The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression entered the later stage, and the war situation underwent great changes. Some Japanese generals thought the war would end that year, including Okamura Ninji. However, recalling the situation, Okamura always angrily rebuked those high-level decision-makers. In 1944, the Japanese army was still able to mobilize tens of thousands of troops and was capable of launching the Henan-Hunan-Guizhou Campaign and the Sichuan-Shaanxi strategic deployment, but it was not implementedOkamura himself deeply agreed with the plan for the Yuxianggui campaign formulated by the staff officers, and even called it perfect, but the implementation process was rather chaotic. He thinks that even if the communication line is opened, how much of a role it can play?
These lines of communication were not adequately guarded and became the target of the squadron's attack. The squadron only needs to launch an attack on strategic points to cut off the lines of communication opened by the Japanese army, and all the previous achievements will be lost. Okamura had considered defending these communication routes, but after many battles, he realized that defending them would require one-third or even one-half of his total forces. However, doing so will make the battle extremely difficult afterward. This is exactly what Okamura Ninji summed up on his experience on the battlefield. During the Battle of Wuhan, he also encountered this situation as a commander, so he sent only one regiment of troops to guard the lines of communication.
Although the lines of communication at that time were not very long, only a few hundred kilometers, how many Japanese troops were needed to protect the lines of communication that ran from north to south?Just as Okamura was in a dilemma, a series of bad news followed, the Allies won one victory after another, and Japan would soon become the last target of the Allies. Okamura Ninji quickly received an order to lead the Japanese army to the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Hubei regions to strengthen the defense in case the Allies launched an amphibious attack on the Chinese coastal area, and ordered the Japanese army to retreat north. Okamura Ninji was extremely annoyed by receiving such an order, because it meant giving up the lines of communication that had previously cost hundreds of thousands of troops to capture.
However, the order had already been issued, and as commander, he had to obey. The Japanese army was scattered at that time, and even if it retreated, it had to pass through Hunan. In the early days of the war, the Japanese army may still have the strength to break through. However, after 1945, the squadron had already launched a local counterattack, and the momentum was getting stronger and stronger, and their combat effectiveness was greatly improved. Okamura Ningji lost confidence even more that Chiang Kai-shek sent Wang Yaowu's troops to garrison Xiangxi, and they were equipped with American**. Okamura realized that there would be a huge price to pay to retreat from here.
When Okamura Ninji led his troops through Xiangxi, he realized that the Zhijiang airfield posed a major threat to the Japanese army, as Chinese bombers took off from here to bomb the Japanese coastal area. The Japanese were also attacked by these aircraft when they retreated. Therefore, Okamura believed that the only way to ensure the safe evacuation of Japanese troops was to destroy this airfield. He then ordered the 20th Army to launch an attack on Zhijiang, aiming to attract Wang Yaowu's troops to ensure a smooth withdrawal of Japanese troops. At that time, Okamura Ninji told Ichira Itanishi of the 20th Army that he didn't need to have a hard time with **, he just needed to attract Wang Yaowu's troops.
However, Banxi Yiliang did not obey the order, nor did he take Wang Yaowu in his eyes, after all, Wang Yaowu had also been defeated by the Japanese army on the battlefield, and no one was the opponent of the Japanese army. However, the turn of events was unexpected, and Ichira Itanishi was finally beaten badly by Wang Yaowu, and Okamura Ninji had to reinforce him with 80,000 men, but in the end he failed to achieve victory. As for Itanishi Kazura, who provoked the incident in the first place, he even pretended to be sick in an attempt to evade responsibility.