Battle of Xinkou

Battle context

The Battle of Xinkou was a major engagement within the Taiyuan Campaign, which constituted the second of the 22 large-scale engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. China committed approximately 280,000 troops against a Japanese force of around 140,000, reflecting the scale of effort the Chinese command devoted to contesting this campaign. Chinese casualties reached roughly 100,000 against Japanese losses of approximately 20,000, a disparity that underscored the persistent asymmetry in firepower and combined-arms capability between the two forces at this stage of the war. The battle's place within the Taiyuan Campaign gave it operational significance for the defense of Shanxi province and the broader Japanese drive into northern China in the war's opening phase.