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In April 1944 Japan launched Operation Ichigo - an ambitious campaign to seize control of all eastern China, and open up a land link between Manchuria in the north and Indochina in the south.
By May, the Japanese Imperial Army had reached Hunan province, south of the Yangtze river, and the Chinese-held city of Hengyang. Though the defending force was greatly outnumbered, Hengyang held out for 48 days - one of the longest city sieges of WWII.
Rao Pingru came from a family of scholars - but he had chosen to fight, and was soon a platoon commander. He was stuck 20 kilometres outside Hengyang, unable to relieve the city. His memories of the battle of Hengyang are of the suffering of his men. They had poorly-made uniforms, old-fashioned military equipment and, despite the intense summer heat, not even bottles to carry water. They were forced to drink water direct from the paddy fields around.
Though Japan won the battle of Hengyang, the huge losses incurred and the bitter resistance of the Chinese made Hengyang a symbol of resistance for China and a blow to the morale of Japan.
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