1939–1940 Winter Offensive

1939-1940 Winter Offensive
	Part of Second Sino-Japanese War
Date	Late November, 1939, to Late March 1940
Location	Vicinities of Anhui, Guangdong, Hubei, Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Suiyuan
Result	Chinese operational failure (due to failure to meet primary goals); Defeat of Japanese forces in Suiyuan and Henan; Limited Chinese success; The United Kingdom and the United States began loaning greater amounts of money to the Chinese war effort;
Belligerents
Republic of China	Empire of Japan Mengjiang;
Commanders and leaders
Wei Lihuang; Gu Zhutong; Li Zongren; Xue Yue; Bai Chongxi; Zhang Fakui; Fu Zuoyi; Ma Hongkui	Toshizō Nishio; Hayao Tada; Yasuji Okamura; Rikichi Andō; Naozaburo Okabe
Strength
1,480,353 including Chinese Muslim Cavalry in 122 divisions	850,000 including Mengjiang Cavalry
Casualties and losses
Chinese Claim :; Main Operations : 64,432 killed; 79,310 wounded; 17,812 missing; 12,013 unspecified casualties; Supporting Operations :; From late November 1939 until the end of January 1940 : 866 killed; 1,281 wounded; 554 missing; 5,998 unspecified casualties; Eighth Military Front from February until March 1940 in the battle of West Suiyuan and battle of Wuyuan : 4,815 killed or wounded; 2,404 missing; ; Japanese Claim :; From December 1939 until January 1940 : 150,144 killed; 8,090 captured.;	Chinese Claim : more than 20,000 killed, 9 transport ships damaged or sunk, 11 pieces of assorted artillery captured, ~400 captured.; ; Japanese Claim :; From December 1939 until January 1940 : 7,406 deaths 6,556 combat deaths.; ; 29,730 wounded;
	↑ Includes losses of the : Second, Third, Fifth, and Ninth (including the Sixth) Military Fronts from December 1939 until January 1940; Fourth Military Front in the first battle of Northern Guangdong from 17 December 1939 until 10 January 1940 and battle of South Guangxi from 15 November 1939 until 26 February 1940; ; ↑ Losses of the First, Eighth, Shandong-Jiangsu, and Hebei-Chahar Military Fronts in guerilla operations (including 1,591 casualties from the Eighth Route Army);

The 1939–1940 Winter Offensive (Chinese: 冬季攻勢) was one of the major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, in which Chinese forces launched their first major counter-offensive on multiple fronts. Although this offensive failed to achieve its original objectives, some studies have shown that it came as a heavy blow to the Japanese forces, as well as a massive shock to the Japanese military command, which did not expect the Chinese forces to be able to launch an offensive operation on such a large scale.

By April 1940, the Japanese army had successfully fought the operation to a halt. However, a Japanese counteroffensive in the northern theater failed to seize Ningxia and was defeated in Suiyuan by Chinese Muslim forces.

[8] Includes losses of the :
Second, Third, Fifth, and Ninth (including the Sixth) Military Fronts from December 1939 until January 1940

Fourth Military Front in the first battle of Northern Guangdong from 17 December 1939 until 10 January 1940 and battle of South Guangxi from 15 November 1939 until 26 February 1940

[mwRw] Second, Third, Fifth, and Ninth (including the Sixth) Military Fronts from December 1939 until January 1940

[mwSA] Fourth Military Front in the first battle of Northern Guangdong from 17 December 1939 until 10 January 1940 and battle of South Guangxi from 15 November 1939 until 26 February 1940

[11] Losses of the First, Eighth, Shandong-Jiangsu, and Hebei-Chahar Military Fronts in guerilla operations (including 1,591 casualties from the Eighth Route Army)