The Battle of Xinkou was a large-scale battle fought by the Chinese army against the Japanese invading army in northern Jin at the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The campaign lasted 21 days from October 13 to November 2, 1937. The units involved in the battle were the Jin Sui Army of Yan Xishan, the Central Army of the Kuomintang, and the Eighth Route Army (also known as the 18th Group Army) led by the Communist Party of China. The campaign was the central battle of the Battle of Taiyuan, commanded by the Second Theater. The commander of the Second Theater, Yan Xishan, and the deputy commanders were Zhu De, Wei Lihuang, and so on. The campaign set a record of annihilating more than 10,000 enemies and was a successful example of unity and cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists and the Chinese Communists in military cooperation.
Xinkou, leaning on the Yunzhong River on the left and Wutai Mountain on the right, is the barrier to the north of Taiyuan. If you hold Xinkou, you can defend Taiyuan, and if you hold Taiyuan, you can fix Shanxi and protect North China. It was precisely because Xinkou had such an important strategic position that in order to realize the strategic attempt to quickly seize Northern China, the Japanese Kou mobilized 50,000 or 60,000 heavy troops, 150 tanks, and 25 cannons after the battle of Pingxingguan, and attacked Xinkou under the leadership of the Japanese chieftain Bantan.
At this time, although the Chinese army fought bloodily, it was still unable to defend the inner Great Wall defense line from Yanmen Pass to Pingxing Pass, and was forced to retreat to the front line of the east and west of Xinkou. In order to defend Xinkou, the last line of defense in Taiyuan, Wei Lihuang, commander of the Second Theater and commander-in-chief of the former enemy in charge of organizing the Battle of Xinkou, deployed troops: Liu Mao'en commanded the right wing corps, Hao Mengling commanded the central corps, and Li Mo'an commanded the left wing corps, and carried out a blockade attack on the front line of Longwangtang South Huaihua, Dabaishui, and Nanyu north of Xinkou, and coordinated operations with air force and artillery.
On October 13, the Japanese army divided into left and right wings and simultaneously attacked the south Huaihua Heights on the northwest side of Xinkou. The Chinese army held its position and stubbornly counterattacked, and the Japanese army was blocked. On the 14th, the Defenders of Xinkou began a full-scale counterattack, and the Japanese suffered heavy losses. On the 15th, the Japanese army opened the way with more than 10 tanks and attacked Xinkou again, and the battle became more intense. On the night of the 16th, Hao Mengling, commander of the Ninth Army, personally commanded the operation on the Great WhiteWater Front, which was only 200 meters away from the enemy, and unfortunately was shot and killed at the age of 39. By October 22, the enemy who had entered Nanhuaihua had already joined forces in three yi and launched another onslaught on the 24th. The enemy could not attack for a long time, using poison gas and burning bullets to assist, the defenders' positions were in a sea of fire, and the officers and men of our defenders braved the fire and poisonous gas to fight to the death, and the losses on both sides were serious, and the daily casualties were in the thousands, so the confrontation lasted for half a month. At the end of October, the situation on the Xinkou battlefield deteriorated. The 14th Army rushed to the north of Jin, but due to continuous charging and killing, its combat effectiveness was unable to support. At this time, Jindong was in a hurry, too plaintiffs to police, and the Second Theater made new arrangements. Wei Lihuang ordered his troops to stop the counterattack, and on the night of November 2, he was ordered to withdraw from the Xinkou position and retreat to Taiyuan. On the night of November 8, the north of Taiyuan City was penetrated by the Japanese army, and after fierce street battles, Fu Zuoyi led more than 2,000 defenders to break through to Xishan, and Taiyuan was lost.
Although the Chinese lost the Battle of Xinkou and made great sacrifices, the Chinese defenders resisted heroically, thus consuming a large number of enemy forces and buying time. This battle destroyed the Japanese plan for the Battle of Hebei Plain, allowing the Chinese army on the Pinghan Line to withdraw south.