Hu Zongnan
The nationalists lost over 10,000 troops in this defeat, which disrupted the overall plan to attack the communist capital Yan'an, and the original offensive schedule had to be postponed, thus providing the enemy with ample time to evacuate. Furthermore, the southwestern Shanxi was constantly under the enemy threat as a result of the nationalist defeat. The lack of corporation among nationalists themselves was also an important contributor to the enemy's success: the local Shanxi nationalist warlord Yan Xishan was always fearful of Chiang Kai-shek's takeover and thus refused to send out any of his own troops for reinforcement under the excuse of local areas would be threatened if his troops were sent to southwestern Shanxi to help Hu Zongnan.