Battle of West Suiyuan

The Battle of West Suiyuan (simplified Chinese: 绥西战役; traditional Chinese: 綏西戰役; pinyin: Suíxī zhànyì) was part of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was fought from January – February 1940, as part of the Chinese 1939 Winter Offensive.

Battle of West Suiyuan
Part of Second Sino-Japanese War
Chinese 35th Army
Date January 1940 – February 1940 Location Suiyuan Result Chinese withdrawal from many cities in West Suiyuan due to heavy casualties[1]
Belligerents
Republic of China	Empire of Japan Mengjiang
Commanders and leaders
Ma Hongkui Ma Hongbin	Shigenori Kuroda
Strength
28,763 Chinese Muslim and Han Chinese troops[1] All of them infantry and horse cavalry.	Thousands of Japanese and Mengjiang troops, with armoured cars, tanks in addition to air support by fighter bomber aircraft
Casualties and losses
According to commander Fu Zuoyi's report on 24th April 1940 : [2] 2,129 killed 1,767 wounded 1,895 missing According to history of the Anti-Japanese War :[1] 2,872 killed or wounded 2,126 missing	Japanese Army claims : 160 killed, 461 wounded, 534 afflicted with frostbites.[3] Mengjiang Army : unknown

The Japanese had tanks, armoured cars, tear gas and air supremacy with fighter bombers while the Chinese warlord armies involved had no airforce or equivalent armour.

Battle

In 1937 the Chinese government picked up intelligence that the Japanese planned a puppet Hui Muslim country around Suiyuan and Ningxia, and had sent agents to the region.^[4]

The Middlesboro Daily News ran an article by Owen Lattimore which reported on Japan's planned offensive into the Muslim region in 1938, which predicted that the Japanese would suffer a massive crushing defeat at the hands of the Muslims.^[5]

The Japanese planned to invade Ningxia from Suiyuan in 1939 and create a Hui Muslim puppet state. The following year in 1940, the Japanese were defeated militarily by the Kuomintang Muslim General Ma Hongbin, who caused the plan to collapse. Ma Hongbin's Hui Muslim troops launched further attacks against Japan in the Battle of West Suiyuan.^[6][7]

In Suiyuan 300 Mongol collaborators serving the Japanese were fought off by a single Muslim who held the rank of Major at the Battle of Wulan Obo in 1939 April.^[8]

Muslim Generals Ma Hongkui and Ma Hongbin defended west Suiyuan, particularly Wuyuan in 1940 against the Japanese. Ma Hongbin commanded the 81st corps and sustained heavy casualties, but eventually repulsed the Japanese and defeated them.^[9]

Japan used poison gas against Chinese Muslim armies at the Battle of Wuyuan and Battle of West Suiyuan.^[10][11]