Quagmire

The Japanese 106th Infantry Division attacked from west of Nanchang in Jiangxi province, moving southwest along the southern edge of the rugged and heavily wooded Jiuling Mountains. In a few days it had pushed into the upper valley of the Laio River. The Chinese 9th War Area responded …

1939-09-22

AP056

The Japanese 106th Infantry Division attacked from west of Nanchang in Jiangxi province, moving southwest along the southern edge of the rugged and heavily wooded Jiuling Mountains. In a few days it had pushed into the upper valley of the Laio River. The Chinese 9th War Area responded by sending the 183rd Division to defend the area around Shangfu, where a road through the mountains descends into the valley and crossed a river. The 183rd arrived at dawn on the 22nd, just hours ahead of the Japanese.

Shangfu, China

The First Battle of Changsha (17 September 1939 – 6 October 1939) was the first of four attempts by Japan to take the city of Changsha, Hunan, during the second Sino-Japanese War. It was the first major battle of the war to fall within the time frame of what is widely considered World War II. The war had reached a stalemate after two years of fighting. Professor Fu Sinian noted in July 1939 that while the Chinese army had become stronger, the Japanese army had weakened. On 15 August, the 11th Army came up with the general plans for a campaign south of the Yangtze, ranging 250 kilometers (160 mi) from the Xinjiang River to the Gan River. In early September, Japanese General Toshizō Nishio of the "Japanese Expeditionary Forces to China" and Lieutenant-General Seishirō Itagaki set out to capture Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan. The Japanese 101st and 106th Divisions were deployed on the western bank of the Gan River in northern Jiangxi and the 6th, 3rd, 13th, and 33rd Divisions marched southward from southern Hubei to northern Hunan. Two of the primary motivating factors for the Japanese in launching the attack were the signing of a non-aggression pact by their German ally with their Soviet enemy, and their defeat by Soviet forces at Nomonhan. A large attack on the Chinese would therefore restore morale. Altogether, it became obvious that the 100,000 strong Japanese force was to converge on Changsha. The Chinese strategy was to counter the enemy column in northern Jiangxi and then encircle the line on the path southward.

Japanese

Chinese

Scenario Type = Standard