The Third Battle of Changsha (24 December 1941 – 15 January 1942; ) was the first major offensive in China by

Imperial Japanese The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From 1910 to 19 ...

forces following the Japanese attack on the Western Allies and the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, and Japan's third of four attempts to capture the Chinese city of

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

. It was conducted with the purpose of severing Chinese lines of communication with British Hong Kong, and seizing control of Changsha's food production. The offensive resulted in failure for the Japanese, as Chinese forces were able to lure them into a trap and encircle them. After suffering heavy casualties, Japanese forces were forced to carry out a general retreat.

Background and forces

The city of Changsha, the capital of

Hunan Province Hunan is an inland province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, and Guizhou and Chon ...

, was a point of major importance to the Chinese war effort. It was the key to China's most important rice-producing provinces, areas which supplied food for populous areas around the wartime capital of Chongqing. Both sides recognized the importance of this city, and had fought two

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

over the city in the previous two years. The offensive was originally intended to prevent Chinese forces from reinforcing the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...

forces engaged in Hong Kong. Infuriated by Chinese claims of having defeated him in his September-October 1941 Changsha Offensive, Japanese Eleventh Army commander

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Korechika Anami was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II who was War Minister during the surrender of Japan. Early life and career Anami was born in Taketa city in Ōita Prefecture, where his father was a senior bureaucrat in the Hom ...

originally intended to mount a thrust with his army to support the Twenty-Third Army's attack on Hong Kong. Anami's main force consisted of 27

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s, 10

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

battalions, and one

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...

. However, the attack was carried out after Hong Kong had fallen, defeating the point of the operation. In addition, the Japanese had prepared the operation as a swift attack by light forces, and thus only prepared a slender supply route. It was a logistical weakness the Chinese would soon exploit. Defending Changsha were Chinese forces under the command of southern General

Xue Yue Xue Yue (December 26, 1896 – May 3, 1998) was a Chinese military general, nicknamed the " Patton of Asia" by Claire Lee Chennault of the Flying Tigers. Early life and career Born to a peasant family in Shaoguan, Guangdong, Xue joined the ...

. Nicknamed the "Tiger of Changsha," Yue and his men had managed to defend Changsha against two large attacks by Japanese forces in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

and

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

. In both instances, the Chinese had lured the Japanese deep into their territory, and upon engaging their forces in Changsha, severed their supply lines from the rear, forcing the Japanese back into retreats and inflicting heavy losses. The urban city of Changsha was defended by the 10th corps. The corps had been defeated in the Second Battle of Changsha and its commander

Li Yutang Li Yutang () was a KMT general from Guangrao County, Shandong. Li Yutang was a prominent member of the Hong Kong branch of the Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) in the late Qing dynasty.

Attack

The Japanese commenced combat operations on 24 December 1941, with the 6th and 40th

Divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...

leading the way. Japanese forces initially cut through Chinese defenders. By 29 December 1941, believing that the city of

was "inadequately defended", Anami elected to capture it. He was supposed to drive from the south of

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...

, about east of the Hankou-Canton Railway, and reach the

Miluo River The Miluo River (, and with modified Wade–Giles using the form Mi-lo) is located on the eastern bank of Dongting Lake, the largest tributary of the Xiang River in the northern Hunan Province. It is an important river in the Dongting Lake wa ...

, but disobeyed orders from

Imperial General Headquarters The was part of the Supreme War Council (Japan), Supreme War Council and was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was approximately equi ...

and penetrated Chinese lines as far as toward Changsha. He committed the 3rd and 6th Divisions and his forces were surprised to be met with fierce opposition. Morale among the soldiers of the 3rd division was initially high as the unit approached Changsha City on January 1, 1942, with divisional commander Toyoshima saying he will be having his New Year’s celebration inside Changsha. The attack started with the 68th infantry regiment pursuing retreating Chinese troops from the Shiziling (獅子嶺) Heights, three meters southeast of Changsha. In the evening, Kato Soichi led the main force of the 2nd battalion of the 6th infantry regiment towards Changsha. Battalion commander Kato led the 5th and 8th companies and the battalion headquarters into launching a night assault at the Chinese position, fighting fiercely with the defenders. The battalion headquarters soon broke into Baishaling (白沙嶺), but was quickly surrounded. At dawn on the 2nd, battalion commander Kato was wounded from a bullet to the stomach. In the afternoon, a NCO fought his way out, returned to the main base of the battalion, and reported the dire situation. With cries of “Save the battalion commander!”, the battalion launched desperate charges at the Chinese defenses. The battalion continued searching for the commander until the 4th when the unit decided to report him as killed in action. According to Chinese sources, battalion commander Liu Zhengping (劉正平) from Fang Xianjue’s 10th reserve division led a company to attack the enemy trapped in Baishaling, claiming to have killed more than 100 enemy soldiers including battalion commander Kato and seizing important documents. Xue Yue was elated when he received those documents as they revealed the Japanese army’s plan and how little ammunition the Japanese army had, saying "Even if it’s a piece of paper, it weights more than ten thousand machine guns." Fighting was the most intense over southern and eastern gates of the city's walls, and both sides waged vicious see-saw battles over points of tactical importance. One mound, nicknamed "Graveyard Hill," changed hands 11 times in less than 72 hours. On the night of January 1, Fang Xianjue wrote a suicide note, vowing to live and die in Changsha. His letter, which was intended for his wife, was instead sent to the Changsha Daily by Yang Zhenghua (楊正華), the acting director of the political department. The next day, the Changsha Daily published the full text of the letter with the headline "Commander Fang vowed to defend the land to the death and has made his will in advance". On January 2, the mortars and artillery guns of the Chinese army in Changsha and on the opposite bank of the Xiang River fired all at once, hitting various areas of the 3rd division. The 3rd division repeatedly assaulted the city walls under the cover of aircraft, but encountered fierce resistance from the 10th corps and bloody battles unfolded everywhere. The 30th regiment of the 10th reserve division and the 68th infantry regiment of the 3rd division clashed at the Taojiachong (陶家冲) and Hongshizui (紅石嘴) positions and the repair shop. On the opposite bank of the

Xiang River The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the second-largest tributary (after the Min River) in terms of surface runoff, the fifth-largest ...

, the 7th company of the 18th infantry regiment came under attack from the baggage battalion of the 10th reserve division and all of its officers were killed or wounded. In the evening, the 6th division, which had been reluctant to take part in the capture of Changsha, was ordered to support the 3rd division in the city. At dawn of January 3, the 2nd battalion of the 23rd infantry regiment of the 6th division attacked the north side of Changsha. The 570th regiment of the 190th division resisted fiercely and artillery guns from

Yuelu Mountain Yuelu Mountain ( zh, s= 岳麓山, t= 嶽麓山, p= yuèlù shān) is located on the west bank of the Xiang River, one tributary of Yangtze River in Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan. Its main peak and the highest point, Yunlu Peak, is about above ...

fired at the attacking Japanese soldiers. At the same time, part of the Japanese 49th infantry regiment attacked the Chinese 568th regiment. By the afternoon, the fighting had turned into a stalemate and the Japanese side had suffered heavy losses from artillery fire. At the southern side, Ishii’s 18th infantry regiment of the 3rd division attacked the Liuyang Gate (瀏陽門) and encountered fierce resistance from the Chinese 3rd division, with some Japanese soldiers dying in hand-to-hand combat. At 6:30, Lieutenant Colonel Shozaburo Yokota led his 2nd battalion of the 68th infantry regiment into attacking the repair shop. In the ensuing battle with the 30th regiment of the 10th reserve division, the lieutenant colonel was killed in action. Throughout the day, the battalion struggled against the stubborn resistance and bunkers of the Chinese army. Moreover, the 30th regiment launched repeated counterattacks and the battalion was under artillery fire from the Yuelu Mountain. Regimental adjutant Ichiro Kamino was killed while trying to contact the front-line. All officers of the 5th company were wounded and ammunition was running low. At dawn on January 4, the 68th infantry regiment commander ordered the 1st battalion to attack Huangshan (荒山) and the 2nd battalion to attack Dongguashan (東瓜山). However, the report was not received the 1st battalion, so the 2nd battalion attacked alone. With the 5th company at the front and the 8th company as the reserve, the battalion started its attack. Eventually, the 8th company passed through the 5th company and captured the Dongguashan Heights by morning. The 30th regiment immediately launched repeated counterattacks. The company’s ammunition was soon exhausted, resulting in close-quarters fighting. Lieutenant Kuroiwa Nakaji, commander of the 8th company and a veteran of the battle of Shanghai, was killed in action and the company had to retreat without being able to recover his body. On the other side, after four days of fighting, the 30th regiment had only 8 officers and soldiers left. The Japanese 3rd Division managed to penetrate into the southeastern side of the city, but could make no further advances. On 4 January 1942, the Eleventh Army had managed to occupy "all the important points of the city," but they were in danger of encirclement by counterattacking Chinese. The Chinese, in a near-repeat of the previous battles for Changsha, had penetrated to the rear of the main Japanese force and severed their supply lines. As a result, Japanese supplies in ammunition and rations, already strained by days of combat, plunged to dangerously low levels: soldiers in some regiments had only 10-15 bullets each, and some platoons only had a single grenade to share amongst themselves. Japanese prisoners later taken by the Chinese were reported to have not eaten for days prior to their capture, having prepared only 5 days worth of food.

Japanese retreat

Since January 3, the Japanese army started detecting about 30 Chinese divisions tightening their encirclement around the Japanese units in Changsha. The 79th corps approached Dongshan (東山), the crossing point of the 3rd division for the Liuyang River, and occupied the bridge, forcing the defenders to retreat. The 3rd battalion of the 13th infantry regiment sent its 12th company to counterattack the enemy. The centre of the bridge were blown up by Chinese artillery, and the 1st platoon of the 2nd company of the 3rd engineer regiment rushed towards the bridge. The platoon commander and several engineers were immediately killed by grenades and due to fierce enemy fire, there was little progress in repairing the bridge. At the same time, the 26th corps approached Langli City (朗梨市), the crossing point of the 6th division which was defended by the 45th infantry regiment. The corps overran several positions while closing in on the 6th regiment of the Quartermasters directly defending the bridge. For the next two days, the regiment engaged in fierce fighting against the 26th corps, securing the bridge. The 1st battalion was attacked north of Langli City, suffering more than 50 casualties in the defensive battle. Having run out of ammunition that could be airlifted, and hearing about the various Chinese units that were converging towards Changsha, the staff of the 11th army was filled with anxiety as city was still not occupied. At 5:00 p.m. on the 3rd, chief of staff Kinoshita, deputy chief of staff Futami, and operations staff officer Shimamura all visited General Anami’s office and advised him to stop the fighting and retreat on the night of the 4th. Anami rejected the proposal, saying that "the 6th division has just joined the battle on the morning of the 3rd, and thus naturally there has been no progress. I cannot approve of the premature end of the attack. We should wait and see how things go first." However, the staff officers insisted that they should turn back now so that they can reach the north bank of the Miluo River by the morning of the 5th, and the army commander was finally forced to approve the proposal. When the 3rd division received the order to retreat on the night of the 3rd, divisional commander Toyoshima immediately telegraphed General Anami requesting the retreat be postponed for one day to recover Kato Soichi’s body and capture Changsha. On the same day, he sent staff officer Ishii to the 6th division to explain his intention and request joint action for the operation. At this time, the 3rd division had suffered more than 700 casualties and had almost run out of ammunition. Therefore, the staff officers of the 11th army believed that Changsha could not be captured and they should turn back. Staff officer Ishii also returned to the division and reported that the 6th division had told him that they should act in accordance with the army commander’s order. Thus, the 3rd division began preparation to turn back. The withdrawal was conducted under "considerable hardship," according to a post-war Japanese account. “Not only did the Japanese forces have to fight off persistent assaults from large enemy forces… but they had also been compelled to escort a large number of casualties and rear service units." Only their near complete

air superiority An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmospher ...

prevented the Japanese from being annihilated entirely. The Chinese forces, some 20 divisions in 9 armies, pursued the Eleventh Army, killing large numbers of Japanese troops in the process. On January 6, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 236th infantry regiment of the 40th division was besieged by the 37th corps at the Dashantang (大山塘) position. In the early morning of January 7, the 60th and 95th divisions of the 37th corps took advantage of the morning fog to launch a fierce attack on the position of the regiment. Within 15 minutes, the 2nd battalion commander and the 5th and 6th company commanders were killed in action, 12 other officers were killed or wounded, and the total casualties reached 150. The regiment was relieved by the 234th infantry regiment on the 9th, but by then its casualties had reached 390. The 20th and 58th corps of the Sichuan Army were stationed in Yingzhu Mountain (影珠山), blocking the 3rd and 6th divisions retreat. The 9th independent mixed brigade, which were ordered to support the retreat, formed a mixed battalion to launch a surprise night attack at Yingzhu Mountain. The mixed battalion consisted of 150-160 troops of the 1st company, about 60 troops of the 4th company, an artillery platoon, a portion of the communications squad, and medics. It was led by the commander of the 1st company, Shigeru Yamazaki, of the 40th independent infantry battalion. At the night of the 8th, they began to make their move, attacking the command posts of the new 10th division and 58th corps from the northern side of Yingzhu Mountain. By the early hours of January 9, the mixed battalion had reached the summit and planted the Japanese flag. The special services company and a portion of the 30th regiment of the new 10th division and direct units of the 58th corps cooperated with the special services company, cavalry company, and a portion of the 400th regiment of the 134th division of the 20th corps to surround the mixed battalion. By 10 a.m., ammunition had run out and the two sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Before his death, Captain Yamazaki ordered sergeant Saito to report to his superiors about the battle situation and their decision to fight to the death. After the sergeant was sent off, the remaining Japanese soldiers were killed in action or committed suicide. The 9th independent mixed brigade assumed most of Yamazaki’s battalion were killed in action after receiving the report, but still made preparation in case some survived. On the 10th, the Japanese air force reported that only a large number of corpses were found on the high ground where the Japanese flag was planted yesterday. The Chinese also recorded killing more than 200 soldiers of the 9th independent mixed brigade at Yingzhu Mountain. The sacrifice of the mixed battalion and the actions of other units of the 9th independent mixed brigade ensured a safer retreat for the 3rd and 6th divisions passing through the mountain.

Aftermath

Changsha had been successfully defended by the Chinese Army for a third time. Against a backdrop of swift victories across the Pacific, Changsha was the only place where the Japanese Army was suffering defeat in early 1942. Both sides had suffered heavy losses as a result of the fighting. Historian Richard B. Frank, citing Chinese claim, estimates the Japanese lost almost 57,000 troops in the battle, including some 33,941 killed and 23,003 wounded. He Chengjun, Director-General of Courts-Martial of the Military Commission, recorded in his diary on 25 February 1942 that when Xue Yue reported this number to the Military Commission, everyone present laughed at him and Chiang Kai-Shek himself considered the claim too unrealistic. The New York Times estimated the Japanese had lost some 52,000 men in the fighting around Changsha. The Nome Nugget reported the Japanese had lost 15,000 men on January 2 alone, including many high-ranking officers, mostly by artillery fire. The Chinese also suffered heavy casualties. The intensity of the fighting combined with the Chinese Army's harsh discipline meant that Chinese soldiers often fought to the death at their positions, with one Chinese regiment being reduced to 58 survivors after only a few days of fighting. The Japanese army reported their losses as 1,591 killed and 4,412 wounded and claimed 28,612 Chinese soldiers killed and 1,065 Chinese soldiers captured. The losses of the 3rd and 6th divisions accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Japanese losses in the battle. The Ninth Military Front reported their losses at 30,346 killed, wounded, or missing. On 24 January 1942, Xue Yue and Li Yutang were awarded the

Order of Blue Sky and White Sun Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

for their roles in the third battle of Changsha. On the same day, Li Yutang was promoted to deputy commander of the 27th army group while still serving as the commander of the 10th corps. The 10th corps earned the title "Mt. Tai Army" and was well respected. On March 28, 1942, Li Yutang resigned as commander of the 10th corps to serve fully as deputy army group commander. Fang Xianjue, the commander of the 10th reserve division, was promoted to corps commander. On September 8, 1942, the 3rd division, 190th division, and 10th reserve division of the 10th corps each received the Flying Tiger Flags from the Nationalist Government for their role in defending the Changsha city.國史館檔案史料文物查詢系統，國民政府令晉給歐震等十員勛章二頒給第三師等三部隊榮譽旗，典藏號：001-035100-00078-00

/ref> Changsha would remain in Chinese hands until 1944, when Japanese forces would Battle of Changsha (1944), capture the city as part of the Ichi-Go offensive. By then however the tide has completely turned against Japan both in China and the Pacific and the city's importance had diminished greatly. The city would be retaken by Chinese forces in 1945.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Changsha (1942) Changsha 1942 Conflicts in 1942

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...