationalists as a hard battle.

See also

• Order of battle of the Battle of Pingxingguan

External links

• Description (in Chinese) of the Battle of Pingxingguan in the on line version of the book: 中国抗日战争正面战场作战记 (China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations) by 郭汝瑰 (Guo Rugui), Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 2005, ISBN 7-214-03034-9
  • 华北作战平型关大捷 1 (North China Battles, the Pingxingguan victory 1)
  • 华北作战平型关大捷 2 (North China Battles, the Pingxingguan victory 2)
• a more recent study (in Chinese) 关于平型关战斗的史实重建问题 "On the reconstruction of the facts of the Battle of Pingxingguan" by Professor Yang Kui Song
  • A partial translation of Prof. Yang Kui Songon's article on Axis History Forum: The Battle of Pingxinguan 1937
• Pingxingguan Campaign
• 抗战烽火：平型关大捷 (Sino-Japanese War beacon-fire: Pingxingguan victory) Map and photos of the battle, in Chinese
• China AMS Topographic Map of Pingxingguan battle area from Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection (area near GP5,6)