Battle of Hengyang
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| Defense of Hengyang | |||||||||
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| Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War of World War II | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Republic of China |
 Empire of Japan | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Fang Xianjue |
 Isamu Yokoyama | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 10th Corps, 17,000 men[1] | 11th Army, 110,000+ men[1] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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17,000: |
Japanese source: 19,000 dead and wounded Chinese source: 48,000[2]–60,000[1] dead and wounded | ||||||||
| 3,100 civilians killed[2] | |||||||||
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[3][4] 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.
Background
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Battle
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Aftermath
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References
- ^ a b c "Anti-Japanese war archives cover defense of Hengyang". China Daily.
- ^ a b c d Article about the Defense of Hengyang http://www.mod.gov.cn/hist/2009-07/22/content_4005845.htm
- ^ The China Magazine: A Monthly Publication about the Country and the People. Chinese News Service. 1943. p. 3.
- ^ China at War. China Information Publishing Company. 1944. p. 1.