Battle of Changsha
On 27 May 1944, the Japanese 11th Army launched a general offensive toward Changsha as scheduled. The Japanese modified the tactics they used in their previous three attempts by sending the crack 3rd and 13th Divisions to attack Wanyang mountain toward Liuyang, effectively out-flanking the Chinese troops defending Changsha and cutting off their retreat routes. The Japanese also placed additional divisions in charge of attacking Changsha.
The Chinese attempted to use the previous tactic of avoiding direct contact by marching in parallel fashion to out-flank the Japanese, but were unable to encircle them as in the previous battles and had to retreat. This allowed the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) to rapidly advance to the city of Changsha, defeating the infantry defending the city, as well as neutralizing the Chinese artillery on the Yuelu Mountain. Changsha was quickly lost to the Japanese.
A two-star general Zhang De-neng, the commander of the National Revolutionary Army's (NRA) 4th Corps in charge of defending Changsha, ordered a general retreat against a direct order telegrammed from his immediate superior, Xue Yue (zh:薛岳), the Commander of the ninth Military Front. However, Zhang did not provide a feasible plan and fled the city while leaving most of his troops withdrawing in confusion and to be taken prisoner by the Japanese. Zhang was arrested by Xue, stood trial and sentenced by court-martial to five years in prison. He was later ordered to be executed by Chiang Kai-shek on the charge of "incompetence of command and desertion upon combat engagement" by the power of "Military Discipline upon Combat Engagement."(zh:戰時軍律)
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