In the 1944 Japanese "Battle No.1", the rout all over the country not only affected the frontline defense, but also caused great losses to the cooperation between the Chinese and American air forces. During the Anti-Japanese War, China built airports in major cities across the country, allowing the air force to support the army with tactics; However, during World War I, seven air bases and more than 30 airports of Hengyang, Lingling, Baoqing, Guilin, Liuzhou, Danzhu (in Pingnan County, Guangxi) and Nanning were successively occupied or destroyed by the Japanese army.
In the battle of Laohekou in northern Hubei, which started in March 1945, the airport there was also destroyed. In this way, Zhijiang Airport has become the only forward airport of the US Strategic Air Force in China. After the expansion of the airport, the bombers taking off from the local area not only dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese strategic objectives in China, but also directly threatened the Japanese facilities in Taiwan Province Province. Tokyo Base Camp believes that when the Japanese army fought against the landing of American troops along the coast of China, the Sino-American air force taking off from Zhijiang Airport would cause heavy casualties to the Japanese army. Therefore, the Japanese army believes that this airport must be destroyed.
In addition to the primary goal of destroying the airport, the secondary goal is to keep the Xiang-Gui Railway (Changsha to Nanning) and the Yue-Han Railway (Guangzhou to Wuchang) unblocked; Furthermore, after the opening of Zhonghua Highway in February, nearly 50,000 tons of materials were imported every month 1945, which strengthened Chongqing's combat capability. Under the planning of US General Counsel Wedemayer, these materials supplemented the existing troops in China and will be reorganized into 30 US military mechanics. Therefore, the government adjusted its forces, incorporated the fighting forces into the Fourth Army, and received supplies from American machines. At that time, the third and fourth armies were receiving reinforcements in Central China. In order to delay the strategic pressure caused by these American mechanical forces, the Japanese army hopes to attack the region by attacking and delaying China's counterattack. In this campaign, the Japanese side was commanded by Banxi Yiliang, commander of the 20th Army, and the Chinese side was commanded by He, commander-in-chief of the Army, to defend the third, fourth and tenth armies.
Although it seems that the combat goal is clear, from a strategic point of view, it is an illogical combat plan. Before the end of 1944, the US military really had to rely on the China base to carry out strategic bombing of Japanese territory and occupied areas. However, in 1945, the United States had already launched a counterattack against the Philippines and Pacific islands, and the loss of one or two China airports did not affect the war situation at all. At the same time, the success of the battle in western Yunnan and northern Myanmar allowed Chongqing to flow in more American aid, and it was also possible to transfer the combat power stationed in northern Myanmar at that time, without relying on the reorganized troops to fight, such as new ones. However, after the collapse of the Pacific front at the end of 1944, Japan's war goal has turned to local defense. Many troops in China were not replenished after the first congress, so it was quite difficult to defend themselves. Attacking them is not the best policy.
Under this trade-off, the normal thinking should be to shrink the defense line and gain time to strengthen the local defense energy. However, at this time, the Japanese army lacked realistic decision-making, and still hoped to gain more advantages through attack, and believed that the combat power at that time was enough to defeat the government forces after the US military mechanically changed. In fact, the staff warned when they deduced the sand table inside the Japanese army, and even suggested that the US military airlift the national army to the front line of Zhijiang. However, the Japanese high-level officials in China still selectively ignored the extremely unfavorable situation of many soldiers and decided to launch this campaign. The result was like a soldier pushing, and the Japanese army was deadlocked from the beginning and finally completely defeated.
At the beginning of April, Lieutenant General Yiliang Banxi, commander of the 20th Japanese Army stationed in Shaoyang, commanded the Japanese army to March into Xiangxi in three ways: the 34th Division and the 58th Brigade attacked Hongjiang by Xinning, Wugang and Wuyang; The116th Division and the 47th Division in Zhonglu marched westward along the Yu Shao Highway from Shaoyang, plunged into Anjiang and took Zhijiang directly. The 34th Division of North Road attacked Xinhua, Chenxi and Xupu; In addition, the 64th Division and the 68th Division pretended to attack Ningxiang and Yiyang to contain troops from northern Hunan, China, in an attempt to capture Zhijiang in one fell swoop.
On April 26, more than 3,000 Japanese troops invaded Wuyang, an important place from Suining to Dongkou to Hongjiang. Wuyang Garrison Company 9 fought hard for four days and nights with its own enemies, and the whole company died heroically, and Wuyang fell. On May 4th, after three days of fierce fighting, the 5th Division conquered Wuyang and annihilated more than 500 people under the head of the 58th Brigade 1500. The great victory in Wuyang marked that Xiangxi changed from passive to active and from defense to counterattack, which laid the foundation for counterattack. On May 6th, the 44th Division of China Army regained Xinning City. On May 7th, the Chinese Army 12 1 Division and the 44th Division reinforced Wugang, and the besieged Japanese army suffered heavy losses and fled, and Wugang City was cleared. On May 9th, Japanese and China sent troops to issue an order to stop the operation of Zhijiang. From May 9th to June 7th, China counterattacked. Japan * * * entered the stage of strategic contraction defense. In the battle, although the National Revolutionary Army did not completely change its American equipment, with the firepower of these troops and the air support of the Sino-US joint air force, the Japanese army was blocked in the first line of defense and was defeated. At the end of the battle, counterattack by the original road. With the effective defensive counterattack of the national army and the support of the Sino-American joint air force, the Japanese army in the Fourth Route was directly defeated by superior forces. The Japanese army returned to the original starting point on June 7, and the battle ended.