[4] In coordination with Nakai, Lieutenant General Jutaro Amakasu's 33rd Division assaulted Guan Linzheng's 15th Army Group from the south.

[12] Having recently captured important strategic locations in Jiangxi Province, Japanese troops began their attacks on Changsha in earnest on 17 September.

On 19 September, Japanese forces proceeded to attack Chinese defensive positions[13] along the Xinqiang River with poison gas on a wide scale.

[12] Heavy fighting continued afterwards and the Chinese retreated southward as distraction for the Japanese while supporting battalions arrived on the east and the west for an encirclement maneuver.

The Chinese defenders had decided beforehand on flexible, guerilla-style tactics to wear down Japanese manpower and supplies through ambushes and harassing maneuvers.

However, a night attack the next day resulted in the Japanese advance finding themselves surrounded by “60,000 screaming Chinese on their front, rear and both flanks,” as an American military observer reported.

Acting group army commander Guan Linzheng issued orders at once for 52nd and 73rd Corps to pursue the Japanese to Miluo River.

[17] Foreign military observers estimated Chinese losses at much lower at some 20,000 killed and wounded, whilst also claiming Japanese casualties of around 30,000.

The commander of the city's defense, General Xue Yue, was a graduate of the Republic of China Military Academy and a Chiang Kai-shek loyalist.