Yetaishan Campaign - Conclusion

Conclusion

After concluding the nationalists would not launch anymore counterattacks, the Communist finally declared a victory on August 10, 1945. The Communist succeeded in retake all of the territories previously lost by destroying all of the six nationalist companies stationed there, succeeding in capturing over a hundred nationalist enlisted, thirty-six nationalist officers (including a battalion commander), while killing most of the remaining nationalist troops. A total of nineteen machine guns and huge amount of ammunition also fell into Communist hands. The conflict was used by the Communists as a mean to evaluate the training of their troops, especially the 358th Brigade.

The nationalists not only learned that the rugged mountainous terrain favored the enemy defenders but ill-suited for the mechanized force of their own, but was also worrying the political fallout of alienating the general public for launching an attack on the Communists instead of the Japanese invaders. Furthermore, the American investigation team (accompanied by Yang Shangkun, with Huang Hua and Ma Haide (George Hatem) as interpreters) visited the site on August 12, 1945 concluded that the nationalists were at fault, which agreed with the perception of the general public, and losing US support was simply a risk the nationalists could not afford to take. The nationalists therefore decided not to attempt a retake of the region, and the campaign concluded as both sides turned their attention to capturing more territories from the Japanese invaders.