The Third Battle of Changsha (24 December 1941 – 15 January 1942; ) was the first major offensive in China by Imperial Japanese forces following the Japanese attack on the Western Allies and the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Japan's third of four attempts to capture the Chinese city of Changsha. 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.
The offensive was originally intended to prevent Chinese forces from reinforcing the British Commonwealth 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 Korechika Anami 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 battalions, 10 artillery battalions, and one artillery battery. 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. Nicknamed the "Tiger of Changsha," Yue and his men had managed to defend Changsha against two large attacks by Japanese forces in 1939 and 1941. 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 was dismissed. With the Japanese army approaching the city and replacement commander Zhong Bin (鍾彬) not yet arriving, Li Yutang was reinstated as the commander. The officers and soldiers of the 10th corps were in high spirits, seeing this battle as a chance for rehabilitation of the corps and their commander.
Attack
thumb|Chinese child soldiers en route to the Changsha battlefield
The Japanese commenced combat operations on 24 December 1941, with the 6th and 40th Divisions leading the way. Japanese forces initially cut through Chinese defenders. By 29 December 1941, believing that the city of Changsha was "inadequately defended", Anami elected to capture it. He was supposed to drive from the south of Hankou, about east of the Hankou-Canton Railway, and reach the Miluo River, but disobeyed orders from Imperial General Headquarters 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 kilometers 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. 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". 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 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. 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. Only their near complete air superiority prevented the Japanese from being annihilated entirely.
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.
thumb|Japanese POWs captured by the Chinese Army at Changsha
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,
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 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.
Changsha would remain in Chinese hands until 1944, when Japanese forces would 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.
See also
- Battle of Changsha (1939)
- Battle of Changsha (1941)
- Battle of Changsha (1944)
- Battle of Changsha (TV series), the TV series depicting this event