Operation Ichi-Go from Taki´s website In the spring of 1944, Japan took the greatest offensive in China during the Japanese-Chinese War. This offensive was called as the Operation "Ichi-Go" or "Tairiku Dastu Sakusen"(Operaton to break through the Continent), which means that this operation aimed to secure the route across the China continent and connect Manchuria to East-South Asia by railway. This operation was consisted of two phases; The first phase to secure the railway between Peking and Wuhan and the second phase to exterminate US air forces stationed in Hunan and to reach at Liuzhou. 17 divisons, ie. 400,000 men, 12,000 vehicles and 70,000 horses paticipated in this operation. In Henan, 390,000 Chinese troops led by General Tang Enbo were deployed and its strategic position was Luoyang. The japanese 3rd Tank Division crossed Huang River around Zhengzhou in the late of April and defeated Chinese forces near Xuchang. Then the 3rd Tank Division swang around clockwise and dashed to Luoyang. Luoyang was defensed by three Chinese divisions. The 3rd Tank Division began to attack Luoyang on May 13 and took it on May 25. In the sequence of these fights, the 3rd Tank Division had shown its full mobility and won a quick victory. Chinese forces withdrew and Henan was secured by Japanese. The second phase of Ichi-Go began in May, following the success of the first phase. Japanese forces went down south and occupied Changsha, Hengyang, Guilin and Liuzhou. In Dec. 1944, Japanese forces reached at French Indochina and achieved the purpose of the operation. Though the purpose was achieved, Japan could not profit from this success. US air forces moved to the inland of the China Continent and often interrupted the railway between Peking and Liuzhou by air raid. Japan continued the attack to the airfields where US air forces stationed up to the spring of 1945. Yours tom!
