Destruction In Liuchow
China
Samuel D. Smith

Although by 1944 the war was not going well for the Japanese, in a desperate attempt to salvage something from the years of fighting in China they opened an offensive in April to consolidate their gains. One of the aims of ICHIGO, the Japanese code name for what would prove to be the final offensive, was to capture the chain of American air bases in eastern China, one of which was in Liuchow. On 10 November the Japanese captured and occupied the city. Their occupation was short-lived, however. By 26 December the Chinese were actively planning to retake the city, and on 22 June 1945, the Japanese abandoned Liuchow in the face of the advancing Chinese Army.