The 1944 Japanese offensive of “Operation Ichigo” is one of the more under reported offensives of World War Two. However, this offensive would have an important effect on the outcome of the Pacific theater. This operation took place in China and accomplished some important Japanese military objectives. It would have a direct consequence on the U.S. bombings over Japan, and was a major Japanese military victory.
Daniel Boustead returns to the site and explains.
Japanese forces invading Henan, China in 1944.
In April 1944, the Japanese launched their first major offensive in China since they captured Hankow in 1938 ([1]). The operation was code named Ichigo meaning “Number One”. The plan involved Japanese forces in north China who were ordered southward to take the main north-south rail lines and the capture the U.S. Army Air Force’s east China Air bases. At the same time, other forces holding an enclave in the far south around (Canton and Hong Kong) were instructed to drive to the west and clear a line to the French Indochina border. This separate action was designed to open a direct line of communication between the Japanese in China and those Japanese forces in Southeast Asia.
The principal objectives for Operation Ichigo were as follows: seize the north-south rail line, a series of key towns, and the air bases. These were built by General Claire Chenault in 1938 and 1939. Chenault built these air bases for the Chinese Air Force and would be subsequently expanded to accommodate his Fourteenth Army Air Force.
This Japanese force consisted of 15 Imperial Japanese Army Divisions, plus five independent Imperial Japanese Army brigades. This force was commanded by General Shunroku Hata.
Early success
The Japanese achieved one of their first goals early in the operation. As the Japanese advanced the Chinese Army of 300,000 men simply capitulated to them ([2]). Japanese units consisting of only 500 men routed thousands of Chinese. In the resulting panic, Chinese officers commandeered most of the available trucks to escape with their families and possessions. It took only three weeks from April to May, 1944, for the Japanese to capture their first important objectives of the Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers. It was soon after the Japanese captured the Yangtze River in May 1944, that they pushed forward to General Chennault’s air bases. The Chinese city of Changsa barred the Japanese from Chenault’s air bases.
Changsha was defended by Chinese General Hsueh Yueh, who would soon make a fatal mistake that sealed the fate of the city. Right before the attack, General Yueh moved his headquarters 100 miles to the south to prepare the defense of Hengyang, China, where General Chenault’s northernmost air bases were located ([3]). This resulted in no one being able to coordinate the defense of Changsha. When the Chinese army artillery commander of Changsha asked General Yueh for infantry to protect his artillery, General Yueh refused. The outcome of these fatal decisions was apparent. The Japanese quickly destroyed the unprotected artillery and then swept away the unprotected infantry as Changsha fell to Japanese control in May 1944.
Advances
The Japanese Army then turned their attention to capturing Hengyang, China ([4]). It surrounded Hengyang by June 1944 and captured it by August, 1944(5). On August 26, 1944 6,000 Japanese counterattacked at Lungling, China and the Chinese Y-Force was forced to retreat (22). In September 1944, the Imperial Japanese Army captured the Fourteenth Air Force base at Lingling, 80 miles southwest of Hengyang, China (6). By October 1944, Imperial Japanese Army forces were threatening Kweilin, China, home of the largest of General Chennault’s air bases. On November 10, 1944 the Imperial Japanese Army captured Kweilin, China (7). In the aftermath of the fall of Kweilin in November 1944, Imperial Japanese forces began advancing towards Kunming, China (13). The Kunming advance further threatened General Chennault’s Fourteenth Air Force bases. The Japanese forces then moved to take over Chennault’s base at Liuchow, some 100 miles to the southwest of Kweilin. It was soon after this they pushed southward to take four bases around Nanning. They then drove southwest for a link up with other Japanese forces in French Indochina.
The Imperial Japanese Army had succeeded in their twin objectives: capturing the east China airfields and securing the main railway line to the south. As part of this Ichigo advance the IJA’s Eleventh Army (under the command of Lieutenant Isamu Yokoyama), began operating under his own his initiative, and quickly captured the American Chinese air base. This air base was located on the northwest trail towards the Chinese city of Kweiyang. The Chinese who were defending this air base quickly capitulated to the Japanese. This was due to their lack of supplies and weapons.
By early December 1944, the only thing that stood in the way of the Japanese Eleventh Army and the Ichigo offensive were Chennault’s air force. The Japanese forces also were facing the Chinese Army forces in their drive towards Kunming and Chunking China. Chennault’s air force was operating east of the Ichigo advance. The Japanese 11thArmy stopped its advance towards Kunming in December 1944. They had outrun their supply lines and retreated back slightly to garrison for the winter.
Operation Ichigo was such a success that American General Wedemeyer estimated that it would result in the Japanese Army releasing 25 divisions to fight elsewhere. General Wedemeyer also estimated that if the Japanese captured all of China, they could hold out for years, long after the Americans invaded the Japanese Home Islands.
Allied air strikes
On February 15, 1944 at an Allied meeting in New Delhi, General Wolf presented General Order No.16 (14). In General Order No.16, it stated that General Chennault and his Fourteenth Army Air Forces would be responsible for fighter defense of B-29 bases in China. The Japanese knew it was only a matter of time before the B-29 Bombers would be using the Fourteenth Army Air Force bases. The first B-29 Bombers took off from Chengtu, China, to bomb the Coke Ovens at the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata, Japan (8). The first B-29 Yawata raid lasted from the nights of June 15 to June 16, 1944. The photoreconnaissance results of the raid were disappointing. Only a single bomb wrecked a small building about three quarters of a mile away from the Coke Ovens. On July 7 to July 8, 1944, B-29 Bombers took off from a base near Chengtu, China to strike the Japanese Naval base at Sasebo, Japan (9). The raid was a failure because the bombs had missed the port facility by as much as 12 miles. This was due to mechanical problems with the radar bombing system. On August 10, 1944, 24 B-29 Bombers flew from Chengtu, China to Nagasaki and dropped 63 tons of incendiaries and fragmentation bombs on the city’s shipyards (10). On August 20, 1944, B-29 Bombers launched from Chengtu China caused little damage to the coke ovens at the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata Japan (11). On October 25, 1944, 78 B-29 Bombers took off from Chengtu, China and bombed Omura, Japan (12). According to strike photos and later reconnaissance on November 6, 1944, the Omura raid did a considerable amount of damage on the target, especially in the aluminum fabrication industry of the city. B-29 raids based out of China and India would end in early 1945 (21).
The early B-29 raids from the Mariana Islands on Japan produced varied results. On November 24, 1944, a group of B-29 bombers took off from Saipan island (15). The group of 111 B-29 Bomber’s target was the Nakajima Musashino aircraft-engine plant in northwest, Tokyo (16). This raid resulted in only 24 B-29 Bombers who managed to make a hit on the Nakajima Musashino aircraft engine plant. This bombing raid was severely weakened by the 130 MPH Jet Stream wind that blew the bombs off course. On November 27, 1944, a group of B-29 bombers took off from Isley Field Saipan and tried to hit the same target again (17). The results of this second raid were not very good due to poor aiming over the target, and that was only slightly mitigated by radar (18). On December 3, 1944, 86 B-29 Bombers took off from the Marianas Islands to hit the same target (19). The results of this raid were that only 26 bombs hit the target area and the damage to the factory was negligible. On December 13, 1944, a group of B-29 Bombers (based out of the Mariana Islands) struck at the Mitsubishi Aircraft Engine Works at Nagoya, Japan (20). The results of this raid (according to strike photographs) were one-fifth of the plant’s huge roof was blown in. Furthermore, the plant’s engine production was cut from 1,600 engines per month to 1,2000 engines per month and some vital parts of the factory were completely destroyed (20).
Conclusion
The Japanese capture of the American air bases severely reduced the damage to Japanese cities. The early B-29 raids from China and the Mariana Islands produced sparse results. They would have devastated Japan if they had been better coordinated, lasted longer, and had better weather intelligence. Even if the Japanese did not capture the air bases that directly house the B-29 Bombers, the Japanese military offensive along with America’s decision to concentrate on bombing missions from the Mariana Islands, made the Americans realize that bombing from China was no longer a viable option.
“Operation Ichigo” is an often-overlooked military operation. However, it had a strategic and tactical impact on the course of the war. The operation captured key air bases, railways, and allowed for a link up with forces in Indochina. In addition, it drove the Allies to use nuclear weapons and Operation August Storm to negate the effects of this operation. “Operation Ichigo” was a very successful Japanese offensive.
In Loving memory of my Grandfather Richard Strayer Shue, a World War II veteran, a published Historian, and my inspiration. Born March 9, 1923 and died July 23, 2023.
[1] Moser, Don. China-Burma-India. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1978. 179.
[2] Moser, Don. China-Burma-India. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1978. 180.
[3] Moser, Don. China-Burma-India. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1978. 180 to 181.
[4] Moser, Don. China-Burma-India. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1978. 181.
5 Moser, Don. China-Burma-India. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1978. 172.
22 Moser, Don. China-Burma-India. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1978. 183.
6 Moser, Don. China-Burma-India. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1978. 188.
7 Moser, Don. China-Burma-India. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1978. 190.
13 Wheeler, Keith. Bombers Over Japan. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1982.71.
14 US Air Force, Office of Air Force History. The Army Air Forces In World War II: The Pacific: Matternhorn to Nagasaki June 1944 to August 1945., Volume No.5. Edited Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate. 1983. 46.
8 Wheeler, Keith. Bombers Over Japan. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1982. 57 to 59.
9 Dorr, Robert F. Osprey Combat Aircraft .33 : B-29 Superfortress Units of World War 2. Edited by Tony Holmes. Oxford, Osprey Publishing Limited, United Kingdom, 2002, (2003 reprint). 20.
10 Wheeler, Keith. Bombers Over Japan. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1982. 61 to 63.
11 Wheeler, Keith. Bombers Over Japan. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1982. 63 to 64.
12 US Air Force, Office of Air Force History. The Army Air Forces In World War II: The Pacific: Matternhorn to Nagasaki June 1944 to August 1945., Volume No.5. Edited Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate. 1983. 140.
21 Dorr, Robert F. Osprey Combat Aircraft .33 : B-29 Superfortress Units of World War 2. Edited by Tony Holmes. Oxford, Osprey Publishing Limited, United Kingdom, 2002, (2003 reprint). 31.
15 Wheeler, Keith. Bombers Over Japan. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1982. 101.
16 Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Japanese Empire. New York: New York. Random House. 1999. 53.
17 Wheeler, Keith. Bombers Over Japan. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1982. 103.
18 Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Japanese Empire. New York: New York. Random House. 1999. 54.
19 Wheeler, Keith. Bombers Over Japan. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1982. 105.
20 Wheeler, Keith. Bombers Over Japan. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1982. 105 to 106.
