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The Battle of Changde (Battle of Changteh; ) 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''."〔ed. Hsiung, James C. and Steven I. Levine ''China's Bitter Victory: The War with Japan 1937-1945'', p.161〕 Although the Japanese army initially successfully captured the city, the Chinese 57th division was able to pin them down long enough for reinforcements to arrive and encircle the Japanese. The Chinese army then cut off the Japanese supply lines, forcing them into retreat, whereupon the Chinese pursued their enemy.〔 Some contemporary Western newspapers depicted the battle as a Chinese victory.〔(LIFE Feb 21, 1944 )〕 American government film footage shows victorious Chinese troops with Japanese prisoners and captured Japanese flags and equipment on display after the battle.〔(Chinese troops defeat the Japanese in Changteh China and capture their military equipment during World War II. US Government Archive number for this video is: 208 UN 89 FGMC )〕 In addition, an American newsreel titled "Chinese troops drive Japs from Changteh" showed Chinese troops firing, with dead and captured Japanese on display.〔(Newsreel 'Chinese troops drive Japs from Changteh' US Government Archive number for this video is: 208 UN 91 FGMC )〕 ==Battle== 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. On the 14th, the Japanese 13th division, with aid from collaborators, drove south to break through the defense lines of the Chinese 10th and 29th group armies. On the 16th, Japanese paratroopers landed on Taoyuan, a county in the Changde region. At the same time, the Japanese 3rd and 116th divisions reached Changde. The city was guarded by the Chinese 74th corps' 57th division, whose commander, Yu Chengwan, led his single division of 8,000 soldiers to fight against the overwhelming attack of 2 Japanese divisions. 11 days and nights of fierce fighting saw heavy casualties on both sides. When Chinese reinforcements finally arrived, the remaining 100 survivors of the 57th division, all of whom were wounded, escaped the city. On the 6th of December, Changde was lost. While the Chinese 57th division pinned down the Japanese in the city, the rest of the 74th corps, and 18th, 73rd, 79th, and 100th corps, as well as the 9th war area's 10th corps, 99th corps and Jiangxi's 58th corps arrived at the battlefield, forming a counter-encirclement on the Japanese forces. Fang Xianjue's 10th corps was first to strike, successfully retaking Deshan on the 29th of November, before attacking the Japanese positions at Changde from the south. Unable to withstand the fierce Chinese assault, the Japanese utilized chemical weapons.〔Agar, Jon ''Science in the 20th Century and Beyond'', p.281〕 The battle lasted for 6 days and nights. The Chinese 10th division's commander Sun Minjin was shot 5 times in the body and killed in action. At this time, the other Chinese units were pressing onto the Japanese positions. On the 11th of December, the Chinese army broke through the Japanese lines and into the city, whereupon intense house to house fighting occurred. The Chinese army then proceeded to intercept the Japanese army's supply lines. Without food and ammunition, the Japanese army retreated on the 13th. The Chinese units pursued the retreating Japanese army for more than 20 days. By January 5, 1944, the Japanese forces were pushed back to their original positions prior to the invasion, thus concluding the engagement as a decisive Chinese victory. During this campaign, besides the 10th division's Sun Minjin, two other Chinese division commanders died. One was the 44th corps' 150th division's Lieutenant General Xu Guozhang, while the other one was the 73rd corps' 5th division's Lieutenant General Peng Shiliang. General Xu was killed at Taifushan in Changde's northwest, aged 37. General Peng was killed at the Taoyuan-Shimen line, aged 38. The Changde campaign had the largest participation of the Chinese air force since the Battle of Wuhan.〔 Reporter Israel Epstein witnessed and reported on the battle. Witold Urbanowicz, a Polish pilot fighting in China in 1943, saw the city just after the battle. According to Urbanowicz, nearly 300,000 civilians died during the fighting in Changde.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Changde」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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