Battle of West Hunan
| date | April 9 to June 7, 1945 |
|---|---|
| place | West of southern China 's Hunan Province |
| output | |
| Territorial changes | Conquest of Hengyang by the Japanese |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Troop strength | |
| 200,000 soldiers | 80,000 soldiers |
1937–1939
Marco Polo Bridge - Beijing-Tianjin - Chahar - Shanghai ( Sihang warehouse ) - Beijing-Hankou Railway - Tianjin-Pukou Railway - Taiyuan ( Pingxingguan , Xinkou ) - Nanjing - Xuzhou ( Tai'erzhuang ) - Henan - Lanfeng - Amoy - Wuhan ( Wanjialing ) - Canton - Hainan - Nanchang - ( Xiushui ) - Chongqing - Suixian-Zaoyang - ( Shantou ) - Changsha (1939) - South Guangxi - ( Kunlun Pass ) - Winter Offensive - ( Wuyuan )
1940–1942
Zaoyang-Yichang - Hundred Regiments - Central Hubei - South Henan - West Hebei - Shanggao - Shanxi - Changsha (1941) - Changsha (1942) - Yunnan-Burma Road - Zhejiang-Jiangxi - Sichuan
1943–1945
West Hubei - North Burma and West Yunnan - Changde - Ichi-gō - Henan - Changsha (1944) - Guilin – Liuzhou - West Henan and North Hubei - West Hunan - Guangxi (1945) - Manchukuo (1945)
The Battle of West Hunan ( Japanese 芷江 作 戦 , Shikō sakusen , Eng . "Operation Zhijiang ") was a battle in the late phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War .
procedure
In 1944, the Imperial Japanese Army marched into Hunan Province at the Battle of Changsha , but suffered heavy losses. Now an attempt was made to attack the troops of the Republic of China in western Hunan, a strategically important airfield in Zhijiang, from which the ROCAF and the USAAF could operate. Likewise, after the heavy fighting in the battles for Burma, railway lines needed to transport supplies were to be secured. About 80,000 soldiers of the 20th Army , including men of the 34th Division , the 68th Division , the 116th Division , as well as the 47th Division and 64th Division were drawn together. However, the Chinese troops had previously prepared for a Japanese attack in the hilly area of Hunan. The Chinese troops came from the 3rd and 4th Armies of the Republic of China.
After fighting broke out on April 9, the Japanese quickly occupied large parts of Hunan, with little resistance. However, they were quickly pushed back by the Chinese, as they often operated from hidden positions and with air support. The Fourteenth Air Force also flew air strikes. The Japanese suffered heavy losses up to June and had to give up much of the territory they had previously conquered. The military goals of the Japanese army could not be achieved, the units involved withdrew to the east. They later capitulated on Zi Shui or disbanded at the end of the war.
The Japanese lost 27,000 dead and wounded, the Chinese 7,737 soldiers. 11 US pilots were shot down and killed. Japan surrendered almost three months after the end of the battle.
literature
- Dick Wilson: When Tigers Fight (1982)
- Theresa L. Kraus: US Army Campaigns of World War II: China Offensive (1992)
- Harald Pöcher: Wars and battles in Japan from 1922 to 1945 that made history (2012)