Battle of Changsha ( 1944 ) The Battle of Changsha ( 1944 ) , ( also known as the Battle of Hengyang or Campaign of Changsha - Hengyang ) was an invasion of the Chinese province of Hunan by Japan ese troops near the end of the Second Sino - Japanese War . As such , it encompasses three separate conflicts : an invasion of the city of Changsha and two invasions of Hengyang . The Japanese military transferred the bulk of their troops from the Japanese homeland and Manchuria as part of Operation " Ichi - Go " or " Tairiku Datsu Sakusen " which roughly translates as ' Operation to Break through the Continent ' . This was an attempt to establish a land and rail corridor from the Japanese occupied territories of Manchuria , Northern and Central China and Korea and those in South East Asia . In June 1944 , the Japanese deployed 360 , 000 troops ( not including air and naval support ) , to attack Changsha for the fourth time ( the first being in 1939 ) . The Operation involved more Japanese troops than any other campaign in the Second Sino - Japanese war . Japanese Objectives . Changsha is the capital city of Hunan province and an important junction of two railroads in southern China : the tri - province railroad of Hunan - Kweichow - Guangxi and the one from Canton to Wuhan . Hengyang is also on the tri - province railroad and very close to the Canton - Wuhan Railroad . Furthermore , Lake Dongting and the cities of Changsha , Hengyang , and Lingling , are connected by the Hsiang River . It was imperative for both sides to control the suburban areas of Changsha and Hengyang . The tactical objective of the Japanese China Expeditionary Army was to secure the railroad of Hunan - Kweichow - Guangxi and the southern area of China . The United States 14th Air Force of United States Army Air Forces also stationed their fighters and bombers at several air bases along the three - province railroad : Hengyang , Lingling , Guilin , Liuzhou , and Nanning . From there , the American Flying Tigers led by Brigadier General Claire Lee Chennault , had inflicted heavy damage on Japanese troops both in China and Formosa and could launch air strikes against the home islands of Japan . After several ineffective air strikes by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service , the Japanese decided to use ground forces to deny Allied air power of these airbases . By a direct order from Shunroku Hata ( ) , Commander - in - Chief of the Japanese China Expeditionary Army , the Japanese 11th Army stationed at Wuhan was given the mission to attack Changsha and advance southwest via the tri - province railroad . It was later to join force with the Japanese 23rd Army of the Japanese Sixth Area Army from Canton . General Isamu Yokoyama ( ) , the two - star general of the Japanese 11th Army , headed five divisions and reinforced by four more divisions and three independent brigades . Shunroku Hata decided to stay at Wuhan from 25 May 1944 until the end of the second phase of Operation Ichi - Go . Battle of Changsha . On 27 May 1944 , the Japanese 11th Army launched a general offensive toward Changsha as scheduled . The Japanese modified the tactics they used in their previous three attempts by sending the crack 3rd and 13th Divisions to attack Wanyang mountain toward Liuyang , effectively out - flanking the Chinese troops defending Changsha and cutting off their retreat routes . The Japanese also placed additional divisions in charge of attacking Changsha . The Chinese attempted to use the previous tactic of avoiding direct contact by marching in parallel fashion to out - flank the Japanese , but were unable to encircle them as in the previous battles and had to retreat . This allowed the Imperial Japanese Army ( IJA ) to rapidly advance to the city of Changsha , defeating the infantry defending the city , as well as neutralizing the Chinese artillery on the Yuelu Mountain . Changsha was quickly lost to the Japanese . A two - star general Zhang De - neng , the commander of the National Revolutionary Army ' s ( NRA ) 4th Corps in charge of defending Changsha , ordered a general retreat against a direct order telegrammed from his immediate superior , Xue Yue ( ) , the Commander of the ninth Military Front . However , Zhang did not provide a feasible plan and fled the city while leaving most of his troops withdrawing in confusion and to be taken prisoner by the Japanese . Zhang was arrested by Xue , stood trial and sentenced by court - martial to five years in prison . He was later ordered to be executed by Chiang Kai - shek on the charge of " incompetence of command and desertion upon combat engagement " by the power of " Military Discipline upon Combat Engagement . " ( ) Battle of Hengyang . Two Japanese military detachments moved on to besiege Hengyang , but the NRA ' s understrength Tenth Corps under the command of Fang Xianjue repelled their advance twice . The predicament in Hengyang helped hasten the crumbling of Tojo Hideki ' s cabinet . In conjunction with the loss of Saipan on 9 July 1944 , Tojo Hideki and his cabinet handed in their resignation on 18 July 1944 . In August 1944 , Japanese troops led by three two - star generals again attacked Hengyang with air support . Chinese troops resisted fiercely aided by local knowledge and constructing effective barricades up to four meters high . The Chinese defenses were intelligently constructed and used crossfire zones to maximize firepower . This caused the Japanese 68th and 116th Divisions to lose morale and it began preparations for retreat . Morale rose , however , when the Japanese 58th Division broke into the northwest perimeter of the city , defended by the Chinese Third Division and the attack resumed . Reinforcements from five Corps : the 37th , 62nd , 74th , 79th , and 100th , attempted many times to reach Hengyang , but were blocked by four Japanese divisions : the 27th , 34th , 40th , and 64th . The Japanese eventually captured the Chinese Tenth Corps commander Fang Xianjue , who surrendered Hengyang on 8 August 1944 after his Tenth Corps was decimated , down from seventeen thousand to three thousand ( wounded ) men . This concluded the Campaign of Changsha - Hengyang . The defeated Tenth Corps . The Chinese National Military Council reactivated the headquarters of the Tenth Corps at Yi - San in Guangxi after the defeat of Hengyang . Li Yu - tang was the commanding general of the parent unit of the Tenth Corps . Some of the surviving Tenth Corps soldiers slipped through the Japanese lines and returned to the new corps headquarters on foot . Of the imprisoned three thousand wounded Chinese soldiers , one thousand died of starvation , injury , sickness or mistreatment by the Japanese . Most of the captured Chinese general officers at Hengyang managed to break through the Japanese lines separately . On 19 September 1944 , Fang Xianjue was rescued by a clandestine team from the Changsha Station of the " Military - Statistics Bureau " of the National Military Council and was personally received by Chiang Kai - shek at Chiang ' s Chungking residence on 14 December 1944 . Against the unofficial military traditions in east Asia , " Fang and his five tiger - like generals , " surrendered the Chinese Tenth Corps in Chungking , they were also awarded the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun . Fang and two other generals were given command of new full - strength divisions . At the same time , Fang was also assigned to the two - star deputy commander of the 37th Army Group . All six general officers remained on active military duty until after the end of the war . Aftermath . After 47 days of bitter fighting , Japanese troops managed to occupy Hengyang with a high price in casualties over the city of Hengyang - many lives were lost , including 390 Japanese commissioned officers dead and another 520 wounded . The 68th and 116th Divisions lost their combat strength and were reassigned to garrison duties . Thus , the Chinese troops to the north were able to expand their influence despite the loss of Hengyang city . On the side of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army , Xue ' s Ninth Military Front in this campaign lost two effective corps loyal to Chiang Kai - Shek : the 4th and the 10th corps . This rendered " Tiger Xue " a toothless tiger until the end of the Second Sino - Japanese War . Sequentially , the Japanese 11th Army moved toward Lingling , seizing it on 4 September 1944 , and controlled Guilin on 10 November 1944 . The Japanese China Expeditionary Army ostensibly had completed the strategic objective of the Imperial Japanese General Staff : linking up by occupation their territories in east Asia , ( although they did not have enough manpower to maintain actual control over it due to their heavy losses ) . Moreover , the United States Army Air Forces transferred all their bomber groups in the above Chinese air bases to newly captured Saipan in July 1944 , during the battle of Hengyang . From Saipan , United States aerial fleets began their bombing campaign against the home islands of Japan . One of the Japanese tactical achievements in this bloody campaign , ( Operation Ichi - Go ) , had been easily neutralized by a simple American military maneuver in the Pacific . After the battle of Hengyang , the Japanese could not continue to fight effectively . During this period Japan discovered that government privileges from Wang Jingwei ' s puppet regime were useless , consequently they rejected plans to take more Chinese territory . At the same time their negotiating position with China became significantly less powerful — to the point where they agreed to set aside the " Tang Ju " treaty . The Chinese government continued to pressure the Japanese to completely withdraw from the northeast . The Japanese , in a desperate measure , collected as many troops as possible in April 1945 to invade a heavy settlement ( Zhijiang ) in the west of Hunan , hoping to open a path to Sichuan . The troops were intercepted in an ambush by the Chinese National Guard and almost completely wiped out . China regained some of its territory . At this point , the course of the war had turned . The Japanese subsequently surrendered at the Zijiang River .