In 1937, the Chinese government picked up intelligence that the Japanese planned a puppet Hui Muslim regime around
Suiyuan and Ningxia, and had sent agents to the region. The
Middlesboro Daily News ran an article by
Owen Lattimore which reported on Japan's planned offensive in 1938, predicting that the Japanese would suffer a massive defeat at the hands of the Muslims. 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. Ma Hongbin's Hui Muslim troops launched further attacks against Japan in the Battle of West Suiyuan. Japanese plans to invade Ningxia and
Gansu collapsed, and with it a capture of China's only operational oil field in
Yumen. Perhaps more importantly, the Chinese remained in control of the vital
Hexi Corridor through which war material supplies entered from Soviet-occupied Xinjiang and
Soviet Central Asia. 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. However, the Chinese had to withdraw from many cities in western Suiyuan due to heavy casualties. Japan used poison gas against Chinese Muslim armies at the
Battle of Wuyuan and Battle of West Suiyuan. == Casualties ==