Eleventh Army The Third Battle of Changsha (24 December 1941 – 15 January 1942; Chinese: 第三次長沙會戰) was the first major offensive in China by Imperial Japanese forces following the Japanese attack on the Western Allies and the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Japan's third of four attempts to capture the Chinese city of Changsha.

It was conducted with the purpose of severing Chinese lines of communication with British Hong Kong, and seizing control of Changsha's food production.

Fighting was the most intense over southern and eastern gates of the city's walls, and both sides waged vicious see-saw battles over points of tactical importance.

On 4 January 1942, the Eleventh Army had managed to occupy "all the important points of the city," but they were in danger of encirclement by counterattacking Chinese.

[5] The Chinese, in a near-repeat of the previous battles for Changsha, had penetrated to the rear of the main Japanese force and severed their supply lines.

[10] As a result, Japanese supplies in ammunition and rations, already strained by days of combat, plunged to dangerously low levels: soldiers in some regiments had only 10-15 bullets each, and some platoons only had a single grenade to share amongst themselves.

Against a backdrop of swift victories across the Pacific, Changsha was the only place where the Japanese Army was suffering defeat in early 1942.

[14] The Nome Nugget reported the Japanese had lost 15,000 men on January 2 alone, including many high-ranking officers, mostly by artillery fire.

[16] Changsha would remain in Chinese hands until 1944, when Japanese forces would capture the city as part of the Ichi-Go offensive.