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Campaign Dates: July 4, 1942 – May 4, 1945
Theater: China-Burma-India (CBI)
Campaign Medal: Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal
The China Defensive Campaign succeeded. China remained in the war, diverting 600,000 to 800,000 Japanese troops, who might otherwise have been deployed to the Pacific. This defensive campaign represented one of America's most challenging military undertakings, characterized by extreme logistical difficulties, complex political alliances, and innovative air warfare tactics that kept a vital ally fighting against Japan.
The China Defensive Campaign emerged from America's urgent need to keep China actively engaged in the war against Japan. The primary American goal was to keep the Chinese actively in the Allied war camp, thereby tying down Japanese forces that otherwise might be deployed against the Allies fighting in the Pacific.
Chiang Kai-shek continued to receive supplies from the United States. However, in contrast to the Arctic supply route to the Soviet Union which stayed open through most of the war, sea routes to China and the Yunnan–Vietnam Railway had been closed since 1940. This created unprecedented logistical challenges that would define the entire campaign.
The campaign spanned vast territories across mainland China, with operations concentrated in:
Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell (March 1942 - October 1944) Army Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell head of the U.S. China-Burma-India theater, and at the combined level, Generalissimo Chiang appointed him chief of staff of the combined forces in the theater. Known as "Vinegar Joe," Stilwell advocated for ground force modernization and aggressive offensive operations.
Major General Albert C. Wedemeyer (October 1944 - May 1945) Roosevelt recalled Stilwell on 18 October, replacing him with Maj. Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer. As head of the U.S. China-Burma-India (CBI) theater, Stilwell had reported to two different supreme commanders: Chiang and the British Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten of the Southeast Asia Command.
Brigadier General Claire L. Chennault Starting in early 1941, Chennault commanded the 1st American Volunteer Group (nicknamed Flying Tigers). He headed both the volunteer group and the uniformed U.S. Army Air Forces units that replaced it in 1942. Later commanded the Fourteenth Air Force and championed air power strategy.
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek Supreme Allied Commander, China Theater, who balanced nationalist political concerns with military necessities while managing complex relationships with American advisors.
General Wei Li-huang General Wei Li-huang's Chinese Expeditionary Force of six armies comprised sixteen divisions. Wei crossed the Salween River on the night of 11-12 May.
Air Units:
Ground Forces:
Y-Force (Yunnan Force): The fifteen Chinese divisions in Yunnan, designated the "Y-Force." Eventually expanded to 32 divisions under American training and equipment programs.
Z-Force (ZEBRA Force): Designated the "ZEBRA Force" by U.S. advisers, this group would defend air bases in east China and eventually undertake a counteroffensive against Japanese forces in the Yangtze valley.
Japanese Opposition Forces
China Expeditionary Army: The China Expeditionary Army was responsible for all Japanese military operations in China and was the main fighting force during the Second Sino-Japanese War, with over 1 million soldiers under its command at its peak.
Aircraft:
Ground Equipment:
Operation Ichi-Go Arsenal (1944): The Japanese diverted the Yellow River and repaired its railroad bridges, moved rail stock to the main Peiping-Hankow line, expanded airfields, and equipped their forces with 100,000 horses, 800 tanks, 1500 artillery pieces, 240 aircraft, and 15,000 motor vehicles.
Aircraft:
In May 1942 the raid on Japan by Brig. Gen. James H. Doolittle's carrier launched medium bombers sparked a punitive campaign by six divisions of the Japanese Eleventh Army and Thirteenth Army against Nationalist airfields in Chekiang Province.
The Salween Campaign (May 11 - June 30, 1944)
Wei crossed the Salween River on the night of 11-12 May. He intended to trap the Japanese in a pincers movement by securing key terrain both north and south of the Burma Road, but unexpectedly strong Japanese resistance stopped the Chinese advance.
Key Battles:
Operation Ichi-Go (Japanese: 一号作戦, romanized: Ichi-gō Sakusen, lit. 'Operation Number One') was a campaign of a series of major battles between the Imperial Japanese Army forces and the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, fought from April to December 1944.
Japanese Objectives:
Scale of Operations: General Yasuji Okamura was tasked with commanding the offensives in Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi, and he mobilized 500,000 soldiers, 100,000 horses, 1,500 artillery pieces, 800 tanks, 15,000 mechanized vehicles, and 200 bombers for the offensive.
On 8 April, Japan's 20th Army launched a local offensive from territory in southern China seized earlier during Operation ICHIGO. Their target was the American air base at Chihchiang. This represented Japan's final major offensive in China.
Therefore, between the closing of the Burma Road in 1942 and its re-opening as the Ledo Road in 1945, foreign aid was largely limited to what could be flown in over "The Hump".
Flying over the Himalayas was extremely dangerous, but the airlift continued daily to August 1945, at great cost in men and aircraft. The "Hump" flights represented one of the most dangerous aviation operations of World War II.
Monthly Tonnage Growth:
The Flying Tigers began to arrive in China in April 1941. The group first saw combat on 20 December 1941, 12 days after Pearl Harbor.
Between December 1941 and July 1942, according to AVG and Air Force records, the Flying Tigers destroyed 299 Japanese aircraft while losing only 12 of their P-40s in combat.
On 4 July 1942 the AVG was disbanded and replaced by the 23rd Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces, which was later absorbed into the U.S. Fourteenth Air Force with General Chennault as commander.
Sources and References
Primary Sources Cited:
Additional Reading:
Official Histories:
Memoirs and Contemporary Accounts:
Modern Scholarly Works:
Japanese Perspectives:
Archives and Documentation:
