The strategic Firebombing of Wuhan, 1944.
On December 18, 1944, the Chinese leadership in Chongqing, namely Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng and He Yingqin, connected the China war with the European theater by approving the tactic of strategic firebombing of the major Japanese occupied city of Wuhan in China.
The giant new American B-29 Flying Super Fortress bombers were brought to Chengdu expressly for the purpose of firebombing Wuhan.
For the Chinese leadership in Chongqing, this was a strategic decision resembling earlier ones like the blowing of the dykes of the Yellow River or torching of Changsha and Guilin.
A top advisor and Minister to Chiang Kai-shek at the time, Wang Shijie, who was a native of Wuhan, expressed regret in his diary; but he agreed that the bombing was necessary — regardless of cost to the city and its civilian population. Wuhan had to be sacrificed.
US Firebombed a Japanese-Occupied Chinese City Killing 20,000
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