The Site of the Pingxingguan Campaign is 5 kilometers to the northeast of Pingxingguan in a small village named Guangou Vale in Qiuling County of Shanxi Province. The vale is about 7 kilometers long, with steep cliffs on both sides. Pingxingguan is a well-known pass of the inner Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and is 65 kilometers to the northeast of Fanzhi County that borders Qiuling County. This is a long and narrow ancient path connecting the northern part of Hebei Province in the east and Yanmenguan in the west. It was a strategic military spot in ancient times. The Memorial of the Pingxingguan Campaign sits here.
After the Anti-Japanese War broke out, the Japanese invaders occupied Beiping (today's Beijing City) and Tianjin City. They then marched to Pingxingguan and Yanmenguan attempting to capture Taiyuan City. On the night of September 24, 1937, the Commander of No. 115 Division Lin Biao led three regimes of the Eighth Route Army to hide on the cliffs of the northeast valley in the rain, and successfully ambuscaded the main force of the Division of Banhuan and No. 21 Brigade of the Japanese army on the next morning. They annihilated over 1,000 enemies and their trucks for supplies and gear. Also, they seized a lot of weapons, ammunition and military materials. The victory of the Eighth Route Army at Pingxingguan severely dampened the pep of the Japanese army, and greatly encouraged the morale of the Chinese people.
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