Battle of Changde

Battle of Changde
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War of World War II

Chinese troops in combat at Changde
Date (1943-11-02) (1944-01-05)November 2, 1943 – January 5, 1944
(2 months and 3 days)
Location
Changde and vicinity, Hunan, China
Result Chinese defensive victory
Territorial
changes
Japanese capture the city, but later withdraw in January 1944
Belligerents
Republic of China (1912–1949) Republic of China Empire of Japan Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Republic of China (1912–1949) Sun Lianzhong
Republic of China (1912–1949) Xue Yue
Republic of China (1912–1949) Feng Zhi'an
Republic of China (1912–1949) Li Yutang
Republic of China (1912–1949) Wang Yaowu
Republic of China (1912–1949) Liu Chen-san
Empire of Japan Isamu Yokoyama
Strength
8,000+ (Changde itself was defended by the 8,000-strong 57th Division) 60,000+
Casualties and losses
7,900+ killed (57th Division suffered 7,900 killed and 100 wounded)

Japanese claim:
1,274 dead
2,977 wounded

American and British claims: 40,000+ killed and wounded

Thousands of guns, ammunitions, shells, and prisoners taken and captured.

The Battle of Changde (Battle of Changteh; simplified Chinese: 常德会战; traditional Chinese: 常德會戰; pinyin: Chángdé Huìzhàn) was a major engagement in the Second Sino-Japanese War in and around the Chinese city of Changde (Changteh) in the province of Hunan. During the battle, the Imperial Japanese Army extensively used chemical weapons.

The purpose of the Japanese offensive was to maintain pressure on the Chinese National Revolutionary Army to reduce its combat ability in the region and its ability to reinforce the Burma Campaign.[1][2]

The Japanese were initially successful in their offensive operation by bacteria-infected bombs and captured parts of the city of Changde, which forced civilians to evacuate. The Japanese were pinned down in the city by a Chinese division long enough for other Chinese units to surround them with a counterencirclement. Heavy casualties and the loss of their supply lines then forced the Japanese to withdraw, which returned territorial control to the original status quo.

Some contemporary Western newspapers depicted the battle as a Chinese victory.[3][4][5][6][7] American government film footage showed victorious Chinese troops with Japanese prisoners and captured Japanese flags and equipment on display after the battle. In addition, an American newsreel titled Chinese troops drive Japs from Changteh showed Chinese troops firing, with dead and captured Japanese on display. A British newsreel titled Japs Loose Changteh Aka Japs Lose Changte showed similar footage.

  1. ^ Hsiung, James C.; Levine, Steven I., eds. (1991). China's Bitter Victory: The War with Japan 1937–1945. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharp. p. 161. ISBN 9780873327084.
  2. ^ Japanese Monograph No. 71, "Army Operations in China", pp. 170
  3. ^ North, Simon Newton Dexter; Wickware, Francis Graham; Hart, Albert Bushnell (1944). The American Year Book: Volume 29. T. Nelson & Sons. p. 94. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  4. ^ Creel, George (1949). Russia's Race for Asia. Bobbs-Merrill Co. p. 214.
  5. ^ Free World, Volume 8. Free World, Inc. 1944. p. 309.
  6. ^ Jaffe, Philip J. (1943). Amerasia, Volume 7. Amerasia. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  7. ^ "Chinese Victory". Life. Time Inc. 21 February 1944. p. 45. Retrieved 5 June 2016 – via Google Books.