Kayleigh(Operation)

=**Operation Ichigo**=

The Basics:
Date Began: April 19th, 1944 Date Ended: December 31st, 1944 Countries involved: Japan, U.S., and China.

**ICHIGO**
The Japanese launched Operation Ichigo on April 19th, 1944 against the Chinese. There were Two main phases to Ichigo ("Continent Cross-Through Operation"): The operation concluded on December 31st, 1944.
 * Phase One
 * Japanese secured the Pinghan railway between Beijing and Wuhan.
 * Phase Two
 * Eliminate U.S. air forces stationed in Hunan and reached Liuzhou.

There were three main objectives to Ichigo:


 * 1) **Control the entire length of the railroad between Beijing and Hong Kong **
 * 2) **Link up the forces in China and French Indochina **
 * 3) **Control allied airfields in southern China **

**Battles:**
Throughout the course of the campaign, there were three major battles.


 * 1) The Battle of Henan: Within the month of May, the entire Henan province was taken by the Japanese 12th and 11th Corps.
 * 2) The (Fourth) Battle of Changsha: The Japanese took Hengyang after 47 days and over 900 casualties.
 * 3) The Battle of Guilin-Liuzhou: By the end of November two-thirds of Guangxi were under the control of the Japanese. The capital fell to the Japanese in December.



**End Results:**
During the first phase, the Japanese's first objective was achieved, and the railway was secured. The Japanese were successful in taking Changsha, Zhengzhou, and Luoyang. They took all of Henan, and the Japanese were able to eliminate a small handful of airfields and gas stations in China to avoid their capture. Overall, the Operation was successful.

The total number of casualties for the Japanese were 60,000. The total number of Chinese casualties were 300,000. Including 200,000+ Chinese civilians.



Sources:
Chen, Peter C. __Operation Ichigo.__ 2004. 6 March 2012 .

Coble, Parks M. __Chinese Capitalist's in Japan's New Order.__ 19 March 2012 .

New World Encyclopedia. __World War II.__ 8 April 2008. 19 March 2012 .

Wikipedia. __Operation Ichi-Go.__ 19 February 2012. 6 March 2012 .