10 Nov 1938

China
  • The defensive garrison at Changsha, Hunan Province, China organized special teams around the city, who task was to set designated buildings ablaze once given the signal. The goal of it was to deprive the Japanese the use of the city should it fall to the imminent Japanese attack. ww2dbase [Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
12 Nov 1938

China
  • Zhang Zhizhong, upon receiving inaccurate intelligence about approaching Japanese troops, gave the order to set fire to several key buildings in Changsha, Hunan Province, China to deprive the Japanese of use should they be captured. The fire grew out of control, causing extensive property damage and killing a number of civilians. This event would lead to his firing. ww2dbase [Zhang Zhizhong | Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
13 Nov 1938

China
  • Failures in communications in the city of Changsha, Hunan Province, China led to the commencement of a scorched earth operation which was only suppose to take effect when the city was about to fall into Japanese hands. Fires were started at pre-arranged locations around the city, starting the Wenxi Fire that would burn for five days, killing 3,000 people and destroying a large number of buildings. ww2dbase [Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
17 Sep 1939

China
  • Japanese 101st Division (Lieutenant General Masatoshi Saito) and 106th Division (Lieutenant General Ryotaro Nakai), having recently captured strategic locations in Jiangxi Province, China as a preparation, began marching toward Changsha in the neighboring Hunan Province. Meanwhile, 3rd Division (Lieutenant General Shinichi Fujita), 6th Division (Lieutenant General Shiro Inaba), 13th Division (General Shizuichi Tanaka), and 33rd Division (Lieutenant General Shigetaro Amakasu) attacked targets in northern Hunan Province. In support of this attack, Japanese Navy's China Area Fleet dispatched 13th Gunboat Unit of 11th Battle Squadron, Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force, and 4th Guard Unit. ww2dbase [First Battle of Changsha | Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
19 Sep 1939

China
  • En route toward Changsha, Hunan Province, China, Japanese troops used poison gas against Chinese defensive positions along the Sinchiang River. ww2dbase [First Battle of Changsha | Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
23 Sep 1939

China
  • In Hunan Province, China, Japanese Army 6th Division crossed the Sinchiang River at dawn, followed by a similar crossing by another division at 0620 hours at Yingtian (now Miluo). Also on the same day, naval vessels landed Japanese Navy Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force and Japanese Army 3rd Division east of the city of Changsha. Surrounded on three sides, Chinese troops fell back to prevent encirclement, opening the way to Changsha. ww2dbase [First Battle of Changsha | Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
29 Sep 1939

China
  • Japanese troops reached the outskirts of Changsha, Hunan Province, China; the Japanese had thus far suffered 40,000 casualties on this assault. ww2dbase [First Battle of Changsha | Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
1 Oct 1939

China
6 Oct 1939

China
27 Sep 1941

China
  • Japanese troops in plain clothes infiltrated the north gate of the walled city of Changsha, Hunan Province, China, but failed to complete their sabotage mission. ww2dbase [Second Battle of Changsha | Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
31 Dec 1941

China
1 Jan 1942

China
4 Jan 1942

China
9 Jan 1942

China
  • Japanese troops began to fall back from Changsha, Hunan Province, China. A section of the evacuation was ambushed by Chinese troops at Luoyang River, causing heavy casualties. ww2dbase [Third Battle of Changsha | Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
15 Jan 1942

China
12 Jun 1944

China
  • In China, about 100 P-40 and P-51 fighters of the US 14th Air Force attacked Japanese vessels on Dongting Lake, docks and warehouses at Yuanjiang in Hunan Province, and troop concentrations in Changsha in Hunan Province. ww2dbase [Changsha, Hunan | CPC]
18 Jun 1944

China
  • In China, the strategic city of Changsha, 200 miles south of Hankou, fell to the Japanese, having successfully defied them three times before. ww2dbase [Operation Ichigo | Changsha, Hunan | CPC, AC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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President Manuel Quezon (with family) and President Franklin Roosevelt (with Captain John McCrea), Washington DC, United States, 13 May 1942


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"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You win the war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country!"

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