Battle of Changde

Battle of Changde
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II
Chinese troops in combat at Changde
Date November 2, 1943 (1943-11-02) – December 20, 1943 (1943-12-21) Location Changde and vicinity Result Chinese victory Japanese capture the city, but later withdraw in January 1944
Belligerents
China	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Sun Lianzhong Wang Yaowu	Isamu Yokoyama
Strength
~210,000	61,000
Casualties and losses
20,000	More than 11,000 dead and wounded (according to the diary record from Shunroku Hata who is the field marshal of Imperial Japanese Army)

Chinese victory

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, Japan extensively used chemical weapons.

The purpose of the Japanese offensive was not to hold the city, but to maintain pressure on the Chinese National Revolutionary Army "in order to destroy their main units, to deny them the time needed for recuperation, regrouping, and retraining, and to make sure that no Chinese troops could be spared for the Burma front."

The Japanese were initially successful in their offensive operation, successfully capturing the city of Changde and causing terror among its civilians. However, they were pinned down in the city by a single Chinese division for long enough for other Chinese units to surround them with a counter-encirclement. Heavy casualties and the loss of their supply lines then forced the Japanese to withdraw, returning territorial control to the original status quo.

Some contemporary Western newspapers depicted the battle as a Chinese victory. American government film footage shows 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.

On 2 November 1943, Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Imperial Japanese 11th Army, deployed the 39th, 58th, 13th, 3rd, 116th and 68th divisions, a grand total of around 60,000 troops, to attack Changde from the north and the east. The Changde region was protected by the Chinese 6th War Area's 10th, 26th, 29th and 33rd Army Groups, as well as a river defense force and two other corps, for a grand total of 14 corps.

...
Wikipedia