Battle of Changsha

The Changsha Battle was four large-scale offensive and defensive campaigns conducted by the Chinese army in the Ninth Theater Center with Changsha as the center against the Japanese invaders from September 1939 to August 1944. It was also known as the "Changsha Defense Battle". It was one of the largest and longest-lasting battles in the Anti-Japanese War. Each of the four battles has its key points: In the first battle from September to October 1939, the commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Okamura Ningji, led an attack with 100,000 troops. Xue Yue commanded the Chinese army to use the "Heavenly Furnace Warfare" to lure the enemy deep and force the enemy to retreat. , The Chinese casualties were about 60,000, and the Japanese troops were about 10,000. In the second battle from September to October 1941, the Japanese troops attacked again. Due to Chinese deployment errors, Changsha was briefly lost. The Japanese troops retreated without consolidating their results. The Chinese casualties were about 70,000, and the Japanese troops suffered about 70,000 casualties. There were about 10,000 troops; in the third battle from December 1941 to January 1942, the Japanese army cooperated with the Pacific War offensive. The Chinese "retreat decisive battle" severely damaged the Japanese army and won a major victory. The Chinese casualties were about 30,000, and the Japanese army was about 30,000 (Chinese statistics, Japanese battle reports are low); in the fourth battle from May to August 1944, the Japanese army launched a fierce attack in the "Changheng Battle". Due to insufficient troops and an overly long defense line, the Chinese side lost Changsha, and then transferred to the Hengyang Defense Battle. The Chinese side was led by Xue Yue as the commander-in-chief, and the 10th Army, 74th Army, etc. Participated in the war, with a total strength of more than 1 million troops; the Japanese army was dominated by the 11th Army, commanded by Okamura Neiji and others, with a total of about 660,000 people participating in the war. In the first three battles, the Chinese casualties were 130,000-150,000, and the Japanese casualties were 100,000-110,000 (Chinese statistics). This battle effectively consumed the Japanese army's effective strength and shattered its attempt to achieve a quick victory. In particular, the third battle was the first time that the Allies fought since the outbreak of the Pacific War.