Battle of Changsha (1944)

Battle of Changsha (1944)
Part of Operation Ichi-Go, the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific Theater of World War II
Chinese Army in the battle
Date 26 May 1944 – 8 August 1944 (2 months, 1 week and 6 days) Location Changsha and Hengyang Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
China	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Xue Yue Fang Xianjue	Isamu Yokoyama Yasuji Okamura
Strength
Forty-three divisions totaling 286,000 troops[1]	Eight divisions
Casualties and losses
Chinese claim : 32,009 killed and 52,985 wounded (from 25 May until 10 October 1944)[2][a] 108,000 casualties[1] Japanese claim (until the fall of Hengyang)[3] : 66,468 killed and 22,460 captured	Chinese claim[3] : 66,809 casualties Japanese claim[3] : Until 20th July 1944 : 3,860 killed 8,327 wounded 7,099 sick 19,286 total By mid August 1944 : estimated to have reached 40,000-50,000 casualties (including from illness) More than 100,000 Japanese soldiers were killed, seriously injured, died of illness, and seriously ill. Minor injuries and illnesses were not included(Calculated based on the number of additional soldiers)[4][5]. Senior Japanese military officials estimate that as many as 60,000 soldiers will be wounded in action by late August, of which about 20,000 will die from serious injuries. The number of killed in action is unknown.[6]. About 4,000 people died of serious injuries or died of illness in just one Japanese field hospital[7].
^ Seriously underestimated, see below

The Battle of Changsha of 1944 (also known as the Battle of Hengyang or Campaign of Changsha-Hengyang; Chinese: 長衡會戰) was an invasion of the Chinese province of Hunan by Japanese 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.