《中國抗日戰(zhàn)爭史簡明讀本（英文版）》：

　　For centuries Xinkou had been a place of strategic importance，on October 7，Japanese troops，with aerial and artillery support，occupied the county seat of Guo，and came into confrontation with Chinese troops at Yuanping.At this，Yen Hsi—shan decided that his Chinese troops should shift into defensive position along the whole line.The Eighth Route Army，meanwhile，took a proactive approach and attacked the enemy from both the side and the rear，in a move which enabled it to recover the county towns of Pinglu，Ningwu and Laiyuan from the Japanese.It also launched sabotage operations along the Datong to Shuo County section of the Datong—Puzhou Railway，drawing close to Datong.

　　On October 11，the Japanese troops continued their fierce attack on Yuanping.The officers and soldiers of the 196th Brigade of the 19th Army of the Chinese Central Army fought back courageously，but the brigade suffered heavy losses including Brigade Commander Jiang Yuzhen，and in the end，only around 200 men survived.With this，the town of Yuanping fell into enemy hands.On October 13，the Japanese began attacking the Chinese positions at Xinkou，in response to which the Chinese forces launched a counter—attack.Two days later，after a string of seven clashes for Hill 1300 the two sides became locked in a face—off at Nanhuaihua.

　　Considering the strategic importance of Nanhuaihua to the battle in Xinkou in northern Shanxi，Wei Li—huang，commander—in—chief of the Central Army，decided to assign five brigades to launch a counter—attack against the Japanese forces there.The fighting began in the early hours of October 16，and the position changed hands several times during a day and night of exceptionally fierce combat，in which both sides suffered several thousand casualties.Commander of the 9th Army Hao Mengling and 54th Division Commander Liu Jiaqi both laid down their lives while directing operations at the front.

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