The Battle Background of Changde Battle
World background
After the Battle of Western Hubei, the international situation became more and more unfavorable to Japan. On the Soviet-German battlefield, the Soviet army was launching a counterattack on all fronts, and it had advanced to Smolensk and Dnieper River. After the United States and Britain defeated the German-Italian Coalition forces in Tunisia and landed in Sicily, Mussolini was forced to step down and Italy surrendered. After landing in Aleutian Islands and New Georgia Island, American troops are attacking Japanese troops in New Guinea and other places. The Japanese army not only lost ground in the Pacific battlefield, but also suffered a devastating blow to its navy and aviation. The Japanese No.1 1 1 Army did not attack the surrounding fifth, sixth and ninth war zones within four months after the end of the battle in western Hubei, and the troops in these three war zones did not attack the Japanese army, so the two sides formed a "peaceful" phase.
Domestic background
In order to cooperate with the allied forces to get through the Sino-Indian highway, the national * * * successively transferred seven * * * from the sixth and ninth war zones for Yunnan and India, preparing to counterattack Myanmar. In order to contain China's troops from turning to India and Yunnan, the Japanese army organized an attack again to coordinate the operations of its southern army.
Japanese situation
On August 28th, 1943, the Japanese army formulated the operational policy: "The troops were dispatched to ensure and pacify the existing occupied areas, especially in North China. In the autumn of this year, the 1 1 army and 13 army were the main forces to carry out Changde and Guangde operations respectively. In the spring of next year, the North China Army and the 1 1 Army will fight to open the Beijing-Han line. " After that, the operational plan for attacking Changde was drawn up, and in the same year 10 6, the chief of staff of all participating troops was called to work on the map. It is planned to divide the whole battle into three stages. The principle of its main content is: first, destroy the enemy near Anxiang with one unit, and destroy the enemy around Wangjiachang with the main force, and then capture Changde, and at the same time pursue the enemy who assembled a counterattack in this area and annihilate it. Once the purpose of the operation is completed, it will start to return according to the orders issued separately, destroy the remnants of the enemy and restore the original situation.
Chinese situation
1September 1943, the activities of the Japanese army suddenly became frequent. The sixth theater judged that the Japanese army might attack again, so it re-studied and revised the defense plan made before the Western Hubei Conference. The operational policy of the revised plan is as follows: "1. For the purpose of consolidating the capital, the theater will focus on Shipai and Miaohe forts. First, the first-line corps will attack the enemy one by one according to the deep strongholds, and finally stick to the key points of Changde, Shimen, Yuyang Pass, Ziqiu, Shipai, Miaohe, Xingshan, Xiema River and Nanzhang, and then the second-line corps will maneuver. 2. If the enemy launches a regional attack on a certain aspect of our country with small troops, it will mainly be defeated by the first-line corps. "
The campaign purpose of Changde Battle
1 Changde's strategic position is very important. Changde is an important town in northern Hunan, the gateway of Sichuan and Guizhou, and has always been a battleground for military strategists. After the fall of Wuhan, it became the only supply line for materials in Chongqing's rear area.
2. Shake the confidence of Chongqing people in the war of resistance against Japan, and force them to surrender by war, so as to achieve the purpose of "ending the China Incident".
3. Destroy the garrison forces in China, destroy the base area of the Sixth Theater, and seize the granary of Dongting Lake, so as to support the war by fighting and consolidate the occupied area of China.
4. Restrain China's troops and force the Chinese Expeditionary Force assembled in Yunnan to return to Li for rescue, so as to prevent or postpone the joint counterattack of the allied forces in Southeast Asia.
Changde Battle Japan Launches Bacteriological War
194 1 year 1 1 at dawn on the 4th of the month, a plane took off from Nanchang to Changde, circled at a low altitude for three weeks in the urban area, and sowed many sundries, and sowed sundries in Shigongqiao Town, 30 kilometers northeast of the urban area. In the afternoon, the military and civilians swept four or five hundred kilograms, all of which were infected with plague.
194 1 year1month 12, Changde guangde hospital admitted the first case of plague. Since then, the plague has become a pandemic, and the whole city has panicked and fled to the countryside.
194 1 1 On February 8, 2008, the Japanese army sent nine planes to bomb Changde, dropping more than 50 pieces of * * *, which caused chaos in the city and seriously damaged the epidemic prevention work.
1942 1 month, the epidemic spread again, and reached its peak in May. By the end of the year, there were more than 400 registered plague deaths, actually more than 600.
1943, there were still plague rats in the city, and the plague didn't come to an end until the end of the year, when Changde City was in ruins.