Battle of Kitai | |||||||||
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Part of the Kumul Rebellion | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Chinese Xinjiang Provincial government | |||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Ma Chung-chieh †[2] | Sheng Shicai | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
unknown Chinese Muslim troops[3] | unknown | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
1,000 killed or wounded[4] | heavy |
The Battle of Kitai (Chinese: 奇台县之战) was a confrontation that took place during the Xinjiang Wars. In May 1934 Ma Chung-chieh led the New 36th Division an attack on Qitai County against Xinjiang clique forces and managed to win the battle. [5]
According to Wu:
losses during the capture of Kitai were 1,000 killed or wounded. Ma Chung-chieh was reportedly killed in a moment of "inspired but utterly reckless bravery" when attempting to scale the walls in the face of machine-gun fire.
There would appear to be no substance in the claims made by the JRCAS that Ma's troops were largely unarmed before their attack on Kitai, or that they were subsequently defeated by provincial forces to the west of Kitai on 29 May[6]