Battle of Changsha (1939)

Battle of Changsha (1939)
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War

Japanese soldiers during the battle of Changsha
Date (1939-09-14) (1939-10-13)September 14 – October 13, 1939
(4 weeks and 1 day)
or (1939-09-17) (1939-10-06)September 17 – October 6, 1939
(2 weeks and 5 days)
Location
Changsha city and proximity in the Republic of China
Result Chinese victory
Belligerents
Republic of China Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Republic of China (1912–1949) Xue Yue
Republic of China (1912–1949) Chen Cheng
Republic of China (1912–1949) Guan Linzheng
Republic of China (1912–1949) Yang Sen
Empire of Japan Yasuji Okamura
Empire of Japan Masatoshi Saito
Empire of Japan Ryotaro Nakai
Empire of Japan Shinichi Fujita
Empire of Japan Shiro Inaba
Empire of Japan Shizuichi Tanaka
Empire of Japan Shigetaro Amakasu
Units involved
Order of battle Order of battle
Strength
~240,000 troops in 5 Army Groups, 1 Army, and 7 Corps divided between 30 Divisions in total. ~120,000 troops in the 11th Army split between 6 Divisions
12 naval ships
100+ aircraft
100+ motor boats
Casualties and losses
Western claim:
20,000 killed and wounded
Chinese claim:
40,193 killed, wounded, or missing
Japanese claim:
44,000 killed
4,000 captured
Western estimates:
30,000–50,000 killed, wounded and missing
Chinese claim:
33,480 killed or wounded
Japanese claim:
850 killed
2,700 wounded

The First Battle of Changsha (17 September 1939 – 6 October 1939; Chinese: 第一次長沙會戰) was the first of four attempts by Japan to take the city of Changsha, Hunan, during the second Sino-Japanese War. Coming two weeks after Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, it was the first major battle of the war to fall within the time frame of what is widely considered World War II.