Battle of Changsha

After months of sporadic and indecisive fighting, hampered by the need to battle the Russians in the north and continued and undiminished Chinese resistance to the south, the Japanese resume their offensive in China. On September 13th, 1939 the Japanese launched a major attack aimed at the capture of the Chinese city of Changsha. Changsha was the capital of Hunan Province and was a major agricultural, transportation and population center.

Fortunately for the Chinese the city was protected by an extensive area of hill country of the type that the Chinese had already shown themselves to be adept at using for defense. The Chinese concentrated fifty divisions and built multiple lines of defense. The Chinese are running out of space to withdraw and are determined to make a stand. In theory this is an opportunity to strike a crushing blow against an enemy which though superior in numbers lacks airpower and artillery and which has always ultimately been forced to abandon the battlefield in the past. We’ll see what happens.