Defense of Hengyang
| Defense of Hengyang | |||||||||
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| Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War of World War II | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 National Revolutionary Army
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 Imperial Japanese Army
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Fang Xianjue
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 Isamu Yokoyama
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 10th corps, 17,000 men | 11th army, 110,000+ men | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 4,700 KIA 2,900 died of other causes 9,400 captured (including 8,000 injured) 3,100 civilian deaths |
Japanese claim: 19,000 dead and wounded Chinese estimate: 48,000 dead and wounded |
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The Battle of Hengyang was the longest defense of a single city of the entire Second Sino-Japanese War. When Changsha fell to the Imperial Japanese Army on June 19, 1944, Hengyang became their next target. The reorganized 11th Army, consisting of 10 divisions, 4 brigades, and over 110,000 men, assumed the task of attacking Hengyang.
The city was an important railroad junction and Hengyang Airport was used by USAAC General Claire Lee Chennault's Flying Tigers which were engaged in bombing operations of the Japanese homeland. Therefore, Field Marshal Hajime Sugiyama(杉山 元), chief of imperial staff and war minister, ordered the city must be taken at all costs.
On June 22, Japanese 68th and 116th divisions received their orders to attack the city and to take it within 2 days, which started the 48 days of siege and defense.
After successfully capturing Changsha on 18 June 1944, the Japanese 11th army, led by Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama (橫山 勇) continued its drive southwards. Yokoyama's plans were to capture Hengyang and Guilin to launch an attack on Liuzhou, thus concluding Operation Ichi-Go.
The Allies' successful execution of Operation Overlord in Normandy in 1944 drew attention toward Europe as victory against Nazi Germany was anticipated. On the other hand, however, China was nearing a breaking point: following the loss of Changsha, failure to hold Hengyang could result in the Japanese crossing into Guilin and driving west towards Guizhou, from where they could directly attack Chongqing, thus placing the Chinese wartime capital and military headquarters in imminent danger.
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Wikipedia